3rd Blog Response (Juice)

            After reading page 8-11 in “Translation” from Juice by Renee Gladman I tried to figure out who the character was and where the story was taking place. My first impression was that the narrator talks about their town and says “Most people will say they have not heard of my town; even those with imagination will deny it. But you will never see a more fantastic place. The narrator then says “we have statues that the sky illuminates to such a degree that we live on them. The first thought that came to my mind after reading these sentences was that the narrator was describing heaven or a place of that nature. Maybe narrator is saying that most people haven’t heard of heaven or will deny its existence. Then she speaks of the statues that are in the sky and maybe the grand statues are the ones that line the streets of heaven. But then the narrator says “They aren’t mirrors; they are magnificent distractions of great height and fortitude. They are brick and handsome.” I thought this sentence was describing a mountain range and that she was comparing the mountains to heaven in their beauty and how it brought them peace. After reading the last paragraph on page ten that extends to page 11 my thoughts of the narrator comparing their location or their situation to a heavenly or spiritual nature was reinforced. The narrator says “Well, imagine coming home to a one-hundred-mile expanse of beauty that you always have thought of yourself, and finding on that day it exists without you. The narrator also says “No science can explain what propels this story. The land can hardly contain its volatile nature. Anyone observing my predicament would wonder why I have continued on. But, in a way, because there are no observers, I have no choice but to go on.” To me when the narrator talks about returning home and finding what you thought was yourself existing without you, I thought they had died. Not knowing they had died their spirit returned to home only to find their body separated from the spirit that still exists. I also thought that is why the narrator said that science cannot explain the story, because nobody knows for sure what lies beyond. Also when the narrator says there are no observers so they have to continue, I thought it meant that no one could see them because they were a ghost.

            As I read pages 12-17 the narrator seems to be telling the back story of the narrator’s life and how they came to be in the predicament mentioned on page 8.These pages also seem to fit my earlier assumption of something spiritual. The narrator says “Last month, there were voices in my dream. Voices direct and full of passion sounding strange in my dream. I think they were my ancestors. I mean, I think that’s where hope comes from.” To me this meant that the narrator’s ancestors were trying to communicate to them about death and tell them it was ok to pass on to the other side. The narrator then says “Many years back there was a virus ravaging us-made the black skin of my neighbors turn toward the moon. At the time, I was too young to be affected by the cycles of the moon. Bear in mind, this is a land without normal science. The Floyds’ boy was the only one to decipher that science, but he was sick. To me this meant that the virus was taking many of their lives so they began to pray to god which represented the moon. I thought the sick boy who deciphered the science actually was seeing god or the spirits beckoning him to come with them and he did not have a chance to tell the others what he was seeing before he died. On page 14 and again at the very end of page 17 the narrator mentions sex. Saying “There are games one play’s while one is waiting for a mass return; they are mostly sexual. I cannot help but be sexual before there mountains, their flirtish behavior and exquisite face. I found that I am moved to ecstacy-ecstacy being my most treasured activity.” And “So far it has been sex and leaves that keep me alive.” I don’t think the narrator is talking about literal sex but using it as a metaphor. I think the narrator is trying to covey the beauty of the mountains and the forest and that their beauty is so magnificent it brings the same joy and emotional pleasure as sex.

            Pages 18-20 solidify my earlier assumptions in concrete it seems. Throughout these 3 pages the narrator talks about visions and spirits. The narrator says “There are certain things about the spirits I figured out. For instance, they knew me- a few moments into their initial visit I could tell they had thoroughly studied me. Well, I thought that would mean something-communication might be clearer or anything except what did it mean. You see, these figures had no voices. My town had gone and the only semblance of humans that I’d seen were not humans at all, but photolytic patients who were lonelier than me.” To me when the narrator talks about the spirits knowing them it reminded me of how people say god knows everything you do and is always watching. When the narrator says the spirits have no voices and their town was gone they haven’t seen another human, I thought it meant that the spirits wanted the narrator to pass over to the other said but would allow them to come when they were ready. The reason why the narrator hadn’t seen another human was because they are dead and stuck in limbo. The narrator then says “Spirits teach people about death. When they come and there is nobody dead, then they themselves want to be taught.” I thought this meant the narrator was dead but still did not accept the fact that they had died and when the spirits visited, the narrator became frightened at the thought of death being the reality. Towards the end of the story the narrator says “It has been six years since the exodus. A year since I last spoke. I have forty-two years left of anticipated health, and anticipate five hundred years before the great tidal wave. Things here slowly returning to slime and translation.” To me this meant that the narrator had anticipated to live a normal life but was beginning to realize that they were in a place where time had no meaning, for example when the narrator mentioned 500 years before the tidal wave. Towards the end where the narrator said things are slowly returning I thought it meant that they had returned back to the town, which brought us back to the beginning of the story where the narrator found themselves separated from the body and realized they had died. Maybe this is why the narrator has no name because they are trying to convey the body is only a vessel and what really matters is the spirit that is contained within it.