Exploration of Deception

Nora the Manipulator

- "Nora: yes Torvald. I can't get anywhere without your help."
- " Nora: how pretty these flowers look! But, tell me, is it so dreadful, this thing that Krogstad's done?"
                                                            (Act 1, page 53)
This is a clear display of Ibsen's use of Nora's flirtation to display Nora's manipulative characteristics. At first, Nora drag's Torvald's mind by talking about her dress and how she does not know what dress to wear and then uses a mix of flirtation and flattery to soften him. By using the phrase" I can't get anywhere without your help" she picks on Torvald's masculinity and her knowledge of her husband as a prideful person makes it easy for her to shape his thoughts. Nora also knowing this further shows her manipulative character since it connotes that she has been analyzing her husband and his thought process to find efficient ways of conversing with him to get what she wants( i.e when she asks Torvald for money ). She even attempts to surprise her husband by drawing his attention to the Christmas tree before abruptly asking him about what Krogstad did. Torvald has been restricted about speaking of Krogstad and his employment  and the phrase" is it so dreadful" shows along with trying to connect to Torval.s emotions and to aggravate him so that he would slur out about what Krogstad did, she also hopes that the sudden flirtation and asking would dull his senses so that he would tell her.

Influence on Marquez's Work

The Catholic Church in South America :

Gabriel Garcia Marquez grew up as a Catholic but his beliefs developed into that of an atheist as time passed. There are clear religious connotations throughout his works but the Catholic influence dwells more deeply than just one individual's literary work.  The Catholic Church has deep roots in the societal workings of South American culture due to the invasion and ruling of the Spanish from the 1500s

.The Spanish introduced religion into the Colombian society through the establishment of Catholic institutions including dioceses of Cartagena and Santa Maria. After their independence from the Spanish, the Catholic religion still had a lasting effect on society. This lead to an overall protective and traditional way of life that is clearly depicted through works of literature that depict the era in Colombia.

 Currently, Colombian identity is certainly influenced by Catholicism. During the 19th century, the government protected Catholicism through the implementation of laws and giving the church certain privileges including giving them control over education. Even though the current role of the church in state has died down, the influence is apparent due to a conservative traditional lifestyle and the numerous cathedrals towering over houses in almost every village. 

Duffyesque

Reminiscing on primary school brings back a lot of memories. Memories of classes, with just one teacher teaching us all the subjects instead of moving around (just like Mrs Tilcsher).We had blackboards instead of markers and nap times after lunch. Lunches consisted of our custom lunchboxes, they each had their own superhero on them. I remember the time we first used pens while learning how to write in cursive. and assuming it was such a defining moment. The moment when graduation came and everything changed, middle school seemed like a dream come true. From recalling all those memories, it can be understood that most primary school memories do have the same basis of progression but certain aspects are definitely shaped to the area you lived in.

- In Mr Ben's classroom

the jitters begin before you walked in
sprinting, gasping, hoping,
you wouldn't hear that awful sound
but alas CLACK, it was all for nothing
Pitiful eyes stared back at you, but they didn't matter
none of it mattered except that one pair
the chilling, ice-cold eyes of Mr Ben

Why oh why were you late he asked
fuming, fumbling and furious
I looked down in fear
swallowing all my replies
and once it was done, I stumbled to my seat,
and then it began
the hour of  dread

question after question
scribbled onto the pages
encrypting my mind
but all you could  hear was the distant ticking
as I waited for the alarm bell ringing

and when the hour was up
and all of it was over
it ended with him giving us the cold shoulder
we left the class, our esteem shattered to bits
wondering if it was time to finally call quits

another hour, another day
another week, another month
we never gave up
we dealt with all his fits

Sympathy or Callousness

Is Torvalds attitude really that critical considering the Victorian times they were living in?
My frightened little singing-bird. […] I have broad wings to shelter you under. […] I will protect you like a hunted dove that I have saved from a hawk's claws." (3.257)
His attitude towards Nora could be considered honourable since clearly, his attitude is protective. but as the play continues his attitude is quite fake. I personally have no sympathy towards Torvald considering his attitude towards Nora throughout the play but then again it may be because of my modern views towards how a man is supposed towards his wife, but even accounting for all of these change in times he certainly does have some character flaws. Every term of "endearment" he calls his wife always has something belittling as part of it.

• “My little skylark”
• “My little squirrel”
• “My little singing bird”
• His constant desire to "guide" Nora and control her and how he refers to her as a child shows 
• the inequality present in their marriage which Torvald probably enforced but then again all of 
• that was popular during Victorian times. Another one of his character flaws would be his 
• hypocrisy. His so-called love for Nora somehow disappears right when he finds the letter.
 According to modern times, the way he reacted would be deemed immature and foolish and 

he'd be criticized in society since the act of taking a loan isn't such a big deal. But how about during Victorian times? Well, I think any excuses that can be made for Torvald's character are "thrown out of the window" per se since he goes against the essentials of the Victorian manhood. A man was supposed to take responsibility for his family and so, in this case, him blaming his life's sorrow on Nora is him showing his true nature which completely goes against his previous proclamations of undying love.

The list of his flawed characters does continue involving him constantly being self-righteous and judging characters as the play proceeds. insulting his own wife's father who is now dead with no sympathy for his wife or respect for the dead and so forth. His continuous disrespect to his wife and many more reasons show how even though he lived in a Victorian period and because of that some of our rubrics on judging what kind of man he was might be outdated, at the end of the day he does not live up to a man's expectations in marriage both during current times and Victorian times and that alone leads me to believe that he deserves no sympathy !