nikkyy

Many of us dream about living in a reality where we are able to have everything be a dream come true to anybody. There are those that are fortunate enough to live in such a world already. In M. Butterfly, Gallimard has nothing. Gallimard deceives himself because the reality that he lives in is not the reality he wants.

Gallimard is a good diplomat, at least that’s what he wants himself to think. We know that he had originally married to move up the diplomatic ranks (“…I would settle for a quick leap up the career ladder”, p. 14). However, by the time he had already moved up, he started think the move promotions happened because he was a good diplomat. It gave him the nerve to form opinions about the Orient, no matter how wrong they were. When Gallimard is talking to Song for the first time, Gallimard is caught off-guard by the negative reaction that Song has towards Madama Butterfly. Gallimard believes, as he later explains to his wife, that the real reason the Chinese hate the Madama Butterfly is because “the white man gets the girl” (p. 19). He remember the other thing that Song mention: the Sino-Japanese war where the Japanese tortured Chinese prisoners with medical experiments. Later in the story, we see Gallimard is even more clueless in Oriental relations. In a discussion between him and Toulon, Gallimard’s boss, in a matter regarding events that would eventually lead up to the Vietnam war, he said that “if the Americans demonstrate the will to win, the Vietnamese will welcome them into a mutually beneficial union.” By saying this, he is comparing the Vietnamese with pagans that are amazed by the person with the bigger gun. Later we find out that Gallimard’s recommendations; used by the Americans, fall through. He does not understand: “Four hundred thousand dollars were being spent for every Viet Cong killed; so General Westmoreland’s remark that the Oriental does not value life the way Americans do was oddly accurate. Why weren’t the Vietnamese people giving in? Why were they content instead to die and die and die again?” It seems that Gallimard did not even comprehend the alternatives.

From the beginning of the book, we can see that the relationship between Gallimard and Marc is unnatural; Marc is not the friend that Gallimard made him out to be. The first serious suspicions become evident in scene 4 of the first act where Gallimard described the time Marc tried to persuade Gallimard to go to Marc’s dad’s condo. Gallimard was hesitant to go because he was scared of the girls that would be there. He tried to cover his shame, when Marc re-iterates that there will be girls, by acting surprised. (“Girls? Who said anything about girls?”, p. 8) His fear is still present, however (“I can’t…I’m afraid they’ll say no – the girls. So I never ask.”, p. 8). The reason why their relationship seems peculiar is that Gallimard is so lame around Marc yet Marc still sticks with Gallimard. It becomes clear in act one, scene eleven. Gallimard describes his first experience with a woman, when he had sex with Isabelle, Marc’s girlfriend. Neither Gallimard, nor Isabelle realized the circumstances they were having sex under. She did not know that the person that she was having sex with was Gallimard. Gallimard did not know that Isabelle thought that she was having sex with Marc. Gallimard is clearly unable to get girls by himself. He thought that by being with Marc he would be able to have girls for himself. However, he finds himself used for a perverted power trip.

The most prominent example of Gallimard’s self-deception is his relationship with Song. In the opening act of M. Butterfly, Gallimard mentioned that the opera that he likes the most is Madama Butterfly. This opera appeals to many men for the reason that it plays with their power fancy. When Gallimard sees the opera performed by an Asian girl, he is taken aback. When that Asian girl approaches Gallimard after the play, he realizes that he is as close as he can get to a Pinkerton-Butterfly scenario. Gallimard, being very awkward and ignorant around women, sees this as a now-or-never situation. Gallimard realizes that he must do what he can to maintain this relationship. In the second last scene, Song undresses for Gallimard to reveal that Song is truly a man. As Song begins to take off his clothes, Gallimard cries for Song to stop. One of the things that Gallimard says is particularly interesting. He says “Every night, you say you’re going to strip, but then I beg you and you stop!” It means that Gallimard has had suspicions of Song being a man. He had stopped previous attempts to have his fantasy ruined, but it wasn’t going to happen this time.

We see that Gallimard’s attempts in trying to live in a better reality ended up in misery. At the very end of it all, he found himself at a disadvantage. The consequences of his self-deception ranged from not knowing that he was being used to being sentenced to treason. Who knows where he might have been should he not have chosen to self-deceive. One thing is for sure, his life became certainly more interesting.

I am a writer, an author, an artist, a consumer, an observer, a learner, a facilitator, a reader, a creator, an owner, a voter, a theorist, an philosopher, an intellectual, a comedian, an analyst, an economist, an evaluator, a pawn, a control freak, a gardener, a groomer, a hair stylist, a cook, an athlete, a runner, a customer, a number, an address, a barcode, a maker, a watcher, a chooser, a picker, a helper, a leader, a teacher, a subscriber, a provider, a sitter, a stander, a liar, a truth teller, an expert, a geek, a nerd, a listener, a hater, a lover, a gamer, an opponent, a teammate, an investor, a searcher, a finder, a talker, a dog walker, a beefeater, a drinker, an indepedant.

I am Nik.

How more emo could it get?

Every time I make a blog entry, I feel lame because no one else is, even Paul.

My problems with many books available on the market can be traced to the fact that they are boring. It seems that many authors do not make attempts to the niche market that I consist of. That is why I am creating a set of criteria for authors to write a book that would appeal to me.

The book should not have deep underlying meanings. They create confusion and make it necessary to re-read the book to fully understand. Also, if one decides to have a discussion about the book, it makes the reader vulnerable to criticism for their interpretation of the book.

The plot should consist of action in a setting in the not-too-distant future. The conflict should be something right out of the blue that no one has suspected before. However, it cannot be something obvious, such as the president being killed by a teddy bear that his daughter gave him for Valentine's Day

The setting should be something that anyone living right now can relate too, but can also introduce new ideas. Micheal Crichton's Andromeda Strain was perfect example of this. If the reader was to be dropped directly into the middle of the story, one would see whatever exists now. There would be no culture shock to see flying cars or floating cities. Most elements of society remain the same: towns, roads and people. However, as one looks closer, they see that there are concepts and technology that has not been developed by current society, such as top secret underground labs with laser defense mechanisms. That factor of balancing the future with the now is critical in creating a perfect plot.

The characters in the book should always say something smart. They should not have disturbing flaws, such as uncontrollable sexual desires, and if they do have a flaw, it should be resolved by the end of the book.

There should never be cliffhanger endings, unless there is a second book to follow, which must be better than the first book. Should the second book turn out worse than the first book, it should be merged into the first book to balance out poor writing.

The length of the book should be around 200 pages, but that can be expanded should parts of the book be really interesting and engaging.

Obviously, there are aspects that I have missed out on, but should an author be willing to find out more to find the recipe for the perfect book, they can freely contact me through MSN.

I don't read books often. I've never read a novel out of pure enjoyment. There will be plenty of time for that when I am old. Any novel I read, I try to like. The last novel that I have read through completion was 'A Clockwork Orange' for last year's English assignment. I loved that book after hating it. The violence in the first parts of the book really turned me off, but as the page numbers increased, I started to overlook the audacity and started to see things the author was trying to tell us.

From that point on, every novel I tried to pick up, I ended up not reading completely. A few weeks ago, I decided to check out the 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. I didn't like it. It was something I couldn't put my finger on. The text seemed bland and the jokes were too predictable. Some people will politely (or impolitely) tell me that they want to see me write a book. Others will call me a heathen and will attempt to burn me at a witchburning ceremony. I will give the witchburners full credit as it is quite difficult to organize witchburnings in this day and age.

Maybe I should try reading more often and more completely. I'll like more books then.