"He had had a nice, good, idle time all the while--plenty of company--and the fence had three coats of white of whitewash on it! If he hadn't run out of whitewash, he would have bankrupted every boy in the village.
Tom said to himself that it was not such a hollow world, after all. He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it--namely, that in order to make a man or a boy a covet thing, it is only necessary to make it difficult thing to attain. If he had been a great and wise philosopher, like the writer of this book, he would now have comprehended that Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do."
This passage shows Tom's views on human nature. He believes that the only difference between play and work is obligation. This is an important viewpoint because it shows that Tom has figured out a way how to manipulate people. If he can understand the foundation of human emotion, he can make people do the things he wants them to, as he ends up doing later in the book. This key law of human nature is the key to Tom's existence. If he hadn't learned this, he would not be able to go out and explore nature because he would not be done with his chores assigned.
The "fence" in this passage represents a boundary between the town and nature. The fact that he has to coat the fence three times shows that he must stay by the boundary for a long time. This causes a huge temptation for Tom to leave the civil and enter the primal. It is because he wants to venture into nature so badly that he uses the law of human nature that he discovers above to manipulate people in order to get into nature even faster.
The fact that the only thing that stopped Tom from continuing from taking from other was the lack of whitewash shows that he does not know limits. He cares only for himself and his own self-interest, which in most cases is escaping over the fence into the natural world. For Tom, everything is about nature.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Nature Writing through the Centuries
Each of these passages that we read had very different views of nature. The first one, which dates all the way back to 1620, writes about the nature of Cape Cod. He begins by talking of their journal on the ocean and how dangerous the ocean is, whereas the "firm and stable earth" is man's proper element. He thanks God for delivering them to the safety of land. Many times, God is thought to have the power not only to cause terrible, sublime nature, but also to protect man from nature and protect him from the awful power that he could cause. Another interesting quote in the passage was that they were happy to get out of the dangers "before night overtook them." This shows that the fear of nighttime in nature has long been present, even in the 1600s.
The second passage also demonstrates the power of God and praises God. "How excellent is He that dwells on high, Whose power and beauty by His works we know?" Anne Bradstreet attributes all of nature to God's awesome yet magical creation. "The more I looked, the more I grew amazed"..."No wonder some made thee a deity." It seems as though she is calling nature itself a god, which I find very interesting. She is not only saying that God created nature, but putting nature on the same pedestal as one puts a deity.
There is a big gap in the years between the next passages, from 1670 to 1928. This is very evident in the way this next story is written. In the previous passages, man has been afraid of nature and has put it on a pedestal. In this one however, the author is sleeping and living in nature and is almost trying to become one with nature. The night isn't portrayed as dangerous anymore, but rather peaceful. The author also tries to personify nature by mentioning the "ritual of the sun" and other human activities done by nature. The author also stressed that nature is always changing and being created. "Creation is here and now."
Henry Beston wrote in 1933 about his view of nature. He has a very different view from many other humans. "Only to the white men was nature a 'wilderness' and 'infested' with 'wild' animals and 'savage' people." He thought nature was tame. It was only when more humans started to come did it become "wild." This is a huge contrast to the usual view that it is animals that make something wild, not humans. This also showed me that a person's definition of nature and wild and all the definitions we wrote the first day of class would change drastically depending on where a person was from and what their background was.
Edward Abbey then writes and shows that nature can be beautiful in many forms. Some thinks that a lovely barren desert is beautiful, while others could not stand the thought of ever living there and instead need a blooming garden state. "If you had more water, more people could live here." The rest of the passage goes on to describe details on what to do if you are lost and alone in the middle of the desert. You could either find water and somehow survive, or you could find no water, and write your will in the sand and die. This passage talks about the desert as a "land of surprises, some of them terrible surprises. Terrible as derived from terror." Even in 1968, people still think of nature as a terrible thing of which humans have very little control over. You can search and search for water as long as you can, but there is always the possibility that you will not find it.
The last passage is the most recent, written only 3 years ago. It compares a desert to drugs and booze. When you are in a desert, there is "nothing left but the senses," and time goes in slow motion. It talks about the power of nature. In the earlier passages, nature was something to be feared. However, as the years went on, it seems as though nature has become more appreciated for its beauty, not only its terror.
The second passage also demonstrates the power of God and praises God. "How excellent is He that dwells on high, Whose power and beauty by His works we know?" Anne Bradstreet attributes all of nature to God's awesome yet magical creation. "The more I looked, the more I grew amazed"..."No wonder some made thee a deity." It seems as though she is calling nature itself a god, which I find very interesting. She is not only saying that God created nature, but putting nature on the same pedestal as one puts a deity.
There is a big gap in the years between the next passages, from 1670 to 1928. This is very evident in the way this next story is written. In the previous passages, man has been afraid of nature and has put it on a pedestal. In this one however, the author is sleeping and living in nature and is almost trying to become one with nature. The night isn't portrayed as dangerous anymore, but rather peaceful. The author also tries to personify nature by mentioning the "ritual of the sun" and other human activities done by nature. The author also stressed that nature is always changing and being created. "Creation is here and now."
Henry Beston wrote in 1933 about his view of nature. He has a very different view from many other humans. "Only to the white men was nature a 'wilderness' and 'infested' with 'wild' animals and 'savage' people." He thought nature was tame. It was only when more humans started to come did it become "wild." This is a huge contrast to the usual view that it is animals that make something wild, not humans. This also showed me that a person's definition of nature and wild and all the definitions we wrote the first day of class would change drastically depending on where a person was from and what their background was.
Edward Abbey then writes and shows that nature can be beautiful in many forms. Some thinks that a lovely barren desert is beautiful, while others could not stand the thought of ever living there and instead need a blooming garden state. "If you had more water, more people could live here." The rest of the passage goes on to describe details on what to do if you are lost and alone in the middle of the desert. You could either find water and somehow survive, or you could find no water, and write your will in the sand and die. This passage talks about the desert as a "land of surprises, some of them terrible surprises. Terrible as derived from terror." Even in 1968, people still think of nature as a terrible thing of which humans have very little control over. You can search and search for water as long as you can, but there is always the possibility that you will not find it.
The last passage is the most recent, written only 3 years ago. It compares a desert to drugs and booze. When you are in a desert, there is "nothing left but the senses," and time goes in slow motion. It talks about the power of nature. In the earlier passages, nature was something to be feared. However, as the years went on, it seems as though nature has become more appreciated for its beauty, not only its terror.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Fantasia
As we watched Fantasia today, it was hard not to pay attention to the constant nature imagery. Especially in the pastoral symphony, there was almost a sense of fake nature. Everything was so perfect, so happy, so cheerful. The colors of the background were all pastel colors. In addition to this, everyone was happy. Unicorns and centaurs were frolicking in the fields, getting drunk and being merry. The interactions with each other were all full of love, whether friendly or most lustful. However, it almost seemed too good to be true. Nobody is every that happy and cheerful without something going wrong. And sure enough, thats when the sublime nature comes in. The gods threw down their lightning bolts laughing. It was almost as if they would not let the playful animals be happy for too long.
In all the scenes that we have watched so far, there has been aspects of both pastoral nature and sublime nature. I think that Fantasia is trying to suggest that one cannot exist without the other. There will be times of the pastoral happiness with some frolicking, but sublime will always come and swoop in, for however long the controlling power chooses.
Just in general with watching Fantasia, I think it is interesting how the music and the animation work so well together. You can always tell when a change in the plot was about to happen by the music. For example, right before Zeus came onto the cloud with his lightning bolts, the music sped up and got really intense. This was a clear sign that something was about to disrupt the serene pastoral scene. In the scene with the dinosaurs, this same pattern happened right before T-rex came in to fight.
In all the scenes that we have watched so far, there has been aspects of both pastoral nature and sublime nature. I think that Fantasia is trying to suggest that one cannot exist without the other. There will be times of the pastoral happiness with some frolicking, but sublime will always come and swoop in, for however long the controlling power chooses.
Just in general with watching Fantasia, I think it is interesting how the music and the animation work so well together. You can always tell when a change in the plot was about to happen by the music. For example, right before Zeus came onto the cloud with his lightning bolts, the music sped up and got really intense. This was a clear sign that something was about to disrupt the serene pastoral scene. In the scene with the dinosaurs, this same pattern happened right before T-rex came in to fight.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Definitions
Animal: any living creature, includes mammals, reptiles, insects, and other classifications of living species.
Nature: the habitat that all animals live in on earth. Recently, it has been corrupted by human impact and building. The result of this is other animal's habitats are being destroyed.
Wild: parts of nature that have not been impacted by unnatural sources; not domesticated.
Human: an animal that has evolved over centuries to become one of the most sophisticated animals on earth.
Morals: a set of beliefs and ethics that a person lives by. These beliefs should govern how they interact with others and impact the decisions they make in life.
Love: strong sense of affection a person (or animal) feels for someone else that causes them to value the other's life more than their own.
Life: everything that breathes, thinks, moves, or acts. Essentially, anything that is alive.
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