Questions to Think About While Reading - Assignment Example

?Questions to think about while reading Francois Mauriac's Vipers' Tangle Exam Questions [For each question, be sure that you can point to specific places or references in the text that would support your answer.] 1. Who are all the characters in this novel? How are these characters related to one another? In other words, would you be able to draw a family tree for the characters? The narrator is Louis, an ageing and wealthy lawyer who comes originally from a peasant family. He is married to Isabelle whom he calls “Isa”. There are religious people, the seminarian and the priest. There are also his children: the son Hubert, the oldest daughter Genevieve, and Marie, the youngest daughter who died. He mentions his nephew Luc, and his sister in law Marinette who is Luc’s mother. Genevieve is married to Alfred, and they have a child, Janine who is married to Phili. Hubert is married to Olympe. Louis also has an illegitimate son called Robert. 2. Louis is the main character of this novel. What are the significant events of his life? Who is involved in the events of his life? Would you be able to fill out a timeline of Louis' life – Louis as a child and young man; Louis as an adult; Louis as he's dying? In the first phase of his life Louis has a lot of good fortune, despite his humble origins. He has a fine education and marries Isa, who is socially in a higher class than he is. He describes having children with her, but becoming distant with his wife in mid life , and leaving the church. He has a lot of success in his job as a lawyer, but as he grows older he is unfaithful and bitter. As an older man he is sick, and wants revenge on his ungrateful children, but a part of him is conscious of his own faults in this life story so far. 3. What kind of man is Louis? How would you describe him? Does Louis change at all over the course of the novel? If you say 'yes,' why does he change? I would describe Louis as eloquent but somewhat self-absorbed. He analyzes everything in great detail, and holds a grudge for decades if something does not please him. He was undoubtedly a very unpleasant man in mid-life and as an older man, acting like a tyrant in his family and being very irritable. As death approaches, however, he does undergo some change, because he reflects on the whole of his life and looks behind superficial actions, both his own actions and those of others. I think this makes him more generous and accepting of human weakness than before, and so he does undergo some kind of transformation at the end. 4. What is the nature of Louis' relationship with his wife, Isa, at the time that Louis is writing this letter? How does Louis feel toward Isa? Why? Do we get any sense of how Isa feels about Louis? The best way to describe Louis’ feelings towards Isa is “mixed”. 5. Was Louis and Isa's relationship always as it is at this point in time? What was the effect on Louis of falling in love with Isa? Louis obviously loved her when he married her, and was jealous of the man she loved before she knew him. He had money and she had social status, and so in practical terms it was a good marriage. He thought he had attained the kind of wife he deserved, and she made him happy at first. 6. How does their relationship change and evolve over time? Why does it change? The relationship deteriorates because Louis cannot forgive a relationship she had with another man before her marriage to Louis. She continues to be a good mother to their children, but she withdraws from Louis, and he withdraws from her. Enmity creeps in, and he regards her as a hypocrite because she is very religious, and yet cold towards him. Louis thinks Isa does not properly recognize and value his work achievements (Part VI, p 77 “you were the only person who remained deaf to the universal applause of my gifts as a pleader”). 7. What is Louis' relationship to each of his children? How does he think of them? What does he feel about them? Louis is very fond of his youngest daughter Marie, who died. He is not friendly towards Hubert and Genevieve, whom he overhears plotting against him. Louis despises his former lover’s child Robert, as a “miserable junior clerk, a numskull” but still wants to leave all his money to him (Part XII, p. 155). 8. How would you describe Louis' relationship to his mother? Do his feelings about her change as he grows up, grows older? Louis does not have good memories about his mother because he was an only child, and she was very controlling and possessive. He resents this and blames his own character defects on her: “I had been cosseted, supervised and looked after far too much.” (Part II, page 26) As he grows older he comes to realize that she really did love him, much more than any other person in his life, and he is thinks of her with more kindness. 9. To whom is Louis writing this? Why is he writing it? Does the purpose(s) of writing change at all? If yes, why? The main person that Louis writes to is his wife Isa, since he addresses the opening section to her and imagines what she will say to the children when he is dead, and when she checks that all the securities are still in the bank and left for her and the family to live on (Section I, p. 7). On the following page, however, he says “I wanted to live just long enough to see your faces when you got back from the bank” which reveals that he also wants his children and possibly even grandchildren to read the document also. He started out with the aim of making it a spiteful explanation of the reasons why he has disinherited them all, but by the end of the document he has mellowed, and changes his mind. By then he seems to want to explain himself, and give his family some insight into the reasons why he was such a bitter and angry man for most of his life. He does not expect their pity, or sympathy, but perhaps he wants the document to serve like a confession, making peace with his family and allowing them to go on with their lives bearing less resentment and hatred towards him. 10. How does Louis feel about his life, himself? Do these feelings change at all during the course of the novel? Louis feels he has worked hard, and at first he thinks his career was a great achievement. Later in the work, he sees through the greed and materialism that has characterized his life and he seems to regret this. 11. What does Louis think about Christianity? He mentions his own “hatred of religion” (p. 30). He thinks priests are devious and hypocritical, and he resists the idea that a priest should minister to him in his last hours, taking advantage of his weakness (p. 146). 12. Does Louis have any concerns for social justice, for the welfare of others? For most of the book it seems that Louis has been corrupted by his materialistic lifestyle and this makes him selfish, with little concern for other people. He yearns for a simpler life, and does think about class differences, but his main concern is to avoid poverty because, in his words he is “afraid of being poor” (p. 49). 13. What does Louis think of God? Do his ideas and feelings about God change? Do you ever see Louis asking religious questions, questions about the meaning of events, or life in general? Does Louis have any kind of relationship with God? Louis realizes too late that he has misinterpreted all the religious acts that his family have engaged in through the years. He speaks about God as “your God” (p. 148) meaning Isa’s God which shows that he does not himself have a direct relationship with God. He does, however, imagine a scenario where he asks pardon of his wife, and toys with the idea of the two of them sitting down side by side and praying together (p. 148) and so there is still some vestigial faith in God left in Louis, at least as an idea, if not a firm reality. 14. What would you say are the most significant relationships in Louis' life? Why are they significant or what is significant about them? His mother is the most significant, because she loved him too much. His wife is the next most influential because she did not love him enough. 15. Louis is certainly a man of strong feelings, of passion. For example, he has a deep passion for money. What are the positive and negative effects of this passion? Does this passion remain with him until he dies? The positive side of this passion is that he is a good provider for his family. The negative side is that it gets between him and other people, changing relationships into one of greed or dependence. He does move on from this somewhat in attitude, but it may be too late to undo previous mistakes. 16. Louis also has a passion for revenge and for hatred. What would you say are the reasons for the existence of this passion? Who bears the brunt of this passion? Does this passion remain with Louis until he dies? He turns most of his hatred on Isa, who does not deserve this, since she has tried to be a good wife to him, but could not cope with his behavior. He feels revenge because he feels let down by life, since it did not bring him happiness, despite the material successes of his career. In the end he realizes that he himself is responsible for a lot of his bad experiences and this allows him to move on from this destructive desire for revenge. 17. What is the time of year when Louis begins to write this letter? Is there any significance to the fact that Mauriac uses this particular time of year as the context for the writing of this letter? It is summer time, since flies are buzzing round the empty plate (p. 8). It is a good choice because in the south of France it is a stifling season, and he is cooped up in a hot bedroom, which is symbolical of his reduced horizons in life. 18. What time of year is it at the end of Part One? Is there any significance to this setting? It is the time of the vines setting (p. 145) which is spring, with promise of the harvest to come. It is significant because it strikes Louis as ironic: he will not live to see the harvest. 19. What is going on in Louis at the end of Part One? It is at this point that we have the first mentioning of a 'tangle of vipers.' To what is this tangle referring? Vipers are connected to Satan and sin in Christianity. The tangle can refer to his tangled and twisted emotions, but also to the hypocritical members of his family who pretend to be religious but are in fact full of sin. 20. Are things the same at the beginning of Part Two? Why or why not? Things are different. He has gone to Paris in search of his illegitimate son Robert. 21. Why do you think Mauriac divides the novel into two parts? He wanted to make a break and signify that here has been significant change in the main character Louis. 22. What time of year is it in Part Two? How does this setting relate to the events that take place in Part Two? It is summer, approaching the 14th July which is the time of the French Revolution. This may indicate that big changes are afoot. 23. What is Louis' experience with love? Does he have any positive experiences? Negative experiences? He loved his daughter Marie, but she died. He loved his wife, but she turned out actually to have loved another man more. Love for him is a mixed blessing. 24. Do you think that Louis finds love in his life? Does he find a meaning to his life? If yes, why do you think so? What or who helps him to find love and meaning? If no, why not? Louis cannot ever find true love because he is himself not able to give love unreservedly. He does find meaning in his life, but it is not a happy meaning, it is one that shows a life wasted in pointless arguments and petty jealousies. He warms towards his children somewhat, but this is still not a full and generous kind of love. The priest points him in the right direction, and it is possible that in the end he finds true love in God, but this is only one possible reading of the book. Questions to Guide Your Reading of Plato's Lysis Exam Questions In this dialogue, Socrates questions two young men who are close friends, Lysis and Menexenus, on what friendship is.  They are sure that they know, but the more they try to explain the less they feel they really know. It is typical of Platonic dialogues that Socrates engages in this way of asking questions, getting people to think about things.  Socrates is famous for having said: "The unexamined life is not worth living." Socrates raises many questions to get the two young men to think for themselves about friendship, to help them to know themselves. 1. In the first part of the dialogue, Socrates meets with Hippothales and his group. How does Hippothales feel about Lysis? Hippothales is very fond of Lysis, but he is shy about revealing this, and he blushes when Socrates mentions this. 2. What does Socrates think of Hippothales and his feelings for Lysis? How does he challenge Hippothales? [5-6] Socrates can tell just by looking at Hippothales that he is in love with Lysis. He first of all tries to find out who Lysis is, and then he expresses some dismay about the way Hippothales is writing songs about Lysis. Socrates thinks this is not a clever tactic. It makes Lysis arrogant, and it is like a hunter who makes a big noise in the presence of the prey: it is more likely to scare the prey off than enable the hunter to close in on the prey. Socrates thinks that Hippothales is only harming himself by praising Lysis so much. 3. Socrates has a conversation with Lysis. What are the main things that Socrates asks Lysis about his parents? What do you think that Socrates is trying to do in this part of the dialogue? What is he getting Lysis to think about? [7-9] Socrates asks Lysis first of all if Lysis things his parents love him. After that he asks Lysis what his parents allow him to do, and what they forbid him from doing. Socrates compares the freedoms that the household slaves have, to use all the animals and equipment of the house, with the lack of freedom that Lysis has to do these very same things. Socrates is getting Lysis to think about the difference between actions which appear to be mean and restrictive, but are actually done out of love and care for a person, and actions that appear to be generous, but are actually part of a system of duties that apportions specialist roles to people. In other words, we should be aware that there are different reasons and circumstances behind human actions, and relationships cannot always be accurately judged just on the basis of superficial freedoms and restrictions granted to each other. 4. Socrates talks with Lysis about being wise. What is the point that is being made here? Is there a relationship between wisdom and being loved? [10-11] The point being made here is that people who are wise are able to recognize wisdom in others, and this means that they are often willing to step back and let another person take on an important role or make a big decision. This involves respect and trust for the other person. Socrates is making the point that people who are wise have useful knowledge, and are worthy of trust, and all of this makes them more likely to be loved. In other words, wisdom and trustworthiness are components of a loving relationship. 5. When Menexenus returns, a discussion begins about the question: Who are friends? To get to an answer to that question, Socrates begins by asking whether one becomes a friend by loving, by being loved, or by both together? What is the first answer that is discussed? [11-14] The first answer that is discussed is that both the person who loves and the person who is loved equally become friends of each other. 6. Socrates suggests that they turn to what the poets say. What happens to the discussion of whether those who are alike become friends? [14-17] After considering what the poets say, it is agreed that in fact very often those who are alike are the ones who become firmest friends, because God draws them together. 7. Do they get any farther in the conversation when they discuss whether it is those who are most dissimilar who become friends? Why or why not? [17-18] This possibility is explored, because there is a saying that “opposites attract” and they find some examples to prove this, but also some examples that show this is not true. 8. What is the next possibility that they explore? [18-21] They explore the possibility that maybe only good people are capable of being true friends, and this is not an option for bad people, because bad people only seek their own advantage at the expense of everyone else. 9. After this discussion, Socrates considers the possibility that he is wrong. How does the example of a person who is sick fit into this part of the dialogue? [21-23] The sick person loves the doctor, but only because he is afflicted by an evil thing. If he is well then he has no reason to love the doctor, and in fact does not love him. This shows that there is something else, and an evil thing at that, which can be involved in human love. It also suggests that people can love other people for selfish reasons, because that other person can be of use to them in their hour of need. 10. Menexenus is convinced that there is some good that is loved for its own sake. Socrates calls that conviction into question. What does Socrates wonder? [24] Socrates wonders about the way that people are attached to objects in the world such as wealth, or medicine etc, and sees a connection between desire for these things and desire for love of human beings. 11. Socrates goes on to talk with Menexenus about the relationship between desires and the existence of what is bad. What is the main point of this part of the dialogue? What is the nature of friendship presented at this point? [24-25] Socrates sees friendship at this point as being defined as the opposite of bad things. It is as if bad things have to exist before friendship can come into being, as a way of counteracting these bad things. 12. As Socrates pushes the discussion about the relationship between desire and deficiency, he ends up raising the idea that the existence of some kind of kinship or 'naturally belonging to each other' is inherent in friendship. Can you explain what Socrates is getting at here? [25-27] Socrates is exploring the idea that if a person loves another person honestly then that love should be reciprocated, and the two will be congenial to each other because of the things they share in common, such as their nature and values. 13. What conclusions about friendship have been reached, if any, at the culmination of the dialogue? [27] The dialogue is broken off before it is finished. The participants have all explored common ways of thinking about love and friendship, and they have ruled out some definitions, but they have not succeeded in agreeing exactly how to define friendship. The overall conclusion therefore is that there is a lot more to human love than meets the eye, and there are different ways of looking at this topic, all of which produce different outcomes. It seems that the real point of the exercise was not really about solving the practical problem of how Hippothales should behave in his love for Lysis. It was actually about how to think through a problem by closely defining terms and sorting out myths and generalizations from logical thought. Book Required: 1. The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis (the Bookstore has two editions available: either is fine) 2. A Grief Observed, C.S. Lewis, Harper Collins, 2001, ISBN 0060652381 or any other edition 3. Vipers’ Tangle, Francois Mauriac, Loyola Press, 2005, ISBN 0829422110 or any other English edition Read More