Author: Ed Kleiman
Biography
Born in 1932, Ed Kleiman grew up in the North End of Winnipeg. Later, he went to school at the University of Manitoba and received his Bachelor of Arts there. Six years later he received his Master’s Degree from the University of Toronto. He then returned to Winnipeg, where he worked as a lecturer and associate professor in the English department at the University of Manitoba. In his time working at the University, he wrote two books of short stories, the first one, “The Immortals,” was published in 1980 and his second, published in 1988, “A New Found Ecstasy”. After his retirement in 1996, Kleiman published his third book “The World Beaters.”
Symbol
A Formula 1 car can do extraordinary things on its own, however it still occasionally needs humans to help it rebuild some of its strength and give it a break from all the stress it’s been under. This human aid for the car symbolizes what Alex, the protagonist of the story, needed, however failed to receive.
Response
1. How early in life does Alex become a loner? What event(s) lead him to make that choice? For what other reasons might someone become a loner?
Alex starts to enjoy the ease of deeper thought, through isolation, when he is a child. His brother traps him in a closet, and after the initial shock of feeling trapped, Alex realizes he enjoys the feeling of being separated from the world and being able to focus on his thoughts. As he continues to do this, he finds he gains strength and is able to get through nearly all his problems by sitting down and analyzing his difficulties all on his lonesome. He also realizes he can tap into nearly a false world, which he creates, when he finds himself in isolation. Eventually he finds himself dependent on these moments of isolation, and this leads him to becoming a “loner.” Another reason someone might become a “loner,” is if they find social situations very difficult, they may isolate themselves because they find this easier and they, for the time being, enjoy doing this more than trying to socialize.
4. What are some similarities and differences in the characters of Miss Hancock (“The Metaphor”) and Alex? How are their experiences similar/different? Write a sentence that summarizes the central idea or theme for both “North End Faust” and “The Metaphor.”
Miss Hancock and Alex are both very passionate about their jobs and it is likely that their jobs are their passion. They both don’t have any obvious strong social ties to another human being; Alex has his wife, however, she does not seem like someone he feels he can bring any of his problems to. Both Miss Hancock and Alex seem to keep their emotions very internal, and don’t share them with others very often. A difference between the two characters is that Miss Hancock seems like she is able to be very social, and, although the novel does not specifically mention a lack of social skills from Alex, the impression I received from the story is he was not the most socially talented.
Alex and Miss Hancock both have very successful careers, and then, for their respective reasons, something in their jobs change and they both do not cope with the change very well. However, their experiences are different because I feel that the reader could tell Alex was consistently bordering on the edge of what seemed like slight psychosis throughout the whole story, whereas, it appeared Miss Hancock’s depression only begun once she moved from teaching junior high school to senior high school. I think the theme for both “North End Faust” and “The Metaphor” could be: Usually, people cannot make it out of the toughest times in their lives by themselves.
5. Why do you think the author wrote the story? What implications might the story have for someone who wants to be a scientist?
I think the author wrote the story to stress the importance of other humans in our lives and how our brains need to interact with other brains to maintain a certain level of sanity. I also feel that the author might have written this story because of an experience that he had or witnessed someone else have, which partially paralleled the story. The story might imply to someone who aspires to become a scientist that he or she should do the thinking and calculating inside their head, but not the experimenting. If you are not prepared to ask someone else to have an experiment conducted on them because you feel it would be either dangerous or harmful in any way, you probably shouldn’t conduct the experiment on yourself either.
6. Debate the morality of experiments that use human guinea pigs in the name of scientific advancement.
I think the morality of experiments that use human guinea pigs in the name of scientific advancement are perfectly fine, as long as the test has been thoroughly researched and all possible consequences have been stated to the “guinea pig.” In many cases, it is a possibility that by putting one person at risk through an experiment, many lives may be saved, lengthened, or improved. Therefore, as long as the one being experimented on is aware of the risks, they are doing it to help others, and therefore they should be praised and allowed to carry through with their courageous act.
Critical Thinking
i) Why do you think the author wrote the text?
I think the author wrote the text because he wanted to remind his readers that we are social animals and that, although we occasionally may find it difficult to interact with one another, at certain points in our lives we need other human beings. In the story, Alex, for all his life, has solved all his problems on his own and has therefore rarely (if ever) needed to discuss his difficulties with anyone else. However, during the story, he is dealing with one of his most difficult problems yet and because he is not used to the idea of solving the problem with the aid of another person, it seems the idea simply does not come to his head. Also, because Alex has never spoken to anyone about the vivid images he can create in his mind, these images start to well up inside him because he is not sure what to do with or think of them. At the end of the story, I believe, with the large amount of stress he is under and him desperately wanting a solution, the images all burst out at once and he does not restrain from them taking over his mind and this leads to his death.
ii) What does the author want you to think?
The author wants us to think of how we might benefit from talking to others about our problems, instead of letting them sit and grow inside of us. Do we have any problems right now that we could talk to someone about? Or even, is there anyone else that might need someone to talk to their problems about?
iii) Do you belong to any of the groups in the text?
I belong to Alex’s group. I also find my problems very easy to solve when I can sit somewhere quiet, and think for at least 30 minutes on end. Furthermore, I similarly enjoy the feeling of isolation, and being able to sift through all my thoughts and feelings, delving deeper into them and trying to gain an understanding of why I am feeling one way or thinking of someone in a certain way. I would not be surprised if many people also enjoy this feeling of isolation, to a certain point, however, some people may not realize it because it is very difficult to find a free hour or so in which to solely concentrate on one’s thoughts.
iv) Does the story remind you of a real-life event (your own or others)?
This story reminds me of what is a common thing to do when unhappy, you think of pleasant times or a thought that make you feel good. In the story, Alex has been finding himself in a troubled time of his life for quite a while, and he has been coping with this by thinking of a fictional place he has created in his mind. However, because Alex had been troubled for so long, he had spent so much time in his fictional place that he started to find it nearly more realistic than his real life. Unlike most people when doing this, Alex starts to get confused between the good times and fictional places he imagines, and reality. Although most people do not find themselves meddling between the borders of reality and the dream world, it does make you wonder how much warning we get before our brains begin slipping into that grey area.
v) Does the story remind you of another book or movie on a similar topic?
The story reminds me of a movie, which I have not actually seen, however heard enough about to understand the basic plot. In the movie “A Beautiful Mind,” John Forbes is a mathematic genius but suffers from hallucinations. He is able to solve the most complex codes, however, he is not able to realize he is slowly dipping into the world of psychosis and only with the help of others is he able to conquer these imaginary characters. In the story “North End Faust,” Alex is able to solve nearly all his problems, but does not realize the fine line he is walking between sanity and insanity. Since he does not tell anyone about his problem, nobody is able to help him and his insanity ends up conquering him. Although the endings of the two stories are different, they remind me of each other because both characters have a similar need for the help of other human beings, even though they are both very intelligent people.
vi) How does the story help you think about social issues and social justice?
The story helps me think of the importance of education and social services (which ties into the social issue of taxation cutbacks). If people were informed of the signs of psychosis and knew there was somewhere or someone they could go to talk about their concerns, for example a social service, it would be likely that, if the service was set up in the proper way, there would be less people who would be unaware of their mental illness, resulting in less people without treatment. Looking into the future, this would also most likely cost the government less (at least in countries with public healthcare) because, if people’s mental illnesses were caught early, it would be less likely they would have to move into costly institutions.
vii) What action might you take from what you have learned?
I will try to seek advice from others more often when I have a problem, because this will not only relieve some of my stress, but also help me make the best decision. I have not done this much before because I am usually too self-conscious over what people will think of my problem, because in the grand scheme of things it usually is a very small one. Nevertheless, I will still try to begin to share some of the problems I struggle to solve on my own.
viii) What big question has this text left you with?
Is there a distinct line between sanity and insanity?
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