Even the Highest Fall

As I read, “The Strength of God”, written in the novel Winesburg, Ohio, I noticed a lot of animalistic allusions and wording. This was ironic to the text; because Reverend Curtis Hartman began the novel seems to be a strong follower of God, and throughout the short story, falls from his high position of reverence to the low being of an animal.

The adjectives that reference the Reverend always seem to reference an animal about to attack its prey and devour it. Whenever Kate Swift is described, her bare neck and her shoulders are always mentioned, and the Reverend always wants to “kiss her neck” (pg. 105). Whenever an animal attacks its prey, it goes for the throat, so that it can kill its victim easier. He lusts for Kate so much, that he is starting to become savage. The imagery that unfolds when he is stalking her, “waiting for her to return” (pg. 105) also makes it seem like he is scoping her out and is trying to plan his attack. Whenever he views her, he always follows with walking up and down the streets of the town. This can be viewed as an animal pacing. He never gets his “prize” and is disappointed by this and paces up and down the streets angrily. Hartman also feels that he “must train himself… to sit there…” (pg. 103) and watch Kate. Animals are taught to sit and wait. Whether they are wild and domestic, they are trained to be patient and learn. In the wild, animals must wait for the right moment to attack, and domestic animals are always taught the basic lesson of sitting. This lesson is not easy for most animals though, and it proves to be the same with Reverend Hartman. He has difficulties sitting there and allowing Kate to move about without him moving.

The Reverend’s wife, although nervous and timid, was the first to recognize the falling into animalistic tendencies. Whenever she was riding in the carriage with the Reverend she would always “look sideways at him”, and then she would also “worry, lest the horse become frightened and run away (pg. 100). Horses are not animals that are connotated with lust and anger, but they are timid creatures that frighten easily. The Reverend’s wife was afraid that Hartman was hiding something because he was always so worried and restless, like a horse. Wild animals do not like to be exposed, and riding around in their own personal carriage would have drawn attention to themselves. Whenever she looked at him too, she would look out of the side of her eyes, like she was trying not to spook him.

This animalistic desire is symbolizing Reverend Curtis Hartman’s fall from grace. When he stands up for the last time, the Bible “falls to the ground” (pg. 104), showing how he has completely disregarded God (by letting his most valuable item fall), and is giving into his temptations. Reverend thinks it is a sign from God, but the true meaning is the complete opposite. He surrendered his entire being to his animalistic tendencies and has let lust drive him for months. Even the highest people to God fall, as the Reverend stated earlier, and this shows once again how everyone can be an important and Christly human being, not just reverends. It was proven that the highest can fall, and the lowest (Kate Swift) can be brought up.

Rebellion and Religion

                Joyce Carol Oates, who wrote the short story “Where are You Going, Where Have You Been”, uses a multitude of religious symbolism, and then contradicts it with rebellious thoughts within her text. This story in particular helps show the viewpoints of the people during the rock and roll time period and how that influenced society. Oates shows through this short story that rock and roll negatively influences the youth and it can be a danger to them all.

                The text starts with Connie embodying the idea of a true feminist through her beliefs and actions. Connie does not allow others to dictate her life and goes against everything that her parents enforce upon her. Her mother is continuously telling her to stop looking at herself and live like her plain sister June; but Connie disregards her and beats to her own drum.  She walks around in the town and has brief, one night relationships with boys of her own age or slightly older. All the while she is listening to the rock and roll music that is sweeping through the nation.

Many parents in this time period feared that rock and roll was dangerous for their children. The parents believed that the music placed rebellious ideas into the minds of teenagers and that they would act upon these ideas. Connie listens to this music constantly and helps embody the idea that the music is dangerous because of her lifestyle choices; the boys that always follow her, her tight clothing, and her stubborn attitude. At the end of the story, Connie is also listening to music playing on the radio, when she agrees to go with Arnold Friendly, who is characterized as being the devil.

Arnold Friendly is a mystery until the middle of the novel, when he shows up at Connie’s house. He is first introduced lurking in the corner of a crowded diner, and later reveals that he has been following Connie around for some time. The devil also follows his victims around and places sin within their lives. He is never seen, but the actions that he incites show that he is always lurking around, similar to Arnold. When Arnold convinces Connie to come with him, it is under her own volition; he does not force her, just encourages her to follow him. Connie also notices that Arnold wears a lot of face make-up, like he is wearing a mask to cover his face, like he doesn’t want her to know his true identity or motives. Shouting Christ was also a difficult word for him to say, implying that as the devil, he would never acknowledge Jesus and God.

Why Oates doesn’t characterize Connie differently is a puzzle though. Trying to show both rebellion and religious symbolism conflicted throughout the story. The religious aspect would acknowledge that Connie was a good girl, that followed the Lord and did not listen to disgraceful music and was tempted by the Devil. But instead she is characterized as an individual woman fighting for her music.

Life through Images

In the short story Hairball, by Margaret Atwood, there are many images and symbols that seemed to help describe the qualities of the characters, but I wanted to analyze names and felines in greater depth.

The symbol that kept appearing repeatedly over the course of the story was the different names. Kat started her name as Katherine, but to her, that name was too girly and frilly, like the ruffle skirts her mother used to dress her in. She didn’t change her name then though because she didn’t resist her mother or question her. She could characterize herself because of her mother. In high school the change started occurring when she shortened her name to Kathy. This name did not suit her either; it was too bubbly and conforming, which was something she was working hard to achieve, but with no luck. She was trying too hard to make others accept her that she started losing herself. Kathy wasn’t a conformist and so she moved from that life to England. Kat was her name through the course of the section that the reader entered into, and it sounds sharp and somewhat harsh, which is what the reader characterizes her as. Kat changed her name when she journeyed to England where she was working constantly trying to achieve success as a woman in a man’s world. This was a constant pressure that forced her to be sharp and rigid, like her name.  When she signs the note to Gerald though, the name is shortened once again, to merely the letter K. The K was printed in block letters, like it was a fact. I perceive this to mean that she was starting to understand herself more than she had in decades. Cursive writing would have seemed whimsical, and Kat has proved to the reader she is anything but. By the end of the story, our main character exclaimed herself to be nameless. This seems to reflect on how she’s starting over. The life she had been living was not what she wanted for herself, and starting over with a new name would help give her a new start. This can also be seen as to why she gave Hairball, her most prized possession up; for a fresh start.  Gerald’s name also changes thought-out the course of the story too. At first it was Gerald, a sweet and charming man, and then it changed to Ger. Ger sounds more like a man that is willing to take risks, the complete opposite of the reader’s first impression of him. Ger was the name that had the affair, while Gerald was the name with a devoted wife, strong family, and his own business. The shorter the name became, the more complications Kat was going through in her life. Names can help define a person, and not entirely knowing your name can symbolize not completely knowing yourself.

The feline references that also kept appearing help describe Kat. Kat had to fight for Felice to be the name of the magazine title, which helps characterize her personality. Cats are notoriously known for being independent creatures that can survive with very little assistance. Unlike their pet counterparts the dog, they don’t need constant attention and they most certainly do not stay in one place for long. Kat was always travelling to new places because she got bored with the places she was staying in. She bounded from man to man without seemingly to need their individual love. For most women, they need some sort of reassurance that the man they are with at the time had some sort of feelings for her, but Kat did not need these affections from men, or so she thought. Although cats do not need constant care, they still require humans to feed them and offer them shelter. Kat couldn’t keep the life she was living and that is why she confided in Gerald. After all that he put her through, she didn’t leave him. He was the person that helped support her for a long time; not financially but emotionally. When Gerald started turning into Ger though, Kat saw that she created a monster. All the men she was with, drained something from her and she never seemed to understand that they were simply using her for her body. She knew she deserved better but never truely got out of a "relationship" by herself. Kat wanted to believe she was more independent than she actually was. Kat wanted to believe she was as independent as a cat, but she still needed some sort of love to survive.

The imagery throughout the course of the story helps give small amounts of insight into the characters personality, even when they seemed to be struggling to understand themselves as well. In the end I believe that Kat started to learn more about herself and find her true way as soon as she sent Hairball and let go. She started becoming the independent cat that she characterized herself to be, but never fully got to.