Barth feels that authors are complacent with traditional
format of stories, and I think Barth wants Title
to be an original piece, which implies that Barth wants to defy the traditional
rules. Barth writes, “I’ll ignore her, he vowed” (Barth 1063), which implies
that Barth is choosing to reject traditional writing styles, because he does
not want to “same old story” (1062). Is this insane?
Comparatively, Pygmalion, written in 1912 (the same century that Title
was written in), is a traditional rags-to-riches story, or a Cinderella
story- a plot so common that it has its own name. Barth remarks, “[It has]
become an exhausted parody of itself [literature]” (1064).Barth criticizes
authors who follow this modeled writing. Is that insane?
Is Barth’s mockery of his
literature peers for writing the same story insane or is reading or writing the
same story insane? According to Albert Einstein, “The definition of insanity is
doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Are we
insane for reading these books or watching these movies, when we can already
predict the ending? Do we expect things to change in the final chapters or
scenes and have an ending we could have never expected, or do we want the
perfect, predictable ending? If so, then why do we want it?
I think we do want to
perfect ending, not because we are insane, but because we need some predictability.
Even Barth is willing to admit that the style of writing he is criticizing is “even
enjoyable. For…both of us [the author and audience]” (1062). We all want to
underdog or the protagonist to overcome his or her obstacles, because we sympathize
with Eliza Doolittle and her struggles, and Cinderella with her evil step-mother.
We are not crazy; we just understand what the characters are feeling.
I attached Underdog by
Imagine Dragon, because I think the chorus summarizes what I am saying. “That
sounds like my luck.” We understand the character’s situation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsnvLX-1GMc
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