Perrine Poetry

Poetry has always been an area of confusion for me. Unlike other forms of literature which are for the most part cut and dry, poetry seems to be ambiguous and difficult to interpret. When reading Laurence Perrine's essay on interpreting poetry, I found his approach to determining correct interpretations helpful. I never understood how there could be one perfectly correct interpretation when the poet never interprets what he/she means himself/herself. Perrine says that anybody can be correct in their interpretation as long as they account for all the details and do not contradict any one and the best is that which is most economical. This helps me to more effectively interpret a poem because it incorporates more than just guessing at what the poet was trying to get across. This essay also helped me to better understand the 4 poems I read because it not only gave more than one interpretation, but it also backed up or invalidated the interpretations. It also invalidated my interpretations and showed me how I was wrong and what was the most correct.

One aspect of this essay that I found helpful was the analogy of a rock being dropped into a pool with limits being compared to symbols. This helped me to realize that although a symbol can have many meanings, it must be within reasonable limits. The poet may leave it up to interpretation, but the reader can not twist it so much that the symbol does not match the interpretation at all. While i found this helpful, I also found it slightly confusing. Who is to say how far is to far? Although "the pool... has borders," how does a reader know how far these borders extend? I find it difficult to understand poetry completely and once it is seen in one light, it is difficult to understand it as another person does. I believe that poetry will always be difficult for me to completely understand, but this essay helped me to see that I can never be completely incorrect.

Entry #20- I made it!!!!

'"Oh Jake,' Brett said, 'we could have had such a damned good time together.'

Ahead was a mounted policeman in khaki directing traffic. He raised his baton. The car slowed suddenly pressing Brett against me.

'Yes,' I said. 'Isn't it pretty to think so?'" (page 251).

So I finally made it to the end, and honestly it was quit a let down. I thought that eventually Jake and Brett would end up together because her love for him would over power her wants. Obviously I was wrong. I thought that as a whole, The Sun Also Rises was not climatic. There never seemed to be much going on other than Jake's everyday life and his vacations he took. I thought the most exciting part of the whole book was the bull-fighting and the stories of the fights between Cohn and Romero.

Now to this particular quote. Brett has angered me once again! She sits there and tells Jake how much she loved Romero, but that she is going back with Mike. Then she has the audacity to say how much fun they could have had together, like she didn't have a say in that decision. She had many chances to be with Jake, but kept choosing to leave him. She acts like the world revolves around her, making everyone who gets to close to hr suffer.

Entry #19

I have noticed that Hemingway has some interesting ways of explaining things. He really likes his contradictory phrases and statements. Here's a few examples.

Juxtaposition- "It was all so slow and so controlled. It was as though he were rocking the bull to sleep" (page 221).

Alright now this is a weird comment. I have definitely never that of bull-fighting as rocking a bull to sleep. It seems to me to be more of a bull trying to attack and kill a crazy person who obviously doesn't fear for their life. I don't think I would even like to watch a bull-fight because the constant danger would make me so nervous. I know I definitely would not be describing it as a man rocking a bull to sleep if I ever did watch one.

Oxymoron- "'You wouldn't believe it. It's like a wonderful nightmare'" (page 226).

A wonderful nightmare. Now that is an oxymoron! Who would think to call a nightmare wonderful. Nightmares are feared by children everywhere and sometimes even adults. I remember when I was little I had a dream catcher in order to catch all my dreams and take away the bad ones. I know at that point in time, I would never have that a nightmare was wonderful.

Entry #18

"'I just couldn't stand it about Brett. I've been through hell, Jake. It's been simply hell. When I met her down here Brett treated me as though I were a perfect stranger. I just couldn't stand it. We lived together at San Sebastian. I suppose you know it. I can't stand it any more'" (page 198).

This quote really shows the effects of Brett's actions. She uses every man she meets, including Jake. When she can get something out of a man, she will be nice and friendly to him. As soon as she is down with him though, he better leave her alone. She made Robert Cohn's life a living hell for the time he spent with her by pretending like he had meant nothing. I think he at least deserved an explanation. He may have been hanging around them, but technically it was originally his trip with Jake; Mike and Brett intruded by asking to come, so they should have been kind to Cohn for allowing them to. I really do feel bad for Cohn now and I wonder what became of him after he left.

Entry #17

"'I'm a goner. I'm mad about the Romero boy. I'm in love with him, I think'" (page 187).

Surprise Surprise! Brett is 'in love' once again. I think that when she says she's in love she is really just infatuated with a man who has caught her attention. She had never even really talked to Romero at this point and she already knew that she was in love.

Secondly, I completely agree when she calls herself a goner. She is definitely not going to recover from her addiction to having affairs. When she can't even resist a man whom she absolutely hates (Robert Cohn) then obviously she has a big problem. I once again have the urge to scream at Jake for still being in love with her and admitting it.

Entry #16

"Everything became quite unreal finally and it seemed as though nothing could have any consequences. It seemed out of place to think of consequences during the fiesta" (page 158).

Wouldn't it be nice to never have consequences for any of your actions? You could do whatever you wanted whenever you wanted. There would be no more worries. Apparently this is how the fiesta was, which really makes me want to go to a real one. It would be so peaceful to never have to work or go to school.This laid back lifestyle is what I would enjoy most and I think many people would agree. But, I also think that this lifestyle could get a little boring at times, never accomplishing anything. I also think that no consequences could end very badly. If there are no consequences then anyone could do anything they wanted and that might just lead to the end of everyone.

Entry #15

Stream of Consciousness- "Mike was unpleasant after he passed a certain point. I liked to see him hurt Cohn. I wished he would not do it, though, because afterward it made me disgusted at myself. That was morality; things that made you disgusted afterward. No, that must be immorality" (page 152).

Many times throughout the novel, the reader gets an inside look at Jake's thoughts. This is one of those times. We see the true side of Jake. He enjoys to see Cohn be tortured, but then feels bad for getting enjoyment out of it. Some kind of friend he is. At least he feels some kind of remorse for his inner thoughts. Before this section, I really did not like Cohn, but I'm starting to feel bad for him. The poor guy seems to have a miserable life and he obviously has no true friends.

I would like to throw in two random comments now...

First- I've decided that a stream of consciousness is like a blog. It lets you into the mind of someone else without leaving anything out.

Second- I found the quote of the book. "Probably I read the same two pages over several times" (page 151). I don't know about anyone else, but I definitely feel empathetic for Jake at this point in time!