The Cycle of Depression

Tyler Lund

Pd. 1

5/26/14

final analysis

The Cycle of Depression 

When one first reads through the poem The Spleen, they might believe they have some understanding about it. It isn’t until they truly look at the meaning of the words that they will see what it is really about. By engaging in this process the reader can find out more then they imagined about the poem. When analyzing the poem, researching and interviewing is key to finding multiple aspects and different opinions.   

At first read, one might think the poem is about the description of someone who is fading away and dying. I too believed it was describing someone left to die or experiencing death. Here Baudelaire is describing a hopeless bat basically killing itself, “In which Hope like a bat/Goes beating the walls with her timid wings/and knocking her head against the rotten ceiling” (Baudelaire 5-8 ) This, when I first read it, made me think of someone on the battle field who has been left to die and the closer he gets to dyeing the more hope he losses. One can see that the bat is in the dark and all hope for the bat is lost. This is because he can’t see and he keeps hitting his limit which it the ceiling. The farther the bat goes the more he will hit his head on the ceiling further loosing hope. As I learned more about Baudelaire and did more research my opinion on the poem changed. As I read more online I began to think that instead of describing death Baudelaire is describing the cycle he goes through before getting drunk again. Throughout Charles Baudelaire’s life he was known for having alcohol and drug issues. This is why I was lead to believe what the true meaning of the poem was.   He is losing all hope, going back into depression, and planning on turning to alcohol or drugs which will make him even worse.  As I first read through the poem I did have one question about it. That was why the poem was called “Spleen?” After looking up many analyses on the poem I found out that the spleen is a symbol of fear, moral degradation, everything that is wrong with the world and other depressing things. When first leaning this I immediately thought of modernism and Kafka’s writing. In Kafka, people who did not understand the story are the ones who are what’s wrong with the world. Also, Gregor was trapped in a depressing place and this poem talks about a “humid dungeon.”  One uses the image of an insect, and one of a bat, which are both less than desirable beings.  After learning the titles meaning I realized that it related very well because it is a dark poem and shows no hope and lots of fear and depression.

            When I started this project I was excited because the last final in this class was one of the most stressful finals I have had. I knew that this would be a less stressful way to learn about literature and the concepts we have covered. I did not however anticipate that this project would show me how much I actually learned this year. When I first read the poem I knew it was a modernist poem. I truly did not think that by the end of the year I would know so much about modernism and the eras of literature. I was also surprised to find so much relation between Kafka and Baudelaire. For example, one can see how depressing and modernist this line from the poem is, “When the cold heavy sky weighs like a lid/On spirits whom eternal boredom grips, /And the wide ring of the horizon's hid/In daytime darker than the night's eclipse:” (Baudelaire 1-4) Both authors came from close to the same era and Baudelaire was heavily influenced by modernism. Another thing that I learned from this project is the different and similar opinions people can have on one poem. When I interviewed my Mom, she had a lot of the same opinions on the poem that I had but she also gave me new ideas and argued my opinions which helped me learn different ways of thinking about the poem. The last and most important thing that I learned about this project was that it takes a long time for you to truly understand a piece of literature. One can’t just read a poem and then understand the deeper meaning. They must analyze the poem and have deep conversations with other people to truly understand it. 

            I really liked the way this project was outlined and how it was our final for this class. To me this project seemed like a more guided and independent way to study a piece of literature and get the most out of it. This project had much of the same similarities with just studying a book in class. We did research to find out a little more about the author and his background much like when we researched Kafka and found out about his background. This really helps one get the deeper meaning of the poem because they can now relate the story to the life of the author. For example in Baudelaire’s poem on the third line he is taking about being trapped and taken control of. “When trawling rains have made their steel-grey fibres/Look like the grilles of some tremendous jail,/ And a whole nation of disgusting spiders/Over our brains their dusty cobwebs trail:” (Baudelaire 9-12) This relates to his life because he was known for alcohol and drug abuse and often felt trapped and depressed. Though I can see know how this is part of the poem, I would not have related it to his life if I didn’t research him. The next part of the project was much like in class when we do a Socratic seminar. We do this to get a deeper understanding of the poem and find out more about it through our peers. I did this with my teacher and found out many more things that I would never learn if I didn’t talk to her. The final analysis is much like the end of the section essay we write on the poem to show that we have a deeper understanding of it. And the presentation is to show that we have learned how to teacher and learn literature. I really liked the way this presentation was run because it showed how much I really learned this year in this class.

            As I developed a better understanding of the poem, my views on it changed. In the beginning I did not see all the aspects of the poem that I later realized.  This project made me think of many different things I have learned this year and connect ideas and authors. This has been a great class and an interesting project.

Interview

As I walked down my spiral stairs it seemed like a normal school night with my brother doing homework, my mom reading, and my dad watching TV in the basement. The night seemed stressful to me because of the constant studying and homework I have been doing this time of year. I thought about where my Mom would be in the house. At this time of night she was probably reading. As I looked at the empty seat on the single couch by a bright lamp I knew that there was only one other place she could be. I walked through the thin corridor bellow my stairs and founder in her usual position with her legs tucked to the side of her. I had learned to block out the kettle going off at night but remembered it was there when my mom told me to turn it off. The feeling of sleep washes over me as I return to my mom wishing that I could put all my homework off for one night and just lay in bed. I wondered what my mom is reading tonight and remember how I wish I could love reading as much as she does. I decided to talk to my mom because of her love for reading and writing. I ask her if she can help me with a project for world lit and she immediately asks when it due probably thinking about some of the long nights I have spent on writing because I started the night before it was due. I immediately respond not for a couple days so she knows that I am being responsible.  She says yes and I look at my sheet of questions to start the interview.

      To begin the interview in decided to just talk about the title of the book. I asked her to read the title and just tell me what she thinks of. Her reaction is much like mine because she seems intrigued but also confused. She told me that it was quite a weird name for a poem that is going and that the poem to her seems like it will be a little strange. She also says that it makes the poem seem like it is going to be gruesome because when she thinks of spleen nothing good comes to mind. I never really thought of this but when she says it I immediately agree. I ask her what she thinks the deeper meaning of the poem might be. She tells me that the deeper meaning probably will not have any really happy thoughts. Because of the title and the weird gross ideas that follow the deeper meaning will probably be about death. I thought of this to when I read the poem but also thought this because I knew he wrote in a modernist era and so it will probably be depressing.

                I then ask her to read the first three paragraphs of the poem. Surprisingly, she asks me some of the words I had to look up. I tell her the definition in an intelligent voice and right as she seems surprised I knew that I tell her I looked it up. When she first finishes the parts of the poem she tells me that is seems quite depressing and a little disturbing, which I agree with. She then is confused by what the poem is still about. She tells me that she thinks there are two possible ways the poem can go. One, it gets more disturbing and the end of the poem is a little gross. Or, in the last paragraph the whole poem comes altogether. I never thought about this when reading the poem and am glad she pointed it out.        

                After a small discussion about the first part of the poem I ask her to read the second part of the poem and tell me what she thinks. As she reads the poem I can tell by her face she is thinking hard and is getting deep into the poem. When she is done she tells me first it was a good poem and she really liked it. She then says that that the poem is still pretty gruesome and depressing. Because of this is decide to tell her a little about the author and modernism. She does not recognize the author but does know more then I expect about modernism. I then fist tell her my opinion on the poem. I say that I think the poem is all about death and what occurs during the final moments of it. I also say that that is why it is called spleen because it is a major part of the human body and in death it stops working. She agrees with me but says that it is not a very pretty death like dying in your sleep. She continues to say it seems like the author has a lot of pain built up from the past and believes death is a painful and gruesome thing. I tell her that that makes sense because of the author’s history. I then say thank you for helping me and as I am trying to escape the room that I have been in for longer then I wished my mom asks me the thing that I was expecting and hoping not to do “Can you clean the kitchen.” I try to give her the excuse that I have home work but she does not fall for it. 

The Life and The Flask

Charles Baudelaire is a French poet most famous for his poem called The Flowers of Evil. Baudelaire was also known for translating some of Edger Allen Poe’s work. Baudelaire was born in Paris, France, on April 9, 1821. His father’s name was François Baudelaire and he was a senior civil servant and amateur artist. François dies in Charles early childhood and from then on Charles did not have a great relationship with his mother. Shortly after Charles father dies his mother remarried to the Lieutenant Colonel Jacques Aupick. After this, Charles no longer felt affection from his mother and claimed it caused him trauma. Baudelaire studied law in collage and at that time began to accumulate many diets mostly from clothes. After getting his Degree Baudelaire decided to take on a career in writing and literature.  After Declaring this to his Step father Baudelaire was sent off on a vacation to India to stop him from following his dream. After this trip Baudelaire started working on his most famous poem The Flowers of Evil. He got quite a lot of money for this poem but a few years later wasted most of it. In 1859 Baudelaire’s long term use of drugs and alcohol made him have a stroke that paralyzed him for the last two years of his life. On August 31, 1867 Baudelaire died and was buried in his birth place of Paris France  

In Baudelaire’s The Flask there is one idea that is very prevalent throughout the book. That Idea is the Idea of smell and how it helps remember memories. Baudelaire describes smelling a bottle as accessing old memories that were long for gotten. He says that as he smells them they shed light on old forgotten memories. This is referring to the memory of his mother and how as a child he sis not have a very good relationship with her. As he got older he and his mother got to have a second chance at their relationship. This is just like smelling something and getting the memories of old things from the past. One Idea that Baudelaire also brings to light in his book is the creeping feeling of old bad memories. He describes the memories as a dark ghost. This is referring to Baudelaire’s drug problem and how when we smells something that remind him of drugs he gets a dark ghost like feeling. This shows the relationship between Baudelaire’s addiction to drugs and how it was incorporated in his writing. The idea of smell and memory’s is very important to the story and relates the story to Baudelaire’s actual life and what was going on at the time. 

Works Cited

"Charles Baudelaire - Biography." Charles Baudelaire. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2014.

"Charles Baudelaire Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 14 May 2014.

"Charles Baudelaire." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 Oct. 2014. Web. 13 May 2014.

Siddhartha Essay

Tyler Lund

Pd. 1

5/12/14

Siddhartha essay

Finding Bliss

In the novel Siddhartha, Herman Hesse describes Siddhartha’s journey for enlightenment.  In analyzing the story, it becomes evident that the book is an example of the Hero’s Journey as described by Joseph Campbell.  Through the adventures of the main character Siddhartha, the reader can understand the cycles of the Journey, and see the resemblance of other important literary texts.  From the very beginning of the story, one can see the experience and importance of the journey and the impact to the character.  Siddhartha goes through the many of the cycles such as the call to adventure, the abyss, and finally the reward.  As a traditional hero he is able to achieve his goal only after the cycles are complete.

In the beginning of the book Siddhartha lives through the first threshold, and it helps him get started on his journey.  First, he gets the call to action. One can see that when Siddhartha is thinking of his own destiny, and what he will become, that is his call to action. “Often he spoke to himself from a Chandogya-Upanishad the words: ‘Truly, the name of the Brahman is satya—verily, he who knows such a thing, will enter the heavenly world every day.’ Often, it seemed near, the heavenly world, but never he had reached it completely, never he had quenched the ultimate thirst. And among all the wise and wisest men, he knew and whose instructions he had received, among all of them there was no one, who had reached it completely, the heavenly world, who had quenched it completely, the eternal thirst” (Hesse chapter 1). Here, Siddhartha has contemplated what he will be doing if he stays with his Father and becomes a Brahman. Siddhartha then decides that he will lead his own life and become a Samana. Siddhartha has now started his adventure and taken the call to action which leads him to leave his home to try and find enlightenment.  He believes this may be his destiny.  Siddhartha then shortly after experiences the refusal of the call. Here Siddhartha is talking with his Father and his Father does not want him to go. “’With your permission, my Father. I came to tell you that it is my longing to leave your house tomorrow and go to the ascetics. My desire is to become a Samana. May my Father not oppose this?’ The Brahman fell silent, and remained silent for so long that the stars in the small window wandered and changed their relative positions, 'ere the silence was broken. Silent and motionless stood the son with his arms folded, silent and motionless sat the Father on the mat, and the stars traced their paths in the sky” (Hesse chapter 1). Siddhartha is not the one refusing the call; instead it is his Father refusing his call. His Father is scared he will lose his son and is trying to get Siddhartha to stay. This shows that the Siddhartha experiences the refusal of the call but is willing to take many risks and try to complete the adventure to find Nirvana. The next part of the Hero’s Journey that Siddhartha goes through is supernatural aid. Here Siddhartha has talked with Buddha and decides not to learn from him, or to follow him, but he does receive something from Buddha that helps in on his journey, “I am deprived by the Buddha, thought Siddhartha, I am deprived, and even more he has given to me. He has deprived me of my friend, the one who had believed in me and now believes in him, who had been my shadow and is now Gotama’s shadow. But he has given me Siddhartha, myself” (Hesse chapter 3). Siddhartha has received the help from Buddha to learn on his own. Buddha showed Siddhartha his true self and by Siddhartha knowing his true self he will be able to learn from himself and teach himself rather than having a mentor. As one looks at the story of Siddhartha and the Hero’s Journey one can see that Siddhartha goes through all of the first threshold and more as the story progresses.

                As one thinks about the story of Siddhartha one can see that there are many events in the story that show the second threshold of the Hero’s Journey. The next part of the cycle that Siddhartha goes through is the road of trials. Here Siddhartha is fasting and is going through some physical and mental pain. “He fasted for fifteen days. He fasted for twenty-eight days. The flesh waned from his thighs and cheeks. Feverish dreams flickered from his enlarged eyes, long nails grew slowly on his parched fingers and a dry, shaggy beard grew on his chin. His glance turned to icy when he encountered women; his mouth twitched with contempt, when he walked through a city of nicely dressed people” (Hesse chapter 2). One can see that Siddhartha is going through both mental and physical pain and suffering to try and reach his goal. He is putting himself through tests and trials to get a greater look on life and to understand the suffering and pain of life. After this Siddhartha then goes into the next cycle which is the meeting of the goddess. One can see this when Siddhartha first sees Kamala. “Siddhartha saw how beautiful she was, and his heart rejoiced. He bowed deeply, when the sedan-chair came closer, and straightening up again, he looked at the fair, charming face, read for a moment in the smart eyes with the high arcs above, breathed in a slight fragrance, he did not know. With a smile, the beautiful women nodded for a moment and disappeared into the grove, and then the servant as well” (Hesse chapter 5). Siddhartha is immediately fascinated by Kamala and in the book she is the richest and most powerful women character. One can see that because of these traits and because of Siddhartha’s fascination with her that she is the goddess. Kamala is also part of the next cycle of the hero’s journey. The next part of the cycle is the temptation from the true path which is also with Kamala. Siddhartha joins the Kamaswami and puts his true goals on hold because he wants Kamala to like him. ““Things are working out well,” she called out to him. ‘They are expecting you at Kamaswami’s, he is the richest merchant of the city. If he’ll like you, he’ll accept you into his service. Be smart, brown Samana. I had others tell him about you. Be polite towards him, he is very powerful. But don’t be too modest! I do not want you to become his servant, you shall become his equal, or else I won’t be satisfied with you. Kamaswami is starting to get old and lazy. If he’ll like you, he’ll entrust you with a lot’” (Hesse chapter 5). Siddhartha has gotten news that he will be doing business with the Kamaswami. This is the temptation from the true path because he is no longer looking to find Nirvana. He is now put that true goal on hold and is trying instead to impress Kamala. These three parts of the story – fasting, meeting the goddess, and being tempted from the path, are ways the reader sees Siddhartha experiencing the second threshold of the Hero’s Journey.

As the story progresses, Siddhartha moves into the third threshold of the Hero’s Journey which contains the most difficult parts of his path. The next part of the hero cycle that Siddhartha goes through is the abyss. Here Siddhartha has just left the Kamaswami and is at a river contemplating suicide. ” Passionately he wished to know nothing about himself anymore, to have rest, to be dead. If there only was a lightning-bolt to strike him dead! If there only was a tiger a devour him! If there only was a wine, a poison which would numb his senses, bring him forgetfulness and sleep, and no awakening from that! Was there still any kind of filth, he had not soiled himself with, a sin or foolish act he had not committed, a dreariness of the soul he had not brought upon himself” (Hesse chapter 8). Siddhartha is at his lowest point in the book and is wishing he was dead. He is thinking about what he is doing with his life and is very confused. This is the abyss because it is where the reader believes the hero will not return and where the character is very close to death but escapes. After Siddhartha is out of the abyss he is re-visited by his ferryman who will become his first mentor. The ferryman introduces himself as Vasudeva. “For a long time, the ferryman looked at the stranger, searching. ‘Now I recognize you,’ he finally said. ‘At one time, you’ve slept in my hut, this was a long time ago, possibly more than twenty years ago, and you’ve been ferried across the river by me, and we parted like good friends. Haven’t you’ve been a Samana? I can’t think of your name any more.’ ‘My name is Siddhartha, and I was a Samana, when you’ve last seen me.’ ‘So be welcome, Siddhartha. My name is Vasudeva. You will, so I hope, be my guest today as well and sleep in my hut, and tell me, where you’re coming from and why these beautiful clothes are such a nuisance to you’” (Hesse chapter 9).  After Siddhartha and Vasudeva talk they become friends and Vasudeva helps him on his way to reach Nirvana through another cycle of the road of trials. One can see how Vasudeva is his mentor by looking at all the things he teaches Siddhartha and all the things he tells him. The relationship that these two characters share, how they both learn things from one another, and how to reach their goals are all important elements in the journey. The next cycle Siddhartha goes through is one of the last cycles. This is the cycle of the reward. Some say Siddhartha dies in this passage or stops being, but nevertheless Siddhartha achieves his goal and reaches Nirvana. “Not knowing any more whether time existed, whether the vision had lasted a second or a hundred years, not knowing any more whether there existed a Siddhartha, a Gotama, a me and a you, feeling in his innermost self as if he had been wounded by a divine arrow, the injury of which tasted sweet, being enchanted and dissolved in his innermost self, Govinda still stood for a little while bent over Siddhartha's quiet face, which he had just kissed, which had just been the scene of all manifestations, all transformations, all existence. The face was unchanged, after under its surface the depth of the thousand oldness had closed up again, he smiled silently, smiled quietly and softly, perhaps very benevolently, perhaps very mockingly, precisely as he used to smile, the exalted one”(Hesse chapter 12). Siddhartha is experiencing Nirvana and has achieved enlightenment which means he is in his most peaceful state. One can see that this is the reward for Siddhartha because it has been his goal the entire time and all of the cycles lead up to this point. As one looks at the book one can see that Siddhartha did go through many of the stages of the Hero’s Journey and eventually completed his goal.

When looking at some of the most influential literary texts in history, people see that the Hero’s Journey is an important aspect of the human experience when reading many books, stories and religious texts. The Hero’s Journey connects many stories from different times or different places. Even though this connection might be unintentional for some authors it is still a very prevalent part of literature. Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha shows that even a modern take on ancient religious literature has examples of the Hero’s Journey from famous literature from all across the world and all across time.  

The Spleen By Charles Pierre Baudelaire

Spleen

When the low, heavy sky weighs like a lid
On the groaning spirit, victim of long ennui,
And from the all-encircling horizon
Spreads over us a day gloomier than the night;

When the earth is changed into a humid dungeon,
In which Hope like a bat
Goes beating the walls with her timid wings
And knocking her head against the rotten ceiling;

When the rain stretching out its endless train
Imitates the bars of a vast prison
And a silent horde of loathsome spiders
Comes to spin their webs in the depths of our brains,

All at once the bells leap with rage
And hurl a frightful roar at heaven,
Even as wandering spirits with no country
Burst into a stubborn, whimpering cry.

— And without drums or music, long hearses
Pass by slowly in my soul; Hope, vanquished,
Weeps, and atrocious, despotic Anguish
On my bowed skull plants her black flag.

Peace and Well Being

     As the class finishes Siddhartha and reads the second half of the book there are many aspects that one can like about it. One aspect is the overall peace of the book and how it is easy to follow. Unlike some of Kafka's work this book has a general message of peace and well being rather then depression and darkness. One thing that is cool about this book is it follows the hero's cycle. This is a kind of way to connect this book to past lessons in the class. Siddhartha is a very interesting man and even though through out his life some times he does not do things that are "right" in his culture he is still a good person on the inside.
     One overall aspect of the book that i really liked was the aspect of nirvana and how Siddhartha achieves this. It is very interesting to me how hard it is to reach nirvana and how only a handful of people do. One of these people being Siddhartha. I feel like there is a relationship between people who reaches nirvana and people who face huge horrors in there life. Bother of these people have felt suffering and even though one is not greater then the other the suffering just shows them that they must be happy in life and not duel on the past and they must enjoy every little thing that is present because things can go by so fast.