Nice to Eat (with) You.
"...if you're breaking bread you're not breaking heads." (Foster, page 8)
The talk of the sharing of communion for characters in literature who are involved in meal scenes is one thing I could never have come up with on my own, but it makes perfect sense after reading chapter 2. Think back to any date you've ever had, were you ever nervous about eating in front of this new acquaintance? It's reasonable to say yes, I'm sure we've all been there. I'm taken back to Christmas Eve dinners with my family, where it could be the most comfortable situation, and there would still be some underlying feud, that would temporarily resolve itself for the meal. It's very interesting to think of meals as a distraction or a sort of communion or trust factor. Now, I feel as though I can see that way. Maybe I saw it that way before and just never thought about it...
"In order to remain undead, I must steal the life force of someone whose fate matters less to me than my own." (Foster, page 21)
Now that Foster has mention vampires, I, of course, am immediately reminded of the novel Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Meyer's Vampire characters are not your "typical, run-of-the-mill" vampires, because they somehow manage to control their thoughts similar to the quote above. The reason why the other 'evil' (or normal, however you want to put it) vampires in this novel look at the Cullen vampires as if they are ridiculous, is because, as stated in the quote, selfishness and exploitation of others is expected and seen as normal for them, not only in their world but in the general literary world as well. It never made sense to me before why the character James couldn't just walk away and leave the Cullens and Bella alone. It's because in this novel, the Cullens are the 'freaks' of the vampire world, and James is doing what real vampires are supposed to do, trying to suck the life out of someone that matters less to him than he matters to himself.
And, a little side note, I don't know about anyone else, but this author had me laughing out loud with his little quotes and puns and such. He's very entertaining.
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Carlos Peredo on Nice to Eat (with) You.: I didn't read or see Twilight,
I didn't read or see Twilight, so I don't know much about the Vampire connections and such. However, I like your point about communion. Think about how many times people do business over lunch, or take a client out to dinner when they are trying to persuade him. Sharing communion is a very open display of letting your guard down and, when the gesture is returned, can open incredible friendships.
In ancient Mongolia the tribes often fought and warred amongst each other. Whenever tribe members would go to each other in peace they always brought bread and milk, and before any words were exchanged between the two leaders they would each drink the others offering. Each leader knew not to poison to poison the meal because they could themselves be getting poisoned at the same time. Thus, no one ever poisoned anybody because it was the only way to keep the perfect understanding of peace amongst the communion.
I know that I am sort of getting off the topic of our homework, but I want to mention to something about Twilight. I agree that James did not understand the Cullens and that could have put an intrest into him for not leaving them alone,but also remember thaT James was a tracker. By Edward defending Bella, he gave James the hunt of a lifetime.
I also want to say that I do agree that Foster is laugh out loud funny.
Now,to get back on track, i agree with your first comment. I also did not think of dinner meals and the signifcance of them until reading chapter 2. Also maybe there is truth in that you did see the significance in it before. I was thinking that myself. Maybe it is just that it is a common shared knowledge that we know hoe it feels to be in a situation when eating and there for dont give it much thought when we read about a dinner scene.