Author: Korin (Page 4 of 7)

Quotation:

“Callimaco: It’s certainly true that fortune and nature balance their accounts: if anything good happens to you, something bad is bound to spring up right after it. The more my hope has increased, the more my fear has increased.” page 39

“Friar Timoteo: There’s a truth in the old saying that bad company leads men to the gallows; and often a person gets into trouble as much for being too easygoing and good-natured as for being too vicious.” page 47

Comment:

Context for quote #1: It is in part of Callimaco’s monologue at the beginning of Act IV. He is explaining that the more his hope grows for the success of his scheme, the more he grows fearful that his plans will fall through. 

When I read this, I underlined it right away because I interpreted it as foreshadowing. This was one of many lines that I interpreted that way. It left me wondering what was going to happen: Was his hopefulness going to help him succeed? Or would his fear overcome him and screw the entire plan up? I do also agree with this statement, because I believe that if you’re really hopeful and passionate about something, there is always going to be an equal, underlying anxiety about the possibility of failure. 

Context for quote #2: Friar, Callimaco, Liguiro, and Siro have just finished up their conversation. In their conversation they discussed some last minute details to outline their plan. Liguiro, Callimaco, and Siro leave to go and disguise themselves. Liguiro gives orders to Friar to stay put and wait for them to return so they can all go meet up with Messer Nicia. It is in scene 6 and Friar is now by himself.

I do believe this statement to be truthful. If you involve too many people into a situation, such as scheming, it can cause a bad mixture and can cause some trouble; in this case the trouble is death by hanging. I also believe it is true that you can get into trouble for being too soft, but you can also get into trouble for being too harsh. You have to find the right balance of passion, determination, etc. so that you don’t run into trouble.

Question: Should there be limits to how many people you go to for help and company? Would this help you in the end? Would this help lessen your fears and strengthen hopes or would that be determined solely by yourself?

Quotation:

“Callimaco: Nothing’s ever so completely a lost cause that there can’t be some way to hope for it, even if it’s only weak and empty; the passion and desire a person has to get what he wants keeps it from seeming so.” page 9. 

“Callimaco: I’ve simply got to try something, and I don’t care what it is—huge, dangerous, hurtful, infamous. Better to die than live like this. If I could at least sleep at night, eat, talk to people—if I could find even the slightest pleasure in anything, the strain of waiting might not wear me down so much. But there’s no relief here. If my hopes aren’t kept up by some possibility of action, it will mean the death of me, one way or another; and with death in sight, I’m not going to be afraid of anything else: I’ll try even the most brutal, crude, and vicious thing!” page 13.

Comment: Context for both quotes: Callimaco is venting to Siro about his desire for Donna Lucrezia. He explains all the troubles that come with his desire, such as her husband, but he still can’t help but feel such passion for her. He refuses to believe that lost causes exist and that everything can have hope. He explains that his passion and desire is what keeps his hope going and what keeps him believing that it is not a lost cause. Then he really digs deep into his passion for this girl. It’s quite extraordinary to have such feelings for someone he barely even knows. To want to die to be with her is so extreme, but that is how much passion and desire he has to be with her. Part of me really likes how passionate he is for this girl, but part of me doesn’t. If this were a more modern time, like today perhaps, I think I would like it more. I think this because back then, women were objects… to me he only wants to have sex with her. But i’ve never heard of anybody feeling this much passion about anything ever, so to see it is pretty cool and it excites me, but then I remember that he’s so passionate about being with her sexually. So I have mixed emotions. 

Question: Is it possible to be too passionate about something/someone? How are we supposed to know? How do we determine how far we should be willing to go for such passion?

Quotation: 

“Tiresias: 

And tyrants have always loved cheated profits.” page 52, line 1064

“Tiresias:

All the cities are stirred by hatred, whose mangled children took their only burial from dogs and beasts—or some winged bird, bearing an unholy stench into his native city.” page 53, lines 1089-1092

Comment: Context for quote #1 & #2: Creon and Tiresias are fighting about the whole Antigone situation. Tiresias explains to Creon that his actions have caused him a great deal of backlash and hatred from the citizens of Thebes. The second quote includes a footnote that reads, “This indicates that all the slain Argive, not just Polynices, have been denied burial.” So Creon has denied many fallen soldiers a proper burial and it has seriously angered the people of Thebes. These two quotes really stuck out to me because the first one is just shady towards Creon. I love that multiple characters have called him out for being a tyrant. How I took it is, Tiresias is saying that tyrants always long for death, suffering, injustice, obedience, etc. All tyrants care about is themselves and their power. In the second quote, Tiresias is explaining to Creon that the people of Thebes hate him for what he has done. This shows Creon that he has made the wrong decisions about burial, he is an unfit and unjust king. What kind of king doesn’t give his own fallen soldiers a proper burial? Not a good one!

Question: How do we choose who has authority? How can we change that process so that tyranny basically disappears?

Quotation:

“Anyone who lives a life of sorrow as I do, how could they not count it as a blessing to die? Therefore, there is no pain for me in meeting this fate, whereas if I were to endure that one born from my mother die unburied, that would cause me pain. As it is, I feel nothing.” -page 29, lines 474-481

“Nothing you say gives me the slightest pleasure— I pray nothing you say ever will— and by nature I offend you. And yet, could my fame be more gloriously established than by placing my brother in a tomb? I think all these people would agree, if fear did not hold their tongues. Tyranny is lucky in many ways, above all in doing and saying what it will.” -page 31, lines 514-522

Comment: Some context for quote number one: Antigone is being questioned by Creon for the crimes of burying her brother’s body. She explains that she knew all of what she was doing and had done it anyway, because she has already had such a miserable and sorrowful life that Antigone did not care about the consequences of committing this crime. She would be in pain if he had gone unburied, so she is willing to pay the price for the crime and she doesn’t care that she will die because her life is so sad. Context for quote number two: Creon has sentenced Antigone to death and she is saying to him why wait? She is basically telling him to stop waiting around and just kill her. She is proud of the crime that she has committed and she wants to die now so she doesn’t even have to hear what the king has to say anymore. These quotes engaged me quite a bit. This text is a bit hard to comprehend but these were some quotes that I understood and, quite frankly, resonated with them. Women didn’t have any rights back then and the fact that she stood up for what she believed in, stood up for her family, obviously makes me very happy. I love it when I see or hear stories about women that take charge and stand up for what they believe in despite what the rest of the world thinks about women. I say, “GO ANTIGONE!!!” and, “YOU GO GIRL!!” She has committed a crime, but the crime was justified. Now she will die knowing that her brother’s soul will be at peace. 

Question: Now, this has reminded me of a controversy. The controversy is when a person commits a crime, if it is for a great reason, should we be supporting them or punishing them? Also, what does, “Tyranny is lucky in many ways, above all in doing and saying what it will.” mean?

Quotation:

“I knew that Prince was not killed by a single officer so much as he was murdered by his country and all the fears that have marked it from birth.” page 78

“The truth is that the police reflect America in all of its will and fear, and whatever we might make of this country’s criminal justice policy, it cannot be said that it was imposed by a repressive minority. The abuses that have followed from these policies—the sprawling carceral state, the random detention of black people, the torture of suspects—are the product of democratic will.” page 78-79

Comment: These two quotes really stuck out to me and I felt like they formed a type of theme. The topic of police brutality in America is a highly controversial topic. Black people are extremely mistreated all over this country but especially in the criminal justice and law enforcement system. To me, it seems as though they never get a fair playing field and when they comment on it or try to justify themselves, they receive backlash in a form of beatings, death, etc. It really irks me that we have not come up with a solution to this horrible problem in our country. Parts of these quotes confuse me while other parts intrigue me and interest me, which is why I picked it for today’s QCQ. I believe that police brutality is a conversation that we should all be having. I would like to say that having the conversation would result in the spreading of awareness of this problem, but I truly believe that it is a well-known issue in this country, but yet still nothing is done to adjust the system and bring justice to, not only just blacks, but also latinas/latinos, hispanics, jews, the disabled, etc. The whole system is unjust and there’s no reason why we, as a country, can’t come up with some adjustments that could be made so that everyone has a fair playing field and nobody fears for their own body just from being pulled over and looked at by a police officer. It mentions in the book, also, that racism in this country is heritage. Well, I say that cultures can change and adapt, we could change our heritage if we really wanted to, but yet nobody (excluding activists and those affected by police brutality) seems to be trying.

Question: What is the carceral state? What is the democratic will? Why is it taking so long for changes to be made in the criminal justice and law enforcement system?