To Be Known: King Lear

In the Shakespearean play King Lear many characters are obsessed with being known or the opposite, being unknown. In a group discussion we came to the following conclusion, you always want what you don't have, but once you have it you no longer want it. It goes along with the saying "the grass is always greener on the other side". The best examples of this in the play are the two characters who want to be known, Lear and Edmund, and the two characters that do not want to be known, Edgar and Kent.
In the beginning of the story Lear gives away his crown and power but attempts to keep his title, so that he will remain known. Despite the fact that he retained the title of King, no one referred to him as it and that enraged him, he spent the entire play trying to be known, trying to make it to that greener grass.
Edmund was known as a bastard and was disliked because of the fact. He was attempting to change how he was known, instead of bastard by few, he wanted noble and great by many. He was known by few and not known well, he wanted the fame and fortune of his brother and friends, willing to sabotage and betray them in the process.
Both Edgar and Kent were well known and liked by many in the beginning of the play, but then had to disguise themselves and hide their identities later on to avoid danger. Both characters were known by far too many for the wrong reasons and had to make themselves less known in order to protect themselves and still aid the ones they love. Edgar was betrayed by Edmund and forced into his position by no fault of his own. Kent spoke out righteously against the King in defense of poor Cordelia. Kent refused to back down from his position and was banished by Lear.
In short, the characters that were known desired to be anonymous while the unknown characters craved fame and recognition. It is just like today's world, everyone wants to be famous and to be recognized by others, yet we always hear the news stories where celebrities beg for just one normal day where they can go about there business and not get recognized. Celebrities even disguise themselves sometimes just like Kent and Edgar in order to achieve anonymity.  We always want what we don't have and the grass is greener on the other side.

Charley and Me

In the play Death of a Salesman there is a character named Charley. Charley is neighbors with the protagonist Willy Loman and they don't exactly get along. Willy has a temper on him and doesn't really get along with anyone except himself and his dead brother, who may not even be real. Even though Willy is a hard man to get along with Charley tries. He tries to be friends with Willy, talks to him casually, wants to play cards all the time, and he always helps Willy when Willy needs it, expecting nothing in return. I like to think of myself like Charley, trying to befriend everybody and helping whoever I can. When I help someone I don't expect something in return, I do it simply because I want to help, in this way I think I relate to Charley.

Section 5

In the final section of this heated page turner Montag manages to escape the mechanical hound by masking his scent with Faber’s and floating down the river. After he is sure the hound is gone he climbs the bank and walks until he finds train tracks. He follows the train tracks a group of Einstein hobos. This is my name for them because they have novels, plural, memorized, word for word. After that the books ends and the story is left incomplete,yearning for a sequel that will never come.

Text to Self Connection: This past summer I myself floated down a river. Although there were no killer robot dogs… or Einstein hobos… but still, when I read about him floating down the river my mind jumped back to several weeks ago when I floated down the Provo River with a bunch of French Exchange Students.

Text to Text Connection: Speaking of killer dogs that reminds me of hagrid’s giant three headed dog named Cerberus that guarded the Sorcerer's Stone in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Section 4

In this section Montag starts out by reading a poem to his wife and her friends. This starts a trail of unfortunate events in which he gets turned in by his own wife, is forced to burn down his own house, and then he cooks his captain with a flamethrower! That last part isn’t too bad i guess, I mean who wouldn’t want to flamethrower their boss? But then he ends up on the run with a mechanical hound, the unstoppable killing machine, hunting him down.

Text to Self Connection: Sometimes we all feel like taking a flamethrower to our superiors. They can just get on your nerves and push your buttons. I applaud Montag for what he did and soon, metaphorically of course, I will release my anger in a flaming torrent.

Text to Text Connection: In this novel there is the savage death of Beatty. In the book Lone Survivor Marcus and his comrades fought for their lives on top of a mountain in the Middle East, the 4 of them against hundreds. They fought their way down the mountain, getting severely wounded but killing many enemies. They caused many, many savage deaths.

Section 3

Last we left Montag he had decided to investigate the reason behind firemen and their actions, but even with his best effort, he was stumped. Sure he could read but did not understand! He had no clue what he was reading because he couldn’t think complex enough to understand the concepts. He seeked help from a scholar he had met in the park one year ago. He found him and convinced him to help. This new dynamic duo sets out to save books, and move the country towards a revolution.

Text to Self Connection: Whenever I am confused or lost I also seek out the help of friends or family. I hate floundering in my own confusion and seek out help to guide me to understanding. If at first I don’t get it, I try, and try again.

Text to Text Connection: Montag in this section reminded me of Stanley Yelnats from Holes. Montag has trouble understanding what he is reading, so he goes off and finds Faber to help him. In Holes, Stanley can’t dig his holes by himself, so he finds Zero, another boy at the camp to help him dig. They both struggled and instead of drowning chose to find someone to teach them how to swim.

Section 2

In this section everything changes. It starts with Montag and the other firemen going on another call, burning another house. Same old story. Except this time not only does Montag save a book from the flames, but they also burn a woman. With Clarisse, the burned woman, and even Fire Captain Beatty pushing him along, Montag started reading his collection of books he has acquired over the years, he wants to know what’s so special about them… He starts thinking on his own, which is the very danger that books were outlawed for in the first place. Self thought does not lead to bliss.

Text to Self Connection: Like Montag I also want to know why I do something. I don’t want to just have a job that has me do misleading work for no reason. I want to know my purpose and the reason behind my actions, so in Montag’s position I would do the same, I would read the book.

Text to Text Connection: In the book Stormbreaker the protagonist Alex Rider is also curious about his purpose in life. With the recent death of his uncle, odd people keep showing up and his life is put in danger. Like Montag he sets out on his own mission to not only find himself and his purpose, but to discover the cause behind his uncle’s murder.

Section 1

In Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 we meet the protagonist as he burns down a house. His name is Montag, and he doesn’t really burn down the house, just the inside of it because in this futuristic world all houses are fireproofed. Montag is a fireman unlike the ones we know in real life. In this story firemen are more or less fire starters. What they do is go into houses and burn books because reading is illegal. After we meet Montag we are quickly introduced to another character named Clarisse, and Clarisse surprises Montag by asking him questions he has never thought about, she gets him thinking about life.

Text to Self Connection: This last year I have met many new people and with each person I meet they change the way I look at something. They affect my thinking and leave an impression on me that never fades, just like Clarisse does to Montag.

Text to Text Connection: When Montag met Clarisse, she caused him to rethink his entire being and life, this similarly occurred in the novel Eragon when Eragon met Saphira, she completely changed his view on life and what is possible.

Eragon

This quarter I read the novel Eragon by Christopher Paolini. No, not Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings, but a young kid that lives in Alagesia. The two get mixed up a lot because their names are pronounced similarly but you can tell from the spelling alone that they are completely different. Now that we have that established, this novel takes us through the magical realm of Alagesia and shares the adventures of Eragon, a simple farm boy.

One day Eragon found a mysterious stone in the mountains. When he tried to trade this stone for goods in town no one would accept it because he found it on land owned by the king, Galbatorix. He ignored their many warnings and kept the stone, changing his life forever. Little did he know it was not a mere stone, but an egg, containing a creature of myth and times long ago, more peaceful and benevolent times. The egg hatches and Eragon is transformed from an innocent farm boy into a Dragon Rider accompanied by his new dragon, Saphira.

The novel follows these two unlikely companions throughout the world of Alagesia  as they evade Galbatorix, befriend new allis, and flee south to The Varden, the only place where they can feel safe. After many close calls and a long journey they arrive at The Varden exhausted and pursued by Galbatorix’s soldiers. They lose friends in the battle but come out victorious, continuing Eragon’s training and keeping the hope alive that dragon riders will soon return to Alagesia.

Christopher was 15 when he started this masterpiece and was still a very young adult when it was published. The novel intrigues the imagination of teenagers and adults alike, dedicating them to the lengthy novel that is Eragon.

Paolini wrote this novel being inspired by the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and Eric Rücker Eddison among others. He based the landscape of Alagesia off of his home state Montana and wrote the novel to explore his writing abilities and expand his ideas. Inadvertently at first he compared Eragon’s growth and maturation throughout the story to that of his own as a young writer. In the book he is able to show through Eragon’s and his own success that anything is possible if you put your mind to it and remain dedicated.

In this novel Paolini sticks to a third person limited view to describe the adventure. He is still a young writer and it is obvious in his following novels of his improvement. For example, in his third book Paolini adapts the novel to have multiple points of view and several different plot lines all occurring simultaneously, this demonstrates his maturity as a writer. Still evident though in Eragon is his skill and natural ability as a writer. He utilizes imagery to paint the setting in vivid descriptions and alludes often, foreboding to future dangers. Paolini even created his own “ancient language” in Eragon, basing it off of old Norse, German, Old English, and Russian myth.

The books starts off calm and climaxes when Eragon finds Saphira’s egg. After that it recedes back to a calmer tone, slowly increasing in excitement until Saphira hatches. After this event, the journey has begun, and the novel becomes an epic adventure similar to Lord of the Rings and contains excitement and twists on each page. This tone engrosses the reader’s amusement and throws them into the adventure with Eragon.

My rating system for this book is:

1: Farm Boy

2: Boy with a rock!

3: Boy with a big Lizard!

4: Dragon and Companion

5: Dragon Rider

I would say that this novel is at the Dragon and Companion stage in its development. It is well written and a fantastic read that I would recommend but Paolini is still developing as a writer and has yet to reach his full potential and become a true Dragon Rider.

The Devil in White City

When you hear the name Holmes you think of the fantastically brilliant Sherlock Holmes, aided by his steadfast Watson; possibly you even picture Robert Downy Jr. hurtling himself off a waterfall or riding a small, shaggy pony through the mountains. Sherlock, Robert, and Watson -- this is what you imagine when you hear Holmes, not H. H. Holmes, the charming and sophisticated but brutal murderer in Chicago during the World’s Fair.

This four part novel follows the two polar opposite yet intertwined lives of an architect and a serial killer during the Chicago World’s Fair. Larson has done his research and redefines Chicago during this time. He creates the two different plot lines to help fill in the gaps history missed, he follows Daniel Burnham through the creation of the fair while shadowing the destruction of life with Holmes.

Burnham receives the honor of designing the World’s Fair with his partner John Root. After a series of unfortunate events, Burnham struggles alone through the design and construction of the fair. He is able to successfully upstage the Eiffel Tower from the last World’s Fair with his idea of the Ferris Wheel. He unwittingly creates the perfect setting for Holmes, right on his door step.

Holmes moved to Chicago in 1886 to pursue his career as a doctor and pharmacist. He acquired a building near the future sight of the World’s Fair, Jackson Park. He used the bottom level as a store front and later turned the upper stories into the World’s Fair Hotel, the rooms riddled with secret passages, chutes to the basement, and a kiln for easy disposal of evidence. Holmes used his charm to lure in his victims, sometimes even through marriage... Holmes was a reaper in the fair, like a wolf amidst helpless sheep.

Both men start off rather successful in their respective areas. Burnham creates the Chicago World’s Fair to his design, and is almost complete with the Ferris Wheel when the fair opens in 1893. Holmes dolefully killed many people during his time in Chicago. Luckily for the lambs, the police were starting to catch on to Holmes because of his other illegal activities. Holmes fled Chicago and years later ended up getting caught and arrested for tax evasion, you could say he was like Al Capone before Capone was. 

Larson’s target audience is adults and young adults who enjoy reading and learning about historical events in an indirect manner. In this novel he is showing everyone that yin cannot exist without yang, evil without good. Through the characters, Holmes and Burnham, Larson is able to relate the decline and progression of society in the late 19th century. He utilizes prismatic diction to paint an image in the reader’s mind and give us a better feel for the characters personality. Here is an example of what I was talking about, this is how Burnham viewed the ship the R.M.S. Olympic, “ ... he admired the artistry in the iron scrollwork of the balustrades and the immense dome of iron and glass that flushed the ship's core with natural light" (4).  His word choice in this thought clearly shows Burnham's appreciation for architecture and it gives us an idea about his role in the novel, that of a well-educated architecture connoisseur. Larson continues to utilize this character specific diction throughout the book accompanied by direct quotes to engross us in his story. His descriptions and quotes make it possible for us to completely understand each character as if we had grown up with them.

Larson also successfully utilizes direct and complex sentences to enhance his imagery and create an apprehensive tone that shadows over the entire novel. He is able to foreshadow these events through his detailed descriptions. “He entered a world of clamor, smoke, and steam, refulgent with the scents of murdered cattle and pigs. He found it to his liking” (12). The first sentence describes the setting while the second direct sentence places one idea in our minds, he likes murder. From this thought we are able to come to the conclusion that Holmes will at some point in the novel kill because it brings him pleasure. This foreboding tone is present throughout the entire novel and gives us a premonition about what events are about to unfold.

Rating System: 1-5 (Evil to Great)

1: Moriarty

2: Lord Blackwood

3: Adler

4: Watson

5: Sherlcok

I give this book a Watson because it was able to represent historical information accurately in an unorthodox manner and it threw the reader into the shoes of the characters. It was written in a sophisticated manner and allowed the audience to connect to each character through given personal details and opinions.

Lone Survivor

Recently I read the novel Lone Survivor: the eyewitness account of operation redwing and the lost heroes of seal team 10 written by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson. This book outlined Marcus’ life as a navy seal. In the beginning you learn a little bit about his childhood, how he was inspired to become a Navy Seal and his preparation through middle and high school. From there he went to boot camp and became a US Marine with little difficulty, already having the training he did. Immediately after boot camp, he did not rest and went straight to Coronado to become a Navy Seal. He survived through Hell Week and all of the insane training of the Seals. Only the best even thought about being Seals, and only the best of them even showed up in Coronado to train. By the end of the training more than 80% of the class had dropped, so you could say only the best of the best of the best of the really awesome guys became Seals. After he received his trident and became a Seal, he kept training, going to sniper school, a medic, and an airborne Seal. He served in Iraq and after years of experience, was deployed to the mountains in Afghanistan as part of Seal Team 10.

For the first few weeks everything went well, then came Operation Red Wing on June 27, 2005. This was an important mission to take out a man high up in the Taliban command, it was critical they were not found so they formed a small team of four. This team was Marcus, Danny Dietz, Matthew Axelson, and Michael Murphy. The mission started smoothly but then it all went wrong. I will not go into specific details but the book is titled Lone Survivor for a reason, The day after they were deployed for Operation Redwing, Marcus was the only one left, surrounded and severely injured. About 10 days after he was left alone, he was saved, and he returned home. This book shows the dedication and supreme skill of the US Navy Seals, they truly are the best there is and this book tells an amazing story showing their true patriotism and ironclad will.

This novel was very well written and it was only enhanced by the first person account of the activities. There were times that the challenges overcome were so incredulous that I would have believed it was a work of fiction if I didn’t know better. This book put us into the mind, body, and soul of a great american warrior.

This book was written for teenagers and adults to share the heroic story and sacrifice of Seal Team 10. Marcus had to survive so everyone could hear the story of the heroics performed by the fallen, Danny, Axe, and Mikey. Without this novel, their heroic actions and sacrifices would have passed unnoticed.

Luttrell and Robinson used a lot of military vernacular throughout the book, such as ISLiD (image stabilization and light distribution unit), QRE (quick reaction force), and MRE (meals ready to eat). They also had a combined signature, asking a lot of questions, especially of themselves and the reader. Here is an example, “As long as it takes, was their obvious belief. In the end they assume they will rid their holy Muslim soil of the infidel invaders. After all, they always have, right? Sorry, nyet?” (Luttrell 177). These questions made us think about the ideas and take them farther than we would have normally. 

This book was written as if he was telling this story to a good buddy for the most part, but every now and then it got a little more serious, and at some times very sad.

I give this book 5 Mark 12s

Here is my rating system:

1 Mark 12: Couldn’t finish it...

2 Mark 12: Finished it, with a few naps in between chapters.

3 Mark 12: I read it, it was good but nothing special.

4 Mark 12: A good book, I would recommend it to everyone.

5 Mark 12: I could not put the book down! I couldn’t do anything until I finished this book.

Marcus Luttrell Receiving the Navy Cross 

from President Bush