Very Very Different

                                                          In a World of its Own

       Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent is unlike any book you will ever read (or at least any book I have ever read).  Its themes contrast the norm that seems to have overtaken Literature, that a book must end happily somehow or that it must have some overwhelmingly good and powerful message.  Conrad's work does nothing of that sort.  He brings you into a bleak world where the quality of human nature is used as a sinful tool.  His character's display nasty and cruel traits that almost never let up.  Even his solitary outliers are over taken by darkness.  Winnie murders her husband in cold blood and Stevie dies through Verloc's use of him.  To me though, Stevie had quite a lasting effect.  His innocence was odd.  He is like a child who doesn't know his way.  Winnie is his guardian and wants Stevie and her husband to spend time together.  When you spend time with a child you take their hand and show them the way.  Instead of this, Verloc took advantage of Stevie's blindness and used him to try and complete his mission.  I feel that Conrad used Stevie to even further highlight the gloom of his other characters.  Stevie is the light in a dark, musty room filled with junk.  And what does Conrad do with him?  He blows him up and destroys the light and goodness.  Once the light is out there is no place left to go for Conrad's other main characters.  Verloc is killed by his own wife, even in the very moment he starts to believe Winnie really loves him.  Then, Winnie thinks she has found something new to begin her life with but is only left alone with all her money stolen.  Conrad's situations are not just unfortunate, but send out a vibe of despair and darkness that I found terrifying yet captivating at the same time......a lot like a horrible accident you just can't take your eyes off.  

The Legends Never Die

                          How the Dream is kept Alive in Hal Borland's When the Legends Die

          As I began this book I thought that by "Legends" the author was speaking of certain people and those who are known very well.  He was not though...

        In this story Thomas Black Bull grows up in the ways of his ancestors.  He is forced away from society at a young age and is taught by his parents the ancient customs of living in the wild  When both his parents die, Tom is left as the sole keeper of his people's knowledge.  His parents have passed, but before they're deaths they gave to Tom all they knew.  This is the idea Borland portrays and is even shown in his title, that knowledge and customs die unless passed on.  He quotes Tecumseh, a Native American leader of the Shawnee, "When the legends die the dreams end.  When the dreams end, there is no more greatness."

        If people die without passing on their cultural knowledge, a way of life also dies.  By legends, I think that Borland is relating to the experience, thoughts, language, stories, and songs that grow with a society.  He is speaking of all things that people learn while they live with others from the same background.  If these die an entire culture dies with them.  Then with dreams I believe that Borland is speaking of the ability human beings possess to invision they're future.  In our dreams, we confide within ourselves the future aspects of our lives we intend to accomplish.  If tradition is lost then our dreams are nothing but empty ideas, for they have been thought of and hoped for without the appreciation and grasp of oneself that springs forth from or legends.  You must know your own, and your people's history, understanding what has already been done for you to be placed in your current position, before dreams are dreamed and greatness attained. 

Simple But Mighty

When the Legends Die by Hal Borland

             
           When I first started When the Legends Die I was able to breathe a sigh of relief.  Going from the intricate stories of The Tale of Two Cities and The Secret Agent, it was nice to sit down and read a steadily paced American author who I could fully understand.  This, of course, is not the only I reason I have come to greatly appreciate this book.  Hal Borland’s expert use of time, speeding it up and just as soon slowing it down, bring in the reader and are a major part of this book.  

            When the Legends Die is a book about Native American culture, but embraces themes and ideals about life that can be used anywhere.  The story begins with the early life of Thomas Black Bull. His father, mother, and he were forced to flee their village after his father murdered another man for stealing.  They leave town and begin to live in the ways their ancestors once lived.  Thomas is very young, about six years old when the first leave, and must learn the old ways of life now that they have separated themselves from society.  As he grows up, he learns things that have not been taught for years.  He father teaches him to hunt with traps and a bow and his mother teaches him the songs of their people and how to weave baskets by hand.  Two short years after leaving town his father dies in an avalanche and a year later his mother dies from sickness. Thomas is left alone in the world, but with him he has his knowledge.  He makes friends with animals animals, talking to them, and lives a peaceful life with them in the wilderness.  Borland’s descriptions are usually very simple but I find so appealing, as he narrates, “He told the bear cub to come with him, and it came.  That is how the boy and the bear cub became brothers and friends.  That is how it happened.  After that the boy was not alone.”  With nature and its creatures Tom finds other souls to live his life with. 

            Hal Borland reaches deep down into American culture and values.  This is constantly displayed in his tone throughout the book, even as Tom’s mom is describing the type of lodge she wants to build, “I do not want a house.  I want a lodge that is round like the day and the sun and that path of the stars.  I want a lodge that is like the good things that have no end.”  Borland shows that what Tom has learned in the wilderness is far more important than anything he will read out of a book, but his values are tested in many events.  After Thomas agrees to enroll in school following the death of his parents his life begins to change.  In school the teachers try and replace his knowledge with what they think is right in the eyes of the current day.  The teachers also chain his pet bear to a post, keeping him there and away from Tom.  To me, this symbolizes Tom's start in the new-world of man.  His values are repressed as his closest freind is taken away and chained down.  Like his bear, Tom's freedom is also chained down. 

           Many things happen in Tom's life, but later in the book he eventually goes back to the town his parents first moved from.  He is given a job as a shepherd and begins again to live within nature and amongst animals.  One day a bear comes and kills one of the sheep.  Tom tracks the bear down and confronts it.  With gun in hand he takes aim at the bear but never shoots, letting the bear live.  In this scene i feel that Tom regains his freedom.  After a long life in an empty world he has turned back to what he once knew so well.  Tom rediscovers his values and turns again to a solitary life in the wilderness.  

            I wish I could write more but that would take far too much time.  The beauty of this book can not merely be captured in a summary of its events and my personal take on them.  This book reaches into your soul as Tom reaches into his own and rediscovers himself after a life of turning away from his cultural values.  I don’t think I will go as far to say that Tom’s journey and transformation made me rediscover myself, but it did make me acknowledge the importance of beauty in the world and that my values are far too important to forfeit for any type of gains.  As Blue Elk says, “It is good for people to change, but it is not good for them to forget.”

                        All quotes taken from Hal Borland’s  When the Legends Die

           

Thoughts on: The Secret Agent

                                 The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad

To me, Joseph Conrad’s Secret Agent is a very gloomy but thrilling book.  Conrad brings you into the secret life of Adolf Verloc and the undercover Proletariat group he is a part of.  It was initially a shock to me when Verloc was asked to bomb the observatory.  In my mind I thought he was going to heroically decline the mission, instead doing something amazing, maybe like spending the rest of the novel fighting of the Proletariat group.  I knew Verloc was lazy and slightly a terrible person but I thought just maybe he wouldn’t accept this awful mission.  I was wrong though.  I should have been more prepared for his choice, knowing Conrad to be more of a dark writer, displayed in his not-so-short story Heart of Darkness.

   

As Verloc continued his mission I thought I might begin to hate him.  He was attempting to destroy a public building, and could potentially harm a number of people.  Instead I found myself interested and align with his thoughts.  I felt for his him as he weighed the options of accepting the mission.  He seemed more of a human and not a terrorist as his choice came from the desire to support his family not just wreak havoc on the public.  The secrecy and obscurity of the Proletariat group became intriguing.  I was just as struck as Verloc was with his conflict of how to successfully bomb the observatory.  The minute he set his sights on Stevie the feelings of hatred came on.  Verloc isn’t the nicest and most humble of characters but to use the innocent brother of his loyal wife infuriated me.  I wasn’t mad to the point of steam pouring out of my ears and my face a beet red while quietly reading a book, but more of a feeling of extreme disappointment in a major character. 

             

          With Verloc’s choice I think that he, in turn, met his demise.  He second handedly killed his brother-in-law, and in return his wife kills him.  Even later in the novel his wife dies.  In their deaths, those of the three major characters, Conrad sends his message.  He is warning the public that dark acts will only lead to harm of yourself and those around you.  Mr. Verloc planned to have a bomb set off, causing hysteria amonst the public, but only succeeded in getting himself and his family killed.  Conrad is suggesting that terrorism is a profession held by the same class of people that the harm is aimed at.  Terrorists are real people, like Verloc, who come from real families.  They aren't evil masterminds, but are weak and foolish like many other people, but still have the ability to affect anyone.