Ben is the only reliable narrator in the entire book
-Lots of irony since he is viewed as an "idiot"
My Questions: (With help from Callie)
-How is he a reliable narrator?
-How is everyone else unreliable?
-What are examples of him being reliable, others being unreliable?
-Why is he the only reliable narrator, what makes him so special?
-How is the only one who makes sense?
-What makes him reliable?
-Who views him as an idiot and why?
-When does it become clear that he is reliable?
-What is he reliable about and why is everyone else unreliable about this?
-How do we know for sure he is reliable?
Some Quotes from Last Night's readings:
"'She's run aground,' I repeated. 'I expect she's got a hole in her bottom.' His face went blank and foolish. 'Aye,' he said, 'she's down there all right. She'll not come back again'"(262).
"'She'll break up bit by bit,' he said, 'she'll not sink like a stone like the little 'un.' He chuckled to himself, picking his nose. I did not say anything. 'The fishes have eaten her up by now, haven't they?' he said. [...] 'Fishes don't eat steamers, Ben,' I said"(263).
So I am not done with chapter 22 yet but it just occurred to me that Ben is called an "idiot" i think because he is ignorant and unknowing (even though he acts worse than he really is) but our narrator turns out to know absolutely nothing!!!!Who is the "idiot" now...
ReplyDeleteBen is smarter than we think because he knew the real Rebecca!
going off of what Alayna said, not only is the narrator completely unaware of everything but so are all of the people who thought they knew Rebecca. In reality, none of them really knew anything either because they were all fooled by her little pretty girl act and everyone that knew otherwise couldn't figure out a way to prove it to the rest of the world. EVERYONE IS AN IDIOT
ReplyDeleteThe narrator mistakenly think she's superior to Ben and thus views him as 'an idiot'. Does maxim mistakenly think he's superior to Rebecca when he marries her? Or that he'll be able to contain/control her? There seems to be some similarities between those two relationships. And wow, that second quote is just so portraying of their relationship, she completely misses the point.
ReplyDeleteIs there a motif of appearance present? Bc the narrator is visually viewed in the same way by most people in the novel, same with Ben, Maxim and most of the characters including Rebecca. The narrator is viewed as a stupid, young, inexperienced girl and is treated as such (coincidentally she is one).Yet, Maxim is viewed as the ultimate man, and we discover this huge chink in his armor, where emasculation pierced. And Ben is viewed as an idiot, when he's actually incredibly insightful and honest. And Rebecca is seen as this perfect beauty, who's really dark, cold and evil on the inside. Does this motif also include the idea of multiple self, Dimmesdale, etc.
p. 299: "It's a universal instinct of the human species, isn't it, that desire to dress up in some sort of disguise?" Building off of Sam's point of hiding one's inner self. Maybe not intentionally but it's our nature.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything that everyone has said, especially the fact that "idiot" Ben knows more than the narrator. It's so ironic how the narrator is blind to the world around her.
ReplyDeleteI was just about to write that quote that Collin offered re: the universal instinct to disguise the self. Bingo! And wow, what a great conversation that led to about 1 million (note Dr Evil voice) paper starting points!
ReplyDelete