original blog link: H1 VS H2 3: The Return of the King of the Jungle
Harry, let's talk again. After reading your response to my post on lions, I was compelled to make another response. Again, please don't take anything as offensive, my ideas are only to be considered, not taken personally. S'all good? Ok, moving on.
Well, your first paragraph is slightly confusing in my opinion. Just because Vonnegut's novels are the only ones that you have read which use the "dog barking" phrase, does not mean you should completely associate it to Vonnegut and not give credit to the other authors who use it. I don't think the phrase should be called "a hallmark of Vonnegut" as you worded it. That term is much too strong to describe a phrase that is actually quite common.
Another minor criticism I would like to point out: I didn't see a very strong correlation between what your blog was trying to discuss, and the contents of this first paragraph. I think you veered off a bit in direction and digressed in your arguments. My original post was regarding the specific use of the "dog braking" phrase, and why different animals couldn't be used as well to convey feelings or enhance settings on the book. However, you're first paragraph was discussing how "A dog barked" is a memorable phrase in the novel SH5. I feel that writing your first paragraph on ideas more related to primary topic would have greatly benefited the direction of flow in this blog and its relevance. Nonetheless, you mentioned a very interesting connection regarding image association.
Minor details aside, I want to clarify my intentions when I wrote my "Why Cant a Lion Roar" blog. Harry seemed to have misinterpreted my blog post when he wrote his response. Granted, the purpose of "Far away, a dog barked /a cricket chirped" is to indicate the dead, awkward silence of a situation. However, when I gave my example about the lion, I was referring to using "a lion roared" in a different context. I obviously realize that if an author was to use a roaring lion in a serene moment of the book, the scene would almost definitely be ruined by the picturing of the humongous, vociferous lion in the mind.
What I had meant instead was to use my lion phrase to convey a different set of emotions. Maybe because lions are characterized by their ferociousness and anger, whenever a lion roared in the distance, it could symbolize the tension of a debate that was occurring in the story. Therefore, it didn't necessarily have to be an aggressive lion who roared; it could essentially be any animal performing any action. The lion was just an example in general. Perhaps this entire misunderstanding was my fault, for not explaining properly. I do apologize. But now that you understand what I intended to write, you can see that your argument about lion roars able to be heard 5 miles away is pretty fruitless. Such a stat could only promote the usage of the phrase in a situation where perhaps there was a choleric man in a rage. Then, in that context, one could put, "Meanwhile, a lion roared."
All of these small catch-phrase sentences, if used in the right place and right time in a novel, could surly produce a powerful emotion an author chooses to convey. So down with the trite, lame dog barking. Next time when you (the reader) are writing a creative piece of work, I encourage you to be creative and use a new animal to describe the atmosphere. Just make sure you can justify it when it comes to analysis. :)
I think you read my post in a way I didn't intend others to read it Henry. The first paragraph was one of my opinions on why Vonnegut used the dog barks. Since I don't rea every single book in the world, I won't know which books contain which phrases and my knowlege is only limited to the books I have read. Thus, If I read the dog barks somewhere else, my first connection would be made with Vonnegut. That's what my first paragraph was about. Vonnegut used the dog barks to make the readers link the dog barks to him so that he can be remembered by readers later on.
ReplyDeleteAs for my dog bark/cricket chirp vs. lion roar idea, I was just trying to show that the dog barks were not "just some irrelevant flotsam," but a way for Vonnegut to exaggerate the mood of a particular scene. And if he used a lion's roar, Vonnegut would not have created such mood, but instead ruin it.
ReplyDeleteIf he had used a lion's roar, he would have created a different mood, one of anguish and temerity rather than silence. What do you think?
ReplyDelete"Vonnegut used the dog barks to make the readers link the dog barks to him so that he could be remembered by readers later on. "
ReplyDeleteMy point was that this didn't apply to everyone. You might be an exception because Vonnegut's books are the only ones you have read, but the dog barking shouldn't be solely associated to Vonnegut in normal circumstances.
Hope this clarifies,
Again, please don't take any offense to what I said, I could see where your ideas were coming from and they were very thought-provoking.
Thanks,
Henry