Wednesday, February 16, 2011

The court...

Think of the metaphorical devices McCullers uses in her short story "A Court in the West Eighties." We particularly discussed the function of the "court" itself relative to the interpersonal dynamics in the story. What role does the court itself play? How does it work as a passable or impassable domain and what can we learn from that device in conjunction with some of the other "othering" devices we've examined this term?
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18 comments:

  1. As a physical boundary, the court neatly separates each of the characters in the story in a way that makes them all visually accessible to one another. The court is a passable physical domain, whose most basic function is to serve as walkway from one end of the court to the other. Ironically, none of the characters ever make use of the passable sense of this domain and cross the court to interact with one another. Instead, they choose to revolve around the court on a metaphysical level as an impassable domain. In this sense, the court is simply an empty space which can be filled with any one character’s projections regarding the other characters. None of the characters possess the ability to relate to one another because the differences, or empty space, which divides them, cannot be overcome. For this reason, the characters go the entire length of the story never interacting with one another of participating in the dramas that make up each other’s lives.

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  2. In class, boundaries seemed to really pop up for this short story. The court in this story is a passable physical boundary, but for the characters it seems a psychologically impassable boundary to each other.
    To relate to the feeling of the narrator, I could say living in my apartment complex is pretty similar in living arrangements. The walls are kind of thin so if anyone is talking really loud, fighting, blasting music, or something I will hear it whether I want to or not. I can even smell what they are cooking sometimes. I don't know my neighbors, but I can see some of them. If I left my curtains drawn, they could see straight into my apartment and I could see into theirs.
    Like the narrator in the story, I suppose I have certain projections of who or what kind of people live around me and my observations paint those people as very different from myself (not bad or good, just different). It would be an easy walk to any of their doors to get to know them, but I never do.
    The narrator could easily wave at the people she was looking at, especially at the older man she seemed to look up to, but empty space between the apartments was used only for observation or complaining between the people, never a good social interaction.
    It is funny that they never ran into each other in other places around the court. I always say hello to the neighbors when I'm outside. It is funny that nobody in the short story had happy social interactions anywhere. Perhaps one of the narrator's flaws would be shyness. Maybe the psychological barriers for the narrator would be shyness plus some kind of prejudice.
    I always smile and wave at people staring at me as I walk to my apartment. They either look away or wave back, but at least there is some kind of acknowledgement.

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  3. The court in McCuller's short story functions mostly as an impassable barrier between the characters in the story. It's a void that separates them, so the narrator, and perhaps the other characters, fill it with their predispositions about the other inhabitants of the apartment. For the narrator, it functioned as almost a catalyst for the feelings of dependence that she formed for the red headed man, and was also the only connection between the two. They never speak or come in contact with each other, they only exchange glances across the court. Because of this, the narrator fills the physical and perhaps emotional gap with her own assumptions of what the man must be.

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  4. In McCuller's short story, the court functions as a means of visual communication between the characters. It allows the narrator to see, visually, what the other members of her community are up to. It also allows her to gauge their attitudes towards each other and their surroundings in general.

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  5. I personally did not view the court as a symbolical boundary, but rather just a physical boundary. It seemed as though McCuller used the court to organize the characters of his short story in a specific manner so that the reader had more understanding of the lives being told. Yes, the court is separating the characters from interfering with one another's lives, but at the same time the windows are facing in so that they are all able to "dip into" each other's lives at the same time.

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  6. In Mculler's story, I veiwed the court as a physical boundry. The Symoblic boundry, I thought, was the boundrys people have with each other. The court was just a way that makes them all visually accessible to one another. But like Angelica said, "None of the characters possess the ability to relate to one another because the differences, or empty space, which divides them, cannot be overcome. For this reason, the characters go the entire length of the story never interacting with one another of participating in the dramas that make up each other’s lives."

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  7. The court referenced to in "A Court in the West Eighties" is the social apparatus that connects the characters together. The court is the one thing each character in the story has in common, much like Facebook where many people not normally close can be connected while being worlds away. The court is a primarily active device in that unless the shades on a room are closed, anyone can view inwards. This social device is defeatable by simply closing the blinds. As the story goes many were open often enough for the main character to observe and become part of other residents' lives.

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  8. The court definitely represents a physical barrier but more importantly it is a psychological barrier. The court is a vast expansion that they can't simply cross. They can view the other residents and be viewed as well. The residents easily get to know one another while never meeting.

    As a psychological barrier it is more important. From viewing, the residents get to know a little about each other. The only residents that interact with each other are the ones that don't have the court spiriting them. When they interact it has negative outcomes. So the residents learn from the couple and the cellist that to interact may have negative outcomes.

    The outcomes would be the realization that nothing is as it appears. They get a small glimpse of the person’s home life. She might learn the red-haired man is a forgotten soul who has been defeated by life. She might learn that the cellist is a dreamer with a heart of gold. She might learn that the couple won't be able to provide a future for their child.

    The bridge that is the court won't be crossed. Simple enough to say hello, but that act will change the dynamics of there relationships. More often than not the relationship would be enriched, but it is the fear that it may cause damage that keeps the residents from crossing the bridge.

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  9. The court in "A Court in the West Eighties" serves both as a form for the physical arrangement of the characters in the book, as well as a medium for observing but never meeting each other. This physically impassable barrier acts as a tool for furthering the suppositions of the narrator. The whole book is spent discussing the possible thoughts and characters of those involved; without the separation the court provides, this would not have been possible. In Viramontes’s book the separation is both language and race. People of Hispanic decent (fellow field laborers) that speak Spanish are trustworthy and helpful; white, English speakers are looked at with distrust. This border allows the somewhat inaccurate feelings about the other group (mutual distrust) to come to the surface.

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  10. In a "A Court in the West Eighties", the court itself serves as the main characters own little world allowing her to see her neighbors of the adjacent building such as the pregnant couple, the cellist player and the red-haired boy who came off as having "infinite" wisdom. All of which had physical access to each other but only our main character had visual access being that their complex was only a few yards apart; but also having somewhat of a psychologically impassable domain, seeing that she greatly admired the red-haired boy but never talked to him throughout the semester. This impassable domain relates to Viramonte's, between Petra and the nurse at the clinic.

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  11. The Court helps to create a realm of impassable transparency which is symbolic of the "six degrees of separation" that society, as a priority driven structure, has placed upon the majority of people. This is very much demonstrated by the seeing of people, the judgments we may place upon them, and the emotions we invest into them without truly interacting with them. This is demonstrated by the narrators emotional investment into the Red Haired Man which is built upon a series of judgement void of any actual interaction with the man.

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  12. I viewed the court as a physical and metaphorical boundary. This boundary is used to view and make assumptions about the other people in the community. It appears that the narrator used the court to distance herself from the others, and in doing so, maintain her assumptions. The assumptions of the narrator had greater significance than the actual people. She admired the red-headed man, but she did not make any contact with him. Real contact might have shattered the assumptions that were created by the court.

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  13. The court is the only thing that connects all of the characters in the story together. Because of the court the characters can glance into each others homes and see and learn about the lives of their neighbors. The court at the same time however also prevents the characters from interacting with each other. The court is also a void space. It is nothing but emptiness. It is because of the court that conflict arises in the story. The characters can see people around them but no one above or below them. Although it appears that everyone is connected, the court actually at the same time causes the characters to be separate.

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  14. The court was a physical boundary that seperates the lives of each of the characters. They all poses the ability to cross the boundary to interact with each other, but never to do it. It just goes to show that the lives of difference people are seperated by small boundaries which has a huge infulence on the community as a whole.

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  15. The court serves as a gathering place for individuals, the window seperating the narrator from the people arround the court serves as an impassible barrier allowing here to spectate on events, but at the same time prevent her from participating in or experiencing the events of the court. By the fact that she is seperated from those around the court adds to her self imposed isolation. Surely, if she desired, she could go out on the town, or even just spend time in the court itself, but she chooses to stay in isolation in her room. In fact, while most the other characters around the court have at least some interaction, the narrator never mentions any outside of the classroom and her job. Perhaps this is part of why she becomes drawn to the red haired main, the red haired man is never said to have any true human interaction. In a way, from the perspective of the narrator, they are two of a kind, just sitting in their windows thinking to themselves. Isolated together.

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  16. I thought it was strange that the characters in this story would leave their curtains open, exposing their personal lives to nosy neighbors. Max's Facebook analogy helped me to understand how people could do this. The court in this story represents this perceived boundary of privacy. It acts like a one-way mirror passable by the narrator but assumed impassable (or at least unconsidered) by her subjects. Since she is not directly affected by her neighbors' activities, the narrator is able to alienate herself from them. She is comfortable passing judgements about these people from the safety of her side of the court. This is the same premise that enables us to distance or judge a group or idea that makes us feel uncomfortable.

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  17. The dissonance between land and language is more pronounced when necessity forces you to leave your motherland. It is clear that Perfecto and Petra had to leave their motherland due to necessity. As a result, they perceive the new foreign language and culture as something borrowed. In most cases, they see the new language and culture as a attack on their own identity. This land and language conflict is totally different with someone who willingly leaves his motherland. This individual is more likely to embrace and adopt the new culture as his own. He goes past learning the new language just to survive instead he wants to be a part of the new language and culture.

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  18. sorry the above comment was for language and motherland..

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