SQ

"SQ"

Ursula Le Guin 

"An asylum means a place of shelter, a place of cure. Let there be no stigma attached to the word 'insane,' to the word 'asylum,' to the words 'insane asylum'! No! For the asylum is the haven of mental health-the place of cure, where the anxious find peace, where the weak gain strength, where the prisoners of inadequate reality assessment win their own freedom!"

I am still unsure as to how I feel about the piece as a whole, but this passage really stood out to me. It was so powerful. I found myself nodding to the words. I felt as though I was at the meeting and I wanted Mr. Speakie to succeed so that his would be true. 

I looked up the definitions of each of these definitions:

Insane: "in a state of mind that prevents normal perception, behavior, or social interaction; seriously mentally ill."

Asylum: "an institution offering shelter and support to people who are mentally ill."

Insane Asylum: "a hospital for mentally incompetent or unbalanced person."

None of those terms seam condescending or like they should have a stigma to them, but they do, they should't but they do. Psychology and sanity are pretty clear themes throughout this story and I began thinking about how we look at these things today. It made me think a lot about the beginning of mental health and the universality of it. I wondered lot about what made Mr. Speakie qualified to be the administrator of this project and how when talking about someone's sanity they are no longer credible. In my psychology class we learned that if a patient has a brain injury they need someone else to accompany to them to doctor's appointments to vouch for the their claims. 

The story said that the people working for Mr. Speakie had to take the test quite a few times and people got nervous. It made me wonder if you are a fully functioning adult who has a job, would you want to take the test? If you are just a little bit on the insane spectrum, but you are able to live a normal happy life would you want to know? WOuld having that label on insane or a number score that tells the world that your brain cannot function at 100% efficiency help you? Maybe its better no to know. 

This story made me think a lot about other things I had read or movies I had watched on the subject of sanity, such as One Flew Over the CucKoos Nest and Shutter Island. Shutter Island reminds me a lot of this story and thinking about the early stages of handling mental illness. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxMo__fkCqM

G-d of Love

G-d of Love

"I take it back. It's more important to me that you are happy." 11:23

I chose this quote as my favorite quote from the movie. I know that this probably isn't what you expected it be. I think the intention of this movie was to get the audience to think about love. When I watched it however, I thought about friendship way more. By the end of the movie you see two couple who are madly in love with each other, that wouldn't have been if they weren't stabbed by a love arrow. It makes you wonder if the love is real. Are they under some kind of spell to change how they? or does the arrow just make them realize how they felt all along? This isn't answered in the movie. The love depicted still leaves you with a lot of unanswered questions. The one thing that is consistent and clear is the friendship that is there. 

I know I spent my whole last blog post talking about what a hopeless romantic I am, but I think friendship is even more important. (That is probably why my favorite stories are the ones where best friends end up together.) The friendship depicted in this movie is so amazing that I feel that it should be the focus of the move. Not romantic love but the love of a friend. 

When Raymond is trying to woo Kelly, he knows he can count on Fozzy. Fozzy knows that Kelly is in love with him but would rather make his friend happy that to create a happy relationship for himself. Not only does Fozzy help Raymond but he does even more than Raymond asks. He changed the theme and the meal to things he knows Kelly will like better to do everything he can to make sure things go well for Raymond. Fozzy doesn't believe in the love darts, but puts all of his feelings aside to support his friend's happiness. I chose that part to write about because I think the strongest relationships in this movie are the friendships, not the romantic ones and I think a good friendship is often overlooked. 

This all comes together in the end when Raymond realizes Kelly does't love him in a romantic way, but maybe as a friend. So, like a good friend, Raymond does fro Kelly what Fozzy did for him, and helps the person Kelly loves fall in love with her, even though it hurts him.  

Happy Endings

Happy Endings

Margaret Atwood

1983

"You'll have to face it, the endings are the same however you slice it. Don't be deluded by any other endings, they're all fake, either deliberately fake, with malicious intent to deceive, or just motivated by excessive optimism if not by downright sentimentality. 

The only authentic ending is the one provided here:

John and Mary die. John and Mary die. John and Mary die."

This is my favorite story we have read so far. I love romantic stories and this one flipped all of the preconceived notations of love stories I had around. It made me question everything I thought to be true of a love story. I naively thought a love story is one where two people love each other, and while there may be some struggling time, in the end, they live happily ever after. Every one of the endings to this story proved me wrong. Each story contains some aspect of love, whether or not both people felt it. The only consistent thing is that everyone always died, which a much more realistic approach to ending a story. 

I love this quote because I am one of those people who enjoy the "deliberately fake" endings because of "excessive optimism," and "downright sentimentality." I am a hopeless romantic and would love to live one of those happily ever after stories. I know that isn't a sensible way to look at things, but when you read a love story or watch a movie, it does give you that false sense of optimism that it could happen to you. On an intellectual level I know the difference between real life and a story but I sometimes can't help but dream. As far as sentimentality, I am a very emotional person. When I read a story with an exaggerated plot, I am the person who will cry, "aww," as the story comes to that predictable, cheesy ending. 

Before reading this story I looked at love stories like theses clips:

Pitch Perfect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QxmVkNX_z8 "Endings are the best part."

Easy A: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBnBgFBH-nc "I want my life to me like an 80s movie."

However, after reading this story and thinking very clearly as to how stories, romantic and otherwise, I have more realistic outlook.

This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona

"This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona"
Sherman Alexie
Esquire, 1994

"Victor knew that Thomas would remain the crazy storyteller who talked to dogs and cars, who listened to the wind and pine trees. Victor knew that he couldn't really be friends with Thomas, even after all that had happened. It was cruel but it was real. As real as the ashes, as Victor's father, sitting behind the seats. 'I know how it is,' Thomas said. 'I know you ain't going to treat me any better than you did before. I know your friends would give you too much shit about it.'
Victor was ashamed of himself. Whatever happened to the tribal ties, the sense of community? The only real thing he shared with anybody was a bottle and broken dreams."

I chose this passage because I found it to be vey emotional. Two boys who were friends as kids can no longer be friends due to some kind of status quo. Their lives went in two different directions as adults and then crossed again. After a tremendously emotional road trip, flashing back to all of their memories, their friendship will never be rekindled due to their positions in the community.

The story mentions that Thomas is the story teller in tribe and kind of has a crazy reputation. No matter the past theses two boys share, Victor can't be seen talking to him because then other people passing by may think Victor is crazy too. This is something both men knew and neither one took offense to. I did like that Victor felt ashamed and recognized the flaw in the system. He still was not going to talk to Thomas much but at least he knew that was the wrong thing to do and felt some remorse. I know that actively doing something you know is wrong is not a good thing, but I think in this case it is. The reason theses two people have the understanding is because of the pressure from their surrounding community. I like that Victor, while still conforming to the ideas of the community, questioned them.

I think this clip is a lot like the ending of the movie The Breakfast Club. A lot of kids from different social groups all bond over a day in Saturday detention. They talk about a lot of personal and family history but then they realize no matter how strong the bond they created that day is, they will have to go back to their own peers at school on Monday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OMuX561ykM

A Diamond Guitar

"A Diamond Guitar"
Truman Capote

"When another man receives a letter, he brings it to Mr. Schaeffer. Most of these letters are sad and complaining; very often Mr. Schaeffer improvises more cheerful messages and does not read what is written on the page. In the sleep house there are two other men who can read. Even so, one of them brings his letters to Mr. Schaeffer, who obliges be never reading the truth. Mr. Schaeffer himself does not receive mail, not even on Christmas."

I chose this quote because it is point in the story where I fell in love with Mr. Schaeffer as a character. At this point I would describe Mr. Schaeffer as a selfless caretaker. He never gets letters himself, which is really sad. Instead of being bitter about this, however, he tries to make getting mail a positive experience for everyone else.

The story describes him as a man who has the respect of everyone, even the Captain. That is shown in this quote too. Even the men who can read, want Mr. Schaeffer to read their mail for them.

Before we learn that Mr. Schaeffer is at the farm for murdering another man, there is a lot of evidence to support the fact that he is holds the caretaker roll. When Tico Feo first came and played the guitar, Mr. Scaheffer comments on how nice it was to hear all of men laughing. It is a very parental trait to find joy in the joy of others. He then makes sure that Tico Feo adjusts comfortably by congratulating him after he plays, gives him dolls for his sister, and befriends him quickly. Once they become friends, Mr. Schaeffer remarks several times that Tico Feo is still growing and needs more than he does for he is old. He gives him candy bars and oranges that he buys with his own money. It is very like a parent to give all they have to younger people and to concern themselves with the young person's growth.

Mr. Schaeffer is to me, what people call a Hemingway Hero or Anti-Hero. Even though he is in jail for murder, you cant help but love him and want to him to be happy. He reminds me of a character from the TV show How I met your mother. Barney Stinson, one of the characters does not know who his father is and often hints to the fact that his mother was not the greatest mother in the world, however both Barney and viewers of the show can't help but love her. She, like Mr. Schaeffer, made mistakes, but always did all she could do to make her son happy. When no one came to his birthday party, Loretta told her son that they got a letter from the Postmaster General apologizing for losing all of the invitations. When he got  cut from the basketball team, she told him it was because he was so good that it wasn't fair to the other kids. Both Loretta and Mr. Scheffer try to keep everyone else happy, even while making mistakes and not being all that happy themselves.

"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place"
Ernest Hemingway (1933)

"What did he fear? It was not a fear or dread. It was a nothing that he knew too well. It was all nothing and a man was a nothing too. It was only that and light was all it needed and a certain cleanness and order. Some lived in it and never felt it but he knew it all was nada."

The young waiter, oblivious to his surroundings, was rude to the old man who was seeking a haven in the cafe. While closing the cafe the older waiter admits to having similar feelings of the old man. It was this point in the story where it all came together to me. Earlier when asked why the old man tried to kill himself, the waiter says it was over "nothing." I, along with the younger waiter took this to mean that there was no reason for the old man to kill himself. It is here that we learn the reality. The old man wanted to kill himself because he had nothing. 

We know that the old man has a niece and plenty of money but that is it. His wife passed away. His house his empty. He has nothing to go home to. It is much easier to sit in a clean, well lit cafe, then to sit in a dark house, full of memories all alone. 

I like how the author describes nothing has an object. Rather than to say he doesn't have anything, they say he has nothing. I feel like that is a more positive way to look at a very sad situation. It says that he has one thing rather than he doesn't have anything. Even though the one thing he has is nothing. 

This story made me sad because both the waiter and the old man felt that they had nothing and needed to seek a place for the evening. They both felt alone and that no one understood. I feel as though maybe, they both just needed a friend. Had they talked to each other, they could have felt better. There is a song called "People are Crazy," that I think relates to this well. An old man is sitting in a bar and talks to a younger man all night until they got kicked out. Soon, the singer learns that the old man has died and left all of his money to him. The old man did not have a good relationship with his family. Al he needed was someone to talk to that night and it changed his life. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKpQRjj_WbU