Some Misunderstood Words and a Nice Quote

Memory. A powerful yet painful brain ability. That reminds us of what we did in the past. A partner to the conscious, yet a reminder of our mistakes, tragedies and unconformities.  It can be used as a tool, for some exam for example, or as a mean for remembering a person's name, but somehow it is not precisely used for that rather as a mean of remembrance of what we really want to forget. "You forget what you want to remember and you remember what you want to forget" (Pg. 12), a moral compass to our lives, yet a contributor to our lack of priorities. Memory causes emotions, it contributes to our actions and most importantly it creates our past, yet it prevents us from moving on.

"He descended into a gryke in the stone and there he crouched coughing and he coughed for a long time" (Pg. 11)

Gryke:

-Noun
	A solution fissure, a vertical crack about 0.5 m wide formed bythe dissolving of limestone by water, that divides an exposedlimestone surface into sections or clints. "Have you a neck by which to throttle you" (Pg. 11) Throttle: - verb (used with object) 1. to stop the breath of by compressing the throat; strangle. 2. to choke or suffocate in any way. 3. to compress by fastening something tightly around. 4. to silence or check as if by choking: His message wasthrottled by censorship. Machinery. a. to obstruct or check the flow of (a fluid), as to controlthe speed of an engine. b. to reduce the pressure of (a fluid) by passing it from asmaller area to a larger one.

Change.

There is no need for an apocalypse to go through change. The world does not have to end to see that people and things are not as what they used to be. Time changes everything, and as it goes by we change even more.

As I read, "Everything as it once had been save faded and weathered" (Pg. 8) I had a sudden flashback. And it was my return to school after being away for while. Everything changed, no one was the same. Social groups changed, people had different interests, the school changed some policies but most importantly I changed. I perceived everything differently and realized how even if everything was different, I couldn't just stick to the past. I had to bear with the change and embrace it. Just as the boy and his dad did. They did not expect change, but they followed the road to survive. They lost many things, saw everything destroyed, everything they knew perished and became only a memory, but they have founds ways to overcome the present, and live up to it. The characters focus on their relationship, give importance to their love and appreciation, and that is what keeps them going.

Even if everything is gone, there is always something that remains the same. That will overcome the change with you and help you throughout the journey. Whether it's motivation, a person or even a dream that is what really matters, not the perished past that is now way behind us.

In a way we can relate this to Gatsby, he lost everything. And was stuck with the memory of his past, not realizing that there were other things that really mattered, and focused on superficial things that led him back to try to relive his past. The change was his death, how everything he believed to be true, perished into the memories of his past.

Where Is This Heading?

" I don't know where it was going" said Cormac McCarthy.

 An image of a trip, a simple form of statement that became a book through the days and through the same development of what the author saw. It is a recompilation of the image of his own son. His relationship with him, but all based on that particular day in El Paso where he had an image of fires and everything gone to waste, "he knew that the child was his warrant. He said: If he is not the word of God God never spoke"(Pg. 5).

It seems to me that the same fact that the author did not know where the book was going, reflects the image he has of the relationship with his son. A changing connection, of father and son that strengthens itself as the years go by, just as the story itself becomes denser as the reader flips the pages. The book portrays the love of the author for his own son, but most importantly it tries to mirror that love through the difficult situations the characters overcome, creating that image that is so hard to explain. It expresses fatherhood but most importantly it expresses the priorities one most have in life, when there is no hope, what we really have to give importance to.

Wait, What?

Boast  (V) Talk with excessive pride and self-satisfaction aboutone's achievements, possessions, or abilities


Atoned (V): make amends or reparation.


Obstinacy (N)/ Obstinate (Adj):  stubbornly refusing to change one's opinion or chosen course of action, despite attempts to persuade one to do so.


Obsequiousness: (N)/ Obsequious (Adj):obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree.


Vouch (V): assert or confirm as a result of one's own experience that something is true or accurately so described


Countenance (N): a person's face or facial expression.


Bequest (N): a legacy.


Bequeathed (V): leave a personal estate or one's body) to a person or other beneficiaryby a will.

Interrelationships of Pride and Prejudice

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_and_Prejudice

Business of Love

Women are never meant to do as they please. In the XIX century, women were seen as a main component of the business of love. It was all based on a family arrangement to increase wealth. 

It didn't matter if the gentleman looked like a frog as a long as he had an admirable fortune. As seen in the ball scene, "Elizabeth felt completely taken in. She had fully proposed being engaged by Wickham for those very dances: and to have Mr. Collins instead!

Elizabeth had to hide her feelings and leave them to Economy. Attraction meant nothing in this age, and les when it combined a feeling of affection. It was a matter of marriage with whoever is suitable or being single forever, proving to society how worthless you are. 

A determinate women as Elizabeth could not choose her own fate, perhaps that is the reason why her love with Mr. Darcy results a bit more intense, revealing compromise and passion. It totally breaks the conventional mind of the epoch and emphasizes the impotence of women in that time. 

Elizabeth longed  a man that would actually understand her, someone to talk to even if it was only about Mr. Darcy.  She didn't want a man that actually cared more about her patroness, Laidy Catherine de Bourgh, who helped Mr. Collins be "removed far beyond the necessity of regarding little matters" (Pg. 63). 

Elizabeth dreams for a right guy, she wants love or at least someone interesting and worth having by her side.

Deep Conversations.

Oh society, how superficial you are. Filling our small minded minds with nothing more than materialism and non-sense. Money is worth everything, and can even buy love. How much have you really influenced our character?

Religion is not really the, "opiate of the masses", I would rather say it is society itself. It is the cause for our shallow thoughts, superficial manners and selfish actions. It's all based on what you have and what you do. What ever happened to the conventional ethical values that we once had? Is our happiness based on a pair of Ugg boots or Long Champ bags?

Conversations are based on what others earn, what others do and what they wear. Have you ever noticed that no one really cares about how you really feel? What you really want? Unless it relates to the material world. As Wickman's profound conversation, "his estate there is a noble one. A clear ten thousand per annum" (Pg. 58). To be able to actually talk about something interesting we always refer to others acquisitions. Like the typical monday morning conversation after a weekend of partying:, "did you see what she wore" or simply, "how much did she spend on those shoes".

The historical context in Pride and Prejudice, justifies the character's behavior. But what justifies our behavior?

Conformism.

Will You Marry Me? I Have Lots of Money


Juliana Castro.


It's not only about the money, its conformism in its simplest form. Austen wants to portray how we suit ourselves with what can satisfy us, without noticing that there is always something better out there that can not only fulfill us materially but emotionally as well.


It is all connected, our vapid minds don't let us seek for something more. We are condemned to base our happiness on material things. Our existence depends on simple appearances and pieces of paper.


All our effort on fulfilling our materialistic dreams for what? We all end up dying remember?


Lady Catherine married this self-absorbed man for a good life, but to what price? The man was neither sensible nor agreeable; his society was irksome, and his attachment to her must be imaginary." (pg 93) Don't you think she deserves better? A man that actually cares for her? 


Not only it expresses conformism, but in a way a sense of low self esteem. By conforming to any wealthy man, she is reflecting her incapability of finding a man that will actually fit her standards, that will love her for who she is and not for her title or what she has. 


The XVIII love in a way degrades women, and could be considered a satire to what true love is really about. 

Over The Surface.

Under The Surface

Elvira Moreno

We are shallow. We are superficial. We are vapid. We are vain. Love is a matter of appearance. No passion or devotion. Money buys everything. Love is always bought. There is no such thing as true love. As Mr. Darcy said, "Nothing is more deceitful than the appereance of humility" (Pg. 34)

A bit of an existentialist way to put it, and there is no doubt that most of it is true. We are carried away by ambition, by our narcissist and selfish ways, leaving behind the pure feelings and humble actions.  But with all rules there are exceptions. And Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth will clearly become the exception, not the rule. Such dramatic contrast of personalities will embody the true feeling of love, that will defy the conventional human ways.

More Elizabeth. Less Drama.

Listen closely. Someone's talking. Who is it? A simple comment. It's not your conscious. Simply everyone that talks behind your back.

We have to be completely delusional to expect a smile from every single person. We are humans and it comes with our nature to talk about other people, as if we had nothing better to do with our lives. Yes, it is true, everything is based on appearances. On how we look, what we say, what we do.  As soon as we do something completely unconventional we are talked about. Absolutely everything we do has a repercussion in society. How annoying can life get?

In Pride and Prejudice, Austen clearly depicts this. She is able to show hypocrisy in its finest means, making it seem something natural. Sadly it's something normal for everyone of us, it becomes a sort of hobby to talk about others. But as others talk, the ones who are talked about always take it to a personal level. Defining who they are by what others think of them. 

Austen defies this premise with her main character Elizabeth. She is always talked about, but she does not find herself defined for what others think of her, on the contrary people's thoughts make her character stronger and more determined.  Her intelligent comments show her indifference to the matter, when she said, "The picturesque would be spoiled by admitting a fourth. Goodbye" (Pg. 39), she dignifies herself by showing that she couldn't care less what Mr. Darcy and Miss Bingley thought of her. She is  lauding Mr. Darcy and Miss Bingley by showing herself not worthy of their company, spoiling the "picturesque", expressing how she does not fit in. However,  in that same way,  she is able to make them feel uncomfortable, expressing her indifference.  This exemplifies her pride and determination that I'm sure Austen will continue to develop.

Imagine if all of us could react as Elizabeth, there would be less drama. Go Elizabeth!

Dating Tips.

To all those who are lost in love, have a certain fellow who simply catches their eye, Austen wrote some advisable tips that may be of good use.

Of course this was from the XVIII century, a period where love was more of a business; interest rather than a passionate feeling that drive two people together. Nevertheless, who says that these tips that Charlotte says cannot come in handy.

"If a woman conceals her affection with the same skill from the object of it, she may loose the opportunity of fixing him; and it will then be but poor consolation to believe the world equally in the dar" (Pg 15).

It is always better to show what you feel so the young man knows that you are really interested. This empowers you to able to control him later. He will know that you are "madly in love", giving him certain credibility to take a step towards a relationship, pleasing you. "In nine cases out of ten, a woman had better show more affection than she feels" (Pg 15), it is the only way by which a man can set ground on the situation. If they never know what is going on, they won't be able to predict your behavior. If your affection towards him reveals your true feelings, he will feel loved, thus will end up wanting something more.  A man, "may never do more than like her, if you do not help him on."(Pg 15), they need your help to understand what is best for them, and what is best for you.

It is not true that men control a relationship and as said in spanish, "el hombre propone, la mujer dispone" usually women are the ones that decide what they want out of men, having total control over them.

So don't fall into despair, it is a matter of skills and effort to end up with the man of your dreams.

Yours Truly,

Doctor Love.

Pride and Prejudice: A Chick flick That Defines Us

What more to expect than pretty girls, handsome men and of course a romance. Writers like Jane Austen, want the reader to fall in love with the main character and picture the scene as if it were the readers reality.

It may be an insult to some, but to me this Mr. Darcy guy will turn out to be like the so fantasized Edward Cullen from twilight. A mysterious guy, quite unsociable at first, who does not seem much interested in any girl. But of course, not destined to meet, they end up falling in love with the breathtaking beautiful girl, Bella Swan and in this case Elizabeth Bennet. Seriously can these novels get any more predictable? Did any one write guidelines for chick flicks? And the saddest thing is that every girl ends up falling in love with the novel, expecting the scenes to become her never ending reality.

Shallowness is what defines these novels, but strangely they somehow define how we think and act in terms of love and our daily lives. We end up being superficial fools. And that's no matter because that's how our society works. Looks are what matter, and especially in the time this book was written, where beauty and wealth was the main attribute. But who are we kidding, it still is. Just like Jane Austen wrote, ""He is also handsome, Elizabeth replied, "Which a young man ought likewise to be, if he possibly can. His character is therreby complete" (Pg. 9), success is thus determined by beauty.  We can succeed in life if we have beauty in our lives, at least we can be "more complete", find love easily and be happy. Sad thing is that it is true. The vapid comment of Elizabeth is how we take everything in life. Appearance is what matters, what you show to the world is what it takes for granted, taking a life time to change that perspective.

Perhaps Austen was criticizing this superficiality, the dependence on beauty to comply with our expectations. Making a statement on our ignorance, by basing our judgement on appearance. Yet revealing the truth of our prejudice.