voice of truth = freedom // “truth will set you free” = (oversimplification) of wideman...

• narrator wrote to “make a fiction of [his] life”; robby imprisoned but open about himself — more free?

calls to question: the subjectivity of truth

calls to question: how much voice/space needed to be free

• in cafe, not much space, abundant people from varied backgrounds and experience... subjective truths, limited space

but freedom also subjective…

• in cafe, many spoke of “ability” and “capacity” as only path to freedom, i tried to challenge notion…
• again, robby incarcerated, but by narrator’s perspective, somehow more free?

no simple answer

"The visitor is forced to become an inmate. Subjected to the same sorts of humiliation and depersonalization. Made to feel powerless, intimidated by the might of the state [. . .] We suffer the keepers' prying eyes, prying machines, prying hands. We let them lock us in without any guarantee the doors will open when we wish to leave. We are in fact their prisoners until they release us" (Wideman 52).

       In Monday night’s Socrates Café, we talked about our understandings of freedoms from different perspectives. People mentioned “the ability/capability of doing what you desire to do, with being mindful to others, or being constrained by some moral standards, or institutions”, “not hurting others when exercising your own freedom since that would negate other’s freedom”, “whether is freedom a choice”, “freedom as the not being oppressed”, “freedom exist in anarchy”, “freedom not solely limited within the realm of human spirit”, “being aware of context and audiences before performing or speaking”, “is there freedom with any anticipated consequences”, etc.

Brothers and Keepers. My thoughts spring back to my Jewish education. I remember learning in Jewish day school and in synagogue the story of Cain and Abel: Cain is jealous of his brother, Abel, and then murders him. Something about God preferring Abel’s meat offerings over Cain’s crops. Then God asks Cain where Abel is and Cain responds, “how should I know? Am I my brother’s keeper?”(Genesis 4:9). Of course God knows what Cain did, so, I wonder, why does God ask the question? God then “sentences” Cain to a life of wandering the earth—which to me as a child seemed like Cain got a pretty good deal. Looking back at the text, I notice that Cain, however, feels that his punishment is unbearable.

I have been doing a lot of thinking and talking about our time in the Socrates Café, trying to pick apart why I left the conversation so frustrated. During our time, I was aware of the special circumstances of our meeting, a worlds-collide kind of deal that doesn't get to happen every day. We were fortunate enough to have a disparity of opinions and experiences, but I found myself very antsy throughout the evening. I want to appreciate that philsophical discussion where we could talk without looking for an answer and diving deep into thought; but the thing is I don't feel like that is what happened. I just felt like we were talking in circles and not really looking at comments with a true depth.

Experimental Essay: A Discussion on Freedom of Speech

Even though I haven’t read the whole book, I have been so absorbed into Strayed’s story. I loved her writing style and how she was being so frank about her marriage, family, mother’s death and her twisted cheating with other men. Even though I could predict how her story is going to be –a women so stressed about her mundane life going on an adventure on PCT, encountering random people and learning a lesson- I loved how she was so honest describing every detail. Especially when I read about the part, in which she got lost in her life when her mother died, I became her and was so absorbed into her that I felt like I would be in the exact same position if I had lost my mom too.

     When I first started Wild by Cheryl Strayed I honestly wasn’t prepared for the emotional depth of the book. I thought it was just about her adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail but it is so much more. It is about her struggles, her emotions, her family. It is about what makes us human. Life isn’t perfect, it has its ups and downs, and this is well illustrated even in the beginning section of the book that I have read. The book is inspirational. It makes me want to do something. I don’t know what. But it makes me want to do something that will help define and redefine who I am.

So. First three parts of Wild, by Cheryl Strayed.

I was surprised by the fact that she grew up poor. I feel like a lot of the time, stories like this are told from the perspectives/experiences of people who are priveleged, affluent; who grew up ~summering~ in New England and went to fancy boarding preparatory schools and liberal arts or Ivy League colleges. (Additionally, I keep unitnentionally drawing parallels between her and Chris McCandless from Into the Wild, who, although his family didn't start out affluent, was definitely financially comfortable during his life)That's not to say she doesn't have other priveleges, in being straight, white, young, and conventionally attractive. 

Since the beginning of the book, I have been enraptured by the theme of famililal connections that is prevalent in this book. I lost my own grandmother to cancer a few years ago, and I still remember her emphasis on staying together, of ensuring the family did not fall apart without her. Here is where my experience differed from Strayed's, because where I was fortunate enough to have a family that was brought even closer together by the loss of the person we all loved so dearly, Strayed not only lost her mother but also her family all at once. Moreover, the varacity in the memoir is commendable and the author's openness about her drawbacks displays exemplary couorage.