(no subject)
after work i went to tuffany's.driving home i kept almost driving into traffic.like literally.going into a curve, i'd be like '...there's no reason to follow through with this'.
that seems to be what each and every boy from the past six months has said about me.
there's no reason to follow through with this.
The Clod and the Pebble, William Blake
"Love seeketh not itself to please,
Nor itself hath any care;
But for another gives its ease,
And builds a Heaven in Hell’s despair."
So sang a little clod of clay,
Trodden with the cattle’s feet:
But a pebble of the brook,
Warbled out these metres meet:
"Love seeketh only self to please,
To bind another to it’s delight;
Joys in another’s loss of ease,
And builds a Hell in Heaven’s despite."
In William Blake’s The Clod and the Pebble, perspectives opposite each other on the spectrum of love are explained succinctly and simply. The clod, a piece of dirt stepped on a mangled by cattle, still manages to the best of what he calls ‘love’. Not only that, the clod exaggerates the act of loving, letting himself be stepped on repeatedly for whomever he loves. In short, the clod says true love is selfless and giving in every way. Overhearing this statement, a pebble resting on the safety of a riverbank finds all the struggles in love and exemplifies them, making it seem as though love is the toughest thing to acquire and keep. The pebble talks about taking love greedily from anyone daring enough to give it, and giving nothing in return. The pebble finds love selfish and uncouth, ‘a Hell in Heaven’s despite’. However, ‘selfish’ and ‘selfless’ love are merely two broad genres to describe the butterfly-in-stomach feeling that comes with mutual affection. Below those two genres there are other categories of love, such as maternal and paternal love, Christian love, childish love, sibling love, etc. all of these types of affection can fall under both the selfish and unselfish categories, though some are typically seen as only a certain type of love. Christian love, for example, is almost always unselfish, inspired by faith to help and nurture others. But no matter what kind of love or how it is driven, a healthy balance of both selfishness and selflessness is better than a concentrate of one or the other. In Nine Stories, JD Salinger demonstrates that neither selfish nor selfless love can provide the same healthy emotional environment that true love allows.
In A Perfect Day for Banannafish, how does Seymour show the unhealthy emotional environment that selfish love creates? Predictably, Seymour acts out in a self-centered attempt to get attention from his wife, and parents-in-law. Seymour feels he is not getting enough attention from those he cares about, so in order to fill his needs he acts in ways he think will generate the kind of adoration he requires. Seymour mumbles in public, wears a bathrobe on the beach, is affectionate towards little girls, as well as disrupting the activities of his close family. By acting in a manner unsuitable for grown men, Seymour receives what he thinks is love. Instead, his wife treats him like a child throwing temper tantrums and his parents-in-law treat him like he is insane. Acting out hardly gives him the response he intended. Similarly, Seymour’s dangerous wanderings and outrageous behavior put Muriel uncomfortably in between her parents and her husband. With her parents constantly annoying her about Seymour’s behavior, Muriel becomes more and more withdrawn and apathetic towards his actions. Because she does not want to show her parents she also worries about Seymour, Muriel is forced to keep her worry hidden deep inside. This creates a conflict in her and her parent’s relationship, resulting in strained conversations. [INSERT SOMETHING ‘STRAINED’ FROM PHONE CONVERSATIONS HERE] Seymour knows of their mutual worry, but interprets it as positive attention. Because he thinks the attention is the love he desires, his behavior continues. Finitely, Seymour’s last plea for attention crosses the line completely. Seymour’s last glance at his sleeping wife’s form implies yet another plea for attention, as if she should wake up whenever he looks at her. After being met with no response, however, Seymour makes the decision to kill himself, right then and there. Though both the gunshot and his rash decision to end his life must have surely drawn attention to him, it was not the kind of attention he desired. Instead of love and affection, had he been alive to receive it he would have been met with anger, hurt, betrayal, and remorse. Through overwhelming evidence in Seymour’s relationship with others, one can see just how much pain selfish love can cause.
Convexly, in Down at the Dinghy, how does Booboo imply the negative effects of selfless love? Undoubtedly, most mothers adore their children not only because it is their duty, but because they truly love their son or daughter. However, Booboo’s love for Lionel is purely love born of duty. From her reactions to her son’s behavior [INSERT ‘MY OH MY WHAT A BAD SON LIONEL IS’ QUOTE HERE] to the actions she herself takes, it is painfully obvious she does not care more than she has to about her son. Many would find it sad and unnatural for a mother to feel the way Booboo does about her own son, though she is not neglectful. This lack of love is not unrequited, though, because Lionel himself enables and encourages her selflessness by being selfish himself. Because of the complimentary nature of the situation, nothing unusual is noticed in their relationship. Similarly, Booboo’s timeless patience also stems from her selflessness. Because she has made herself devoid of emotion, nothing can possibly try her patience, even a selfishly acting son. She allows herself to be trampled on without showing any signs of wear; simply because she has given that much of herself over to whomever desires her love. Though patience seems harmless enough, patience born of selflessness is extremely unhealthy. Due to the almost apathetic-like state of selflessness (not caring what has to be done as long as someone else is happy), patience born from this kind of love creates a stepped-on, blocked-in feeling in a person. Sadly enough, because Booboo has given complete control of her love over to Lionel, he uses it to manipulate her. By running away to the dinghy Lionel is exploiting his mother, because he knows she will follow. While his mother tries to reassure him, he purposely stays upset in order to milk as much emotion from his mother as possible. Booboo, however, does not seem to notice, because Lionel’s selfishness compliments perfectly her selflessness. They are both enabling each other to love the way they do. Inescapably, Booboo’s selfless love forces her to act like Lionel’s toy; surrendering her love and dignity to him, she acts rather foolishly.
Contrastingly, in For Esme With Love and Squalor, how does Esme demonstrate an almost perfect mix of selfless and selfish love, acting out the closest to true love that JD Salinger writes about? Selflessly, when Esme sees a young GI sipping tea by himself in a diner, she sits with him to keep him company. When Esme, her brother, and her governess go out to tea after Esme’s choir rehearsal, Esme recognizes the man, having seen him watch the practice. She abandons her companions to sit with him and engages him in something more than small talk. Even though her governess protests, she still sits with him, obviously enjoying his company and the conversation he provides. Showing her polite side, Esme allows him to converse with her; to fulfill his need for the friendship of another. Esme also introduces the GI to her younger brother, allowing him to make yet another new friendship.Selfishly, during their half hour conversation Esme frequently cuts him off mid sentence. [INSERT A NICE CUT OFF SENTENCE FROM SERGENT X TO ESME HERE] Showing her slight impatience, Esme often interrupts Sergeant X’s slow, precarious pattern of speech to interject whatever she feels is more important. Often with disregard to Sergeant X’s stream of consciousness, Esme often speaks simply to hear her own voice. The love she has of hearing her own thoughts articulated for others to hear shows in the conversation given in the text. Courteously, Esme writes the GI a letter during wartime, sending well wishes and the prized watch her father left to her before he passed away. An action that she certainly spent a lot of time thinking about, sending the lonely soldier the only memory she has of her father was certainly a selfless move. The letter and watch were such moving gifts that Sergeant X was lifted out of a deep post-breakdown depression. It actually cheered him so much that not only was he able to sleep again; he began, in the midst of the war, to write stories again. Indeed, because Esme has an almost perfect balance of selfless and selfish love, she is the closest to true love out of all the characters in all nine stories.
Only true love can provide complete emotional support for a person.Personally, I encounter many types of love in everyone I interact with. In my own house, for example, I have noticed my brother loves selfishly. Regardless of other people’s needs or agendas, he forces people to contort their lives to fit his ideal existence. On the contrast, a close friend of mine loves so selflessly it is painful to witness. Giving herself immediately and completely to everyone and anyone, she is often hurt when relationships expire. Additionally, there are examples of true love in my life. A friend of mine has been dating someone for over a year, and it has become clear to me that their love is pure and true. Though they live over forty minutes apart and have occasional spats, they understand each other and know that things will pass. Based upon the interpretations I have made on JD Salinger’s Nine Stories, I believe that Salinger thinks love is twisted. A complex mixture of selfless and selfish, I think Salinger sees love as a rare and beautiful thing. I agree wholeheartedly, and believe that true love is about being willing to compromise and sacrifice for one another.
please note it is very rough, is missing direct quotations, and has no 'clincher'.i'll get there.it's also seven pages long.edit if you make it all the way through.
that seems to be what each and every boy from the past six months has said about me.
there's no reason to follow through with this.
The Clod and the Pebble, William Blake
"Love seeketh not itself to please,
Nor itself hath any care;
But for another gives its ease,
And builds a Heaven in Hell’s despair."
So sang a little clod of clay,
Trodden with the cattle’s feet:
But a pebble of the brook,
Warbled out these metres meet:
"Love seeketh only self to please,
To bind another to it’s delight;
Joys in another’s loss of ease,
And builds a Hell in Heaven’s despite."
In William Blake’s The Clod and the Pebble, perspectives opposite each other on the spectrum of love are explained succinctly and simply. The clod, a piece of dirt stepped on a mangled by cattle, still manages to the best of what he calls ‘love’. Not only that, the clod exaggerates the act of loving, letting himself be stepped on repeatedly for whomever he loves. In short, the clod says true love is selfless and giving in every way. Overhearing this statement, a pebble resting on the safety of a riverbank finds all the struggles in love and exemplifies them, making it seem as though love is the toughest thing to acquire and keep. The pebble talks about taking love greedily from anyone daring enough to give it, and giving nothing in return. The pebble finds love selfish and uncouth, ‘a Hell in Heaven’s despite’. However, ‘selfish’ and ‘selfless’ love are merely two broad genres to describe the butterfly-in-stomach feeling that comes with mutual affection. Below those two genres there are other categories of love, such as maternal and paternal love, Christian love, childish love, sibling love, etc. all of these types of affection can fall under both the selfish and unselfish categories, though some are typically seen as only a certain type of love. Christian love, for example, is almost always unselfish, inspired by faith to help and nurture others. But no matter what kind of love or how it is driven, a healthy balance of both selfishness and selflessness is better than a concentrate of one or the other. In Nine Stories, JD Salinger demonstrates that neither selfish nor selfless love can provide the same healthy emotional environment that true love allows.
In A Perfect Day for Banannafish, how does Seymour show the unhealthy emotional environment that selfish love creates? Predictably, Seymour acts out in a self-centered attempt to get attention from his wife, and parents-in-law. Seymour feels he is not getting enough attention from those he cares about, so in order to fill his needs he acts in ways he think will generate the kind of adoration he requires. Seymour mumbles in public, wears a bathrobe on the beach, is affectionate towards little girls, as well as disrupting the activities of his close family. By acting in a manner unsuitable for grown men, Seymour receives what he thinks is love. Instead, his wife treats him like a child throwing temper tantrums and his parents-in-law treat him like he is insane. Acting out hardly gives him the response he intended. Similarly, Seymour’s dangerous wanderings and outrageous behavior put Muriel uncomfortably in between her parents and her husband. With her parents constantly annoying her about Seymour’s behavior, Muriel becomes more and more withdrawn and apathetic towards his actions. Because she does not want to show her parents she also worries about Seymour, Muriel is forced to keep her worry hidden deep inside. This creates a conflict in her and her parent’s relationship, resulting in strained conversations. [INSERT SOMETHING ‘STRAINED’ FROM PHONE CONVERSATIONS HERE] Seymour knows of their mutual worry, but interprets it as positive attention. Because he thinks the attention is the love he desires, his behavior continues. Finitely, Seymour’s last plea for attention crosses the line completely. Seymour’s last glance at his sleeping wife’s form implies yet another plea for attention, as if she should wake up whenever he looks at her. After being met with no response, however, Seymour makes the decision to kill himself, right then and there. Though both the gunshot and his rash decision to end his life must have surely drawn attention to him, it was not the kind of attention he desired. Instead of love and affection, had he been alive to receive it he would have been met with anger, hurt, betrayal, and remorse. Through overwhelming evidence in Seymour’s relationship with others, one can see just how much pain selfish love can cause.
Convexly, in Down at the Dinghy, how does Booboo imply the negative effects of selfless love? Undoubtedly, most mothers adore their children not only because it is their duty, but because they truly love their son or daughter. However, Booboo’s love for Lionel is purely love born of duty. From her reactions to her son’s behavior [INSERT ‘MY OH MY WHAT A BAD SON LIONEL IS’ QUOTE HERE] to the actions she herself takes, it is painfully obvious she does not care more than she has to about her son. Many would find it sad and unnatural for a mother to feel the way Booboo does about her own son, though she is not neglectful. This lack of love is not unrequited, though, because Lionel himself enables and encourages her selflessness by being selfish himself. Because of the complimentary nature of the situation, nothing unusual is noticed in their relationship. Similarly, Booboo’s timeless patience also stems from her selflessness. Because she has made herself devoid of emotion, nothing can possibly try her patience, even a selfishly acting son. She allows herself to be trampled on without showing any signs of wear; simply because she has given that much of herself over to whomever desires her love. Though patience seems harmless enough, patience born of selflessness is extremely unhealthy. Due to the almost apathetic-like state of selflessness (not caring what has to be done as long as someone else is happy), patience born from this kind of love creates a stepped-on, blocked-in feeling in a person. Sadly enough, because Booboo has given complete control of her love over to Lionel, he uses it to manipulate her. By running away to the dinghy Lionel is exploiting his mother, because he knows she will follow. While his mother tries to reassure him, he purposely stays upset in order to milk as much emotion from his mother as possible. Booboo, however, does not seem to notice, because Lionel’s selfishness compliments perfectly her selflessness. They are both enabling each other to love the way they do. Inescapably, Booboo’s selfless love forces her to act like Lionel’s toy; surrendering her love and dignity to him, she acts rather foolishly.
Contrastingly, in For Esme With Love and Squalor, how does Esme demonstrate an almost perfect mix of selfless and selfish love, acting out the closest to true love that JD Salinger writes about? Selflessly, when Esme sees a young GI sipping tea by himself in a diner, she sits with him to keep him company. When Esme, her brother, and her governess go out to tea after Esme’s choir rehearsal, Esme recognizes the man, having seen him watch the practice. She abandons her companions to sit with him and engages him in something more than small talk. Even though her governess protests, she still sits with him, obviously enjoying his company and the conversation he provides. Showing her polite side, Esme allows him to converse with her; to fulfill his need for the friendship of another. Esme also introduces the GI to her younger brother, allowing him to make yet another new friendship.Selfishly, during their half hour conversation Esme frequently cuts him off mid sentence. [INSERT A NICE CUT OFF SENTENCE FROM SERGENT X TO ESME HERE] Showing her slight impatience, Esme often interrupts Sergeant X’s slow, precarious pattern of speech to interject whatever she feels is more important. Often with disregard to Sergeant X’s stream of consciousness, Esme often speaks simply to hear her own voice. The love she has of hearing her own thoughts articulated for others to hear shows in the conversation given in the text. Courteously, Esme writes the GI a letter during wartime, sending well wishes and the prized watch her father left to her before he passed away. An action that she certainly spent a lot of time thinking about, sending the lonely soldier the only memory she has of her father was certainly a selfless move. The letter and watch were such moving gifts that Sergeant X was lifted out of a deep post-breakdown depression. It actually cheered him so much that not only was he able to sleep again; he began, in the midst of the war, to write stories again. Indeed, because Esme has an almost perfect balance of selfless and selfish love, she is the closest to true love out of all the characters in all nine stories.
Only true love can provide complete emotional support for a person.Personally, I encounter many types of love in everyone I interact with. In my own house, for example, I have noticed my brother loves selfishly. Regardless of other people’s needs or agendas, he forces people to contort their lives to fit his ideal existence. On the contrast, a close friend of mine loves so selflessly it is painful to witness. Giving herself immediately and completely to everyone and anyone, she is often hurt when relationships expire. Additionally, there are examples of true love in my life. A friend of mine has been dating someone for over a year, and it has become clear to me that their love is pure and true. Though they live over forty minutes apart and have occasional spats, they understand each other and know that things will pass. Based upon the interpretations I have made on JD Salinger’s Nine Stories, I believe that Salinger thinks love is twisted. A complex mixture of selfless and selfish, I think Salinger sees love as a rare and beautiful thing. I agree wholeheartedly, and believe that true love is about being willing to compromise and sacrifice for one another.
please note it is very rough, is missing direct quotations, and has no 'clincher'.i'll get there.it's also seven pages long.edit if you make it all the way through.