So you may be wondering why my blog is titled this...well there isn't one specific reason why. First, I think it's a great quote from the movie Forrest Gump. Also, I like the message it teaches. Life is unexpected, and no one knows what lies before them. We have to take the chance and go see for ourselves if we ever want to accomplish something. This is also a lot like reading. We start out reading a book not knowing where it will take us. The ending is unknown until we reach it; sometimes it ends good and sometimes it ends bad. However, we will never know how it turns out in the end if we do not keep going.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

A Recurring Action...But Not Really a Motif...

Chapter eleven was mainly focused on...it sounds odd but...drinking. Throughout this whole book, one thing that the characters do in almost every chapter is drink. In Paris, they drank as a way to...for lack of a better term...fit into society. They had a drink with friends or one at parties because that is the way the culture was in Paris. In this chapter, they travel to Spain and find a very different drinking culture. "When Bill offered the bottle the second time he took a long drink, and then the bottle went all over that part of the bus" (page 110). While on the bus, everyone passed around bottles and shared their drinks with everyone else. They all drink as a community and share wine-skins with one another. Drinking is mentioned many times in this book...so often that one might wonder if it is a motif. Although, I do not really think it is...I suppose it could be maybe?
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3 comments:

  1. Emma LAugust 12, 2010 at 12:35 PM

    I like your attention to the differences between the drinking in France and Spain; didn't think of that. Anyways, in terms of the motif, I think that WHY they are drinking serves as a better motif. Most of the characrters drink due to a recurring feelings of depression, loss of self, or trying to forget the world.

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  2. Michele MountelAugust 12, 2010 at 2:29 PM

    I agree...I think the why is more of a motif...drinking was just one of the characteristics of the Lost Generation along with the other things you mentioned...thanks for the help =)

    ...also, perhaps I should clarify...I was comparing the drinking to a motif rather than actually saying it waaas a motif...I just wanted to emphasize that most of this book is made up of characters drinking...and that it's mentioned so many times it's like a motif while not actually literally being one...if that explanation makes any sense at all...

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  3. Mr. CostelloAugust 22, 2010 at 11:49 PM

    It's all about the WHY

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