The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

Survival = Anger x Imagination. Imagination is the only weapon on the reservation.

            A theme of survival emerges in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. A twenty-first century Indian faces poverty, poor government regulation, and disease; the list goes on and on. The American Indians utilize humor as a coping device for survival and healing.

            Many Indians live in HUD houses and receive commodity food; the life of the poor. Thomas Builds-the-Fire is one of these Indians. “‘Goddamn it, Thomas,’ Junior yelled. ‘How come your fridge is always fucking empty?’ Thomas walked over to the refrigerator, saw it was empty, and then sat down inside. ‘There,’ Thomas said. ‘It ain’t empty no more.’” (12) Instead of admitting that the commodity food supply was too short to live on, Thomas jokingly fills his fridge with himself.

            Poverty continues to flourish outside of the HUD houses and in the street. The red light on a traffic signal is broken on the reservation. “‘Shit, they better fix it. Might cause an accident.’ We both looked at each other, looked at the traffic signal, knew that about only one car an hour passed by, and laughed our asses off.” (48) The BIA should fix the traffic light, but they clearly don’t give a damn, because it remains broken for summers to come.

Where do I go from here?

             Another depressing situation on the reservation is disease. Diabetes is common among Indians, but a special case of tumors causes Jimmy Many-Horses to rely on comedy in order to lighten his condition and soon-to-be death. “‘Jesus,’ I said to my attending physician. ‘A few more zaps and I’ll be Superman.’ ‘Really?’ the doctor said. ‘I never realized that Clark Kent was a Spokane Indian.’ And we laughed, you know, because sometimes that’s all two people have in common.” (162) Jimmy finds laughter to be the best medicine to survive, literally. Indeed, studies have shown that being positive and laughing often leads to better health. Go Indians!

"Officer, my tribal number is on the card behind my driver's license. I am a registered Spokane Indian. Sorry about the speeding, light is just so slow, ya know?" -Superman

Still, you have to realize that laughter saved Norma and me from pain, too. Humor was an antiseptic that cleaned the deepest of personal wounds.

White Noise 2/2

            Death takes many shapes and forms in White Noise. It is even postulated that death is white noise itself, which I accept as the true definition. White Noise establishes something else about death though, in the second half; death is a positive thing. Jack and Babette disagree with this opinion and cannot get over their fear of death, but hearing the positive opinion of death definitely helps Jack.

            Jack and Babette discuss their intolerable paranoia of death and assert it as loud. “‘What if death is nothing but sound?’ ‘Electrical noise.’ ‘You hear it forever. Sound all around. How awful.’ ‘Uniform, white.’ ‘Sometimes it sweeps over me,’ she said. ‘Sometimes it insinuates itself into my mind, little by little…” (198-199) Their death is like their routine lives, boring and slightly terrifying.

Death =

            Winnie takes a different approach with death. Winnie believes that people need death, that death makes life precious. “I don’t know what your personal involvement is with this substance, … but I think it’s a mistake to lose one’s sense of death, even one’s fear of death. Isn’t death the boundary we need? Doesn’t it give a precious texture to life, a sense of definition? You have to ask yourself whether anything you do in this life would have beauty and meaning without the knowledge you carry a final line, a border or limit.” (228-229) Winnie gives new perspective to Jack, and Murray only reinforces this positive perspective.

Winnie's Personal Philosophy, Maybe?

            Murray shares Winnie’s belief that death brings a certain preciousness to life. “‘Doesn’t our knowledge of death make life more precious?’ ‘What good is a preciousness based on fear and anxiety? It’s an anxious quivering thing.’” (284) Murray relinquishes Jack’s fear of death by convincing him to fight to survive, become a killer instead of a dier.

            Jack accomplishes just this as he attempts the murder of his wife’s adulterer, but soon reaches a higher level of sophistication as he saves the man’s life. Jack has learned his lesson about life; death.

There is a fine line between Life and Death. Sometimes that line is blurred. Jack accomplishes this fuzzy perspective. Way to go, Jack.

White Noise 1/2

Wasted Death in Iron City, the Reaper is Angry!

            White Noise permeates with the looming theme of death in every chapter. Jack Gladney and his family reside in Blacksmith, and their theme of death involves guessing at who will die first; but in a city nearby, Iron City, the death theme becomes literal. People die or almost die in Iron City, but no one notices. Iron city remains cut off from society because of its lack of media.

            Tommy Roy Foster longed to be remembered, to go down in history. He heard voices in his head and killed five people. Unfortunately for him, he chose the killing site of Iron City. “‘Insistent pressuring voices. How did he deal with the media? Give lots of interviews, write letters to the editor of the local paper, try to make a book deal?’ ‘There is no media in Iron City. He didn’t think of that till it was too late. He says if he had to do it all over again, he wouldn’t do it as an ordinary murder, he would do it as an assassination.’” (45) Tommy views his killing as a waste of time and rightly so, because he did plan the whole thing purposefully after all.

            Another waste of people’s time occurs in Iron City due to the lack of media, again, but this time on accident. Jack Gladney leaves to pick up his daughter from the Iron City airport when other terrified passengers enter before her. It turns out that the passengers almost experienced a “crash landing” because all the plane engines failed at the same time, and they plummeted down to earth for four torturous miles before the engines miraculously started back up. A near death experience in Iron City, what a waste. “‘Where’s the media?’ she said. ‘There is no media in Iron City.’ ‘They went through all that for nothing?’” (92)

Planet Unicorn

The Crying of Lot 49 2/2

            Poor Oedipa, pobrecita! She has tried so hard throughout this novel to understand the meaning of the W.A.S.T.E. symbol and the Thurn and Taxis history with no avail. Oedipa and I forgot that this novel is a postmodern one, and therefore, the harder we both look for meaning behind relationships, the more disappointment we feel. Oedipa should have just enjoyed the ride along her adventure and I should have just treasured the story as a good one. Oedipa did scrape up some meaning for the muted post horn, though.

            Oedipa understands everything about her investigations to be a metaphor of God with many parts. “She knew a few things about it: it had opposed the Thurn and Taxis postal system in Europe; its symbol was a muted post horn; sometime before 1853 it had appeared in America and fought the Pony Express and Wells, Fargo, either as outlaws in black, or disguised as Indians; and it survived today, in California, serving as a channel of communication for those of unorthodox sexual persuasion, inventors who believed in the reality of Maxwell’s Demon,…” (109) Even this explanation of the novel’s happenings carries hardly any meaning whatsoever. It is a compilation of everything Oedipa gathers, but there exists no logical connections as she interacts with each new postmodern character.

Maxwell's Demon

            There is one solid connection, though, between the muted post horn, the mismarked stamps, the postal service, and W.A.S.T.E. Oedipa comes across a crying drunk man who tells her how to deliver a letter by pointing to the muted post horn tattoo on his hand and giving her directions to the underpinnings of the freeway. “But at last in the shadows she did come on a can with a swinging trapezoidal top, the kind you throw trash in: old and green, nearly four feet high. On the swinging part were hand-painted the initials W.A.S.T.E.” (129-130) People drop off their letters into this can and men carry the trash bags as the transport system for the letters. This trash can is the only material and real connection between the post conspiracy and the underground mail delivery, and at last, it is a tangible one.

Show your allegiance to the W.A.S.T.E.!

Oedipa will have to dig further to discover more, but I am afraid she will go insane during the process; and as the ending of the novel appeared, I realized that I will never find out. Damn postmodernism, where is my closure?

Where is the happy part?

The Crying of Lot 49 1/2

            In a bathroom, in a notebook, on a ring, and on some stamps, the loop/triangle/trapezoid appears, but what does it mean? My first guess is a trumpet with a plug in it, but I can’t be sure yet. The only fact I can gather is the shapes represent a symbol for W.A.S.T.E.

            The first appearance of the shapes occurs during Oedipa’s trip to the restroom. “On the latrine wall, among lipstick obscenities, she noticed the following message, neatly indited in engineering lettering: ‘Interested in sophisticated fun? You, hubby, girl friends. The more the merrier. Get in touch with Kirby, through WASTE only, Box 7391, L.A.’ WASTE? Oedipa wondered. Beneath the notice, faintly in pencil, was a symbol she’d never seen before, a loop, triangle and trapezoid…” (52) I do not think Kirby is important, but how did Oedipa know that the letters in the bathroom were “engineering lettering”?

            Luckily, the next time the symbol appears she is among an engineer in a building with which she holds stock. “Then by accident…or howsoever, she came on one Stanley Koteks, who wore wire-rim bifocals, sandals, argyle socks, and at first glance seemed too young to be working here. As it turned out he wasn’t working, only doodling with a fat felt pencil this sign:…” (84) At least this time the symbol appears, the person associated with it carries importance. Stanley leads Oedipa to John Nefastis, but more importantly, to Mr. Thoth.

            It is Mr. Thoth that reveals some meaning about the WASTE symbol. His grandfather was a Pony Express rider back during the gold rush days, and was attacked by men wearing all black. “‘My grandfather cut this from the finger of one of them he killed. Can you imagine a 91-year-old man so brutal?’ Oedipa stared. The device on the ring was once again the WASTE symbol.” (92) So, the WASTE symbol has something to do with mailing letters, or the post system, but what?

            The next clue given to the reader and the next instance of the WASTE symbol materializes into stamps. “‘The watermark.’ Oedipa peered. There it was again, her WASTE symbol, showing up black, a little right of center…Decorating each corner of the stamp, Oedipa saw a horn with a single loop in it. Almost like the WASTE symbol. ‘A post horn,’ Cohen said; ‘the Thurn and Taxis symbol. It was in their coat of arms.’” (96)

            At last! The WASTE symbol forms into a muted post horn! “The black costumes, the silence, the secrecy. Whoever they were their aim was to mute the Thurn and Taxis post horn.” (97) This explanation sits just fine with me, but who in the world is Thurn and Taxis? This novel only leaves me with more questions!

Bailey's Cafe 2/2

Go women!

            Finally, a woman who does not accept any shit! Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce the only female character in Bailey’s Café who stands up for herself, fights back, and knows the consequences of racism; the “crazy Yuma squaw,” Miss Maple’s unnamed grandmother.

            The grandmother marries a black man because he pays for her fair and square. Indeed, her sale was going to happen eventually because of her beauty. She has mahogany skin, jet black hair, luscious breasts, and only one piece of bark covering her crotch. Just because she is beautiful, though, does not mean she will assimilate into the black man’s view of marriage. “My grandfather set about teaching her the most important phrases in English: I am the man. You – woman. But he found himself learning her language a whole lot quicker: co-barque. That meant no, and he was to hear it often.” (167)

A beautiful Yuma woman.

            Not only does the grandmother verbally assault her husband with rejection, she physically assaults him when necessary as well. “She gave him no peace, as she insisted she was going to California:…No help with the crops…No cooked meals…And finally, no sex. But you’re already in California, you damn fool, my grandfather would hold his aching balls at night and rage. But he knew what she meant and he also knew better than to try beating her into submission. That was how he’d learned the Cuchan words for his nose – e hotche – because she’d broken it.” (168)

            One would think that the Yuma woman never helped her husband one bit, but she did. Not only is the grandmother beautiful, strong, and fierce, she is also intelligent. “But my grandmother insisted on my grandfather paying them something, if only a penny a parcel, to make the sale papers legal. The Yumas had already learned what the white man could do when your land was given by God.” (170) Now, their children and their children’s children will own 3,000 acres of land that will be fertilized by a soon-coming irrigation system.

Your welcome, children. Eat your cacti!

The grandmother made her family filthy rich by doing things her way, which she had to fight for. In my opinion, she holds the title of best family member and of best woman ever, for that matter. It was more than relieving and pleasing to read about her in a book filled with abused prostitutes. The only infuriating issue I have about Miss Maple’s grandmother is that she is by far the strongest character in the entire novel, and she does not have a name.

Strongest woman in the world. (on the outside, at least)

Bailey's Cafe 1/2

Your favorite limbo cafe that never closes.

            Eve carries a strong meaning with her name, and her actions further prove her identity. In my opinion, Eve from Bailey’s Café is the first woman from Adam himself, or Eve from The Bible. Bailey's Eve is made of dirt, yet came from a man instead of living mud. Her god forces her to leave him in the same fashion the first woman left The Garden of Eden, and all the way Eve praises her god for her perseverance through the hardships of the outside world. Also, Bailey's Eve borders the age of one thousand years.

            Eve bathes yet still finds grains of delta dirt in the bottom of her bathtub. “I guess because it’s only dirt, and there’s something that makes you believe you can wash away dirt. But it’s not a part of me – it is me.” (82) The Biblical Adam was formed from dirt as God breathed life into him, and the Biblical Eve was taken from a rib of Adam, therefore Biblical Eve is formed of man’s flesh as well as dirt. Also, Biblical Eve tills the dirt of the Earth as Eve treks the dirt of the delta, covering and reforming them both into living mud. Like Biblical Eve, Eve also comes from a man as well as dirt. “Godfather always told me that since I never had a real mother or father and wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for him, he would decide when I was born.” (82) Godfather represents what God is to Biblical Eve; “God our father, who art in heaven.” Godfather gives life to Eve and proceeds to oversee Eve as her life progresses.

I think some delta dirt got left behind in my bathtub again! Nuts!

            Godfather’s home becomes The Garden of Eden to Eve, but she is forced to leave because she commits a sexual sin. “He said I was going to leave him the same way he’d found me, naked and hungry.” (88) Biblical Eve is forced to leave the Garden of Eden the exact same way, crying naked into the wilderness. God places hardships upon Biblical Eve, and she prays to him to thank him for his mercy and his gift of strength given her. Eve thanks Godfather for identical reasons. “I learned to eat what the muskrats ate – hope. And I blessed Godfather every step of the way. If he had raised me with tenderness, I wouldn’t have found the strength to do this.” (90)

Leaving Paradise forever.

            The Biblical Eve and Bailey’s Eve share more similarities than one, if not the same story. This relationship between them leads me to believe they are the same person. If Biblical Eve were Bailey’s Eve, she would have to be ancient in age. Indeed, Eve is old. “They were so concerned about my age, and by the time I reached Arabi there was no doubt about how many years I’d lived: close to a thousand.” (85) Of coarse people interpret this statement as a metaphor for how Eve had to grow up along the delta, but when asked about her age, Eve responds, “close to a thousand,” and she lost her sense of humor a long time ago.

The Woman Warrior 2/2

Two young sisters in China.

            Out of all the novels I have ever read, one of my favorite relationships is the bond between the Orchid sisters. Brave Orchid, the eldest sister, and Moon Orchid, the younger sister, grow up together in China but separate because Brave decides to join her husband in America, while Moon stays behind in China. The two sisters eventually grow apart as they become accustomed to different lives; Brave tackles hard labor to raise her ever-growing number of children and Moon remains rich through the money her husband in America sends her. The laughter begins when Brave sends for Moon, and Moon must adapt to American life.

            Moon always dresses in woven silk suits and glorious jewelry, but the same cannot be said for her sister. “Brave Orchid, who had been married for almost fifty years, did not wear any rings. They got in the way of all the work. She did not want the gold to wash away in the dishwasher and the laundry water and the field water.” (127) The eldest sister had to set aside her wedding ring so as not to ruin it.

            Brave makes these sacrifices for her work and her children daily, but it is safe to assume that she enjoys her work. The eldest sister feels pride in her accomplishments after sweating up a storm. Her younger sister, on the other hand, has not had to work a day in her life. “Moon Orchid was eager to work, roughing it in the wilderness.” (135) Living like an American to Moon is like “surviving” because there are no servants around to answer every chore with a smile.

            Moon is terrible at manual labor, or any labor for that matter, because she cannot even sew or wash dishes. Brave remains kind to her sister though, letting Moon take as many breaks as she needs to rest and regain her strength. Their bond as sisters has survived oceans and years as Brave helps Moon to face her husband, and when that fails, allows Moon to live with her until Moon goes completely insane. Even with this mental instability, Brave feels responsible for her sister and visits her until her dying days. This sort of relationship is so beautiful to me because their blood is thicker than their differences; it is so easy to tell that they love each other.

"Nursing is almost as difficult as doing laundry."

“What if he hits me?”

“I’ll hit him. I’ll protect you. I’ll hit him back. The two of us will knock him down and make him listen.” Brave Orchid chuckled as if she were looking forward to a fight.

-145

Maybe Brave Orchid has been the woman warrior this entire time?

The Woman Warrior: Brave Orchid

The Woman Warrior 1/2

Maxine Hong Kingston

            My first reaction to The Woman Warrior was shock and horror because of how women were treated in China, and how that treatment transferred to America when the Chinese immigrated. I wondered to myself, “Is rape still common? Do the victims of rape suffer silently? Is the language we speak degrading towards women?” I only hope the answers are pleasing.

            The narrator’s aunt swells with pregnancy while her husband is away, and brings shame to her family. Come to find out, the aunt was raped. “Women in the old China did not choose. Some man had commanded her to lie with him and be his secret evil. I wonder whether he masked himself when he joined the raid on her family.” (6) Unfortunately, rape occurs in America as well. A 2011 U.S. survey proves that rape is still common; nearly 1 in 5 women have been raped or sexually assaulted.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/health/nearly-1-in-5-women-in-us-survey-report-sexual-assault.html

            The aunt’s suffering does not stop at pregnancy, though. “She kept the man’s name to herself throughout her labor and dying; she did not accuse him that he be punished with her. To save her inseminator’s name she gave silent birth.” (11) Now the statistics worsen. According to Roger Williams University, “Only 1 out of 10 rapes are actually reported. Rapes by someone the victim knows are the least likely to be reported.” This statistic shows that the aunt did not protect the father out of love, but possibly out of fear or shame, or worse.

http://www.rwu.edu/campus-life/health-counseling/counseling-center/sexual-assault/rape-myths-and-fac

            Women are further degraded by the language they speak. “There is a Chinese word for the female I – which is ‘slave.’ Break the women with their own tongues!” (47) The English language contains the same kind of insulting connotations. An essay on coursework.info argues that women are degraded by the English language. One cited example is the difference between the two words “spinster” and “bachelor.” “Spinster” gives off a negative image of an aging woman with a dull lifestyle, while “bachelor” indicates a carefree younger man with an exciting and enjoyable lifestyle; but both words signify older singles.

http://www.coursework.info/AS_and_A_Level/English_Language/Language__Context__Genre___Frameworks/_The_English_language_systematically_deg_L113471.html

The difference between "spinster" and "bachelor."

            It appears that borders and time do not matter. Rape appears in all countries, and although cultures evolve over the years, barbarism will continue to exist. At least time has made some dent in the decreasing of rape and degrading language, but not much. Hopefully more time will give better results, because the current and older results sicken me.  

Time heals all wounds.

The Hunger Games

           The Hunger Games definitely contains the characteristics of a postmodern novel. In Panem, or the futuristic North America, the citizens dress so strangely that pop culture and parody combine. Through District 11, or the harvesting district, black culture emerges, bringing forth awareness of pluralism and multiculturalism. The most prominent postmodern aspect of The Hunger Games, though, is that it questions authority.

            When Katniss first views the Capitol, a rich luxurious city much different from her poor coal mining district, she expresses her opinion of the buildings and the people. “If anything, they have not quite captured the magnificence of the glistening buildings in a rainbow of hues that tower into the air, the oddly dressed people with bizarre hair and painted faces who have never missed a meal.” (59) Collins seems to be commenting on the huge gap between the rich and the poor through the outlandish style on the rich’s part.

            Soon after viewing the city, Katniss meets Rue, a dark skinned girl from District 11, the farming and harvesting district. Rue explains to Katniss that she knows the edible berries from the poisonous ones because she works in the fields at home. “‘Don’t you have to be in school?’ I ask. ‘Not during harvest. Everyone works then,’ says Rue.” (203) The farming culture of the agriculturists has been introduced, but because Rue is black, her race plays a role in the black culture existing in District 11. “We sing at home. At work too.” –Rue (211) Just as blacks were allowed to sing in the fields of North America, so the songs carry over into Panem.

            Because Rue and Katniss become very close during the Games, Rue’s death infuriates Katniss, and her fury is not directed towards her killer alone. Katniss feels enraged toward the Gamemakers. “I want to do something, right here, right now, to shame them, to make them accountable, to show the Capitol that whatever they do or force us to do there is a part of every tribute they can’t own.” (236-237) Through an act of defiance, Katniss covers Rue’s body in wildflowers, thereby showing the Gamemakers that Rue’s death was separate from the Games.

These acts and many more scare the Capitol, but the Capitol still controls the people. Maybe, though, just maybe, Katniss will be able to bring them down with the help of revolting districts in this postmodern series.

Are you a believer?

Are you a Bokononist? Why or why not?

I believe that I am a Bokononist. The language and poetry are too graceful and moving to ignore. Even the fact that the creator, Bokonon, acknowledges the religion is all foma, or lies, actually makes the religion more appealing to me. Hitler once stated that the German masses are naturally inclined to believe little lies because they lie every day, but would be embarrassed to admit to believing a big lie. Indeed, religion seems to be a big lie, but I feel the need for it in my life. How else am I going to explain why things happen? Religion is also comforting and instills kindness in the hideous human race. I am a Bokononist because I long for the closeness of sole to sole (or soul to soul), the imaginitive creation story, and the idea that you are part of something bigger with karass. What I crave most is a duprass, because when you love someone more than air, you can’t live without them. So the fact that they die within a week from each other is perfect.

Cat's Cradle

"No damn cat, and no damn cradle."

             The aspect of Cat’s Cradle that amazed me the most was the insanely weird characters throughout the entire 287 pages. In my opinion, the strangest characters in Cat’s Cradle are the three men of the Hoenikker family. Felix, Newt, and Frank are the most screwed-up characters I have ever read about. A well known fact about families is that they are all dysfunctional; any family that claims to be normal is more than likely lying. This statement not only rings true for the Hoenikker family, but they raise the dysfunction to a sick level.

            Dr. Felix Hoenikker, one of the fathers of the atomic bomb, is celebrated in society as a caring hero and a genius. Once he passed, his office at work was roped off and a golden plaque reveals these words, “IN THIS ROOM, DR. FELIX HOENIKKER, NOBEL LAUREATE IN PHYSICS, SPENT THE LAST TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF HIS LIFE. ‘WHERE HE WAS, THERE WAS THE FRONTIER OF KNOWLEDGE.’ THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS ONE MAN IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND IS INCALCULABLE.” (55-56) Felix may go down in history as an astounding scientist, but he certainly will not be known for his great parenting. As a genius, one expects him to be socially awkward, but Felix allowed that awkwardness to rule the relationships with his children. Felix never played any games with his children, except for one with Newt. “Making that cat’s cradle was the closest I ever saw my father come to playing what anybody else would call a game.” (11) Holding a piece of string in his son’s face was the only bonding time Felix ever spent with Newt.

            I think the lack of a relationship with his father affected Newt, but the fact that he can never live up to his father really messed up his personality. On top of everything else negatively influencing Newt, he happened to be born a midget. Newt is sweet, polite, and pleasant, but is always putting himself down. “Everybody is in class but me. I’m a very privileged character. I don’t have to go to class any more. I was flunked out last week. I was a pre-med. They were right to flunk me out. I would have made a lousy doctor.” (13) At least Newt talks and tries to be social, which is more than his brother ever did.

He may be a midget, but at least he aint a pissant!

            Frank is the queerest child from the Hoenikker family. He barely ever spoke to anyone in high school, let alone his own family. Frank’s hobbies involved forcing bugs to fight, hiding under bushes while reading dirty books, and building models of everything from planes to houses to boats and more. His fellow high school peers called him Secret Agent X-9 because he always left to go somewhere else. Frank never stuck around anyone. The best description I could find of Frank was by a bartender who happened to go to high school with him. “He was just one of those kids who made model airplanes and jerked off all the time.” (23)

Glad I didn't put up a picture of a boy jerking off?

            I furiously wonder if under different circumstances these men would have lived happier lives. Dr. Felix was an identical twin, and therefore probably felt the need to outshine his brother in order to be noticed, but because Felix became the man he did, he played a serious role in the destruction of his own children’s characters. I believe that if Felix were more involved with his children and if his wife, Emily, was still alive, that Newt and Frank would have turned out to be better men; but there is no way to tell for sure. I only feel sorry for them.

What could have been.

The Sunset Limited

           
            Many similarities exist between McCarthy’s The Sunset Limited and Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus. Specifically, White and Dr. Faustus parallel one another on an astounding level. Not only do White and Dr. Faustus occupy the same job description of Professor, but they also throw their lives away. Although White willingly attempted suicide while Dr. Faustus was forcefully dragged away by Lucifer, the principle leading up to their demise remains the same; education.

Knowledge is power, but ignorance is bliss.

            Dr. Faustus acquired the upstanding position of Professor but craves more knowledge, and therefore sells his soul to the devil in order to quench his thirst. As Dr. Faustus learns more secrets the world has in store, he finally realizes his approaching death and still limited knowledge. He becomes depressed because of his enlightenment. The same situation goes for White. White has pursued the position of Professor and discovers the end to all things, death, and decides he doesn’t want to be there for it all. “BLACK: And that’s what sent you off the edge of the platform. It wasn’t nothing personal. WHITE: It is personal. That’s what an education does. It makes the world personal.” (26) White also later admits, “It’s the first thing in that book there. The Garden of Eden. Knowledge as destructive to the spirit. Destructive to goodness.” (111)

The Origional Sin.

            Two other major similarities appear between White and Dr. Faustus. What they believe (or don’t believe) leads them into trouble. Dr. Faustus rationalizes that Hell and Lucifer cannot possibly exist, which is why he so carelessly trades his soul for knowledge. For White, because every single thing whether good or bad will end in death, he tries to check out early. Black states perfectly, “I don’t think that’s the problem. I think it’s what you do believe that is carryin you off, not what you don’t.” (93) Because both men believe so strongly in fragile ideas, they find difficulty in taking responsibility for their actions. Dr. Faustus refuses to believe in the devil until the very end, when his soul will be taken; that’s when he begs for God’s forgiveness. White refuses to convert to Christianity simply because he believes conclusions cannot change. “WHITE: I admit when I’m wrong. BLACK: I don’t think so.” (113)

He believes Hell doesn't exist, yet he summons Mephastophilis...hmmn. Strange world we live in. (Ignorance may be bliss, but being ignorant isn't.)