"L'enfer c'est les autres"--JP Sartre
This year, students will explore the theme of otherness. What defines the mainstream and how does this mainstream dictate to others? What does it mean to be marginalized? How has the mainstream impacted the world of ideas across the centuries?
A relationship is distinguished by the lovers' character. The way people express their feelings for each other is only a representation of their personality and flaws--the act of loving doesn't ameliorate the lover. Since Cholly is violent and clueless, he cannot share the pleasure he has for loving Pecola, because Cholly is detestable and therefore "loves" detestably. A person's love only reflects the traits of his character. Since Cholly is free, his love is "unsatisfying" because he has no other attachment than himself. Cholly has no consciousness of his acts, he is negligent toward his lover, which makes his love irrational. "The lover alone possesses the gift of love." The gift of love is the fact that two persons can mutually make each other feel bliss. Yet loving a free man such as Cholly is like loving nothing at all: it isn't reciprocal, and love without balance is impossible. Even though violent people love violently, they can at least prove their attachment, unlike those who love freely, which have no attachment at all. "The love of a free man is never safe" because the free man has no restrictions and is much more prone to hurt us by not proving his affection, or proving it in an awfully ungrounded manner.
A relationship is distinguished by the lovers' character. The way people express their feelings for each other is only a representation of their personality and flaws--the act of loving doesn't ameliorate the lover. Since Cholly is violent and clueless, he cannot share the pleasure he has for loving Pecola, because Cholly is detestable and therefore "loves" detestably. A person's love only reflects the traits of his character. Since Cholly is free, his love is "unsatisfying" because he has no other attachment than himself. Cholly has no consciousness of his acts, he is negligent toward his lover, which makes his love irrational.
ReplyDelete"The lover alone possesses the gift of love." The gift of love is the fact that two persons can mutually make each other feel bliss. Yet loving a free man such as Cholly is like loving nothing at all: it isn't reciprocal, and love without balance is impossible. Even though violent people love violently, they can at least prove their attachment, unlike those who love freely, which have no attachment at all. "The love of a free man is never safe" because the free man has no restrictions and is much more prone to hurt us by not proving his affection, or proving it in an awfully ungrounded manner.