Beyond Silence

Lara is forced to live her life not only for herself, but for her parents too. Both her mother and father are deaf, so she has to communicate with them through sign language. She can hear and they can not, so she is always going back and forth. She has to communicate with certain people through two different languages, but she does it very well. Music is her passion and she loves to play, but her father does not want her pursuing to become a musician. I partly think this is because he can not hear her play and since it is his daughter's talent, he is bothered he cant experience it with her. Throughout the entire film Lara never really got a break for herself, except for at the end. Ever since she was a little girl she had to be the caretaker of her parents and help them communicate with others around them, since they could not speak for themselves. She had to be the translator and do all the work, whether it was with accountants at the bank, her school teachers, or anyone else. She was the child, but the reality of the situation forced her to become the adult, and her parents the children. Lara had to baby her parents and was the mother figure to her younger sister.
Lara seems to get along better with her mother than her father. Her mother is more lenient and open to things, especially her playing the clarinet or going to visit her Aunt Clarissa. She doesn't ever object to anything, even when it secretly bothers her. Lara's mother explains to her husband that even though Lara is their daughter, she isn't their property. He comes off as being stubborn and even somewhat abusive when he slaps Lara. He orders her around and makes her stop playing the clarinet, turn off the music, and do her homework. He is never open for "discussion" with her and basically shuts himself out of her world. He is jealous of his sister Clarissa from unresolved issues from their childhood, and he opposes Lara spending quality time with her. I feel like Lara's mother and father are very happy together and love each other. They never fought and since they were both dead they could relate to one another on a whole new level. Her mother helps her father to understand the situation better, and come to peace with it. She even buys two tickets to a professional clarinet concert for Lara, even though she knew she would not be able to hear the music herself. When Lara's mother dies, her father becomes especially detached and lost because his comfort zone, lover, and best friend are forever gone.
At first, Lara has a great relationship with her Aunt Clarissa. She wants to be like her and look like her and play music like her. Clarissa was her role model growing up because they shared so much in common and Lara was just amazed by her Aunt's talents and beauty. Even in the opening scene they are ice skating together and Lara cant stop smiling. She got to experience everyday things with her Aunt that she could not experience with her parents because of their condition. They went swimming in the lake, rode bicycles, went camping, drank wine, took pictures, traveled, and played the clarinet together. In a way they were like mother and daughter, best friends, and sisters all at the same time. We learn of Lara's relationship with Clarissa when she allows Clarissa to cut her hair. Lara was so fascinated on looking like her when she was her age that she let Clarissa chop all her beautiful hair off. Once it was gone, though, Lara begins to cry because she missed her long hair. As the movie progresses and Lara is in Berlin, she begins to pull away from Clarissa and sees the bad things about her, and not just the good. Even at dinner Lara can no longer keep her mouth shut and tells Clarissa how she now really feels. She attacks Clarissa saying she is jealous of her music and only wants her to get into the school for her own sake, and not Lara's. She doesn't understand why Clarissa didn't want her playing slow peaceful music, but instead fast and upbeat notes. Lara got so fed up to the point where she actually moved out of her Aunt's home and into her Uncle's new apartment.

Duras 3

My first quote is, "I never really knew how much I liked wine" (p 100). Anne says this and for some reason it caught my attention because ever since the murder she has drank glasses of wine for the past seven nights. I find this ironic because she goes from having her old everyday routine of taking walks with her son and living a boring life, to developing a new daily routine. This new routine, though, is much better than the old one because she is finally having fun and getting to do something for herself. She gets to drink and get drunk, associate with people her own age, and get away to do something she has never done before. She is a full grown woman and since she states this comment I come to believe that Anne has never really been much of a drinker. Since she finally has the opportunity to sit down, relax, and consume alcoholic beverages, she gets to act somewhat mature and feel like an adult.
My second quote is, "They lived in an isolated house, I think it was by the sea. It was hot. Before they went there they didn't realize how quickly things would evolve, that after a few days he would keep having to throw her out. It wasn't long before he was forced to drive her away, away from him, from the house. Over and over again" (p 103). Chauvin states this because Anne continues to ask him for more details about the love affair between the couple so she can understand it better. This quote gets me because its obvious since the man kept making the woman leave he didn't want her around. Since she didn't stay away and kept coming back, he finally put an end to it. In order to keep her away for good and out of his life he had to kill her, and that is exactly what it led to. The man probably still loved the woman to a certain extent, but he was unsure of what he really wanted at that given moment. Maybe his feelings changed and he didn't know what to do or how to handle the situation, so he became paranoid and brought himself to commit murder.
My third quote is, "As you know, Anne is defenseless when it comes to her child" (p 109). I chose this quote because Anne is all about her little boy. She doesn't really act like a mother to him, but instead like his best friend. She lets him get away with everything and even though they do everything together, she doesn't discipline him. When he ignores the teacher during the piano lessons Anne just laughs. She doesn't correct her son or tell him to apologize. Usually mothers get angry with their child when they disobey or disrespect an elder. In a way i think Anne is just scared of losing her son because he is all she has, up until she meets Chauvin. At that point, she doesn't really care anymore about the fact that her son is alone in the middle of the street outside, while she is getting drunk with a stranger in a cafe.

Duras "Moderato Cantabile"

This novel begins with an opening of a piano lesson. Usually music is considered to be peaceful, especially the harmony coming from a piano, but in this case it was quite the opposite. There was a mixture of confusion along with anger and carelessness that led way to a frightening scene. The boy, the teacher, and the mother are in the room for the boy's lesson and it is not going well. The teacher, Mademoiselle Giraud, comes off as being very strict and doesn't have patience. She doesn't tolerate mistakes or stupidity, which the boy is presenting on purpose. She continues to order him to play the piano certain ways and asks what "moderato cantabile" means, which the boy should easily know. Instead of answering and doing what she says he continues to act as if he is dumbfounded because he doesn't have any interest in the music, and rather sit there and stare out at boats in the ocean. The teacher knows he is only pretending to not know the material and gets frustrated because she is aware of his talents, but he isn't cooperating. The mother, Anne Desbaresdes, continues to tell her son to participate, but she doesn't scold him. Instead, she has the basic mother instinct to talk genuine to him and basically baby him. The mother and son have a very close bond that is obvious, and clearly the boy wasn't raised to have respect the way he should. We learn that Anne comes from money because she is married to a wealthy man, so the son is basically spoiled and doesn't have manners. Anne just laughs every time he messes up the keys or ignores the teacher, as if it is a joke and not serious. As this scene goes on another scene is happening outside the window on the streets, where a woman was just murdered in a cafe. The woman screams and then everyone crowds near the door and sirens follow indicating that the police are about to be there. So, the novel opens with two scenes that are based upon troubles and have a sad tone, instead of a happy one, which is unusual for a beginning.
I think the scream was from a random woman who was murdered by her husband in a local cafe because it gave sense to help Anne figure out her own self, and come to reality. Anne and her son had a daily routine where they would go for walks and then Fridays was the piano lesson. It seemed like their lives were actually quite boring and neither one of them were very happy, so they had fun together doing simple things. Anne had all this money so her family was considered to be wealthy, meaning that they were "required" to perform the same roles in society as the other upper class residents. However, money clearly didn't buy them happiness like it did for others. So, when the scream interrupted the music lesson, Anne right away became intrigued with the whole scenario and "had" to learn more of what happened and why. She needed to know every detail and she learned parts of the story from a man she drank wine with in the same cafe. This man, Chauvin, was there at the murder scene, so he walked Anne through the steps. In a way, by learning of the murdered woman and the husbands' affair, Anne and Chauvin engaged in their own new love affair. Anne did things she never normally did, like drink a lot of wine and sit at the cafe for hours talking. She finally did something she wanted to do for once, and the heartbreaking story of the murder and the love that the woman felt for her husband, was the missing puzzle piece to help bring Anne's own life and love interest into better perspective. A tragic moment led to an enchanting moment.

Dora 2

Every time Dora tells Freud about her dreams he always corrects her statements and forms them into his own ideas. He constantly underestimates her and takes whatever she says and puts those words into his own perspective of how he views the situation. It is like he doesn't believe she is being honest with him or herself, and is underlying her true intentions and feelings. She explained to him about the jewelry box, the cigarette smoke, the bed wetting, and the fire, and every time he turned around and formed his own stories. He would listen to what she was saying, but he wasn't really hearing her out. Instead, he would believe she was somewhat in denial and steering away from the truth and he was right, since he could never be wrong. Freud would view Dora as hiding the facts and oppressing her own fantasies, so he would call her out on them and convince both himself and her that his ideas were correct. I think Freud has to be correct in all of his statements because he is doubted by so many others. Dora is young, especially compared to him, and she is the weak one in this case because she is the one coming in for treatment. He is the one who has the upper hand because it is him who is doctoring her and diagnosing her disease. So, to him, he cant be wrong and is holding the power over her because her dreams are an association of reality.
Transference is defined as being an act of transferring or a redirection of feeling. This plays into the therapy sessions because Freud feels as if Dora has secret feelings for him which she is trying to play off onto Herr K and her father. Whenever she tells him about her dreams he insists that they are of sexual intentions. It is almost like he doesn't think the dreams are that serious because they are just based upon sex. However, to Dora, that is not the case. She is well aware of feelings being there and having sexual connections, but she also is serious when talking about water and fire and the elements of life. It doesn't seem as if Dora has fantasies about Freud, but she very well could. In his eyes she does because she is a very horny young girl who has also had sexual interactions with another older man, Herr K. Freud claims Dora feels this way for Herr K because she is secretly in love with her father and upset at the fact that he loves Herr K's wife and not her, in a sexual manner. So, whenever she doesn't get the love back in return she turns to another man, whether it is her father, Herr K, or Freud.
I honestly think Freud is full himself and is in his own world. He is too stubborn to be considered wrong and doesn't believe Dora is ever being completely honest. Part of his theories do make sense because Dora does seem like she is very sexually disturbed, but I believe there is more to her dreams than what he is making them out to be. Freud is only believing what he wants to believe and isn't considering the reality of the situation. Even if he was completely accurate on his opinions of her thoughts when she is in the unconscious state of mind, he shouldn't tie everything to sexual feelings. It is almsot like his ego is so huge that he is so self absorbed and conceited with himself.

Under the Sand

The "traumatic event" in the film was when Jean suddenly disappears at the beach. They were on vacation and even though we only saw him briefly, he seemed very depressed. Marie was cheerful and didn't seem to make anything of it, but he didn't engage in conversation with her and there seemed to be some sexual tension. When they went to the beach he rubbed her back and made it seem like he was going to take a dip. When he never came back, though, it wasn't very shocking because it seemed like he was building up to leave her. We don't know what really happened, though, whether he really did drown or if he actually did just walk away from her to start over.
Marie forces herself to believe Jean never left her and nothing has changed. She talks about him still in the present tense and when her friends try to change the subject or confront her about the issue, she ignores them. There are several scenes where she comes home and "conversates" with Jean. We see him "hold" her and "sleep" with her. One morning she even refuses to go to work and "eats" breakfast with him because she would rather stay at home with him than go off to work. Every time she comes to reality and believes that he really is gone, she forces herself to be in the moment with him again. She is in denial and wont accept the truth. Even when her accountant tells her she is broke, she just says Jean will take care of it.
When Marie goes to the morgue to identify the body, she insists that she see it. The doctors tell her that it is an awful sight and it will traumatize her because the body is so mutilated, but she claims she needs to see it to come to acceptance. After they look at the body and the doctors show her the swim shorts and watch she just laughs. It was shocking when she did this because the situation is not funny at all and nobody could understand why she thought it to be so humiliating. She finally said that the watch was not Jean's and she should know because she was the one who bought it for him. It is unknown at this point whether or not the body was Jean because Marie claims it wasn't his watch, but the doctors say his dental records match up and they are 90% accurate.
At the end when Marie is alone on the beach and crying, I still wasn't clear whether she was lying and the watch really was his so he was dead, or if she was telling the truth and he really did leave her. In a way I felt that she had come to closure and finally was letting go because he left her to start a new life. He moved on and she should do the same. It was all really confusing, especially when she saw a man that appeared to be Jean. I was so excited as she was running to him because I wanted to see if it really was him or not, but then it just ended. So, for me, I still do not know what truly happened to Jean. 

Dora 1

I believe Freud's case study of Dora can be compared to literature because he focuses on a subject, the girl and her psychoanalysis. He is telling us readers a story of a person who is dealing with her own issues, but also seeking treatment. In a way this one story is like several separate stories because we are not only hearing it from Freud, but we are also being informed by Dora. He is the one questioning her and providing her the treatment, so she is telling him of what is going on with her, and then he is telling us of her problems. The story focuses on Dora and everything she is going through, but at the same time we are learning about other characters who play huge roles in her story. There is the father, the mother, and the couple who seem to cause a lot of trouble by having affairs. So we are being involved with Freud's version of Dora's story, the real story from Dora herself, and also the story as seen through the other characters' eyes. Both literature and psychoanalysis have conflict in common, especially "internal conflict." Literature revolves around storytelling, while psychoanalysis deals with dream interpretation, theory, exploring, revealing, and investigating. A story reveals itself through a variety of subjects and interests, so does psychoanalysis. Both involve stories being understood, interpreted, and spoken about to reveal everything out into the open.
Freud talks a lot about sexuality and gender, especially when it comes to the mother and Herr K. He introduces the mother as basically being no good and being over compulsive with cleaning. He even mentioned how she made everything so perfect that nobody wanted to even eat off the clean dishes. Dora was very close to her father, but did not get along with her mother, and she even took notice to the fact that her parents were no longer sexual with each other. Her father had turned to Herr K's wife and they had a secret love affair. They were constantly sneaking off together to spend time with each other, and then they even all moved to Vienna. However, it was Dora who Freud instigated about the most when it came to sexual tension because of her passion with Herr K. When she first told him about Herr K trying to kiss her and she ran away, Freud made his opinion clear about what he thought had really happened. He believed that Dora very much liked Herr K, but she became scared of the excitement he had shown through his pants. Freud instigated that since she was so young, she could not fully understand what was going on and also got too excited, herself. Dora claimed she felt nothing but disgust and couldn't believe what had happened, but when Herr K was confronted he even claimed, "She took no interest in anything but sexual matters, and that she used to read Physiology of Love and books of that sort in their house on the lake. It was most likely that she had been over-excited by such reading and had merely 'fancied' the whole scene" (p 19).

Sor Juana 3

Writing poetry came easy for Sor Juana because like she had originally stated, she learned how to read and write at the age of seven. It wasn't difficult for her to put her feelings and opinions down on paper because she was both highly intelligent and inspiring. She wanted others, including her readers and especially women, to hear her out and come to agree with her. Sor Juana discusses several topics throughout her poems, but she mostly focuses on men and their treatment towards women. She writes about passion, truth, love, jealousy, suffering, and how they affect a person's life. Within these topics she argues how they interfere with emotions, fantasy, and cause difficulties until death. Sor Juana mostly focuses on the principles between men and women, constantly bringing up the fact that men cause nothing but problems for women. Women do nothing but love and care for men, while men always feel the need to downgrade them and have the upper hand. Men use their power to overrule women and torment them for anything they feel is wrong, but in reality it is the women who are right and the men who are wrong. I think that she liked poetry better than prose because she could get her point across more easily by using ways of rhythm and verse. It flowed better and could be seen more clear. Earlier she even stated how verses help her think and it isn't difficult for her, but instead it comes easy. 

I really liked poem 165 on page 161 because once again she is depicting love and comparing it to happiness. She claims love is a spell that is the cause of women being content and in a fantasy world. Love is what women most embrace and desire, but at the same time she compares it to jail because of how men tend to ruin it. Women have so much to offer, but men always neglect the feeling of love for lust and do nothing but flatter then disappoint.

I thought poem 92 on page 165 was very interesting because she downgrades men for belittling women. It is always men who are on a higher pedestal than women, but Sor Juana is proving that women can take the lead, as well. She argues how men never take the blame are claim they are never at fault, but she gets her point across that it is them and not the women who they cast it upon. She focuses on scorn because no matter what women do, whether they admit their love or deny it, they are always seen as foolish. Just like lines 30-31  state, "and fails to admit you is ungrateful; yet if she admits you, too easily won." Right after she explains how women may be foolish, but men are also seen as fools because they can never own up to their cruelty or low self-esteem for being at fault.