Never Let Me Go

After I finished the novel, I Googled the title to see what sort of info I could get on the book. Apparently a movie is being made that is based on the novel, with Keira Knightley as Ruth (I think that's just awesome). I also found a video on Youtube in which Kazuo Ishiguro discusses Never Let Me Go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SmuYqKeTTs

In the video, Ishiguro states "the book is really about how we face that knowledge that our time is limited." Personally, I didn't see "life is short" as a major theme when I read the book but then I thought, what is the theme then? I even felt that the cloning business wasn't such a major theme until later in book and even then, it was only in specific sections (ex. the meeting with Miss Emily and Madame in chapters 21 and 22).

The more I thought about it, I think to me the book was more about figuring out your purpose in life and just trying to find a place where you belong. The "students" had their life purposes set out for them and it was very clear to them where they belonged in the beginning. I think with the main characters, they might have started out thinking that they had a different calling in life. Ruth for example, had her dreams of working in an office someday. But in the end, all the characters accept the roles they were made to fulfill.

The one section in the book that strikes me as facing the knowledge that our time is limited is towards the end after Ruth had "completed" and Tommy and Kathy were together. Kathy says that her and Tommy would silently think how their relationship had started later than they would have wanted, but tried to ignore that nagging idea.

Clowns

When reading Nights at the Circus, I didn't pay much attention to the parts that talked about the clowns. I don't like clowns so I found myself skimming through those sections. After we discussed the clowns in class the other day, I found myself going back and reading certain sections regarding the clowns and thought, "wow, this is fascinating." So I got to thinking, what makes people afraid of clowns?

I asked my mom (haha) if I had always been afraid of clowns and she told me that I did. When I was about 4 years old, my dad took me to this Christmas party at his work and they had a clown show and I was very upset. The more I thought about it, I remembered that as a baby, I had a clown theme in my room and my mom reminded me of a this hideous portrait of a clown my dad received as a gift that I was absolutely horrified of. Finally, I remembered I was given a clown toy; it had a key that when turned, it would play music and would make the clown's head move from side to side in time to the music. I hated that toy. But why? What is it about clowns that makes them frightening? I actually searched the question on Google and found an answer on Yahoo that said that we are afraid of the unfamiliar; clowns tend to exaggerate an emotion with their make-up and hide behind that mask (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080531201551AAAkLEP).

I suppose it is true that we are afraid of the unfamiliar. I think of moments when we are lost and aren't sure which way to go. Clowns wear a mask that is meant to hide the real person, but what about when that mask brings out the real person? I think of the Joker from Batman and of course, Nights at the Circus. The clown's make-up seems to allow the characters to show their true colours. But what happens when the mask is off? This reminds me of Rorschach from Alan Moore's Watchmen. Of course, he isn't a clown per say, but he wears a mask but feels the mask is his "face." When the mask comes off, it's as if the clown is removing their face, they're not the same person. Is this what makes them a freak?

Geek Love Musings

In class, Veronique has mentioned that Mary Shelly's Frankenstein as an example of the carnivalesque. I studied Frankenstein in my theory class where we discussed the carnivalesque features of the novel, one being that Victor and the monster are trapped in a constant reversal of roles throughout the novel; that is, there are times were Victor is superior to the monster and times where it is the monster who is superior to Victor.

For example, there is a scene where Victor and the monster come face-to-face for the first time since Victor created the monster and then abandoned him. Victor demands for the monster to leave and the monster replies: "Remember, that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam" (Shelly 93). In this scene, the monster is demonstrating a moment of inferiority to his master, his creator, his pseudo-God. Shortly after this exchange the monster has told Victor his story and has demanded a certain deed, which Victor at first refuses. The monster communicates his anger and displeasure with Victor and we see an example of the reversal of roles through the monster's language: "Slave, I have reasoned with you, but you have proved yourself unworthy of my condescension. Remember that I have power; you believe yourself miserable, but I can make you so wretched that the light of day will be hateful to you. You are my creator, but I am your master; -- obey!" (Shelly 146).

The idea of characters being trapped in a constant reversal of roles led me to wonder if there are characters in Geek Love who like in Frankenstein demonstrate this notion of the carnivalesque. I think perhaps Elly, Iphy, and Arty demonstrate such a notion. There is a definite power struggle between the twins and Arty such that the twins did not allow for Arty or anyone to control them (at first at any rate). "[The twins] were self-sufficient. They needed only each other" (Dunn 51).

I think that the reversal of authority and power roles between the twins and Arty is at first evident with Arty's jealousy towards the twins regarding their successful performances: "What [Arty] really wanted to know was how he had done compared to the twins. If they had as many or more in their audience he was furious" (Dunn 74). At this point in their lives, I think Arty's jealously spawned from the idea that perhaps the twins were better than him which in turn could exemplify the notion of a constant entrapment of reversal of roles. That is, there are times where the twins are superior to Arty and vice versa.

As the years progress in the novel, I think when the character's begin to explore their sexuality also demonstrates a entrapment of the carnivalesque between Arty and the twins; but it during this time that also leads to the twin's final entrapment in an inferior position to Arty. In selling their body, the twins in a way demonstrate how their "freakishness" is superior to Arty's:

"Most of the guys wonder what it would be like to fuck us. So, I figure, why not capitalize on that curiosity? They don't care that I play bass and Iphy plays treble, or whether we both like the same flavor ice cream or any of the other stupid questions they ask. The thing that boggles them and keeps them staring all the way through a sonata in G is musing about our posture in bed." (Dunn 207)

Of course, when all hell breaks loose and Arty discovers the twin's secret, Elly and Iphy's moment of superiority ends and they become subjective to Arty; they are given to the Bag Man, confined to their rooms, and later undergo surgery all against their will. There are demonstrations throughout Dunn's novel of the reversal of authority and power roles, particularly in the sections regarding the Binewskis. However, it seems that in the end, it is Arty who ultimately ends up in a superior position to everyone else.

Works Cited

Dunn, Katherine. Geek Love. Vintage Books: New York, 2002. Print.

Shelly, Mary. Frankenstein. 2nd ed. Ed. Johanna M. Smith. Boston:Bedford/St. Martin's, 2000. Print.