TOW #28: Relativity by M.C. Escher

            M.C. Escher is one of my favorite artists for a number of obvious reasons; his lithograph print depicting a world without the application of the normal laws of gravity is truly revolutionary. It is reminiscent of those “mind tricks” that are all over social media these days, ranging from the sticks that looks like there are either 3 or 4 of them to the passage with scrambled words but is legible due to the uniformity of the first and last letter of each word.

The three-point perspective that Escher utilizes is not that hard to figure out as there is the three vanishing point diagram of the equilateral triangle that he based his artwork off of. Due to this model, the image displays three different pictures when rotated on each side of the “triangle.” With every rotation, the lighting and shading seems to make sense as the sun is shined from above, but since the “up” is different for each rotation, the image has different areas of dark and bright lighting for each position. The strong theoretical and geometrical design, often indicative of Escher’s style, depicts harsh edges and uniformity in an already complex artwork.

TOW #27: The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry

            Although O. Henry had no allusions to which his story of “The Gift of the Magi,” it can be inferred that the couple Jim and Della lived during the 1900s in New York when money was scarce and the federal debt was on the rise. The event of the two characters unfolds as it is revealed that the married couple has not enough money to buy each other a gift for Christmas. The two then goes out to sell their most valuable belongings: Della, her hair, and Jim, his gold watch. With the money that they make from selling their possessions, they decide to buy extensions to their partner’s most valued item: Jim buys a comb for Della to brush her hair, and Della buys a gold chain for Jim’s gold watch.

O. Henry’s use of irony is implied when both Jim and Della behaved impulsively, sacrificing their most valued possessions to make one another happy. However, these two did not consider the consequences of what would happen to them or their spouse if they were to sell their treasures. The married couple only thought about “the now” and the idea of materialistic love when they already gave each other a greater gift of their sacrificial love. The moral of the story of “The Gift of the Magi” is that their love for each other cannot be bought with money and is worth more than any material possessions. The Magi that O. Henry alludes to is from the Bible, in which refers to the story of the three wise men who brought presents to baby Jesus: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 

TOW #26: A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf

            Born in 1882, Virginia Woolf lived spent most of her years during a time when gender discrimination was considered a norm. In 1928, Woolf was invited to deliver lectures at the two only women’s colleges at Cambridge, Newnham College and Girton College. These speeches later developed and edited into A Room of One’s Own, revolcing around the topic of Women and Fiction. Woolf’s sphere of influence not only affected those who listened or read the lectures mentioned in her book but also impacted both men and women of the role that gender plays in literary achievement.

            She begins by stating her these that “a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction” (Woolf 4). She hopes to extend her comments and opinions to the unanswered questions that many have not seen be uncovered. Woolf describes a meal that her character had at “Fernham,” a made-up institution of the women’s college meant to generalize her story. She compares her meal to the one she had at a luncheon party the other day, saying “the lamp in the spine does not light on beef and prunes” (Woolf 18). She senses that with reduced privilege due to the fact that this dinner was meant to serve women in an academic institution comes a corresponding feeling of inferiority. As the conversation is more described as gossipy rather than profound, the narrator leaves and begins small talk with her friend Mary Seton. They become intrigued in their discussion of the founding of their women’s college, which they recall the discouraging effort to raise enough financial and political support. When comparing the founding of male universities, you can see a sharp contrast as male academic institutions have been supported generously since the beginning of its history.

            Woolf’s medium of fiction rather than an autobiographic story emphasizes the relationship between truth and fiction, as she quotes that “fiction is likely to contain more truth than fact. Lies will flow from my lips, but there may be some truth mixed up with them” (Woolf 4).

IRB #4: A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

            Earlier in the school year, I read Virginia Woolf’s “Professions for Women” speech, and ever since my encounter with her intellect as a fellow feminist, I have grown to admire her motives behind her writing. Due to this recent interest, I reached out to one of her books, A Room of One’s Own. Woolf specifies the struggles that women faces in the field of literature and writing fiction. Her primary thesis is that “a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” I look forward to how Woolf is going to structure this piece considering that she is also an author in the book-writing business.

TOW #25: The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe

            Written in the mid-19^th century, The Cask of Amontillado is one of Edgar Allen Poe’s most well-known short stories. His gothic style reminisces the dark childhood that he had, which is clearly depicted in this chilling short story. The Cask of Amontillado begins with the narrator, Montresor, stating his hatred towards his acquaintance, Fortunado. Wanting to get revenge from humiliation that Fortunado had induced, Montresor tricks his friend into a wine dungeon, asking him to taste the expensive Amontillado wine. Once the two of them had reached the end of the cellar, Montresor chains Fortunado to a stone. Fortunado, dizzy from the wine, was not able to fend for himself, falling right into his captor’s hands. Montresor then leaves the catacombs, concluding with the Latin phrase “May he rest in peace.”

            Poe’s use of symbolism and color is essential to understanding the character’s true feelings. Montresor’s face veiled with a black mask symbolizes his hatred and desire for revenge towards Fortunado. In addition, Fortunado’s jester costume represents his gullible and foolish behaviors, eventually fooled by his own friend’s ploy. It is mentioned that as the two “frenemies” venture deeper into the catacombs, they could see “the bones of the dead lying in large piles along the walls” (Poe 70). This could be seen as a hint as to the impending event that ensues between Montresor and Fortunado.

TOW #24: The Prince by Machiavelli

            **I totally forgot that the independent reading was supposed to be nonfiction! So instead of continuing on the second portion of the Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, I decided to completely change the book to The Prince by Machiavelli.

            A political theorist and diplomat in the 16^th century, Niccolò Machiavelli wrote The Prince in Italy during a time when the nation became the scene of intense political conflict. Composed as a guide for rulers on the basics and understandings on how to govern, he dedicated The Prince to the ruler of Florence, Lorenzo de’ Medici. His underlying purpose on this dedication was to win the favor of Lorenzo as he hoped to land an advisory position within the Forentine government. The straightforward tone of the piece laid a stable foundation for the validation of his advices.

When Machiavelli released The Prince in 1532, he received several criticisms and was not as recognized as he is today. As the word of the book spread, Machiavelli’s piece began to be criticized as immoral, evil, and wicked. Some of the critiques included the objection of the Catholics as they interpreted the piece as an attack against the church as Machiavelli degraded the church’s power. The main factor that drove the church to denounce The Prince was Machiavelli’s dislike of strong power of the Catholic church. Many authors, including Machiavelli, lived in a world where Christianity became filled with undesirable religious outlook, causing many to object and dislike the Christianity. This caused Machiavelli to set an anti-Christianity view. His belief established tone of attack toward the church, making the church to set the idea that Machiavelli was indeed attacking the church.

Besides Machiavelli’s tone, the result of weakened Italy was due to the rise of the power for the church. Machiavelli advised that the increasing power of the church brought separation and frail nation, “when in these later times the Imperial control began to be rejected by Italy, and the temporal power of the Pope to be more thought of, Italy suddenly split up into a number of separate States…Hence Italy, having passed almost entirely into the hands of the Church…began to take foreigners into her pay (Machiavelli 96). Machiavelli previously favored princes to rule their nation as nationalized country. But bringing foreigners to one’s nation will, in Machiavelli’s perspective, allowed decline of the country since there was no loyalty existing among the civilians. Not only that, a split nation also causes a nation to be vulnerable against other nations, where there would not be coherent decisions made. When the church took power of Italy, the church divided the nation instead of joining together. Machiavelli, then, indirectly suggested that huge power of the church will only bring destruction toward nations, and in conclusion, princes should not offer such ordeal amount of powers to the church.

Machiavelli’s writing brought great shock toward religious society. People of the church saw his work as an attack, and the mass of believers believed that he was sinful and immoral. It was evident that his work revealed his notion of degrading the church and going against the Catholic moral conducts. People now read this piece academically, but back then, reading this book without any religious pious was difficult.

TOW #23: The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant

            Written in the late 1800s of France, a time period often called “Belle Époque” (Lovely Age/Grand Years), “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant explores the human tendency to desire much more than one could afford. This short story specifically revolves around an attractive yet dissatisfied young woman named Mathilde Loisel, who longs for a better change of fate. Mathilde deplores her poverty while her modest husband, Monsieur Loisel, expresses his pleasure at the little things in life. This contrast between the two characters foreshadows the impending conflict.

            Mathilde flaunts extraordinary beauty regardless of her unsatisfying financial status. She is “pretty and charming,” however her life as a wife of a lowly clerk in the Ministry of Education leaves more to be desired. Although she is very aware of her husband’s economic situation, she begs for a large sum of money to buy formalwear for a grand party they’ve both been invited to. As selfless as he is, Monsieur speaks no more and hands over the hard-earned money. Despite this, she craves more, reaching out to her wealthy friend to lend her diamond necklace. This greed eventually results in a tragic mistake: Mathilde loses the luxurious jewels on the way home from the ball. Again, although it was solely Mathilde’s fault, Monsieur searches high and low for the necklace that his wife lost. When they realize that they can never find the necklace, they attempt to buy a similar necklace of the same value, beginning to live a life of crippling poverty. Without complaining, Monsieur faces the dark future that his wife had induced, displaying his unchanging love for Mathilde. They then spend ten years of hardship to pay off their financial debt, Mathilde losing her youthful beauty in the process. She wonders, “What would have happened if she had never lost those jewels? Who knows? Who knows? How strange life is, how fickle! How little is needed to ruin or to save!” Despite the life of struggles that she had commenced for both she and her husband, Mathilde fails to learn from her mistakes. She should be regretting her greed and desire to borrow the jewels in the first place instead of asking herself what would have happened if she hadn’t lost them. Life is not fickle; it is Mathilde who made life seem fickle. At the end, she meets her friend, Madame Forestier, whom she had lost the jewels from. Mathilde learns that the diamond necklace that she had lost was not worth anything; she and her husband spent ten years of their life replacing a necklace that was only fraction of what they paid off.