Machinal and Modern Times

I noticed a bunch of similarities between Machinal and the film Modern Times. The both seem to focus on main characters that are driven insane by the routine, machine like world that they live in. I think that this could be saying something about how doing what society tells you to do and blindly following the status quo turns us into something that we don’t want to be. They both also use a sense of sped up time in which the stories are told, which give both of the stories a fast paced feel. I think that they both do this to show the instant gratification and fast paced nature of modern society. I do think that Machinal does a better job of showing how machines and industry change the way people interact with each other and view the world, because in the play all of the characters, except “young woman,” seem to value order and structure over things like love and compassion. Take, for example, how the mother, Mr. J, and all of the other office workers expect the young woman to marry Mr. J simply because societal norms say so, and regardless of whether or not they love each other.

Intro and body paragraph

Michelle LaRosa

ENG195A

Paper #2

 

Through reading a number of poems by William Carlos Williams, it became apparent that he was consistently interested in the idea of people being blind to important things. The poems “The Great Figure,” “The Red Wheelbarrow,” and “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” all include a central figure in the text, in which this figure is neglected or ignored in some way. Williams’ poetry is also usually very simplistic, and uses mainly imagery to create a simple image. I think that what Williams is trying to convey in his poetry is that the world is full of unseeing people, and the simplicity in the way he describes things helps us to simply see the world around us rather than take it for granted.

The poem “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” by William Carlos Williams has a lot of imagery elements as well as strong word choice. William Carlos Williams refers to Icarus as “a splash quite unnoticed,” which sort of dehumanizes him and makes him seem insignificant and isolated. Referring to him as a “splash” rather than a boy makes the reader care less about the subject, and therefore make the reader feel more like the farmer in the picture, who also only sees him as a splash. Williams also describes the year as a “pageantry” and says that it is “concerned with itself,” which gives the poem a feeling of isolated self-absorption. By making Icarus’ fall seem so insignificant despite its actual significance, Williams intends to expose how blind people can be, and show how even a person falling from the sky can fail at grabbing people’s attention from their daily lives. I think Williams is trying to get us to remove ourselves from our methodical every day routines and to focus on bigger issued that are currently beyond our one-track minds.

"The Red Wheelbarrow" Explication

Summary-

The poem “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams is much like his other poems in that he creates a very simple image. In this case, he creates an image of a red wheelbarrow with rain on it, next to white chickens. The red wheelbarrow is the main focal point of the poem, and the rest of the poem is used to describe it. Williams says that “so much depends upon” the wheelbarrow, which also gives it some importance.

Analysis-

Williams once again uses contrast between the “red wheel barrow” and the “white chickens,” which is his way of causing the wheelbarrow to stand out more. This contrast also shows the major difference between the wheelbarrow and the chickens in the sense that the wheelbarrow is a man-made machine and the chickens are natural. This could be saying something about how even though the wheelbarrow is something man-made and created to make life easier, it is still disregarded and seemingly meaningless to people. He also says that “so much depends upon” it, which makes me think that people use it every day and that it is a big part of their lives. But after giving this wheelbarrow so much importance, Williams also says that it is “glazed with rain water” which suggests that despite so much depending upon it, it was left out in the rain. This neglectful image combined with the importance that is also given to the red wheelbarrow shows how even though people depend on it, people are too careless and negligent to take care of it in the right way.

"The Great Figure" Explication

 Summary-

“The Great Figure” by William Carlos Williams is about a fire truck that is driving through a city, and the figure 5 painted on the side of it. He focuses on how something so great and significant such as “the figure 5 in gold” can be so easily disregarded, or “unheeded” as he puts it. Despite all of the “gong clangs” and “siren howls” which should attract a lot of attention, people are so desensitized to it that they ignore it. He keeps his poem very simple and short, and yet he very clearly gets the idea of isolation across.

Analysis-

Williams uses a lot of imagery in this poem in order to set a dreary and dark setting, which is shown in the lines “among the rain and lights” and “dark city.” He also adds a lot of contrast between the imagery of the fire truck and the setting, for example the figure 5 is shown “in gold on a red firetruck” which adds color against the dark scenery. I think he does this in order to make the fire truck and figure 5 stand out a lot, so that it seems even more like it shouldn’t be disregarded. He also described the fire truck as being very loud with its “wheels rumbling” as well as the description of “siren howls” and “gong clangs” which puts even more emphasis on it. Portraying such a bright, loud, and dominant figure against this dark background of a setting and also saying that it is “unheeded” he is making the point that people are unseeing and uncaring. He is also making an effort to make us see, and make us more perceptive to the things that go on around us.