Author: akportfolio21

Miró on the Wall & Character Intersections

Miró from the name of the chapter refers to the Spanish artist Joan Miró. He is known for his work in the genre of surrealism.“Miró, Miró, on the wall… who’s the deadest of them all?” pg. 112 has the same structure as the known phrase, “Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” from Snow White. It has a connection to the death of Claire’s son Joshua, her grief and difficulty to accept the truth. She wants to get a reflection of her perspective from others to support her.

The story of Corrigan comes first in the book. This automatically makes me more inclined to find out more about the events which relate to the first set of characters. Having heard of Corrigan’s and Jazzlyn’s fatal car crash from the perspective of Ciaran, made the intersection between Ciaran and Lara worthy of a mention. Tracing back to the time of the crash, Lara’s perspective on her relationship with Blaine changes by seeing him care more about the damage done to his car than the fact that the accident he was responsible for resulting in the death of two people.

Filled with guilt, Lara goes to the hospital, picks up Corrigan’s belongings and goes off to Ciaran. She accompanies him to Jazzlyn’s funeral and they later drive to a bar. Despite seeing the damaged car, Ciaran does not reject talking to her as he sees honesty and regret within Lara. She lied at first, saying that she was the driver due to the embarrassing reaction of Blaine to the accident. But as they talked more, she confessed that she was not the driver.

List of characters (known intersections: more than fifty-five since I am sure that I missed some): tightrope walker Philippe, Corrigan, Jazzlyn, Lara, Ciaran, Blaine, Gloria & other mothers, Tillie, Solomon, Fernando, Adelita, computer hackers, Claire.

Let The Great World Spin Chapter 1

The first chapter of the book introduces us to the two brothers from the isolated by the oceans and rainy area of Dublin, Ireland. The elderly one being the narrator, and the younger one Corrigan. It is important to note that the younger brother’s name is John Andrew, however he goes by Corrigan. The older brother’s name is not yet revealed and it very well may never be revealed throughout the whole book if that is the author’s intention. The only way Corrigan does refer to him is simply as “elder brother”. It is not rare for authors to not have a name of the protagonist revealed in order to try to convey an idea and have the reader be better immersed in the atmosphere and the feelings the narrator experiences. The most recent book which I read that had the same way of delivering the position of the main character is Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. It draws a better connection to the character since there is no actual name that applies. It takes away the feeling of being a spectator of the story and forces you to take in primarily only what the protagonist experiences.

In this case the emotions of frustration and helplessness is what speaks out to me by seeing what the narrator goes through. The lack of the ability to change Corrigan and just watch society take advantage of his selfless nature adds to the dark and abusive nature of the Bronx from the elder brother’s eyes. It is a tragic flaw of brother Corrigan and it is something that many people can relate to. Blinded by love towards everyone, Corrigan seemed to never have enjoyed life’s moments as seen from the narrator’s perspective.

Not to repeat what Geevanesam had already explained in the earlier-posted blog post very clearly in terms of relating to the characters and how being a foreigner in NYC might feel like at first, I would like to add some hypotheses of what the author might have for us in later in the book. By setting a negative tone and a feeling of helplessness and having the protagonist be presented in such a way, we the readers might become more prone to believing that we truly have a connection to this character and that his perspective on life – is our perspective also. However, as the book goes on, we might be later challenged to these initial views which we gain from the first chapter.

Interestingly enough, perhaps the Colum McCann is trying to tell us his personal by keeping the uncertainty of knowing who exactly is the elderly bother in the story since he is also from Dublin.

Janus-Faced Trickster

    General definitions of the adjective Janus-faced, as given from Dictionary.com all contain aspects which apply to the phrase from the text The Beautiful and the Ugly are One Thing, the Sublime Another: A Reflection of Culture:

  1. Having two faces, one looking forward, one looking backward, as the Roman deity Janus.
  2. Having two contrasting aspects, as the alternation of mood in a capricious person.
  3. Two-faced and deceitful.
  4. Aware of or concerned with polarities; seeing different and contrasting aspects.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/janus-faced

   Trickster (as a noun) – the one who tricks and deceives, a cunning or deceptive character appearing in various forms in the folklore of many cultures.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trickster

   Based on what the definitions give and after analyzing the text, it can be concluded that beauty is ethnocentric and is always double sided, which then relates to the two-faced and deceitful identity of the Roman god Janus. This shows that the same person or object might have contrasting personalities and appeals to the eyes of different beholders. What society currently considers beauty can be turned into embarrassment in the future. The noun trickster in “Janus-faced trickster” shows the deliberate deceptiveness of beauty by having the fine line between beauty for one, and the ugly for other. As said from the sentence where the phrase is found from the text  “The Beautiful and the Ugly are One Thing, the Sublime Another: A Reflection of Culture” by Stanley Diamond: “The trickster may appear as the supreme creator… In the Janus-faced trickster, the beautiful and the ugly spring from the same body.”