Language 2

As we continued reading, language remained a very important topic of focus. We learn that Manus does in fact know how to speak English, or at least some, but is very reluctant to actually speak with Yolland in English. I think this is because he does not like the fact that Britain has come into his home, Ireland, and doesn't want to do them any small favors, not even communicate with them. This is evident in the interaction between Owen and Manus on page 56 when Owen asks Manus to speak in English, and Manus says, "For the benefit of the colonist?" and then reluctantly uses English only to appease Owen.
Also, as we discussed in class, the relationship between Yolland and Maire is a complicated one. Neither of them speaks the other's language, and so language in this case acts as a barrier. I also found it curious that they are both characters which want to learn the other's language. Maire believes, "Old language is a barrier to modern progress," confirming again her thought that the Irish should learn English, and Yolland wants to learn Gaelic and live in Ireland.
Their interaction from page 62 to page 67 is fascinating in the way that neither of them know what each other is saying, but they are somehow able to communicate and progress in a conversation. Did this make anyone else think of the scene in Love Actually where Colin Firth falls in love with the woman who comes to work for him? She speaks only French and he speaks only English, and despite the language barrier, they fall in love.

Language

I have actually read this book before, in the fall semester of my senior year, and something I remember talking about a lot is that the playwright, Brian Friel, wanted us to recognize the importance of language in this book. There are many references to four languages in particular, Latin, Greek, Irish (gaelic I'm assuming), and English. All the characters so far know Irish, since obviously the play was originally written in the language.
Something I find amusing is when Bridget is talking on page 19 about how the new national school will not teach in Irish, and they will only teach in English, and the fact that this book is written in English. Also, Jimmy Jack Cassidy and Hugh are the only ones who know Latin and Greek fluently, and Maire knows only one line of English her aunt taught her when she was younger. Manus seems to know some Latin and Greek, but does not speak it frequently like Jimmy does. He only uses it when Jimmy bothers him about the translation of something, like Jimmy is giving Manus a constant quiz of knowledge. Clearly, because we are given so much information about language, and what languages each character can speak (or not speak at all like Sarah) whereas normally we wouldn't get this information in a play, it is a key part of Translations.

Home

One thing about this last reading in Power which stuck me was Omishto's feeling of homeliness when she goes to "The Place of the Old Law." On page 154 she describes home as a place where, "the old people live among tradition and memory," and talks of how the people behave the way the creator has told them to behave. Previously, she talked about how afraid she was to go there and once she looks around at her surroundings, her feelings change. "You can see this goodness of life on their peaceful faces, on their skin, even though not far from here are the old, rusted cars. Seeing this, I feel as if I am home here" (154). It is incredible that she can have such an intense change of heart just by being there. I think Omistho's feelings of displacement have finally subsided, and that she feels as if she knows where she belongs now. She knows that the old traditional ways of the Taiga people are the ways she wants to follow. She even claims that Ama does not look at home there. She feels a closeness with this place that even Ama doesn't feel.

Connections

When we were discussing the quote, "I'm my sister's project. She's always trying to fix me up, but I don't want to look pretty" (7), and how Omishto does not want to be someone who is considered pretty and how the idea of her becoming even more of an object to look at than she already is by her stepfather, I couldn't help but think of the song "Popular" in the play Wicked. I didn't make this connection because of her great discomfort around her stepfather, but rather that she is solely considered a "project." The song even begins with Galinda saying, "Elphie, now that we're friends, I've decided to make you my new project!"
Another reason I thought of this song, were the connections between what we were saying in class about how being "pretty" gives you a sense of power, and how Galinda talks about being popular in the song. Galinda believes that by giving Elphaba a new make-over, making her pretty, she will become popular, and have some sense of power. In the song, Galinda claims, "It's all about popular. It's not about aptitude, it's the way you're viewed, so it's very shrewd to be, very very popular like ME!" In the book, Power, Omistho's sister does the same thing and tries to make Omishto as pretty as she is.

Struggles

While reading Power I could not help but see connections between Omishto in this book and Lucy. Both Omishto and Lucy have troubled relationships with their families, and I think they feel out of place and are struggling between two identities.
As we discussed in class, Lucy has a very strained relationship with her mother and her father. In Power, Omishto also speaks of the relationships she has with her family. One passage which gives insight into each member is, "I'm my sister's project. She's always trying to fix me up, but I don't want to look pretty in the house with my mother and stepfather looking at me, his eyes always looking too much in places they don't belong, and my mom jealous like she is being replaced by me and it's all my fault, my design" (7). Clearly her sister and her have different ideas on how they want to appear to others, and Omishto is disturbed by the way her stepfather looks at her. She also believes her mother is a jealous person. She mentions later how her mother is also jealous of her "Aunt" Ama.
Lucy and Omishto both deal with struggle as well. Lucy deals with the struggle of past and present, and Omishto struggles with two different ways of life: tradition or westernized living. Omistho's mother is very much westernized, and her "Aunt" Ama is very traditional although she does not keep the ways completely. Omishto struggles to find which she identifies with more and seems to be in between, just as Lucy struggles by living in a mix of past and present.

Does anyone else notice any other conflicts. Do you think that Omishto deals with her own feelings of displacement? On pages 6 & 7 she discusses continents and the tree from Spain planted there and later how she is her own continent. Do these and the fact that this tree is unrooted in the storm signify these feelings?

Train of Thought

Something that fascinated me about this last chapter was Lucy's way of thinking. On page 142 her thoughts go in two very different directions. At first she is talking about Mariah and she cannot comprehend why she does not understand that, "everybody knew that men have no morals, that they do not know how to behave, that they do not know how to treat other people." She says this as if it were a scientifically proven statement.
THEN later on in the same paragraph (train of thought) she says, "And if I were to tell it to her she would only show me a book she had somewhere which contradicted everything I said--a book most likely written by a woman who understood absolutely nothing" (142). When she says this it makes me think that she doesn't think very highly of the women she has come to know in America. To her they must be ignorant and not know simple fact of life like the fact that men have no morals and are likely to leave their wives.
This also reminded me of the part in A Room of One's Own when the narrator is looking at the stacks of books written about women and how they are all written by men who clearly don't know anything really about women. This is more backwards though when Lucy is saying how women write books about men and they don't understand how men are naturally born without morals.

An Echo

First, I would like to point out how amazing of a person Lucy is. Lucy is so far away from her home, which was exactly what she wanted to be away from, yet she still misses it and almost everything she mentions about her new home with Mariah and Lewis reminds her of home. I don't think I would ever be able to be that far, with no contact (even by choice), knowing I can't go back.
Next, I would like to bring up my favorite quote in the whole book. On page 36, Lucy confesses, "I had come to feel that my mother's love for me was designed solely to make me into an echo of her; and I didn't know why, but I felt that I would rather be dead than become just an echo of someone." This quote struck me because for me, it brings together one of the main themes in the book, the relationship between Lucy and her mother. Even though Lucy is so far away and has no other contact with her mother other than the letters her mother sends (which Lucy never even opens), her mother has such a large influence on Lucy's life.
As can be seen in this quote, Lucy does not want to be like her mother or anyone else for that matter. She seems to be very much an individual, as is Peggy, which is why I think they became friends and why they remained friends throughout the book. Lucy also continuously mentioned how people tell her she is exactly like her mother, and while she refuses it in words, on the inside she knows that it is true. That is why I love this quote, I could just hear her saying it with doubt in her mind about how she would rather die than be like anyone else, yet at the same time realizes that is exactly what she is.
Does anyone else see the relationship between Lucy and her mother as being a main theme in this book? What other themes are there?