The
tonal shift is very gradual throughout the work and it isn’t until near the
very end that Eiseley expresses his new outlook on the world, “I sought and
picked up a still-living star, spinning it far out into the waves. I spoke once
briefly. “I understand,” I said. “Call me another thrower.” Only then I allowed
myself to think, He is not alone any longer, After us there will be others.”
Another
aspect of this work that I found to be very impactful was the repetition of
certain themes and images. There were three major examples of this that I noted;
one example of this to be used was the lifelessness of the beach and the
hopelessness that was found on the shore for the marine life that was sentenced
to death there. And the second was the Buddhist Skull and Eye, which Eiseley
used to clear his mind so that he was able to focus on the specific scenes of
reflection that were shared in the essay. The use of the skull and eye at first
was described by Eiseley as being him looking at the word with an air of
pessimism he felt on the shore. “Upon that shore meaning had ceased. There were
only the dead skull and the revolving eye. With such an eye, some have said,
science looks upon the world. I do not know. I know only that I was the skull
of emptiness and the endlessly revolving light without pity.”
It
was in a segment of the book that Eiseley was using the image of the Skull and
Eye to reflect on his mother, and he mentions briefly the painful past that
seemingly was the leading contributor to his negative view held at the
beginning of the work. Eiseley uses the eye to seek out answers to questions
that he mentions during the work and it is through these questions and
reflections that he ultimately comes to realize that he appreciates life. “I
had been unbelieving. I had walked away from the star thrower in the hardened
indifference of maturity. But thought mediated by the eye is one of nature’s
infinite disguises. Belatedly, I arose with a solitary mission. I set forth in
an effort to find the star thrower.”
The
third and, in my opinion, most powerful image that was used by Eiseley is, of
course, the Star Thrower himself. This character represents many different
themes for Eiseley and his life. Such as the contrast of life and death in the
first scene on Costabel Beach where when all Eiseley and the “collectors” found
or noticed on the beach was the death of creatures, the Star Thrower looked for
life and tried to preserve it rather than accept demise. Another view that one
can look at and compare the Star Thrower to is an almost God-appointed role,
the way he considers it his given duty to find the life amongst the debris of
death and save it.
I
also thought that along with the use of tone and repetition, Eiseley’s choice
of breaking this moderately long block of text into sections was an interesting
choice stylistically. It sort of reminded me of Poe’s “the Masque of the Red
Death” and the way in that story the different stages of life and realization
were symbolized in the different colored rooms; these sections represented the
personal growth and maturing of Eiseley in the midst of his encounter with the
Star Thrower.
I actually had a really difficult time reading this memoir, as well as trying to understand it from a writer’s perspective. It is most likely because, unlike Eiseley, I do not have my Ph.D. and I am also not too interested in scientific research or anthropology in general. I guess his style is just drastically different, because it is mostly reflection and very little summary. It is littered with highly advanced rhetoric and long rants about the dawn of civilization and how people operate in their minds as well as in society. The piece is slightly cohesive with a few key words and phrases that pop up in different sections, such as the concept of the “eye and the skull,” as well as the star thrower character. But it seems more like an anthropological study with a bit of summary about what he did while collecting data. It is very well written and shows Eiseley’s intelligence, but I feel like it makes the reader feel less intelligent (or at least that is what it did for me).
ReplyDeleteOne can definitely pick out a theme or question that he is trying to portray to the reader though. It seems extremely cynical at times, maybe because he notes at the beginning how he had no form of hope. Eiseley notes on page 430, “He walks in his mind from birth to death the long resounding shores of endless disillusionment…But out of such desolation emerges the awesome freedom to choose…” This section, along with the story of the star thrower, asks the question: “How can we, as a human race, continue to overcome this life-long disillusionment and choose to fully live?”
To me it seemed that most of Loren Eisley's The Star Thrower was made up of reflection. He reflects on his encounter with the Star Thrower, seeing a “twister” as a child, and then seeing an old photo of his mother. But after reflecting on these events, he starts talking about civilization, man's role in it, and the "erratic" relationship between man and nature. He also acknowledges man's disillusionment, but he moves past that after witnessing the Star Thrower. Instead of reflecting entirely on himself and his life, Eisley reflects on a much larger, universal scale. This more philosophical reflection differs from most of the other memoirs we've read so far, where the characters reflected more on their own personal problems. In addition, the reader can defiantly pick up on the changing of mood and tone as the memoir goes on. It gets more hopeful by the end of the piece. It seems like by the end of the memoir Eisley is a bit more content then he was at the beginning. He definitely goes through changes and grows. In addition, I thought it was impressive that he was able to tie all these lofty ideas and thoughts together while still presenting scenes from his past. However, a lot of his reflection was pretty cryptic, especially compared to the other memoirs we've been reading. I'm not even sure if I'm analyzing the memoir correctly, to be honest; that's how dense some of it is. But that's what I got out of it.
ReplyDeleteThe simple act of throwing a star fish into the water, has a deep meaning that Eiseley wants to get out to his audience. For him this act gives himself and other people who are lost a purpose. It is a way that they know they are doing something good for nature and saving the life of marine animals is a way out of their shattered states.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed near the end of the memoir when Eiseley is showing us himself walking down the beach and saving star fish. He says (page 431) “I cast again with an increasingly remembered sowing motion and went my lone way up the beaches. Somewhere I felt, in a great atavistic surge of feeling, somewhere the Threwer knew.” In the beginning of the memoir Eiseley doesn’t seem to have much interest with saving the animals, he calls himself an “endlessly revolving light without pity,”(417) but through this act of saving starfish he seems to see how he can start to make a difference, even if it is just something small.
I also like the reflection that Eiseley has on page 431 when he talks about the legend of helping animals. He says, “The legend had come down and lingered that he who gained the gratitude of animals gained help in need from the dark wood.” Eiseley does a ton of reflection throughout his essay which lets his reader know exactly why his character was acting the way he was. At times I found this memoir to be a bit confusing; however thought the overall message made it a solid read.
If I am to be honest, I found myself skimming a few pages in the middle section of this memoir, just wanting to finish it. I was not drawn in to this piece and I did not feel a connection to his character. (This does not take away from the fantastic descriptions and use of metaphor and symbol that have already been noted. I greatly enjoyed those aspects of the piece and admire this man as a writer.) As a memoir, I did not feel as though this piece showed the action as much as I would have liked to see. We have been discussing in class how important it is to show the reader what is happening through body language and strong action verbs, but I did not see this as much in Eiseley's writing. What I think detracted from this particular piece as a memoir is the gaps left without having read the rest of his memoir. I found myself having several questions as I read. For instance, he writes, "There was the beaten, bloodshot eye of an animal from somewhere within my childhood experience...I knew the eye and the circumstance and the question, It was my mother. She was long dead, and the way backward was lost (424). I want to know and understand his pain here, but I feel like I have missed something instead--which is most likely covered in another part of his memoir.
ReplyDeleteI found that this piece was more of a philosophical discussion about life than a re-telling of this man's life. I made a note in the margin: I'm not pulled in--his adult voice is overshadowing his character of the past. However, I do have mixed feelings about this piece because although it is not exactly what we have been defining a memoir to be--more story, less reflection--I like how he took this brief encounter with the 'Star Thrower' and spun it into something so much more meaningful. And as Travis stated nicely, he does ask this question about how can we truly live. He answers his question--or at least states that he will be a fighter for life--and his character clearly changes; he simply got there in a different way than we have seen other writers get to this point.
Though quite different than the other memoirs that we have read, I found the Eiseley piece quite compelling despite the more reflective nature. Like Estelle, I was taken with the shift in tone that comes gradually throughout his drawn out exposition of the meeting with the Star Thrower.
ReplyDeleteWhile most other works we have read immediately situate the reader within the time and place of a scene, Eiseley takes a different approach and begins by speaking from what is unmistakably his adult looking back. He philosophically reminisces on his younger life experiences, telling us that “Nevertheless, I venture to say that of what man may be I have caught a fugitive glimpse, not among multitudes of men, but along an endless wave-beaten coast at dawn” (419). This statement and sentiment pervades the remainder of his narrative and is supported by his long reflections.
Eiseley’s long, and often metaphorical, reflections take away from the action much more than those in other more traditionally modeled memoirs. I believe that these work for this piece because they are incredibly vivid, and he carries the different metaphors and images throughout the piece. Many of the images relate to the sea and the main action of the memoir. The most powerful image, in my opinion, was the ‘skull and eye’, which I couldn’t help imagining as a sort of lighthouse.
All in all, Eisely’s memoir functions differently than the others we have read in that it relies heavily on reflection. This philosophical debate about life and death, mixed with the literal realization of this in the Star Thrower, make the memoir incredibly powerful, if not unique.
When I first started to read this Loren Eiseley’s “The Star Thrower,” I was first quite intrigued to see where the connection of the Star Thrower and Eiseley would go and how it would manifest into something. However, as I continued, I began to feel like the piece dragged on and on. As some people have noticed, I too took into account that the majority of this piece seemed to be reflection. A great amount of it was the tiny life lesson the Star Thrower threw at Eiseley, pertaining to the cycle of life. However, this did not grab at me as much as other pieces that we have been reading. We are told that we need to pose a question to the reader/ourselves, and it took me a little white to find where exactly the piece was going into, since the style is drastically different. But different is good, right?
ReplyDeleteHowever, I must also admit that once I grasped onto the writing style of the piece, I did grow to enjoy the use of “extreme” words. Many of our other works were rather simple to read and that of a storyline, and this was a contrast. As readers we went greatly into the mind of the author who is presenting this concept of how we live, which made me realize that that in itself is the question. As Shannon mentioned, this piece is different from the others because it takes a tiny bit of a story, and really showcases how we can take the smallest aspect of life and bring it into something more beautiful, refined, and meaningful. For instance, my favorite lines in this piece were philosophical and held the truth, while some other of my favorite lines from other memoir pieces, were about the character development. “The future is potential only” (424) and “Our identity is a dream” (422), are simple lines but can make the reader connect not through the reader like other pieces, but through an overall life revelation. It's as though Eiseley wants us to learn about our life through his own beliefs, rather than his life.
Loren Eiseley's "The Star Thrower" certainly represents a new breed of memoirs, at least among the one's we've encountered so far this semester. Eiseley uses the traditional formula of incorporating scene, summary and reflection, but his has a unique take to say the least.
ReplyDeleteHis summaries and reflections seem to melt together with deep ponderings on the wonders and mysteries of life. Eiseley contemplated everything from Biblical ideas to the theories of Darwin and Freud. From a writer's perspective I suppose he used these ideas to accentuate the thoughts he had about his own life and experiences. Some of his rants are so in depth, however, that it's easy for the reader to get lost. In my opinion (and it's only an opinion) these sections came across as tangents. I got so lost in grasping his intent that it distracted me from his main point. I suppose Eiseley was trying to get to the root of meaning in his life, but his approach made it feel more like he was trying to conquer an existential argument for all of mankind.
Eiseley has a wonderful way of describing events and situations in direct language. He writes, "the beaches of Costabel are littered with the debris of life" (417). HIs noun and verb use is amazing. In many ways it's such a simple sentence, but the reader can visualize it perfectly. Not only can we visualize it, we can feel it. The word "littered" has a specific connotation we don't usually associate with a beautiful beach. When he adds "with debris of life" it sheds light on (what I assume is) his question and purpose for writing his memoir. Like all of us, he's trying to make sense of his life.
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ReplyDeleteLike a few of my other classmates have commented, I found this a bit challenging to read. Eiseley's descriptions are rich and insightful-you are wowed by this anthropological perspective he has on everything. It seems to benefit his description of the world around him but not so much the story. I found that this story lacked a personal connection to Eiseley himself which made it read more like philosophical ponderings rather than a memoir. It’s frustrating because he writes so beautifully in his descriptions and reflections on nature that you wish he would turn those descriptions about himself, his past. You get quick glimpses of him and his life, specifically when he is describing his mother’s belongings (the satchel, the shoes , the picture) where he tell’s us “Here it began, her pain and mine.” This is one of the places in the story where I felt we as the reader got more insight to Eiseley. He seems to have this inner pain (unresolved issues?) with his mother’s death. But just as soon as we get this, he goes back to his connections to the bible and nature. I can see that maybe he was trying to draw this connection between man and nature, but it felt difficult for me to grasp when I couldn’t see how it connected to Eiseley himself. I feel as though he is on some sort of journey and he is using nature to make sense of the world around him, but we don’t ever really know why or how he came to this journey.
ReplyDeleteAs many of you have already discussed, Eiseley’s memoir is very different in style than what we have read in this course thus far. I liked the amount of reflection in this piece but often found myself wanting a little more action as I read. I know that I personally am better at writing reflections, looking back on an event, much like he does in his memoir. I still find this a very effective style of writing a memoir because he is putting together a moment in his life and answering a question. Although he does not go into great detail to explain his actions or others actions, he is still able to effectively reflect and give meaning to this moment.
ReplyDeleteOne other small stylistic portion I noticed was in the very beginning. “If there is any meaning to this book (The Unexpected Universe), it began on the beaches of Constable with just such a leap across an unknown abyss.” I found this very interesting and almost confusing. So far in this class we have discussed finding a meaning or a reason for writing our memoirs and Eiseley is straight out stating “if there is any meaning to this book.” Obviously there is, but I was very intrigued to why he would add this into his memoir. It seems like it is unnecessary or like he is undermining himself. I wondered if after writing this, if he himself was unsure why he wrote it or that it meant something different to him at the time.
I felt that Loren Eiseley's “The Star Thrower” was a very interesting memoir. As some of you have noted, there wasn't a great deal of content in terms of story telling. However, what the piece lacked in pure story telling, it made up for in a great deal of reflection. These reflections are very philosophical and very deep. He doesn't just reflect on the moment that he had experienced, but instead he uses these moments as a stepping stone to begin to evaluate life itself such as civilizations and how the voice of God and the Devil are sometimes indistinguishable. I feel like this style of memoir writing is more indicative of being a piece of philosophical ideas and/or theories instead of a memoir. This doesn't mean that it's a bad memoir, I just feel that it is on a deeper level than that of a “normal” memoir.
ReplyDeleteWhile I felt that the piece lacked substance in terms of story, one of the aspects of the piece that drew me in was the writing itself and the way that Eiseley explores his ideas. The way this is presented is almost poetic and many sentences flow very well. This drew me in right from the beginning as he writes, “Nevertheless, I venture to say that...an endless wave-beaten coast at dawn”(416). Another line that drew me in was, “But no, it was not a rift but a joining:...in the silent war under the tangled bank” (429). I feel like this style and tone of writing adds a great deal more to how deep his thought process is on life and his philosophies. Having fluid and intricate writing further demonstrates how deep and thoughtful his writing and ideas are.
I found it so hard to connect with this piece. Eiseley’s reflections, if I’m being honest, where a bit too deep for me. As my classmates have already noted, this piece lacked action. I think it was so hard to connect because this piece seems to come from a great deal of reflection and come from very deep inside Eiseley’s head. It’s hard to get into and enjoy a piece with almost no action in it. In addition, Eiseley’s reflections are so cryptic.
ReplyDeleteEiseley’s memoir is so different from every other piece we’ve read so far this semester. It’s especially different from Bechdel. In Bechdel, we are given an actual, literal picture of what is going on. Esieley paints us barely any picture. Comparing Eiseley to Offutt’s “Same River Twice” and the descriptions and images Offutt gives the reader; it definitely helps me to understand why I was drawn into Offutt’s story but not Eiseley’s.
I did find it very interesting how Eiseley interprets an action as simple as throwing a starfish back into the ocean. It’s such a simple action and yet Eiseley takes such a deep perspective.
During the writing that we have done this semester, the hardest part about crafting a memoir (instead of just a story) has been to include some reflection. I can tell a story, I’ve been writing stories for years. But I have yet to master the idea of bringing in reflection. So while Eiseley’s reflections might be too deep and too cryptic for my own personal taste, we do get a great example of reflection in a memoir.