Before doing this blog entry, be sure to read the chapter
entitled "When in Disgrace" from Old School.
Focus your blog on both your reading of that chapter AND something that came up in our graded discussion OR something that didn't come up that maybe should have.
If you need a prompt to get you going, look back at the handout of Blog Questions (essential questions) that I gave you when we started this book.
Be sure to ground your ideas in a close analysis of textual details. Don't just list quotes; analyze and dig deep!
A representation of independence
ReplyDeleteEmil Friedman
One of the most prevalent themes in “Old School” (analyzed at length in our in-class discussion) is the struggle between having a false identity and embracing one’s true character. For our narrator, the decision to finally face his true identity was arguably the basis for his eventual expulsion. One of the very small aspects of the book that especially resonated with me is the narrator’s relationship with his smoking habit. Upon examination of key scenes in the book, it is clear Tobias Wolff’s inclusion of the smoking bits has a fundamental meaning and contributes to the underlying themes of the book.
The first spot where we learn about our narrator’s smoking habit occurs near the beginning of the book. On page 30, the narrator states that, “[c]razy as I was for cigarettes, my true addiction was to the desperate, all-or-nothing struggle to maintain a habit in the face of unceasing official vigilance.” In other words, smoking was less a habit or urge in the traditional sense and more a declaration - to the narrator himself, frankly - of that small bit of reserved independence. Though he attends a private prep school with certain rules and protocols, smoking can be seen as that one bit of personal identity that the narrator is able to maintain.
This all stops when the narrator realizes the threat of expulsion. After observing another student getting expelled, the narrator throws out his collection of cigarettes and his lighter. I see this scene as the narrator finally giving up his identity entirely: the last part of his personal character, his sense of independence, is now gone. The narrator has now fully given up his free-will, his right to be himself.
Fast forward to the narrator’s final interaction with the school, in the form of his bidding farewell to Mr. Ramsey. In my opinion, evidence that the author crafted the smoking aspect of the story with a purpose is in specifically when the narrator opts to actually accept cigarettes and smoking once again. On page 150, Mr. Ramsey “produced a pack of Gitanes, shook out a cigarette, then tipped the pack toward me as if I were not a boy of the school. I couldn’t bring myself to take one.” Though close, the narrator is still not completely free from the school; hence, he can’t go ahead and take back his independence just yet. When the narrator does, in fact, accept smoking is on page 152, when Mr. Ramsey sticks the cigarette pack in the narrator’s shirt pocket just before the train departs: at this point, the narrator’s time at the school is officially over. Along with the physical cigarettes, Mr. Ramsey is returning to the narrator his sense of independence, his sense of self. He no longer has to conform or maintain a false personality. The narrator is free from the school.
Honor... Right?
ReplyDeleteEthan Schalekamp
Mr. Ramsay, in the car on the way to the train station, speaks his mind to the narrator on the topic of honor and it caught my attention immediately. The narrator's surprise, along with his un-vocalized opinion specifically stood out to me. How exactly does the concept of honor effect the student's lives and actions and how important is it to them?
I first want to address the narrator's personality. Or rather, personalities. He obviously wants to be the best and shows a passion for literature, but he spends so much time trying to be too many different people. Take for example, his relationship with Bill White in contrast to his personality around his family. In one he is silent, isolated, stressed, and lonely. When he is with his family, he is totally different. This neglect of self is in itself dishonest and therefore one could say that it's dishonorable. In addition to this split personality, he isolates himself from any and all form of community for fear of tainting his public imagae. All of this, as was discussed in today's discussion, may have palyed into his interlude with "Randism". Rand's philosophy was just right for him at the time as it gave him an opprotunity to justify his confused social and mental state. Perhaps it is the narrator's attempt at honor, which he may see in his classmate's "snobbery" that exacerbates his situation. In any case, the honor which he sees in Rand's philosphy was false and breaking from that trance was, in my opinion, his first step towards true honor.
One might notice that after the narrator realizes the irrationality of Rand's moral code, he begins his fall from grace. His six year upholding of self isolation begins to crumble and eventually he gets himself expelled. He does this in a strange manner, however, by plagiarizing the work of another writer. This on the surface seems like its quite against what he reffers to as the honor code. And yes, plagiarism is bad, but the fact that it was such a step forward for him, such an emancipating admittance of self is arguably the most honorable and courageous act that we've seen him commit throughout the entire novel. This, of course, is opinion based, and could easily be argued against.
When it gets down to it, Mr. Ramsey is right. The mere utterance of the word "honor" immediately turns it to bilge. Why is this? Because there really is no set standard for honor. The narrator exemplifies that in his very character.
Finding your own Path
ReplyDeleteLesley Yan Santos
One of the questions discussed during class was, "What is the significance of the scene where Jeff Purcell rejects the chapel visits?" I think the point of Purcell's resistance to the chapel visits, was to stand out and show his individuality. In the book, he specifically states that "just going through the door makes me a liar" (Wolff 105). This sentence gives the impression that Purcell doesn't believe in what they are being taught in chapel. However I believe he is just doing this to get attention. According the narrator he noticed a "pleasure Purcell took in rejecting it [chapel]" (Wolff 105). Despite his supposed "disregard" for God, Purcell is acting on account of his "own pleasure". If he truly didn't believe in God, it would bring up the question of why he didn't take action before.
Whatever the reason, these actions put Purcell in a whole different situation. Unlike the "traditional" school boy he was before, Purcell is now classified as a rebel with the potential to get kicked out of the school. He takes an approach that somewhat goes along with Ayn Rand's beliefs as he is thinking for himself as opposed to what others/the school tries to force onto him. I think he justifies his actions through all the newfound attention he gets from his classmates implying that skipping chapel "made him feel honorable in comparison [to others]" (Wolff 105). This is big for him because in his school, people tend to go by unnoticed. In addition, he always seems to be in the shadow of his cousin Big Jeff who appears to be more popular than Purcell and his friends.
This idea of individuality and "finding your own path" shows up again when the narrator is expelled for plagiarism. After being rejected by Colombia as well, he is out of options and the only obvious place for him to go is back home. This is troubling for him as he seems to be very distant from his dad. However he does take the time to ask Mr. Ramsey, "What did my father say?" in response to his expulsion (Wolff 150). This shows that despite their differences, the narrator still seems to care about what his father thinks of him. Although he asks this question in a "weakened/vulnerable" state, I think it shows that deep down, he has always wanted to make his father proud. What's most gratifying, was how his father defended him saying that "you [the narrator] was the most honest person he knew" (Wolff 150). Based off of this, I believe that all of the "bad blood" between the two was simply due to miscommunication and a big misunderstanding.
Molly Nealon
ReplyDeleteEscape from identity
In the school depicted in the book, it's quite obvious that there is more than enough people trying to be someone they aren't, the most prominent example of course being the narrator, as we know from fairly early on in the book. This was a topic which we discussed quite at length during our class discussion on Wednesday, in more ways than are immediately evident. For example, we talked a lot about the narrator's "fake self," this fake personality and background that he is not necessarily lying about, but on the other hand, not telling the full truth. Also, we discussed Jeff Purcell and his decision to stop going to chapel, which indirectly connects to this theme as well.
"Shedding of self," as you could call it occurs in the narrator's life when, obviously, he is kicked out of the school. I think, however that it was not just this one action that caused such a rapid change, however it was more a gradual change in personality. Starting as early as the narrator's reading of Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead," and eventually escalating to his plagiarism of Susan Friedman's "Summer Dance," there are various stages of character development in the personality of the narrator throughout the most recent chapters of the book.
Easily, the final action of this character development can be seen in the narrator's decision to finally accept the cigarette pack Mr. Ramsey was giving him; "He patted his pocket for the Gitanes,put one in his mouth, and offered another to me. When i hesitated he stuck the pack in my shirt pocket..I pushed through to a forward-facing window seat, claimed it with my overnighter... and made my way to the smoking car." (Wol 152) This scene is so important because it shows that the narrator has completely shed his old identity of not smoking which he was initially forced to keep up in order to stay in the school, and taking up his real self, smoking and doing what he wants on the train.
In terms of Jeff Purcell's "escape from identity," his not going to chapel could be seen as just another rebellious act done by a sixth former who's about to leave anyway, why should it matter? However, it does matter, quite a bit in fact. Some see it as a cry for attention from the kid who is always in the shadow of his more popular cousin, yet it also could be interpreted as his way of shedding the identity he had previously kept up for this school. He states that it would be lying to continue to go, implying that this entire time he had lied about his identity and religiousness, and was now shedding that fake persona to make room for the new, similar to the narrator.
One of the things i found particularly interesting about the last few chapters is how the narrator seems quite oblivious to the fact that he plagiarized Susan Friedman's story "Summer Dance". Even in his own thoughts he constantly says the poem is his and it seems as though he actually believes it. "The thought of sitting there while everyone read my story gave me the creeps, but I had to go,"(Wolff 134). I find it interesting how even in his own thoughts, he refers to the story as "mine" which implies that he really does believe it's his. It seems as though this poem were so extremely real to him, that he was put under the impression that he actually wrote it. I find this quite interesting. I also wonder if that is why Mr. Ramsey and Ernest Hemingway appreciated his work so much. Maybe they too, felt close to the story in a way that really connected with them. This seems to make some amount of sense because Mr. Ramsey also smokes, Which is what the first few lines of the short story are about. "I hope nobody saw me pick up the cigarette butt off the sidewalk, but I'm all out and getting shaky and it's a nice long one, with just a smudge of lipstick from the old bird who dropped it when her bus pulled up,"(Wolff 122). It says that the narrator connected with this sentence because he has done the same exact thing, and being a smoker, maybe Mr. Ramsey has too. Although I have felt somewhat of a connection in some pieces of texts, I have never felt a connection such as this with any piece of writing, where I am convinced I wrote it myself, which is why the idea intrigues me so much.
ReplyDeleteIt is clearly shown that the narrator really believes he wrote the poem when Mr. Ramsey, Mr. Lambert and Goss ask him about what he did wrong. It really seems that he has no clue. Even though he plagiarized Susan's story, he doesn't realize it. "So, the headmaster said. You can think of no reason for our being here today...Honestly , sir, I'm at a loss,"(Wolff 142). I don't believe that the narrator is lying or "playing dumb" in this scene, I think he honestly doesn't realize what he has done wrong. This idea that the narrator was convinced that he wrote the story himself was briefly touched on during the conversation on Wednesday. Before reading this chapter, I had believed that the narrator was fully aware of his plagiarism, but now I realize that he wasn't. I find this very interesting because during the discussion i disagreed with the people that brought up this idea, and now I realize they were completely correct.
Understanding Identity
ReplyDeleteNoah Wilkerson
Throughout the book, one of the most evident themes to me is how Tobias Wolff choses to describe and elaborate on the personalities of the characters; while their actions do serve as a sort of reinforcement, much of the primary characterization takes place through each character's writing. In the last few chapters, this has taken a different turn, however, with the narrator plagiarizing a girl's work and using it as his own to try to get a meeting with Ernest Hemingway. He views this other person's words as his own, describing its writing as "confide[ing] your hidden life to a piece of paper in an empty room" (Wolff 133). He has somehow convinced himself that it is his life story, not Susan Friedman's writing, that he has shared with the school, the world, and Hemingway.
They are not his words, though, and they are not his story, or his life. Oddly enough, the first person that makes the narrator realize this is Bill, who having barely given any information about himself to the narrator, suddenly explodes into anger. To the narrator, he says "So you've imagined what it's like. Bully for you. That doesn't make it your situation. It isn't your situation, and it isn't your story." (Wolff 140). Even though he isn't referencing that fact that the narrator has taken the story from someone else. he does note that it isn't the narrator's situation, that he's never been to a synagogue, and that he's "a lapsed Catholic." (Wolff 139). It is more Bill's story than it is the narrators, with Bill most likely having lived in similar situations to this.
The irony in what becomes of the narrator when he chooses to send in another person's story is that he thought that the character's "thoughts were my thoughts, this life my own." (Wolff 126). He finally has decided to shed the mask that he puts on at the school, the fake persona he created to fit in with the rich students at the school. He was unable to put his own thoughts out to others earlier when he submitted the hunting poem to Frost, but now, through another's words, he feels comfortable. In a sense, he has built another mask to hide behind, an unconscious sense of safety in the fact that these words truly aren't his own, even if he has convinced himself that they are. As Bill pointed out, he is not Jewish, he has never been in a situation like that before, yet something within him sticks to the realness of the story and the characters, and he convinces himself that the story is his life, convinced that he is someone he isn't. While trying to show who he is to the school, all he has really done is built up another layer of lies, except this time, he is only lying to himself.
Identity
ReplyDeleteAlanna Deery
The narrator all throughout the book struggles with identity. He writes pieces that are quite good but he struggles to write anything of real background or life experience. He cannot even confide in his “closest” friend Bill who barley knows him at all, and becomes perhaps more and more distant from him a time goes on. You could say he has little to no identity at a school that he has been at for years.
The fact that the narrator goes unnamed throughout the book suggests his lack of identity. A name is the first thing that you learn about a person generally, and it is what you build their identity on. Because this has been left out, it seems as though the author is trying to portray his lack of identity to the readers; trying not mention the name at many times where a name would have been more appropriate to put in.
He comes across a story that mirrors his own life and by admitting this gives the readers a good piece of his identity; none of which had been mentioned before. He is forced to see his identity for perhaps the first time at the school, which had formally provided a barrier against it. In seeing and realizing this he writes the story out again, this time with his own name, and other such personal details. Caught up in writing about himself for the first time, he forgets it is actually not his story. This admittance to his past so strong, it only seems like it has to be his own.
In the chapter “When in Disgrace”, the narrator comes to realize he has been chosen as the winner. Still not realizing he has plagiarized in the slightest, goes along with everything; accepting congratulations and talking to Mr. Ramsey about his “achievement”. When he is finally caught he still fails to realize it could be anything but his story, and fails to even explain himself. He is expelled from the school and loses his barrier from his identity by having to go back to where it was formed. All of this in a final act to accept himself and perhaps come to realize who he really is.
Dilip Aaron
ReplyDeleteAdmiration of Mr. Ramsey
Mr. Ramsey is one of the most admirable characters in my perspective after what he did to support the narrator. When the narrator was caught for plagiarizing the story he was confronted by Mr. Ramsey, Mr. Lambert, and Goss the Student Honor Council president. Mr. Lambert and Goss were bashing on the narrator for his plagiarism very harshly for disgracing the school name for his actions. But what was mostly intriguing was the way Mr. Ramsey was taking the situation. Mr. Ramsey I personally thought was trying to defend the narrator for what he did wrong. For example after Mr. Lambert explains that for as the school is concerned the narrator was never here Mr. Ramsey says, “This is very hard, Sir Mr. Ramsey said.” “Do you think so Mr. Ramsey?” “I do (page 145).” I find it very surprising that Mr. Ramsey is showing so much remorse to the narrator for the disgrace he’s brought to the school. Mr. Ramsey furthermore offers the narrator cigarettes when they are at the train station. In my opinion Mr. Ramsey may be one the most admirable characters in the book for his actions of remorse to the narrator. Another reason Mr. Ramsey is admirable is because of his comments about the Honor Code. “That’s not what I said. But no, certainly not. Send a boy packing if he breaks the rule, by all means. Plant a boot on his backside, but do please leave the word honor out of it. It’s disgusting, how we forever throw it about (page 149).” Mr. Ramsey once again supports the narrator for what the school did in humiliating the narrator for his plagiarism. Also for Mr. Ramsey to disregard the school’s number one rule is a key feature of his admirableness. For Mr. Ramsey’s action he is one of the most admirable characters in the book.
Gideon Schmidt
ReplyDeleteAccidental Plagiarism 101
One topic raised in the discussion that I wondering about was whether or not the narrator realized that he was plagiarizing “Summer Dance.” Solely based off of Chapter 6, there probably wasn’t enough info to provide a solid answer to that. After Chapter 7, when the narrator comes face-to-face with his error, I want say that there is now enough info to do just that.
You can’t just write it off as an accident. It’s pretty much impossible to “accidentally” plagiarize something. If you’re writing a story good enough to attract the attention of Ernest Hemingway, it is not an accident. That I’m willing to throw out there right now. But the subconscious factor? You can’t just toss that aside. On page 126, talking about “Summer Dance,” he says “let’s see how it felt to write it.” At that point I think he forgot about plagiarizing, and that the story felt so real, so close to home that that’s how he ended up thinking of it as his own story, leading to his eventual downfall. It’s pretty clear what happened. Page 142: “It (the fact that it was someone else’s story) had flown my mind as soon as I’d begun reading the story that night in the Troubadour office and seen my own life laid bare on that page, and in all the time since then I’d never thought of ‘Summer Dance’ as anyone’s story but mine.”
So it’s pretty clear that the narrator wants to go under the “accident” grounds but is willing to accept that that’s a sketchy place to be. Goss (the president of the Student Honor Council) has what seems to be a very short-sighted perspective which points to the “purpose” side (though given that from an outsider’s point of view that probably is the logical perspective). I don’t see anybody opting towards the middle ground through. Does it exist? This is where the author’s craft comes in. I don’t think anybody could be so mesmerized by a piece of writing that they could forget that it’s not their own. But in a fiction book, there’s no such limits. My view on this is that yes, it’s a subconscious thing, it can almost be written off as an accident, and while that wouldn’t happen in the real world, Tobias Wolff has created one in which it can.
Joy Keat
ReplyDeletePlagiarizing Life
In the previous discussion we brought up why the narrator plagiarized Summer Dance and why he decided to reveal himself through the plagiarized piece instead of writing his own work. In the chapter When in disgrace without Fortune the Narrator is finally caught for infringement and is expelled immediately. But I found it interesting how when the Narrator was in the Dean’s office how he expressed nearly no emotion “I’d never thought of summer dance as anyone’s but mine.”, the narrator still didn’t comprehend that he did copy someone else’s work.
This brings up the question of why he decided to “reveal himself” in Summer Dance when before he couldn’t bring himself to submit personal pieces like the poem about the firemen. But was he really aware of the fact that he was plagiarizing? Or was he engrossed in the moment when he rewrote it? During discussion it was brought up that a possible reason that the author finally submitted a personal piece is because through plagiarizing he was able to hide behind it. So even though the story closely paralleled is own life by not originally writing his own it was not truly his story, yet the piece was relatable because it was Honest and something that could be real. Hemingway even acknowledges the honesty within the story “He knows what he’s writing about…true human beings here… true on the page.” (Wolff 135).
This again shows how you cannot create a personal and honest story if you have never experienced it and I think that’s why the Narrator never thought of it as plagiarizing because he encountered these experiences so to him the “story” was always his.
Noah Rohde
ReplyDeleteWhite
The Most Important Decision of your Life
10.24.13
Plagiarism. This is the choice that our narrator makes when he chooses to copy the work of a girl from Miss. Cobbs. Not only does he make this choice but, he does so without hesitation. This, to him, is something that so needs to happen that he can not think of anything else. As he changes some of the differences to fit his own world, he makes this observation: “but otherwise it needed no correction. It was done. Anybody who read this story would know who I was”(Wolff 127). The narrator's actions jump out at my for a few reasons. First, he is completely oblivious to the fact that this work is not his. Also, he begins to think that when people read this short they will know him. No, they will not know him. This is not who he is and he is pretending to be this alternate persona (Which, is brought up later by Bill who confronts the Narrator and says he stole his work).
I do wonder why he is so caught up in this story. He is really quite the opposite of the girl mentioned in the story. He is not thinking the same or completing the same actions. He is a young adult who is stealing someone else’s work. Also, his OWN ROOMMATE would fit the character description of the girl. A young jewish child who faces the realization of her heritage and desperately wants to fit in. Although, the narrator does give the impression that he wants to fit in sometimes, it is not at the level of his roommate and the girl in the story. I think that the narrator should have submitted his work about the firemen who goes home to not a physically empty but emotionally empty house. That way he would have been able to show his audience who he really is. Like when he claimed that people would know he was after plagiarism the story, except this time it would be real.
Melissa Stuart
ReplyDeletePlagiarism
I don’t think it is possible to have an idea that is 100% yours. You may have come up with an idea but it was influenced by other people and ideas you hear. It is human nature to mimic another person, especially those who are successful. Even the boys who go to this prestigious school have done this “All of us owed someone, Hemmingway or Cummings or Kerouac- or all of them and more” (Wolff 14). The people we look up to inspire us every day and are almost a part of us, to the point where we mimic them in our daily lives. People can also be influenced by people they don’t necessarily look up to, but they still had an influence on them. The narrator is influenced by Ayn Rand for a short time after he simply read one of her stories. People want to do well in everything they do, so when one person has a great amount of success and fame from something, others will do something similar in an attempt to achieve a similar kind of success and praise.
There is a big difference between influence, imitation, and plagiarism. Influence and imitation are similar in that you may act or be like another person. In the sense of writing, you may write in a similar style or have a common theme as another writer. Plagiarism however is copying someone else’s work and taking credit for it. It is more than just imitating them and writing similarly to them. It is when you take their idea and put your name on it. The narrator does this with the “Summer Dance” story and put his name on it “What the hell-let’s see how it felt to write it. I rolled out a fresh sheet into the typewriter and started pecking away at it” (Wolff 126). In the beginning of the story, when the narrator mentions how “everyone owed someone”, he is not talking about plagiarism, because he simply means they were inspired by and imitated other writers. I thought it was very interesting to hear other opinions as to why the narrator used “summer Dance” instead of his own piece of writing to let his peers know who he truly is. One would think that writing a piece yourself would be more a more effective and personal way to show who you are, as opposed to using a piece of writing written by a stranger.
Entitlement
ReplyDeleteMatt Ziegler
As I was reading this chapter, I found it amazing that the narrator kept referring to "Summer Dance" as his story. "...and in all the time since then I'd never thought of 'Summer Dance' as anyone's story but mine." As I was reading this, I actually found myself a little bit frustrated. The narrator actually felt he was better and more important than anyone else.
This brings me to something that was brought up in the discussion. Someone said that we all feel as if we are the best. This is a valid point, and we all feel we have a unique story that makes us the best. However, the narrator is taking this idea to a different level. He actually felt entitled to take the story as his own. This probably comes from years of being a scholarship student at a phenomenal academic institution.
The part that really bothers me is that this is no different than me walking into a store and saying "I want this bottle of iced tea. I'm going to walk out of the store without paying for it because I'm entitled to it." Now obviously he didn't know this was his mindset, he was just so used to thinking that way.
Another thing I think should have been brought up in the discussion was how our perception of the narrator has changed throughout the story. Obviously, in the beginning, we liked him. The protagonist is the easiest character to like because you are seeing everything from their eyes. However, as the story progressed, we began to dislike him little by little. This idea of entitlement would not have been discussed because we had not read that far, but we had known he had plagiarized. Examples would have included him being critical of others, and him being jealous of others(Big Jeff).
Narrator plagiarizes the story
ReplyDeleteOne of the topics discussed in class was the idea of the narrators decision to use the story entitled "Summer Night" as his own, and the significance behind it. As the narrator is sitting at George's desk, he comes across a poem and picks it up and reads it. He is instantly connected to the story and can relate to it. He is emotionally drawn into the story. He changes up a few words and submits this for the Hemingway competition.
The narrator does not know how to portray a show his feelings to the outside world. No one knows who he really is, where he grew up, his background history or his childhood life. He built a wall and he's been hiding behind all this time. When he comes across the story, he feels that this is his chance to show who he is. He does not miss this opportunity, so he uses the story. The narrator got mad when he found out that Bill White did not tell him that he was actually Jewish, but the narrator wasn't truthful to him as well.
On page 142, when the narrator is called into the dean's office, he is asked the question of why he thinks he is there. The narrator simply responds by saying no, and the headmaster reminds him of the original story. Only then he remember that this story was not his, but he still though it was his. One particular sentence "I hope nobody saw me pick up the cigarette butt..." Was really hard for him to write. Even though he wasn't aware of this problem, it turned out to be the biggest mistake he ever made. This story made him get expelled from the school.
Danielle Duguid
ReplyDeleteBill’s Silence
One of the questions during the discussion was the topic of Bill and the narrator's awkward relationship. They had been constantly avoiding each other, and when finally offered the opportunity to discuss their problems and thoughts, they just couldn't talk and ended up resorting to polite, meaningless exchanges. The narrator was shocked into silence for a minute when Bill asked him the simple question of "How's yours going?" (page 117) while discussing their stories for the Hemingway contest.
These two boys have been roommates for almost 6 years, and they know virtually nothing about each other. "We had made ourselves unknowable behind our airs and sardonic courtesies, and the one important truth I'd discovered about him we'd silently agreed never to acknowledge" (page 118) To me this is shocking how you can live with somebody for so long and not even try to know who they are. During the discussion we had mentioned that when Bill asked the narrator how his story was going, they had gone on far too long without really speaking to each other and it was far easier for the narrator to pretend that nothing was different so they could go on in silence.
In the discussion we had dabbled in what we thought had distanced Bill over the past month. We thought that he, like the narrator was beginning to see how unequal the school's equality preaching was. In When in Disgrace with Fortune, it was actually revealed that Bill had been "dating" Mrs. Ramsey before she broke it off. This was an interesting twist, and it completely explains Bill’s reclusion. Bill had spent hours upon hours in that basement writing a personal diary where he displayed all of his secrets, never meant for anybodies eyes until the narrator stumbles upon them when trying to explain his story to Bill.
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ReplyDeletePriyanka Vijay
ReplyDeleteRisking reputation is not worth it just for meeting an author
In our discussion in class, one topic that really stood out to me was the topic of plagiarism and how the narrator didn’t seem to even acknowledge that he was stealing someone else’s story, word for word may I remind you. He had already gotten into Columbia and his future was set but of course, he had to veer this off course and risk it all to meet his favorite author, Hemingway.
The narrator claimed that “These thoughts were my thoughts, This life my own.” He is delusional. He is convinced that this story is his story. He feels this because the story is so raw, so real, so close to home for him that it feels like he would write it. My thoughts are that He wanted people to read it to get to know him through his writing rather than talking about who he really was. The narrator is very introverted and writing was his way of portraying who he really was. He felt that this story in particular gave away his identity the best. The narrator says that “Anyone who read this story would know who I was.”(Wolff 127) His reasoning for plagiarizing is justified but why doesn’t he realize what he is doing will get him into serious trouble and that is dream of leaving school to go to Colombia would be impaired if he were to be caught?
All in all, was plagiarising the story, getting kicked out of the school with dishonor and ruining your reputation worth earning the undivided attention of Ernest Hemingway? Absolutely not. On page 144 the Headmaster says,”You can think of no reason for our being here today... Honestly sir, I’m at a loss. Hah! Goss said.” The alarming fact of the matter is that the narrator never realizes what he did until he is sitting in the Dean’s office awaiting punishment. How will the narrator live without this school, his true identity lies here, leaving it would be tragic.
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ReplyDeleteJulia Wagner
ReplyDeleteDiscussion question #4
One of the questions that we discussed in class during our seminar was about the narrator’s relationship with the school and how much he values it. Some arguments were made that he used to value the school more than he does now, and his appreciation for the school is decreasing as time goes on. The evidence for this argument was that the narrator plagiarized “Summer Dance” and that this action portrays his lack of gratitude for the school.
As it was clearly displayed in the book, the narrator had completely forgotten about the original story that he copied. Susan Friedman and her story “...had flown [his] mind as soon as [he] began reading the story that night in the Troubadour office…” (Wolff 142) and only remembered it when he was sitting with the headmaster, with Susan’s story right in front of him.
Plagiarizing is obviously not a favorable performance and does not follow the schools conduct, but in the narrator’s defense, his ignorance to the fact that he was plagiarizing and “dishonoring the school” allows his value of the school to remain. Though what he did was wrong, and I do think he should face the consequences, he shouldn’t be accused of not caring for his school. . “And did we treat you so badly, Mr. Lambert said, that you should think so little of us? No, sir. Never. I love this school too.” (Wolff 144) The narrator undoubtedly still respects the school very much and this one action does not represent an absence of appreciation for the school.
Another part to the question we discussed in class was why he was plagiarizing. As I have said, I don’t think that the narrator really knew that he was plagiarizing, he was too caught up in the story and how it related to him. He truly thought that this story represented his thought ideas and that it portrayed his life. All of this distraction and him finally being able to write about who he thought he was kept him from realizing that he was stealing another writer’s story.
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ReplyDeleteExposed on Paper
ReplyDeleteOne of the quickest decisions the narrator made in Old School was to plagiarize. It is interesting how easily he decided to do so, considering the fact that plagiarizing is a serious matter that can result in expulsion, as the narrator soon found out. One of the reasons why he chose to plagiarize was because the story related so closely to his past experiences. “The whole thing came straight from the truthful diary I’d never kept: the typing class, the bus, the apartment; all mine (Wolff 125).” It is as if the narrator thinks the story was about his own life, just written by someone else.
I think the narrator changed when he read that story. When he saw his life, his flaws, and his secrets all written out on paper, he accepted the writing as his own. “…seen my own life laid bare on the page, and in all the time since then I’d never thought of “Summer Dance” as anyone’s story but mine (Wolff 142).” Even when he was caught plagiarizing, the narrator still couldn’t think of the story as anyone else’s.
To answer the question of if the narrator truly knew he was plagiarizing, I think deep down he did. Obviously he knew the words on the paper weren’t his. The reason why he made the decision to use the story for the competition was because even though the words weren’t his, the ideas and happenings in the story were. The narrator had always had trouble writing about topics that related to him, which is clearly shown in his process of writing the firefighter poem. “I thought writing should give me pleasure, and generally it did. But I didn’t enjoy writing this poem (Wolff 36).” The story he plagiarized from was the perfect solution for the narrator; he had a relatable personal topic, and it was well written because it was created by someone else.
Sarah Cook
ReplyDeletePlagiarism
During our discussion the question about why the narrator plagiarized the story “Summer Night” came up a lot during the discussion. Many people mentioned that the narrator could hide behind it, that it was some sort of safety blanket. Even though he was or he believed he was revealing himself to the whole world he was still not completely confident in his own work. He felt some sort of connection to “Summer Night” as if he had the same experiences as the characters in the story. Also in the discussion some one brought up a good point did the narrator know that he was plagiarizing or was he so caught up in the thought that everyone would no who he was and it happened to slip his mind?
In the chapter the “When in Disgrace with Fortune” the narrator is ecstatic that Hemmingway chose his piece. It seems as if the narrator has no feelings about the whole school knowing who he really is. The narrator states, “There was no excuse for me to feel anything but joy” (Wolff 136). I found this interesting because before he couldn’t submit the fireman poem that was about who he really is and now all of a sudden he can’t feel anything but “joy” even though people will know whom the narrator really is.
The narrator feels on top of the world. Everyone is congratulating him, and complementing his story, everyone that is except Bill. Bill was beyond livid when talking to the narrator about “his” story. “ That doesn’t make it your situation. It isn’t your situation, and it isn’t your story. That was my story.” (Wolff 140). At this point in the chapter I knew the narrator was caught and he would face a bigger problem… Dean Makepeace.
The narrator truly feels a strong connection with the story. “I’d never thought of “Summer Dance” as anyone’s story but mine.” (Wolff 142). I feel some sort of sympathy for the narrator. Although it was wrong of him to plagiarize, it was the narrator’s way of “revealing” himself with out actually doing it. In the end the narrator got what he deserved but I could feel the narrators pain when he was being told that he was to leave the school.
Patrick Chi
ReplyDeleteThe Biggest Mistake of All
Throughout Old School, the narrator has made many doubtful decisions that has impacted his life at the school, most of which have revolved around attempting to hide his true identity. Iof speaking out his true feelings, such as submitting his Firefighter Poem or telling Gershon that he is in fact Jewish, the narrator constantly shies away from revealing his true self, and instead makes decisions that he thinks will allow himself to fit in. Ironically however, the one time in which the narrator actually “writes” a meaningful piece of work that truly reflects his own life would actually be the biggest mistake that he would make in his childhood. Of course, I am referring to the fact that he plagiarized Susan Friedman’s “Summer Dance.”
However, what actually made the narrator do what he did? What actually caused him to plagiarize this piece of work? The key reason to this is the fact that the characters in the story were so relatable to the narrator’s life itself; this was the first piece of writing in which he was ever able to connect with the characters, and see how their lives compared to his own. On page 125, he writes: “It went beyond the obvious parallels. Where I really recognized myself was in the momentary, undramatic details of Ruth’s life and habits of thought.” By saying it “went beyond the obvious parallels,” he’s alluding to the fact that his connection with Ruth wasn’t only at the surface, but it goes all the way down to the “undramatic details” of their lives as well. An example of this comes from the story when “Caroline says. It’s so ridiculous, but anyway – can I give your name as [Ruth] Lewis instead of [Ruth] Levine?” (Wolff 123) Although this detail may seem insignificant, it’s obvious that the narrator directly relates this to the fact that him and his roommate, Bill White, are trying to keep they’re Jewish religion secret from the rest of society.
As a result of all of these connections the narrator was able to make, it’s obvious that when he was “writing” his story for Hemingway, it didn’t even occur to him for a second that he was in fact plagiarizing the story that he read that night. Indeed, when the narrator is confronted by Mr. Lambert, Mr. Ramsay, and Goss, he is completely dumbfounded: “The line below the title said by Susan Friedman. I’d completely forgotten it. I’d never thought of “Summer Dance” as anyone’s story but mine.” (Wolff 142) As the narrator was convinced that his story was indeed his own writing, when the headmaster produced the original story in front of him, it is only imaginable how much shock the narrator must have been in. This shock is also clearly illustrated by the simple “Yes” or “No” answers (or nods) that the narrator answers the headmaster’s questions with.
It is clear that the narrator’s actions throughout chapters 6 and 7 are unforgiving, and it is very accurate for Goss to say that “[the narrator has] dishonored [their] class.” As a result of these events, the narrator has lost all of his reputation and respect, which is precisely why chapter 7 is titled “When in Disgrace with Fortune.”
Third line should say "Instead of speaking out....."
DeleteRicardo Rivadeneira
ReplyDeleteWas it worth it?
Relating back to the title of this comment: no. The narrator risked so much when he plagiarized the story that he didn't even want to think of it as plagiarize. He actually convinced himself that he wrote the story to prevent himself from being extremely worried about being caught. I would be freaking out about having plagiarized something and then winning a life-changing contest that other students could have won. He ruined something that could've been cherished by another student.
I wonder what he will even do now that he has practically nothing. I especially wonder what his father will do when he gets home.
Relating to what someone said in class, I think the narrator DID know that he was plagiarizing (someone said they thought he was oblivious to the fact that he was plagiarizing) and merely pushed it from his mind to prevent himself from stressing out about being caught. He obviously does not want to be expelled from the school (as shown earlier in the book when he quickly quit smoking after almost being expelled) and would have been freaking out that entire time had he not pushed his act of plagiarize out of his mind.
I think the author could be a little less obvious with where he is going with the story. He made it very obvious that Mrs. Ramsey was struggling with some feelings for the students when he put in the whole dancing-serenading scene. The author just throws in details that have no point in the story that they are either completely random or will be tied into the story later. Now that the narrator is away from the school though, I have no idea what is going to happen. I just wonder whether the author adds in these obvious details on purpose, or if he merely did not spend enough time on the book to fill it with details so that the details that matter blend in with everything else.
I thought that the narrator was finally happy at the school because he got an amazing opportunity without doing any work for it, and I was glad that the teachers found out he plagiarized. If I was him, I would've never taken the story anyways, but if I had I would've felt terrible about plagiarizing and especially about winning the Hemingway contest. It's also slightly ironic that in the chapter before he talks about how he "wanted out" from the school, and in the chapter where he is finally happy with the school he actually gets kicked out. I also thought there was some foreshadowing from when Bill got angry at the narrator for taking "his" story, claiming that the narrator would never have had the experiences written about in the story. I wonder if the author did this on purpose. I'm also wondering what Dean Makepeace's family matter that he is tending to is.
Anjuli Smith
ReplyDeleteThe Narrator and the Plagiarizing Situation
A question I think we all had was: why did the narrator plagiarize?
The school officials (in the meeting on page 141) seem to think it’s because he doesn’t care about the school. Mr. Lambert specifically asks him, “...did we treat you so badly...that you should think so little of us?” (Wolff 145). I don’t believe it’s because he doesn’t have respect for the school. He clearly loves this school, as he specifically states in response to Lambert’s question on page 145, and even in the beginning of the book, he “felt a rush of joy to wake to the bells ringing in the clock tower” (Wolff 17) and couldn’t believe he was actually there. He loves this school and the chance it gives him to escape the life he had with his father. Also, he is a scholarship student after all, so he’s more likely to be excited at the fact that he’s there, since for him this is truly an opportunity.
It is true that towards the Spring time of his senior year, like the other boys, he becomes a bit insurgent, and takes the school for granted. He has a right to though, seeing as he’s been offered a place at Columbia, and I’m sure Purcell’s defiance of the chapel meetings had an influence on him. This is the home stretch, and I’m sure to him, it feels like he’s already there.
He still values the school at the end, and is even slightly envious of the students he hears outside after the discussion with the officials. The real reason I think he plagiarized was because the story had already explained what he believed to be his feelings, and he really couldn’t make it any better. He sees the story “Summer Dance” as a perfect representation of himself and doesn’t see anything that really needs changing so he just switches out the names.
I also think it might be because he probably still finds it hard to express himself. Throughout the story, he seems to have trouble communicating, and when writing he doesn’t like to write about personal things. (However, I believe writing about yourself is the key to becoming a good writer. If you write about yourself, it’s a topic you’re knowledgeable on and it makes you more tangible to the reader, which as a result, makes your writing more relatable, and thus more enjoyable.) Even when he tried to write the girl’s words, the typewriter jammed. As the narrator says, “the sentence did not want to be written” (Wolff 126), but he struggles on. If it is this hard for the narrator to write that sentence, I don’t think the narrator is at the stage where he can write a sentence of his own that comes straight from his own life. This copying is the easiest way for him to express his feelings without actually having to showcase himself to the world. As he explains in “When in Disgrace With Fortune,” he’d “never thought of “Summer Dance” as anyone’s story but [his own]” (Wolff 142). He just saw it as a vessel to express himself, since he thought this was a perfect representation of his life. In reality though, he hasn’t really had to go through most of the struggles the girl faces. As Bill proves to the reader through his conversation with the narrator on page 139, people assume the narrator was “raised Catholic” (Wolff 139), and he was, so the narrator hasn’t had to go through any of the hardships associated with being Jewish at this period of history. However, the narrator believes these events to be true to his own experiences, so never really thinks of it as plagiarizing, so he's shocked it hits home that the story isn't really his.
Feigning Life
ReplyDeleteFareena Aslam
Plagiarism, a plague to literature. Something despite being so derogatory, was brushed off so easily by the narrator in Old School. I feel as if thought the narrator at this point in the story is battling with his sanity. He's a teenager in a private boarding school with a rough past, no one to go to share his burdens and hasn't seen much but the walls of the school for the past 4 years. The competition, the constant strive to do something. The narrator never really states the why he is in the school or what he plans on achieving, he wants to be a writer but that's just his influence from what the school stresses and what he believes is something truly an art in itself. He has no personal motivation which he shares through his writing. He can't quite place his ambitions or even his personality. His thought process is pretty scattered and at this point in the book, the only thing he was looking forward to was meeting Hemingway. He set up a challenge for himself for which he unconsciously went beyond the boundary and plagiarized "Summers Dance."
The narrator as seen in previous chapters tries to write pieces which are very realistic but aren't him. His insecurities and paranoia cause him to destroy whatever he starts, being in the state of mind that everything he writes hits too close to home and will be recognized by others and he will be judged for it. When he reads "Summers Dance", he reflects upon it, "I went back to the beginning and read it again, slowly this time, feeling all the while as if my inmost vault had been smashed open and looted and every hidden thing spread across these pages. From the very sentence I was looking myself right in the face." (Wolff 125) He sees himself in that story and it's so real and personalized for him, he doesn't realize that it's someone else's. Just that mere factor of relatedness possesses him to plagiarize the piece and call it his own. It's given to him, everything he's wanted to write about and has kept bottled up inside for so long is write in front of him and he has no choice but to wrongfully claim it.
I think a really important topic that can be tied with pretty much anything in the story is the fact that the narrator's name is never told. I think the key factor to that is for us to see how he changes during the course of the book. By giving a person a name we limit our view on them and put their traits inside a box depending on what they show us. In reality, a person has many sides which might be hidden and come out under different circumstances. The narrator is a perfect example of that, he's constantly evolving and we're seeing so many aspects of his identity. Identity is not a state of being but a state of becoming and leaving the narrator unnamed really shapes that idea.
Why he Plagiarized
ReplyDeleteVeronica Liu
One point that I think influenced the narrator’s decision to use the story Summer Dance was the fact that although he wanted to be open with everyone, he ended up plagiarizing in order to protect himself from writing a piece that would truly expose himself to everyone.
While at school, the narrator perfected his act of implying that he was a wealthy student “I had made myself the picture of careless gentility… This was the sort of figure I was drawn to almost from the beginning…” but he eventually grows sick of it and wants to tell his classmates about himself. However, he has been hiding for so long, that although he states multiple times that he wants to come clean about himself, I think he is still uncomfortable with actually telling the truth.
When he first read Summer Dance, he immediately saw himself in the protagonist Ruth. Within Summer Dance, Ruth brown-noses to her wealthy friend in order to stay in her friend’s good graces. The narrator acts similarly to Ruth throughout the whole novel. However, the story about the fire fighter that the narrator wrote about earlier on was also true to the narrator’s real life, but he disregards this piece.
Twice, the narrator is given a chance to reveal his past, first to Gershon in chapter one, and again to Bill, who extends an invitation to the narrator to talk to him. Both times, the narrator imagines a scenario where he accepts and opens up to them, but he declines to both.
When he decides to plagiarize Summer Dance, he forgets that it’s someone else’s story, and believes that everyone who reads it will see his personality. However, by plagiarizing, he merely went from one mask to another. Although the narrator wanted to be more open with his classmates, he was too used to hiding his personality, and subconsciously was too afraid of writing something that was actually about him.
Honesty matters so much in this book. It’s maybe not straightforward honesty, but honest with yourself. A girl reveals a lot about herself and a boy lies, using that truth to win a meeting with Ernest Hemmingway. And although he never meets Hemmingway, he gets one piece of advice, about how you need to be yourself and not present an artificial façade. Ironic, huh? Honesty with oneself and the courage to explore deep inside yourself are so essential for these authors. The only reason Ernest Hemmingway was such a successful author was that he was able to expose his true feelings through word which is what these boys are attempting to do but with false experiences.
ReplyDeleteWe touched upon this subject quite a bit in the discussion. Although we talked about how the students like to keep everything private and especially the narrator who keeps a lot of his unfortunate history under wraps, I feel like the discussion could have been enhanced by talking specifically about the visiting authors and their experiences. Ayn Rand with her struggle as a girl against the communist government, clearly leading to future trust issues, could have been discussed. Her story shows how she looked inward for her strength, commonly with the result of isolation, however still managing to reveal her spirit could have helped. Robert Frost using the decisions, such as to leave college, to influence his work, writing about life experiences. And of course Ernest Hemmingway, using his experience in the army to express his courage. These authors tell these students to gain more experience and to be their own man. Robert frost told George to spend some time abroad, while Hemmingway simply told he narrator to follow your gut. Sadly, he didn’t realize his mistake when he stole another person’s views. He completely plagiarized his work and ruined his chances. It wasn't honorable and it wasn't honest.
Separated both by Truth and Lies
ReplyDeleteI decided to look more into question 1 which talked about Bill and why he seemed so burdened down. In the chapter “When In Disgrace With Fortune” the narrator reveals to the reader the huge secret that Bill was trying to hide. On page 151 the narrator describes how Bill was having an affair with Mrs. Ramsey that year and she just recently ended the relationship. Wow, that was a shock to me. I never suspected that to be the root of why Bill was so sad and depressed! I knew that Bill was obviously writing some deep heartfelt words if they subdued him that much but I never thought they were as extreme and heartfelt as the turned out to be. Bill did do a very good job of hiding his relationship from the narrator and from others. I do wonder if Mrs. Ramsey’s disappearance on pg had anything to do will her an Bill though. Also the narrator “suspected that Mr. Ramsey knew (pg 151)”; if he is right then why would Mr. Ramsey keep quiet? Has he just accepted the fact that his wife is unfaithful or does he not want to ruin Bill’s last year and get him kicked out? Mr. Ramsey is turning out to be a very interesting character.
The part of the chapter that I really want to focus on though, is Bill and the narrator’s exchange in the dorms where the truth of Bill not handing in a story is revealed and Bill’s emotions towards “Summer Dance” is expressed. “So it’s fair to say you haven’t had the experience of doing what this person does in your story…so you’ve imagined what it’s like…it isn’t your situation, and it isn’t your story. That was my story, you fucking leech…and you know it (pg 140)”. I think that this quote answers the question of why the narrator and Bill hold so much back from each other in their relationship. In the discussion people touched on the point that both boys have too much to hide and I completely agree. From Bill’s interrogation you learn that the narrator had been going to synagogue in his earlier stay at the school but then stopped. I feel as though he did that to aid in hiding the fact that he was Jewish and it obviously worked. Bill harshly tells him that that is not his story but in fact he just he’s just taken Bill’s story and written it on a page. Bill doesn’t think that the narrator is Jewish like the protagonist in this story is. When he is grilling the narrator about not having experienced what this person does I think he is referring to having to change their Jewish last name to hide the fact that they are Jewish. Having to change your identity, as Bill has had to do.
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ReplyDeleteAs shown in the book, Bill really believes that the narrator has no attachment to this story in any way. Not just by being the physical author, but Bill believes that he never has lived through any of the experiences that is written about in the story. I think that this ties into question 5 which my fishbowl group discussed. If the narrator revealed his true background would it matter? Yes! The answer to that is yes, he obviously has done a great job of fronting to be someone he is not. He lied so well that Bill cannot see him as anything other than a preppy little catholic boy with no problems. Bill can’t believe that he could possibly be a poor Jewish kid that has had to face discrimination and rejection. This goes to show how lying really can have an impact on the people around you.
One last thing to touch on is how similar the narrator and Bill’s backgrounds really are. When the narrator plagiarized “Summer Night” he did so because he really thought that that was his story. His own life was looking him in the face and for once he would be able to express his true self. In a similar way Bill feels that that is his story and the narrator stole it from him. He obviously has lived through some of the experiences mentioned and he doesn’t know why the narrator has stolen his life story. Wow, what a coincidence: the two roommates who have lived together for over four years never knew that they share a similar story. I think that if they both had opened up to each other they could’ve become great friends and helped each other through problems that arose, but unfortunately they will never have that opportunity again because now they are not just separated behind the lies they tell but behind the truth that never had the hear to tell others.
Eric Koessler
ReplyDeleteDenial
The passage that struck me most in this chapter was when the narrator was called into the headmaster’s office and confronted about his plagiarism. As he was being interrogated, “I looked at him, then down at the sheet of paper in my hand, my eyes drawn again to that name as if it might yet change back into mine. Nothing to say? Mr. Lambert said. When I didn’t answer, he shrugged and shook his head.” Throughout the interrogation, the narrator seemed to be at peace with what he did, or just didn’t believe he had done anything wrong. Even when he was told that his acceptance to Colombia would be rebuked, he responded with “Oh” as if it wasn’t a big deal. He never got mad or had an adrenaline rush of some kind, something I think almost everyone would have happen to them if they were caught guilty for doing something as serious as this. Even when he was in the car with Mr. Ramsey as they drove to the station, he almost spoke down to Mr. Ramsey and scolded him for editing Ernest Hemingway’s interview, as if he himself had never done anything wrong. It struck me as the narrator was either in denial about what he did and thought the story he published actually was his, or he truly did not care about his future or the real consequences of his actions.
During the discussion, I don’t think many people understood the implications of Randism becoming a reality. To me, Randism is the idea that you should only respect people that have accomplished something and have proven themselves to you, otherwise they are inferior. It is also based on the idea that you have more importance than other people, therefore you must preserve yourself to the best of your ability. With these ideas in place, I think that society as a whole would collapse. The biggest problem arises with doing something for a cause. No one would fight for a country in a war because, as Ayn Rand says, sacrificing yourself for others is weakness. Government would also be non-existent because, although there are a lot of examples seemingly against this, the congressmen who write the laws for our country are doing it for the people, something Ayn Rand was never found of. Without any government whatsoever, anarchy, society would dissolve into simple hunting and gathering, as almost no one knows how to farm. People would also not give assistance to others if they saw it as not benefiting themselves. This would lead to the extinction of humankind because we are dependent on one another for the sake of protection, reproduction, and finding enough food, thus without this, everyone would either be killed or starve to death.
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ReplyDeleteJill Armenia
ReplyDeleteThe Narrator's Choice
The fishbowl discussion we had in class on Friday touched on a subject which I think is extremely important to the plot and the character development in this book. The idea that background and where you come from influences many aspects of your life is one of the main ideas in this book and we have talked about it a lot in terms of the narrators identity. I think it also influences a lot of the narrator's and other characters' choices in the story, such as Jeff Purcell skipping chapel since he knew he could get away with it. I believe the same applies for the narrator. I think many of his decisions are influenced by not only his background, but his need to hide it, and eventually, as we see in his plagiarism, his need to reveal it.
The narrator knows that without the school, he will never get very far. He needs his diploma to get into Columbia and move on with his life. Unfortunately, his overwhelming need to plagiarize his Hemingway story and get his identity out there without having to go through the process of writing such a painful story overtakes whatever good judgement he used to have. Unfortunately for him, he is not like Jeff Purcell and he doesn't have connections or doors that are "already open just because he was his father's son."(Wolff 106) His decision to plagiarize was detrimental to his future and in most aspects, completely foolish. However, I think there is something to be said for him since he finally had the courage to share his true self, even though he did it through plagiarism. I think there is also something to be said for the fact that the narrator's feelings and sense of self that he had been hiding for so long come out in this way and to him it is worth his entire future just to escape from the lies he has been telling. He clearly wanted to go to Columbia so he could escape the school where he knew he didn't belong, and that caused him to throw all of it away.
Noah Daviero
ReplyDeleteIndependence from the school
In our discussion during class, and in the book chapter When in Disgrace with Fortune, different characters do different things that lead them to achieve independence from the school and the other boys. In our discussion we talked about how Jeff Purcell tries to gain his independence by skipping chapel and succeeds to a certain extent, and in the chapter the narrator succeeds through plagiarism and being expelled from the school.
The thing that I specifically noticed in the discussion was the point brought up about Jeff and skipping chapel. ““Just going through that door makes me a liar”, Purcell said…it made him (Purcell) feel honorable in comparison to me.” This quote shows that Purcell is sick and tired of the school because he is no longer following the schools rules. In this way, Purcell feels like he is keeping his independence from the school and its ideas. Purcell is free to do this and risk graduation because he is rich and doesn’t need to get his diploma to open any doors to colleges. Even though his act is stopped in the end, he still attains some independence from the school because he didn’t back down and conform to the school rules by himself.
The main piece of the chapter that stood out to me was that the narrator gains his independence, however accidentally, by plagiarizing another person’s work. “The line below the title said by Susan Friedman. The name threw me…I’d never thought of “Summer Dance” as anyone’s story but mine.” This led me to believe that the narrator actually didn’t realize he was plagiarizing. However, this plagiarizing still led him to be expelled from the school. The narrator being expelled from the school was the end of his high academic career at this private school, but also allowed him to get rid of the constrictions that the school placed on his life.
Even though both characters gain their independence from the school in two completely different ways and situations, each boy receives and embraces his independence from the school.
Ashley Groesbeck
ReplyDeleteIdentity
Identity is who you are. In Old School, the narrator tries to cover up who he is and hide his identity. Even his roommate Bill White doesn't know much about him because despite living together for years they have never talked about their personal lives and who they were. Bill White thinks that the narrator has noticed his secrets and he was writing about him and stealing his story "It isn't your situation, and it isn't your story. That was my story and you know it." (Wolff 140). Bill White and the narrator didn't even talk enough for him to know that Bill White could relate to the "Summer Dance" poem and Bill. This shows that there are several kids at the school that feel the need to keep their identity a secret and protect their past. The school prevents the kids to be themselves; the narrator and Bill both aren't open about being Jewish and the narrator can't even reveal himself in his own words. Even though the narrator didn't steal the story from Bill White, the question remains, is it the narrator's story. The answer is no, because as Bill White explains on page 140, the story does't relate to the narrator.
In the chapter When in Disgrace with Fortune, the poem the narrator submitted, "Summer Dance" won. "Ernest Hemingway chose your story." (Wolff 133). The narrator finally got his writing chosen except it wasn't even his own writing. As a reader I thought that it was possible that subconsciously the narrator knew that he was doing the wrong thing by plagiarizing, causing him to physically not be able to begin writing the story. "Then the keys jammed. I separated them and they jammed again. The sentence did not want to be written." (Wolff 127). But why did the narrator use a story that he didn't even write for his big reveal, maybe it was that the narrator had never written like this before so he didn't know how to. How the school has the famous writers come to the school, influences the students to mimic the writing style of other authors. The students write about things that they don't even know about causing their writing to lack depth and meaning. The narrator might not have even known he was plagiarizing because he might not even know yet who he is and what his identity is.
The school is apart of the narrator's identity. He loved his school and he spent most of his time there that it influenced him so much and has become a part of him. "I loved my school no less for being gallantly unequal to our appetites-more, if anything. With still a month to graduation I was already damp with nostalgia." (Wolff 134). The narrator gets caught for copying the "Summer Dance" poem and he gets kicked out of the school "If after four years with us you could do this, the headmaster said, they you have understood nothing of what we are. You have never really entered the school. So be it. As far as this school is concerned, you were never here." (Wolff 145). It didn't make sense that the narrator was so close to graduation and he was so close and he just threw it all away by getting kicked out of the school for plagiarizing. The narrator is still finding his identity and even though he copied someone else's writing, it was the first step to reveal who he is. If the narrator did continue to live his life as a lie and pretend to fit in with the school, he would have been doing much worse than copying someone's poem. He needs to face his past in order to discover who he is so he can find his true identity.