David & David Podcast #2

Posted by Rebecca Snyder in College English · Pahomov/Rhymer · C Band on

Ames, Solace. “REVIEW: Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway.” Dear Author, 5 Dec. 2013, dearauthor.com/book-reviews/review-garden-of-eden-by-ernest-hemingway/.
This article was an insightful analysis of the novel. The author is a write herself who reflects of Hemingway's style, as well as the overarching themes in the book. She touches into the ideas around gender roles that play into the relationship between David, Catherine, and Marita. She also makes a valid point that it's hard to catch on to all of what's going on in the novel because of Hemingway's style, the reader can't always tell where they're making love, etc. As far as discussing the Marxist lens, she talks about how Catherine uses her abundance of money as a hold over David. She talks about how the book is hers since she funds it, and this comes into their relationship as a clash between social classes. 

Young, Philip. “Ernest Hemingway.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 16 Aug. 2018,www.britannica.com/biography/Ernest-Hemingwa
I found that this source was very helpful in understanding the way that Hemingway's life went and noticed some things from is real life that could have influenced his writing in the Garden of Eden. One of the first things I noticed was the similarities in the profession which he and David shared, writers. Similarly to him he also struggled in his upcoming to a writer, "Hemingway renewed his efforts at writing, for a while worked at odd jobs in Chicago". Which makes it clear that having a job and money is something that is essentially important for all. Additionally, Hemmingway went through a hard rejection and loss of his wife and child which I think would impact him to see sex as a thing of the devil in the novel. 

The central focus of the article is to highlight the fact that authors essentially come in to each piece with an unrealistic/ bias interpretation of specific things, given the socio economic background. This helps the listener understand that because Hemingway at the time of writing the novel was wealthy had an unrealistic grasp of the impoverished two main characters. "Marxist literary theory suggests that all literature is a product of the class and financial conditions in which it was created. " Because of this article the listener can understand the apparent bias towards a wealthier style of living and he rejects the beauty of a lower lifestyle. 

Comments (13)

Leah Bradstreet (Student 2019)
Leah Bradstreet
  1. They use their literary lens, the Marxist lens, to talk about the main characters' wealth and relationship with each other and how that has changed over time. They use their lens to formulate opinions about the characters as well.
  2. I liked how they marked the themes of the book with how the characters changed in the novel. They used good direct quotes to back their ideas up, and they were good and back and forth conversation.
Catherine Long (Student 2019)
Catherine Long
  1. They use the Marxist lens to look at the character's social class and financial situation. Showing how the character's deal with it.
  2. I like that the music was upbeat. Everyone spoke an equal amount and the definition of the lens was very clear.
Tylier Driscoll (Student 2019)
Tylier Driscoll

They look at the video through the Marxist lens. They begin speaking about David's wealth and how he acts with it, considering it isn't his money. They speak about competitions between individuals with power. From this, they take a look and relate love to money and what effect it has on those who don't have as much. The discussion speaks about the author who wasn't wealthy and how he interprets those who are. Again, the intro music is great. I like that everything they said was meaningful and that there weren't any filler conversations in the podcast.

Matthew Milligan (Student 2019)
Matthew Milligan
  1. You guys use the marxist lens to talk about the division between characters based off of their economic classes. I liked the point Carolina mentioned about love equating to money for some people, especially when it comes to marriage and inheritance.
  2. I think the sound quality was really good and clear for most of the podcast. I think you guys had good pacing and a relaxed vibe, which made listening more enjoyable.
Deja Winfield (Student 2019)
Deja Winfield

I really enjoyed the intro music, its upbeat. All spoke pretty much equally. The definition of what the Marxist lens is was very clear. Everyone in the group seems to have a good understanding of taking a short pause and letting each other speak without speaking over each other. But this podcast was confusing in its entirety it was hard to know or even follow what was happening in the book.

Sarah Berg (Student 2019)
Sarah Berg

How do they use the literary lens? - Marxist lens - talk about how having money gives some characters power over the others and motivate their actions - even people who have large amounts of money still have their own problems, just in a different way

What did you like about the production of the podcast? - give context about what the Marxist lens is - raise questions to each other about how they interpreted things differently

Jason Chen (Student 2019)
Jason Chen

I like the music intro, it makes me want to listen to the podcast. While listening to the podcast I get a good understanding of what the Marxist lens is. Everyone spoke equally and the flow was okay, but I'm not entirely sure what is going on because there wasn't much context.

Meymey Seng (Student 2019)
Meymey Seng
  1. They first gave a description of what the Marxist lens means and that money can give someone power and advantage, whether it is for relationships. Also that conflicts that come from this idea with the difference in class being related to the amount of money they have, many things being centered around wealth.
  2. Something that I liked about the production is that they all spoke equally and it was more of a conversation versus just stating information.
Brendan Hall (Student 2019)
Brendan Hall

They used the marxist literary lens to show how the characters deal with their financial situations and what it reflects on society, "Rich people are not always happy and poor people are not always sad,". I liked the intro and outro music used for the production.

Ashley De La Cruz (Student 2019)
Ashley De La Cruz
  1. You guys do a good job of bringing up that through Marxist lens you understand that it's not bringing up the real "issues," like the people aren't bringing up what to the readers seems outright wrong.
  2. I really enjoyed the intro music and how you used it to conclude your podcast as well. I like that everyone made sure that everyone spoke and questions were brought up.
Ariana Flores (Student 2019)
Ariana Flores

How do they use the literary lens? - They put emphasis on the difference class in a relationship, which is an intriguing topic to zoom in on. The idea of manipulation of people through money and having to swallow pride and ask to borrow money were also addressed. I appreciate how they looked at the text using different perspectives while using the lens.

What did you like about the production of the podcast? - Everyone spoke pretty much equally, and there were one or two instances where there were disagreements regarding interpretations of the text, which helped the listener think in a different way. It was also nice how they wrapped up the podcast with a conclusion about the rich also having problems.

Colin Taylor-McGrane (Student 2019)
Colin Taylor-McGrane

I feel that you guys brought up a lot of good points and they all related to the Marxist lens. I do, however, wish that you had provided more context, as it was unclear what exactly was happening in the book in this section.