Icarian Commentary

“Landscape with the Fall of Icarus”, written by William Carlos Williams is a poem inspired by the drawing of Brueghel, with a focus on the painting in which the “fall of Icarus” is being portrayed. Also understood from the title, the poem touches upon the Greek tragedy of Icarus. The poem is mainly focused on the drawing itself and it recognizes the drawing in every aspect. It is also important to see that the title of the poem is not just the fall of Icarus but “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” which suggests that the poem is more about the landscape that surrounds Icarus in the unfortunate event that causes him to die in the midst of his life. A crucial aspect of Brueghel's painting is its perspective and this perspective is shown to the reader with the poem, which seems to have the same perspective as the painting. Just like the painting, the poem first focuses on different aspects that surround the actual event that is occurring. The drawing of Brueghel has a lot of detail concerning the landscape of the fall of Icarus and yet only unnoticeable legs sticking out of the blue water. As stated earlier, a crucial part of the painting is its perspective, which shows that there are so many things going on in our lives that we rarely notice important things that happen and perhaps act selfishly. The poem has a lot of imagery and detail in its stanzas. The structure of the poem is exactly like painting for example a farmer is ploughing his fields, concerned with the ongoing life. The poem has a focus on the landscape that shows the reader the unconcern for calamities and suffering due to the preoccupation of ongoing life. The last words of the poem are "Icarus drowning." With this, the reader is forced paradoxically not only to see but also to feel painful towards the irony of the death of Icarus. The poem is structured so that it’s telling us what is occurring in the painting of Brueghel.                                                                      

  “Musee des Beaux Arts” is a poem written by W. H. Auden who was influenced by the same painting, “the Fall of Icarus”. The main idea of this poem is human suffering and how it has become so common in human nature. This poem suggests that people notice and turn away from catastrophes and human suffering because everyone is used to the natural occurrence of such events. This poem suggests that humans have developed a natural acceptance for suffering from nature and that suffering has become such a common event that it’s not even significant enough to disrupt the normal cycle of life.                                                                      

  When the two poems are compared, we’ll see that there are some similarities and also some differences. In the “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus nobody seems to notice the drowning of Icarus because everybody is busy with their own lives and their responsibilities and people are selfish. But in Auden’s Musee des Beaux Arts the people notice the drowning of Icarus but seem to ignore it because suffering has become a natural event that people seem to be always faced with. This is why they act like they haven’t seen anything. Both poems agree on the fact that people are selfish and only care about themselves but the reason for people being selfish is portrayed differently in the two poems. Also, even though the same painting influences both poets, the way they use the painting are very different. W. H. Auden uses the painting of Brueghel as an example to prove a point he is defending. W. H. Auden believes that no one cares about any body else’s suffering anymore because people are very used to facing suffering and it has become a natural occurrence in their lives. . To prove what he believes in, he uses the Icarus example. He suggests that the ploughman might have heard a forsaken cry and a splash but is not bothered to turn and see what happens also “the expensive delicate ship that must have seen” but “had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.” because people don’t care about others suffering because it has become very common. The same painting is interpreted and put in to poetry differently in Williams’ poem. More imagery is seen in Williams’ poem because the poem mainly revolves around the 1landscape and details that go on as Icarus falls out of the sky. Only the last stanza touches upon the fall of Icarus, which is significantly related with the painting itself.  It can be understood from both of the poems that “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” achieves the same goal as the painting of Brueghel. The goal is to show the reader and audience that no one actually cares or notices poor Icarus as he comes tumbling down the sky. The painting shows this through vivid details and perspective and the poem achieves this by imagery in the landscape and leaving Icarus to the last stanza.  Other than that both the poems have the same theme, which is human apathy towards one another.     

It is seen that poems inspired by the same things and poems that have the same theme and topic can perhaps be different from one another. “Musee de Beaux Arts” and “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” can be two examples to poems that are so close and yet so apart from each other. Not only do they show different understanding and perspectives but also different styles of writing and different tones. Both poets add their own unique tone to the poetry, which creates variety between the two poems.

The Social Conventions From the Early Twentieth Century- The Great Gatsby

        The Jazz Age is the decade of prosperity and riotous living and of bootleggers, gangsters, flappers and jazz music. Even though there were many social and cultural conflicts during this era, the novel The Great Gatsby doesn’t focus on the conflicts and the social chages but primarily focuses on the people, society and the social conventions/ morals of the time period. Although the 1920s were a time of cultural battlefields and was a time of struggle between the old and new America, the novel The Great Gatsby accurately reflects the American social conventions from the early twentieth century. With regards to all the social changes and cultural differences at the time, Fitzgerald only focuses the book on certain things that effected those times, such as bootleggers and the conflicts in American society that involve geographic regions. The novel shows the glamorous lifestyles of the era. The Jazz era is the era of change for the American society, which has significant differences in sexual morals, gender roles and fashion. But most importantly the Jazz era is the time, which morals started to decay and many people of the era thought that the changes were in undesirable ways. Fitzgerald does a good job of showing his readers about the undesirable changes in morals for the society, especially with the help of the characters of Tom, Daisy and Gatsby.                                                                                                                        

We can see the decaying morals through the relationships of Gatsby and Daisy and Tom and Myrtle. Even thought Tom and Daisy are married they both see and have feelings for other people too. This is an unappreciable behavior for me because I don’t believe that it is correct for married couples to have intimate relationships with other people of the opposite sex. Daisy doesn’t complain or get divorced with Tom because she has a mistress and neither does Tom, even though he knows about the relationship between his wife and Gatsby.                                                                                 

Street crime is an important part of the Jazz era, and it was mainly caused with the consumption of too much alcohol. Although it was illegal to sell and consume alcohol at the time, bootleggers, such as Gatsby made money by selling illegal alcohol to the society, which affected the society a lot. The novel doesn’t give insight to the problem of alcohol but we know that Fitzgerald focuses on the Gatsby’s mysterious job that is referred to as bootlegging. Bootleggers were an important aspect in the Jazz era because it was alcohol that affected the Jazz era the most, even more than Jazz music.                                                                                                                                                

Fitzgerald uses the characters as a way of showing the social conventions of the era. Different people refer to different changes or perhaps problems of the era and the relationship between all the characters show the difference in perspective and how people used to interact with each other. For example, the character of Tom also refers to the problem of ethnicity in America at the time. We know that there are many people that feel the same way about black people and people who don’t want black people society to get stronger. These people can be true racists like Tom and be disrespectful towards people that are not from the same ethnicity, race or even religion with them.
As we can see, Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby accurately reflects the American social conventions from the early twentieth century with use of characters and the characters relationships. It neglects the social changes and the conflicts of the era and primarily focuses on the morals of he society, which completely change in this era.

“Face to face with something commensurate to your capacity for wonder”

“Face to face with something commensurate to your capacity for wonder”Last year I experienced something that will never be able to forget. Something that I will never be able to forget. Something that many people would like to do but can’t. I went to Cuba with my family and friend Naz. Staying there for over a week I really got to experience something no one has ever experienced. I had the opportunity to be, and live in a communist country, where it feels like everything and everyone have been put into a time machine to travel back in time. The trucks, cars, trains are all different and so old, it feels like technology is so far away from them. The country felt like another world to me, so different from everywhere I’ve ever been to. Currency for the tourists is more valuable and different from the citizens’ money/currency. Everyone feels and knows that they are equal in every way and tourists really see that. This also makes people feel safer in their environment and houses. The food is also very different, gross & same at times but it’s worth the experience you face. Coming back from Cuba to Turkey I had learnt many things.  I wouldn’t want to exchange my experience and the time I spent there with anything in the world. Even though we went there as group, I was the only one interested and was the only one who wanted to go back there. Everyone except for me found it unappealing and displeasing but I felt connected to the place. I wanted to go back there because I want to live through that lifestyle once again before that lifestyle is fully gone. But obviously I was the only one who felt this way, which kind of made me feel unique...

Daisy's Point Of View- Chapter 9

Tom and I decided that we are definitely leaving. We haven’t told anyone and we are not going to. We are not even going to tell Jordan about us moving away. They can all understand what we did when the right time comes and I’m sure that they will all understand why we had to do such a thing. It was hard to say good-bye to everything and everyone without letting them know. But the most difficult part of it all was to go up to Gatsby, look him in the eyes and tell him that I was leaving. I was difficult because I wouldn’t be able to say it. The moment I would see him ı would thrown myself in to his arms and tell him to never open the back again. I knew myself so I decided I wouldn’t say anything to him. He is a smart man; he will understand why I had to do this.  The dream ends here. This is officially the end of Gatsby’s dream of a life we could have had together. Yes, I crushed his dreams and heart once again. I don’t know what life has for me in the West but I am ready for yet another risk. It’s time to open the new page, a white sheet of paper ready to be filled with more stories to come…

Daisy's Point Of View- Chapter 8

It has been hard to sleep at night these days. I haven’t ever been in a situation like this in my entire life. I’m in pain and suffering and have no clue about what to do rater than wait. I haven’t been out these couple of days. It makes me nervous to hear car sounds from the front of the house. Tom also agreed that it would be better if ı stayed in the house for these couple of days. I wish Nick came over to keep me company but I understand how hard he has to work. Gatsby and I have grown apart these days because I’m sacred to face the truth that firstly I don’t love my husband. Secondly I don’t want to be with my husband. Thirdly I killed a woman and fourthly the guy I want to be with is my one and only true love.  The dilemma is killing me. I don’t know what to do, what to say for to react to things anymore. Tom and I are talking about leaving the East to move somewhere else where we can live a silent life together, raising our child in peace. I don’t know how I’m going to tell Gatsby about my choice. My place is where my husband is and I’m scared to separate from him. Tom tells me that it’s better that we don’t tell anyone, and move to a place where we can open a fresh, new page and start all over again.