Sunjata

1st off I would like to say that it was very difficult to read this story because geeze every otehr word was some long hard to say name. And all the names sounded and looked a like and I was just getting confused all the way through. 

Anyways now that i'm done with my rant. The book was pretty interesting for what i understood, but i can't help but think that it is more of an origin/creation type of story. I mean everything that sunjata did caused something that happens now. Like the tree dying from the top to bottom and not starting at the bottom because of the shooting of the arrows and the tree, and the way the families are so close that one helps the other and if not its bad for them. I mean there were so many more that I just found so interesting. I always love reading those types of  tales because its interesting to see how different cultures and even religions explain why things are  the way they are. I'm not really sure if  that was  the whole purpose of  the story but that was what i got out of it. 

Another thing, teh talking ring thing that sunjatas sister used to fake that she was still at the palace or whatever when she was sneaking away.. how legit was that. I mean here we have this african story that is incorporating a type of technology that didn't even exist (maybe it was suppose to be magic) but still INTENSE. I really enjoyed reading and seeing the different things, the griots were pretty cool that were telling to story, i could imagine the whole thing going on in my head and these two guys just being like "ok now listen this is how things really went down"

So good!

Evening Faces

The beginning of chapter 4 has proved to be no different from the other chapter, with its lustful settings. I find it so amusing how so many years ago it was perfectly normal to sleep around, but now it is a huge no no. I’m not saying that I condone the sleeping around, just that it is funny how things change. Any ways , so at the beginning of this chapter we have genji coming back from court. He stops in to see his old nurse whom he was very fond of as a child. This woman is very ill I love the sentimental side of genji that we see here. He is truly upset that his old nurse is sick and dying. The woman was obviously extremely fond of genji as she cries and shows more affection for him then her own children, which her children notice and I don’t believe they like that all too much. I mean every loves him though so they should be ok with it right? Haha However, even in the mist of this horrible setting, Genjo still seems to only have one thing on his mind. Sex. I mean even Koremitsu is thinking “oh geese he is at it again with the women.” But, they bring it upon themselves by saying its ok. I mean lets all be okay with sleeping around and ofcourse a good looking guy is going to be ok with it. I mean what do they expect. So he inquires about this woman and writes more poetry and don’t get me wrong poetry is nice, but sometimes I’m just like come on get to the point all ready, just say what you mean! That’s not going to happen though, we are reading about the Japanese culture and they do seem to be very passive in there language.

Chastity

Ibn Faraj's chasity is an interesting work. He seems to approve of the idea of remaining celibate and not being a "beast". However, he uses imagery to intensify the sexual nature of one and how it is difficult to sustain from acts of sinful nature. In the very beginning when he describes how he denied himself from participating in sex, he doesn't just say he said no, he lets the readers understand that this woman was giving herself to him and was more than willing to partake in this temptation. Yet, even with her being so willing he still refrained. He then goes on to describe how she came "unveiled in the night." He uses this to play on the readers sexual imagery. He is basically tricking readers. Its funny, even I at first was taken back by thinking he was all about abstinance and all the while he is describing in details this woman so that readers will picture and understand what he is giving up by denying this woman. I love the part where he uses the metaphor to describe how intense and difficult it was to hold back his desires. “like a thirsty camel whose muzzle keeps it from nursing.” He compares himself to a poor animal who is unable to fulfill its needs because it is being held back by something. I’m assuming he considers a camel to not be too wild either because later he says he isn’t one of those wild beast that does whatever it wants in any garden. Haha. So he is like a camel but not a wild beast! I do wonder if this means he has some kind of belief that camels are better. I mean why not use another animal to compare? hmmmm

Oh Marge

Margery Kempte seems to be quite the woman. She is very interesting and the way she writes in third person makes the book that much more interesting. It is written by her and she calls herself “the creature”. It strange how she refers to herself in this way, but I guess we are all creatures. Oh well, her life on the other hand is quite the interesting. She started off admitting how much sin she committed and then suddenly flipped a switch and became some virtuous woman. It makes me think how could she just one day up and decide that everything is going to be different. Obviously everyone that she knew and lived with felt the same way. What was going on with this woman that made her so different all of a sudden?  I don’t think I would have been able to deal with it as her friend either, but I might have been able to deal with it better than her husband. I mean come on the woman tells you that she doesn’t want to sleep with you anymore and she wants to live this virtuous life and all he could do is complain that he wasn’t getting anymore. Well at least she was able to pray to God and she didn’t have to sleep with him because he was being a little baby and couldn’t get over himself. She was a pretty tough woman it seems that her life definitely had its obstacles, but what life doesn’t .

More Inferno..what is confusing me this time.

I find the eighth circle to be particularly interesting. In all of the different “pouches” we see the different sides to Dante and his feelings toward the punishments. Now I don’t want to go into some great detail as I am writing about this topic in my paper.  I am slightly confused on how Dante feels about the second pouch. I am also confused on how this punishment has anything to do with the “flatterers” sin. Oh well maybe I can figure it out in class tomorrow. In the third pouch Dante is more than happy that these people are being punished the way they are. I mean I agree, these are the people you basically tried to buy their places in the church. However I am still having difficulty with the rest of the pouches and figuring out how the punishments are “symbolic” of the sins that are committed. I mean I can understand some like the one in the 4^th pouch where they are forced to look behind them because they spent their whole lives trying to look ahead and into the future. It is rather clever if you ask me. However, some of the others aren’t as clever. I don’t know I might feel differently once we discuss it in class and I feel like an idiot because people will be explaining the underlying meanings and I’m sitting there thinking “How the heck did you come up with that” and “Are we sure we are all reading the same thing”. This section was still the most interesting to me though, because even though I don’t understand the symbolism, I can still be intrigued by the different ways in which one can be punished for the sins they commit.  

Dante and Limbo

The most interesting and I guess I should say confusing passage for me was the “Canto IV.” I am a Christian; however, I was raised under the southern Baptist denomination. My mother is catholic so I have been given a little bit of information about Limbo. I understand that this is the place where unbaptized infants and the “virtuous” people that did not have the opportunity to know about God and Jesus. However, I do not understand what all Limbo entails. According to the passage (from what I understand at least) these people are just wondering around and are not allowed to enter neither Heaven nor Hell. Why is this though? I guess that might be why I have never completely been able to understand when my mom tries to explain it to me. Why are these people that never had the opportunity to know and worship our Lord sent into what I would consider punishment. I mean don’t get me wrong it is nothing compared to Hell, but in a sense it could be this group of people’s perception of hell. They are stuck in this abyss and are only allowed to hope and wish that they were able to be in heaven. That sense of longing must be a severe form of torture. I can only imagine what it would be like to long for something and know that I will never be able to reach it. However, I cannot tell If Dante is having the same thought process as me or if he is trying to make fun or show a flaw in the Christian religion, but at the same time is a flaw is what he is searching for, I don’t understand how this one could be one since it isn’t even considered in the Baptist denomination (at least not where I grew up). Maybe someone can explain this to me in class. Well until tomorrow I will be left wondering.

The Ramayana

I love the differences that are presented here with Gilgamesh and Rama. First, I like Rama way more. Gilgamesh to me seemed way too over confident and had too much pride. Rama is almost here to simply do what is asked of him. He does not disrespect people and he seems to be pure of heart almost. It is funny how they are both heroes but are so different at the same time. They represent the far ends of the spectrum almost. You have Gilgamesh who is this man who is stronger than any man on earth and I would say doesn’t care about his people as much as he should being a leader. Rama on the other hand is yes extremely strong and a warrior, but he is also very kind hearted and cares about his people. You can see this in the way he is loved by everyone (not feared). He also has such a different way of looking and treating women. Yes the women in the stories are not “equal” to the men. However, Rama treats Sita like a man should treat his wife. He loves her and he values the husband/wife relationship while Gilgamesh had to sleep with every wife before their husband did.  Gilgamesh was all about him going off and battling all these different “opponents.” Rama’s epic tale is about fulfilling Dharma and making sure you are doing what you are meant to do on earth. Yes he has his fair share of battles, but the ultimate goal of his is to fulfill his life’s meaning. Overall, two great epics, but with two different perspectives on the types of “heroes.”