Carpenter Cash

After yesterday's class, I've been thinking a lot about Cash, and if he cares the most for Addie or if his work on the coffin is simply because he likes being a carpenter.

Grief comes in many different forms, and Addie Bundren's death seems to affect the other Bundrens, even emotionless Cash. When I think of grief from a death, I think of a reaction like Jewel's or Vardaman's. Both are confused and don't know what to do. This causes Jewel to be angry about everything. Vardaman is so young that he doesn't know how to deal with death and drills air holes in Addie's coffin. Cash's grief isn't as easily detectable as theirs, but that doesn't mean he's not mourning. 

Cash definitely has an insane work ethic and a clear passion for carpentry. He pays so much attention to small details and focuses on everything he does. But he seems to focus even more on the coffin. Of course his hard work could just be because he really loves being a carpenter but I feel like it's more than that. He seems to be channeling his grief into Addie's coffin by making something for his dying mother. There's really not much Cash, or anyone in the family, can do about Addie dying, but he knows he can make her a coffin, so he gives it his all. He builds it right outside her window, which Jewel hates, but it can be seen as act of love for his mother. He wants to show Addie that he's putting a lot of time and care into making her coffin and that he's making sure everything will be perfect just for her. I'm sure he could act like the other Bundrens when Addie dies, but he's putting any emotion he has aside to finish his work and making sure it's all complete. 

Cash made a piece of art for his mother as she lay dying, and it seems like he's the child who has put in the most effort for his mother, even if it doesn't seem like he's reacting at all to her passing.

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Who's The Hero?

So in my notes from yesterday's class when we discussed books 23 and 24, I have written down "the hero in this poem?" I sort of mentioned this a little bit in class but I feel like I can expand on this topic. (prepare yourself for some rambling)

Let's start with Odysseus. From the very beginning of this poem, we learn that the hero of this story is the man of twists and turns. Although in my last post I said I felt a little uneasy at the slaughter in the hall, at least some of Odysseus' actions felt justified (killing Antinous at the very least seemed alright). However, I think I feel this way because for the entire book, Homer has painted the suitors as evil, power-hungry men. Even though we know that Odysseus is unfaithful and at times careless, Homer hasn't made him look like as villainous as he made the suitors look. Hearing things from the suitors' families' perspectives changes things. Ben pointed out that this makes Odysseus look like a dictator, seeing as he killed hundreds of his own people and then just threw them outside his house for their families to collect. After reading about how all the suitors' parents had to identify their children and imagining what it would be like to be in their place, I feel like what Odysseus did to the suitors kind of undoes all of his heroic actions from the Trojan War. Even though he's meant to be the hero of the story, I'm not so sure anymore.

I feel like I should mention Telemachus because I've been rooting for him this whole time. Telemachus is one of my favorite characters so I'm hesitant to deprecate him. There's been a lot of talk ever since we started The Odyssey about whether or not it's even possible for him to be a hero. I've been commenting a lot about how I think he has potential to be a hero and how if he overcomes his insecurities he could be great. If you consider Odysseus' massacre of the suitors to be heroic then I think you could also deem Telemachus a hero. He finally meets his father and fights alongside him to regain control of their palace. If you were to put it like that, I think you could absolutely classify Telemachus as a hero. However, now that I'm questioning Odysseus' heroism, I'm not really sure where Telemachus stands. He followed his father and fought with him to get rid of the suitors, who treated Telemachus like dirt. Telemachus still doesn't really do this on his own, he just does what his father does, so I'm not sure I would classify him as either a hero or a villain. What he does isn't morally just but And he yells at his mom a lot, which I'm not fond of.

When you think of the gods, or any divine power, you would expect perfection. We know that humans make mistakes and that no one is perfect, but I don't think this way with omnipotent beings. A ton of what happens in this book is because Athena wanted it to happen. This is all her show. Athena sets up everything and watches the events unfold. She's the one who wants to see Odysseus kill all the suitors and she's the one who tells Laertes to throw the spear and kill Eupithes (who wasn't really doing anything wrong?). I think Athena can take most of the blame for everything that happened. I understand that playing with humans is kind of a pastime for the gods, but I would at least expect her to do the right thing. But instead of doing the right thing, she erases everyone's memories?? I believe the parents of the suitors have the right to be upset that their supposed mighty king slaughtered all of their children, and to fix this, she just makes them forget they ever had kids. At least Odysseus (and Telemachus) have a bit of an excuse, being human and prone to mistakes and doing unjust things, but Athena is a goddess. It feels weird to say that she is to blame for everything, but maybe this is the case. 

Who do you think the hero is?

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"They Deserve to Die"

We talked in class today about the suitors. We established before that the suitors have clearly overstayed their welcome and abused Telemachus' hospitality. When I was talking with my group about our thoughts about the suitors, "they deserve to die" came up. I agree that the suitors need to go. I don't like them at all, but it feels weird to think that someone deserves to die for being a rude house guest. A few of them did plan to ambush and kill Telemachus, but the others are just rude people.

Also, the idea of Telemachus being at fault is interesting (or maybe it's not, but it's something I never considered before). He could just throw them out since he's the prince of Ithaca. Is waiting for his mother something that is worsening his situation?

Whether the suitors deserve to die or not, I guess the slaughter is inevitable.

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