“Suddenly, somewhere in the house, there is a loud yowl and bark. An instant later Mallory comes screaming into the living room with Hillary nipping at his tail. It is not the first time they have involved themselves in such a routine. The only exception is that on this occasion, after dashing up and over the sofa, both puppy and cat head straight down the hallway and disappear into the darkness. Navidson probably would have gone in after them had he not instantly heard barks outside followed by Karen’s shouts accusing him of letting the animals out when on that day they were supposed to stay in.
‘What the hell?’ we hear Navidson mutter loudly.
Sure enough Hillary and Mallory are in the backyard. Mallory up a tree, Hillary howling grandly over his achievement.” (Danielewski, 75)

In Danielewski’s novel House of Leaves, the changes in the house on Ash Tree Lane are a metaphor for the world and society. The changes in the house start at a closet which randomly appears one day. The closet grows into a labyrinth which eventually has an immeasurable depth and constantly changes its size and shapes. It seems that the house has a mind of its own and makes transitions almost randomly. However, it might not be that simple. The changes within the house clearly reflect the characters, their thoughts and personalities, and the house makes its shifts in correlation to those factors. Oddly, the house has no effect on the animals within it, and they consequently have no effect on the house.

Rather shifts constantly occurring randomly, the changes in the house could be what each character perceives it to be. This is a clear reflection of society and the world. If we look at society, everyone has different views on different issues. One thing may be what it is, but will be seen very differently in each other person’s eyes. The personalities and experiences of each individual changes the way each person views any given situation. Consequently, that individual’s views on the situation will affect their reactions. The reactions then change the situation. In the house on Ash Tree Lane, when any character sees the staircase grow, it merely seems that way because of their fear or loss of hope.

This passage about the houses affect on the two pets shows that there was, in fact, no affect on the animals at all. The dog and cat run into the closet (a labyrinth to the humans in the story) which acts solely as a door for them to the outside. This is because the two animals have different characteristics than humans. As explained in the novel, animals have no sense of life and death, nor of fear. Because of this, there is no reason for the house to change in correlation to the animals’ senses, as their fear would not grow. Also, the house literally would not be able to change with them because the two pets do not think anything of the changes nor the reactions of the people around them.

This situation with the animals also reflects society but in an almost literal sense. Without a fear of death or loss, animals are able to live life at a very simple level, involving to labyrinths (or confusion). Humans, on the other hand, are always concerned with this issue and do everything in their power to avoid such events. This only causes more problems (shown as the growing and shrinking closet space) and more confusion and fear in people.

Blog #15
The character that i feel most sympathy for is I would say Nicole Burnell because all her childhood life up until the accident he was molested by her own father. All she could do about it was cry and think of ways to kill herself yet she never had the courage or "supplies" to do it, I wouldn't say that she had missed a lot of her childhood though because this only happens at night and then during the day it was all as if nothing had ever happened. The character I feel least sympathy for would be the Otto Family because even though they had lost their son Bear, they are having another child on the way. Bear was only an adopted son and so even though it seemed like it I wouldn't say that the Otto family had lost much.

Blog #14
the relationship between morality and law, morality is what the person conscience is trying to make the person do while law is not part of the conscience that it is enforced by others. For example, Billy Ansel after the accident stopped having he affair with Risa Walker, the accident opened his mind and showed him that having the affair was wrong his "morality" is telling him to stop and if he were to continue it would be wrong. Mitchell Stephen is all about law, the things that he does is about law. He tried to use law to help people avenge their children's death by sueing who ever was responsible for the crash. however it was his moral conscience that motivated him to take the case to try to persuade people to join the lawsuit.

Blog #13
Why would anyone be a lawyer?? I would say that being a lawyer is to fight for something or someone, that is the job of a lawyer. However after reading the ending and finding out about what happened to the building I would say that being a lawyer really has no point if people were to going to destroy their own pocessions to gain money. Now a days to be a lawyer you have to have money to begin with also all the right connections, if you don't have those then whats the point, only if you're really determined to work you way up as a lawyer then good luck. I see lawyers now a days know so many people, to be a lawyer I believe that you have to be well-rounded and open.

blog #12
on page 72 it talks about what happends during the family's barbecue. I think that most of the lawyers in the book talks about the hours that they work instead of what happens with their clients. deciding to be a lawyer was their choice, most people would choose to be a lawyer because its something that they love to do and feels motivated to do, however the characters in this story doesn't seem to have much interest in being a lawyer that being a lawyer to them is just another job and obligation that they have to do. which brings us to Katja because unlike the other lawyers she keeps her morals and is true about her feelings. she is able to keep work and personal life seperate, she doesn't join the two and so she sets her mind into different things she does. In general Katja is a nice person as a result while working at the law firm she feels sympathy for those who were killed.

Blog #10
On page 24-25 it shows that septimus is talking to himself and then suddenly sees an old friend and then is stopped by Rezia and then goes goes back to Septimus's talking. I think this relates to the stream of consciousnes because it shows that septimus is talking to himself, or well thinking, and then all of a sudden is stopped and then like it stopped it started again.

“The Law” does not seem to relate so much to morality as it does fact. Peter Morgan does not see his business as a way to help his common man navigate the sometimes confusing realm of legal activity, but as a way to make profit. He looks at it in terms of black and white. While somebody like Katja has moral hang-ups about what seems ethical and serves the justice system correctly. In “The Shadow of the Law”, things seem to be more about legal reasoning than anything else.
If things were simply about morality, then the legal system would be a constant argument about what was “right” and “wrong”. Mark Clayton puts it well when he is trying to find more evidence on the DNA testing of his pro bono case when he says, “How could such a simple task become so complicated? A sign the legal system was working perhaps” (102). This sort of a comment sums up the legal system represented in the book quite well. After hurdling through hoops and different levels of court proceedings, it is clear that above all, “the law” reigns supreme. It is there to punish and reward based on sole fact and the ability to prove what you are arguing. Moral justice seem to be the least of most characters motives.

“For in this long digression which I was accidentally led into, as in all my digressions (one only excepted) there is a master-stroke of digressive skill, the merit of which has all along, I fear, been overlooked by my reader, - - not for want of penetration in him, - but because ‘tis an excellence seldom looked for, or expected indeed, in a digression; - - - and it is this: That tho’ my digressions are all fair, as you observe, - and that I fly from what I am about, as far and as often too as any writer in Great-Britain ; yet I constantly take care to order affairs, so that my main business does not stand still in my absence.”(Pg. 63)

This particular passage comes from Volume I Chapter XXII when Tristram Shandy begins to digress again in his writing. It comments on how “he” (be it Tristram or Sterne) has a particular skill in doing such a thing, “as in all my digressions…there is a master-stroke of digressive skill, the merit of which has all along, I fear, been overlooked by my reader.” This is a comment about his genius and ingenuity as a writer. However, though he may have this masterful skill of digressing it often times is done by accident. This we know because he states that “[f]or in this long digression which I was accidentally led into, as in all my digressions (one only excepted)”, meaning that all but one of his digressions was an accident.

This is relevant to the rest of the book because the entire book has many digressions and distractions. One such incident is when Tristram is being born and his Uncle and father “…wonder what’s all that noise, and running backwards and forwards for, above stairs…”(56) and Uncle Toby begins to speak and is interrupted by Walter Shandy (Tristram’s father). This sentence he begins isn’t continued until the Volume II Chapter VI. It comes thirty-two pages later, in fact a whole volume later. If somebody were reading this book, they would have to wait until Laurence Sterne wrote the next novel to find out what he was even going to say. That is a very long time to wait to find out what somebody was going to say. Think about it, if you were reading that sentence, and you were wondering about what happened, you thought, “hey, I can just keep reading it and I will find out what was said”, but you would be wrong. It isn’t even wrapped up in that volume. Then you have to wait until the next volume comes out to see if that particular passage was even brought up again. In the mean time you have your entire life to live. You have to get up in the morning, go to work or school, do homework later if you are in school, if not then you get to come home and make dinner and do whatever it is until it’s time to go to bed. And in doing all that there is all the other random stuff you do in the meantime; all the clubs, working out, building models, chores, gardening, grocery shopping, video games, etc, all the things in your life that distract you from doing the next thing on your list of things to do. This only goes to prove that life is full of “digressions”. People had other things to do in their lives and then finally, the next novel comes out and that one sentence that you had thought about when reading it and now forgot, has reappeared in Volume II Chapter VI.

All the distractions and digressions one faces every day is very eluding and counter-productive to what one really intends to do. These digressions too can be found in other books, Sterne maybe the first to do so but no the last. House of Leaves is another book to do these digressions. In it, Johnny often times interrupted with his own stories, anecdotes, thoughts, and notes in the “main text” of the book. Too often this distracts the reader. But, just as there is a reason to Tristram/Steren doing this, so was the idea behind Danielewski’s, for it all ties in the end to make the novel what it is.

Just as Tristram has digressed, so too have I, though not as well, and to prove my point about what it was the Tristram/Sterne was saying. That is that digressions occur and more often than not it is an accident and not done on purpose. Tristram begins the quote by stating that “…I was accidentally led into, as in all my digressions…” however it is also a commentary on the masterful skill it takes to do such thing, and that if we hadn’t noticed it by now that we have overlooked something very meaningful and in depth. And though he may constantly avoid ever really talking about himself he in actuality is talking about himself. In addition to which, only one of his digressions was done on purpose, but he never does state which one it was. And though this happens they all happen by a masterful (or maybe even lucky) stroke. And it is by his shear ingenuity that he is able to tie them all together.

Sometimes though it is done on purpose, like when you are trying to change a topic or divert questions from your self. This we encounter often times in life. For instance, if your mother told you to not eat cookies out of the cookie jar and you did, and she found out, you try diverting her questions when she asked you if you had taken any. If successful, you get away and your tummy is full, and if you fail then you probably get grounded, but your tummy is still full.

Life is full of distractions and misleading paths, but in the end somehow it works out and you get to where you want. This I feel is the underlying tone behind the quote by Tristram. Though you may have things organized and you may digress from them, there is a peculiar genius in which it all ties together in the end.

“Writing, when properly managed, (as you may be sure I think mine is) is but a different name for conversation: As no one, who knows what he is about in good company, would venture to talk all; - so no author, who understands the just boundaries of decorum and good breeding, would presume to think all: The truest respect which you can pay to the reader’s understanding, is to halve this matter amicably, and leave him something to imagine, in his turn, as well as yourself. For my own part, I am eternally paying him compliments of this kind, and do all that lies in my power to keep his imagination as busy as my own.”(96)

In the chapters that precede this passage, Tristram is going on with the story of his birth and the events that are occurring at the same time, between Obadiah and Dr. Slop, and his father and uncle. Tristram interrupts this narrative to explain his opinion on good writing and how he is portraying it. Tristram believes that quality writing is like a conversation. As a good author, who respects his readership, it is necessary that he allow the reader to imagine things for himself. Tristram returns to the story of his birth, by directing the reader to imagine specific events that take place. Tristram instructs the reader that he has done his job as a great writer by giving “an ample description of Dr. Slop,” and it is now the reader’s turn to imagine the events with Tristram’s description in their mind.

Tristram tells the reader that he is paying him a compliment and respect by keeping his imagination busy. This passage is also insulting, for the not so careful reader, who may have not paid close attention to the description of Dr. Slop. Tristram explains that writing is like conversation “in good company.” If a reader were to fail at imagining Dr. Slop and the setting, he would obviously not be of “good breeding,” according to Tristram, since the author would be required to do all the thinking for him. Tristram slyly boasts about his writing ability, while at the same time sneakily teasing the reader. It seems that Tristram is fishing for a “thank you” from his readers. The last sentence of the passage is particularly pompous, using extravagant phrases such as, “eternally paying him”, and “all that lies in my power.” It is as though Tristram wants to make the reader feel that they should be indebted to him for allowing them to imagine.

This passage reminded me of an earlier passage in Chapter 20, Volume One, in which Tristram interrupts his story and tells the reader to look back on the previous chapter to catch something in all likelihood they had missed. He ends that chapter by saying, he wishes that this error “may have its effects;- and that all good people…may be taught to think as well as read” (53). The passage above follows that same tactic of offending the reader in the guise of concern and respect for the reader.

Through these interruptions aimed toward the reader, Sterne is able to express the opinions and character of Tristram Shandy. At the time of this passage Tristram is still yet to be born, but the reader has already learned much about him. It is obvious that Tristram is quite charismatic and arrogant. He loves to point out how is works of writing are great, and is short with the reader who does not pay close attention to it. When he thinks we may not notice the greatness of his writing, he has no qualm with pointing out what he is doing and how it is great. Using this tactic Sterne, can tease and humor his audience in a very witty way, while at the same time building Shandy’s character

Billy Ansel is the character who i feel the most sympathy for. For what he lost and how he lost it. I don't feel bad for him that he went to Vietnam, i think that it was not a completely negative experience for him. However the loss of his wife to cancer would be a very difficult thing to deal with. That's not all though, losing his children in the accident is what makes me feel the most sympathetic to him. You could say that lot's of parents lost their children in the accident, but how many had lost their spouse only years before? Billy's children were the sole purpose for life. He was all that they had and they were all that he had, they were the legacy of his wife. The relationship that he was having with Risa was a hollow one as could be seen in the aftermath of the accident. When Billy's children died, so did he.

The people who i feel the least sympathetic for are Nichole Burnell's parents. First and foremost they did not lose their child. They are also the largest proponents in the lawsuit that Mitchell Stephens began. It is especially difficult to feel sympathetic for the dad after knowing what he did to Nichole and not much easier to feel sympathetic for the Mom. Their motives are based in greed and it is obvious that they do not listen closely to Nichole, otherwise they would not go along with the lawsuit as she does not want to.