Currently: Going Through Hell

Once upon a time, I was assigned to create a blog from my professor about literature we are reading in class. Here we are, boom!

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End of the Semester, Blog of Blogs but I will return

Hello readers,

The end of another semester is among us. I am happy to have started this blog and aim to continue it with every reading I do. Whether I quote, review, or compare - my plans are to continue this in the future.

But first, let me answer a few questions about where I am today. My approach to this blog has been overall personal in taste but also comparative with films and shows. I have enjoyed drawing comparisons with these novels against those who I love to watch in my personal life. It has made reading more fun. When I read, I think “wow, this character is a lot like (fill in the blank)” and it opens my eyes to different interest.

I have become more interested in characters above anything else. I am interested in who they are, their flaws and self. Everything about character development seems to interest me more than anything else. I believe this is due to my connection with characters and investment. I have become invest with the personal characters, but then become interested in the novel characters that keep me engaged. Character drives this blog heavily because I am looking for characters I love... or hate.

I clearly make connections to film and animation, those are my strong suits. I love that artistic side of things and it seems to work well for the aesthetic of this blog. I want both myself and those reading these blog posts to understand that reading can be fun and drawing connections can attain the fun goal.

Writing throughout this semester and drawing connections has enabled me to retain the information and understand what is going on instead of reading to get through and get by. I have developed skills of reading faster, highlighting important text, and honestly, I have finished these books instead of getting halfway through and stopping. The experience and relationship with these texts has given me a new appreciation for novels and writing as a whole.

Thank you for your time and attention,

I’ll be back in August.

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Deep rivers run quiet

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, page 2 via Kindle

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Kyujuro Rengoku dedication and comparison with Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Murakami *SPOILERS*

Fellow readers, thank you for reading what is ahead but please be mindful that there will be spoilers to come within this post.

As a dedication to Rengoku from Demon Slayer, I wanted to draw comparisons on how the narrator within the novel “Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World” written by Haruki Murakami. Murakami is a Japanese Writer while Demon Slayer also originates from Japan. There are many parallels within Murakami’s novel that lines up with anime films.

Image Source: https://kimetsu-no-yaiba.fandom.com/wiki/Kyojuro_Rengoku

Rengoku has many heroic features to him with a backstory that shows the strength mentally and physically he possesses. Within the film recently released, we see the physical trials he goes through in order to destroy the Lower Three demon. Beforehand, he speaks kindly with the new ones tasked to help with the journey like Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu. As a Hashira helping the newer Demon Slayers, that seems uncommon so far in this world. There are few Hashira that seem as kind as Rengoku was with offering to train all three of them and treat them as brethren. Other Hashira that I might would say are on a similar level at this current time would be Tomioka and Sabito (in regards to helping and trying to understand / believe in Tanjiro.)

The comparisons between Rengoku and the Calcutec (narrator of this novel) can be seen in a few different scenes:

1) “How was it possible for a life of misery to be happy overall? But then I understood, that misery could be limited to the future” (389 via Kindle).

Image source: https://comicbook.com/anime/news/demon-slayer-rengoku-family-history-mugen-train-spoilers/

We learn in the film that Rengoku comes from a past Hashira, his father, who does not support Rengoku’s achievements. While Rengoku could look at the world as misery and as if he is no good, he chooses to use his strength to help others and acknowledge that he is good enough. Unlike what his father spouts, Rengoku is a heroic figure and has earned the titles he is called.

Rengoku chooses to move forward and achieve, not to live in the spoken misery his father is in.

2) “When you say you believe, you allow the possibility of disappointment. And from disappointment or betrayal, there may come despair” (351 via Kindle).

Image Source: https://otakukart.com/demon-slayer-mugen-train-does-the-flame-hashira-kyojuro-rengoku-die-at-the-end/

While this is not the exact scene I was looking to display, it still contributes similar feelings and meaning.

Rengoku’s relationship with Tanjiro shows that Rengoku chooses to believe in others and humanity. While Tanjiro is still finding the belief in himself and how he will defeat the Twelve Kizuki and their leader, Rengoku has the belief in him after seeing the potential and drive that Tanjiro has.

Though, while he tells Tanjiro that he believes in him and the road ahead. He reminds Tanjiro that believing is half the battle, but he must not give up. There will be a long journey ahead to become a Hashira of pristine and defeating the demons, but he must keep going. 

Rengoku chooses to believe in humanity even while humanity can let us down at times.

3) “No two human beings have the same mind. At the same time, human beings have almost no grasp of their own cognitive systems. I don’t, you don’t, nobody does. All we know--or think we know--is but a fraction of the whole cake. A mere tip of the icing” (255 via Kindle).

Image Source: https://www.plazajapan.com/4970381505882/

Humans are not the same and neither are leaders. Lower Three proved to be the type of demon that even the best can’t defeat alone. Tanjiro was injured and the Rengoku fighting Lower Three was incredibly fast. If Rengoku would have had help then potentially things could have ended differently. Rengoku pushed himself to the bitter end and goes to prove that sometimes we don’t see our strength but our strength from within can outshine the physical strength.

Rengoku proves that not all battles are wins, no two humans -- even Hashira -- are the same, and humanity is worth saving.

https://comicbook.com/anime/news/demon-slayer-kimetsu-no-yaiba-rengoku-flame-hashira-fem-cosplay-sexy-cute-best-anime/

RIP and Godspeed to the legend.

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The Tiger’s Wife could be Nishimiya on paper

Image source: https://wherever-i-look.com/tv-series/anime/koe-no-katachi-a-silent-voice-recap-review-with-spoilers

If you haven’t seen A Silent Voice, it is an anime film that displays the life of a girl with a hearing impairment with a world full of bullies. The key difference is that the story primarily focuses on a sense of redemption, but the idea of growing up is like what the Tiger’s Wife experiences too.

Within Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht, while we do follow Natalia’s journey on finding out the mystery behind her grandfather. As an audience, we are prompted to also care about character within the stories that the grandfather tells. Whether you can about the deathless man or the Tiger’s Wife, they are characters of importance especially in the grandfather’s life.

People with disabilities are often misunderstood from those who have no experience with them. Specifically, people with hearing impairments like in both  stories get the rough end of the stick in their societies due to the ignorance of the citizens. Whether it’s thoughts, actions, or abuse; many times, it goes unrecognized and can be dangerous for those who experience these malicious events.

In the Tiger’s Wife, the man named Luka is ignorant to his wife’s disability and how to approach it; though, he was forced into marriage so he already has built frustration. In the text it says, “she was like an animal, he thought, as silent and begrudging as an owl” (208 via Kindle). When Luka is thinking this, he had just married her and the whole town was speaking of the marriage, as if Luka was trouble or trash. The town was gossiping about their speculations on the matter because they knew something was “wrong” with her. In reality, none of them knew how to treat somebody different than they were which is sad. Luka became so enraged, but he also knew she was a child and didn’t want any harm to come to her. In the grand scheme of things, he is the one who caused majority of harm to her by the beatings, abuse, and anger. It didn’t matter that she was compliant and happy in the beginning. He wanted her practically at his mercy. He did regret the physical actions after doing them, not wanting to do them again, but inevitably he was basically his father all over again (209 via Kindle). This shows that while Luka knew what he was doing was wrong, he couldn’t stop himself. He was at the point of no return.

A Silent Voice gives a lower spectrum action where Ishida causes Nishimiya to bleed and wanting to kill herself. He pays the price by being the constant gossip and known bully of the school with no friends. It’s through the humiliation and harsh actions towards Nishimiya that he knows what he did was wrong and seeks to make amends. Even on this scale, there are similarities because of the ignorance, meanness, and knowing that the physical actions are wrong. Nobody deserves to feel the horror and pain caused by ignorant people.

At the end, similarities are not everything in life. Luka may be comparable to Ishida, but the key difference is that Ishida learned and wanted to grow as a human: seeking to be better. Luka stayed the same and had no desires to treat people better: hated everyone and everything, life.

Image Source: https://www.behance.net/gallery/23209221/The-Tigers-Wife

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What a Secret Can Do

Image Source: https://ordinary-times.com/2019/11/10/sunday-morning-the-city-the-city/

I have concluded that China Mieville’s The City and The City has similarities as the film from 2019 titled Synchronic. I was thinking about this film the entire time I was reading this book and I couldn’t put my head around it, until the end. The secret city of Orciny is like Synchronic in the movie where Synchronic is an obscure thing that people do not understand. 

Looking at the city of Orciny, it is described in a way that society wouldn’t have the knowledge unless they were in these positions of power and authority to interact with the problems lying within the city. It’s described by Borlu when he is speaking with Corwi that “Orciny’s the third city. It’s between the other two. It’s in the disseni, disputed zones, places that Beszel thinks are UI Qoma’s and UI Qoma Beszel’s. When the old commune split, it didn’t split into two, it split into three. Orciny’s the secret city. It runs things” (50 via Kindle). When Borlu presents this idea to Corwi, explaining how Orciny as a city came about, we as the readers get to see that even these officials, detectives, and higher people understand how Orciny is in hiding from people in ways, it's not a common knowledge to people because of its secrecy.

Image Source: https://deadline.com/2019/10/jamie-dornan-anthony-mackie-

Within Synchronic, we also get this sense of secrecy. As two men in higher ranks of society being in emergency management, they are exposed to drugs and the real life of addition from both people and of their own people. Then, when they know of a new drug and it becomes a trend, but the side effects are in secret. Nobody knows what happens to those who use the drug. Society knows in this world of the trend, but not the consequences.  

 The primary common ground is:  

 #1: Orciny is in secret from the public; in the same way, Synchronic’s side effects are secret to the public including those who have lost somebody to the drug. Even though Orciny is not a real place and synchronic is a real drug, they are still equally hidden from public conversation.

 #2: Borlu is determined to get to the bottom of this and figure out how the first victim dies from being intertwined with Orciny; at the same time, one of the medics also is determined to figure out what is happening to people who take this drug even if consequences for him are involved.  

 #3: Yolanda is the victim that Borlu feels sorry for when she did no wrong and continues to fight for truth at least for her justice; likewise, there is a girl in Synchronic that becomes a victim and becomes the motivation for understanding how Synchronic works.  

 The key takeaways here are while there are similarities, they are very much their own story in respect to each author. The crossover moments seen and experienced from readers and viewers are meant to provoke thoughts on morality, truth, and what is kept from the public? Higher power and authority have access to things we don’t. Is this a good thing? Is it for our own good? Both stories leave us as the audience wondering if we are in the dark today, but if that’s okay.

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I bet Orson Welles used to jam to this song.

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Orson Welles is The Third Man

Image Source: https://www.villagevoice.com/2015/06/23/the-third-man-returns-looming-larger-and-grander-than-ever/

We’ve all at least heard of Orson Welles, a popular person in the film industry in its early times. I never knew until reading the trivia section on the Amazon streaming of The Third Man how obnoxious Orson probably was as a person. I can understand being an actor isn’t easy, but he was a plain diva. He wouldn’t shoot certain scenes, nor would he be a team player in some cases. Whereas some people would leap at the chance to be in a famous film, Orson held his ground.

Within the film The Third Man, I spent the bulk of the film wondering why the film even says it stars Orson when it primarily follows Trevor Howard telling the story of Joseph Cotten trying to find Orson. It’s almost as if they put Orson’s name on the cover to get people to watch it. Yes, the premise of The Third Man is central around Orson, but the physical being Orson isn’t present until very late into the film.

Regardless, the film had a lot of depth to it, mystery, and plot twist implemented. For a black and white film, it brings color out of the actors themselves. Cotten’s character goes from sort of a grey / glum character and develops into a green character. He gets adventure, life, and a touch of humanity in him throughout the film. While the screen showcases two colors, the characters develop into more than just those. As a young adult, I see the black and white now and a vital tool to focus on the scenes and material. I think that adding colors takes away from the story at times or distracts audience members. Colors are exciting and people want to see so they miss significant details. In this film, with colors being removed, I was able to focus more on angles, emotion, and dialogue. Those are primary factors in an excellent film, which I believe The Third Man is a wonderful film for its time.

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And when a girl's heart is moved to pity, that is, of course, most dangerous for her.

Svidrigailov (474 via Kindle)

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Maybe Svidrigailov is Everyman

Image source: https://www.theatrefolk.com/products/everyman

Everyman, a morality play of how to attain salvation as a part of Christian values.

Everyman encounters many characters on this journey where he learns the meaning of life and sacrifice, but still is an ordinary person as anybody else. He is still has wishes and desires, sinful ways. The same as everybody else, as why he is titled Everyman.

Svidrigailov may be the very same, just in more extreme measures as Crime and Punishment progresses.

He tells Raskolnikov many unfulfilled wishes in his life and vocalizes the frustrations about it, he says, “Even a vestal virgin can be seduced by flattery. Not to mention ordinary people. I can’t help laughing when I remember how I once seduced a certain lady who was devoted to her husband, her children, and her own virtues” (475 via Kindle). When he is saying this to Raskolnikov, he is using words like “ordinary” “vestal” and “certain” to show that he is irritated how little the average person cares about higher things or mightier things. He is insinuating or expressing that he is higher than many people because he is not convinced by meaningless things, that he remains focused. He points out flaws in humanity.

Svidrigailov could be a symbol like Everyman because of the way he has the ability to point out what is wrong with the average person. The lust, sin, easiness, lack of confidence, the list goes on. By telling that he seduced a lady that was married with children, he is trying to tell Raskolnikov how anybody can be lead astray when using charm and charisma.

Another Everyman trait that is known to all of us as humans is when Svidrigailov says, “Every man looks out for himself, and he has the happiest life who manages to hoodwink himself best of all” (480 via Kindle). Every human looks out for themselves before anybody else. It’s a selfish but also self love thing. You have to take care of yourself, but society says we need to look out for everybody else. Everyman is all of us in society trying to figure out the moral code and how to attain holiness. Svidrigailov knows that he has done wrong, but there’s no looking back, either keep moving forward and doing what you can for yourself, or you are a fool is what is being pushed here from him. It is an interesting take because when you look after yourself, only you can hurt yourself unless nature does, but if you don’t look out for yourself, then somebody else will be the bearer of bad news or harm.

Svidrigailov may be all of us, minus the killing, hopefully. In the eyes of God, killing is equal to all sin, so if we are Everyman judging others, lusting, or not taking care of ourselves in a healthy way, then we are equal to Svidrigailov which makes him an Everyman.

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In deepest secret, he entertained rapturous thoughts of a well-behaved and poor girl (she must be poor), very young, very pretty, well born and educated,  very intimidated, who had experienced a great many misfortunes and was utterly cowed before him, a girl who would all her life regard him as her salvation, stand in awe of him, obey him, wonder at him and at him alone.

Narrator in Crime and Punishment (307 via Kindle)

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Could Porfiry Petrovich be a Gaston twin?

Image Source: http://www.gradient.is/gaston-arrogant-villain-or-misunderstood-hero/

In Crime and Punishment, we get to spend some time with officer Petrovich and he is a sly character who is confident in who he is.

He is described in book four as, “Vanity contributed much to this conviction, as did that degree of self-confidence which is best called self-admiration. Having risen from insignificance, Porfiry Petrovich has a morbid habit of admiring himself, highly valued his intelligence and abilities, and sometimes, alone with himself, even admired his own face in the mirror. But most of all in the world he loved and valued his money, acquired by labor and various means: it made him equal to all that was higher than himself” (306 via Kindle).

Gaston is similar to this in many ways. He is all about himself, all about money and self-perception, and definitely loves the mirror. Pyotr and Gaston may have been long lost brothers for all we know.

Dunya is similar to Belle within Beauty and the Beast as Pyotr proposes, all while knowing rumors from the town. Gaston proposes to bell in the same fashion. He knows what the own says, but he is set on marrying Belle.

Porfiry is the character we don’t like but we want to like because he is getting to the bottom of Raskolnikov’s crime. Unlike Gaston, where we hate him until the bitter end. Porfiry is essentially doing his job, but he is full of himself in the same retrospect. While this may be his character flaw, we should still want the truth to come out and Porfiry is the one set out on finding the real story.

When the narrator uses words like “vanity” and “self-admiration,” they are trying to convey to the readers that Porfiry is the guy who loves himself too much. The narrator is giving readers ideas on the character’s flaws that we wouldn’t know without parts like this. When it says phrases like “valued his money” and “higher than himself,” this lets us know that Porfiry has other objectives other than only marrying somebody, like Dunya. Dunya would be used to make himself look higher by having a wife. Just like Gaston, he would appear mightier because Belle is the most beautiful girl in the town.

With Porfiry and Gaston, we get the manly men who love themselves, and the women who don’t want anything to do with them. Moral of the story is, love all and not just yourself to get the girl? Right?

Image Source: https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/8056883/fan-theory-belle-married-gaston-beauty-beast/

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This is probably Raskolnikov’s jam of the 2010′s. If I had to bet!

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The whole question here is: am I a monster, or a victim myself? Well, and what if I am a victim?

Svidrigailov (281 via Kindle)

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Raskolnikov becomes Pride

Image Source: https://www.crimetraveller.org/2018/07/american-raskolnikov/

** SPOILERS MAY BE MADE **

We talked about Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood when we were comparing Dante’s Inferno to the homunculus and particularly to Gluttony.

Now, in Crime and Punishment, we are looking further into characters and how they interact in the world. In particular, Raskoliknov is a primary character that we follow closely with the narrator. He is a confused character that seeks to bring something more and ensure a type of fulfillment within. Throughout, Raskolnikov becomes somebody that people he cares about questions. In the beginning, we can see that he is a caring brother and family member that wants to stand by and do what he can for the well being of people. He has flashes of emotions, but from Dunya, we do gather that he is a caring person.

He chooses to kill Lizaveta and the sister. The first kill was intended to bring money to more people; this ideas of kill the old to save the healthy. Then, when somebody foils the plan by catching him - it scares him which results in the second kill. This is out of character for him because killing was debated in his mind, but he went through with it. It then took a toll on his personality and character by filling him with prideful intentions.

He doesn’t believe he can be caught. He believes he is inferior to anybody who challenges him.

We get a sense of his pride early on when he interacts with Dunya, he says to her, “’I do not want this marriage, and therefore, you must refuse him tomorrow, first thing, so that he won’t drag his face here again.’“ (198 via Kindle). His dictation towards Dunya show his need for control. He wants to have the reigns and make the decisions. His ego cannot handle “no” at this point. It gets worse from here on out because the pride grows further and further because he hasn’t been caught as the criminal yet.

This relates back to Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood with their vision of Pride

Image Source: https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Pride

Pride is the same character. He is a thing created on the notion that nobody is better than he and nobody can destroy him. Raskolnikov is this same way by believing he is invincible. Pride, within the series, shows how nobody means more to him than himself. He loves the attention of family and people for the ego but Raskolnikov is the same. They are the same because they have this need for attention, a craving. They hate being dismissed or belittled. Pride is a scary thing, and over time is grows and can consume a person. Raskolnikov by book five even, is consumed with this confidence and vanity that nobody will catch him.

A quote that Porfiry Petrovich makes during Raskolnikov’s chosen path is when he says, “A hundred rabbits will never make a horse, a hundred suspecions will never make a proof, as a certain English proverb says, and that’s only reasonable; but the passions, sir, try overcoming the passions -- for an investigator is also a man, sir.” I believe this to be a calling from the officer that no matter how suave and filled with pride Rasolnikov may be, man can still prevail by investigating instead of giving into uncertainty. Petrovich is showing Raskolnikov that human can be deemed weak by some, but humans will prevail until their last breath. This gives Raskolnikov a run for his money thinking that nobody is smart enough to out him and his crimes.

In the end, the truth will always come out.

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Looking at him closely and seeing that he was not asleep, she put the candle on the table and began setting out what she had brought: bread, salt, plate, spoon.

Nastasya in Crime and Punishment (Kindle 115)

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Dunya and Meg, the real ones.

Who remembers Meg from Hercules?

Image Source: https://www.fanpop.com/clubs/megara/images/24901922/title/megara-fanart

What a powerful woman for a mortal! In most epic tales, we read about the humans being infinitely weaker and the gods being superior. Meg proves that to not be the case when she sells her soul to save the life of her then boyfriend, who we all know *SPOILER ALERT* leaves her as soon as he’s good again. Rude. She gave all her strength and being, only to be imprisoned to Hades for “eternity.” Meg is a strong character with dynamic character growth.

Dunya in Crime and Punishment proves to be essentially the same as Meg does.

Image Source: http://classical-russian-literature.blogspot.com/2018/07/notes-to-crime-and-punishment.html

Dunya is talked about throughout Book I as a strong female character.

The Narrator tells us that, “She could eat only black bread and wash it down with water, but she would never sell her soul, she would never trade her moral freedom for comfort; she wouldn’t trade it for all Schleswig-Holstein let alone Mr. Luzhin” (Kindle 42).

Dunya in contrast with Meg in this concept would never sell her soul to meet the demands of others; whereas, Meg sold her soul to meet the needs to save another. Would Dunya do the same as Meg? She might not sell her soul for moral comfort, but Dunya seems like the kind of woman that might would sell her soul to help another she truly loved. She is dignified and men seem to admire her, but she values her self worth. Self worth can be something that no person would trade, but to save another person, most will.

Image Source: https://www.deviantart.com/morloth88/art/Evening-Meg-700263607

“Dunya loves you and what a precious heart she has,” (Kindle 31).

Dunya, like Meg, has a big heart that can expand and love those who need it once tapped into. Dunya, like Meg, has burdens she is carrying and confidence that she is not wanting to rid herself of. They both as women are strong characters and focus on the betterment of others that they care about. While they do a great job of staying composed, their hearts are large and their strength is mighty.

Love is power. Kindness is power. Selflessness is power.

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Image Source: https://infernobydante.wordpress.com/2013/09/25/canto-iii/

They are the opportunists, those souls who in life were neither for good nor evil but only for themselves... As they pursued the ever-shifting illusion of their own advantage, changing their courses with every changing wind, so they pursue an elusive, ever-shifting banner“ (Kindle, page 42 of Dante’s Inferno).