Ashley Moltzan

McCracken-Flesher

English 4990

12-05-2007

Choosing Power: Between Fascists and Fauns in Pan’s Labyrinth

In the film, Pan’s Labyrinth, power permeates Spain and an Underground Realm through actions and discourse. There is power controlled by Ofelia’s stepfather, a Fascist captain, in a violent fashion while there are rebels all around him against his power. His primary maid, Mercedes, is secretly assisting the rebels with a key that has the power to bring the rebels in the forest weapons, food, and other supplies from the storage shed. Even his stepdaughter, Ofelia, rebels against his ideas. While she is a subject of the captain, she is also a subject of a faun who tells her she is a princess of an Underground Realm. With conflicting parties who seem to contain power, Ofelia must figure out where true power lies.

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Ashley Moltzan

McCracken-Flesher

English 4310

10-30-07

Honor vs. Social Class in The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne

In The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne, honor is a very prestigious trait and men are well rewarded when they perform honorable deeds. But, having a prestigious family and social class standing are just as important. One could be of the highest class standing without as much morals as a poor peasant that is very honorable and still be respected more than the more honorable peasant. Social class standing has the highest priority in the story. Alleyn, who is a peasant, is the most honorable character in the story, but without a high family standing he is not able to achieve the object of his desires, Mary from the family of the Castle of Athlin. Although Mary loves no one greater than Alleyn, she can not be allowed to marry someone of a low class standing. Osbert, the Earl of Athlin, also struggles with his feelings towards Alleyn because of his low class standing. The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne shows that social class is authoritative over a person’s good nature.

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It was the early summer of Nineteen Ninety-Seven

I was a young blond girl, nearing the end of age ten.

I wanted a puppy to take care of and give my love.

My brother was my pretend puppy for a while.

I had a robe sash “leash” on him and told him to go “ruff, ruff”

Needless to say, this did not cause my mom or my brother to smile.

But I wanted a real live dog so I scanned every daily classified ad.

We looked at Shi Tzu puppies but we didn’t much care for those.

Then was an ad for Shetland Sheepdogs/Sheltie puppies found by my dad.

Dad and I drove out to the country to look at the four week old pups.

Three were mostly black like their mother, Rascal, but not the one I chose.

She was mostly brown like her father, Rowdy; so small now … just little lumps.

We could not take her home yet until another two weeks when she was six weeks old.

I was so excited, I could not stop dreaming of playing with her and taking her to talent shows

I planned on teaching her a multitude of tricks and her doing everything that she is told.

We even got a deal one her too since he was sable and not tri-colored like the rest.

But being the cheapest puppy did not mean she wouldn’t be the best.

After the monetary item and the doll from the 1960s, she became Penny Brite.

So small at six weeks, watching her crawl under the coffee table was quite a sight.

She slept in my room and I took her outside teaching her to use the grass as her toilet

I was diligent in cleaning up, pooper scooper ready, even as her business was still wet.

She learned very fast, barely having any accidents in the house at all

Penny loved to play; she was good at playing fetch with her favorite ball.

We also played hide and go seek where we would both start off in the garage and I would leave her in and close the  door

And I would run and try to find a place to hide fast as Penny would leave the other way finding me and eager for more.

The summer flew by fast and soon it was time for me to go back to school and finish Heart River with the sixth grade

Little Penny did not understand and howled like a coyote as I left and she stared – looking for her Ashley – waiting to see.

And return I did every morning through the back door walking home and all of Penny’s sadness would fade.

One day, Penny slipped out the backyard and without me knowing, went to the school to find me.

What a surprise that was to be in the schoolyard and my puppy coming toward the playground

There she found me among all my friends spinning each other on the merry-go-round.

I scooped her up in my arms, took her back home,  and told her not to follow me anymore

I promised her that I would always come home to play with her after I was done with my school day.

Every day at about 3 pm, I would rush home and Penny would always be waiting excitedly by the door.

Little by little, her snout grew longer, markings changed, and her hair was no longer short like back in May.

There was once a small girl

She was asleep in a simple sort of boat.

Darkness enveloped the sky around her

With the exception of the twinkling of a multitude of stars

There was no land to be seen from any angle

She was lost but surviving somehow

Watching…waiting for some sort of sign or signal

Days passed. So did weeks.

Soon months passed as well.

Some days the water was filled with tranquility.

Some days waves crashed upon her knocking her over.

Surviving somehow, she didn’t know what for.

For whatever reason, her eyes opened suddenly

The stars twinkled about her

But there was something else

A light house…a sign?…a signal?

Should she follow the light?

Or would it be better to only have the stars above?

While she pondered this thought,

The shadow of a young man appeared.

She veered at him on the shore

And wondered if he was alone as well.

Final Writing Portfolio – 5/2/2008

Humans and their Masks

Dear E.T.,

I need to make a confession about my species.

Humans lie.

A lie is a statement or allusion to something untrue that is meant to deceive someone.

A primary human weakness is that everybody feels that they are forced into lying.

Some lies have negative intentions while others have positive intentions.

A couple common reasons that people lie are to gain power and to please others.

This confession of humans lying bothers me.

I have a friend, Rick Stotts, who has written a blog concerning this subject.

Immediately, my reaction was anger but then I realized I was angry because I knew the validity of this truth.

So I must tell you the truth about lying…

For example, corporations lie in order to convince people to buy their products. Each company says that their product is the best although there can be only one “best”. When I am shopping for food, each cardboard box of crackers claims to be the most nutritious and the tastiest. I grab the one which I believe is the “best” even when the other boxes exclaim that their product contains even better crackers. These boxes along with all other advertisements are masks. They hide the reality that they are not the best but the market forces them to deceive us.

Workers within these companies lie. They must sell the product within their store as effectively as possible. I know from first hand experience. I work at Hastings which is a store that sells entertainments such as books, music, movies, and video games. The store must meet a certain amount of sales or else workers will be unable to work very many hours. I want to sell as much as I can, so I convince customers to buy what they are interested in. Workers at every job put on a mask. Even if they are not happy, they put on a mask with a pleasant demeanor in order to create a pleasant environment for the customers that promote sales.

Many females of my species wear make up. Make up is decoration upon one’s face to appear attractive or different. Some females wear a small amount while others wear an abundance, creating exotic appearances. Make up has the possibility of creating instant beauty and desire. In essence, wearing make up is lying because one is lying about what they look like by wearing a mask.

When children are about five years old, Machiavellian intelligence is introduced into their lives. This is a concept in psychology that describes how children begin to be capable of lying convincingly. Previously, children do not realize that there is more than one point of view. When they understand that more than one point of view is acceptable, they are able to tell lies to avoid punishments. When children first learn about lying, they may tell unbelievable lies that are impossible since they may not understand that their concept is impossible. Also, children do not initially understand that lying hurts people…hurting primarily in an emotional sense. But as they grow older, they learn by observing people around them.

Children lie to please their parents and to keep away from trouble and chaos. Some lie if they had a bad day because they do not want to be questioned. Some lie to protect their privacy for children are taught to not answer direct questions from an unknown person about where they live among other personal details. Some humans are dangerous and lying is necessary for protection. Children may like to keep away disappointment or trouble to themselves from their parents. When asked if a child did well on a project, he or she may reply with a “yes” even if this is not the truth to avoid bringing disappointment to their parents for the time being. Children may also commit crimes or disobey parents causing them to lie as well. I hope that not all children feel that it is necessary to lie to their authority figures such as their parents. But I know many that feel it is necessary at times. Adults also lie to their children. They may lie to them about fidelity with their mother, their amount of money, or their tainted past to name a few examples. Children put on a mask for their parents so that their parents will be pleased with them but like the children, the parents put on a mask for their children to gain a higher degree of approval as well.

In the past, I have lied to my family in order for them to stay pleased with me when I know my course of action will disappoint them. My mask is nearby.

Similar to a child not wanting to be questioned, some people lie in order to put aside conversation and to be left alone. Somebody may be having a bad day and when inquired if they are doing well, may say “yes” in order to avoid any more interaction.

When somebody is already having a bad day and makes dinner, the recipient may lie and say the food is delicious when it really isn’t in order to allow the cook a moment of happiness at least. When a person works very hard to look nice or create something attractive, a person might lie to make the other feel that the labor was worthwhile. We protect one another’s feelings with lies. We call these white lies because they have good intentions. While still a lie intending to deceive someone, these lies cause positive emotions rather than negative.

Most human societies have created ethical, religious, or legal codes against lying. When one human is discovered to have lied, he or she may not be considered trustworthy again. That person may lose close interaction with other humans…humans called friends.

Lying could be said to be a part of evolution in a way.

When species evolve, they develop strategies to give them an advantage in life.

Some insects pretend to be leaves or sticks.

Some change color to blend in with the environment such as chameleons.

Some pretend to be dangerous by mimicking others such as the Viceroy Butterfly appearing to be a Monarch Butterfly.

Lying has the possibility for giving humans an advantage in life by allowing them to be desirable when they would normally not be.

Desirable for financial purposes: lying to gain that better job to receive more money.

Desirable for sexual purposes: lying to gain affection to feel loved or to just have physical contact with a lover just for one night.

Some lie in order to enjoy what they want and have freedom such as lying to their boss by feigning sickness. I admit I have done this in the past because I wanted a break from the chaos of my job.

Politicians will lie about certain subjects or not tell the entire truth so that they will become elected and powerful. Also, as people rise up in companies, they may lie in order to gain power.

Lying gives humans power above others who believe the lies since the liar knows the truth while the listener only believes what is false. But once one is discovered lying, all of their power can be completely lost. So lying is a risk. Some are caught while some are not. And the size and nature of the lie matters; small lies by politicians and others are often considered part of their role.

Lying is like watching a performance and believing in the veracity of a character. But once the character’s mask is removed, the validity of the story is forever removed. We feel hurt and disappointed. Possibly even angry. People kill one another over lies.

Like actual masks, some lies are believable while some are just silly and impossible to conceptualize. If they are truly absurd, we may not even consider them a lie but a tall tale, which makes us laugh rather than become angry. Rather, they are used for entertainment because these deceptions are so obvious. An example of a tall tale is when somebody tells a story about a massive fish that was caught that could not possibly be true. Some masks, also like lies, are transparent while others are not.

Lies that are transparent to adults are used upon children when they do not understand the transparency. Examples are Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. Those three creatures do not exist but are told to children that they exist in order to make seemingly boring days of Christmas, Easter, and days when baby teeth are lost into something exciting. Adults could easily replace the role of the mythical creatures but they do not. Instead, the adults enact the roles but still tell children that these creatures exist. When the children become adults, they laugh at this tall tale because they realize the obvious deception.

I feel that it is important that you know one of the prominent flaws of humanity. I want you to know our flaws. We are not perfect. Nobody is. But is lying a defect that humanity shouldn’t contain? Should humans feel comfortable removing their masks? Perhaps not…because not all lies are harmful such as white lies to prevent harm and lies that are said when one is not yet ready for the entire truth such as when a small child inquires about death when a family member dies or where babies come from.

Some people believe it is not possible to live in a society without lies. They believe lying is necessary for happiness. This is similar to the movie The Matrix where each human lives a lie constructed by computers. But when some realize they are living a lie, they regret this knowledge and realize that ignorance is bliss. Perhaps only a few have enough strength to hear only the truth and accept it.

Could a society without lies remain possible? Perhaps this would only work if we only asked what we wanted to honestly know. Humans would be unhappy if others passed by them and told them what they honestly thought such as that they were ugly or stupid. So perhaps a happy society is not capable without lies.

Although humans are liars, this does not mean we are an abominable race. We are insecure about ourselves so we lie to protect our delicate self image or to protect others from harm of the truth. We may lie to you and say that we have great accomplishments and not tell you about their negative drawbacks such as our energy resources that unfortunately cause large amounts of pollution, our economy that creates wealth but it is an unequal distribution causing few to have far too much than they need while many lead difficult lives striving for necessities, and religions that generate compassion while simultaneously leading to prejudice against others leading to wars lasting far too long.

Come to Earth. Write to us. I can’t promise that the human you next hear from will be honest.

But forgive our need to please while wearing masks.

We are afraid of not being great or even merely acceptable to you without a mask sometimes.

Do you ever wear a mask?

Would you tell us?

Could we even be sure?

This is a piece that was inspired by an assignment in my American Studies “Culture of Nature” class. We had to design our own perspective of what the word nature means. I enjoyed this assignment because I discovered my own insights of what I thought the word meant. This also led me to wonder how the perspectives of nature would differ for an ET. I realize that the concept of nature is different for each person but I wonder just how different nature would be for ET. Would they even have a concept of Nature? By the time I was finished, it turned from a piece about Nature into a piece of Escaping. Hence….

Escaping

Dear ET, one of my favorite activities in life is to escape to Nature. Perhaps the concept of Nature is totally foreign to you. But I would like to share with you what I mean about Nature because it is an important concept to me and many other humans as well. If you don’t feel the same way about organic matter, it would be interesting to compare and contrast our differing perspectives.

I tell myself that Nature is everything, since each item has a bit of Nature as a foundation. For example, I am using my laptop and drinking out of an aluminum pop can. These objects are not natural objects meaning that I can not find them alone somewhere untainted by humans. Humans did not create these objects. But at their simplest level they are made of elements from Nature such as aluminum, silicon, and petroleum to form these man made objects. I can not judge these objects as totally apart from Nature since all of their elemental components originated from pure Nature. When I say pure Nature, I mean what is not created by humans. Many times humans harm the environment such as taking organic material away from its natural environment by cutting down too many trees or emitting harmful substances into the environment. You may wonder if humans are a part of Nature as well, since we are biological creatures like the animals around us. Yes, but we are unlike other biological creatures. Some people kill other biological creatures intentionally without permission such as shooting a deer out of season which means the incorrect time to shoot deer. This is called poaching. But not all humans are like this. Some hunt and fish for specified animals when they are permitted. The animals could be used for food and clothing. Sometimes fish are released after caught because humans just love the thrill of the catch. Humans also may sit back quietly and enjoy observing animals within Nature without touching them at all.

Do you eat other biological creatures and if not, how do you gain energy? Some people do not want animals harmed and become vegetarians or vegans. But plans are also biological creatures as well. So if humans did not eat any biological creature, they would die.

Humans kill other humans and other species that they consider lesser beings. Humans kill other humans in war because they have a desire to obtain something they don’t have. Often, these other humans are considered lesser beings as well since the more important matter at stake are the prizes of war including land, oil, water, food, or minerals. Minerals such as aluminum that creates my pop can. Could a war have been fought for this aluminum?

Many times, this desire is for more land or natural resources that they do not have or want more of. So Nature is the basis for the deaths of many. Humans generally believe that they can conquer Nature and want to claim all that Nature provides for our own purposes. Since many humans believe that they can do what they please with the planet around them, they feel that they can use animals, plants, and microbes anyway they like to their benefit as well. These species are eaten but this is not surprising since humans are omnivores. But these creatures are also used for clothing and scientific experiments as well. Many animals are killed simply because humans believe that too many of them exist and they compete with us or interfere with out lives.

How do you treat other species, if any, on your own planet?

But not all humans are intent on corrupting nature for their own benefit. Many are strong believers of leaving nature as it was in its untainted state. Nature is everywhere and should not be taken for granted since it may be so easily damaged by us. Some find intrinsic value in Nature. These people find comfort and peace here where they able to find a place where they the only human for miles. Others are concerned about conserving and protecting the practical value such as production of oxygen, water cleansing, attempting to decrease the hole in the ozone layer, and trying to “fix” global warming.

Are there natural resources on your planet? If so, how do you use them? Do you preserve, conserve, or simply consume them?

I do not think that that industrialization, making aluminum cans for example for I could not drink my refreshing pop, could cease completely but we must be careful in how it effects the environment. I think that Nature should be respected. Some cultures of human beings, such as Native Americans, revere the environment because Nature is seen as an elder to us human beings…like a mother…Mother Nature. Native Americans believe themselves to be connected with Nature and that all lies in balance. They do not believe they are at the top of a hierarchy. We are all merely citizens of our planet: Earth.

Are you like the Native Americans who believe everything is connected and valuable or do you believe that your species is in charge of your planet?

As humans are young, we are continuously taught to treat our elders with respect. Well, I view Nature as one of these elders that we need to treat with respect. Nature was here before the evolution of humankind. Nature was here from the beginning of Earth’s creation as a planet. Humans did not arrive until billions of years later. In this way, humans are Nature’s children and Nature is our mother. Humans were created by events unfolding in the world around us. As we evolved, Nature took care of us by providing food, drink, and shelter. Finally when humans industrialized, many humans had the strange belief that Nature wasn’t necessary anymore. But this would be like shunning and killing one’s own mother. We forgot that even our creations depended on extracting material from Nature and also depositing our trash here as well. For instance, aluminum is mined, creates my pop can, and is ideally recycled. As Nature took care of humans in the past, humans should take care of Nature as well through a reciprocal relationship.

Did your species evolve many years later after the creation of your planet? Were you always there or is your planet a second home to you? Does your planet have mothers? If not, how do you form? Do you form as a part of your natural environment as well?

The Riverside Greenbelt is a walking path next to a stream surrounded by plant life. This is a human constructed area, similar to a garden, but I enjoy being near what is growing in the soil even if it did not always grow there. Some of the plants are native as well. This “garden” is like human society: mixed with what is native and manually constructed. As plants have roots in the soil, I feel as I have roots in the Earth and will flourish if my planet is just like the plants. They will only flourish if their soil is taken care of. But I do not mean this in an individualistic sense. Instead, I mean it in a collective sense. Personally, I will surely survive if I do not take care of the planet around me. But if every human felt the same way, humans among other creatures will suffer. Earth will probably live on since it has survived billions of years. It may not be the same Earth but it will continue orbiting the sun. But it could an Earth that is difficult for us to endure.

Do you fear that your species will cause your planet’s destruction? Do you regulate the use of your resources so that your planet will stay suitable for your existence in the times to come?

As I walk along the Riverside Greenbelt a block away from my Laramie home, I feel at peace. Nature is my true mother; in a sense Nature gave birth to me through evolution that gave rise to my species. As I walk along the path, I find discarded plastic bottles and aluminum cans….among other small pieces of trash from apathetic human beings who do not understand that Nature is their mother. If others knew that Nature was their mother as well, they would not throw trash upon her like she was worthless. I walk over to the littered ground, pick up the Cola can which I crush and bring home so it can be recycled without having to dig further in the Earth as would have happened if I had only placed it in the garbage can. At least the river alongside me is safe for now. While at home, I try to take care of my Mother as well such as recycling and reusing much of my trash. I close my eyes and dream of a world as it should be with humans a part of nature without tainting it. There would be efficient regulations to keep industries from contaminating the water, air, and soil. There would be one rule regarding Nature: The Golden Rule. One would always ask if one was treating Nature as if how they would like to be treated. This perfect world may never happen but I am hopeful that progress can be made to create a less tainted Nature. Perfection is impossible and small harms are better than large harms. For instance, when fewer pollutants are emitted, this isn’t perfection but this small instance causes us to be better than we once were. We can always be better. Maybe it’s a bad idea to strive for perfection since nothing is perfect. Humans make mistakes such as harming the environment too much intentionally but we must learn from those mistakes. Creatures make mistakes too, revealing their camouflage, giving them the potential to be eaten soon. But these creatures learn from these mistakes as well. Not even in Nature is there perfection.

Is your planet clean? Is it dirty? If it’s clean, how do you take care of it? Will you help humans take care of our planet as well?

Many strive to leave society for some time so as to find Nature as a way of discovering themselves and the peace that it brings. I enjoy camping in the wilderness, fishing, and walking in Nature away from society. I understand as I step into wild Nature that danger from other animals and weather are possible. But this danger is necessary because this means that I am a part of Nature rather than the ruler of Nature and its creatures in a hierarchal chain of being. I am one with Nature. I am a child walking alongside my mother. She may not always be actively there for my protection but I understand that she is always there to welcome me with open arms as the trees and leaves sway in the wind beckoning me away from the paved road that brought me to the edge of pure Nature. I am capable of feeling that there is still a part of Earth untainted by humankind and pure. And this gives me a peace of mind knowing that if we are cautious and attentive there will always be a part of Nature that is original and not manipulated by humans.

If your planet has troubles with the environment, do you ever have a desire to escape as well? If you want to escape, what are your reasons?

When stars fill the night sky, I feel as if I want to escape into the cosmos. I want to travel away from the Earth and its problems. I know this isn’t a viable solution but the desire is always there. When I was younger, I visited family in Houston where we visited the NASA Space Museum. I was and still am intrigued with the prospect of traveling to other planets or even just outer space to a space station. This is the ultimate escape from society and into Nature. Outer space is not polluted or damaged by humans. I want to escape into outer space and see Earth through a window…maybe Nature will appear smaller and more fragile than I ever imagined. I wanted to travel to space as a career but wasn’t sufficiently motivated given the extensive work involved training to be an astronaut. In addition, I feel that this venture is too dangerous, especially being in my car listening to the radio on February 1^st, 2003 as Columbia STS-107 lost its passengers. If I felt safe leaving the realms of Earth, I would definitely escape…

Now I watch imaginative stories acted out by people about meeting a variety of alien species in outer space and for the most part getting along. I have a desire for this world to be real. I want to escape the troubles of my planet – the wars caused by the fighting over Nature. This is not abandoning my Mother because she may be extended to include the universe since my planet was created from this universe as well. So the Universe could be my Grandmother since Earth was somehow once created from this vast space. I want to escape in the arms of Grandmother Universe and find a species that I am able to communicate with somehow.

Does your species have wars among each other as well? Or are you a peaceful species? Is war inevitable to all species? Do you want to leave your planet too?

E

S

C

A

P

E

Escape into the depths of the planet…..

Escape into Nature where there are no humans….

Escape from the feelings of my species…..

Escape into a space ship…..

Escape into outer space……..

Why is the feeling of escape always present, even when I thought I have already escaped?

I have escaped my family and moved to Laramie to gain an education.

Now I want to escape Laramie once I graduate shortly.

Perhaps human beings seek to communicate with you because they desire to escape the boundaries of our home planet. Perhaps it is human nature to escape in order to be free. First we escape to untainted Nature and then we just want to escape further and further. We want to have freedom. In society we are have limits. There are laws guiding us what we can and cannot do. But the most important limit upon us is money. Money is what leads us with a desire to escape since money creates boundaries among people on Earth. In space there is no money so we would be free to escape. I’m sure it would cost money to leave the Earth’s atmosphere but money is what we desire to escape from. There is no money in space. There are no boundaries in space. There are possibilities to go anywhere.

Is your species bored with your planet? Do you like your planet? Will you help us escape our boundaries and find some place new although we are never satisfied with what we want? Will you forgive our craziness of never being completely satisfied? Are you ever completely satisfied? If you are, what causes your satisfaction? If not, what do you crave? Will you help us to be happy?

The song Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry was important enough to be included on the Voyager message into space. I desire to tell ET what us as humans experience while hearing the same. Perhaps ET will feel the same way. But if not, at least he, she, or it will know how we express ourselves when we hear this music.

As you listen to this song, imagine a moment of happiness. Singing along with enthusiasm no matter how horrible you believe your voice to be, for we are rather self-conscious about our voices.

Catchy Phrases – easy to sing along with. Causes you to feel in control and feel comfortable in

knowing the words. This knowledge frees one’s resistance to dance, for we are also rather

self-conscious of our bodies as well.

Dancing. Moving your arms, legs, hips, any part of your body as if it doesn’t matter if others may think you look silly. Some dancers appear synchronized with the rhythm while others do not. Dancing with long time friends, new friends, acquaintances, family, lovers, and hopeful lovers as well. Rush of nervousness but mostly an overwhelming sense of excitement.

No fear. Just a desire to have fun – leaving behind all other emotions such as anger, stress, frustration, and sadness, even if it only lasts for the duration of this short song.

I find this song impossible to not move a part of my body to, even if it simply nodding my head or tapping my foot back and forth. The music enters my body and releases me from myself. I become free. I am an individual without concern of what others think of me.

Music = Safe Intoxication. Like consuming alcohol, we lose control and may dance as well without concern of what others will think of us. Unlike consuming alcohol, music will not physically harm or kill you. Perhaps just emotionally if people tell you that you are a bad dancer or singer. But being a bad dancer or singer is much safer than drinking too much.

DaNcInG

Little movements. Large elaborate movements.

There are no rules. Sure, many dances have rules. But they are not strictly enforced…there are no dance police. Also unlike alcohol, there is no limit to how much you are allowed to dance, especially before driving. So move your body any way you want. Any way the music directs you. No pressure. No cause for feeling of worry. You are not the only one looking silly. Everyone does…so nobody does. Each person is dancing in their own unique manner.

Dancing is fun because everyone is moving they way they want to.

Without restrictions physically and mentally.

FREE!!!

This piece was inspired by an in-class exercise describing a human condition. I am assuming ET does not know what Fear is and what it means to experience this feeling. I am not describing what fear feels like but rather what fear is.

The Paradox of Fear

What does it mean to have fear?

Humans may say they are afraid of an assortment of circumstances:

Being at the edge of cliff

Falling and not being able to catch oneself

In an amusement park ride roller coaster just before “the big drop”

Swimming in a vast body of water with the potential to lose oxygen and drown

Alone in a new house when the power has just gone out

Stepping into dark corridors

Becoming sick with a disease that is difficult to cure such as cancer

Thinking one hears voices while next to a campfire while nobody else should be around

Supernatural events such as ghosts

A spider crawling on the surface of a bathtub

Snakes slithering in the garden near the garden hose

Receiving lower grades than expected or even failing

Not being able to find love

Unable to have children

Of losing loved ones – friends and family

Becoming lost – physically without a map and mentally without an idea of where to go next

Living a life without a job that brings contentment and or success

Having little money and unable to support oneself as well as a family without help

Some may seem like silly reasons to have fear but each one causes a person to feel that they have no control.

One has fear when there is no control of a particular situation.

Some gain fear when they are alone because they do not believe that they are capable of controlling the situation whatever may come on their own.

Some do not have fear while alone. They are capable of being in control themselves.

Fear leads people to perform actions that they would not normally do:

Screaming

Running

Urinating oneself

Fainting

Increase of Heartbeat

Fast Paced Breathing

Submission

Sacrifices

Fear allows control by others. Some recognize a factor of fear and use this recognition to control the lives of others.

Institutions created by humans use fear to maintain their power.

Retirement Accounts

Health Insurance

Pet Insurance

Life Insurance

Necessary Automobile Insurance

Social Security

Military Forces

Wiretapping

Spying

“News” Networks

Radio programs

Television programs

Airport Security

Torturing

Governments use fear to prevent an uprising of the people that the government controls. People afraid of the future put their trust in a government that says that they will erase their fears.

The government may or may not be honest but nonetheless, people find it necessary to believe in them since they have a need to feel a sense of control.

Many religious institutions also effectively use the fear of people as a sense of control. Long ago, humans were afraid of natural events such and said that these came from gods.

Rain

Droughts

Floods…especially large floods resulting in a story about a flood that covered the world in “Noah’s Ark”

Disease

Lightning

Storms

Earthquakes

Volcanoes

Plentiful Harvests

Sterile men and or women

Once these events had a superior being in charge, the people were less afraid because they believed somebody to be in control.

Primarily, many religious institutions are used to control the fear of death. Nobody wants to die although it is inevitable. With this death, no one wants to lose control of their mind. Religious institutions ease this fear.

Salvation

Heaven

Purgatory

Hell

Reincarnation

Release

United

Together with lost loved ones

Life is only a journey to life after death

Possibility of a Better Place

Therefore no fear of death

Fear is caused by the loss of control.

Fear is used to control others.

The paradox of fear.

I am telling ET what Heartbreak feels like in terms of chemical reactions. Being not a chemist and familiar with water, I chose to relate Heartbreak to the different states of water in hopes that ET would understand this complex emotion.

Heartbroken is a feeling that is comparable to ice melting. Prior to being heartbroken, one feels stable and solid like a block of ice. But when heartbreak occurs, it is like hot water is wrongfully poured on this ice block. The ice almost instantaneously begins to melt. This melting is what a human’s mind feels when heartbroken. There is no longer a sense of stability for the ice block or human mind. Like it will take time for the water to become ice again, it will take time for the human mind to feel solid again and willing to open up to other relationships as firm as the ice block used to be.

Newton’s First Law: a body at rest will stay at rest or continue at a constant velocity unless acted upon by an external force (use as metaphor for sex). I wrote a short poem about the fulfillment of a body at rest being acted upon by an external force.

On her side, she reads her textbook

Almost over – 20 more ridiculous pages

He slides next to her

Brushes her hair with his soft hands

Kisses her gently on the forehead

Her heart beat races

Her breathing stalls

She flips another page

She doesn’t want to feel easy

But she loves being touched

She can not hold back

She turns her neck

Their lips meet

Touching all over

Caressing bodies

Desire to be intertwined

Desire to be in motion as one

Her rest was interrupted

But there is no desire for rest now.

Emotions fully charged

Fulfillment of being wanted

Fulfillment of being desired

Ashley Moltzan

English 4600

Susan Aronstein

5-1-2008

Recovery Power of Spirited Away

Many works of Japanese animation – anime – contain fantastical elements and often contain a primary and secondary world within. Thinking of anime that I merely own, I can share a couple examples. One anime, titled Fruits Basket, is about a teenage girl named Tohru who is taken in by the Sohma family who is changed into their zodiac animal when a member of the opposite sex embraces them. While initially appearing to be an ordinary drama with comic elements, fantasy elements are introduced. The fantasy serves as an important role in the story as well. While not physically in a secondary world, the Sohma family could be said to be a secondary world since they inhibit a curse marking them rather different from the rest of the society that could be said to be the primary world. Another example is the anime Inuyasha which has a few hundred episodes and movies as well. Like Tohru, Kagome is a seemingly normal teenage girl in Japan. There is an ancient well in the yard of her family. She inadvertently falls down the well and finds herself in a physical secondary world. While not a completely different world, this new place is in the time of feudal Japan among warring factions and permeated with demons. She befriends a few others in this secondary world and ventures on a quest. But she travels back and forth with the well causing much interaction between a primary and secondary world. There are also much anime films in the spirit of fantasy and other worlds, my favorite being Spirited Away. Hayao Miyazaki, director of Spirited Away, creates interaction between a primary and secondary world in the eyes of a young girl. This interaction causes many changes to occur and shows the power of what fantasy can bring. While I would love to explore all the anime series I love such as Fruits Basket and Inuyasha as well, I have chosen to singly explore Spirited Away because besides possibly ending up inadvertently writing a book, Spirited Away shows how one benefits from fantasy and gains consolation and recovery.

In the beginning of the film, a young girl by the name of Chihiro is traveling in a small vehicle with her parents because they are moving to a new neighborhood. Chihiro is clearly apathetic as she is shown lying on the back seat without any safety belt and is clutching a good-bye card from one of her classmates. She is yet unable to find any positive effects of the move but is only able to discern negative effects such as being away from her classmates. As her parents drive, they pass a series of shrines. Chihiro’s eyes increase in size with wonder. When she asks her mother the meaning of these structures, her mother replies by saying, “Some people think little spirits live there.” Since she replies with the word “some”, this indicates to me that she isn’t included showing that she has lost the traditional values of Japan. The family finds themselves lost in front of a tunnel leading to an abandoned theme park and venture inside. Chihiro feels that this is not acceptable but her parents push her away and regard her as acting ridiculous. They cross a dry river bed and discover a bunch of abandoned carnival stands. But one appears to not be abandoned. While there is no person or figure of any kind in this booth, there is an abundance of delicious food. Although the viewer can not physically smell the food, the visual imagery of the food and animations of heat rising cause the mind to imagine this great smelling irresistible food. While Chihiro resists temptation and attempts to plead with her parents to resist as well, her parents again brush her off and indulge in their appetites and temptations. Her father tries to calm Chihiro telling her, “Don’t worry. You got Daddy here…He’s got credit cards and cash.” Since they have money, there is not much concern for Chihiro’s behalf. Excess materialism has seemed to replace Japanese tradition. While there is no longer a belief in the little spirit houses seen on the side of the road, there is a certainly a belief in money. As lovers of immediate excess materialism, Chihiro’s parents remind me of Edmund from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe because Edmund immediately indulges himself in Turkish Delights from the White Witch without thinking of any further consequences besides immediate satisfaction caused by those Turkish Delights. While Chihiro goes against her parents by not indulging herself as well, this independence away from materialism saves her life.

Chihiro wanders away and finds a seemingly normal boy named Haku who tells her, “You shouldn’t be here. Get out of here now.” While yet unaware that she has encountered a secondary world, boundaries between the primary and secondary world are being established. Humans like her do not belong in this strange area that her and her family has encountered. A bit confused, she returns to her parents to encourage them to leave as well but they are still eating and have turned into pigs as well. Without the ability to speak, her parents squeal and appear as if they have forgotten they were ever human. Ghostly apparitions begin to appear as well. Chihiro is then justifiably afraid and attempts to return the way they came. But this task is found to be impossible since the dry river bed that they crossed has suddenly been filled with water. A ferry is seen crossing the river filled with ghostly apparitions as well. Chihiro sits at this newly created river band and cries because she believes that there isn’t anything that she is capable of doing and tries to convince herself that this is a dream. After all, she started her day off moving to a new house and was now suddenly seeing ferries full of ghostly apparitions. Chihiro begins to repeatedly say aloud, “I’m dreaming! I’m dreaming! It’s just a dream.” But this secondary world is not a dream. J.R.R. Tolkien would not have considered this fantasy if it was a dream either. As Chihiro opens her eyes, she finds her body appearing to disappear as well to become like the ghostly apparitions. She is an intruder onto this secondary world and needs a purpose or capability so stay. Haku finds Chihiro on the river bank and comforts her and gives her a piece of food from the secondary world. Chihiro is a bit afraid since well her parents turned into pigs after eating food from this secondary world. But unlike delicious appearing and smelling food, what Chihiro receives from Haku is more like a ball of medicine. By her facial expression, the viewer is able to tell that this is not a pleasing food at all. In addition to almost becoming invisible, Chihiro’s body has become rigid but this is easily fixed with an incantation by Haku. This rigidness of her body could be taken as a metaphor of how Chihiro is apathetic and selfish in the beginning regarding her move.

There is a bridge that Haku and Chihiro must use to access the bath house but if a human breathes during the crossing, their appearance is revealed. Chihiro fails at this task and as seen as an intruder. Humans are looked down upon in this secondary world and they are thought to have a horrible smell. This secondary world is full of ancient Japanese tradition. Bath houses were once all over Japan as a way to cleanse oneself physically and spiritually. But as modernization increased, these bath houses have almost disappeared. Chihiro is a product of this modernity and is initially rejected by members of tradition. She is later accepted into this community when she grows as a person by accepting traditional values of Japan such as not putting herself first and having confidence. After escaping from the bath house, Haku gives Chihiro a mission. She must travel by way of numerous stairs to the boiler room to find Kamajii to give her a job. Chihiro continues to sigh while travelling down the stairs and ends up falling, along with screaming into the wall. Her wariness leads to extreme nervousness leading to her stumble perhaps. When Chihiro encounters Kamajii in the boiler room, his employed workers consist of magically transformed soot. The soot was transformed into little black puff balls with arms, legs, and eyes. These soot balls are immediately seen as cute and a secondary world critter that a human from the primary world or viewer could perhaps relate to; they reminded me of black cotton balls with movable eyes from a craft store. As Chihiro watches the soot balls hard at work, one of them drops a rock on its way to the boiler. Automatically, Chihiro goes over to help it displaying her sympathy. She then performs the task for the soot ball, leading to the rest of the soot balls desiring for Chihiro to complete their tasks as well. It is impossible for Chihiro to help all of them so she must learn to pick and choose who to help. The soot balls are already a large group that helps one another even if it isn’t immediately clear. They do not need help from another world to perform their duties. While the prospect of a job may seem modern and materialistic in nature, this is not what a job for Chihiro is meant for. Chihiro has no desire to earn money at this job or earn materialistic commodities. Rather the only purpose for Chihiro in wanting a job is to escape the secondary world eventually and to save her parents. While being forced to do the dirtiest work at the bath house, Chihiro learns that having a job shouldn’t be about money and the ability to access more excess materialism. Rather, a job, no matter what it entails, should be focused on helping out one’s particular group – in this case, helping out Chihiro’s parents.

While in the boiler room, Rin enters and Kamajii tells her to take Chihiro to see Yubaba to receive a job. Rin appears to be human, but the audience is quickly reminded that this is not the case after Rin vocally announces her disdain for humans and has a large appetite for roasted newt. With Rin’s directions, Chihiro finds herself at Yubaba’s door. Decorated with elaborate tapestries outside the door, the viewer knows that Yubaba is important, rich, and a lover of excess materialism as well. After being pulled in by the magical wind of Yubaba, Chihiro and the audience see Yubaba as a menacing figure. She refuses Chihiro a job and then tells her that she’ll give Chihiro the worse job imaginable. Suddenly Yubaba’s baby is heard crying and Yubaba rushes in the nursery to calm the baby. This shift in personality of Yubaba shows that evil is not clearly defined in this secondary world. Yubaba literally zips up Chihiro’s mouth with magic but soon after, talks softly to her baby. After Yubaba finally consents to giving Chihiro a job, she is sent with Haku – Yubaba’s apprentice. But this Haku isn’t the purely sweet Haku that Chihiro remembers from earlier. Instead this personality of Haku tells Chihiro to remain quiet, address him as Master Haku, and tells the others of the bathhouse that “Three days of eating our food and her smell will go away.” He also says after this time, they may do what they want with her such as roast her…like a newt. In this way, Haku has lost his angelic qualities and now seems partly evil as well. Chihiro does not understand yet why Haku is acting like this and breaks down and cries. This film works on showing the dualities of good and evil and rather than having an ultimate good or an ultimate evil, there must be a harmonious balance. And hopefully the audience would take this into account for their own lives and rather than jumping into an excess of greed, there would be lenience towards harmony instead.

When Yubaba finally consents to providing Chihiro a job, Chihiro’s name is changed to Sen. Sen is an alternate reading of the same written character of Chihiro but this transformation of the kanji signifies that Yubaba owns Sen since Yubaba forces upon her a different recognition of those same characters. The literally meaning of Chihiro relates to the story and finding oneself in this fantasy story. Chi refers to the number 1000 while hiro refers to “inquire, fathom, look for”. Taken together, Chihiro could mean “looking deeply” or “inquiring after many things” which is rather fitting for this character (Boyd 2). Chihiro is forced to look keep within herself and find what was once hidden such us the ability to save her parents, courage, and her name as well as the true name as Haku later on in the movie. While watching this movie as well as other fantasy media, we are often founding looking deep inside ourselves to see if we would be capable of performing what the hero or heroine has done if the possibility was real or not. Recovering one self’s true identity as well as recovering the identity of others is an important theme of this movie. Chihiro almost forgets her true identity and might have if she hadn’t had that good-bye card still with her from the class mate, also showing that the primary world and secondary world are connected. Chihiro also rediscovers Haku’s name as the Kolaku River because of a memory from the primary world. Chihiro had been swimming in the Kolaku River and lost her shoe but Haku in his river spirit form has pushed it to shore. The most important case of identification is when Chihiro must discern which pigs are her parents that Yubaba places in front of her. Somehow, Chihiro is able to recognize that none of these pigs are her parents. “The film’s denouement revolves around one final form of recovery through recognition, the scene where Yubaba gives Chihiro a final trial to see if she can recognize her parents among a mass of pigs. That Chihiro passes the test, correctly recognizing that her parents are no longer among the pigs, attests to her new clarity of vision and signals that she may now begin the voyage home” (Napier 308). Through her time in the secondary world, Chihiro learns the value of self identity and discovers a stronger sense of perception after the fear is exposed that identity has the ability to be lost.

While working in the bathhouse, a “stink spirit” appears that needs a bath. Chihiro and Rin prepare the largest bath for this repulsive creature. Although one can not smell the television screen, it is apparently that this creature smells disgusting because of the looks of the other creatures in the bathhouse. Chihiro attempts to cover her mouth but Yubaba tells her that she must be polite and keep her hands to her side. As Chihiro successfully prepares a pleasant bath for the “stink spirit”, she discovers what appears to be a thorn in the creature’s side and tells Rin to help her out. Yubaba, as she is watching from above, overhears Chihiro say that there is a thorn in the creature’s side. Once Yubaba realizes what the problem is, she shifts to a pleasant demeanor and magically creates rope out of nothing to have everyone pull on the rope in order to assist the “stink spirit”. As the thorn is lifted, rather than a thorn being released, a bicycle is pulled out of the creature as well as a multitude of trash. The “stink spirit” is actually a river spirit that had been heavily polluted. Like Tolkien, Miyazaki fears what is happening to the natural environment. As a compliment to Chihiro, the river spirit says “Well done” and gives her a ball of medicine. When the river spirit says “Well done” to Chihiro, I think of these words as appreciation but since they are so simple, this task seems like something she was supposed to do rather than something that is an astounding accomplishment. Rather than being praised for cleaning up a river or land area, this should be something that should be done regardless of any praise at all since we live on the earth and should take care of it since it provides our home. This scene from the movie was actually inspired from a real life experience. From an introduction for the movie on the DVD, the narrator says that Miyazaki had cleaned up a polluted river in his past with a bicycle in it as well. The river spirit was in the form of a dragon with a Noh mask. Noh masks represent traditional elements of Japan’s past from the time when modernization wasn’t prevalent and one would probably not find such a polluted river like the “stink spirit”. Haku is unable to find his true identity as the Kolaku River Spirit because the actual Kolaku River in the primary world has been drained and filled with apartments, causing Haku to be lost. Scenes like this offer recovery because it is possible to also assist a river that has been harmed from pollution in the primary world and to see actual places where river areas have been drained to assist modernization. In his essay “On Fairy-Stories”, Tolkien says regarding recovery that “And actually fairy-stories deal largely, or (the better ones) mainly, with simple or fundamental things, untouched by Fantasy, but these simplicities are made all the more luminous by their setting.” Spirited Away deals with pollution and modernization which doesn’t need a fantastical setting but causes the story to become more intriguing and perhaps causing the viewer to seriously listen to the message.

In addition to recovering from pollution from the environment, Spirited Away desires the viewer to recover from greed. A central character that embodies greed is the phantom like creature by the name of No Face. He is lonely and doesn’t know the correct way of making friends besides being materialistic. Like the other seemingly bad characters like Yubaba and Haku, No Face has a dual personality as well. He desires to be good and be Chihiro’s friend but he appears bad because he does not know the correct manner of making friends. Regarding Shinto religion, No Face is “one whose energy [ki] is inki which means one whose heart is closed (kokoro o tojiru)” (Boyd 5). On a rainy night, Chihiro invites No Face inside the bath house because she doesn’t know what kind of creature he really is. Like No Face, she tries to perform good actions but doesn’t understand that her action will lead to trouble. As Chihiro and Rin work on giving the “stink spirit” a bath, Rin asks Chihiro to obtain an herbal scent card from the foreman. No Face is quietly standing behind the foreman as well. The foreman refuses to give an herbal scent card to a human no matter how much Chihiro pleads. As the phone rings and the foreman answers, No Face hands Chihiro an herbal scent card. Chihiro thanks No Face and proceeds to use the item. No Face then steals the entire basket of herbal scent cards to hand over to Chihiro. She then says to him that she only needs one and doesn’t need anymore. No Face now appears upset and confused. He believes that more is better and doesn’t understand why Chihiro wouldn’t want them all. As the “stink spirit” is cleansed into a river spirit and leaves, he leaves an abundance of gold. No Face witnesses the excitement surrounded by this gold and thinks that perhaps gold will be his key to Chihiro’s friendship. No Face magically creates gold causing greedy excitement from all in the bathhouse. When Chihiro wakes up, everyone is downstairs feeding No Face. He says he wants to eat everything. The crowd is enormous and wants more and more gold. Rin’s friend says that they should get more gold and Rin exclaims, “You bet!” No Face does not know the meaning of satiation and even devours three creatures. Chihiro passes No Face as she passes through the bathhouse on the way to find a bleeding Haku. No Face offers Chihiro a large handful of gold but she says, “I don’t want any but thanks. I’m sorry but I’m in a really big hurry”: No Face does not understand and is upset. But the safety of Haku is much more important to Chihiro than gold. Chihiro is finally able to lead No Face out of the bathhouse and he comes along with her to help out Haku. While at Zaneba’s house, No Face learns to sew and find happiness with a friend without an excess of indulgence. Although creatures like No Face do not exist in the primary world, greed is at the heart of this problem and the viewer is able to see how ridiculous an excess of materialism is while having just enough and happy is the key to a good life.

Chihiro becomes more and more selfless as the movie progresses. In order to save the bathhouse from No Face, Chihiro feeds him the last half of the medicine from the river spirit. She had planned on giving the medicine to her parents in hopes that the medicine would cause them to become human again. But she decides that the safety of the bathhouse and No Face’s need to understand the danger of overindulgence overrides her desire to save her family. Chihiro also makes a sacrifice as she takes the train ticket from Kamajii. The train ticket is a one way ticket since the train only travels in one direction. Still, she accepts the ticket in order to save Haku with the recognition it will not be an easy journey. Love is the reason for her sacrifice. She loves Haku and is willing to put herself at risk in order to protect him. Zaneba tells her that the only reason that the spell she had placed over Haku was erased was because of love. “Miyazaki is possibly portraying Chihiro as being in a genuine, authentic relation with the kami presence of the Kolaku River. In Shinto terms, such an occasion is called shinjin-gouitsu, a ‘uniting of kami with the human spirit’ which occurs only when one approaches the other with the ‘sincerity and purity of one’s heart’” (Boyd 5). An important message of the movie seen in a fantasy realm between a young girl and a dragon is that a good life is guided by love which definitely carries over to the audience and the primary world.

I was reminded of C.S. Lewis while watching the film again because he believed that children were pure in heart and would be able to open themselves up to fantasy, unlike adults. This is true in Spirited Away as well; Chihiro is a young girl able to successfully cross over to the secondary world and also remember it as she returns. But her parents do not successfully cross over as humans and they do not remember the secondary world at all as the movie closes. They still have the same demeanor and did not change at all. But Chihiro remembers and it was not a dream since she is still wearing the hair tie Zaneba had given her. Although Chihiro seems to remember her time in the secondary world, she still clings to her mother while exiting the tunnel so how much she remembers is uncertain. There is the possibility that the memories of the secondary world are stored in her unconsciousness. “What happens in these dark parts of the brain may not always be consciously remembered but may serve at some level to promote action in the real world” (Napier 309). Her new outlook on life will surely cross over to the secondary world while the minds of her parents will stay the same. Like Susan from The Chronicles of Narnia who grew too materialistic and selfish to return again to the secondary world of Narnia, Chihiro’s parents are too materialistic to ever cross over. It is essential to be pure of heart, like children, in order to open up one’s mind to a secondary world.

Another case where the importance of simplicity rather than overindulgence is after Chihiro sees the large pig pen early in the film accompanied by Haku and is unable to discern which pigs are her parents. In order to comfort Chihiro, Haku gives her onigiri which are Japanese rice balls. It is a basic food that is often wrapped in seaweed and may have a flavor such as salty salmon or sour plum. These rice balls were often connected with home and used in family picnics. “The onigirii eating episode thus becomes a classic representation of cultural boundedness, constructed as a vision of the restorative powers of eating pure, homey food to stand as counterpart to the scenes of excess consumption that follow” (Napier 307). Soon after, No Face is seen indulging in dish after dish as he provides gold and disaster results since he is soon chased out of the bathhouse. Previously Chihiro’s parents were turned into pigs for overindulging. But since Chihiro only consumes simple food that contains a reminder of cultural tradition, she does not have disastrous results. This lesson could be extended to audience members to, again, not to overindulge in materialism and the best life may be one that is simple and based in tradition rather than progression to a globalization lifestyle.

Throughout the film, Miyazaki reaffirms cultural and Shinto traditional religious values by showing that “there is ‘a kind of life to everything’ and that certain customs such as cleansing both the external environment and one’s internal kokoro from pollution are practices to be reaffirmed. Likewise, Chihiro’s contribution to Haku’s sense of identity suggests that those of us in the contemporary world who are ‘inquiring after many things’ can assess and critique our inherited traditions and reappropriate those values that have been forgotten or covered in the way the Kolaku river had been.” (Boyd 6). Although the film could be seen as a reaffirmation of Japanese cultural values to benefit society, the film relates to audiences in a universal manner. Like Chihiro questions her materialistic parents, it is important for all to question their backgrounds and to find what philosophy they believe in independent from their parents, whether it may be the same philosophy or not. “The trope of excess consumption, however, transcends Japanese society, functioning as an important signifier throughout contemporary industrialized societies in which capitalism ‘prioritizes consumptive practice’….” (Napier 291). Chihiro teaches the viewer to reexamine themselves and especially check how materialistic and selfish they are.

Works Cited

Boyd, James W. and Tetsuya Nishimura. “Shinto Perspectives in Miyazaki’s Anime Film

‘Spirited Away’”. The Journal of Religion and Film. Vol. 8, No. 2, October 2004

Miyazaki, Hayao. Spirited Away. Studio Ghibli, 2004.

Napier, Susan J. “Matter Out of Place: Carnival, Containment, and Cultural Recovery in

Miyazaki’s Spirited Away”. Journal of Japanese Studies. 32:2

2006 Society of Japanese Studies, University of Texas at Austin.

Tolkien, J. R. R. “On Fairy-Stories”. Tree and Leaf.

4. How do these texts deal with apocalypse, transitions, and end times? Why? How does this theme function in terms of fantasy and its desires? How does this theme function in terms of historical context?

The Ultimate Consolation

When I think of the greatest consolation known to mankind, I certainly do not think of an apocalyptic moment. When I think of death, I think of an escape from life and being connected with nature. I do not think of death as a joyous occasion unless it is an escape from pain and suffering. Although I do not consider daily life full of suffering, Lewis and Tolkien, while devout Catholics, considered life full of suffering and that the end of times would be the ultimate consolation from this pain.

In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Lewis creates a world where time as the inhabitants know it is ending. They are under the rule of a witch with a high degree of surveillance under them. She has made life in Narnia harsh with perpetual winter. She also manipulates others to perform actions for her own benefit such as how she attempted to trick Edmund into bringing his siblings to her so that she may destroy them. In this manner, the White Witch is analogous to Satan of the Christian religion. She reminds me of Lucifer in the tale of Dr. Faustus who makes a deal but is actually gaining a soul for himself without any care for Faustus. As Narnia is in peril, the land is transitioned to visual imagery of springtime. This transition occurs as Aslan, the Great Lion, returns to Narnia. As Edmund is riding in the Witch’s sleigh, he notices “every minute it grew foggier and warmer…the frost was over…and now the snow was really melting in earnest and patches of green grass were beginning to appear in every direction.” White not seen as apocalyptic signs for everyone, they are apocalyptic signs for the Witch. The presence of Aslan has already made her reign less powerful. Aslan is blatantly an allegorical symbol for Jesus Christ. Aslan sacrifices himself for the sinner Edmund and able to return to defeat the White Witch just as Jesus Christ is said to have sacrificed himself for all sinners and returns as well. Lewis creates a world in which when suffering is plentiful, there is always hope that the ultimate goodness will come to the land in the presence of a eucatastrophe.

A eucatastrophe is a word coined by Tolkien that may be applied to his stories as well as Lewis. Tolkien says in his essay On Fairy-Stories that “the eucatastrophic tale is the true from of fairy-tale, and its highest function.” This eucatastrophe performs as the greatest consolation because “in its fairy-tale – or otherworld – setting, it is a sudden and miraculous grace: never to be counted on to recur.” As Edmund is watching Narnia immediately transition into springtime, he is able to witness a powerful effect caused by the eucatastrophe. Tolkien says that, “In such stories when the sudden ‘turn’ comes we get a piercing glimpse of joy, and heart’s desire, that for a moment passes outside the frame, rends indeed the very web of story, and lets a gleam come through.” Edmund is tied up, pulled by a rope, and being whipped a he walks. But the eucatastrophe of the changing seasons allows Edmund in his miserable state to receive a piercing glimpse of joy as Tolkien would have approved of.

Contrarily from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Lewis actually places an apocalyptic moment in his book The Last Battle. This apocalyptic moment fulfills the ultimate consolation of the children and the inhabitants of Narnia. Aslan returns to Narnia at the end of the novel because there is an overwhelming amount of pain and suffering. His people have been manipulated by a false god and some have lost their faith in him. Aslan and Lewis see this loss of faith as the ultimate suffering even if disbelievers do not realize their suffering at the time. Aslan creates a brand new Narnia that is better than before. Everyone, dead and alive, is reunited. Tirian is reunited with his father King Erlian who is now full of energy in the new Narnia. Peter, Edmund, and Lucy are also able to be with their parents as well. Aslan tells them: “There was a real railway accident. Your father and mother and all of you are – as you used to call it in the Shadowlands – dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.” The children seem to contain no sadness about realizing that they are dead. In this manner Lewis implies that to achieve the greatest joy, one must forsake finding joy on earth and recognize that the greatest joy will come when one is “dead” instead. To Lewis, the greatest eucatastrophe takes place in The Last Battle when all is well as the new Narnia is created without suffering and only those fit to live in it are accepted under Aslan.

As Tolkien discussed the ultimate joy in “On Fairy Stories”, he seems to contain approval of the blatant biblical eucatastrophic moments that Lewis created. Tolkien was a devout Christian and believed that everyone should have this same perspective. He says, “The Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of Man’s history The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation. This story begins and ends in joy…There is no tale ever told that men would rather find true, and none which so many skeptical men have accepted as true on its own merits. For the Art of it has the supremely convincing tone of Primary Art, that is, of Creation. To reject it leads either to sadness or to wrath.” To me, Tolkien seems a bit harsh when he proclaims that to reject the New Testament eucatastrophe leads to unhappiness. Lewis displays this perspective from Tolkien at the end of The Last Battle when Susan doesn’t return to Narnia because she has rejected her faith in Aslan/God and instead has welcomed materialism and commercialism into her life. Tolkien also said that the greatest joy leading to a eucatastrophe “has the taste of primary truth.” Since Tolkien believed in the truth of biblical stories, fairy tales that included eucatastrophic moments representing biblical “truths” would lead to the greatest joy for the reader.

While Tolkien placed eucatastrophic moments in The Lord of the Rings, he did not create allegorical images such as The Resurrection of Christ from the New Testament and The Second Coming of Christ from Revelation as Lewis did in his books. Instead, he placed images of great joy occurring when all hope is seemingly lost. Although not blatantly Christian images, the images could be interpreted in a Christian manner since Tolkien believed that God will be there to assist when all hope is seemingly lost. An example of a eucatastrophe in The Fellowship of the Ring is at the end of Book One when Frodo arrives in Rivendell. Frodo is in dire need for elfin medicine as the Black Riders are chasing him across the ford. But as Frodo believes himself to be dying, Gandalf conjured up white foamy riders amidst the ford. Gandalf tells Frodo, “You were beginning to fade. The wound was overcoming you at last. A few more hours and you would have been beyond our aid.” Although Frodo doesn’t literally die like the Narnia children, he believes himself to have died. His save consoles him not to be hopeless just as the Narnia children are saved by Aslan by a new Narnia when the old Narnia remained hopeless. In each part of The Lord of the Rings, there is a breathtaking eucatastrophe that fills the reader or viewer of the movies with joyous tears.

As Frodo is saved in The Fellowship of the Rings, the combatants of Helm’s Deep in The Two Towers are saved when all hope has been lost as well. Theoden has just dressed himself for battle to finish his life alongside his men. But, Theoden’s life is not lost because of a eucatastrophe: “The White Rider [Gandalf] was upon them, and the terror of his coming filled the enemy with madness. The wild men fell on their faces before him. The Orcs reeled and screamed and cast aside both sword and spear. Like a black smoke driven by a mounting wind they fled. Wailing they passed under the waiting shadow of the trees; and from that shadow none ever came again.” There are also a multitude of eucatastrophic moments in Return of the King resulting in a bittersweet ending. Tolkien says, “it is the mark of a good fairy-story, of the higher or more complete kind, that however wild its events, however fantastic or terrible the adventures, it can give a child or man that hears it, when the ‘turn’ comes, a catch of the breath, a beat and lifting of the heart, near to tears, as keen as that given by any form of literary art, and having a particular quality.” With eucatastrophe after eucatastrophe in The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien shows that all hope is never lost even with overwhelming dreadful circumstances. This hope could be placed with God as Tolkien would hope or it could be placed elsewhere by the reader.

During the time that The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia were written, Europe was experiencing the after effects of war. Modernization did not seem like such a good idea anymore since modern weaponry was able to destroy many more lives than previously. Also, as both Tolkien and Lewis experienced war first hand they knew about overwhelming dreadful circumstances with a chance of hope since they both survived. Lewis and Tolkien are both effective in conveying that the end of times is not something to be so dismal about. When I say end time, I am referring to the literal sense in The Last Battle as well as other end times such as the seemingly end of times for the people of Narnia and Middle Earth from the way of life as they know it. These people are always saved somehow and consoled that hope is not lost. Branching out from fairy tales and reaching to practical real world application, the genre of fantasy is able to provide consolation concerning the end of times with each eucatastrophe saying that there is always hope.

At home I have been contemplating what nature is exactly. I keep telling myself that Nature is everything since each item has a bit of nature as a foundation. For example, I am using my laptop and drinking out of a pop can. These objects are not natural objects meaning that I can not find them alone somewhere untainted by humans. But at their bases, contain elements from Nature such as aluminum to form these man made objects. I can not displace these objects as totally apart from nature since a part of them originated from pure Nature. When I say pure Nature, I mean what is untainted by human contact. Anything that is tainted by humans such as tearing down entire forests, made in factories, or emitting pollution into the environment are instances of corrupted nature. You may inquire if humans are a part of nature as well though since they are biological creatures like the animals around them. Yes, but they are unlike other biological creatures; they harm other biological creatures intentionally without a justifiable cause rather than simply eating them.

But not all humans are intent on corrupting nature for their own benefit. Many are strong believers of leaving nature as it was in its untainted state. In each of the books we have read for this class thus far: Seeing Nature Through Gender, To Love the Wind and the Rain, and All Our Relations, there have been instances of people fighting corrupted nature, pertaining to humans corrupting nature and nature corrupted by corrupted humans, and bringing back pure nature which infers to both nature untouched by corrupted humans and educating humans so that they will not become corrupt towards nature. Nature is everywhere and should not be taken for granted since it may be so easily corrupted by the biological creature known as humans.

While many groups taint nature, many groups work to save Nature from being tainted or to return nature to a pure state. But nature is tainted in various ways and not just in the physical fashion one may automatically think of when one thinks of Nature polluted and destroyed for a human ignorant benefit. Even if not physically, groups are able to psychologically taint Nature. Men have tainted Nature saying that nature is symbolic of a patriarchal society while females have rebuked this claim. White Americans, those that controlled American Society, psychologically tainted nature for African Americans because African Americans were banned from a multitude of parks and outdoor recreational areas. Furthermore, Native Americans were not wanted on their original homes. They were forced out by White Americans physically out of their homes and not allowed to practice their traditions in their natural setting. But I see this more of a psychological tainting because the Native Americans are conflicted whether to risk following their own traditions in Nature or to follow rules imposed on them by White Americans. While environmental groups are immediately thought of as those who combat pollution, they also work to create a nature where everyone is welcome and is equal. Nature in its pure and untainted form should not be tainted by the corruption of society’s culture and discrimination. Therefore, there should be no discrimination saying who has privileges to access and or understand nature.

Concerning the trouble with gender and nature, there has been an American tradition saying Nature is fit for strong men with no mention of women. During the 1930’s, posters were erected that said “Spirit of CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps)” and “Activities Build Men” that depicted young, muscular, and powerful men. The CCC performed beneficial projects such as constructing millions of erosion control dams, planting 1.3 billon trees, and spent over 6 million hours fighting forest fires. The posters tainted Nature for women since they were seemingly not invited to participate in this course of action. Biological research on animals also tainted Nature for women. Scientists assumed that male birds to be in control as male humans were thought to have had control over society. Scientists formed the opinion that male zebra finches have affairs although they are said to have a life time partner. But, Virginia Scharff envisioned a larger role for the female zebra finch. She thought that it could be possible for female zebra finches to have affairs as well. If both male and female zebras were thought to have had affairs, the theory could be stretched that both sexes of birds share equality in nature. Since the birds are equal in nature, males and females of the human species should be equal as well since humans are a part of nature as well. Women fought to bring back nature to everybody in a fair manner while also physically working to create an untainted nature as they formed an alliance with women who had gained cancer from contaminated sites to prevent the occurrence from happening again. Prior to enrolling into this course, I never thought that women were discriminated against concerning issues of Nature. When I bought the book Seeing Nature Through Gender, I was rather confused because I didn’t understand what if any nature had to do with gender. But after reading the collection of essays, I see people had attempted to make Nature a patriarchal conception. But Nature is like a new born baby without prejudices. Society creates discriminations but Nature as it is away from society is always accepting to anyone who desires to exist alongside it.

African Americans, like women, are faced with dealing with discriminations of Nature. For African Americans, Nature was especially sacred because it was a place away from their masters who were usually cruel towards them. Slaves enjoyed fishing and hunting small animals in the nature around when they had sparse free time. But the slaves’ hunting of small animals was actually a win-win situation for the slaves and their masters since they hunted pests according to the slave owners such as squirrels. Nature represented a sense of escape for the slaves because it led them to an untainted nature like they wished to be a part of; they wanted to be an untainted people without the duty as slaves. Mart Stewart said in his essay “Slavery and the Origins of African American Environmentalism” that Nature was a strong desire, especially for African Americans. He says, “For African Americans, ‘wilderness’ was not a place in which the preservation of the world could be found, but a site of healing, a highway to kinship, a place where a decisive edge of resources could be added to meager plantation rations, and a place where salvation could be gained…for African Americans, nature was negotiated, it was kin, and it was community.” Nature for African Americans was their community because their nature as human beings was tainted by being forced into slavery. While together away from slave owners, they felt connected with the surroundings around them and untainted by slavery even for the time being. Later after slaves were emancipated, race tensions were still high and White Americans did not want African Americans to have access to the same nature as them. Riots such as the Chicago Race Riot were initiated by different races wanting access to the same lake. African Americans were also discriminated against concerning where they lived compared to whites n the same city. Nature should be fair and balanced. Like the patriarchal view of nature, there was also a hierarchal view of nature putting White Americans on a pedestal. Efforts were made to decrease and cease discrimination of nature towards Native Americans. I consider Nature used to deliberately show bias towards a particular group of people to be corrupted Nature caused by the corrupt nature of human beings. But it is important to remember that not all humans have a corrupt nature about them although all humans are capable of showing corruption. Some choose to realize this corrupt nature about them while others submerge this corruption and try to cease other corruption from occurring.

Unlike white European women and African American women, Native Americans originated as a part of the untainted Nature of the land now known as America. Native Americans did not consider themselves separate from the land. Instead, they believed to be a part of the land. They did not corrupt Nature because as they used land, they used caution to not upset Nature around them. Native Americans also believed that the existence of animals alongside them was of high importance. They believed that both humans and animals emerged from the land in order to co-exist with one another. When an animal of high importance was decreasing in number because of the corruption of Nature, American Indians felt as they were tainted as well. As the fish of the Mohawk people, panthers of the Seminoles, and the buffalo of the tribes of the Midwest disappeared, the nature of the traditional American Indian peoples began to disappear as well. Traditions of the American Indian can not exist without untainted Nature around them. As their homes were contaminated by pollution, bans erected not to hunt or fish on their land, their animals killed by white people, among other dreadful circumstance, groups fought back to bring back untainted Nature to the American Indians. For example, efforts have been made to restore buffalo to its rightful place alongside the Buffalo people o the Midwest with groups such as the Knife Chief Buffalo Project and the Seventh Generation Buffalo Cooperative. By allowing buffalo to increase their population size, the Buffalo people along with their traditions will flourish as well. The American Indian perspective of what Nature is greatly differs from what many white people see as Nature. Many white people view land as able to own while American Indians view land as something to co-exist along the side with. I believe that if all white people had the mindset of Native Americans that tainting land and Nature is like tainting other humans as well, there would be plentiful attempts to cease the contamination of nature. I’m not saying that industrialization should cease but the progress of industrialization should be careful in how it effects the environment. Nature should be respected as Native Americans respect the environment because Nature is like an elder to us human beings. As we are children, we are continuously taught to treat our elders with respect. Well, Nature is one of these elders that we need to treat with respect. Nature was here before the evolution of humankind. Nature on Earth was here from the beginning of Earth’s creation as a planet. Humans did not arrive until millions of years later. In this way, humans are Nature’s child and Nature is humans’ mother. Humans were created by events resulting in the Nature around them. As they evolved, Nature took care of them by providing food, drink, and shelter. Finally when humans industrialized, many humans had the strange belief that Nature wasn’t necessary anymore. But this would be like shunning and killing one’s own mother. As Nature took care of humans in the past, humans should take care of Nature as well with a reciprocal relationship.

As I walk along the Riverside Greenbelt a block away from my Laramie home, I feel at peace. Nature is my true mother; in a sense Nature gave birth to me allowing for evolution to occur causing the rise of my species. As I walk along the path, I find discarded plastic bottles and aluminum cans….among other small pieces of trash from apathetic human beings who do not understand that Nature is their mother. If others knew that Nature was their mother as well, they would not throw trash upon her like she was worthless. I walk over to the littered ground and pick them up and place them in a garbage can which will be taken to a dumpster eventually. At least, the river alongside me is safe for now. While at home, I try to take care of my Mother as well such as recycling and reusing much of my trash. I close my eyes and dream of a world as it should be with humans a part of nature without tainting it. There would be efficient regulations to keep industries from contaminating industry. Also, Nature would be accepted according to societal norms to everyone such as both genders, all races such as African Americans, and American Indians especially. There would be one rule regarding Nature: The Golden Rule. Besides treating nature with respect, one should ask oneself if they are treating nature as if how they would like to be treated as well. This perfect world may never happen but I contain hope that progress shall be made to create a less tainted nature if not completely untainted.

Many strive to leave society and find Nature to discover themselves and the peace that it brings. A famous example that is widely known because of the Oscar Nominated Film Into the Wild is the trek through America’s wilderness by Christopher McCandless. This is one of my favorite movies although it brings me to tears when McCandless searches for peace throughout Nature as well. Although not as drastic, it reminds me of my personal treks into Nature. I enjoy camping in the wilderness, fishing, and walking in Nature away from society. I understand as I step into untainted Nature, danger from other animals and the elements of weather are possible. Corrupted nature such as the nature of industrialization may sometimes be considered safe although being safe could be considering hiding from fear. But this danger is necessary because this means that I am a part of Nature as well as I step into this untainted terrain and am not the ruler of Nature and its creatures on a hierarchal chain of being. Rather, I am one with Nature. I am a child walking alongside my mother. She may not always be actively there for my protection but I understand that she is always there to welcome me with open arms as the trees and leaves sway in the wind beckoning me closer and away from the paved road that my car has been driving on attempting to find peace and an untainted Nature; I am capable of feeling that there is still a part of Earth untainted by mankind and pure, giving me a peace of mind as well that there will always be a part of Nature that is original and not manipulated by my species.