rough draft

To be able to fix everyone’s problem would be a tremendous gift and a tremendous curse all at the same time. Through my life I have tried to fix most any problem that comes my way. To fix these problems I have chosen paths such as action, reflection, and avoidance very rarely solving the main problem but just getting rid of the symptoms. Problems can be hard to dissect because most people do not say what is truly wrong they only let you know the symptoms so while you spend time getting rid of the symptoms the underlying problem is never touched and those feeling are left in your gut. Sherman Olney can fix every one else’s problems but the reader is unable to figure out what his problem is. Is he God? Is he an angel? Is he a fugitive? How can this man fix a radiator and bring someone back to life? “The Fix” is a story that challenges the idea of God or Jesus by showing us more of the man who fixes everything.

We all see God as this all knowing all powerful being. He is able to create worlds, fight Satin, Bring down plagues and floods, and to inspire billions. Through the story “The Fix” I think we get a closer look at who god is. In this story I believe Sherman Olney to be Jesus; the vision of God as man. Sherman is able to fix modern day problems like radiators, razors, toilets, marriages, businesses, and the occasional death. Jesus was a miracle worker able to cure leprosy, starvation, and original sin. While both get to help people in their own way Sherman seems to struggle with this gift where as Jesus was able to use this gift as a launching point for a greater message and cause. Sherman’s struggle starts at the beginning of the story when he is getting beaten up by two individuals in an alley. We later learn that these individuals are either from the government or a big business trying to use Sherman to fix their problems. This is a key difference then in the life of Jesus where the Pharisees tried to discount and undercut his importance through calls of blasphemy and excommunication; Sherman was sought after.

Douglass the narrator of the story shows us that everyone needs a friend. In a way he reminds me of Peter (Jesus’ rock) only he does not abandon Sherman in his moment of struggle instead he runs with him. Douglass is scared, nervous, and has no idea where they are going all he knows is his friend is in trouble and maybe he can help. Douglass is a good friend and employer throughout this story as he stands by and helps Sherman from the first page to the last I think this speaks to how everyone needs a crutch. They need that thing to lean on for some it is a friend, others a wife, others a parent or it could be an activity. I feel this is an often overlooked aspect of the story; while we are all concentrating on who or what Sherman is we forget to see how Douglass is truly his rock. The role of confidant is not one that should be taken lightly to gain someone’s trust enough for them to share their darkest fears is something very remarkable in itself. We see Douglass struggle to get inside Sherman throughout the story. He defends him to his wife “He’s honest, I know that. He never even glances at the till… Sherman’s no crook. Why I’d trust the man with my life. There are few people I can say that about.” His love and trust for Sherman shines through this conversation with his wife, Shelia. Why is he so trusting and loving for this stranger?

To be able to fix things is a marvelous gift but is this why Douglass is devoted to him? He never really gets to know this man as Sherman is barely audible throughout the entire story. So, why is Douglass so loyal to him? Sherman did fix up his deli and bring in customers but their friendship seems to run deeper. I believe it is not that Douglass is as faithful to Sherman as both men are committed to each other. The story opens to Douglass saving Sherman’s life, getting him a job, and a place to stay. The story then continues to Sherman fixing everything in the shop and then bringing business with his magical hands. The story closes with the two men running from the mob together.

These two men who seem very different at the beginning turn out to have a lot in common and why I believe they have such a good friendship. They both are caring individuals, they like to help others, they are brave, they keep to themselves, and they trust. To trust in this day and age is a very difficult thing to do as Shelia pointed out; “and he’s in the shop all alone…you have lost your mind. Now, you go right back down there and get rid of that guy.” Shelia takes the very sane approach to the problem of having a complete stranger in your place of business staying the night. The trust that there two show in each other replaces most of Shelia’s doubt. When they get back to the deli what do they discover but that he fixed the toilet and the foot massager. This is a great example of just what friendship and love is built upon; trust. It is only a five letter word but there are few things more important to a person’s life.

Throughout this story you get to see many comparisons to Jesus, God, and friendship but I found the moral of the story to be “You have to be careful about what you fix. If you fix the valves in an engine, but the bearings are shot, you’ll get more compression, but the engine will still burn up.” I believe Sherman is telling us to take it easy and trust the one’s you love to fix their own problems. If they cannot then trust they will ask for your help to do so. It can be dangerous fixing everything.

Social Class of Comedy

Much comedy in England turns on the frustrations and codes of social class. Do you think American comedy shares this focus? If not, what are American comedians tending to focus on? What does British and American comedy have in common?

Yes, I feel social class is a big issue in American comedy but i do not think it is the most popular issue for comics to hit on. Today when i watch comedy i find that race, political issues, and family life are the most common topics. Race has always been a huge issue in America and we have all seen white comics imitate black people and black comics imitate white people. I think they do this as a way to let people know that though this issue is old and some might feel worn out (like steroids in baseball) it is still very important that we bridge the gap between us all. I remember seeing Greg Geraldo makes jokes about his Latin heritage by poking fun at Texas and illegal immigrants saying that the news was reporting that Texas was being "overwhelmed" by Mexicans; like they where at war. Race in America will always be an issue of conversation like when Dave Chapelle saying how his white friend Craig can get out of a street racing ticket when he is high and drunk just by telling the officer "I didn't know I couldn't do that." That is a great story and joke when told by him but if you disect it a little it has to do with cops profiling against African Americans a major problem in our society.

Politics has become the bud of every joke it seems receintly from Daily Show to SNL there seems to be nothing greater then getting the president to look foolish on national television. Recently with the last 8 years of Bush and with the clinton sex scandel it seems that making fun of our nations leaders (Dick Cheney, Palin, George H.W. Bush, ect) is second hand on the comedy seen. It should be it gives people a platt form to be heard and makes people understand that we have the right and responsibility to question everything our government says. We can not take anything on face value.

Family life is always a big topic when comedians go on stage because your entire audience can relate to family life. My mother and I do not get along, my wife is kicking my ass (dont ever get married), kids there great... when they're yours, ect. Family life is the most common denominator between the audience and the comic I think that is why those jokes are so funny and so common. There is no trouble relating to how a husband is lazy or a wife nags where it can be difficult to get an audience that has your background socially. Not all of us grew up poor, we are not all well informed and therefore will get the joke about the speaker of the house, In Ohio illegal immigration is not that big of a problem.

The thing American comics and British comics have the most in common (that I have noticed) is the fact that they rip on the government just like us and recently they rip on our government officals alot. Class, Race, Sex, Drugs, Celebrities they talk about the same things our comics do but they put an importance on class because that i9s the big issue going on in England where as here it is economic crisis (political) and race.

Boys

In the story boys the author did a very interesting thing in that he told the story through how the boys entered the house. it showed how at different ages different things impact your life. The relationships of brothers can be a very complicated one where insults and fighting can show the true compasion each brother shares for the other.

the story took you through their life in times of crisis (when their sister dies), in times of joy (the wedding), and to when they truly feel like men not boys (when their father dies). it shows how they cope with life and its issues of puberty, college, marriage, and death. It does all these things by showing how the boys enter the house either how they are dressed or what they are doing when they go inside. Then he sows adulthood by showing how they did not enter the house and how as you grow older you can grow apart from one another. it is a good story about life and how to survive it

The House on Mango Street

This is a story about a family and their struggle to "get ahead" in the world. The narrator of the story is the daughter who you believe to be the author Sandra Cisneros. It tells about her life as a young girl growing up without a home. In this story the family has just moved to a new house on Mango Street and they had always wanted a home; someplace to put down their roots. This house however is a shack and a mess she describes the windows as "they where so small you'd think they were holding their breath". through out the story she describes the house they wanted it was white, had three bathrooms, and real stairs not just hallway stairs. I feel that part especially speaks to the dreams and hopes of the underprivileged. I have had a very fortunate life so far and the idea of needing real stairs in my house was something I never even considered. I knew they where going to be there so it is something i have defiantly taken for granted. there is this sense of connection to the story for me as well though. Even though i have grown up much more fortunate then the narrator I have also experienced the pain of moving from town to town. I know how difficult that can be and how important it is to have strong family ties to help you adjust to a new life. 

The most important paragraph in this story is defiantly the conversation between the girl and the nun. The nun asked where she lived and the little girl pointed to her third floor apartment as if to say up there. The nun looked shocked that someone could live in a place like that . The author describes it by saying "You live there? the way she said it made me feel like nothing.  There, I lived there. I nodded." this is a women of god who pledge her life to helping the unfortunate but instead she gaffed at her and made her feel unimportant. I think this conversation speaks to the struggle she had growing up. If her home is such a despair that a nun can't even see the good in it then life must had been difficult.

Catastrophe

I feel for the most part that the play and the performance was pretty much the same but there were some a couple of glaring differences to me. First, where was the director's cigar? He is of high standing. A man that is suppose to be going to a caucus later so why didn't he smoke his cigar? The cigar is placed in there to show standing and high class especially when he makes his assistant run over and light it three times! I feel this is an important aspect of class in this play that Printer should not have left out. I think the fact that she gets out a flashlight might have to do with the subtle hint that a director's life is more difficult then the play portrays (It could simply be that the actor did not want to portray smoking during his scene). This could also be why the director never sits in his armchair as well. In the play he spends pretty much the entire scene sitting down in either his armchair or off camera in the theater. However, in the video play he is up and walking around with his assistant until he has to go off to the theater seats. I think Printer did this to show that his job was a little more difficult then it was being portrayed.

The River

"The River" is a poem written by Bruce Springsteen about a man and his wife who seem to feel trapped in the life that God has laid out for them. It starts like a love story about the narrator (husband) and his wife Mary when they met in high school their love was passionate and exciting. The flame burning between the two of them seems to be the only exciting thing in his life because he comes from a working class city where the only life waiting for you was the one your father lived. I have always felt this poem was set in a Pennsylvania steel town where if you could not get out on football or some other type of scholarship you would spend the rest of your days working for the mill. "They bring you up to do; Like your daddy done." This lays out clearly that he does not believe there is anything else out there for him but his father's lifestyle of construction worker in middle america.

Like most of Springsteen's poems/songs he is singing to and about middle class; working america the type of lifestyle he grew up with in New Jersey. as he writes this song in 1980 it is right around the time where gas is up, terriorists have 100+ captive citizens from our embassy, and our economy is much like it is today. he writes this saying we are Americans we are tough. Clearly the narrator of this song is tough because he lives a life that he hates with a wife that can not stand him anymore. That passion; the fire that drove those two together late at nights on the river bank is gone and all that is left is haunting memories and resentment. When he writes "Mary Acts like she dont care" it is clear that as time has passed they have split farther and farther apart with it seems no way to reconcile.

He remembers the old days throughout the last third of the song how good Mary looked with her body wet and tan at the resovior. The passion that drove them to the river is gone now and all that is left is him alone in his car as the memories haunt him like a curse. the very last stanza of the song is a message of hope though because even though the river is dry Him and his baby are going to ride down to the river. This could mean he is trying to respark that flame with Mary or that he wants to show his daughter that there was once love here and not to make the same mistake as them.

I think this song was Bruce's first big hit because it spoke to most of america. It did not matter if you where rich, poor, young, old if you knew what it was like to be in love, to fall out of love, or even to have a job you hate then this song speaks to you and lets you know you are not the only one. We all have struggles in our life the real sign of manhood or courage is pulling through those struggles and not let them bring you down.

Homework Jan 15th

One of the poems I really enjoyed reading was Design written by Robert Frost. This poem gives me a great image of life and death not only in nature but also with in humanity. This poem brings to mind the idea of the strong will survive and when we all head out into the "real world" this is a lesson worth knowing. He does a great job describing the spider, moth, and flower so that the reader can picture exactly what he is trying to say. Frost compares the interaction of our image by using a simile showing us that the spider, moth and flower are mixed as one; "like a witches' broth." This idea of a broth is interesting because when looking at a broth you can see all the ingredients that make it up: the beef, stew, veggies, ect. They are however, brought together as one much like the spider and the moth are together in this battle of life that he portrays.

Digging by Seamus Heaney is a poem about generations where the author is showing how a son can follow the footsteps of his father or can abandon his father's work for his own path. The speaker in this poem could be the author himself talking about his life and the life of his grandfather and father or it could be another son who broke away from the family livelihood of farming and forged his own path as a writer. I think it is Mr. Heaney as the son because of when it was written and the fact that he becomes an author. The first line of this poem gives me a great image of just how powerful words can be. He uses the Metaphor "Between my finger and my thumb - The squat pen rests; snug as a gun." this idea of a pen as a gun I think explains the importance of words and literature for any culture. A gun can be a good tool or a devastating one depending on how it is used and I believe the same can be said for a pen. The declaration of independence for example is a monumental piece of literature that carried great weight and consequences for the American people. The gun is an appropriate image for this metaphor because it was probably like "shooting" his father when he told him; "No! I'm going to be a writer."