Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Kinetoscope and 1890s life

The narrator in Kinetoscope is an outsider deep down from the beginning, although he may not know it. Similar to the "Pedestrian" short story,  he is a man that is curious in a world that does not question the status quo. He started as an obedient viewer with curiosity, following the messages and watching the first two scenes. He found that there were outsiders even in the shorts that he watched. The mother of the Egyptian girl was an outsider, recognizing that she had power over her daughter's audience (the young men in the room). The little black girl was also a catalyst for another outsider, the white man that enjoyed her dancing. In all three cases, an outsider spawned from an abnormality in society. Because the narrator was open to the abnormality of the 1890s, film, he was able to grow into a critically-thinking citizen in a world blinded by and aligned with mainstream thought. By coming into his own, he ended up becoming an abnormality in his world too.
Mrs. Mallard was an outsider too, going against the traditional woman's role. She wanted to be freed from her husband, realizing life with him was good, but living life for herself was something that she truly yearned for. It excited her that she could live for herself now. She went against society's demand to grieve her husband's death, but breaking away from that would leave room for an insurmountable joy.

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