Cover Page

English 201

A Portfolio of Work

Chris Grapes

Leslie Jewkes

Engl-201-002W

December 2012

Preface

            These posts represent the cumulative effort of English 201 - Intermediate Expository Composition - in the form of essays, personal writing and presentations. At the beginning of semester I, like many of my classmates, perhaps had no idea what to expect. We looked at the assigned reading list and wondered "is this an English or a Science class?" Flicking through the autobiography of Richard Feynman and The Best Science Writing anthology gave us little clue to what we were ultimately supposed to do with any of them. Herein lies the result in the forms of exploration, criticism and argumentation. 

The Modern Pow Wow Discovery Essay

The Modern Pow Wow:

Spirituality and Culture for Contemporary Native Americans

  

Christopher Grapes

Intermediate Expository Composition 201

Leslie Jewkes

Abstract

            In the short story "War Dances", author Alexie Sherman demonstrates a Native American character's disbelief and incredulity at the prospect of using blessings and prayer towards his father's health. In this, Sherman demonstrates a stereotype of the Native American as one who has abandoned and rejected his cultural history and identity. Statistically, however, this is far from the case. Studies have demonstrated that Native Americans feel a strong identity with their cultural history, and participate readily in practices such as Pow Wows and Sweat Lodges to further link themselves to their ancestry, finding temporary respite from a Western society that potentially threatens to overwhelm their own heritage.

"I am here, I am White Shell Woman, I am here. Now on the top of Gobernador Knob, I am here. In the center of my white shell hogan I am here. Right on the white shell spread I am here. Right on the fabric spread I am here. Right at the end of the rainbow I am here." - 12 Word Song of the Blessingway (Nagy 91)

            A young Navajo girl reaching maturity and passing into adulthood is marked by a Blessingway ceremony, consisting of songs and prayers of peace, prosperity and healing. The young girl is symbolically transformed into the Changing Woman, a deity responsible for creation and fertility. The ceremony is two-fold - firstly, it celebrates the passing from childhood to adulthood, much like the Jewish ritual of Bar Mitzvah. But secondly, it also demonstrates Native American spirituality and its deep connection with healing and medicine - The Blessingway is considered to be part of the reproductive cycle, effectively blessing the womb to strengthen the immune system for future pregnancies (Schwarz 99). The Blessingway, along with other spiritual ceremonies, are still performed today, showing that spirituality is still intrinsic to the Native American culture, and not an outdated concept viewed as a cultural anachronism.

            As the Blessingway shows, healing and spirituality are closely linked within Native American culture. Hodge and Limb argue that, within Native American culture, "spirituality is commonly viewed as essential to the promotion of health and wellness"(213). In essence, Native American medicine does not separate the healing of body and soul. It is perhaps hard to understand this culture from a Western perspective. Indeed, some may suggest that the Native American view of medicine may be mostly incompatible with Western approaches (Rybak, Decker-Fitts 334), however efforts have been made to amalgamate the two different healing philosophies, especially in the case of psychological counseling. It has been suggested that prospective counselors should surround themselves with a collective group of Native Americans, specifically building relationships with spiritual leaders, to create a cross-culture understanding, rather than attempting to impress Western ideals onto a group with its own distinct view of spirituality and healing (Rybak, Decker-Fitts 340). This issue of cultivating an amalgamated healing practice is further compounded, however, by differing customs and rituals from tribe to tribe.

            In spite of the differences between tribes, two cultural activities remain significant for nearly all Native Americans; the Sweat Lodge and the Pow Wow. Sweat Lodges are, effectively, spiritual saunas, where the act of sweating cleanses the body. As Native American healing views the body, mind and spirit as one gestalt construct, the physical cleansing also cleanses the soul, purifying the spirit of bad omens, curses or otherwise ill-effects. Sweat Lodges are often used at the beginning of other spiritual ceremonies, in order to remove the influences of tainted spirits from celebratory prayers and blessings. The Pow Wow, originally referring solely to the medicine men and healers of the tribes, is now a broad ceremony where both Native American and white Westerners gather together to sing and dance. The Pow Wow is, in many ways, a ceremony specifically to celebrate Native American culture and spirituality. Ironically, the ceremony itself was saved by Western culture - when one of the first modern Pow Wows was arranged in 1887, Western authorities sought to ban the ceremony, claiming the ritual to be savage and pagan. Yet, the public appetite for Native American culture, spurred by the rise of the Buffalo Bill Wild West Shows, had increased, and the ceremony was spared (Cleveland-Peck).

            This public increase for Native American culture could be considered quite surprising. The public consensus, spurred on by the press, was that Native Americans were primitive warmongers, and that they either needed to be contained or exterminated. This eventually culminated in the infamous Massacre at Wounded Knee, where cultural differences led the 7th US Cavalry to gun down 150 men, women and children of the Sioux nation in 1890. The attitude of the press at the time is highlighted by an editorial by the newspaper The Argus-Leader, following an article decrying the massacre as brutal, which stated that the paper "recognizes the lazy, filthy, immoral and brutal habits of the Sioux", further suggesting that their extinction would be beneficial to Western civilization (Hines 34). Josephy even indicates that, perhaps, the Native American culture is still under threat by modern government.

 The goal of ultimate assimilation is still the taproot of government policy, supported by general American opinion. Indian uniqueness [is] still disturbing to White populations. but there no longer exists a safe place of exile for whites to remove the Indians(81).

Others even further suggest that the cultural identity itself is being transformed, that the Native American view of a homogenous self, that psychology, spirituality and physicality are all part of the same collective whole, is being changed, and that "in almost all ethnic minority or non-Western cultural groups, these changes have resulted in the concomitant adoption of the psychology of the West"("Collectivism and Individualism" 545).

            Of course, these have mostly been due to Western influences on Native Americans living in tight communities on reservations. But what of those living within the broader Western culture? Surely they would have much lower levels of cultural identity and participation? Perhaps surprisingly, this is not the case. The importance of cultural identity within non-reservation Native Americans has been revealed to be demonstrably higher. In a 2011 study by Unger et al, the amount of urban youths seeking out cultural activities were dramatically higher than those on reservations - over 30% of urban youths, compared to merely 8% of reservation youths (Unger et al, 346). These cultural events and ceremonies (among them, Pow Wows and Sweat Lodges) are considered a form of therapy for these youths, allowing them to escape Western culture and embrace their ancestry, connecting on a base level that is seemingly absent from reservation based Native Americans. Janet King argues:

For the duration of the event Native values are the norm. This provides some respite from a world [...] where mainstream linear values are the norm—the opposite of Native American relational values. [...] Being immersed in systems with values opposite from your own can be invalidating and detrimental to identity formation(300).

This idea of cultural alienation is one that has roots in the foundation of Western America, where white settlers made significant efforts to diminish and exclude Native American culture. They found themselves caught between two difficult choices - exile or assimilation. Those who chose exile found a life of hardship, famine and death. Those who assimilated into Christian and Western culture effectively lost their own identity. Cultural practices by Native Americans were often outlawed, under threat of imprisonment or even death. The main targets for this "were often times healers who conducted ceremonies to restore health and promote well-being"(King 297). Some have claimed that the resurgence in spirituality, in community pride, represents an historical resentment of these past attempts to assimilate the cultures of Native American tribes into the expanding Western ideals.

Within the short span of [1965-1985], [Native Americans] have regained a pride in their identity as Native Americans and as members of tribal groups. [...] Strengthened by their own revitalized cultural heritages [Native Americans] have turned against both government paternalism and injustices perpetrated by their fellow Americans (Josephy xiii).

            Prior to this resurgence, however, tribal communities did still retain some intrinsic spirituality. In the mid 1950s, Uranium mining helped the economy of a Navajo tribal community. When the tribe shaman expressed concerns over the spiritual damage to the mountains, saying he "had heard the disturbed voices of the Ye-ei, the souls of the mountains, who were angered because the miners had disturbed the dwellings of the Talking God and his brother, the Calling God" ("Propiation"), work immediately ceased, despite threatening the fragile economy of the poverty-stricken tribe, until a blessing ceremony had taken place to placate the angered gods.

            Though Native Americans cannot escape the impact that the Western world has impressed upon their culture, ultimately meaning their culture and spirituality are arguably not necessarily the exact same ideas that their forbearers experienced, they remain enough to create a unique cultural identity, resistant to complete assimilation into Western society. Indeed, it is expected that, though biologically their ancestry may become diluted through bi-cultural relationships and non-reservation population growth, their cultural identity and attachment to their spirituality remains strong, despite influences and obstacles from the co-existence with Western culture ("Collectivism and Individualism" 558). Thus, the spirituality of Native Americans, far from the modern day perception of an outdated and anachronistic relic, is still very much relevant to anyone of Native American descent (whether wholly or partially), who remains proud and attached to their culture and heritage.

Works Cited

Cleveland-Peck, Patricia. "Toronto's Pow Wow." History Today 57.12 (2007): 5-6. Academic Search Complete. Web. 5 Oct. 2012.

" Collectivism And Individualism." Journal Of Comparative Family Studies 42.4 (2011): 543-562. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Oct. 2012.

Hines, Randy. "Pressing The Issue At Wounded Knee." Wild West 23.4 (2010): 28-36. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Oct. 2012.

Hodge, David R., and Gordon E. Limb. "Spiritual Assessment And Native Americans: Establishing The Social Validity Of A Complementary Set Of Assessment Tools." Social Work 56.3 (2011): 213-223. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Sept. 2012.

Jennifer Unger, et al. "The Relevance Of Cultural Activities In Ethnic Identity Among California Native American Youth." Journal Of Psychoactive Drugs 43.4 (2011): 343-348. Academic Search Complete. Web. 3 Oct. 2012.

Josephy, Alvin M.. Now That the Buffalo's Gone: A Study of Today's American Indians. New York: Knopf :, 1982. Print.

King, Janet. "Reclaiming Our Roots: Accomplishments And Challenges." Journal Of Psychoactive Drugs 43.4 (2011): 297-301. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 Oct. 2012.

Nagy, Gregory. Poetry as Performance: Homer and Beyond. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Print.

"Propitiation." Time 61.14 (1953): 33. Academic Search Complete. Web 29 Sept. 2012.

Rybak, Christopher, and Amanda Decker-Fitts. "Understanding Native American Healing Practices." Counselling Psychology Quarterly 22.3 (2009): 333-342. Academic Search Complete. Web. 5 Oct. 2012.

Schwarz, Maureen Trudelle. Molded in the Image of Changing Woman: Navajo Views on the Human Body and Personhood. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1997. Print.

Bibliography

Aftandilian, Dave. "What Other Americans Can And Cannot Learn From Native American Environmental Ethics." Worldviews: Environment Culture Religion 15.3 (2011): 219-246. Academic Search Complete. Web.

Cleveland-Peck, Patricia. "Toronto's Pow Wow." History Today 57.12 (2007): 5-6. Academic Search Complete. Web.

" Collectivism And Individualism." Journal Of Comparative Family Studies 42.4 (2011): 543-562. Academic Search Complete. Web.

Eggers, Dave. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2010. Boston: Mariner Books, 2010. Print.

Ford, Algeria R. "The Myth Of Tribal Sovereignty: An Analysis Of Native American Tribal Status In The United States." International Community Law Review 12.4 (2010): 397-411. Academic Search Complete. Web.

Hines, Randy. "Pressing The Issue At Wounded Knee." Wild West 23.4 (2010): 28-36. Academic Search Complete.

Hodge, David R., and Gordon E. Limb. "Spiritual Assessment And Native Americans: Establishing The Social Validity Of A Complementary Set Of Assessment Tools." Social Work 56.3 (2011): 213-223. Academic Search Complete. Web.

Jennifer Unger, et al. "The Relevance Of Cultural Activities In Ethnic Identity Among California Native American Youth." Journal Of Psychoactive Drugs 43.4 (2011): 343-348. Academic Search Complete. Web..

Josephy, Alvin M.. Now That the Buffalo's Gone: A Study of Today's American Indians. New York: Knopf :, 1982. Print.

King, Janet. "Reclaiming Our Roots: Accomplishments And Challenges." Journal Of Psychoactive Drugs 43.4 (2011): 297-301. Academic Search Complete. Web.

Leonard, Scott A., and Michael McClure. Myth and Knowing: an Introduction to World Mythology. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2004. Print.

Nagy, Gregory. Poetry as Performance: Homer and Beyond. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Print.

"Propitiation." Time 61.14 (1953): 33. Academic Search Complete.

Rybak, Christopher, and Amanda Decker-Fitts. "Understanding Native American Healing Practices." Counselling Psychology Quarterly 22.3 (2009): 333-342. Academic Search Complete. Web.

Schwarz, Maureen Trudelle. Molded in the Image of Changing Woman: Navajo Views on the Human Body and Personhood. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1997. Print.

On Books and Essays Not Yet Written

            In my spare time I'm a struggling independent writer. In the spare time between that spare time I'm an even more struggling cover designer. This is a cover for a novel I haven't yet written.

            Fancy, ain't it? But it's actually a misnomer to say that I haven't written it. I have written some of it. In fact, I've completed a first draft. But I still don't consider it "written". Largely due to the mammoth task of the editing process that lies ahead of it. It's a crucial part of the writing process, whether you're writing a full novel, a short story, a newspaper article, or indeed a scholarly essay. Often you'll have people who think this process doesn't matter one jot, who'll write work out at a furious pace, and barely is the virtual ink allowed to dry on the Word document's first draft before it's printed off/submitted/published/mailed off in an excitable flurry of accomplishment.

            Those people are, to put it frankly, fools. Fools that Mr. T would pity. And you don't want Mr. T to pity you, do you? No? Good.

            With that said, then, here is a handy guide to the editing process that I have lovingly prepared for you. Follow it, if you like. Change it, if you want. Ignore it completely, if that is your way.  But don't say I didn't warn you.

First draft, wherein the creative process begins:

            Write. You write, dammit. And keep writing. Keep at it. Throw everything in there. Who gives a damn about tyops typos? Write until you can't write anymore, and then keep writing. And don't give me any nonsense about writer's block. Take your carefully constructed writing plan that you came up with before and screw it into a ball and throw it over your shoulder like a plate at a Greek restaurant. Write about something unplanned. If it's an essay, take a sudden different tact. Write a paragraph that's completely opposite to your own view, then try to counter it. If it's fiction, throw a character under an unexpected bus. Maybe literally. Add in something totally leftfield. Maybe a dramatic twist where your main character is actually a twin! Or secretly undercover! Or a robot from the future! He's dead all along! His friend doesn't really exist! Everything's a dream!

Second draft, wherein we smash the paper into teeny bits:

            Take all of those dramatic twists out. They're rubbish. Especially that robot from the future nonsense. What's a robot from the future doing there anyway? Terrible idea. But aside from that, what have you got? A complete manuscript, from start to finish. Sure, it might waver and blip and stumble occasionally, but it crosses the finish line like a true champion. Now you need to just smooth those wrinkles out. What makes sense? What doesn't? Could you move scenes about?

            (pro-tip - write paragraph/chapter synopses on post-it notes and shuffle them into a random order, then lay them down in front of you in an order that makes sense)

Third draft, wherein we commit brutal murder:

            Time to kill your darlings. Perhaps even literally. Is a character really awesome but utterly superfluous to everything that happens? Over a cliff he goes. Is a scene or paragraph that you had a ball writing maybe a bit jarring and doesn't seem to fit anywhere, no matter how many times you shuffle those post-its? Tear it into shreds and scatter it like wedding confetti. Take out those you love for the sake of solidicity. Which is a word I just invented, meaning "to make something solid". In the third draft of this, I shall take it out for being a stupid made-up word.

Fourth draft, wherein we pluck and preen at stray hairs:

            It's typo time! With a fine toothcomb (or just a pen if you don't happen to have a toothcomb handy), roll through those words one at a time. It doesn't matter if you've written 500 or 500,000. Get cracking. Look for spelling, punctuation, grammar. Underline them, highlight them, fix them. I'll wait here for you.

            ...

            Done? Okay. Now do it a second time. Better yet, recruit someone else to do it for you. You'd be amazed at how they can spot you've misspelled "elephant" as "elferlent" and you missed it every single time you read it. Though I'm not even sure how you could type "elferlent" in the first place. Maybe invest in one of those natural-shape keyboards next time.

Fifth draft, wherein we take a break:

            Manuscripts are like fine wines. They need time to breathe. Put it to one side and go do something else. Play a game of racquetball or see Disney on Ice or something. Just do anything that doesn't involve thinking about the text. If it's a short piece or an essay, leave it for a day, two if you can spare the deadline. If it's a longer novella, a week or fortnight. If you've got yourself a full complete novel on your hands, leave it for a month. Let it breathe on its own, let your personal attachment to the piece fade until you're not quite so subjective. Step back from your scenes and characters and citations to make sure it's love, not lust, you're feeling.

            Once you've waited long enough, read it through again. Spot anything you don't like? Lop the bugger out and rewrite. See any inconsistencies or errors? Fix them as you go.

            Gosh, this is getting close to finished, isn't it? It's exciting!

Sixth draft, wherein other people get involved:

            The key draft. Give it to someone else to critique. Unless you're particularly solipsistic, you're writing for a specific audience. Get one of those audience members to read it and shower you with feedback. Fix what they give you. Highlight what they adored. Frame it in glory. And then consider rewriting or rearranging parts so that the adoration flows through consistently and doesn't get bunched up into small pockets. Ever read a book that went "THIS BIT'S GREAT, but this bit's awful and now it's BACK TO GREAT AGAIN but now this next part is a chore to get through"? It's like riding a rollercoaster while hungover - the giddy highs dazzle and excite you, but ultimately it'll leave you a little bit woozy and probably quite sick. Smoooooooooth it out.

Seventh draft, wherein page layout is king:

            Forrrrrrmat. It's a horrible word for a horrible task, but someone's got to do it, and it ain't gonna be me, buster. Submitting for something specific? A story contest? Non-fiction competition? Scholarly essay? Publishing house? They all have guidelines on formatting. Margins, font-size and type, indentations, line spacing, italicizing, bolding, tweening, kerning...I don't know what those last two are, but the rest are important.

            At this point you're probably looking at your first draft placed alongside your seventh draft and wondering what the heck happened. I'll tell you what happened, my friend. You just wrote something. Wrote. Something. To completion. To edited finality. A finished article, ready for your audience to engage, indulge and enjoy. A genuine completed, polished text, ready for A Grades or number one chart rankings or countless web hits or whatever other measure of success you may in fact use. It's done, it's finished. You completed the insurmountable challenge of turning a lump of coal into a diamond, a misshapen ball of clay into an ornate sculpture, a bunch of wood into a log cabin, or whatever metaphor for raw-tools-into-something-good you may wish to use.

            You, good sir or madam, are a writer. Congratulations. Now do it all over again for the next piece.

Wordiness and Conciseness Presentations

            These are two presentations on How to Reduce Wordiness and How to Remain Concise. The irony inherent in both of them is that I waffle endlessly in both and arguably needed to apply my own advice to the script I was working off of. But that's what happens when you start ad-libbing, I suppose. I also had a cold while recording, which didn't help matters. They were both created in Prezi before being screen-captured and narrated.

Terminal

5:45am to Charles de Gaulle.

The benches are uncomfortable here. The type that are slightly too small and the back not quite vertical, and after a while the cramping becomes unbearable, but there's nothing we can do but wait. We wait for the gates. We wait for Gate 13, Gate 24, Gate 35. We cluster. We form tribes, primal communities bonded by number alone, by nothing substantial, and for a brief moment perhaps we are part of something, and maybe we actually are Gate 13, Gate 24, Gate 35. But the moment passes and we wait.

Because that is what we do.

12:05pm from Heathrow to JFK.

It doesn't matter where we are. All different. All the same. That slightly off-white omnipresent lightning, turned up too bright so that all other colors are washed out to the color of a twenty-four hour headache. Midnight sun that removes every shadow, like everyone’s been cut out of a photograph and pasted onto a white wall. The benches are still uncomfortable here. Along the walls we can see the frosted glass doors of the gates, frosted glass doors that slide open when the right person approaches and just for a second we think we can glimpse the secret world within. But it's too bright to see inside. We have to look away, and the frosted glass doors do not open for us.

So we wait.

Because that is what we do.

9:50pm to wherever.

She approaches when it is nearing our time. Her shoes click on the white tiles of the floor that always seem freshly cleaned, and she stops outside the gate and smiles. We all think the smile is directed at us, but no-one really knows for sure.  She walks to us, and takes us by the hand and as we approach the frosted glass doors we hesitate, because the washed out world we are used to is fading behind us. But they finally slide open for us and we step through. For the longest time it feels like we are slipping into warm water, and now we wait no longer.

Is That You, John Wayne?: The Meaning of True Grit

"I have not failed. I've just found a thousand ways that don't work." - Thomas Edison

            In historical times, alchemy was the quest to find the universal solvent, the mysterious formula that would transmute a base element into a rarer, valuable one. To turn average lead into solid gold. In the modern day, a similar quest is underway, one to turn a base idea into golden success. And yet, unlike the alchemist's pursuit, the formula for success may indeed be something quantifiable. The secret ingredient, the link between the figurative base metal and the gold, is a potent combination of psychological make-up. Determination. Perseverance. Focus. Also known as "Grit". But is it attainable by everyone? Can the common person use grit to push themselves to new heights? Those hoping the formula may act as a shortcut to their own success may find themselves disappointed.

            Noted physicist Richard Feynman ostensibly possessed grit. His drive to analyze, solve and understand problems, from simple word games to complex physics equations, is grit in its rawest, truest form – the need to know. As Feynman himself puts it:

"I can't just leave [a problem] after I've found out so much about it. I have to keep going to find out ultimately what is the matter with it in the end. That's a puzzle drive. It's what accounts for my wanting to decipher Mayan hieroglyphics, for trying to open safes."(Feynman 21)

Feynman embodies true grit, utilizing it in minor puzzles like his experiments in radio repair as a young child, to genuine world-changing problems of nuclear physics during the Manhattan Project.

            Yet the question remains - what is it? Can it be measured? Analyzed? Explained? And once we know enough about it, can anyone utilize it? Angela Duckworth, one of the pioneers of the concept of grit, doesn't think so. "Nobody is talented enough to not have to work hard, and that's what grit allows you to do"(Groopman, Cohen 54). The study of grit in itself is not without its own irony - one could accuse Duckworth herself of possessing true grit in her determination to find out what it is, even in the face of other presumed benchmarks such as IQ tests or SAT scores. Another irony is perhaps the unaware nature of this single-minded determination. In the example of Richard Feynman, he became so determined to figure out problems posed to him that he couldn't see the inconvenience of others adapting to them - his innovations in the running of the hotel ultimately led to frustration from his co-workers and superiors. Perhaps his aunt's frustrations of "What are all these papers doing? Why is the telephone on this side? Why don't you...raaaaaaa!"(Feynman 28) are representative of the exact inverse of grit, that the status quo is what's best - go with what you know, regardless of whether it's right. Of course, that's not a solid definition – Feynman himself exhibits an exception when trying to come up with more logical mathematical symbols:

"I thought my symbols were just as good, if not better, than the regular symbols […] but I discovered later that it does make a difference. Once when I was explaining something to another kid in high school, without thinking I started to make these symbols, and he said, 'What the hell are those?' I realized then that if I'm going to talk to anybody else, I'll have to use the standard symbols" (Feynman 24)

            Though it is a relatively new concept, there have been attempts to make a standard measure of grit - the so-called "Short Grit Scale". Though the chief proponents acknowledge that such a scale is not without its flaws, identifying that "it is possible that respondents [to the scale questions] answered positively to items on the Grit–S in anticipation of future achievement"(Duckworth, Quinn 173), or, in other words, the respondents may falsely believe themselves to possess grit that they have yet to utilize.

            Ultimately, such scales, while not without merit, are not definitive measures. Grit is, I feel, something intangible and unquantifiable. It is a combination of factors - a potent mixture of intelligence, perseverance, passion and to some extent basic common sense (modern physics would tell us that no amount of grit will turn lead into gold, for example).  Yet, society yearns for quantified, measurable levels of success - a formula for that elusive x factor that separates the commoner from the genius, the average person from the world-changer. The quest to identify and measure grit is, therefore, a self-defining act. Grit is that which causes people to continue pursuit of the "why", of knowing the unknowable, of not being satisfied with accepting defeat, of shrugging your shoulders and answering "I don't know".

Works Cited

Duckworth, Angela Lee, and Patrick D. Quinn. "Development And Validation Of The Short Grit Scale (Grit-S)." Journal Of Personality Assessment 91.2 (2009): 166-174. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Oct. 2012.

Feynman, Richard P., Ralph Leighton, and Edward Hutchings. "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character. New York: W.W. Norton, 1997. Print.

Groopman, Jerome E., and Jesse Cohen. The Best American Science Writing, 2010. New York: Ecco, 2010. Print.

"Ideas" by Patricio Pron - Critical Theory Essay

The Agent of Social Change:

 Antiestablishment Metaphor in Patricio Pron’s Ideas

  

Christopher Grapes

Intermediate Expository Composition 201

Leslie Jewkes

Abstract

            Patricio Pron, in his short story “Ideas”, writes of a mysterious youth named Peter who exerts a strange influence over the children of the small East German town of Sterberode, leading them away into the night with no reason or explanation. The adults of the town search for the children, expressing concern and eventually fear and denial over the seemingly supernatural powers of Peter. By placing the story under a hermeneutic lens and overlaying Pron’s own history and influences, we can examine the tale as a harsh critique of oppressive government control and an investigation into subversive propaganda and social disorder. 

 “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” – President Reagan

Argentinian Patricio Pron’s short story “Ideas” is a tale about the mysterious disappearance and subsequent reappearance of children from the fictional East German town of Sterberode, during the 1980s. The main character, a child named Peter Möhlendorf, appears to lure the other children away by means unknown, leaving the adults of the village in fear and confusion until they eventually return, unscathed and unharmed. The surface tale appears a relatively benign mystery about the events, but the tale also represents a powerful metaphor for Pron’s experiences and knowledge of the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the Reunification of Germany.

            The Germany of the 1980s was divided, following the conclusion of World War Two. Though it was initially split into four distinct sectors, ideologically the country was split between Western (comprising of Britain, America and France) and Eastern (Soviet Union) blocs. During the last few years of its division, East Germany saw numerous uprisings and increased political disorder as the government attempted to stranglehold the population, censoring subversive literature and arresting writers and journalists who questioned the regime and demanded reform. “Ideas” is set within this timeframe in East Germany.

            Pron himself was born in Argentina 1975, and spent most of his childhood there. Though a country not necessarily associated with the European Soviet blocs, Argentina was a country in its own social disorder – during the 1970s the National Reorganization Process saw a military dictatorship seize the country, and proceed to eliminate, whether through deportation or other means, any who opposed the ideology of the newly established government. In the 1990s, Pron moved to Germany, studying literature at the University of Göttingen. Though this move occurred after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the country was still struggling with reunification, and Pron's experiences with Argentina's own recovery from the oppressive government would have made him highly sensitive to political turmoil, possibly more so than ordinary citizens who lived before and during Reunification. Oliver Hartwich, living in West Germany at the time of  the fall, identified that "if you had asked the West Germans before 1989 about the chances of re-unification, the older ones would have told you that it was not going to happen in their lifetime. The younger ones would not even have understood the question"(9). The influence upon Pron of these periods of social upheaval is undeniable within his texts, especially within his views of politics and government.

            The government as presented in the story is a mostly ineffective force. The narrator consistently references them as "the so-called Democratic Republic of Germany". Their place in the story mostly comes from their failures - the failure to build a highway and the failure to locate the missing children (the only direct government involvement comes in the searches, where nameless and faceless members of the Volkspolizei and Volksarmee (respectively the police and armed forces of East Germany) search fruitlessly and without comment). The narrator notes that "the management of ruins is the only thing that government really seemed to have devoted itself to"(Eggers 317). Though referencing a medieval wall the government leveled in preparation of highway construction, one could also take this as an oblique reference to the Berlin Wall itself - the government so possessed with managing and controlling the wall, little else actually matters to them. Indeed, several commentators have noted that the Berlin Wall is itself “the most important icon of the Cold War, and the fall […] remains the best known marker of its end”(Schaefer 506). In effect, its literal breakup serves as a potent metaphor for the ideological breakup of the Soviet Union.

Adults in the story are introduced by their profession – most seem to be relatively core jobs, essential for the basic running of a rural Soviet bloc – farmers, teachers and maintenance (electrician, tailor, etc) – whereas children are introduced entirely by their ages. Of course, we would not expect children to possess jobs, but considering the children are representative of the rebelling faction (also perhaps a tie-in with adolescent rebellion in itself?), perhaps this is intentional that they are described as such. The adults are not represented as particularly intelligent in themselves – though they are educated in their profession, they seem to possess little imagination or desire for knowledge – though they search for the children, they never seem to express any concern as to why they disappeared.

The events of Peter’s disappearance and, later, the children’s disappearance and return are presented matter-of-factly. After the children return, the parents do not further question the event, aside from brief musings on the fleeting nature of childhood. The hermeneutic interpretations of these events are broad and meaningful. Considering the time frame, and the consistent references to the government of East Germany, one could take the event as a metaphor for the socialist government, and the eventual downfall and reunification of the country. Peter convincing the other children to join “his side” could be representative of social disorder – Peter is “recruiting” children to distance themselves from Sterberode (ostensibly representative of East and West Germany– examine the line “The woods are on the outskirts of Sterberode and continue until they are silhouetted against the Harz mountain range, diving the region in two” (Eggers 318), a clear reference to the division of Germany).

One interesting influence for Pron comes from German folktales – Peter’s influence over the children is strikingly similar to the famous tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. The folktale concerns the eponymous piper, who possesses a remarkable ability to lure rats with his pipe. The city government hires him to rid the town of vermin, but rebuke him once he comes to collect payment. He seeks revenge on the government by changing his tune to one that lures children instead, leading them from the town and taking them into a mountain, where they are never heard from again. The comparisons are obvious – Peter is the Piper, luring children to his rebellion following dissatisfaction with an uncaring government. Bertolt Brecht argues that the tale of the Pied Piper can also be used as an analogy for social criticism, demonstrating that the Piper wants to “rescue them from the city, that the children could have a better place to grow up” (Wilkening). This creates a particularly intricate layer in Pron’s own story – both can be considered metaphors for antiestablishment against an oppressive government.

            Under such tightly controlled regimes, subversive underground literature is often the focal point for antiestablishment movements. During the communist regime of the Soviet Union, subversive literature like this became known as samizdat – literally translated as “self-publishing”. Because of intense government censorship of printed materials, these underground works of literature were often highly political in nature, whether fiction, poetry or non-fictional essays. The state controlled all forms of media, and this was often the only way to spread opinions or criticism of the government. As such, to avoid detection, this type of literature relied heavily on hermeneutics to get the message across – what could be on the surface a benign and mostly harmless tale of peasantry could, when viewed from the right mindset, be a powerful antiestablishment message. To that end, the subversive literature of Pron’s childhood ostensibly influenced him, layering his own works with such almost subliminal messaging.

            The striking similarities between Peter’s tale and the Pied Piper could even be compared at the samizdat level too – by the late 70s the persecution of samizdat writers was not as ferocious as it was during the height of the Soviet government. Original writers of the material were still subject to arrest and punishment, but retypers of the material were left alone. Toker surmises that “from the point of view of the authorities, [retyping] may have helped to keep urban intelligentsia busy and out of mischief” (741). Could this be what Pron is doing? Retyping the story of the Pied Piper as a demonstration of legitimate (ie – government approved) samizdat?

            At the height of the Cold War, in comparison, samizdat was punishable to extremes. Possessing it became a crime – even knowing of it could lead to arrest. This helped to foster a level of willful ignorance for many citizens, pretending such literature didn’t exist, even when presented with it at face value. When Peter Möhlendorf turns around and smiles at the narrator, he expresses disbelief, denying that Peter himself (and thus, subversive antiestablishment movements) even existed:

I couldn’t see his face because he was in the shadows, and yet I think I remember—but it could just have been an illusion—that he smiled and that his smile didn’t explain anything, not a thing. (Eggers 321)

More clues to Peter representing a metaphor for literature can be found in the narrator's growing concerns about Peter's abilities -  his "growing influence with the rest of the children, his ability to vanish in a small town in a relatively accessible region [...] and his ability to go without food and shelter" (Eggers 320). An ability to survive without food and shelter could be a subtle note to the decentralized nature of subversive literature - often consisting of a group effort with no explicit author, editor or publisher mentioned. To this end, Peter himself is an agent of social change – he is the embodiment of the antiestablishment literature of Pron’s youth, literature that, as a student and eventually teacher, he would have almost certainly come across himself.

            In a 2010 interview, Pron identified a key element in the hermeneutical impact of his work. Questioned on whether he was writing autobiographically, he stated "Not exactly in its plot, which is imaginary, but yes with regard to the narrator’s opinions about literature, and to the question that permeates the entire story of why and from where the young writers [...] come from"(Post). By the deeper meaning inherent in Ideas, from the idea of Peter as samizdat to the overarching themes of rebellion and social disorder, it can be concluded that, unlike the narrator, Peter’s smile was not just an illusion for Pron.

Works Cited

Eggers, Dave. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2010. Boston: Mariner Books, 2010. Print.

Hartwich, Oliver Marc. "After The Wall: 20 Years On." Policy 25.4 (2009): 8-11. Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 Nov. 2012.

Post, Chad W. "Patricio Pron." Three Percent. University of Rochester, 06 Dec. 2010. Web. 16 Nov. 2012.

Schaefer, Sagi. "Hidden Behind The Wall: West German State Building And The Emergence Of The Iron Curtain." Central European History (Cambridge University Press / UK) 44.3 (2011): 506-535. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Nov. 2012.

Toker, Leona. "Samizdat And The Problem Of Authorial Control: The Case Of Varlam Shalamov." Poetics Today 29.4 (2008): 735-758. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Nov. 2012.

Wilkening, Christoph. "The Pied Piper Of Hamelin." World & I 15.8 (2000): 178. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 13 Nov. 2012.

Bibliography

Behrend, Hanna. "Viewpoints On German Partition And Reunification." Social Semiotics 21.1 (2011): 55-65. Academic Search Complete. Web.

Eggers, Dave. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2010. Boston: Mariner Books, 2010. Print.

Hartwich, Oliver Marc. "After The Wall: 20 Years On." Policy 25.4 (2009): 8-11. Academic Search Complete. Web.

Nevins, Debbie. "The Pied Piper Of Hamelin." Read 55.10 (2006): 4. MasterFILE Premier. Web.

Post, Chad W. "Patricio Pron." Three Percent. University of Rochester, 06 Dec. 2010. Web. Nov. 2012.

Schaefer, Sagi. "Hidden Behind The Wall: West German State Building And The Emergence Of The Iron Curtain." Central European History (Cambridge University Press / UK) 44.3 (2011): 506-535. Academic Search Complete. Web.

Toker, Leona. "Samizdat And The Problem Of Authorial Control: The Case Of Varlam Shalamov." Poetics Today 29.4 (2008): 735-758. Academic Search Complete. Web.

Wilkening, Christoph. "The Pied Piper Of Hamelin." World & I 15.8 (2000): 178. MasterFILE Premier. Web.

Zatlin, Jonathan R. "Unifying Without Integrating: The East German Collapse And German Unity." Central European History (Cambridge University Press / UK) 43.3 (2010): 484. MasterFILE Premier. Web.

On Representation

            Us men have impossible standards to maintain for our girlfriends, wives, mistresses, what-have-you. Magazines so glossy you could line the floor with them and open a cheap skating rink would have you believe that Ryan Gosling's abs are so effortlessly obtainable it becomes a genuine mystery that body fat still exists in the world. Whether silver screen or small screen, when Daniel Craig emerges from the waters as James Bond in Casino Royale, clad in naught but blue swim trunks so tight they could double as medical tourniquets, women turn to their respective partners and do a quick mental comparison. They may not look so good in tight blue swim trunks, let alone the ones they actually own, bought in clearance at Target last winter and have only worn once, grudgingly, at a family pool party. We're not safe even in the realms of literature. The titular character of Christian Grey, from that god-awful book that sells faster than a fire sale on the last few remaining Twinkie boxes, has convinced women around the globe that men should have secret drawers filled with whips and handcuffs and other unmentionable items, and be in total, confident command. Reality check - most of us couldn't order someone around the bedroom like a leather-clad drill instructor. We can barely decide if we want the lights on or off most of the time. Women everywhere will be horrendously disappointed to discover that on finding a pair of handcuffs we're more likely to want to play Cops and Robbers, grabbing a pair of sunglasses to pretend we're David Caruso, than think about using them to engage in light bondage. Thanks, E.L James. Thanks for ruining sex for everyone.

            Of course, I can't hold this false image of masculinity up in its own light - one must also factor in that not every girl looks like Emma Stone in Spider-Man, or Scarlet Johansen in The Avengers, and the mass media portrayal of women is just as unfair to the fairer sex - probably more so, since women tend to care about their personal looks, whereas men just tend to splash lukewarm water on their faces in the morning and think "that'll do". Yet, while women look at their men and think "God, I wish he had the body of Taylor Lautner", men look at their women and think "God, I wish she was a super secret agent who fought alongside The Hulk. I bet The Hulk is awesome. And maybe she'd invite me along and we could hang out with Iron Man. Maybe all go out to Applebees and split some appetizers. I'd get some mozzarella sticks. Or a cheeseburger slider. And a beer.  Who'd win in a fight between The Hulk and Batman?" But that's men for you. All we need is for something to explode on TV occasionally and we'll keep quiet.

HULK SMASH

            It comes down to a question of body image and self-esteem. Does seeing Mila Kunis plastered over billboards and magazine covers talking about diet secrets and exercise routines make women feel uncomfortable about their own bodies? Yes. Should it? In an ideal world, no.  But in an ideal world the hoverboard from Back To The Future would be a reality and we'd all live in space like The Jetsons. And that's kind of the point. The mass media idolize the perfectly chiseled features of George Clooney, they celebrate the lithe form of Natalie Portman, they salivate over Sofia Vergara's bum. They literally give us a picture of "ideal" that doesn't ever really exist.  And, like reasonable people we should be going "hey, hang on, that isn't right. What about normal people? What about those of us who can't afford professional make-up artists or fitness instructors or, if all else fails, a good hard session in Photoshop?". Well, that's another problem. What happens when enough people stand up and shout "For all that is good in the world, let us just see someone who's normal"? We get a nice patronizing mini-campaign, usually for a deodorant or some other product that really no-one buys to make themselves look any better, which features "REAL NORMAL PEOPLE" with "real" and "normal" in big flashing lights like they're talking to a small child who just colored in a picture of a cat without going over the lines. Then, after a self-congratulatory pat on their own back, they go back to sponsoring Olivia Wilde's hair.

That's either a strong breeze or incredibly powerful hairgel

            Therein lies the problem. By doing this, "Normal" is heralded as "different". "Normal" is heralded as "special". You don't make something the norm by pointing it out as loudly as you possibly can every time it swings about. You make it the norm by...well, not pointing it out at all. How can we stop homophobia? Don't call gay people gay, call them "people". How can we stop racism? Don't call black people black, call them "people". How can we champion normal looking people over unattainable abs, gravity defying boobs, and faces so photoshopped they might as well be paintings? Don't call them "normal people". Call them "people". Normal is what people accept around them without question, without prompting, without judgment. That, right there, is what we should be striving for.

             Thinking about it, the Hulk would totally win.