Night Circus blog

Week 7 blog Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Prospero the Enchanter one of the main characters and a powerful magician treats his very own blood like a doll and a military soldier in terms of his merciless and cruel ways of training her to be a great and powerful wizard not as a proud father but more like a master with his pawns. The overall treatment of the kids from the adults are that kids’ social status is the same as a stepping stool and are like pawns in a game of chess whose only chance of survival is turning into a queen who has almost all power.  The kids are not treated with care and gentleness and more like soldiers preparing for battle. The father Hector Bowen also known as Prospero the Enchanter does not treat Celia like his own blood but as an accessory that is only for looks and denies her to socialized with almost any other humans and instead gives her merciless lessons on life or death situations.

The man in the grey suit with no real name and distinct look also treats his orphan apprentice not like a son but as solely a student without giving him a name. The boy had to make up his own name and goes by as Marco. He is isolated at a very young age from the world no human contact or relationship not even with his master in the grey suit. There is no morality or modern humanity towards the kids in the novel but more on the survival of the fittest or in this case the more powerful magician wins. There is no concern for the safety and the innocence of the children very similar to the human history when the safety of the children were compromised by many diseases, unfair labor wages, and violence. Seems like the kids have their destinies force upon them and their fates are intertwined. Isobel and Marco like Romeo and Juliet.

 The main characters Marco and Celia are kids who are nothing more than puppets on strings for their masters who don’t even see them as living breathing people but as weapons for their so call battle that hints that both of them, Marco and Celia, will not only be seriously injured but one of them will die in order for there to be a winner. That the two kids Marco and Celia who get along and could be more than just friends have to fight each other for the sake of their masters’ egos and pride as magicians. So far it seems the kids are strong and very mature for their age as they put up with their own unique versions of isolations and boot camp for magicians.

“Time Bandit” of how the kid, Kevin, has the common sense and morality and more idealistic where, as the adults is corrupted and materialistic. It seems so bizarre that they killed off the parents thinking that this could be a happy ending when the boy just became an orphan. It seems that the adults are really irresponsible and neglectful of their child where the parents’ priority is to get more advance technology to beat other adults and that they would go into their fire burning home to save a kitchenware as if it were their child. This does reflect our society in America especially the time of the 1950 where the person with the latest product has the higher social status. This reminds me of another movie Matilda 1996 of how a kid who has not been corrupted by the superficial greed of her society seeks books to expand her knowledge and finds learning necessary. The kids are like the symbol of purity, hope and righteous. There is a lack of role model for the Kevin who seems to have a lack of decent role models in his life and has found his ideal role model with King Aganemnon, who also was not greedy for wealth or absolute power but more concern with knowledge and his role as king for his people.

Blog 6 Lud in the Mist

“Lud in the Mist” week 6 blog    mlee

           This novel reflects the basic relationship between the common folks and the royalty when the royalty succumb to luxury and material trinkets and traditions and the common people are paranoid and spreading gossip like wild fire on dry grass in being very superstition and naïve with the lack of knowledge of the fairyland. There seems to be a miscommunication with the kingdom as a whole. The age of ignorance like in the medieval times of omens and demons.

It seems to be that the shelter son of the mayor, Ranulph, hit puberty or has a family curse. He has embarked on his own journey outside of his home to see the world with his own eyes and instead rely on the gossip of the small town of a exclusive kingdom. The kingdom had chosen politics and laws and rules over magic as part of their heritage. It seems weird that the novel focuses on politics and the government rather than the obvious and cliché roles like a young peasant, king, or princess but chose instead the son of a mayor of a common town. Almost like a historical biography of a small town in the world of fantasy. 

Fairy land and Dorimarite have in history interbred with fairyland that help created the world of Dorimarite of its fine features that despite denial of fairyland as part of the Dorimarite’s culture their animals, flowers, and even facial or hair characteristics was part of the fairies. Like how in America alcohol was ban but the Americans still drink with the smuggling the alcohol only the fairy fruit is extremely intoxicating and deadly. Corruption in government seems to be emphasis and it seem in Dorimarite, its history may repeats itself of the struggle for power in hierarchy with the characters loose their morality, values, and give in to all types of temptation found easily in high class. This is somewhat realistic to the overall relationship of the government with the people. Showing us the world that is divide and the mystery and the unknown of the fairyland with a terrible reputation. This has a modern take on fantasy that doesn’t rely solely on magic as a vessel to carry on the story.

Very historical like infused with fantasy with showing different stories of different social class. Not much love between master Nathaniel and his wife with the arrange marriage. She, Dame Marigold the wife of Mayor Nathaniel, shows resentment to her husband, the Chanticleer side of the family namely Nathaniel and Ranulph (father and son). The way they are talking about tunes is almost like they are describing how their mind works and the boy’s “tune” is a bit off, this is his heritage instead of from a fairy fruit almost like a curse in fairytales like how the royal family will have some kind of dark omen that might destroy their kingdom. There seem a conflict between traditions and conventional customs as can be seen in the Mayor Nathaniel. The movie “The Color of Magic” seems to be a mix with fantasy with modern slang. This movie is more of a comedy than a classic heroic tale. The main characters seem to be either ignorant or stupid and weak kind of like an underdog story. The magic in the movie ”Color of Magic” is used as comic relief rather than used as serious and dark arts of magic. The main character is a tourist a sign of ignorance and childlike manner when going to the unknown hostile land with such innocent and amusing intent. The tourist sees danger as delight and fun instead of taking it with caution and the sign that it is real and intent on his life.

Week 5 blog    Aunt Maria by Diana Wynne Jones

            The main stereotype in “Aunt Maria” is Aunt Maria herself as a mean tough granny, that the majorities of the women that are old have masculine or domineering personalities, strict discipline old school manners and are very manipulative by using their old age as an excuse. They as a group like the stereotypes that suburban wives that have nothing better to do then stick their noses in someone else’s business and unapologetic. They are very stubborn and snobby thinking that they know best and every one should listen to them.

 They are stereotypes of the elder in power, that they are Head of the household. They manipulative people with reverse psychology. That what matters to the stereotypical old people, particularly old women, is that they only cares about their reputation that her family are suppose to act like her trophies that she won and they should not embarrass her in front of her friends. Whenever she is not kissing up to her friends she treats her own family like servants. She used passive aggressive, sarcastic way of talking to anyone younger then her. The senior citizens are very nosey and bunch of gossip hens who believe that what they think is 100% fact and that they choose to ignore the truth or other people’s feelings.

This has an almost similar feel to the witches that were old hags that gather or flock together like vultures and the obsession with little perfect sweet children that they usually target as prey. There is a stereotyping of the relationship between the in-laws Betty and Aunt Maria. In this situation the daughter-in-law (Betty) is to do every possible household chore that the mother-in-law (Aunt Maria) commands without question. Children are not to speak unless spoken to very old school behavior that kids don’t any better and that women are to do the chores and men can’t help because they don’t know how according to Aunt Maria.

The book “Aunt Maria” is sexist toward the females that Betty and Mig are to take care of Aunt Maria do the labor around the house while the man/ boy (Chris) do nothing. Mig’s brother, Chris will only make a mess if he help or assist his mother that are consider women chores in pleasing Aunt Maria’s endless and meaningless requests that she herself could do. Her way of bickering is another stereotype that old people just monologue for hours and hours on nothing but gossip. That the stereotypes that old people don’t mingle with technology only to used electricity and that they have only candles to light the night like Mormons staying away from anything new in advanced inventions.

            Another stereotypes is that Aunt Maria is also a cheapskate elder/distant relative, since she is the one who invited her family who she has no blood relations with at all other than her supposed to be dead nephew that married to the mother of Mig and Chris, who makes Betty buy and do everything. Old people are stereotype to have boring lives in the middle of nowhere those teens or kids have no interest. And the children beside the main characters are like clones of one another as if all children in general are the same and therefore bland with no life in them. Empowered women are frightening and women cannot handle power or position without being savage, mean or manipulative. They like to avoid reality, belittle the younger generation. The men are like zombies and don’t pay attention to their surround, don’t speak and just follow orders of their wives. Women who are like Aunt Maria will have submissive husbands. It’s as if the life of them was drain like the color of the dull grey sky in the town Aunt Maria live in.  So in general the men are either dead, zombified, crazy, or rebellious teens and the women are old snooty traditional housewives, submissive widow, or a kid.

“Suspiria” 1977 men are to be enslaved and manipulated by the woman in power because the male doesn’t have power or money. The men that are side characters are either blind or poor or helpless student, or disfigure and cannot speak. There is no cliché in that there is a strong male protagonist to rescue the heroine. The witches have secret passage and booby traps to kill any intruders to hide their cult; the older women are almost all witches.  The witches here seem similar to religious cults with strange sculptures and ancient artifacts. The witches used others to do their evil bidding and to not dirtying their own hands but. The movie “I Marry a Witch” was interesting in that the female witch had chose to give up her power for a man and that the women are aggressive especially in the pursuit of love and the men, especially the main male protagonist is passive and meek enough to marry a shrew woman that he doesn’t love all for the sake of power. Overall, we, the audience, have to root for the child-like innocent heroine who won the man’s heart by harassing him and somewhat stalking him. Implying that women in love will lose any logic and ability of being independent.

mlee

Monster Island week 4 blog                                                                              MLee

In the novel, its weird and new to me to have an intellectual zombie and for some reason the world seems to react realistically if there was a large epidemic that conveniently wipeout the countries that were advance like U.S.A., UK, etc. It seems so believable that the third world countries could rise to the occasion due to the fact that they were ready and prepare in an already hostile environment. I find it fascinating that we get a somewhat logical reasoning to how a zombie function from an inside scoop of the self aware zombie; Gary who is still human in the mind but has the body and instincts of a zombie and maybe even more since he is able to communicate to the zombie making him probably the most valuable person for either the humans or the zombies depending on which side he feels will be to his advantage. The fact that the story has a self-aware zombie that doesn’t realize that he could be stronger than a normal human is strange, so far in the sixteen chapters. He hasn’t realizes his abilities what could be possibly the second best power in a zombie apocalypse to communicate and control the living dead. It seems weird to me but it is probably normal that there is no explanation to what specifically cause people to turn into zombies and why now(so far in beginning of the novel).

Coming from an American, I feel I understand the main character that is not used to children army, bloody deaths and one's lack of safety, that people like us who live in an "advance" civilization are soft and still very vulnerable and naive to the harsh reality. This may be an indication that if there was a real epidemic, example like World War 3, it would be the end of the world with the major countries gone and only a few sections of third world countries would barely surviving. We are ignorant in our belief that we can escape the harsh reality, that in real life many under-develop countries around the world cannot afford to do. I find that the way humans deal with the zombie crisis in the novel more interesting than the actual epidemic that the way humans' interactions seems to question the functionality of our advanced civilization.  

Cabin in the Wood is like all the nightmares are real it seems like the twist that the main characters would rather everyone die than let themselves be the sacrifice when either way they die either by the end of the world or as sacrifice. It is also weird that the facility that contains the main characters and monsters were not able to control the kids and the kids easily released all the nightmare monsters out. The fact that all nightmares are real and that the world has to do a specific ritual for every country seem unreliable since the preschool Japanese school kids were able to defeat the monsters.