Matthew Smith
English 101
Dr. Ellis
October 2nd, 2013
Differences in
Perception
In
Thomas Lynch’s poem “Liberty” a man finds it liberating to urinate on his front
lawn some nights, against the better judgment of his ex-wife. John Ciardi, who’s the main character of his
own poem “Suburban”, removes dog feces from his neighbor’s petunias even while
he is certain his dog was not responsible.
Lastly, in Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado” the
narrator deceives his adversary into a tomb beneath his house, where he traps
him there as an act of revenge. All of
these characters are going against what society might consider proper and
appropriate, but they are doing so because of their own perceptions of the
situation.
The
speaker in “Liberty” claims he pisses on his lawn “as a form of freedom” and he
gains “liberty from porcelain and plumbing” while his ex-wife may be clueless
to this; to him it makes perfect sense.
For the speaker it is an act of freedom, and a way to “pay homage” to the
trees as he looks up and takes in all that is around him. To anyone simply passing by they would most
likely see a crazy man peeing on his front porch, thinking he must be lost or
confused. That may be society’s
perception of the situation, but to the speaker it’s much more than that. He is not worried about what everyone may
conclude, but simply doing what he feels is right. Those who do not know the story behind it
will would have no way of understanding, but with a closer insight it doesn’t
seem too crazy to crave some liberty from the “porcelain and plumbing.”
Perceptions
always have two sides to the same story, this is exactly the case with the
neighbors in “Suburban.” Mrs. Friar
believes that Mr. Ciardi’s dog has left “a large repulsive object” in her
flowers. Ciardi of course is positive
this is not the case, knowing that his dog has been in Vermont with his son,
but quickly gets over this fact and goes over to remove the invading
object. This poem shows us how that even
if you know something wasn’t even caused by you, there is still no harm in
helping out a neighbor in need. Friar
believes she received help because he was obliged to, however he did it out of the
goodness of his own heart. It shouldn’t
always matter who is responsible, but actually what is more important is who
steps up to help.
Edgar
Allen Poe’s story is by far the darkest of the three we read, as the main
character believes he is due some revenge on Fortunato. From the beginning of the story we are not
positive if a murder is actually going to occur, but through the use of
foreshadowing the reader gets a real sense something bad is going to
happen. The narrator states how “there
were no attendants at home”, or in other words no witnesses to him and
Fortunato. Additionally when Fortunato
first begins to cough saying “I shall not die of a cough” he simply replies
“True –true” knowing in fact what waits ahead.
While we do not know what “thousand injuries” Fortunato has given the
narrator, the punishment receives was most likely an extreme one. It is the narrators belief that it was
justified, based on his perception of the situation.
When
it comes to the community of Baltimore, from the viewpoint of an outside like
myself, many different things shape my perception. From what I learn on the TV, to what the
school tells me, to just living her for three years. The major thing I think my service this
coming Friday will help to do is change whatever perception I have of Baltimore
and the community her around Loyola.
While we hear a lot about safety, and get countless emails of crimes
happening nearby, that is by no means an accurate depiction of the people in
this community. By experiencing it first
hand I am guessing I will see some similarities to my own community. It all goes back to the moral from “Suburban” that no matter what the case, we should all help our neighbors when asked.
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