The Trials of Socrates!

The Trials of Socrates

 

                The Trials of Socrates has to be one of the most interesting books we have read so far because of its tactics to try and persuade the reader. Socrates is shown in different lights by Plato and Aristophanes (Xenophon as well but I’m going to focus on these two). C.D.C. Reeve places the account by Plato first before Aristophanes’ play titled Clouds. Plato paints a picture as an inquisitive clever wise and intelligent Socrates who is wrongly being condemned to death despite his defense that puts holes in all the evidence. Reeves wants the reader to start out with a specific image of Socrates, as this wise man who was wrongly put to death. In Clouds by Aristophanes, Socrates is portrayed as a man who has his head in the clouds. As this loony guy who is filling everyone’s head with nonsense. One might then infer that Reeves wants the reader to be a Socrates lover and be against the negative view created by Aristophanes. However I believe that Reeves is among the thinkers of Socrates being an arrogant man. Obviously a lot of Socrates views are very valid and correct in questioning things but I think being anti-Socrates in this sense is more of him as a person. I personally am not too fond of Socrates not because of what he stands for but he seems to be an asshole. I think Reeves believes Socrates is an asshole too. When I first saw the cover of the book I noticed the fly. After reading Plato’s account I believed it to be put there as like a fly on the wall but I think it was put there in reference to Clouds. On page 97 the student tells Strepsiades that Socrates was just trying to measure how many feel a flea could jump by putting melted wax on the flea’s foot. This is something that has no importance unless you give it importance. I think Reeves may have looked at Socrates as a useless man as just a fly or a flea but what he brought about was questioning which is much bigger than just him. Socrates is just the fly of a much bigger picture.

                Now I want to look more into Clouds by Aristophanes. I loved this play and I enjoyed it so much partly to do with the fact that I’m a theatre major who has a love for literature. Aristophanes portrays Socrates as this man who worships the clouds rather than the Gods. This is very relevant today because science often contradicts religion and there is a constant moral battle. I think Aristophanes believed in a lot of the things he claimed Socrates believed in. Aristophanes’ theories on the clouds and the inferior and superior argument were too knowledgeable for him to pull them out of thin air but I believe, like most people of this time, Aristophanes feared these ideas and that’s why he satirized Socrates. It is often said in the playwriting world, write what you know, but most importantly write what you fear. I find it so remarkable how much the world has changed. I am a strong believer in my Catholic faith but I find it so fascinating to question it and see other aspects of religion. It’s incredible to think that these Gods of ancient Greece that were so worshiped and adored are now lost and told of only in stories. So much can change in 2000 years and it’s amazing to have these glimpses into the past.

David Goodis' Adventure

Black Friday by David Goodis

Literary Philadelphia Project

 

In David Goodis’ novel Black Friday he tells the story of Hart who is on the run from the police for a murder case and hops on trains going North and finds himself on the streets of Philadelphia with no money, no coat and just the thin clothes on his back. Hart tells about the bitter cold of Philadelphia in January and living in the city has shown me how bitter and cold these winters can be. David Goodis was a Temple student and lived in Philadelphia very similar to me right now! So as the first part of my research I went step by step through Hart’s journey through Philly in the beginning of his novel and took pictures and saw what was around the areas Hart went while running from the police.

Hart Started looking up and down Callowhill street to see if the police were coming and he was hating Philadelphia. The area around here is pretty secluded and there is not much foot traffic going on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hart then moved on up to Broad and Callowhill street. This way he would be able to be surrounded by more people cause Broad street has a lot more foot traffic. Hart complains about the cold and luckily on the night I went on my adventure the weather was really nice. I can't imagine walking that long without a heavy coat. Oh yeah I forgot to mention I walked from Temple all the way to these locations and back so that is what I call dedication!

 Hart then looks up to city hall to see that it was 6 20. I waited there at city hall till 6 20 to take a picture just to find out that you can't even see it in the picture. Hart tells of how its starting to get dark and this was accurate because around 6 30 it started getting darker and darker. You can tell Goodis knows thea area well and knows what the city is like in the winter months.

 Hart then walks to a clothing store but he did not give enough information so I couldn't find which clothing store it might have been. At this clothing store Hart steals a warm jacket to fend from the Philadelphia chill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hart then goes to 12th and Race and finds a local bar there. He has a drink until a police officer comes in and asks him about the jacket. Hart throws a beer in the officers face and runs out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black Friday was written between 1950 and 1954. I found it so interesting that on 12th and Race here in 2013 there is still a bar. The bar is called the Cherry Lounge. Now I asked how long this bar has been here and they said the Cherry Lounge itself is fairly new but that there has always been a bar in this exact spot. David Goodis wrote this book with complete accuracy, making an easy way for people like me to follow in the steps of Hart.

 

Well the Blog wont let me upload anymore pictures so I'm going to have to leave my Philadelphia adeventure here! I'm really enjoying following the footsteps of this story and walking where Hart walked and realize that Goodis has made this trek himself. David Goodis wrote a story that relates to his perception of Philadelphia. I can really relate to Goodis because like him I consider this my city and its a place that was always connected to him, and likewise it is a place that will always be connected to me.

Borderlands Crossing Bridges or Creating More?

Borderland La Frontera by Gloria Anzaldua

 

            We just finished reading Borderlands by Gloria Anzaldua and in the book she talks about the struggles of being Chicano. In a broader sense she is talking about being stuck between two worlds, or two beings. Anzaldua is stuck between Mexico and Texas because of her heritage and where she is physically in regards to the border. Having the Mexican, the Native American, Anglo and Texas in her she feels like she does not fully belong to any group so she puts herself in a new group of Chicanos, the new Mestizas. Now Anzaldua I believe is so lucky that she has access to so many different cultures and is structured by so many different ways of life but I don’t think she has the feeling of being lucky.

            Anzaldua talks a lot about serpents. Serpents/snakes seem to be a continuous theme in a lot of our texts. In Gilgamesh the serpent has eternal life, and that’s why it sheds its skin. In Borderlands Anzaldua brings up how mothers would warn their daughters of walking to the outhouse at night in fear of serpents, but the serpents represented penises. Yet later she compares the serpent’s mouth to the vagina of a woman. I find this highly interesting because Anzaldua says since she was bitten by a snake she has been forever snake-like. Since the snake has been compared to both male and female genitalia it goes back to reinforce her point of duality. Anzaldua herself is continuously stuck between Woman and man. She contemplates the conscious versus unconscious. Anzaldua also is Chicana and Mestiza as well.

            The issue brought up in class that really interested me was Anzaldua’s  topic on pg. 89-90 of the Native American mask being brought into western museums to be put on display and how the piece out of context dies. I was shocked by this argument because the argument Anzaldua makes is a complete argument against the writing of her book. Anzaldua talks about her culture to share with the world for people to read, but with her preceding argument that means her book dies when read by someone other than a Chicana. I think the beauty of art is the taking out of context. Taking something out of its context is a way to learn and no more about the world we live. Some argue that humans shouldn’t have the right to know everything. There was a discussion in class that really got me worked up saying that some things belong to a specific culture and the use of those things is offensive to its people. The argument was made that the world has many bridges and it’s ok to walk to the middle and look but just admire what you see. This argument is why racism exists today. Cultures try too hard to be exclusive. Certain things that belong to one culture are looked at as offensive if another culture borrows it.

I think Anzaldua with all her groupings of people creates more bridges and is a main reason why racism exists today. I think Mosaics is meant to show us varying cultures and show us similarities in the mind and thoughts of varying peoples to show how similar we all are. Anzaldua has the best intentions of shedding light on stigmas and mind-sets that must be changed and I was a huge fan by the end of this book. I love learning about new cultures and Anzaldua stretches out her hand to let us learn about hers.