This week's reading was interesting, but not a genre I
particularly enjoy. The excerpt I chose
from Garcia-Marquez's "Death Constant Beyond Love" was the following:
"What are you doing here?"
"My father sent me," she said.
The senator understood, He scrutinized the sleeping
guards, then he scrutinized Laura Farina,
whose unusual beauty was even more
demanding than his pain, and he resolved then that death
had made his decision
for him.”
In this piece,
the author personifies Laura Farina's "beauty" because it
"demanded" and also "death" by indicating it had made his
decision for him -- both had acted in a humanistic manner giving them lives of
their own
.
From Paz's work, "Central Park", I chose the
following example:
"There
are no entrances but everyone,
in
the middle of a phrase dangling from the telephone,
from
the top of the fountain of silence or laughter,
from
the glass cage of the eye that watches us,
everyone,
all of us are falling in the mirror.
Don't
cross Central Park at night."
This passage, for whatever reason, spoke to me. The
imagery was very real. I could envision death as a mirrored building displaying
us in various stages of living with God (the glass eye), and eventually we all
succumb to the mirror (death). The ringing, repeated phrase of "Don't
cross Central Park at night" as a warning to be care and not to take risks
that are stupid or crazy.
Contrasting the two, I really did not care for
Garcia-Marquez's work in this instance, although his imagery and message were
potent. Paz's was more imaginative and mystical in my opinion.
The selection of reading for this question was very
interesting. "And of Clay We Are
Created", by Isabel Allende was both poignant and frustrating. As a
reader, I wanted to know Azucena was successfully rescued by Rolf Carle, but in
a tragic twist of fate, it was she who rescued Rolf from the prison he himself
had become mired in. I was fascinated by the way Allende used the imagery of
the cables, cameras, tape, staff, supplies, auxiliary motors to run the
equipment, yet no one had answered the call for a pump that could have saved
the young girl's life. It brought to my mind the images of people with their
cell phones recording events, but never stopping to assist the victim or
halting the perpetrator. We have all become spectators at the mercy of our
technology. Allende painted a very vivid picture while highlighting the
tragedy. Where was the true courage?
In "The Garden of the Forking Paths", Borges
tells of a Chinese spy during World War I, Yu Tsun, as he recounts the
statement he has made before he is put to death. This short story uses the
imagery of forked paths and correlates them to making choices. Even though the
story was confusing for me, at times, I got the impression that is how the
author wanted it perceived--as dizzying as the labyrinth discussed in the story
when one is asking which way to go.
TEACHERS:
Review these ideas for insight into this theme from Richard Curwin.
APPLY:
Choose one or two activities to promote effective
decision making and understanding.
WATCH & DISCUSS:
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