Inner Secrets

“It is the premise of the photographer that is the art of penetrating your private defenses” (Bellow par. 7). Author Saul Bellow wrote this line to challenge society’s view of photographers and photographs in general. Saul Bellow was an American writer who, among other awards, won a Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature. Graven Images continues Bellow’s reputation for great writing, and describes his experiences being photographed in public, and how he feels about that process. As a well photographed celebrity himself, Bellow writes to other celebrities, who could find the meaning of the photographs they appear in thought-provoking. Through the use of definition and narrative, Bellow tries to convince the audience that photos are an easier way for society to understand their inner secrets. Graven Images was written in 1997, before digital cameras were invented and social media websites like Flickr became commonly used throughout society. He first comments on how being photographed makes him feel like his “amour propre” is being violated. Bellow defines amour propre as your persuasion of others to, “view you as you need to be viewed” (Par. 3). Bellow uses this definition to show his audience that photographers purposefully dig further into your personal life. He even goes on to show examples of this being violated. For example, Bellow narrates about a photograph of himself in TIME magazine. He writes, “I was brought low by Blake’s blazing words. But it is the prerogative of the mass media to bring you down when they think you have gotten ahead of yourself” (Bellow par. 9). Since William Blake wrote about the faces of prostitutes in his texts, it exposed the public to a new way of looking at Bellow and his work. By using his own narratives as evidence for the violation of amour propre, Bellow is able to convince the audience that photographs are a very easy method to be exposed by. He even includes a line about changing society, stating, “Such simple romantic standards of personal dignity and of the respect due to privacy are to be found today only in remote corners of backward countries” (Bellow par. 12). Bellow tries to show that as photography gets more and more common, keeping oneself from being exposed will become more and more difficult. Along with other lines from the text, Bellow does indeed convince readers that there is more to photographs that on the surface; that they can violate the amour propre of people who intend to keep their inner secrets to themselves.

Here is one of the many photographs taken of Saul Bellow throughout his life. This is one of the photographs he refers to in his essay, when talking about amour propre and the exposure of one's inner secrets. This image was first included in a New York Times article written by Mel Gussow and Charles McGrath.

Satire For the Ages

While reading Insert Flap “A” and Throw Away, the thought of ridiculousness came to my mind. The essay seemed strange and without meaning. However, S.J. Perelman cleverly used satire throughout the essay to convey a message about the definition of insanity. Insert Flap “A” and Throw Away describes the author going through the process of building a simple delivery truck toy. He consistently struggles to build the toy, and after immense frustration gives up and quite literally goes insane. S.J. Perelman was a satirical author who was most widely known for short pieces in The New Yorker. In fact, Insert Flap “A” and Throw Away was first published in that magazine. His sarcastic nature shows very clearly throughout his essay. For example, he uses phrases like, “easily intelligible to Kettering of General Motors, Professor Millikan, or any first rate physicist” to show his difficulty in understanding the construction method. At other times, he employs hyperbole, such as in the line “… the subject is placed in a sharply sloping attic heated to 340 degrees F” to show the author’s apparent frustration in building the toy. Through his satirical style of writing, S.J. Perelman shows how he was driven to the point of insanity because he was unable to come to terms with his difficulty in building things. This essay was aimed at males in American society who, like the author, struggled to keep the gender roles that were very common during the time the essay was published. Insert Flap “A” and Throw Away aims to ridicule the gender role of males in the household building and fixing things. By placing himself into the stereotype, and using satire, S.J. Perelman does achieve his purpose in writing the essay. Readers can sense the ridiculousness in the author’s experience, which is what Perelman wanted from his audience.

This shows the complexity of the device the author was trying to build in the essay. Looking at the diagram, Perelman's confusion does seem to be justified. The cartoon is called This Way Out, written by Mike Sacks and illustrated by Julian Sancton.

Hidden Organisms

The Marginal World describes the author’s visit to the shoreline. While there, she discoveries many layers to life on Earth and the sea’s influence on it. The author, Rachel Carson, was a marine biologist and conservationist that wrote about and studied nature during the 1940’s and 1950’s. In fact, much of her works helped start a global environmental movement to help preserve nature as it was. Rachael Carson wrote The Marginal World to show her readers the overlooked parts of the shoreline. In her essay, she describes small coves home to small microorganisms, mosses around the shore structures, and animals inhabiting small trenches scattered on the beach. By exposing her readers to this new world that was often overlooked by shore-visitors, Carson aimed to change the way her readers looked at nature. Her essay uses many strategies to persuade readers that the overlooked parts of the shore are just as important as the sand and water that everyone knows and loves. Carson directs her writing toward readers who fail to understand the significance of the life present on the shore. People that just go to the shore to have a good time, play in the water, and sunbathe do not understand the beauty of life on the shoreline, and could benefit from Carson’s work. Carson’s use of figurative language appeals to the pathos of her readers. For example, she uses metaphors like “intricate fabric of life” (Carson par. 5) and similes like “small, exquisitely colored mollusk…looking like scattered petals of pink roses” (Carson par. 17) to convey a sense of serenity and beauty that appeals to the emotions of her readers. Overall, Carson’s purpose was achieved. She was able to convey to her audience that there is an overlooked section of life on the shoreline, one that holds an underlying beauty inside its hiding places. 

The above cartoon continues the discussion of overlooked sea wildlife, but this time adding the wrinkle of the Exxon Valdez accident. The cartoon was drawn by Seppo in 1991.