Hamlet

Relationships, and their following intricacies, will always remain timeless. Though candle light may have developed into electricity, the lightbulb, and now the series of electronics all with the prefix "i". No matter what century, human relationships will always re-encounter the same conflicts. Most of us can't closely relate to the story of Hamlet, we aren't royalty (i don't think), the majority have never even set foot in Denmark....I know I haven't. We can however, understand the relationship conflicts of the characters in the play.

Upon the death of his father Hamlet's uncle imminently, and eagerly for that matter, marries his mother (Gertrude) This act of incest largely colors Hamlet's relationships in the play. Hamlet becomes practically obsessed with the relationship between Gertrude and Claudius. I think, for Gertrude, marrying Claudius was an easy out. It wasn't a societal norm, even in this time period incest wasn't considered normal. It wasn't her civic duty either; it was an action done so she could remain in her own comfort zone.

Not only this, but Hamlet becomes very cynical towards women in general. With Ophelia, there is always that constant struggle for control. Ophelia becomes both intrigued, and utterly confused by his erratic mind games. Hamlet becomes a misogynist; he has a very blatant hatred of women. We see his emerging opinion of female sexuality, the very sin, and how it leads to moral corruption. For instance when Hamlet remarks to Ophelia "get thee to a nunnery." He is suggesting to Ophelia that she "save her soul" before it is too late.

Would I have taken on the same roles if I were Gertrude or Hamlet? One can never know, but I can definitely understand their actions.

"Middleness"

Middle Passage by Charles Johnson is not just the title of the novel, but an indicator of the theme. The whole book relies on the idea of the "middle". The concept middle is mainly regarding Rutherford. He is placed in the middle of the two sides on the ship, including Captain Falcon, and the rest of the crew. He plays his cards wisely in order to contribute to both sides, almost like a double agent. He sides with the Allmuseri and their plan to take over Captain Falcon, but shortly after he warns Falcon about their attack. Captain Falcon laughs it off and mentions how no one could ever kill him, he couldn't even kill himself. He awards Calhoun for sharing this information with him, and begins to trust him. It's interesting to see how he can benefit himself from both sides. Another relation to the "middle" theme, is that a major climax occurs in the exact middle of the novel, correlating to the book title. Captain Falcon has captured an African God and stowed him secretly in his mysterious cargo. Yet again the suspense kicks in when he shares his secret with Rutherford, who claims he will keep the information to himself. Will he remain trustworthy or spoil the news to the rest of the crew? Finally, a more ironic explanation of the middle theme, is Rutherford's adventure on a slaver while he is truly a free man. It's interesting to see if he will fall back into the trap of slavery, or become someone who supports it. These twists of opinions and plot events are interesting to me. I am excited to find out where Rutherford ends up, and if he remains alive or not.

middle man

In the novel the Middle Passage the main character Rutherford Calhoun seems to be constantantly the middle man of many issues. In fact as i have been reading the book i believed that maybe the books title was not only based upon the fact that they are on the slave route the middle passage but also because Rutherfords almost middle man status. On the ship the crew is constantly trying to find a way to get rid of their captain Falcon. They want Rutherford to go into the captains quarters and set it up so that someone can sneak in, because he found a way to get in. however throughout the novel Rutherford has formed an interesting almost bond friendship with the captain, often having deep conversations with Falcon about his life. He is instantly the middle man and doesnt really know which side to take in this situation. Rutherford is also in the middle when it comes with his relationship with the slaves. Being that he is the only one of the crew that even slightly resembles the slaves. So he ends up forming bonds with some of the slaves and even gaining a little girl named Beleka who is attached to his hip. They also tell him to go to their part of the ship one night and to bring anyone whome he wants to save.

This is a cool book

Even since the beginning of the novel, I have been enjoying it. The story behind Rutherford is really interesting and pretty cool, too. Because he is a thief, it gives him certain traits that allow him to do things that you would not expect and do them well. The scene where Rutherford is snooping around Falcon's quarters on the ship is one that I particularly enjoyed to read. The things Falcon has lying around are intriguing to me.
Rutherford's middle placement within the story also gives you a point of view from every group. You get to learn what Falcon, the crew, and he himself is thinking. They are all different. The dramatic irony that Rutherford brings about is fun because you know exactly what he knows too. And he knows everything about what is going to happen. He is in the middle and this placement gives the reader info on all events that occur in the story.

Middle Passage first blog and such

So far I've really enjoyed reading middle passage. It's a fun book with enough action to keep it interesting but also with enough metaphorical literature-ness that it leads to good, thought provoking class discussions.

The theme of being in the "middle" is really intriguing to me due to the way in which it is explored in every character or object. The idea of dualism vs unity is one I would like to explore a lot more. The characters I have been able to place somewhere along the Unity------>Dualism spectrum are...
Rutherford (who's in the middle)
Falcon (Dualism)
The Republic (Dualism-maybe? well it's all about being a process)
The Allmuseri+The God (VERY much Unity)
Isadora (Unity-well maybe she's a little tricky too)
White people in general (Dualism)

But I want to know more about the representation of

1) Jackson....this character still really confuses me. I'm excited to discuss and understand more about him and why he did what he did. (That was so crazy on his part! Maybe it was the right thing to do, but if I were Rutherford I would be pissed off too)
2) Does Tommy O'Toole represent one?
3) Or what about Cringle?
4) Ngonyama? (he SHOULD represent unity but then he is kind of the contradiction to the rule)

So I'm really excited to hear what happens next and also to see which side Rutherford ends up on when the mutiny occurs. Will he stay loyal to the crew or follow Falcon? Right now I have no idea.

January 21 2010

"The Middle Passage" is a representation of Rutherford's relationship with the various crews on the Republic. Not only is he a member of the crew, When the crew agrees on a mutainy, and he cuts his finger and drinks wine, but Calhoun asked Rutherfod to keep an eye and ear on the crew, and report back to him. When Rutherford asks, "A spy?", Falcon responds with "Nay, a friend! I need someone to keep this eyes open and tell me of any signs of trouble." And he becames friends with Ngonyama, one of the leaders of the groups of the Allmuseri. They form a relationship where they teach eachother their languages, most likley because he is the only African American member of the crew of the Republic. Rutherford ends up giving Ngonyama and the membders of the Allmuserithe key to the cell to break them free. So this causes Rutherford to become surrounded by a member of every perspective on the ship. This causes him to become the center of the ship, and substantial member of each group of people.

His relationsip with the captian is the most interesting to read because you see everything from the highest state of power on the ship.

The Middle...

This book has a great deal with the middle of things. Not only is the Republic in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and following the famous middle passage, the slave trade route. The theme of the middle is found everywhere in the book, especially regarding Rutherford. One reason why Rutherford is in the middle is because he is on everyone's side, an example of this is how he claims that he is on the side of the mutineers as well as that of Captain Falcon. When the muteers plan their mutiny, Rutherford claims to be in on it, but he soon tells the falcon what is going to happen. This shows how Rutherford is in the middle because he is on no one's side. Rutherford is also in the middle because he is a free black on a slave ship. This means that he cannot fully identify with the crew or the slaves. This, also shows how Rutherford is very much in the middle.