Heroic Character Traits Throughout the Semester

1. Allison's curiosity that started an entire revolution within the Silo.

2. Juliette's survival skills and perseverance to bring the truth to the people and defy the corrupt IT.

3. Odysseus's cleverness throughout his extremely long homecoming journey.

4. Telemachus's development into manhood and eagerness to find his father and help him destroy the suitors.

5. The Saggy Bottom Boys's undeniable teamwork on their quest to find the "treasure."

6. Anse's determination to fulfill his wife's wish to be buried in her hometown, despite every obstacle thrown the Bundren's way.

7. Dewey Dell's courage to search for a Doctor by herself to get her baby aborted during a time extremely against women in her predicament.

8. Cash's humility and easy going attitude, especially when he gets his leg cut off.

9. Smithy's open and accepting view of human nature, even when others easily judges him on his appearance.

10. Jack's bravery during the "great escape" from Room as well as learning to adapt to the outside world.

11. Ma's unbelievable ability to provide her child with a relatively normal childhood while stuck in her own personal hell.

Out of all the hero's we have studied this semester, Ma's character to me was definitely one of the bravest. After all the constant physical and emotional abuse, she managed to raise a smart and bright kid and I think thats an incredible accomplishment despite everything she went though. Comment if you have any more character traits/ which hero impacted you the most this semester.

Where did the Doctors go?

Ever since Ma and Jack escaped Room, I feel like the Doctors could have handled Ma's situation better. They should have tried to help Ma adjust to the real world more instead of reminding her of all the problems she needs to face. They shouldn't have allowed Ma to be on the interview for the sake of her health. Though it was ultimately her decision, it should have been clear to the doctor's to persuade her against it or at least delay it until Ma was in a more stable condition. Ma could barley talk about her situation to nurses without getting defensive, let alone tell the world and expect them not to judge her. They also should have found out Ma's history with medications in room and have known better than to leave a bottle of pain killers next to her bed since clearly still suffered from serve depression.
I think it also should have been in Ma's best interest to have consulted a doctor before going back to Room with Jack. The items the police brought back from Room for Jack were like ghosts to Ma, so imagine how much it would affect her to go back to Room itself. Though I do agree seeing Jack say goodbye to Room helped Ma find closure, what if Jack decided he didn't want to leave Room? It was his home for his entire life and is possible this could have happened. This would have caused Ma even more psychological damage and would only add to her list of problems. Despite what could have happened, I do think it was extremley brave of Ma to go make herself go back to the place she hated the most and attempt to find peace with it so she could move on to the next chapter in her life. If I was in Ma's position, I don't think I could handle being reminded of the memories.

The Empty Closet

I don't want to write about The Memory of Running. I don't want to write about The Great Gatsby. I want to write about the empty closet. It used be filled to the brim with clothes, clothes that would cause  hundreds of fights over who could borrow what. I remember how cool I used to feel when I had permission to go into that closet and wear something of hers, knowing my outfit had to be on point because it belonged to my big sister. Every piece of clothing told its own story, from the numerous outfits we would parade around the neighborhood in, looking for out next "photo shoot worthy" spot, to the ratty old clothes we would wear when mom made us play "cinderella" and clean the whole house  for "fun". It was always filled with life, filled with colors, filled with memories. Now whenever I walk by the closet, all I feel is emptiness. Like a shell of what it used to be. While it wouldn't make sense to say the closest was my hero (though it did save me from many bad outfit days), looking back, my big sister always has been. I've always looked up to her from her smart-ass comments that made everyone nearly pee their pants laughing at the dinner table, to her uncontrollable dance moves at all the Uni dances I will never live up to. Maybe looking up to someone doesn't  make them a hero, maybe I just miss her and the second she comes home I will delete this post and think "why did I write this again?" But for now, I'm counting down the days until the closet will be full and again my big sister along with it.  

Dear Smithy, please stop obsessing over boobs. -Love, every women who has read this book.

Most readers of "The Memory of Running" can say Smithy's journey has definitely changed his life for the better, and like Isaak said, he essentially saves him from himself which I believe is very noble. However throughout the novel, I've never really been able to completely trust Smithy. What I'm struggling with Smithy is mainly how he views and judges women on their appearance.

Both present and past Smithy are constantly judging women on their physical appearance and it's really starting to creep me out. Throughout the novel, McLarty has made the reader feel close to Smithy, and that they can trust him because of his honesty. He is constantly making negative comments about himself and has truly told us his entire story, even the parts he told us he wanted to leave out. However I think McLarty might have gone too far by telling Smithy's thoughts about the female body. Ever time we encounter a female character, the first thing Smithy tells the reader is her breast size. Some may argue giving us these personal details makes Smithy seem like a more reliable narrator, and while it does make us feel more close to what Smithy was thinking, for me it is a little too far and makes me not like Smithy as much as a person. Smithy is always so self conscious about people judging him by his outside appearance because he is insecure about his weight. However ever time he encounters a female character, the first thing he thinks is a comment about her body and I think its a little hypocritical.

While I am very proud of Smithy for all the progress he has made both internally and physically, he needs to stop constantly obsessing over women's bodies.      

Bike, Smithy, Bike!

There are many similarities between the book "Memory of Running" and the movie "Forrest Gump," both being known as social outcasts, Vietnam War survivors, childhood friends as romantic interests, and of course their distinct journeys from Smithy's biking and Forest's running that starts off as nothing and ends in self discovery. While the parallels between the two unconventional hero stories are interesting, their difference in the way each story is told is especially significant.
Both Smithy and Forest's stories are told in such a way that it sounds like a conversation. The tone is informal, however it still feels like you connect and trust with narrators from their small, personal details. Forest's story is told by Forest nararating his life in chronological order to people he encounters while sitting at the bus stop. Smithy's story, on the other hand, depicts present day Smithy and flash backs to his childhood that help the reader uncover what happened that made his life spiral out of control.
From comparing the two stories, it makes me wonder how different Smithy's story would be if like Forest, he told it in chronological order. What makes "The Memory of Running" so special is the mystery behind how Smithy went from being a boy with so much opportunity, but somehow lost himself along the way. If the story was told chronologically, I don't think it would be as nearly as interesting and I think its clever the author chose to tell the story this way.
Though there are parallels between the two stories of such unconventional heroes, the way the two stories are told are so fundamentally different, they wouldn't make sense if the way they were narrated way switched and would leave a completely different message.

Dewey Dell vs. The birds and the bees

Out of all the members of the Bundren family, Dewey Dell's situation really impacted me the most. Like Mr. Mitchell said in class, I can see how Faulkner adding her story was very risky during this time period because women's issues were never really discussed. However I respect him for contributing her story because it really does show the reader a lot about the status of women during that time and how they were treated.
Dewey Dell's lack of sex education from her family can definitely be seen as one of her main flaws. Unaware of the dangerous of unprotected sexual intercourse, she blindly lets Lafe take advantage of her because she felt she had to do it. For one thing, I find Lafe a repulsing character for knowing how much Dewey Dell's reputation he put at risk and still pressuring her to have sex. I feel so sorry for Dewey Dell and think it would be unfair for the Bundren's to be angry at Dewey Dell for her actions because they never properly educated her in the first place.
Once Dewey Dell found out she was pregnant, she was desperate to find a doctor to illegally get an abortion. So while the Bundren family was on a journey to the big city, Dewey Dell was on a secret journey to find a doctor with the "thoughtful" $10 Lafe left her. The first time we encounter Dewey Dell asking a doctor to help her, she won't even refer to her situation as being pregnant, but as the "female problem." When the doctor finds out she isn't married, he flips out at her and tells her to take that $10 to get a marriage license. This shows the reader how much of a big deal her premarital pregnancy is and how much the doctors would have to risk in order to help her because it is so frowned about in their society.
When the Bundren's arrive at Jefferson, Dewey Dell tried one last time to find a doctor to help her and finally found a man who claimed to be able to help her. He gave her some "medicine" and told her he would perform an operation at night in the basement to "help" her. Though its obvious Dewey Dell is skeptical, she is so desperate to find a cure she goes through with it despite knowing it was sketchy. Once again, Dewey Dell is clearly taken advantage of and is raped by the illegitimate doctor. Because the man sees Dewey Dell as a trashy farmer girl who is desperate for any type of cure, he thinks its ok to take advantage of her because she isn't important. This situation shows how poorly women were treated in this society and how precious it is to keep a good reputation because essentially that was all they really had.
Though the issue isn't as severe, women are still taken advantage of and abused in our society today. We can use Dewey Dell as an example that even though policies have changed, having someone to educate  women on safe sex is very important for teaching them to have their own boundaries and respect their bodies.

Sympathy for Addie?

From the very beginning of the book, the reader sympathizes with Addie because she is dying. We feel sorry for her because she is leaving such a quirky, but loving family. From the way her family treats Addie at her death bed by hand making her coffin and staying by her side and fanning her, we believe she must have been a loving mother that cared for her family. For over half the book, this is how we view Addie, and the Bundren's journey to fulfill her dying wish to be buried in her hometown seems justified. However then Faulkner adds in a chapter out of nowhere of a flashback in Addie's perspective , and the reader's perspective on Addie is completely changed.
The chapter opens with Addie talking about how her dad used to say, "the reason for living was to get ready to stay dead a long time." We learn that Addie is deeply depressed with being a school teacher and wishes she would die. This was very confusing for me as a reader because I thought it was ironic how the whole plot of the book revolves around Addie's death when she actually wanted to die. She talks about how the only part she enjoyed about being with the children is whipping them so she could leave her mark on them. This can be seen as Addie wanting to leave her mark on the world in any way she can because she is trapped in a life she doesn't want.
Then she goes on to talk about how she hates Anse but married him because she felt like she had to. And once she gave birth to Cash, she felt so alone and unhappy she couldn't even describe it. Then she had an affair with the preacher Whitfield and gave birth to Jewel, her only child she ever really cared about. To make up for her sin, she "gave" Anse two more children. Addie's whole predicament although to the reader seems appalling because the Bundren's are risking their lives on a mother who doesn't even want them. However really Addie's persona tells us something about the status of women during this time period. We repeatedly hear Addie talk about how she "did what she had to do," never really having a say in what she wanted to do with her life. This theme can also be seen in Dewey Dell when she got pregnant because she felt trapped in a situation and did what she had to do to get out of it.
Overall, I feel sorry for Addie. She never got the life she wanted, but did what she had to do to be socially acceptable.  However I also feel sorry for the Bundren's who never really found out Addie's real feelings towards them, and the family will live a lie the rest of their lives.

"George 'Baby Face' Nelson" vs. "George 'Bad-Ass' Nelson"

To help prepare for my response paper for The Odyssey/ "Oh Brother Where Art Thou," I re-watched  "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" and definetly picked up on a few details I didn't get the first time. While many aspects of the movie were clarified for me, one thing that I'm still having trouble with is the significance of George Nelson.
When I first watched the movie, I thought his role was to show one of the many twists and turns the prisoners experienced on their journey. However after re-watching it, I feel like he is suppose to signify how some people struggled with this idea of being a "good" christian in an environment where there really isn't any religious diversity.
When he is first introduced to the prisoners, he had just robbed two banks and was on his way to rob a third. In the car, he asks the boys if they are bad. Delmar answers, "I was bad until yesterday, but me and Pete have been saved." Once the boys arrive to the third bank, George Nelson declares, " Jesus saves, but George Nelson withdraws." After he takes the money, an old women says " isn't that baby face Nelson?" and he flips out, saying "I am George Nelson and I was born to raise hell." The scene then cuts to the boys sitting around the campfire with all of their stolen money, and Pete says stealing all this money "almost makes me wish I hadn't been saved." However George Nelson doesn't say anything, and appears to upset when we would think he should be happy from getting away with stealing a bunch of money. Then he gives the boys all the money he stole, and walks away into the darkness.
For someone who was "born to raise hell," it is clear George Nelson believes by going against the idea go being a "good" christian, he appears to be tough and a bad-ass. But at the end of the day, all he really wants to be is excepted.

Is the God's help going to Odysseus's head?

Similar to Thea's recent post and from what we discussed in class, I also agree that Odysseus's fatal flaw, or his "kryptonite," is his pride. He tries to push the Gods help to make him seem more heroic, however Homer brings him down to earth, showing he is merely a man trying to find his way home.

Throughout the poem, we see the Gods foreshadow the fate of Odysseus and his men, instructing him exactly what to do to overcome the numerous obstacles he faces on his journey home. Without the help of the Gods instructing him exactly what to do, there is no way of knowing if he would have survived or made it home. In fact if Athena hadn't sent Hermes to Calypso's Island in the first place, he would probably still be there crying in the corner instead of taking initiative of his own life. So can Odysseus really be considered a hero for merely following someone else's orders through out his whole journey?

Not only do the Gods instruct him exactly what he needs to do, but he uses this information to defy the Gods for his own benefit. For example when Circe warns Odysseus and his men about the Sirens, Odysseus insists on having his crew tie him up so he can hear the song of the Sirens while his men have beeswax in their ears to block out the song. Ultimately by testing the Gods orders to try and survive where no humans had before, Odysseus is driven crazy with desire to from the Sirens song and nearly breaks free.

Another example of Odysseus's pride getting in the way is after he defeats the Cyclopes and yells out his name to taunt him. While escaping the Cyclopes shows how clever Odysseus can be, yelling out his real name to the Cyclopes after he already escaped confirms that he must take credit for everything he does. And in this case taking credit for his clever escape did more harm than good, angering Poseidon and making his journey home even more difficult.  

While Odysseus can act very prideful and heroic, we also see him crying numerous times throughout the poem. Despite his efforts to seem like a God, Homer shows us he is only human and ultimately misses his home.

Being a coward vs. Being smart

In the short story "Tenth of December," we see a middle aged man named Eber and a young boy named Robin save each others lives. But who is really the true hero of the story?
 Eber enters the story with the intention of killing himself because he has a terminal illness. He believed it was the best thing to do so he wouldn't be a big trouble for his family to take care of him. While he believed he was being heroic, I honestly think its sad that he would rather die then let his family take care of him. Because his kids are all grown, he feels like he is no longer needed and would be more trouble than helpful to live. I think his intentions were selfish because of all the pain he would cause his family by taking his own life, and that he needed to trust his family would be there for him whether he be healthy or sick.

While Eber can be seen has a hero for saving Robin from drowning in the lake, ultimately Robin saved Eber from himself. By getting through that threshold hold point of deciding whether or not to go in the lake and save the boy, he regains some of the fire to live he had before he became sick. Saving Robin showed him that he can still be useful in this world despite his illness.
Similar to Eber, Robin also has to get over that threshold point after Eber goes and saves him in the lake and he is running home. At first, all he can think about is running home to his mom, but then he remembers the man that saved him before and has to decide whether to try and run back and save him, or run to his house and seek help. In most hero stories, Robin would be considered a coward for not immediately putting Eber's needs before his own and run back and try to save him. However looking at this from a more realistic perspective, what Robin did was actually smarter because he knew he might not have the strength to get them both to safety.
Being a more realistic everyday hero is more about being smart and doing what you think would be the most beneficial to help the situation, even if that means you aren't doing the saving yourself.  

Is Superman a Super-sham?

So what truly define a hero? When most people think of heroes, they picture Superman soaring through the clouds, Spiderman zipping from sky scraper to sky scraper, or Batman kicking villain butt. They all have one thing in common, not only are they all incredibly bad-ass, but they are all here to save the day.    They inspire everyday people to follow in their foot steps, to overcome an obstacle and put others needs in front of their own for the greater good. Putting aside the comic books, movies and video games, is it even possible for an everyday person to be defined as a hero? When I try and picture my own hero, I can't imagine one person because so many people inspire me. But thats one of the beauties of having a hero is everyone is different. I could say Michael Jackson was my hero for his extraordinary musical talent while others might believe he is far from a hero from his extensive drug addiction. It all depends on the different persons perspective, because a quality one person might desire another could despise. But how does a celebrities heroic qualities compare to those of a someone such as a fire fighter?  In comic books, the hero puts their life on the line to save others, similar to what firemen do everyday. Is it just because a celebrity is extraordinarily good at a certain skill that makes them more of a hero? Or does there need to be an element of risk in order for someone to be considered a hero? Even if so, maybe fire fighters aren't heroes, but merely ordinary people that perform heroic acts. At what point can someone who does heroic acts be considered a true hero? Or is it the degree of heroism in one certain act that makes someone a true hero? There are so many factors that must be taken into account of what makes a hero, but do the same rules apply for a villain? Nobody is perfect, but can someone do something so evil that a criminal can be considered a villain? Or is it impossible for one person to be 100% bad or good. Maybe thats why heroes and villain are only for stories because they create an image impossible to live up to. The only thing a person can do is let the number of heroic vs. villainous acts define their identity.