The way DElillo understands or think about history is interesting, as well as the way others think. Trying to translate what he is saying is a bit difficicult, but i think he is a smart guy, as well as others ha.
Jack told his students, "All plots tend to move deathward. this is the nature plots. political plots, terrorist plots, lovers' plots, narrative plots, plots that are part of children's games. we edge nearer death every time we plot. it is like a contract that all must sign, the plotters as well as those who are the targets of the plot." (26) Jack himself asked what does it mean? why did he say it? and was it true? well i'm not quite sure what it means but i see it as if certain people are planning a big change for the "better" than WE all have to agree and either way, everything is going to head "deathward". So no matter what, people that are being targetted, or part of it know thatt it will work to a certain extent and than it dies.
I also wanted to quote " but its not a question of greatness. its not a question of good and evil. i dont know what it is. look at it this way. some people always wear a favorite color. some people carry a gun. some people put on a uniform and feel bigger, stronger, safer. it's in this are that my obsessions dwell." ( 63) i agree with the blog post bellow me, i too found this quote interesting because it makes perfect sense. if people werent obssessed with the things they did, would they acheive? its not whether they are a good person or not. its the way they believe the world should be, i wouldnt necessarily call them psycho or crazy because people do have different opinions. just ilke Jack named his kid Hienrich to make him feel unafraid (63). And maybe thats why the world does what it does, because they want it to be bigger, stronger, and safer for everyone, people just take different approaches to fufill that.
"...It's wasted motion. people waste tremendous amounts of motion. you ought to watch Baba make a salad sometimes."
"people dont deliberate over each tiny motion and gesture. A little was doesnt hurt."
"but over a lifetime?"
"Over a lifetime? you save tremendous amounts of time and energy," he said
"what will you do with them?"
"Use them to live longer." (101)
I found this quote interesting as well because we dont exactly take the time to notice all the time we "waste" by doing certain movements/ actions. i think this ties well with fact that we/ people dont necessarily take the time to actual read histroy and understand it. we just go through the motions and don't realize anything, until we have those people that tell us " hey you can save time if you dont go through these extra motions." than thats when different believes and confusion comes into play and than we head to "deathward". ... &sorry if this is confusing!
I also really looked at the quote about plots moving toward death. It is interesting to look at anything that involves a plot.. it almost ALWAYS involves death. I thought it was very fascinating to have that brought up since it had not occurred to me. In everything from history to culture such as movies this is seen. I found it also interesting how Jack didn't know why he said it but regardless I found it dead on.
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