COMMENT: the first student will comment on n. 1, the second on n. 2 and so forth.
REPLY: the first student will REPLY TO comment of STUDENT 2 (come back to see what your classmate has written and reply to his/her comment.)
In you COMMNENT: did you notice this quotation while you were reading the book? How would you connect it to your own choice. OR, is it completely separate and reveals a different order of concerns?
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1) “They are tired as hell but happy that today is Good Friday and we quit at 3’oclock”
2) “Pushing the job is all right (when has it been otherwise in my life?), but this job frightens me. I feel the building wants to tell me something just as one Christian to another. Or perhaps the Easter week is making of me a spirit-seeing pregnant woman. I don’t like this.”
3) "Is it not possible to breathe God’s air without fear dominating the pall of unemployment? And the terror of production for Boss, Boss, and Job? To rebel is to lose all of the very little. To be obedient is to choke. O dear Lord, guide my path"
4) “The language of worn oppression and the despair of realizing that his life had been left on brick piles. And always, there had been hunger and her bastard, the fear of hunger”
5) “To rebel is to lose all of
very little. To be obedient is to choke” (13)
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QUOTATION: “They are tired as hell but happy that today is Good Friday and we quit at 3’oclock”
ReplyDeleteI didn't notice this quote while reading. To me this quote just reflects Geremio and his co-worker's mindset. They're mainly excited for Good Friday because work will be over at 3.
I used quote number 5 in my response, both of the quotes give insights to the workers' state of mind.
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DeleteI agree that the quote reflects their mindset about being able to get off from work early. I also think that they are relieved to be away from the dangers of the job. I think it also reflects the importance of their faith to them that they would take Good Friday off from work.
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ReplyDeleteQuote:“Pushing the job is all right (when has it been otherwise in my life?), but this job frightens me. I feel the building wants to tell me something just as one Christian to another. Or perhaps the Easter week is making of me a spirit-seeing pregnant woman. I don’t like this.”
ReplyDeleteWhile I was reading the book I did notice this quote. I think that it is very similar to my own choice. The quote that I had chosen was,“…Is the work dangerous? Why don’t you answer…?”
I believe that it is similar because both quotes are referencing the fear of the job and the danger of the job that Geremio is doing. In the quite that I chose, it is Annunziata who is questioning Geremio about his work because I believe she fears for him. In this quote, it is Geremio himself who is admitting that he believes his job is dangerous.
I see what you mean by both quotes are similar. When Annunziata questioned Geremio about the job, he did not answer, maybe he didn't want her to worry. Also I feel like for the first quote he did not have a choice to choose his job because he promised her a house of their own and even if his "feelings" pushes him away he still has to remain.
DeleteHey Annie, that's true. I didn't look at that aspect but I see how he could have felt obligated to do the job because of the promise that he made to his wife as well as his family. He wanted a better life for them and this job would supply him and his family with that.
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ReplyDeleteQuote: “To rebel is to lose all of very little. To be obedient is to choke”
ReplyDeleteMy quote was "Life, dream, reality, unreality, spiraling ever about each other."
I did not notice the quote as I was reading but I find this quote somehow like my quote because both quotes somehow give you the expectation of life. If you were to obey someone for the rest of your life its reality but if you choose to live your life and live by your dreams you have nothing much to lose.
Hi Annie, I agree with what you wrote. I agree with your point that if someone obeys someone else for the rest of their life that is their life but if a person chooses to live their life then they can't lose as much. However, I do believe that even if you follow your dreams a person can still loose it all.
DeleteQuote: “They are tired as hell but happy that today is Good Friday and we quit at 3’oclock”
ReplyDeleteI did not notice this quote while I was reading the book. I would connect this quote to Geremio and the workers with him. He and his fellow workers worked extremely hard and were exhausted each day from the harsh work. Geremio says that they are quitting their work later that day at 3 o’clock because it is Good Friday.
I would connect this quote to this scene as well. These workers worked constantly and the reassurance of being able to leave at 3 o' clock was something for them to work forward to; therefore they were happy to be at work that day.
DeleteQuote: “Pushing the job is all right (when has it been otherwise in my life?), but this job frightens me. I feel the building wants to tell me something just as one Christian to another. Or perhaps the Easter week is making of me a spirit-seeing pregnant woman. I don’t like this.”
ReplyDeleteI did not notice this quote as I was reading the book. I would connect it to Paul when he first decided to take on his father’s role and take on his job as well. I would connect it to this scene because he was working under fear from what happened to his father and hoping for the building to share some secrets of the job so he will not follow his father’s lead. I believe the reference towards Easter and a pregnant woman has to do with Easter approaching and his mom having just given birth to Geremino. In his efforts to take on his new role in life he is frightened from every moment and hoping for some reassurance from anyone, from the building.
i thought this quote came during the point where Geremio started to worry about the foundation of the building they were working on, foreshadowing the accident that killed the workers.
DeleteRegardless of where it was mentioned, your connection seems just as plausible. Paul, despite his efforts, always had the fear of suffering his father's fate looming in him. He has some fascination with death, though he is surely afraid of it. It becomes apparent when death comes up in conversations, like the one he had with Louis.
I did not see this quote either, but I agree he was pushed too hard. He had to prove who he was and had a large role to fill. Paul was often under a lot of pressure.
Delete"Is it not possible to breathe God’s air without fear dominating the pall of unemployment? And the terror of production for Boss, Boss, and Job? To rebel is to lose all of the very little. To be obedient is to choke. O dear Lord, guide my path"
ReplyDeleteI looked back to realize this was a quote from Geremio. Initially, I did not notice it because it was followed by the drastic sequence of events in which Geremio died. That caught my attention over this quote despite them being in the same scene. It seems to be something that matches Geremio's mindset. The higher-ups on the job seemed somewhat inconsiderate of the men at work, which Geremio was addressing. He did not want to be entirely obedient towards them, but any sort of rebellion would have left him without work. He needed some spiritual strength to keep him going.
I believe this line shows us Geremio's confusion. He had in front of him two bad choices and he did not know which choice would eventually be more harmful. He prayed to God to show him the better way. After all, choosing between good and bad is always easier than choosing the lesser among two evils.
Delete“The language of worn oppression and the despair of realizing that his life had been left on brick piles. And always, there had been hunger and her bastard, the fear of hunger”
ReplyDeleteI did notice this line while reading the book. I was almost going to chose this line as my pick but then I chose the 2nd one mentioned above instead. This line has a very strong impact as it describes the oldest member of the group, the Lean, who has seemed to have lost all hope of his life improving. Though here the words "his life had been left on brick piles" are used metaphorically, at the end of the first part his life is literally left on brick piles.
I believe this quote connects to the one I chose (no. 2) in the sense that, it was that fear of hunger that made Geremio dismiss the bad feeling in his gut. The fear of hunger beat the fear of the dangerous Job.
“To rebel is to lose all of very little. To be obedient is to choke” (13)
ReplyDeleteI did not notice this quote while reading, but after critically analyzing there is deep meaning in these words. In sum, these words basically mean that if one follows rules too strictly they miss out. This quote is symbolic/referencing the faith displayed throughout the reading. I think at a point, it is realized that faith is important, but it is okay to deviate from faith as well.