***(((Spoiler alert! Go read it before you start reading here!)))***
Before the discussion begins flowing tomorrow, I wanted to speak a little about it here. This allegory really opened my mind for the day. It reflects the human condition we've created for ourselves. I saw the revisitation of the Apollonian problem very clearly. We humans work diligently toward goals we've created for ourselves. We have convinced ourselves that we are working toward a climactic finish line. We do not know the reward nor the time it will take to get there, and we strive still.
I am not sure whether or not E. M. Forster was a Christian, but it conjures the Christian message still. There is peace that God is gifting us through His Son, but we continue working for our own salvation. Although the road we are on does not return to Him through our own workings, it did start with Him, and it's been an attempted progression back to that glory since the departure from the Garden.
Of course, it could more easily be paralleled as an allegory of the desire to "transcend" some social construction and the rat race we participate in. It will be interesting to see how class goes tomorrow.
PS - Commented on Rachel's "Blah Blah- Authentic Self"
When I started reading this the Christian elements seemed to flow at me in an unending stream. At least I think they are religious elements. I know nothing about the author but he seemed to have a sermon through this allegory. Much Like in Pilgrim's Progress. There is so much more I would like to talk about here but I have to use it in my post.
ReplyDeleteyeah, ... Miss Bear... Is it more proper to call her Dr. Bear? She is still in the process of getting her PH.D... I guess we will know formally tomorrow. But in her Discussion questions she provided she says that the story has many religious overtones. But yeah- I definitely am excited about how the class will go. While reading I was definitely feeling like it is some sort of allegory pointing towards transcending a lesser social structure into one that could be more fulfilling. I like the wording you used... "rat race.' The reason I call it a lesser, and dare i say, more evil social structure, because of the reaction of the other journey men to his sitting down and resting. I think I want to go into this more on my own blog but think about that... the "rat race" works as a parallel to the world (full of busy bodies) and the community of the moat sort of a heaven, transcendence parallel (full of people who are content with the truth they have found.) This may be a limb, but I've worked up a neat thought that I want to explicate a little more on my own post... so... yeah.
ReplyDeleteWill u said it perfectly when u described the existence Forster portrays, and our own lives, as a rat race. We're always trying to one up the next person and that's the only thing that concerns us. His brother did seem to be the only one who was helping others to make it, like Jesus charged us to do, and the speaker (much like the world today) ridicules him for it. It really is going to be interesting talking about this tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteA quick note on the last part of your blog. I really struggled with the whole meaning of the piece. Was it about striving and such or is it out social constructions. I just don't know. Also, this might be stretching it but, could the narrator's brother be a savior figure. Yeah, I don't know.
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