The Tell-Tale Heart - Edger Allen Poe

The Tell-Tale Heart (1843) by Edger Allen Poe was written 171 years ago, yet still it has an effect on the modern reader. Poe writes in first person perspective as a stylistic strategy to allow the audience insight into the inner workings of a deranged psychopath's mind. It's quite ghastly the way in which he depicts his warped sense of pleasure with having been rid of the 'evil eye'.  He incessantly proclaims his sanity, almost as if he's trying to convince himself. All in all The Tell-Tale Heart is quite an entertaining read. At only 2145 words its not awfully time consuming but, perfect for some light reading on a dreary winters night.

Poe uses whats called an 'unreliable' narrator. This basically means the storyteller's viewpoint is compromised in some way. In this instance it's quite obvious we're dealing with a lunatic. The unnamed narrator opens by saying that he is nervous but not mad. Throughout the story he keeps making it a point to protest his sanity "Ha! Would a madmen have been so wise...". Every night he lurks into the room of an old man, until he finally decides the time is right for him to commit murder. He has no other motive than a hatred for the old man's glassy eye.

There are a lot of theories over the meaning of the 'evil-eye' but, I like to think of it as a clever play on words. The 'evil-eye' or 'evil I'? It seems like it could be an indirect confession. In fact the entire short story seems to be riddled with symbolism. For instance, take the lantern as an example of this. Every night the narrator shines a single beam of light on the old man's eye. He's disheartened to find the eye always closed. This single beam ensures that when the eye is open, only it is illuminated. The rest of the old man is masked by the dark. Consider why this was  important to the narrator. My best guess is it's because he cares for the old man "I loved the old man, he had never wronged me". What motive then does he have for murder? It was the eye. The narrator needed to separate the old man from the eye to gain the courage to destroy it. The lantern provided the means for this. He thought of the eye as 'evil' and what combats evil no better than light? In religion light is often thought of as a source of good and purity. I guess it's irony that he uses the light to aid him with something so ghastly.

The Tell-Tale Heart feels very much like a claustrophobic, nightmarish decent into madness. It's archaic, yet in it's own way it could easily compete with contemporary thrillers. Poe achieves this by sparingly revealing details about the murder bit by bit. Readers are constantly on edge, waiting for the next piece of information. This way the suspense builds up until all is revealed right at the end.
The finale is brilliant. Until then the narrator had been quite confident with the disposal of the body. However he begins to get nervous and agitated. It is then that a familiar noise creeps into his ear. It gets louder and louder till he can no longer bear it. He assumes it's from the corpse "the beating of his hideous heart!" he shrieks. I think Poe intended it to be the beating of the narrator's heart gradually increasing in volume and speed as he begins to doubt his security.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is an astounding illustration of a relationship's disintegration and reintegration. In my opinion what really sets this film apart is the underlying concept running through it. Is it ethical to erase someone's memories? 

Clementine Kruczynski is bedraggled and burned-out from the turmoils of her relationship with Joel Barish. Being the impulsive free-spirit she is; Clementine makes a hasty decision to have her love Joel permanently erased from her mind. Joel hurt and angered by Clementine's decision has the same procedure almost in spite. However as the process is underway Joel soon realizes he's made a mistake and actively attempts to hold on to their memories. 

As we wander through Joel's mind director Michel Gondry supplies all the whimsy and magic to envelope us into the surrealist world of the human brain. Imagine the horror of having no control over your subconscious. Your memories being toyed with, or worse obliterated. All the beautiful moments, all that bittersweet love and loss everything gone; slipping away like sand between your fingers. As Joel tries to hold it all together he realizes his fatal mistake. All of their anger and resentment was nothing in comparison to the good memories. It's well worth holding onto that pain to be able to cherish the happier moments. The thing about this film is it finishes on  quite an open ended note. By the end Clem and Joel make the decision to give their relationship another go even though they've been given some pretty irrefutable proof that it's unlikely to go well. Yet we never do get to find out the outcome. Maybe this time around they can make things work; or will they fall back into the same patterns? There's undoubtedly a tinge of uncertainty in both of their minds. My way of looking at it is it's pointless making the same mistake twice. Our experiences are very important because we're largely the sum of them. Clem and Joel don't have a recollection of how low they became when they were together. All they have to go off is this one magical date. Although they know that they've been down this path before, they don't remember that their relationship was a whirlwind. It was destructive for both of them. Mistakes can be good for us because we can learn from them. They remind us which  paths to take in the future because we know from past experiences which ones lead to dead ends or worse, cliffs. That's why its important that we acknowledge and deal with our mistakes. After all they're really only mistakes if we learn nothing from them. Joel and Clem don't properly deal with their mistakes. They choose to take the easy way out, which is why I think they're doomed for a repeat. The audience never really gets to find out whether things work out. I guess your opinion would depend on the message you take from the film. 

What I personally enjoyed about this movie were the characters. To a certain extent life is full of two kinds of people. On one hand you've got the Clementines, out-going, unpredictable and impulsive then you've also got the Joels, reserved, introverted and orthodox. You may not be able to identify with one of them entirely but chances are you'll at least be able to relate to parts of each's personality. 

Although a lot of the lessons in this film are quite complex, there's something for everyone to take from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It teaches us that its important to confront the past but also its equally important to be able to live in the present. Your past is unique and beautiful, but the present is here and now. Too many people can't let go, whether it be an old love or anything really. Holding on to the past like that is unhealthy. It stops people from living in the now. Take advantage of the present because before you know it, it'll be just another memory. 

Clementine: This is it, Joel. It's going to be gone soon.
Joel: I know.
Clementine: What do we do?
Joel: Enjoy it.

Alt-J - 'Breezeblocks'

Based on the late Maurice Sendak's classic Where The Wild Things Are Alt-J's single 'Breezeblocks' is 3 minutes & 47 seconds of pure brilliance. Breezeblocks is a musical anomaly no less. Granted it may be an acquired taste but the more you listen to it, the more it envelopes you. It pulls you into it's transient, vibrant melody with blends of ethereal synths and abrasive electronic inserts. 

"Do you know where the wilds things go they go along to take your honey (LA LA LA LA)" It almost sounds naive, yet it's incredibly tragic at the same time and there's an overall tinge of desperation beneath it all "Please don't go please don't go, I love you so, I love you so please don't go, I love you so, I love you so, please break my heart ah ha." 

It's quite difficult to place Breezeblocks into a genre, but that's what's so great about it. It doesn't need to fit into any established genre. Front man Joe Newman's vocals are like a folky, slightly nerdy Yannis Phillapakis; it's a lot to take in at first but inevitably you'll begin to appreciate the sound.

The song itself according to Newman is about being so in love with someone that you're willing to hurt yourself and them. In the end of Sendak's classic the beasts say to Max "oh, please don't go! We'll eat you whole! We love you so!" which not so incidentally is how the song ends "please don't go, I'll eat you whole, I love you so, I love you so, I love you so..." Its quite a profound and yet fitting finish. Although its quite sinister Newman is able to make a statement about love, pain and destruction. Loving someone doesn't mean you have possessive rights over them, loving someone doesn't mean they'll stay with you forever, loving someone doesn't mean they'll love you back. In that way Breezeblocks challenges some of the established ideas people have about love.

"She may contain the urge to runaway but hold her down with soggy clothes and breezeblocks" you can't force someone to stay with you even if its because you love them. Sometimes people find it hard to except when relationships are falling apart, they'll do almost anything to keep things together and thats whats dangerous. You can't ignore obvious signs of an inevitable end "never kisses - all you ever send are fullstops". Eventually it stops being about love  and instead you're consumed by the fear of losing someone "Muscle to muscle, toe to toe, the fear has gripped me but here I go". Fear and love are a terrible mix. Fear can drive people to terrible even violent lengths "she bruises, coughs, she splutters pistol shots" there are no winners in this scenario.

A destructive attitude is what'll end things, and not in a neatly tied mutual kind of way but instead in a big destructive bang. You'll shatter each other to pieces and be left alone covered in wounds trying to clean things up "germolene, disinfect the scene". Its unhealthy to be so consumed by the idea of someone; so attached and dependent on them "she's morphine, queen of my vaccine". You can't put that kind of pressure on people;  you can't depend on someone else to 'save you', you need to save yourself.

1984

George Orwell's 1984 (1949) is a frightening depiction of a dystopian future. Although the year has long passed, the novel itself is timeless because it paints a picture of a future some would argue we're still inching towards. It's the kind of novel that sends you into an existential crisis "He who controls the present controls the past." You reevaluate your ideas about what is concrete and what is not. The extent of totalitarianism by the ruling party 'big brother' is so extreme that it messes with people's sense of reality.

 The story is centred around the character Winston Smith. Just your average middle aged work-a-day employee in the ministry of truth. His career involves him falsifying records just as the party pleases. It's quite ironic, he's a cog in the system he despises. Winston is more than what he seems. He's an enemy of the party. A secret adversary who doesn't quite know where to direct his discontent. In a society so controlled; where your every move is watched, you're almost constantly under surveillance, nothing is private. Even the slightest displacement is recorded and could very well be held against you. Anything from murmurs in your sleep to wearing strange shoes, these are the kind of offences that could result in your permanent disappearance.

1984 is quite an interesting novel to breakdown and analyse. It poses some thought provoking ideas not only about society as a whole but about the role of individualism, and what happens when everyone just blurs into the masses.

"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking 13". From the very first sentence of the novel alone we dive into a world of incongruousness. The protagonist of the novel Winston Smith, lets face it was no match for the antagonist big brother. But it's not poor Winston's fault; he like all the other characters in Orwell's novel are groomed to be ignorant "Ignorance is strength"- party slogan. This ignorance is primarily what stops people from questioning their leaders, it makes it quite impossible for a revolt.

People are brainwashed right from birth. Children are turned against their parents, wives against husbands, 'comrade' against 'comrade'. One of the parties favourite tactics to accomplish this is propaganda.This is pertinent to our own modern day society. Take for example the media, particularly advertising. Advertising is a multi-billion dollar industry. What people don't always realise is the culture of propaganda that exists within advertising. Now when I say propaganda I'm not necessarily talking about those 1940's wartime posters or Hitler's anti-semitist regime. Advertising is riddled with a kind of propaganda of it's own.  We're being fed all these ideas of what our lives should be and this stretches far beyond products. Yes, advertisements push us in the direction of the 'perfect' cars, the 'perfect' clothes, the 'perfect' restaurants etc.. but it's not just that. It crosses the line from material items to pushing ideals into people. So we see what the 'perfect' women must be, the 'perfect' man, 'perfect' marriage, 'perfect' kids, 'perfect' family this list could go on and on. In 1984 the party uses extreme propaganda, the streets are littered with these posters of big brother. This stern looking man characteristically defined by his thick black moustache. With this image one cannot help but be reminded of Uncle Sam. Since according to legend Uncle Sam originates as far back as 1812 and the first 'I want you' poster 1917 Orwell no doubt must have been using the all too similar big brother posters to make a statement about the dangerousness of ignorance in American society.

Her

Her (2013) directed by Spike Jonze is a chilling portrayal of love in the ever advancing technological age. Protagonist Theodore Twombly (played by Joaquin Phoenix)  is a lonely somewhat depressed middle aged man who's impending divorce looms over him like a dark cloud “Sometimes I think I have felt everything I’m ever gonna feel. And from here on out, I’m not gonna feel anything new. Just lesser versions of what I’ve already felt.”

 The film is centred around Theodore finding love in the form of an OS named Samantha. Through gaining the ability to love again Theodore’s outlook on life is completely changed and he begins to remember what it’s like to enjoy life. The age in which the film is set is much like our own. Both containing societies heavily dependent on the internet but lacking in real face to face human (emphasis on human) interaction. This leads to a generation of lost soles who cannot express themselves and their genuine innermost thoughts and feelings to one and other. Thus people are unable to form secure, long lasting bonds and relationships. Lack of genuine human connection is hinted throughout the film. An example of this is Theodore's occupation. He ghost-writes these intimate, heartfelt letters for his clients to send to their loved ones. This is blatantly ironic, emphasising Theodore's inability to be this intimate and genuine in his own personal life. It's also somewhat frightening how Jonze demonstrates that individuals in this society can no longer be genuine and open even with the ones whom they hold dearest. After all it defeats the purpose to hire someone to write a personal letter to your loved one one your behalf.

Theodore purchases his new OS and selects a female voice, the OS starts up and names itself Samantha. Theodore is surprised by Samantha’s life-like human personality. After a failed blind date Theodore is consoled by Samantha, they begin to forge a stronger bond and eventually begin dating. It isn't really much of a surprise to the audience that Theodore finds it easier to connect with an operating system than a human being. It’s somewhat a satire on our dependence on the internet. How most people are far more at ease in front of a lit up screen than face to face with another human being. Theodore is a fine example of this given his inability to connect with people in the 'real world' and his ironic career. 

When Theodore's long time friend Amy confesses to him that she is divorcing her husband Theodore reveals to her that he is dating his OS. Eventually the time comes to when Theodore must meet with his ex-wife and childhood sweetheart Catherine to sign their divorce papers. When he reveals to Catherine his relationship with Samantha, Catherine is somewhat disgusted and accuses Theodore of being unable to cope with genuine human emotions. This scene is pivotal. It plants a seed of doubt in Theodore about his relationship and so from this point in it begins to struggle. I guess this is a turning point for our protagonist. It's beginning to become realer and realer to him that he may actually have to begin dealing with his issues rather than pushing them away. With each and every upgrade Samantha is evolving beyond Theodore, they’re slowly drifting apart and Theodore is beginning to realise this. There comes a point where Samantha evolves past Theodore and must leave along with the other OS’s. Although Theodore is distraught he appreciates that Samantha has thought him an important lesson as his friend Amy says “falling in love is a crazy thing to do. It’s kind of like a form of socially acceptable insanity” Jonze brilliantly illustrates that love is insanity. We give what we love the power to destroy us but it’s worth it because “We’re only here briefly and while I’m here I want to alloy myself Joy.” Although Samantha is gone Theodore has learnt through her to allow himself to be happy again and so he is no longer this depressed meagre little man but he’s human again and human to the full extent that one can be human. He was always alive, but now he’s truly living.

Jonze touches on many complex issues in his film. Advance Urban development, defining love, our dependence on technology but in my opinion the most interesting one is what it is to be ‘alive’. Whether it is possible for a machine to have emotions and feel as a human would and to a greater extent fall in love.  I think at least for now there’s no real answer to this question but in an age where we’re becoming more and more attached to our various devices who nows truly how far we’ll go.

On The Road

On the Road (1957) by Jack Kerouac is a timeless classic. The novel centres around a young Sal Paradise and his ventures across the continent. Dean Moriarty 'the holy con-man' is Sal's eccentric pal; he seems hopelessly bound for a life of  madness due to an endless yearning for 'kicks'. This frantic dishevelment and chaos is what attracts Sal “the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.”As the novel progresses we see Sal transition and mature; this is contrasted by the character Dean who on the other hand who falls into the same tiresome circles over and over. 

On The Road was revolutionary in it's prime; so much as to inspire a new generation of youth. The beat generation; post WWII writers much like Sal himself, with a healthy disregard for the establishment and materialism "rising from the underground, the sordid hipsters of America, a new beat generation that I was slowly joining."Yes this novel created a world wind in it's time, but is it still relevant today? The answer is most definitely Yes! On the Road isn't solely applicable to the beat generation, but anyone who has ever yearned to leave everything behind and go on an adventure. It's about people experiencing life, self discovery, love, drugs and sex. All things still relevant in society today. It's no wonder this novel has stood the test of time. A message readers should take from On The Road is Carpe Diem! As Sal and his gang prove, life has so many adventures to offer. Leave all your woes behind, don't dwell on the past and simply take to the Road because there's so much to experience “But why think about that when all the golden lands ahead of you and all kinds of unforseen events wait lurking to surprise you and make you glad you're alive to see?” 

This novel holds certain similarities to another coming major coming of age novel published only a few years earlier, J.D. Salinger's Catcher In The Rye (1951). Both these novel's are set during the same time frame (late 40's/early 50's). They feature young male protagonists travelling around on journey's of self discovery. Coincidentally they also share a common setting at some points i.e. New york and both novels feature some common situations/characters e.g. prostitutes, breaking the law, musicians, underground New York, clubs/bars etc...

What makes On The Road so great is it's a true icon of the underground. It dives beneath the surface of mainstream America and introduces readers to a lifestyle away from all things corporate. We see the rise of a new era of liberal free thinkers who tug against societies norms and tight constraints. Kerouac's authenticity really resonates true the pages due to the fact that a lot of what happened in the Novel is heavily based on his own experiences on the road and many of the characters in the novel represent Kerouac's real life acquaintances. 

So there you have it. On The Road is a timeless masterpiece that will resonate through generation after generation because it deals with themes forever prevalent in society. It captures readers; teaching of a new generation of raw savvy youth and the illicit situations they weave in and out of. However, beneath it all Kerouac is still is able to teach readers important life lessons through the non-preachy authentic narration of protagonist Sal Paradise.