Author: Leo Ragazzo

While I read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, I noticed how horrified Dr. Victor Frankenstein acted toward the monster he created. He acts this way because of the monster’s appearance. Without knowing anything about the creature besides its looks, Frankenstein immediately fears the beast and flees. This response is common in literature and society.

Upon the creation of his monster, Dr. Frankenstein instantly fears the creature. Without giving it much time, Frankenstein’s mind begins to wander and form irrational thoughts about his creation. Before it takes life, the monster already appalls Frankenstein. Dr. Frankenstein, “unable to endure the aspect of the being, […] rushed out of the room” (Shelley 84). Before he was able to recognize the true value of his creation, Frankenstein already made up his mind by pure ignorance. He could not bear to look at the horrible face of the creature. He based his decision strictly off of looks. After his initial panic, Frankenstein runs to his bed and sleeps. He wakes up from a nightmare and finds the monster looking right at him with “his eyes, if eyes they may be called” (84). Frankenstein only sees the mutilated eyes of the monster he created. He does not even bother looking beyond the surface of his creation. Even when the creature speaks, Frankenstein does not listen: “[the monster] might have spoken, but I did not hear” (84). Blinded by the monster’s ghastly appearance, Dr. Frankenstein shows little interest in what the beast has to say and immediately flees. He does not even give the monster a chance to prove itself a nice, delicate being. The monster’s appearance alone is enough to drive Dr. Frankenstein away from his house in fear.

This ignorant and rash assumption can also be seen in Natasha Trethewey’s Bellocq’s Ophelia. Ophelia lives in a special brothel specifically designated for colored girls. The prostitution world is very superficial and the men regularly make decisions based off of looks. For this reason, Ophelia takes pills to change the color of her skin to appear more desirable to men. In reality, Ophelia is an educated young woman waiting to prove herself to the world. In the brothel, however, men and protocol constantly extinguish these feelings.

It is important to note, however, that I do not entirely blame Dr. Frankenstein’s decision on ignorance. A massive monster with foreign features is scary and I do not blame him for being freighted by his creation. I argue, however, that Frankenstein should not remain fearful. After all, it is his creation and he knows how the monster works. I believe Dr. Frankenstein’s fault lies in his continuation of fear, powered by a rash decision of pure judgment. This ignorance and superficial examination plagues Dr. Frankenstein, the brothels, and society in general.

Christian Sanchez states that Bellocq’s Ophelia is a story of regret led by desire for money. I argue that money does not fully lead Ophelia to prostitution but rather she made a conscious, thought-out decision to join the brothel to escape her violent past.

Trethewey stresses Ophelia’s sophisticated nature throughout the collection of poems, whether it is through language or structure. Ophelia does not try to justify her decision; she merely states it was necessary in order to survive. Ophelia makes this commitment because she wants the survival necessities a life of prostitution would give her if she escaped her current, violent life. She grows up in a life of rape and abuse, and escaping to the brothel would in turn provide her with a roof, food, and care. Having thought-out this decision, Ophelia writes to her friend, Constance, “I alone / have made this choice” (Trethewey 15). Ophelia tells her friend to not worry about her as she has had ample time to think about her decision. Money only plays a minor role in her choice to work in a brothel. The constant flashbacks of her childhood where they make her feel as she is “in the dream where [she has] run, again, / into the tobacco barn at the back end / of the plantation […] The man who comes wears a carnival mask, / and [she is] the grinning nigger  / on whose tongue he places a shiny coin” (23). Ophelia’s nightmares reveal her abusive past, not her poverty. This leads me to believe she ran to the brothel because she wanted to escape her abusive life, not to earn money. I believe that Sanchez’s statement “Ophelia’s turn to prostitution is not only based on her limited options, but also on the fact of the universal need for money” is false (Sanchez). I agree that Ophelia needs money, just as anyone does, but I do not think that it was her reason to turn to prostitution. If Sanchez’s claim were the case, I do not believe Ophelia would choose to leave the brothel.

Another example why I believe money did not drive Ophelia’s decision is seen in her choice to leave the brothel at the end of the story. Ophelia tells Constance her “purse already swells” just after a few days of work, so why would she leave (15)? I argue that she leaves because she knows her life will get harder and harder the longer she stays here. The contortionist Ophelia mentions in the Vignette represents life in the brothel: “the contortionist in a sideshow—how / he could make himself small, fit / into cramped spaces, his lungs / barely expanding with each tiny breath. / She thinks of her own shallow breaths” (47). Her life in the brothel resembles the act of a contortionist, bending smaller and smaller with less and less breath, slowly suffocating until immobilization. Her life has become this act of control, which is why she decides to leave. Ophelia knows if she continues to work at the brothel she will die. This same type of educated decision is what drove her to the brothel in the first place. This thinking shows that survival instinct drives Ophelia, not money.

Natasha Trethewey’s “Bellocq’s Ophelia” is a collection of poems that tell the story of a prostitute trying to escape her exposed life in hopes of gaining control of herself. Ophelia describes her life through a series of letters she has written to tell her loved ones of her journey as a prostitute. As the novella progresses, Ophelia slowly emerges from the oppression and blossoms into a woman in control of herself.

At the beginning of the novella, the repressive life of a prostitute wears on Ophelia. She reveals the letter written by Countess P, the girls’ caretaker. The letter, titled ‘Countess P—‘s Advice fro New Girls,’ gives guidance to new prostitutes and helpful direction to ways they can safely live. Countess P describes the proper way to interact with a customer. She tells the girls to “see yourself through his eyes” and to “let his gaze animate you […] think of yourself as molten glass” (Trethewey 11).  The women are clearly inferior to men and are simply puppets to their masters. Their customers control them, and they also have to mold themselves into what their clients desire. The emotional disconnect within the women also adds to their meek personas. They cannot personally see who they really are, but rather, they look through other peoples’ eyes to see who they should become. Ophelia does not feel comfortable in her skin. She lies down in a bath, staring at her muffled reflection. She grows colder the longer she sits and begins to get the chills: “my skin gooseflesh, / the Braille text of my future” (18). The bumps on her skin foreshadow her future as a prostitute. The pokes look like Braille reading across her arm. Braille, a method of reading and writing for the blind, serves as a metaphor to foretell the carless, insignificant, and submissive life Ophelia will live if she continues to live as a prostitute.

Ophelia decides, however, to stop her compliant life and live for herself. As winter turns to spring, a time of rebirth and rejuvenation, Ophelia also encounters changes of her own. Ophelia hopes to start fresh and live with purpose and ambition. Ophelia reveals she is finally “aware of [spring’s] coming / as I’ve never been […] Now, I feel what trees must— / budding, green sheaths splitting—skin / that no longer fits” (33). For the first time, she realizes the seasons changing and transforms with the trees of spring.  Ophelia outgrows her old, useless skin and begins to blossom into a new woman. The potent capabilities of self-power drastically alter Ophelia. She now wears ‘new’ skin that symbolizes her new self. She learns “ how / to wear skin like a garment, seamless” (42). Ophelia’s skin, revealing who she is, no longer droops in the sorrows of a timid girl; it now shows power and structure that corrects her life and leads her into control of her fate. She wears her skin, proud of its shape. By the end of the novella, Ophelia has completely transformed. She takes control of her destiny and focuses on living a meaningful life. As the story concludes “she’s no longer listening; she’s forgotten / he’s there” (47). Ophelia does not even pay attention to the men. Ophelia’s disregarding of men contradicts the initial advice of Countess P, to listen to what the clients desire. She slowly grows into her own person and learns the ways of an independent, committed life.

“Bellocq’s Ophelia” shows the story of a young prostitute living a life of sorrow and eventually growing into a self-thinking woman.

Charlie Chaplin’s silent film, “Modern Times,” is a story of factories and their affect on humans. The movie begins with a shot of pigs rushing into their sties then quickly cuts to humans rushing to get to work. This series shows how factories change human behavior. They turn them into time hypersensitive beings. The overruling master also expresses a sense of urgency. Charlie takes a break in the bathroom and the manager’s face appears on a screen in the bathroom. The manager is so concerned with the efficiency of his company that he will appear in a typically private place to tell the workers to get back to their job. The movie shows a big clock in one of the first scenes to convey and stress the importance of time in the business.

Chaplin’s job itself also consumes his actions. The movie often shows scenes of Chaplin stopping his job for a moment but he still continues the action of wrenching. His job takes over his movements. The long hours and constant brutal direction limit Chaplin’s freedom to live independently. Continuing with this wrenching action, Chaplin goes outside and sees a very bodacious woman walking down the street. She sees buttons on her chest and chases after her to twist them. Chaplin does not want to woo her but rather wants to wrench the buttons on her dress. The factory Chaplin works in has replaced human emotion and lust for mechanical drive. The factory also agrees to test a new machine that would feed the workers so they would not have to stop for lunch. The machine is another example of factories controlling humans. The machine was tested on Chaplin and failed to work. The machine would again replace human action in hopes of improving the efficiency of the factory. The factories, however, do not only affect Chaplin, they also control his fellow prisoners.. eh I mean, coworkers. Chaplin is a humorous character that often toys with others. At one point in the movie, Chaplin has the whole factory chasing after him. The other workers chase him around the conveyor belt but stop to catch up on what they missed. Their job completely consumes that they engage in a comical scene where they go from chasing a pest to rushing to recover from the time they have missed on the conveyor belt.

Lastly, the movie depicts the factory as jail in which Chaplin and the other workers are held prisoner. Chaplin is sent to the doctor where the doctor tells him to not get ‘excited.’ As soon as Chaplin goes into the real world, however, the amount of excitement he experiences overwhelms him. This implies he has not seen the real world for a long time because of how demanding the factory is. Later in the movie, the officers release Chaplin from the jail but he refuses to leave. The movie reads, Chaplin is “determined to go back to jail.” He does not want to leave jail because he likes it so much more than the factory. Humorous is the fact that Chaplin would chose jail over the factory. The irony of the situation adds to the theme of the movie; the factory is jail and jail is life.

Herman Melville’s The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids consists of two short stories that relate through heavily contrasting descriptions. In The Paradise of Bachelors, the narrator explains a world where the characters are all given the opportunity and privileges to be important in their world. The elite dinner explained serves as an example showing how little the attendees have worked for their access: “the apartment was well up toward heaven. I know not how many strange old stairs I climbed to get to it. But a good dinner, with famous company, should be well earned,” (Melville 1261). This location of the dinner shows great insight into Melville’s opinion on the differing lives of the elite and working-class. A ‘well earned’ meal for the elite is walking up a few flights of stairs, but for the women working in the paper mill in the Tartarus of Maids, a well earned meal is working “twelve hours to the day, day after day, through the three hundred and sixty-five days,” (1278). Unlike the feasting, happy men, the workingwomen work brutal hours to provide for themselves. The contrasting lives in these dissimilar stories reveal an immense amount of information about the divisions in society. Another example of differences in the two stories lies in the characters’ descriptions and features. The men in the first story do not have spouses of children because they did not want anything giving them “an anxious thought” (1264). The women in the second story, however, the manager of the mill, Cupid, tells the narrator “we will not have married women” (1278). The men have the choice to marry, but the women cannot decide for themselves. During their long hours of working in the mill, the women slowly transform into the products of the machines they command. Their lack of freedom physically turns them into the paper produced: “at rows of blank-looking counters sat rows of blank-looking girls, with blank, white folders in their blank hands, all blankly folding blank paper” (1270). Paper’s appearance, white and blank, starts to read in the women’s faces. Furthermore, the women’s brows also transform with the paper as the woman’s face and paper both go into the machine blank, and the paper and the other worker’s face come out ruled and wrinkled. Lastly, Melville connects these two contrasting places and explains why they differ. During the narrator’s journey to the paper mill, he states realizes that “[The Devil’s Dungeon] is the very counterpart of the Paradise of Bachelors, but snowed upon, and frost-painted to a sepulchre” (1269). The paper mill has the potential to be the beautiful, thriving city of elite, but the snow of the factory imagery disrupts the workingwomen’s ability to live freely.

There are many more hidden examples of contrasting lives within these two stories, like the men’s hoping for the greatest health for their neighbors and the manager’s dictatorial attitude toward the women. I ultimately think, however, that Melville believes that factories destroy mankind and obstruct the thriving potential of a society.

Rebecca Harding Davis’ “Life in the Iron Mills” is a story of feminism. Davis wrote this story in a time where women yearned for social acceptance and distinction. Throughout the story, Davis displays the progression of strength in women. In the beginning, the gloomy sky reminds the narrator of a story; he/she recounts the details: “Two or three dirty hands were thrust out to catch the gown of the woman, who was groping for the latch of the door,” (Davis 2765). The ‘dirty’ men grab at the woman that is reaching for the door. The woman gropes, or blindly searches, for the handle showing how women have been suppressed to little importance in society. One should even consider the main plot of the short story. Deborah, despite feeling the consequences of working in tough conditions and malnutrition, packs a dinner for Wolfe and delivers it to him through rain and freezing temperatures. This scene portrays women as inferior to men and suggests that they serve men and cater to their every need.

As the story progresses, however, the roles of male and female seem to blur. Hugh Wolfe’s character is important when discussing gender roles. Wolfe’s nickname is “Molly Wolfe” because “he had already lost the strength and instinct vigor of a man…his face (a meek, woman’s face) haggard,” (2769). Not only has Wolfe adopted the name of a woman, he also possesses features of one. Wolfe’s weak demeanor proposes the ascending status of women in society. Wolfe’s sculpture of the korl woman supports the claim that women have gained respect and power in society. Davis describes the sculpture with “her arms flung out in some wild gesture of warning…muscular, grown coarse with labor, the powerful limbs,” (2772-3). The statue of the woman emits power, or ‘warning’. The statue represents Deborah and her ‘hunger’ for food and also, more significantly, life itself. Furthermore, the sculpture also displays masculine qualities, qualities that “touched [Mitchell] strangely” (2773). It is ‘strange’ that Mitchell has a reaction to the statue because men are not often significantly affected by women or their presence. As Wolfe lies in prison contemplating suicide, he watches women pass by outside and dreams of sculpting them as he had sculpted Deborah. Wolfe seeks women that would act as muses for his next sculpture. He now relies on women to give him inspiration in life so he can perform his talent. Davis’ short story intricately expresses the desire of women to gain power and their progression of importance in society through life in the iron mills.

Throughout the past few weeks of reading and blogging, many people have brought up different arguments as to which theme is most prevalent and revealing in William Gibson’s Neuromancer. Sherryl Vint’s “Cyberpunk: Return of the Repressed Body”, argues that the gender roles are extremely strong in the novel, and these roles have changed. More specifically, she argues that Case loses touch with his masculine side and becomes completely susceptible to the technological advances surrounding his life. I agree to a certain, less severe, extent. I personally feel Case does not necessarily lose touch with his masculinity but rather it is Molly to gains power, only making Case appear feminine. I also think Case does have some control over his actions, however small that power may be, I feel he has the ability to break away from the overpowering forces of technology and become his own person.

Vint interprets Case’s passive, soft behavior as feminine. She points out a scene in the novel where Case sees a glimpse of his image in the real world. Case sees “a white-faced, wasted figure, afloat in a loose fetal crouch” (Gibson 256). Vint suggests the “weak, pale, passive” adjectives are “typically feminized terms” (Vint 105). I would not go as far as she has. Case is about to go into Molly’s reality, which, in his eyes, is very powerful. I think what Case sees is almost a self-critique in comparison to the ‘heroic’ Molly. I still think Case is all male; Molly, however, just overpowers Case’s personality with her own dominating presence. Vint also refers to another author in her essay, Allucquere Rosanne Stone who wrote “Will the Real Body Please Stand Up?”. Vint supports Stone’s argument that “the technological limitations of rendering bodies in cyberspace using computer technology may actually tend to reinforce stereotypical notions about body, gender, and beauty” (105). I disagree with Stone and Vint here. I think the main reason Case seems so, as Vint would say, ‘feminine’ is directly related to technology. The technological advances Case has either adapted or been injected with are the main cause of his appearing less masculine. Whether it is Case’s new pancreas or the toxic sacs in his body, the new technology he has gained with the help of Armitage has significantly affected the way he reacts and looks in certain situations.

Although I agree with Sherryl Vint in that Case tends to seem less dominant than Molly, I would have to disagree with her when it comes to the reason for Case’s weak demeanor. I propose that Molly’s strong personality overpowers Case’s frail stature ultimately making him seem less of a man. Another point of Vint’s with which I strongly disagree is the role of technology. I feel technology is the main reason Case seems ‘feminine’ to Vint, even though she suspects the technology in Neuromancer only strengthens gender roles.

Humans are very complex creatures: the ways we move, think, act, and interact. In Gibson’s Neuromancer, technology has completely thwarted mankind’s ability to think for itself. Although, upon analyzing this novel, most look mainly at the imagery of technology, I found it interesting to investigate the description of the characters’ eyes and what emotions linger inside.

The eyes of humans are said to be the window to their soul. Upon reading the assigned chapters of Neuromancer, I began to realize the amount of times Gibson mentions the eyes of the characters in relation to their mental state. Molly falls into a trap set by Ashpool and he carries her into his room. He informs her he was in the middle of committing suicide. After he goes unconscious due to the amount of drugs he has taken, Molly decides to finish him off by stabbing a poison dart into his eye. Ashpool’s life has been ruled by technology, so much that he can no longer live. Molly’s stabbing him in the eye conveys the toxicity of technology. Throughout this novel, we have seen Armitage’s steady mental collapse. Case sees Armitage has an “utterly crazy face” with “eyes black as buttons”. Armitage is basically a whole new person. He has completely escaped his former sick, addicted identity as Colonel Willis Corto by the advances of technology. Molly also talks to Armitage and notices his unstable personality. Molly “passes the tips of her fingers through Armitage’s television eyes”. Gibson uses Armitage’s eyes to convey to the readers the detrimental effect technology has over mankind. His ‘television eyes’ show how technology has severely altered Armitage’s life to the point of complete emptiness. This black appearance is seen in Armitage’s death. The vacuum of space kills Armitage. The emptiness of space has consumed Armitage to the point of no return. Lastly, Gibson introduces 3Jane, daughter of Ashpool, toward the end of the reading. Ashpool first talks about his daughter just before he commits suicide. Molly then sees her face on the prostitute in Ashpool’s bed. Molly describes her eyes as being “dark, curiously opaque”. Her eyes reveal a certain mystery and deviousness that, I think, will lead to a more important role as the novel concludes.

There is no question technology is a major theme in the novel. I think, however, looking into the eyes of the characters will give greater insight into what Gibson intended the reader to infer. Personally, while reading the novel, the number of times Gibson describes a character by their eyes was too much for me to disregard as ‘just a description’.

Upon reading Neuromancer, I instantly became aware of the technological theme ubiquitous throughout the novel. William Gibson presents the connection between technology and life, immediately, in the first sentence: “the sky above the port was the color of television” (Gibson).  The sky’s static, grey color sets the ominous mood that prominently carries within each line. This comparison of sky and television continues, as does their aura of toxicity. Case walks in Night City “under the poisoned, silver sky”. The resonating parallels between life and technology, the sky and television, television and poison caught my attention. At first I was not sure what this exactly meant, was it that obvious, technology is poison, or did it have a deeper, more cryptic meaning?

Then, there was one point where all my questions came to a clear answer, at least I think. In the beginning of the novel, Case is a thief, sick, suicidal, and an addict. When Case questions his life he is caught “staring up at the lights”. The lights, or technology, are what he turns to for help. The answers he has now are leading him on his injurious path. This path, however, seems to halt when he meets Molly and Armitage. At first, they both seem to help Case and turn him away from his past, unhealthy life, but I feel suspicious about both. Molly’s description smells of a technological scent: “[Molly] wore tight black glove leather jeans…that seemed to absorb light”. The light Molly’s pants absorb is the same light that troubled Case in the first place. Armitage tries to relieve Case of his disorderly condition, but fails to do so. He later places a deal with Case and mysteriously vanishes with his true identity and background still unknown, leaving this ominous ambiance similar to the tone the static sky made in the beginning. The characters of the novel also support the initial mood and tend to suggest the detrimental powers technology holds over society.

I am looking forward to seeing how the novel unfolds, as I could be incredibly wrong about these characters. Let me know if you found anything else about Armitage. I don’t like his suspicious demeanor.

[NOTE: I had to read the novel via free online text because the book did not arrive on time…sorry for the lack of page numbers!]