Happy Endings

As I was reading Persepolis, the following panel popped out at me:

I couldn't help but chortle my amusement at the comedic abuse. I think this single panel is so hilarious just because the whole book is so tense. While Persepolis and its dark tone was really hard for me to read, this frame makes me laugh every time.

Persepolis just felt like a shroud of gloom dampening my spirits each time I opened the book. I know that there are people suffering and there is pain, and I can't ignore that, but isn't there hope, too?

Maybe I'm just a Disney-spoilt happy-ending idealist. Maybe the real world isn't the exciting place I'd like to make it out to be. Yet I think of one of my favorite quotes, one from The Chronicles of Narnia, about that:

"Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things - trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself....in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one....I’m going to stand by the play-world. I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it."

~C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair

I truly believe that there is hope, that there will be a happy ending to all this, as Ms. Charlotte did: "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"

Red is the Rose

As I prepared for announcements tomorrow (on the spectacular Saint Patrick's Day), I came across a song called "Red is the Rose," an Irish folklore song that is branched from the Scottish "Loch Lomond."

This song has caused me to ponder some about Jane Eyre. What sort of folklore and music did they have back then, if any? Since Saint Patrick died in 493 and Jane's story is set in the early 1800s, did she know about or celebrate his Day?

It's sad to me how little tradition Jane was afforded. Her broken family seemed not able to have anything that connected them: traditions would have been too bonding for them.

It makes me grateful for our special days, even if they're decked in flamboyant colors and bedazzled in sequins as they prance down streets. It makes me happy to realize all the fun things we Americans share that Jane couldn't--Christmas, Easter, and of course tomorrow's green celebration.

So even though I may not like the big fake leprechauns and awful hats, I'm so glad we have something that we can all do together as a country--as a world, even. May your porridge ne'er be lumpy and your pots be full 'o gold!

Wrongs of Passage

1. I think she's wrong: she's forgotten all the Catholic rites of passage--including baptism, first Communion, and conformation. Besides these spiritual ceremonies, half of Americans still value their marriage and hold on to the vows they take.

2. I believe that the biggest rite of passage I ever underwent was on January 8th, 2010. I had been struggling for years under depression and self-pity: that night, I believe God tore me from the mire of my wallowing in unhappiness and lifted me onto hopeful ground. Ever since that day, I have felt an unexplicable sense of hope despite the heartaches I've undergone. Even in my darkest hours this past year, I believe He has brought me through it to appreciate the good things in life, like joy: I laugh more now than I ever used to. I am thankful so much that the hardest part is over.

Howl's Moving Castle

A connection I found to our theme of coming of age is the book Howl's Moving Castle. In this book, the main character is transformed from her youth into the personage of a creaky old lady who must break her spell by cleaning up the grotesque castle of the Wizard Howl.

I see many similarities to Jane Eyre in this fun book: the main character is a strong-willed, less-than-attractive lady put into situations with few people in a big, bilious mansion. In both, there is a strange and unnerving secret behind the male character.

There is also an old lady in both named Mrs. Fairfax--strange coincidence, I'd say--and both were written by British ladies. Both are heartwarming stories that feature suspense and an exciting climax and romance; both the main characters are called witches.

With this evidence, I have concluded (as I'm sure you have, reader) that Ms. Diana Wynne Jones, author of Howl's Moving Castle, is actually a psuedonym for Charlotte Bronte.