After reading James Joyce's "Ivy Day in the Committee Room," I hit my head against the desk and woke up. That is to say, I didn't enjoy this reading. The back story is given in vague, upper-class discussions and nearly all of these are political and impossible to invest myself in. The only times I was able to pay attention was when there was a given description and everyone had shut up. I was able to find a few things I found interesting when they were NOT talking: the cigarettes, the alcohol, ivy, and bottles slowly opening.
It would be much simpler to construe what is meant within these statements if I hadn't been so, well, bored by the story. (And I am sorry to be so negative of this piece, I'm sure there is a lot of it I'm missing that will come to light in class discussion, but as of now I'm unimpressed.)
From what I could gather, the story is based around the anniversary of the death of this league's previous beloved president. I suppose that is what makes this the "Ivy Day."
The bottle slowly opening, I suppose, is supposed to be based on the fact that we are slowly gathering the meaning behind the story until we finally have that revelation. Otherwise, they could represent how countries are gaining freedom, and Ireland is the last to "pok" open.
The ivy is meant to be the meaning behind this group: slowly growing and spreading its opinions and freedom around the spirit of Ireland. Hence, we are given their concerns in whether others will be voting with them or against.
The alcohol is something to numb the nation, and especially to numb its youth. The drunkard child of Jack and the kid who comes with the bottles both drink, and so are introduced to escape from what's around them. Perhaps this is meant to parallel the actual rampant drinking in Ireland?
Lastly, the cigarettes are mostly a way for Mr. O'Conner to hide emotion. We see him using them or getting them out whenever he might be actually distressed, and the final lines say, quite explicitly, that they better hide his emotion. The entire day way probably fairly emotional (it being a death anniversary) so he is often messing with them.
I suppose this story is meant to, once again, be a commentary on the state of the suffering Ireland (because two wasn't enough). The people are commemorating and looking to replace their previously loved president, who wanted to fight for Ireland's independence. Now, since he has passed, their ideals are withering and they are losing the will to fight. Perhaps the author means to make a cry for leaders in Ireland, as "September 1918" hoped to do?
I really do not mean to offend anyone invested into this story, and I know I am missing a lot, yet I do not wish to read this particular story again. To me it was bland, and there wasn't anything to make me relate to it. However, the subtle use of symbols within the story was interesting to decipher, and I hope such symbolism will continue into the rest of the course.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
"Ire"land
I'll admit, I didn't "get" September 1913 by Yeats when I first read it. I was thinking back on how we were supposed to compare it to religiously based poems and I was expecting God to be a part of it! Imagine my surprise when this poem was talking about Ireland! It took several readings to start understanding this poem more, though I admit! some of it still escapes me.
As much as I can figure, this poem is about the poor working class in Ireland and their struggle against the rich business owners. It seems, by talking of old Irish revolutionaries, Yeats wants Ireland to revolt and find similar leaders.
There are several things that caught my interest in the poem. The first thing was based on the line, "But fumble in a greasy till." I looked up the word "till," and found that it means something like a cash register. So him saying it's greasy first reminded me of how we refer to businessmen as "greasy," and an image of a fat man with greased hair and moustache came to mind. Then I wondered why it was the till that was greasy, and I think it means that they had to grease it to keep it opening and closing. So it's so full it's getting stuck? This was a great way to say that they're beyond rich. And the fact that they only "add the halfpence to the pence" shows how greedy they are, as well. I looked up exactly who these greasy men would've been at this time and apparently they were mostly business-minded Catholics. This makes the line, "For men were born to pray and save" have two meanings. They are supposed to save their fellow man, but what they are actually saving is their own life-saving life-savings.
After this we're given an ambiguous "they" whose names hold weight, were spread like the wind, didn't bother praying, and were killed for what they did. In the next line we are thrown the names of several revolutionaries. I went to gather info on each of them and all had been members of a revolutionary group formed around the French Revolution: The Society of United Irishmen. This group hoped to release Ireland from British rule. This is interesting, since this is what the Irish are hoping to do at this point of time. Each one of these men was killed for the cause, and each one of them were leaders.
In the last stanza we're given a hypothetical situation where all these suffering revolutionaries are called back to life. The people react by yelling out they're problems, but not by seeing the sacrifices of those men. This saddens the poet as he then suggests that by rejecting the ideals of the old, we are killing the romance of Ireland and forgetting the length of this struggle, "But let them be, they're dead and gone, / They're with O'Leary in the grave."
So then, this poem is a call for action to the Irishmen of today, asking, "what of the old sacrifices in this battle? do you forget their struggles?" By doing this he means to call that the Ireland of 1913 remembers the length of battle, the people of the past standing by them, and that men of such caliber must be found today! Such a poem must of been heartening, despite its pessimism, back at this time.
http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/wbyeats/bl-wbye-sept.htm
As much as I can figure, this poem is about the poor working class in Ireland and their struggle against the rich business owners. It seems, by talking of old Irish revolutionaries, Yeats wants Ireland to revolt and find similar leaders.
There are several things that caught my interest in the poem. The first thing was based on the line, "But fumble in a greasy till." I looked up the word "till," and found that it means something like a cash register. So him saying it's greasy first reminded me of how we refer to businessmen as "greasy," and an image of a fat man with greased hair and moustache came to mind. Then I wondered why it was the till that was greasy, and I think it means that they had to grease it to keep it opening and closing. So it's so full it's getting stuck? This was a great way to say that they're beyond rich. And the fact that they only "add the halfpence to the pence" shows how greedy they are, as well. I looked up exactly who these greasy men would've been at this time and apparently they were mostly business-minded Catholics. This makes the line, "For men were born to pray and save" have two meanings. They are supposed to save their fellow man, but what they are actually saving is their own life-saving life-savings.
After this we're given an ambiguous "they" whose names hold weight, were spread like the wind, didn't bother praying, and were killed for what they did. In the next line we are thrown the names of several revolutionaries. I went to gather info on each of them and all had been members of a revolutionary group formed around the French Revolution: The Society of United Irishmen. This group hoped to release Ireland from British rule. This is interesting, since this is what the Irish are hoping to do at this point of time. Each one of these men was killed for the cause, and each one of them were leaders.
In the last stanza we're given a hypothetical situation where all these suffering revolutionaries are called back to life. The people react by yelling out they're problems, but not by seeing the sacrifices of those men. This saddens the poet as he then suggests that by rejecting the ideals of the old, we are killing the romance of Ireland and forgetting the length of this struggle, "But let them be, they're dead and gone, / They're with O'Leary in the grave."
So then, this poem is a call for action to the Irishmen of today, asking, "what of the old sacrifices in this battle? do you forget their struggles?" By doing this he means to call that the Ireland of 1913 remembers the length of battle, the people of the past standing by them, and that men of such caliber must be found today! Such a poem must of been heartening, despite its pessimism, back at this time.
http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/wbyeats/bl-wbye-sept.htm
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