XI - In Bed

In Bed

Summary

- Joan Didion

The essay, "IN BED" written by Joan Didion revolves around the problem of migraine headache. According to the author migraine headache differs from the ordinary headache. In migraine headache either the left or right temple of the head is affected whereas in the ordinary headache there is pain in the whole head. She talks about migraine in general and her own in particular. The author herself is one of the victim of migraine headache. She talks about the misconception regarding migraine. She comes to the objective point of medical knowledge. She discusses about the cause and effect of it. Though she faces many ups and down due to migraine at last she handles the pain and suffering with an intellectual response.

         The author herself is suffering from migraine headache. She has gone through many problems caused by migraine headache. She tells that there is misconception among people regarding migraine. People think that "migraine is fancy of neurotic imagination". It means it is just a made up of mental problem out of stressed and disturbed mind. But the writer tells that migraine is something more than the fancy of a neurotic imagination.She further tells that the one who has directly experience migraine headache can only feel its pain. Generally people think that some of causing factors behind migraine headache are eye strain,brain tumor and high blood pressure but the writer tells that neither she has eye strain nor brain tumor nor high blood pressure but still she is suffering from migraine headache. Rather she tells that anything can attack migraine headache such as stress,allergy,an abrupt change in barometric pressure and sudden flashing light etc.

               From general point of view of migraine headache she comes to the particular view. Particular view means her own personal experience regarding migraine. She sometimes feels ashamed of herself because she has to tell a lie by choosing an option that she suffers from migraine only sometimes while filling of application form. She tells that migraine is heredity since her grandmother,father and her mother were also suffering from migraine headache. Quite surprising she tells that even her husband is also a sufferer. Out of it,she suppose herself to be fortunate to have husband who is suffering from migraine headache. In spite of the fact that he himself is unlucky at least he can understand the writer's problem.

         The writer went through the medical treatment she has taken many medicine but nothing worked. She faced many obstacles. She could not tolerate the pain and suffering caused by migraine headache. She let no stone unturned to find solution to her problem medically but she is not able to come out of it. But recently she has developed an art to handle and manage the problem of migraine. In doing so,she gives an intellectual response to migraine headache. She no more fights with migraine rather she accepts it since it is bitter reality. Whenever,migraine approaches her problem, she lies down and let it happen. She concentrates over pain and does yoga as result after few minutes of suffering she finds herself relived and relaxed.

XI - Look at a Teacup

Look at a Teacup

Analysis

- Patricia Hampl

"Look at a teacup" is an essay written by Patricia Hampl. The essay shows two major themes; they are the relationship between the writer and her mother and the connection between present and the past. Both themes are presented by a teacup.

The teacup was bought by writer's mother in 1939 in Czechoslovakia when the Second World War started. The same year the writer's mother got married to an American who was born in Czechoslovakia. The same year Czechoslovakia was destroyed by the armies of Hitler. Now the teacup has been handed to the writer by her mother. It connects the mother and the writer and past and present because it was made in 1939 in Czechoslovakia and was with writer's mother then and now it has been with her. The writer likes her mother to give other things and the true historical information about her mother's past life. But her mother doesn't want to talk about past. So the only way writer can know about her mother's past life and her ancestral land Czechoslovakia is by looking at the teacup. It means the writer reads about her mother's past history in the teacup. Her mother hands over the culture and tradition to her by giving her teacup. By handing over teacup, her mother wants her to get married, but the writer refuses it. Her mother and writer are different in their opinions in other senses also. When the writer was small, she said work was most important thing in the world. But her mother said, family was important for a woman. Likewise, when her mother wanted her to get married, the writer thought that many people didn't get married. So it was not necessary to marry. She thought past was important but her mother thought future was important. Her mother wanted her daughter (writer) to carry on the culture but the writer wants to set her future life herself.

The cup is a detail, a small uncharred finger from the mid-century bonfire. The mid-century bonfire refers to the Second World War that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The word 'finger' refers to the work of art from Czechoslovakia. When Czechoslovakia was attacked by German soldiers, many things were destroyed, especially by fire. The cup, however, remained safe because it was taken to America by writer's mother. The cup was not burnt. Looking at the cup, the writer gets lots more information about Czechoslovakia at the time of its destruction by relating the pictures painted in the cup with the incidents that took place in the war. So, cup is a detail, a small uncharred finger from mid-century bonfire.

The writer says 'many things fell that year'. The year refers to 1939 when Second World War started in Europe. The war caused many things to fall, for example, human bodies fell dead in the streets after the explosions caused by falling bombs. The sentence also refers to people falling into their marriage beds. Many people got married in 1939 because they were worried about the war. Men were worried that they would be killed so they got married before they were sent to fight. Even young people lay dead on the battle field. Not only that, many countries fell on the hands of other countries when they were attacked by enemies.

There are pictures of falling flowers painted inside the cup. These flowers seem to have been dropped into the cup and they are falling towards the bottom. The writer has compared the falling flowers from falling bombs to getting married. By showing this, she shows her hatred towards marriage. Not only that, when the innocent people including the women and children were killed in war, people's faith on traditional values like marriage and their faith on humanity was lost. They lost their faith on sovereignty of their countries when they fell under the control of enemies. The falling flowers also refer to the destruction of their culture due to Second World War.

The teacup is an example of the art of Czechoslovakia. It is a finger and the nation Czechoslovakia is body. The writer shows that body (nation) was destroyed but finger (teacup) remained safe, representing the past glory of Czechoslovakia.

"Many things fell that year."

The sentence, 'Many things fell that year' takes us to the past, to 1939 when the Second World War began in Europe. The war brought massive destructions and caused many things to fall. In this context, the human bodies fell dead in streets after the explosions caused by the falling bombs. The sentence also refers to people falling into their marriage beds. Many people got married in 1939 because they were worried about the war and their life. The virginity and identity of women fell and they were confined to household affairs. Even the young people lay dead in the battle field. The sentence also talks about the infrastructures and nation development works that were collapsed as a result of war. Not only that, many countries fell on the hands of other countries when they were attacked by the enemies. The pride, prestige, sovereignty and nationality fell and collapsed. Citizens fell into the pit of slavery. The art, cultures, unity and everything else of the nation fell and collapsed.

Thus, this sentence has emphasized on the fact that the beautiful achievements of mankind fell into the dirtiest trap laid by mankind itself.

"The cup is a detail, a small uncharred finger from the mid century bonfire"

The sentence "The cup is a detail, a small uncharred finger from the mid century bonfire" has related various events of the past from just a small cup. The cup here, has depicted the history, according to the writer. The writer has compared the cup with the detail or source of information speaking the past. The mid-century bonfire refers to the Second World War that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The word 'finger' refers to the work of art from Czechoslovakia. When Czechoslovakia was attacked by German soldiers, many things were destroyed, especially by fire. The arts, cultural heritages etc. were lost due to the destruction caused by war. The cup, however, remained safe because it was taken to America by writer's mother. Thus, the cup was not burnt. Looking at the cup, the writer got lots of information about Czechoslovakia at the time of its destruction by relating the pictures painted in the cup, with the various incidents that took place in the war.

Thus, the cup is a small piece of art which remained undamaged in the destructions but includes the past within itself, and acts as a mirror of the bitter truths and heart breaking reality of the war and the past as a whole.

XII - Purgatory

Purgatory

Summary

 - W.B.Yeats

The play written by W.B Yeats explores the human relation to the supernatural world. It is written on the belief that the soul of the dead body goes to the purgatory before going to heaven and purgatory is such a place where the soul of the dead body gets cleansed for pardonable sins before going to heaven. In the play, the playwright shows the Christian traditional belief on life after death.

In the play, the souls of the old man’s parents suffer in purgatory as they had committed different crimes when they were in this visible world. His mother didn't follow the advice of her parents and his father destroyed everything in his life by drinking and spending a lot. Destruction takes place throughout the play. The main theme is the crime of older generation may be repeated by the new generations in an endless cycle of life. It also suggests if the head of the family is bad, the children become the sufferer in this visible world or the polluted blood always passes on the polluted blood. It is about a patricide as the old man kills his father and it is about a homicide as he kills his own son. For the first time, he commits his sin that he had committed many years ago and being worried about purgatory life or to break the tradition of his family, he kills his own son and feels happy.

One night, the old man and the boy were passing through a ruined house. The old man made the boy stop there and asked him to study the house. But the boy didn't want to stop since he could see only a bare tree. However, he entered the house and commented about it that there were no windows, no floor and no roof. When they were talking in a friendly way, he revealed that it was a house where he was born, where many great people had lived and died. He also informed the boy that the house was owned by his mother and later it was occupied by his father. He told the boy again and again that the spirit of his mother and father were living there.

This present remark makes the son because he knew that he had killed his grandfather. Actually when the old man's mother died in child bearing, his father spent money by drinking and having relationship with other women. The old man during his childhood wasn't sent to school for having a good education but was taught by the priest at home. When he was sixteen years old, his father had burnt down the house in a drunken frenzy and he had killed him and had escaped from there. At the same time, the old man heard the hoof-beats of the horse and asked the boy to listen to it but the boy couldn't hear any sound and mockingly accused his father of madness. The old man remembered/imagined the wedding night of his parents. At that time, the boy tried to seize the bag carried by old man. In the struggle of seizing the bag, all the money was scattered on the ground. While the boy was trying to collect the money, the old man stabbed him to death with a same knife that he killed his father. Then he prayed to god asking to release his mother's soul from purgatory. He also said that he had killed his son to stop the polluted blood passing on and on, and to stop the violence forever.

Q: What is the old man's motive in murdering the boy?

Ans: The old man being a catholic believed that his mother's soul still suffered in purgatory because of the sins she committed and because of the polluted blood that flows within him and his son. He believes that his mother's soul will never rest in peace until the cycle of polluted blood flowed in his generations. Moreover, his son trying to seize the money from him convinced him that his son would commit more sins later and pollute the blood even more. Thus, in order to help his mother's soul rest in peace in heaven and to end the cycle of the sins committed by polluted blood, he killed the boy. Above all, the old man's motive in murdering the boy was to lessen the sufferings in purgatory after death.

XII - The Boarding House

The Boarding House

Summary

- James Joyce

This is a story of love and adolescence. The central character of the story is Mrs. Mooney. She is a strong, determined and a reserved woman. She represents the awakening woman of 20^th century who crosses the boundaries made by the male dominating societies. She is a representation of a new woman who never tolerates the domination and exploitation of males. In the story, the writer focuses on her relationship with her daughter. She is shown here as a confident and complete mother as she knows to deal with different kinds of relationships.

Mrs. Mooney was a daughter of a butcher. Her husband worked for her father. When he father died, her husband turned to be a drunkard. He misused the money by drinking a lot and misbehaved with her in presence of customers because of which her shop was about to collapse. One night, her husband entered with a knife in a drunken frenzy to attack her and she had to sleep in her neighbor’s house. Next morning, she went to church and got divorced from him. She began to live separately. She was independent to think about her life and her children’s. She was concerned about the future of her children. Thinking that her shop wouldn’t help her sustain, she sold it and opened a boarding house. Her daughter, Miss Polly began to work in an office but she couldn’t continue her job due to the frequent disturbance from her father. Then Mrs. Mooney intentionally made her work in her boarding house where Miss Polly fell in love with Mr. Doran.

Many people in the house began to talk about their relationship but Mrs. Mooney didn’t stop her daughter having the relationship with M. Doran. She waited for the right time. When she saw little strange manners in her daughter, she thought it was the right time to talk. She called Mr. Doran in her house for dinner. She thought that no any compensation would pay for the enjoyment he had with her relationship. Mrs. Polly was a 19 year old girl who was beautiful and inexperienced whereas Mr. Doran was a middle aged man and experienced as well. So Mrs. Mooney was not ready to excuse him at any cost thinking that money wasn't enough. But Mr. Doran had a good excuse for not accepting Miss Polly. He said his father wouldn’t accept their marriage and he himself viewed that Miss Polly couldn’t speak English well, she was not highly educated and her family background wasn’t good. But Mrs. Mooney didn’t let him go without a payment. In the last of the story, she called her daughter saying that Mr. Doran wanted to speak to Miss Polly.