Juke Box Love Song

So on a day to day basis people can sometimes tend to feel constricted within their own lives, doings, and surroundings. The pressure to exceed everyone else's expectations in order to make a name for themselves, or stand out in a crowd, can drive people to a point of insanity in which they have completely lost themselves. People fail to realize that sometimes it easiest to become one with their surroundings and embrace the community in which they come from; if a person decides to find light for their life out of their usual surroundings, there is no limit to what they can accomplish. In certain periods during American history, communities and economies have suffered harsh downfalls that eventually led to depressions unemployment. Some chose to let the downward spiral of America to defeat them down to the core, while others chose other wise and made the best out of what they had. One little area of history that has always fascinated me is the Harlem renaissance; the ability for people to create mind boggling poems, speeches, pieces of music and so on during a time of economic turmoil and international war continues to amaze me. Out of all of the poetic pieces written within this period of history (so so so so many to choose from), one that I feel really characterizes the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance is "Juke Box Love Song" by Langston Hughes; this majestic little poem goes like this:

I could take the Harlem night

and wrap around you,

Take the neon lights and make a crown,

Take the Lenox Avenue busses,

Taxis, subways,

And for your love song tune their rumble down.

Take Harlem's heartbeat,

Make a drumbeat,

Put it on a record, let it whirl,

And while we listen to it play,

Dance with you till day--

Dance with you, my sweet brown Harlem girl.

Ok first things first, this poem just embodies jazz in my opinion; the smooth transitions and clever personification Langston Hughes uses in order to make the city around him and his "brown Harlem girl" come alive is mesmerizing. But more importantly, Hughes puts forth a message that allows one to really get a feel for what the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance was all about. Hughes and his counterpart are becoming one with the city; the duo "[taking] the neon lights and [making] a crown" makes a statement that’s pretty clear: they're the king and queen. The king and queen of the night. The king and queen of the moment. Harlem is their kingdom and in that particular instant their letting their worries drift away and simply becoming one with their city. From the making of a love song out of normal city rumbles to channeling in on the heartbeat of the city, the words written by Hughes shows that the Harlem Renaissance was a time of inspiration, innovation, and the bringing together or a community. As Hughes claims he simply wants to “dance with you till day” to his Harlem girl, a moment of enlightenment arises. They dance until the next day because nothing can bring their kingdom down. They dance until the next day because the surroundings of loved ones is the main source of drive that they need. They dance until the next day because with their city by their side, there’s nothing they can’t accomplish. Ya feel me?

 

American Horror Story aka FRANKENSTEIN

Ok, so it's definitely safe to say that fall is my favorite season. Perfect temperatures, non stop sunny days, and the fresh smell of lavender in the air.....what’s not to love? Oh that's right, nothing. On top of the perfect day to day weather that gives one a warm, fuzzy feeling on the inside, the season of fall marks the period for the return of various TV shows (all of which are kind of addicting). From the Vampire Diaries (obsessed) to Grey's Anatomy (obsessssssed), to Scandal (OBSESSED) to Modern Family (you guessed it......obsessed), it seems as if every day of the week is filled with TV shows that send one's emotions onto a high speed roller coaster that seems to be never ending. Out of all of the shows that return on the air during this season, the absolute most addicting one of all is American Horror Story; this show is not only filled with dark, mysterious, and sinister story lines that make one's skin crawl (perfect show for October *cough* Halloween) but also revolves around various topics that in a way- through the twisted writings of each episode- can make one question themselves, or even their "truth", if they were put into these insane situations. The current season revolves around a coven of witches, and while watching this previous week’s episode, named "Boy Parts", I couldn’t help but recognize the similarities the doings of these witches had in relation to the novel Frankenstein. During this specific episode, two of the witches within the coven attempt to create the “perfect boyfriend” out of various body parts that once belonged to several young men that one of the witches killed. They are warned not to engage in such a task, seeing how the form of magic they’d be using would be dark magic due to the fact that they would be cheating Mother Nature and tampering with the idea of life/death. As the witches began to cast on spell on their newly sown “boyfriend”, I instantly began to see the face of Victor Frankenstein; it was as if this episode was an exact replica of the events and outcomes that happened within Frankenstein which soon led to me wondering what the significance of tampering with Mother Nature and attempting to play god really means. The young witches create their “boyfriend” and his response to his unnatural creation is similar to that of Victor’s creature; the young male is unable to speak, appears monstrous due to his new profound uneven body proportions, and even becomes violent at times due to the isolation he now faces from the rest of society. Along with this monstrous “boyfriend” suffering from the unnatural creation he did not choose to have, the witches that created him instantly flee once they realize that they’re attempt to bring someone back from the dead/create a new being failed. As all this was going on, the images of Victor Frankenstein treating his creation like some demonic monster and leaving him alone to fend for himself popped right back into my head. The relationship between American Horror Story and Frankenstein highlights the dangers that can come along with untested knowledge and the desire to play god. In both situations, the creators selfishly give “birth” to some unnatural human-esque being, without actually considering how the outcomes could affect not only society and themselves but also the creature that they actually created. So now I can’t help but wonder, why is the desire to play god so unapproved by Mother Nature? What do these similar situations tell us about the different roles humans have in relation to the functioning of the universe? Sure each of these characters engaged into the creation of these “monsters” for selfish reasons, but if they had actually succeeded would the “crime” of cheating Mother Nature actually be looked down upon? Or in the end would they actually be viewed as gods? Who knows. In the end, only more episodes of American Horror Story and other Frankenstein like stories will truly tell. Ya feel me?

Love Song vs. Winesburg, Ohio

Reality.......some of us love to embrace it while others fear of what it really means. Taking hold of one's reality can be scary; it can be full of unknowns, regrets, and unwanted uncertainty. Our pasts have helped to mold us into the beings that we are today, however, previous actions may not make some as excited to grip reality by the hands as others. The poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", by T.S. Elliot, and the novel Winesburg, Ohio, by Sherwood Anderson, intertwine with one another more than one may think based on the fact that they both shed light on a central theme: reality is the universal fear. Some fear reality to the point where they’re afraid to wake up (allusions of that can be found in T.S. Elliot’s poem) while others simply hide behind their "truth" in life due to the fact that its actual meaning may not be one that they were expecting. Whatever the reason, these pieces of literature help shed light on the idea that one's reality can haunt them if they don’t accept it for what it is and push to move past it.

So these two pieces of literature are obviously similar in there theme, but the way they portray this certain idea is what makes them so special. In T.S. Elliot's poem, the speaker is an old man, and alas, the same goes for Sherwood Anderson's modern novel. The speaker of Elliot's poem even describes himself as someone "with a bald spot in the middle of [his] hair", similar to Winesburg, Ohio, where the very first line of the novel describes the main character as "an old man, with a white mustache" (Anderson 3). The idea of these old men being the speaker of these works gives the writings a nostalgic feeling; their introductions set the tone for the rest of the novel and make one feel as if everything they’re saying/talking about is meant to be heard as some sort of a reflection about the many years of their existence. The writings also both make allusions to women being some form of beauty that they cannot blame for any of the doings that may have been previously done onto them; Elliot's speaker asks the question "is it perfume from a dress that makes me so digress?" while Anderson's speaker states that "the grotesques were not all horrible. Some were amusing, some almost beautiful, and one, a woman all drawn out of shape, hurt the old man by her grotesqueness" (Anderson 5). The reference to woman within these two writings sheds light on the idea of women being the central root of their internal struggles; the battle to decide whether women are a distraction keeping them from what they hope to accomplish or if they're what may have helped guide them throughout their life time is apparent and makes one question the nature of women. Each piece of writing also gives various descriptions of imagery that help make their reflections clear and analytical. Elliot's speaker begins to turn to the allusions of sirens and "human voices [waking him], and he drowns" making one question whether or not he himself is in nightmare (or maybe even lucid dreaming, there's so many different scenarios that fit....) and the idea of waking up to the less than satisfactory reality he's created for himself makes him fearful. Anderson's old man finds some form of pleasure in looking out the windows of his bedroom, and when his bed breaks, leaving him unable to participate in this activity, he becomes upset; his passion for looking out his window almost relates to him looking out into the life that was in front of him, allowing the imagery and citizens down below to help him feel as if he's regained his youth for that moment so that he can reflect on everything he's accomplished once more.

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and Winesburg, Ohio relate to one another in sense that focus on the idea of internal reflection and internal shifts, whether they be positive or negative. The fear of the reality these old men have come to face makes clear of the idea that sometimes the life we are living is not the one we had always wanted and that eventually it may be easier to live out our deepest desires through dreams or strong moments of lucid reflection. Ya feel me?