Blog Post #4: Sydney Thiessa

GROUP 1
QUESTION 4

In the short story version of The Lottery, the Marxist perspective can be seen through the terms bourgeoisie, proletariat, ideology, and revolution/revolt. The bourgeoisie are the members of the village who conduct the lottery, Mr. Summers and Mr. Martin, and the oldest man of the village, Old Man Warner, who has participated in the lottery 77 times. These men keep the lottery going as a tradition in the village and refuse to get rid of it, unlike several other villages. Although each of them participate, they are very unlikely to be the ones who are sacrificed, especially since Old Man Warner has participated 77 times and still hasn't been sacrificed. The ones who are more likely to be sacrificed are the proletariat, the ordinary members of the village, and specifically Mrs. Tessie Hutchinson, the one who is ultimately sacrificed. The ideology in the short story is the belief that this annual ritual will help the village prosper, despite the gruesome murder of a citizen every year. The village believes that the murder is justified because the lottery is essentially random; one member of each family takes a paper out of a box without anyone knowing which paper contains the fatal black dot. However, one person, Tessie Hutchinson, challenges this, which explains the revolution/revolt aspect of Marxist criticism. She claims that the lottery this year isn't fair, that Mr. Summers didn't give her husband enough time to take any paper he wanted, and continues to claim that it isn't fair and right when she's being stoned to death.


GROUP 2
QUESTION 6

At first, it seems that in "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas", the individual self-interest is regarded higher than society and the greater good. The people of Omelas are extremely happy and are able to indulge in any desire that they please, like running around naked and having sex. There is no king or soldiers to provide oppression to the people, which would be an aspect of the greater good. The people conduct a festival to promote such indulgence in their lives, listening to heavenly music and dancing to it. However, the story shifts to the idea of society and the greater good being more important than the individual and self-interest. This shift is shown when the story of the boy who lives in the broom closet is told. While the rest of the people of Omelas have a pleasurable life, the boy who lives in the broom closet faces the worst kind of misery. Then, it is revealed that "their friendships, the health of their children, the wisdom of their scholars, the skill of their makers, even the abundance of their harvest and the kindly weathers of their skies, depend wholly on this child's abominable misery." This boy faces misery for the greater good of the people of Omelas.
The relationship between individual and society in The Lottery is more straight-forward than in "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas". Society is regarded higher than the individual. The village has the lottery for the greater good of the village; "lottery in June, corn will be heavy soon". One person will be sacrificed each year just to help the harvest of corn. 

BLOG #4

Answer a question from GROUP 1 and a question from GROUP 2. 

Be sure to comment on several other posts.

GROUP 1

1. Read the short story version of “The Lottery”. The original story is a much pared down version of the film – there’s no Jason, Felice, love story, male rivalry, etc. It’s also told very simply, much like the fairy tales we studied earlier on. What do you notice in terms of plot, characterization, point of view, and setting? Do an intrinsic reading in which you use only these literary elements to discuss the story.

2. Read one of the articles on “The Lottery” in Blackboard (keeping in mind that the story differs from the film in terms of names (“Tessie Hutchinson” is the woman’s who’s stoned; Old Man Warner is in charge of conducting the lottery Summarize the article carefully, then use it to elaborate on your own observations about the text. You should quote the author directly, and be sure to provide some of your own analysis as well (it doesn’t matter whether the article supports your reading or not; you can offer a different perspective.

3. Read one of the articles on “Omelas” in Blackboard. Summarize the article carefully, then use it to elaborate on your own observations about the text. You should quote the author directly, and be sure to provide some of your own analysis as well (it doesn’t matter whether the article supports your reading or not; you can offer a different perspective.

4. Analyze either of the texts through a Marxist perspective. In it, use at least three of these terms, identifying them carefully. bourgeoisie, proletariat, ideology, social class/social hierarchy, revolution/revolt, and capitalism

GROUP 2

5.  Compare either the basic themes (central idea), characterization and/or setting in “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” and The Lottery (use the film or the short story, and concentrate on the literary elements in the story rather than larger social questions.

6. Consider how “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” and The Lottery (film or short story) deal with the relationship between individual and society (self interest vs. the greater good). What does each story seem to argue about this relationship?

7. Seen or read The Hunger Games? If so, you likely will see the parallels between the blockbuster and “The Lottery” (elements of which appear in Games and which were partial inspiration for the trilogy).  What are these parallels? How do both texts treat the issues of bourgeoisie vs. proletariat and the ideology the bourgeoisie spreads and sustains?

Some Notes on "The Lottery"

You might read these before you answer the questions. Or, you may not. 
Either way, here they are.

Consider the beginning, which establishes a capitalist world (presented as a nightmare of sorts: terrible traffic, accident, chaos, is meant to be in sharp relief to the peace of New Hope (setting). In fact, New Hope itself is character-like – its characteristics really influence all character behavior.

The girlfriend (original one, not Felice) represents capitalism at its finest– she gets a big promotion and sacrifices Jason to it (in terms of self interest). She is, as she says, “looking out for my long-term goals” … not the greater good of her relationship or greater good of society in general. She suggests Jason do something “better” than what he does and notes that it would be terrible to be “sick in a state hospital” (these things all tell us something about her position and values). A state hospital caters to the poor, the uninsured – the proletariat (the “have-nots”).

Consider the significance of song playing as Jason is driving to New Hope– “Freedom Road/Highway” as he’s driving to New Hope. He has “freedom” before he gets to New Hope. This is an example of irony, which we’ll cover soon.

Think about the scene in which the men are building the platform for the Lottery. They say, “Why not leave it up instead of taking it down and rebuilding it year after year?” The mayor’s rationale is that it’s “historical”, so they need to keep doing it that way, simply because it’s tradition. This attitude suggests that this small society, small as it is, is supposed to remain the same even in its flaws. It is socialist in nature The greater good trumps the individual – this represented by the gruesome lottery.

Consider what Felice says here, to Jason:“New Hope’s a good place. God’s been kind to us.” She has internalized the town’s ideology (governing set of ideas and values the bourgeoisie makes up and disseminates to proletariatto the point that she really believes the town prospers because of the sacrifice, that God himself condones. Her state of mind reflects the power of ideology to control the individual – if the individual internalizes society’s rules and will self discipline, then the bourgeoisie will continue to prosper – individuals will not band together to revolt against the given ideology. These conditions make up a condition called hegemony, a form of power that sets, protects, and sustains powerful ideology  and keeps the body of the proletariat believing they’re free even as they are controlled by bourgeoisie ideology. This “consent” the proletariat give the bourgeoisie (consent to keep ruling as they do) is called social hegemony.

Consider what we learn about Jason’s father – he tried to prevent the stoning of his wife – her internalizing of the town’s ideology is called “character” by the mayor. We see in this instance that the proletariat can only carry on revolution when numbers are high. He’s largely unsuccessful because no one else will join him in fighting the Lottery. If the entire town fought against the few leaders, the Lottery would stop. They have the power, actually to reset guiding ideology, but they don’t, because the governing hegemony is so powerful.

Especially important is Felice’s defense of the Lottery:

“It’s tradition, Jason, it’s not murder. It’s like sacrificing oneself in war.”

Your world has illiteracy . . . and gang wars . . . systems are dead.

“I did what I did because I am who I am. I wish it were different.”

Felice is essentially echoing a major tenet of Marxist theory: that our environment makes us who we are; we don’t create it and we usually can’t fight against individually – we internalize the major values, traditions, and beliefs of a given society.

Consider what Jason says: “It’s not rage, Felice. It’s shame.” He believes the proletariat is largely motivated by shame for their actions, not rage.

Beyond denying what happened to her mother, what larger idea/concept/practice is Felice denying? What is she preserving?

Blog #3 Anthony Valle

Question #3
Throughout the movie i noticed the changes of Carols clothing, in the begining she kind of dressed like a student, not very well dressed. So when i first saw her and first got introduced to her character, i thought of her as any normal student asking questions about the class. However, near the end of the movie she dressed more professionally and her vocabulary was more complex compared to her vocabulary at the start of the movie. Therefore, her character seemed to change as the movie went on.

Blog #3 Kevin Le

The development for Carol's and Johns physical appearance gives off a  big character expression but mainly it shows their development about their characters emotions as time progresses throughout the story. For example, at nearly the end of the story of Oleanna, Carol argues that John's book should be dropped (John gets mad & his clothes shows how much of a wreck he is thus by his clothing appearance, he is easily provoked), but as you look at John's clothes, it shows that his clothes are unprofessional and somewhat unteacher like because most teachers are well dressed and prepared compared to Carol who wears what a teacher should be wearing. (the feel of Carol clothes to me felt like she was in control and she was the teacher and the teacher was the student, comparing if a student had to study for a final exam - in this case John was studying the paper that Carol wrote seeming as if he was to study an exam he's clothes show that he is stressed as well as his mind - and Carol was the relax one overlooking at what mistakes John would make- in this case a teacher would not have to think about how poorly or well he/she must do) Now back in the beginning of the story, Carol was a student who wore what any student would wear, skirt and a shirt that made her seemed innocent. In John's clothes, this time he acted professional with the clothes of a coat or a suit or what any other teacher would wear to have a higher dominance or higher status than the students below him. From the beginning of the story compared to the ending, there is a huge emotional change as well as clothing changes and it shows that there is a direct correlation to the clothes they wear and their character expression as the story continues on.

Blog due Wednesday 10/3

Has she posted this blog up?

Blog 3 A. Leader

 Question 3:
    Physical descriptions is what labels you to others as they take that first glance. What you wear, what you look like, facial expressions, and body language help indicate the judgement others will have on you. No matter what, everyone has an instictive judgement the second they see someone. When Carol first arrives in the film Oleanna, her hair is loose as its half up with her curls every which way. She is wearing pants, a simple t-shirt, and a baggy coat that hides her body. At first glance, my judgement of Carol is she is innocent and particularly secluded. She continues to make eye contact with John as she maintains to say that she does not understand his discussions in class. The next time she meets up with John, her hair is pulled back in a tight braid and she is wearing more professional clothing. At this point, it is obvious that she is not visiting John about her grade any longer; this is when she begins to accuse John of sexual assault. She stands more upright and dominate as she continues to refer to "her group" who has decided to band certain books from this university.
     Changing perspectives to John, it is obvious he has a dominate personality and is very confident in himself and his teachings. He makes Coral's grade improvement about himself, as he tells her if she continues to come back and talk with him then she'll have an A. He stands upright and rarely makes eye contact with Coral because he just thinks of himself as he goes on about his book and teachings. He can really care less about Carol as a person, he just wants to talk about his accomplishments and makes it all about him. There are several phone calls that are made to John when he talks with Carol; however, he only answers the phone when Carol is talking about something he doesn't really care about but when he is speaking, he doesn't care to answer the phone and he just let's it ring. Everytime we see John he's wearing a suit, but towards the end when he realizes that he lost everything, he's just wearing his button-up t-shirt, his shoulders are more shrugged, and he couldn't care less about his appearance any more.