The Death of Ivan Ilynch

In the novella "The Death of Ivan llynch"
the characters care solely about their status and wealth. The obsession to achieve wealth and status make people unable to remember life’s importances. Such qualities include integrity, kindness, and respect. In the first page of the novella family and friends gather for Ivan Ilych’s funeral, yet it is said that when the men hear of Ilynch’s death their first thought is the possibility of self promotion within the work force. Ilynch’s best friend “sacrificed his usual nap” in order to attend the funeral. Through these actions it is apparent that in this society the people are self-centered and have no worry for anyone else’s well-being. At the funeral Ilynch’s wife describes the pain she suffered in her husband’s last days, for she had to tolerate his screams and tend to his illness. She obviously had no concern for her husband in his last days and felt no sorrow once he passed on.

During Ilynch’s life it seemed he was unhappy and lived to climb the social latter. His goal in life was to fulfill his duty and his duty was considered by authority figures. During Ilynch’s childhood it seemed he had a moral compass, but his compass became skewed as society views altered his mindset. In school he felt disgusted with himself when he disobeyed, but when he saw people of good position do the same things, he felt that they were not as bad. His actions seemed to worsen as he grew older. Ilynch was well liked by everyone and said to be good natured, but he had an affair while married. Ilynch did not marry for love. Although he was in love with his wife, he chose to marry because society looked highly on their match.

In the first half of this novella, one gets the feeling that people have lost the ability to think for themselves and instead of thinking about their actions or following their hearts, they are swayed to meet society’s standards. Money and status are held in higher regard than integrity and self-respect. Everyone is in competition with one another to get ahead first and farthest. Consideration of others is ignored and the quest for self gain prevails.

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Comparison Between Heart of Darkness and Waiting for the Barbarians

In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Conrad demonstrates the desire the Europeans have to overtake Africa. This desire to take over a colony continues to be shown in the Waiting for the Barbarians. But unlike Heart of Darkness, J.M. Coetzee seems to realize and shows through the magistrate that it wrong to destroy the “enemy” for the “enemy” may be what is helping to keep the empire thriving. Cortez also shows the beginning of compassion toward the “barbarians.”

Through the characters I see a connection between Kurtz and Colonel Joll. Both are authority figures who choose to abuse the Africans and the “barbarians.” And both seem to fail in their desire for power and expansion of the empire. Kurtz leaves his fallen empire and says “The horror!” It is as though he may now realize how awful he treated the African natives. In this respect, he shares similar characteristics to the magistrate. Both feel a sense of guilt and terror to what they have caused and witnessed in the empires they were apart of destroying. After Kurtz has lost his power over the natives and is no longer in control of the empire he dies. Colonel Joll also ends up with a distressed empire. In the end of the novel Coetzee expresses a fear in the people. People begin to gossip about the harm the barbarians will cause such as rape and destruction. The people of the empire become frightened of what lies ahead. Colonel Joll definitely lost power and seems to have put it in the hands over the barbarians. The people under his empire make decisions on what they think the barbarians will do. They both also have someone who is challenging their authority; the magistrate and Marlow. The magistrate and Kurtz do not agree with their leaders decisions and are haunted by the brutality they have witnessed.

The magistrate seems to think that sometimes he is similar to Colonel Joll. They both are working to defeat the enemy and although the magistrate is not physically beating the barbarians he is apart of the cause and does not try to stop this abuse. Even though the magistrate does help the blind barbarian girl, he is unsuccessful because he in turn is punished. Despite the fact that the magistrate does not seem to agree with the treatment of the barbarians he still would chose to keep the job he holds because he thinks it would be better for the barbarians if he was in his position rather than someone else. This is similar to Marlow in Heart of Darkness. He is independent and becomes skeptical of the how the white men treat the Africans, making him skeptical of imperialism. (450)

The Complexities of the Magistrate

J.M. Coetzee’s, Waiting for the Barbarians, is written strictly in the present tense. Since the story is actively developing the reader is captured in time with the Magistrate. (The reader is learning the story at the same time as the Magistrate.)

The Magistrate is a complex character. He does not seem to agree with the torture that is afflicted upon the barbarians, but works for people who do. He seems to be siding with the barbarians. When talking to a colleague about possibly pushing the barbarians into the mountains he fights for them by saying that barbarians are nomads who will not allow themselves to be pushed into the mountains. Furthermore, he says all the barbarians want is their land back, so they can roam free in their pastures. He ends his discussion by saying, “I wish that these barbarians would rise up and teach us a lesson,”(2:50). He seems to believe that the barbarians will outlive the English in this land which suggests that he does not have the strongest confidence in his men’s defeat over the barbarians.

Magistrate becomes close to a barbarian woman. After meeting a blind barbarian woman, and spending multiple nights with her, he takes her back to her own people. Risking his life, he travels through the harsh winter, so she can be safe at home. He truly cares for her on this journey. Before the journey he bought he boots, fur, gloves and a rabbit skin cap. Magistrate is gentle toward the blind woman. When the blind woman is menstruating and no other man will go near her, the Magistrate brings her food and comforts her. He even sleeps in the tent beside her. When the blind woman is united with other barbarians the Magistrate confirms that she does not have to go with them if she does not want to, she can stay with him if she would like. I find his compassion toward her to be very honorable.

Although some characteristics of the Magistrate are honorable others are not. He suggests he is quite the womanizer when he wants to be, but he is very mixed up with his feelings toward women. Sometimes he desires them and other times they mean nothing to him. He questions himself often, wondering whether the girl he is with is pretty or not, or if their sexual encounters really mean anything to him. He seems very confused when it comes to women and his morals toward women, but when it comes to his morals toward how he treats the barbarians he stays true. He is kind and generous. Characteristics I would like to see him carry over in other aspects of his life.

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Are Human One Race of Many?

External differences due to climate, food, habits, ect.

Argued that many races remain altogether unchanged.

“Natural Selection” with animals depends on “self-dependence and individual isolation”
-keeps animals uniform standard

Humans are more sympathetic, keeping the sick alive. This increases mental and moral qualities .
-Help learn to use nature for survival. (live in harmony with environment helps keep numbers)

“Great modifications of structure and of external form, which resulted in the development of man out of some lower type of animal, must of occurred before his intellect had raised him above the condition of the brutes”
-helps resist natural selection

"kept in harmony with the slowly changing universe around him by an advance in mind rather than body”

“common origin of all mankind”

The Positive Conclusion for the Remainder of the Compson's

The Sound and the Fury ends the way it began; with Benji. Benji, Luster, Dilsey and Jason are driving their carriage and they reach an intersection. Luster turns onto an unfamiliar route and Benji becomes very upset and moans in concern. Once Luster steers the carriage into the right direction Benji becomes at ease. When Benji recognizes the familiar he calms down because he is comforted with the familiar. Through this scene the reader can interpret that Benji needs order to remain stable. Benji’s life has finally reached a stage of composure. The members in his family who caused chaos and destruction have left and now Benji is at peace with the woman who has always been a mother figure toward him, Dilsey. It also seems that Benji will now have the opportunity to create a bond with his brother Jason, that they had not had before. Dilsey will be the support and strength of the family without interference. The dramatics that were once caused by the Compson’s will no longer occur and the remainder of the family, who have not yet been shambled, will move on successfully.
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The Sound and the Fury Article

I read the article "Meaningful Images in The Sound and the Fury" written by Eben Bass. It explains exactly what readers recognize; Faulkner's works are difficult reads because they are fragmented. The article focuses a lot on time which grabbed my interest because we have discussed this issue in class. Bass says, "The reader gets scarcely any sense of order from the idiot because "Benji's" time stopped at his three year mental age." He says in the second section Quentin "arrests time by committing suicide." Bass declares that the end of the story is understood more clearly because of the three different approaches that were presented. The aim of The Sound and the Fury Bass states, "is to show how the growth of certain images helps restore order, or time, to the novel."

Bass, Eden. Meaningful Images in The Sound and the Fury. Modern Language Notes. Dec. 1961. http://www.jstor.org/pss/3039942. 10-20-08


Eben Bass
Modern Language Notes, Vol. 76, No. 8 (Dec., 1961), pp. 728-731 (article consists of 4 pages)
Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press

Jim Cross's Severe Self- Punishment

I found Tim O’Brien’s short story “The Things They Carried” to be very sad. In the first two sentences readers learn that Lieutenant Jim Cross carries letters sent to him by a woman named Martha protected in plastic at the bottom of his rucksack. Right away it is obvious that Cross cares foe this woman. He wishes that they were love letters. After long days of battle he would unwrap the letters and read them for hours and imagine being with her. Cross is at war and in love. Because of his love for Martha he becomes distracted from his obligations as a leader. In the midst of battle Cross loses a soldier named Ted Lavender. Before and after Lavender’s death Cross consumed by thoughts of Martha. He feels no grief and because of this he becomes disgusted with himself. He decides that from now on he will not lose another man. He chooses to burn all photos of Martha for he is convinced that she does not love him back. I think that Cross feels defeated. He feels that he has failed his men and did not fulfill his duty. He is convinced that not thinking of Martha will help him straighten up and become a stronger Lieutenant. In my opinion I do not think that he should give up Martha entirely. Martha gave him hope and a drive to live. Martha was able to distract him from the evils of war and although he does lose focus from his obligations from time to time his daydreams are uplifting as opposed to thoughts of death and despair.

O’Brien tells the readers of all the different items that the soldiers’ carry throughout the story. Most everyone under Cross’s command has something of sentimental value with them; most distract them from the war. In Cross’s wallet he carried two pictures of Martha and would daydream and reminisce about the pictures he had. He also carried a pebble that she had sent him for good luck. “He loved her so much. On the march, through the hot days of early April, he carried the pebble in his mouth…He had difficulty keeping attention on the war” (13). After yelling out commands he would catch himself daydreaming of Martha. Before Lavender’s death Cross was thinking about what he should’ve done with Martha before he left for war instead of the battle situation at hand; the battle in which Ted Lavender had died. Cross blamed himself for Lavender’s death. “He loved Martha more than anything, more than his men, and now Ted Lavender was dead because he loved her so much and could not stop thinking about her”(11).

After Lavender’s death and many more daydreams about Martha, Cross burned all the letters Martha hade sent him and her two pictures. He was convinced that she did not love him. “He hated her”(89). He told himself, “no more fantasies” (92). Once all memorabilia of Martha was burned, Cross decided he would not tolerate laxity. He would now keep his men under strict order.

I think it was wrong that Cross burned the letters. Without the letters he would let mind run off and wonder about things such as, “Will the flashlight go dead? Do rats carry rabies? If you screamed, how far would the sound carry? Would your buddies hear it? Would they have the courage to drag you out?”(18). Like O’Brien said, in war, imagination is a killer. Cross no longer has joyful memories to look forward to but instead he will think about punishments of war. He blamed himself too heavily for Lavender’s death and because of this he felt too guilty to think of anything but his men. In the long run, I think Cross will lose all of his depth and become mentally, a prisoner of war.

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