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Grilling and Greatness

     I n the chapter, To Prevent Flare-Ups , we learn more about the family dynamics of the Cooper household. Especially the relationship between Benji and Reggie with their father. We first learn that Reggie is fairly absent in the relationship at the moment because of his purposeful avoidance of his father. This puts extra stress on Benji and we can view Benji’s alertness and attention to all his father’s actions throughout the chapter.       Early in the chapter, Benji tells us about the haircuts his Dad used to give him. Benji describes his realization that his haircuts were not as good as he had thought. It was the first time his haircut “ritual” had been disrupted, and someone else had cut his hair. Benji and Reggie used to long for haircuts and craved the undivided attention they got during the haircut. Haircuts were the only time their father performed a planned act of service for them while giving them his full attention. However, he also explained how the process of asking fo
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Caring too much

              In the chapter “Spooks”, Jason defies the orders of the Spooks to help Dean. Despite having just become a member of a group he had longed to be in, he ignores their instructions knowing it will get him kicked out of the group. This is especially surprising due to Jason’s poor ability to break rules and deal with confrontation at the beginning of the story. His fear of confrontation can be observed by Jason’s hesitation to enter his Dad’s office, just to answer the telephone. At the beginning of the novel, when making the decision to break a rule or defy orders Jason clearly weighs the consequences of his actions. Before walking into the office to pick up the phone Jason justifies it by thinking it may be an emergency, “But the phone’d rung twenty-five times. Normal people give up after ten or eleven unless it’s a matter of life or death”.                 Jason explains that he is not meant to be a member of the Spooks because he “cares too much”. Jason cares too much abou
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Hero's Journey in Fun Home (Dr. E cameo?!?!)

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       During one of our final discussions of Fun Home,  we were prompted to think about the meaning of the title of the final chapter of the book, "The Antihero's Journey". Habits from Dr. E's Hero's Journey class kicked in and I started to view Alison's narrative in comparison to Joseph Campbell's hero's journey template. Joseph Campbell's hero's journey or monomyth is a template with 17 stages for narratives, which ultimately depicts a major transformation in a character. Some heroes' journeys have stages that are out of order, skip stages, or repeat stages. But at what point is it no longer a hero's journey?      I won't go through every stage of the template with Alison's narrative but I think it is clear that her narrative aligns with the template well. Alison's separation phase occurs when she leaves for college and begins researching lesbian literature and understanding her own sexuality. Her initiation phase occurs
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Bell Cases and Bell Jars

Both Holden Caulfield and Esther discuss being enclosed in a glass container; Holden in a glass case, and Esther under a bell jar. Although the characters have many similarities their feelings about being in glass enclosures are very different. Holden and Esther both greatly fear their fast-approaching adult years and resent the social expectations that go along with their coming of age. Despite Esther being a model, scholarship-winning student and Holden having been kicked out of a number of schools, both characters seem to want the continuation of their school lives to prevent facing the challenges and pressures of life after graduation.  Holden wants to prevent corruption and loss of youthful qualities by being able to stop time and enclose people in glasses cases, like the displays at the natural history museum. Due to his hatred of the unpredictability of the adult world and the loss of childhood innocence, Holden wants to stop the coming of age of children. He also expresses this
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Big Glass Cases

  “Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone. I know that’s impossible, but it’s too bad anyway” (Salinger 136). I think this quote accurately portrays Holden’s strong resistance to change and his enjoyment of familiar, and consistent things. This is due to his fear of his quickly approaching adult years and his want to remain free from the uncertainties and phoniness of adulthood. He has such a great fear of becoming corrupt from adult life and a phony in his career, that he dismisses so many job options he cannot possibly imagine himself in any job that is common in his social class.  The Museum of Natural History is one symbol of Holden’s fondness for unchanging things. He enjoys that every time he visits the museum it is the same and it allows him to be reminiscent of his childhood. The museum represents many of the fonder memories he has of his youth and shows the innocence and cur
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