{"id":415,"date":"2016-10-31T21:17:16","date_gmt":"2016-11-01T01:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/?p=415"},"modified":"2016-10-31T21:17:16","modified_gmt":"2016-11-01T01:17:16","slug":"dispersing-all-complexity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/2016\/10\/31\/dispersing-all-complexity\/","title":{"rendered":"Dispersing All Complexity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Both Adrienne Rich and Tony Kushner address the importance of recognizing the complexity of life in its totality, of recognizing not just the end, but the means\u2014life is, in chemical terms, a not a state function but a path function. On page 44 of Kushner\u2019s \u201cAngels in America,\u201d Louis explains to Prior his philosophy on judgement and justice. Louis says \u201c\u2026It\u2019s not the verdict that counts, it\u2019s the act of judgement\u2026it should be the questions and shape of a life, its total complexity gathered, arranged and considered, which matters in the end, not some stamp of salvation or damnation which disperses all the complexity in some unsatisfying little decision.\u201d One\u2019s morality should be viewed in the context of their entire lived experience before judgement is bestowed. If life is a math problem, it should not be multiple choice. There should not simply be \u201ccorrect\u201d or \u201cincorrect.\u201d We should be graded on the work we show, and we deserve the opportunity to be awarded partial credit\u2014the estimation of our success or failure should not weigh solely upon our final answer. As Louis described it, relying on the verdict without regard to the judgement process \u201cdisperses all complexity,\u201d minimizing the validity of what we have overcome to get to where we are. In other words, the whole is lesser <\/em>than the sum of its parts.<\/p>\n

In Rich\u2019s poem \u201cFox,\u201d she similarly emphasizes the process by which a life is shaped or formed, the importance of recognizing in others the circumstances or \u201cbriars\u201d that lacerate the skin over the course of our individual histories. However, in Kushner\u2019s play, Louis is addressing this topic to make a comment about justice and judgement, and how it is more complicated than simply giving someone a \u201cstamp of salvation or damnation.\u201d Alternatively, Rich is primarily concerned with how recognizing the path or shape of one\u2019s entire life can help validate her own existence and her own life. I think this difference highlights Tony Kushner\u2019s purpose in writing this play. The entire book serves as a commentary on society at a specific point in time. It is a period piece on 80\u2019s and 90\u2019s. Rich\u2019s poem is much more focused on the individual, on internal struggle. Louis\u2019s words highlight Kushner\u2019s intention to make broader comments on society, and how the LGBTQ community fit into society leading up to the turn of the century.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Both Adrienne Rich and Tony Kushner address the importance of recognizing the complexity of life in its totality, of recognizing not just the end, but the means\u2014life is, in chemical terms, a not a state function but a path function. On page 44 of Kushner\u2019s \u201cAngels in America,\u201d Louis explains to Prior his philosophy on … Continue reading Dispersing All Complexity<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3235,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[111423],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall-2016"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3235"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}