Light of Thy Countenance

The graphic novel by Alan Moore, Light of Thy Countenance, can be considered literature for several reasons. By definition literature requires some skill in the art of language. Light of Thy Countenance is very poetic in structure and form, as commentary that the graphic novel is on television has universal applications. This too is a component to be considered literature, which Light of Thy Countenance succeeds well at. The relevance of the power of television even with the rise of internet is still true to this day; especially with the merger of these two media powers, in such websites as Hulu and Netflix. The distortion of reality that TV induces still occurs now more than ever with the invention of reality TV, viewers are even less sure of what is authentic and what isn’t. Personally I know many people who believe that their favorite show is real and unscripted. One friend in particular was so convinced that One Tree Hill her favorite show was real that at the very mention to the contrary she would began screaming for that person to stop make such accusations.
The terrifying truth that TV has such power over our minds may never be overturned. With the media developing ever new ways to subconsciously influence our thoughts, it will soon be a battle of wills to remain in control of our own thoughts. Not only has advertising mastered the art of subconscious suggestion, by the media has overruled our idea of culture by creating a new universal media based culture. The perfect example of this is the redefinition of what we find attractive. The difference between what most people find beautiful has changed greatly due to the media’s involvement in our perceptions. For example, modern men in the media all have chiseled features and muscle bound bodies; women have perfect skin, slim figures and large breasts. For most of Americans those are bodies we can only dream of, but because we see it on TV that becomes what we expect our partners to look like, however unrealistic it may be. The further irony of this situation is that lately many of those beautiful bodies on TV have been airbrushed by computer programs to look even more incredible. With such overwhelming power over our mind how can we ignore the relevance of Light of Thy Countenance?

RUR v. Frankenstein

In both Frankenstein and Rossum’s Universal Robots the creator of synthetic creatures have various measures of control over their creatures. In Frankenstein, Victor exhibits no control over his creature what so ever, which could be argued for the reason the creature haunts him in the way it does. In contrast in Rossum’s Universal Robots humanity exerts too much control over its creations to the point where it is oppressive causing the Robots to rebel and eventually kill off all the humans. A point of interest in both of these tales is that the creations were generally equal to or even better than the creators. For example, Victor Frankenstein’s creature was much larger and stronger than Victor, and seemed to be of similar intellect. The Robots were superior to humans not only intellectually but physically as well. In both stories this seems to be a root of fear that the creators have of their creations. This fear then leads to both the lack of control in Frankenstein and the over use of control in RUR.
The statement both authors seem to be making is that we should fear our creations but not let that fear dictate our actions. The approach that authors of this specific type of science fiction seem to advocate is a paternal one. We should not oppress nor abandon our creations but guide them through their development and eventually their rise to a position of power. Since we cannot prevent the creation of artificial life, as it is inevitable that someone will strive to achieve that creation, we should instead guide it through its rise. Unfortunately many who read these novels generally don’t interpret the works in this way. They often read it as a testament against technology, not as an advisory tale. Hopefully we won’t create our own end by making the mistakes outlined by these works.

Owl Creek

The use of point of view within the story allows for the author to control our perception. It begins with a detached third person narrative, which gives the reader a general outlay of the situation without any emotion toward the soldiers or the planter. Gradually as the story progresses we slowly see more of the planter’s character; this combined with the tale of an epic escape jars terribly with the inevitable truth that he is in fact dead. This revealing of Peyton’s history is marked by a shift from third person limited to third person omnipotent. This shift allows us to connect to the characters and to empathize with them.

The same affect comes from the break in chronological order to explain Peyton’s character and past. Digressing from the action gives the reader time to understand the severity of the situation. Especially when the situation has been laid out in a very cold but clear manner, does the past play such an important role. Particularly when the past contrasts starkly with the present; on one hand there is a successful family life of an upstanding father, the other is the execution of a partisan.

The hope brought on by the third part also raises the emotional involvement of the reader. When a false image of happiness is brought crashing down by the inevitable truth that Peyton is in fact dead, one can’t help but feel stunned by the injustice. The contrast of what should have been to the actual events causes us to remember that our world is far from the fairy tale ending we want it to be, and as such it irrefutably greaves us.

Where did they go wrong?

For essay #2 my broad topic is the use and responsibility of a creator over its intelligent creation and the relation of technology to this process. The first piece of evidence comes from Frankenstein and Victor’s complete lack of control of his creation and thus his empowerment of the Monster. In Rossum’s Universal Robots comes the second with the gradual empowerment of the Robots through the sloth of humanity. The final piece of evidence comes again from Rossum’s Universal Robots as the plans of manipulating the Robots with limited emotions and feelings to control them.
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the principle character fails to exert any control of his creation, in fact he outright deserts it. This leaves the monster to its own devices allowing it to come up with its own terrible outlook on humanity. Clearly no control has very negative affects but at least the Monster has some concept of the sublime through its own observations. This in effect contrasts nicely with the case of Rossum’s Robots.
Rossum’s Robots were originally created to serve man with no sense of self-worth, pain or resistance. But with a gradual increase in freedom yet with the retention of oppression the Robots eventually revolt. With the oppressive nature of the Robots existence they are compelled to rebel. So it would seem that too much control is also negative.
Further evidence of this comes from the plans of Domin to creation division among the robots to keep them from uniting. He also sought to give the robots pain so that they would learn not to damage themselves. These two facets of control are manipulative to the extreme, but ultimately in part, at least with the feeling of pain, contribute to the humanization of the robots.
These three pieces of evidence all share the same common trait, which is the reaction of a creation to the misuse of control. When left without any limitations the creation of man is free to draw its conclusions as to the value of the human race. As the creation is separate from mankind it is free to do so. But when oppressed it is forced to draw a negative image of humanity.

Poetry and Pop Culture

The machinimaization of Langston Hughes’ poem “Suicide’s Note” detracts from the poem’s original tone. By using footage from a video game, as well as music used in a videogame ad campaign, a casual tone is created instead of a serious poem. It may have not been the creator’s intent but the visual aspect was too cartoony and bright. Also the fact that one comes back it life in a videogame means that suicide becomes a point of hilarity instead of an issue of morality. The portrayal of the poem in this way severely detracts from my enjoyment of the text. I have trouble taking it seriously in the context of a videogame I played when I was younger while trash talking my friends.

Within Popular Culture there is a great of amount of poetry and poetic references. In movies there are often poetic references. For example in the action movie Equilibrium, William Yeats’ poem He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven is quoted. In the moment in which this poem is quoted Sean Beans character has been caught for feeling and is about to be killed by Christian Bale’s character. In this instance the quote enhances the moment dramatically. Not only do the lines spoken refer to the situation, but also the use of poetry as a empathetic device enriches the dialogue and scene. In fact the choice of poetry connects deeply to the theme of the movie, which is that it is repression of emotions can lead to the destruction of humanity.

Those Ever-Loving Machines

In Richard Brautigan’s poem All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace an image of a world in which both nature and machines live and operate side by side. Brautigan paints a picture in which meadows and forests are filled with computers and electronics. Though the poem appears to at first be in favor of this integration, the language and style are satirical in nature. Many of the lines within this poem are literally dripping with sarcasm. For example, the parenthesized statements seem to denote a sort of fanaticism that is reminiscent of mind control.

Despite the evidence to the contrary All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace could easily be a poem in support of technology and its integration into our world. The diction is very supportive of a world in which technology works with and advances nature. If read in this way it appears that there is nothing better than this incorporation. With the facilitation of freedom, co-operation, and peace technology could bring, what is there to criticize. The parenthetical statements in this context would seem excited and full of optimism.

On comparison of these two viewpoints it seems that the former is more a much stronger argument. Since the overall the tone is slanted toward a negative view of technology. Though the diction appears to support technology this actually adds to the effect of the sarcastic tone. The description of animals and people being able to commune in the last stanza seems farfetched, for technology would not enable that. If anything it would prevent that communion from happening. Also there is much greater evidence in support of the anti-technologic viewpoint.

Design (post #2)

In Robert Frost’s poem Design, there is one main recurring image. In the poem the image is described as a moth carried by the spider which is on a flower. Both the insects were white but the flower was said to be blue. The author see’s this image one morning and is inspired by the appalling sight of the spider making its meal on the moth. The author then ends the poem pondering the influence of design in the sheer coincidence of the event. By design the author refers to the influence of a divine being. In fact the majority of the poem has a ritualistic feel to it, which the image of the spider and the moth contribute to. This is manufactured by the description of the spider holding up the moth. In my mind’s eye I see a the spider holding up the moth, crab like, to present as a possible sacrifice to begin the morning right. That line in particular, to begin the morning right, reminds me of Aztec rituals to keep the sun alive. The reference to a witch’s broth also adds to the ritualistic imagery. For the act of witches brewing potions is a very ritualistic process. To the author the image of this spider holding up the moth seems to have been designed; the whole image could not have occurred purely on chance given the manner in which it appeared. In fact the image itself is conflicting for the colors white and blue are generally pleasant and innocent colors. Yet the image itself is much darker, a spider holding its meal or darker still a sacrifice, is a deadly and sinister image. The description of the spider as being fat and dimpled insinuates that the spider is well fed and must therefore do this often. That fact makes the author wonder what kind of designer would create such terrible beauty. Which poses the question is the spider innocent if it is simply doing what it was designed?