Siren AP Practice Essay

            The Sirens and their song are portrayed through two different perspectives, offering the reader a more complete understanding of their manipulation.

            In The Odyssey, the Sirens are described from the perspective of Odysseus, a man who hears their song while tied up on his ship. Odysseus clearly knows to expect danger when he passes the Sirens, for he instructs his crew to plug their ears and securely bind him to the mast. However, despite his anticipation of their influence, Odysseus still falls victim to their song. His heart “throbbed to listen longer” to their “ravishing voices.” He seems to lack any sense of control over his emotions, and his body yearns to go to them.

            “Siren Song” offers an alternate perspective on the manipulation of these creatures, allowing the reader to consider their point of view. The Sirens have a conscious awareness of the effect they have on people, noting that their song “is irresistible: / the song that forces men / to leap overboard in squadrons / even though they see the beached skull.” The image they describe is rather disturbing and morbid; they are referring to the skull of a dead man who had fallen victim to their influence. The fact that they can be so cavalier and matter-of-fact about the death they have caused demonstrates their confidence in their influence. The Sirens are so sure that men will be powerless to resist their voices that they essentially say whatever they want. They are confident of their complete control.

            In order to manipulate men, the Sirens try to play on their sympathy. In “Siren Song,” the Sirens lament how they “don’t enjoy it here” and “don’t enjoy singing.” Indeed, they seem to be asking for pity from the men on ships. Men often wish to play the hero and save the damsel in distress, so the Sirens take advantage of these inclinations to lure the men in. In The Odyssey, Odysseus calls their song an “urgent call.” By pretending to be the victims, the Sirens are able to pull men in while in actuality the men fall victim to the schemes of the Sirens.

To further captivate men’s attentions, the Sirens personally call out to them, emphasizing the pronoun “you.” The Sirens cry for “help,” saying that “Only you, only you can, / you are unique.” Not only do men like to play the hero, but they also like to feel unique and special. By creating a personal call, the Sirens heighten the responsibility a man hearing their song feels for saving them. In The Odyssey, they call specifically, “Come closer, famous Odysseus.” A man hearing the song feels a personal connection to the Sirens when they directly call to him.

Although the Sirens employ manipulative techniques to entice men to come to them, the effort seems be superfluous. There is absolutely no way to resist the Sirens’ calls. In The Odyssey, the image of Odysseus bound to the mast as he listens to the song reminds the reader that he is not in control of himself. Despite his awareness of their influence, he cannot control himself. The words themselves and the manipulative techniques employed do not seem to justify the immense amount of power the song has over Odysseus, so the reader must assume that the song itself has a greater power. In “Siren Song,” the Sirens blatantly acknowledge at the beginning of the song that it is “irresistible” and that people die from listening to it. They can say this because they know the song will undoubtedly captivate any man who passes by, no matter what they say. Indeed, the song itself is remarkably boring and unoriginal, as they acknowledge at the end: “Alas / it is a boring song / but it works every time.” Although the song profoundly affects the listener, the Sirens do not put much effort into it. “Siren Song” has almost a condescending, mocking tone as the Sirens lure poor men into their clutches.   

Pride and Prejudice #9

            Now that Elizabeth sees Mr. Darcy in his comfort zone, her view of him drastically changes. Mrs. Reynolds gives Mr. Darcy the highest praise, painting him as “always the sweetest-tempered, most generous-hearted boy in the world” (207). Her descriptions starkly contrast Elizabeth’s previous surmises about Darcy. However, with her eyes cleared of her prejudice, Elizabeth is willing to entertain the possibility that Darcy may not be quite as condescending and insolent as she imagined. Indeed, he seems to be the opposite. When asked about when Mr. Darcy might marry, Mrs. Reynolds replies, “I do not know who is good enough for him” (207). Even before she sees Mr. Darcy again, Elizabeth begins to feel twinges of regret for her blunt rejection of his advances. The beautiful estate and high general regard for Mr. Darcy leave Elizabeth wondering what she is missing out on. Mr. Darcy’s behavior when they meet again confirms her musings: he is incredibly polite and cordial. Given the fact that their last meeting consisted of Elizabeth rejecting his heartfelt proposal and accusing him of being a cruel person, one might expect Mr. Darcy to demonstrate some sort of contempt or at least brusqueness with Elizabeth. Rather, Elizabeth notes that “[n]ever in her life had she seen his manners so little dignified, never had he spoken with such gentleness as on this unexpected meeting” (211). Mr. Darcy still treats Elizabeth with respect even though he has every reason not to. Furthermore, Darcy engages in conversation with Mrs. and Mrs. Gardiner and asks Elizabeth to meet his sister. Clearly Mr. Darcy has decided not to give up on Elizabeth, and he will endeavor once more to win over her affections. Now that Elizabeth is consciously ignoring her prior prejudices and Mr. Darcy is aware of how she initially perceived him, hopefully he will have more success.

Pride and Prejudice #8

            Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s differing opinions on marriage and on their daughters may be the consequence of their own strained relationship. Elizabeth recognizes that Mr. Bennet “had married a woman whose weak understanding and illiberal mind had very early in their marriage put an end to any real affection for her” (199). Although Mr. Bennet displays no obvious hatred toward his wife, his indifferent attitude is plain. Mr. Bennet’s laconic replies to Mrs. Bennet’s lengthy entreaties and complaints demonstrate how little he cares for her concerns. This disregard for Mrs. Bennet is clear to his children, particularly Elizabeth. Although Elizabeth tries “to banish from her thoughts that continual breach of conjugal obligation and decorum which, in exposing his wife to the contempt of her own children, was so reprehensible,” she cannot fully overlook it (200). After reading Mr. Darcy’s letter, Elizabeth begins to think about how her parents’ relationship has negatively influenced her sisters. Mr. Bennet seems to have developed a very hands-off attitude in regards to most of his daughters, leaving Mrs. Bennet to make the decisions about how they are presented to society. When Elizabeth raises her concerns about Lydia traipsing after the soldiers in Brighton in order to induce her father to stop Lydia, Mr. Bennet replies, “At any rate, she cannot grow many degrees worse, without authorizing us to lock her up for the rest of her life” (196). Mr. Bennet does not care for his wife, so he just accepts that she will do what she wants, and he does not care about the consequences. He also seems to have adopted this attitude with Lydia, letting her make poor decisions without being checked. The lack of true, thoughtful communication between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet prevents them from consistently instructing their daughters about how to behave. Furthermore, Mr. Bennet’s disregard for his wife may have influenced her perceptions about the purpose of marriage. Their relationship is not characterized by love, and consequently Mrs. Bennet feels no qualms about marrying her daughters off to any wealthy man who shows interest. Having never experienced a marriage marked by mutual love and respect, Mrs. Bennet does not value the importance of such characteristics in her daughters’ future husbands.

Pride and Prejudice #1-5

            Based on the novel so far, “pride” and “prejudice” seem to be the driving forces in this society. Each character in his or her own way is influenced by a sense of pride. First, we have the Bennet family. Mrs. Bennet reveals her pride by drawing conversation to her daughters and their successes. After the ball, Mrs. Bennet turns the conversation to Mr. Bingley’s impression of Jane, pretending that she has not heard that Mr. Bingley called her daughter the “prettiest” in the room (18). Mrs. Bennet thinks of herself and her family very highly, and she wishes for others to notice them. Her daughters exhibit a certain degree of pride as well. Mary eagerly tries to display her talent when she decides to sing in front of company, and Elizabeth has enough self-confidence not to feel offended when Mr. Darcy initially snubs her at the ball by refusing to ask her to dance. Mr. Darcy exudes a great deal of pride, refusing to condescend to dance with anyone new at the ball or engage in conversation. His haughty manner is not well received by others in attendance, particularly Elizabeth. Mr. Darcy’s aloofness vexes Elizabeth, and she argues with him when she is staying at Netherfield. Perhaps the real cause of this vexation is the clash between two proud and self-confident people. Mr. Darcy tells Elizabeth that “where there is a real superiority of mind, pride will be always under good regulation” (50-51). Pride inevitably leads to prejudice as people think that they are above others. Miss Bingley certainly shares Mr. Darcy’s view that they are superior to the country people living nearby. She harbors a prejudice against the Bennets, thinking that they are unworthy to be associated with people of her social status. The false pretenses of her friendship with Jane are revealed when she leaves for London with the rest of the party and proceeds to ignore Jane’s attempts to meet again. Although Mr. Darcy initially comes across as extremely prejudiced against the country society, he does find himself drawn to Elizabeth Bennet. However, in order for the two of them to forge some sort of relationship, they each must overcome their prejudices and tone down their pride.

            Mr. Collins is another very proud character. He constantly seeks approbation, displaying excessive courtesy to everyone he meets. In particular, Mr. Collins is proud of his social status and relationship with Lady Catherine de Bourgh. This deference to Lady Catherine is evident in his marriage proposal to Elizabeth; indeed, he seems to mention Lady Catherine more often than Elizabeth. Mr. Collins came to Longbourn with the intent of marrying one of Mr. Bennet’s daughters, and this intention is very clear in his proposal. His first three reasons for marrying have nothing to do with Elizabeth, and he clearly formulated them before he met her. He wants to set an example for his parish, “add very greatly to [his] happiness,” and, most importantly, follow the recommendation of Lady Catherine (92). Furthermore, he decided to choose one of Mr. Bennet’s daughters because he is destined to inherit the estate upon Mr. Bennet’s death. By reminding Elizabeth of this fact during the proposal, Mr. Collins attempts to simultaneously present himself as a generous man and guilt Elizabeth into doing what is best for her family. Finally, after “flatter[ing]” himself that his motives will not “sink [him] in [her] esteem,” Mr. Collins thinks it is appropriate to actually refer to Elizabeth and his purported affection for her (93). However, he then quickly moves back to discussing the dowry in order to confirm his generosity by saying that the dowry does not matter to him. Mr. Collins is proud enough to genuinely think that Elizabeth will appreciate his efforts, and he does not consider that she may not accept his offer. He is so self-focused that he cannot see how pompous he seems to Elizabeth. Elizabeth must reject his offer multiple times before he actually begins to consider that she may be serious in her rejection. He logically pieced together the mutual benefits of their marriage, but he did not account for any emotional component when asking for, or rather assuming, her hand in marriage.

AP Practice Essay (1982)

            The seemingly arbitrary murder of the Arab in Albert Camus’s The Stranger contributes to the theme of absurdism in the novel.

            The protagonist, Meursault, is walking on the beach when an Arab confronts his friend Raymond with a knife. Convincing Raymond not to retaliate unless the Arab strikes first, Meursault does not seem inclined to commit any acts of violence against the Arab. However, shortly after this incident, Meursault comes across the Arab again. Feeling the sun pressing him onward, Meursault takes out a gun and shoots the Arab, not once, but four times when he sees the glint of the Arab’s knife in the sunlight.

            The murder of the Arab plays a significant role in the interpretation of Meursault as an absurd man. Previously, Meursault would not have been considered a violent character. Camus includes the description of Meursault cautioning Raymond against rash actions to establish that Meursault does not condone nor rashly engage in violence in moments of passion. This fact makes Meursault’s murder of the Arab seem even more confusing and unexpected. Meursault gives elaborate descriptions of the environment, such as the blazing hot sun and the sharp glint of the Arab’s knife, and explains how he feels the need to reduce the incredible pressure from the environment acting against him. Since the reader knows that Meursault is not reacting to the Arab’s actions against Raymond, the reader must conclude that the only factor influencing Meursault’s extreme act of violence is the environment.

            The murder demonstrates the effects of absurdist thinking on Meursault. Camus’s interpretation of absurdism is essentially that life has no inherent meaning, so one’s actions do not have any significant value. Thus, to Meursault, the murder should have no lasting significance other than the effect in that moment. In the moment, the murder succeeded in reducing the pressure of the environment on Meursault. For an absurdist, the meaning ends here. Meursault recognizes that he has the choice to either shoot or not shoot, but he does not consider how these choices will have drastically different consequences. If life has no meaning, then the two choices do not actually matter very much. Indeed, Meursault is remarkably indifferent after the murder, stating that it was like knocking on the door to unhappiness. One would expect a much more dramatic reaction to an act of violence such as a murder, yet Meursault does not have a typical person’s point of view. 

            The conflict between an absurd man and a non-absurd society manifests itself as a key theme in the novel with the murder of the Arab as the central focal point. Society within the novel attempts to explain and rationalize the murder in his court case. There are many potential explanations, such as self-defense, yet Meursault will not recognize any motive to his action other than that he wanted to stop the pressure from the sun. His explanation sounds ridiculous, and society does not accept it. Instead, during the trial, people point to Meursault’s relationship with his mother and his reaction toward her death as justification that he is not an ethically sound person. Society wants to find a motive for the murder; people want to make sense of it based on their belief that life carries meaning. They do not accept that Meursault could murder for a random reason such as the burning sunlight. The murder of the Arab serves as an enigma that can only be reconciled by the reader accepting Meursault as acting based on an absurdist philosophy.