[Posted by MELISSA] Do you think that Nadja helped the narrator answer the question "Who am I"? Why or why not? If you answered yes, how do Nadja's drawings assist him in this discovery?
I do not think that Nadja helped the narrator figure out who he is. At the beginning of the story, before Nadja was introduced, I thought that the narrator was going to be the insane one that we followed throughout the story. The style of storytelling in the first part of the novel was very disjointed and confusing, but once Nadja was introduced it seemed to get a little more structured. While reading, I did think that Nadja was going to help the narrator realize who he was because of her behaviors. I thought that he would find meaning in his life through some of her strange thought processes and behaviors. However, once Nadja was taken away, the narrator seemed to spiral back down just as she did. He didn’t seem to realize that she was actually insane and seemed like he was making excuses for her, which he did do throughout the novel. I think that when Nadja was around he put more energy into thinking about Nadja and forgot about his question. It reminds me of Lt. Gustl and how Gustl was in the same situation at the end of the novel that he was at in the beginning. Like Gustl, the narrator really made no progress throughout the story.
Although I honestly scarcely understood this novel, I do not think that Nadja helped the narrator figure out who he was. Granted, discovering oneself may be perceived and understood in different ways by different people. Up until he met Nadja, the novel was quite disjointed and extremely hard to follow, parallel to the inside of the narrator's mind. Once knowing her, the story became much more linear and experiential, the reader was able to see his life through the journal logs. Once Nadja was gone because of her madness, there was a semblance of structure, however I think that it was a structure that revolved around Nadja. To know oneself is not to know another person relating to oneself. What I think the narrator benefitted from knowing Nadja was the ability to have valuable opinions and views on the world by experience and connection. I believe that loving another person allows one to learn new things about oneself, however it is not a process of total realization, and I think that this is what happened for the narrator.
I do believe that Nadja had begun to help the narrator discover the answer to his question: “Who am I?” She consistently praises him with compliments and admirations about things he normally wouldn’t notice, such as his “simplicity” (71). Other people’s opinions give insight both to us the audience and to the recipient of one’s identity. It gives a new perspective to the question of not just “who am I to myself” but “who am I to others.” Sometimes, I believe, finding out what one means to those around the individual will give the person a chance to discover what these qualities mean to himself, and he then has the opportunity to accept it or to grow from it. This may simply be because, while reading, I was expecting him to find an answer, but based on the fact that his thoughts (to me at least) became more coherent as the story progressed, I believe he was beginning to discover the answer to his question. As the story progresses, the narrator does not seem to be looking as hard for the answer to his question because he is so absorbed in Nadja and what she has to say. He is not actively seeking answers and I believe that this is how he begins to find them. I cannot answer for sure if he ever truly discovers who he is, but I believe that Nadja, in all her “mad” ramblings and sketches, was able to give him insight into who he wanted to be based on how he is already perceived. He found purpose when talking to Nadja, he found unfiltered conversations, thoughts, and insights that probably, in my opinion, led him to a deeper understanding of who he is.
i dont feel too confident in my understanding of the novel so this comment is less of me putting a well thought out concept out but an early early concept of understanding.
so i do think that nadja helped the narrator discover who he is. he says that he can understand himself by who he haunts. if we take nadja as being a person he haunts then in his relationship to her, we can tease out how that relationship helps the narrator understand himself. i dont feel this is too telling of the evolution of the narrator but like savannah said, before the narrator met nadja the novel was very chaotic and after the novel held more clearly to a more linear story line that follows our typical understanding of how a story should be. at first glance this seems to be the narrator having clarity and a better ability to conceptualize but i could see it being evidence of the opposite.
I do not think that Nadja helped the narrator figure out who he is. At the beginning of the story, before Nadja was introduced, I thought that the narrator was going to be the insane one that we followed throughout the story. The style of storytelling in the first part of the novel was very disjointed and confusing, but once Nadja was introduced it seemed to get a little more structured. While reading, I did think that Nadja was going to help the narrator realize who he was because of her behaviors. I thought that he would find meaning in his life through some of her strange thought processes and behaviors. However, once Nadja was taken away, the narrator seemed to spiral back down just as she did. He didn’t seem to realize that she was actually insane and seemed like he was making excuses for her, which he did do throughout the novel. I think that when Nadja was around he put more energy into thinking about Nadja and forgot about his question. It reminds me of Lt. Gustl and how Gustl was in the same situation at the end of the novel that he was at in the beginning. Like Gustl, the narrator really made no progress throughout the story.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I honestly scarcely understood this novel, I do not think that Nadja helped the narrator figure out who he was. Granted, discovering oneself may be perceived and understood in different ways by different people. Up until he met Nadja, the novel was quite disjointed and extremely hard to follow, parallel to the inside of the narrator's mind. Once knowing her, the story became much more linear and experiential, the reader was able to see his life through the journal logs. Once Nadja was gone because of her madness, there was a semblance of structure, however I think that it was a structure that revolved around Nadja. To know oneself is not to know another person relating to oneself. What I think the narrator benefitted from knowing Nadja was the ability to have valuable opinions and views on the world by experience and connection. I believe that loving another person allows one to learn new things about oneself, however it is not a process of total realization, and I think that this is what happened for the narrator.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that Nadja had begun to help the narrator discover the answer to his question: “Who am I?” She consistently praises him with compliments and admirations about things he normally wouldn’t notice, such as his “simplicity” (71). Other people’s opinions give insight both to us the audience and to the recipient of one’s identity. It gives a new perspective to the question of not just “who am I to myself” but “who am I to others.” Sometimes, I believe, finding out what one means to those around the individual will give the person a chance to discover what these qualities mean to himself, and he then has the opportunity to accept it or to grow from it.
ReplyDeleteThis may simply be because, while reading, I was expecting him to find an answer, but based on the fact that his thoughts (to me at least) became more coherent as the story progressed, I believe he was beginning to discover the answer to his question. As the story progresses, the narrator does not seem to be looking as hard for the answer to his question because he is so absorbed in Nadja and what she has to say. He is not actively seeking answers and I believe that this is how he begins to find them. I cannot answer for sure if he ever truly discovers who he is, but I believe that Nadja, in all her “mad” ramblings and sketches, was able to give him insight into who he wanted to be based on how he is already perceived. He found purpose when talking to Nadja, he found unfiltered conversations, thoughts, and insights that probably, in my opinion, led him to a deeper understanding of who he is.
i dont feel too confident in my understanding of the novel so this comment is less of me putting a well thought out concept out but an early early concept of understanding.
ReplyDeleteso i do think that nadja helped the narrator discover who he is. he says that he can understand himself by who he haunts. if we take nadja as being a person he haunts then in his relationship to her, we can tease out how that relationship helps the narrator understand himself. i dont feel this is too telling of the evolution of the narrator but like savannah said, before the narrator met nadja the novel was very chaotic and after the novel held more clearly to a more linear story line that follows our typical understanding of how a story should be. at first glance this seems to be the narrator having clarity and a better ability to conceptualize but i could see it being evidence of the opposite.