Week 7: Text for Project 2

Main Narrative

            On a cool winter’s eve, striking 9 p.m. a young scraggly male about the age of 23 enters the 7-11 on the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Vine Avenue. A black nylon mask, a dark navy blue sweatshirt and a pair of black jeans hide his ugly long and lanky alien body. Tucked with care inside the front of his pants, lies a shiny silver pistol that was stolen. Surveying the parking lot and gas pumps he sees that no one is around on this dreary night. He enters the gas station and notices a young woman working behind the counter. As his eyes dart to her, he sees that she is obnoxiously smacking away on her bright pink bubble gum while reading a magazine. Walking around the store his nerves start to consume him as his hands begin shaking and his legs begin to feel like twigs beneath him causing him to knock into everything around him. The chick says something to him but his mind is consumed with other thoughts. His peripheral notices headlights coming into the parking lot which signals that it is time. He rushes to the counter, slides his hand cautiously into the front of his jeans and pulls out the cold weapon. He raises the gun and says, “Give me everything you have right now! Do as I say or you will regret not listening.” The woman, frightened, throws the magazine down and begins opening the cash register. She whispers with a crack in her voice, “Whatever you do, please don’t hurt me.” The man is just as nervous as his arm and gun are violently shaking. Just as the bag is being handed over the counter, the glass door creeks opens and in walks an older man. Time stands still. Out of nowhere the man begins stampeding like a heard of elephants towards him while yelling gibberish as he tries to tackle him to the ground. He outwits the man as his youthful body allows him to dodge out of the way while at the same time causing him to lose his balance as he hits the floor. Rising, he finds himself again and runs out of the door into the cool, brisk air with cash in hand.

Clerk’s Point of View

            Another boring evening working at the lame 7-11 past supper’s time. I would be the one who is stuck here on a cold, crappy night when clearly no one is going to venture outside any time soon. Daydreaming off into the darkness, a tall black figure is walking across the parking lot. Kind of strange that he is wearing all black with his hood up but I guess it is freezing out. Hope he doesn’t come in here, I don’t feel like dealing with any stupid customers. Plus, these makeup tips in this month’s Cosmo are so much better. Ugh, the door just opened and it’s that lanky dude from outside walking in. Peering above my Cosmo I see that he is awkwardly walking around the store bumping into almost everything in sight. What the hell is wrong with this dude? Is he drunk or something? “Hey, um can you please try not to knock stuff down, I don’t feel like cleaning tonight,” I say. What a prick, he doesn’t even acknowledge me. Whatever, my job does not entail babysitting. Next thing I know this creep is hovering above me screaming something I can’t comprehend as all I can focus on is the fact that a gun is being pointed at my head. What the hell! Now I am really freaking out. Oh my god, what should I do? I am shaking like a leaf and my thoughts are so jumbled.  "Whatever you do, please don't hurt me," I muster out. All I know is that I need to just give him whatever he wants so that he gets the hell out of here. I shove the money into a plastic bag and just as I am about to hand it over to him, I notice out of the corner of my eye that the door is opening. In walks Dusty, the off duty cop that frequently stops in after his shift. Thank God, perfect timing. Now this jerk is going to be locked up forever. As Dusty looks at me and then the gun, he jolts over to the robber and says, “Stop! Do not move! I am a cop!” The dude is too quick for old Dusty though and pushes his way past him, ramming himself into yet another shelf. Composing himself, he runs out the door and into the dark. Thankfully, that was last time I saw that ugly, undeserving piece of crap.

Video Surveillance Point of View

            Time: December 14^th at 9:01 p.m. Video recorder set for rotating at about 3 degrees every two minutes. Three hours of tape time left before needing to be replaced. Young female working behind the main counter for the past three hours and counting. No customers for the past half an hour. Parking lot is completely empty. No cars at the gas pumps. Female reading behind the counter looking down. Fast movement towards the far left of the store. Door opens. Customer walks in. Wearing all dark clothing, a dark navy blue sweatshirt with hood up and black jeans. Face is not visible. Customer walks around the store. Up and down aisle one and two. Customer constantly bumps into shelves, knocking things over. Female looks up from the counter, mouth is moving and is looking directly at customer. Customer looks away and continues walking up and down the aisles with no coordination. To the far left, headlights appear in the parking lot. Suddenly, there is movement at the center of the store. Video recorder shifts back and focuses on customer running towards the female at the counter. Customer reaches in the front of pants and pulls out a weapon. Points the weapon at the female. Female positions herself back and seems to be saying something. She begins opening cash register at 9:09 p.m. shoving its contents into a plastic bag. Hands bag to customer. Sudden movement to the far left again as older male walks in the front door. Male begins screaming at customer. Male then lunges at customer. Customer moves out of way, bumping into another shelf and falling. Customer gets up quickly and slides out the door at 9:11 p.m. with bag in hand. Video recorder shifts back and focuses on female and male in the store, continues filming. Female picks up phone and dials while male gets up off the floor and runs out of the store.

Week 6: Magic and the Margins

            In the book, The Hearing Trumpet, it is obvious that there are magical aspects throughout the story as there is a continual presence of unrealistic objects, concepts and stories. In the beginning of the story, we learn about the main character, Marian, who is deaf. This handicap essentially causes her to view the world as being distant and strange as she cannot understand it in its entity. Due to the fact that she cannot completely communicate with the world around her, she is said to be senile by her family causing them to make the decision that she needs to go to an institution. This institution essentially creates and brings alive the theme of magic as it allows and helps Marian to partake on the process of evolving into a completely new person. With this, Marian herself seems to reflect an image of magic as we see her transgression throughout the entire novel in which she eventually seems to become some sort of witch or magical figure near the end.  

            Although Marian is already a unique character throughout the story for which she displays some sort of magical characteristics, I believe that not until towards the end of the story does her character portray her connection to the presence of profound magical beliefs and aspects. Throughout the story Marian wonders about the vacant tower and who lives there as her friend Christabel continually fosters the idea that knowing who lives there is an important thing to know while living in the institution. With not having much determination to learn about the tower throughout the novel, in the end, Marian decides that she now wants to find out the truth. With this, she begins thinking about the riddles that prevent her from discovering the truth for which she eventually deciphers thus giving her the ability to unlock the mystery behind who is living in the tower.

After Marian discloses her answers to Christabel, she is allowed into the tower and begins her decent down to the underworld. As she chooses to go down rather than up, it seems to allude to the idea that something profound is about to happen as this decision seems critical to Marian’s future. After descending down, she enters a chamber for which she lays eyes upon another woman who mimics almost the exact same physical characteristics as herself which implies that this other woman is another form of herself. With this, Marian explains that this form of herself seems to be wiser and more intelligent for which carries herself with ease. This explanation seems to suggest that this form of Marian may represent what Marian is about to transform into as the woman says, “You took a long time to get here. I was afraid you might never come.” (Carrington 172) I took this saying to suggest that Marian was always destined to be at this place and in this situation at some moment in time as the woman says she has been waiting for her. Furthermore, as Marian and the woman continue talking, the woman says that although in regards to terminology this place is considered hell, it is actually the “Womb of the World whence all things come.” This further implies the idea that Marian has finally reached her destination in which she will evolve into what she has been destined to become all along as this place is considered to be the spot where all things come and are thus created.

In thinking that this is the time when Marian will transform into some sort of magical figure seems even more reliable as she begins questioning who is actually real, herself or the woman. With this, something the woman says makes me believe that she is the new, magical form of Marian as she says, “Old as Moses, ugly as Seth, tough as a boot and no more sense than a skittle. However meat is scare so jump in” (Carrington 175). Considering this saying is very unusual and makes no sense, I believe that it may be a type of spell the woman is putting on Marian in order to start the transformation process to take place. This idea seems reliable as right after this, Marian is forced into a hot, boiling pot of stew for which a mighty rumbling sound followed by crashes consumes the place. After it goes quiet, Marian realizes that she has magically become an outsider looking in as she is not in the stew anymore but rather seems to be the one now stirring the pot of stew. This part was very confusing because of the fact that it is so unrealistic and strange making it difficult to decipher what actually just happened. Despite this, this part leads me to believe that some sort of magical thing just happened as moments before there was a conflict of who is the real Marian where as now it seems as if she has confirmed that she is actually the other woman.

The idea that Marian has transformed into something magical is even more reliable as she looks at herself in the mirror for which she sees a three-faced female as one face belongs to the Abbess and is black, one face mimics the Queen bee which is red and the third face who is of herself is white. This presence of colors seems to be very important to the transformation Marian just encountered as it reflects the theme of alchemy that is intertwined with the book. In learning that there are four stages in which someone undergoes while transgressing into something greater for which are represented by colors, it seems as if the presence of these colors ultimately do reflect Marian’s transformation into something greater. I gathered this idea from learning that black represents the stage in which the subject is confused and vague, red represents the stage in which the subject begins portraying clear signs that it is moving in the right direction of growth and that white represents the emerging product for which sheds confusion and vagueness. The fact that there are three different faces with three different colors further alludes to the idea that Marian has been unknowingly partaking on a transformation journey for which she has finally arrived at her destined form. I believe that she has arrived at the end of her journey because she sees her own face for which is white. This suggests that she has shed the confusion she has had throughout her life thus far and now is the product of the transformation process that has evolved her into the woman she was destined to always be.

The idea that Marian just finished her transgression into something greater is apparent even more as she says, “Ages seemed to have passed since somebody first hobbled down the steps, and now I was climbing to the upperworld as spry as a mountain goat. The darkness was no longer a hideous death trap where any moment I might be precipitated to my death” (Carrington 177). From this, it is apparent that Marian believes she has now transformed into a new person as well as she says “somebody” instead of I when she thinks back to her previous life before this occurrence. Also, it is obvious that she now sees herself as a new person as she feels like life has been bestowed within her again as darkness does not allude to the idea anymore that it can take her life from her at any time.  

In the end, although I am still not exactly sure what specific form Marian represents now in being that if it is something magical or supernatural, I do believe that she has transformed into something greater. In this, I believe that although Marian was forced into this institution by her family, this was always her destined path for which she would have arrived at no matter what.  

Week 5: Objects of Desire

In reading Dark Spring by Unica Zürn, it is obvious that the theme of eroticism is woven within the entire book as it takes over the main character, a young girl whose name is withheld. With this young girl being at the center of this story as she narrates the events, it is shocking that erotic behavior is associated with someone that in reality, should still be naïve. Over the course of the book, it is obvious that this young girl is exiting her childhood early and entering the adult world for which this erotic behavior consumes her as she continually has the desire to experiment with and test the sexual knowledge she is gaining throughout.  

            It is apparent throughout much of this story that this young girl is constantly experimenting with different sexual things as her imagination and quest for sexual knowledge drives her to find new ways to pleasure herself. Although it does seem a bit taboo for a young girl to be engaging in sexual pleasure at this age, it portrays the erotic theme as the quest for sexual pleasure consumes her life. As the young girl seeks out different ways to pleasure herself, these sexual encounters make the story at times very uncomfortable to read. With this, I prefer to not focus on the erotic scenes but rather find more interest in analyzing the fetish theme that is also prevalent throughout much of this book as it illustrates a different type of desire and quest for the young girl.

            Towards the end of the book, the young girl comes across a very attractive young man while swimming at the pool one day. In laying eyes upon him, she instantly becomes attached to him and develops a crazy fetish desire for which everything about him consumes her entirely. As she returns to the pool daily and idealizes him, her obsession for him only begins to grow which ultimately results in the emotional breakdown she experiences when she believes he may be sick and upon his death bed. In thinking this, she finds the courage to go and visit him at his home further illustrating the strange fetish she has for him as her actions during this encounter are very uncommon.

In reading this specific scene, it is obvious that the young girl’s first action greatly portrays her fetish for this man as she offers him a peach to eat for which after the young girl takes the leftover pit and places it in the pocket of her dress saying, “To remember you.” Considering the young girl wants to keep something as strange as a peach pit, shows that she will go to any means in order to savor this moment with the man she adores. Also, after she makes the comment that this will allow her to remember him, she begins thinking of all of the possible ways she can keep this memento with her forever as she thinks about drilling a hole in it to make a necklace as well as creating a drawer in her room that is specifically designated for him. Another action of hers that alludes to the fetish desire she has is when she asks, “Would it be possible for you to please give me just a single hair of yours?” At this point, it becomes obvious that her fondness for this man extends further beyond than just liking him as her desire for a piece of his hair illustrates her complete obsession with every aspect of him. Since right after asking this question she says that all of her happiness depends on whether or not he can give her a piece of his hair, shows that her life has now become devoted to him. The fact that she believes her happiness is dependent on this man’s existence alludes to the idea that her fetish with him has now evolved into something beyond normal as it has consumed her in every aspect such as emotionally, mentally and physically. This strange fetish is further depicted in this same encounter as she then asks him to give her a picture of him for which he abides and tells her to keep it a secret. Although it may not seem too uncommon for one to ask for a picture, her thoughts that are revealed after the fact portray the strangeness of it. It reading that she says, “Now I can die in peace,” is very interesting as it shows how her obsession for him has been the only reason as to why she believes she exists thus far while at the same time also foreshadowing her future as this fetish may play a part into deciding what her fate is.

As the young girl returns home, her obsession is further portrayed as she consumes herself with the mementos she received as she contemplates what she should do with her prized possessions. As she realizes it is important to hide her mementos, it is apparent that she wants to keep this a secret for which only the man and her share. As she puts the picture of him in her mouth and swallows it, her desire to keep this secret from everyone is what also may keep them connected. This idea is apparent as the text says, “Now she has united herself with him.” The fact that the young girl believes that by swallowing this man’s picture means they are united is very interesting as it may allude to the idea that she realizes this is perhaps the only way the two will ever be together. Also, as she contemplates what to do with his strand of hair for which she decides to seal in red sealing wax and then make a necklace out of, shows that she desperately depends on these possessions to keep her happy. With the young girl making a necklace out of his hair leads me to believe that by doing so, she may think that he will be closer to her heart when she partakes on the final step of her life.

With the final pages discussing the young girl’s suicide, it makes me believe that this decision results in part from her fetish desire and obsession with this man. Considering it is apparent that throughout the encounter with this man there are subtle hints that the girl’s life will end soon, I believe that her fetish for him may have been one of the direct catalysts into her decision to take her own life. Apart from the negative things that are happening in her life, it seems that now because the girl has met the man she idealized for a long time and has received prized possessions from him, she can die. I believe that she feels she can die now because the man was the only thing that seemed to have kept her going towards the end as her anticipation to meet him and be around him was what kept her desire to live alive.