Annotation: The Curious Republic Of Gondour '

John escapes from the sack by having a toad cut open a part of the sack and placed a soft-shell and two big bricks in the back. Ole John went into town again and made his money from telling people their fortunes. The master saw Ole John and was very impressed. He was so impressed that he asked John if he could make that much money if he threw himself in the river and every other time that John was asked that question he always replied "ah reckon so." With this final time Ole john knew he could have the ultimate revenge, so this time he replied "ah know so" (Gates, pg.64). John threw his master into the river just like how his master tried to throw him in the river, but with the weights. While John is throwing him in the river he gives him a last farewell with "Goodbye, Massa. Ah hope you find all you lookin' for" (Gates, pg. 64). This is the moment when Ole John felt his revenged was finalized and he finally felt his freedom. Tricksters use their wittiness and intelligence to gain their freedom; even if it is for the worst. Like, in this case, John killing his master. Not only did John do all of this to gain his freedom, but because he wanted his revenge. He wanted to show his master that he was not as low class as he thought. In the end, Ole John won this

John was terrified of discovering the truth about his father. O’Brien explained that for John, “[Knowing] is to be disappointed. To understand is to be betrayed.” (242) While hiding the truth was convenient for John, the secrets piled up and ultimately proved to be too much of a burden. For as hard as John tried to cover up the truth, he always knew about his father’s drinking. “That was the worst part. The secret drinking that wasn’t secret,” O’Brien explained. (66) When Paul hanged himself, however, John was finally able to face the truth. He was still a child, and at the funeral he continually screamed in front of the entire procession, finally relieving himself of the burden of years of secrecy. While the truth of Paul’s alcoholism was not pretty, and was certainly less convenient to face than simply ignoring it, it was a significant relief for John. His mother explained: “I hate to say it, but it was a relief to have him out of the house. John and I, we both adored the man, but suddenly all the tension was gone and we could have supper without sitting there on the edge of our seats.” (97) Throughout the rest of John’s life, a similar process of hiding the truth and ultimately accepting it would repeat. As he progressed to the next stage of his life, as a young adult serving in the Vietnam War, John would bear a secret much heavier than his father’s

John still feels as though he can relate with his brother on a new level of trust and respect. “But where was I? Who was I? How did I miss so much (Wideman 687)?” John admits to himself here that the situation with Robby had gotten so out of hand for him and his family most of the time they chose to look away. He has blocked so many wrongful actions from his mind that Robby’s “confession” made him realize all that he had been suppressing for years. John feels like a “hypocrite” because when the TV was stolen his father in law bought him and his wife a new one. With their homeowners insurance though they were refunded 100 dollars. Instead of giving it to his father in law he chose to keep it. When the truth came out his father in law was hurt and felt that John had manipulated the situation. Though this is a small mistake compared to Robby and his crimes,

The reader will start to fear for John’s safety mostly because they don’t know what will exactly happen to him. The uncertainty of John’s fate created an even more suspenseful outcome. By making John’s future unclear, the author was able to plant thoughts of unsureness and anxiety within the reader’s mind. Another internal event is when Alejandra went to visit John in the barn to talk about what Duena Alfonsa had said to him. After John Grady explained that he’s not allowed to be seen with her, Alejandra expresses the unfairness of her great-aunt’s order. At this moment, John starts to believe that he sees sorrow within Alejandra and starts to feel bad for her. He begins to feel concern for her and eventually agrees to disobey Duena Alfonsa and spend time with Alejandra. Right after John agreed to do whatever Duena Alfonsa asked him to do he breaks his promise once he sees Alejandra. His inner thoughts had an affect on his consciousness and changed his views on spending time with Alejandra. Due to John’s sympathy towards Alejandra’s apparent sadness, he makes the decision to go out with

It explains about how he shot a man with a hoe and PFC Weatherby. He would later relive those moments later in his life. When he first went to Vietnam, John kept imagining how he would come back a hero, but it didn’t turn out the way he wanted. During his time in Vietnam, John developed a second persona known as “The Sorcerer”. As “The Sorcerer”, he would be entertaining and socially interacting with people, not John. As time passes, “The Sorcerer” would begin doing everything and be responsible for John’s actions. With The Sorcerer’s magic, his military comrades would rely on him to survive until two of the men are killed in action and lose faith in “The Sorcerer”. But at some point, the men regained their faith in The Sorcerer. Then, The Sorcerer would take over John as he participated in the My Lai Massacre, where he would see some gruesome sights such as, a dead woman with an open chest, an old man with a hoe, and a dead baby. There was also an event that occurred that day when John fell into an Irrigation ditch and PFC Weatherby found him lying there and said “ ”Hey Sorcerer”, Weatherby said. The guy started to smile, but The Sorcerer shot him anyways.” (O’Brien, Pg 110) If the readers hadn’t noticed, this sequence reappears almost throughout the novel. His experience in Vietnam has ruined his life as it was another reason why he was vulnerable to PTSD.

John’s troubled soul was fueled by hatred towards Owen’s control for his destiny, the kind of control that John never has in his own life. The events leading up to the Vietnam War and beyond were out of his authority, however, as destiny has it; it is inescapably going to happen. The war itself indirectly took the life of John’s best friend and John always felt helpless and responsible thinking that somehow he should have taken some kind of control in order to change occurrences. Due to Owen Meany’s belief that he is an instrument of God and that God has set a task for him to complete, Owen does his best to fulfill each part of his destiny. John does not understand why Owen bothered, John himself having so little faith and acceptance in destiny and fate. Owen has control over which path in life he should take, he could follow God’s orders, or he could ignore his calling and not do as his fate would have to save the little Vietnamese children. John’s feeling of helplessness in the fate that has befallen Owen makes him feel responsible and angry because he thinks he could have tried to persuade Owen to avoid his destiny. Moreover, John is angry by Owen’s faith in God and his acceptance of his destiny by living his life accordingly rather than avoiding it, the control that John never

When John was led back into life in the futuristic society, he was mocked and treat as a strange attraction. He was at the awful end of a sick joke - people came from all over to understand this simple “savage” who has spent his life in curiously primitive manners. John was so poorly received, he went as far as wanting to commit

All along the story, John, the husband believes he can cure his wife, manage her behavior and keep his status

Although tender and caring, John played a significant role in causing the narrator’s descent into ‘madness’. By taking on the role of a physician and a husband, John symbolises the stronghold power men had over women in the past. Instead of respecting his wife’s request for some form of mental stimulation, John insists that she takes on the ‘rest’ treatment. The treatment only focuses on the physical condition of the patient, and not the emotional or mental

John pushes against the society’s standards. He is against taking soma, a drug that puts you are peace and goes against the social means. John takes the soma from workers at the hospital receiving their pay. “’Free, free!’ the Savage shouted, and with one hand continued to throw the soma into the area while, with the other, he punched the indistinguishable faces of his assailants. ‘Free!’ And suddenly there was Helmholtz at his side —‘Good old Helmholtz!’—also punching—‘Men at last!’—and in the interval also throwing the poison out by handfuls through the open window. ‘Yes, men! men!’ and there was no more poison left. He picked up the cash-box and showed them its black emptiness. ‘You're free’” (213). John hates people taking soma because it takes away their freedom, which keeps them from thinking and speaking freely. He continues to fight the system when he isolates himself at the lighthouse because he is so against the World State. He ends up not wanting to be in the world. He hangs himself to show everyone how messed up it is and prove himself to the world controllers.

The author writes the story in a very interesting way. The way that there are only a few descriptions scattered about and that it focuses on dialogue is what allows us to figure out what the characters are speaking about and to find the intentions behind their words. The subject of this short narrative stands out boldly. Though it was written in

Huxley’s representation of the body had a different aim. In the story, John was the one who whipped himself. Huxley writes that “…they began to mime the frenzy of his gestures, striking at one another as the Savage struck at his own rebellious flesh…” (175). Here, Huxley’s representation of the body aims to show that the body is weak and can be influenced by outside forces, but the last decision of what happens to the mind and body of a person lies within himself or herself. John hurt himself to make the people around him happy. Thus, the body here becomes the subject of gratification, and when he realizes what he has done, he regrets it to the point of wanting to die. In the end, John could not believe that he submitted himself to the World State and he gave in to what they want, so he committed suicide. Here, John did not betray anyone else but himself. This also showed that John had full control of his body and that nobody tortured him and caused him pain but

He had even hired a housekeeper to take care of not only the house, but the baby as well. John also controlled almost everything in her life. In fact, the only thing he did not control was her journal writing, and even then she had to hide it from him since he did not approve of it. When he comes she says, "I must put this (the journal) away - he hates to have me write a word"(471). Part of John's problem 1s that he is a doctor. As a doctor, he control's his wife's health care, prescribing her medicines and her overall cure. As her husband, he is too emotionally involved to look at the case objectively, or if he had, he might have seen her mind going before it was too late. Not only that, the accepted "cure" at that particular time was ineffective and would only serve to make his wife worse (473). This "cure" was the product of a certain Dr. Weir Mitchell; a nerve specialist whose theory of a "rest cure" for mentally unstable patients was later found to be unsuccessful. In the story, the husband's ill-advised attempts to treat his wife's symptoms drive her insane by taking all responsibility from her and forcing isolation upon her as a part of her "cure."

Physical and mental controlling (hypnopaedia) is used to teach moral lessons in Brave New World, our world uses hypnotism for the same purposes. The incident with Ruben Rabinovich illustrates how our world is similar to Brave New World. Ruben Rabinovivch was a young boy who fell asleep with the radio on listening to a professor give a lecture. When he awoke the next morning he could recite the facts he heard but, he did not know what they meant. This is similar to our world because people use tapes to help them learn and memorize facts and speeches.

Although John fell victim to Don Hector’s betrayal, he still felt the need to explain himself. He wanted the happiness he felt when he joined the ranch to last longer. John wanted to mend the patch with Don Hector and meet Alejandra again. However, when he arrived at the ranch,Don Hector and Alejandra already left. Instead, he found Senora Alfonsa, Alejandra’s great-aunt. Senora Alfonsa bailed the boys out of prison “because of Alejandra [and in return] she wont see [him] again”. Although Alejandra helped persuade her aunt to bail the boys out of prison, her decision created false hope for John. John believed that his old life would return to him once he left prison. But he showed up to the ranch to find everyone left him. He could no longer rely on anyone, which twisted the many knives that people left in his body. Everyone around John betrayed and hurt John to the point that he became numb to the