I am so sick of hearing about football and its not even here yet... this has to be a sign. Check out Mike Rubino's Blog for 10 reasons why football doesn't belong at SHU.
I often wonder how Lily would have turned out if she had not lost her mother Debora at such a young age. Would she be one of the popular girls at school with her hair all in curls with a short skirt on. How about being a writer? Would Mrs. Henry still have a great influence over her? Lily may have wanted to become a house wife depending on the example of her mother. Instead all she had was a few reminders of her mother, gloves, photograph,, black madonna lable. "I kept these things of hers inside a tinbox buried in the orchard"(14). Too bad all that she had was a box of memories. Lily was a lonley Motherless Daughter, whose only friend in the world was Rosaleen.
I often wonder how Lily would have turned out if she had not lost her mother Debora at such a young age. Would she be one of the popular girls at school with her hair all in curls with a short skirt on. How about being a writer? Would Mrs. Henry still have a great influence over her? Lily may have wanted to become a house wife depending on the example of her mother. Instead all she had was a few reminders of her mother, gloves, photograph,, black madonna lable. "I kept these things of hers inside a tinbox buried in the orchard"(14). Too bad all that she had was a box of memories. Lily was a lonley Motherless Daughter, whose only friend in the world was Rosaleen.
When Lily lost her we see that she cannot rest until she finds out more about her mothers past. This is the only way that Lily can face her future. After losing a loved one it is necessary to go through a grieving process. There are three main 'steps' or 'levels' of grieving:
Shock and/ or Denial
Emotionalor Physical pain
Reorganization and Intergration
In The Secret Life of Bees there is evidence of Lily going through this grieving process.
Shock or Denial: Lily shows signs of denial on page 100 when she speaks to Rosaleen, "How do you know she isn't alive right now in this very town?" She yearns for a mother figure so much that she grasps at staws and even says T-Ray coulsd be lying.
Emotional or Physical Pain: While in the truck with Zach Lily says, "I will Never throw rose petals to anybody"I said., "Then I broke down, the kind of crying when you're sucking in ai and making heaving noises like a person drowning... In one short morning I have exhibited insane laughter, hidden lust, pisy behavior, and hysterical crying" (128).
While on the 104 degree day laying in her cot, "I closed my eyes, the balloon of craving finally burst open in my chest, and whether it did, you wouldn't know that one minute I was dreaming of Zach and the next I was hungering formy mother, imaginig her calling out my name saying Lily girl you are my flower" (134).
Reorganization and Integration: Through the help of supporting charaters such as Ms. Henry, Rosaleen, August, and Zach, Lily finds that she can and she must live her life for herself and in memeory of her mother. Early on in the book while in Mrs. Henry's class,
L.O.:"Up until Mrs. Henry came along, I'd believe that beauty college would be the upper limit of my career."
M.H.:"Please lily, don't insult your fine intellegence. Do you know how smart you are? You could be a professor or writer with actual books to your credit. Beauty school. Please"
While watering the bees Lily was stung and August told her she was a true bee keeper. "I will add that to my list of careers. A writer, an english teacher, and a bee keeper" (164).
"The wanting-her was still in me, but it wasn't nearly as fiece." I the above statement we see signs of growth and healing. One never 'gets over' a death be the sting becomes less as the years go on.
1.What are some other places in "The Secret Life of Bee's" where we see these steps of grieving?
2.Have you ever lost someone close to you? Can you relate to Lily's situation?
3. Any questions for me?:-D
The Secret Life of Bee's is so jam packed full of interesting topics that it is hard for me to narrow it down to blog about. Race relations in the 1960's, Child abuse, Religion, and Manic depression are just a few issues that I have come up with from the top of my head. I would really like some input on what the rest of the class would be interested in discussing. please give me a clue!
After reading a Street Car Named Desire I think that Stanley was an awful man and his wife, Stella was crazy to marry him. Their relationship seemed to be based solely on lust which is a very weak bond. This why even though he clashed with Blanche's personality, he had no right to rape her. I was disgusted at the fact that he would do such a thing especially while Stella was giving birth to his baby. This truely proved his amimal-like savagery that Blanche blatantly stated to her sister Stella.
to be continued...
The poem Never Again Would Birds’ Song Be the Same is said to be one of America’s greatest love poems. In the poem “he” or Adam speaks of how “having heard the daylong voice of Eve” has brought more beauty and richness to the earth. From a distance Adam observed the intermingling of the birds’ song with Eve’s voice. He saw the affect that Eve’s song has had on the birds’ song. One woman changed the way that all the birds of the earth sing. The last two lines of the poem, “Never again would birds’ song be the same. And to do that to birds was why she came.” Adam reflects on the coming of Eve and one thing she did for the world.
The poem Never Again Would Birds’ Song Be the Same is said to be one of America’s greatest love poems. In the poem “he” or Adam speaks of how “having heard the daylong voice of Eve” has brought more beauty and richness to the earth. From a distance Adam observed the intermingling of the birds’ song with Eve’s voice. He saw the affect that Eve’s song has had on the birds’ song. One woman changed the way that all the birds of the earth sing. The last two lines of the poem, “Never again would birds’ song be the same. And to do that to birds was why she came.” Adam reflects on the coming of Eve and one thing she did for the world.
The surface meaning and the characters in Frost’s Never Again Would Birds’ Song Be the Same seem easily decipherable, but it could be that we are missing the underlying subject matter. It is hard to tell how much of Frost’s personal life experiences affected his poetry. Some say that the late Elinor Frost was really the poem’s “Eve”. Other scholars focus on the literal character of Adam and Eve, and their relationship after the fall of man from paradise. By weight arguments from several scholars the subject matter of Never Again Would Birds’ Song Be the Same will become clearer.
Frost published his poem in 1942 which coincides with the recent loss of his wife Elinor four years previously. M.A. Fike’s essay claims that Never Again Would Birds’ Song Be the Same is a reflection on the sorrowful loss of his marriage with the joy of finding happiness with his secretary Kay Morrison. In using the word ‘never’ Frost describes the finality of death or change in the birds’ song, which could be his realization of his mortality and that of Elinor. “The sonnet’s very language, then, implies has indeed been lost contrary to the claim” (Fike). Because Elinor was deceased, Frost was unable to communicate with his beloved wife. In reading this poem, it is easy to see the tenderness of love both old and new sprouting to life. For example, in the lines “ Admittedly the eloquence so soft could only have had an influence on birds when call or laughter carried it across” the significance of the word laughter could be an implication, that Frost’s personal life was taking a turn for the better (Line 6-8). Fike expresses this well saying, “the sense that the ‘birds’ song’ is a love poem for Kay Morrison, the sonnet form indicates the poet’s attempt to forge out order in the midst of chaos-- The fall out of happiness in his marriage but on a larger scale the fall he shares with humanity.” The last words of Fike’s statement, the “fall he [Frost]shares with humanity” make the idea of the relationship between Adam and Eve seem to be the real subject matter of Never Again Would Birds’ Song Be the Same. In the bible, Adam and Eve were the first humans to fall from grace when they ate the forbidden fruit. Because of Frost’s comment it seems that he realizes his place in the human race, how we all fall at some point in our lives.
When looking at the biblical story of Adam and Eve, you see that their relationship changed from having perfect trust and love to one tainted with deception. However, Adam seems to admire the beauty Eve brought to the earth from a distance after they were banished from Eden. Heaney describes that blissfulness of the poem is a “ counter weight” to the truth of Adam and Eve’s life after paradise. Eve’s songs are now only a memory for them that still remains in the birds’ song (80). In the same way Frost’s late wife was left only as a memory of her influence, “she dominated my art with the power her character and nature.” After being kicked out of Eden and thrust into a new mindset, Adam and longs for the ability to create in the ever-changing world around him. On the other hand, Frost’s needs contradict and are full of opposing influences: the fear of process, annihilation, age, death, loss of creative powers in one end and the necessity for imperfection on the other end. These become obvious allusion to the fall of mankind due to the consumption of apples (Oster 245). Adam and Eve went from a timeless paradise to dealing with age and death.
Frost seems to go beyond the surface of the story of Adam and Eve and sees the story from Adam’s perspective. In one-way Frost’s purpose of writing Never Again Would Birds’ Song be the Same is to uncover the distance between “he”, the implied Adam, and Eve. O’gorman points out, “ The poem allows her [Eve’s] voice is heard by the birds, and that the birds are heard by him, but there is an intriguing distance and absence…” In reading Never Again Would Birds’ Song be the Same one notices that Adam and Eve never speak to one another. Eve focused on the birds and they are entranced in each other’s song while Adam is a silent observer. “Her voice is solitary, its subject matter, its meaning is kept form us, just as perhaps; it does not reach him.” This could be how Frost was feeling when he was writing his poem. There was distance and separation between himself and the love of his life as was with the story of Adam and Eve.
Poetry itself can be straightforward, representative, or tangled with a plethora of interpretations. Never Again would Birds’ Song be the Same can be thought of as a love poem from Adam to Eve, or a mechanism for grieving for Frost because of the loss of Elinor. Other scholars believe that his relationship with Kay Morrison was the motivation for this poem. The only person who knows the answer is Robert Frost, but who is to say that poetry is not a yearning of the soul or subconscious. I believe that Frost was comparing the distance he felt from Elinor with the damaged bond of Adam and Eve. Never Again Would Birds’ Song be the Same. Is one of my favorite poems because of the tender expression of devotion between a husband and his wife.
Works Cited
Brodsky, Joseph, Seamus Heaney, Derek Walcaott. Homage to Robert Frost. Rarrar Straus Giroux, New York: 1996.
Fike, M.A. Explicator. “Frost’s Never Again would Birds Song be the Same” Vol. 49.2 (108, 5p). Winter (1991). 17 Feb. 2004. Academic Search Elite.
O’gorman, Francis. Explicator. “Frost’s Never Again would Birds Song be the Same.” Vol.58.2 . Winter (2000). 17 Feb. 2004. Academic Search Elite.
During my time reading Waiting for Lefty I experienced an array of emotions. I think that this play allows the reader to see many aspects of depression in the 1930's through the dynamic characters.
You picture an imposing Harry Fatts attempting to stop the union from striking. I felt the guit that Joe possessed when he was facing Edna, his wife and I wanted to make life better for them. When Edna gave Joe a a threat and pep talk in one it made me want to go out and strike. My heart ached when the Sid, the young Hack, tried to make life better for his fiance of three years by breaking off there engagement . They realized that they were unable to live without each other as Florence cradled his head in her lap after they shared their last dance. Weepiong because they couldn't even raise a family on the wage that taxi drivers were paid. They had to strike for a LIVING wage. These were the most significant characters to me in Waiting For Lefty.
What charaters significantly affected your opinion on the strike?