The Fish

I found it interesting how Elizabeth Bishop uses vivid imagery to invoke feelings in the reader while reading her poem, "The Fish." Stating that the fish had a weapon-like mouth gave me a feeling of triumph for the fish, it made me feel that the fish in the poem was a strong fighter and unable to be caught. Stating that the fish was covered in sea lice, green weeds and barnacles gave me the image that the fish was very old - since it had been around long enough for all those things to grow on its scales. The fish's eyes (described as yellowed, scratched isinglass, and shallow) led me to understand that the fish had given up with fighting, it had a hard life and now was ready to give up since it did not have the energy to look back into the speaker's (assumed to be a fisherman/woman) eyes. At the end of the story the speaker let the fish go - this action gave me the feeling of accomplishment, understanding and sympathy. Sympathy because the speaker understands the strugglesome life the fish has had; accomplishment because the speaker lets the fish go because of his/her understanding of the fish's hard life.

Essay 1

                There are many literary devices authors use in order to give the reader their own understanding of a story. Each different device can alter a person’s comprehension of a story. “Death of a Salesman” uses multiple literary devices that affect the narrative discourse and consequently changes how the story is depicted to the reader. The realism of the characters in Arthur Miller's short story, "Death of a Salesman," comes into question due to the techniques - including numerous amounts of gaps and lack of closure - Miller uses to portray this.

                In this short story Willy is portrayed as a man who is ashamed of himself for being a failure, but cannot admit to himself that he was never the man he thought he was. The lack of closure in this short story adds to the realism of Willy’s character. When reading, it is not clear exactly why Willy speaks to characters that are not really there. This unanswered question leaves the reader guessing as to why Willy is the way he is throughout the entire story. After reading the story thoroughly, I assumed that Willy was driven mad after coming to the realization that his son no longer looked up to him and his son’s lack of a real career was due to his own mistakes as a father. The lack of closure here leaves the reader guessing as to why Willy has the mindset that he does and therefore makes Willy more realistic. Anything could have happened to him, whether it be the car accident he was in, his mind deteriorating or the more likely view that he blames himself for the outcome of Biff’s life and cannot live with the guilt. Most of Willy’s conversations between himself and imaginary characters connect back to the major event in Biff’s life that Willy believed was the turning point. An example of this is when Willy tells Biff that “Bernard can get the best marks in school, y’understand, but when he gets out in the business world, y’understand, you are going to be five times ahead of him”(Miller 21). In Willy’s warped mind, he truly believes that being “well-liked” is more important than being smart and merely “liked.” He thinks that he is successful because people like him enough to think he knows what he’s talking about. This important moment in the play was when Willy subconsciously led Biff to believe that smarts were not all that important as long as he was well liked like himself. Another important point for Willy was when Biff caught him cheating on his wife with another woman. Willy held that with him from that moment on and believed that everything Biff did from that point on in his life was to spite his father. Holding on to these thoughts, one can see why Willy is the way he is. He’s held on to these ideas that Biff has turned out this way because of him. Holding on to this belief has driven Willy crazy which makes his character more realistic, because anyone might come to that end if they believed that their child has come to a dead end in their life because of them.

                Biff, is not much different from his father, except that he can admit to himself that he is and never was someone who was going to amount to anything. This characteristic in a person is common though many people find it hard to admit. There are many gaps in the story where Biff is concerned. What happened to him between finding out about his father’s affair and going to the ranch to work? One might infer that he’s found odd jobs here and there because he has never been able to stick with anything because he does not see himself as the type of person who will ever amount to much in life. This gap allows one to interpret Biff as a common, everyday American who has not gone to college and therefore cannot find a stable career. This allows the reader to relate with the character and bring him to life. The lack of closure on behalf of Biff also adds to his characterization. Why did Biff leave the countryside when he sounded like he truly enjoyed being there? Biff states that “This farm I work on…they’ve got about fifteen new colts. There’s nothing more inspiring or —beautiful than the sight of a mare and a new colt” (Miller 13). One might wonder if he was so in awe of this sight then why did he leave to come back home to begin with. Biff has never been able to stick with anything in his life, even if he really cares for something that touches him. For that reason he has never been able to stick with a career choice and never became successful. This lack of closure as to why Biff left the farm leads a person to this conclusion which, consequently, makes Biff more realistic because he does not all of a sudden find a career he wants for the rest of a life. He is unsure and that characteristic makes him realistic.

                The polar opposite of both Biff and Willy is Linda whom portrayed as a loyal, thoughtful and selfless wife. The lack of closure here makes it hard to determine whether or not Linda’s character is realistic. Does Linda know whether or not her husband has cheated on her? There are two ways in which this can be interpreted. If Linda somehow knows that her husband has cheated on her – maybe through the stocking crisis - and yet she is still so loyal to him, is that realistic? If Linda is completely oblivious to her husband cheating on her, is that realistic? Since this story was written in the 1940’s, divorce was not common in those time so perhaps during that time period it was realistic for Linda to have stayed with her husband after knowing the truth. What is not realistic is that she still remained so loyal to him and cared for his dignity after knowing he was not true to her. Linda says “Every day I go down and take away that little rubber pipe. But, when he comes home, I put it back where it was. How can I insult him that way?” (Miller 42). Had Linda known that her husband was being unfaithful, she would not have cared whether or not he was insulted. She herself was insulted the moment Willy broke his vows to her. Due to this evidence Linda is not a realistic character. Had Linda not known about her husband’s affair would have made her extremely naïve, and that there was no evidence in the play to show that she was at least suspicious of her husband’s actions makes her character all the more unrealistic. Any other person in Linda’s situation would have noticed their stocking gone missing, and then would have suspected foul play when their spouse became angry at the sight of them. Perhaps Linda’s character was naïve after all. A woman of her age should know when something shady is going on. These characteristic make Linda difficult to relate to. Even if there was more closure on Linda’s knowledge of her husband’s affair, her character would not be realistic.

                Author Miller’s use of gaps in his play as well as lack of closure led to the distinctive characterization of the family in his play as well as determined whether or not the characters were realistic. Had Miller filled in the gaps, a reader would no longer be able to visualize what the characters did in that time frame and may no longer be able to relate which will, in turn, affect how the reader portrays the character. The character may no longer be realistic due to the inability of the reader to relate. The lack of closure in the story helps the reader to interpret what happened and aides in the characterization. Due to lack of closure, Willy is interpreted as a man who may have suffered a deterioration of the brain due to age or driven mad by his guilt. Biff is construed to be a person who cannot stick to any career, even if it is something he is passionate about. Linda is understood to be a naïve woman which no one can relate with due to her inability to see Willy for who he truly is, or her ability to maintain loyalty to a man she knows in not loyal.

Bibliography:

Miller, Author. Death of a Salesman. Pasadena, CA: Salem, 2010. Print.

Essay 1 ideas

post your tentative ideas: essay topic (perspective, approach), possible analytic thesis, support topics.
Please post the latter on your blog, along with your notes on the story (from your critical reading, using Abbott's terms) -- your potential topics for discussion.

possible thesis: The lack of closure and gaps in Arthur Miller's short story, "Death of a Salesman," affects the characterization as well as realism of the characters.

support topics: unanswered questions and gaps in story affect realism of characters
      - example: why does Willy talk to himself? This unanswered question affects the realism of the character because it leaves a gap from when Willy was average to when  he began speaking to himself (or characters that aren't actually there). Anything could have happened to him which makes him more relatable....
      - example: does Linda know if Willy cheated on her? If so how does that relate to her character. Loyal no matter what. Is this realistic? Of the time period perhaps (1949) - divorce was uncommon, not much she could do. Now a days its not very realistic that the wife would still be so loyal to her husband if she knew the truth....
     - gap in story (what Biff did in the country when he wasn't at home). what does this say about his character? watched the foal being born but came back home anyways even though he though it was beautiful. (more examples) leads to characterization of Biff and how he is realistic as well as develpment of character through gaps and some closure. ...

Entropy

I thought the contrast between the two lives of Callisto and Meatball was very interesting, especially because they were polar opposite and yet they lived in the same building. Meatball's character seemed to be fun (because of the constant partying) and caring (because of his concern for Saul and the girl in the sink). Yet he also seems somewhat responsible because he knows how much he can handle - he did,after all, tone down the party when he realized it was a little out of control. On the other hand, there is Callisto who thinks that his body heat can save a sick and dying bird. His character is also very caring, but he seems to be a little out of touch with reality (thinking he can heal a bird with heat; also he never went out, everything was delivered to him).
The contrast in the narrativity was interesting as well. Somehow the narrator managed to make Meatball's place seem chaotic and messy (with all the noise and people and how the story kind of jumped from person to person) while making Callisto's place sound serene and ideal (with the description of the sounds of birds chirping and time spent describing this isolated 'hothouse' secluded from the rest of the world).