Journal #4: Choose any two symbols that emerged in this scene and discuss their significance. While you are certainly welcome to connect that significance to the entire text, I want you to focus on the details of how they are used in these first 12 pages. Look at the stylistic choices surrounding their use and build up to a discussion on the role they play or will play in developing theme/character/setting/tension...
Knives:
In the first scene, Lorca uses the symbol of the knife frequently. The knife is almost entirely used by the mother, who has a fear of them. The knife and the Mother are connected in my mind. The way she sees the knife is similar to how she sees other things. She only focuses on the bad aspects of the knife. When the Bridegroom has to use a knife in farming, his mother gets upset. This shows that she focuses on the painful memories associated with the knife instead of being rational. To clarify, The painful memories are because someone of the Felix family killed her husband and children. By having the knife appear so early in the story, Lorca establishes tension. This tension is between the two families, as well as emotions about the mother's son getting married. It also establishes a possible theme that violence and the knife itself cuts the community.
Textiles:
Linens and lace and other little lovely things are associated with women. In the first scene, Mother talks about how she wants a girl, so they could embroider linens together (Lorca 7). Lorca implements this symbol as a way to highlight gender roles. Right before Mother talks about that, her son talks about how he needs to go to the field and do his work. This juxtaposition reveals what obligations were prevalent during the time period. Lorca establishes these guidelines early, so that later they can be broken. Not only does the Bride not seem to make linens, but she breaks other societal norms and runs off with another man. In the text, Lorca surrounds embroidery with being at peace. By doing this, he connects when one follows the societal norms, then a person will be happy. Again, the inverse is shown again later in the novel when the Bride does not do such and makes herself and others significantly unhappy. A thematic element has formed, but for some reason I do not know yet, I feel that Lorca disagrees with societal norms.
The textile idea is interesting and I agree that he does this to show the idea of the man overpowering the woman. The woman is the one that should be innocent and at home with linens and laces and embroidery while the man should be the one that does all the hard and strength requiring jobs such as field work as you said. But when he breaks the guidelines, especially that of the women, he tries to represent that women are not that innocent as has been believed all along. In that time period, gender roles were very important, like the wild duck, and this reveals that there is always a dark secret (maybe not always) inside people and that we should not just believe social norms that have been there for a long time.
ReplyDeleteI like your analysis of the knife, especially the part about how it severs the ties between the community. Do you think that it could also sever the tension that it causes? I think that maybe Lorca used a knife specifically because it can solve it's own problem, by severing the tension it creates. As seen by the two that die in the end by the knife.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you talk about the gender associations that Lorca is using with the linens and lace! If you read my post, I also talk about how gender, but more in relation to the mother, but I like your extension to the Bride. (Which is making me view this in a more feminine viewpoint.) Also, I like how you talk about the irrationality of the mother in terms of how the knife comes up and she automatically thinks of her husband's death. I think you should read my post and see how I tie in knives, because I think the two of our separate analyses(?) can go hand in hand and elaborate on one another. Overall, I like how yours is similar to mine while also making me think outside the box :)
ReplyDeleteSo, I think your point about the Bride breaking societal norms could lend itself to a theme. Perhaps Lorca is saying that by attempting to go against guidelines you will make yourself and others significantly unhappy.
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't really make sense though because Lorca was homosexual and anti-war which I'm assuming was not part of the societal norm in his time...
I agree with you on how the mother only focuses on the painful, unfortunate memories that the knife brings. To add on to this, she only sees the knife as a deadly weapon that is used to kill. The original intention for the knife was for the bridegroom to use to get grapes to eat. Although the knife can be used to kill, I guess it can also be useful in the way that it allows food to be accessed.
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