Wow! I just learned that there a a lot of petroglyphs near St. Johns, Arizona that I have never before seen. These are likely within an hour's drive from the town. How could I have lived their as a small, innocent child and not heard of them? Well, one of these days, I am going to go see them and spend some time trying to get the messages that are left for me. The impression I am getting now is that the thin guy with one frog foot is talking to the woman with the woman with a funny hat and they are both looking at a guitar-shaped lizard crawling away. Somewhere, Waldo is there? Or, perhaps there is a subliminal message to us? I find this kind of stuff really, really interesting.
3 comments:
And clearly you know your petroglyphs.
Actually, this is the pertoglyphic version of the Dickens classic, "Great Expectations". The giveaway is the depiction of the huge chandelier from Miss Havisham's mansion. Miss Havisham is the character with a curvey hanger-head anad saggy buttocks. Clearly, Estella is the creature playing the clarinet - attempting to steal young Pip's orhaned heart yet and unrequited love. Camilla is the character with the mallet-like head who wields a pick-ax. Georgiana is the barrel-shaped woman with pippylongstocking braids dancing a jig. They represent Miss Havisham's greedy relatives who hang around her like flies for her wealth. The rest of the people are members of the Pocket family; the well-heeled and dignified contingent of Miss H's family.
It is difficult for me to interpret the remaining symbols, but I think they speak to The main novel's main themes: gratitude and suffering, shown in the way that Pip does not show gratitude towards Joe. Miss Havisham and Pip suffer equally, with Miss Havisham being jilted on her wedding day, and cheated of her money, and Pip, never gaining Estella's love. Another theme, rise in social class, is very prominent. Dickens obviously wanted to have parallels to the same problem in London. Pip is constantly attempting to impress Estella by raising his social class, but it only leads to his demise. A major theme is the disillusionment of growing up and the inevitable destruction of narcissistic fantasies if a person is to leave his or her childhood behind.
The more complex explorations of the text reveal themes and symbols such as motherhood (There are very few, if any, positive mother characters in the story) and the impressions that one generation's actions may have on subsequent generations, especially concerning bitter feelings, resentment, and revenge. Later, the major adult characters who had tried to seek revenge through others or have had serious problems in their youth later regretted their actions and wanted to make amends, suggesting that the events in a person's life may be consuming to the point of destruction. Once an action is taken, it cannot be taken back (and thus it is important to think on our actions very carefully).
I really hope Nick stole most of that from some website. Otherwise, he has WAY too much time on his hands.
I think Norm drew these the day he lit the stadium bleachers on fire.
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