The Faces of a Stranger...We Love to Try them On

This book was a difficult read, and I truly struggled with it. Even after much class discussion there were many things that just left me shaking my head and bewildered. I called in some help from friends (thanks Nickle for answering my questions as best you could) but even after that this book still made me feel like a bottom feeder in that I had so much trouble with it I had to ask questions of my patient friends often and still have questions in class. I liked the idea of this book, and enjoyed the thought of the “what ifs.” This book reminded me a little bit of Lord of the Flies, and I thoroughly enjoyed that book.

“It was unearthly, and the men were—No, they were not inhuman. Well, you know, that was the worst of it—the suspicion of their not being inhuman. It would come slowly to one. They howled and leaped, and spun, and made horrid faces; but what thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity—like yours—the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar. Ugly. Yes, it was ugly enough; but if you were man enough you would admit to yourself that there was in you”
This quote shows his twisted view of the natives. It is almost as if by making them less human, and giving them animal like characteristics, he makes what is really going on more bearable. The author’s diction helps create a savage picture of the natives using words like “howled” and “roar” and shows that this display has intrigued Marlow and that he is coming around to the idea of being just as “savage” as those he is watching.

Kurtz’s character is an interesting one. I personally struggled with the idea that he might not even really be a character, he might be like an alter ego of Marlow. This idea is backed by Kurtz’s death and Marlow’s decision to step back form the leap he could have easily made. Kurtz is on a basic level the “wild side” of every human. Billy Joel wrote a whole song about this called The Stranger LyricsArtist(Band):Billy Joel
Well we all have a face
That we hide away forever
And we take them out and show ourselves
When everyone has gone
Some are satin some are steel
Some are silk and some are leather
They're the faces of the stranger
But we love to try them on
Well we all fall in love
But we disregard the danger
Though we share so many secrets
There are some we never tell
Why were you so surprised
That you never saw the stranger
Did you ever let your lover see
The stranger in yourself?
Don't be afraid to try again
Everyone goes south
Every now and then
You've done it, why can't
Someone else?
You should know by now
You've been there yourself
Once I used to believe
I was such a great romancer
Then I came home to a woman
That I could not recognize
When I pressed her for a reason
She refused to even answer
It was then I felt the stranger
Kick me right between the eyes
Well we all fall in love
But we disregard the danger
Though we share so many secrets
There are some we never tell
Why were you so surprised
That you never saw the stranger
Did you ever let your lover see
The stranger in yourself?
Don't be afraid to try again
Everyone goes south
Every now and then
You've done it why can't
Someone else?
You should know by now
You've been there yourself
You may never understand
How the stranger is inspired
But he isn't always evil
And he is not always wrong
Though you drown in good intentions
You will never quench the fire
You'll give in to your desire
When the stranger comes along.

Where's Waldo?

I found this book to be rather interesting. The white and black motifs that were constant throughout the novel made it almost like a Where’s Waldo? Game by the time I had reached the end. I was playing Where’s TIM? on every page. The point the story was making was still a valid one in today’s society and everyone can see the relation to today. There were many complicated symbols but even at surface value this book had a good ring to it.

"But don't you think he should be a little blacker?"(303)
This statement just shows how the Brotherhood views him as a replaceable resource and not as a human being. This seems to be a common theme throughout the novel as well. He is chosen for his voice and that is it, and no one cares one whit about him so long as he is doing as he is told. This-, being stated right in front of his face shows how unimportant he really is to the woman and how much more the “cause” is than the humans involved. This seems strange for people that call themselves The Brotherhood.

One major symbol in TIM is the “optic white’ paint. The interesting part of this paint is the black base required to make it. Without this black base the white paint is not what it should be. This white paint, which clearly symbolizes the nature of the white population of the time, is used to cover anything and everything. As was true in society at the time, there was often more than one black hand involved in things white folk received credit for.

Player Piano

Kurt Vonnegut’s black humor made a book that I found just barely bearable-at least tolerable. At this point I was more than sick of dystopia novels but in spite of its complicated and detailed story I enjoyed and appreciated Vonnegut’s writing style. His humor made it comfortable for someone to examine the possibilities of what is already occurring in society today and forced me to seriously consider how much I let impersonal machines do the simple things in life for me. Illium’s intricate works triggered memories of a field trip I had taken when I was little and made me wonder at how close to that scary society we already are. His novel certainly was one of the most eye openings, second in my opinion to only We and at that not by much of a margin.

"Anita slept-- utterly satisfied, not so much by Paul as by the social orgasm of, after years of the system's love play, being offered Pittsburgh" (page 135).
Just the very comparison of a job opportunity to intimacy show how mechanic this society has become. Anita has had much social foreplay and actually seems to enjoy it more than sex itself. Her main concern lies in Pittsburg, which has become the “finished product” of a successful life time to her. Her job is simply as machine-like as anything in Illium and this just shows that Paul himself even knows that.

I felt that Paul Proteus was a cowardly character. He rarely finds a way to challenge himself, allows his wife (that he does not love) run his life for him, and even when faced with the exact truth of the way things are, he puts it aside. In my opinion Vonnegut intentionally made him cowardly as to make his decisions that pull away from society more dramatic. I felt however that this only made his character more pathetic in that after so much time he finally brought the necessary thought to the obvious.