Walk

      "A seripigari said to me: 'Being born with a fice like yours isn't the worst evil; it's not knowing one's obligation.' Not being at one with one's destiny, then? That happened to me before I became what I am now. I was no more than a wrapping, a shell, the body of one whose soul has left through the top of his head. For a family and for a people too, the worst evil would be not knowing their obligation" (215).
     This passage hits rather close to home for me for I have been "a wrapping, a shell" of a man. For years I have wondered about without passion, without a purpose. Once I figured out that I needed more, I needed a story, I needed a passion, I figured out that I was no longer walking aimlessly through life; rather, I had a purpose and reason to walk. I have been the worst student in the past, but I found a reason to change my ways with regards to school. In a few short weeks I will be walking for the final time as an undergraduate on this campus. An end for some sure, but this is a walk which sets me on the path to something new, it sets me on my path to find my obligation.
     While visiting my family this past weekend I realized there is a little Mascarita in all of us. During this trip, I was the storyteller of my studies. I told my parents everything I was going through, every assignment, every obstacle. They listened. That is not how it has gone in the past. It started with my parents telling the story of school and the value in an education. I listened, but I did not hear. I am now not only able to hear, but see what they were wanting me to realize many years ago, so I walk and look at the angles as I pass. I may not know what I will be doing when I get to where I have be going for many years, but I think I will walk and let the answers find me, as they have in my past.
     This is a mask my parents have on their wall. Who knew, without ever hearing of Mascarita they would have a Mascarita mask in their house. The mask has a birthmark, the earth and a bird. It is missing the red hair, but one must believe there is a striking resemblance. 
    

    

Calasso or Llosa

     The quote I am looking at today could be found in either Calasso or Llosa: "Memory is a snare, pure and simple: it alters, it subtly rearranges the past to fit the present."

Both Calasso and Llosa understand the complexities of memory and the value behind stories. Calasso gives us multiple versions of the same story depending on the source he chooses to use. While most of the stories are similar with subtle differences, it is the memory of the original author we are trusting. However, Calasso knows that the original action and memories can change depending on the lens one chooses to view them through. With each reflection from the truth or the original, the story changes shape altering in form to fit what will be known as the truth for the time. The way I see this is there is an original, I will use a painting for this demonstration. So, this painting has its original form, but when looked at in a mirror, it shifts and alters from how it was seen at the beginning. Add another mirror and the lens changes once more. Multiple mirrors could be added with the same results, each time there is the original, similar yet different. For me, the mirrors are the storytellers altering the original story to fit what they can remember at the moment of the retelling. It is similar, but not the same. The principals stay the same but the details shift to create something new.
     This quote is actually from page 95 in The Storyteller, yet it could have been an any page in Calasso. Mascarita tells every story from memory, yet his memory is from what he has learned from someone else. He tells the stories the best he can--better than anyone else in the tribe--but it is his version of the truth, his memory. Yet before Mascarita became the Hablador, memories were slowly being lost in the sands of time. These memories were the snare or noose, tightening over time choking the life out of the tribe.  The Machiguenga people were forgetting the past, an action which was proving to be the death of the tribe. With the help of Mascarita, the tribe could once again unite to hear the stories of the past, or at least one version of it.
    

Dates to Remember

Today, or Thursday

• Read The Storyteller.
• Just do it and blog about it. 

November 5th

• Displaced myth. Post written displacement to your blog. 
• Present 2-3 minutes in class. 

November 14th

• 2nd Quiz

November 26-December 5th

• Presentation of Final Paper on "That, anyway, is what I have learned."
• If there are any questions about what is expected, feel free to ask.