A great group of stories this week. Lots of questions to ask and answer. .  Many of them about gerbils and extremely inquisitive children, I imagine.


On our syllabus, Dempster has labeled this section "post-war anxiety." The issue of the war is clearly addressed in "For Esme . . .", but what about the other two stories. What about the other two stories. How do you see the effects of WWII played out in those two stories?

Just something to start off the discussion.

Go, team, go!

Adams

I will eventually give a real reply to this post--but I sent you an email to that gmail account and haven't heard back yet and was wondering if you ever got the email?? I was asking about the final project thingee.

thanks,

Katie W.

I asked a lot of questions because I sorta kinda understood the stories--but I wasn't there on thursday because I decided to be a bum--and so I would really love to get the informed opinion of you all.

The effects of WWII--well  in Harrison Bergeron--WWII was about trying to protect the rights of humans which probably morphed into saying everyone is equal--and then Ayn Rand is always squawking about the acceptance of the mediocre  "he tried and that should be enough" vs individual excellence triumphing (Roark, Dagny, Reardon) because of ability and hard work.  Also of interesting note:  Kurt Vonnegut turned a really frightening and nightmarish future into hilarity.  I was cracking up in the computer lab as this genius man has 21-gun salutes going off in his head and weights on him to ensure that he's not using his natural ability to "compete" and be what he is. 

Question:  What about his writing makes us laugh as we also cringe?  Do you see any current manifestations of his theme? (btw--what is he trying to say??)  One could say welfare programs, equal opportunity thingees where a certain minority has to be accepted to a college--could those be considered the beginning to the end of competition?

Did not really understand the school story--

Question:  Did they kill the animals because they were curious?  Did the management of the school keep killing the animals to try to keep the kids from learning about them? despite the fact that these kids were already quite precocious and frightened--reminded me of the beats--questioning, smart, disillusioned but with the hope of innocence or at least revelation  "we want to know what it's like...".

I really liked the Esme love and squalor story--the composition was interesting--the beginning reminded me of C.S. Lewis stories, or any of the preWWII British writers--quirky, witty, observational--set against a backdrop of war but not of war--still has all his faculties and convinced he's going to keep them and write this little girl and then come back home and live happily ever after.  And then he's no longer a person, he's X--with bleeding gums and a tic.  The broken watch really said it all to me--like himself, it might work but he's too frightened of the possiblity of it not working to find to try to wind it up or fix it(himself). 

How does the character of the father of the two children compare to the narrator of the story?  Do you think the narrator can be fixed? 

Okay... kwegner appears to have gone question crazy, so i'll attempt to answer one... but first you must riddle me this...

"what did the postmodernist say to the modernist?"

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-Irving Washington

Answers:

Nothing... it waved!  Haha ha hahaha... oh wait... that's "What did the sea say to the shore...."   Hmm... the post-modernist?

the postmodernist said to the modernist:  Iggledy piggledy jink junk jam. Tum tiddly bum-how smart I am!

 

I think that the Vonnegut story, in an ironic sense, may address the Hitler-esque idea of the perfect race. Hitler himself was a very flawed man (aren't we all? well, maybe not as much as that un-jaunty and oddly mustached fascist) and he espoused the importance of being not Jewish and having blonde hair (he had Jewish blood and brown hair). In Diana Moon Glampers I see a Hitler, someone who should not be in control but is, someone weaker than the people she persecutes but is able to do so because she has a bigger gun. Also, Glampers subverts true art--music, dance, etc. Like Hitler, maybe she too was a sub-par artist jilted by the established artists, who were mostly Jewish in Hitler's case, and is taking out her insecurities on them. That may be a stretch, but it's something I thought about.

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Sincerest and warmest of regards,

Sean C.

I think with the Salinger story there is an emphasis on words, their power. What are the effects of Esme's words on Sgt. X. Do they save him from the squalor of war or do they relegate him to it via a foreshadowing/prophecy?

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Sincerest and warmest of regards,

Sean C.

I agree with Sean C. 

I also thought about how George and Hazel questioned their existance and their roles (well, lives, anyway) and how they could be themselves without being reprimanded for it.

I was also struck with the thought that all the people were not quite used to their new roles and equal treatment thing.  That made me question how long the ammendments had been in effect and whether or not there would be a genocide eventually like the Spartans did...only instead of creating a SuperHuman race, it would be a SuperAverage (whoo, irony!).

My question: if you had to be handicapped like Harrison, what would you have to deal with on a daily basis (please be realistic)?

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~*~ Don't forget to floss! ~*~

I liked Ms. Wegner's question about Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron, because it brings up a lot of valid points about what Vonnegut does/did as an author.  He uses humor to communicate the disgusting truths that most of us try to ignore.  We're torn between the desire to laugh at the ridiculousness of the human race or to despair over it.  Current manifestations... I agree with equal opportunity and welfare programs to a certain degree.  I think that these concepts were initially built upon good principles, but how far is too far and what level of equality are we talking about?  Financially, scholastically - yes, mentally and physically - that's when we run into trouble.  So my answer is yes, I do see a current move in society toward not wanting to make anyone feel inferior.  This makes me think of a joke Jay Leno made when there was talk of completely eliminating the SAT's.  Why give high school students false pride by taking away the dose of reality most of them get when they make a low score?

My question: Are there any other cautionary themes that you see in "Harrison"?

   

SRosemeyer's question: if you had to be handicapped like Harrison, what would you have to deal with on a daily basis (please be realistic)?

Vonnegut's short story Harrison Bergeron is so fascinating and it is a fascinating idea to wonder about what life would be like under these "handicaps." I try to imagine what it would be like if all the things I enjoyed or am good at I had to be "handicapped" to do: playing the piano with twenty pound weights on both of my forearms, reading with glasses that are slowling ruining my eyesight, studying with a television blarring right behind my computer, or trying to cook a cake with an oven that doesn't heat evenly.

My question: What is the significance of the "weightlessness" Harrison and the Ballerina experience at the end of the story?

 

By Michele Goedinghaus