Great introduction video by Janet!

    There are a couple of lines from Emilia that I have been pondering.  In Act 4, Scene 3, line 85, Emilia says: “But I think it is their husband’s faults if wives do fall.”   The speech talks about how woman can sometimes be treated by their spouses and ends with “Then let them use us well: else let them know, the ills we do, their ills instruct us so.” 
  I have been pondering about how we treat others.  How easy it is to hurt others when we focus on ourselves and don’t consider how our actions harm others.  It is not just words or lack of words; our actions are very important.
In this play there are a lot of reactions.  Reaction of people to Iago’s words.    Iago is the ultimate bad guy; a vicious manipulator that for some reason is out to pull everyone one down.  Why were people unwilling to see this, I am not sure.  The play is called Othello, but it is more about how people react to Iago.  But is that not just like a manipulator?  The spotlight is not on the manipulator but someone else.   We find ourselves trusting the wrong people and not relying on the evidence that we could collect for ourselves.  As in this play, Othello had the ability to gather his own information.  He was a general.  With that title comes responsibility and experience, yet he did not use that when he was struggling with his weakness.  
  As Oliver DeMille asks: How are we like Othello?   How are we showing our price or lack of security in who we are?  Shakespeare wrote to a Christian audience where pride seems to be a weakness in many of us.  What weakness do we need to reform or guard against so that we do not fall prey to the Iago’s of this world? 
Othello turned to Iago instead of Desdemona to gather information about Desdemona.  This becomes even more alarming in that Othello and Desdemona are married.  There was obviously a very big imbalance in their relationship.  Outside of our relationship with God, our spouse should be our highest priority.   The damage Iago caused could have been minimized if Othello had put his relationship with Desdemona above his reputation.  Three people would still be living: Othello, Desdemona and Emilia. 
   Ephesians 5:25 (KJV) reads: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it”.   Emilia seems to warn us what can happen when we get our priorities out of order.  In particular when we say we love someone, but our actions don’t match our words, we can find ourselves in a very hallow relationship.  Hopefully not as destructive as Othello’s and Desdemona.   

For our book discussions we decided these definitions: 

​*Virtue was doing the right thing for the right reason or the habit of choosing to do the right things.  An internal state that may or may not be recognized by others as it is hard to measure well.   

*The vices are either an excess of the virtue or a deficiency. 

*Anti -virtue is defined as doing the wrong thing purposely but knowing the right thing. 

*A monster is a person that deviates from acceptable behavior.  Virtue>Vice>Anti-Virtue>Monster

This as been a very helpful way to look at decisions as we read and discuss.  What would you add?

As we are starting to wind down our discussion year it will be interesting to see how we incorporate these ideas further.  Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, and Dracula are famous monster stories.   Now I have a whole new level of understanding about how these books influenced me and why there are valuable books to consider reading. 

This is a book that I have read with my children several times before.  Reading this book while looking for the principles listed in Oliver DeMille's book "We Hold These Truths to be Self-Evident" adds more power to the story in my opinion.   In this speculative fiction story is a post WWIII story where a leader finds a way to eliminate all crime through a behavior modification system implanted in a people.  However there is a problem in that the community is struggling so they capture others to bring them into their system, implant them, and then let them know they are not part of a organization where they will be given the gift of better education, health, food, clothing, and technology.   The other groups that have been captured should be eager to join this more advanced society.  But are they?  

Some of the questions I think the book asks are:
1.  if you remove the ability to choose wrong from a people will they automatically always choose the good and right? Will they be happy?
2.  Can you train people to always be good? Should you?  Why/why not?
3.  How much are we willing to give up for security?
4.  How much are we willing to give up for freedom?
5.  What are some of the freedom's we have lost that should have fought for?  Why didn't we?
6.  If a person is raised without agency, once it is granted to them what will they do?  
7.  What happens do a generation if they have not developed their own moral character but have been forced to "be good"?
8.  What do we do know to promote freedom?

Once again, the power of mentoring takes a book brings out more meaning to me.  I don’t believe I would have had as many notes or thoughts without the guides I used to help me as I read this book.  In this case I used Jacob Allee from Study the Great Books to help direct me as I read through this book for the first time.  Several questions he posed:

1. Dracula is evil incarnate.  Who can stop him?
2. Who can save you and the others you love from his irrepressible grasp once he sets his sight upon you or someone you love?
3. Where will you really, truly, and finally be safe?

Deep ideas to digest and find answers for.
One of the characters, Johnathan is exposed to ideas that he doesn’t quite understand but begins to fear states: “It is only when a man feels himself face to face with such horrors that he can understand their true import (Chapter 1).”
Wow.  How that speaks to me.  There have been times when I did not understand enough to know that something was wrong, so I accepted it as okay.  Now I can see that it was so damaging and continues to create damage in others for the same reason.  This could be as simple as a song or a book that is bent or broken.  If we don’t know enough, we can take in ideas that will take years to label as wrong and then root out.  It could shape our character in very negative ways without our even understanding the damage that has occurred. 
How many times have I thought, ‘well it is not a big deal or not really my problem to say anything about’?  When will it become my problem?  Will it be too late if I wait until it affects me directly?  As that wrong continues to grow it becomes harder and harder to root out.  How big does the issue need to become before I actively do something about it?  Will I ignore those that are trying to warn me in their limited way also?  In the book Jonathan meets several people along the way that try to give him some warnings, one of the first “went down on her knees and implored me not to go”.  Jonathan charged on because he didn’t fully understand and there was business that needed to be done.  How am I like that?
After the death of a female character that unites the characters of this book to find a way to stop Dracula much sacrifice is required to learn what they can do to stop the wrong that is happening.  The group of characters needs to keep at a problem that has many mysteries and scares them.  They have determined that Dracula is the monster, but can they stop him?  How do they stop him?  Their search challenges their beliefs and ideas.  Yet for the sake of love they continue searching.   One of the best lines in the book occurs during this time of struggle:
        “When he had finished he came back and sat near me, reading, so that I did not feel too lonely whilst I worked.
         How good and thoughtful he is.  The world seems full of good men, even if there are monsters in it (Chapter 17).”
 The book ends with success because they can stop evil from destroying others’ innocence and lives.  Now for me to apply that to my life.  What ways do I need to prevent and stop the evils I see from destroying the innocence and lives of those around me?  What do I do now?  Who do I gather around me to help me as I fight the battles I see need fighting? 

On my first read of this book I could not see how this book was different from Homer's works.  Homer addresses in the Odyssey the ideal man and woman.  This book lists out a lot of those same ideas about the ideal man.  So why do we need Beowulf also?

This book is listed as Christian literature but it didn't really appear to be very Christian other than some occasion references to Christian ideals. I read a summary by Jacob Allee on substack (Study the Great Books) that was very insightful.  Beowulf was a hero and did rescue the people from monsters and feuding, but the moment he died they went back to the feuding so did they need Beowulf or something more?   They had a Beowulf but they might have needed a Christ.  

Oh now that is interesting.  I had to read the book again.  I can' see that idea better now.  at line 1611 is states: "He is the true Lord'.   So is Beowulf the true lord?  Can we rely on him always?  Unfortunately he is mortal and he dies in this book.  

It was a very insightful idea to me so wanted to share this idea. To me it helps add to the great conversation about what an ideal person is.  

After first reading this book I wondered how this book was different than The Odyssey in its main idea of what an 'ideal man' was.  I reviewed the Teaching Company recordings by J. Rufus Fears which state that a major theme for this book was in that we will all die (fate).   The book seems to focus on living as best you can and leave a legacy of greatness.

As I was re-reading this book I noticed how much the book talk about feuds.  Why do we feud so much?  Why do we seek revenge and not let things go?  Why is the warrior so much a focus in writings?  The Iliad is a long feud...and then a feud within a feud.  Why is this such a common theme?

The warrior is a common theme in our literature, sometimes just named differently through time.  I can think of many books along these lines:  Ender's game (Most of Orson Scott Card), L'Amour books, Sanderson books, Tolkien books, and many others.  We seem to still be grappling with this idea of what an ideal man is.  What makes a man a good warrior or hero?  Why?   Why is it so important for us to be remembered?  

One question posed by Prof Fears was "How will you handle trouble?  as a warrior with honor or with pride? "

I liked this question and have wondered how would I handle trouble?   Of course I don't know that I am facing a Grendel but maybe I am after all.  It just acts, looks, and smells different then the monster in this story.  What is the best way to handle the troubles we are facing?  Is it important to me to leave a legacy of greatness and what does that look like for me?

Frankenstein has way more depth then I had imagined.  There are several ideas in this book.  You can compare this with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  Both main characters hew there action was wrong but did it anyhow.    It seems the idea that we can control things and keep things secret is still happening today. 

You can look at the upbringing of Victor F. and try to determine where things went wrong for him in trying to create a monitor and then running off when he decided it was to shocking to deal with.  

You can look at the arguments of nature v. nurture or the role and responsibility of science/technology.

When looking at the ideas of virtue and vice (excessive or deficient virtue)  there seems to be a work that I would like to add to the discussion and that word is anti-virtue which is being defined as dong the wrong thing but knowing the right thing. 

I believe Victor knew what he was doing was wrong but pursued his ambition with a singlemindedness that destroyed all those around him.  When he had awoken the monster he deemed it ugly and ran away.  Why create something that you name ugly and run away?  Is it because you knew what you were doing was wrong and then could not stop the result?  Running and keeping secrets was such a huge part of Victor's life!  He had the option of talking with several people about what he was doing but when he was banned from continuing his experiments, what did it do?  Continued on in secret.  He cut himself off from all those that would have or could have helped him work through his problem and choose a different way.  He created a monster and then hide what he did, never taking responsibility for what he had created and deserted.   The cost was paid by all of those around Victor.   We can turn this mirror toward ourselves and look for ways that we knowingly do what we know is not right and then try to hide that from all those around us.  What will the end result be?  Will we keep going on to destroy all that we hold dear or will we decide to stop the secrets and take responsibility for our actions and do all that we can to repair the damage?

This novel might have been written as a campfire ghost story but has so much depth to it.  

I can relate to the pretense theme in the book but not a lot more.  Some say that there is a theme of family love but if that is the case I don't want this relationship with my family.  I don't ever want to be this rude or crude.  There is a conversation about religion all through this book that is very confusing.  It is a mix of eastern and western thinking.   You have to really dig even to determine what is being talked about it is so unclear.   If intensions and teachings are so unclear it is not a wonder the characters are struggling with life.  Too many mixed ideas with no clear understanding or position.   This work is just not my 'cup of tea'.   You can't find peace in life without a clear understanding of who you are, who you want to become and where you are going.