Leisure

Leisure 
W. H. Davies

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

In his poem “Leisure” , W. H. Davies argues the relevant danger of failing to observe beauty in the world leads to a lack of meaning. The first stanza identifies the primary source of missing this beauty. The speaker is wary of not having enough “time to stand and stare”. Standing is promoting stagnation, the opposite of moving forward or achieving progress. The speaker argues that there’s more to life than merely progressing. He finds it important to observe, or “stare” and appreciate other things in life than those that are attained through work and narrow minded focus on a specific task. Instead of rewards earned, the speaker says that life is full of gifts nature offers. The speaker claims that some of theses gifts are things that have been given since the beginning of creation. The speaker mentions standing “beneath the boughs”, an Adam and Eve- like image. Along with describing a harmony with the flora side of nature. The fauna side of nature is described in the same stanza, as he compares the intent act of staring to that of “sheep or cows”. Simpler creatures have not forgotten how to appreciate nature’s beauty. The speaker is urging a return to a time when humans and animals were no different. It is a recall to unity with nature, a trait that offers care. The speaker also implies that taking time to slow down offers long-term pros. The speaker of the poem mentions “squirrels hide their nuts in grass”. Hiding the nuts implies that they are saving them for later. The speaker argues that investment in present can have payoffs in the future whether that’s manifested as experiences I don’t know. The speaker also fears the speed of life to miss things that are obvious. The streams “full of stars” are compared the night sky. The speaker is arguing that on earth, there is an entire immense universe that’s similar to the stars in the sky. This is trying to say how much the world has to offer. So far the speaker only mentions man’s relationship to nature, but he beings to talk of mans’ relationship with each other. The next two stanzas refer to love. By falling in love with the present, one can appreciate the others around them. An obsession with work is selfish, and relationships deteriorate when one isolates themselves in their work. The speaker draws attention to the eyes of the woman and how she “can dance”. Dancing is a purposeless act and only shows an expression of emotion. The speaker encourages the audience to be drawn to these things. The speaker repeats each stanza with “no time”. Contrasted with ending the poem with the sentence “a poor life”, the speaker is equating time with wealth. A finite amount that must be spent on a single service. One cannot have it all.

For Godness' Sake

After we increasingly mentioned Santa in our discussions, I decided to research the origins of St. Nicholas more closely. Interestingly enough, I found connections to Invisible Man in the early origins of Santa Claus. One source of inspiration for the modern symbol we know as Santa Claus is the Norse god Odin Just as Taylor mentioned in seminar earlier today, Odin only has one eye, drawing out the theme of blindness across the different characters.

In Invisible Man, Ellison turns Santa on his head. He isn’t given the same jolly spirit that I’m used to. The first thing that stands out is the morbid mention of Santa Claus that the narrator uses when he writes “You were raped by santa claus surprise” on Sybil in purplish lipstick. The character of Santa is one based mostly around morality. Santa judges children based on their behavior. He places himself in a position of judgement, aligning him with a godlike ascension over mankind’s understanding of right and wrong. For those who aren’t good, they’re given black coal, a material that stains the delicate velvet of the blood red stocking the children leave out for Christmas. This equates black with bad and white with good. However in Invisible Man, Ellison frequently shows how white is sometimes more corrupt than black. The paint factory uses the color optic white to mask true corruption and deterioration, but in Santa Mythology, his large white beard is used as a comforting, pure image. In truth, Santa’s large white beard, he’s rarely seen without it, acts more as a mask. This further solidifies Ellison’s view that white masks true darkness. Unfortunately, this skews the children's’ understanding of morality. The only thing holding the children back from behaving poorly is the promise of an expected reward. This is also similar to religion’s treatment of morality. Followers are rewarded as long as they behave well. This omnipotence aligns Santa more with God. Instead of being good for goodness’ sake, morality is rewarded and punished to keep humans in line. When the narrator writes “you were raped by Santa Claus” the narrator is further arguing the rape of morality in this world. The system of incentives for good behavior rapes children’s understanding of morality. They all strive to be good, but there’s a ceiling set in place so the system can work. There must always be children who receive coal, otherwise how would good morality be measured against evil? I also ask myself why did Sybil want to feel like she was being raped? The purplish lipstick is supposed to represent the beaten condition the narrator leaves her in, but in a way he’s doing her a favor not by actually going through with the act. I suppose the intent to rape was greater than the act of rape itself. I read somewhere that humans naturally gravitate towards punishment because they enjoy suffering, but I can’t find any example in this section that supports this. Sybil admits that she’s a nymphomaniac, someone who has sex without pleasure. This also connects to what I was saying earlier about the theme of gluttony in the novel. Sybil is a character who indulges in pleasurable acts, wants to be showered with gifts by Santa, but doesn’t care about the morality side of the actions. Sybil still wants to taste the dark side of morality.

The Sign of Three

Well, well, well - I haven’t done this in a while. The blog, yes, but also numerical analysis. While reading Invisible Man, a quarter of the way through I noticed how many uses there are of the number three. Well, well, well indeed. This is a peculiar number, and shouldn’t go unnoticed, so I immediately began my lookout for the number three. Before I continue with my analysis, I should regurgitate a few accepted interpretations for the meaning of the number three in literature. The most glaring symbolic weight the number three holds is its reference to the holy trinity. It’s considered a type of unity of religion, self, or time. Father, Son, Holy Ghost. Body, Mind, Spirit. Past, Present, Future. The first time this number is used is in the prologue when the narrator speaks of his light display that holds “exactly 1,369 lights”. The first striking thing is that this amount is a perfect root for 37. The odd numbering creates an imbalance, possibly mirroring the narrator’s own instability. The next occurrence of three that I noticed was when the narrator is sitting in Emerson’s office. He sees “three portraits of dignified old gentlemen in winged collars who look down from their frames with an assurance of arrogance”. In this instance, three is used to manifest the past. The old men who represent the past are judging the narrator who represents the present. The next time three shows up is when the narrator speaks with Brockway, whose workshop is three floors underground. This can be read as an allusion to hell in Dante’s Inferno, as the location is underground. In Dante’s Inferno the third circle of hell belongs to Gluttony. This was particularly hard to find significance. I argue that Brockway’s obsession with his craft is related to gluttony. When the narrator brings news that he’s there to help, Lucius responds “I don’t need no damn assistant”. While he’s perfected his craft on his own, Lucius doesn’t want to shared the pride of crafting the most popular brand of white paint. This same gluttony and excess is seen in the narrator’s need for all of the lights. Both are obsessed in indulging these objects with light connotations. The electricity and white paint lead to both characters’ fall into isolation. After the explosion in the paint factory, the narrator beings to experience this connection of three and the color white more frequently. His doctor has “three” eyes. Three white nurses assist the doctor in the hospital. When eating the yams, the narrator takes three spoonfuls of sugar. The narrator’s brotherhood apartment is up three flights of stairs. After the narrator’s rebirth in the machine the white staff creates, his relationship with the brotherhood truly begins, and the narrator gravitates towards the color white. To conclude, one last example on the number three is seen when the narrator goes to his first rally. He sees, “Three white men and three black horses”. This image of three white men sitting on top of three black horses represent the brotherhood’s manipulation of the narrator.