Alyssa's English Blog

The Plague shares many parallels with what we have experienced and are currently experiencing in 2020. Just like in the novel, many of us started out believing that nothing substantial was going to happen to us. Initially, we thought it unlikely that the epidemic would reach the US. Some people refused to change their ways in order to avoid being inconvenienced, thinking it was unnecessary. Even now, many people, especially young people, do not believe that Covid is a serious issue. They believe that it is highly unlikely that they would contract it, and if they did, that it would not be a big deal, despite the hundreds of thousands of people who have gotten sick and died. Likewise, the people of Ouran started out thinking that nothing was going to happen to them. They ignored the early signs of the rats and many tried to continue going about the routines of their daily lives. They wanted to go to work, to church, to cafes, and to the store just like we did. Unlike the novel, where the...

 Today in class we talked about Brett's character. I expressed early on that I did not like her and even went as far as to say that she was manipulative and somewhat abusive. I would like to elaborate some more on my claim by further backing it up and also taking a closer look at her traits and actions showed to us as we read the book. She reminds me very much of Peter from Mrs. Dalloway, except in this case a little more toxic. She likes to go from man to man believing that these affairs will make her happy. She has an emptiness inside of her that she seeks to fill with love from a man, but she is going about it in the wrong way. Peter liked to do the same sort of thing with women. Instead, Brett has Jake, someone she very much takes advantage of. She knows how infatuated Jake is with her, and uses that to her advantage whenever she wants something from him. There is a large part of her that would like to settle down with Jake and be very much in a healthy, mutual loving relations...

 Today in class, we discussed whether or not Peter is content in his life. It is my overall belief that he is not, in fact, content with his current situation. He feels regret. His head fills with 'what if's of the past. He quickly becomes faced with the realization that he is trapped in this fourth dimension of time and there is nothing he can do to halt it. Peter copes with this by using women and romance as an outlet/distraction from his problems. Peter has managed to get it into his head that he is in love with this woman from India, Daisy. Is he though? As mentioned in class, he scarcely even thinks of her while we are present in his mind. He doesn't love her for her, but he still thinks that getting married will solve his problems. He has this strange belief that Daisy will somehow save him from his insecurities and fragilities, and yet he can't even be bothered to think of her over Clarissa. Even within the reading, he decides to follow this random, strange woman...

 In one of our breakout room reading discussions, the topic of public bathroom etiquette was, inevitably, brought up. Someone mentioned that the book falsely made the social atmosphere in bathrooms overly tense, and I wished to expand on that statement. As someone with social anxiety, I find any public setting intimidating. I am hyper-aware of almost everything going on around me: any movements I make, the body language of the people around me, and any sounds or visual stimulants within the reach of my senses. This is not to say, however, that public restrooms are necessarily tense. To the average person, I assume they are capable of going about their business (no pun intended) without paying much heed to those around them, so long as there's nothing out of the ordinary. Experiences such as rest stops are often erased from our heads, easily forgotten among the other mundane tasks we perform as we set about our day.  In The Mezzanine, however, our main character, Howie, draws o...