The famous American critic Bell Hooks was once quoted as saying that “Life-transforming ideas have always come to me through books”(2003, O Magazine), which，in my viewpoint，should also be held as the incontestable truth to most of us.
So, currently, when more and more students are addicted to those delicately illustrated magazines, when a lot young couples dwell on online cinemas, when large numbers of teenagers suffer from the sequelae of being “couch potatoes”, I still hold the conviction that reading and writing essays are the most efficient and most elegant way of communication. Not only do we communicate with our peers, but also with those “imaginary” yet “realistic characters and their great creators”——those shiny stars glowing in the literature kingdom who has always retained their aureoles. We are standing on these giants’ shoulders, writing responses and interpreting essays to their masterpieces, which, in return, bring us such joy that even exceeds our expectations.
Therefore, with this kind of true contentment and unexpected enjoyment, I establish this writing portfolio, my first step into a completely new realm, which also serves as a demonstration of my maturation and growth in English writing. Together with the development of this writing portfolio, from the first word to the very end, I myself also experience the transformation from a layout in academic writing to a knowledgeable participant, also from an awkward story-teller to a more skilled essay writer, all of which, certainly means a lot to me.
Among all my gaining, firstly, is the switch of my attitude in English writing. I begin to realize that the purpose of writing is more an expression of ideas than an exhibition of such luxuriant phrases. That is perhaps the reason why Hemingway would regard simplicity and briefness the “the best decorations”. Words to essays are just what dresses to persons, if properly chosen, they can well complement your appearance, but if over-emphasized, they will only serve as a distraction, which impair the significance of your inner things.
At the meantime, during my continuous trails and practices, I am also beginning to establish my own writing style, and having a preference of diction and organization, which seems really important for the development of a writer. As a foreign language learner, I used to contemplate hard before even breaking down the first word and inevitably sometimes put such excessive emphasize on just part of the article that the main idea is to some degree impaired and the whole organization turns out to be at a random. After forced to taste such bitterness again and again, I set out to find a writing strategy that works well on me, which can also render a little inspiration and illumination for those who have been striving in the field of academic writing.
This strategy is divided into the following 4 steps:
1) Analyze the topic, dividing it into some more narrow and specific sub-topics;
2) Finish the each part of the skeleton according to the previous division, and the main job to be done here is just breaking down your original thoughts.
3) Select parts of the skeleton that you find most interesting and explore them further, extensive information and deep insight are needed on the point to make them riveting and vivid;
4) Reread the whole passage to examine its contextual coherence, also adding some connective phrases to thread the essay logically and naturally.
Guided by this method, I have created 6 items on my portfolio. The first one is the cover letter that you have been reading now, which briefly demonstrates the layout and the characteristics of my blog. And the second is the draft 1 of my interpreting essay on Necklace by Guy de Maupassant, followed by the draft 2 and draft 3. Then comes my final-timed writing, on creating an advertisement for a film adapted from Grass Eaters, which acts as a short presentation of the sad story documented by Krishnan Varma. At the end of the portfolio is my reading log on Grass Eaters, which can been seen as a supplement and also an expansion of the final-timed writing. Through this writing portfolio, I want to show the achievement I have made during this semester from different dimensions, so the items I choose all have got special emphasis on its own aspects, thus giving my blog freshness and diversity. Surely it still has got a lot of flaws, which are left to be corrected or improved during my further study.
Among all the items, the reading log is the one that got the least formal format. It does not prove to be rigorous, nor does it involve detailed supporting from the original essay. On the contrary, it features in the initial feelings and also the original “discoveries”. With regard to the essay, perhaps nobody can allege whether the author is really an optimistic one or not even till now, but this reading log do find a unique stand to establish itself and to refute what most people commonly believe true.
However, the next interpreting essay does belong to a totally different category. Since it is required to be written “academically”, I decide to completely change my previous way and reread this story in search of a statement that is persuasive and evincible enough. In the end, I focus on the irony which appears throughout the essay. It features most of Maupassant’s work but has proved its highlighted importance right in this story. Instantly, I come down to my writing, with the first draft listing out all the points I cover and the organization I adopt, the second draft including the interpreting and reasoning which serve to assure the unity among the evidences, the essay and the statement, and also the third draft extending the my points and furthering my insight into its social functions on its own backgrounds.
At the beginning of building this portfolio, I have prepared for no easy job, for the topics I choose are really demanding ones. For a long time, I’ve been feared that they’ll turn out tough to master and finally make my writing experience such an unpleasant one. However, the essays actually shape up far better than I have expected. At times, when I do become lack of experience or skills, it is always not too hard to find another way out. And as the essay develops, I myself also become more quick and broad-minded in dealing with similar dilemmas. At least, I am no longer afraid of giving myself a difficult “topic” or “statement” in life, frightening though it may seem at first, it will ultimately turns out to be solvable. Actually, how hard a “statement” is actually depends largely on how you view them and when you start to work on them.
At last, I shall say thanks to the blog and to you all on supporting my blog. Through this kind of practice, I do harvest much more than in any of the textbooks. Keep on as I will on my English academic writing, for it is always far better to strive in sweat than to lie in comfort.
Maupassant’s Social Caricature
——An Interpreting Essay Of Necklace
In the US, the works of O’Henry are known as the “social encyclopedia” by almost all the households. However, at the same time period, Guy de Maupassant, born a humble clerk in a third class family, seems lack the extensive coverage and the piercing insight of his fellows. He is not remembered for acting as nobility in the literature kingdom like his teacher Flaubert, nor is he praised for his sense of romance like Emile Zola. He is more a skilled story-teller than a poetic writer, using his “meteoric writing style” (the preface of Bel Ami, by Maupassant, published in 2004) and leading us into the world of the humble middle-class. It is his works that presents the most realistic mundane life in our faces, and at the same time, the impressive irony, which appears in most of his stories have also gained him the world-fame.
In one of his masterpieces Necklace, Maupassant tells the story of Mathilde, a beautiful woman with a strong vanity, who goes all out to establish herself in the upper-class through a ball, in which, unfortunately, she loses her borrowed precious necklace. After that, she has toil ten years to pay off the compensation, at last, only to be told that the necklace, for which she has sacrificed all her blossom, is just a fake one.
Sure enough, it is a tearful story, yet a realistic one. The writer uses his vivid depiction to let us regard Mathilde just as a close friend around us. We lose ourselves in her sad story and we ourselves blush for her and weep for her. All the above, perhaps is exactly what the author has experienced when writing the story, but it is just not where he stops. He does not simply aim at accusing Mathilde for her excessive vanity. In fact, through the story The Necklace, Maupassant uses his ironic tone toward Mathilde to reflect the sham of the whole society.
Throughout the story, Maupassant has revealed his irony tone toward Mathilde though his subtle diction. These words, either exaggerated or implicative, create a contrastive effect against the reality. They stand out of our usual cognition, representing the author’s attitude explicitly, and showing the hypocrisy of the society at that time being.
Just like the words “suffered” and “tortured ” in the third paragraph (page38,line13), they are meant to express the agony Mathilde has bared in her daily life——ropey dwelling, worn-out chairs, frugal furniture——these can never be too common for a middle-class household, but which turns out to be the source of Mathilde’s “ceaseless torture” (paragraph38, line13). This perhaps will bring us readers a feeling of exaggeration and unreality. How can these ordinary things generate and impose on Mathilde such great torture, causing her endless “angry” and “despair” (page39, line3)? This diction here seems a little baffling, and yet it actually isn’t if we get acquainted with Mathilde’s luxury dream in mind. Her dwelling is definitely incomparable to the “silent antechamber” with the “oriental tapestry” (pagr39, line4).When this kind of mirage becomes the dominant of her life, it is no strange that she will gain nothing else than “ceaseless torture” in her daily life.
This kind of irony also appears in the 55th paragraph, the word “enveloping” (page31, line33), and in the 98th paragraph, the word “heroism” (page43, line25). The former one depicts a sarcastic scene in which those gentlewomen are crouching clumsily in their luxury fur coats. On the background of the flowery ball, the word “enveloping” is surely not a grace one, and matches poorly with all the elegant surroundings. In fact, it creates an ironic contrast, letting us feel the author’s mock at the so-called upper-class. Moreover, the word “heroism” is to some degree a most eye-catching word, perhaps some would think that Mathilde’s bravery to face up such dilemma deserves this word, but what if it is only the result of a flush of vanity? She is just reaping as she has sown. As the result of losing the necklace, she has been toiling ten years. She has to pay ten years of her blossom as the cost of a glory night. She also has to use her heroic actions to make up for the loss resulted from her past vanity. Is this really “heroic”? Or it is just ironic!
The author also creates irony directly from the situation. In these cases, with the help of contrastive picturing and detailed depiction, these situational irony represented by Maupassant turns out to be less implicative but more direct and powerful.
A very obvious example of this appears when the husband shows Mathilde the invitation to the ball. “Instead of being delighted, as her husband hoped, she threw the invitations on the table with distain” (page39, line35). As they talks further about the issue, Mathilde’s glances becomes “irritated” and she herself becomes “impatient” (page39, line41), at last, surprisingly, she lets “two great tears descending slowly from the corners of her eyes toward the corners of her mouth” (page40, line2). She is crying for not having a decent dress and is using her tears to force her husband into offering her the money. The reason for Mathilde’s tears seems really impenetrable and the way, the “wisdom” she uses to achieve her goal proves rather ironic. This depiction let us see her extreme materialistic eagerness and let us feel the burden on the couple led by Mathilde’s vanity.
This kind of situational irony also comes forth during the ball, when Mathilde is enjoying the triumph of her beauty and all the homage around her, her husband ” had been sleeping since midnight, in a little deserted anteroom, with three other gentlemen whose wives were having a good time ”(page41,line28). Their totally different attitudes toward the ball let readers regard this marriage a rather strange match. However, the couple of Loisel is not the only representative. Here the author gains his deep insight into the basic structure of the society ——that is the family—— in which the two could by all means share the vows but by no means the woes. It is a typical profile of the society at that time being and a condensing of all its ridiculous and baffling aspects.
The greatest irony, of course lies in its unexpected ending. It seems that the so-called fate is just playing a serious joke on Mathilde, which resembles a nightmare, or that is the very testimony of what the writer has said” how life is strange and changeful”, “how little a thing is needed to de lost or to be saved!”(page44, line5) —— In the life of Mathilde, which is full of unexpectations and uncertainty, a small pace toward a different direction does lead her to an extreme pathetic ending.
——at which, when Mathilde is enjoying the sunshine in the park, enjoying the release from the overburden and the regain of freedom, she, seems already reduced to a tacky, tough-looking woman, completely losing what she treasures most in the past days “beauty, grace and charm”( page38, line8). However, she still retains her integrity and faith in life even after the calamity, which makes us readers feel more or less relieved on the whole. At least, she can lead an ordinary life henceforward, with sudden recollections of her past beauty and heroism, which will fitfully supplement the continuity of her rather invariable life.
However, when seeing Forestier walking in the park, for the first, Mathilde “felt moved” (page44, line13). Is it likely that she feels moved by the beauty of her friend in the former days? Being a child’s mother, Mme Forestier is still young, still beautiful, still charming. As a looker, seeing such a lady in person is a truly “moving” thing. But actually, it is not exactly the cause. In the past, she herself used to be the same as the woman in front, but the necklace leads her onto a totally different way. She toils ten years and tortures ten years, paying off her huge debt and also experiencing the revolutionary transformation on her life and her looks. Such are the compensation she has paid for the lost necklace that now she is even beyond the recognition of her closest friend and is thought to have made a mistake. Here, the author uses the word “astonish”(page44, line16) to describe the change Mathilde has underwent and also the extraordinary task she has fulfilled, during which she perseveres and she tolerates, showing a totally different aspect of her personality. Surely, all those she has achieved does bring us a true sense of “astonishment” and "movement".
Unfortunately, even this humble sense of achievement can never last long, when coming around to talk to her friend, Mathilde is told, to her greatest shock, that the necklace is just paste.
——WHAT AN IRONY!!
After the story, perhaps all the readers will feel uneasy for Mathilde, but when it comes to whom on earth should be to blame for Mathilde’s tragedy, no one can definitely give an answer. Throughout the story, Maupassant uses an ironic tone toward Mathilde but not a callous and indifferent one. He creates this character to symbol and to reflect the sad plight in which a lot of people are trapped. They get their birth dumbly, torture the life dumbly and finally die their death dumbly, with nobody paying any more attention to them. “They should have got accustomed, ” people think，but what if they have not? The story clearly demonstrates the calamitous changes that take place on one who is eagerly, violently and continuously fighting against her own fate, her humble status and also her bleak future, which, in the end, makes her original quite life a stormy one. In this fighting which she is doomed to lose, she exerts all she has and cordially takes up the terrifying responsibilities, that is, to sacrifice herself, and to be the scapegoat of the oppressing society.
At the meantime, throughout the story, Maupassant’ s irony tone makes us laugh at Mathilde on her excessive vanity, which is such a deviation from the realistic social life, but by no means is the story aimed to let people despise her. If equality and respect have already became a luxury, then what is the wrong with the people, wanting to change this social “bias”, or going all out right doing this? Clearly in this story, what Mathilde has shouldered is far beyond what she deserves. She is posed a controversial character but not simply a wicked one, so that we can easily go into her life and experience all her sorrow and pains, brought about by the hypocritical society.
In conclusion, perhaps the word caricature can best summarize the story, in which Maupassant uses the innocent Mathilde to show the sham of the so-called upper class or even of the whole society, he is using his irony as his brightest paint to depict all the characters and all the scenes vividly, to attract us and also to have us explore all the fake points other than a single necklace.
Surely, the glory moment with the help of the jewelry is just fake. Her heroism in paying back the necklace; her switch from an attractive figure to a tough woman, her ten bleak years filled with toiling, or perhaps the whole buckish society are just based on something fake. To the end, the author gives us a very serious irony, it is not funny, not amused at all.—— actually it is a sharp spearhead targeted directly at the distorting society.
It goes without exaggeration that Maupassant’s article is just as like a drop of dew in the morning, in which the whole world, nice or witched, will be clearly and faithfully reflected. Or it is just like a silent lash at the society, the sound of which is not loud or rotund, but we can feel it by heart. It is really ironic, but it is as grandeur as a monument. It gains people the courage to fight against the distorting social custom, and also against their so-called “destined” fate.
A Significant Social Caricature
——an interpreting essay of Necklace
In the US, the works of O Henry are known as the “social encyclopedia” by almost all the households. However, at the same time period, Guy de Maupassant, born a humble clerk in a third class family, seems lack the extensive coverage and the piercing insight of his fellows. And yet, the impressive irony, which appears in most of his stories, also gains him the world-fame.
In one of his masterpieces Necklace, Maupassant tells the story of Mathilde, a beautiful woman with a strong vanity, who goes all out to establish herself in the upper-class through a ball, in which, unfortunately, she loses her borrowed precious necklace. After that, she has been toiling ten years to pay off the compensation, at last, only to be told that the necklace, for which she has sacrificed all her blossom, is just a fake one.
Sure enough, it is a tearful story, yet a realistic one. The writer uses his vivid depiction to let us feel Mathilde just a close friend around us. We lose ourselves in her sad story and we ourselves blush for her and weep for her. All the above, perhaps is exactly what the author has experienced when writing the story, but it is just not where he stops. He does not simply aim to accusing Mathilde for her excessive vanity. In fact, through the story The Necklace Maupassant uses his ironic tone toward Mathilde to reflect the sham of the whole society.
Throughout the story, Maupassant has revealed his ironic tone toward Mathilde though his subtle diction. These words, either exaggerated or implicative, have created a contrastive effect against the reality. They stand out of our usual cognition, representing the author’s attitude explicitly, and showing the hypocrisy of the society at that time being.
Just like the words “suffered” and “tortured ” in the third paragraph (page38,line13), they are meant to express the agony Mathilde has bared in her daily life——ropey dwelling, worn-out chairs, frugal furniture——these can never be too common for a middle-class household. But this turns out to be source of Mathilde’s “ceaseless torture” (paragraph38, line13). This perhaps will bring readers a feeling of exaggeration and unreality. How can these ordinary things generate and impose on Mathilde such great torture, causing her endless “angry” and “despair”? This diction here seems a little too baffling, and yet it actually isn’t if we get acquainted with Mathilde’s luxury dream in mind. Her dwelling is definitely incomparable to the “silent antechamber” with the “oriental tapestry” (pagr39,line4).When this kind of mirage has become the dominant of her life, it is no strange that she will gain nothing else than “ceaseless torture ” in her daily life.
This kind of irony also appears in the 55th paragraph, the word “enveloping”, and in the 98th paragraph, the word “heroism”. The former one depicts an ironic scene in which those gentlewomen are crouching clumsily in their luxury fur coats. On the background of the flowery ball, the word “enveloping” is surely not a grace one, and matches poorly with all the elegant surroundings. Actually it has created an ironic contrast, letting us feel the author’s mock at the so-called upper-class. Moreover, the word “heroism” is to some degree a most eye-catching word, perhaps some will think that Mathilde’s bravery to face up such dilemma deserves this word, but what if it is only the result her vanity? She is just reaping as she has sown. As the result of losing the necklace, she has been toiling ten years. She has to pay ten years of her blossom as the cost of a glory night. She also has to use heroic actions to make up for the loss resulted from her vanity. Is this really “heroic”? Or it is just ironic!
The author also creates irony directly from the situation. In these cases, with the help of contrastive picturing and detailed depiction, the irony represented by Maupassant turns out less implicative but more direct and powerful.
A very obvious example of this appears when the husband shows Mathilde the invitation to the ball. “Instead of being delighted, as her husband hoped, she threw the invitations on the table with distain”. As they talk further about the issue, Mathilde’s glances become “irritated” and she herself becomes “impatient”, at last, surprisingly, she lets “two great tears descending slowly from the corners of her eyes toward the corners of her mouth”. She is crying for not having a decent dress and was using her tears to force her husband into offering her the money. The reason for Mathilde’s tears seems really impenetrable and the way, the “wisdom” she has used to achieve her goal proves rather ironic. This depiction lets us see her extreme materialistic eagerness and lets us feel the burden on the couple led by Mathilde’s vanity.
This kind of situational irony also comes forth during the ball, when Mathilde is enjoying the triumph of her beauty and all the homage around her, her husband ” had been sleeping since midnight, in a little deserted anteroom, with three other gentlemen whose wives were having a good time ”(page41,line28). The totally different attitudes toward the ball lets readers regard this marriage a rather strange match. However, the couple of Loisel is not the only representative. Here the author gains his insight into the basic structure of the society ——that is the family, in which the two can by all means share the vows but by no means the woes. It is right a profile of the society at that time being and a condensing of all its ridiculous and impenetrable aspects.
The greatest irony, of course lies in its unexpected ending. It seems that the god is just playing a joke on Mathilde. And other than mere irony, it lets us share even the extreme agony of Mathilde.
Near the ending, when Mathilde is enjoying the sunshine in the park, enjoy the release from the overburden and the regain of freedom, she, seems to have already reduced to a tacky, tough-looking women, with little to change during the rest of her life. However, she still retains her integrity and proud even after the calamity, which makes us readers feel more or less relieved on the whole. And, when coming around to talk to Forestier, her friend, she is a bit of proud. She has used up her blossom to pay off her debt, and now she has accomplished, in any sense, it is worthy of the pride. She could have led an ordinary life henceforward, with sudden recollections of her past beauty and heroism, which will fitly supplement the continuity of her rather quiet life. Yet, unfortunately, even this humble wish can never be satisfied
——She is told, to her greatest shock, that the necklace is just paste.
After the story, perhaps all of us will feel uneasy for Mathilde, but when it comes to who on earth should be to blame for Mathilde’s tragedy, no one can definitely give an answer. Throughout the story, Maupassant uses an ironic tone toward Mathilde but not a callous and indifferent one. He has created this character to symbol and to reflect the sad plight in which a lot of people are trapped. They get their birth dumbly, torture the life dumbly and finally die their death dumbly, with nobody paying any more attention to them. “They should have got accustomed, ” people think，but what if they have not? The story clearly demonstrates the calamitous changes that take place on one who are eagerly, violently and continuously fighting against her own fate, her humble status and also her bleak future, which, in the end, has made her original quite life a stormy one. In this fighting which she is doomed to lose, she has exerted her all she has and cordially takes up the terrifying responsibilities, that is, to sacrifice herself, and to be the scapegoat of the oppressing society.
Undoubtedly, throughout the story, Maupassant’ s irony tone makes us laugh at Mathilde on her excessive vanity, which is such a deviation from the realistic social life, but by no means is it aimed to let people despise her. If equality and respect have already became a luxury. Then what is wrong with the people, wanting to change this social “bias”, or going all out right doing this? Clearly in this story, what Mathilde has shouldered is far beyond what she deserves. the witty author clearly poses Mathilde a controversial character but not simply a wicked one, so that we can easily go into her life and experience all her joy and sorrow, just as in our everyday life, in this way, we thus discovering all the fake points in that society there other than a single necklace.
Surely, the glory moment with the help of the jewelry is just fake. Her heroism in paying back the necklace, her switch from an attractive figure to a tough women, her ten bleak years filled with toiling, or perhaps the whole buckish society is just based on something fake. To the end, the author gives us a very serious irony, it is not funny, not amused at all.—— actually it is a sharp spearhead targeted directly at the distorting society.
It goes without exaggeration that Maupassant’s article is just as like a drop of dew in the morning, in which the whole world, nice or witched, will be clearly and faithfully reflected. Or it is just like a silent lash at the society, the sound of which is not loud not rotund, but we can feel it by heart. It is really ironic, but it is also as grandeur as a monument. It gains people the courage to fight against the oppressing social custom, and also against their so-called “destined” fate.
Title
Statement:
In the story Necklace, Guy de Maupassant has used his irony tone toward Mathilde to reflect the sham of the whole society.
Body:
Para1: The author reveals his irony tone toward Mathilde though his subtle diction. These words, either exaggerated or implicative, have created a contrastive effect against the reality. They stand out of our usual cognition, representing the author’s attitude explicitly, and showing the hypocrisy of the society at that time being.
Just like the words “suffered” and “tortured ” in the third paragraph (page38,line13), they are meant to express the agony Mathilde has bared in her daily life——ropey dwelling, worn-out chairs, frugal furniture——these can never be too common for a middle-class household. But this turns out to be the source of Mathilde’s “ceaseless torture” (paragraph38, line13). This perhaps will bring readers a feeling of exaggeration and unreality. How can these ordinary things generate and impose on Mathilde such great torture, causing her endless “angry” and “despair”? This diction here seems a little too ironic, and yet it actually isn’t if we get acquainted with Mathilde’s luxury dream in mind. Her dwelling is definitely incomparable to the “silent antechamber” with the “oriental tapestry” (pagr39,line4).When this kind of mirage become the dominant of her life, it is no strange that she will only gain nothing else than the “ceaseless torture ” in her daily life.
This kind of irony also appears in the 55th paragraph, the word “enveloping”, and in the 98th paragraph, the word “heroism”. The former one depicts an ironic scene in which those gentlewomen are crouching clumsily in their luxury fur coats. On the background of the flowery ball, the word “enveloping” is surely not a grace one, and matches poorly with all the elegant surroundings. Actually it has created an ironic contrast, letting us feel the author’s mock at the so-called upper-class. Moreover ,the use of the word “heroism” is to some degree the most sarcastic, perhaps some will think that Mathilde’s bravery to face up such dilemma deserves this word, but what if it is only the result of a flush of vanity? She is just reaping as she has sown. As the result of losing the necklace, she has been toiling ten years. She has to pay ten years of her blossom as the cost of a glory night. She also has to use her heroic actions to make up for the loss resulted from her vanity. Is this really “heroic”? Or it is just ironic!
Para2: The author also creates irony directly from the situation. In these cases, with the help of contrastive picturing and detailed depiction, the irony represented by Maupassant turns out less implicative but more direct and powerful.
A very obvious example of this appears when the husband shows Mathilde the invitation to the ball. “Instead of being delighted, as her husband has hoped, she threw the invitations on the table with distain”. As they talk further about the issue, Mathilde’s glances become “irritated” and she herself become “impatient”, at last, surprisingly, she lets “two great tears descended slowly from the corners of her eyes toward the corners of her mouth”. She is crying for not having a decent dress and is using her tears to force her husband into offering her the money. The reason for Mathilde’s tears is really impenetrable and the way, the “wisdom” she uses to achieve her goal proves rather ironic. This depiction lets us see her extreme materialistic eagerness and let us feel the burden on the couple led by Mathilde’s vanity.
This kind of situational irony also comes forth during the ball, when Mathilde is enjoying the triumph of her beauty and all the homage around her, her husband ” had been sleeping since midnight, in a little deserted anteroom, with three other gentlemen whose wives were having a good time ”(page41,line28). The totally different attitudes toward the ball let readers regard this marriage a rather strange match. However, the couple of Loisel is not the only representative. Here the author gains his deep insight into the basic structure of the society and exposes all its ironic aspects in our faces.
Para3: The greatest irony, of course lies in its unexpected ending. It seems that the god is just playing a joke on Mathilde. And other than mere irony, it has brought about rather sad feelings.
When Mathilde comes around to talk to Forestier, her friend, she is actually a bit of proud. She has used up her blossom to pay off her debt, and now gets all that accomplished, in any word, it is worthy of the pride. However, out of everyone’s expectation, she is only told that the necklace, for which she has sacrificed all her blossom, is a fake one. Then, what else is fake? Her glory moment with the help of the jewelry; her heroism in paying back the lost necklace; her switch from an attractive figure to a tough woman, her ten bleak years of toiling, or perhaps the whole buckish society is just based on something fake. To the end, the author gives us a very serious irony, it is not funny, not amused at all, actually is just a silent lash at the oppressing society.
Discussion: if you were to create a film advertisement (a "trailer" ) for a movie based on The Grass Eater, which scene would you select? Why? Discuss ways in which you might film the scene.
If I were to create an advertisement for the movie adapted from the Grass Eaters, I will definitely choose the last scene of the essay, in which, two people are staying in their home built upon coal-tar drums, enjoying their square meals made of grass, with their body completely bare, or cover just partially by some lion cloth. Besides that, this advertisement will also cover what they’re thinking and what they are watching. Actually in their mind are the pictures that their son will properly do their funerals, which brings them a sense of contentment. And outside the window, on the street, are the scenes of a tram burning, a man stabbing another and even a woman dropping her baby in the garbage bin.
As can be seen from the above, my advertisement will be a rather sad one, but I think only this can best represent what the author wants to convey in the story. It demonstrates the title and complies with the author’s intention. Although in the story, the author seems to have used some humor to supplement the rather sad reality and adopt a calm and objective tone to tell the characters’ experience, yet this can never mean a true satisfaction. Actually, the author is using this special way to lash out at that oppressing society, in which, being a grass eater equals something satisfactory. To represent this, I choose the last scene featuring in a jumbled background, for it is a perfect profile of the society at that time being, where people all become indifferent and callous. They hurt each other only to strive for the right to survive. What a tragedy and what an irony! Compared with them, we thus get known of the reason why Babu comes willing to be a grass eater. Undoubted he is far from the most pathetic, for that time being, every one is staring in a “movie”, featuring torture and agony.
When creating this advertisement, I want to adopt the following ways in order to best represent the movie and make it riveting to the viewers.
Firstly, I will put emphasize on the content, creating a contrastive scene inside the window and outside in the street. The former one will be very calm and quite while the latter will serve as a noisy and jumbled background. This kind of contrast will make it easier to draw people attention on this film.
Secondly, I will carefully choose the colors and the lightening. For the original story is rather a sad one, so I will choose some cold colors to give people a feeling of grief. Also, the lightening will play an important role in my advertisement too. I will only use a beam of dim light form a certain angle of the house, making it quite different from the brightly-lighted scenes of some current movies, which can represent the grim reality and the bleak future of those grass eaters in that society.
Thirdly, I will give special emphasize on the grass that the couple is eating. Then people can start to realize why this film titles the Grass Eaters. Also, I will grasp some unique details in this scene, such as the couples’ contentment with eating the grass meals or simply the joy they gain when looking outside of the window. All these things, I think, will create some feelings out of our usual expectations and in the end make us more interested in the film itself.
Through reading the story I seem, together with the author, to have experienced the life of the grass eaters, with a home made of coal tar drums, two square meals of grass every day, a loin-cloth for wearing out and a son for doing funeral rites. In the article, the author says that there is no such kind of fear and anxiety in his life, while all the psychological burdens have been shifted onto our minds, turning into our endless sorrow and astonishment even days after reading.
When I come to the story for the first time, I am much impressed by its ending, in which the mundane street sees the scenes of a tram burning, a man stabbing another and even a woman dropping her baby in the garbage bin. In our viewpoint that is such a mess! However the author just watches them calmly. So doesn’t this show that the author has lost his sympathy completely? Or he just has got used to the life they are leading—in which all the above are simply means to survive.
Throughout the article, the author uses a peaceful tone to depict and to narrate, just as a looker-on, and simply conveys what has happened objectively. We are sure that he has got grief and excitement and panic and perhaps all the imaginable mixed emotions. But the author simply avoids focusing on his own feelings. Excessive of that kind of repetition would only let readers feel inauthentic. In the article, the author just presents all the torture he has underwent in front of us and let us to taste its bitterness in persons.
Moreover, the author also uses interesting dialogues and his talented sense of humor as additives, for example, the phrases ”ovoid father” “cubic wife”. And what his wife compares herself to be ,“a kite” or “a frog”, all serves as contrast to the grim background. They make us feel more amused and relaxed but at the meantime bring us more and deeper reflections.
Actually, a lot of readers say that the author is perhaps an optimistic person. He is using his spiritual treasure to relieve himself form the grim reality and find some contentment as a grass eater. However, I have another interpretation. This kind of indifference in the author's looks is just some guises. For a person living at that period of time, if you still hold your values tight, you'll find it so conflicting with the social reality, which will ultimately deprive of you the belief of life. Or if you completely give it in, you will together lose the meaning in life, finally gaining nothing except for the length of time. Evidently, the author belongs to neither of these. He seems to have lost everything in life from his materialistic satisfaction to his relationship with the nation or society. And yet, he does find other spiritual supporting, that is to live on itself. It, in essence, has already meant a lot of endurance and some success. Besides that, the author also comes to be a record holder of his life, working for the coming readers to taste a totally different kind of experience through all these words.