- What's going on in this section?
- What is being satirized here?
- How is Paul different when he's speaking to Bobby Joe vs. when he speaks to Liz?
- Why does he always get the cup or glass w/ the chip?
- What is the "page of scribbles" (110)?
- Why does he want Liz to write the letter in the voice of Reverend Ude's "dear Christian mother"? And what is the significance of this plot development?
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Close Reading: Carpenter's Gothic
It seems that last week's close reading on Wed. was useful for many of you. Let's do a similar thing this week. Although, of course, I want you to get as caught up w/ the reading as you can, I'd also like you to look closely at the conversations on pp. 101-113. Some questions I have:
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It seems to me that this passage really captures the way we perform different versions of ourselves to different people. Liz is sarcastic to her husband in a way that she isn't to McCandles, Paul is patient and "Southern" to Bobby Joe whereas he's verbally abusive to his wife. McCandles is the same way. To Liz he's alternately distant and gallant and to her brother he's this pompous sort of professor figure. In fact, Billy may be the only character in the novel who, despite his other flaws, is the same to whomever he is speaking to.
ReplyDeleteIn this section a whole bunch of back and forth fighting is going on between Paul and Liz. As well as Paul being a complete douche to Liz. You can see how rude he is to Liz and how the cut each other off when speaking. I can see that Paul is a very strong character, very stubborn and on the rude and harsh side. I feel like he puts the blame on Liz and puts her down in the section. There relationship is very unhealthy. You get a closer look at it in this section definatly. Paul is very different when speaking to Bobby Joe than with Liz. He actually has conversation with Bobby Joe, clear and thought out. He listens to Bobby Joe, and gives coherent answers. Conversations with Liz on the other hand consist of bad vibes. He is rude, puts her down and is super negative. He doesn't appreciate Liz even though she tries her best to be good to him. I feel that he always gets the cup or glass with the chip because its symbolizes his and Liz's relationship. There's something missing, and that chip will continue to be there. Their relationship is pretty much broken. Him getting that cup is a reminder of him and Liz. I feel like this chip can also signify Paul himself. Maybe he's just broken inside and not happy with himself. Maybe Paul is missing something in life. Therefore the reason why he has all this hatred towards Liz.
ReplyDeleteHow is Paul different when he's speaking to Bobby Joe vs. when he speaks to Liz?
ReplyDeletePaul has more patients with Bobby Joe vs. Liz. Its very interesting that both Bobby Joe and Liz have issues with taking messages for Paul. Paul lashes out at Liz because he's angry with Bobby Joe but can not express those feeling to Bobby Joe. He needs to treat Bobby Joe a certain way in order to avoid losing his father as a client... so maybe Paul just takes Liz for granted... he's not concerned with her feelings or opinions....
What is going on in this section is that Paul is on the phone with Bobby Joe talking about his father and what he should say during a speech to educators. At the same time he is trying to communicate with Liz and tell her what he needs to do for him throughout the day. He seems to be treating Liz the same way he also does; extremely demanding and expecting her to do things in one second with out any though. I still do not think that Paul has an understanding that she is sick and that she really does need this money to go to the doctor and he is not being very caring in anyway. Its always all about him and his needs never hers. He need her to get him a shirt, find out the time, wait at home all day for his phone calls from people, make him coffee, stop spending all the money on doctor bills and the cleaning women.
ReplyDeleteWhen Paul is speaking to Bobby Joe vs.when he is speaking to liz, its seems like he is kinder to booby then he is to liz. He needs bobby to listen and do what he wants because he wants his daddy to make this money so that Paul can get something from it as well. (MONEY) And when he talking to Liz hes not as nice he belittles her and acts like she is less of a person then bobby, she is just there to do what he wants when he wants and noting else.
I think that Paul always gets the cup or glass with the chip because, maybe its symbolic to his life. He is slowing chipping away not only his life but the people around him. Maybe like that missing chip, that is all that he will ever be. Or even maybe he will always be broken like that cup or glass; and never be able to be fixed; forever chipped.
Paul speaks to Bobby Joe with more respect and patience than he speaks to Liz with. Whenever he speaks to Liz , he is always under distress and agressive. He speaks to her as if she is servant sometimes as oppose to her being his wife.
ReplyDeletei figured Paul always got the cup with the chip because thats the cup Liz always gives him. But now that I think about it I believe he gets his own cup sometimes so I guess either he has some type of attraction to that particular cup or maybe all the cups are chipped Im not sure. I often get lost when reading this book . Espescially when Paul starts his babbling. I never know whether what Paul is saying has any significance or if hes just blabbing on the phone or yelling at Liz about something.
I am guessing the page of scribbles is Liz's book that she had began to write along time ago.
There seemed to be a lot going on in this section of the novel. What I noticed more than anything, was the transition in Paul as his tone while speaking to Bobby Joe differed from how he spoke to Liz. I feel like Paul thought he could speak to Liz, his own wife any way he pleased. Whether he was vulgar, disrespectful; he didn't seem to care as long as he was getting his point across. He was very verbally abusive and his words hit his wife like daggers. But when he spoke to Bobby Joe, it seemed like he was a completely different man. It was like he had to watch what he said, and kind of hesitated a bit while trying to speak on certain things. It seemed as though he wasn't really the 'tough guy' that he portrayed to be in previous sections of this novel. He was often straight to the point and welcoming as he spoke to Bobby Joe. He didn't give off that image of an abusive man that we saw before. It really does remind me of how different we are around different people. For instance, you wouldn't act the same why around your spouse as you would around someone that you are just acquainted too.
ReplyDeleteIn this section of "Carpenter's Gothic", Paul is getting ready to meet with Reverend Ude, who believes that he is the only person capable of stopping the media from destroying America. Paul gets a call from the VA about his check from them, but he cannot talk to them because he is too busy and tells them to call back in a couple of days. Paul also speaks to Bobby Joe in this section about what he is planning on creating a bible college and how the media will twist the story around to make Reverend Ude look bad. I feel that Paul is a lot nicer to Bobby Joe than he is to Liz, because he has to pretend to be a good person to Bobby Joe and hide the fact that he is mistreating Liz. When he is alone with Liz, Paul feels that Liz doesn't understand him and is not a trustworthy person. He tends to yell at her and beat her sometimes when he gets angry at her. I feel that Paul has anger issues and needs to see a doctor and be on medication.
ReplyDeleteThe "page of scribbles" is obviously the way Paul thinks. We are shown him in the process of creating these scribbles on pp. 106-107. The phrase "like the skies that day over Crecy" is a foreshadowing to later in the book (147) when the CIA operative Lester interprets these scribbles as the battle plans for the battle at Cressy (alternate spelling).: See this page for a description of this battle and a real map of the battle plans:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.britishbattles.com/100-years-war/crecy.htm
Crecy is the battle that led to Britain being a world power; it's also often considered the first example of modern warfare.
For humorous effect, both McCandles and Lester at different points will misinterpret Paul's scrawls as the jottings of a child.
Btw: This is an example of free indirect discourse, a term which describes when an author shifts in-between third person narration and a character's thoughts.
1. its shown that Paul is trying to work out some kind of deal with Bobbie, Bobbie thinks its about the movie or a movie and Paul says its not.
ReplyDelete2. i think the way Paul is acting on everything, the way he is going crazy at Liz one second about his shirt but then very calm on the phone once Bobbie gets on. I feel like he is a joke in the book
3. He speaks to Bobbie in a very nice sweet tone, like he is supposed to speak to his wife because he wants to get this business deal to work, but when he talks to Liz he yells at her, demands her to do things, tells her she never listens,
4. maybe its the way his wife shows her frustration or anger towards and wants to hurt him but cant physically hurt him so hopes that when he drinks his liquor that chip will hurt him.
5. im guessing Paul's work notes, or the newspaper that he was reading
6.
In this section, Liz seems to finally stop being as passive as she was earlier in the story. A good example would be in the last scene (112) with Paul when she decides to really answer back to him by saying "Paul honestly! I, no, no, why don't you get Doris Chin she, with her lone bluebonnet blowing on the flower strewn banks of the Pee..."
ReplyDeleteThe reason why Paul likely wants Liz to write the letter in the voice of Reverend Ude's "dear Christian mother" is because he feels that she would do a better job of sounding like a literate Christian than he does, and this shows that even though Paul may be a hateful and abusive person, he does have trust in Liz.
1. In this section Paul and Liz get into an argument
ReplyDelete2. I believe Paul isnt taken seriously, so he is the one who seems to get mocked or made fun of.
3. Paul is different when he's speaking to Bobby Joe vs. when he speaks to Liz simply by the tone of his voice. He has more patience for Bobby Joe, as for Liz he doesn't want to hear her out or anything that she has to say.
4.He always gets the cup or glass with the chip because ...
5. On page 110, the "page of scribbles" can possibly represent Paul's writing or notes from work...
6.....
In this section Paul is telling Liz about his plans that he has in order for them to have a successful speech. Paul is talking to Liz in a way that is belittling and he constantly cuts her off giving her a hard time while when he talks to Bobby Joe he holds his tongue more. He tries to stand his ground but Bobby Joe continues to cut him off and doesn’t hear what he has to say.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteFrom the reading last week to this reading and can say that Paul do have a different tone when speaking to Liz vs. when he speaks to Bobby Joe. When Paul speak to Liz he speak to her in rage. He yelled at her when she when to the doctor and the bill came up to nearly $200, his focus was that Liz put them in more death, he put that over her well-being. When Paul speak to Liz he don’t hold anything back, he say as he please even if that meant hurting her feelings. As for when he speaking to Bobby Joe he’s more calm and careful of what he says. He actually listen and pay attention to the conversation and what Bobby Joe is saying.