Reading Journal: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest #2

At this point in the story, I think that McMurphy is definitely gaining some ground over Nurse Ratched.  Towards the end of this section, especially, a lot of action happens in which he beats her.  Not only does he, himself, try to go against some of the regulation that occurs in the ward, but he's starting to get some of the other patients to join him.  For example, "Harding shuts off the buffer, and leaves it in the hall, and goes pulls him a chair up alongside McMurphy and sits down and lights him a cigarette too...  Then Cheswick goes and gets him a chair, and then Billy Bibbit goes, and then Scanlon and then Fredrickson and Sefelt, and then we all put down our mops and brooms and scouring rags and we all go pull us chairs up" (138).  This shows the beginning of a big battle with the Nurse, and I think that this event predicts what might come later on in the story: a full-fledged "rebellion" of sorts against the Nurse.
I think that Chief's viewpoint might be a bit warped at times, so his reliability isn't very great all of the time.  He doesn't seem to be very important to the plot right now, other than the fact that he's the narrator.  Sometimes he rambles on about things that don't really contribute to the main plot of the story (unless one counts the treatment of the patients and how they go through daily life as a main part of the plot).  McMurphy has changed the Chief in that the Chief now has more spirit than he did before McMurphy showed up.  The Chief is becoming more involved in the rebellion against the Nurse along with some of the other patients.
I'm rooting for McMurphy at this point in the story because he tries to stand up for what is right, while the Nurse is just plain mean to all of the patients in the ward.

Reading Journal: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest #1

In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, I think that the hero, though difficult to determine at first, would have to be McMurphy.  He encourages the other inmates to rebel against their terrible treatment in the institute.  McMurphy seems to have the same morals (in the ward, anyway) that the readers do, and we support him.  Taking both of those things into account, he would have to be the hero.  The villain of the book would have to be Nurse Ratched.  She treats everyone in the ward terribly.  She uses awful, degrading psychological processes on them, and everyone in the ward is terrified of her.  The Nurse has to keep everything running smoothly not for the patients' sakes, but for the sake of her power.  For example, "I see her sit in the centre of this web of wires like a watchful robot, tend her network with mechanical insect skill, know every second which wire runs where and just what current to send up to get the results she wants" (p 26).  At this point in the novel, I'm unsure of the antihero.

Reading Journal: The Great Gatsby (7-9)

Interpretive and Evaluative Questions:

1. Q: How did Gatsby's death contribute to the theme of the book?
    A: The theme of The Great Gatsby is to not dwell on one's past wishes because they will only result in consequences.  Gatsby's death indirectly resulted from the choice he made in regards to his love for Daisy.  He chose to tell Tom about this affair, and then drove off with Daisy, which killed Myrtle.  This caused Wilson to kill Gatsby.  This was a huge snowball effect, all starting from Gatsby's life-long wish of five years.  Having these things happen to Gatsby show that if you hold on to something long enough, that thing will take over your life (in a bad way).
2.  Q: Who is the hero of the story and why?
     A: I think that the hero of the story is Gatsby.  Throughout the book, the readers come to identify with him in that his story is the classic underdog story.  He has a good motivation throughout the story, and he doesn't do anything against the readers' morals.  Generally, most people who read the book want Gatsby to succeed.  All of these things combined make Gatsby the clear hero of the story.
3.  Q:  What do the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg symbolize?
     A:  I think that these "eyes" symbolize exactly what Wilson says they symbolize--God, or at least some higher power.  The eyes are said to be "neglected," and religion is definitely neglected by the upper class in the novel.  Also, the eyes watch over everything that happens in the story: Tom's cheating, Myrtle's death, etc.  God is supposed to watch over everything that happens, as well.
4.  Q: Why would Fitzgerald choose Nick as the narrator of the story?
     A: First of all, Nick is in a very good position in that he is related, in some way, to all of the main characters.  He knows Daisy and Tom and lives next door to Gatsby.  Also, I think Nick was fairly impartial--fairly.  Even though he had some opinions, they didn't distort the readers' perceptions of the book.  Nick told the story as it was and didn't lie about anything.  In addition, I also think that having Nick as the narrator left quite of bit of the characters up for interpretation.  Many people have many different opinions about the different characters.