UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL

INSTITUTO DE LETRAS
DEPARTAMENTO DE LÍNGUAS MODERNAS

Disciplina: Fundamentos Históricos Da Literatura Anglo-americana

Período Letivo: 2021/2 – Ensino Remoto Emergencial (ERE)
Docente: Sandra Maggio
Acadêmico: Maria Eduarda Pacheco Moysés

The experience of being a student of Fundamentos Históricos da Literatura Anglo-

americana has been very enlightening, not only because we could discuss our different points
of view about some aspects of movies, tv shows, documentaries and short stories, but also
because a lot of materials were made available for the students to access and deepen their
knowledge about historical facts of the subjects discussed during classes, among other things.
The first thing the students were asked to do was to analyze the movie “Cast Away”.
I had never watched the movie before, so I didn’t know what to expect and probably missed a
lot of important aspects of the movie, but the aspect that impressed me the most was the fact
that none of the scenes where Chuck is stuck on the island has music. I believe this choice was
made so that this part of the movie would work as a simulation for those who are watching. We
hear everything the character hears, no more no less, and it creates a real and palpable sense of
what the character is going through, we can feel his agony, his sadness and even his happiness
during the small victories.
It was only when Professor Sandra brought the subject of Bettina and Chuck to class
that I started to remember the hints the director and the writers of the movie gave to make us
cheer for them to be together at the end. We believe that these ideas are something we create,
something original, that is our choice to cheer for them, when the reality is that it is all planned.
When talking about this, the students were introduced to the concept of “leitmotif”, which was
first heard in classical music, with composer Richard Wagner. He started to create a theme that
repeated itself every time a scene of a specific character or subject happened. This way, people
started to know what to expect when they heard the song. In other words, leitmotifs are hints
given to the public, which stick in their subconscious and make them think that what they
thought it would happen is only a matter of intuition.
Another subject we learned and that made an impression on me was about the Celtic
culture and religion and how it worked as a threat to the Roman people. Professor Sandra
mentioned that the Celtic religion was extremely connected with nature, a lot of trees were
sacred for them, their rituals were performed around oak trees, the mistletoe, that frequently
grew on oak trees, was their Druid’s most potent and magical plant, each month of the year was
dedicated to a tree, etc. So, when the Romans invaded Britain, the Celts, who were considered
 UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL
INSTITUTO DE LETRAS
DEPARTAMENTO DE LÍNGUAS MODERNAS

strong and violent warriors, reacted, and fought back. As it was mentioned before, the Celts
used to perform their rituals around oak trees, and during this invasion, they also gathered
around the trees to plan attacks against the Romans. The Romans, feeling threatened, destroyed
all oak trees, so the Celts didn’t have where to gather anymore. I believe this is a representation
of how religion worked at that time, of how strong was the power of belief and faith, because
the Romans probably thought that the Celts absorbed strength from the gods when they gathered
around the trees and had to destroy that source of power.
Furthermore, one of the best parts of the classes was reading Hemingway’s short
stories. Firstly, we read Cat in the Rain, analyzing the story with Professor Sandra, which was
very helpful to understand some aspects of it and for us to have more knowledge to make our
own analyses. My interpretation is that the cat, trying to protect itself from the rain, represents
the woman, and the woman sees herself in it, while the rain represents the woman’s problems
or agonies. The narrator calls the cat by the pronoun “she”, meaning that the cat is a female.
Some people might think that, because the cat is a female, it can be a representation of the
woman. But I believe that it is the contrary, the cat is called by “she” because the woman sees
herself in it, since the cat was hidden and it was impossible to know its real sex. Besides that,
it was mentioned in class that the gravel, in the path the woman walked to reach the cat, might
represent something from eastern philosophy, like a religious ritual, where people’s minds reach
other levels of working. So, when the woman goes down to catch the cat, her mind reaches
another level and when she goes back to her room, where her husband is, she is able to talk to
him and express what she’s feeling with more ease. It is very interesting to learn that, because
Hemingway uses that symbology in other works, so it makes more sense to read them knowing
this information. The last thing that caught my attention in Cat in the Rain was the fact that the
woman’s name is not mentioned in the text, while the husband receives a name. I believe that’s
a way of representing her submission to her husband, because when she’s with him, she’s called
“his wife” or “American wife” by the narrator, but when she leaves the room, she’s called
“American girl” or “she”. So, when she’s not with George, her husband, she becomes more
than just a wife, she becomes her own person, an American girl, a free woman.
The other short story we read was Hills Like White Elephants and the aspect that made
me reflect the most was the use of nature and scenery to represent what the characters were
feeling and to tell a big part of the story. During class, Professor Sandra mentioned that the
white hills could represent the belly of a pregnant woman, with clear skin. There is a part of the
short story where the woman gets up and stares the other way of the river, where these hills are,
 UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL
INSTITUTO DE LETRAS
DEPARTAMENTO DE LÍNGUAS MODERNAS

and where everything is beautiful, green, and full of life. I believe that in this part, the woman
in imagining her life if she doesn’t get an abortion. If she had a baby, her life would be colorful,
she would be happy and could relax with her child. But at that moment, she’s standing in a
place with no shade, that is hot and uncomfortable, which represents her relationship with the
man. In my interpretation, this scenery can have another meaning too if we think with the point
of view of the man, because he says that everything will be okay in their relationship if she gets
an abortion. So, the other side of the river would represent their lives after the abortion, where
everything is happy and colorful, while the river would represent the actual abortion, because
the woman would have to swim to get to the other side, having a huge chance of dying, and the
side they’re at is the present, where she’s pregnant with an unwanted baby from him.
Therefore, based on the path traced throughout the classes and reflection of its
subjects, I conclude that all the things we learned helped me understand the context of important
historical events and the stories that came from it. It was also very helpful because we learned
how to reflect about aspects of books and movies in a critical way, which is extremely useful
being a literature student.