Toni Morrison Video Link

Here is the Toni Morrison video that I had hoped to have time to show during our last class. Her speech starts at 14 minutes in to the video, and you will probably want to skip ahead to this time. The introductions for her go on a while and are not nearly as interesting. Her speech lasts about 30 minutes, and it is an inspiring and thought-provoking performance--well worth your time.

Amusing Faulkner Interview Response

I thought some of you might find the following exchange between "The Bear" author William Faulkner and an interviewer asking him about the difficulty of reading his stories.

Grendel Links and Class Concerns

I am a little concerned about the number of posts up so far. Only one post fully about Grendel? What's going on?

By my count, many of you must be behind. In class last week, you said you could handle the posts without my assigning a fixed schedule. I feel this method is appropriate for a group of adults studying literature, especially in an honor's class, but I am quite concerned that some of you are waiting to do yours until the last minute.

I want to reiterate what I said earlier in class: the requirements for the class blog (four front page posts over the semester and an average of two comments per week) is firm and will not change. I've had non-honor's classes meet this requirement, so I know it is reasonable here. Your schedule isn't going to be getting any easier as the semester winds up, so take the initiative and start making posts if you are falling behind. Nearly all of the posts up so far have been "A" quality, so I know all of you have it in you to excel in this part of the class.

Also, here is a link to the letter I read from in class last week--the one in which John Gardner addresses students about Grendel. It's a fascinating document that will provide strong insights into the book: http://www.genesee.edu/gcc/gardner/perdue.htm

Here is a link to a Gardner fan page with useful information about him and Grendel:
http://www.genesee.edu/gcc/gardner/gardner.htm

See you in class!

Pitying Poor Grendel

"I'm going to die," I wailed. "Poor Grendel! Poor old Mama!" I wept and sobbed. "Poor Grendel will hang here and starve to death," I  told myself, "and no one will ever miss him!" The thought enraged me.- Chapter 2, page 18

The thought that no one will miss him enrages Grendel, it makes his blood boil. There is pain in knowing that no one's life will be worse without him, even though he has never made an attempt to improve life for anyone. Which is fair, what is sadder than knowing the world really would not be worse without you? Nothing in my mind...

When reading Grendel it is hard to find him sympathetic. Mainly because he is a murderer who shows no remorse for his murders. He does as he pleases and hates everyone and thing. He does not ask for your approval or affection. He does not even ask for his mother's approval or affection. When he cries out (later during the bull charging the tree he is stuck in scene) Gardner writes

"Please, Mama!" I sobbed as if heartbroken

Even when crying out to her, Grendel is not a heartbroken son hoping for his mother's protection, he just plays one on TV. The closest he gets to sincerely calling to his mother here is in acting. Maybe he hopes to stir her into some protective maternal instinct. Either way, he by no means actually thinks she will come. 

A few discussions ago Professor Miller asked if anyone pities Grendel. I answered yes. It happens to be that at the time I wasn't really sure why, I just knew that somewhere in my gut there was room to pity Grendel. Despite his starting a twelve year war his raids, and how many other crimes, there still seemed to be room for more than disdain. Now maybe I would be less forgiving if any of this were real, but that is just more conjecture... Upon reading a few selection over again I found a more precise reason for my pity: Grendel never asks me to pity him. 

Grendel is not kind, and he is not altruistic, he has a sad and sorry life with a depressing outlook. Yet despite that he never asks to be pitied. And that is what invites me to pity him. The idea that no one will miss him enrages him and the "thought of cool indifferent eyes" frightens him. And "Still no one came."If Grendel is bitter it is because he matters to no one and no one matters to him. If he dropped dead no one would miss him. No one's life would be any worse for his absence. How can someone read a character who is so void of any meaningful rope tying him down to his own life and not pity him? Grendel is disappointed when Shaper's views turn out to be empty because Grendel wanted to believe that life can be more than assumes it is, that he had been wrong the whole time. Grendel comes to his new philosophy – admittedly with a little help from the friendly neighborhood dragon – that life is meaningless because he has no reason to believe otherwise. And to be fair to Grendel's integrity as a philosopher, he already seems to think the world is empty way back in chapter 2, 

I understood then that the world was nothing: 

a mechanical chaos of casual, brute enmity 

on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears.

Here, he is probably speaking more out of bitterness than the actual intellectual honesty he uses later, however it looks like Grendel has never felt much love for the world he lives in.

I have a vague sense that this was not Gardner's point in writing Grendel. I doubt that Gardner was trying to prove how mattering to people validates a person while not mattering to anyone turns them into monsters. Or in this case, turns monsters into wretched monsters. But what I take from this story is that while Grendel is horrible and wretched and not the kind of monster I should approach in a park he is worth my pity if nothing  else. He has lived a sorry life, not mattering to anyone is stressful and depressing. He never asks me to sympathize with him, forgive him for his evils, or commiserate with his suffering, and he certainly does not asked to be pitied. And I think that is why I pity him at all.

The Boss

        This week is the start of the 2014 baseball season, so I believe it is apropos to mention George Michael Steinbrenner III, also known as “The Boss,” who passed away in 2010. George Steinbrenner is remembered by the Yankees every year at the beginning of their season, as he was arguably the greatest owner in the history of the New York Yankees and perhaps the most controversial owner in the history of the sport. Under his 37 year rule, the Yankees earned seven World Series titles and 11 pennants. Steinbrenner often interfered with daily on-field decisions, such as prohibiting any of his players to have facial hair. He became famous for his temperamental hiring and firing of managers, changing managers 20 times in his first 23 seasons, and for his compulsive spending habits on valuable players that HE wanted on his team. 
George Steinbrenner isn’t the first Yankee to get such a nickname. Way back in the fifth century in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain, a yankee named Hank adopted the nickname “The Boss”. He too was great in certain respects, but his leadership came with shortcomings and controversy as did “The Boss’s” that succeeded him. He interfered with activities possibly to the extent of overstepping his boundaries. Failing miserably at the end of the novel at his attempt to rid society of the church’s control, which was what he thought was detrimental to the generation, “The Boss’s” tactics were proven to not be ideal to obtain his goals. Here is the top four ways Hank could have become a true leader, exemplified through the words of some of the leaders in our generation: 

1. Leading is not about the power one can exercise over another people, nation, or governing body, rather it is about the influence one can have on them. 

There are two forms or dimensions of leadership. One is power, the other, influence. Imagine you have total power, and then you decide to share it with nine others. You now have one-tenth of the power with which you began. Imagine, by contrast, that you have a certain measure of influence, and now you share it with nine others. How much do you have left? Not less. In fact, more. Initially there was only one of you; now there are ten. Your influence has spread. Power operates by division, influence by multiplication. With power, the more we share, the less we have. With influence, the more we share, the more we have. —Rabbi Lord Jonathan Saks in Covenant and Conversation

       Hank’s ultimate goal was to influence the people. His intentions were pure in that he believed ridding the generation of the church’s restrictions was best for them in order to promulgate freedom of thought and a better way to live. However, he attempted to spread his influence through manipulation of the power he possessed due to his advanced knowledge of technology.

2. Being a true leader requires humility and seeing the greatness in others. This does not mean not recognizing your own capabilities, however being a leader requires you to recognize other people’s greatness as well.

“If you want to save the world you have to trust it.” —Dark Knight

       Hank clearly didn’t trust the era he was in. He didn't confide in anyone about his plans of building telephone wires and military schools for example, and he most definitely did not trust in the aristocracy or the church, both of which were the crux of Camelot’s existence, and spent most of his time trying to overthrow them. 

3. A leader must be relatable. Leaders are aware of their responsibility to those in their sphere of influence. It is about who they lead, not about themselves. They must seek to understand their following so that they can best lead them.

A leader must be sensitive to the call of the hour – this hour, this generation, this chapter in the long story of a people. And because he or she is of a specific generation, even the greatest leader cannot meet the challenges of a different generation. That is not a failing. It is the existential condition of humanity. —Rabbi Lord Jonathan Saks in Covenant and Conversation

       As a result of Hank’s manipulation of the population and his lack of trust in them, he remained distant and removed from them. Instead of trying to adapt to their culture and customs, he derided the way they spoke, the way they dressed, and the way they went about most things. He tried to change everything about the fifth century that he didn’t like, leaving people confounded and frustrated, such as Sandy when he can’t understand her banter or the knight selling soap who is distraught at his failure to sell the foreign item, rather than finding a way to relate to them and their times. 

4. Taking action is fundamental in one’s success as a leader. Without action, a leader can not make a significant difference or change. 

We often go through life with the best of intentions. One day, we say to ourselves, we’re going to start going to the gym and become a great athlete. One day, we’re going to finish that book. But for whatever reason, we get distracted by the present and lose our focus on the future. We never do go the gym. We never do write that book. But nobody remembers what you meant to do. They only remember what you do. —Forbes Magazine

       One could argue Hank did a pretty good job taking action. However, without implementing the first three tips of how to be a leader, his actions turned out to be futile. “The Boss” has an intimidating connotation, while “The Leader” has a much more inspirational ring. Perhaps Hank and George’s biggest flaw was that they thought in order to make a change they needed to meddle with the status quo and conform it to their visions. They were bosses in terms of the control that they exercised over populations, but their betterment of the societies that they each belonged to did not evolve from the personal interests of the population itself, rather it came from what they thought was best for the population. As a result their ideas were void of public input and as a result more controlling. 

The Other Side of the Story

Hearing famous stories told from the other side always interested me. So it is interesting reading Grendel, telling the other side of  Beowulf (not that I ever read it to know.) It's an interesting perspective on life, to realize that there is another side.
One of my favorite examples of this style is The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, which tells one of our classic childhood stories from the other side. Here is a video version of it.

My mother used to use this book to teach us about seeing the other side of the story, particularly when we were judging a classmate or family member. This book would be pulled out of the huge stack on the table and we would sit down and read it together (or in later years be handed it to read by ourselves), as a calm reminder that things aren't always as you see. 

I also remember this being a classic writing prompt in younger grades, where a teacher would give us a story to read, and then we would have to write the story from a different perspective. It was always more interesting to take the "villain" in the story and re-write it so that he is not quite as evil, a perspective that bothered my teacher for some reason.Perhaps the sign of a good imagination is to see the other side of the story, and of a good writer, to write it.
Sometimes that monster, whether a monster, or just a scary person, that you fear is really just another person who has their own experiences to think about.

McCaslin Family Tree

Here as promised is the McCaslin family tree. Note that not all of these family members are portrayed in "The Bear." The others come up in the remaining stories in Go Down! Moses. This family tree was created by Dr. John B. Padgett and is from the following website:  http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~egjbp/faulkner/gen-mccaslin.html

I can't vouch for every detail, but it seems legit. One other point: the McCaslin that is portrayed conversing with Ike in Section 4 is Carothers McCaslin "Cass" Edmonds. The old patriarch who had sex (probably raped) both his slave and their daughter in Lucius Quintus Carothers McCaslin. He had been dead a long time, and the family was waiting for Isaac "Ike" McCaslin to come of age before the estate was bequeathed to him. Ike was the rightful heir because he was a direct descendant through the male side of the family by way of Theophilius "Uncle Buck," but Cass had been in charge in his stead until Ike came of age.