Voice of the Sea: The Mockingjay's Awakening

Click HERE for the song.
Here's the lyrics:

Voice of the sea

The voice of the sea is seductive
But never as much as destructive
The mockingbird sings
The parrot repeats
The awakening will soon begin

The tale of a woman
No love for her man
Who dislikes the life
Of the typical wife

But then she meets Robert
The man of her dreams
The parrot breaks free
But still tries to swim

The voice of the sea is seductive
But never as much as destructive
The mockingbird sings
The parrot repeats
“The woman is crazy” they think

Deep in the ocean
Struggles to breathe
No mockingbird dreams
A pigeon it is


The voice of the sea is seductive
But never as much as destructive
The mockingbird sings
The parrot repeats
But the pigeon soon goes back to sleep

A Bird's Cage

Video blog!!!

Alright, I'll Wake Up

Edna seems to have an emotional breakdown in chapter 9, while listening to a pianist playing a song Edna calls 'Solitude'. Usually, she would picture a naked man "standing beside a desolate rock on the seashore" upon hearing this song, but when Mademoiselle Reisz played it, instead of 'seeing' it, she felt it. Edna bursts into tears as she listens to the song, and once the performance is over, Reisz comes over to Edna and tells her that she is the only one there that was worth playing for.

This short scene seems to show that Reisz might actually understand Edna. Despite the fact that everyone else hearing the song loved the performance and were enthusiastic, Reisz only paid attention to Edna. Seeing Reisz's reaction, readers could assume that Reisz could have a bigger role later on in the book, helping in this awakening.

There was a scene earlier in the book, in which a parrot spoke in a language that no one could understand, except perhaps the mockingbird at the other side of the door. If Edna were to be compared with the parrot, Edna is trapped in her own 'cage', under the oppression. No one really understands her, except this 'mockingbird', which seems to fit Reisz's character (although we can't say much more about it, as this is the first time readers see Reisz).

At this point, Edna knows that something is wrong, but she might not be able to tell the exact reason. However, it is true that the awakening is officially starting. Well, I guess it's about time to wake up myself.

Everyone is Still Sleeping

Sometimes, Mrs. Pontellier is just not happy with her marriage. Despite this, she does go quite well with Mr. Pontellier, and Edna has not given much second thoughts. On one night, however, she feels "an indescribable oppresion, which seemed to generate in some unfamiliar part of her conciousness". She describes it as a mood, one that definitely does not feel right. Mrs. Pontellier is finally starting to realize a bit of the truth, the fact that something might actually be wrong in terms of the men-women relationships that every woman has to live through.

Despite these little things going on in Edna's head, life goes on. Edna meets up with her friends, and upon seeing that Mr. Pontellier had sent bonbons, all the friends and Edna admit Mr. Pontellier as being "the best husband in the world". In the inside, Edna probably does not agree, really, but she's just going with what everyone else says. This can be compared to oppression in the bigger scale, where all women believe that this oppresion is normal, just because every other woman has to go through the same thing. The 'waking up' is harder is everyone else is still sleeping.

Having this in mind, it's probable that Edna's 'waking up' would start a chain reaction that would wake others up as well.

But I Don't Want to Wake Up

The Awakening by Kate Chopin is a very influencial book from the 19th century. The beginning of the book is made up of descriptions of the surroundings, mostly noises. Here, the readers are introduced to Mr. Pontellier, a "man of forty, of medium height and rather slender build".

When one starts reading the book, he/she is inclined to think that this is a feminist work, and they are correct. Only a few pages into the book, Mr. Pontellier scolds his wife, Edna, for having been out in the sun, having apparently been "burnt beyond recognition". From the start of the book, Kate Chopin seems to be trying to make a theme very clear: sexual oppresion. Women are not viewed the same as men, and women are seen mostly as property of men once they are in a husband/wife relationship. In fact, many women, Edna included, seem to view this as rather normal and go on with their lives without a fight.

However, readers could deduce that this is about to change. For one, the back page of the book carries the following quote: "She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before." If Edna is the 'she', and she is 'swimming' far out, it would be as if she is 'waking up' to see the truth that no other woman would have questioned before. Why have no other woman woken up before? Maybe it is like waking up to an alarm clock. One knows he/she has to wake up, but one decides to just put it on snooze. Then it is forgotten.

Sounds like an interesting start for an interesting (and pink) book.
Now, I would be more efficient if I could wake up as well...

The Imprisoned Hamlet

Prisons are like hospitals: they help cure patients to give them a second chance in life (although some might take longer than others). Just like our former president said, "America is the land of the second chance - and when the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life." Prisons should be seen less as punishment and more as nourishment. That's why the acting of Hamlet in the prison was not only a great idea to help educate prisoners, but also a great way to reflect and learn from their mistakes by identifying with the characters of the play.

People would expect prisoners to be uneducated, illiterate murderers who are not willing to learn from their mistakes. Well, they could see us as privileged, ignorant people who are not willing to trust in them to be better people. That is our first problem in helping the prisoners. That's why the acting of Hamlet was brilliant. most of the actors were uneducated and there may have been a few problems in understanding the happenings of the play. But who knows, in the end, the prisoners might have understood better than others since they could have actually related Hamlet's (or any other character's) actions with their own. Their personal experiences were shown on stage.

One key concept of Hamlet is if the end justifies the means. Acting out the play, the prisoners were able to see the insanity of Hamlet bringing about tragic events and all the consequences for them. Like a domino effect, one tragic event causes another, and that one causes yet a worse one. Because of all the anxiety, anger and frustration builds up, Hamlet is unable to kill himself even if he wants to because he doesn't want to end up being like the unsatisfied spirit of his father that roams around Earth. Just like Hamlet's constraint, the prisoners are trapped in prison. And just like Hamlet growing insane and crazy, many people in prison could also lose sense of control over themselves. But, the third-person view of themselves through the play allowed the prisoners to realize many things that they hadn't realized before.

Just because someone is locked up in a prison doesn't mean that he/she is not a human. In fact, everyone lives in a sort of prison, just that some are bigger than others. Many people spend their whole lives living only in their own country, or even only in their own city. Prisoners spend their lives in prison. The only difference between the two is that one knows his/her limits while the other doesn't. Prisoners still have thoughts and feelings. They can still learn and educate their minds like us.

Fear of Being Fearful

Ghosts are like trials: they are innocent until proven guilty. And, once proven “guilty”, there is no going back. They are non-existent (innocent) until seen with one’s own eyes (guilty). Once they are seen, they cannot be unseen.

People have a tendency to pretend and even convince themselves to not believe in superstition. They are afraid that ghosts might actually exist. But, Hamlet views this aspect in a very different angle. When he sees the ghost of his dead father, he doesn't show any fear. At least, not the one that most people would feel. Instead of avoiding it and running away for sweet life, he runs towards it and starts to have a dialogue with it. It asks him to avenge his father's death by killing the murder, his uncle. Acting like the spirit's sycophant, Hamlet obsequiously tries to obey its orders. We can clearly see some kind of fear towards the spirit through his actions, but it's not because of the fear of death like normal people. He acts pretty normal about the existence of the ghost. In fact, he wants to voluntarily kill himself to have "freedom from the world" according to Northrop Frye. Frye believes that this strange fear for the ghost that Hamlet develops is actually "the fear that he might become just another such ghost." He's not afraid of the actual ghost, but of the possibility of becoming one once he is dead.

Whether you're Hamlet or an ordinary person portrayed in a typical Hollywood horror/ghost movie, the only conclusion I can come up with is that the appearances of ghosts, or any other supernatural event, will one way or another make you crazy and insane.