rachel.small's blog

 She can smell the sunscreen as her mother rubs it on her nose and faintly freckled cheeks.  It smells like sunshine, and like the beach from home, mixed with the little grits of sand that stuck to her skin after she would get soaked in lake water.  Usually, getting soaked in the waters of Lake Michigan was not of her own intention-more often than not her brother would grab her by the shoulders like a fisherman grabs a net and at once dunk her under.  She did not mind the sand, and the way it stuck, but the way her hair felt afterwards-like straw and seaweed-made her shudder.  Here, though, she was far away from the lake-she was in Venice, surrounded by the salt water ocean.  Last night, or, yesterday afternoon, she thinks, local time, they had been driven to the little island on a motorboat.  She will find out tomorrow that the people of Venice have hung signs over their balconies, proclaiming “Nessuni motoscafi!”-“No Motorboats!”  She will feel rather guilty when she thinks back on how much she enjoyed skidding across the water, taking in the choppy blue flatness with the city poking up on the horizon, like a pop-up book.  Now, she is dragging her feet across the soft carpet in the hotel, eyelids falling than whipping open, trying to stay awake, for her mother had said that only way to prevent jet-lag was to torture oneself for a bit by staying awake much longer than one would like.  In theory, one would be able to enjoy oneself much more, just a bit later.

In “A Concise Chinese-English Dictonar for Lovers”, the literal “alienation” the narrator feels in the “Western World” is emphasized by the broken English the book is written in. The the traveling and new experience aspects of the book are emphasized more than anything else in the fact that her native language is not the language she chooses to tell her story in.  The narrator addresses a “you” at the throughout book, referring, of course, to her English lover, which helps explain why she has this inner-dialogue in English.  However, it also seems that she uses English in hopes of mentally fitting in with her new surroundings, and because she wishes for people within her new surroundings to be able to relate to her.  Personally, although the language used is effective to communicate the feeling of alienation the narrator feels, I quickly became impatient with deciphering certain sentences.  I did like how the language and grammar improved slightly as the book continued, however, and ultimately, when I adjusted to Zhuang’s way of speaking, I began to really enjoy reading the book, and indeed begin to relate to her.

    In Evening of the Holiday by Shirley Hazzard, a rather violent yet exciting local festival is set as the backdrop of the romance between Tancredi and Sophie to accentuate and parallel the feeling of exhilaration, brevity, spontaneity within their short relationship.  This specific festival is in celebration of a battle which took place in the town.  Although, in this battle, the town had suffered a devastating and “utterly conclusive” loss, the celebration is for the soldiers who fought “valiantly in the field” (55).  The reason for the celebration perfectly parallels the relationship of Sophie and Tancredi’s romance as well as its inevitable failure; although both put forth all they have to offer within the brief period of time they have together, the relationship ultimately fails.    Furthermore, the violence of the festival, which may “be said to reproduce...all the rancour and intolerance of the world” (57), parallels the intense excitement of the brief relationship.  It starts with Tancredi fallen immensely in love with Sophie at a movement of her hand, and ends with death of a friend.  In addition, both Sophie and Tancredi have a sense that the relationship will not last, yet both are willing to commit themselves fully for short-term yet meaningful stimulation.

  In Comfort of Strangers, Mary and Colin make the mistake of believing that they somehow have managed to almost become truly “authentic” travelers in the city they are visiting.  They are befriended by a local, and his wife, led to an apparently “authentic” bar by this local, and invited to his home.  The question arises though, of whether the couple follow blindly because they were too trusting, tired, and possessed by a sense of security in each other’s company, or did they put aside suspicions simply because of the excitement of “recognizing someone in a foreign town, by the fascination of seeing without being seen” (52).

The former seems to be the true reason.  Besides the initial excitement of meeting Robert, Mary and Colin seem to lose interest after the second time the run into him.  Overall, the relationship they have (where they seem to constantly be trying to avoid arguing) makes it seem as though each assumes the other will make the correct choice for both of them, yet neither takes the initiative of fully analyzing the situation because they constantly try too hard to avoid ‘silent-arguments'.  For instance, this shown when Mary leaves the boat early when Colin half-heartedly suggests to.  This too is a factor in Colin’s final demise; when Mary is drugged at the end and is trying to tell Colin to leave, Colin, instead of fearing for his own safety, and considering other possibilities for Mary’s state besides sickness, initially believes the situation is exactly as it seems; it is by lack of trying in attempt really understand the situation that kills him.  The argument can be made that because he is so used to complying with Mary in order to avoid tension, he does the same when the situation calls for him to really stick up for himself.  This submissive behavior, too, reveals a bit of why Caroline and Robert become so obsessed with him.

    In Death in Venice by Thomas Mann, Venice is presented as an alluring place with something a bit suspicious and rotten underneath, and with this aura seems to create an allure for rather suspicious and rotting people, such as Gustav von Aschenbach.  From the very beginning, even Gustav seems to sense the rottenness of the place as he transported by a rather sketchy gondolier to his hotel.  However, he does not feel as though he belongs in Venice until he admits to himself his obsession with Tadzio.    Yet, even as the magnificence of Tadzio is realized by Gustav, the very nature of Gustav’s mounting admiration intrinsically becomes something quite sickly because of Tadzio’s age.  And, as Tadzio comes to define Venice for Gustav, the reader senses a growing amount of rottenness both within the city and Gustav’s affection for the boy.      Indeed, this rottenness seems to culminate into the epidemic that plagues Venice by the end of the novel.  Initially, the sickness is attempted to be concealed from the public, but, like Gustav’s obsession, people begin to notice it, and so the rottenness is brought into the open. 

In Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux, the character Allie Fox parallels the Europeans in Heart of Darkness in that he attempts to take over the lives of the natives who he is, in theory, granted power over, while, instead of trying to exploit them for personal economic gain, attempts to build and manipulate their lives for the sake of his own societal ideals and philosophical goals.  In this way, too, he epitomizes Cohen’s Experimental theory of travel, in that he is on a “quest for meaning” away from the “awfulness” of America. Overall, though, despite his good intentions, he is hypocritical; by imposing his views on people who did not ask for them is no better that the people in America ‘forcing’ Allie to deal with their ways of life.

First, off, I would like to start by saying that I also read Heart of Darkness in high school, and it is one of the most amazing books I have ever read.  I often find myself becoming impatient with descriptions in certain books, but Conrad manages to weave details in so beautifully that I cannot tear myself away.Meanwhile, in relating this book to travel, we can see a new type of traveling come forth; this type in no way relates to finding authenticity within a new place but rather abolishing characteristics intrinsic to a place and attempting to turn the place into something more like the traveler’s home, or just using the place to the traveler’s advantage.  Specifically, in this novel, this type of ‘travel’ is widespread, and it is seen as Europeans colonize Africa.  This is why Kurtz ends up in the deepest part of the jungle, still surrounded by Europeans, and why Marlow encounters other Europeans on every step of his journey.

Those who wish to experience the true authenticity of a place are met with many options as to how to approach their travels in order to do so.  For instance, the postmodern view of authenticity is that travelers must live with the view that everything is authentic, therefore, the concept of authenticity does not exist, and to discover this authenticity all one must do is not differentiate themselves from their surroundings, no matter how foreign.  So in order to discover authenticity in this sense, one must not be looking for it, which, in a way means one cannot think of themselves as a traveler.  Sal, for instance, from On the Road by Jack Kerouac, has an understanding of the importance of living spontaneously, and never defines himself as a traveler, and therefore never is consciously searching for authenticity, and in this sense, is always is surrounded by it.  Meanwhile, Kit, from The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles manages to lose all notions of herself as a self-proclaimed traveler and immerses herself so deeply in her surroundings that she becomes unable to emerge.  With both of these characters, harsh downsides are present in their journeys as well, for discovering the true nature of any place reveals negatives.  However, Brett, from The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway, manages to resist most of the negatives, yet she is never able to truly embrace the authenticity of her travels, at least not in the deepest, postmodern sense.  Overall, people who consciously think of or define themselves as ‘travelers’ or visitors, and are on a constant quest

In On the Road by Jack Kerouac, the protagonist, Sal, creates his own adventures as he journeys around the United States.  Characters such as Daisy Miller and Brett seem to wander aimlessly around Europe living off money someone else has made, which makes their lives and stories, although interesting, seem quite futile.  Meanwhile, Sal, on his journey, creates experiences by living and traveling with as few luxuries as possible, within his own country.  Overall, Sal’s method of travel is seems much more fulfilling and meaningful, for rather than using someone else’s money to put nearly everything at your fingertips, Sal tries constantly to make his travels as exciting and different as possible .  The element of surprise in his journey, especially, allows for his travels to be exciting in themselves, unlike the American expatriate characters, all of whom take nearly no advantage of Europe and instead work most of the time to entertain themselves exclusively with the most trivial means possible.  Sal also travels around and constantly meets and gets to know new people, all while surrounding himself with friends, like Dean, who are content with going on unplanned adventures, and smart enough to be able to have exciting times doing simple things.  Meanwhile, the expatriates in Europe are mostly content to fumble about amongst themselves, and despite the fact that they can party nightly in nearly anyplace they choose, they still seem wholly unhappy and bored with life.

In The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles, in addition to being presented with various adventures, the characters are met with the the harsh realities that come with being ‘travelers’ as opposed to tourists.  In other words, with the the promise of adventure associated with traveling a foreign country comes imminent risks, and inevitably these risks will overcome anyone who claims that they are ultimately travelers, and far above tourism.  Indeed, from the beginning of the novel, Port, as he condescendingly observes a couple pouring over maps in a corner, “did not think of himself as a tourist; he was a traveler” (6).  Yet, by making the decision that himself and Kit should be defined as travelers, with no home to speak of, they are granting themselves permission to go on ‘adventures’ and take risks that tourists simply would not take, and ultimately, this ends in tragedy.