JC H2 Lit Group (with Cheryl and Nathan) paper on Comparison questions - reconcile anxieties

How Individuals reconcile their anxieties.

→ Device

→ Effect

→ Significance

( HOW - Process

ACTS of Reconciliation
NATURE of Anxieties)

Similarity: Anxiety caused by possibility of rejection from her husband

Desdemona

Moon Orchid

Pg 344  “If haply you my father do suspect An instrument of this your calling back, Lay not your blame on me. If you have lost him, Why, I have lost him too.”  Repetition of “lost” Reinforces Desdemona’s loyalty to Othello over her own father Which reflects a despondency in Desdemona to fear detachment and rejection from Othello Pg 314 “Believe me, I had rather have lost my purse Full of crusadoes.”  Comparison of Othello’s favour to Money Establishes the value with which desdemona views Othello’s love Highlights that the loss of such love would be detrimental to her.

“Do you think he’ll get angry at me because I came without telling him?”  + Pg 144 “Suppose he throws me out? Oh, he will.” + Pg 145 “What if he hits me?” → repetition of hypothetical questions/scenarios by Moon Orchid → through constant speculation despite not knowing how her husband will eventually react as well as the fact that most of such hypothetical situations are negative (worst case scenarios) shows her pessimistic view of the encounter → It reinforces her fear that she will not be accepted by her husband as she expects the worst out of the meet up  “But I’m happy here with you and all your children,” Moon Orchid said. “I want to see how this girl’s sewing turns out. I want to see your son come back from Vietnam. I want to see if this one gets good grades. There’s so much to do.” → repetition → shows the desperation of Moon Orchid to stay in the family as she attempts to find excuses to delay the inevitable fate of Brave Orchid dragging her to LA to confront her husband  → Through this unwillingness to leave Brave Orchid’s family, it serves to highlight Moon Orchid fear of losing the life she currently has if she were to confront her husband  Moon Orchid started to whimper. Her husband looked at her. And recognized her. “You,” he said. “What are you doing here?” But all she did was open and shut her mouth without any words coming out → Moon Orchid’s husband tone is accusatory, showing that Moon Orchid’s fear is made a reality due to his display of  displeasure at Moon Orchid’s arrival. Moon Orchid’s reaction is that of uncertainty as manifested through her inability to respond despite such condemnatory tone of her husband → It shows the extent of her fear of rejection as when faced by it, she is unable to react

Diffe: Moon Orchid is forced to reconcile with her anxieties while Desdemona puts herself into the situation with hopes that it would get better without effort on her part

Basis of comparison: Moon Orchid has limited to no choice whereas Desdemona possesses the freedom to choose whether or not she would like to take action and how.

Desdemona

Moon Orchid

Pg 344 “ Heaven doth truly know it.” + Pg 347 “By heaven, you do me wrong!” + “No, as I am a Christian. If to preserve this vessel for my lord From any other foul unlawful touch Be not to be a strumpet, I am none.” + “Oh, heaven forgive us!”  Repeated allusions to religious imagery Reflects a cry for help on opposition to acting on the problem Highlights Desdemona’s lack of self-initiated action beyond talking to Othello Pg 351 “Here I kneel: If e'er my will did trespass 'gainst his love, Either in discourse of thought or actual deed, Or that mine eyes, mine ears, or any sense, Delighted them, or any other form, Or that I do not yet, and ever did, And ever will—though he do shake me off To beggarly divorcement—love him dearly, Comfort forswear me!” Image of Desdemona kneeling Presents a visual manifestation of Desdemona’s promise, but concurrently as a cry for help to reconcile her anxieties

“How can you let him get away with this? Bother him. He deserves to be bothered. How dare he marry somebody else when he has you? How can you sit there so calmly? He would’ve let you stay in China forever. I had to send for your daughter, and I had to send for you. Urge her,” she turned to her niece. “Urge her to go look for him.”  “We have to tell him you’ve arrived,” said Brave Orchid. Moon Orchid’s eyes got big like a child’s. “I shouldn’t be here,” she said Contrast between Brave Orchid’s certainty and Moon Orchid’s vulnerability Highlights Moon Orchid’s fragility and vulnerability by comparing her to a child and emphasizing her worry Foreshadows the severe consequences of Moon Orchid’s decision to do as Brave Orchid advised (Madness) “Your husband is going to have to see you. We’ll make him recognize you. Ha. Won’t it be fun to see his face? You’ll go to his house. And when his second wife answers the door, you say, ‘I want to speak to my husband,’ and you name his personal name. ‘Tell him I’ll be sitting in the family room.’ Walk past her as if she were a servant. She’ll scold him when he comes home from work, and it’ll serve him right. You yell at him too.” “I’m scared,” said Moon Orchid. “I want to go back to Hong Kong.” → Juxtaposition  → Shows the difference between what Brave Orchid and Moon Orchid desire through the inability for Brave Orchid to understand her sister’s unwillingness → Suggesting that the eventual confrontation with her husband comes as a result of Brave Orchid commands rather than her sister’s own free will. → The reposition “back”  → highlights Moon Orchid’s anxiety due to the current displacement from her home. This leads to her desiring to return back to Hong Kong. → This is coupled with the emotion of fear, where Moon Orchid displays a fear of the unfamiliar, and a lack of ability to be accepted both by her husband. + “You have to ask him why he didn’t come home. Why he turned into a barbarian. Make him feel bad about leaving his mother and father. Scare him. Walk right into his house with your suitcases and boxes. Move right into the bedroom. Throw her stuʃ out of the drawers and put yours in. Say, ‘I am the first wife, and she is our servant.’” → Through the hypothetical situations created by Brave Orchid, it shows the outcome that Brave Orchid hopes to achieve and further illustrates illustrate how Brave Orchid is the one who wishes to see Moon Orchid’s confrontation with her husband rather her Moon Orchid herself + Pg 125: “I can't bother him. I mustn't bother him.”  “How can you let him get away with this? Bother him. He deserves to be bothered.” (illustration to previous point)  → Contrast between Moon Orchid unwillingness and Brave Orchid’s questioning her, further illustrates how Brave Orchid ignores her sister's pleas and demands her to follow her orders Pg 144-145 “No. I can’t go through with this.” “Please turn back. Oh, you must turn the car around. I should be returning to China. I shouldn’t be here at all. Let’s go back.” +  “Don’t go back,” Brave Orchid ordered her son. “Keep going. She can’t back out now.” → Brave Orchid’s order that “she can’t back out now” shows the complete detachment from what Moon Orchid wants as she outright tells her that she has no way to escape the confrontation. → Highlights how Brave Orchid has taken the entire situation into her own hands and opts to ignore her sister’s pleas. Pg 151 “She held her sister’s elbow and slapped the inside of her arm. If she had had time, she would have hit until the black and red dots broke out on the skin; that was the tiredness coming out.” → Through Brave Orchid’s violence on her sister, it shows how she gets progressively fed up with her unwillingness to see her husband even when they are already at his hospital which ultimately leads to her venting her anger on Moon Orchid in an attempt to calm her down → Highlighting the extent to which Brave Orchid desires to see her sister’s confrontation.

Anxiety caused by the fear of rejection can be reconciled given that an individual is responsive and active. Failure to do so often results in