“Marked for Greatness” Chapter 21 (HTRLLAP)

1. “Marked for Greatness”Chapter 21(HTRLLAP) By: Maddie FureyPeriod 39/27/11

2. Introduction My chapter “Marked for Greatness” refers to how characters have certain marks or scars that have a story or meaning behind them. In other words, the physical trait or deformity of a character, in symbolic terms. Also how a character is effected by a battle scar or injury in an emotional way. When it says “But more often than not physical markings by their nature call attention to themselves and signify some psychological or thematic point the writer wants to make. After all it's easier to introduce characters without imperfections” (Foster 200). It makes it very clear that wounds/deformities most of the time have a higher meaning. Do you think every character's physical deformity is symbolic for something greater?

3. Changes Over Times The meaning behind a physical deformity of a character has changed over time. For instance, The novels written in the Elizabethan period pretty much had all the deformities of a character equated with either a displeasure of God, or a moral shortcoming. Where as a novel written more recently has deformities equated to anything, such as the society, something personal, or maybe even something good. It doesn't always mean the character is immoral, or that God isn't happy with them. In the quote “Things have changed pretty dramatically in terms of equating scars or deformities with moral shortcomings or divine displeasure, but in literature we continue to understand physical imperfection in symbolic terms” (Foster 194). It explains how things have definitely changed as time went on, and people got more knowledge.

4. Oedipus In the Greek tale of Oedipus, his deformity is damaged feet. And they got that was because of a prophecy which said that he would kill his father and then marry his mother, therefore they decided to bind his feet and leave him in the wilderness to die. He didn't die and actually ended up killing his father and marrying his mother all by accident. But the point is that his feet were wounded and scarred, and they symbolize the lack of knowledge he has for himself, and how he didn't care to know himself. One would think that someone with horribly damaged feet would wonder how they got that way. In the quote “His scars speak of his personal history, which of course is hidden from him until it is revealed during the course of the play. ..Oedipus himself, who seems never to have inquired as to how he came to have these scars” (Foster 196). Shows how clueless he was about his past (his feet).

5. Richard III Shakespeare’s character Richard III is someone who has a hunchback because of scoliosis, therefore a physical deformity. He is evil and wants power, so he murders people to get what he wants. He claims he did everything because he was ashamed of his deformity. It's said that he is “as twisted as his back”. Also, the symbolism is that he is immoral and not with God. The quote “ Richard, as morally and spiritually twisted as his back, is one of the most completely repugnant figures in all of literature. And while it might strike us as cruel and unjust to equate physical deformity with character, or moral deformity, it seemed not only acceptable to the Elizabethans but almost inevitable” (Foster 194). Shows he was portrayed as immoral.

6. Hemingway In Hemingway's “The sun also rises” it explains how the character Jake was wounded in the war, but it was not just a wound. It was worse, it emotional and in a way ruined is life. That symbolizes the fact that the Great War gave people more spiritual and phycological damage then any other war in history. It shows how people were not just wounded in the war, but effected for the rest of their lives. In the quote “The war was, in short, the death of culture, or at least of a very great chunk of it. Moreover, those who survived, like Hemingway and his characters, were badly damaged from the experience” (Foster 198). It explains how the war effected everyone, and how the wounds were were reminders of the horrible past.

7. Harry Potter A very popular series is Harry Potter, and a good example of a symbolic wound would be the scar he has on his face. It is not JUST a scar, it has a story behind it, and it has an emotional effect on Harry. Also, is isn't the normal shape, it is abstract and in the shape of a lightning bolt. That tells the reader it is important, and it is something that just pops out at you when you read about it. You later fine out that he got the scar from the person who killed his parents when he was only a baby, it is in a way a battle wound that will never go away and therefore reminds him of that memory. The quote “How many stories do you know in which the hero is different from everyone else in some way, and how many times is that difference physically viable? Why does Harry Potter have a scar, where is it, how did he get it, and what does it remember?” (Foster 195). Shows how the reader can tell when a wound is most likely important, using Harry Potter as an example.

8. Relation to Great Expectations In Great Expectations the character Molly has scars on one of her wrists, but they aren't just scars. It is a reminder of what had happened in the past, which was that Molly had killed a women, and during the fight her arms got terribly scratched. But Mr. Jaggers got her free of being sentenced guilty, saying she was to delicate, which explains why she is his maid/servant. To sum things up, her scars symbolize her guilty past, they will never go away, therefore she can never forget what happened. Pip describes the wrist “The last wrist was much disfigured-deeply scarred and scarred across and across...Very few men have the power of wrist that this women has” (Dickens 237). The quote says her wrist may have scars but it is very “powerful”, which shows the scars mean more then just a wound.

9. Relation to life In a novel a deformity is more often then not more then what it is. In real life though, it can just be a deformity with no background story or symbolizm other then what it is. People are born with things, that doesn't mean they will grow up evil, or even a super hero. It just makes them unique as a person. Although, someone can have a scar on their face from the war they fought in, or maybe someone was paralyzed because they were hit by a drunk driver. Maybe when you walk down the street you see someone missing an arm, it could be from something in their past you are unaware of. My point is that not every deformity/wound has a symbolic meaning, but there are some people who do have a symbolic meaning to their injury. The quote“First, the obvious but nonetheless necessary observation: in real life, when people have any physical mark or imperfection, it means nothing thematically, metaphorically, or spiritually (Foster 200). Put it best, it says that maybe a scar is just a scar nothing more.

10. Works Cited Foster, Thomas C. . How to Read Literature like a Professor. New-York: Harper, 2003. Print. Dickens, Charles, and Radhika Jones. Great Expectations. New York: Barnes and Noble, 2003. Print.