Curse

zehly · Nov 22, 2005, 02:46 AM // 02:46

Hello all!

I'm doing a lengthy paper for one of my classes that has to do with the following short story, and I'd be very grateful for your interpretations and thoughts; hopefully I will be able to get past my writer's block with your help!

Original Text

Quote:

Aus Bertolt Brecht's "Geschichten von Herrn Keuner"

„Was tun Sie“, wurde Herr K. gefragt, „wenn Sie einen Menschen lieben?“
„Ich mache mir einen Entwurf von ihm“, sagte Herr K., „und sorge dafür, dass er ihm ähnlich wird.“
„Wer? Der Entwurf?“
„Nein“, sagte Herr K., „der Mensch.“

Translated Text

Quote:

A piece out of Bertolt Brecht's "Stories of Mr. Keuner"

"What do you do," someone asked Mr. K, "when you love a person?"
"Well, I create a design (1) of them", replied Mr. K, "and I make sure that the two match up."
"Who? The design [matches the person]?"
"No", replied Mr. K, "the person [matches the design]".(2)

Notes
(1) The word "design" here means something along the lines of a mental imagine, a template, or a schematic.
(2) The idea here is "does your design of the person match the person" versus "does the person match your design."

Thanks guys!!!
~ Lain

Sanji · Nov 22, 2005, 02:51 AM // 02:51

It sounds like instead of wanting to compromise, Mr. K goes into relationships with an expectation, an idea of what he wants in someone he loves and tries to make certain that person follows that design.

Lasareth · Nov 22, 2005, 02:58 AM // 02:58

Sounds like love to him is obedience, not unconditional love as many would think true love is.

chris_nin00 · Nov 22, 2005, 03:00 AM // 03:00

That's really deep... I never thought about that.

I think, well it really doesn't matter, that both sides are right if and only if those factors are both there.

Blah, blah, blah

zehly · Nov 22, 2005, 03:23 AM // 03:23

Good responses!! Keep them coming!!

EchoSex · Nov 22, 2005, 03:25 AM // 03:25

Sounds like he's talking to God, don't it? Creating two together for a relationship..

chris_nin00 · Nov 22, 2005, 03:33 AM // 03:33

After reading it a second time I notice something...

The dude is willing to make a design for a loved one, instead of making the loved one design to fit for the dude, so the dude can make the person he designs for happy!

But if both people design each other wouldn't that make them hate one another?

Shukrut · Nov 22, 2005, 03:47 AM // 03:47

To me it seems like it's a counter part to the saying "love is blind"... Like this Mr.K loves someone... But as love is blind, how can he really be sure he trully loves that person? So he builds up in his mind his "loved one" and check out if the one in his mind matches with the one in front of him. If they match it's really love if not then he was just mistaken... It's probably he just had an easy lay at that time and went for it

EchoSex · Nov 22, 2005, 03:48 AM // 03:48

Opposites attract?

chris_nin00 · Nov 22, 2005, 03:49 AM // 03:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by EchoSex

Opposites attract?

That's the dam phrase I'm looking for Echo!

Shukrut · Nov 22, 2005, 03:50 AM // 03:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by EchoSex

Opposites attract?

Not too sure here, can't really get that idea when reading the text... But why not?

zehly · Nov 22, 2005, 04:12 AM // 04:12

What I got out of it is this:

Sometimes we build our own mental pictures of someone, and instead of letting those mental pictures change to go with the person, we try to force the person to remain within the boundaries of our own image of her.

But what does this mean to you? Why do we as people do this? And how does it affect our relationships?

Lasareth · Nov 22, 2005, 04:42 AM // 04:42

People have a lot of pride by nature, it's the human instinct to put yourself before others, or we wouldn't have survived past prehistory. It's self-preservation. Part of 'love' is letting the selfless aspect of humanity overpass the selfish aspect, which is going against the very nature of humanity.

I would wager a guess that this is what the writer was trying to get at, through his character trying to depict the nature of humanity, while juxtaposing it against 'design' (because design implies an image constructed, and the notion of construction is beyond primitive instinct.).

He's saying that true love is more evolved than instinct by contrasting it with someone who (from the small excerpt) seems to act sophisticated, but in truth is still as primitive as the next man

I think

Aracos79 · Nov 22, 2005, 05:25 AM // 05:25

We all want that "perfect somebody" for a mate. When we think we've found that person, we try to squeeze them into whatever "mold" we have in our mind of what our "true love" is suppose to be. And whether they are that image or not, we judge them based on the image, not on what they really are.

I should know... I made a big mistake with somebody by doing exactly that.

PieXags · Nov 22, 2005, 07:02 AM // 07:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by zehly

Hello all!

I'm doing a lengthy paper for one of my classes that has to do with the following short story, and I'd be very grateful for your interpretations and thoughts; hopefully I will be able to get past my writer's block with your help!

Original Text

Translated Text

Notes
(1) The word "design" here means something along the lines of a mental imagine, a template, or a schematic.
(2) The idea here is "does your design of the person match the person" versus "does the person match your design."

Thanks guys!!!
~ Lain

It sounds to me like...Mr. K, is a person who's thought and thought over what to do with his ideas of people for a long time. And after having thought for so long, the conclusion he's come to is that we're all biased. When he meets someone, he puts an image of them in his head, their personality is burned into his memory and it will always be paired together with the person, like a first impression. Being that his "mental image", or idea of the person is his own, he's more likely to favor the idea. We all favor our own ideas, subconciously or not. He realizes this, and finds it impossible and bothersome to try and mold people to his image, as opposed to the other way around. Being that he'll live with his thoughts his whole life, he figures it best to avoid that bit of controversy and just find someone who matches his thoughts.

Whether it's right to favor only the idea of someone as opposed to learning to enjoy their real selves, I can't say. I know that it's near impossible to learn to live with some people, though. Mr. K might have it right.

SOT · Nov 22, 2005, 07:21 AM // 07:21

You have all just been owned by a sociology project. She gets an A+

kg_lildude1 · Nov 22, 2005, 10:55 AM // 10:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by zehly

What I got out of it is this:

Sometimes we build our own mental pictures of someone, and instead of letting those mental pictures change to go with the person, we try to force the person to remain within the boundaries of our own image of her.

But what does this mean to you? Why do we as people do this? And how does it affect our relationships?

IMO this is because we cannot let loose the flow of change, because we hope that that person will never change, in doing so we hinder relationships because we cannot let the other person be visualized as they should be.

how does it affect our relationships?
simple. its like radioactivity, it degrades them over time unless cared for and mended

Naprius · Nov 22, 2005, 11:08 AM // 11:08

i don't make designs of the girls i fall in love with.

i fell in love with em because they are the way they are.

i dont know, it sounds like a big load of bull to me.

Aracos79 · Nov 22, 2005, 07:06 PM // 19:06

But what is "love"? We all have our own ideas of what love is, and what it means to be "in love". So when we're in that kind of situation, we use our IDEA of love to judge, rather than simply relying on who and what the person we're "in love" with is.

Shimus DarkRaven · Nov 22, 2005, 08:05 PM // 20:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by zehly

Hello all!

I'm doing a lengthy paper for one of my classes that has to do with the following short story, and I'd be very grateful for your interpretations and thoughts; hopefully I will be able to get past my writer's block with your help!

Original Text

Translated Text

Notes
(1) The word "design" here means something along the lines of a mental imagine, a template, or a schematic.
(2) The idea here is "does your design of the person match the person" versus "does the person match your design."

Thanks guys!!!
~ Lain

(1) The wor design here means something like you have made up in your mind of how "Good" or "genuine" people are.
(2) This means did they live up to your hopes? Your dreams? Did they match what you were seeking?

--The Shim