Meridian

Dustin Breitner

During the 20th century, African Americans faced harsh repression and violence in the segregated South. Growing up in the south, Meridian encountered many unfavorable situations and outcomes. Through these experiences, Meridian found her ultimate purpose and identity. At an early age Meridian became obsessed with the idea of finding meaning in her life. She may have not known it at the time, but she always needed something to strive for and continued until she found it.
Through the use of symbolic metaphors, Walker, demonstrates Meridian’s need for a purpose. Meridian at an early age finds a gold rock, which she believes is gold but her family knows otherwise and degrades the rocks meaning. Meridian thought she find something significant, therefore she cared about it but once she realized no one else saw its meaning, she moved on from it. At a young age, Meridian is consumed with finding a meaningful purpose.
Meridian has her own ideals and believes. Walker states “Meridian was reciting a speech that extolled the virtues of the constitution and praised the superiority of The American Way of Life…She stumbled then was silent on stage…She covered her hands and had to be led away…For the first time she (Meridian) really listened to what she was saying, knew she didn’t believe it, and was so distracted by this revelation that she could not make the rest of her speech.” (Walker 126) At a young age, Meridian shows the reader her true character. Meridian must believe very strongly about an idea or movement, or she will not let herself continue preaching it. Meridian shows the need for her own ideals and thoughts. This wanting for her own beliefs shows Meridian’s true need for her own identity.
Through the hardship and experience, Meridian finds her true purpose and identity. Throughout ones life he or she is searching for a purpose and an identity. A purpose is defined as the reason for which something exists or is done, made, or used. (Dictionary.com) Meridian’s purpose was to speak for and act for African American individuals who could not stand up to the white supremacist south for themselves. An identity is defined as the condition of being oneself or itself, and not another. (Dictionary.com) Meridian’s true identity is her feeling of loneliness, which perpetuates a feeling of death. Meridian strong sense of death allows her to brave and fearless. Through Meridian’s purpose and identity, she was able to make a significant difference in the civil rights movement.

Walker, Alice. Meridan. S.l.: Pocket Bks, 1976. Print.

Purpose

Dustin Breitner

Throughout Meridian’s life, she is consumed with finding her purpose and identity. In the passage Gold, Meridian, at an early age, finds a passion through her gold. Walker states “She took her bar of gold and filled all the rust off it until it shone like a huge tooth. She put it in a shoebox and buried it under the magnolia tree that grew in the yard. About once a week she dug it up to look at it. Then she dug it up and less…until finally she forgot to dig it up. Her mind turned to other things.” (Walker 45) Meridian finds a purpose through her gold but her parents did not encourage it. Therefore, Meridian moves on from her passion in search for a new one.
Meridian continues to search for her purpose in life. The pit, a place where Meridian went to understand her grandmother’s extreme euphoria and her fathers compassion for people, symbolizes one of Meridian’s attempted purposes. Walker states “For Meridian, there was at first a sense of vast isolation. When she raised her eyes to the pit’s rim high above her head she saw the sky as completely round as the bottom of a bowl, and the clouds that drifted slowly over her were like a mass of smoke cupped in downward-slanting palms…she had contact with no other living thing; instead she was surrounded by the dead.” (Walker 52) Meridian finds peace and serenity through her loneliness in the pit. She is searching for her identity. “It seemed to her that it was a way the living sought to expand the consciousness of being alive.” (Walker 53)
Meridian, searching for a purpose, becomes pregnant at a young age. Walker states, “She knew she didn’t want it. But even this was blurred. How could she not want something she was not even sure she was having? Yet she was having it, of course.” (Walker 59) Meridian did not a child because she knew she would have to devote her life to him or her. She did not want her child to be her purpose. In society in order to be a good mother, one must devote their lives to there children. Meridian knew she wanted to do more with her life. Walker states, “lurching toward his crib in the middle of the night is what slavery is like” (Walker 65) Meridian compares being a mother to slavery because she believes a child would be a burden to her life. She rejected this purpose so much that she even had thought of murdering her own child in order to search for a new purpose.
Meridian eventually dedicates her life to the civil rights movement and her lover Truman Held. Walker states “Truman Held…who began to mean something to her…not until one night when first he, then she was arrested for demonstrating outside the local jail, and then beaten.” (Walker 80) Walker sees something in Truman that she has not seen before in anyone. She was touched by his passion for the movement and became involved emotionally with him. Meridian found her purpose through Truman while devoting her life to the movement.

Walker, Alice. Meridian. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1976. Print.

Meridian

Dustin Breitner

Alice Walker uses stories from the past to show parallels with Meridian’s life and to portray Meridian’s true character. The Wild Child shows Meridians affectionate personality while depicting Meridian’s unexpected impregnation. Wile Chile is a young, homeless girl who does not have a family and is mentally unstable. She hangs around Saxon college going through garbage cans looking for food and dragging off pieces of furniture. Meridian sees Wile Chile and immediately tries to capture her because Meridian believes she has a responsibility to help such a hopeless individual. As a young girl Wile Chile became pregnant just as Meridian did. During high school, Meridian was ill advised and had a baby boy. This similarity forces Meridian to feel more obliged to Wile Chile because she is pregnant and Meridian can sympathize more towards her. Meridian allows Wile Chile to live with herself and her peers only before the “Wild Child escaped. Running heavily across a street, her stomach the largest part of her, she was hit by a speeder and killed.” (Walker 25) Killed by a car, Wile Chile represents a hardship Meridian endured. This episode in Meridian’s life makes Meridian unemotional and stronger towards future hardships.
“Have You Stolen Anything” (Walker 40) shows the true emotions Meridian’s mother felt about having children. Meridian’s mother was a married schoolteacher. Walker states “she was capable of thought and growth and action only if unfettered by the needs of dependents, or the demands, requirements, of a husband.” (Walker 40) Meridian’s mother is a capable, strong woman. Meridian’s mother is similar to Meridian in the sense that both desire a strong passion. Walker states, “she wanted more of life to happen to her” (Walker 41) Meridian’s mother decided to take the path of children while Meridian became a strong voice in the progress of racial equalities. Meridian’s mother regrets having children because it hindered her from living her own life. Mothers must devote their lives to their children in order to be a great mother. Meridian’s mom did not want her life to be her children. Walker states, “When her mother asked, without glancing at her, “Have you stolen anything?” a stillness fell over Meridian and for seconds she could not move. The question literally stopped her in her tracks”. (Walker 43) Meridian understood that her mother blamed her for her loss of serenity, and the destruction of her emerging self. These devastating thoughts form Meridian’s personality today. Unemotional and strong, Meridian is able to overcome future hardships from her pasts difficulties.

Walker, Alice. Meridian. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1976. Print.

Requiem for the Croppies

Dustin Breitner

In the poem, Requiem for the Croppies, Seamus Heaney, the author, describes the brutal conditions endured by the Irish soldiers during the war of independence. The mention of Vinegar Hill leads us to believe that this was the Battle of Vinegar Hill in which 15,000 British soldiers launched an attack killing about 1,000 Irish Croonies. Heaney’s reference towards the brutal conditions can be summed up in the title of the poem, Requiem for the Croppies. Requiem, referring to a mass funeral and Croppies, the common nickname given to the Irish rebels during the Irish rebellion, symbolizes the mass death endured by the Irish Rebels.
Heaney tells the story of the 1798 Rebellion through a rebel’s point of view in a very gloomy and somber tone as he describes the horrors that he and his fellow rebels endured. The rebel is telling this story in a way in which one would think the speaker knows he is going to die and is speaking his last words about the horrible conditions which plagued the last months of his life. This idea can be connected to the title in that this writing is essentially a eulogy for the requiem of he and his fellow soldiers. Heaney’s use of many monosyllabic words creates a sharp diction putting more meaning into every word having a larger affect on the reader about the seriousness and brutality which was brought along during the war. Heaney uses mainly old fashioned and specific words in order to create a clearer image for the reader. He focuses on the specific old-fashioned weapons the rebel’s used- pike and scythes, as well as the describing of new tactics they learned each day, such as unleashing the cattle to distract and slow down the British soldiers.
In this poem Heaney shows the universal suffering when he states, “The priest lay behind ditches with the tramp.” This quote creates a disturbing image with the dominant impression stating that the Irish Rebels included everyone from a religious Priest to a homeless tramp symbolizing that this war affected everyone in society. The mention of Vinegar Hill leads us to believe that this specific battle was the Battle of Vinegar Hill, which was lead by a priest, Father John Murphy. Heaney uses these descriptive images in order to show how the severity of how truly awful this war was in the mind of the rebel. The most vivid image in this poem comes in the last stanza, “The hillside blushed, soaked in our broken wave.” By describing the hillside as “blushing”, Heaney personifies the hills expressing the immense amount of bloodshed which splattered amongst the hills making them as red as a blushed pair of cheeks. This vibrant image creates a strong feeling of sympathy in the reader feeling sorry for the horrors this rebel is undergoing. Heaney also uses irony in starting the poem with “The pockets of our greatcoats full of barley-“ and ending the poem with “And in August the barley grew up out of the grave.” This is ironic because the food which the soldiers packed their pockets with is the same thing growing out of their graves as they are buried in the cold ground “..without a shroud or coffin” as if they are animals or objects, truly showing the objective nature a human life has during war. The new grown barley is a metaphor for the new Irish society that they are hoping to achieve once all the pain and suffering stops.

The Dead

          Gabriel, the most prestigious and successful nephew, has always felt a sense of empowerment through knowledge and money.  Gabriel is the son of Aunt Kate and Aunt Julia’s dead eldest sister Ellen.  Gabriel writes a literary column every Wednesday in the Daily Express and also teaches in the college.  During Gabriel’s speech, he states “Our path through life is strewn with many such sad memories: and were we to brood upon them always we could not find the heart to go on bravely with our work among the living.  We have all of us living duties and living affections which claim and rightly claim, our strenuous endeavors…Therefore I will not linger on the past.  I will not let any gloomy moralizing intrude upon us here tonight.”  This speech means that one should not ponder about the past however, one should focus on the future and move on from any past hardships one has encountered.  This is ironic that Gabriel’s speech is about this topic because of what his wife Gretta breaks down about.  During the dinner, the song The Lass of Aughrim was sang, which reminded Gretta of Michael Furey, who was her first love.  Joyce states “Then the night before I left I was in my grandmother’s house in Nun’s island, packing up, and I heard gravel thrown up against the window.  The window was so wet I couldn’t see so I ran downstairs as I was and slipped out the back into the garden and there was the poor fellow at the end of the garden shivering…I implored of him to go home at once and told him he would get his death in the rain.”  This quote is significant because Michael Furey died that same week.  Gretta believes “she had had that romance in her life: a man had died for her sake.”  Gabriel is stunned when he hears all of this.  Many thoughts of regret and despair cross through his mind.  He is hurt that his wife has felt such true love for another man.  He “thought of how she who lay beside him had locked in her heart for so many years that image of her lover’s eyes when he had told her that he did not wish to live.”

            Joyce states “Perhaps she had not told him all the story” because he wanted the reader to immediately know that this was true love.  She did not say more because she didn’t want to hurt Gabriel more than she already did but she was so torn apart that she had to get this off her chest.  She felt such remorse towards the dead rather from the living. 

 

Dustin Breitner

De humani corporis fabrica is latin for on the fabric of the human body. This book was written in 1543 by Andreas Vesalius and is a medical textbook on the human body.
Andreas Vesalius grew up in Brussels and went on to study at the Castle School of the University of Louvain. He then went to study medicine at Paris University, which was involved in the movement from Medieval Latin translations towards a deeper meaning of the ideologies behind these medieval productions.
This textbook is made up of seven books each containing a specific part or function of the human anatomy. Book one contains the interconnections between bones and ligaments, book two talks about the muscles and the ligaments, book three is about the veins and arteries, book four is about the nerves, book five talks about nutrition, book six deals with the heart and book seven is about the brain.
Early on medical experts were only dissecting animals, to acquire knowledge about anatomy but later on with the Paris school, human dissection began and led to a much greater knowledge about the human anatomy. Vesalius dissected humans as a student under professor Guinther. Vesalius, who expertise was on the spermatic vessels, was lionized for his great work with the knife because of his much practice on bones and animals.
Vesalius was forced to leave Paris because of a war between Spain and France, where he eventually made his way to Northern Italy, where the best medical schools were to be found. He was already renowned for some of his work therefore he began teaching right away. He immediately began dissecting bodies to learn more about the human anatomy. Soon enough, Vesalius published his revision of Guinther’s Introduction to anatomy where he made many revisions of previously recorded information. He also published the Tabulae anatomicae sex, which were six anatomical illustrations.
Overtime there have been many great professors who have challenged or tried to disprove Vesalius. Girolamo Donzellini, in a letter, stated how Vesalius has upset many of the great physicians of Italy because of his “immortal book”. Physicians have said that Vesalius doesn’t understand the true meanings of Galens Greek medical writings. Sylvius, Corti and Caius all have tried to disprove Vesalius by saying they have seen structures that go against some of Vesalius’s findings.
De humani corporis fabrica is a very praised book. Its quality and artwork are idolized in terms of books throughout history. There are some ideas contained in the book that are flawed but no one can really be sure without detailed dissection of the human body which back then some of his colleagues disagreed on, yet his work is still praised throughout the medical world today.

Work Cited
Garrison, Daniel, and Malcolm Hast. “Vesalius.” Vesalius. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. .

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