Monday, December 20, 2010
UNIVERSAL THEME #2: Power of the Human Spirit
Enriched by our reading experiences, sharing specific examples from the novel and the short stories provides the chance to internalize key themes. Dig deep. Provide an example from one work that reflects the theme listed. Establish the context of your example. Quotes are ecouraged. Be sure to read through the entire post; do not use the same examples as classmates.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Humans are enduring creatures. We were made to conquer and thrive, but we can sometimes get blind-sided by the glimmering luxuries of wickedness. Missie May from the Gilded Six-Bits is someone who was blind-sided. She has a wonderful life with her husband Joe, and enjoys the little things, like hearing the clinking of the silver coins Joe throws at the door. It isn't until Otis D. Slemmons comes to town that Missie May and Joe realize they have problems. Missie is fine with what she has, until she realizes, after a while, Slemmons has it all because "he's got a five-dollar gold piece for a stickpin and got a ten-dollar gold piece on his watch chain and his mouf is jes' crammed full of gold teeths." It isn't long after that Slemmons and Missie May have an affair. Joe silently lives with the pain of finding his wife with another man for many months, but all things return to normal once his son is born. The human spirit is one that can be repaired once damaged, and although it may take awhile, reaps the benefits of happiness.
ReplyDelete“I know this … a man got to do what he got to do.” This quote from Chapter 18 perfectly defines what a powerful human spirit is. Throughout “The Grapes of Wrath”, men and women are always knocked down, and then they get right back up. At the very beginning of the novel, a man, Tom Joad, leaves a period of incarceration. He has two options: give up on his life or create a new one for himself. Joad went with the latter, found his family, and started anew. After the Joad’s were evicted from their home, they could have given up, but instead they went to California to start anew. Steinbeck wove a story of redemption with every word, exemplifying the human spirit.
ReplyDeleteMolly, and others, I am curious if you think Joe or Missy May was the more "spirit damaged" and why you think as you do?? Andrew's choice of Tom Joad as a character, and the Joads as a family, experiencing injustice/oppression is a powerful example of continuing onward in the face of tough circumstances. Do the other Ac Dec short works reflect this human spirit? (And just for John, I would add that the turtle, though not human, certainly demos the resilience we are discussing in this blog:)
ReplyDelete"Man, unlike any other thing organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments." this quote outweighs anything else in my opinion. It Shows exactly what it means to have a true human spirit. When you fall down, you get back up. If you fall down a second time, you get back up yet again. But the trird time you fall, it takes a true unknown power to help you along. To me this is the Holy Spirit, but for others, this is their own inner spirit. Your inner Spirit is was Picks you up after a long days work, and makes you feel really good about yourself after helping out someone else. In The Grapes of Wrath, not only did people fall down 3 or 4 times, but over 30 times. This is why it was so hard to pick yourself up after each fall. To live in the great depression, it took a Very large and strong human spirit.
ReplyDelete