Wednesday, October 2, 2013

libERAtion

Blogpost Three
libERAtion
In poems by Lynch and Ciardi and short story by Poe we see different interpretations of liberation. Specifically, in “Liberty” by Thomas Lynch we see liberation through breaking commercialism. In John Ciardi’s poem “Suburban”, we see liberation through humor. In “The Cask of Amontillado”, Edgar Allan Poe demonstrates liberation through seeking revenge. 
In “Liberty” by Thomas Lynch, the speaker seeks liberation by freeing from the “norm”. While the majority of people physically liberate their bladders by the means of a toilet, the speaker chooses to “piss on the front lawn” (1). The speaker breaks commercialism by opting out of peeing from “porcelain” (3), and instead chooses the au natural approach and connects back to the brotherhood of his ancestors of men, “fierce bloodline of men” (6). The speaker liberates himself, literally and physically, by opting out what is normal and the commercialized society by opting into the natural and ancestral way.
In “Suburban”, John Ciardi illustrates the speaker’s liberation through humor. The speaker uses humor to amuse the irritations that his neighbor, Mrs. Friar, causes. “I thought to ask, ‘Have you checked the rectal grooving for a positive I.D.?’” (7). While it wasn’t the speaker’s dog who caused the “accident” in Mrs. Friar’s backyard, the speaker chose to do the neighborly thing and picked up the poo himself. While committing an act of brotherhood, the speaker obtained liberation from daily annoyances through humor. 
Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado”, takes us through the speaker, Montresor, and his revenge against Fortunato, his former oppressor.  Montresor seeked to avenge the humiliation that Fortunato had inflicted upon him. “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge” (1062). Montesor did not just seek to humble Fortunato but rather, he sought to permanently assert his dominance over Fortunato. It was ironic that this short story mentioned the “masonry” which typically refers to a band of brothers, and while both Fortunato and Montresor demonstrated the symbol to represent the brotherhood, Montresor proceeded to bury a buzzed Fortunato alive in a deserted tomb. This act of murder is the antithesis of what a brotherhood stands for, however, it was through this act of revenge that Montesor finally obtained his liberation. 
During my service experience, I am being liberated mentally through my experiences. I have been placed in a first-grade classroom at Tunbridge Public Charter School. Although I have only been able to attend one session at the school, I already feel blessed for this opportunity. I am gaining an experience that can only be understood by physically experiencing it yourself. I can already feel myself being more open with the York Road and Govans community since I am helping aid some of their children. I feel that the Loyola population is tainted with the ideas of this community from stories of crime, late-night experience around the bars, and what Loyola preaches at Orientation. However, through my service experience at Tunbridge I am being mentally liberated of the stereotypes that have been ingrained in my brain.



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