The Deluded Self

Themes in Literature/Isolation and Community

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Preface

This volume of Themes in Literature explores the complex relationship between isolation and community through the lens of literature. The individual lessons collected here were written by college students. With a few exceptions, these lessons examine single literary texts that are readily available on the web.

The texts presented explore how societal forces and individual choices intersect to shape our understanding of belonging, displacement, and the search for meaning in a world characterized by both profound connection and stark isolation.

The selected works include a diverse collection of short stories examining the complexities of human connection and isolation. Anton Chekhov's "The Bet" delves into the psychological effects of solitude on a man imprisoned for fifteen years. This theme of isolation continues in Ray Bradbury's "Night Call, Collect," a science fiction story about an aging astronaut haunted by phone calls from Earth, and Julio Cortázar’s "The Southern Thruway," which chronicles a group of travelers trapped in a massive traffic jam. Ken Liu's "The Paper Menagerie" explores how cultural differences can lead to isolation between a Chinese immigrant mother and her American-born son. Oscar Wilde's parables, "The Happy Prince" and "The Selfish Giant," use allegorical figures to consider the consequences of selfishness and the transformative power of compassion. Finally, the collection examines "Dream House as Choose Your Own Adventure," a chapter from Carmen Maria Machado's memoir In The Dream House, recounting her experiences in an abusive relationship.

Two novels by Octavia Butler, Kindred and Dawn, explore the power dynamics in relationships shaped by historical trauma and the potential for connection and transformation despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Kindred follows Dana, a young African American woman who travels back in time to a pre-Civil War plantation, forcing her to confront the horrors of slavery and her own family history. Dawn, the first book in the Xenogenesis series, imagines a future where humanity has been rescued from the brink of extinction by the Oankali, an alien species with a unique approach to genetic engineering and community building.

The volume also analyzes a selection of poems that use vivid imagery and unconventional syntax to examine feelings of loneliness and the search for connection. Three poems by Emily Dickinson—"Much Madness is divinest Sense," "They shut me up in Prose," and "The Soul selects her own Society"—use the metaphor of confinement to explore themes of social conformity, self-expression, and the search for genuine connection. Two poems by Langston Hughes, "Let America Be America Again" and "Mother to Son," consider the challenges faced by marginalized communities in their pursuit of the American dream, using the extended metaphor of a difficult journey to convey resilience and hope.

Two short films, Belonging by Pierre Ieong and Beautiful Dreamer by David Gaddie, offer meditations on the search for connection across cultures and time. Belonging tells the story of George, a young Syrian refugee who finds solace and community in a diverse international school in Paris. Beautiful Dreamer, a science fiction film adapted from Ken Liu's short story "Memories of My Mother," explores the complexities of a mother-daughter relationship impacted by an experimental treatment that allows the mother to live for decades but only visit her daughter at certain points in her life.

Last but not least, the lesson "The Deluded Self" examines the complexities of self-delusion and its impact on perception and relationships by contrasting two texts, “Dream House as Choose Your Own Adventure” by Carmen Maria Machado and the play No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre. Machado story uses a choose-your-own-adventure format to recount experiences in an abusive relationship, emphasizing the difficulty of escaping self-deception as choices ultimately lead to the same outcome. Sartre's play explores the concept of bad faith and the façades people construct to avoid facing their true selves.

About the Authors

Butler signing

Octavia E. Butler was an American science fiction writer and a pioneer in the genre of Afrofuturism. Born in Pasadena, California, she began writing at a young age and went on to publish several critically acclaimed novels and short stories. Butler's works explore themes of identity, power, and social justice, often through the lens of speculative fiction. She was the first science fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship, also known as a "Genius Grant," and is widely regarded as one of the greatest science fiction writers of her generation. Butler's writing continues to be celebrated for its bold vision, powerful storytelling, and its ability to challenge readers to think critically about the world around them.

Carmen Maria Machado

Carmen Maria Machado is an American writer and memoirist. Born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, she is best known for her critically acclaimed debut short story collection, Her Body and Other Parties. Machado's work blends elements of science fiction, fantasy, and horror to explore themes of gender, sexuality, and identity. She has received numerous awards for her writing, including the Bard Fiction Prize and the National Book Award for Nonfiction for her memoir, In the Dream House. Machado's writing has been praised for its innovative style and powerful storytelling, and she is considered one of the most exciting voices in contemporary American literature.

Emily Dickinson was an American poet known for her unique style and innovative use of language. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1830, she lived most of her life as a recluse, and her work was largely unknown during her lifetime. After her death, her poems were discovered and published, and she is now regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson's writing is characterized by its simplicity, power, and depth, and she is known for her innovative use of punctuation and capitalization, which helped to shape modern American poetry. Her work continues to be widely read and celebrated for its honesty, insight, and beauty, and she is considered one of the greatest poets in the English language.

Langston Hughes was an American poet, playwright, and social activist. Born in Joplin, Missouri in 1902, he was one of the leading figures of the Harlem Renaissance and is widely regarded as one of the most important poets of the 20th century. Hughes was known for his writing that explored the experiences of African Americans and celebrated their culture and heritage. He wrote poetry, plays, and essays that addressed issues of race, justice, and equality, and his work remains an important part of the literary canon. Hughes' writing is known for its musical quality, humor, and insight, and he continues to be celebrated for his contributions to American literature and his legacy as a champion of social justice.

Oscar Wilde was an Irish playwright, novelist, and poet who lived from 1854 to 1900. Born in Dublin, Ireland, he was one of the most prominent figures of the Victorian era and is widely regarded as one of the greatest playwrights in the English language. Wilde was known for his wit, flamboyant personality, and his writing, which often explored themes of love, morality, and aesthetics. He wrote several successful plays, including The Importance of Being Earnest and A Woman of No Importance, and his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray remains a classic of English literature. Additionally, Wilde wrote several fairy tales and stories for children, showcasing his versatility as a writer. Wilde's legacy continues to be celebrated for his contributions to the arts and his influence on modern literature, and he is considered one of the most important writers of the 19th century.

Julio Cortázar was an Argentine writer, translator, and teacher, widely considered one of the most innovative writers of the 20th century. Born in Brussels, he spent much of his childhood in Argentina and later lived in Paris for many years. Cortázar was known for his experimental writing style and his use of unconventional narrative techniques, and his works are often characterized by their playfulness, humor, and surrealistic elements. He wrote several short stories, novels, and essays, and is best known for his works Bestiario, Final del Juego, and Rayuela. Cortázar's influence on Latin American literature and the development of the "Boom" literary movement continues to be celebrated, and he remains one of the most important figures in 20th century Latin American literature.

Ken Liu

Ken Liu is a Chinese-American science fiction and fantasy writer, translator, and computer programmer. Born in Lanzhou, China, he immigrated to the United States as a child and grew up in the Midwest. Liu has published several award-winning short stories and novellas, and is best known for his works "The Paper Menagerie," "The Wandering Earth," and "The Grace of Kings." He is also a translator of Chinese science fiction and fantasy, and has been recognized for his efforts to bring the works of Chinese authors to a wider audience. Liu's writing often explores themes of culture, identity, and technology, and he is considered one of the leading voices in the science fiction and fantasy genre.

Chekhov by Osip Braz (1898)

Anton Chekhov was a Russian playwright, short story writer, and physician, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers of short fiction in the history of world literature. Born in 1860 in Taganrog, Russia, Chekhov was the third of six children in a family of struggling merchants. Despite his humble beginnings, Chekhov was a prolific writer and produced many of his most famous works while working as a physician in rural Russia. He is best known for his plays, including The Cherry Orchard, Three Sisters, and The Seagull, and for his short stories, which often explored the lives of ordinary people and the complexities of the human condition. Chekhov's writing continues to be widely read and performed today, and his influence on modern literature is widely recognized.

Ray Bradbury was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, screenwriter, and playwright. Born in Waukegan, Illinois, Bradbury was a prolific writer who published over 27 novels and more than 600 short stories in his lifetime. He is best known for his works The Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451, and The Illustrated Man. Bradbury's writing often explored the dangers of technology, censorship, and the loss of individuality, and his works have been recognized for their poetic style, imaginative storytelling, and their impact on the science fiction genre. Bradbury received numerous awards for his writing, including the National Book Award and the Bram Stoker Award, and his legacy continues to inspire new generations of writers and readers.

Sartre 1967 crop

Jean-Paul Sartre was a 20th-century French philosopher, novelist, playwright, and political activist. He is best known as the leading exponent of existentialism. This philosophical movement emphasizes individual freedom and responsibility in a seemingly absurd world. Sartre's works, including the influential Being and Nothingness and the play No Exit, explore the complexities of human existence and the nature of consciousness. Though awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964, Sartre famously declined it, rejecting formal honors. His legacy as a profound thinker and influential intellectual continues to shape philosophical and literary discourse.

David Gaddie is an acclaimed commercial director who excels in various genres, crafting memorable characters and resonant stories. He wrote and directed the sci-fi featurette Beautiful Dreamer, which was showcased at numerous festivals, winning awards, and gaining significant online viewership. He is currently the Director and Visual Effects Supervisor of the New York-based studio Afterparty VFX.

Pierre Ieong is a talented filmmaker and visual artist known for his work in both short films and featurettes.

Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury in 1975

Ray Bradbury is one of the best-known 20th Century fantasy, horror, and science-fiction writers in the United States.  He is famous for his novel Fahrenheit 451 and the short story collections The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man. (See the Recommended Reading section at the end for more information on these works).

Bradbury was born in Waukegan, a small town in Illinois, in 1920, and lived most of his life in Los Angeles, California, where he died in 2012. A writer with unlimited imagination, Bradbury was interested in science, especially in life in other planets, though he “challenged the limits of the science fiction itself” by adding fantastical notions and a lyrical tone to his stories, which “restored wonder to a genre that, without him, might have proven dull, indeed.” While he specialized in narratives, Bradbury also wrote drama, poetry, and even musical compositions. Several of his works have been translated to many languages around the world.

Anton Chekov

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860-1904) was a Russian writer now internationally famous for his plays and short stories, partly thanks to the translations of his work by Constance Garnett into English.

Chekhov by Osip Braz (1898)

As a playwright, he is considered a key representative of early modernism. His plays The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard, for example, are said to "present a challenge to the acting ensemble as well as to audiences, because in place of conventional action Chekhov offers a 'theatre of mood' and a 'submerged life in the text'."

While studying for his medical degree, Chekov began to author comedic sketches of Russian life for humorous journals to support himself and his family. The publication of the autobiographical story "The Steppe" (1888), marked his move to more serious subjects and tales, among them “Neighbors” and “Ward Number Six” (1892), “An Anonymous Story” (1893), “The Black Monk” (1894), “The Murder" and “Ariadne” (1895), “Peasants” (1897), the trilogy “The Man in a Case,” “Gooseberries,” and “About Love” (1898) and "The Lady with the Dog" (1899), all of which helped build his reputation as the "master of the modern short story."

See links to the full text of these and other short stories under "Further reading" below.

Julio Cortázar

Julio Cortázar

Julio Cortázar was an Argentine-Belgian author, best known for his short stories, poetries, and novels. He was one of the authors at the forefront of the Latin American Boom, a literary movement from the 1960s to 1970s where Latin American works became popular throughout the world. This movement was heavily influenced by the effects of the Cold War. Many novels written during this period were defined by its unique portrayal of time and uses of magical realism, which is also what makes Cortázar's stories so appealing.

Cortázar lived in Argentina during his childhood until early adulthood, when he moved around in various parts of Europe. In Argentina, he was a professor of French literature briefly until he had to resign due to political pressure from Peronists, who were supporters of the authoritarian party at the time. They often used education as a means of propaganda to further their agenda, thus Cortázar had no place as a professor. This incident might be a source of inspiration for his seemingly anti-Peronist short story, "House Taken Over", which he wrote in the same year he lost his profession. Later, Cortázar settled in France, where he primarily stayed until his death. There, he was also an active supporter in combating the abuses of human rights in Latin America.

Ken Liu

Ken Liu

Ken Liu was born in 1976 in Lanzhou, China and spent most of his childhood with his grandparents. His mother received her PhD in chemistry, and is a pharmaceutical chemist, while his father is a computer engineer. The family immigrated to the United States when Liu was eleven years old. They lived in various states before settling in Waterford, Connecticut. Liu attended Harvard College, where he studied English Literature and Computer Science. Upon graduation, he worked as a software engineer for Microsoft. He later received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 2004 and worked as a corporate lawyer and eventually became a high-tech litigation consultant.

Liu also is famous for writing science fiction and fantasy fiction. He has won the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy awards and top genre honors in Japan, Spain, and France, among other countries. Liu has also translated the works of multiple Chinese authors into English.

Carmen Maria Machado

Carmen Maria Machado

Carmen Maria Machado is an American writer born in Allenton, Pennsylvania, in 1986. She is best known for her short story collection Her Body and Other Parties and the award-winning memoir about abuse in a lesbian relationship, In The Dream House. One of Machado’s favorite genres is horror because as a “transgressive space,” she explains in an interview, it

tells us a lot about who we are, what we are, and what we, individually and culturally, are afraid of.” Another of her interests is writing about sexual pleasure:

I feel like it’s not often done well....I’m tired of reading really dreadful sex scenes where everyone’s miserable and then eventually maybe one person has a reluctant orgasm. I thought, What if I tried to have a scene where people had sex and it was great? My characters do have sex in varying emotional states, and with various results.

While Machado admits to having cried while completing some of her most personal writing, she determinedly balances her expressions of vulnerability with bluntness so as not to seem soft or sentimental.

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Oscar Wilde was an Irish poet and playwright who lived in the Victorian Era, a time of great wealth inequality. He was widely known as a society wit and as an advocate of the Aesthetic Movement, which advocated "art for the sake of the art." The Happy Prince and Other Tales and its follow-up, the fairy-tale collection A House of Pomegranates are part of his early work, written after the birth of his two sons, Cyril and Vyvyan. Wilde's best-known work for adults (Lady Windermere’s Fan, The Importance of Being Earnest, and The Picture of Dorian Gray ) was published during the last decade of his life.

After losing a libel case against the marquess of Queensberry, who had accused him of being a "sodomite," Wilde had to serve two years of prison with hard labor, after which he moved to France. He died penniless in Paris, of meningitis, on November 30, 1900.

The Happy Prince

Background of the text

Oscar Wilde's tale "The Happy Prince" is a short story about friendship, kindness, and how selfless love can heal. It was first published in 1888 as part of the short story collection The Happy Prince and Other Tales. Other stories in the collection are "The Nightingale and the Rose," "The Selfish Giant," "The Devoted Friend," and "The Remarkable Rocket." Through the stories in the book, Wilde criticizes the attitudes of Victorian society in ways that are still relevant today.

Read the first edition of "The Happy Prince" here.

Synopsis of the story

The statue of the recently deceased Happy Prince stands high above the city on a tall column. He watches over the city in agony as his people suffer. A small Swallow flies over the city one night. Six weeks before, his friends had gone to Egypt for the winter, but he had stayed behind because he was in love with the most beautiful Reed. He arrives in town and takes refuge at the feet of the Happy Prince’s statue. The Swallow notices the prince was crying, and the prince explains that he is sad because he had spent his entire life in palace, despite all the misery in his kingdom, and had never experienced such pain. Now that he is a statue, he can see his people's suffering, so he requests that the Swallow distribute the gemstones and gold leaves from his form to various families in need.

The Happy Prince's statue (p 6)

Because the Swallow has come to love the prince, he stays with him. When winter arrives, the Happy Prince statue loses its beauty, and the Swallow dies from the harsh cold, thus breaking the prince’s heart. When the city Mayor notices the statue's poor condition, he decides to demolish it, melt it, and erect a new statue of himself. The prince’s lead heart and the Swallow are discarded because they seem worthless to the Mayor and Town Councilors. However, when God requests that an Angel bring him the most valuable items in the city, the Angel brings him the dead Swallow and the Prince's heart. God tells the Angel he has rightly chosen.

Characters

THE PRINCE

The Prince is revived from the dead as a golden statue and placed on a platform overlooking his domain. The Happy Prince's monument is characterized as gorgeous, and his name is an irony reflecting his anguish at seeing his kingdom's inequity. Despite his given name, laments his city's tragedy and the lack of compassion shown by those in positions of affluence toward those in need.

THE SWALLOW

On his way to Egypt, the Swallow stops to rest on the statue of the Happy Prince. When asked to assist the townspeople, he is initially standoffish towards the Prince’s requests. Eventually, the Swallow becomes a generous, compassionate, and friendly creature.  He falls in love with the Prince and stays with him until his death.

THE REED

 Although she only appears briefly in the story, the Reed is responsible for the Swallow's delay in traveling to Egypt. He tries to court her. However, his friends criticize the relationship because of her poverty and numerous lovers. She decides not to travel to Egypt with the Swallow, effectively ending their relationship.

THE LITTLE MATCH-GIRL

She a child weeping because she dropped her matches in the gutter and cannot bring her father any money. She is afraid her father will hit her. The swallow gives him the Happy Prince's second sapphire.

THE TOWN COUNCILORS

They first appreciate the monument's appearance, but then refer to it as "shabby" and finally destroy it to replace it with a statue of the mayor.

THE BEATIFUL GIRL

The seamstress (p 29b)

She was dissatisfied with the seamstress's preparation of her dress for the state ball, and she told her boyfriend about it.

THE SEAMSTRESS

She is embroidering passionflowers on a satin robe for a member of the royal family, but she has nothing to feed her sick child. The swallow gives her the Happy Prince's ruby.

THE PLAYWRIGHT

He is attempting to complete a play for the Theatre Director, but he is too chilly and hungry to continue writing. The swallow sends him a sapphire from the Happy Prince.

THE GROUP OF OLD JEWS

They are negotiating and using copper scales to weigh money.

GOD

He requests that an angel deliver him the two most valuable items in the city. The angel sends him the heart of lead and the corpse of the bird. God affirms that the angel made the correct decision.

Themes

BEAUTY

Oscar Wilde was an advocate for the Aesthetic Movement – Art for The Sake of The Art - that influenced most of his work. The narrator of “The Happy Prince” starts by describing the aesthetic beauty of the prince’s statue and its majesty, focusing on the richness of the statue:

High above the city, on a tall column, stood the statue of the Happy Prince. He was gilded all over with thin leaves of fine gold, for eyes he had two bright sapphires, and a large red ruby glowed on his sword-hilt.

One of the Council members' opinions reveals that his values were foolish and based on the external aesthetic and beauty:

He is as beautiful as a weathercock," remarked one of the Town Councilors who wished to gain a reputation for having artistic tastes; ‘only not quite so useful,’ he added, fearing lest people should think him unpractical, which he really was not.

Such values based on external beauty appear to be contagious and a common behavior among the privileged class of society of the tale. The narrator describes the Happy Prince’s statue from the perspective of a child and his Master. The children's view of the statue as perfect reflects the information they receive about the world in which they live:

He looks just like an angel," said the Charity Children as they came out of the cathedral in their bright scarlet cloaks and their clean white pinafores. "How do you know?" said the Mathematical Master, "you have never seen one." "Ah! but we have, in our dreams," answered the children; and the Mathematical Master frowned and looked very severe, for he did not approve of children dreaming.

The concept of beauty takes precedence over the usefulness or utility of things. It demonstrates society's obsession with beauty as surface. The fact that the characters in the story who appreciate beauty appear to be all from high society is satirizing society's lack of understanding of what is the beauty of art and what is useless.

INEQUALITY

Another major theme in "The Happy Prince" is inequality. When the Happy Prince asks the Swallow to fly over his kingdom and report to him what he sees, the Swallow observes that “the rich [were] making merry in their beautiful houses, while the beggars were sitting at the gates. [Then h]e flew into dark lanes and saw the white faces of starving children looking out listlessly at the black streets.” In fact, it is the indifference of the wealthy and privileged for those in need which contributes significantly to the misery of the less fortunate. The Swallow notices this inequity while flying to aid someone in need: he witnesses a beautiful girl moaning to her lover about a seamstress's poor work, which may cause her dress to be late for the night ball; then the Swallow goes in a room where a poor youngster is tossing and turning in his bed, and his mother, the beautiful girl's seamstress, has fallen asleep exhausted of a job that did not pay her enough to purchase her son medication.

This story is an open and honest critique of the privilege that existed in that society at the time, which only served to reinforce cycles of inequality and separation for those in need. This critique is timeless because, despite being pointed out, society continues to maintain its unequal conditions.

LOVE AND KINDNESS

“The Happy Prince” also conveys a positive message about the transformative power of love and compassion. The prince embodies the same values as Jesus, who gave his life to suffer to alleviate humanity's suffering. Previously unaware of his kingdom's inequity, the prince now sees how society behaves and the consequences. To make up for his previous life of luxury, he devotes himself to helping others and save his kingdom. In the beginning of the story, the Happy Prince expresses his dissatisfaction with his past when he says:

When I was alive and had a human heart […], I did not know what tears were, for I lived in the Palace of Sans- Souci, where sorrow is not allowed to enter. In the daytime I played with my companions in the garden, and in the evening, I led the dance in the Great Hall. Round the garden ran a very lofty wall, but I never cared to ask what lay beyond it, everything about me was so beautiful. My courtiers called me the Happy Prince, and happy indeed I was, if pleasure be happiness. So, I lived, and so I died. And now that I am dead, they have set me up here so high that I can see all the ugliness and all the misery of my city, and though my heart is made of lead, yet I cannot choose but weep.

Love and kindness spread like wildfire. The Swallow pauses his journey to Egypt to assist the prince in his efforts to help those in need of his kingdom. Such actions make the Swallow realize how good it is to help others; once he returns from his first flight to assist a needy family, the Swallows share with the Happy Prince how he feels about it: "It is curious, […] but I feel quite warm now, although it is so cold." The prince explains: "That is because you have done a good action.” Love serves as a countervailing force to the unfairness and decaying standards of the society. The beauty of this Wilde tale is that even though it was written and published more than a century ago, the lessons it contains about life continue to be relevant even today.

Symbols

CHILDREN

Poor children under the bridge (p 21a)

Wilde used innocent characters to show how society's harmful deeds may tarnish a child's innocence and lead to the recurrence of cycles of inequity and injustice. Children were invoked as symbols of human greed and injustice's devastating force. For instance, when the speaker narrates “He passed over the river, and saw the lanterns hanging to the masts of the ships. He passed over the Ghetto, and saw the old Jews bargaining with each other, and weighing out money in copper scales. At last he came to the poor house and looked in. The boy was tossing feverishly on his bed, and the mother had fallen asleep, she was so tired. In he hopped, and laid the great ruby on the table beside the woman's thimble. Then he flew gently round the bed, fanning the boy's forehead with his wings. 'How cool I feel," said the boy, "l must be getting better"; and he sank into a delicious slumber.”

THE PRINCE' S LEAD HEART

When the prince’s dear friend, the Swallow, died of cold, the prince’s lead heart cracked into pieces. The mayor of the city then melts the Happy Prince statue to construct a new statue of himself, and the lead heart is thrown away as garbage, but is rescued by one of God’s angels. The lead heart represents genuine beauty, not superficial beauty. Although the Happy Prince was made of gold and stone gems, his true beauty lay within.

THE STATUE  

“The Happy Prince” is a parable used to communicate Christian values to a dysfunctional society. The statue represents Jesus and his tender love for humanity, who saw the suffering and dedicated his life on earth to helping those in need.

Further reading

Oscar Wilde at Project Gutenberg:

• A House of Pomegranates https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/873
• Lady Windermere’s Fan https://www.gutenberg.org/files/790/790-h/790-h.htm
• The Importance of Being Earnest https://www.gutenberg.org/files/844/844-h/844-h.htm
• The Picture of Dorian Gray. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/174/174-h/174-h.htm Also, the novel's manuscript and transcription at Wikisource https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Picture_of_Dorian_Gray

Oscar Wilde at the Internet Archive

Rupert Hart-Davies, The Letters of Oscar Wilde. New York: Hartcourt, Brace and World, 1962. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.225943

The Selfish Giant

Text

Read the text for The Selfish Giant on Wikisource: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Happy_Prince_and_Other_Tales/The_Selfish_Giant

Summary

A Giant had a beautiful garden where children loved to play while he was abroad for seven years. When he returned, he was upset to find the children in his garden, so he built a wall around it and put up a sign threatening anyone who entered without his permission. From then on, the children were forced to play on the dusty, hard road. Because of this selfish act, Spring, Summer, and Autumn stopped visiting the Giant’s garden, leaving only Winter.

As the months passed, the Giant became puzzled as to why the seasons did not change. One morning, he finally heard a bird singing in the garden. When he looked out the window, he saw that the children had sneaked back in, causing Spring to return and the trees and flowers to blossom again. However, Winter still remained in one part of the garden where a little boy was crying because he couldn't reach up to climb a nearby tree. The Giant realized that his selfishness had caused Spring to avoid his garden. He felt very sorry and resolved to destroy the wall so the children could play there whenever they wanted.

The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888)

But when the Giant went into the garden, the children ran away, afraid of him, except for the little boy who was still crying. The Giant gently picked him up and helped him into the tree, which immediately burst into bloom and filled with singing birds. The little boy then kissed the Giant for helping him.

The Giant tore down the wall and let the children play in the garden as much as they wanted. When evening came and the children had to go home, the Giant looked for the little boy who had kissed him, but he was nowhere to be found. The other children did not know who he was or where he lived. Many years passed before the Giant saw the little boy again.

At the end of the story, the Giant was old, and it was Winter in his garden again. He looked out of the window and saw a golden tree with silver fruit and white flowers. Under this golden tree was the little boy he loved best of all the children. Filled with joy, he ran down to meet him but then turned angry because the child had wounds in his hands and feet. The Giant demanded to know who had hurt his friend. The little boy told him not to be angry, explaining that the wounds in his hands and feet represented divine love: he was Christ, and to reward the Giant’s generosity, he had come to take him to God’s garden, which is Paradise.

References

Analysis

The short story "The Selfish Giant" is a Christian tale that conveys the message that selfishness leads to misery. The story begins with the Giant refusing to let children play in his garden, building a wall around it to keep them out. He justifies his actions by saying, "My own garden is my own garden, anyone can understand that, and I will allow nobody to play in it but myself." The garden symbolizes the Giant’s heart. As a result of his selfishness, Spring does not visit the garden, and only Winter, Hail, Snow, and Frost remain, mirroring the coldness in the Giant's heart.

Despite achieving his goal of enjoying the garden alone, the Giant is unhappy. He wonders when Spring will come: "I cannot understand why the Spring is so late in coming," he says, as he sits at the window and looks out at his cold white garden; "I hope there will be a change in the weather." Spring represents a time of renewal and beauty, as well as Easter, which commemorates Jesus' resurrection—a time when love and sacrifice are remembered.

Spring only returns to the garden when the children are allowed back in to play. The Giant's heart softens, and like the weather, it becomes beautiful again:

One morning the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard some lovely music. It sounded so sweet to his ears that he thought it must be the King's musicians passing by. It was really only a little linnet singing outside his window, but it was so long since he had heard a bird sing in his garden that it seemed to him to be the most beautiful music in the world..” “.And the Giant's heart melted as he looked out."

This story highlights the importance of community over isolation. When isolated, the Giant is unhappy, but by opening his heart and his garden to the children, he finds joy and fulfillment.

In the end, the Giant is rewarded for his change of heart and his newfound generosity. The little boy, who is revealed to be Christ in disguise, bears the marks of crucifixion: "For on the palms of the child's hands were the prints of two nails, and the prints of two nails were on the little feet." Recognizing Christ, the Giant is redeemed and welcomed into Paradise. This signifies that he has been accepted into the Christian community and heaven.

The story uses symbols to convey its message. The garden represents the Giant’s heart; the wall symbolizes his attempt to guard himself and keep others out. The changing seasons reflect the state of the Giant’s heart—Spring and Summer bring beauty and life, while Winter represents his selfishness and isolation. The story demonstrates that when the Giant allows the children, symbols of innocence and goodwill, into his garden, he is redeemed. The adverse weather and the absence of fruit in the garden illustrate how selfishness drives others away: “But the Spring never came, nor the Summer. The Autumn gave golden fruit to every garden, but to the Giant’s garden she gave none. 'He is too selfish,' she said."

We can all relate to this moral, understanding that unkindness and selfishness can lead to isolation, while generosity and kindness foster community and bring joy.

Questions To Think About

1. When was the last nice deed you did for someone? What was it and why?
2. Did you think it was nice of the Selfish Giant to keep the children from playing in his garden?
3. How did the Giant try to be nice to the children towards the end of the story?
4. How did the Giant change from the beginning of the story to the end?

Word Scramble!

Unscramble the words below to discover key words from the story. Click to find out the answers!

INGSPR
Template:SPRING

ECLHNDRI
Template:CHILDREN

NGEARD
Template:GARDEN

EHRAT
Template:HEART

VEOL
Template:LOVE

SHELIFS
Template:SELFISH

SIPRDAAE
Template:PARADISE

LWREOSF
Template:FLOWERS

SOSLMOSB
Template:BLOSSOMS

ANTIG
Template:ANTIG

Octavia E. Butler

Butler signing

Born in Pasadena in 1947, Octavia E. Butler was a prolific female black American science fiction author who heavily featured afro-futurism and feminism in her writing. She was raised by her mother and grandmother, after her father’s death, and took on jobs that would allow her enough free time to write. Despite many rejections early on in her career, her literature has received some of the most prestigious literary awards, including the prestigious Hugo Award for her novelette Bloodchild and her short story “Speech Sounds”, an acknowledgement for best in science fiction of the year preceding the award. She also received Nebula Awards, which also recognizes exceptional work in the science fiction genre, for her aforementioned novelette, Bloodchild and her novel, Parable of The Talents. Butler was also the first writer to obtain a MacArthur Fellowship. A complete list of her awards and literature can be found on her website. Butler died in February 2006. It was only near the end of her life when her stories—focused as they were on feminism, global warming, racial and other social injustice—became more widely known and loved, as present society’s focus tilted towards these concerns. Today, her books, poems and essays are taught in schools.

Dawn

Our hierarchical tendencies are older and all too often, they drive our intelligence – that is, they drive us to use our intelligence to try to dominate one another... Tolerance, like any aspect of peace, is forever a work in progress, never completed, and, if we're as intelligent as we like to think we are, never abandoned.

-Octavia E. Butler, "Essay On Racism." 

Text

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler is the first novel in the three-part Xenogenesis series, also known as Lilith’s Brood. The novel was first published in 1987. The text is available at the Internet Archive for those with print disabilities https://archive.org/details/dawn0000butl

Overview

If they had been able to perceive and solve their problem, they might have been able to avoid destruction. Of course, they too would have to remember to reexamine themselves periodically.

-Jdhaya, an Oankali.

Atomic Effects at Hiroshima

Butler came from a Christian background, Baptist to be specific, during President Reagan’s term. Both of those influences are clear in Dawn. Butler tells the story of Lilith, akin to her biblical namesake, who is isolated from the human community in part because of a nuclear disaster—a real threat in the 1980s when the book was written. Inspired by the political affairs of Butler’s time, this speculative fiction hypothesizes how human folly (social hierarchy and a willingness to kill) could result in the annihilation of the human race. The threat of nuclear war is not unknown to the present and real world. Lilith struggles to find a sense of belonging with both humans and Oankali, creating the theme of isolation and community in the book. Dawn also presented subthemes such as consent, which humans were denied; transformation, the catalyst for the book’s conflict; violence, which starts and ends the book; power, which the Oankali held; and the chance for a new beginning, the Oankali’s gift to humanity. The story, foretelling a possible future for humanity, sans the alien intervention of course, warns that unless we make changes, we will destroy ourselves.

Analysis

Dawn tells the story, following the destruction of the Earth, of a woman saved by an alien species, the Oankali, for the purpose of ensuring both the aliens’ and humanity’s survival. The Oankali rely on interspecies breeding, through genetic manipulation, for the continuation of their people. They were overdue for such a transaction when they came upon the humans who needed help restoring the Earth that they had made inhabitable through nuclear warfare.

The protagonist's name, Lilith, refers to a prominent character in the Judeo-Christian creation story. Lilith was the first woman created and refused to submit to and procreate with the first man, Adam. Her nature is debated. Some scholars present her as angelic for her strength, autonomy and marriage to an archangel, while others think she was demonic for refusing Adam to instead produce demon heirs with a fallen angel and hating the children of Adam and Eve – humans. A reader can argue which version they think the protagonist alludes to in Dawn. Like Pentateuch-Lilith, she consorts with and will produce children with non-humans – the aliens. Both representations of Lilith are locked out of Eden (in the case of Dawn, the new Earth and home of the humans), and she becomes the mother of a non-human species. One can likewise argue whether the Oankali (aliens) are evil or not. Some readers may interpret them as demons because they take humans hostage, deny them their God-given free will and seduce them from what is natural to them. Other readers may see them as angels because they save humanity and give them back their Earth. I find both to be true in part. The Oankali are not entirely altruistic in that they provided aid because they need something in return. They did, however, save humanity from genocide. They provide a trade: doing to humans what we have historically done to other humans and animals, i.e., eugenics, lab testing and the involuntary detainment of the “insane.”

The theme of isolation and community is prominent in the story. Lilith is first isolated by the loss of her human family on Earth and then completely isolated in her first alien quarters. It almost drives her mad because humans are social beings, as Lilith tries to explain to the Oankali on numerous occasions. Lilith is then welcomed into the Oankali society and given a new community, but she is still isolated from humans, resulting in new distress. When she is given her desire of a human community, she is then separated physically from the Oankali and emotionally from the humans. She is no longer quite human, but neither is she Oankali. She fits nowhere.

Community is further presented when the awakened humans immediately form cliques based on shared politics. By the end of the book, Lilith is forcefully impregnated by the Oankali with another human’s sperm. The biological father of her baby is named Joseph, one of the humans that Lilith guided through orientation for a return to Earth and the Oankali’s second choice to be leader of the awakened humans. He later became her lover, ally and the second human, after Lilith, to undergo genetic modification. This pregnancy might give her the opportunity to create a new family/community in which her genetic uniqueness does not isolate her, as the child would be genetically and biologically similar to her. At the very least, the child would be more like her than either Oankali or humans could ever be and, growing up in this new world, will be much better assimilated with the Oankali than Lilith is.

Xenophobia and xenophilia are reoccurring subthemes in Dawn that cause both segregation and creation of community. Fear of “the other” (xenophobia) has been a major cause of segregation amongst humans. This prejudice is demonstrated in the awakened humans’ visceral reaction of terror towards the Oankali. Here is a preliminary interaction between Joseph, a human, and Nikanj, an Oankali:  

I don’t understand why the sight of you should scare me so,” Joseph said. He did not sound frightened. “You don’t look that threatening. Just… very different.” “Different is threatening to most species,” Nikanj answered. “Different is dangerous. It might kill you. That was true to your animal ancestors and your nearest animal relatives. And it’s true for you.                                                        

For all their social superiority and mission to find and interbreed with beings who are “other,” even the Oankali demonstrate xenophobia through their initial fear of humans. This might suggest that segregation of human communities as a result of racism will be a difficult issue for the real world to overcome. Xenophilia is likewise present throughout the book in the humans’ eventual however reluctant desire for intimacy with the aliens and the Oankali’s primary motive being interspecies breeding for the creation of a single human-Oankali species.

Humans are portrayed as being both a cancer to the Earth and themselves. Butler, through the Oankali, points out that, in order for our species to survive, we must evolve away from social hierarchy and to come together, both culturally and biologically. To that end, is it not interesting that the Oankali choose a Black femme to restart the world, one of the lowest strati of the present social hierarchy of today’s society?

Lillith by John Collier. The artist depicts her, as do most artists’ renditions, as white.

Further, Lilith is also queer because she has sexual relations with a non-human being that is neither male nor female (gender-neutral). A leader of humanity who is queer, a person of color, and female would certainly be a social reset. I think the Oankali focused on minority individuals such as Lilith and Joseph to lead the new race of humanity because having the rescued humans look towards such characters as their leader might prevent the Caucasian history of racial prejudice to continue. The Oankali chose Lilith, not just because of her will to live and ability to adapt, but because she would be less likely to perpetuate intolerance towards minorities and people who are “other”—white male supremacy.

This then presents another important subtheme of the text, transformation. That is, transformation into a single community where there is no more alien versus human, or nation against nation but one new cohesive species. The premise of the book is that humanity, because of a genetic predisposition towards hierarchical separation and willingness to kill, destroys itself. This acts as catalyst for the Oankali to rescue the surviving humans with the intention of modifying both themselves and humans to create something new. The only way for either species to survive was to merge and become a new people. As the Oankali Jdahya tells her, “[y]our people will change. Your young will be more like ours and ours more like you.” Throughout the book, Lilith and later Joseph undergo genetic adjustments to make them into something less like their original selves, creating a small and therefore very isolated and shunned set of people. The Oankali explain to Lilith that there were characteristics intrinsic to human nature that ensured their demise and that the only way to prevent another apocalypse is to move beyond this instinct. This lesson seems to be the Octavia Butler’s inspiration for writing the book. Dawn tells of an end to humanity if it continues its current path of war and segregation created by intolerance. The only recourse, then, is evolution. Jdaya promises Lilith, "You'll begin again. We'll put you in areas that are clean of radioactivity and history. You will become something other than you were.” The Oankali-human alliance would leave their new species free of the human hierarchical tendencies that lead to strife between peoples.

Critical thinking questions

• How does the presentation of themes like xenophobia in this book relate to racism and other kinds of separatism and animosity between groups of people in the real world? Does this make you view the effects of prejudice with new perspective?

• The novel acknowledges that practices like eugenics, involuntary sterilization of and genetic testing on people of color have been practiced by humans, and yet the awakened were horrified when the Oankali decided to do the same to them. How do you think that our othering of minority groups allows us to validate practices like these?

• As in most of her books, Octavia Butler pushes boundaries of sexuality and gender, longstanding causes of ostracism. When Butler wrote Dawn, ideas like gender non-conformity (GNC) and gender non-binarism were neither well known nor widely accepted in our predominantly heteronormative society. In Dawn, Octavia presents the gender neutral Ooloi and presents the humans with a new world where they must accept this gender diversity as a part of their new social order. As gender non-conformity and gender fluidity become more noticeable in the 21^st century, how has the book impacted the way you interact with people of non-normative genders and sexuality and whether you welcome or ostracize them?
• Octavia Butler does an amazing job at creating complex characters. Do you perceive the Oankali as savior or jailer, good or evil? Do you think that creating community is always the best goal? For example, were the feelings of animosity and betrayal expressed by the characters that rejected Lilith justifiable or understandable? What kind of barriers might exist in creating a positive, healthy community?
• In terms of social norms, human and Oankoli society are polar opposites. While the Oaskoli are not perfect, their society is built on harmony, empathy and equality. Does their culture present any solutions for the human condition?
• In the book, humans were locked up in solitary confinement, in their pods and cells during interrogation, and in “gen pop”. Later they will be further controlled by the Oankali on Earth, for their own good. In all of these cases, the Oankloli were in charge, which created a divide of controlled captive and jailer. How has the human response to this captivity made you think of incarceration and the prison system where “criminals” are held apart from the rest of society? What, if anything, does this isolation and rigid control suggest about the potential impact of the prison system and the relationship it creates between prisoners, law enforcement officers and the rest of the public without proper rehabilitation of released prisoners?

• Without the intervention of aliens, how can humanity overcome its inclination to isolate themselves into individual communities based on every difference we can find between us? How might we create a cohesive and cooperative community? How do we overcome intolerance of the “other” – xenophobia?

Extension activity

Choose one of the following:

1. Identify marginalized people within your community and find ways to make them feel involved with and cared for by the wider community. An easy place to start could be volunteering for engagement activities in a nursing home or at a food pantry within your immediate community
2. Become an activist through outreach. People in detention facilities and prisons are isolated from the rest of society. Consider participating in efforts that help individuals like these feel less alone. Black and Pink is one prison abolition group with a focus on LGTBQ and HIV-positive inmates that enables volunteers to become pen pals to the incarcerated, offering emotional support.

Other novels in the Xenogenesis series

Adulthood Rites

In this sequel to Dawn, humanity’s future intertwines with that of the alien Oankali through Akin, the first true human-Oankali hybrid. Born with extraordinary abilities, Akin must navigate his unique identity and decide the fate of both species as they coexist on a transformed Earth.

Imago

The final book in the series follows Jodahs, a human-Oankali hybrid who matures into the first ooloi (a third gender of the alien Oankali species, capable of manipulating genetic material to create hybrids and ensure genetic diversity). As Jodahs seeks to find mates among human resisters, he faces the challenge of bridging the gap between species and ensuring the survival of both humanity and the Oankali.

---

Kindred1

So I was sold at last! A human being sold in the free city of New York! The bill of sale is on record, and future generations will learn from it that women were articles of traffic in New York, late in the nineteenth century of the Christian religion.

-Harriet Ann Jacobs, from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself (1861).

Text

Kindred is a novel by American writer Octavia E. Butler, first published in 1979, which remains widely popular. The story incorporates time travel and draws inspiration from slave narratives, including the autobiography of Frederick Douglass, who, like the novel's protagonist, was a slave in Maryland. Here is an audio version of the text at the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/Kindred/KindredunabridgedPart9.mp3

Context

Kindred is the first-person account of Dana, a young African-American writer who finds herself transported in time between her 1976 home in Los Angeles, California, and a Maryland plantation before the Civil War. There, she meets her ancestors: a proud Black freewoman and a white planter who has forced her into slavery. As Dana's stays in the past lengthen, she becomes deeply entangled with the plantation community, making difficult choices to survive slavery and ensure her return to her own time.

Butler often said she was inspired to write the novel after hearing a young Black militant classmate speak contemptuously of those who had been enslaved, claiming what he would or would not have tolerated if he had been in their position. She wanted people like him to not only understand the facts of slavery but to grasp its emotional impact and recognize that even surviving such an institution made their ancestors heroic.

Analysis: America is a disabled body

I lost an arm on my last trip home. My left arm. And I lost about a year of my life and much of the comfort and security I had not valued until it was gone.

Dana's opening lines in Kindred.

In Kindred, Butler reveals how slavery has disabled America. The reader follows Dana, the protagonist, as she moves between her present-day life in Los Angeles and a pre-Civil War plantation in Maryland. During these trips to the past, Dana repeatedly risks her life to save her white ancestor, Rufus, a dangerous slave master, while facing the brutality and horror of slavery. Through Dana and Rufus's relationship, Butler portrays the deep connection between Black and white people, illustrating how intertwined their lives are and how much they impact each other.

Dana's actions in the past directly affect her present, emphasizing that our histories are interconnected. Dana saves Rufus so that he can meet Alice and have children, ensuring Dana's own existence. Meanwhile, Rufus relies on Dana for his survival, despite the dangers he himself creates. This dependency highlights the relationship between Black and white people in America, a country founded by white people but built on the labor of Black people. Without the contributions of Black people, America would not be the powerful nation it is today. In 1965, James Baldwin addressed this dynamic in a now famous debate with William F. Buckley:

It is a terrible thing for an entire people to surrender to the notion that one-ninth of its population is beneath them. And until that moment, until the moment comes when we, the Americans, we, the American people, are able to accept the fact, that I have to accept, for example, that my ancestors are both white and Black. That on that continent we are trying to forge a new identity for which we need each other and that I am not a ward of America. I am not an object of missionary charity. I am one of the people who built the country–until this moment there is scarcely any hope for the American dream, because the people who are denied participation in it, by their very presence, will wreck it.

Baldwin emphasizes that many African Americans have white ancestry, and that acknowledging this shared history is crucial for America's growth. The white and Black experiences may differ, but our collective history binds us together. Butler's choice to make Rufus and Dana related underscores this connection, illustrating that we all come from the same source. It challenges the notion that one community can be praised while another is disregarded, reminding us that we are one unit, working together like the human body, where all parts are interdependent. When one community is silenced and disabled, the entire humanity is disabled; if one community cannot function, that directly affects other communities.

The novel prompts readers to reflect on who truly represents America. In American media, white people are often privileged and prominently featured, depicted as the face of the nation. This is evident in politics, sports, and entertainment. However, Butler offers a different perspective on America's identity, highlighting the reality that America was built on the oppression of Black people. Kindred expresses this idea through its realistic portrayal of slavery and the trauma that Africans endured at the hands of their white oppressors. Dana, an educated woman, understands the hardships of slavery intellectually, but when she experiences it firsthand, as when she witnesses the whipping of a slave, she realizes the depth of its horrors:

I had seen people beaten on television and in the movies. I had seen the too-red blood substitute streaked across their backs and heard their well-rehearsed screams. But I hadn’t lain nearby and smelled their sweat or heard them pleading and praying, shamed before their families and themselves. I was probably less prepared for the reality than the child crying not far from me. In fact, she and I were reacting very much alike. My face too was wet with tears. And my mind was darting from one thought to another, trying to tune out the whipping.

This description suggests that slavery was far worse than America portrays, with the inhumanity and shame often concealed by an inaccurate narrative. Langston Hughes, an African American poet and social activist known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance, hints at this hidden shame in his poem "I, Too." Hughes writes,

Tomorrow
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen"
Then.

Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—
I, too, am America. (8-17)

In these lines, Hughes envisions a future where America acknowledges the contributions and sacrifices of Black people, recognizing their essential role in the nation's survival and growth.

American history includes many instances when we the people as a nation were left disabled, starting with the creation of slavery. America was built on the desire for England to exert more control over the colonies, with the nation founded in a fight for freedom and justice. Yet, this fight paradoxically led to the prolonged and ongoing oppression of Black people. Langston Hughes addresses this contradiction in his poem “Let America Be America Again,” where he writes,

O, let America be America again
The land that never has been yet
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again. (60-68)

Hughes argues that America has never truly been a land of freedom, emphasizing the immense contributions of Black people in building the nation, starting with African slavery, which was widespread in the United States from its founding in 1776 until the end of the Civil War in 1865, particularly in the South. Even after Reconstruction, the economic and social structures of slavery persisted through segregation, sharecropping, and convict leasing.

Kindred illuminates the devastating impact of slavery through the character Sarah, the plantation's cook whose children were sold into bondage to fund her mistress' finery. Dana's observations of Sarah's quiet but powerful anger reveal the depths of her suffering and the absurdity of a system that exploits those who sustain it: “The expression in [Sarah's] eyes had gone from sadness—she seemed almost ready to cry—to anger. Quiet, almost frightening anger. Her husband died, three children sold, the fourth defective, and she had to thank God for the defect. She had reason for more than anger. How amazing that Weylin had sold her children and still kept her to cook his meals. How amazing that he was still alive.” Similarly, the slave Alice tragically succumbs to the trauma inflicted by her white enslaver, Rufus, ultimately taking her own life.

Butler masterfully uses Sarah and Alice to symbolize the enduring psychological scars of slavery, suggesting that the trauma inflicted on enslaved individuals reverberates through generations. As Nathan Nunn's research on the long-term consequences of the African slave trade indicates, slavery's impact extends far beyond economic disparities:

Although research understanding the long-term impacts of Africa’s slave trades is still in progress, the evidence accumulated up to this point suggests that this historic event played an important part in the shaping of the continent, in terms of not only economic outcomes, but cultural and social outcomes as well. The evidence suggests that it has affected a wide range of important outcomes, including economic prosperity, ethnic diversity, institutional quality, the prevalence of conflict, the prevalence of HIV, trust levels, female labour force participation rates, and the practice of polygyny. Thus, the slave trades appear to have played an important role in shaping the fabric of African society today.

Descendants of enslaved people have inherited a complex legacy of trauma, resilience, and survival. Raised within families shaped by the experience of slavery, they have internalized the historical wounds of their ancestors while navigating a society still marked by the enduring consequences of systemic racism. These ongoing challenges, such as disparities in employment, housing, and education, perpetuate a cycle of oppression that hinders the full potential of Black Americans. They are often marginalized and silenced, facing obstacles like being passed over for job and housing opportunities, and suffering harassment and violence due to their race. This creates a world where Black people cannot live up to their full potential, echoing the survival rather than living experienced by their enslaved ancestors.

Butler's protagonist, Dana, embodies the potential that was stifled by slavery. A talented writer like her white husband, Dana demonstrates the intellectual capacity that was systematically denied to enslaved people. Alice, who looks exactly like Dana, represents the lost potential caused by slavery. She serves as a haunting reminder of the countless individuals whose lives and dreams were extinguished by the brutal institution of slavery. Alice could have been as successful as Dana and many other of the Weylin slaves had their own talents but were not allowed to explore them.

By denying Black people equal opportunities, society has also limited its own progress. A nation that truly values freedom and equality would foster a climate where all individuals can thrive, regardless of their race. Butler's novel serves as a powerful testament to the enduring legacy of slavery and the urgent need for continued efforts to dismantle the systems of oppression that persist today.

I touched the scar Tom Weylin’s boot had left on my face, touched my empty left sleeve.... "Why did I even want to come here. You’d think I would have had enough of the past."

Dana, talking to her husband after trying to find historical records of the Weylin plantation. Kindred, Epilogue.

The ADA defines a person with a disability as someone who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. If we think of America as a body, slavery has limited its major life activities. The oppression of slavery has prevented the nation from experiencing the full potential of African American people. Slavery has traumatized an entire group of people, and its effects are still evident today. We see the prejudgment of Black people in politics, media, schools, and the workforce. Butler symbolizes America's disability through the scars and, in the case of Dana, the loss of a limb at the end of the novel. Both Dana and America understand that life will never be the same and that they must forever live with the legacy of slavery. These injuries represent the lifelong effects that slavery has had on Black people and the lasting scar it has left on America.

Critical thinking questions

• In Kindred, Butler depicts the community within the slaves and how they come together to help Dana. Without the isolating experience of slavery, do you think the slaves would have still had a sense of community and risk their own lives to help her?
• If you were born during the time of slavery would you take the risk of escaping?
• What long-term effects do you think slavery caused on African American people?

Further reading

The linked articles and videos below show the struggle and fight for justice that not only African American people experience but minorities as a whole.

• James Doubek, "Reimagining the James Baldwin and William F. Buckley Debate." An NPR discussion of the revisitation of the debate between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley from 1965, focusing on the American Dream’s impact on African Americans. It includes a link to a video of the original debate. https://www.npr.org/2020/09/20/914548619/reimagining-the-james-baldwin-and-william-f-buckley-debate
• Ta-Nehisi Coates, "The Case for Reparations." In this article, Coates argues that America must address its history of slavery, Jim Crow laws, and racist housing policies to achieve true equality. Coates emphasizes the moral debt owed to African Americans and the need for reparations to heal and unify the nation.https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/
• Richard Valencia, "The Mexican American Struggle for Equal Educational Opportunity in Mendez v. Westminster: Helping to Pave the Way for Brown v. Board of Education." This article discusses Mendez v. Westminster, a landmark case where Mexican American students in California successfully challenged school segregation under the Fourteenth Amendment in 1946. This case laid the groundwork for Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 , highlighting the significant role of Mexican Americans in the broader struggle for equal educational opportunities. https://www.school-diversity.org/pdf/Valencia_The_Mexican_American_Struggle.pdf
• Nathan Nunn, "The long-term effects of Africa's slave trades." This paper examines the negative effects of Africa’s slave trades on current economic performance. Using historical data, it finds a clear negative relationship between the number of slaves exported and economic development, suggesting that the slave trades significantly hindered Africa’s long-term growth and stability. https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/nunn/files/empirical_slavery.pdf
• Asia Society, "Asian Americans Then and Now." This page explores the significant role of Asian Americans in shaping U.S. identity, highlighting their contributions and struggles, including exclusionary laws and internment. https://asiasociety.org/education/asian-americans-then-and-now

Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson daguerreotype (cropped)

Emily Dickinson was a 19th-century American poet whose distinctive writing style made her stand out from the other poets in her era. She is known for her notably unconventional writing style that was unique at the time, where she often made use of dashes and unusual capitalization, and frequently used slant rhyme, which is a type of rhyme with words that have similar but not identical sounds. She ignored the typical rules of versification and grammar, making her work brave and completely original. Dickinson was highly educated and was raised in a Calvinist household, which emphasized the sovereignty of God and the authority of the Bible. This religious influence permeates throughout her work. She had a complicated relationship with her religious beliefs and God; while her friends and family proclaimed their love of Christ, she was reluctant to join the church and ultimately stopped attending services altogether.

Dickinson’s family was well known in the Massachusetts community where they lived. Her grandfather was a trustee of Amherst College, while her father had served in both state and federal Congresses. Although Dickinson herself was more socially active at a younger age, she became more reclusive later in the later years of her life. Scholars believe she was troubled from a young age by the "deepening menace" of death; throughout her lifetime she would suffer tremendous loss of friends and family, while later living through the time of the American Civil war that began in 1861 and ended in 1865. She began to isolate herself in her room in her family’s homestead and did not leave unless it was absolutely necessary. She began to talk to her visitors from the other side of her door instead of speaking to them face to face. Only the few people who knew her personally and had exchanged written correspondence with her during the last years of her life had ever seen her in person. Her writing was said to be an outlet for her to express herself verbally rather than socially. Her works reflect this, as they are full of religious imagery and nuance, conversations about death, the ironies of life, her love of nature, and criticisms of societal behaviors.

Dickinson died of heart failure at her home on May 15th, 1886. Only a handful of poems and a single letter were published during her life. After her death, her younger sister discovered Dickinson’s vast collection of nearly 1,800 poems and letters, and she had Dickinson's first volume published almost four years after her death. Literary scholar Thomas H. Johnson would eventually publish Dickinson's Complete Poems in 1955, and her poems have been in print continuously since.

Much Madness

Insanity is relative.

It depends on who has who locked in what cage.

-Ray Bradbury, “The Meadow.”

Divine madness and poetry

Divine madness, which is also referred to as “crazy wisdom,” is usually described as a manifestation of enlightened behavior by an individual who has transcended societal norms. The behaviors that the individual will act out may seem to other individuals in their society as symptoms of mental illness, but they are said to really be a form of religious ecstasy. According to scholars like June McDaniel, David M. DiValerio, Georg Feuerstein, and others, the discussion of divine madness is found throughout history and across many cultures. It is said to reflect an expression of a divine, or godly, love. In some religions such as western Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, and others, divine madness is described as an unordinary form of madness; it is behavior that is “consistent with the structure of a spiritual path or a form of complete assimilation of God”.

The Athenian philosopher Plato discussed his ideas of divine madness in his text Phaedrus. He described “Theia mania,” a Greek phrase for divine madness, as being a “gift of the gods.” In Phaedrus, Plato’s main protagonist Socrates declares, "[i]n fact the best things we have comes from madness.” Plato discusses the topic of divine madness once more in his text Ion. In the text, Ion is a professional reciter of poetry, and he argues with Socrates about the nature of the art. They argue that art is a divine inspiration, and that “divine madness is like the prophet being overtaken by God,” where God then speaks through the artist.

In the Pentecostal religion, which is a sect of Protestant Christianity, the practice of divine madness is encouraged among its followers. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit, also known as the Holy Ghost, is the “divine force, quality, and influence of God over the universe or over his creatures, while in Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as an agent of divine action or communication.” The activities, behaviors, and alleged healing power of the possessed is said to be the “Holy Spirit” in action. This phenomenon is known as charism, which in Christian theology is defined as a "power or authority of a spiritual nature, believed to be a freely given gift by the grace of God." To the people who do not believe or who are untouched by the by the Holy Spirit, the phenomenon of "hearing spiritual voices" may appear to be a symptom of mental illness. The followers of the Pentecostal religion believe there has long been evidence of the Holy Spirit being deeply rooted within Christian spirituality. It is believed that Saint Augustine had “similar experiences of deliberate hallucinations and madness.”

Background of the text

The poem “Much Madness is divinest Sense” by Emily Dickinson is thought to have been written in 1862, but because much of her work was not published until well after her death in 1886, it cannot be said for certain. It was published as part of the Dickinson collection Poems, edited by two friends of the poet, Mabel Loomis Todd and Thomas Wentworth Higginson in 1890.

Religious tones are present in the poem, as well as a sense of wit and rebellion that reveals frustration at the societal norms of the time.

The Text

Much Madness is divinest Sense -

To a discerning Eye -

Much Sense - the starkest Madness -

’Tis the Majority

In this, as all, prevail -

Assent - and you are sane -

Demur - you’re straightway dangerous -

And handled with a Chain -

A Helpful Glossary

The American vocabulary in the 19th Century was very different from what it is now. Dickinson’s poetry is also notorious for the use of a variety of connotations, so understanding the definitions of certain words gives new meaning to her writing. The Emily Dickinson Lexicon (https://edl.byu.edu/) was created to help define these words to allow the reader a clearer understanding of her poetry. Here are some definitions of words used in this poem:

Madness, n:  

A.) Distraction; preoccupation; absent-mindedness; [fig.] artistic genius; intellectual brilliance; poetic creativity.

B.) Disorder; craziness; passion; frivolity; erratic behavior; lack of caution; [fig.] windiness; unpredictable weather.

C.) Ecstasy; rapture; jubilee; exhilaration.

Divine (-st), adj.

A.) Heavenly; godlike; ecclesiastical; (see Hebrews 9:1).

B.) Godly; higher; sacred; increase of heavenly state; (see 2 Peter 1:3).

C.) Best; greatest; sublime; (see Proverbs 16:10).

D.) Supernatural; immortal significance; (see Ezekiel 13:23).

Stark (-est), adj. [OE 'to grow rigid, strength, strong, become frozen'.]

A.) Bleak; desolate.

B.) Gross; mere; absolute.

Sense (-s), n.  

A.) Reason; mind; mental stability; ability to feel; faculties of sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and so forth.

B.) Sanity; lucidity; order; rationality; [fig.] insight; inspiration.

C.) Significance; meaning; intimation; definition; [word play] sensory perception from the physical world.

D.) One's body; physical being; perception of the material world.

Being; consciousness; identity.

Assent, v.

Agree; yield; concede; concur; give in; conform in practice; [possible word play on “ascent”.]

Demur (-ed), v.  

A.) Refuse; decline; dissent; hesitate; back away.

B.) Object; protest; resist; contest.

C.) Pause; hesitate; linger; wait; stop.

D.) Relent; repent; soften; yield; change mind; make a concession.

Analysis

The poem opens with a paradox, where the speaker states that "madness" is actually "sense." In poetry, a paradox is a figure of speech that is a self-contradictory phrase or concept that illuminates a truth. The speaker declares that what is considered sane or insane based on the opinion of the majority should be rejected by any intelligent person. The speaker may also imply that an individual whom society considers "mad" or insane might be touched by God. It can be suggested that the "divine madness" the speaker refers to is the sometimes erratic and unconventional behavior displayed by someone receiving a divine message. The poem suggests that the experiences or ideas of individuals whom the majority considers mad say more about society itself than about the individual labeled as crazy. The speaker argues that those whom society considers "mad" or whose behavior goes against acceptable societal norms should be seen by a person with a "discerning Eye" (2) or a "perceiving eye" as expressing intelligence and common sense. The "Eye" is capitalized, which could be a reference to God’s gaze. Furthermore, those untouched by divinity will not be able to understand the reason behind the behavior of those they consider mad. Only God and the individual would know the true meaning behind their behavior. The speaker then states that "Much Sense" is the "starkest madness," (3) implying that what the majority decides is sensible and acceptable societal behavior should truthfully be considered insanity. A person who adheres to societal rules and plays their part without question or hesitation, like "the Majority" (4), is deemed compliant and accepted as a member of that majority, as suggested in the line "Assent- and you are sane-." (6) On the other hand, someone who questions societal rules or rejects them is seen as dangerous or insane, as expressed in the lines "Demur- you’re straightway dangerous- and handled with a Chain" (7-8).  

Although the attitude and approach towards fully understanding mental illness and its symptoms are different today than they were during Dickinson’s lifetime, there are still many similarities in the way the mentally ill are perceived by society. Those who suffer from extreme cases of mental illness are often shunned from society or kept locked away in hospitals and prisons, with unequal or limited access to proper care. In the time when the poem is said to have been written, women’s behavior was often heavily scrutinized and their main role in society was seen as the caretakers of a household or to entertain their husbands. They had limited freedom or say in what they could do unless given strict permission from a man, be it father, husband, or any other male member of their household. A man had the power to have his wife or daughter committed if they believed they were suffering from “hysteria,” which was a term used to describe emotional excess. Today, hysteria no longer exists as a medical diagnosis in Western culture, but the aftermath of hysteria as a diagnosable illness in the 18th and 19th centuries has had a lasting impact on the medical treatment of women's health. The term hysterical, applied to an individual, can mean that they are emotional, irrationally upset, or frenzied. It was a common medical diagnosis during that time, used to describe a woman who was exhibiting emotionally charged behavior that someone else decided was too excessive or out of control. Being called hysterical by a man and being put away because of it was a very real threat at that time, and one can only assume that Dickinson would have had strong opinions about this hypocritical aspect of society.

Dickinson herself was a well-educated and creatively gifted individual. She never married and spent much of her time secluded while she wrote. It is agreed by many literary critics and historians that Dickinson was influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was an essayist, philosopher, poet, and was the founder of the transcendentalist movement. Transcendentalists believe in the inherent goodness of people and nature, and that society and its institutions have the power to corrupt the purity of a person. It is a core belief of transcendentalists that people are at their best when they are self-reliant and independent. Emerson also encouraged all individuals, and especially writers, to live a hermit’s life and to withdraw from society to prevent being contaminated with materialism. Emerson’s influence on Dickinson can be felt in the poem, as its overall tone comes off as condescending and rebellious, with the sense that the speaker views themselves as an outcast of society for expressing commonsense and rejecting societal roles and norms.  

They shut me up in Prose

We turn not older with years, but newer every day.

-Emily Dickinson, Letter to Frances and Louise Norcross, late 1872.

Introduction

The United States has reached a societal milestone where individuals are largely liberated to express themselves authentically, pursue diverse vocations, and challenge conventional norms. However, the journey to this era of personal autonomy was long in the making. Only two centuries ago, American society was rigidly structured, with distinct gender roles and expectations. While these constraints were pervasive, they did not stifle rebellion entirely. Emily Dickinson, the 19th-century poet, defied societal expectations with unconventional audacity. Her poetry serves as a poignant reflection of the frustration and confinement experienced by women of her era. In "They Shut Me Up in Prose" (1862), Dickinson encapsulates her liberation through solitude.

The text

Recreation of Emily Dickinson writing a poem.

They shut me up in Prose –

As when a little Girl

They put me in the Closet –

Because they liked me “still”  –

Still! Could themself have peeped –

And seen my Brain – go round –

They might as wise have lodged a Bird

For Treason – in the Pound –

Himself has but to will

And easy as a Star

Look down opon Captivity –

And laugh – No more have I –

Glossary

The American vocabulary in the 19th Century was very different from what it is now. Dickinson’s poetry is also notorious for the use of a variety of connotations, so understanding the definitions of certain words gives new meaning to her writing. The Emily Dickinson Lexicon (https://edl.byu.edu/) was created to help define these words to allow the reader a clearer understanding of her poetry. Here are some definitions of words used in this poem:

Bird, n.

1. Mortal being; transitory creature; [fig.] angel; spirit; essence of a dead loved one.
2. Fowl; winged creature; warm-blooded vertebrate with feathers; member of the class Aves.
3. Quick-moving creature; [fig.] feeling; emotion; sentiment; affection.
4. Nestling; hatchling; chick; baby fowl; [fig.] child; offspring.
5. Whistler; [fig.] informer; reporter; gossiper; messenger; secret-bearer; tattle-tale.
6. Nesting creature; [metonymy] melody; song; tune; [fig.] happiness; hope; joy; good tidings.
7. Far-flying creature; [fig.] explorer; navigator; sailor; mariner.
8. Creature used in sacrifices and offerings; [fig.] Savior; Christ; (see Leviticus 12:8).
9. Communicative creature; [fig.] thought; idea; intelligence.
10. Singing creature; [metaphor] poet; minstrel; author of lyric verse.
11. Phrase. “Patriarch's bird”: Noah's dove; the dove that Noah sent forth from the Ark to look for land after the flood (see Genesis 8:8-12).
12. Phrase. “Blue Bird”
13. Phrase. “Humming Bird”

Brain, n.

1. Imagination; cognition; sensory perception; cognition; center of emotion.
2. Cerebrum and cerebellum; master organ of the body; terminus of the central nervous system; soft viscus mass within the skull; center that enables various human functions, abilities, capacities, connections, and sensations.
3. Memory; mind; remembrance; recollection; mental awareness.
4. Intelligence; understanding; consciousness; center of thought; seat of the soul.
5. Intellect; reason; logical capacity.
6. Nucleus; core; kernel.

Captivity, n.

1. Bondage; slavery; thralldom; imprisonment; servitude; subjection; state of being controlled; [fig.] embodiment; incarnation; mortality; (see Ephesians 4:8).

Closet, n.

1. Chamber; cupboard; wine cabinet.
2. Small room; storage place; [fig.] body; mind.
3. Compartment; [fig.] area of the brain.

Laugh, v.

1. Bubble; gurgle; chuckle; chortle; chirp; guffaw; giggle; make mirthful noises.
2. Express joy; project gaiety; be cheerful, pleasant, or lively.
3. Phrase. “laugh at”: mock; scorn; deride; ridicule; treat with some degree of contempt.

Lodge, v.

1. Enclose; confine; detain; imprison; incarcerate.
2. Place; plant; set to grow.
3. House; host; board.
4. Stay; rest; abide; find a place in.

Might, n.

1. Bodily strength; physical power.
2. Strong force.
3. Ability.
4. Strength in mind and body.
5. Supernatural power.
6. Strength of affection.

Upon (opon), prep.

1. On; using; standing upward with.
2. On; in contact with; at the point of.
3. Affecting; opposing; up against; grating on.
4. During.

Peep, v.

1. Arise; awake; begin to appear; emerge from concealment.
2. Watch carefully; observe secretly; look through a small opening.

Pound, n.

1. Prison; jail; detention facility; holding place for impounded animals; enclosure for confinement of stray creatures.

Prose, n.

1. Ordinary language; uninspired expression; unimaginative discourse; dull, commonplace words.

Star, n.

1. Heavenly body; shining points of light in the night sky; [plural] Milky Way; stellar display.
2. Celebrity; genius; great one; special person; selected individual.
3. A general term for a point of light in a constellation.
4. Wish; miracle; special phenomenon; beautiful thing; signal of hope; dream to come true.
5. Small meteorite; shooting star.
6. Lesser light; smaller celestial being; less prominent but nevertheless worthy of heaven.
7. Sparkling entity; glittering orb.
8. Reflection; glimmer.
9. Lofty goal; unreachable object.
10. Director; guide; heavenly map; divine guidance.
11. Polar center; central point in the heavens around which other heavenly bodies move.
12. The United States flag; the red, white, and blue emblem of the independent government in North America.
13. Six-pointed symbol [*]; pointed punctuation mark in a text; [fig.] heavenly being; splendid multi-faceted person who has left mortality but leaves a hint of eternal life.
14. Saint; righteous person; being of great renown.
15. Bright orb; glowing point of light; distant object in the night sky.
16. Phrase. “border star”: evening planet on faintly visible on the horizon at sunset; [metaphor] frontier newspaper in Missouri in the mid-1800's.
17. Phrase. “Morning Stars”: pre-mortal choir; female singers who rejoiced when the Lord laid the earth's foundations; daughters of God who sang for joy when the world was created (see Job 38:4-7).
18. Phrase. “the Morning Star”: Venus; the second planet from the sun in Earth's solar system; the star-like planet that appears in the east just before dawn; [fig.] the Lord; the resurrection of the dead (see Revelation 2:28, 22:16).
19. Phrase. “Star of Bethleem/Bethlehem”: astrological phenomenon; extremely bright body of light that appeared in the sky at the birth of Jesus (see Matthew 2:1-10).
20. Phrase. “the northern star”: polar center; Arctic view of the sky; compass point in the heavens around which other heavenly bodies move.

Still, v.

1. Appease; assuage; placate; satiate; silence.
2. Occupy; engage; busy; captivate; engross.
3. Suspend; efface; disperse; dissolve; evanesce; cause to disappear; make to vanish.

Treason, n.

1. Perfidy; act of betraying; attempt to overthrow the authority; subversion against one to whom allegiance is owed.
2. Disloyalty; infidelity.
3. Disclosure; revelation that betrays identity.
4. Treachery; deception.

Wise, n.

1. Seer; most intelligent person; one who usually possesses great discernment.

Analysis

Dickinson found in poetry a means to cultivate a distinctive voice through which to articulate her perceptions of the world. However, the prevailing societal expectations of womanhood curtailed female artistic expression. Enforced domesticity and economic dependence on a husband constituted the prescribed role for women of the era. As Coleworth Pinckney's The Lady’s Token: or Gift of Friendship (1848) suggests, women were at their best when mild, affable, modest, and silent until spoken to: "Occupy yourself only with household affairs — wait till your husband confides to you those of a high importance — and do not give your advice till he asks it." The opening lines of "They Shut Me Up in Prose" suggest a speaker subjected to such constraints:

They shut me up in Prose –

As when a little Girl

They put me in the Closet –

Because they liked me “still”   –

In the opening line of the first stanza, the speaker emphasizes her confinement by an impersonal force represented by "They," a force that seeks to restrict her creativity by imposing on her the conventions of prose. The dullness of prose stands in stark contrast to the vibrancy and liberation that poetry offers, a medium that celebrates originality, freedom, and individuality. The second line introduces a flashback, as the speaker recalls a moment of epiphany from when she was "a little girl" that illuminates her current situation. The third and fourth lines depict the speaker's confinement at the hands of this authority figure ("They") who enforces silence and conformity through a cruel punishment: being locked away "in the closet" for refusing to be "still." This act of imprisonment serves as a metaphor for the societal constraints placed upon Dickinson, who, like the speaker, dares to defy expectations by pursuing a path as a poet, a profession largely deemed unsuitable for women during her era.

Dove freeing itself from imprisonment

The second and third stanzas then introduce an interesting shift:

Still! Could themself have peeped –

And seen my Brain – go round –

They might as wise have lodged a Bird

For Treason – in the Pound –

Himself has but to will

And easy as a Star

Look down upon Captivity –

And laugh – No more have I –

The second stanza opens with a powerful exclamation, "Still!", that oozes sarcasm, immediately exposing the absurdity of the constraints placed upon the speaker. The speaker defies the futility of such limitations, acknowledging the physical confinement while asserting the boundless freedom of her mind. The lines that follow employ a witty bird metaphor to highlight how ludicrous is to attempt to silence a poet. The image of a bird being imprisoned for treason exposes the comicality of trying to suppress the very essence of artistic expression.

The final stanza extends the metaphor of the bird, emphasizing the ease with which the creative spirit transcends confinement. The bird, soaring above its would-be captors, regards them with amusement from its privileged perspective. This elevated vantage point symbolically mirrors the speaker's own position. Her intellect and imagination soar beyond the narrow constraints imposed by "They," granting her the freedom she craves. In effect, she has already achieved liberation, much like the bird that has effortlessly escaped its cage.

The poem explores the tension between the desire for individual expression and the constraints imposed by a homogenous society. Individuality, the philosophy of self-reliance and uniqueness, thrives on the very aspects that distinguish us—our varied needs, rights, goals, and moral compasses. However, when societal expectations attempt to erase these distinctions, as in the case of the rigid gender roles prescribed for women in Dickinson's era, the sense of self is inevitably lost. The group, in this case, women, is pressured to conform to a singular identity. Those who dare to deviate from the established norms risk being ostracized and labeled as outrageous, deviant, or even insane. What is fascinating about Dickinson is that she turned this secluded domestic space into a creative space. As Medhkour explains,

At first glance, the way Dickinson shut herself up in her bedroom seemingly contradicts this poem’s message. She chose four walls over the usual concept of freedom. Nonetheless, this poem exemplifies Dickinson’s choice. The prison was outside of her room—her walls kept things out, not her in. Her room was where her mind could “go round” and be free of captivity, because that is where she wrote poetry. It is the place where “I” finds precedence over “They.” She chose to not publish traditionally because “They” would “shut [her] up in Prose” or force her to write poetry that was an “acceptable” subject for women or more regular in syntax, stanza, and rhyme as was the style of the time.

In brief, the poem “They Shut Me Up in Prose” honors the liberty Emily Dickinson achieved from society. Even though Dickinson lacked social contact, she remained true to herself, exploring her individuality and passionately writing poems—over 1,800 in her lifetime. Her mind and ideas were always free, unaffected by restrictive social conventions, highlighting the power of one's mind over external limitations. Emily Dickinson exemplifies a feminist poet who was revolutionary in a patriarchal society.

Transforming your feelings into verse

Let's write a poem! Just take a piece of paper and a pencil and start writing about any moment in your life. Think about how you felt, where you were, and what it smelled like. It doesn’t have to be perfect! After you have your first draft, let's shorten it and try to think of different words to express the same or deeper feelings. Instead of "love," you can use colors like "red," and instead of "passion," you can use objects like "fire." You can also use metaphors and compare emotions, like "Love is like a rollercoaster" or "This passion is like a burning sun."

You can also go to the website Poem Generator and create your own poem with your own specifications: https://www.poem-generator.org.uk/

Other poems by Emily Dickinson

• “I’m nobody! Who are you?” This poem contrasts the quiet value of anonymity with the noisy, public nature of fame. https://poets.org/poem/im-nobody-who-are-you-260
• “I dwell in possibility.” This poem highlights how poetry offers boundless possibilities, transcending ordinary constraints to reach imaginative heights.https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/52197/i-dwell-in-possibility-466
• “The Soul selects her own Society.” This poem emphasizes the soul’s autonomy in choosing its own company, rejecting societal expectations. https://poets.org/poem/soul-selects-her-own-society-303
• “'Hope' is the thing with feathers.” This poem compares hope to a resilient bird that endures through the challenges of life. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42889/hope-is-the-thing-with-feathers-314

• “I felt a funeral, in my Brain." This poem depicts a mental breakdown, likened to a funeral, symbolizing the loss of sanity. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45706/i-felt-a-funeral-in-my-brain-340
• “I heard a Fly buzz – when I died.” This poem describes the speaker’s final moments, disrupted by the mundane buzz of a fly. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45703/i-heard-a-fly-buzz-when-i-died-591
• “I died for Beauty – but was scarce.” This poem depicts a conversation between Beauty and Truth after death. https://allpoetry.com/I-died-for-Beauty--but-was-scarce

For even more poems and Dickinson's letters, see the transcription projects at Wikisource:https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Emily_Dickinson

The Soul selects her own Society

Unable are the loved to die, for love, is immortality.

-Emily Dickinson.

Introduction

Being selective.

The capacity to focus on a single objective from many possibilities is called the Power of Selectivity. In a society where distractions are constant, the ability to choose what we pay attention to has become essential. This skill benefits various aspects of life, including jobs, relationships, and personal growth. By strengthening our selectivity, we can enhance our focus, productivity, and sense of fulfillment.

Our mental health also benefits from being selective with our attention. In a world overwhelmed by information, it's easy to feel stressed. Focusing on what truly demands our attention can reduce these feelings. Carefully choosing which relationships to invest in can lead to stronger, deeper bonds. It's crucial to prioritize meaningful connections and let go of those that do not matter.

Developing selectivity helps manage our time better and increases satisfaction. By learning to say "no" to unhelpful commitments and distractions, we gain more control over our lives. This sense of control boosts confidence and self-esteem, creating a positive feedback loop. Concentrating on our interests and passions also aids in achieving a better work-life balance.

Understanding and valuing our own preferences enable us to make choices that support our objectives, leading to a happier, more fulfilled life. Thoughtful decisions prevent feelings of overload, improve productivity, and reduce stress levels, resulting in greater well-being. Selectivity allows us to prioritize activities and opportunities that align with our values and goals.

Emily Dickinson's poem "The Soul selects her own Society" explores this idea beautifully. The poem's speaker chooses to allow certain people into their life while rejecting others, symbolizing the empowering nature of selective choice. By surrounding oneself with those who bring joy and upliftment, one can live a truly harmonious life. The poem highlights how the power of selectivity adds value to life and helps maintain personal boundaries.

The text

"The Soul selects her own Society" posits an autonomous soul that meticulously curates the speaker's interpersonal relationships. This assertion challenges conventional notions of social obligation, suggesting instead a profound interiority that dictates human connection.

The Soul selects her own Society —
Then — shuts the Door —
To her divine Majority —
Present no more —

Unmoved — she notes the Chariots — pausing —
At her low Gate —
Unmoved — an Emperor be kneeling
Upon her Mat —

I've known her — from an ample nation —
Choose One —
Then — close the Valves of her attention —
Like Stone —

Analysis

The soul is portrayed as a tangible, active force that selects its own community of like-minded individuals.

Emily Dickinson’s “The Soul Selects Her Own Society” is a profound exploration of individuality and human connection. The poem posits the soul as an autonomous entity, endowed with the power to curate its social world with discerning selectivity. Through vivid personification, Dickinson imbues the soul with agency, allowing it to select and dismiss companions with an almost divine indifference. This assertion challenges societal norms, emphasizing personal agency and the primacy of interiority. The poem examines the complexities of human relationships, specifically both the necessity of connection and the allure of solitude. Dickinson underscores the soul’s exclusive nature, emphasizing its capacity for profound intimacy while simultaneously acknowledging the potential for isolation. Yet, the poem ultimately suggests that a harmonious existence may require a delicate balance between self-preservation and social engagement. The first stanza focuses on the soul's tendency to just open to a chosen group of people rather than to everyone. The concept that the soul has power over its own fate and can choose and select whom it wishes to be near to is highlighted in the second verse. The speaker underlines the exclusivity of the soul's group in the third verse by claiming that those who are not included feel abandoned and rejected. The significance of welcoming new members into the community of the soul is emphasized in the fifth verse. It draws attention to the fact that, despite being exclusive, the group is open to new members.

The word "unmoved" represents those who remain unattached and distant from society, preserving their individuality. This selectivity signifies that the soul only chooses those who share its values and beliefs, providing protection against outside influences. While this can lead to loneliness, it allows the soul to stay true to its path and convictions.

The poem’s exploration of isolation is intertwined with its celebration of individuality. Dickinson suggests that true fulfillment may be found in resisting societal pressures and embracing one’s unique path. However, her recognition of the soul’s capacity for expansion implies a more nuanced understanding of human nature. By carefully selecting our companions, we can create environments that nourish our spirits and enrich our lives. In contrast, allowing toxic or harmful individuals into our lives can have a devastating impact, leading to feelings of isolation and emptiness. Therefore, Dickinson's poem serves as a reminder to be intentional in our connections with others, choosing those who bring out the best in us and help us grow.

Dickinson’s masterful use of personification elevates the poem to a metaphysical level. She gives a compelling and sympathetic picture of the soul as a being with free choice and action. The soul, then, is not a nebulous or abstract idea but rather an actual, social entity that makes choices. By granting the soul human-like qualities, she invites readers to contemplate the nature of consciousness and its relationship to the world. The soul becomes a symbol of the self, capable of both profound connection and radical independence.

Ultimately, “The Soul Selects Her Own Society” is a timeless meditation on the human condition. Dickinson’s exploration of individuality, connection, and isolation resonates with readers across generations. The poem’s enduring power lies in its ability to inspire contemplation and provoke introspection.

Discussion questions

• What are the benefits of selective processes?
• What criteria are being used to make these choices?
• Who holds the power to make these decisions?
• What factors influence our decisions to include or exclude certain people?
• How does Dickinson's portrayal of the Soul as a selective entity challenge or reinforce traditional societal expectations?

Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes in 1943

Langston Hughes was an African-American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist who examined life in United States during the first part of the 20th Century, exposing oppression, discrimination, and inequality. Hughes was born on February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. After Hughes' parents divorced, he began living with his grandmother, Mary Langston, who encouraged him to understand the importance of racial issues in America, so he dedicated much of his work to celebrating African American culture. The difficult experiences that he went through at a young age like growing up during a time of segregation motivated him to write poems while he was at grammar school. Later, while Hughes attended Central High School in Ohio, his Latin teacher taught him the importance of writing literature so he began writing for the newspaper and yearbook. He began writing short stories because books helped him escape from the hardships that he experienced. At the age of seventeen, he wrote his first poem called “When Sue Wears Red."

In the 1920s, Hughes became one of the leaders of the Harlem Renaissance, a congregation of African American artistic, intellectual, and political talent centered in the neighborhood of Harlem, New York. He became famous for defending racial integration around the world, especially with younger generations of Black writers, who considered Hughes as a defender of minorities’ rights. One case in point was his encouragement of Black Americans to join World War II because he believed it would help them obtain civil rights at a time of racial segregation in the United States. Hughes died on May 22, 1967 in Stuyvesant Polyclinic in New York City.

Let America Be America Again

Text

“Let America Be America Again" was written on 1935 and originally published in Esquire Magazine in 1936. It was revised in 1938 for a collection of Hughes' poems entitled A New Song, which was published by the International Workers Order, an organization with close links to the American Communist Party. The version analyzed here is from the Academy of American Poets website: https://poets.org/poem/let-america-be-america-again.

Analysis

The Statue of Liberty as symbol of the American Dream

The American Dream deferred: The sign “COLORED WAITING ROOM” illustrates Jim Crow in Durham, North Carolina in 1940.

The American Dream represents the liberty and freedom of Americans to pursue what makes them happy. However, this American Dream has not been achievable for everyone. In the 1935 poem “Let America Be America Again,” written when the country was beginning to recuperate from the Great Depression and while Jim Crow segregation was still an everyday fact, Hughes examines the state of the American Dream to expose the cruel reality of inequality and servitude that minorities, the working class, and the poor experience in the United States.

The poem begins with a speaker wishing that America was allowed to live to its ideals of liberty and equality so it can be “the dream the dreamers dreamed” (line 6), that is, “that great strong land of love/Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme/That any man be crushed by one above” (7-9).

Meanwhile, a second intermixed voice suggests that he has never experienced the American Dream in his life: “America never was America to me” (5). The first speaker, curious, asks the second voice to identify itself, and it responds that it is “the poor white, fooled and pushed apart”(19), “the Negro bearing slavery’s scars”(20), “the red man driven from the land” (21), “the immigrant clutching…hope” (22) “the farmer, bondsman to the soil” (31), “the worker sold to the machine” (32), “the people, humble, hungry, mean” (34), and “the man who never got ahead,/The poorest worker bartered through the years”(37-38). The second voice represents all of those who have been oppressed, work for low wages, or serve others and they never see prosperity or appreciation. They find it difficult to obtain basic necessities such as food and home to feel safe and secure, even though some are hard workers. Their housing, their education, and their health are all second-class. They have been excluded from achieving the American Dream, which for them has been replaced by “the same old stupid plan/Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak” (23-24).

At this point the poem focuses on those powerful people who oppress poor people and never give them an opportunity to demonstrate who they really are and how far they can go with their dreams. They are described as “leeches on the people's lives” (72) because they live off of the work and the hopes of others, giving little in return. They absorb the lifeblood of the workers, leaving them weak and vulnerable. Because minorities and the poor do not have appropriate representation that could protect them from those “blood suckers,” their opportunity to achieve the American Dream disappears.

The speaker ends the poem by swearing an oath: the oppressed of America will ensure that America will live up to its ideals. He knows his demand for action will cause those who are against him to hate him (“sure call me any ugly name you choose”), but he will never give up until the situation changes. He insists that “we must take back our land again” by fighting for the rights all of us should enjoy equally.

In conclusion, Hughes’ speaker demands the American Dream that he has never experienced. He demands that it come not only for him but also for the many working-class families that have passed through situations like his. Even though he wrote this poem more than a century ago, we continue to see how inequality keeps low-class families in the same spot, which leads to the overall poverty in America. One of these inequalities comes from education disparities so that poor and minority students are not getting support to succeed in their lives.

Further Reading: Other Poems by Langston Hughes on Inequality in America

• “I, Too" (1925). A poem reminiscent of Walt Whitman's celebration of America in poems such as "I hear America singing," but written from the point of view of a segregated speaker. Here is a version where Hughes gives context to the poem and reads it out loud, with a small modification.
• “Song for a Dark Girl" (1927). A poem mourning the brutal lynching of a young black person in Dixieland. Here is the poem turned into song by folk musician Leyla McCalla.
• “An Open Letter to the South" (1932). A plea from a black worker to the white workers of the South to overcome segregation and join forces against bosses and owners.
• “Harlem" (1951). Sometimes referred to as "A Dream Deferred," the poem identifies the consequences to the community of Harlem of continually postponing the achievement of the American Dream.

“America never was America to me”: Educational Inequality in the United States

Having read and analyzed Langston Hughes' poem, I understand that the inequality we see today is not new in America; it has been happening for centuries. One major cause and effect of this inequality is the American educational system, where a child’s education, and therefore their chances at achieving the American Dream is determined by their socioeconomic status.  In the United States, working class students—mostly Latino and black—perform poorly because their teachers are less prepared, their schools do not have the resources for extracurricular instruction, and their parents do not have the money or resources to help their children succeed.

Quality teachers are essential in the classroom because when teachers are prepared, they can guide students step by step in the process of learning, which increases their chances to develop strong habits of studying and succeed in school. However, in America, the less prepared teachers are mostly likely to be sent to poor neighborhoods where students are already struggling with their learning which decreases their chances to graduate from school. What is more, research demonstrates a disproportionate distribution of money, with schools with good performance receiving better resources.

Courses Offered in Public High Schools, by School Poverty Level. Public high schools with more students in poverty and smaller schools provide fewer academic offerings to prepare for college.

This problem affects the whole school system because teachers with low resources and salaries often quit their jobs, affecting students' performance, especially on standardized tests. Switching teachers in the classroom creates chaos for students because they become confused about the changes and fall behind. It is clear how the lack of experienced teachers and well-funded schools creates education inequality in America. The government could fix this problem by creating legislation that improves salaries and resources for all schools so that educators stay in one school and provide quality education, especially for minority students. Having effective teachers in the classroom would help students from working class families increase their test scores and achieve their goals.

Furthermore, students' progress is not dependent only on the hours of instruction but on extra support like after school programs or tutoring. Individualized instruction reinforces students’ knowledge and increases their ability to improve academically, so students will perform better on their standardized test scores which is one of the requirements to earn a scholarship and finish their career. Unfortunately, for Latinos and African American students, there is a limit to how many programs they can participate in to increase their grades. Students who have a low proficiency in reading English are mostly placed into special education classrooms or they stay in the same grade for the following year, which causes them to lose motivation in school. Moreover, state legislations and the government concluded that because low-income families are unable to pay tuition their education is negatively impacted, thus increasing the division between the rich and poor. The research also explains how residents select the amount of tax grants for each school when they elect a district board to collect taxes. This plan affects poor neighborhoods because schools with low performance will be receiving less funding from taxpayers.  The school system must fix this problem because it is affecting students who have the potential to earn their college degree and be successful in life. Academic development requires a lot of time so students need additional resources like tutors to increase their knowledge and improve their grades.

Many working class Black and Latino parents do not have access to essential resources such as books, electronic devices, and access to the Internet which makes it impossible for their children to turn in their assignments on time. Family size also affects many minority students; because their families share apartments with other family members or strangers, students do not have enough space to study and complete their assignments. Having limited access to resources leads parents to look for alternative schools where their children could have enough free resources. In recent decades, charter schools have become a possible option for these parents because these schools provide food, books and academic support. It is disturbing to see how Latinos and African American students and their parents do not receive enough support and supplies essential to succeed in school. This makes academic disadvantages and inequality even worse.

Overall, minorities in America with low income, especially Latinos and African American students, do not achieve their goals because educators do have enough experience and resources to provide support for minorities, creating a gap in education. These obstacles cause students to leave schools without a degree. Parents also are not able to provide their children with essential tools like electronic devices which leaves their children behind on their assignments and causes poor performance. The government should address this issue by creating legislation that equally distributes funds for schools regardless of the students’ race or socioeconomic status.

Further Reading: Educational Inequality in the United States

• Wikipedia contributors. "Educational inequality in the United States." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. A review of the history and main factors behind educational inequality.
• Gregor Aisch, Amanda Cox, and Kevin Quealy. "You Draw It: How Family Income Predicts Children’s College Chances." The New York Times. May 28, 2015. An interactive chart that requires the reader to guess the chances of a child going to college based on her family's income level before it reveals the correct answer.
• Motoko Rich, Amanda Cox, and Matthew Bloch. "Money, Race and Success: How Your School District Compares." The New York Times. April 29, 2016. A factual analysis of the learning gap based on race and income.
• Keith Meatto. "Still Separate, Still Unequal: Teaching about School Segregation and Educational Inequality." May 2, 2019. The New York Times. Civics lesson plan containing activities to investigate school segregation and educational inequality.
• Cory Turner. "New Studies Show The Pandemic Highlights Inequality In U.S. Education System." All Things Considered. National Public Radio. December 10, 2020. A podcast discussing how the COVID-19 pandemic has widened the learning gap, creating a "lost generation" of low-income kids, mostly from communities of color.
• Clea Simon. "How COVID taught America about inequity in education."The Harvard Gazette. July 9, 2021. This article points to possible educational reform now that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the disparity in educational resources.

Mother to Son

A mother's eternal and unconditional love.

Motherhood isn't just about making babies, it's about making lives and molding destinies.

-Agu Jaachynma N.E.

The text

“Mother to Son” was written in 1922. You may find the poem at the Poetry Foundation website: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47559/mother-to-son.

Analysis

"Mother to Son" is a dramatic monologue spoken in African American Vernacular English. In this poem, a poor, hardworking Black mother offers advice to her young son about the struggles he will face in a segregated American society where African Americans are oppressed, marginalized, and discriminated against. Using the extended metaphor of climbing a difficult staircase, she describes her own life journey as one filled with obstacles, hardships, and darkness:

Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair

It had tacks in it,

And splinters

And boards torn up (2-5).

The "crystal stair" symbolizes a life of ease and luxury, often associated with financial stability. The tacks and splinters depict the hardships faced by the mother living in a racially segregated community. Despite these tribulations, the mother emphasizes the importance of determination and resilience, encouraging her son to use her struggles as a source of strength and courage and never give up:

So boy, don’t you turn your back

Don’t you step down off the steps

‘Cause you find it’s kinder hard

Don’t you fall now

For I’se still goin’, honey

I’se still climbin’” (14-19).

As we navigate life's challenges, we must be brave and courageous, overcoming obstacles without giving up. The journey of life is difficult, but perseverance is essential to achieving our goals. The poem highlights the often lonely and exhausting struggles of mothers: "And sometimes [I have been] goin’ in the dark / Where there ain’t been no light” (12-13). The trials and tribulations of a mother can feel isolating, as she often hides her problems to present a façade of strength. This can lead to overwhelming mental and physical exhaustion. It is crucial to support mothers in these difficult times, as the mother in the poem demonstrates resilience amidst isolation:

But all the time I’se been a-climbin’ on

And reachin’ landin’s

And turnin’ corners

And sometimes goin’ in the dark

Where there ain’t been no light” (8-13).

Pregnant women supporting each other.

Despite her struggles as an African American mother, she maintains a positive outlook, teaching her son the values of courage and persistence. She believes these values will help him face discrimination and adversity, encouraging him to pursue his dreams and stand up for what is right.

Though the poem illustrates the African American experience, the trials and tribulations of this mother are universal to mothers of all backgrounds who face similar hardships. It is essential to recognize that children are the future of our society. Parents must equip them with the skills, values, and attitudes needed to become resilient and successful individuals. By providing a role model of love, kindness, and compassion, parents can instill these values in their children, ensuring they are prepared to face any challenges that come their way.

Glossary

• African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is a distinct form of English primarily spoken by working- and middle-class African Americans, especially in urban areas, and by some Black Canadians. Characterized by its unique grammar, vocabulary, and accent, AAVE is used by middle-class Black Americans in informal and casual settings.
• Segregation is the separation or isolation of a race, class, or ethnic group by enforced or voluntary residence in a restricted area, by barriers to social intercourse, by separate educational facilities, or by other discriminatory means ; the separation for special treatment or observation of individuals or items from a larger group segregation of gifted children into accelerated classes.
• Tribulations is the distress or suffering resulting from oppression or persecution also: a trying experience.

The strong women in Langston Hughes's life

Caroline Mercer Hughes

Carolina (Carrie) Mercer Langston was a writer and activist who instilled in her son a strong sense of racial pride and social justice. For example, at the age of 18, she publicly read her own writing and recited original poetry. She was also a vocal advocate for women's rights and suffrage.

Although she struggled financially, Carrie instilled in her son a love of learning and the arts. She fought for him to attend a better school, even when facing resistance due to their race. Later in life, she achieved her own dream of becoming an actress, appearing on Broadway in 1933.  This commitment to education and creative expression would stay with Langston Hughes throughout his life.

Despite their often-strained relationship, Carrie played a role in nurturing Langston's talent. However, it was his grandmother, Mary Leary, who provided the most consistent emotional support and instilled in him a love of learning and literature. Mary's own experiences with racism, particularly her inability to join her church of choice due to segregation, deeply affected Langston and fueled his passion for social justice. These women, with their resilience and complex perspectives on race and society, profoundly shaped Langston's worldview.

Further reading

On African-American Vernacular English

• Jack Sidnell, "African American Vernacular English (Ebonics)." This page discusses the historical and linguistic roots of AAVE, describes its unique grammatical, phonological, and lexical characteristics, and highlights the debates and misunderstandings surrounding it. https://www.hawaii.edu/satocenter/langnet/definitions/aave.html

  

On segregation in the United States

• The Library of Congress, "Brown v. Board at Fifty: 'With an Even Hand.' -A Century of Racial Segregation, 1849–1950." This website covers the history of racial segregation in the U.S. from 1849 to 1950, highlighting key legal battles and the role of the NAACP in challenging discriminatory laws, leading up to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision. https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-segregation.html
• Van Wormer, Katherine, et al. “What We Can Learn of History from Older African American Women Who Worked as Maids in the Deep South.” Western Journal of Black Studies, vol. 37, no. 4, Winter 2013, pp. 227–35.: https://www.proquest.com/openview/89b2f7db6f87c31ff799d066bf274ca8/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=47709
• Other poems on the subject by Langston Hughes
  • “My People.” https://poets.org/poem/my-people-0
  • "I, Too." https://poets.org/poem/i-too

Write a love letter: A Mother’s Day Project

Love with pen and paper.

Mother's Day is a special occasion to show our kids how much we love and care for them. Every year, take the time to write something special for your child, no matter their age. Handwritten notes are best, but if you find writing difficult, a personal voice message will do—read a poem, sing a few lines of a favorite song, or share a funny joke.

Make it a fun family tradition: every 5, 10, or 15 years, see who has saved the most letters or voice messages. The winner gets a reward, while the "loser" might face a fun sanction, like wearing matching ugly sweaters for a family photo or treating everyone to dinner. Whatever you choose, make it memorable. Best of luck!

Belonging

All immigrants belong.

-Pierre Ieong

This story of loss and regaining of identity is, I think, the framework of all literature.

-Northrop Frye, The Educated Imagination (1963), Ch. 2

Text

Belonging is a short film by Pierre Ieong. It was the winner of the Honorary Award at the United Nations PLURAL+ Youth Film Festival, New York, 2016.

Analysis

Loneliness

A sense of belonging means one feels connected to individuals, places, communities, and the world. The contrary feeling--alienation--can lead to low self esteem and depression. Our life experience, childhood, culture, social setting, and self-esteem can all shape how we experience belonging. The need to belong is a valid and essential feeling and it can push us to connect with others.

The director of the short film Belonging, Pierre Ieong, gives us the point of view of a young Armeanian Syrian refugee named George Gabonian. Over the years, George and his family have had to relocate their home many times, so he always has felt like he does not fit in. However, at the age of four, his father encouraged him to join the Scout Movement, where he found comradeship and a common purpose: to survive the wilderness together.

After the violent death of his father during the Syrian civil war, George and his mother had to flee Syria, relocating to Paris. At first, George felt isolated in such a big and foreign city and yearned to feel a sense of belonging. To illustrate his feelings, the director compares George’s memories as a boy scout to the new memories that he is making in his international class at the Lycée Jean de LaFontaine. The differences seem to stand out at first: while George's boy scout team is made up of boys like him, his international friends are female as well as male and come from many different countries and cultures. And yet, as George points out, “[w]e all come from different places, [but are] united here with a common objective.” The community the international students have created as outsiders to the French culture makes George feel they all have the same purpose: "We're little scouts in our hearts."

The importance of the analogy is given at the end of the film, when George concludes that “[a]lthough we’re out of our homes, in the wild, we’ve got each other’s backs.” He is commenting on the reality that, just like him, we all live in some form of chaos and the connection to others and sometimes places is what balances us. In those moments, knowing that we are surrounded by other people who genuinely accept us and care for our well-being reassures us. That sense of comfort when we realize that we have others around us who share our objectives and fears--that is belonging.

The urban versus the natural world

Throughout the film, Ieong uses specific mises en scène to aid us in visualizing George’s journey of loss, change, and eventually, belonging. For example, when George says that moving to Paris was scary, the director shows a shot of a crane very high in the air to symbolize fear of heights; this gives the viewer a visual sense of the George's fear caused by the traumatic chaos in his home when his father was killed as well as by his move to an alien environment. When George mentions that he felt lost, the director creates a scene of him being surrounded by many people walking in different directions-- he is surrounded by people but he still feels isolated.

Another example is a scene of George laughing and eating with his fellow boy scouts to illustrate the happiness that George felt when he belonged. This scene not only contrasts with the shots of George alone on the subway and in the streets of a crowded Paris but also with a low-key scene where George eats a meal with his mother at a kitchen table in their Paris apartment. Sad music punctuates the scene as George recounts the devastation he felt at the violent loss of his father. A balance is then achieved in the last scenes with his new friends: they are moments full of light and vivid scenery that encapsulate the happiness that may eventually offset George's loss.

Overall, Ieong's film shows that George's journey as an immigrant has been made successful by his father's early insistence that he build identity through fellowship; in every case, it is this fellowship that has allowed him to find a sense of belonging in the midst of uncertainty.

Glossary

Refugee: A person fleeing their home to escape persecution or conflict who seeks asylum in other parts of their country (also known as an internally displaced person), or in other countries. Protected by international law, refugees cannot be forced to return to their home if their lives would be endangered. Until a refugee can resettle, they rely on others to provide the basics of shelter, food and water, and healthcare.

Syrian Civil War: An armed conflict between several factions that include the Syrian Armed Forces, a loose alliance of opposition rebel groups, and the militant Islamic group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), each supported by international allies. It began in 2011 when the Syrian government violently suppressed pro-democracy protests. As of 2016, six million Syrians have been internally displaced and more than five million have fled Syria.

The Scout Movement: An international educational movement whose purpose is "to contribute to the development of young people in achieving their full physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual potentials as individuals, as responsible citizens and as members of their local, national and international communities." Its goal is to train its members to become independent, helpful, healthy, and happy.

Comprehension questions

1. In an interview about Belonging, Pierre Ieong explains that George is trying to find his identity. What is an identity? Why does George have to try to find or create an identity? How is he doing so?
2. The film compares shots of George surrounded by the greenery of nature to George surrounded by the traffic of Paris to represent George's idea of being out "in the wild." Does this comparison work for you? Why or why not? If not, what scenery would you have chosen to express George's feeling that he must survive in a hostile world?
3. George believes that he and his classmates are "little scouts in our hearts." What does he mean by this?
4. The end of the film featuring George's classmates are shot outdoors. How does this scenery represent George’s outlook on life?

Creative thinking questions

1. Read about the Scout movement (see resources under "Further reading"). Hypothesize which skills and strategies George learned as a scout may have helped him navigate his displacement.
2. Imagine that due to war or a natural disaster you had to move to a country where you were a stranger and different. What in your upbringing could you draw upon to make this sudden change and build a new life? If you realize you completely unprepared, what are some actions you could take right now to be better prepared if such an event were to happen?
3. Very often, refugees do not have time to pack their possessions before they have to run for their lives. Imagine you had to leave your home due to a war or disaster and only had time to take one thing with you. What would you choose and why?

Further reading

On the social psychology of belonging

• Kendra Cherry, "How the Need to Belong Influences Human Behavior and Motivation." At Verywell Mind, a resource of wellness information by health professionals.
• Marianna Pogosyan, "On Belonging: What is behind our psychological need to belong?" At the Psychology Today blog, a resource of psychology literature for the general public.

On the Syrian refugee crisis

• "Syria Emergency." At the United Nations Refugee Agency.
• Chris Huber and Denise C. Koenig, "Syrian refugee crisis: Facts, FAQs, and how to help." At the World Vision humanitarian organization website.
• "Syria's beleaguered Christians." At BBC World News. February 25, 2015. (George is a Christian Syrian).

On scouting

• Scouts Official website
• The Scout method

On the United Nations PLURAL+ Youth Video Festival on Migration, Diversity, & Social Inclusion

• Official website (here you can view other award-winning films and submit your own)

Other short films by Pierre Ieong

• L’Amour Invisible / I Saved The Fish (2019)
• Skin to Skin (2018)
• Maledictus Tormentum (2014)

Beautiful Dreamer

Introduction

Beautiful Dreamer, directed by David Gaddie, is a science fiction short film adapted from Ken Liu's short story, "Memories of My Mother." The film chronicles Amy's life through intermittent visits from her mother. Diagnosed with a terminal illness, Amy’s mother undergoes an experimental treatment based on Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. This treatment allows her to extend her life expectancy from two years to approximately eighty, enabling her to witness her daughter’s growth. However, this temporal manipulation means that Amy's mother is only able to see Amy at certain points in her life, often disappearing for years in between these visits. The short film depicts the moments in which they are reunited, as Amy grows from childhood to adulthood to old age.

Analysis

It can be said that opposing themes attract one another. Sadness amongst a happy story is more powerful than a tragic story alone. Gaddie utilizes this idea to depict the bond between Amy and her mother. We see this first in the setting of the film. Despite the plot taking place over decades, we see each scene depicted among a background of winter. Not only is the film set in winter, the lens of the film is altered with a grey/blue-tinted filter. The full scheme of the colors that are used are dulled slightly, making the mother the only character to stand out, clad in bright red. The cold, grey, wintry landscape provides an apt juxtaposition to the warmth radiated by the mother and the love between mother and daughter. In fact, Gaddie begins the film with a montage of mothers and babies within nature. He shows animals, vulnerable and innocent, being protected from the harsh elements of winter by their mothers. Gaddie then cuts to Amy and her mother. Immediately, the mother stands out in a bright red coat, red stockings, and high heels. As Amy’s mother leaves for the first time, she passes a young Amy to her father, who is clad fully in grey and black, a stark contrast to the brightness and warmth of Amy’s mother.

Another prominent visual motif of the film is Gaddie’s use of doors. In the scene where Amy is depicted as a teenager, we see Amy, her father, and her mother entering, exiting, opening, slamming, and knocking on doors. In almost every frame at the beginning of the scene, doors are being opened and closed, and tensions are high. Because of this, the setting continues changing. We go between the hallway, to Amy’s room, to the father’s room. In doing this, Gaddie represents the feeling of being drawn into the minds of these different characters. It feels as though Gaddie is pulling the audience back and forth into different areas of the home, the camera constantly moving and changing. Each time the doors are opened and closed, the camera cuts and the audience is left wondering where the focus will shift to next. While the characters are being shut out, the audience is forced to be present, going exactly where Gaddie thinks they need to be, in whichever character’s feelings are most prominent in the moment. Think of the phrase, “Where one door closes, another opens”. Gaddie uses this in a stressful, almost over stimulating way, leaving the audience wondering which door will ultimately be left open or closed. A door itself is an invitation in, or an abrupt goodbye. A door is an opening to opportunity, or a security blanket for privacy. What better way to exhibit our characters’ inner turmoil of solitude versus acceptance than using the door as a symbol? Ultimately, the door remains open for the mother to continuously enter into Amy’s life, and Amy continuously lets her in.

Amy continues to let her mother in at various points in her life, and their interactions provide a reprieve from life’s struggles. However, the overarching turmoil that Amy faces is still prominent in each scene. While Liu’s short story touches on these life struggles through narrative and Amy’s reminiscing, Gaddie instead focuses them on dialogue. For the purposes of a film adaptation, this makes more sense when writing the script. However, in the context of the story, it actually feels more palpable that Amy is saying these feelings out loud to her mother. Their relationship feels more real, as opposed to Amy feeling these things more on her own, with her mother roaming in the background. In one scene, we see the mother wipe a tear from Amy’s eyes. It is vulnerable and a subtle but impactful representation of a mother’s love. From the confusion of teenagehood, to her divorce as an adult, the death of her father, and her isolation from her own children in old age, we always see her interactions with her mother as a constant. Despite the character’s individual turmoil, their bond is a reminder of unwavering connection.

The film ends with Amy at age 80. She and her mother have their final interaction, a full circle moment in which the mother’s initial goal is achieved, and Amy has been able to spend a lifetime with her mother. The film is a beautiful adaptation of love persevering in spite of the elements, an unbreakable bond between these two women.

Characters

Amy (age 3) - our introduction to Amy’s character; the time at which her mother decides to leave

Amy (age 10) - the first stage in which the mother comes back to visit Amy; we see childlike innocence; solely an appreciation at seeing her mother again

Amy (age 17) - the first change in tone, with stronger themes of isolation among community; Amy is resentful of her mother; the father is most prevalent in this scene

Amy (age ~26) - a pivotal moment - the only scene where Gaddie departs from Liu’s short story. This stage of Amy’s life is not included in the original story. Amy and the mother are the same age; their roles go from being the same (as they have reached the same point in life) to reversed (as Amy must now recognize her mother as an equal, and care for her in a time of need)

Amy (age 38) - Amy is fully in adulthood; we see her with her own children

Amy (age 80) - Amy is at the end of her life; we see an elderly Amy reconnecting with her mother, who has remained physically unchanged; true love and closure as the film comes to an end

Mother - Amy’s mother who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness; uses futuristic technology to extend her lifetime from 2 years to 80 years to remain with her daughter. The mother is often absent, but returns at different stages of Amy’s life Father - Amy’s father who is the main parent throughout her lifetime

Similar works to explore

• Interstellar, 2014, dir. Christopher Nolan - film which also explores the Theory of Relativity and how it affects the relationship between a father and daughter
• La vérité, 2019, dir. Kore-eda Hirokazu - film also loosely based off of “Memories of My Mother” by Ken Liu
• Lady Bird, 2017, dir. Greta Gerwig - mother/daughter bond, also references the theme at different stages of life
• Everything Everywhere All at Once, 2022, dir. Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert - mother/daughter bond, sci-fi elements
• “Bloodchild” by Octavia E. Butler - short story also in the science fiction genre, which explores similar themes of isolation/community
• “The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig - a novel which explores the idea of going back in time to different stages of life, considering what might be done differently, a look into how our decisions relate to one another at various points in life

Critical thinking questions

• Is it a blessing or a curse for the mother to have expanded her lifetime, for the mother to show up at random points throughout Amy’s entire life?
• If you could pick 5 ‘scenes’ of your own life to have someone you love be guaranteed to be part of, what would they be and why?
• If you were in the mother’s shoes, would you have made the same decision? To utilize technology to expand her lifetime to stay with her daughter?
• What is the significance of the ending of the film?
• Would Amy and her mother have had the same relationship had she not been so prevalently both absent and present throughout Amy’s entire life?
• What is the role of the father in the film? Is he a key player or is he just a background character? Why?
• Why does Gaddie change the name from Liu’s original source material, from “Memories of My Mother” to Beautiful Dreamer?
• Gaddie uses several strobing effects, with loud music. What effect does this have on the story?
• Consider the soundtrack of the film. Gaddie uses several different songs and background tracks. Which of these benefit the story the most, and why would he have chosen them?
• Gaddie uses an interesting method of transitioning between scenes. It is almost dream-like, with scenes of nature, eerie music, characters blurring between past and present. The actors are often looking directly into the camera during these transitions. What is the significance of these interludes? How do they connect each scene, and why might Gaddie have chosen to include them, rather than simply fading into the next scene?
• How does Gaddie’s interpretation of technology in this society enhance or distract from the story? It is prevalent in every scene - from the devices the characters use, to the photos hanging on the walls. Why is this significant to the story?
• The final minutes of the film are a stark departure from the previous narrative. The science fiction elements are at their most prominent. Amy and her mother are seen boarding a rocket ship, traveling through time to visit past memories. Why does Gaddie use this to conclude his film? If you were directing the film, would you keep the ending the same? If not, how would you have chosen to depict the ending?

The Deluded Self

Everything has been figured out, except how to live.

-Jean-Paul Sartre.

Fear makes liars of us all.

-Carmen Maria Machado, In the Dream House.

Introduction

The masks that come with self-delusion.

Humans in the modern world have grown to become smarter, with a mindset that constantly adapts to modern technology and new experiences. However, with the passage of time, we have also learned and developed ways of improving social relations and self-image, as the need for public approval and pride has become evident in recent times, such as through the use of Instagram and the rising popularity of content creators. Young people, who are still discovering their "truth", may find it compelling to strive for that endless validation. However, what many fail to realize are the implications this can have on a person's mental condition and morals - not only letting others validate them but also eventually becoming slaves to the pride that fears what the governing eyes of others may see and reveal.

Self-delusion has been, and will always be, an unconscious psychological behavior that people resort to in their daily lives. To delude your true self, creating a lie that allows a person to switch their "image," is more common than you might think, and it isn't necessarily bad. While we are lying to ourselves, it enables us to protect our vulnerable ego and our conscience from the pain of reality, boosting our ability to perform as self-delusion transforms into confidence. Moreover, by convincing ourselves of that lie, it becomes easier to convince others, as it now seems as trustworthy as any other belief.

However, there are cases when self-delusion reveals itself to be self-deception, a lie made with the sole intent of improving social status, stemming from the exaggeration of over-confidence and insecurity. These are cases where self-delusion becomes toxic to one's authenticity, blurring the lines between genuineness and "putting up an act", aiming towards desire and grandeur. We can see instances like these in the news, such as the case of Elizabeth Holmes. Through her strong self-belief in her potential to become a successful entrepreneur, she was able to do so, eventually being declared the youngest self-made billionaire in 2015. However, the public did not realize the fraud she had committed to achieve that status until 2018. The lies about her product went undetected due to her strong persuasion in attracting investors, sourced from being self-delusional. She even continued to exhibit this type of behavior during her trial when trying to justify her products, refusing to admit the lie when evidence pointed otherwise.

Texts

"Dream House as Choose Your Own Adventure" is a chapter in Carmen Maria Machado's memoir In The Dream House. The memoir recounts Machado's abusive relationship with an ex-girlfriend. Over the course of the narrative, Machado meets her girlfriend and finds herself rapidly infatuated, wooed, love-bombed, and then, eventually, the abuse begins. The memoir includes chapters that are iterations of the abusive account in different forms of storytelling. One of these is titled "Dream House as Choose Your Own Adventure," where the story is told from the perspective of the main character, Machado, with the reader determining the choices taken in the Dream House, thus affecting the "outcome" of the story. However, as with any toxic relationship, it proves to be a fruitless endeavor as the abuse repeats itself day after day. The reader either ends up restarting the day or meets an ending accompanied by harsh commentary from Machado herself about the course of actions taken.

The analysis of "Dream House as Choose Your Own Adventure" is based on an audio version of the story dramatized by Zoë Winters on the podcast This American Life episode 703: Stuck! during Act Two: You Can’t Go Your Own Way.

No Exit is a 1944 French play written by Jean-Paul Sartre, originally titled Huis Clos. It is an existentialist drama centered around three damned souls sent to a “hellish space”, condemned to be stuck together for the rest of eternity. They are Garcin, a revolutionary who betrayed his own cause and wants to be reassured that he is not a coward; Estelle, an egomaniac who killed her illegitimate child and craves the objectivity of attention; and Inez, a sadistic lesbian that takes joy in torturing others. Each of the characters requires another person for self-definition and their means of salvation, yet each is most attracted to the person most likely to refuse and torment them. Their inability to escape from each other guarantees their eternal torture, thus having “no exit” from their never-ending need for self-definition and rejection of the past.

The analysis of No Exit is based on the transcript of the play provided by the Internet Archive (https://ia800700.us.archive.org/11/items/NoExit/NoExit.pdf) and the 1964 cinematic BBC adaptation of the play.

Analysis

Key Terms

Before diving deep into analyzing both texts, there are a few terms that need to be emphasized and further analyzed to fully understand the stories:

Dream House

AI-generated depiction of a dream or nightmare house

The Dream House, from my perspective, can be two things. One is a safe haven, the embodiment of our own secure, personal space from everything else - basically "the comfort of our own home". On the other hand, it can be a prison of our own making that becomes more torturous the longer we stay holed up in there. During the pandemic, for instance, when people were forced to stay at home for quite a while, they started out strong and happy to stay in the comfort of their homes. However, people became increasingly tired of always being at home and were actually relieved to finally be free after the pandemic ended.

Of course, a Dream House could mean someplace not real or intangible. Or, it could also mean a literal "dream house", a home where you would dream of having all your favorite things and making happy memories. But after listening to the transcript, I would say that she's metaphorizing this Dream House as a construct in her mind, conjuring the abuse that polluted the memory of the Dream House. Looking back and questioning the what-ifs while now being able to see it from the bigger picture of how her Dream House slowly shifted from a warm place to cold torture. It's ironic that she calls it a Dream House, as it now lingers as a hellhole. She could never claim it as her dream home, as it did not provide the love and security she needed.

The Fawn

The narrator compares, or rather contrasts herself to a fawn, reminding herself of the position she's in in the Dream House after trying to defy the actual course of actions. As we know it, a fawn is a vulnerable and fragile creature, a young deer that usually shies away from people and other foreign beings it might encounter. It understands its capability and weakness, so it's extremely cautious of any potential predators it might detect and puts an effort into trying to protect itself, usually by fleeing from danger. Machado depicted in the story, however, while being fragile and vulnerable, still decided to stay in the toxic relationship, justifying it as something that can be fixed even though signs that she was hurting were clearly visible. The narrator describes the fawn to help Machado realize this, but somehow, it is shown to be as if mocking her past self for being foolish.

The Box, The Clothes, The Dishes

She started off by describing the setting when she awakened, stating that despite how messy it was, she felt that warmth of innocence and glow of contentment in the room, up until she realized the existence of her partner there. Thus, voiding the light and warmth that was once in the room and leaving it with the disheveled mess it was originally. It clearly shows how messy their relationship was, with the Dream House being left in a mess and how there were no signs of ever cleaning it up, with the only time she does not acknowledge the presence of her partner being when the gloomy mess "disappears". This could be referencing her time during the relationship, how the only time she could enjoy her Dream House was when her partner wasn't in the picture, when she could be happy and forget the mess they made. Her partner only became a parasite to the Dream House, bringing harm and disorder into the relationship.

Mirrors

Mirrors are usually used to see yourself physically or meant as a window to see one's soul introspectively. Sometimes they're even used as a tool to reaffirm your own existence and essence, to fix and confirm your appearance on how others view you. Mirrors reveal a person's truth, which is their appearance, but ironically they are sometimes referenced as needed by characters to reflect what they "want" to see or hope for their lie to be the truth. They can be a symbol of pride in self-image and arrogance. And of course, most of the time it does not go accordingly. Say, for instance, think of how the Evil Queen in Snow White asked the mirror "Who's the fairest of them all?" with confidence that she herself is, but instead it shows the image of Snow White being the fairest. Then she goes on to mess with Snow White, which we all know did not end well for the Queen.

A mirror reflects our gaze back at ourselves, giving us reassurance of our existence and our "true" definition, as it is an object that shows the undeniable truth, or at least, the truth that we want to see. Now, what happens if we were to be deprived of mirrors or any tool to reflect on ourselves? Then it would narrow down our options to relying on other people's gazes to affirm our true selves. It would be fine if it were an accumulation of many different people's views, but how about limiting it to two? Now that would simplify the affirmation of your "definition" to something cruder and more untrustworthy. Almost like if you see a paper uses a lot of sources, then you can say it is reliable. But if it just uses two, then its credibility becomes questionable.

Freedom

The definition of freedom in the text is a bit twisted. For one, they all tried to live in freedom, free from the obligations of their crimes, free from the guilt of their past, and free from the consequences of existence. They were even provided freedom in Hell when the door to their room suddenly opened after Garcin's whines for escape. However, there is a difference between true freedom and the freedom we are comfortable with. The freedom we know of means to be free from obstacles that restrict our actions, to have the power to do, speak, and act the way we want, at least under the rules of law and order determined by a higher power, or essentially by others. True freedom, however, is a more reckless nature, where you are granted total liberty. To live life with no rules to define consequences, no one to dictate our actions, and no one to judge us except for us. But in return, we ourselves must become the regulator for our actions. Our whole life is our own, and the responsibility and obligation for our actions fall solely on us, with no one else to carry that burden, for with true freedom comes independence.

The room from Sartre's play No Exit: An ordinary room decorated in Second Empire style; however, the room has no windows or mirrors; there are three distinct old-fashioned couches with one on each side of the room and an ugly Barbedienne bronze statue by the wall.

Huis Clos

As being the original, untranslated title of the play, Huis Clos roughly translates to "with closed doors", or "behind closed doors." This could be referencing literally to the overall setting of the story, as their torture is never-ending and their arguing is to be "behind the closed doors" of Hell for eternity, as their room was designed to be "life without a break" from the use of specific bad décor to the lack of use for the items in the room. Or, it could be the closed-off mindset of each character, the secrets and true nature they withheld throughout life. As we know each character (except for Inez) has an issue with their past, they succumb to this constant need for approval just to uphold the "closed doors" that separate their past from their delusions of self. The closed doors could also mean the separation between their self and reality, as they all fear the suffocating reality of freedom and the consequences of true independence when they were given the chance to escape. The closed doors are their only way to maintain their integrity and chance for salvation, nevertheless, it eventually proves to be their punishment. Which side of their reality really is behind closed doors, the choice of true freedom or their choice of eternal confinement?

The definition of freedom in the text is a bit twisted. For one, they all tried to live in freedom, free from the obligations of their crimes, free from the guilt of their past, and free from the consequences of existence. They were even provided freedom in Hell when the door to their room suddenly opened after Garcin’s whines for escape. However, there is a difference between true freedom and the freedom we are comfortable with. The freedom we know of means to be free from obstacles that restrict our actions, to have the power to do, speak, and act the way we want, at least under the rules of law and order determined by a higher power, or essentially by others. True freedom, however, is a more reckless nature, where you are granted total liberty. To live life with no rules to define consequences, no one to dictate our actions, and no one to judge us except for us. But in return, we ourselves must become the regulator for our actions. Our whole life is our own, and the responsibility and obligation for our actions fall solely on us, with no one else to carry that burden, for with true freedom comes independence. And that is what the characters of “No Exit” want but can never get because of what they would have to sacrifice to obtain that. They would need to leave behind their attachment for validation and acknowledge their past to be able to achieve their desires without consequence. Basically, they would need to get rid of their need for others to dictate their existence and stop trying to reject their past, something that they are evidently not willing to let go of anytime soon as they decide to stay stuck in the room together to continue fighting for each other’s validation.

Discussion

Machado Between the “I’s” and “You’s”

Machado begins the chapter by employing the second-person perspective "you," immediately establishing a distance between herself and the recounted experiences. This narrative choice also confers upon the reader a sense of control over "you"—Machado's younger self—which proves crucial to the chapter's choose-your-own-adventure format. As the narrative unfolds, readers explore the many possible actions available to the "you" character and witness the ensuing abuse from their partner, interspersed with occasional monologues. One such instance occurs on page 191 during an intimate scene that digresses momentarily, as if these scenarios were deeply ingrained in Machado's memory. This cycle persists, only to reset and reiterate the same choices anew.

However, when the cycle is disrupted—specifically, when the reader selects a previously unavailable option—the true puppeteer of the story reveals themselves. Page 186 unveils the narrator's inner dialogue, critiquing the "you" of the Dream House. This dissonance manifests between the present "I," introspectively observing the perpetual suffering of the past "you" still ensnared in the Dream House. Here, "I" represents the narrator and Machado's present self, while "you" embodies the naïve younger Machado, inhabiting her memory of the Dream House. It is this same "you" upon whom the reader attempts to project their autonomy, particularly when choosing to defy the partner—an action promptly rebuked by the present Machado as something she would "never do."

Further instances of this defiance emerge on pages 190 and 186, where an argument erupts as "you" attempts to deviate from the established cycle of pages. Nevertheless, the narrator reminds the reader—and by extension, "you"—of the immutability of these memories. In reality, their choices bear no significance in a narrative that persists as a lingering regret of Machado's foolish youth, asserting that "[they] can't make it not happen, no matter what [they] do." The prospect of escape serves merely as a red herring in this narrative.

As a construct of Machado's imagination, "you" is consistently portrayed as a distinct entity bound to the events of the Dream House, subject to criticism and emblematic of regrets from which the present Machado continually dissociates. Despite being merely a different iteration of herself, Machado rejects this past self, portraying her present self throughout the chapter as a superior entity to the Machado in the Dream House. This approach isolates the pain, confining it to her depiction of a younger self and never acknowledging her own identity as that once-foolish girl.

Prison of Her Own Making

Throughout the narrative, it becomes evident that Machado imprisons herself in guilt, in the trauma that breathes life into the Dream House. The localization of the abuse within the house is significant, as it delineates the boundaries of these memories and associated feelings, confining them to Machado and her partner. This domestic setting acts as a barrier between one's "outside life" and "personal life," preventing external interference with these memories and decisions. It also constrains her freedom of choice, contradicting the choose-your-own-adventure concept. Essentially, there is no genuine "choosing" in this story; Machado is limited to decisions provided by the house. This limitation is reflected in the endless game where leaving the house was never an option, only occurring when the author fabricated it, "pretending" that's what transpired during that period. The events of the Dream House are immutable, having transpired yet persisting in memory.

From the outset, we observe the real Machado as a domineering presence; because she knows the story's outcome, she puts down her younger self for her naivety. Her self-delusion has transformed her into both warden and inmate. Rather than embodying the once-foolish girl who endured abuse, she has assumed the mantle of abuse, even at the cost of her current mental well-being post-relationship. As the most vulnerable version of herself attempts to navigate towards resolution from the abusive relationship, the reader, Machado, and the lingering memories of her partner collectively constrain her, distorting the narrative and her choices. Whatever the young Machado constructs is destined to crumble under the inexorable influence and choices of others.

Delusion of Bad Faith

In a parallel vein, No Exit grapples with the characters' delusions of dissociating from their authentic selves and rejecting their past, particularly in the cases of Garcin and Estelle. Having led lives driven by selfish desires, these characters share a common fate: collective torture and isolation in a hellish realm. As the play progresses, the true nature of their "hell" becomes apparent. Both Garcin and Estelle exemplify victims of bad faith, relying on others' perceptions to validate their existence and deceiving themselves about the gravity of their committed responsibilities. They seek external justification for their misdeeds as a means of dissociating from their past transgressions.

The play gradually unveils this dynamic, beginning with Garcin's incessant inquiries about his colleagues' opinions in the real world, seeking confirmation of whether they perceived him as the coward he feared himself to be. His persistent need to justify his past cowardice evolves into a desperate defense of his "pacifist" life as an act of bravery. However, Inez alone recognizes his true nature, leaving him trapped in an endless cycle of seeking approval.

Estelle presents an even more severe case than Garcin, desiring to exist solely liberated from the obligations of subjecthood. She employs bad faith to relinquish her freedom, aspiring to become an object in others' eyes. Initially seeking a mirror to validate her existence as the object she wishes others to perceive, she eventually craves constant gaze and sexual attraction to affirm this objectification. Garcin becomes the focal point of this desire; he is the only man she "wants" so she may confirm her existence as an object of love. This blind pursuit of objectification and evasion of true freedom's obligations gradually reveals her delusional nature and the sins committed to maintain her previous life of leisure. Her actions extend to the murder of her illegitimate child, simply because she didn't want them. Her heartlessness is further evidenced by her indifference to the subsequent suicide of the child's father, dismissively stating that he "killed himself on [her] account." Consistently, she exhibits a lack of concern for her past actions, dissociating from them as if they held no significance and justifying them as means to her own ends.

Inez's Consequence of Authenticity

Inez's case stands in stark contrast to her companions. Despite her sadistic lifestyle, she accepts her hellish situation, acknowledging her misdeeds and stating that she's "always conscious of [herself] – in [her] mind. Painfully conscious." This self-awareness diverges from Garcin and Estelle's struggle to evade the reality of their crimes. Paradoxically, Inez emerges as the sole truly "authentic" individual in this scenario yet remains damned as a person tormented by her past existence. She requires others to fuel her reason for deserving damnation, a consequence of embracing her past nature. The question arises: how can one acknowledge being a sadist without someone to torture? This dynamic manifests in Inez's pursuit of Estelle's "love," which in reality is a desire to manipulate and torment her. A poignant illustration of this occurs when Estelle asks Inez to be her mirror, only for Inez to fabricate lies that distort Estelle's image and exploit her bad faith.

Ultimately, all characters engage in an endless competition for their own definition of authenticity, grappling for peace of mind, and preoccupied with rejecting the consequences of their freedom, even when presented with the opportunity to escape. Garcin and Estelle have become enslaved by desire, condemned never to attain closure regarding the past crimes from which they attempt to dissociate, with Inez serving as an anchor for their bad faith. This perpetuates the cycle, binding them to eternal isolation. Escape remains elusive.

Disassociation and Deception

A Cycle of Constant Rejection and Dissociation

The act of dissociating from one's past has propelled each character into a spiral of recurring torment, each trapped in a cycle of evading responsibility for their mistakes and trauma. Machado, though liberated from the abusive relationship, remains ensnared by its lingering trauma, clinging to the memory of the Dream House she now fears to revisit. This creates a chasm between her naïve younger self, compelled to relive the events of the Dream House, and her present self, who ceaselessly criticizes every misstep. She refuses to acknowledge her former naivety, as evidenced by her alternating use of "I's" and "you's" and her harsh self-commentary.

Similarly, the characters in No Exit dissociate from their past transgressions, rationalizing them as necessary or, more accurately, as pursuits of selfish desires. This rejection of life's obligations and consequences has led them to Hell, condemned to an eternal struggle to fulfill their desires, shackled by the very things they once primarily coveted in life.

Moreover, both narratives illustrate how each character resorts to deception as a means of self-delusion, spiraling deeper into painful lies and desperation, rendering the truth increasingly unpalatable. Machado attempts to deceive herself and revise the actions taken during her past relationship, while Garcin and Estelle endeavor to deceive their way towards a semblance of peace of mind.

Discussion questions

To analyze the concept of self-delusion in these texts thus far, here are a few questions to reflect upon:

• Who do you think is Machado’s past self trying to deceive?
• In what role does the reader play in Machado’s story? As the embodiment of her self-delusions, a passive bystander, or as the narrator that forces the torment of choice on her past self? Or, is there any other role not listed that you might agree with?
• Why do you think Machado hasn’t given up on the nightmare? Is it guilt, is it self-justification, is it a responsibility?

• Why is Inez the only one who hadn’t succumbed to self-delusion and is always self-aware? Why does she ultimately “win” in this ordeal?
• Compared to the other two, Estelle died in a natural matter of pneumonia, while Garcin and Inez died in certain situations due to rejecting the consequences of reality. What made Estelle’s self-delusion and rejection of the past different than the other two?
• Was Garcin’s punishment for cowardice deserving, or is his reason of self-delusion justifiable? Try being in his position and explain why.

Imagine a story element

Here’s an interesting group activity – together, try to pick out a few key words or element from each of the stories. Then, using an AI image generator, conjure up each your own depictions of these key elements, and present these images together. Have each group member discuss what prompt they used in the AI search description for their own images and discuss which image from the group closely resembles to their combined depiction of the key element.

Example Prompt: Joseph Garcin as a tall, mid-30’s, in a suit and tie, balding, with mustache, realistic art.

Create your own interactive adventure

Interested in Machado's storytelling concept of utilizing a choose-your-own-adventure format? Luckily, there is a free, online service in creating those type of stories! Inklewriter will enable you to write complex stories, branching decision-making, and overall an in-depth story of your own making, which you can even share to others to experience for themselves!

Here's an example of my own short interactive story using Inklewriter.

Further learning

On the behavior of self-delusion

David Robson, "How self-deception allows people to lie." BBC. This article explores self-deception, highlighting how individuals like Elizabeth Holmes and Anna Sorokin convinced themselves of their lies. https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220525-how-self-deception-allows-people-to-lie

Angela Chen, “A Psychologist Explains Why We’re Probably All Delusional and How to Fix It.” The Verge, 21 May 2017. The article discusses psychologist Tasha Eurich’s book Insight, which explores self-awareness. Eurich argues that most people lack true self-awareness, leading to poor decisions and unhappiness. She suggests practical methods to improve self-awareness, such as asking “what” questions instead of “why” and seeking feedback from friends.www.theverge.com/2017/5/21/15660894/insight-self-awareness-psychology-tasha-eurich-interview.

Courtney Warren, "Honest liars -- the psychology of self-deception." This TED talk explores the tpsychology of self-deception. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpEeSa6zBTE