Connection #9 (Beloved)

The novel Beloved, written by Toni Morrison, is a story about a family of African Americans and the struggles they face as they attempt to live their lives post-slavery. The grief and tragedy lived by the mother of the family, Sethe, during her times as a slave causes her to become an over-bearing mother to her children, shielding them from all of life’s potential troubles. However, it is when she sees a white man for the first time since her slave days that she takes her role too far, killing her youngest daughter (at that time) in fear that the white man has come to bring them back to slavery. Sethe and her other daughter, Denver, are forever haunted by this “act of love and care.” The constant remembrance of their lost daughter and sister is brought back to life through the form of a ghostly human, named Beloved. Beloved appears on the scene and takes control of the family right away, causing Denver to follow her and Sethe to over-care for her. Beloved eventually causes Sethe to turn insane, by driving away the only normalcy the family was beginning to have in their life, their friends. It isn’t until Denver, a shy, reserved girl, goes into town looking for help is the family finally rescued. The town responds courageously and “drives” Beloved away from the family so that they may begin to live a normal life again.

Connection #8 (The Metamorphosis)

The novella The Metamorphosis, written by Franz Kafka, is a short story about a young man named Gregor who one day transforms into a bug. At such a young age, Gregor already had a full time job and was the sole financial support for his entire family. However, one day Gregor could not roll out of bed, for he had turned into a bug. His parents and his boss persisted for several hours to enter his locked room, but Gregor could not get out of bed. After learning to function with his new body with numerous legs and a shell as hard as a rock, Gregor opened the door to disbelief. His boss ran out of the house, his mother collapsed, and his father began thinking of ways to extinguish this new bug. Gregor was fired from his job, he couldn’t possibly sell any more insurance anyways, and his family shunned him. His father hated him because he actually had to work now and his mother was scared to look at him. Throughout the rest of the novella, Gregor becomes more neglected and the family turns into disarray. They cannot afford to send Gregor’s sister to music school, and they can barely survive financially, resorting to renting out their house to tourists. All the while, Gregor is kept locked up in his room where no one can come into contact with the family’s “horrible burden.” It’s not until one day in the Spring-time that this burden is lifted when Gregor the young man, the bug, and the burden dies. The family leaves the house as it is, grabs their suitcase and leaves the city to start a new life, without even shedding a tear for their once son and brother.

Connection #7 (The Stranger)

In the novel, The Stanger, Albert Camus describes the monotonous life of a man named Meursault. The novel opens with Meursault learning of his mother’s recent passing away. Meursault is to attend the funeral at-once, although he knows not when his mother actually died. This small detail, as well as others throughout the novel, is constantly on his mind. At the funeral, Meursault felt no grief, contrary to the other aged people who lived with his mother in the nursing home. Meursault felt it a burden to have to walk through the hot Algerian sun for miles to the cemetery. Once the procession was over, Meursault quickly moved on with his life, going swimming, watching a movie, and even "becoming one" with his girlfriend. Meursault did not have much of a personal life, choosing to sit in his apartment alone and watch the bystanders rather then engage with other people. He doesn’t really get along with the two other men that live in the apartments next to him. One day his neighbor Raymond asked him for some help, however. Raymond had been having some trouble with his ex-girlfriend, and he wanted to get back at her by writing her a letter. As a favor, Raymond asked Meursault if he would be so kind as to write the letter for him. Meursault agrees and does so. After this new friendship was formed over a couple of hours and a letter, Raymond invites Meursault down to his friend’s beach house for the weekend. Meursault agrees and brings his girlfriend Marie. At the beach house, Marie and Meursault enjoy swimming and being together. Raymond, his friend, and Meursault take a walk down the beach after lunch. On their journey, they come across a group of Arabs, one of which is Raymond’s ex-girlfriend’s brother. The two groups stare at each other for a long time, but nothing happens, even though weapons are drawn. The three men walk back to the beach house, but Meursault has the urge to keep walking. He goes back to the spring that he saw on their initial walk, still with the gun in his pocket that Raymond gave him for protection. As he approaches the spring, Meursault notices that one of the Arabs is still there. The Arab quickly shows Meursault his knife, blinding him with it. Out of reflex, Meursault grabs his gun and kills the Arab, shooting him five times. Meursault is later arrested and goes to trial. The prosecutor charges Meursault with murdering the Arab, but his evidence and reasoning has nothing to do with the act of shooting at all. The prosecutor brings in the fact that Meursault was not sad on the day of his mother’s death and that he quickly moved on with his life, deeming him a bad person for it. Meursault is awarded the death penalty, but it is this time in prison when he truly finds meaning in his life. He discovers that he is content with how he lived his life and the choices that he made. The connection to the culminating question……

Connection #6 (A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man)

In the novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young, James Joyce tells the story of a young boy named Stephen Dedalus and his journey in growing as both a man and an artist. Stephen grew up sheltered from life’s troubles by his family and his Catholic governess. Stephen was a timid boy who had trouble making decisions for himself – this was apparently seen as he was often bullied by other classmates while at boarding school. As the novel progressed, Stephen’s family, where he found complete comfort, began to lose ground financially. Stephen was removed from his current boarding school and attended a cheaper school. Stephen’s father also changed. He often would drink heavily around Stephen and flirt with other women to cope with his problems. Stephen soon too began to develop problems of his own, and instead of turning to God, he turned to the “pleasures” that prostitutes gave him. This change in lifestyle not only began affecting Stephen’s spirituality, but his schoolwork as well. It wasn’t until he heard an old teacher lecture about hell, did Stephen decide to turn his life around. After growing as a man and realizing the mistakes of his past, Stephen attended “the university” and began to work as an artist. Stephen soon found out that he enjoyed being alone and wandering the countryside of Ireland more than being in a classroom filled with friends. Stephen no longer looked at women as “beasts,” but instead saw them as human beings. Stephen found himself engaging in conversations with women and enjoyed talking with them – and with one girl in particular, Emma. As the novel came to a close, Stephen finally developed the courage to talk to the one that he admired his entire life. Stephen found that he no longer needed someone to tell him how to approach her, or even what to say, he did it all on his own and had a wonderful conversation. Although the conversation only turned out to be just that, Stephen’s life came full-circle as he finally matured as a man and grew as an artist. The connection to the culminating question……

Connection #5 (Fences)

In the play Fences, written by August Wilson, the main character Troy Maxson undergoes the troubles and hardships that African Americans faced during the 1950’s and into the 1960’s. Troy and Bono, his long-time friend from work, share stories and reminisce about their week of work every Friday over a cold beer. Troy and Bono share a relationship that is unparalleled in the play, an even stronger relationship than that existed between Troy and his wife and Troy and his own son. Growing up as an African American, Troy learned that nothing could be taken for granted and that you had to always work hard for what you get. While these clichés may sound exactly that, they were life for Troy. It was this attitude that he had that caused Troy to act the way he did towards his family. The title Fences has multiple meanings. The play took place in Troy’s backyard, which at the beginning of the book is fence-less. Troy enjoys the freedom of not being bound to his home or his family; instead he partakes in a different lifestyle. He enjoys worldly pleasures. Troy refuses to give into his wife’s request to keep the family safe and close-together. Troy also refuses to allow his son Cory to play football. Troy, an ex-baseball player himself, believes that sports were his downfall and that Cory should do something more productive in his life. As the play progresses, Troy learns that he is about to become a father again, however, with a woman that is not his wife. Troy’s decisions dug a huge hole, and as he quickly found out, he could not dig his way out of. Troy finally finishes the fence in his backyard, but the damage is already done. His relationship with his wife, Rose, becomes distant, and his son left their home out of frustration with his father. Troy dies a few years later due to a heart attack. Rose continued to raise Troy’s illegitimate daughter, and kept her close and protected within the house’s new fence. The connection to the culminating question……

Connection #4 (Night)

In the novel Night, written by Elie Wiesel, Elie depicts his first-hand account of World War II from his Jewish perspective. Elie and his family lived in the small Jewish town of Sighet in Transylvania. When Elie was a teenager, his family was informed by German officials that they were to move into a centralized “ghetto” with other Jewish families. At first, Elie and his family did not make much out of the move – the German official was nice and they would now be closer to their friends and extended family. This was their mistake, however. In fact, it was the entire Jewish communities’ mistake. It was this small moment that would turn out to be the Weisel family’s only opportunity to escape. As WWII progressed and Adolph Hitler began to expand his new regime throughout the vast expanses of Europe, life for Elie and his family and the rest of the Jewish community turned for the worse. Without truly knowing what the future held for them, from within the small Jewish ghetto that housed Elie, he and his family boarded a train that was headed for a Nazi concentration camp. Elie and his father were separated from his mother and sisters. He would later find out that he would never see them again. Elie and his father traveled all over Europe, staying in both the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps. They were treated horribly by the Nazi officials, being forced to do manual labor, subjected to medical tests, and faced with malnutrition. Elie lost all faith in his God during these times. He even considered taking his own life to escape the misery he felt on a daily basis. The only thing that kept him from giving up was his father. Towards the end of WWII (which was unknown to the Jewish people in the concentration camps), Elie’s father died from over-exhaustion and lack of food and water. Elie lost all hope when his father passed. However, within days after the tragedy, the Americans liberated the Jewish prisoners from the Nazi concentration camps and Elie was once again given freedom. The connection to the culminating question……

Connection #3 (The Playboy of the Western World)

In the play The Playboy of the Western World, Christy wound up at a small Irish town after murdering his own father. The people in the small Irish town rarely leave their town, and therefore had rarely seen anyone from outside of their town. When Christy arrives, claiming to have killed his father with his own hands and a shovel, the town embraces him, thinking he is a hero for having the courage to kill his own father. Christy soon falls in love with a local girl, named Pegeen. Christy loves to tell everyone of his story, adding extreme details each time he tells it. As the play progresses, Christy is faced to deal with a challenge. His father Mahon (the one who he supposedly killed) shows up at the town. The town is outraged at Christy! Christy then gets in another brawl with his father and again strikes him over the head. The town, believing that Christy just killed his own father, prepares to hang him. As he is about to be hanged, Mahon shows up again and saves Christy. Christy departs from the small Irish town and leaves his love Pegeen, to once again run away with his father. The connection to the culminating question…..