Wacky Women Writers

I thought I would write a little about the Women Writers class I'm taking at Hope College right now. (specifically British women writers from the nineteenth century). We've read Maria Edgeworth, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, and now George Eliot (quiz: which one doesn't belong?).

I'm finding these novels, and the accompanying writing and discussion, immensely challenging and stimulating, and would reccomend especially the Brontes to anyone. The novels of that century liked to trace the development of individuals, especially children who were in abusive situations, or who had to overcome odds, or who were constrained from expressing their "true selves." Will they do the right thing, and find their true selves, or will they give into temptations of wealth, prestige, bitterness, or marriage for the wrong reasons? Do you think we have true selves hidden away, or are we who we are, even with our bad choices and insecurities? The novels Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Great Expectations have convinced me of one thing: that I shouldn't do things for the wrong reason, i.e. out of desperation. This applies even to education and career: I shouldn't pursure a degree or a job simply for prestige or to feel normal. I have to pursue what my heart is calling me to, and although that sounds very cliche', I think it's quite true that we're still always tempted to do the wrong thing, i.e. get into a relationship, pursue a course of action, or even move somewhere out of a misguided motive. This motive could be clearly wrong, as in an immoral choice, but it could also be masked in devout language; Jane Eyre is tempted to go to the mission field as a missionary's wife...but for the wrong reasons. Thankfully, she realizes this in her heart and says "no." She also says no to an opposite, immoral choice that would involve following her heart, but breaking her moral code. We shouldn't do either. We should puruse the highest good; and sometimes that means giving up something that looks good to the world for something more important, i.e. Jesus.

For Yours is the Power and the Glory, now and forever...

Thoughts on Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory
So I'm up late...can't sleep & hoping my roommate can't hear typing in her sleep. The above line is from the "Our Father" that is recited in a Catholic mass...I thought of it after our discussion--this whole book demonstrates, through a weak and doubtful human character, that the power and the glory is indeed God's, and he used this man despite himself. The ending is just beautiful. The boy that was earlier jaded against religion in this secular communist state finally makes a personal connection with a martyr...the drunk priest he had met earlier was shot that day; he knew a martyr personally, and could connect with him...unlike the larger-than-life martyrs his mother read to him about from cheesy, exaggerated books. Greene has done the same thing for us: introduced us to a martyr (and without our quite knowing it).
I think the best thing about this book is the way it turns our notions of good and bad on their heads...thus demonstrating, again, that the power and the glory belong to God. When the priest was sleek and good and respected, he was in reality at his worst. When he was poor, debased, sinful, rejected, and full of doubt, he was at his best; and even though he couldn't see that, we can see it and thus see God's perspective....which is a cool trick on Greene's part...getting us to see that this man is righteous and brave, and that he has changed lives and saved souls...that he is a martyr in fact.
If you aren't to the end yet, I highly recommend it.
Perhaps my lack of sleep has to do with the "decaf" coffee I consumed at the meeting. Oh well, if it gets me to write something!

Were his parents into alliteration?

Thoughts on Graham Greene, The Third Man, The Power and the Glory?