Comrades

Over the week-end I watched one of my favorite all-time films, a romantic comedy from 1939, Ernst Lubitsch’s Ninotschka.

It tells the story of a female special envoy from Russia played by Greta Garbo, who is sent to Paris to investigate the rather unorthodox and generally inefficient way in which three Russian ambassadors are carrying out their job. They're supposed to be selling jewels belonging to the former Grand Duchess, but instead get distracted by the luxuries of capitalist society gleefully pressed onto them by the Count d'Algout, otherwise known as Leon—played by Melvyn Douglas.  And it doesn’t take long for the dour, humorless Ninotchka to fall hard for the charming Leon, and their love story begins atop the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

What stays with me are twofold: he captivates her heart by making her laugh and lines of the film are wonderful. The most poignant is Ninotschka asking Leon: what have you done for mankind?
Leon answers, Not so much for mankind... for womankind, my record isn't quite so bleak.

There’s slapstick humor and although the film is an escapist comedy it raises a more serious topic.

In present day more than ever we have a responsibility to help mankind.

Mother Earth’s primary goal is to continue to survive to support her children; she is prepared to eliminate, from her surface, whatever is necessary to ensure habitability, and will fight to accomplish her goal. And her fight is what we are witnessing now.  In 2012 we witnessed an upsurge in violence that includes the very polarized and gun polluted USA. The focus on each man as an individual, independent, free to do what one wishes that is so much a part of the collective American frame of reference plus the easy access of guns and the misapplication of the Second Amendment of the USA Constitution, gives rise to crazed individuals who shoot people in cinemas, malls and schools.

So how does this impact us? Our purpose of life is to learn and grow – both as individuals and as a conscious species. Plan ahead and make 2013 a year in which we go beyond thinking about disparate opinions—think globally—and practice selflessness putting into action, what each of us can do to help mankind. 

Have a safe and happy new year.

Sick or in Crisis? Take Vitamin L-O-V-E

In my class when I cover the topics of Climax or Crisis as the turning point of the story, I suggest that my students write in an emotional way.   As an exercise, I recommend that they write about a pet, in particular, or the loss of one as a pivotal point in a life.  And rather than classify and list all the emotions that they may have felt, that they give the reader a reason to feel the emotions they want to express.

It always ends up in tears, because the depth of the relationship is often unexplainable. Pets are missed so much because they not only give a purpose but they help us heal.

Most recently in bed with a stomach flu and many times I’ve wondered if in my darkest hours I would have had my dog Coco, would I have felt so bad?  I don’t think so! Coco would have magically developed the ability to make me happy with one of her off-beat quirks.  Actually, all she really does is sit there and cock her head looking adorable and sometimes nudge me with her nose, or show me a toy between her teeth to get me to chase her, or roll onto her back for tummy rubs, for she never misses a minute of my affection. Pondering, I’ve asked her, “What do you— my Precious do for me?” 

It turns out she does quite a lot just by being there.  Studies repeatedly show that pets, especially dogs and cats, are a boom to our well-being for the ways they reduce stress, build immunity, and help us lead healthier lifestyles. Though the pet-owner relationship may seem to go only one way, our pets actually do a lot to care for us, too. 

I was reading recently about a study that focused on the role of chemistry in the relationship, showing that when we interact with our pets, our central nervous system releases hormones that create a sense of well-being.  Oxytocin, the bonding hormone that calms us and gives us feelings of warmth comes into play whenever we share physical contact with an animal. The hormone helps to lower our stress levels, wards off stress-related illnesses, and generally improves our mood.

If your dog is as active as mine, chances are you’re walking him or her at least twice a day, getting exercise.  And if you take your dog to a doggie park, you’re more likely to socialize with other dog owners, another stress reducer. 

When most people consider adopting pets, they think about how much care, time and expense animals require.  At least they should. I know I did for a very long time and then I convinced myself that as a free agent a dog would hamper my style.  So untrue! Although it is a labor of love to buy them necessities, including toys to stimulate their minds, good kibble, having them groomed, bathing them, cleaning up after them, walking them, getting them their shots and taking them to the vet.  The list doesn’t end there.  So why do it all? Because our pets care for us, too, and they improve the quality of our lives. Their presence gives us the ability to love and lead a healthier, happier life— thanks to our loyal furry friends.

Ta-dah

My last post was on films, today it’s my picks for the eight most memorable closing literary lines and what makes them special.

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."    

Fitzgerald hypnotized successive generations of readers with this tale. Nick Carraway's signing off after the death of Gatsby is my favorite last line in the Anglo-American tradition – resonant, memorable and profound. It hovers between poetry and the vernacular and is the magnificent chord, which brings this 20th-century masterpiece to a close. Somehow, it sums up the novel completely, in tone as much as meaning, while giving the reader a way out into the drabber, duller world of everyday reality.

Ulysses by James Joyce

"I was a Flower of the mountain yes when I put the rose in my hair like the Andalusian girls used or shall I wear a red yes and how he kissed me under the Moorish wall and I thought well as well him as another… then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes."

Joyce is the master of the closing line and this is his most famous and most suggestive. Compare it with the end of The Dead, his short story that concludes Dubliners: "His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead."

Middlemarch by George Eliot

"But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistorical acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs."

Middlemarch is many readers' favorite Eliot novel, with so many quotable passages. This passage is a lovely, celebration of Dorothea's quiet life, after she has renounced Casaubon's fortune and confessed her love for Ladislaw.

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

"Yes, she thought, laying down her brush in extreme fatigue, I have had my vision."

And she has. Lily's closing words complete the circle of consciousness. Virginia Woolf was good at last lines and was always a decisive closer. Mrs. Dalloway, whose first line famously has Woolf's protagonist buying the flowers herself, ends with: "It is Clarissa, he said. For there she was." That's the perfect conclusion, to a climax, nailed in nine words.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

"I lingered round them, under that benign sky; watched the moths fluttering among the heath, and hare-bells; listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass; and wondered how any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth."

Brontë's masterpiece is often cited for its gothic morbidity and intoxicating romantic darkness, but here – stepping back from the tragedy of Heathcliff and Catherine – the novel displays an acute evocation of Yorkshire combined with memorable poetic grandeur. This note of redemption promises a better future in the union of Cathy and Hareton.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better place that I go to than I have ever known.”

Sydney Carton spends much of the book as a brilliant but self-indulgent type.  He finally learns the true meaning of sacrifice as he offers his life in order to save that of the brave Charles Darnay, and he realizes that this sacrifice is the single best thing about him. In his final moments, he at last becomes worthy and he has no fear of death because his death means something. Dickens' words have been the symbol of self-sacrifice for centuries.

Emma by Jane Austen

"But, in spite of these deficiencies, the wishes, the hopes, the confidence, the predictions of the small band of true friends who witnessed the ceremony, were fully answered in the perfect happiness of the union."

Jane Austen can write one hell of a happy ending, can't she? The "deficiencies" she refers to are told from the perspective of the ceaselessly imperious Mrs. Elton, who complained of the small amount of white satin and lace: "a most pitiful business!" Romance and satire are never so beautifully interwoven as in a Jane Austen novel.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

"But I reckon I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she’s going to adopt me and civilize me and I can’t stand it. I been there before

This last line captures Huck in two sentences: he can't be civilized. He's been there before and it simply didn't take. Huckleberry Finn must be free! It also presents a bit of optimism in the (often too strict) love that Aunt Sally offers the boy, who has had very little in the way of love his entire life. It's a sardonic note on a happy ending, which is vintage Twain. 

Less on endings more on Characterization: For those readers who are interested on Wednesday I’m a guest blogger on Janice Hardy’s The Other Side of the Story, in which I discuss—Who is in the title role?  Click on: http://blog.janicehardy.com/

The final word

I’ve spent many hours contemplating what makes a perfect closing line. It must be resolute yet ambiguous, thematically satisfying without ever spelling anything out for the reader. The last line must trust the reader’s intelligence and must sound final but offer promise, somewhere between a period and ellipses in tone.  

Today I’ll focus on films, and next time I’ll discuss classic novels.  For this blog post so as not to spoil anything, please speak up with the title of the film and your choice of more current picks in the comments section. 

This film, won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Screenplay. Can you name it? It concludes with:
“Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” said Rick.


The next is my Holiday favorite–a tear jerking story about true friendship and the importance of community: 
"Look, Daddy. Teacher says, every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings."
"That's right, that's right. Atta boy, Clarence."

A man walks out on his wife with the parting shot: “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn”. The words she utters are optimistic:

"I’ll go home and I’ll think of some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day!”

In a risqué line for 1959, this is a comedy that ends with a joke from a millionaire as he is steering a boat away from the pier in Miami. With his new love Daphne—who is a man in drag, played brilliantly by one of the best most versatile actors of the century (my opinion).  Daphne takes off her wig and says “I’m a man!” to which the millionaire  replies:
"Well, nobody’s perfect!”

This great film noir ends with a suitably bleak and cynical last line when an associate of a Los Angeles private detective says of the corruption in 1930s Los Angeles:
"Forget it, Jake, its Chinatown.”

In her ruby red shoes in the 1939 fantasy film based on the 1900 novel, the main character says after clicking her heels and returning back to the farm:
"And oh, Auntie Em, there's no place like home."

The final line of the 1950 movie was delivered by the incomparable Norma Desmond:
"You see, this is my life. It always will be! There's nothing else - just us - and the cameras - and those wonderful people out there in the dark. All right, Mr. De Mille, I'm ready for my close-up."

This 1960 film was nominated for ten Academy Awards, and won five, including Best Picture and Best Screenplay. It ends with the lines:

"Did you hear what I said, Miss Kubelik? I absolutely adore you."
"Shut up and deal."