After reading A Good Man is Hard to Find, I honestly thought it was grotesque. I had to read it in high school and I remember thinking it was sort of, well, gross. Class on tuesday helped me see that is redemption in it, which is comforting in light of the fact that I don't really... like it. But when Talmage said he didn't see the grace, I really thought that was okay too. I started thinking about the beauty of literature as an art form- how the interpretations are really just interpretations. They aren't the art itself. If someone walks away with grace, that's what we hope for, but if someone doesn't- that's okay too.
For me, the hardest part about this semester in Honors has been that we always interpret the text. I know that sounds silly, but when you have grown up just reading books, and not having to think much past your own personal opinion, to be forced into constant dialogue about it is... exhilarating, exhausting, awesome, and exhausting. I was reminded in class that in the end, it really is okay if we all see this art differently. We all love to read, that's why we're here. We all love to learn, and sometimes we can pull apart the text like a math problem when what we need to do is let it work on us. It's good that there are people who see different things in this work. That is what makes it art rather than algebra.
For me, the hardest part about this semester in Honors has been that we always interpret the text. I know that sounds silly, but when you have grown up just reading books, and not having to think much past your own personal opinion, to be forced into constant dialogue about it is... exhilarating, exhausting, awesome, and exhausting. I was reminded in class that in the end, it really is okay if we all see this art differently. We all love to read, that's why we're here. We all love to learn, and sometimes we can pull apart the text like a math problem when what we need to do is let it work on us. It's good that there are people who see different things in this work. That is what makes it art rather than algebra.
Yes, it is often a difficult process to tear apart a text instead of letting it exist in the natural form. We are humans, Western humans; it's what we do. I'm glad we're growing through this semester and learning to seek truth in every word we read.
ReplyDeleteOh and congratulations again
Thank you for reminding us that interpretations are really just interpretations, and that it is okay to see it differently. I am beginning to realize that the state we are in when we encounter a text will reveal it to us in different ways. The way I read O'Conner now is not the way I read her over the holidays, and I certainly hope I never read her the same way twice. I should change each time I read, not because I changed my mind but because the art showed me something else.
ReplyDeleteps- i commented on samantha's
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