Blog

---

Follow My Blog

Ali Smith Hotel World (chapter 1 and 2) – Reflection

Ali smith has managed to show various concepts during the first 2 chapters of the novel. One of the key concepts that stood out was identity. The novel illustrates a vivid picture of different identities. Each section of the novel is put down in different/unique ways. Ali Smith narrates the story of two separate women (Else and Sara) in the first two chapters, painting a picture of two different identities.

Smith manages to create an illusion about two different identities by the use of time (tenses). By starting off the book with Sara’s death, Smith created two separate identities for her. One identity being the ghost and the other the corpse. The ghost has no idea about the past and lives by the present, unlike the corpse that knows about the past. This shows that despite being the same person, Smith has used time to split the knowledge and knowing of Sara and portrayed them as two different identities. Moreover, we can also see how Ali Smith illustrates the non-identical behaviours of the ghost and the corpse. The interaction between the corpse and the ghost shows us separate identities interacting. Despite both of them being Sara, we can see that the corpse is peculiar, cranky and quite determined, whereas the ghost is silly and also very annoying. One can easily see why Ali smith has portrayed them like this. The corpse is acting cranky because she has just died and wants to be left in peace, whereas the ghost might come out to be annoying as she wants to know whatever she can in the little time she has left (especially the time taken for her to fall). These mismatched behaviours due to unrelated reasons create an illusion of two separate identities present in this part of the novel. 

Ali smith continues to talk about identity in the following chapter. Chapter 2 is in the perspective of Else, who is a homeless woman outside the hotel. Smith portrays how having an identity that is dissimilar to society affects people’s perspectives and what they think about you. As Else is a homeless woman, Smith illustrates how society has created an opinion of a person who is “not normal”. If a person does not have a home and money, he/she is automatically considered to be a stranger from society. This chatagorizes them to have a bad identity and simultaneously also notifies us how wrongly humanity has created perception based on false identities. 

The book’s meaning has started to develop throughout these first two chapters. Ali smith is successfully able to illustrate different behaviours that humans and relate to the concept of identity.

Quote Bank

“I would give anything to taste. To taste just dust. Because now that I’m nearly gone, I’m more here than I ever was. Now that I’m nothing but air, all I want is to breathe it. Now that I’m silent forever, haha, it’s all words words words with me. Now that I can’t just reach out and touch, it’s all I want, is to.” (chapter 1)

Sarah says these beautiful words in chapter 1 which illustrate her sense of acceptance and appreciation of life. When someone is living he/she tends to leave behind the little things in life. Even such a small thing like dust ( which we humans have categorized as something dirty ), could be missed if life is taken away from you. From a person who usually ignores dust probably every day of her life, to a soul who would do anything to taste the dust really shows how little things in life should be appreciated and how death can change perceptions.

“The nothing that ran the length of this hotel like a spine has appalled her.” (chapter 4)

This incident is one of the parts where we see the connection to Sara’s death whilst emphasising on life and death. I feel this is an important part as the elevator shaft is one of the key features in the novel and has a symbolistic element regarding life/death. The shaft illustrates how swift the path is between life and death. In addition to that, it also manifests that not a lot of people know how fast life is and when/how they are going to die, and when they do their perspective of life changes and they are “appalled” by it. In this case, as Penny witnessed the dark long fall, it seemed she had a sense of fear in her. The fear of death. 

“Time is notoriously deceptive. everybody knows this ( though it is one of the easier things to forget)” (chapter 3)

Whilst she was sick, one of the key aspects of life Lise realized was time (how fast life goes by). This quote made me relate to the same fact that life is short, however it also gave birth to another thought. Acceptance. There was a link of acceptance in the first 3 chapters. One that had accepted the fact that one should be proud knowing that time is short( Else), another finding the path to acceptance and appreciation (sara), and a person who dwelled and couldn’t accept that life is fast (lise). This realization also helped me link Lise’s lack of acceptance toward her disoriented personality. In General, I think this quote shows that life is short and time is deceptive, and you need to accept it for what it is. 

“I am a (       ) person” (chapter 3)

Ali smith was able to show a very deep and meaningful message to me by using just a few words. “I am a (      ) person” reveals why an identity is important for an individual, and without it one can be quite disoriented and chaotic. In this scenario, I feel Lise was influenced and pressured too much from society and has caused her to doubt herself at all. The empty parentheses show us that Lise lacks in character and has nothing to be proud of. In conclusion, I think one of the most important fragments in our lives is covered by identity and character and Ali smith was successfully able to illustrate this by using this quote. 

LAUV – Seize The Awkward campaign analysis.

The global issue illustrated in this commercial is mental illness, and promoting one of the best solutions to it. Ari Staprans Leff, professionally known as LAUV is a single and songwriter. With his breakout hit being “Like me Better”, LAUV is a well-known artist who tends to produce songs that emotionally and psychologically relate to the audience. LAUV is a person who has openly talked about his experience with depression and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and has found a way to stabilise it through therapy and medication. The commercial has various stylistic and structural elements that elevate and put forward the importance of the global issue (mental illness) and simultaneously intensify the significance of medication.  

Mise en Scène – The commercial’s lighting plays an important role to make the audience feel comfortable. The commercial constantly delivers a subtle, light/yellowish lighting. This bright and subtle lighting reveals the truth and clarity about mental health. This can be seen on multiple occasions extensively in the backdrop. LAUV is seen to be present in a kitchen and in a living area when he is interviewed, both with a moderately light backdrop caused by the white walls. Moreover, the yellowish view, consistently provided by LAUV also symbolises a deeper meaning. The psychology of colour suggests that yellow is said to be a colour that promotes happiness which very much relates to this video and its purpose. 

Camera angle – The camera angle during the interview is at eye level. This creates a non-distorted camera angle and  prevents any over exaggerated scene, which would help the viewer to be more comfortable and give them a more familiar surrounding and perspective. This is also visible in other commercials in the campaign. This further helps the audience relate to the interviews and emotionally/psychologically connect with the campaign. 

Montage– The video also has small montages where LAUV is seen to be doing relaxing activities, which can also be considered as meditation. For example, strolling at a leisurely pace. We can also see him listening to his own music and playing the guitar, which can also be considered as his comfort zone and a contemplative and meditative place. This helps illustrate the importance of meditation when it comes to mental health. 

In conclusion, LAUV’s personal experience illustrated in this commercial promoted one of the most significant solutions to mental illness (medication) using various stylistic and structural elements. Medication can be either therapy or just simply talking and opening up to someone you know. Considering this analysis, we can say that the Seize The Awkward campaign successfully promoted Mental health and its call ofJuice Wrld and 1984 on addiction and self-medication.actions throughout these personal interviews.

“Wishing Well” by Juice Wrld and “1984” by George Orwell

Addiction and self-medication.

1984 is a fictional novel by George Orwell that illustrates the life of Winston Smith under a totalitarian government and his frustration against the parties and leader Big Brother. This novel really appeals to me as I find similarities between the life of Winston and one of my favourite artists in music named Jarad Anthony Higgins, professionally known as Juice Wrld. He is considered to be one of the leading artist when it comes to emo music, and extensively talks about mental health and addiction. Addiction is one of the most severe social issues present today, and this is shown in Orwell’s 1984 as well. By closely reading these the book and gaining inspiration from one of Juice wrld’s songs called wishing well, I was able to identify a link related to the use substances in order to escape reality from hard times, also known as self-medication.

Juice Wrld’s music revolves over drugs, mental issues and having a troubled love life. This can be seen in multiple songs he puts out. In these songs he seems to be aware of the addiction issues he is facing, however continues to take pills in order to survive in this world. For example, in the song Wishing Well, he explicitly states his relationship is with drugs. 

“Let’s be for real

If it wasn’t for the pills, I wouldn’t be here

But if I keep taking these pills, I won’t be here, yeah”

This clearly shows that he is aware of his addiction problems however still keeps on taking substance as he feels taking drugs is the only thing that is keeping him alive. In addition to this, he also gives a hint on what makes him take such substances.

“Ring-ring, phone call from depression

You used my past and my memories as a weapon

On the other line, I talk to addiction, huh

Speaking of the devil, all the drugs, I miss them”

These words illustrate how Juice Wrld is facing depression due to his pasts and memories. He then follows on to say “On the other line, I talk to addiction”, wherein addiction is the drugs he takes. Acknowledging the fact that he is going through hard times, he finds drugs as a means of self medication. 

1984 by George Orwell also has moments that show addiction. Substances mentioned in this text are the Victory Gin, Victory Wine, Victory Beer, Victory Coffee and Victory Cigarettes. The world Winston is facing is the totalitarian government that is controlling him and other citizens. On page 7 of the book, we witness Winston drinking and smoking. 

“He took down from the shelf a bottle of colourless liquid with a plain white label market Victory Gin. It gave off a sticky, oily smell, as a Chinese rice spirit.”

Winston turns to these substances in order to escape the controlling totalitarian government as a means of self medication. Just like Juice Wrld in wishing well, Winston turns to harmful materials, such as the Victory Gin, in order to calm his paranoia about Big Brother. For example we can see Winston down shots just prior to writing in his journal. 

Similar to Wishing Well, Orwells is able to show how Winston feels about Victory Gin, and shows how it is able to manipulate and control the desires of the individuals who want to rebel against the totalitarian government. This suggests how substances suppress the dejected feelings as a means of self medication.

How the world makes a person feel – By Panav Nair (me)

The current world witnesses a lot of social issues, and mental ilness is one of the most appealing to me. Over the past few years i have realized how individuals tend to hide them self and feel depressed due to the things they are surrounded by. This might be because they have no one who is willing to listen to them or because they are pressurized by friends/family to follow a certain path or culture. Being aware of such a issue I was prompted to write a song that talks about how the world controls the life of an individual, and how it affects their lives in a negative way; mental illness is both caused aggravated by the wrong surrounding.

How the world makes a person feel 

We should really pay attention to the thing that runs the human body,

Do you really want someone to end themselves cuz they think they don’t fit in properly,

Well not me,

I mean, Look at the figures, from gunshots to jumping in rivers,

Over 8 billions people and Why? Cuz they don’t feel right when they look at a mirror?

People getting a hangover, cuz they can’t express themselves, 

Insecurities hanging over someone like sloth, identity dying like cells,

Imagine getting hated on cuz your “too nice”

And when your joking around by being a bit mean, you still get a few eyes,

It’s hard for a person to come out nowadays, 

Out of the box, out of the closet, or any inclosed space, 

Do you get how messed up this is,

Basically living a life that someone else wants you to live

You can’t say, “i don’t believe in god” without getting your head chopped off

I know the world’s getting better, but its not yet washed off 

Superpowers saying, We have come so far 

But have you seen how messed up third world countries are, 

People running with different opinions and tryna spread them too 

But opinion are the lowest point of knowledge, they don’t see that through 

I’ll be lying if i said i don’t see a change,

But at the end of the day we aint on the same page. 

Cuz beings still smack doors, keep their head down like they don’t have a backbone 

Come back from high school with their life blue, thinking why life’s cruel,

Imagine living a life that’s colder than a ice cube

Imagine never thinking it was a good day and that i would die soon,

Waitting in a suicide que, 

Imagine tryna be righteous with the devil besides you 

Pressure, Addiction and fear pulling you down 

Can’t listen to the true sound with them around 

Bound to be surrounded by a crowd of downfall,

frown at the profound with jealous eyes that’s only seen by the ground now, 

How about we compound these frowned views and drown them so they don’t rebound blues?

Not everyone wants to live a long life, 

But everybody wants to spread their views apon life

How about we stop barking at the wrong tree, before we start living a dog’s life 

Lets stop washing our hands with a clogged pipe, 

cuz thats the wrong pipe, 

Weekly Song updates

From the days i’ve lived in India, to the time i’ve spend in Belgium, I have witnessed the presence of love. However there are certain aspects of it that bothered me, for example it being controlled and influenced by the people are us. We are at a point in the world where we can compare love life to a totalitarian world. Therefore this inspired me to write a song called “Love’s become societal” following the study of the book 1984, a spectacular piece of literature by George Orwell. I hope this message comes out strong to the readers.

Love’s become societal

Yuh, love’s become societal, 

At a point where it’s no longer reliable,

Is it viable to live knowing love’s pliable,

You can’t take a compliment without thinking, is she lying huh?

It’s undeniable, 

Someone asked me “What’s your type”,

There we go, love’s categorised, 

It’s become more of a prize, rather than a part of life,

And when she ends it, get ready for spartan cries, 

Don’t remember the last time i saw love to be personal,

Cuz either one goes off to gossip until it returns and curses them,

And when your not straight to the point, it’s the whole world versus them,

How can someone love knowing compliments are rehearsable, 

A sister can’t love without big brother watching her,

Jeez, that sounds creepy, but its reality im dropping cuz, 

I don’t want floodlights to shine on my love life, 

Neither do i want to hide the way love is solemnised,

Swallowing all the pain she left but still got anorexia,

Even a dude with dyslexia can read through love and how it affects ya,

Well the world just gets populated so i can’t expect one on one affections, 

Love triangles occur when there are too many ways to perfection,

Love is perfection, i know it, but we blow it everytime we show it,

Love’s a treasure, pure as gold is, 

But all i can find is where the digging hoe is,

Well i guess thats what the world has come to, 

We’ll find love someday,

I can’t be going into rabbit holes in the middle of a sunday,

Self love, Tough love, sweet one, gay,

Probably More than the covide variant,

Adding them all up, i guess we can say, 

The world of love is totalitarian.