Call of the Warriors

Type of Literature: Book

Old: Call of the Wild by Jack London (1903)

New: Warriors Series (Into the Wild) by Erin Hunter (2003)

Call of the Wild follows the story of Buck, a domestic St. Bernard Scotch Shepherd, who collapses into the evil hands of Yukon sled dog trainers. Thrust into survival mode, Buck must confront vicious sled drivers and aggressive canines.

Rusty, a cat from Into the Wild (Warriors), leaves his owners and joins a clan of feral cats in the wild. However, given his lack of survival expertise, Firepaw (Rusty’s christened name in the clan) must battle cynical members, murderers, and cats from other clans in order to prove himself.

Protagonists as domestic pets

In Call, Buck dwells in a life of luxury in California. The spoiled canine has developed hunting skills but understands little about the cruelty of the Canadian territory.

Firepaw, in Warriors, leads an unfulfilled life as a housepet. He often ruminates about the mundaneness of his cat food and wonders if something greater exists.

Through violent means, they enter the wilderness

A seedy gardener with a gambling debt trades Buck to the sled dog trade. Although the large dog attempts to resist, a man in a red sweater beats him into submission with a club. From here on out, Buck receives a steep learning curve for the savagery of the Yukon wilderness.

Firepaw encounters a feral cat named Graypaw in his back yard. The two cats commence a fight, and Graypaw rips off Firepaw’s collar. When the housecat succeeds in the nasty squabble, the other cats in the clan invite Rusty to join their group.

An antagonist who wants to rip the protagonist to shreds

Buck encounters opposition for Alpha-dog early on. Spitz bullies him into submission on multiple occasions and steals his food. However, Buck challenges Spitz to a fight and kills him.

Tigerclaw, a hidden enemy within Firepaw’s clan, has murdered multiple cats in his rise to power. Yet, when the assassin discovers the protagonist knows about his nasty deeds, he conquests to kill Firepaw through any means.

One who ventures into the wild can return to domestic life again

On death row, a savior by the name of Thornton rescues Buck from his harsh sled drivers. He nurses the dying canine back to life, and the dog lives inside a cabin with his new owner.

Later in the Warriors series, some once-feral cats dwell in the domestic life for a while. Graypaw finds himself picked up by a pair of Twolegs (humans) and stays with them for a couple months.

Author’s thoughts

“Great starts . . . but terrible finishes.”

I had enjoyed both novels because I have a special pocket in my heart for animals. I think both authors encapsulated the dangers of wilderness well. Hunter had a bit more of a quixotic view of the wild, whereas London held a dismal opinion.

Here’s where the author’s went amiss in my opinion . . .

Both Warriors and Call of the Wild had great starts but terrible finishes for different reasons.

Warriors had a decent run, however, Hunter continued to grind out stories about cat fights for 36 more books. Firepaw has long deceased, yet books continue to surface. The stories have grown repetitive, and I can only handle so many cat disputes.

Call of the Wild ended morosely, but it didn’t need to. The plot climaxes when Buck nearly dies from pulling a sled for several days. If London killed him there, I would’ve understood and exclaimed, “That’s terrible, but plausible.”

Call of the Wild ended morosely, but it didn’t need to.

Instead, Thornton rescues Buck. Yet after a little ray of hope, the canine goes a bit crazy when he hears a wolf cry in the forest. He kills a moose, returns to camp, and discovers Thornton has been slain. Buck then continues to pursue and murder all of his late owner’s killers and howl.

Not exactly a book I would read to my children at night.

I didn’t expect a happy ending. But the death of Thornton seemed ex machina. I felt as if London said, “Rats. I wanted to make this ending sad, but the plot seems to venture toward a bright ending.” (pause, snaps fingers) “I know! I’ll just kill of Thornton.”

I Love Friends

Type of Literature: Misc. (Television show)

Old: I Love Lucy (1951)

New: Friends (1994)

I Love Lucy features Lucy Ricardo, a charming ginger who has a tendency to slip into troublesome situations. Despite quips and complaints from her Cuban husband and two friends, it’s no secret everyone truly does love Lucy.

In an apartment building in New York, six friends strive to find love and prosperity, but they find themselves in humorous disasters despite the mundaneness of the everyday.

1. Both shows have a setting in an apartment in New York

In fact, the Ricardos rent their apartment from their two friends, Ethel and Fred Mertz in I Love Lucy.

Although the six friends jostle positions in different apartment rooms, no one lives in an abode elsewhere for as long as the show airs.

2. One of the main characters is a singer

Lucy’s husband, Ricky, projects his beautiful voice at Tropicana, a nightclub. He has heralded his melodies to the tunes of “Babalu” and “I Love Lucy.”

While Phoebe, one of the friends, does not trill elegant carols like Ricky, her songs have a certain vivacity. Her hit “Smelly Cat” has reached the ears of millions of listeners.

3. Both works dive into the difficulties of relationships

The Mertz couple reflects the struggles marriage often supplies. However, Ethel and Fred assert that fighting is how they reflect their love for one another.

Characters Rachel and Ross in Friends exemplify trials of dating life. Each character likes the other on and off, but neither seem to stick together for long.

4. One of the main characters has a nasty temper

Lucy often fears how Ricky will react whenever she pulls a shenanigan. Whenever her husband commences rapid-talking in Spanish, she knows his anger has peaked.

Ross lets his rage unleash when his boss steals his sandwich at work. Although often morose because he encounters several difficulties, Ross tends to mishandle conflict, and this often slides into frustration.

5. Surprise pregnancies

After over a decade of marriage, Lucy has produced no children. However, she receives pleasant news after a doctor’s visit. But due to Ricky’s busy singing schedule, she struggles to catch his attention. She decides to reveal the announcement during one of his performances.

Rachel receives the news she has conceived a baby and leaves the pregnancy test in her friend Monica’s trash can. Monica’s husband thinks she is pregnant, but Rachel discloses the truth after several misunderstandings.

 

 

 

 

Cloudy with a Chance of Jaws

Type of Literature: Movie

Old: Jaws (1975)

New: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)

The Rose Woman recently interviewed two movies Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Jaws to discover the similarities between both flicks.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs features an overlooked town with a misfire inventor, Flint Lockwood, who creates a machine that can generate food out of thin air. However, the food mutates and dismantles the town. Flint must confront the machine before the freak entrées devastate the town with more than Flint can swallow.

Jaws also bites off more than ocean waters can chew with a man-eating shark. When the mayor refuses to close the beaches off to the public, a trio ventures out to defeat the beast before it claims more victims.

According to my understanding, both of you feature a scientist as one of the protagonists?

CWACOM: Yes, our main character, Flynn invents machines. He has a poster of Einstein in his laboratory, and citizens refer to his contraptions as “one of [his] science deely-bopper thingies!”

Jaws: One of the trio, Matt Hooper, is an ichthyologist (one who studies fish).

Speaking of trios, I remember a trio faces the adversary in the movies.

CWACOM: Correct. Our trio comprises of Flint Lockwood, weather reporter Sam Sparks, and town celebrity “Baby” Brent. (If you don’t count the pilot of the flying car and the pet monkey).

Jaws: We have an all-male trio. A police chief, an ichthyologist, and a ship captain.

Would you say you have a man vs. nature plot?

Jaws: Man faces a shark. You can hardly get closer to a tangle with nature than that.

CWACOM: Even though Flint fights against a machine, the machine causes natural phenomenons. For example, a spaghetti tornado emerges from the machine.

Finally, I noticed how you both have corrupt mayors who forfeit citizens’ safety for tourism benefits.

Jaws: Correct. Despite our pest problem, Mayor Vaughn continues to promote the beaches of Amity (the town name). He fears if he admits a dangerous shark lurks in the water, the lack of tourism will debilitate the town.

CWACOM: Mayor Shelbourne uses the machine to bring worldwide travelers to Swallow Falls. However, even after Flint warns him about the dangers of the contraption, Shelbourne ushers journeyers with a large appetite into the heart of the beast.

Stressed Out Casserole Recipe

Type of Literature: Poem/Song

Old: “The Child’s Faith is New” Emily Dickinson (1862)

New: “Stressed Out” 21 Pilots (2015)

Nothing says, “Let’s finish this meal faster,” than the Stressed Out casserole. Packed with time crunches and a gentle steam of student debt, this creation tingles taste buds with nostalgia. Venture back to your childhood with this dish that naivety never saw coming.

Ingredients:

1 cup of Emily Dickinson’s poem “The Child’s Faith is New”

1 cup of 21 Pilot’s song “Stressed Out”

1 can of condensed childhood memories

1/2 cup of wisdom gained through pain

1 teaspoon of growing pains sauce

1 dash of the need to earn a living

4 cups of cooked childhood purity and innocence

1 1/3 cups of fried hope

How to Make It

1. Stir the ingredients with verve into a large bowl. The more brutality you use when you mix the elements, the better. Make sure the growing pains, fried hope, and wisdom gained through pain blends well into the mixture.

2. Bake at 401K (if your oven doesn’t use Kelvin try, 262 Fahrenheit) for 18 years.

3. Bake another four years until childhood purity is baked a golden brown or until bubbles of student debt and sorrow surface.

Recipe Tips

• The taste of childhood innocence, when burnt and almost decimated, should give off a pungent flavor. However, if you fear the ingredient will lack savor, add 2/3 cups of wisdom gained through pain.
• The cups of “Stressed Out” and “The Child’s Faith is New” blend best through the use of ingredients that reflect childhood innocence that burns when introduced to wisdom, hurt, and the dying fantasies of a child (for specific ingredients for imagination, try “build a rocket ship” or ruling a kingdom as “emperor)
• For agony lovers, add a dash of mistrust, and a pinch of stoicism.

Chef’s Notes

I recommend the Stressed Out casserole to those who want to saturate in childhood nostalgia. However, those with health problems may want to beware. Taste testers of the casserole have previously experienced heart break and insatiable moods of longing for the past (including the author of this article).

The casserole is not recommended for anyone below the age of 18. However, if it were up to the author of this article, no one should be allowed to eat such a dish.

https://allpoetry.com/The-Child’s-faith-is-new

 

 

Other posts by Hope

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/21-ways-to-defeat-bad-day

Lend Me an Earnest

Type of Literature: Play

Old: The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (1898)

New: Lend me a Tenor by Ken Ludwig (1986)

Lend Me a Tenor features a timid protagonist, Max Garber, trades places with the world-renowned tenor, Tito Merelli in an opera. The characters continue to confuse Max with Tito throughout the play.

The Importance of Being Earnest characters Algernon and Jack masquerade under the name of “Ernest.” However, this causes several characters to mistake Algernon for Jack (and vice versa).

Mistaken Love

In Tenor, Max’s girlfriend, Maggie, has a deep infatuation for Tito. However, when she flirts with the opera singer, it is Max disguised as Tito.

In Earnest, characters Gwendolen and Cecily have deep affections for Algernon and Jack. However, because both of the men hide behind the name “Ernest,” Cecily and Gwendolen believe “Ernest” has proposed to both of them.

Overprotective Parents

Henry Saunders, Maggie’s father, attempts to whisk Maggie away from Tito. He commands the lovesick daughter to leave the room before the famous singer arrives.

Lady Bracknell, in Earnest, halts any prospects of Jack having a marriage with her daughter, Gwendolen. Due to Jack’s enigmatic origins, he will not elevate Gwendolen’s social status.

Farcical/Implausible Actions

During Tenor, Tito attempts to stab himself with a wine bottle. Maggie hides in Tito’s closet. When Max mistakenly thinks Tito dies after the singer took several tranquilizing drugs, Max attempts to cover up the “deceased” performer.

Cecily pretends Algernon has been writing her love letters for months. Jack, as a baby, was left in a handbag. Algernon, after Cecily unveils his true identity, nonchalantly eats muffins.

 

Gluttony

Tito takes an excess amount of tranquilizing pills. These cause him to pass out, rendering him nearly dead. In order to cover up his “death,” Max replaces the singer in the opera.

Algernon has a tendency to overeat wherever he goes. From cucumber sandwiches to muffins, Jack summarizes it best when he states, “Eating as usual, I see, Algy!”

 

 

 

Harry Potter and the Cave

 

Type of Literature: Book

Old: The Republic by Plato (380 BC)

New: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (1998 US, 1997 UK)

 

The Mirror of Erised in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone reveals a viewer’s deepest heart’s desire. However, when a character gazes at his or her reflection, the looking glass ensnares the onlooker.

The Cave in The Republic hosts a collection of prisoners. They watch a shadow puppet display on the wall. The captives believe the silhouettes on the wall (i.e. tree branches, cats, etc.) are the real deal. For example, if I held up a shadow puppet of a bunny, the prisoners will believe the shadow is an actual rabbit.

 

 

1. They warn against mere appearances

In the mirror, Harry’s deceased parents flank his sides. However, when he whips around away from Erised, they disappear.

In the Cave, the prisoners believe the shadows on the wall comprise all of reality.

2. The appearances ensnare the viewer.

Harry slides out of bed late at night in order to gaze upon Erised. He avoids the advice of his best friend Ron to avoid encountering the enchanted object.

I hardly need to explain how ensnare applies to prisoners in Plato’s Cave. Even though these captives find themselves shackled to chairs, they don’t appear to notice their entangled position. Instead, they watch the shadows on the wall and even attempt to play guessing games such as, “Which shadow will appear next?”

3. Someone must rescue the viewer from the appearances.

A savior by the name of Dumbledore informs Harry he plans to move Erised to another location. Thus, he frees Harry from the spellbound reflection

“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”

–Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

A freed man outside of the cave ventures forth to rescue a prisoner. After much tribulation and push-back from the dazed captive, the prisoner escapes from the cave. Thanks to the freed man, appearances no longer enslave the escapee.

4. The viewer will try to prevent the rescue plan.

Harry grows irritated with Ron when his best friend tries to deter him from visiting the mirror.

When any freed man attempts to fish out a prisoner, the captive will likely resist. In fact, some hostages might jump to the extreme of murder in Plato’s Allegory.

 

 

https://simonandfinn.com/tag/platos-cave-cartoon/

The link above is a cute explanation of Plato’s allegory. It doesn’t have the full story, but it explains the illustration well.