"Of what use are books when the Book exists to sate every
curiosity and slake every thirst? Of what use are anxieties and painful
questioning when inexhaustible serenity is within the heart's grasp? At last the
world has reached the equilibrium it should have had all along, were it not for
the seditious philosophies and the devious interrogations that led the spirit of
humanity astray by hauling it away from the paths of humility and salutary
submission. Pride has finally been conquered!" - The Last Summer of
Reason
"We must all be alike. Not everyone is born free and
equal, as the constitution says, but everyone made equal...A book is a loaded
gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man's
mind." - Fahrenheit 451
What if translated works were used in conjunction with literature regularly taught in the classroom? Many educators use the technique already so that students may understand themes as well as the benefit of a deeper understanding of both works contrasted. In my studies, my 10th grade teacher had themed units, and each unit had books grouped based on the themes each book focused. For example, we read Antigone, Twelve Angry Men, and To Kill a Mockingbird to develop the theme of justice. Another unit compared George Orwell's 1984 and Fahrenheit 451.
The effect of comparing two works allows for a better understanding of what the author is trying to convey. Encouraging teachers to use translated works to compare to classics already used in the classroom would not only increase students' understanding of the novels they read, but also increase students' understanding cross culturally. The method may even spark interest for the student to read other foreign works. Such a technique would also increase the demand for translated works.
This post proposes a comparison between The Last Summer of Reason and Fahrenheit 451. The tension in both novels surrounds the suppression or complete elimination of books. One is set in a futuristic America, while the other takes place in what can be assumed to be present day Algeria. However the most significant similarity between the two books is how theories of logic - secular or religious - have labeled books to a threat to each culture's highly placed values. The reasoning behind censoring books is very different: Fahrenheit 451 purposes that books create inequality - allowing people to be smarter or achieve success and the inequality brings violence and jealousy. While The Last Summer of Reason describes a radical religious group, the Vigilant Brothers, that charges books to be in conflict with their god, that books compete with their god as a creator and cause questioning, free thought, and rebellion.
Another striking resemblance between the two works, is the struggle both protagonists have with their relationship to books. Guy Montag (Fahrenheit 451) struggles with feelings of unhappiness and numbness. Boualem "suffers most of all from loneliness." Both characters feel a loss of reason: Guy no longer understands the reasoning for burning books, and Boualem begins to question his reasons for holding onto books to his own peril and slowly loses the solace and meaning the books gave him.
Further similarities can be seen in both protagonists' distress regarding the devaluation of human life as a side effect of these book less societies. Guy becomes angry with his wife and her friends as the discuss the pending war with detachment and apathy, and the conclusion of the novel contains a scene following the bombing of the city in which Granger explains how the elimination of books, means of creative expression, made humanity numb to death - humanity had become equal, leaving nothing unique to love or to share love with others. For Boualem, people have been "stirred up by a devastating flood, the flood of dogma that commands one to suffer and cause suffering, to annihilate, and to die without slightest feeling...Weapons speak with an ease and a frequency that make life laughable, a mere temporary accident squeezed between two probabilities in which the variable has become more unpredictable than ever."
It is ironic and frightening how both novels show worlds where logic and reasoning have rationalized books to be dangerous, sources of conflict; and in these societies where books have been suppressed or eliminated, violence has not diminished only increased. And the now the violence is detached as the result of the devaluation of human life.
Your homework for this week...compare and contrast themes and motifs in Fahrenheit 451 and The Last Summer of Reason. Just kidding. ; )
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Living without Reason
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2 comments:
I am fairly confident the answer to the trivia is Ezra Pounds of the wigdety wack variety (quite different from your regular type of wack).
And I would also like to point out that lost in translation is very deep title for your blog. A culture is to some degree defined by its language. How many words a culture has to define or describe something. For example if a culture has 100 different ways to describe or communicate the concept of 'love' then you might say that is a culture full of love.
There is a people that has multiple names for snow because it is that important for them to know what type is coming because that is a prominent thing to function in their society.
The point I am making is that saying one thing in one language may not mean the same in other. It is almost like being a part of a family. How you say things can even be taken very differently.
Siigh the millions of ways of communication and the businesses that are making billions on improving communication. It all comes down to not wanting to be alone or feeling isolated.
I recommend Native Tongue Trilogy by Suzette Haden Elgin.
...but I am definitely for attempting to bring the gap and learn what other cultures have to teach us...
Ezra Pound is correct! Ironically it is debated whether Ezra actually knew any Chinese when he translated Confucius. While in school he studied Japanese, but most of his translations were Chinese to English.
Excellent observations. I believe the Inuit language has several words that refer to snow. Each word describes a specific type of snow. Kind of important distinction to make if you must survive in a snowy environment like that of the Inuits.
Thanks for the recommendation. I looked at Elgin's series this afternoon. It looks like a good read. I will add it my list.
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