#look at your hypocritical false class consciousness | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

skzsauce01 · 4 years

Text

42nd Moon Pt 6

Description: By some stroke of luck, you get off the waitlist of your biology class. You’d never have guessed you’d find your soulmate there, let alone that he already has a girlfriend... Or that he comes from a fraternity of werewolves.

Warning: mentions of death/killing

Word count: 1.5k

Pairing: werewolf!Jisung x fem!reader, werewolf!Hyunjin x fem!reader

Chapter List

“According to their decision, Song Jiyoung and Hwang Hyunjin will be delivering their baby as expected. Miss L/N Y/N will be compensated for her loss accordingly.” The representative from the werewolf council closes his briefcase and sweeps out of the room.

Jisung’s chair cracks under his grip as he watches you cast down your gaze and bite your lip. Jiyoung engulfs Hyunjin in a hug while the other werewolves come up to you to offer reassuring words.

When they have all left, Jisung finally approaches you.

“Hi, Ji--”

He cuts you off with a tight hug. “I can’t believe it. The council, they don’t even see soulmates as humans, do they? ‘The sole purpose of a soulmate is to reproduce with her wolf.’ What is that nonsense? You could be a doctor! An astronaut! A-- a-- a--.”

“Jisung, I’ll be okay. I mean, there’s still hope that their child is human, right?”

Jisung pulls back from you. “Sorry. I’m supposed to be comforting you and here you are, comforting me instead.”

You rub his head right where he likes it. He stays silent for a few moments. He picks up your other hand and traces his thumb over the mark Hyunjin has on you.

“Are you scared?” he asks.

“I’m just… waiting.”

Jisung reaches for a pen behind you and starts putting ink over the design on your arm. “If worse comes to worse, what are you going to do?”

“Nothing, I guess. A lot of young people have to go before they grow old. Like those with cancer, for example, except I’m lucky enough to not have to spend my last days in a hospital.”

Silence.

“Are you angry? At Hyunjin? At the whole system? At me?”

“Why would I be angry at you?”

He stays silent and lets his pen fall to his side. You look at your wrist to find another shape on it. It still looks like it fits in one of the werewolves’ patterns, but none which you can remember. Jisung looks upon it wistfully.

“Jisung, you can’t blame yourself for this,” you say when he doesn’t reply.

“How can I not?” he opposes softly. “I could have even stopped Hyunjin. Maybe got him to break up with her or something once we realized he’s found his soulmate, but no! If anything, I encouraged them because I was too selfishly trying to--” His eyes flicker to the design he gave you.

“Jisung?”

“I just wanted to be loved,” he says inaudibly. He lifts his eyes back up, though they stop before they reach your eyes.

“I…” He leans forward with glistening eyes. “... can’t take it anymore.”

He grabs your wrist with the pattern he drew and flushes it against the surface behind you with one hand. The other he snakes behind you. He parts his lips slightly, as short, uneasy breaths escape between them and--

“Jisung!” someone calls from down the hall. You can hear footsteps approaching.

Jisung shifts his body to the side and pulls you into a hug instead.

“I can’t lose another one,” he whispers, tightening his hold on the ink on your wrist.

That night, as Jisung is stepping out of the house, a voice stops him.

“Would you actually do it?”

“Do what, Hyunjin?” Jisung sighs flatly into the shadows.

“Kill the child-- my child-- for her,” Hyunjin answers as he steps into view. “I just want to know. That’s understandable, right?”

Jisung clenches his fists and grits his teeth.

“You’re considering it!” scoffs Hyunjin. “I can’t believe it! You’d kill your best friend’s child for some random girl from bio.”

“And I can’t believe you’re killing your soulmate just to mess around with your girlfriend! Have you thought about this like that, Hyunjin?”

“I am not killing anyone. That’s what Jiyoung said. Besides, there’s still a good chance the child’s human.”

“And if it’s not?” Jisung challenges. “What are you going to do then?”

“Well I-- I--”

Jisung pushes past his brother.

“And are you any better?!”

Jisung freezes in his step.

“What are you going to do once my child’s dead?” Hyunjin continues upon seeing the effects his words have. “What are you going to do with Y/N? Date her? Marry her?” Hyunjin walks up to the shorter male. In a lower voice, he presses on.

“Everyone knows why that’s why you’re so worked up about this. If the child is a wolf, you’d disobey Chan and the law just to try to have what you can’t.”

Hyunjin slowly creeps Jisung’s sleeve up his arm, revealing monochrome skin. Jisung snatches his hand away with a snarl. Hyunjin steps back and looks the other wolf dead in the eye.

“Look,” Hyunjin states. “I’m not saying that what I did was right or that I don’t regret anything. I’m just saying that you don’t have the moral high ground, so stop being such a hypocrite. The cards have been dealt. All we can do now is play with them.”

“Easy for you to say. You’re the dealer and your girlfriend has a straight flush.”

There is a pause. “I suppose you’re right, but if you try anything, you best watch out.”

The night is dark when Hyunjin and Jiyoung welcome their new addition to the family. Not a sliver of moon can be seen.

You and the wolves gather into the room as the midwife exits.

“Look. Isn’t she beautiful?” Jiyoung breaths.

“Yeah,” you say with a mustered smile. The rest of the wolves shift on their feet.

“May I?” Chan asks.

Hyunjin transfers the baby into his leader’s arms. Carefully, Chan inspects the child. After an excruciatingly long minute, he returns her to her mother and turns to his pack.

Everyone in the room leans a little towards him in anticipation.

“No sign just yet,” he announces.

A mixed murmur fills the room. Jisung gives your shoulder a squeeze and you a weak smile. You return one of your own.

“Only forty-one months and twenty nine days to keep checking, right?” someone says.

The rest of the room scolds him for the tasteless joke, but you can’t help but bite your lip in agreement.

“What’s out the window?” Jisung leans over to see what you’re staring at.

“Nothing,” you sigh, bringing your attention back to your research report. “I mean, literally nothing.”

The sky is pitch black again, indicating the start of yet another month.

“It’s been half a year already,” Jisung adds.

“Yeah… Hey, do you remember what Professor Kim said about the--”

Your eyes widen as a sudden pain shoots up your arm. You fall off your chair, clutching your wrist. Jisung is by your side within the second.

Outside your room is its own pandamonia.

“WHAT IS THIS?” shrieks a female voice. “HYUNJIN, WHAT IS THIS?”

“Jiyoung, please.” It’s Chan.

“YOU DIDN’T TELL ME IT’D LOOK LIKE THIS! WHAT IS THIS MONSTER?”

The baby starts wailing from all the commotion. You yourself give a hollow gasp and grasp at your soulmark even tighter.

“It’s okay; it’s okay; it’s okay,” Jisung assures you even though things are anything but okay. He has already realized what this means even without the fuss outside. “Is there anything that could help? Ice? Ibuprofen?”

You shake your head, sinking deeper into the floor.

“Well this monster,” someone outside snaps, “is what we are.”

“I don’t want any part of it!” cries Jiyoung. “Hyunjin, give me back my sweet baby girl!”

“Jiyoung, she’ll return to human form in a while. When she grows up, she’ll learn to control the changes,” Chan tries.

“No! She shouldn’t be able to do that at all! This… this is all your fault!” She points accusingly at her boyfriend.

“Sweetcakes, please--”

“Don’t ‘Sweetcakes’ me,” she snarls. “And this… doesn’t this mean that girl’s gonna die?” Jiyoung’s eyes widen. “You did this to me! You made me a murderer I--I have nothing to do with this, okay? I was tricked. I was given false hope. I--I… This is all his fault, okay?!!”

There are hurried footsteps and the slamming of the door. The baby’s crying intensifies and so does your pain. You can’t help but let out a scream through gritted teeth, which sends an arrow through Jisung’s heart. He gathers you into his arms, stroking your back, pressing you to his chest which you try to muffle your cries with.

“Seungmin, Felix, try to talk to Jiyoung. Changbin, help Jisung with Y/N. Minho, Jeongin, the baby. I’ll talk to Hyunjin,” Chan orders.

In the room, you’re pathetically clinging onto Jisung’s shirt, too tired to further attend to the pain.

“Make it stop,” you whimper. “Please…”

Jisung goes silent for a moment before asking calmly, “Are you sure you want me to?”

One last tear rolls down your cheek before the pain takes over your consciousness. You didn’t need to answer; he can already see it in your eyes.

Jisung brings his knees up to hold you to his chest. With you unconscious, he lets his own tears fall freely. In thirty-four months, this exact scene will repeat itself. Except that time, you won’t be waking up again.

~ ad.gold

#han jisung #hyunjin #werewolf #stray kids #skz #werewolf!jisung #werewolf!hyunjin #42nd moon #04212020

90 notes · View notes

danetobelieve · 4 years

Text

One Shell Of A Dinner Party, pt. 3 || Skylar, Ricky and Winston

Skylar held the karkinoid steady as Winston was able to ignite the lobster monster in flames, but watched as the deoderant can sputtered and went out. The crab at the end of her poker stopped twitching and for a moment, she relaxed. But, the brief respite was interrupted by Ricky’s cries for help as he tried to fight off the monster that was attacking him. She watched as there was a flash of white teeth-- no, fangs-- as Ricky bit into the lobster with ease. What the fuck. Those were fangs. Fangs. Like hers. What the fuck? Before she could react, she jolted backwards out of the way of a new torrent of flame, emerging from the end of the zippo lighter. The karkinoids were dead, all of them were dead. And Skylar was left staring at the two roommates. “What. The fuck. Was that?” She breathed, shoulders shaking.

Ricky spit shell fragments from between his teeth, listening as they hit the ground and landed amid piles of guts he just knew he was going to have to rent a power washer to properly clean. “In order… of de-fucking-scending importance.” He grunted out as he pushed himself to his feet and stumbled across the deck to his half-conscious roommate, “You…” He looped Winston’s arm over his shoulder, struggling to lift them to their feet as the wound in his side pulsed and throbbed, “Are apparently a fucking mage, and we need to talk about why you didn’t tell me.” He started to drag them slowly toward the door, “You…” He had no free hands to point, but was certain his eyes were going to do the trick as he stared at Skylar, “Are about to be privy to several secrets that could get people killed if you talk. And I…. well I’m just bleeding through my third favorite flannel and onto my second favorite pair of jeans. So we are going to go inside, I’m going to disinfect this with copious amounts of isopropyl alcohol, I’m going to stitch it closed, and we’re all going to have a nice talk. Sound good?”

Feeling faint, Winston in a disorientated haze felt someone scoop them up. They recognised the sound of Ricky’s voice. They were saying something about them fucking a mage? But they never played Bards in D&D. They were the one class that they never really got the hang of. They always felt their characters fell flat. “What … about the … crabs?” Their eyes slid shut after that and a few moments later and they were being carried into the house. They could hear the crunch of Ricky’s shoes cracking glass fragments into even smaller pieces. They felt themselves get laid down on the sofa and slowly their body seemed to restart. “Fuck,” they muttered, their mouth feeling dry. “What the hell happened?”

Hurrying ahead of Ricky, Skylar opened the door to the house and let the two of them hobble inside. Now that she was coming down from the adrenaline high of everything that had happened, her hands were shaking at her side. “The crabs are dead, you got ‘em.” Skylar said with a trembling smile as she followed the two of them into the living room. “I’ll get… I’ll get the rubbing alcohol. Stay put.” Skylar said as she hurried away towards the bathroom. That was where they’d keep isopropyl alcohol, right? She did her best not to dwell on everything she’d just seen, but her mind kept going back to the fangs she’d seen, the fire that had grown. “Mage. They’re a mage. And Ricky…” Skylar stared at herself in the reflection of the bathroom mirror. “He’s like me?” Shaking her head, she found the bottle of alcohol and returned to the others. “Here you go. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Under the sink! Grab the whole kit, I’mma need it” Ricky shuffled out of his shirt and examined the wound in his side with no small amount of disappointment, “This… is gonna be one ugly scar. Least it missed the tattoo.” Hearing Winston mutter from the couch he rounded on him, clamping his shirt to his side so he didn’t spill anymore blood, “MAGIC?! And you had the gall to be uppity about me?!” Skylar returned with the first aid kit and he flicked it open, unscrewing the bottle of alcohol with his teeth and gingerly pouring it over the wound, “Ahhhhhh fuck that burns. Oof. Uh…. I’m fine. I can fix myself. But I dunno about Johnny Flame over there.”

Stumbling to their feet, Winston moved slowly and painfully through the ruined room and into their kitchen which had been mostly undamaged. Pulling open their cupboards, they searched in silence for a moment until they found some oreos and began devouring them in an attempt to raise their blood sugar. This wasn’t the first time that something weird had happened and they had felt exhausted and they were getting better at feeding themselves. “Listen,” Winston finally croaked seven oreos later, “I didn’t know that I was … well we don’t know what I am, not for sure yet. You said yourself that you didn’t know everything.” They had had their own suspicions. But the fact of the matter was that they weren’t exactly in control of this. Not in the slightest.

Skylar settled down on the arm of the couch, watching as Ricky poured the rubbing alcohol over his wounds with a grimace. But, what she was most focused on were his teeth. The sharp fangs that looked so similar to her own. She glanced over to where Winston had crammed oreos into their mouth and hurried over to get them a glass of milk. It was the least she could do. “Here. Milk and cookies, just what every wizard friend needs?” She joked weakly before heading for the first aid kit she’d brought over. Glancing over at Ricky, she handed him a few packages of gauze and a roll of medical tape. “Do you think this will be enough?” The two of them looked miserable, it was the least she could do after their home had been trashed and they’d been attacked by… lobster monsters.

Watching Winston Oreo themself back to semi-consciousness again, Ricky grunted an assent as he continued to clean his wound. “You’re right. I don’t know everything. But I know magic when it almost burns the porch down.” Heaving a deep sigh he gritted his teeth and looked down at the needle and suture thread in the first aid kit. He’d taken some field dressing classes after an accidental run in with a mermaid a couple of years previously, but it didn’t mean he had to like the process of giving himself stitches. Even if it only looked like he’d need four or so. “I think I know someone who can help. I won’t out you. But I’ll ask about resources.” The last syllable ground out into a sibilant hiss as he pushed the needle through, “fuck me with a chainsaw that never feels great. Did you get my teeth from the porch?” At this point the seal was very much out of the bed, and he wrangled the bottom set of veneers out of his mouth with his tongue and spat them onto the couch. “Sky. You hurt?”

Gratefully accepting the glass of milk from Skylar, Winston shot them a grateful smile. “Thanks, not sure what we would’ve done if we hadn’t invited you over for dinner,” the good news was that they were pretty certain that Skylar now knew what Ricky was, whether this was enough to get them to talk about it and start learning more about themselves was another matter entirely. But right now, Winston’s limbs felt like lead, their energy levels were rock bottom and they were sure that they could sleep for a few years if needed. “I didn’t almost burn down the porch and we have no proof that wasn’t a spontaneous natural phenomena that we’ve yet to explain,” they paused for a second and stared at their feet, “maybe you can find someone who can help me, but maybe I’m also not interested in exploring this discovery more, after all you saw what I nearly did to the porch, so why would I want to fuck around with this shit more?” They stared at their shoes for a second. “I’ve got your teeth, yeah,” they fished into their pocket and tossed the veneers onto the couch next to their friend, “those look almost similar to ones I’ve seen before,” they said pointedly, looking Skylar dead in the eyes through their glasses.

Waving her hand, Skylar shook her head. “I’m fine, they didn’t get me. And you don’t need to thank me, I didn’t do much. Just threw a bunch of fish out the window, really.” She said as she did her best not to stare as Ricky began to sew himself up. But, that went out the window when he spat out a set of veneers that looked… shockingly like hers. She could only gape with wide eyes. She could barely process Winston’s words, the less than subtle nod at her own false teeth. Covering her mouth with her hand, she stared from the two of them. “So… So, you’re a freaking fire wizard. And you’re a-- what are you?” She asked, heartbeat pounding in her ears.

Tying the first stitch off with a hiss, Ricky gave himself time to breathe, pressing his shirt to the wound as he glared at Winston, “Oh can it, Herbert Hypocrite. Did we not just spend a whole meal telling Skylar over here that knowing more is always better than knowing less? Natural fucking phenomenon my ass. I’m not human, Win. I can guess at magic when I see it.” He grit his teeth and started the second stitch, sighing and looking at Skylar. “I’m a shape shifter. A selkie. I’m a seal who can walk as a human. Is the real short version of it. The slightly longer version of it is there are people who hunt creatures like me. So I keep it hella on the DL.” His muscles contracted at the strange dragging pain of the suture going through his skin and he could feel sweat breaking out across his forehead. “You know. At least this time I’m not giving myself stitches on a lonely beach. Upgrade!”

Winston moved to Ricky’s side where they were stitching themselves back up. “Do you want me to do that?” they asked without really thinking it through, honestly they kind of hoped that Ricky would say no because they weren’t sure that they actually could without throwing up. “That’s a good one Ricky, Herbert the Hypocrite was actually my name in another life. But the truth of the matter is that if I had known that this was actually a thing and had a name then I would have talked to someone, but these things have just been happening whenever things go haywire and I’m kind of stuck there afterwards completely exhausted and wondering what the fuck went on.” At least the secret was out. Ricky was talking to Skylar about what they were and Winston truly hoped that they would be able to come to terms that they were also a Selkie.

Through all the insanity of the evening-- finding out that magic was real, being attacked by evil lobsters, watching Winston go all firebender on them-- Skylar thought she’d done a pretty good job of keeping things locked down. That she was, you know, handling it all. But, the more she listened to Ricky, the more the reality of her situation began to hammer into her brain. He was… a shapeshifter? A seal? A, a selkie? That couldn’t be possible, that wasn’t real, she couldn’t be one of those. She let Winston talk their way through everything, still staring at Ricky in shock. This couldn’t be real. But, in the back of her mind, she could see the soft pelt in her apartment, tucked under her mattress and hidden away. The weird pelt she’d been wrapped in as a baby… she’d never figured out exactly what kind of skin it was, but a seal? Was it a seal skin? Was she--? “Trust me, I’m also wondering what the fuck is going on too. We’re… in the same boat there.” She said to Winston before looking over at Ricky. “How… how did you know you were a selkie?” Skylar asked, voice shaking.

Ricky waved away Winston’s offer of help. “You need to sit down and get your strength back. I’m not the biggest fan of being touched when I’m bleeding out. Besides. If I paid all that money for those classes and then don’t stitch myself up it’s a waste.” He tied off the second stitch with the ghost of a whimper before starting on the third. “I’ll put some feelers out to people I know in the “not normal” community. See what I can come up with for you.” He turned to look at Skylar somewhat curiously. It wasn’t the normal line of questioning he got. “I was born a seal. I didn’t first shed my skin and become human til I was already two years old. I was born to a selkie and a human. My mom was from a clan of selkies. It was a bit of a scandal when she married a human. I’ve got fangs even in my human form, I can’t hear for shit, I’m color blind except underwater, and I have to transform every couple of weeks or I’ll die a, from what I’m told, incredibly painful death.”

Winston wasn’t exactly sure that they were in a position to complain about Ricky not wanting someone else inexperienced to stitch them up, let alone actually do it. “That … is a fair point,” they fell silent once again, “I’m not sure that is exactly the way that value money exchange works but go off.” They sighed gently and tried to regain some of their strengths. Their bones ached and their muscles ached slightly less from the sugar boost in the oreos. But they knew that the real cure to this was sleep. Caffeine and sugar could only ever do so much. They listened carefully to what Ricky had to say for themselves. They hoped that Skylar could put the dots together. But this must be all very scary. Winston themselves was feeling overwhelmed with their current state. Were they really capable of magic? It seemed ridiculous to consider it. They’d been smarter then most for a while sure, but they weren’t special. They were just normal.

As Ricky rattled off the various traits of what made him… a selkie, it felt as though Skylar’s entire world was collapsing in on itself. Everything she’d struggled through as a child, every weird look and bullying word sent in her direction, every time she’d wondered if she was just always going to be that… sad, pathetic girl. It was all coming together in one horrifying, startling picture of truth. “Oh my god.” Blinking rapidly, Skylar immediately stood up, her back ramrod straight. “I… I need to go. I can’t be here right now. I have to leave and I need…” She looked around the room, eyes wide and panicked. “I need to go home.” She said, her fingers reaching into her jacket pocket to curl around her car keys.

Skylar’s incredibly rapid rise from the couch had the unintended consequence of making Ricky jump, which in turn sent the needle in his hand deeper into his flesh than he was planning “Oh jesus fucking christ” he gasped out, doubling over on the couch, “Oh god that one stung. That one…. That one was a doozy.” He flapped a hand in Skylar’s direction as she made moves toward the door “I really don’t think you should! We’re not terribly close to the main road, chances of you running into those things on your drive out of here are pretty high, and it’s gonna be safer if you wait until light.” He slowly withdrew the needle and started the third stitch where he’d meant for it to be, “You should stay.”

If they were faced with the situation in which Skylar was now faced, Winston couldn’t say with all honesty that they would want to remain in this place. Especially with the fact that they looked like maybe they were coming to terms with a lot more then they had before. Winston hoped that this wasn’t all too much. They’d just planned for this to be a nice dinner where they got to know them but instead they’d found out that they were truly a magician and Skylar had found out that there were other Selkies in the world. “I know you don’t want to be here, and if you want to be alone there’s a spare room and if you insist on going home we won’t stop you, but Ricky’s right. It’s dangerous out there right now.”

Jumping in surprise at Ricky’s outburst of pain, Skylar shook her head. She had to get out of here, she had to leave. She didn’t want to be here right now. And as the two tried to convince her, all she could think of was the pelt in her bedroom and how she needed it. How she needed to make sure it was safe. How she had to figure out if what Ricky told her was true. Taking in a deep breath, she screwed up her courage. Fuck it. Reaching into her mouth, she removed the veneers from her teeth and bared the long fangs that she’d spent so many years of her life hiding. “I’m going home. Right. Now.” She said before storming out of the house, the door slamming shut behind her.

Several things happened in quick succession. Ricky tied off the third stitch, listened to Winston lay out some solid logic, and looked up to see Skylar revealing fangs that were only slightly less perfect than his were. In her defense, however, he’d always been a stickler for oral hygiene. Many puzzle pieces clicked into place all at once. The hearing aids. The fishing. The sense of connection he irrationally felt and he couldn’t help but turn to his roommate as he tried to stop more blood from getting on his couch with a hint of recrimination in his voice, “you fucking knew, didn’t you.” One hand slowly managed to drag his phone out of his pocket and painfully type out a text as he used the other to cover his wound. When you’re ready to find out more about what you are… we’re here for you. In the end, that was all he could do.

Sighing guiltily, Winston shrugged and fixed Ricky with a stare. “I couldn’t tell you about her because she didn’t want everyone to know, and I couldn’t tell her about you because you’re worried, justifiably sure, but still…” Winston couldn’t help but feel somewhat concerned by everything that had gone on here. They had to clean up their house, make sure that Dee hadn’t gotten hurt, work out what the hell was going on with themselves and then they had to make sure that Skylar wasn’t hurt or upset or anything too untoward.

#wickedswriting #one shell of a dinner party #p: ricky #p: skylar #para #chatzy para

8 notes · View notes

reistoria · 7 years

Text

Altered Belief of the Innocents

Nur Amalina, Kemala Tiara Annisa, Fitri Ayu Langit

2014

The Chimney Sweeper” is a title of two poems by William Blake which is published in Songs of Innocence (1789) and Songs of Experience (1792). The background of this poem is the dark side of a prominent child labor in 18th and 19th Century in England. Most of the children work as chimney sweepers. They were oppressed by the master because they should clean the chimney that has a small size and they paid low. This poem is Blake’s commentary of the child labor issue and the use of imagery is to portray the brutality of The Industrial Revolution, one of crucial period in history.

Wickteed says, “Deeper knowledge of Blake will reveal no darkly buried meaning, only a deeper sense in the meaning obvious to all.” (Hirsch: 7). After Blake’s “The Chimney Sweeper” is out, the fact that has been hidden for long time is finally read and the reader began to be care with this boys. How Blake use pun the language, makes the children subjected and society gives more attention to them. (Nurmi: 15)

If the poem is hard to read, you can read it here.

Type of Poem : Ballad stanzas

Diction : Middle or neutral.

Theme : Innocence

Tone : Irony, the difference between the reality and Tom Dacre’s dream.

Setting : The setting of the poem is set in England, in the nighttime (Line 10)

Speaker : The narrator of the poem.

Characters : The narrator, Tom Dacre, and the angel.

Sound :

Alliteration: “So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I s” (line 4) & “As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight” (line 10)

Rhyme: A-A-B-B

Figures of Speech:

Onomatopoeia and Anaphora: the mention and repetition of the word ‘weep’ in line 3.

Simile: “his head [t]hat curled like a lamb’s back” (line 6)

Synecdoche: “thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack” (line 11)

Paradox: “Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm”

Dominant Imagery: Visual (line 15-16)

THE SONGS OF INNOCENCE & THE SONGS OF EXPERIENCE

“The Chimney Sweeper” from Songs of Innocence is Blake’s first version of the narrative poem about chimney sweepers followed by his poem of the same title in Songs of Experience. Unlike the poem in Songs of Innocence, which is narrated by a chimney sweeper, in Songs of Experience Blake retold the chimney sweeper story from an adult’s point of view.

Blake wrote the poems not only with significant similarities but also contrasts. The first noticavle difference is that the narrator in The Songs of Experience is not a child, but an adult. In Songs of Innocence, Blake focused on the dream of the Tom Dacre and the readers are brought to see the subsconcious realm of Tom. Meanwhile, in Songs of Experience, Blake shifted the focus to the reality which is expressed through the use of the word ‘heath’ as the contrast of ‘green plain.’ Blake also mentioned ‘church’ and told that the chimney sweeper’s parents were there “to praise God and his priest and King” (line 11), this aren’t visible in Songs of Innocence although it doesn’t mean that the point isn’t there.

The fact that Blake used children as the main focus of the poems expresses his concern toward exploitation embarked upon children at the era of Industrial Revolution. Aside from that, Blake also mentioned other important points, such as ‘Angel’ and ‘God’ in Songs of Innocence and ‘church’ and ‘priest’ in Songs of Experience, these points could be put under the scoop of religion.

In Victorian Age, church developed important influence not only in religion but also in politics, the two then became inseparable (Yi). It goes for the Church of England (which Blake claimed he opposed to) as well. As the church develops dependency towards the state, the mass was divided into two groups of people from different social class and it develops an association called ‘elite hypocrite.’ Then it reached a point where the church seemed to be in the favor of the high society. The door of the church is open wide for aristocracy but not for the lower class.

FROM MARXIST PERSPECTIVE

Although both Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience are the form of Blake’s voice towards the society he was in, each poem voices a different thing. Songs of Experience is strongly exemplified the political influence that has spread to spiritual place like church, while Songs of Innocence is more to show Blake’s utopian vision of humanity which is expressed through children’s innocence and pure perspective of the world.

In “The Chimney Sweeper” from Songs of Innocence, Blake used the children who work as chimney sweepers to establish working class or the proletariat. Using a child’s voice, Blake intended to create a unique perspective of the world because according to Western legal tradition, children aren’t supposed to voice their interest. Unlike adults, children tend to address a matter differently, especially with their innocence, the message will appear more sympathetic.

To gain sympathy from readers, Blake voiced out his concern and towards children exploitation issue using a child’s voice who talks about the misery the children experienced:

“And my father sold me while yet my tongue / Could scarcely cry ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep’” (line 2-3).

In the line 4, Blake used possessive pronoun “your” to include the readers to the poem:

“So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.” (line 4)

Through this line, Blake questioned the reader’s ethos. Blake addressed the reader only once in the poem and it’s in a line that explains what these children do as a chimney sweeper. As “your” in the line indicates the owner of the chimneys or their employer, it can be assumed that the ideal reader of this poem is to the bourgeoisie, to whom the children work for. Blake used the word “your” in a cynical tone to grow a feeling of guilt for the bourgeoisie readers.

The second stanza centers on the sacrifice the children have to make to work as a chimney sweeper. This is demonstrated by the narrator’s interaction with Tom Dacre, a new sweeping boy who cried when he had to shave his head so that it won’t be caked by the soot. To reinforce the notion of the innocence of the boy, Blake uses simile in describing the hair: it is “curl’d like a lamb’s back” (line 6). Lamb is believed to be the symbol of innocence. Also, to emphasize the notion of innocence, Blake also uses the word ‘white’:

“You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair” (line 8)

“Then naked and white” (line 17).

As the poem progresses, readers will see how the children surrender to the society, they let the society dictates what to believe and what to do. Blake shows this point through the dream of Tom Dacre. In the dream, Tom was with his fellow chimney sweepers in a ‘coffin of black’ (line 9) and then there’s an angel who set them free:

“And by came an angel who had a bright key / And he opened the coffins and set them all free;” (line 10-11) to a green plain where they are “leaping, laughing, they run” (line 12).

“if he’d be a good boy / He’d have God for his father, and never want joy” (line 15-16).

Apparently, the dream has somehow causes Tom to change his mind: “Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm / So if all do their duty they need not fear harm.” (line 23-24).

The effect of the dream is mirroring an act of hegemony in a capitalist society. Tom Dacre, as a representation of the working class at that time, is reluctant to work as a chimney sweeper and that he was crying at the beginning is a subtle sign of protest. In order to avoid such resistance from the working class, the capitalist (the landlord/the employer) who holds the means of production, made an effort to maintain their influence on the working class without force. The way is through planting a false believe in the working class, in this case is the children, to the point that the working class falls into false consciousness, a situation where the working class believes that they have no other choice than to work and that’s the best thing for them. This very thing happened to Tom Dacre. Thus, it can be concluded that the society they lived in is a capitalist society and that the poem reflects capitalism.

Looking back at the poem, if Tom is a reflection of a working class of capitalist society, then the angel, the one who persuades him to go to work, is the symbol of a capitalist, their employer. The use of angel character implies that the capitalist is in disguise when they planted the belief by using religion as their mask. In Songs of Experience, Blake mentioned that the parents are “gone to praise God and his priest and king / Who make up a heaven of our misery” (line 14-15). The use of God, priest and king implies an organizational chart, it symbolizes there is a certain structure in the church. This refers to the time when churches are used for politics in the era. Hence, it can be said that the one that puts the children in the poem into a false consciousness is the oppression of the church by using religion power to make it easier to penetrate the worker’s mind.

Tom Dacre accepts the dominant ideology because he has fallen into false consciousness. It can be seen from the line “So if all do their duty they need not fear harm” (line 24) Although he knew the consequences of his work might cost his life, as what implied in the dream: “an angel who had a bright key” (line 10), “bright key” symbolizes the fire as the cause of their death and the line “he opened the coffins and set them all free” implies to the death that would set them free from the burden of being enslaved.

In Tom Dacre’s dream, the children were going “down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run / And wash in a river, and shine in the sun” (line 15-16). This dream reflects Tom’s desire of what he couldn’t have, freedom. The dream is the image and representation of utopia of the children. It also shouts out Blake’s voice concerning the issue of child labor. Using Tom’s subconscious realm, Blake tried to draw an image of innocence. That Tom only wishes to be clean and free implies the purity of these children. How horrible their life is that being clean and free is a mere fragment of dream.

IN A NUTSHELL

By applying Marxist theoretical framework, it can be seen that Songs of Innocence: “The Chimney Sweeper” by William Blake reflects a situation where children’s innocence is ruined by the oppresion of church. The church or religion which is supposed to be something holy where someone prays and put their faith in is misused by the capitalist or Borgouisie in order to hegemonize the working class. The children in the poem, whose belief is altered, innocently believe that they would be free if they keep working for they have fallen into a false consciousness.

A’s note:

This analysis is written as a mandatory assignment for Critical Analysis of Poetry class.This is one of my first proper analysis of a literary work. And while it isn’t easy to put pieces of notions altogether to make an intact ideas (though there were three of us) this has been the best assignment and presentation (yes, the analysis was presented with an incredible prezi slideshow by my friend) in my college years.

“The Chimney Sweeper” by William Blake: A Marxist Analysis Altered Belief of the Innocents Nur Amalina, Kemala Tiara Annisa, Fitri Ayu Langit 2014 The Chimney Sweeper” is a title of two poems by William Blake which is published in…

#Analysis #Literary Criticism #marxist literary criticim #poem #william blake

1 note · View note

politicalfilth-blog · 7 years

Text

The Divide and Conquer Chaos Agenda EXPOSED

We Are Change

In his latest video, Luke discusses how difficult it has been to watch the infighting that is occurring and the responses that media have made to the Charlottesville situation.

youtube

I have been following closely the response to Charlottesville, and sadly the situation is escalating and looks like it will get a lot worse before it gets any better. Leading to what many are speculating will be an all-out civil war in the United States.

I want to talk about some of the important developments that happened after Charlottesville and the reasons why I see the situation becoming worse. I to give you an overall perspective of why this happened and how this situation will only deteriorate further.

Today is August 16th, 2017 a day where there was a memorial held for Heather Heyer, the 32-year-old innocent woman that was murdered while protesting at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville Virginia.

A very emotional day where Heather’s mother came out and said today that she wants her daughter’s death not to silence her daughter but to magnify her and to help channel the anger that’s happening right now into righteous action.

There has been a very strong reaction to what happened in Charlottesville.

Many people are denouncing and attacking Donald Trump after his latest comments on the incident. People are even condemning various hair style’s associated with the alt-right. Others are being forced to flee their homes after being falsely identified as marching.

In Charlottesville Confederate statues and monuments are being torn down all around the country either at the hands of protesters or by local governments who do it after midnight to avoid any further violence and problems in their Cities.

There’s even an incident where a man had five masked anti-Fa members outside of his home attack and stab him. In spite of the fact that he strongly disavowed white supremacy the attackers still labeled him a Nazi sympathizer for not denouncing it enough.

We see a very committed reaction by the left. A lot of people are missing the main point, the fact that for months the anti-Fa which are considered to be far left and the alt-right which is considered the far right have been growing in numbers and opposition to each other.

I think people miss the fact this is a cycle that has been engulfing both sides and emboldening them for some months now. This is pushing people to the extremes where they are being murdered in the streets. This extremism looks like it won’t end anytime soon. Many people have decided to direct their anger against Donald Trump because of the situation, even though Donald Trump has condemned violence on both sides. He even called out the alt left and white supremacy and Nazis at the same time, but many people see that as disingenuous. All because someone from the right killed someone from the left. It doesn’t help the situation that Donald Trump and other alt-right figures and alt-left figures talking generalizations when it comes to major events that benefit their political side.

For those people on the right to sometimes build up completely fabricated stories like sensationalizing and claiming that the West is going to die any day now. Highlighting issues from a very biased perspective. Pushing an obvious ideology of scaring the crap out of people. Manipulating the truth to push their viewpoint. Telling people how they are under direct threat every single day. Not taking any responsibility for it while still tweeting out fake news. From my perspective sadly caring more about their career either as a politician or media pundit than the actual well-being of the people of this country. Creating a huge disservice that divides people even more. One that concentrates on our differences never admits to any faults and progresses us towards the current dismal situation that we’re all involved in right now

They’re not the only ones doing. It’s important to understand here that it’s what the mainstream media does as well. Fox News recently labeling pro-Trump supporter Jack Posobiec as an “ally of Richard Spencer” when in reality the two have very different political ideologies, they have publicly fought before.

CNN also said that “white nationals were planning nine rallies nationwide just this weekend alone.” One of the rallies that they said was supposed to be a white nationalist rally was a “March on Google” which was partly organized by John Posobiec but had nothing to do with white supremacy at all.

We have to ask ourselves why is this weaponized disinformation being used against us? There are many factors but one is simply that fear sells and has led to the current climate that we’re all in right now. It is outrageous titles and headlines that spark fear and anger. I have omitted information that shows a clear bias that is more exciting rather than accurate. Stories pushed both by the mainstream media and pro alt-media that are more profitable.

If you’ve been watching any of the mainstream media, you could see their focus and direction on getting you angry. The same is being done by the elements of the new media mostly of which have predominantly been pro Trump.

When you’re angry, you’re more willing to share an article, and that means more clicks and more ad revenue will be generated. Your brand as a media organization will rise above anyone else who doesn’t strike those primal emotional instincts in people.

It’s mainly fear, and as Yoda said it best, it all starts with fear, which leads to anger, then that anger and outrage lead to hate. This hate then leads to suffering. We’ve suffered enough already, and this group that thinks that sensationalist fear-mongering clickbait news business is a good model needs to be put out of business. You should consciously choose to not click on those articles.

It starts with understanding situations and not generalizing them and not using them as brownie points for your political establishment beliefs. The man involved in the recent congressional shooting who was a Bernie Sanders supporter and strongly anti-Trump does not speak for all Bernie Sanders supporters.

Likewise, the man who ran over Heather Heyer and dozens of other innocent bystanders do not speak for all Trump supporters.

While all of us are fighting each other and blaming each other, we forget that it was the police that never did their job that day. They stood down and pushed together the two groups of protesters wasn’t there blocking off the street so protesters could go by but ultimately left the situation and allowed it to unfold as it did in Charlottesville

We have to understand that both extremist ideologies involved in this divide and conquer game are flawed and are only growing because of each other. Directing more anger, more frustration, more victimization against each other just ultimately divides and lets them conquer us. The establishment government and corporatocracy look at us and laugh.

The US government has previously supported fascists and sadly to this day not many people know about it. There’s barely any outcry because of it.

The issue of financing and supporting fascists should have been a major when Barack Obama did it by supporting the Ukrainian neo-Nazis in the civil war in Ukraine. This effort was directed against the legitimate Ukraine government of that time. Hypocrites like John McCain who previously even shared a stage, supported and backed neo-nazis need to be called out.

These are the same politicians that will sell you down the river. The same ones who are using this political crisis in Charlottesville to get brownie points from you and get your trust. Ultimately they are hypocritical, two-faced backstabbers that don’t mind supporting neo Nazis and fascists. Those people deserve more criticism than they’re getting right now.

Our government finances neo-nazis. The US Congress even had to remove a ban on funding neo-nazis from its year ending spending bill in 2016 following pressure from the Pentagon.

The US Empire does not care who they support as we’re even seeing Donald Trump’s support Marxist YPG Kurdish fighters in Syria.

It doesn’t matter who the U.S. supports as long it goes with their agenda. That’s why we have to ask ourselves what is the agenda here with the latest events that just unfolded in Charlottesville.

It’s kind of stupid that we’re about to start a civil war in this country over statues from the last Civil War. We’re being divided and conquered, pushed against each other more than ever before. Ask yourselves this very important question “Are these Confederate monuments, which this whole situation started about, are they responsible for the death of the middle class? Who are the ones poisoning your food and water supply? Who are they the ones taxing you and using it to finance other Marxist and Fascist regimes all around the world? Is the problem really with your fellow American or is it the people behind the scenes who are pulling the strings?”

Please, let me know what you think.

I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for watching and supporting real independent media. If it wasn’t for your donations and your crypto currency donations we would not be here especially after YouTube just demonetized almost every single thing we do. You are more important than ever. Love you and thank you again so much for watching.

Patreon https://www.patreon.com/WeAreChange?a…

We gratefully accept Bitcoin too: 12HdLgeeuA87t2JU8m4tbRo247Yj5u2TVP

Donate on our site: https://wearechange.org/donate

FOLLOW WE ARE CHANGE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

SnapChat: LukeWeAreChange

Facebook: https://facebook.com/LukeWeAreChange

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lukewearechange

Instagram: http://instagram.com/lukewearechange

WE ARE CHANGE MERCHANDISE

Rep WeAreChange merch proudly: https://wearechange.org/store

The post The Divide and Conquer Chaos Agenda EXPOSED appeared first on We Are Change.

from We Are Change https://wearechange.org/the-divide-and-conquer-chaos-agenda-exposed/

#We are Change #We Are Change

0 notes