I've been fighting off a cold for most of this three day vacation so I decided to spend a quiet Monday at home. There's nothing worse than trying to teach while sick.
1. I watched several documentaries today on the widening gap between the rich and the poor in America. One critic likened the current class situation in America to that of imperial Britain. We do have a class system in America, but we don't like to talk about it. All my life I have been taught that hard work will guarantee success and it is terrifying to see blue collar workers push themselves to the extreme working several minimum wage jobs, jobs that requires focus, memory power, quick decision making, etc, and at the end of the day, these people have nothing. Why do they put up with it? If you work hard, avoid the short cuts, and keep a positive attitude, you should be successful.
2. I re-read Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" last night for the first time in over a year. I love Chekhov but I have a tough time drawing conclusions from his works. His plays are the most mysterious I have read amongst modern playwrights, and it has taken time to begin to understand his odd, but beautiful plays.
Some questions that popped into my mind during this reading:
-does Varya love Lopakhin? How much free reign do Anya and Varya have in choosing a husband?
--Why is Lopakhin so aware of time? What is the significance of the moment in Act Three where we learn that Lopakin had missed the train after the auction and had to wait several hours for the next?
--The adults behave like children and the younger generation do a poor job of trying to behave as adults.
--the orchard means something different to everyone in the play.
--For much of the play the characters talk about their memories of the past, but this seems absent in the fourth act, where most of the talk is about plans for the immediate future. Then, finally Firs, the embodiment off the past, walks out alone, sealed up inside the house, left to die. What does one do with the past in the face of great change?
3. I watched a Bill Moyers special today featuring the investigative journalist, feminist, and writer Barbara Ehrenreich. She spent several months exploring the world of working class America by taking on several minimum wage jobs, then writing a book about her experiences and findings. I love her work because I'm very interested in how other people live their lives and I'm excited that she actually tried to live their life for several months. In trying to understand a group of people, it's a good technique to try and live life as they do.
No comments:
Post a Comment