My Science School

Let us now talk about a play about family memories. The Wingfield family is presented in The Glass Menagerie, a play by Tennessee Williams.

The family consists of Amanda Wingfield, and her children, Tom and Laura Wingfield. If you are wondering about Mr. Wingfield, he is mentioned only occasionally in the play. He had abandoned Amanda long back.

Amanda had a comfortable youth, but is now struggling to raise her children. She wishes for her children to have the same comforts as her but, her devotion to them almost makes her appear hateful often. Though her son Tom wants to be a poet, he works at a shoe warehouse to support the family. Needless to say, he is frustrated by his job.

Tom feels both obligated and burdened by his family and longs to escape. His nightly excursions to the movies offer him some escape from reality. His sister Laura is mentally fragile; a childhood illness has left her limp and isolated from the rest of the world. No wonder she suffers from an inferiority complex. She creates a world of her own, symbolized by her collection of glass figurines. The name of the play comes from Laura’s collection of glass figurines- The Glass Menagerie.

The Glass Menagerie made the name Tennessee Williams popular in the literary circles of America and the rest of the world. The play has strong autobiographical elements; it features some behaviours of the author, his histrionic mother, and his mentally fragile sister.

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The Invisible Man by H G Wells is one among the first popular science fiction novels. Published in 1897, the novel revolves around the life and death of a scientist who can become invisible. Griffin is the name of this scientist.

Griffin is a gifted scientist who decides to use his abilities in a rather sinister way. He carries out research in the field of optics and devises an experiment to become invisible. However, his insanity grows with the success of his experiment and this leads him to make increasingly foolish blunders. He uses his invisibility to loot and murder anyone who stood in his way.

In the end, he realizes that his powers are rather useless. Though he could terrify people, loot and kill them, he is not able to enjoy his spoils. He feels terribly lonely and isolated from the rest of the world. Griffin’s body finally becomes visible after he is killed. Though people come to know that he was terribly lonely and misunderstood often, nobody feels an ounce of sympathy because of his evil deeds. Griffin is known by many names in the novel. At first, he is the Stranger who arrives at Iping, then he is the Voice that startles everybody.

The invisible Man was influential in establishing Wells as the ‘father of science fiction’. There have been many invisible characters since this novel, like Susan Storm, the Invisible Woman. Unlike Griffin, Susan Storm uses her invisibility for good deeds.

Buck is perhaps the most loved dog in American writings. Buck is a huge St. Bernard-Scotch Collie mix who lives contentedly in California with Judge Miller. However, he is stolen and sold by the gardener’s assistant Manuel. Later, Buck reaches the Klondike region of Canada, where he is forced to work as a sled dog in the harsh climate.

Buck’s story is told by Jack London in his novel The Call of the Wild. After the initial hardships, Buck finds a loving master named John Thornton. Buck eventually adapts to the wilderness, grows wild and ends up joining a wolf pack. He finally moves away from humans forever and leads a legendary life in the Klondike.

The Call of the Wild was an instant hit when it was first published in 1903. The work also contained illustrations and detailed descriptions of Canada’s natural beauty. The novel is often classified as children’s fiction.

Set during the Great Depression, The Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck focuses on the Joads, a poor family of tenant farmers who are forced out of work due to various reasons. Drought, lack of money, the change in the agricultural industry and debts, trouble the Joads.

The Dust Bowl, a period of severe dust storms, adds to their burden. Finding no other way to survive, the Joads leave their Oklahoma home and set out for California. This journey is a search for jobs, land, money, dignity and a bright future.

Steinbeck based his novel on his many visits to the migrant camps and tent cities of the workers. He had witnessed the horrible living conditions of migrant families. His colloquial style of writing made it easy for the readers to understand the plight of migrant workers. The novel was widely welcomed and hailed by working-class readers. It instantly began to be regarded as an American classic.

The novel begins just after the protagonist Tom Joad is paroled from the McAlester prison. He had been jailed after being convicted of murder in self-defence. While hitch-hiking to his home near Sallisaw, Oklahoma, Tom meets former preacher Jim Casy who tells him that his family has been evicted from the farm and has moved in with Uncle John.

Tom goes to meet Uncle John along with Jim Casy. Together, they all set out for California. They encounter many obstacles on the journey. They are also warned that the jobs they expect in California are illusory.

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Moby-Dick did not get much attention when Herman Melville first published it in 1851. The novel was not liked by the American audience and was not a commercial success. This work began to be celebrated as ‘the Great American Novel’ only in the 20th century.

Moby-Dick is the story of a heroic voyage in which Captain Ahab tries to kill Moby-Dick, a gigantic sperm whale. Ahab is the captain of a whaling ship named Pequod and on a previous expedition, the villainous whale bites off his leg. He now walks on a prosthetic leg made of whale’s bone. The whaling voyage of the Pequod ends up as a hunt for revenge on the whale, as Ahab forces the crew members to support his fanatical mission.

When Ahab finally sights Moby-Dick, he forgets all safety precautions and goes after it. This brings his own death; the novel ends with Moby-Dick dragging him to the bottom of the sea. Captain Ahab is remembered for his mastery over the waters and his sheer willpower that finally kills him. He is indeed a symbol of courage.

It took 18 months for Melville to finish writing this masterpiece. This was a year longer than he had expected. He did tremendous amounts of research to write Moby-Dick, consulting scores of scientific sources and historical events. He also had some first-hand experience in whaling as he had spent some time aboard the Acushnet, a whaling vessel.

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Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mocking-bird is nothing short of a modern American classic. It is in this novel that we find Atticus Finch, a lawyer and resident of the fictional Maycomb County, Alabama.

Atticus Finch is a principled man who spoke against racial justice. He has two kids - Jeremy ‘Jem’ Finch and Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch. He is a gentle father who guides his children by example rather than through fear. However, Atticus earns the wrath of the people when he defends a Black man accused of molestation.

The plot of the novel was inspired in part by Harper Lee’s unsuccessful youthful defence of two African American men convicted of murder. The characters are loosely based on Lee’s observations of her family and her neighbours.

Santiago is an impoverished old fisherman whose good days have left him long ago. He has gone through many ordeals and his epic battle to catch a giant marlin had caught the attention of many literature enthusiasts around the world. If you want to read Santiago’s story, you should get a copy of Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and The Sea.

Santiago is childless and his wife is long dead. He was respected by the community as an accomplished fisherman and a boy named Manolin had been fishing with him since a very young age. The boy visits Santiago’s shack each night. Unfortunately, Santiago goes on for eighty-four days straight without any catch.

On the eighty-fifth day of his unlucky streak, Santiago takes his skiff into the Gulf Stream, sets his lines and by noon has his bait taken by a big fish that he is sure is a marlin.

Santiago is pulled by the marlin as he is not able to haul it; two days and nights pass with Santiago holding onto the line. He is wounded by the struggle and in pain, but does not give up. After three days, he tries to bring the marlin to the shore.

On his way sharks are attracted to the marlin’s blood and by nightfall, the sharks have almost devoured the marlin’s entire carcass, leaving a skeleton. On reaching the shore Santiago fell asleep dreaming of his youth - of lions on an African beach.

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Joseph Heller published Catch-22 in 1961. It is a satirical novel set during the Second World War. It mainly follows the life of the anti-hero Captain John Yossarian, a US Army Air Force B-25 bombardier. The novel examines the absurdity of war and military life through the experiences of Yossarian and his cohorts.

Throughout the novel, Yossarian’s main concern is the idea that people are trying to kill him, either directly by attacking his plane or indirectly by forcing him to fly missions. He goes to great lengths to stay alive. Yossarian and his mates attempt to maintain their sanity while fulfilling their service requirements so that they may return home as soon as possible.

The idea for Catch-22 was based on Joseph Heller’s personal experience in World War II. The feelings that Yossarian and the other bomber pilots felt were taken directly from problems he suffered while on duty.

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Count Dracula is remembered with a mix of horror and admiration by the readers. Bram Stoker is credited with creating this legendary vampire. Though centuries old and undead, Dracula is portrayed as handsome and charismatic. This was different from the portrayal of vampires up until then; they were often shown as repulsive corpse-like creatures.

Dracula is a Transylvanian nobleman who inhabits a decaying castle in the Carpathian Mountains near the Borgo Pass. He would bite people and turn them into vampires. Dracula decides to move to London from Transylvania. He summons Jonathan Harker, a newly qualified English solicitor, to provide legal support for a real estate transaction overseen by Harker’s employer.

In the beginning, Dracula charms him with his cordiality and knowledge; he even rescues Harker from the clutches of the three vampire sisters in the castle. In fact, Dracula just wants to keep Harker alive long enough to complete the legal transaction and to learn as much as possible about England. He later leaves for England leaving Harker to the three sisters. Harker barely escapes. The rest of the novel is about Harker and his friends defeating Dracula.

Dracula is perhaps the most famous vampire in history. This vampire has appeared frequently in popular culture, from films to animated media and even on breakfast cereals!

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The Count of Monte Cristo is Alexander Dumas’s most popular work and is celebrated as a classic. The novel is set in the time of the Bourbon Restoration, a time when Napoleon I abdicated was abdicated and the Bourbon monarchs were restored to the throne in France. Like many of his books, this novel is expanded from the plot outlines suggested by his collaborating ghostwriter Auguste Maquet.

The Count of Monte Cristo talks about Edmond Dantes, an innocent man who is unjustly held in prison, and later manages to escape and takes revenge. Undoubtedly, Edmond Dantes is the protagonist of this much-loved novel. In the beginning, he is portrayed as an honest and loving man. His character undergoes a complete shift after he is framed for a crime which he did not commit; he turns bitter and vengeful. When he is free and enormously wealthy, he takes it upon himself to reward those who have helped him in his plight and punish those who were responsible for his years of suffering.

 

During the year 1866, ships of various nationalities sight a mysterious sea monster. The US government assembles an expedition in New York City to find and destroy the monster. Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: A World Tour Underwater is about finding this monster.

There were many myths and stories about sea giants and sea monsters. Apart from adventure, the novel also talked about science. It was an adventurous science fiction story.

Pierre Aronnax, a famous marine biologist joins the expedition that lasts for five months, ending near the coast of Japan. There, their ship locates the monster and it damages the ship’s rudder. To the crew’s amazement, the monster turns out to be a futuristic submarine; they’re captured, hauled inside, and introduced to the submarine’s mysterious manufacturer and commander, Captain Nemo. Captain Nemo seems to have a dual motivation: a quest for scientific knowledge and a desire to take revenge on terrestrial civilization.

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Many of you might have grown up listening to the adventurous travels of Gulliver. Lemuel Gulliver is a surgeon and sea captain who visits remote regions of the world. He is the protagonist of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels.

The novel is in four parts, each describing one of Gulliver’s adventures. Gulliver visits Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa and the land of Houyhnhnms. While Lilliput is the land of tiny people who are not more than fifteen centimetres tall, Brobdingnag is the land of giants. Laputa is a flying island; with one eye pointing inward and the other outward, the people of Laputa are so lost in thought that they must be reminded to pay attention to the world around them.

In the fourth part, Gulliver visits the land of the Houyhnhnms, a race of intelligent horses who are cleaner, more rational, communal, and benevolent. After meeting these horses, he ends up with a feeling of disgust towards humans.

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Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables presents a vast panorama of Parisian society and its under-world. The novel elaborates upon the history of France, the architecture and urban design of Paris, politics, moral philosophy, religion, and the types and nature of romantic and familial love.

Jean Valjean is the protagonist of the novel. He spends long nineteen years in prison with fearsome prison hulks. After being released, Valjean starts a new life under the name Monsieur Madeleine but his hardships do not leave him. He is haunted by his criminal past time and again.

To add fuel to the fire, Valjean’s former jailer Javert identifies him, setting the stage for an epic game of cat-and mouse. Valjean eventually gives himself up for the sake of his adopted daughter, Cosette, and her husband, Marius.

Pride and Prejudice is one of Jane Austen’s most celebrated novels. It is about the Bennet family and the complex relationships that they share with each other.

The Bennets belong to a society where marriage is the only possible future for a young girl of good family.

The Bennet family has five daughters- Elizabeth, Jane, Catherine, Lydia and Mary. Elizabeth and Jane are well-mannered. Mary is less physically attractive and holds onto intellectual and musical pretensions while Catherine and Lydia are both left almost abandoned to run wild under the careless supervision of their mother.

Elizabeth, the protagonist of the novel is much like her father; she is intelligent, high-spirited and shares her father’s distaste for the conventional views of society about the importance of wealth and rank. She is matched with the aristocratic hero Fitzwilliam Darcy.

Elizabeth and Darcy share a turbulent relationship in the beginning. She initially mistakes his pride for arrogance, but later changes her opinion and falls in love with him. The romantic novel ends with a happy note with all the Bennet sisters getting married.

Pride and Prejudice was published in 1813.

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When Robinson Crusoe, a novel by Daniel Defoe was first published, many people believed that Robinson Crusoe was a real person, and the book, a travelogue of true incidents. The book is told in an autobiographical tone.

Though we do not know if there was someone named Robinson Crusoe for real, the story is believed to be based on the life of Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish castaway who lived for four years on a Pacific island.

Robinson Crusoe is a headstrong young man who ignores his family’s advice and leaves his comfortable middle-class home in England to go to sea.

Though his initial experiences at the sea are not so favourable, his perseverance makes him a successful merchant.

During one of his voyages, he encounters a storm in the Caribbean, and his ship is nearly destroyed. He survives the shipwreck and spends almost three decades on a remote island near the coasts of Venezuela and Trinidad.

Crusoe departs from the island with Friday, his trusted servant. He goes to England with a group of pirates.

Though he leads a settled life for a while after selling his plantation in Brazil, he is never able to resist his temptation to go back to the island.

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