100 Years of Solitude, day 1

The character of Ursula is the matriarch of the family and displays the maternal drive to keep her family thriving despite difficulties. She takes care of her family by making and selling candy and pastries when her husband is no longer functioning as a leader. By doing this, traditional gender roles are reversed. She takes in Rebeca, who just appears out of nowhere. She searches for months for her son Jose Arcadio when he runs off with the gypsies. On page 54, the author relates that Ursula took note of her family and expanded the house to be sure they all stayed together.

Ursula also rules the household with a no-nonsense approach. She demonstrates this with her severity in dealing with Rebeca's problem of eating only dirt (page 42).

I think that Ursula is portrayed in this way to reverse the traditional gender roles. She is portrayed as a central character that will run as a thread through the family saga as it unfolds.

The theme of a Utopian society is already prevalent in the novel. The young families who founded the town of Macando travelled together under the leadership of Ursula's son, Jose Arcadio Buendia. They built a town near a clear river, where duties were distributed and every house was to be made to be equal to the next. "No one would enjoy privileges that everyone did not have" (p. 38). This is a clear example of the author's intent on creating a Utopian, socialist society through literature.

When an officer of the government arrives in Ch. 3 and ordered all houses to be painted blue, Jose Arcadio Buendia confronted him regarding his right to give orders. " 'In this town we do not give orders with pieces of paper,' he said without losing his calm. 'And so that you know it once and for all, we don't need any judges here because there's nothing that needs judging.' " (p.56).

The fact that no one has died yet in Macando seems to be a symbol of a Utopian and ideal society, and that all could live peacefully and in harmony.

Grimm's Fairy Tails, day 2

One theme is violence due to jealousy. In two stories this is a theme: Briar Rose and Snow White. In Briar Rose, the princess is cursed by one woman because that woman was not invited to the birth celebration. She cursed the princess to die at the age of 15, when she pricked her finger. However, the curse was softened by another woman who was invited to the celebration. This woman turned the curse into 100 years of sleep.

In Snow White, the step mother was jealous of Snow White's beauty. Her hatred was so extreme that she sent a hunter to take little Snow White to kill her. He didn't, but rather brought back the tongue and heart of an animal. Once the evil step mother discovered that Snow White was still alive, her bitter jealousy caused her to try to kill her three times. In the end, she is punished by having to dance to death in "red hot iron shoes".

In both of these stories innocence prevails over bitter jealousy. The violence caused by the evil women does not bring them any satisfaction.

In both The Golden Goose and The True Bride, there is violence portrayed as abuse. The abused or neglected children in both of these stories find fortune through magical figures. In The Golden Goose, the generous youngest son, who is given less food than the others and not valued by his family, is rewarded for his kindness to an old man in the woods. He ends up with the golden goose, which causes a princess to laugh. The outcome is that this mistreated son ends up with his own kingdom.

In The True Bride, the evil step mother (again we see the theme of evil step mothers) gives the pretty child an impossible task to do. She has enchanted help, which rewards her with a castle and a prince. The step mother is mean and abusive and ends up being killed by being hit by the cellar door.

In both of these tails, the selfish and mean adults do not get the best rewards. Instead the children end up wealthy and happy.

Grimm's Fairy Tails, Day 1

When I think of "fairy tails", a beautiful princess is involved. In many of these stories, the females are described as very beautiful. For example, the miller's daughter in The Handless Maiden; the daughter in The Twelve Brothers. Even Rapunzel "grew up to be the most beautiful child under the sun" (page 67). At first we see the beautiful girls as innocent, while the evil women are portrayed as ugly, yet more powerful, such as the witch in Hansel and Grethel. In the end, however, the beautiful, innocent heroines show strength and wisdom. The heroines, while on the surface are sweet and delicate, are intelligent and strong. In Hansel and Grethel, Grethel tricks the witch and saves the two of them. In The Robber Bridegroom, the miller's daughter exposes the evil robber at her wedding by remaining calm and telling a story (which was the terrible experience she had witnessed on pages 143-144, and concluded with "and here is the finger with the ring!")

Even those female characters who were harmed ended up with positive outcomes, such as Rapunzel being stranded in the desert and still meeting her prince.

I think that the violence was extreme in some stories, such as in The Robber Bridegroom. In both that tale and in Hansel and Grethel, cannibalism was described and witnessed. I am not sure that that violence serves a purpose, or is even necessary to support the message of good overcoming evil. But on the other hand, it truly demonstrates evil. I think that it is just that era's version of a horror story.

In A Tale of One who Travelled to Learn what Shivering Meant, the simple son saw horrific sights that did not seem to frighten him, such as the dead man on the gallows and the haunted castle. While this story seems like there is a message (not to be cowardly), I think it is really more of an excuse to tell a good ghost story.

Don Quixote day 6

Don Quixote's character is becoming more and more desperate in his insistence that the inn is enchanted and his being taken captive is due to this enchantment. As his situation (being held in a cage) becomes pathetic, he must find excuses for the way he is treated.

He also defends the books about knights to the canon they meet on the road. The others make fun of him and laugh at him (p. 470) when he tries to save a young lady, which is actually pilgrims carrying an image of the Virgin Mary.

After Don Quixote was beaten, he willingly accepts Sancho Panza'a idea to get home and asks to go back in the enchanted cart. It seems that he begins to give up on his adventures and is becoming docile. It was a pathetic sight to see him enter his village "at noon, and as it happened to be on a Sunday, everybody was in the square, through the middle of which the cart trundled on its way."

In chapter 47 on page 438, Sancho Panza, yet again, demonstrates his basic, noble and true character. He knows that the priest and the others have tricked Don Quixote when they captured and caged him.

"I cans see through you, too, however much you try to cover up your tricks. But there we are, where envy rules virtue can't survive, and where meanness is king there isn't any rooms for generosity."

Sancho warns the priest that God will take the priest "to task" for treating Don Quixote so badly.

Don Quixote day 5

On page 324 in chapter 36, as all of the stories and people involved converge at the inn, Dorotea finds herself face to face with Don Fernando, who she gave herself to as a "wife" and who she says she is now in love with. She implores him to do the right thing, because he seduced her, and she is beneath him in status, she makes her case for why he should take her back as his wife.

I think that the following quote is her best arguement.

"What's more, true nobility consists in virtue, and if you forfeit that by denying me my just rights, I shall be left with better claims to nobility than you."

This quote is another example of the theme of chivalry and honesty, but also shows how Cervantes was a revolutionary thinker for his time by including the ideas of justice and rights for all people, including women.

On page 351, more travellers arrive at the inn. A man arrives with an exotic woman who he identifies as Moorish. She calls herself Maria and her companion claims she wants to convert to Christianity.

While Spain during the mid to late Middle Ages was known to be a crossroads for Islam, Judaism and Christianity, I believe that the character of Maria / Lela Zoraida highlights the prejudice against Islam and Judaism at the time.

On page 352, in reference to Maria, Dorotea asks:

"Tell me, is this lady Christian or Moorish? Because her clothes and her silence are making me think that she's not what we'd prefer her to be."

Don Quixote chapters 28-35

In chapter 30, the priest and Cardenio are talking about Don Quixote. On page 279, the priest says:

"If we leave aside the absurdities that the good hidalgo come out with concerning his mania, in conversations on other subjects he talks with great good sense, and shows himself to have a clear and balanced judgement."

This quote was interesting to me because it seems that the other characters were seeing something true and honest in Don Quixote's motives, despite his madness. It seems that they see Don Quixote's motivations are to help people despite his delusions.

In chapter 32, the group is back at the inn and they are discussing the madness of Don Quixote, with the priest blaming the books about chivalry. In response, the innkeeper defends the books:

"I don't understand how that can be so, because in my mind there isn't a better read in the world." (page 290)

The innkeeper, his wife and their daughter defend the stories of chivalry on the grounds of bringing pleasure to them and the people that go though the inn.

In both these examples, it seems to me that there are indications of what might be positive about Don Quixote's quest for chivalry.