Gary Snyder

For the past week, we have been reading chapters from one of his books and poetry by Gary Snyder. Gary Snyder is well known for being an American poet, essayist, and environmental activist and is associated with the Beat generation along with his peer, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsburg, and William Burroughs. His environmental activism can clearly be seen with just a short glance at any piece of his writing. Without even knowing who he is, I took one look at his writing and I knew he was all about the environment. Snyder’s writing is like nothing I have ever read and I am not sure how I feel about it. 

In my opinion, Snyder’s work is difficult to read and to understand.  The reader must really dig deep to find the true meaning of his writing. There were many common themes found in his writing though. To me, there seemed to be a bit of Buddhist influence in the spirituality and nature. Buddhism is a religion that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs, and practices largely based on teachings attributed to Buddha. Buddhists believe in reaching enlightenment, which is what most of the Beat Generation writings are working towards.

In the poems that we recently read and analyzed in class, my group came to the conclusion that Snyder encompasses a lot of emphasis on the passing of knowledge and circular time instead of linear. In his writings, Snyder spends a great deal of time writing about life cycles. We took this to mean that it is important to him and it is one of his beliefs. Snyder doesn’t necessarily belief in life having a beginning and an ending; there is no life and death in his world. Instead, he believes in a sort of circular time, not linear. Snyder places strong emphasis on the passing down of knowledge. It is the most important thing. This could especially be seen in his poem “Axe Handles”.  The following excerpt explains this thought:

                        And I see: Pound was an axe,

                        Chen was an axe, I am an axe

                        And my son a handle, soon

                        To be shaping again, model

                        And tool, craft of culture,

                        How we go on. 

            The passing down of knowledge or in the examples sake the axe and handle is part of the circle of life. Without passing down information life could not continue. Another example that demonstrates this belief is seen in the poem “For/From Lew:”

                                    What I came to say was,

                                    Teach the children about the cycles.

                                    The life cycles. All the other cycles.

                                    That’s what its all about, and its all forgot.

The previous excerpt showcases Snyder’s belief on passing down knowledge. The writer is saying to teach the children about the cycles of life. This is because children are the future of our world.

Though Snyder’s writing is extremely hard to read and understand, once you get the gist of his meanings, it is thoroughly enjoyable. I have never been a fan of poetry but I like the meanings behind Snyder’s poems. 

Dutchman

I was thoroughly surprised to have actually enjoyed reading LeRoi Jones’ play Dutchman. I have never been a fan of play simply because of the fact that there are usually too many characters to keep tract of thus the dialogue becomes confusing to me. I was intrigued when I read that there were only two main characters in the short play. And the fact that the characters were described as a black man and a white women attracted me to the story. Clay is described as a twenty-year-old black man who is sitting alone on a subway train. He is dressed in a suit and tie, which could mean that he is educated. Lula is a thirty-year-old white woman with fiery red hair and a personality to match. Her strong approach to Clay is what sets the stage for the whole play and is just a glimpse into her vindictiveness and her desire to maintain authority.

            Dutchman, which was first performed in 1964, a time when blacks were fighting for equal rights is the last play written by LeRoi Jones before he changed his name to Amira Baraka. It is a strong political allegory with a solid sting. At first glance, I did not see all of the symbolism that this story contains, but after more reads and a closer examination during class, I took notice at all of the symbols that this story contains.

            To begin with, the plays own title is a symbol for what is to come. The name Dutchman comes from the legendary story The Flying Dutchman is a legendary ghost ship that can never make port and is doomed to sail the oceans forever. Dutchman (the play) is set on a subway, which travels back and forth through the city of New York without stop. The two stories go hand in hand.

            Another important symbol in the story is the party that Lula is begging for Clay to invite and take her to. Before the discussion in class, I just assumed it was any ordinary party in the city that she wanted to attend. With closer examination, I see that the party is symbolic of the coming together of the black and whites. The play is written during a time when the blacks were starting to get a voice in society and the “party” that both Clay and Lula are to attend is symbolic of the union of the both society to the white society. 

This play turned out to be an easy read. The storyline was intriguing and the characters kept me entertained throughout the entire play. The dialogue was not confusing and since the play was a relatively short length I did not get bored with it. The play surprisingly kept me interested and I was surprised that I didn’t get sidetracked while reading it.  

A Junkie's Christmas and Pull My Daisy

The two videos we were supposed to watch were both very interesting and I enjoyed watching them. “Pull My Daisy” and “A Junkie’s Christmas” were both similar in that they are both seen in black and white and are both narrated.

    

 The video entitled “A Junkie’s Christmas” goes along with William Burroughs’ short story. I thought that the video was interesting and it did a great job at replaying the short story for everyone to see. It starts off with an old man (who I am assuming is Burroughs) sitting by a burning fireplace reading “A Junkie’s Christmas.” The video then goes line-by-line showcasing the whole story without leaving out a single detail. I really liked how it does not leave out specifics or change things around like a lot of videos do to stories in order to make it more interesting.

The video had a humorous twist to it keeping the viewers entertained for the whole twenty minutes. The fact that puppet-looking animations are used adds to the humor of the video. The facial expressions are a big part of the film. They are a great representation of what a real life junkie’s facials would look like. My favorite part of the video is when the junkie goes to the doctors’ office and his eye pops out while he is shaking his head and showing his spasm to convince the doctor to give him a prescription. The part of the video is humorous and shows just how desperate he is for a fix.

            I also liked the animations shown when he is going through his high. The swirls of lights are exactly what I imagined when I read the story. The video ends with the old man finishing the story and joining his family for Christmas dinner. To me this shows his end with drugs and seeing him with his family and friends showcases how Christmas should really be spent. Though not a normal video, I believe this one did a great job retelling Burroughs’ short story.

The film “Pull My Daisy,” is a short film that illustrates the Beat Generation. It is a short film written and narrated by Jack Kerouac and stars poet Allen Ginsburg and many other Beat men. It is based on an incident in the life of Beats icon Neal Cassady and his wife Carolyn.

 

          “Pull My Daisy” is the film to watch if you want to experience what The Beat Generation really is. The fact that it is completely narrated by Jack Kerouac is a great assurance that you are watching a film completely devoted to and encompasses the beats. It showcases both the negatives and positives of the Beat generation, like the way they treat the women and how they just don’t care about a thing. While the film wasn’t terrible to watch, I do not think that it compares to “A Junkie’s Christmas”. While “Pull My Daisy” shows you exactly what being Beat is, “A Junkie’s Christmas” was much more entertaining and enjoyable to watch.  

Twilight's Last Gleamings

Since we began this class, we have read many stories written by Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William Burroughs, the primary figures of the Beats Generation. Out of the three authors, I would have to say that William Burroughs is my favorite. I never thought I would enjoy reading any of their short stories but I have thoroughly enjoyed all five of the short stories that we have read by him. His stories are an easy read that I am able to understand easily. He gets straight to the point with his descriptions and does not try to confuse people with his language the way that Kerouac does. His stories are an easy read that captures his audience’s attention.

 

My favorite of the five short stories we have read by Burroughs would have to be “Twilights Last Gleamings.” From the very first line in the story, I was hooked. Burroughs’ story is a great representation of the falling of America. The story centers on the SS America, a ship that experiences an explosion and is slowly sinking to the bottom of the ocean.  The connection between America the country and the SS America the ship can clearly be seen. Burroughs shows how America is collapsing into a giant disaster by having the ship explode and sink into a giant mess.

The many characters described in the story represent the citizens of America. The high, middle, and low classes of the American society can be seen in Burroughs’ story. The black men of the orchestra could be considered the low class citizens. They rebel by refusing to play the Star Spangled Banner when Mr. Morton demands it of them. Barbara Cannon is the second-class (middle class citizen) passenger who is seen trying to live the first class life. Mrs. Norris is the first class passenger (high class citizen) who is used to getting exactly what she wants. This can be seen when she demands that the maid bring her her wig and kimono so that she can go see the captain about the explosion. The captain in this story is representative of the President of the United States. The President is considered to be the captain of this country, the person who is responsible for the safety and well being of not only his citizens (passengers) but also for the country itself. The captain in this story is a selfish man who abandons his ship by stealing Mrs. Norris’s kimono and wig and killing anyone who gets in his way to a lifeboat. This could be representative of Burroughs’ personal view of America’s own president.

I thought it was interesting the way that our National Anthem’s lyrics were incorporated into the story. I feel that he uses it in a humorous almost mocking way. The song is supposed to be a representation of how strong America is and how it will never fall, but it is incorporated into a story that showcases the collapse of our country. Although I do not like this, it really adds interest to the story.