Some of
our blogs’ topics are about our body and people who pursue its
beauty and health. Nudes as art, are they so appealing?
In “The shock of the (male) nude”, Bethany Bell says that an
exhibition where diverse male nudes are exhibited, at the Leopold Museum in
Vienna, brought public outrage which shows attitude towards nudity - people get
used to the female nudes, but naked male still can shock. However, there isn't anybody deeply outraged by the
naked nudes.
A
picture came into my eye when I flicked my phone in the MRT. The picture in
this BBC article was a huge naked male statue and people taking a picture in
front of it. How can I ignore it? Why can’t I ignore it? Male nudes are rare though they
have existed from ancient times to modern times. So, it was attractive to catch
my eyes, but I felt some embarrassments of seeing the picture in the public
place since I was too engaged. If our culture gave us more experience of male
nude, I would not pay attention to the article, or the article would not be written.
Since I was accustomed to see mostly female nudes, I didn't think male nudes’ rarity in our culture is strange.
It’s kind
of a sudden awareness.
When I read
William Golding’s “Lord
of the Flies”, I was busy to find each character’s characteristics and what kinds of symbols
there are. The novel is not just about a story of isolated island’s life. It seems like our real
world. However, there is no female character. When we talk about our world, don’t we need female who consist of
half of the world? I’m not a feminist. What I am surprised at myself is the fact that I didn't notice non-existence of female
until I think about why male nudes shocked to us. I was so docile to the author’s view of world in the novel.
While some
prevailed ideas cover me, I don’t realize what I miss. Maybe we should struggle
to go outside the shell during our life. Now, I’m just seeing round my world to
find what my shell is.
Reference
I like the way Katie relates the BBC News article to wider issues, but especially to the novel and how that also ties in with the wider world.
ReplyDeleteWhy aren't there any females on the island?
I wrote the last comment in a rush before I went out to an early dinner, and kept thinking about. In the past, I thought that there was a fairly simple and straight forward answer to Katie's question. But now I'm not sure that my previous idea is a good enough answer: it might be a bit more complex than I had thought. So more ideas would be really useful.
DeleteIt was Katie's more sophisticated implication that there might be something wrong with Golding's symbolic representation of the real world that we live in that pushed me to think a bit more deeply.
Is there something seriously defective in the way that Golding symbolizes human society in his novel?
I am just reading chapter 7, and find Ralph’s mentioning his mother in his retrospection, "Mummy had still been with them..." (p.112)So, it means not any more with them. Piggy also says, “and my mum-"(p.13). He doesn’t want to tell about his mother. She might have deserted him. In addition, in page 59, Golding writes "They ("littlruns") cried for their mothers much less often than might have been expected;" Not only Golding dosen't use women character except Pig's "auntie", but also he refuses something maternal in the novel, I think. But, why?
DeleteReference
Golding, W., & Epstein, E. (1954). Lord of the Flies. New York: Perigee
Simply, I thought this is the reason why the author put the age range of boys to around 6~12. In this age group, the discrimination of sex is meaningless. They are before puberty. And, the story is about survival and adventures in an isolated island by appearance, so the author could think all male characters are appropriate to this situation. Even though he symbolized females' feature by using a character, it’s little bit weird and unbalanced. It seems like one of sub-contents.
DeleteFirst time I am not doubtful at all why the characters in lord of the files are only male. However, now you make me curious about it. ;) Anyways, if the characters in lord of the files are female, I will feel more depressed. Average age of the characters in lord of the files is just 6-13 years old but their behavior shown in the novel is violent. I do not quite dare to imagine girls as the characters in lord of the files. T_T If Jack in lord of the files is female, how do you feel?
ReplyDeleteI am so regretting that I didn't put a question in my essay. Most people ask me something.
DeleteDo you think Women couldn't have Jack's characteristics? Children can be cruel as like a child soldier, they could be more cruel than adults if they are educated like that. And, I think Children, specially, who don't have secondary sex characteristics could have similar characteristics. In "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins, the main character Katniss ,a girl, 16 years old, is a skillful archer and hunter, though she has different purpose with Jack, in this case we call it brave. She show female could be like Jack. Maybe like other evil girl character, sorry, I don't remember her name who was killed by Katniss.
Recently I finished reading the second book of Ken Follet's Century Trilogy, Winter of The World. The book is about the experience during the WW2 of different families in different countries. In the book, we read about Spain Civil War, east front in Europe, Invasion of Normandy, and the battle of Midway. In all battles, soldiers, officers, and generals fight for survival in different ways. One thing is common. The rules of peaceful world is not always adapted. Some people remain rational and good, but some become aggressive and cruel, other become egoistic, and there are also some who become sadistic. Facing enemies and fearing of it, some people become different as some boys do in the novel of Goldwing
ReplyDeleteI guess Golding represents not just a real world, but real battle field of war in the novel. If so, it is easier to understand why there are only boys. In Goding's age, war was regarded as male's business. About lack of maternal thing, I think mothers in Japan during WW2. Although they were sad in their heart, they encouraged their sons by saying," Fight for the Emperor, Fight to die" Does't is sound a kind of betrayal of once affectionate mothers? Was the situation same in western countries? What do you think?
As you said, Golding could restrict the novel on the real battle field, then are all story’s causes only war’s pressure? There is a female thing in the novel, not a human, “a sow” (Golding & Epstein, 1954, p.134), she is a mother and killed. And there is an explanation from E.L. Epstein of the meaning of “the killing of the sow” (p. 206), but I don’t understand yet. I would be better to read more to understand the sow’s meaning and your lack of maternal things.
DeleteI sympathize with your last expressions “maybe we should struggle to go outside the shell during our life. Now, I’m just seeing round my world to find what my shell is” (last ¶). Those are meaningful to me. Thanks to you, I’ve had a good time to consider my surrounding. Tonight I can’t find shining stars in the sky, but I will look up at the sky and consider deliberatively.
ReplyDeleteYour comment touched my feeling. I am always impressed by those sentences using things in the sky,such as stars, moon, and cloud,to reflect human's feeling. So I am going to give you guys one sentence for cheering up all the classmates who might feel tired of their work.
DeleteAlthough it is hard to see stars in this city, one thing you can assure to yourself is that they always be there for you even though you cannot see them. ;)
what make us hinder to come out of the shell?
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think it's very hard to live in my way. As getting older we add for the consideration of our age.