Class Discussion Notes:
11.15.2005
·
imagined
model of Jerusalem- Jude’s so preoccupied that he doesn’t even know where he is
until Sue comes, similar to the role he plays in the novel
·
does
Jude deserve better or was he doomed from the start?
o (May) no emotional intelligence—never learns
§
ex:
marries Arabella when he’s drunk
§
emotional—don’t
understand their emotions
§
can’t
read situations well
o need to finish unfinished business from
family
§
ex:
father’s an alcoholic, pick the same kind of person over and over again—it’s a
difficult problem with a strong tendency
§
this
isn’t complete fate
o (Vanessa) Jude just accepts things, such as
the letter telling him he shouldn’t even try to get into the university
o (Brian) classifications- self-imposed
attitudes as opposed to realities—insiders are defined by insiders themselves
leaving outsiders to romanticize about the role of the insider
§
(Puja)
things keep going wrong—at some point you break and give up
§
(Bump)
why didn’t Jude make art out of his despair?
§
(Rachel)
is it possible to have self-awareness to avoid things you don’t even know exist
yet?
o (Rachel) would it have been better to be a
stone mason and stay in his town and not participate in the world than to fail?
§
(Susan)
there are opportunities to check yourself against reality
§
(Ben)
if you have no purpose, there’s no reason to live- how do you reconcile a world
where there is no god and our greatest dreams are unreachable? inheriting a
religious structure and the impact of that inheritance
·
(Bump)
is that the modern predicament? is that
your predicament?
·
(Ben)
someone being born and working this hard and still gains nothing is an attack
on God
·
(Brian)
it’s not God doing this to Jude but it’s the society doing this to Jude—he was
blind to the society he was in or how much oppression there was for him in his
situation
·
(Bump)
hardy substitutes “society” for “God” with a capital “s”
·
(Noel)
one of Jude’s big downfalls is his love for women and his love for
liquor—“drunk”---the pitfalls of how he sees his society—this love destroys his
artistic abilities and intellectual curiosity by destroying his hope (women and
religion = drinking = downfall and death
in despair)
·
(May)
we’re past the “disappearance of God”—God no longer interferes in people’s
lives by punishing them
o (May) women as a distraction to education
o (Ben) idealists vs. pragmatists
·
(Bump)
libertarian organization- no government vs. need some government for defense,
etc.
·
(Bump)
idealists on college campuses because they don’t have to face reality—they’re
insulated from it
·
(May)
idealism is more destructive in Jude’s society—in
o (May) university education no longer denotes
status—success is no longer a guaranteed result of going to college
o (Brian) the school system doesn’t support
things other than college very much—need the one prodigy who gets ahead—Jude
could have been a prodigy but he said he wasn’t the person for that because he
let himself be led astray
o (Noel) find inspiration in people around us,
like her mom