Wilderness

The question concerning whether the wilderness is a manmade construct has been on my mind since our discussion in Cameron Park. I believe that like almost everything in this world, pieces of land were sectioned off and defined as wilderness by man. Even though this is the case, I think that the wilderness is an entryway to finding nature. It is nature that is not constructed and empowered by man. I think that Old Ben signifies nature. Isaac entered the wilderness to find Old Ben. From the very beginning, Isaac had no intentions of killing the bear. He only desired to be in its’ presence and to experience it for himself. After a few failed attempts, Isaac realizes that only when he leaves everything that would connect him to society and civilization will Old Ben reveal himself. This implies that nature is unyielding and one can only connect with it when one leaves society behind. After saying this, I believe many can experience the wilderness, but only a few are truly able to have a pure relationship with nature. Not everyone is able to leave the comforts of civilization completely in order to find nature.

The Theme of Tradition in The Bear

A major theme in Faulkner’s The Bear is tradition, and the importance of keeping them. The story is mostly about a boy who begins going on these hunting trips for two weeks every year with a group of men since he was ten years old. During the first few years, Ike believed that the ultimate aim of these trips was to kill Old Ben, but as he grew older and wiser, he soon realized that the bear was not the main reason, but only a part of something greater. It was this tradition of taking oneself away from the crowdedness and complications of society and escaping into an intimate relationship with nature and the wilderness that was their true aim. There in the wilderness, Ike learned many things about life as well as about himself. When they finally killed the bear, it also symbolizes the end of this great tradition. We know how these years were important to the main character because the only happiness we see in him is when he reflects on this specific time in his life. It was these trips and what he learned from them that made Ike the man that he was.

Their Eyes Were Watching God as a Bildungsroman

Their Eyes Were Watching God is a bildungsroman because of the change and growth that takes place in Janie. Throughout most of her life, Janie has always been under the supervision of someone other than herself. She was never allowed to be her own person, but was always what they wanted her to be. Janie realizes that in order to keep herself alive and to have some sense of being, she would have to store little pieces of herself away. Throughout the novel, Janie is looking for something or someone that she has never known. Because she did not know what it was that she was looking for, she made some mistakes along the way. However, like many things in life, one does not know how sweet something is until one has also tasted something bitter. Therefore, these mistakes only help her to realize and appreciate what she does have when she finally finds it. In finding Tea Cake, she found love as well as herself. She was no longer her grandmother’s charity case, Logan’s help on the farm, or a trophy on Jodie’s shelf. For once in her life, she was simply Janie. Even after Tea Cake’s death, she refuses to go back to the way she was before.

The significance of the title in Their Eyes Were Watching God

Hurston quotes the title of the novel only once throughout the entire book and it occurs in the midst of the hurricane. The title is significant because it reveals how vulnerable we truly are. No matter what race, gender, or social class we belong to, there are things in life that do not take such distinctions into consideration. Beneath it all, we are all the same, and are all susceptible to the will of God. For instance, the hurricane in the novel did not seek out a particular group of people, gender, or social class, but killed anyone that was in its path. It is easy for us to forget how similar we all are in our vulnerability until we face a situation that is out of our control. Janie’s eyes were watching God because she knows that their lives are in His hands. What was given to her can be easily taken away. Only He knows what will happen next. This scene in the novel exposes a sense of humility in the recognition of how small and powerless we are. Such instances reveal the ridiculousness and irrelevance of the existence of race, gender, and social class.

Finding Love in Their Eyes Were Watching God

Love is a major theme in Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. As a teenager and young woman, Janie has always been waiting for a love that is unknown to her. She only attains a glimpse of this love while looking up at the blossoms of a tree in her grandmother’s yard. Even though she yearns for this love, she marries a man that her grandmother had chosen for her. In searching for this love, she leaves her husband and follows a total stranger to a new town. Being young and innocent, she did not realize that what she had with Starks was not love until years later before his death. Ironically, only when she had given up on it, did this love come to her. The relationship and love that she and Tea Cake had was what she was searching for all along. However, as easy as it had entered her life, it also left without a warning. Surprisingly, she accepted Tea Cake’s death, and continued living her life. Her reaction and actions after having lost her lover confirms a truth in the saying, it is better to love than to have never loved at all.

A Room With a View as a Bildungsroman

Lucy’s development and growth makes A Room With a View a bildungsroman. In the beginning, Lucy was a timid young girl who lived according to the conventions of her family and social class. She suppressed her needs and wants in order to please those around her. In choosing a husband, Lucy was torn between Cecil who will give her security socially and financially, and George who will give her a life of independence and everything unconventional. The Lucy in the beginning of the novel would have been satisfied with Cecil, but because she chose George, this shows how much she has grown. This growth is evident in the cancellation of her engagement with Cecil. She was no longer willing to be polite and avoid confrontation. For the first time in her life, she stood up for what she wanted and needed. In choosing George, she was willing to give up everything and everyone that she has ever known in order to follow her heart. Even though her future will be unclear with George, she will be living a life worth living. A life filled with love and adventure. For a young girl during her time period, she chose the path less taken.

Lucy and Marriage

For many young females during Lucy’s time period, marriage is not an option, but an obligation. In a sense, a young woman is only as good as her husband. Only through marriage is she able to be a member of society. In finding a husband, she has to take his family lineage, financial situation, and social status into consideration. Love was a bonus, not a priority. In Lucy’s dilemma, she is caught between marrying for love and marrying for convenience. If she marries Cecil, she will be marrying someone from her social class, she will be financially secure, and she will be preserving the already wavering traditions of her society. If she marries George, she will be betraying her family and the people of her social class. Her future will be unclear, but she will be an equal partner in the union. She will be allowed to think and make decisions for herself. Breaking off her engagement with Cecil and deciding to be with George was probably the first major decision that she has ever made on her own. Lucy went from a girl who followed conventions and did what was expected of her to someone who followed her heart and started living her life.

A Room With a View

In the novel, we find the main character, Lucy, always doubting herself and doing whatever it is that others instruct her to do. Like a puppet, she is at the mercy of those holding the strings. Her thoughts, feelings, and decisions are never her own, but of someone of greater age or authority. Being a young woman, she is never alone but always under some kind of adult supervision. Many times, it seems like she cannot even think for herself nor is she encouraged to. Even when she is able to put some of the pieces together in her head, she cannot even trust herself enough to put it all together. Lucy is a young woman who wants more for herself, but has no idea where to begin. She wants to rebel, but is too timid and scared. With regards to her love life, she is caught in between going for what she wants, and following conventions. In the end, she realizes that if she marries Cecil, she will never be allowed to grow as a person, but will continue to be controlled like a puppet. Only with helpful advice, not instruction, from George’s father did she have enough courage to start living her life.