Final thoughts

Since we are reaching the end of the semester, I wanted to share my thoughts on the entirety of the class. I would first like to talk about the readings. Over all, they have been pretty interesting. I enjoyed starting out with Gilgamesh. It is definitely one of my favorite readings from this semester. It has action, conflict, and journeys that make it enjoyable. Although I don't like Gilgamesh as a person, Enkidu had a plethora of qualities that I like to see in my friends; such as loyalty, courage, and honesty. Their relationship allowed for many discussion points. Aside from Gilgamesh, my other favorite readings are Beowulf and Oedipus Rex. I think Beowulf is a given. It has a superb hero that goes out and beats monsters up because he wants to test his strength. Beowulf is the ultimate man; how can you not enjoy reading about such a character? Even though Oedipus is a little messed up, I enjoyed reading it. One of the reasons is because it was written very well. It actually made me feel for Oedipus; I actually felt bad for him at the end. He was just trying to be a good king and find out the truth so he could save his town from the plaque. He didn't listen to anyone, so he eventually he found out the truth. But even though he went down, he still saved his town; he was still an excellent king.

The one text that I enjoyed the least was Daoism. It is so complicated; I had no idea what I was reading for the majority. It was all very confusing. Watching The Matrix helped a little, but the comparison to salt helped me understand considerably more. Either way, I still didn't understand it very much. Maybe that means I actually understand it better than I think. Even though it brought up several discussion points, I couldn't get into it at all because it was too confusing for me. Every other text had some interesting parts, but they just didn't compare to the genius of Beowulf and Gilgamesh.

I have truly enjoyed this class. We read some great stories and we also read some not so good ones. However, the good readings greatly outweighed the ones that I didn't like so much. Our in class discussions have been pretty interesting. They allow for me to view the texts in ways that I didn't before class. They also clarify any misunderstandings that may have convinced myself of. Furthermore, they actually taught me that analyzing texts can be fun and exciting. In the beginning of the semester I just read the stories how they were written; I didn't put any thought into them. The later into the semester we got, the more thought I put behind our readings. I tried to interpret situations and actions in different ways than I normally would have thought. I don't know if I will continue to "read" movies, but either way I enjoyed reading deeper into the texts. This class has been extremely fun. I applaud you, Mr. B, for allowing me to have a different perspective on English this semester. Your passion for English was easily noticeable. Because of this, I too had more passion than for the texts that we read. Thank you for an excellent class.

Othello's flaw

Throughout the entire play, Othello is deceived by Iago. His plan is not foiled until the end of the play after Desdemona has been smothered. Emilia informs Othello that she was indeed the one who found the handkerchief and gave it to her husband. Othello goes mad with anger, wanting to kill his batman. Until the end of the play, Othello was a respectable man. He was well off, intelligent, and even admired by other people for his war strategies. Even though he believed his wife was cheating on him, he had no reason to murder her. He let his anger get the best of him; resulting in Iago's plan mostly succeeding. This is Othello's tragic flaw; not that he is so trusting, but that he lets his emotions get the best of him. Because he trusted everyone, he would have trusted his wife if he had just sat down and talked to her from the beginning. But instead, he let Iago fuel his anger; making Othello naive. Being trusting is not a bad thing, it's when that trust leads you to unthinkable solutions. Othello is just a good guy that let his batman control his every thought and actions. Emotions are what brought Othello to his doom.

Othello is definitely a trusting guy; he trusted everyone and anyone. While his trust in Iago led him to go crazy, his trust also would have allowed him to trust his wife and spoil Iago's plan. This obviously did not happen. Othello was a good man, but his emotions got the best of him; specifically anger. He was angry at Desdemona for supposedly cheating on him. Iago plagued his mind with lies and truths that let Othello piece together his own suspicions. Anger was not the only emotion that took control of Othello; it was also his passion. He was so passionate about getting revenge on his wife and Cassio that when he thought Iago had killed Cassio, he grew even more excited to kill Desdemona. Othello's passion led him to do the unthinkable; murder his wife and be proud of it. Othello is not the first person we have read about that let passion be his down fall. Oedipus also let his passion defeat him. He was so passionate about finding out the truth that he did not listen to the prophet and his wife when they said to stop his search. He wouldn't even listen when Tiresias said he was the killer. Othello kind of reminds me of Oedipus. They were both so passionate that neither of them would listen to the truth. When they found out the truth, they tried to make amends my physically wounding themselves (Othello succeeded). Oedipus and Othello have several differences as well.

Othello was a good guy that let his passion take control. He could have easily evaded the situation if he had confronted his wife or Emilia about the handkerchief from the beginning. Iago is a genius that used his skills to manipulate Othello. He is not a bad man, he was just controlled by one.

Othello: Act I

As of right now, this play is driven on Iago's lust for revenge. He is holding a grudge against Othello for one reason: Othello did not promote him to lieutenant. Instead, the responsibility was given to Cassio; someone who has never been in battle. Even at the beginning of the play, Iago stirs up trouble by convincing Brabanzio that Othello has stolen his daughter. Iago, as wise as he is, enlisted the service of Roderigo in his scheme. Iago plans on using Roderigo because he is wealthy and completely in love with Othello's wife, Desdemona. Iago has created his plot for revenge and he plans on using Othello's good nature to do so.

Iago and Othello have completely different characteristics. While both of them are intelligent, Iago is more cunning then Othello. He is also more prone to succumbing to his feelings. An example of this is when Iago is not promoted to the position. That is the entire reason that he wants revenge. He has just reason to be upset, but that doesn't give him the right to go on a rampage. He let his anger get the best of him, and by doing so, he might end up taking himself down along with Othello. Even though he can come up with this intricate, step-by-step plan, I think he is not as smart as he seems to be. His entire plan is to get revenge on Othello for not giving him the position. However, it seems that all he wanted was to be lieutenant. If this is the case, then I think it would have been easier to get rid of or kill Cassio. By doing so, he would have been the only option left for the position. On the other hand, Othello is an honorable, good natured man. The Duke holds him in high regards along with basically everyone else. This is blatantly obvious when Othello is telling the Duke his story about how he won Desdemona over. At he end, the Duke is persuaded into believing Othello and even says that his own daughter would fall for him. Othello is trusted by the Duke and he trusts everyone. He believes that people are naturally good; which makes Iago's plan much easier to carry out because Othello will never expect him.

Villains can either make a story better or break it down. As of right now Iago is definitely a villain that makes it better. He is really the only person that has done anything in the play. He started a riot to try and expose Othello for being a type of man that he is not. His plan is almost flawless (as is every villainous plot); there is only one person that knows Iago was the one that deceived the senator, Ricardo. If Ricardo continues to play a part in his plan, then all should end how Iago wants it to. If he does not, however, then Iago will suffer greatly. In this play, the villain overpowers the hero tremendously(for the first act at least); paving the way for tragedy.

The Thirteenth Warrior

The 13th warrior has many similarities with Beowulf; I'm not talking about the obvious ones such as names either. The first one that comes to mind is from one of the first scenes, funerals. Although there is not three funerals throughout the film, they definitely portray how Beowulf and people during his time viewed death. After the actual burial or cremation, the funeral is a celebration. No one mourns for the dead because they are comfortable with it and have excepted that it is the way of life. They celebrate the death of their king in both beginnings of Beowulf and The Thirteenth Warrior. The elaborate and exciting funerals show that the kings must have been brave and honorable to be celebrated by everyone. The same is for the Funeral of Beowulf and Buliwyf. Both of them have large celebrations for their death. Even though Buliwyf was not as superior or manly as Beowulf, he was just as respected as Beowulf was. He was the leader that they fell on to guide them throughout the movie. Another similarity that the movie shares with Beowulf is the battles.

Yes the movie still has a Grendel, his mother, and a dragon. I, however, do not find this to be the important part of the battles, but more of the number of battles. Beowulf is shaped around three different brawls. The first with Grendel, his mother, and then the dragon. In each battle, Beowulf equips himself accordingly; wearing no armor for Grendel but then gradually wearing more and more. Controversially, in the movie Buliwyf continues to wear less and less armor. There are also four battle scenes, but they take place over a period of three days (at least I think they do). Beowulf's three battles set the time period for the fighting scenes of the movie. This is important because it shows that the movie follows the same structure as the epic poem. Beginning and ending with a funeral also shows this.

Another similarity that I saw between the two is the importance of honor. When Beowulf arrives to help out Hrothgar, he is put on the spot. His awesomeness gets questioned because he lost the swimming race. Beowulf snaps back wittingly that he only lost because he killed all of the sea monsters in that area. He also asks what Unferth has done to make him eligible to mock him. Antonio has to do the same thing in The 13th Warrior (sort of). At first, he is being made fun of for being an outsider. Some of the other men bring up his mother. It is not until he talks back in their language that they are a little impressed with him, but not quite. Before they ride out the next day, he must prove that he is capable of riding a horse well. But to finally win every one over, he has to make a sword that suits him properly and use it in front of them. Honor is an important part of both Beowulf and the movie; most likely because they deal with the same era and people.

Beowulf's death

Even in his old age, Beowulf is able to take on and kill a dragon. Beowulf does not die from getting his throat bitten by the dragon, but instead poison from the bite undertakes him. For everything that he has done, this is a wimpy way to die. I don't understand how he can get his neck bit and not die, but mere poison kills him. There is only one explanation for this, I think Beowulf chose to die. He wanted to die with honor and getting killed in action was the only way to guarantee that. He had already killed sea monsters, Grendel, Grendel's mother, and now a dragon; his life was a never ending battle. He constantly proved to others that he was the mightiest. Beowulf was strong enough to fight off the poison, but he was smart enough to know that while he was alive, he would always have to prove his strength. So he did the inevitable; he died. By letting himself get conquered by a dragon (after he took it out), he got what he wanted. He was able to protect his people, but most importantly, he died with a lifetime's amount of honor. His funeral showed how brave and honorable he truly was. Yes, Beowulf died, but his death actually made him a more illustrious hero.

In our society, our heroes don't die. It is not so much that they can't die (most of them actually can), but that we don't want them to die. Does death make someone less manly or not a hero? I don't think so; actually, I think the complete opposite. I think that someone who dies protecting what he or she believes in is more of a hero than a character that doesn't die. Mel Gibson in Braveheart is a great example. Sir William Wallace rallied Scotland to defend itself against the king of England. He died fighting for freedom for his people; his death doesn't make him less of a hero, but more. If Wallace had lived, he may not have been able to gather everyone together to win the war. His death made the Scottish join forces and fight back the English. Because he was fighting for his people Wallace became a hero, but he became a legend because his death indirectly brought freedom.

When a hero dies, it is viewed as a weakness. This is only true for some situations; it depends on how he or she died. If the hero died fighting for his honor or to protect something, then it is not a weakness. It is a sign of strength because despite the odds, the hero kept on fighting. If he defeated the villain, then he would definitely be a hero, but he would be a bigger hero if he had died fighting. His death would show his courage and in that, he would be recognized. On the other hand, if a hero died because of old age, he would be considered less heroic than someone who died fighting. A hero is bound to be more memorable if he died for an honorable cause then simply dieing. This is the case for Beowulf; he died protecting his self image and people. His death helps us remember him as a brave, courageous man.