The Replacements Blog Option 3

Spencer Jameson

Blog #3

Option 4

            In “The Replacements”, Stuart suffers from a fear that he will be replaced by the pet that his wife begins to grow attached to. In the story, Stuart clearly has a low self confidence, and when the creature comes into his life, he realizes that his wife has affection for it, and it eventually results in less of her attention being spent on him. Jenny originally was constantly trying to look after and care for Stuart. Whether it be taking him to work or calling him multiple times a day, it seemed like she constantly needed reassurance from Stuart.

            I had a similar experience in high school. My best friend during my freshman year had finally gotten a girlfriend, and all of a sudden he slowly stopped talking to me. It was a friend of mine who I had known since the 3^rd grade, and as we started to get into our high school career, it became obvious that we were slowly starting to drift away from one another. He had been pretty dependent on me, I would constantly be woken up in the middle of the night to help him deal with problems with his family. None of this was a problem to me though; I kind of enjoyed his dependence on me. It made me feel important, and when he finally began to get a girlfriend, the amount of time we hung out lessened more and more.

            In the end of the story, Stuart and Jenny end up splitting up and never being able to get back to their original selves. I, unfortunately, suffered a very similar fate. Although the relationship ended after a few months, our friendship was never able to fully recover. When I read this story, it certainly reminded me of this experience.

Spencer Jameson

Blog #3

Option 4

            In “The Replacements”, Stuart suffers from a fear that he will be replaced by the pet that his wife begins to grow attached to. In the story, Stuart clearly has a low self confidence, and when the creature comes into his life, he realizes that his wife has affection for it, and it eventually results in less of her attention being spent on him. Jenny originally was constantly trying to look after and care for Stuart. Whether it be taking him to work or calling him multiple times a day, it seemed like she constantly needed reassurance from Stuart.

            I had a similar experience in high school. My best friend during my freshman year had finally gotten a girlfriend, and all of a sudden he slowly stopped talking to me. It was a friend of mine who I had known since the 3^rd grade, and as we started to get into our high school career, it became obvious that we were slowly starting to drift away from one another. He had been pretty dependent on me, I would constantly be woken up in the middle of the night to help him deal with problems with his family. None of this was a problem to me though; I kind of enjoyed his dependence on me. It made me feel important, and when he finally began to get a girlfriend, the amount of time we hung out lessened more and more.

            In the end of the story, Stuart and Jenny end up splitting up and never being able to get back to their original selves. I, unfortunately, suffered a very similar fate. Although the relationship ended after a few months, our friendship was never able to fully recover. When I read this story, it certainly reminded me of this experience.

Spencer Jameson

Blog #3

Option 4

            In “The Replacements”, Stuart suffers from a fear that he will be replaced by the pet that his wife begins to grow attached to. In the story, Stuart clearly has a low self confidence, and when the creature comes into his life, he realizes that his wife has affection for it, and it eventually results in less of her attention being spent on him. Jenny originally was constantly trying to look after and care for Stuart. Whether it be taking him to work or calling him multiple times a day, it seemed like she constantly needed reassurance from Stuart.

            I had a similar experience in high school. My best friend during my freshman year had finally gotten a girlfriend, and all of a sudden he slowly stopped talking to me. It was a friend of mine who I had known since the 3^rd grade, and as we started to get into our high school career, it became obvious that we were slowly starting to drift away from one another. He had been pretty dependent on me, I would constantly be woken up in the middle of the night to help him deal with problems with his family. None of this was a problem to me though; I kind of enjoyed his dependence on me. It made me feel important, and when he finally began to get a girlfriend, the amount of time we hung out lessened more and more.

            In the end of the story, Stuart and Jenny end up splitting up and never being able to get back to their original selves. I, unfortunately, suffered a very similar fate. Although the relationship ended after a few months, our friendship was never able to fully recover. When I read this story, it certainly reminded me of this experience.

Blog #3 Replacements

Trisha Langley

9/26/13

Blog #3

In the story “The Replacements” by Lisa Tuttle, the central idea is that this creature Jenny finds and adopts represents a baby. Many critics seem to believe this and so do I. Initially when I was reading this short story I was simply just freaked out by this new “pet.” But after our class discussion today this whole new idea arose for me.

         We discussed many ideas about mothers in today’s society and this got me considering the time period this story was written and perhaps the purpose for Tuttle writing this short story. I did some research and found out that she had written this story just shortly after she had her first child, which was in the year 1991. Considering this was 22 years ago I would think that mothering styles would be different from now and that the knowledge we have now would be different from then. But surprisingly this short story about the relationship of a mother and child doesn’t stray too far from the ideas we support today between mothers and their children.

         Overall this story supports the idea that a bond between a mother and a child is so strong it is practically impossible for anything to come between it. In this article I found on the website Kids Development, it talks about just that. “Mothers tend to be the primary caregiver in both traditional and single parent families and thus are with their children more than anyone else. Mothers, therefore, are in the unique position of influencing their children’s growth is all areas of development, beginning with the bonding and attachments that they usually develop with their children.” (Morrisey) In the text we can justify this with when Jenny tells Stuart “if you can’t accept that you’d better leave.” (Tuttle) This basically expresses her feelings towards having Stuart around and what she thinks of him as a father figure; none existent. Throughout the story we see many more comparisons within the text comparing this pet creature to a baby. Also at the end when Stuart passes by the house just around night he sees the creature “spread-eagle against the glass, scrabbling uselessly; inside, longing to be out.” (Tuttle 474) This is another comparison we made in todays class discussion, which fits perfectly to our mother child idea. Another quote I found in the article supports my claim “When babies become toddlers they know that their mothers are the primary individuals to meet their needs and so the initial cycle of bonding has been completed. At this time, however, toddlers are beginning to realize that they are their own individuals and now have the mobility to test the boundaries that their mothers have set for them.” (Morrisey)

The Replacements

Chris Ganson
Blog #5

    The Replacements is a interesting story written by Lisa Tuttle. One of the main gothic motifs in the short story is the fear of the supernatural. I thought that Lisa Tuttle did a great job incorporating the supernatural. The supernatural is described as some kind of otherworldly being or object which is frightening due to its refusal to adhere to the laws of nature. In The Replacements, Stuart stumbles upon a ugly looking animal that he ends up killing with his shoe. He states that the animal “is something that should not exist, a mistake, something alien” (Tuttle 460). Later in the story, when Stuart gets home he finds out that his wife, Jenny, brought back a similar looking animal. At the end of the story you find out that the animal likes to suck blood and is believed to be a vampire. 

     One of the other main gothic motifs found in The Replacements is the outsider. In the story, Stuart is the only one that seems to fear the animal. He believes that the creature could carry various diseases such rabies or foul parasites from South America or Africa (Tuttle 465). Everyone else that Stuart knows, such as his wife and secretary, love and take care of the strange creatures. I believe that Lisa Tuttle did a good job incorporating the outsider motif. In the short story, Stuart is the only one able to see the potential dangers of taking care of a strange animal that sucks your blood for food.

     Overall I thought that the story was compelling and strange. I wasn’t really that scared while reading the short story, but I found myself wanting to know more about where the creature came from. I definitely would recommend The Replacements to some of my friends. I think they would enjoy the mystery behind the strange creatures. I would give The Replacements a solid 4 out of 5.

Silent Hill and the Lonesome Place

Matt Powers

Blog #3

Option #1

           

Terrifyingly Intriguing Environments

No matter how many times I watch it on thing remains true, Silent Hill will never get old. This movie is full of gothic tropes, and in many ways relates to our readings. While it relates to all of them in someway, the one that stands out the most is “The Lonesome Place”. While both stories use a variety of the same tropes to create suspension and better tell the story; I think the way their most similar is in their reliance on a sense of mystery and dread when describing the environments in the story and movie.

From scene to scene the movie Silent Hill draws in its audience and holds their curiosity through suspenseful environments and dramatic moments. While there are many examples of this, one stands out over the others. Early on in the movie Rosa awakes from a car crash on the outside of Silent Hill. As she comes to, she looks behind her in the back seat and realizes that her daughter Sharon has run off. She then looks forward and sees a thick black cloud of what appears to be fog.  Directly in front of her there is an old highway sign that reads “Silent Hill” and as she gets out of the car we realize that there is no fog, but in fact ash is blowing across the highway and falling from the sky. Rosa sees a little girl a few yards ahead of her and mistakes her for Sharon. As the girl takes off Rosa chases into the ashy fog after her.  This scene occurs rather early in the film and is constructed to both, foreshadow facts to come as well as captivate the viewer leaving him in a suspenseful moment as he wonders what will happen in Silent Hill.

In the “Lonesome Place” the author, August Derleth, relies just as heavily on the description and suspenseful nature of the environment surrounding the main characters. Early in the novel this becomes evident as the main character describes the lonesome place to the reader, he says “ with no house nearby and up beyond it the tall, dark grain elevator, gaunt and forbidding, the lonesome place of trees and shed and lumber, in which anything might be lurking, anything at all” (pg192).  In this quote we are painted a picture of the Lonesome Place that frightens the boys. When reading this passage I picture an area off in the distance, with a grain elevator and the infinite possibilities as to what type of creature lurks there. Reading this I see a similarity in the goals of both Silent Hill and “The Lonesome Place”; both describe the environment’s enough to evoke curiosity and suspense form the audience. They both take the main characters and create an atmosphere in which the reader is unsure of what’s about to come, but he is too intrigued to look away.  Whether its Rosa running into the unknown through the fog of ash or the boys looking at the grain elevator that houses a foul beast both use a sense of mystery and dread to terrify there audience.

 

Works Citied:

·      Derleth August. The Lonesome Place. American Gothic Tales. New York: Plume, 1996. N. pag. Print.

·      http://www.123rf.com/photo_9454154_grain-elevator-on-the-canadian-prairies.html

·      http://www.ign.com/articles/2006/04/21/silent-hill-2

Serial Killers and "The Black Cat"

Catherine Rivera

Gothic Lit

Blog 3, Option #3

Serial Killers and "The Black Cat"

            In the story by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Black Cat,” the main character is an unnamed man with homicidal tendencies.  The man claims to be an animal lover, and he adopts a feral cat.  He proceeds to kill the cat because it bites and scratches him.  The narrator displays serial killer tendencies that evolve throughout the story.  Today there have been many studies that relate certain traits to potential serial killers.  Not all people who have these traits are serial killers but many documented serial killers have specific traits in common.  To understand what makes people serial killers researchers look at childhood experiences and mental stability.  The narrator in “The Black Cat” exhibits traits that are also exhibited by today’s serial killers.

            In the beginning of the story the narrator describes the way his love of animals quickly changes into a hatred of them.  The narrator admits that he, “made no scruple of maltreating the rabbit, the monkey, or even the dog, when by accident, or even through attention, they came in my way” (Poe 79).  He would beat his animals even when they came to him seeking to be pet or played with.  He later cuts his cat’s eye out because the cat bit him on the arm.  According to scientific research, “almost all serial killer admitted that they started by acting out their violent fantasies on animals before graduating to human beings” (listverse 1).  The narrator eventually murders the cat by hanging it from a tree.  The public display of his accomplishment, hanging from the tree, is even more reason to believe that the narrator is a serial killer.    

            The narrator does not directly say he was abused as a child, but it could explain the lack of sympathy he shows his victims.  According to researchers many serial killers lack sympathy or empathy for other people.  Neglected or abused children can lose their sense of compassion because they were not cared for properly, “the child will become desensitized; he will begin to believe that this emotionally barren world that surrounds him is something normal—and so he will grow up devoid of empathy for other” (listverse 1).  It is clear that the narrator has lost his empathy for others when he buried his axe into his wife’s brain.  He shows no remorse for this murder and immediately thinks about hiding her body in the wall.  The narrator like many other serial killers is empty of remorse or any feeling of guilt.  The question arises, what causes people to be serial killers?  Is he a serial killer because he is a naturally bad person or was he abused as a child and lost all empathy for humanity?  The many traits and childhood experiences that serial killers have in common may suggest that they were abused as children. 

            Serial killers usually hold a disregard for human life and life in general.  This could be because of horrible experiences in childhood and early adulthood.  The narrator says, “the moodiness of my usual temper increased to hatred of all things and all mankind” (Poe 83).  According to experts, psychological trauma and sexually stressful events can have hugely negative consequences for children who may already be sensitive (listverse 1).  This trauma can lead a lack of compassion and a disregard for human life.  The narrator displays many traits that are exhibited by modern day serial killers.  These traits could possibly be avoided with greater understanding of the circumstances that make people into serial killers.        

 

http://listverse.com/2013/01/02/10-most-common-traits-of-potential-serial-killers/

Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Black Cat” American Gothic Tales. Ed. Joyce Carol Oates.

            New York: Plume, 78-86. Print. 

listverse. “10 Most Common Traits of Serial Killers” 2007 http://listverse.com/2013/01/02/10-most-common-traits-of-potentialserial-killers/