Said To Have Saved Civilization

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Carrol Lorette

Irish Literature Mid-Term

Question I   Answer A.

A. Describe three (3) specific ways in which the Irish may be said to have saved civilization.   Be specific!   Depending on what you choose to explain of course, be sure to name the crucial actors in this historic drama of evolution and preservation, or to detail the nature of narration and language, or to discuss important political events.  If any art objects are relevant to your answer, be sure to include them.

One way that Irish may have saved civilization was through a man named St. Patrick. St. Patrick had brought Christianity to Ireland. The Christianity that St. Patrick had brought to Ireland had succeeded because it took away the dread from the Ireland. If it was not for St. Patrick bringing Christianity to Ireland, Ireland itself may have been lost. St. Patrick had brought a passion for learning of the Christian religion to the Irish people. He was able to do this because he had reendowed a since of hope for the Irish people. Once St. Patrick had convinced them to be Christian, the Irish had started the monastic movement. During this movement, the Irish people copied the books that had been destroyed by the Germanic invaders and they had eventually brought the books back to the places from which the books had originally come from. During the movement, ancient Latin and Greek text had been recopied by monks and kept. However the since of togetherness and strong feelings for the Christian faith had forever changed the way that Irish had worked as a nation.

Another way that Irish had saved civilization was through their love and language. St. Patrick had also helped with this movement. He had a strong feeling for literacy and a sense of learning. St. Patrick wanted Ireland to become "the isle of saints and scholars" and with this the Irish had copied down all forms of language. St. Patrick had planted churches as well as schools and monasteries where literature was going to be able to be copied down so that learning could be spread through the Roman Empire. If it was not for this moment in time, there could possibly have been a point where no Biblical text or ancient Latin or Greek language would have been saved.

A final way that Irish had saved civilization was through Augustine. He had brought the Roman world back to the Irish. If it was not for Augustine, the Roman law and world would have been forgotten until it was taught throughout Ireland. Augustine was able to teach the law of society that was needed for Ireland to move forward as a nation. Augustine fought and won battles against views that were unorthodox. This had causes a short of forced baptism that had followed in Ireland. This was allowance for a stronger Baptist Ireland a stronger church based society throughout Ireland.

Question II  

 Examine closely three (3) poems of differing types and subject matter from the collection of W. B. Yeats you have read -- entirely your choice -- and explain how the imagery of each, and the sound of the words, expresses the unique atmosphere of each.   Explain what you can of the background of each poem and how each poem affects your own feelings.  Depending on your choice of poem, you may be writing about love, or art, or some weird apocalypse, or Irish politics, or some snarky moment when Crazy Jane takes on the Bishop.  Do any of the poems evoke the atmosphere or issues in "Cathleen ni Houlihan"?

"The Lake Isle of Innisfree" was a poem that allowed you to escape with Yeats to paradise. The poem was very rhythmic and kept you interested in what Yeats was saying by making the poem almost lyrical. It made you sing in a sense about the beauty of the world the beauty of the island and nature itself. I feel that this poem occurs in everyone’s lives at least once, if not it definitely should. Yeats has a way in this poem to slow everything down and make you realize that nature is a great place to "lose" yourself in. When life is moving too fast and we all just want to get away and be alone with the beauty of nature is something that Yeats is trying to make readers focus on. For a moment in the poem, you are there with Yeats at the island listening to the water lapping "with low sounds by the shore." You can see the small cabin off in this perfect island with nothing around but a beehive and "the veils of morning to where the crickets sing." You can just hear nature from this poem. Yeats allows the readers to fall in love with the way that nature is.

"An Irish Airman foresees his Death" is a poem that is a foreshadowing of an Irish airman fighting in World War 1 knowing that he will die among the clouds fighting for Ireland. Although he did not do it for his country or the cheering crowds but he did it for "a lonely impulse of delight" that had drove him to fight amongst the clouds. The airman had gotten to a point in his life where he had felt that everything that he had done was just a "a waste of breath the years behind" and at this point in his life he had to make a change to be proud of something in his life. In this poem, I feel that Yeats makes the readers think about all those times in your life where you think about what you have done in your life time and if it would have made anyone proud. This poem shows Yeats active political consciousness "those I fight I do not hate," and by writing, "those I guard I do not love." This shows the readers that the people they are fighting against not everyone hates who they are as people but he does not necessarily agree with the government at which they are fighting. Yeats shows that his country will neither benefit or be hurt by the outcome of the war. He also does not fight for the political or moral motives because of his "impulse of delight." In addition he show that his past life seemed wasteful and his future also seems to be a waste and the death of being an Airman will cause a somewhat balance into his "wasteful" life.

"Easter, 1916" is a poem that Yeats wrote about the Easter Rising that had occurred in Ireland during the year 1916. The Irish decided to make problems for all of the English in Dublin; they first had started by attacking the post office with political rants. Yeats describes a terrible beauty that had been born because people had died which had caused a disruption of the human life amongst the Irish and English people. They were all fighting for something that they are fighting so strongly for yet at the same time all their lives are being lost due to the government not agreeing. Yeats then goes on to explain his disappointment in the women that are involved in politics. He goes on to talk about Maude Gonne who took part in the Irish rebellion. This makes Yeats feel that she had lost a sort of beauty because he feels that women should not have a say in t the politics. This poem to me makes me feel a strong since of nationalism and that they are all fighting for what they believe in. Yet at the same time you see the tragedy of war and what it does to the innocent lives involved.

"Cathleen ni Houlihan" shows both "Easter 1916" and "An Irish Airman foresees his Death." It has a hint of the poem "An Irish Airman foresees his Death" because Michael is put into a trance by the Poor Old Woman. The Poor Old Woman explains the tragic ways the war is encountered by singing songs about the death and loss of man fighting for their country. "Do not make a great keening. When the graves have been dug to-morrow." This Yeats foreshadows the death of the man in the war. This is also like the Airman foresees his death because they both have foreshadowed the death that will occur because of war. In addition, "Easter 1916" is related to this because the town is all coming together to help fight off the English. The Old Woman comes and talks to Michael about joining the forces because she needs help fighting for her four lands which relates to the four providences of Ireland. This is what happens in "Easter 1916" they all upraise and are fighting to protect against the English and fighting for their land.

Question III

Focus on three (3) of your favorite scenes from any section of Synge's play and explain your ideas about one (1) of the following.  Be sure to illustrate abundantly!  Quoting a little dialogue recommended.

b. Pegeen experiences the deepest, life changing loss, because she has fallen truly in love, body and soul. She realizes too late she cannot go with Christy into the wide world because?

It can be said that Pegeen had lost Christy into the wide world right from the beginning of the play. Pegeen is to marry Shawn, at the very start of the play. During those times, you did not just call off a wedding because of a nice looking man walking into your home. But with Pegeen falling madly for Christy it was a wonder she didn’t. Yet at this point in time, the Father had already approved of the marriage between Pegeen and Shawn. Now Pegeen had ultimately lost Christy at this point because what strong Irish lady would truly want to upset the church. At that time if an individual was against the church it was frowned upon, since the church aimlessly ruled Ireland.

Another way that Pegeen had lost Christ was in Act 2 when her and Christy are discussing women flocking to Christy. "Would you have me think a man never talked with the girls would have the words you’ve spoken to-day? It’s only letting on you are to be lonesome, the way you’d get around me now." At this point in time Pegeen realizes that she is not enough of a completion to keep Christy’s attention to herself. There are women from all over Ireland that were willing to marry this strapping young lad. It was pointless for her to go and adventure with Christy whom she did not truly love, but was rather infatuated with just like all of Irelands other women.

Lastly Pegeen realizes that she cannot go into the wide world with Christy is because of his un-loyal act of lying about his father. Peggen states how she was so marveled by the presence of Christy that she had too fallen for a man that had done such adirty deed, a deed of lies and a deed of murder, "I’ll say, a strange man is a marvel, with his mighty talk; but what’s a squabble in your back yard, and the blow of a loy, have taught me that there’s a great gap between a gallous story and a dirty deed." You can tell here the Pegeen is not happy with Christy for his lies had literally made Pegeen lose the man of her dreams. This would be the last time that Pegeen had the chance to stay with Christy but she had soon realized that Christy was nothing but a lesson in her life of a man that she truly didn’t want to marry.

Question IV

Compare and contrast ANY two (2) stories from DUBLINERS on at least two points (character, theme, atmosphere and setting, plot/outcome, emotional intensity) and then describe three (3) aspects of "The Dead" that seem different from these two.  You may focus on theme or scene, character, dialogue, whatever aspect of the final story you feel is a contrast with the earlier accounts.  Do you think "The Dead" lifts Gabriel and Gretta, and the whole Christmas party, out of the grip of that "moral paralysis" Joyce declared he was describing, or investigates yet another way in which these turn of the century Dubliners are trapped?

One way that "Araby" and "Eveline" are similar is that both stories written by Joyce explain what it is like for people in Dublin to fall in love. "Araby" is about a young man in Dublin who falls in love with his friend’s older sister. Yet the young boy does not truly understand his own feelings. He is excited to move and will do anything for his crush. This story is similar to that of "Eveline" because she is a young girl who is in love and her lover plans to take her away to Buenos Ayres. When the time comes to leave or escape they both encounter epiphanies where they realize the truth of their romantic misconceptions that no matter what they will always be stuck in Dublin.

The two are also similar because each of them are raised in a somewhat typical Irish family. They are seemingly neglected by family members that are alcoholics and choose to drink at the local pub rather than be home with their families. They are also similar in the fact that they both experience a paralysis due to the fact of the economic situation is not completely up to the standards that they all would like it to be. In "Eveline," the young girl is raised by an abusively drunk father and wants to escape that. While in "Araby" he is raised by an alcoholic uncle who spends more time away from the family; thus causing the young boy to pretty much raise himself.

The differences between "Araby" and "Eveline" is that in "Arbay" the young boy wants to move onto a future with his crush, the one thing that makes him encounter this paralysis of sorts is that he falls into this bitter frustration with society around him and he feels that he is unable to actually move free from the situation; he is literally stuck. He knows that in the end he is to blame for his self-deception of what the real world is like and what his true love is like.

While in "Eveline" the young girl is fearful of the future and she is not completely sure if she wants to go. The ship in "Eveline" is a sign of hope of immigration yet she encounters paralysis that reflects the economic and political paralysis. This form of paralysis maybe caused because she is afraid of what the future would hold for the two to move to a different country, a new start or the same struggles. Or the fact that the man that she is about to escape with to a different country isn’t truly her idea of love, just a hope for escape.

One aspect that "The Dead" is different from "Eveline" and "Araby" is that in "Eveline" and "Araby" they were very critical of the Irish society, while in "The Dead" it portrays some of the finest of the Irish culture. In previous stories, Joyce had described a very rough and brutal society. He let the readers know exactly how hard it was for the Irish to live and maintain and proper life style; yet in "The Dead", this is not really seen. Although he still mentions some hardships of Ireland Joyce does not make that the soul focus. Joyce wants to show the readers that no matter how hard the times are and how hard life can be in Ireland at the end of the day there is still family and friends that you can fall back onto and grow forward with in a rough society.

Another aspect that is different is that in "The Dead" there is allowance for physical growth among the characters. In "Araby" and "Eveline" the characters had seemed to fall short of wanting to break past that paralysis caused by the economic situations in Ireland. While in "The Dead" Joyce wanted to show that a character is still able to grow to full potential in Ireland no matter the hardships.

A final aspect that the three stories differ is obviously the scenes to which the characters are placed in. In "The Dead" you see a different side of Ireland with the high class society enjoying family and friends. The families may not be perfect but they have money to offer that in a way Joyce tries to show will cover up their flaws. While in "Araby" and "Eveline" these characters are from a poverty struck part of Dublin. The two characters are more than happy to just try and escape their hardships, yet they cannot get out of the grip of their abusive families.

In "The Dead" Joyce does show that paralysis still exist in his previous stories but when it comes to "The Dead" Joyce uses Gabriel’s compassion and development to redirect the hope and beauty that Joyce can still see in Ireland. For the entire story, Joyce allows readers to see Ireland and a growing nation. For a moment in time Joyce forgets about the paralysis that has stopped some many Irish from living their life to the fullest in Ireland to show that there actually is a moment of hope for the fine country by showing growth in one of his characters.