Chapter 22: He’s Blind for a Reason, You Know
Main Idea: Foster claims in this chapter that blindness is never just a fact—it always has symbolic significance in a story. He furthers his claim by saying that most texts feature metaphorical representations of blindness and sight, even if the story doesn’t contain literal blindness. Two important things are that blindness can mean much more than just the physical act of seeing, and that usually a characteristic such as blindness, is important when introduced early in a story.
Literary Example: Slaughterhouse Five
Analysis: True sight is an important concept that is difficult to define for Slaughterhouse-Five. As an optometrist in Ilium, Billy has the professional duty of correcting the vision of his patients. If we extend the idea of seeing beyond the literal scope of Billy’s profession, we can see that Vonnegut sets Billy up with several different lenses with which to correct the world’s nearsightedness. One of the ways Billy can contribute to this true sight is through his knowledge of the fourth dimension, which he gains from the aliens at Tralfamadore. One can also argue, however, that Billy lacks sight completely. He goes to war, witnesses horrific events, and becomes mentally unstable as a result. He has a shaky grip on reality and at random moments experiences overpowering flashbacks to other parts of his life. His sense that aliens have captured him and kept him in a zoo before sending him back to Earth may be the product of an overactive imagination. Given all that Billy has been through, it is logical to believe that he has gone insane. Chapter 23: It’s Never Just Heart Disease... …show more content…
Main Idea: As we’ve seen plenty of times already, nothing should be solely taken on face value. Foster—for the millionth time—points out that heart disease in literature is not just heart disease, but rather a “perfect metaphorical illness.” Writers have always made connections to the heart and this heart disease symbolizes emotions and all kinds of suffering such as: loneliness, cruelty, cowardice, etc. Furthermore, heart trouble doesn’t always need to be in the form of a disease. Literary Example: Othello Analysis: In Shakespeare’s tragedy, Othello has a seizure, but not because he has a bad heart. But because he was overcome with grief with Desdemona's unfaithfulness. Chapter 24: ...And Rarely Just Illness Main Idea: Heart disease is definitely not the only illness that can be found in literature, many others can be used, and oddly enough many authors resort to using the same illness throughout their writing career. The reason disease means so much more than just disease is because of what disease signified prior to the 20th century: mystery. Many writers use disease in a symbolic way to show what is happening to a certain character and much more. Literary Example: The Walking Dead Analysis: On the TV show, in Season 4 there is a plague that goes around, killing a lot of survivors. The significance of this plague is that it is occurring right after a “prosperous” time period where everyone thinks they are safe. It also occurs before a large attack by another community thus making them weaker. The disease represents how safety is impermanent. Chapter 25: Don’t Read with Your Eyes Main Idea: Foster completes a lot of his thoughts by simply saying that one should not read with their eyes, and in
Main Idea: Foster claims in this chapter that blindness is never just a fact—it always has symbolic significance in a story. He furthers his claim by saying that most texts feature metaphorical representations of blindness and sight, even if the story doesn’t contain literal blindness. Two important things are that blindness can mean much more than just the physical act of seeing, and that usually a characteristic such as blindness, is important when introduced early in a story.
Literary Example: Slaughterhouse Five
Analysis: True sight is an important concept that is difficult to define for Slaughterhouse-Five. As an optometrist in Ilium, Billy has the professional duty of correcting the vision of his patients. If we extend the idea of seeing beyond the literal scope of Billy’s profession, we can see that Vonnegut sets Billy up with several different lenses with which to correct the world’s nearsightedness. One of the ways Billy can contribute to this true sight is through his knowledge of the fourth dimension, which he gains from the aliens at Tralfamadore. One can also argue, however, that Billy lacks sight completely. He goes to war, witnesses horrific events, and becomes mentally unstable as a result. He has a shaky grip on reality and at random moments experiences overpowering flashbacks to other parts of his life. His sense that aliens have captured him and kept him in a zoo before sending him back to Earth may be the product of an overactive imagination. Given all that Billy has been through, it is logical to believe that he has gone insane. Chapter 23: It’s Never Just Heart Disease... …show more content…
Main Idea: As we’ve seen plenty of times already, nothing should be solely taken on face value. Foster—for the millionth time—points out that heart disease in literature is not just heart disease, but rather a “perfect metaphorical illness.” Writers have always made connections to the heart and this heart disease symbolizes emotions and all kinds of suffering such as: loneliness, cruelty, cowardice, etc. Furthermore, heart trouble doesn’t always need to be in the form of a disease. Literary Example: Othello Analysis: In Shakespeare’s tragedy, Othello has a seizure, but not because he has a bad heart. But because he was overcome with grief with Desdemona's unfaithfulness. Chapter 24: ...And Rarely Just Illness Main Idea: Heart disease is definitely not the only illness that can be found in literature, many others can be used, and oddly enough many authors resort to using the same illness throughout their writing career. The reason disease means so much more than just disease is because of what disease signified prior to the 20th century: mystery. Many writers use disease in a symbolic way to show what is happening to a certain character and much more. Literary Example: The Walking Dead Analysis: On the TV show, in Season 4 there is a plague that goes around, killing a lot of survivors. The significance of this plague is that it is occurring right after a “prosperous” time period where everyone thinks they are safe. It also occurs before a large attack by another community thus making them weaker. The disease represents how safety is impermanent. Chapter 25: Don’t Read with Your Eyes Main Idea: Foster completes a lot of his thoughts by simply saying that one should not read with their eyes, and in