Blog #5

1) In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka pg. 979

Pick this story! It goes hand in hand with Postcolonial Theory!
I chose this because the pre-summary of this story is horrific. A man is "sentenced to be tortured to death by a grotesque machine!" What is great about this story is that it fulfills Postcolonial Theory, what we will be covering in a few weeks. It goes over the brutality of imperialism, colonialism, and the legal system.

2) Guests of the Nation by Frank O' Connor
3) Another Way To Die by Haruki Murakami

Both of these stories are great readings for our psychological criticism period. I would prefer to read Murakami's story. What makes both of these great is that each author deals with internal issues. They are both assigned duties but they must decide to carry out their duties or assist in the destruction of people. Sounds exciting doesn't it? If that's not psychological I don't know what is. This assists Freudian theory that we store "suppressed and unresolved issues" in our head,(pg.144 Literary Criticism).

4) First They Came For The Jews by Martin Niemoller

Great poem! Falls into psychological criticism! I picked this because I can relate with the reader and I am sure many others can. He does not speak out when he should. He does not defend disappearing Jews. He has suppressed fears, and then his greatest fear arrives in the end-I can't tell you what it is-you'll have to read it to find out! Hee Hee. :-D pg. 1011-1012

5) Babii Yar by Yevgeny Yevtushenko

This poem is amazing! It may fulfill psychological criticism, but you will have to read it and let me know. He is not a Jew, but a Russian. He is a Russian pretending he is a Jew, imagining the horrors of a massacre. I chose this poem because I have never seen anyone write a poem with the structure the author did. The imagery is amazing "blood runs, spilling over the floors..."