So during our last class, we mostly focused on our own personal area of interests. Talia gave us her AOI, and she used page 148-150 as her text for backing it up. It was funny to me because I chose page 148 as well. We didn't go over mine in class because we needed more text and not the same page. ANYWAYYY. My AOI is Public Image. It fascinates me why Maxim and the Narrator married each other, and it got me thinking that it might be because of their public image. The questions I asked myself were:
Did Maxim lose his high status and good public image when Rebecca died? and it that why he wanted to marry again to keep his status high as a married man? He even says "I wonder if I did a very selfish thing marrying you"(148).
-now that might mean that he did not get married for love, but to keep his status up.
Also, why does the narrator feel the need to gain this higher public image and marry Maxim? what is he giving her that Mrs. Van Hopper wasn't other than that image? and if it is just for the image why did she need it? Why did the narrator have "no choice" (148)?
My last question I asked myself was-Did Manderley itself lose its image when Rebecca died?
I have not yet found the perfect answers to these questions, and I have a feeling I never will, but I think I have a good sense of my AOI already.
Any thoughts or questions to add would be very helpful!!
Thanks
ANDDDD sorry again this is so late. I just got home from the stupid apple store. (at least they fixed my computer).
I have another question to add to your list: why does Maxim marry the narrator to maintain his status is she's as awkward and unattractive as she claims she is? If he wanted to maintain his status, wouldn't Maxim have married someone of equal or greater status to himself? Or, a possible answer to my first question, did
ReplyDeleteMaxim marry the narrator so that he could feel powerful again since it seems like
Rebecca overpowered him?
I love how we can find so many different things in such a small amount of writing, its really cool how you can find different meaning in almost anything no matter the length, reading just the beginning of your of your post reminded me a lot of how De Winter may view the Narrator, while we dont know what the Author was thinking while they wrote it, we can still make an opinion because of what we think, and they're mostly different from those of our classmates.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I was thinking too, Lindsey. I feel like if anything that would make his status even lower. I feel like he feels powerful but not because of her, I think that's just what comes along with being brought up in such a wealthy family. She is simply there to be the exact opposite of Rebecca so he isn't reminded of her.
ReplyDeleteThe questions that I've been thinking about a lot is: where is the middle ground in the house and who represents the entity that isn't the east or the west, and in regards to your AOI Narineh, If Maxim is supposed to represent the tamed and proper side of the house, is marrying the narrator a step in the wrong direction if he know understands that the marriage ruins his reputation as an elite?
ReplyDeleteare* and now*
ReplyDeleteFrom what I can see now I don't think it's a step in the wrong direction in regards to being tamed and proper. I can't really picture her rebelling and going to the west side but I may be wrong in my assumptions. Rebecca was the ocean and freedom and that is exactly what Maxim was trying to avoid when he married the narrator.
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