From Hell by Alan Moore (writer) and Eddie Campbell (artist) is a graphic novel account of the Jack the Ripper murders based upon extensive research along with fictionalized elements such as the identity of Jack of the Ripper.
While William Gull, royal physician and freemason who is depicted as the murderer, shows carriage driver, John Netley, London’s landmarks to expose their mystical significance, Gull notes, “…when this world and its sisters shall at last be swallowed by a Father Sun grown red and bloated as a leech” (Moore, 4, 25).
When Gull places the murder of the women in terms of a necessity to maintain a world system of patriarchal order, the murders take on a sacrificial, divine power. This scene in From Hell is taking place in 1888. Would they have known about red giants at this time? With the wealth of information available, you’d think it’d be easy to find the history of red giants, but there’s surprisingly little. We know a lot about what red giants are and current research being done on them, but not the history of the term “red giant.” David Fabricius discovered the first variable star in 1596, which we understand to be the first documentation of a red giant. However, I do not think the term “red giant” existed in the sixteenth century.
The Hertzsprung Russell diagram was created around 1910 to classify stars according to magnitude, luminosity, and temperature. I believe the terms for classifying stars as dwarfs and giants came about around the same time as the HR diagram. Even though the term “red giant” did not exist in 1888, the concept may have. As Gull was a doctor, an educated man, it is plausible that he would have had access to scientific information.
I bring in this science history to show, even if Gull did not know about red giants, that Moore placing this connection displays the danger in people, like Gull, attaching facts about nature to the ideologies they create. That the sun will become a red giant is used by Gull as a natural justification for the patriarchal system he wants to maintain. The sisters would be Mercury and Venus, which are closest to the sun, and so would be enveloped by the sun’s expansion first. Venus is also known as Earth’s twin, because it is similar in size and distance from the sun. In Roman mythology, Venus is the goddess of love. The physical destruction of Venus by the sun symbolizes men’s destruction of women. Gull compares the red giant sun to a leech and I thought it was interesting he made this comparison through blood. It seems like the sun is sucking the life force out of the planets in order to grow larger. This comparison can also symbolize the blood of the women Gull murders and so Gull grows in power, and insanity, as he metaphorically feeds off the blood of these women.
The narrator of John Donne’s “The Indifferent” polarizes women as being from the “country” or from the “town” with many variations across the spectrum to show how he loves a range of women (l. 4). The final qualifier of the first stanza is “I can love any, so she be not true” (l. 9). While these women are different, the one trait they have in common is their infidelity. Though the narrator describes the women as varying in physical characteristics, sociability, and emotions, they are the same kind of woman in their unfaithfulness.
With his first question, the narrator suggests that practicing vices are what make these women happy. With that invocation other “mothers,” the narrator suggests the women do it out of rebellion against the old standard of relationships (l. 11). The narrator’s fourth question implies that the women would feel guilty if men were true and they were not. The narrator shifts the blame onto the women that if they were faithful, men would be faithful, too, which mimics a child’s logic of “she started it.” The narrator does not seem to care if the women take his money, though a fear in today’s divorces is the settlement of assets, so long as he is free to love whoever he pleases. Donne does an interesting flip from the middle of the second stanza, line 14, of men and women being the same in their actions, to the end of the second stanza, where the narrator does not want to become faithful because the woman is being faithful to him. Donne’s use of “grow” is notable in that in context it means the narrator becomes the woman’s lover. There is also literal growth, such as a child grows taller a physical change, and so “growth” has a connotation of change, yet the action is that the narrator would stay constantly the woman’s lover (l. 18). Further “subject” has an implication of agency over that of an object, yet the phrasing of “Must I” insinuates that the narrator does not have a choice (l. 17).
For love, the women’s vice of inconstancy is the “sweetest part” (l. 20). It is appropriate for Donne to invoke a supporter of infidelity Venus, the Roman goddess of love, who has had many affairs. In lines 24-25, those who are faithful lovers are Venus’ enemies. The last four lines are spoken by Venus. Since Venus’ words are not offset with quotation marks, it can be taken that the narrator agrees with her. The narrator and Venus, who are both unfaithful, are upset by those who are constant because they show that it is possible to be faithful and they diminish the pool of possible lovers. The last two lines are Venus’ curse upon the faithful, that they will be faithful only to those who are unfaithful. Thus, the faithful are spited and there are plenty of lovers to go around because there are still unfaithful people.
This concern of having different lovers is both an interest in change and a need to remove guilt. First, a variety of lovers provides a drama typical of grade school that continues through adulthood over who is going out with who and who is cheating on who. This drama is not only a source of entertainment as seen in countless TV shows (such as “How I Met Your Mother,” “Big Bang Theory,” etc.), but a source of learning and social interaction. Who a person associates with can be an indication of character and values. People can also learn about a person’s personality by observing the person’s behavior in social settings. How they act under pressure, what they do when they discover they’re being cheated on, and so on. A person’s use of masks and personas can complicate these observations. The narrator can love any woman because they are all inconstant. The narrator wants to maintain this infidelity because it means he can also be inconstant and be removed from any moral qualms. The narrator can then have relationships with a lot of women.
Who are “the indifferent” that the title speaks of? The indifferent are those who are inconstant because they do not care if their current lover is cheating or if he/she leaves them. The title then speaks to the dissatisfaction of those who are inconstant. Another way the need for change and variety could be fifth felt more satisfactorily is by doing different events and actions, rather than different lovers, which could then be shared with another person in a constant, deep relationship.
Workshop participants will take turns submitting a creative writing piece for critique each week. All workshop pieces will be submitted online at The Echo: A Writing Forum (http://theliteratureclub.proboards.com/) in a password-protected board. Workshop participants will post at least one full, in-depth critique of the piece being workshopped.
The 1st round deadline is April 30th, 2016. After April 30th, applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Email your application to echo.writingforum@gmail.com
Chorus Sabali, sabali, sabali yonkontê. Sabali, sabali, sabali kayi/kagni. (both mean “good”) Ni kêra môgô…
Patience, patience, patience is worth everything. Patience, patience, patience is good. If you love someone…
The chorus is sung in Bambara which is the main language in Mali, Africa. The chorus is from another song, which is in Bambara and French, “Sabali” by Amadou and Mariam (Music video and lyrics). In “Patience” by Nas and Damian Marley, (Music video and lyrics) the chorus is sung by the original singer, Mariam. Both Amadou and Mariam are featured in the music video of “Patience.” The opening of the music video is dark, but I believe it is Mariam on the left and Amadou on the right both gesturing to the open door. Mariam and Amadou are beckoning us into the song and its world like wise statues enlightening us to the way the universe works. Mariam is featured every time she is singing the chorus and through her positioning over Nas and Damian and the light that surrounds she offers spiritual guidance. Amadou is featured again at 1:30 on either side of Mariam as the frontmost figurehead.
Verse 1 Instead of solving the problems we have here on Earth, such as world hunger, we are more concerned with developing technology to colonize other large rocks in space. We feed millions of pounds of corn and grain to cows and chickens to fatten them up so an average American can eat 270.7 lbs of meat per year (in 2007) that’s almost a pound per day. Instead, we could feed starving children with these crops, but that isn’t profitable. Just as we make money from gawking at animals in cages, churches receive donations from showcasing emancipated children. We think putting on a costume makes us a hero who can steal and destroy other histories and cultures, even desecrate the dead. The media shows bad news because they are the most sensational stories and since we see it all the time, we are desensitized to it. The Beast is capitalism and consumerism. Americans are only at home in their own country and there will be no where for them to go when the system collapses.
Verse 2 Socrates believed we were born with innate knowledge and learning was a process of remembering the knowledge rather than acquiring a new skill or new information. Damian is showing how blurry the line is between what is considered supernatural and what is true. Our superstitions are a way for us to explain the world in order to cope living in it, but they can also harm us by restricting our viewpoints. We often talk about things we do not know anything about and we either believe it’s true or we rely on the ignorance of our audience so that we are not questioned to back up what we are saying. I’ve written about this topic of ignorance in my own life in “A Student’s Perspective on Knowledge.” We have a stereotype that if you are in the education system, that you must be smart, but this is not true. There are both smart and dumb people in schools, which goes for every institution. Being in a school does not necessitate that you are smart, regardless of the prestigious brand you display on your chest and the test score you have. But it is ironic that in a place where learning should be taking place, there are people that are not learning.
Verse 3 Nas brings attention to religious scripture being written by people. As we have created language in which scripture is written, we have put ourselves under the trance of superstition. Nas points out the ridiculousness of superstitions by showing how a voodoo doll does not work. Even though we have universities and mass production to meet our sustenance needs of water, food, and shelter and to call ourselves civilized, we are not better than superstitious people because language in institutes, like religion and education, is the new spell that has control over us. Literally, we are soldiers going to war for the profit of monopolies on guns, bombs, and oil. We are also soldiers metaphorically in thought control by repeating what the media and government, played by corporations, tell us. Can we survive without capitalism and war when we have forgotten how to grow our own food and to have patience?
At 3:07 there are people riding seahorses on the pillars lined up on either side of Nas. I could not find what seahorses meant in Ancient Egypt, but in Ancient Europe they thought “the seahorse carried the souls of deceased sailors to the underworld,” which has an interesting connotation the the seahorse riders are should being carried away, perhaps our own souls. Seahorses are symbolic of “patience and contentment” (Seahorse symbolism).
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift was first published in London in 1726. In over two centuries, hundreds of editions of this story have been published from full books to children’s stories. There have been over a dozen adaptations of Gulliver’s Travels for the screen as TV shows and films. This article concentrates on the publishing history of Gulliver’s Travels across two editions, the first in 1726 and the second in 1735, to show the conflicts between Jonathan Swift and his first publisher, Benjamin Motte. Within the span of a decade, there are large differences between the two editions, even when primarily looking at the use of illustrations.
Figure 1, Courtesy of Eighteenth Century Collections
Gulliver’s Travels was first published in London in two volumes, priced at 2s. 6d. in 1726 by Benjamin Motte. The set up of the illustration as a portrait of Gulliver with a latin inscription gives an air of authenticity to Gulliver as a figure of authority as well as that he was a real person who would have his image drawn. Gulliver middle-aged or older, which gives him a sense that he has gained wisdom over the years. Gulliver is titled as a captain to give him authority, especially concerning travel over seas, as he has control over a ship. The Latin inscription “Compositum jus, fasque animi, sanctosque recessus Mentis, & incoctum generoso pectus honesto” means “The combination of the right and unjust, right mind, saints recesses of the soul, and the breast imbued with nobleness.” This inscription suggests that Gulliver embodies these righteous and saintly traits. If Gulliver is the honorable man he is portrayed to be, his account should be taken as true.
Figure 2, Courtesy of Eighteenth Century Collections
The title page does not feature Jonathan Swift’s name. Although the title does not say that the novel is written by Gulliver, by framing the title as Gulliver’s Travels the reader is lead to believe that since these travels are Gulliver’s experience they may be written by him as well. Publishing Gulliver’s Travels anonymously lends credence to the story and makes it appear authentic. The formatting of the title places great emphasis on “travels” and “world,” which makes the text appear as a documentary of Gulliver’s exploration. The subtitle serves to make the text appear scientific with the use of the words “method,” “observations,” and “explanatory notes” as scientists use the scientific method to prove a hypothesis by making observations and then explaining their results. Stating this text is “for public Benefit,” suggests that the journey and this account are done by Gulliver for the sake of increasing scientific knowledge and improving public welfare. That Gulliver was once a doctor gives him further credentials as an educated man as well as to show that he was in a profession of caring for people to support the idea of the text being for the public good.
Figure 3, Courtesy of Eighteenth Century Collections
The title (Figure 2) details that the top half of the illustration is a scene in Lilliput and the bottom half is Flimnap. The subjects of the illustration are people, nothing concerning fantasy. England had colonies in other nations and so the London public would have been aware that there were other people around the world. In showing a drawing of these other people, the text uses the existing colonization to show that it is plausible for Gulliver to be discovering new lands and people. This illustration adds to the tone of the book as a recording of scientific discovery because it is a drawing of Gulliver’s observations of the people in these remote nations. Since there is not a large amount of illustrations, the text does not have the tone of a children’s story where a primary source of the entertainment is derived from the pictures.
Figure 4, Courtesy of Eighteenth Century Collections
This first edition includes a poem by Mrs. Gulliver about her husband’s journey. The image banner at the top depicts two men with dogs traveling to a new city. Drawing this journey to distant lands as a hunting scene makes the text seem like an adventure. The man holding the dogs could be Gulliver because he is holding out a hand to the lounging man in an effort to stimulate him, the reader, to pursue reading Gulliver’s story. The title of the poem claims that this poem was found in an apartment, which suggests that this poem was not meant to be published and is therefore a raw, unblemished account. That the diary was open to this page reassures the reader that they should not feel embarrassed about reading this poem that was not intended for publication because the author did not attempt to hide it. Since the poem is not written by Gulliver, it provides a sense of authority to Gulliver’s story because it is evidence that someone else believes in his story. The poem being written by Gulliver’s wife, someone closely related to him, gives the text a personal feel, which makes the reader feel like they are privileged to have such a close and personal encounter with Gulliver’s life. Showing that Gulliver has a family, makes him into a person with human emotions and desires. While Gulliver is fleshed out into a person, pointing out that he is human also hints that he is fallible and, as his name alludes, gullible. This personal connection lends authority to Gulliver as there is someone other than himself who believes in his story. The poem is also a brief introduction to the novel because it mentions “Lilliput” and “Brobdingnag,” which are some of the places Gulliver visits.
Figure 5, Courtesy of Eighteenth Century Collections
Like the opening title of the book, the title of this key emphasizes “travels,” which reiterates the text as a documentation of exploration. The title of this key emphasizes the words “observations” and “explanatory notes” to hone in on the scientific side introduced in the opening title page. The naming of this section as a “key” suggests that the secrets Gulliver discovered during his travels can be unlocked. This key also furthers the scientific tone by making the text seem as though it is so scientific, a key that explains the terms and content of the text is necessary for the layman to understand it. A map will have a key to explain the symbols on the map. As the text is about traveling, a map analogy is appropriate whereby the text itself is a map. Since Gulliver’s Travels is a satire, this idea that the reader needs additional help in order to understand the story and Swift’s intentions is a wink that the reader is so lazy or incapable as to need the contents of the story spelled out. Describing the key as a translation from Italian, allows for any mistakes made in the key to be excused away as poor translation instead of a matter of content. That the key was written by Corolini, someone other than Gulliver, shows that the text has been peer reviewed, and so is suitable for publication and should be taken as a legitimate scientific endeavor. There are five maps in total, two in the first volume and three in the second volume. The maps are documentation of the fictious lands in order to make them seem real.
Figure 6, Courtesy of Eighteenth Century Collections
In 1735, George Faulkner published four volumes of an entire collection of Jonathan Swift’s works with Gulliver’s Travels taking up the third volume. This edition is the first time Jonathan Swift’s name appears on Gulliver’s Travels. Like in the first edition, there is a portrait of Gulliver, but it is a new one. Gulliver appears younger, like he is in his prime, than in the first edition portrait, which suggests Swift wanted Gulliver to look capable of going on vigorous journeys. The Latin inscription “Splendide Mendax Hor” means “nobly untruthful.” The new inscription, instead of supporting Gulliver’s righteous, blatantly discredits the idea that the text is true; it does this softly with the use of “nobly,” as though Gulliver has faithfully been untruthful in order to get at the truth. This inscription signals that while the details of the story itself are not true, the themes of the story are.
At the end of the third volume of the second edition, there is this letter written from Gulliver to his cousin Sympson. Swift, written through Gulliver, disowns the changes that were made to his manuscript in the first edition. The second edition does not have the Lilliput and Filmnap illustration (Figure 3), Mrs. Gulliver’s poem (Figure 4), or a key (Figure 5), which suggests that these were some of the additions made to the book by Motte that Swift did not approve of. Following this letter, there is another new addition, a letter from Mrs. Gulliver to Gulliver, who was, at the time the letter was written, staying with his cousin Sympson. Instead of the rosy and loving words that were expressed in Mrs. Gulliver’s poem in the first edition, this letter is a scathing rebuke of Gulliver’s inability to have any human contact with his wife and his children. This letter returns a personal touch to the book, but does so in a way that critiques Gulliver’s ability to transition from life abroad to life at home. This critique shows Gulliver is a human susceptible to flaws, and so his narrative can also have flaws. Regardless of the truthfulness of Gulliver’s tale, he has been changed by his experience, and so the purpose of Gulliver’s Travels is not to recount a factual story, but to cause a change of perspective in the reader.
