stone (c)old bitty

On top of being a classic in and of itself, The Stone Angel is peppered with various songs and poems throughout. One little diddy is "The Prisoners' Song" by Vernon Dalhart which pops up on page 106. However Hagar Shipley, the protagonist, recites a version that is a little different from the original...

Hagar's version:

If I had the wings of an angel,

Or even the wings of a crow,

I would fly to the top of T. Eaton's,

And spit on the people below.

original:

Now, if I had the wings of an angel,
Over these prison walls I would fly.
And I'd fly to the arms of my darling,
And there I'd be willing to die.

Why is it important to compare the two? The Stone Angel is a journey through the last moments of Hagar Shipley's present life as well as a reflection of her past. The version that Hagar brings up in the novel is a verse that she remembers her children chanting when they were young. There is obviously a contrast in the tone of her children's version compared to the original lyrics. The version included in the book is more joking and childish while the original is more serious and melancholy. It is interesting because Hagar does not say anything about the original version even though it is more relevant to her situation. Hagar, being the stubborn and excessively proud old lady that she is, approaches her dying day with the sense of being trapped inside herself (her body is the prison) and at unease because she thinks she will die having never known love. If she could find someone that loved her and that she loved (her darling), she would be much more accepting of her fate and would be able to escape the constraints of being the stone cold old bitty that she is, on the wings of her newfound love.

Awwwww

I am a child.

"I am from Sierra Leone, and the problem that is affecting us children is the war that forces us to run away from our homes, lose our families, and aimlessly roam the forests. As a result, we get involved in the conflict as soldiers, carriers of loads, and in many other difficult tasks. All this is because of starvation, the loss of our families, and the need to feel safe and be a part of something when all else has broken down. I joined the army really because of the loss of my family and starvation. I wanted to avenge the deaths of my family. I also had to get some food to survive, and the only way to do that was to be part of the army. It was not easy being a soldier, but we just had to do it. I have been rehabilitated now, so don't be afraid of me. I am not a soldier anymore; I am a child. We are all brothers and sisters. What I have learned from my experiences is that revenge is not good. I joined the army to avenge the deaths of my family and to survive, but I've come to learn that if I am going to take revenge, in that process I will kill another person whose family will want revenge; then revenge and revenge and revenge will never come to an end."

Once war touched Ishmael Beah's life for the first time, he seemed to meet endless challenges. After being rescued by UNICEF from his life as a child soldier, Ishmael had to undergo a rehabilitation process that was also very challenging for him. When Ishmael’s mind and body had recovered from the cocaine and heroin withdrawal, and when he was mentally sound enough to be considered rehabilitated, he was chosen to represent Sierra Leone at the UN conference in New York City. The speech quoted above is the one Ishmael gave, on behalf of the children of his country, to the Economic and Social Council while attending the conference.

This point in the book is very relieving for the reader, because it shows that Ishmael recognizes what caused him to become a child soldier, and that he knows the unfortunate situations he was put in, were not his fault. I think the line, “I am not a soldier anymore; I am a child”, is a particularly moving one because Ishmael is admitting that he thinks that while in the army, he was not a child but a soldier. Ishmael does not see any connection between the two, but rather sees them as separate; you are a child or you are a soldier, but not both at the same time. It is almost as if Ishmael was a child before the war, was forced to grow up when he lost his family and became a soldier, and that upon rehabilitation he has remarkably gained back some sense of childhood. I consider Ishmael to be a very lucky and strong boy. He is lucky because UNICEF, perseverance, and hope, gave him a second chance at being a child. There are many other boy soldiers who never got that chance, and who will never be able to get their childhood back.

Ishmael learned many things from his experiences, including a major lesson about revenge. One way that we can learn without having to experience things ourselves is through trusting the experiences of others and the lessons they have learned. We should listen to the words of Ishmael's speech, because he truly understands the domino effect that it has on people and the devastation that revenge can cause. Though taking revenge can be tempting, it does nothing but lead to more revenge, and next to nothing good stems from it. I think that particular lesson is something valuable for everyone to learn and remember.

Cowards die many times before their deaths...

"I read Julius Caesar in school... When I was seven, I used to go to the town square to recite monologues from the works of Shakespeare for the adults of my community... I always recited speeches from Macbeth and Julius Caesar, as those were the adults' favourites. I was always excited to read for them, because it made me feel that that I was really good at speaking the English language."

If you think William Shakespeare's plays are beautifully crafted pieces of literature, then rest assured that if you went almost anywhere in the world, you would find someone who appreciates his writing as you do. If you are not a fan of Shakespeare, then I am sorry to tell you that even if you travelled to Sierra Leone, one of the poorest countries in the world, you might still be learning and analyzing Shakespeare's plays in school. In a book about a boy soldier, I never expected old William to come up, but alas he did - and not just once, but many times!

Shakespeare is first mentioned in the quote above when Ishmael, the main character and narrator of the story, arrives at his first army base as a fresh soldier and notices the lieutenant reading Julius Caesar . Ishmael was from a small community in Sierra Leone, called Mogbwemo, but it was brutally destroyed by a group of rebels and was left deserted. In reflecting upon what he did while his community still existed, it is noticeable from his tone that he misses being able to do the things he liked best. When Mogbwemo was devastated, so was Ishmael's childhood. After having his home destroyed, becoming a boy soldier, losing his family, and almost constantly seeing death all around him, the only thing Ishmael had to hold on to from his childhood years were memories, one of his favourites being reciting passages from Shakespeare's plays.

Shakespeare comes up again when Ishmael returns to the same base camp again after having fought somewhere else for quite some time. When he arrived at the camp he "was looking forward to seeing the lieutenant", because he was hoping to discuss Shakespeare with him. Apparently the lieutenant was thinking the same thing because just before leaving to prepare for a raid, he held Ishmael's hand and said, "Macbeth shall never vanquished be until great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come against him." This is significant because it is the last thing that the lieutenant said personally to Ishmael, since the next day Ishmael was selected to go with the UNICEF workers and leave the army base forever.

Another time that Shakespeare comes up is when Ishmael has gone through rehabilitation and has been selected as one of two children who will represent Sierra Leone at the United Nations in New York City.

"I asked Dr. Tamba why it was so dark so early in this country. "Because it is winter," he said. "Oh!" I nodded, but the early darkness still didn't make sense to me. I knew the word 'winter' from Shakespeare's texts and I thought I should look it up again."

The passage shows that on top of keeping him connected to his childhood and to the lieutenant that he admired, Shakespeare helped Ishmael develop his English vocabulary. In a situation that Ishmael knew very little about, Shakespeare kept him somewhat connected to what was going on. Overall, Shakespeare's plays were clearly relevant to Ishmael, which I find enthralling. It seems so unlikely, to me, that an old English writer could mean so much to a past child soldier from Sierra Leone. I suppose it just goes to show that literature clearly can have a lasting effect on one's life.

The Most Valuable Inheritance

"When I was very little, my father used to say, "If you are alive, there is hope for a better day and something good to happen. If there is nothing good left in the destiny of a person, he or she will die." I thought about these words during my journey, and they kept me moving even when I didn't know where I was going. Those words became the vehicle that drove my spirit forward and made it stay alive."

I am reading the book, "A Long Way Gone: memoirs of a boy soldier", by Ishmael Beah. His recollection of life in Sierra Leone is a brutally honest one, that will send shivers up any reader's spine. Ishmael fled from rebels that destroyed his community and his innocence, was picked up by the government army at the age of thirteen, and for three years did hardcore drugs, killed people, and watched his friends get shot by bullets and explosives that could have just as easily taken his life.

In speaking this quote to Ishmael, his father gave him hope from a very young age. Hope that as long as he was alive, the future held something worth living for. Even during times when he did not feel anything, and did not feel alive, the words his father spoke to him kept his 'spirit' living. While reading, I am constantly shocked at what a strong person Ishmael is, and I often forget that I am reading about a teenage boy because what he had to face is almost unbelievable. At times just imagining some of the things he describes puts me in shock or brings me to tears. He had his fair share of traumatizing experiences and reasons to give up, but he made it through.

I think the book has really humbled me, and made me more appreciative of the life that I have been given. Every problem I have seems minuscule compared with what the authour had to deal with. I am almost ashamed of myself for some of the things I have been upset over in the past, and definitely for taking certain aspects of my life for granted. I am only half way through the book and already its effect on me has been stronger than I expected. I feel that by including this quote in his book, Ishmael Beah shared a bit of his father's wisdom with me, and has given me hope that good things are still to come. I am hopeful that by posting this quote on the blog, you will also look at life with renewed hope.

Congratulations to Herman Northrop Frye!

I thought that the main points I understood from 'The Singing School' were eyeopeners. When I first read the following sentence; "This story of the loss and regaining of identity is, I think, the framework of all literature"(30), I was not only surprised by this statement and somewhat skeptical about its validity, but also determined to find a loophole in it. I was also not just going to willingly accept the fact that "popular literature... is always highly conventionalized" (21), especially because the word 'always' is an extremely powerful one. Not that I do not appreciate his academic merit, but with all due respect, I believe that Frye was wrong if he thought that he could just stick a statement like that in a lecture and expect one to believe it on a whim. I can honestly say that I have spent over half an hour trying to come up with something but Herman Northrop Frye prevails. I went through a mental list of books I have read, from 'The Prince and the Pauper' by Mark Twain to William Kotzwinkle and Glenn Murray's 'Walter the Farting Dog', and, like magic, every one I went over managed to fit into the framework that Frye suggested.

So congratulations to Mr.Frye, because his description of literature as being conventionalized and his insight into the "loss and regaining of identity"(30) as the basis of this convention, is truly profound.

P.S. If you have not read 'Walter the Farting Dog', today is your day! I found a video of someone reading it aloud on YouTube because I needed a refresher when looking into this matter. Enjoy!

Long Live Literature!

"Is it possible that literature, especially poetry, is something that a scientific civilization like ours will eventually outgrow?"

Upon first reading this question, my immediate answer was yes. As a 'scientific' civilization, we have moved from basic stone tools to complex and lightweight ones that are more functional. We have transitioned from handing in a hard copy of our english assignments to posting our ideas on a blog. In other words, we seem to always be moving away from how things have been done before, and toward streamlining the way we live. Literature stands out from other cultural facets of the past as something that has not changed. It does not at first appear to fit in with the scientific direction in which our civilization is headed.

However, the fact that literature has hardly changed at all and is still relevant and prominent is what catches one's attention as different. In my opinion, that is why Frye asks this question. He has realised that poetry, at a glance, may not seem a vital part of our lives. He also recognises, however, that it has somehow lasted the test of time but not actually 'improved' which goes against the apparent pattern. I suppose that Frye would agree with me that literature is not something that our civilization will outgrow. At this point, I believe that there is a reputation attached to many classics and that there is a certain curiosity which draws people to these books to experience firsthand why they have been relevant for ages. As long as there continues to be this curiosity (not necessarily from each individual, but from a substantial group), at least the classics will survive alongside science.

As for poetry specifically, it is a prominent part of religion and music. McCullough quoted John Adams as saying, "You will never be alone with a poet in your pocket." In these modern times, the poet could be on an ipod or mP3 player in your pocket, or maybe you have a pocket bible. If nothing else, I do not think that our civilization is likely to outgrow music or religion anytime soon, so on lives poetry and therefore literature!