A deal is a deal, someone helps you and you do something for them in return, easy. Not always... sometimes a deal isn’t what it seems, especially when you’re dealing with death. In “Godfather Death” by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm this is very much the case as a poor man deals with Death to get his newborn son a godfather. Death doesn’t discriminate and may seem fair, but he can be as evil as the devil, he will only keep you alive as long as he sees necessary, and you never know what will come next.
Grimm’s fabulous story would be nothing if not for its plotline in reference to the ironic mode of literature. A chaotic world is obvious as the poor man searches for a godfather; not the Lord God, not the Devil, but Death, yes, someone who he believes to be fair. But wait the boy will soon be seen struggling as Death makes him a deal: the boy will become a doctor and get a herb that can cure all diseases, but whenever Death is seen at the feet of a patient, he must die no matter who it is or Death will come to our dear boy.
All is well as our boy takes his burden and saves those who will live and leaves those who must die; until he finds the king on his table, with Death at his feet. Our poor boy suddenly found himself struggling for life as he second guesses his mission and thought, “If I cheat Death this onetime he will be angry, but since I am his godson, he will turn a blind eye.”(pg.11). And turn a blind eye death did as he spared our boy, but he warned him never to cross him again. But cross him our boy did as he saved the king’s daughter came onto the boy’s table with Death at her feet. A horrible mistake indeed as Death showed no mercy as he knocked down our boy’s candle
and as the flame went out so did the life in our dear boy, ending the story on death.
After looking at the mode, you have to look at the very small details that make up the few symbols in the story. We will first look at the king’s daughter, why would he save her if our dear boy knew that his life lay in his decision? The answer lays in what drives all men, greed; if he saved the princess he would undoubtedly be rewarded with a vast sum of money. Also he may have ended up marrying the princess and becoming king where he would have everything that he could possibly imagine. But by taking that temptation he found himself in a room full of candles lit with a glowing flame. An obvious symbol of how long to live, a representation of a clock winding down to your last sunrise.
Dealing with Death may seem wise due to his fairness and lack of discrimination, however with the fairness of Death comes the question of what its next move will be and who he will take next. Deals can be murder if every aspect is not carefully examined as we saw throughout “Godfather Death” as our boy struggled for life and then fell to his sticky death; let this be an example to you as your life progresses and you find yourself in the same sticky situation.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Reason Free From Passion
“’The law is reason free from passion,’ or so says Aristotle,” she said. “During the next three years I am going to teach you everything from the most extreme elements of litigation to the simplest methods of legal contracts; and while I do so, I want you to prove Aristotle wrong,” my professor paused and seemed to look straight at me, “I want you to put the most passion you possible can into the study of law and when you leave Harvard, I want you to practice a passion filled law.”
I remembered it as though it were yesterday, as I sat in the conference room; my first day of law school had been one of the most memorable days of my life. My life as a litigator was changed from the moment my professor spoke those unforgettable words. I had always taken my morals and self preservation above anything else, until now.
“This job could change your life forever,” they told me. I couldn’t stop to object as I thought of what my life could be like: a big house on the north shore, a few Mercedes parked in the garage, expensive Italian clothes, and a country club for relaxing.
I suddenly thought of my early case as a prosecutor for the Chicago DA’s office. I had to put away a man accused of premeditated murder; as I sat in that Illinois court room listening to the defense plead insanity before the grand jury, I looked into his eyes and saw the sanity and thought that there wasn’t enough money in the world to get me to represent that cold blooded killer. Next I was sitting in the office of one of the most reputable attorneys in the state as he tried to negotiate a plea bargain for a man charged with fraud who had ruined the life of an innocent old lady; my second chair did most of the talking because I was so disgusted by what the man had done.
“Are you with us?” I heard someone ask.
“Oh, yes; umm I don’t know how to put this but… I just can’t take this job.”
“What??? This could change your life forever.”
“Trust me, I know; I just can’t do this.”
“So what then?”
“You know what they say, as one door closes, another opens.” As I said that I got out of my seat and walked out the open door and thought to myself, Reason free from passion.
Yeah right Aristotle.
I remembered it as though it were yesterday, as I sat in the conference room; my first day of law school had been one of the most memorable days of my life. My life as a litigator was changed from the moment my professor spoke those unforgettable words. I had always taken my morals and self preservation above anything else, until now.
“This job could change your life forever,” they told me. I couldn’t stop to object as I thought of what my life could be like: a big house on the north shore, a few Mercedes parked in the garage, expensive Italian clothes, and a country club for relaxing.
I suddenly thought of my early case as a prosecutor for the Chicago DA’s office. I had to put away a man accused of premeditated murder; as I sat in that Illinois court room listening to the defense plead insanity before the grand jury, I looked into his eyes and saw the sanity and thought that there wasn’t enough money in the world to get me to represent that cold blooded killer. Next I was sitting in the office of one of the most reputable attorneys in the state as he tried to negotiate a plea bargain for a man charged with fraud who had ruined the life of an innocent old lady; my second chair did most of the talking because I was so disgusted by what the man had done.
“Are you with us?” I heard someone ask.
“Oh, yes; umm I don’t know how to put this but… I just can’t take this job.”
“What??? This could change your life forever.”
“Trust me, I know; I just can’t do this.”
“So what then?”
“You know what they say, as one door closes, another opens.” As I said that I got out of my seat and walked out the open door and thought to myself, Reason free from passion.
Yeah right Aristotle.
"The Masque of the Red Death"
Imagine a party with a thousand people all dressed in costumes, an orchestra playing in the background, everyone dancing with laughter, it’s a grand masquerade. But all through the night you cannot help to think that something isn’t right, something or someone is out of place. This is the case exactly in “The Masque of the Red Death”, by Edgar Allen Poe, as Prince Prospero gathers 1,000 of his subjects and attempts to escape the dreaded Red Death. Poe’s magnificent placement of symbols and exemplary details seen as the ironic mode is portrayed truly makes this story come alive.
The most stunning aspect of Poe’s brilliant irony is without question his outstanding placement of his many symbols. Almost immediately we meet Poe’s first symbolic reference, Prince Prospero; our lovely prince’s name should instantly give you some foreshadow to his personality as you see it look much like the word prosperity. And foreshadow it does as you see the prince in all of his arrogance display his richness and wealth as he attempts to delay the inevitable, the Red Death. Perhaps the only glimpse of hope or light comes next as you read of Prospero’s castled abbey, the location of his grand escape. But the thought of an abbey may be a chance given to the people to repent before their sticky end comes and they will face their judgment day.
Only within that castled abbey shall we see the best of the best, Poe’s prized jewel of symbolism. This room is different from all the rest in Prospero’s castled abbey, it is covered in black velvet cloth and trimmed with the scarlet red color of blood; the way Poe has designed this room has brought us to think of the deepest layers of hell and to feel the cold reality of death. But wait there’s more, if you noticed before I mentioned that this seventh room was also known as the west room. West, the direction of which the sun sets; an obvious symbol of downward, darkness, and even death. At last we come to the last element of the western room, the clock of ebony; a mysterious symbol of darkness as it represents the time winding down until the death of the people shall come, a most vivid reminder of death.
These wonderful symbols would not be quite so vivid if not for the carefully planned events in the plot of the ironic mode of literature. Chaos is the obvious state of the world as the dreaded Red Death spreads through the land causing misery and death to whomever it touches. As the 1,000 people try to evade the inevitable by hiding in Prospero’s safe house you see them figuratively struggle for life as the ebony clock winds down to their untimely death. And the end comes as the Red Death in human form is de-masked and the devastating power touches all and swiftly takes the life of each of the 1,000 and as the ebony clock rang for the last time, the last of the partiers fell to their horrible death.
The vivid symbols and brilliant plot line portrayed by Poe makes this grand masquerade of a story truly take flight. Prince Prospero attempted to evade the inevitable, the Red Death; but he has failed to learn that death has no limits and reigns in every crevice and every inch of the world; he has failed to learn that “the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all”(pg.390).
The most stunning aspect of Poe’s brilliant irony is without question his outstanding placement of his many symbols. Almost immediately we meet Poe’s first symbolic reference, Prince Prospero; our lovely prince’s name should instantly give you some foreshadow to his personality as you see it look much like the word prosperity. And foreshadow it does as you see the prince in all of his arrogance display his richness and wealth as he attempts to delay the inevitable, the Red Death. Perhaps the only glimpse of hope or light comes next as you read of Prospero’s castled abbey, the location of his grand escape. But the thought of an abbey may be a chance given to the people to repent before their sticky end comes and they will face their judgment day.
Only within that castled abbey shall we see the best of the best, Poe’s prized jewel of symbolism. This room is different from all the rest in Prospero’s castled abbey, it is covered in black velvet cloth and trimmed with the scarlet red color of blood; the way Poe has designed this room has brought us to think of the deepest layers of hell and to feel the cold reality of death. But wait there’s more, if you noticed before I mentioned that this seventh room was also known as the west room. West, the direction of which the sun sets; an obvious symbol of downward, darkness, and even death. At last we come to the last element of the western room, the clock of ebony; a mysterious symbol of darkness as it represents the time winding down until the death of the people shall come, a most vivid reminder of death.
These wonderful symbols would not be quite so vivid if not for the carefully planned events in the plot of the ironic mode of literature. Chaos is the obvious state of the world as the dreaded Red Death spreads through the land causing misery and death to whomever it touches. As the 1,000 people try to evade the inevitable by hiding in Prospero’s safe house you see them figuratively struggle for life as the ebony clock winds down to their untimely death. And the end comes as the Red Death in human form is de-masked and the devastating power touches all and swiftly takes the life of each of the 1,000 and as the ebony clock rang for the last time, the last of the partiers fell to their horrible death.
The vivid symbols and brilliant plot line portrayed by Poe makes this grand masquerade of a story truly take flight. Prince Prospero attempted to evade the inevitable, the Red Death; but he has failed to learn that death has no limits and reigns in every crevice and every inch of the world; he has failed to learn that “the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all”(pg.390).
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