CPB: Harry Potter, pg. 1-100

During the days that the controversy surrounding Harry Potter and people were accusing JK Rowling of introducing witchcraft to children in a friendly way, I was happily soaking up as much of the series as I could. My mother would read the book to me every night and the shelves of my middle school, junior high, and high school were lined with the books. Let me point out that the town where I was born and raised is primarily populated by elderly residents; the type that one would think would have the most problem with witchcraft and wizardry, especially since the same people support an annual production of the Christmas Pageant at the local high school. Christianity in my town held very little concern for the books having any kind of sinful message. I guess I was lucky in that sense.

I could go into a rant about other books with magical or supernatural properties that people surprisingly never had a problem giving to their children to read (Chronicles of Narnia), but I don’t want to deviate too much from the purposes of this post. But I think that the reason that Harry Potter appealed to so many children was the concept that there was a magical world where they could live out their dreams and find friends. Harry Potter is humbled by his circumstances in the beginning, which makes him a good main character right from the bat. He does not have the knowledge of the fame he possesses, so the idea that that he is a wizard comes as a relief. His identity is reborn into a new life which is open for him to reform and shape himself by his choices. It is the kind of freedom that most children don’t have, just as Harry couldn’t have with the Dursleys.

Now then, on to some choice quotes:

“The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn’t there – or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn’t understand them, like a slug” (22).

Before I begin with an analysis, does JK Rowling have a special deal with slugs? They are mentioned several times throughout the Harry Potter series, even if they are described as disgusting creatures (like Ron barfing them up when he tries to jinx Draco in the second book with a broken wand).

Anyway, the main thought that occurs to me when I read this passage is how alike it sounds to people who may have committed the atrocities to the Jews in the Holocaust. They saw the Jews as less than human, without any mental capacity higher than the basics. That the Dursley’s treat Harry as though he can’t understand them dehumanizes him and leaves him in a susceptible position to be abused. I think it’s really sad that I can make a connection between such a light-hearted novel and something so dark as the Holocaust, but it’s an effective technique for arousing sympathy for Harry.

I find it funny that at one point, Mr. Dursley believes that if they go to a muggle hospital, they will be able to remove the pigtail given to him by Hagrid removed. It makes me wonder just how science and magic are reconciled in this world. Can it be removed, or does the curse have to be reversed? I guess it’s something only JK Rowling knows.

CPB: Alanna: The First Adventure

So I know I’m a few days late for this entry, but I’m sure everyone understands how circumstances can get out of control. Being that this Commonplace Blog is mainly for a school assignment, I hope I can get the next few entries up before the next Journal check is scheduled (on a side note: Hi professor!).

When I reached the midway point of Alanna, one thought was stunningly clear to me and that was how much Alanna actually reminded me of a Mary-Sue. For those unfamiliar with this completely “official” literary term, it is a nickname given to characters that are seemingly perfect or given qualities that surpass the characteristics or skill of other characters in the universe in which they reside (my definition. No copy and pasting here and if it’s found anywhere else on the internet, it’s probably them who’s plagiarizing me, haha). Now, I’m not implying that Alanna is the most perfect character in the novel, by any means, it’s just that many of her descriptions and actions come dangerously close to being too good to be true for someone her age and stature.

She is, without a doubt, very brave and well-intentioned. But let me give some examples of flaws in plot development I see.

1) George is the King of Thieves who seems to be recognized by a lot of people, including Prince Jonathan at one point, and no one seems willing to turn him into the authorities? Yes, he tries to become Alanna’s friend, but I find it hard to believe that she would so willingly put aside the honor that she’s trying to prove and look the other way. And Jon not turning him in just doesn’t make any sense. Even if George obtained the black stallion and the mare, Moonlight, through legal means, that doesn’t make anything else George has done legal.

2) I tip my hat to Pierce for having Alanna have to master a different fighting style in order to defeat Ralon, but after their little duel has ended and she has won, she’s ashamed that she had to divert to a sneaky fighting style in the first place! I’m sorry, honey, but you are small and a girl! You don’t have the upper arm strength that a lot of the guys do, so utilize what you have and don’t be ashamed that you whooped Ralon’s butt. I was expecting her to at least feel a sense of pride at having won, but instead she takes her honor a step too far and blames herself for winning.

3) Okay, the magic thing. I can understand that she has a gift that most people don’t have and that she has to be trained. Yes, Maude did teach her the basics, but how in the world did Alanna know the proper healing spell to heal Jonathan? And all of the adults are letting her do whatever she wants with full faith that she knows what she’s doing despite the fact that she’s eleven! This is a symptom of a Mary-Sue, assuming that the character in question knows better that another character that is significantly more experience without any explanation. It’s mentioned several times in the story that if an untrained person attempts a higher-end spell, they could end up dying, but Alanna is able to do something that would presumably take a master of magic years to study and perfect. (Mary-Sue*cough*)

But I don’t want to be the jerk who rants on a story without giving positives. I will say that Alanna’s temper does give her a character flaw that at least makes her seem more believable (even though at times it’s exaggerated, like the time she goes to the pool with her friends and explodes at them for trying to get her to swim). Her experiences going through puberty understandably upset and startle her into the reality of what she is. It also introduces the reader to a theme that I can see running throughout the entire series as a main issue. Alanna needs to come to terms with what and who she is and wants to be. When George takes her to his mother, she is told, “Your place in life you can always change, whether you have the Gift or not. But you cannot change what the gods have made you. The sooner you accept that, the happier you will be” (175). Alanna will probably be doing a lot of struggling trying to reconcile her desires with her identity. I’m curious to see where it will lead.

Alanna: The First Adventure

I’ve forgotten what it’s like to read a fantasy story after so many semesters of reading Victorian and American literature. The language and plots of those works are so formal and mature. In Alanna, there are morals, but they aren’t overbearing on the reader and the stories and characters aren’t as dark. I will say that the language and sentence structure implies that the book was written for an age range in early young adult fiction.

The fantasy aspect is appealing to children and teenagers. That would be the thing that I would focus in if I were a teacher. The story is light and uncomplicated. The motifs of gender-swapping and rebelling against societal expectations are what people like to read about in general. Shakespeare used it many times and his audiences have loved it to this day.

“If you want to pay for those lives you do take, use your healing magic. Use it all you can, or you won’t cleanse your soul of death for centuries. It’s harder to heal than it is to kill. The Mother knows why, but you’ve a gift for both.” (11) I see an important message about balance in this passage. It would be damaging to one’s personality and soul to become obsessed with killing and fighting. If a knight were to be killing all the time without giving thought to the lives that he is taking away, then that knight’s sense of humanity would be stripped from him. So the fact that Maude warns against this is important. If Alanna practiced healing magic, then she would be able to balance her ideals.

“I’ll speak with you later, Ralon,” the dark-haired boy instructed. “In my rooms, before lights-out.” When Ralon hesitated, Jon added in a soft, icy voice, “You’ve been dismissed, Malven.” The first thing I thought of when I read this line was the almost homosexual overtone. I realize that this probably isn’t what the author intended for us to read into it, but the line just seems to be extraneous. The text would have been fine if it had been, “I’ll speak with you later,” but for the Prince to then emphasize the “in my rooms, before lights-out,” it sounds a little more suggestive.

“She even saw a troop of women dressed in armor, the guard of the Temple of the Great Mother Goddess. These women were armed with great double-headed axes, and they knew how to use them. Their duty was to keep men from ever setting foot on ground sacred to the Great Mother.” (23) This Goddess system of religion is really intriguing to me. You would think that because a female is the divine deity for this world, that the political system would be more matriarchal as well. Throughout real history, women have been oppressed since the Dark Ages because God is male and because of the Adam and Eve tale in which Eve was to blame for the fall of man. Thus, women were to blame for most of society’s problems.

Perhaps the religion of Pierce’s world doesn’t have a canon like our world, however, so although the deity is a female, males have worked their way to having dominance in the political system.

Question: I see some inconsistency with the informality of speech. Some characters, particulary Coram and Maude in the beginning, speak with a country accent despite the fact that they have been trained in magic and knighthood. Coram even said that he was a knight in the capital city for the king. Why is it that he still talks with informal English?

Finale of The Chocolate War

I could tell from the beginning that this book wasn't headed for a happy ending. There was something about the overall tone of the novel that suggested a bleak message. Maybe it was something about Archie's arrogant sense of control. I could tell that he was either going to fall or he was going to come out on top. Of course, I couldn't help but root for the former, because I don't like watching someone being manipulative and playing with other people's lives.

Then I got to thinking. Why is it exactly that Archie, Emile, the Vigils, and Brother Leon are perceived as villains? They are certainly placed in an antagonistic role in relation to Jerry Renault. But each one of these characters believe that they are doing something right. Although Brother is so insistent to sell the chocolates for a selfish reason, he is also convinced that he is teaching the boys how to survive in the world. He is supplanting the idea that they are working for the good of Trinity's.

Archie and the Vigils practice their politics and influence in order to keep the freshmen and the other students in their respective places in the order of the school. They are the ones that keep the order going from year to year and they keep it going because it seems to work. The mentality of power and submission is meant to train the students for the real world.

We were given the challenge to examine how the high school is a microcosm representing the rest of society. One of the main metaphors of the entire novel is the sentence on Jerry's poster that says, "Do I dare disturb the universe?" Jerry wants to disturb the universe of the world and he wants his own universe to be disturbed so he doesn't end up living a dull, day-to-day life like his father whom, we may say, has already conformed to his role in society.

There is an important moment in the book where Jerry begins to question his rebellious actions when the harassment that the Vigils are putting Jerry through begin to affect his father and Jerry rethinks his motivations: 'Compassion for his father welled in Jerry. Should he tell his father what it was all about? But he didn't want to involve him. His father had given in, taken the receiver off the hook, and that was defeat enough. He didn't want him to risk more' (209).

During the boxing scene, the reader finds that he/she has been placed in the seat of the audience in wanting to see justice done for the torment that Jerry has been put through. One wants to see the Vigils fall and, because of the violent overtones running rampant throughout the novel, have them fall through violence. Jerry figures this out after aiming a successful strike at Emile out of rage and vengeance and realizing that 'a new sickness had invaded him, the sickness of knowing what he had become, another animal, another beast, another violent person in a violent world, inflicting damage, not disturbing the universe but damaging it' (242). This is where I think one of the main messages of the novel comes in.

Because this microcosm nurtures this kind of violent, controlling society, violence is the only thing that will ever exist. Any action or reaction of a member of this kind of society will revolve around violence. And the worst part is that humans will only repeat this pattern over and over without any change or reprieve in sight. The only way to stop the cycle is to meet violence with peace. The only way to cure the ills of society is for people to look at one another as equals rather than enemies to be lauded over and oppressed. This book may not have the happiest of endings, but it teaches a powerful lesson in terms of how people should treat others and be treated with respect.

The Chocolate Wars pg. 100-200

This entry will contain both the CPB entry for this day as well as the fleshed out specifics examined for today's class. I'm really intrigued by the dynamic between Jerry and Brother Leon. When I first read the part where Jerry began refusing the chocolates, I didn't make the connection between Jerry's resilience and his assignment note from the Vigils. I figured it was some kind of decision that he had made himself because he remembered what the hippie had told him earlier in the book: "You're missing a lot of things in the world, better not miss that bus" (21).

At that point, I caught the lesson that Jerry did not want to be a conformist, but when it came to Jerry's resistance, I was applying the lesson to the wrong event. Jerry's true rebellion lies in his continuing to refuse to sell the chocolates even though his Vigil assignment had him accepting them by day ten.

I was surprised by the fact that Leon was more surprised and angered by the rebellion than the Vigils were. Archie didn't get angry because of Jerry's defiance until Obie faces him with it. Leon becomes more of an ominous figure after every page, particularly once the reader finds out why he is so desperate to get the money. Jerry runs the risk of punishment from either the Vigils or Brother Leon. I'm just wondering which gives in and seeks vengeance first.

Questions: What role does Ellen Barrett play in the story? Maybe I haven't gotten to a point where this is explored in the narrative, but I find it hard to believe that she is just a passing love interest for Jerry. Maybe Jerry's interactions with her is to prove he finally has the courage that he would need to hold his ground against his enemies, like he reflects on page 168: "He was still buoyant when he arrived home, otherwise, he wouldn't have had the courage to call all those Barretts and to actually talk to the girl."

This will be the question I want to flesh out a little more in class. Jerry seems to treat girls in general in a different manner than the other men in the story. While the other boys pay attention to the physical traits of women that they see, Jerry's observations are based on their beauty. I'm not sure if it has to do with his feelings of respect for the women or if it has to do with his inexperience. There are more occurrences of the other boys engaging in ogling and masturbation than there are of Jerry doing it. And the fact that he throws away that Playboy in the beginning still strikes me as important.

The objectification of women in the book is something to explore from this point on. I think it could be said that the behavior in this school would be drastically different if there was more mental female influence rather than just a lusty presence.

vIgiL MeEtinG tWO-THirTy - it's cool that the note with the newspaper and magazine cut out letters was actually spelled out for the reader. It lets you feel the disturbing quality of finding a note like that.

CPB: Little Women to The Chocolate Wars

Having read this book once before, I was prepared for the heartbreak that is Beth dying, but what I didn't remember was the sweet language and description before, during, and after the death. At least Beth and her family members were mentally ready for her passing rather than it being sudden and dark, as it would have been had she died during the first part of the book during her illness. Alcott brings up a good point when she says that "to most the end comes as naturally and simply as sleep" (419). So often in drama and in literature, death scenes are frantic, painful, and filled with grief and sorrow. This gives us the impression that death isn't such a thing to be feared as many people think. It would comfort young female readers to a great extent. Although I do have reservations about implanting the idea into their minds that every death is placid.

Also, she died the way I've always dreamed of dying: surrounded by flowers and cats.

From the "Learning to Forget" chapter, there's this passage: "But when our first little passion has been crushed, we are apt to be wary and slow in making a second trial" (430). That seems to strike true about love and romance everywhere, although I'm not surprised that it didn't take Laurie too long before he fell in love with Amy. I remember the novel describing how he was often turned away from relationships with other girls until he got used to it. But I don't blame him for waiting a little while before proposing to Amy. It's funny that Alcott describes the wooing process as the "first and sweetest part of his new romance" (430). If I didn't know any better, I would say that this implies the rest of their time together is going to be very rambunctious.

Turning to the Chocolate Wars, I have to say that the title is very misleading as to the mood of the book. Who can say they would associate something as warm and delicious as chocolate with high school violence, trickery, and secret societies? Something's just not right with that.

I can tell this would be a book geared towards young men. The main characters are male, they talk and think about very different subject matter (Jerry reads a Playboy at one point. Imagine the March girls' reaction to that!). It has suspense and intrigue.

One thing that perturbs me is the character of Archie. He holds a lot of power as the leader of the Vigils and has the kind of egotistic personality to covertly laud his power over everyone's heads. Something about the way he thinks doesn't sit well with me and I know I wouldn't be disappointed to see him fall from his high seat.

I'll end with a quote from the book that made me squirm: "He had never been able to use those words - The Vigils - aloud to a teacher, had had to deny the existence of the organization for so long that it was beautiful to use them, to see the surprise on Leon'a pale perspiring face" (29).