How Literature Shaped Me?
How Literature Shaped Me before M. A?
Before Enrolling in my Master's program, I was asked to write the name of my favorite literary text along with three reasons for liking that particular text. I had chosen 'The Old Man and the Sea' by Ernest Hemingway, the three reasons I gave for liking that text were: 1. It was not having heterosexual elements in it, 2. The relationship of Santiago and the little Manolin I then found unique and universal, 3. the very masculine plot of 'The Old Man and the Sea' was inspiring not to give up and the spirit of fair fight of the survival.
Now it is the time to examine this one page of past writing from my two year's learning tool. I do not find any of it wrong as far but there were something I was missing to apply on it: Feminism, Post colonial literature, and the Postmodern literature lenses which I learnt during my Master's program.
A first look at the very title of Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea provides its readers with relevant information about the American novella. They learn that the narration will have a male character as the protagonist, and that he will not be any type of masculine figure, but an aging man.
In youth, men try to hide feelings of vulnerability and weakness by not showing their emotions and by stubbornly refusing to ask for help. At the same time, they demonstrate their manliness by means of expressions of aggression, strength and the performance of risk taking activities. In the middle age, what defines the sense of masculinity of a man is his productivity in the workplace. The concept of Aging gets reflected here in the text.
Masculinity is a central topic in most of Hemingway’s works, since his protagonists are apparently very masculine men who perform manly actions such as fishing, hunting or fighting. That is why Burhans claims that, at the end of the novel, Santiago “no longer dreams of great individualistic deeds like the one which brings violence and destruction on him and on the marlin,” but instead he dreams of lions playing on the beach, which “evokes the solidarity and love and peace to which the old man returns after hunting and killing and losing his great fish” .
Jung said that an archetype is “a figure...that repeats itself in the course of history wherever creative fantasy is fully manifested.” The archetype in 'The Old Man and the Sea' is a Male Hero. where as the female figures are absent as hero there in the text .
How Literature Shaped Me? (after M.A)
“Most of us have only one story to tell. I don’t mean that only one thing happens to us in our lives: there are countless events, which we turn into countless stories. But there’s only one that matters, only one finally worth telling. But here’s the first problem. If this is their only story, then it’s the one they have most often told and retold, even if – as is the case here – mainly to themselves. The question then is: do all these retellings bring them closer to the truth of what happened, or move them further away? One test might be whether, as the years pass, they come out better from their own story, or worse. To come out worse might indicate that they are being more truthful. On the other hand, there is the danger of being retrospectively anti-heroic: making themselves out to have behaved worse than they actually did can be a form of self-praise. So they shall have to be careful. Well, they have learned to become careful over the years.
― Julian Barnes, The Only Story
Starting with the postmodern thought on Memory by Julian Barns, I am Trying to be faithful and sincere in writing my learning outcome which being precise got shaped by Literature.
My Journey with literature had been started in my childhood by Gujarati Stories like mythical stories of King Shibi and Yudhishthira, Harishchandra, Shagalasha Sheth, etc. Folk songs including songs of mythical figures like Radha, Rukmini, Krishna, and various characters from the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana by my maternal grandparents and uncle- Aunties. Songs have played vital role of shaping my understanding of the world and human psyche. That was the time when I was unable to read by myself but after joining school, I started reading those stories and telling to my friends for I liked telling and imagining stories then. When I discovered folk literature and the literature of different religions, I got to realize that those stories are similar in every part of the world which got improved day by day until the last day of my master's program. As I always got an exposure to the Gujarati and Hindi Literatures, I turned My flow of curiosity towards the English literature, which led to pursue my Master's program in English language and Literature.
While reading- listening to those folk songs and stories, the stories of absurdity attracted me the most which I concluded as: Human life is not worth living or the death is the ultimate solution. While listening and reading about Gautam Buddha, Mahavir Swamy, Saint Mekan and Amar- Devidas, I wrongly interpreted asceticism to be ultimate goal while understanding each of human sufferings including world wars, social, religious and political problems. But after reading existentialism and 'The Myth of Sisyphus' and 'Waiting for Godot' in her master's program, she got to know existentialism clearly. As Jean-Paul Sartre rightfully puts it “Existentialism is a Humanism.” which made the things very clear in my mind.
There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy.. Albert Camus therefore concludes that the meaning of life is the most urgent of questions. How to answer it? On all essential problems (thereby those that run the risk of leading to death or those that intensify the passion of living) there are probably but two methods of thought: the method of La Palisse and the method of Don Quixote. The struggle
itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy. Give meaning to ones life and working hard to get near to ones passion is very necessary as one must have something to live and die for. Live for something and dying for something both are opponents to each other but the passion itself gets derived from the Latin word passio which translates to endure suffering. One has to accept sufferings coming in the way to passion.
The two years which I spend learning about various literatures like African literature and Post colonial literature along with literary theories like the Archetypal criticism, deconstruction, translation, poststructuralism, postmodernism, and the emerging field of post humanism. Here are some textual evidences that keeps the essence of what I learnt from the literature.
Humans are made up with the circumstances they go through:
According to Freud, is the most selfish part of our mind. It is only concerned with the immediate satisfaction of whatever want or need the body is experiencing at the moment. Freud stated that the id “knows no judgements of value: no good and evil, no morality” – only the fulfillment of immediate desires. In The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins asserts that “‘We are survival machines — robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes.. . .This gene selfishness will usually give rise to selfishness in individual behavior” In Dawkins’ view, morality exists among humans in social life, but only because it is “socially imposed on a fundamentally selfish agent”.
According to Freud balancing act is crucial for healthy functioning. When the ego successfully navigates the demands of the id and superego, a person experiences a sense of well-being. However, an imbalance can lead to various difficulties:
Overly dominant id: This can lead to impulsive and potentially destructive behavior, with little regard for social norms or consequences.
Overly dominant superego: This can lead to excessive guilt, self-criticism, and difficulty enjoying life due to strict internal rules.( There was dominance of superego on myself which I knew before some months only and I am happy to reveal here that I have got rid over it!)
That is how human beings are different for each other., that concept made made me learn about different behavioral patterns including mine which leads to understand and behave wisely with people I meet.
“All human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil” - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
“You realize how sympathy and antagonism can coexist. You are discovering how many seemingly incompatible emotions can thrive, side by side, in the same human heart.” -The Only Story
Praise bounteous providence if you will that grants even an ogre a tiny glow-worm tenderness encapsulated in icy caverns of a cruel heart or else despair for in the very germ of that kindred love is lodged the perpetuity of evil. - Vultures
“Because once you had been through certain things, their presence inside you never really disappeared.” - The Only Story
We are made of our actions, thoughts and experiences which has everlasting impact on us and being sincere and honest with those elements make us relevant to time and can help us shaping the zest of the historical, economical, socio-political, and cultural elements of the time we lived. I have developed the ability to wholeheartedly accept every action of those around me, irrespective of my personal preferences or inclinations. This strengthens my belief in Karmic philosophy like if you are paying your attention working hard for something, irrespective of outer forces, your talent will certainly get developed which gets applying on everyone.
One shall take accountability of the results of their actions and desires:
“Love was by its very nature disruptive, cataclysmic; and if it was not, then it was not love.” - The Only Story
When there is something you deeply desire, will take all the amount of your time and energy, and lead you to avoid other things and activities so far. The one who wants any of desires like research, teaching and learning to be with, it takes energy and time shall be considered as the outcome of love, and if one is not ready to pay for that, they actually never desired it!
“Passion”—which is derived via the Latin passio from the verb patior (pati, passus sum), “to suffer"
We as the human beings are made up with the choices and the priorities we make, whether they are in any context, one shall always chose wisely among thoughts, actions and many more thing which affects our behavior and personality highly.
Everyone is ordinary Human on this world, including Myself:
There is no doubt that everyone has different abilities and powers, but at the end we all are really nothing more than Humans, thus no one shall be expected to be celestial beings specially 'Mother'. Irrespective of race, gender, class or caste; we can not distinguish between humans on those basis.
“God, when will you create a woman who will be fulfilled in herself, a full human being, not anybody’s appendage? she prayed desperately.”
― Buchi Emecheta, The Joys of Motherhood
“The concept of whiteness could cover a multitude of sins.”
― Buchi Emecheta, Second Class Citizen
When we cannot deem someone superhuman on any basis, none of us have the right to consider anyone as inferior to humans.
"I don't know how to be anything else but a mother. How will I talk to a woman with no children? Taking the children from me is like taking away the life I have always known, the life I am used to."
While getting in touch with the writings of Buchi Emecheta, I got to know that the parents and elders are as human as we are as children they can commit mistakes which is very natural, and thus shall not be blamed for not being super human beings. The concept here is getting the same for the elders that they have their own life, which have no goal to be Devine or extra ordinary in order to serve social or religious beliefs.
“I am not an angel,' I asserted; 'and I will not be one till I die: I will be myself. - Jane Eyre
If the person is able to fulfill all the civil, social, academic, religious or cultural duties, there is no need to be an angel, goddess, superman, warrior or the god
"To divert our minds from our misfortunes, they told us stories of people whose sufferings were far worse." - Palace of Illusions
At one point that dialogue from the 'Palace of illusions' seems to be sympathetic one to the one who has not read the novel but the context is Draupadi was satirizing to those hermits who were telling her that there were many 'Tragic Heroes' in the history who has suffered more than her, so the pain of the Pandavas and Draupadi is nothing unique in this world. At the same time humans has to realize the works and values followed by their choice and shall accept and come out bravely rather than putting everything on fate.
“I don't know why it is, but every time I reach out for something I want, I have to pull back because other people will suffer.”
-All My Sons
No man is an Island, there is reaction for the each and every action, and Feedback Loop will always be there so humans has to behave accordingly. Reciprocal relationship is thus necessary.