Adam Benalia

Media Logs
The Fortunate Pilgrim:
Puzo,Mario, The Fortunate Pilgrim, The Random House Publishing Group, New York, 2004.
Motivated by love and responsibility to her family, Lucia Santa struggles to provide for her family
as a poor Italian immigrant in New York, while navigating between the conflicting Italian and
American values with which she raises her children. The core struggle which defines Lucia
Santa and her pursuit of prosperity in this new frontier is the clash between love and familial
obligation. Lucia Santa must often overwork her children and force them into roles that often
lead them to outrage, so they may survive in their precarious position during the Great
Depression. It is this duty that leads her to sending Vito into a job which ruins his life and pushes
him to suicide, despite her maternal instinct pleading for his freedom. It is not for nothing that
she sacrifices herself and her family, as they work towards liberation from their poor Italian
ghetto in New York, and dream of one day owning a house on Long Island. This house
represents all their sacrifices, their promised land for which they toiled until exhaustion and
death, and the family gave everything to escape to this elusive dream. Duty is the death of love,
and it was her duty to give her family this life of prosperity and security in which she forced
herself to lose much of what she loved so dearly. The personal nature of the story stood out to
me with its complex characters and emotional ending. As the novel progresses, we watch the
family mature, as they come to terms with their destitute condition and pursue their goals and
dreams of fortune. We watch the children live and even die, and each change feels familiar and
heart wrenching as they grow and continue on their own paths in life. America would give Lucia
Santa and her family everything, and yet it would tear their lives apart while realizing their
wildest dreams.

American dream image:

https://www.shannawheelock.com/gallery.php#12.
This image depicts the death of the American Dream , as a tombstone memorializes this once
mesmerizing relic of a vibrant society of which millions of impoverished outsiders and hopeful
citizens alike dreamed of someday achieving. Alongside this tombstone are the deaths of the
core American values which this Dream stands for: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
The American Dream is dead, and along with it, America’s core values which have been a
constant source of pride since they were enshrined in the constitution centuries ago. These
tenets of their society cannot help but sink too in the lost hope of a prosperous future which was
promised to generations. Without this promised American Dream, America itself is inching
closer towards its eventual demise, as the liberty and prosperity which characterized this land is
no longer safe, and even the pursuit of happiness isn't guaranteed. This broken deal is
symbolized by the goal of countless families: a large suburban house with its white picket fence
and clean exterior. It is a mark of an honest and pleasurable life which was a reality throughout
our recent history, something which we could all strive for and achieve given due time and
hardwork. Now, it is simply a distant memory of better times, a beautiful past surrounded by
graves of broken dreams and shattered promises, once a reality for our forebears. What stood
out to me the most were the three principles etched onto the smaller tombstones. They
represent that the American Dream is such an important part of the values which form the
country, that without it, the structure crumbles, as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
become meaningless and a dream withers away and dies, alongside a nation.

Recession image:
K.Varner,Marcus,https://www.classesandcareers.com/education/2010/09/22/is-the-recession-the
-end-of-the-american-dream/, 2010.
This image is an alternate take on the American Dream, of two men frustrated over a lack of
spending, and how they will now have to redefine the American Dream in an effort to make
money in this recession. Rather than a romanticized portrait of a perfect America, this image
asks, was the American Dream ever real, or was this simply another capitalist product, a ploy to
sell an expensive home and a manufactured life. This Dream is often sold as the culmination of
prosperity and success, of a utopian nation which promises a secure and effortlessly happy life
which all citizens will earn. But was this just clever marketing? Was the American Dream an
organic product of human development, or another misdirection for the population, a goal which
will blind them from the benefactors of a real American Dream which is only offered to a chosen
few. Even the men themselves are a symbol of the corporatization of America and its ideals.
These old, rich men are the true believers of this dream, for it is them that make its rules and it
is them that earn the spoils. It is the line “looks like we’ll have to redefine the American Dream
again” which really struck me with its blunt disaffection with the lies which have been sold to us.
It is presented as a truth, not a conspiracy or belief, a heavily manufactured product, a sterile
plastic life which has been sold to millions through a rosy image of a better past.

Of Revenge:
Bacon, Francis, “Of Revenge”, https://www.authorama.com/essays-of-francis-bacon-5.html.
Revenge is a dish better not served at all in this text. Often seen as the ultimate justice, Of
Revenge speaks rather of the self-destructive nature of revenge, which tears open wounds
which would heal given time. Perhaps revenge is not a noble act of justice, but just an unjust
crime as common as that which provoked us. Who are we to go above the law and punish as
we see it due, a petty vigilante taking pleasure in our judgment. This revenge, an eye for an eye,
an act of cold blood which lowers us to common ground is easy, the hard truth is that only
through peace with that which wronged us, can we truly recover, despite the difficult act which
this entails, that of forgiveness. Revenge only leads both parties to ruin, a shared fate of
wallowing in our chosen hatred and despair. Revenge is not not a conflict between men, but an
internal urge which screams for release, a scar on our mind which aches for vengeance. It is a
conflict with ourselves, as we try to look past our reflexes and make peace with the pain which
will not go away no matter how much we give in return, no matter how much we wish for it to
fade. “This is certain, that a man that studied revenge, keeps his own wounds green, which
otherwise would heal, and do well.” This quote speaks of the harsh truth of revenge. It is not the
noble act of righteousness which it has been portrayed as in countless iterations, but a burden
of hatred which tears open old wounds and harms the man who takes revenge equally as it
enacts its goal.
Secretary:
William Service, Robert, “Secretry” www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/robin-william-service/.
Trampled and humiliated by his superior, a man who lives a lavish life built on the exploits of his
meek employees, the secretary dreams of an elaborate revenge in which he will lay claim to his
boss’s riches.

Tyranny leads to contempt amongst the downtrodden, the weak who submit to the sole authority
of corruption and selfish desire. Although the secretary’s revenge will probably never come
about, his hate festers stronger with every slight inflicted, as the boss’s employees squirm in
their eagerness for justice, and one day, perhaps it will be too much to bear and this turning of
the worm will come about. The descriptions of the two men, one as a slim and bony man, and
the other as a fat and graying hog contrast the divide between the two, of their extremely
polarized statuses which breed this uncontrollable hatred.

The final paragraph of revenge is the most striking to me. It is an anger induced dream of the
secretary’s wishes. The belief that somehow he will own it all, the boss’s wife, his fortune, even
his life. His lust for revenge inflames his wounded pride, and it fuels him just as it tears open
these bloody scars of humiliation.

Cool Tombs:
Carl Sandburg, “Cool Tombs”, The Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation/poems.
In this poem, these cool tombs lay claim to all. Past life becomes naught but a lingering memory,
as Presidents and heroes, lovers and losers, all lie endlessly in a frozen peace in their tombs.

In these cool tombs there is a peaceful equality which ends fame and egos, just as it solves
struggles and grants those who have endured suffering their lasting eternity of rest. Through
tragedy and tyranny, peace endures in its final act of merciful yet cruel demise. All who once
fought and loved are reduced to dust, and no virtue or crime can absolve the promise of the cold
touch of death. Through repetition of “in the dust, in the cold tombs”, the equality of our common
end is mirrored in a shared line which summarizes all our achievements, all our beliefs, and their
usefulness in the grave.

It is this same repeated line which hammers in the painful truth we must all accept, the futility of
our ambition and exploits, when we finally meet the immovable face of death. Death will one day
return to us as the day we first emerged into this world, and in that moment, we will all lie in the
dust, in the cool tombs.
The Vendetta:
de Maupassant, Guy, “The Vendetta”, https://www.dominiopublico.gov.br/download/texto/.pdf.
After her son’s death, an old widow avenges her son and murders his killer, thus completing the
cycle of revenge and restoring justice to their family. Unlike the other stories of revenge, this
vengeance is presented as an honorable act, a respectable killing which brings the justice the
law was unable to give. Who would be more deserving to see this retribution come to pass than
an old widowed mother who lost her only son, overwhelmed with grief which will remain a raw
memory so long as her son’s killer walks this earth. Perhaps revenge is the most noble goal a
family can achieve, for their sacrifice brings peace to their departed love, who must no longer lie
in a cold grave, betrayed by the law and alone while their murderer wastes the precious years
which had been stolen in their untimely death. This revenge might itself be divine fate, an
intervention which decides the end of a murderous sinner. Maybe Semillante herself represents
fate’s strange justice intervening to give a poor mother her peace of mind in a tumultuous period
of grief. An otherwise powerless woman is given the chance to regain family honor and restore
order and natural justice outside the power of the law. The mother’s immediate relaxation after
the retribution had been paid, sleeping well despite her son’s recent murder, was a passage that
stood out to me. His death had already occurred, a part of the past which will never change, and
he will never come back. His mother understands this, and his death motivates her to do the
one thing that might relieve this grief and grant closure to his tragic murder. Once she has given
him peace in death and enforced her own justice, she can now sleep soundly with the
knowledge that he has been avenged.

Razor:
Nabokov, Vladimir. The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov. Vintage Books (The Random House), New
York. 1995.
A Russian expatriate living in Berlin encounters a man who once tortured him during the
revolution. Rather than kill the defenseless man in cold revenge, he allows him to escape, giving
up revenge for moral superiority, and forgiveness for the pain which he had suffered. Ivanov
realized the futility of enacting revenge on this helpless man for past crimes, just another bloody
act of vengeance like that which the revolutionaries tormented him with in Russia. Suffering
does not change the past, nothing will, but to heal the wounds of time, peace must be made to
lift the heavy burden of hatred which clouds the mind from rational thought. The man’s fear as
he freezes and braces for imminent death, the cold shudder down his spine as he accepts his
fate, that was the feeling Ivanov wished to inflict on him, death would only be excess. Contrast
is often used to establish the difference between these two men, the honorable barber and the
corrupt Soviet. Ivanov’s sharp features are an opposite to the Soviet’s fat, round face and beady
eyes, and Ivanov’s relaxed and confident demeanor portrays his freedom of thought, a man who
will not give in to petty murder and violence like the Soviet, but who would rather make peace
with his torturer and ascend above the innate violence which rests in every heart. The outcome
of their encounter surprised me, as unlike most revenge stories, the protagonist made peace
with his past and forgave the man who once tortured him, freeing himself from a further plunge
into the bitter depths of his soul which cried out for vengeance. Instead, he finally cut out the last
vestiges of this bloody revolution and was reborn as a new man, made better through this final
act of liberation.
The Mariner’s Revenge Song:
Walla, Chris, “The Mariner’s Revenge Song”, The Decemberists, from the album “Picaresque”,
Kill Rock Stars, 2005.
Another story about the self-destructive nature of revenge, this song tells the story of a man
seeking retribution at all costs against his father who betrayed their family and left them
destitute and sick. Broken by pain and the loss of his family, the protagonist is motivated solely
by vengeance for his mother, who died begging for his father’s death. This promise of revenge
decides his every action, as he joins a crew with the only goal of killing this man. Despite his
poor upbringings, the protagonist could’ve led a good life, a happy youth full of peace which his
acceptance of his troubled childhood would bring. Instead he has chosen to pursue a suicidal
murder which led him and his father to a shared fate of misery in their final moments, swallowed
by a whale and forgotten by the outside world. The whale represents the shared destruction
which is wrought upon both parties in an act of revenge. Both men die together in hatred and
despair, a true act of vengeance which tears open wounds and inflames anger until the only
outcome is pain. The final moments of both men was a vivid reminder of the hatred which fuels
revenge, and the intense emotions which this desire for retribution gives to those tortured by the
actions of others. The protagonist no longer cares about his outcome, his sole priority is the fate
of this other man who he kills, even as they are already both condemned to a painful death.

Hamlet:
Shakespeare, William, Hamlet, Nelson, Toronto, 2003
Hamlet is a tragedy about the double edged sword of revenge, which inflicts pain and suffering
on all parties involved in this bitter act of spite. After Hamlet is visited by the angry ghost of his
poisoned father, he sets out on a goal to kill the man who murdered his father, which would
prove self-destructive and bloody, leading to his and his enemies’ shared fate of death. Revenge
is an impulse of violence which seems tempting when scorned and abused. Hamlet watches his
father die and be replaced by his own murderer, a man who has taken his wife, his throne,
everything which his father once held, a grave insult to the memory of the man who Hamlet
loved and admired, and who he stood to inherit everything from. Hamlet’s lust for revenge after
everything that has been committed against his honor and family is understandable, a natural
reflex to the violent upheaval of his life. However, this human reaction would lay waste to the
entire court, and end in a true slaughter of both sides. The ghost of Hamlet’s father, a wrathful
apparition which appears before him and pleads for retribution against his killer, is a figure which
sets Hamlet on his destructive goal, despite the ghost’s fate representing that which will come
about if hamlet continues on this violent intention of regecide, the same crime which motivated
his revenge. The final scene was the pivotal moment of Hamlet’s bloody downfall, as he finally
enacted revenge on Claudius, but in the midst of his gratification, he and many others would
die. Hamlet’s goal of vengeance would self-destruct and ensure neither he, nor Claudius, would
live to claim the throne taken from his father.