Week 14 Project Action Plan: Baldwin

Topic: “Choose one short story or novel excerpt. Write a piece in which you explore the following: In what ways could this story be considered an artifact of history? What does this story teach us about history? How does a story teach us about a time or place differently than a history book”.

Reading: James Baldwin, “Notes of a Native Son” (735-750)

I am doing this one because it is a good reading to dive into this topic, history-wise. In this reading, we see a little bit of the history of racial discrimination. My reading notes on this story should help and that is why I choose this even with how recent of a story this reading we did was. I am doing this one because it terms of being an artifact of history, it can be considered one based on the link to historical events. This story teaches us about history through the feelings and clear connection to social and political events. This one teaches us differently because it gives more feeling than fact, even if fiction.

Social and political event:

1)      race riots that took over Detroit in June 1943

2)      African Americans were leaving the south in search of better freedom and welcoming cities to them

3)      Racial Discrimination

Some quotes that can be used (may not necessarily use when I write the project submission):

1)      “I declined to believe  in that apocalypse which had been central to my father’s vision; very well, life seemed to be saying, here is something that will certainly pass for an apocalypse until the real thing comes along” (737)

2)      “The only white people who came to our house were welfare workers and bill collectors. It was almost always my mother who dealt with them, for my father’s temper, which was at the mercy of his pride, was never to be trusted. It was clear that he felt their presence in his home to be a violation” (739)

3)      “I knew about the south, of course, and about how southerners treated Negroes and how they expected them to behave but it had never crossed my mind that anyone would look at me and expect me to behave that way. I learned in New Jersey that to be a Negro meant, precisely, that one was never looked at but was simply at the mercy of the reflexes  the color of one’s skin caused in other people” (740)

These quotes are good links to the time and the events that happened during this time.

Argument Attempt:

·         This story is considered an artifact of history because of the clear links to history and the feelings that it allows the readers to connect to.

Week 14 Analysis: A Close Reading

James Baldwin, “Notes of a Native Son” (735-750)

            One passage that stuck out to me was: “I knew about the south, of course, and about how southerners treated Negroes and how they expected them to behave but it had never crossed my mind that anyone would look at me and expect me to behave that way. I learned in New Jersey that to be a Negro meant, precisely, that one was never looked at but was simply at the mercy of the reflexes the color of one’s skin caused in other people” (740) This passage stuck out to me because I found it to be a good example of how the south viewed African Americans. I also found this passage interesting because it made the readers feel a connection to the feelings of surprise and bewilderment to the hostility the character faced when moving to the south. To him, it was a whole new world where he had to actually deal with the extremes of segregation of the Jim-crow laws.  This seems to foreshadow a bigger plot to the story and leads up to a lesson the narrator will learn. Through words like “behave” being repeated, we can see the importance of how at this time, whites (southerners) expected Africans to behave under unfair segregation laws and rules. Continuing on, what I think he meant when he said he is at “the mercy of the reflexes the color of one’s skin caused in other people” (740) is that he stuck under the societal roles created for African Americans at the time and that one simple thing he did, could set a white off. It is like he is a slave to society and according to society and maybe even him; he is a slave to his own skin color. Overall, this passage leads into the overall lesson that only things that mattered were to be held onto and that in the end, “blackness and whiteness did not matter” (750).

"Notes of a Native Son". The Norton Anthology World Literature, Third Edition, Vol. D. Martin Puchner. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. Pages 735-750. Fairfield Medium with the display set in Aperto.

Reading Notes W14: Lispector, Part B

Clarice Lispector, “The Daydreams of a Drunk Woman” (808-814)

Clarice Lispector:

·         “Reaching for an apple in the dark, claims Brazilian modernist Clarice Lispector, demonstrates the limits of our knowledge: we know that the object is an apple but a little more. Its color and ripeness shrouded in obscurity-tantalizing there and not there at the same time” (808).

·         1920-1977

·         She is a pivotal figure in modern Brazilian literature

·         She was born December of 1920 in Tchetchelik, Ukraine

·         “best known as a writer of intense, tightly structured short stories that portray the external world through a character’s innermost thoughts and feelings and that emphasize sensuous perception to attain intuitive knowledge beyond words” (808).

The Story:

·         “The title disposes of the protagonist in a few words: she is an alcoholic, and she imagines things” (808-809).

·         There is more to this story because as readers, we are meant to dive deeper into the meanings behind her choices in life and what caused it, etc.

·         Chances of not knowing her identity, loss of self, etc.

·         Destructive lifestyles and choices.

·         “Lispector’s prose evokes the existential dilemma that the young woman feels and half understands” (809).

Quotes:

·         “had her husband and little ones been home, the idea would already have occurred to her that they were to blame. Her eyes did not take themselves off her image, her comb worked pensively, and her open dressing gown revealed in the mirrors the intersected breasts of several women” (809). Already in the beginning, we see her struggle with identity issues and we can already see some deep-rooted issues. She wants to blame everyone else, but no one is home so it is like she has no choice but to look in the mirror and see herself and the many things wrong with her. She is obviously unhappy and hates her life.

·         “And everything in the restaurant seemed so remote, the one thing distant from the other, as if the one might never be able to converse with the other. Each existing for itself, and God existing there for everyone” (812). She sees everything in a negative light and everyone seems selfish and self-serving to her, like there is nothing worthwhile.

·         “Certain things were good because they were almost nauseating…the noise like that of the elevator in her blood, while her husband lay snoring at her side” (814). This is a rather concerning view of the world. In her eyes, things can only be good if they’re nauseating, like having money even if you are unhappy.

Reading Notes W14: Baldwin, Part A

James Baldwin, “Notes of a Native Son” (735-750)

James Baldwin:

·         1924-1987

·         A leading African American novelist

·         He is one of the greatest prose stylists of the twentieth century

·         “He is best known for his remarkable essays that, in poetic rhetoric drawing on both the classics of English literature and the tones of biblical prophecy, combine personal reflection with a wider view of social justice” (735).

·         He is an icon of the civil rights movement.

·         He affirmed his American identity as a “Native Son”. By just looking at this and comparing it to the title, you can tell this is going to play an important role in the story line.

·         He experienced racial discrimination first hand

·         “…unhappy with the radicalization of movements with which he had been associated.” (735-736).

·         He typically had optimistic and liberal views that often helped him exhort his readers into change and such.

Behind the story:

·         Personal life: includes death of his father and birth of his father’s youngest child.

·         Social and political event: race riots that took over Detroit in June 1943. Importance=three dozen people died.

·         African Americans were leaving the south in search of better freedom and welcoming cities to them.

Quotes:

·         “I declined to believe  in that apocalypse which had been central to my father’s vision; very well, life seemed to be saying, here is something that will certainly pass for an apocalypse until the real thing comes along” (737). This could be a representation of how bad the race riots felt to people. It also a way to show the feelings of the author where all these events are just crashing down on him.

·         “The only white people who came to our house were welfare workers and bill collectors. It was almost always my mother who dealt with them, for my father’s temper, which was at the mercy of his pride, was never to be trusted. It was clear that he felt their presence in his home to be a violation” (739).  This shows the impact racial discrimination had and is an example of the hostility of this time.

·         “I knew about the south, of course, and about how southerners treated Negroes and how they expected them to behave but it had never crossed my mind that anyone would look at me and expect me to behave that way. I learned in New Jersey that to be a Negro meant, precisely, that one was never looked at but was simply at the mercy of the reflexes  the color of one’s skin caused in other people” (740). This is a good example of how bad the south was and how people acted/reacted.

Topic Brainstorm Week 13

1)      One project choice I might do is: “Choose one short story or novel excerpt. Write a piece in which you explore the following: In what ways could this story be considered an artifact of history? What does this story teach us about history? How does a story teach us about a time or place differently than a history book”. I might choose this one because I like to explore the history behind a novel for in general, I always find it interesting. I feel that I am good at researching the history behind things so I feel I can do this one. I would love to learn about the history or simply, why it is an artifact of history. I feel it would be interesting.

2)      Another project choice I might do is: “Choose a reading. In your project, consider the following: What does this work reflect about its historical, social, political and/or economic context? You may focus on race, class, power, cultural values and beliefs, historical events, the author’s biography, gender, psychology, etc”. To be honest, I am kind of leaning towards this one more than the other one because there is more I can explore. However, just like the other choice, I chose this one because I like to explore the history behind things and feel I can research this one well. Plus the larger choices of exploration, makes this one seem more interesting to me. I want to learn as much as I can about whatever story I choose and this would be a good way to go.

3)      Lastly, another project I may choose is: “Think about a theme you see running through your life (failure is the best lesson, love is eternal, etc). Choose a reading that you think also discusses this theme (even if it reaches different conclusions about it). Explore connections between how the theme plays out in your life, and how the theme gets played out in the reading.” I may do this one because it is different than actually exploring the history of something. I felt if I were to pick another choice, it would have to be a little different. I feel that I could take my personal experience and explore a theme in life that also links to a story. It would be great to learn the connections of stories to life.

Overall, my past projects may help with each and every one of these topic choices because I can figure out what and how I want to do this next project submission a little easier. With the knowledge I have of doing the other project submissions, I will know how I would want to organize this one. However, I do not know what readings I want to do yet.

Week 13 Analysis: A literary Analysis

William Butler Yeats, “When You Are Old, Easter 1916…” (518-532)

            In “Leda and the Swan” by William Butler Yeats, the setting changes quite a lot for this short of a poem. Firstly, the setting takes place as being held by a large bird and it goes into great detail about it. We do not exactly know where this is. However, further on into the poem, the setting jumps into the future with them set in the City of Troy. We get a view of the broken walls and the burning roofs and towers of the sacked and burned city. We also even get told of the man Agamemnon simply being dead. However, we go back to the original setting in the last few lines of Leda being raped. Continuing on, this poems theme seems to be of death and beauty. However, these themes are told as if they are the consequence of the rape of Leda. For example, “A shudder in the loins engenders there the broken wall, the burning roof and tower and Argamemnon dead” (525). Argamemnon was murdered by his wife (who was a daughter of Leda). It could be saying that because Leda was raped, this resulted in his death and the ruins of Troy. However, this is just my view of what I got from this. Not to mention, with the rape of Leda, she gave birth to Helen of Troy. Helen’s beauty is what started the Trojan War in the first place. Therefore, we see themes of death and beauty in the poem, which he also often uses in other poems as well. To clarify, the Trojan War was a war that was waged and led by Argamemnon as revenge for the abduction of Helen (against the Trojans).  The author uses this story to tell the world-changes leading to the modern era. In general, each of Yeat’s poems touches upon the changing of era in a form of historical gyres, also known as the historical model of gyres. This is what links the mythological poem to the real world.

"Leda and the Swan". The Norton Anthology World Literature, Third Edition, Vol. D. Martin Puchner. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. Pages 518-532. Fairfield Medium with the display set in Aperto.

Reading Notes W13: Akhmatova, Part B

Anna Akhmatova, “Requiem” (565-574)

Anna Akhmatova:

·         1889-1966

·         One of the great Russian poets of the twentieth century

·         “Expresses herself in an intensely personal, poetic voice, whether as lover, wife, and mother or as a national poet commemorating the mute agony of millions” (565).

·         Universal themes: individual experience, historical events (filter of tears), love, hope, and pain.

·         “what most distinguishes her work is the way these basic emotions arise from the historical traumas of Akhmatova’s native land” (565).

·         She was born in the suburb of the Black Sea port of Odessa as Anna Andreevnaa Gorenko.

·         She took her pen name from her maternal great-grandmother (Tatar descent).

·         She was subject to official attacks after the war: “because she was considered too independent and cosmopolitan to be tolerated by the authorities, Akhmatova’s books were suppressed: they did not fit the government-approved model of literature: they were too “individualistic” and were not “socially useful” (566).

The story:

·         The author takes two personal losses and puts them together to create a mother grieving for a condemned son.

·         See the author’s personal emotions in the poem.

·         The mother’s grief only grows in the poem.

·         Individual grief that is linked to the country’s disaster.

·         A community of suffering isolated to one person’s story.

Quotes:

·         “The verdict…And her tears gush forth, already she is cut off from the rest, as if they painfully wrenched the life from her heart” (569). This is a good quote for the theme of pain and suffering. This woman feels torn and sad over the now condemned person.

·         “And I pray not for myself alone, but for all those who stood there with me in cruel cold, and in July’s heat, at that blond, red wall” (574). This could be a reference to the fact that she is not the only one who suffered but others did too. Many had losses too.

·         “And if they gag my exhausted mouth through which a hundred million scream, then may the people remember me on the eve of my remembrance day” (574). Maybe she is saying she won’t sit still and will be the voice for those wronged?

Reading Notes W13: Yeats, Part A

William Butler Yeats, “When You Are Old, Easter 1916…” (518-532)

William Butler Yeats:

·         1865-1939

·         The Twentieth Century’s greatest English-language poet

·         Is a voice for modern, independent Ireland

·         “His captivating imagery and his fusion of history and vision continue to stir readers around the world, and many of his poetic phrases have entered the language” (518).

·         His private mythology allowed him to explain things like: “symptoms of Western Civilization’s declining spiral-the plight of Irish society and the chaos in Europe in the period surrounding the First World War” (518).

·         The eldest of four children born to John Butler and Susan Pollexfen Yeats.

The Poems:

·         “When you are old”: poem from Pre-Raphaelite period that basically pleads his love for Maud Gonne (an actress and Irish nationalist). His feelings for this woman may have personified love, beauty, nationalism, hope, frustration, and despair because of her constant rejections of marriage to him.

·         “Easter 1916”: “Yeats recognized that the Eastern Rebellion, led by radicals whose politics and violence he disapproved, had altered not just the political situation in Ireland but its spiritual state as well” (520). He takes a political stand in this poem.

·         “Leda and the Swan”: This is a retelling of a mythical rape that foreshadows the Trojan War. “Zeus’s transformation into a swan and rape of Leda embodies a moment of world-historical change” (521). This has to do with problems in history.

Quotes:

·         “Easter 1916”: “Was it needless death after all? For England may keep faith for all that is done and said” (524). Maybe he is debating whether all this death was worth it.

·         “Easter 1916”: MacDonagh and MacBride and Connolly and Pearse now and in time to be, wherever green is worn, are changed, changed utterly: A terrible beauty is born” (524). James Connolly is a labor leader/nationalist that was executed by the British. Major John MacBride was married and separated from Maud Gonne (who is Yeat’s love in “When You Are Old”). Pearse and MacDonagh were leaders of the rebellion and were also executed by the british. Possible themes: Death, Change, lost love, beauty, Execution in history.

·         “Leda and the Swan”: “A shudder in the loins engender there the broken wall, the burning roof and tower and Agamemnon dead” (525). Clytemnestra was a daughter of the raped Leda and killed Agamemnon. Possible themes: Death, Beauty, War, Sacrifice, and History (maybe?).

Project Revision: second round Week 12

1)      Specific Textual support

·         I got rid of one quote that didn’t fit into my argument and replaced it with one that did fit.

2)      Slow down and read out loud when you proofread

·         I did this and found that I needed to focus on one thing and changed some things. For example: how this new quote talked about the corrupt government and its poetic justice.

3)      Comment Wall

·         I tried to change how my quotes were embedded, like how I kept repeating “for example” in every quote.

Project revision:
https://sites.google.com/view/kitkatstull/project-2

Reading Notes W12: Jun'ichiro, Part X

Tanizaki Jun’ichiro, “The Tattooer” (78-84)

Tanizaki Jun’ichiro:

·         1886-1965

·         “No other Japanese writer has quite his combination of copious imagination, deadly stylistic pitch, and sensitivity to the historical past, not to mention a wicked sense of humor” (78).

·         Published his final novel at seventy six.

·         He was Japan’s favorite literary enfant terrible, which means he was unconventional and wrote ideas that shocked, embarrassed, or annoyed others.

·         He was born into a merchant family in the old commercial quarter of Tokyo.

·         He wrote what many called demonic fiction. This was tales of sexual obsession, masochism. He covered themes like obsession, desire, dominance, submission, fetishism.

“The Tattooer”:

·         We see a Tattooer’s obsession (or secret pleasure) with inflicting pain.

·         Set in the Edo Period (1603-1867): brothel districts and theaters of major cities put into a culture.

·         Themes: Secret desires, shifting tides of domination and submission, and construing creativity. This can be both considered in a sexual manner and in an entirely different way, a manner of control in the fact that the Tattooer is a slave to his work.

Quotes:

·         Signs of the Edo period: “Visitors to the pleasure quarters of Edo preferred to hire palanquin bearers who were splendidly tattooed; courtesans of the Yoshiwara and the Tatsumi quarter fell in love with tattooed men” (80). Being tattooed in this time was important so the Tattooer would have many people to inflict pain upon. The Yoshiwara and Tatsumi quarter were two brothel districts in the Edo period.

·         Tattooer’s name: Seikichi. Secret pleasure example: “His pleasure lay in the agony men felt as he drove his needles into them, torturing their swollen, blood-red flesh; and the louder they groaned, the keener was Seikichi’s strange delight. Shading and vermilioning-these are said to be especially painful-were the techniques he most enjoyed” (80). It was so painful to the point people collapsed at his feet half-dead.

·         The Tattooer wished to tattoo the skin of the most beautiful women. He waited for years for this to happen. This shows his commitment to his obsession: “Several years had passed without success, and yet the face and figure of the perfect women continued to obsess his thoughts. He refused to abandon hope” (81).

·         “To make you truly beautiful I have poured my soul into this tattoo. Today there is no woman in Japan to compare with you. Your old fears are gone. All men will be your victims” (83). He gave her a spider tattoo as if to represent the power of her beauty, like she has all men in her clutches like the spider has her in its clutches. For example, “You must be suffering. The spider has you in its clutches” (83).

·         He was her first victim in men being her victims: “All my fears have been swept away-and you are my first victim” (84).

Week 12 Analysis: A Close Reading

Virginia Woolf, “A Room of One’s Own” (336-371)

            One passage that sticks out to me is: “All I could do was to offer you an opinion upon one minor point-a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction; and that, as you will see, leaves the great problem of the true nature of woman and the true nature of fiction unsolved” (339). This stuck out to me because it is like it is the beginning of what the rest of this story covers: Woman and the difference in attitude towards them and men. It also stuck out because of how it somehow foreshadows the rest of the story. One last reason it stuck out to me is because of the problems women had to face in fiction, like in this case, where woman struggle with inferiority to men. This struggle can be seen in the words “a woman must have money and a room of her own” (339). This pertains to the fact that woman of fiction were considered to produce works inferior to that of men and rarely get the chance to do anything because they are denied that chance. Women were believed to stick to household duties and stay and care for the husbands. So these words are ironic in the fact that women are not given the chance to actually earn their own money and even obtain a room of their own. Women are rejected this chance so they have no way of getting ahead and specifically in this story, women of fiction cannot get ahead. Therefore, this passage plays into the rest of the story about the difference in women and men and even brings light to this issue in societies view towards women where they see women as inferior in this case. This passage gives us readers a chance to see into these problems and learn why that is her opinion.

"A Room of One’s Own". The Norton Anthology World Literature, Third Edition, Vol. D. Martin Puchner. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. Pages 336-371. Fairfield Medium with the display set in Aperto.

Reading Notes W12: Fusako, Part B

Kushi Fusako, “Memoirs of a Declining Ryukyuan Woman” (400-408)

Kushi Fusako:

·         1903-1986

·         She is known for this single classic story and this is her only work

·         “Her famous story gives a memorable depiction of the life of minorities in modern Japan” (400).

·         She is actually one of the few Okinawan women who actually published fiction in the early twentieth century.

·         Okinawans were considered to be second-class citizens no matter the social level.

·         “The new government instituted assimilation campaigns to bring the supposedly backward Okinawan society in line with the civilized culture of Japan: its targets included the communal landholding system, the use of dialects, women’s fashion, and the custom of tattooing the backs of women’s hands…” (400-401).

·         Okinawans were forced to migrate to the mainland because of work (in search of work).

·         Many Okinawans pretended to be Japanese and hid it in order to work and such.

·         The story may link to the author’s own struggles/life.

·         This story of hers caused uproar: the student association said the story was presenting Okinawan’s in a negative/demeaning light.

·         Her writing style: evocative portrayal of nature which conveys the narrator’s intense emotions. This was similarly used by the other writers too.

·         IMPORTANT: people in the main islands of Japan were prejudice against Okinawan’s.

Quotes:

·         “Tattoos have caused suffering in almost every Ryukyuan family. Even if every woman can save enough money to send several sons to higher school, she is destined to be left behind in her hometown until she dies, thanks to those tattoos on the back of her hands” (402). Tattoo-a symbol of their status in society? The tattoo was an easy way to tell Okinawans from main landers.

·         “You have to understand that if people found out I was Ryukyuan, it would cause me all kinds of trouble. To be honest, I even lied to my wife, telling her I was going to visit Beppu City in Kyushu” (406). This equals into the prejudice against them.

·         “I don’t care whether Okinawans are identified with Ainu or with “pure Japanese” because I firmly believe that, despite superficial differences resulting from environmental conditions, we are all Asians and equal as human beings” (407).

Reading Notes W12: Woolf, Part A

Virginia Woolf, “From a room of One’s own” (336-371)

Virginia Woolf:

·         One of the great modern novelists

·         State of mind/mind and body

·         “She was an ardent feminist who explored-directly in her essays and indirectly in her novels and short stories-the situation of women in society, the construction of gender identity, and the predicament of the woman writer” (336).

·         1882-1941

·         Born as Adeline Virginia Stephen on January 25, 1882. She was born to an eminent Victorian editor and Historian Leslie Stephen.

·         She went through the development of treating the mentally ill due to suffering psychological breakdowns after each parent’s death.

·         Her writings emphasize the abstract arrangement of perspectives which in turn create a network of meanings.

The story:

·         MAJOR THEME: societies different attitudes toward men and women

·         Women should be given equality

·         Discovery and defining of femininity

·         Women and fiction

·         The identity of being a woman can put a block on women achieving what they want and getting ahead in life. Women have set backs and just can’t get ahead.

Quotes:

·         “That collar I have spoken of, women and fiction, the need of coming to some conclusion on a subject that raises all sorts of prejudices and passions, bowed my head to the ground” (340). This could possibly mean: women needing equality but this particularly connects to women and fiction, as such, raising a bunch of questions and unsolved problems.

·         “And it was only after a long struggle and with the utmost difficulty that they got thirty thousand pounds together” (349) This somewhat links to women in the fact that so little of people actually wished for women to be educated so 30,000 at least is a considered to be a great deal. *The explanation of this can also be found on page 349 at the bottom*.

·         “Women do not write books about men-a fact that I could not help welcoming with relief, for if I had first to read all that men have written about women, then all that women have written about men, the aloes that flower once in a hundred years would flower twice before I could set pen to paper” (353). Noticing the difference between men and women.

·         “Moreover, in a hundred years, I thought, reaching my own doorstep, women will have ceased to be the protected sex. Logically they will take part in all the activities and exertions that were once denied them” (361).

·         “That woman, then, who were born with a gift of poetry in the sixteenth century, was an unhappy woman, a woman at strife against herself…what is the state of mind that is most propitious to the act of creation, I asked (367).

Reading Notes W11: Tagore, Part X

Rabindranath Tagore, “Punishment” (889-904)

Rabindranath Tagore:

·         First Asian to receive the Nobel Prize for literature, specified to poetry

·         1861-1941

·         Later in life he became an international influence

·         Born in Calcutta to one of India’s most famous families

·         He published his first book of poems in Bengali of 1880

·         Between 1891 and 1895, he published 42 short stories

·         A reformist and activist in education

·         He lectured on the most pressing issues of his time

·         He spoke out on nationalism

·         A notable representative of universal humanism (“Spiritual”)

·         Fluent in Bengali and English

The story:

·         Set in the Bengal Countryside

·         Set in the late nineteenth century

·         Theme: administration of justice (British colonial justice system)

·         “the first modern short story in world literature about the legal phenomenon that lawyers and judges call “the Rashomon effect” (891).

·         Rashomon effect: “Whenever there are two or more eyewitnesses to an event or a crime, even their most truthful accounts of what happened differ fundamentally from each other” (891).

·         Conflicting testimony- honest and dishonest accounts are given.

·         Biased decision by judge that is based on class and gender.

·         Question: What constitutes justice?

·         Social realism and psychological realism.

Quotes:

·         “When the sun rises at dawn, no one asks why; and whenever the two wives in this kuri-caste household let fly at each other, no one was at all curious to investigate the cause” (893). People were used to this happening so no one bothered to check on them or investigate. Kuri-caste= (in Bengal) a low caste originally of bird catchers, but by the 19^th century, general laborers.

·         “The story he had given to Ramlochan Chakravati had gone all round the village; who knew what would happen if another story was circulated? But he realized that if he kept to the story he would have to wrap it in five more stories if his wife was to be saved” (895). If the story kept changing, there would be a problem.

·         “The magistrate did not believe him, because the chief, most trustworthy, most educated witness- Ramlochan Chakravarti…” (897). It is hard to believe them, so the truth is becoming hard to obtain.