It was back in 2011 when I decided to change my blog's address into acupoftrembling.blogspot.com. As I recalled, I was in my favorite-class-everrr, which was American Culture and Literature, conducted by
Pak Kirk Branch. I have always had and always will have an immense interest towards literature and artworks, that's why I never skipped any single meeting of these lit classes (well, wait, did I? LOL). To quote one of The Beatles' song,
Across the Universe,
Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup
They slither wildly as they slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my opened mind
Possessing and caressing me
Jai Guru Deva OM~
this stanza depicts the circumstance I endured when I was attending Amlit's lectures. Coming empty-headed, going out fully-loaded and enriched with various knowledge transferred thru the discussions. Each discussion we had every week was capable enough in arousing our interest or curiosity towards each topic or story or poem. Well, this Tuesday 4-6 pm class was at first terrorize me. Why is that so? What the hey ho! I never had Pak Kirk's class before, besides, the other students enrolled in this class were typically having 'brutal' study track records and on their state of being held in high esteem and honour. One Tuesday, we were having a fascinating discussion on a short story by James Baldwin entitled
"Sonny's Blues" (1957). You can download the pdf version of Sonny's Blues
here. We were deciphering the closing part of it.
Sonny's Blues is a story written in the first-person singular narrative
style. The story opens with the narrator, who reads about his younger
brother named Sonny who has been caught in a heroin bust. The narrator
then goes about his day; he is a teacher at a school in Harlem. However,
he cannot get his mind off Sonny. He thinks about all the boys in his
class, who don’t have bright futures and are most likely doing drugs,
just like Sonny. After school, he meets a friend of Sonny’s, who tells
him that they will lock him up and make him detox, but eventually he
will be let out and be all alone.
I got a very vivid and open-ended interpretation from
here:
At the very end of the story, the narrator has come to watch Sonny play
piano at a nightclub, and it seems that he finally sees how talented his
brother is. But more importantly, he also seems to see that music is a
part of Sonny. It's something he has to have in his life in
order to function. As a gesture of this new understanding, the narrator
sends Sonny a drink, which he places above him on the piano as he
plays. This creates a striking image for the narrator: "For me, then,
as they began to play again, it glowed and shook above my brother's head
like the very cup of trembling" (239).
The "cup of trembling" is a biblical reference from the Book of Isaiah 51:22
Thus
saith thy Lord the Lord, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his
people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling,
even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again.
Scholars and critics tend to interpret this passage as
God's expression of forgiveness and humankind's opportunity for
redemption – God has essentially removed the temptation that initially
created his anger. For this reason literary critics often read the
ending of "Sonny's Blues" as a symbol of Sonny's redemption.
After hearing and trying to decode this message infused, I felt like I was going under a spell. It shed a light on me then finally I started blogging again and changed my blog's address into this cup of trembling thingy. Referring to this allusion, I got the illusion of getting myself redeemed and was removed from something perilous. Speaking of which, I don't want to just feel the ambiance of this allusion, to drown in the act of deluding; deception by creating illusory ideas, but also to create, post, and savor feasible ideas of perfection brings forth in imperfections.
AMERICAN CULTURE AND LITERATURE YEAR 2011 FULL CASTS:
from left to right:
Adit (big guy wearing stripes shirt)
One of the SoE's Three Musketeers. (sorry, I forget your name, pal.....)
Mas 2006ers. (I also forget his name :D)
Ogie (black jacket)
Ligar (grey tees and stripes jacket)
ADI PRATAMA, meeen! (stripes shirt)
Kokoh 2006ers. (lali, aku laliii)
Pak Kirk Branch
The always happy and cheerful, the famous
George (bald, skinhead)
The joyful noise!
Wida (hands on cheek)
Partner in crime,
Antonia (chubby!)
Christian (Nike jacket)
the crouchings, left to right:
The Man of the Match!
Offin
Dewi
The Scholar!
Ikka (flowery shirt)
Dian
Butet
Cutest friend!
Konjel (blue flannel)
MEH!
Nyssa :)))))))
down on their knees, left to right:
2007ers
mba 2006ers
The popular gal,
Yuandhita:)))
