Transcript Kicking and Screaming: Thoughts on The Fountain

Maybe I’m Blind, Just
Throwing Darts in the Dark
Feraco
Search for Human Potential
20 May 2011
Things to Consider
• Can human nature be changed in such
a way that man will forget his longing
for freedom, for dignity, for integrity,
for love – that is to say, can man forget
that he is human? Or does human
nature have [a component] which will
react to the violation of these basic
human needs by attempting to change
an inhuman society into a human one?
• …Man has an intense [need] for love,
for justice, for truth, [and] for
solidarity…
• Here is my heart for his. Here is
my heart. Here, in my chest,
palpitating. Tear it out if blood is
what you want, but tear it out of
me.
• The teacher was surprised when,
hearing that they needed a button on
the poster to represent the button
industry, the child tore one off his
shirt and offered it to her. She was
surprised because she knew that this
was probably the only shirt the child
had. She didn't know whether he did
this to be helpful, to feel like he
belonged, or out of love for her. She
did feel the intensity of the child's
desire and this was what surprised her
most of all.
• "They just loved each other so
much, don't you think?"
• "No doubt."
• "No, viejo, don't be mean. Tell
them that if he doesn't bring
them anything on Christmas Eve,
it's because the Reyes Magos will
be bringing them something."
• "But...well, all right, whatever you
say. I supposed it's always best to
have hope."
• "And I went with him to where he
lived. And I put him to work right
then and there. The poor guy
didn't know where to begin. He
had to do it all from memory."
• "And how did he do it?"
• "I don't know. I suppose if you're
scared enough, you're capable of
doing anything."
• And when he read them aloud it
was something emotional and
serious. I recall that one time he
told the people to read the poems
out loud because the spoken word
was the seed of love in the
darkness.
• He immediately felt happy
because, as he thought over what
the woman had said, he realized
that in reality he hadn't lost
anything. He had made a
discovery. To discover and
rediscover and piece things
together. This to this, that to that,
all to all. That was it. That was
everything. He was thrilled.
Another Meaning for the Structure
• The book is about life, and what it
means to be alive
–
–
–
–
Failure and sadness
Beauty and happiness
Hatred and love
Isolation and unity
• This is why the book is structured as it
is
• Long story, short story – long, short,
long, short…
• How does a heartbeat sound?
• The book is literally pulsing – pulsing
in time with the lives it’s describing
Stand and Face the World
• Erich Fromm – or Orwell – wants to
know if we’ll stand up for ourselves
• Rivera demands that we do, argues
that we must – and gives us two
figures who follow through
• The man in “When We Arrive” couldn’t
be any more different from the boy in
“Under the House” if he tried…but
they’re sides of the same coin, unique
but unified, different but inseparable
Freedom
• Can we be forced to forget our
longing for freedom?
• Sure – see “The Matrix,” read
1984, or take a look at some of
Rivera’s characters
• With the adults, the need to
endure takes precedence over the
need to be free
• The children long for it; it’s not
clear that the adults do,
particularly those who see their
lot in life as God’s choice
Dignity
• Can we forget our longing for
dignity?
• We must differentiate between
the (willing) sacrifice of dignity
and the absence of desire for it
• Plenty of people trade their
dignity for success; is this the
same as forgetting to want that
self-respect?
• Have the people in “When We
Arrive” lost their dignity?
Integrity
• Can we forget our sense of
integrity?
• In other words, can external
forces rob one of one’s moral
compass?
• “Hand in His Pocket”
• “The Portrait”
• What can cause integrity to
collapse?
Love
• Can we forget that we need love?
• “The Night the Lights Went Out” –
romantic love
• Any number of stories featuring
familial love
• Love in faith – strangely absent,
replaced by fear
– Indicative of the uncertainty that
rules the Chicanos’ lives
Other Star Points
• Independence
– From orthodoxy
– With respect to control
– Throw a dart at a list of stories – you’ll
probably hit one where this is a concern
• Identity
– Personal identity as one experiences
dramatic change
• “A Prayer”
• “Hand in His Pocket”
• “First Communion”
– Communal identity with respect to a
common heritage – history, traditions,
desires, obstacles, etc.
Man Has an Intense Need…
• For love
– The Night the Lights Went Out
– It’s That It Hurts
– The Night Before Christmas
• For justice
– “There were sixteen dead…”
– The Children Couldn’t Wait
• For truth
– Vignette #1
– A Silvery Night
– …And the Earth Did Not Devour Him
• For solidarity
– The Lost Year
– Under the House
– Any story where a person is weakened by their
isolation
Spin Again
• One of the central questions in 1984 –
can we forget what makes us human? –
is given a different spin here
• Instead of asking if we can forget,
Rivera asks how we can remember
what makes us human
• After all, the migrants are willing to
continue living their lives – lives of
constant degradation and oppression
• If they can remember, they can return
to human existence
Erase Distortion
• Knowledge and understanding can
unlock a world of infinite possibilities;
if our freedoms, security, dreams, and
identities are locked away,
enlightenment provides us with a set
of keys.
• The star diagram for each migrant
looks pretty stretched…
• Rivera’s trying to help people realize
that there’s nothing intrinsically
wrong with them, and that they
deserve better lives than the ones
they’re leading
Beginning at the End
• The last scene of the book is a
significant moment of selfrecognition
• The boy is no longer lost
– The community hasn’t come
together yet – but the process has
started
• After all of the pain, longing, and
frustration of the earlier stories,
the novel ends on a beautiful,
transcendent moment of hope
…and Beyond
• I love that moment – the moment
where you realize that there’s a
purpose to remembering the
migrants’ suffering – and a hundred
others like it
• Rivera has an incredible gift for
emotional writing
– He makes you genuinely sad, or genuinely
upset, over the affairs of nameless people
• He also has an incredible gift for
subtlety – for writing words that
contain multitudes of meanings
• Finally, his thematic concerns are real
and important, and resonate long
after the initial publication date
Hitting the Stories
• First Communion:
– Fear and confusion intermingled
with faith
– Removal from human existence – the
body as a source of evil
– The loss of innocence
– Accidents and consequences
– Hints of unity
Hitting the Stories
• Vignette #8
–
–
–
–
Sacrifice at the heart of love
The need to belong
Do you get what you give?
Living life intensely – burning out
bright – because misfortune always
lies around the corner
– “Everything ends badly; otherwise,
it wouldn’t end.”
Hitting the Stories
• The Little Burnt Victims
– Unable to handle responsibility
while young
– The world is cruel and arbitrary
– Parents out of home
– Hopes crushed once again
– The next generation can’t live like
this one
Hitting the Stories
• Vignette #9
–
–
–
–
–
Moment of beauty
Happiness within ourselves
Unity and health
Contrast of birth and death
Can anything last?
Hitting the Stories
• The Night the Lights Went Out
– Hopes crushed – nothing left to live
for
– Live hard and burn out bright
– Wants stability in an uncertain
world
– Not ready to transition into
adulthood
– Wants what V9 has; meets same fate
as LBV
Hitting the Stories
• Vignette #10
– The universe is cruel and arbitrary
– Trapped – literally – by their
circumstances
– Taking whatever opportunities they
can
– Injustice and hate
Hitting the Stories
• The Night Before Christmas
– Outside world crushing in
(agoraphobia)
– Fear and the unknown
– Defeated/limited by expectations
– Risking everything for love
– Everyone’s been displaced
Hitting the Stories
• Vignette #11
– We deserve better than what we’re
getting
– Disconnect between church and the
people
– Leaving a mark – we were here, and
we matter
Hitting the Stories
• The Portrait
–
–
–
–
More abuse from mercenary forces
Hope is weakness
Taking back control
Settling for something less than you
deserve
– Believe in what you want
Hitting the Stories
• When We Arrive
– Constant displacement – never
arrives at a plot!
– We deserve better
– Surrendering to/enduring the
circumstances vs. rebelling against
exploitation
– Hope vs. cynicism
– Widest range of emotion
– Seeds of love in the darkness
Hitting the Stories
• Vignette #13
– Marching out of the darkness
– The spoken word – literature and
connection
– Love has the power to hold us
together
– Interested in the things we
recognize
Hitting the Stories
• Under the House
– Mission statement for the book –
true self-recognition
– Remembrance of heritage and
awareness of one’s rightful place in
the universe
– Peace through connection – “That
was it. That was everything. He was
thrilled.”
– The end and the beginning
– He chooses his direction – no more
“biting flies” to displace him now
that he’s taking control of his life