Sunday, October 12, 2008

Looking Deeper

I am not the best of readers. I haven't had much interest in reading in the past. It has been very interesting how some of the writers this semester have used symbolism in their works. It isn't always easy for me to uncover the hidden meanings. In one of our recent classes, we discussed Boyle's "The Decent of Man". The title for starters relates back to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. In the short story, Boyle has satired the notion of evolution, in other words taking a slight jab to the famous philosopher. Through some of the many symbolic moments throughout his writting, we saw Boyle creating a notion of the human race to almost be de-evolving. Jane values the ape's opinion more, because he is a genious. Through historical norms, woman are thought to have a goal of attracting a mate; many times just in order to survive. We see Jane going against this as she returns home to her "roomate" dirty and smelling like animal feces, and she continues to experiment with Master Konrad.

Through our discussions, I have been able to better understand some of these creative writers. Through the use of their symbolic meanings, these authors have help me gain a better understanding of creative contemporary literature.

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