Non-AP Response Quote 2

“I know how people are, with their habits of mind. Most will sail through from cradle to grave with a conscience clean as snow...I know people. Most have no earthly notion of the price of a snow-white conscience.”  
I would like to examine this quote as it relates to characters individually.
Rachel: Rachel pretty much exemplifies this quote the best. She has no idea the cost of her clean conscience. Even in her old age, with multiple husbands behind her she feels that she has earned all that she holds in her possession (her bar, hotel, faux-gold lining in the bathroom). She feels no guilt over Ruth May's death, no guilt over using Mr. Axelroot, and the husbands after him to get money, no guilt over the suffering of her father and her lack of reaching out to people. It is said "No Man is an Island," But Rachel truly is an island. She cares only for herself. The price of her conscience is a whole lot of forgetting and ignorance.
Nathan: The father of the Price family  and preacher is stubborn and self-righteous. His conscience can never be snow-white because of the incident in the war. He feels he was a coward because he was wounded and hid while the rest of his company went on the infamous Death March. The price of a snow-white conscience for Nathan is a life devoted to saving as many souls as perished on the march. Yet because of his self-righteousness, he never reachs it. In fact, he dies hated by everyone around him.
Orleanna: Orleanna has a hard time having a clear conscience because she is a mother who has failed her principal duty: protecting her children. Since she has lost Ruth May, she carries guilt with her for years. Also she fails to bring all of her children home. Only Adah does she manage to bring home. In the end the cost of a clear conscience for Orleanna is learning of Nathan's death and returning to the place where Ruth May was buried.
Anatole and Leah: This couple understands the cost of a clear conscience better than any of the other characters. For Anatole, he must starve in prison, live in fear and not know whether he will see his children grow up. For Leah, she must live in fear, be apart from her one true love, wait patiently, come to grips with the death of Ruth May, and stay in Africa to live an honest genuine life. Both of them live with consciences that tell them they have not done enough to save the others around them, yet of all the characters in the book, they have lived the most honestly and compassionately, so they should have clear consciences. The cost of a clear conscience can be the loss of a clear conscience.
Adah: Adah lives a 'False Hood' the cost of her conscience is that she must not forget, or disassociate herself from the old 'Ada.' Both parts must be embraced, and that is why she never has a husband.
 Overall, Rachel represents the "most [who] will sail through from cradle to grave with a conscience clean as snow" and all the other characters have an idea of what that conscience costs. They represent the blood, sweat, tears, and forgetting behind a clear conscience.

Structuralism and Semiotics

For my literary lense, I was assigned Structuralism and Semiotics. Structuralists try to find the thought processes behind the written work, by examining the language itself that is used within the text. Structuralists believe language permeates all facets of modern society and culture and they try to break it down and see what knowledge base is necessary to understand the text.
In the previous night's reading, probably the most fascinating thing to look at through this lense is Adah. Adah's writing is sometimes quite literally backwards: "Emulp Der Eno" (185)., "Nevaeh Ni Seilf Fo Foorp Wen .Rehctacylf Esidarap" (137). Sometimes her writing isn't backwards with letters but just with words: "Walk to Learn. I and Path. Long one is Congo" (135). Adah loves all things symetrical with writing. She does not speak out loud, so writing is her voice and she loves symmetry and poetry in her writing. She even calls herself Ada because it is a proper palindrome. The perspective of this text is certainly one of a mind, inhibited by a rare disease.
      Another interesting part of the reading from last night through this lens is Nathan Price's actions. He himself claims to do the work of God, but on multiple occassions, he strikes his own family. To understand his actions, we must understand the mind of a white southern baptist as well as the stress of being in a foreign country with failures in conversion piling up. Nathan continues to be self-righteous and fraud, and appears one major crisis away from insanity. His stubborness goes against some of the Christian teachings as certainly does his lower view of the African people.

Heart of Darkness v. Apocalypse Now

One of the most striking things I noticed in Apocalypse Now was the way the natives were portrayed. They seem to function as one mindless organism, like bees with Kurtz as their queen.
When the gunboat arrives at Kurtz's dock there are dozens of small fishing boats between the dock and the water that the gunboat is currently occupying. As the gunboat approaches, the natives all give the boat the same blank stare and slowly part just long enough for the boat to get through; after the boat proceeds, the natives slowly reassume their original position, thus swallowing the boat.
When Willard exits after assassinating Kurtz, the natives again act in unison, this time bowing down to the one who has destroyed their queen. As he walks back to the boat the natives part slightly with ominous stares and swallow him up in the same manner as earlier.
This decision by the director is quite curious considering in Heart of Darkness the natives were described by parts: arms, legs, eyes. But never as a single organism, always as individuals. One theory suggests that the natives in Apocalypse Now are a symbol for the communist society of Vietnam. I must admit, there is some merit in this theory. The natives always act in unison, they are purely equal and there is a hidden authority who pulls the strings on them. Communism itself can be seen as similar to a bee hive or an ant hill. There is a central authority and eqial workers and together the unit provides for everyone.
This decision was clearly a deliberate one, and on film it is quite powerful visually.

Group Difficulties HOD

Why does a sailor tell Marlow to "try to be civil" on page 106? I understand that the interruption is to draw attention to the fact that Conrad is behind two narrators, but in the context of the conversation I don't think anything Marlow says is particularly vulgar especially when compared to the other things he has said earlier in the book.

Heart of Darkness Quote

"For there is nothing mysterious to the seaman unless it be the sea itself, which is the mistress of his existence and as inscrutable as Destiny" (68).
I found this quote to be quite interesting. It is very ironic that the sailors, who spend much time around the sea, see the sea as the one true mystery. The author also shows how familiar things can still be mysterious, with his comparison of destiny. Everyone is familiar with the idea of destiny, but who really understands it completely. All the different faiths still leave questions unanswered. Also the reference to the sea being the "mistress" of  a sailor's existence is quite apt. For sailor's spend months out on the waters gazing out upon the sea. This paradox of familiarity juxtaposed with the unknown is very interesting and well-written. It is safe to assume we will be presented with many more paradoxes and perhaps different settings for the one above.

The Very Tardy Chapter One Analysis Post

      This chapter is primarily focused on the early life of Lord Stanley and also the motives for early European imperialism. The start of the chapter focuses on Lord Stanley's upbringing and establishes Hochschild's pattern of psychohistory, which we see much of in the later book. Hochschild notes that Lord Stanley was a bastard by the name of John Rowlands. He went from family to family until finally he ended up in a workhouse. It was here that he developed the fear of intimacy that would follow him for the duration of his life.
      When Stanley grew up he traveled and gained experience on boats. After briefly being involved in the American Civil War he become a foreign correspondent for The New York Herald. Afterwards he became an African explorer. A common theme in Stanley's life is lies. Time and time again he fabricated events to make himself appear more heroic than he actually was. In all of his books there are preposterous exaggerations, even of his early childhood. He claimed he escaped from the workhouse by leading a revolt, but there is no record of such events. Clearly something in Stanley yearned to be remembered in a positive light and it can most likely be traced to his childhood where time and time again he was abandoned and most likely told he was worth nothing.
     The next section of the chapter talks about the drive for imperialism. Hochschild talks about a few specific factors that led to imperialism and the justifications used. A huge factor for imperialism was the hope of raw materials, to feed the growing industrial empires of Europe. To justify this Europeans used Christianity, claims of bringing civilization and claims that they were fighting off Arab slave traders.
      The final section details Stanley's 1871 trip to Africa. Stanley took 190 people into Africa and after 8 months found Dr. Livingstone. During his trip he overworked many of his men horrifically and laid the foundation for future expeditions.

Discussion Questions
1. Why does Hochschild use the psychohistory format? Do only messed-up people commit horrendous crimes? Does early childhood trauma explain the actions of villains?
2. Stanley called Africa "unpeopled country" what led him and other Europeans to reach this conclusion?
3.Why did Stanley lie so much about his accomplishments?
4. How do you think Stanley's earlier experiences in America, the workhouse and as a correspondent helped him to become an African explorer of great esteem at the time?
5. Why did people revere Stanley at the Time?

Quiz Questions
1. What is the significance of the title "I shall not give up the chase"?
2. Name two or more justifications for imperialism during this time frame.
3. Why did Stanley have a fear of intimacy?
4. What was the purpose of Stanley's first expedition into Africa?
5. How did Stanley get ahead of his competition?

Psychohistory (KLG)

      It is not surprising that King Leopold was an insane megalomaniac. In order to oversee the atrocities that he did and not bat an eye, it takes a truly twisted and damaged person. The thing that is really terrifying is the ordinary people who went to Africa and commit these terrible acts. It really is similar in its own way to the Stanford Prison Experiment. Reading about ordinary people made me think, would I have been able to be different and protest the atrocities in Africa had I been sent there. The answer to that question lies in education. The purpose, I believe, of an education is to teach people to think for themselves. If I have learned enough in school about my personal humanitarian beliefs and have learned to defend those beliefs than I have received a proper education and I will not engage in actions that conflict with my morals.
Another interesting topic that came to mind when faced with this question is how much of what our government does today would we be not okay with when it was out in the open? We generally like to believe the best in our government because the actions happening are so far away from us actually making the decisions or seeing the people affected by the decisions. I believe something similar happened with the Belgian people. When faced with a horrifying truth that was so far away, it was easier to believe in the stuff right in front of them in Belgium.