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Slaughterhouse: Write Up
Most people would think that older text such as, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and
Heart of Darkness would not relate to images from a younger generation. The books, movies,
and television shows that children today watches are thought to much different than what our
grandparents might have read or watched. Of course there are many differences between today
and when our grandparents were children, but what if there were some similarities to be made
between these two different generations? Older text and new images could be the new way to
enhancing what children already know about a particular book.
The first image in my slaughterhouse multimedia presentation is from Sir Gawain and
the Green Knight and the picture is from Footloose, the original movie. The quote says, “Green
Church? chunters the knight. More like the devil‟s lair where, at the nub of night he makes his
morning prayer” (167). This quote shows that Sir Gawain is not thinking straight and believes
that everything is evil. He is looking at a hill and in his mind it is the devil‟s lair. In the movie
Footloose, the preacher is trying to protect the people of the town from the devil and any harm
that could come their way, after a horrible accident strikes the town. The preacher is trying to
keep children from dancing, because that could lead to negative situations where the children‟s
lives could be in danger. This is the first connection that could be made between older text from
1962 and a movie that was just remade in 2011. Even thought the preacher thinks he is doing the
right thing, and Sir Gawain is scared because he is about to die, both people believe that their
frame of mind is correct. This could show that everyone believes they are right all of the time,
but if you take a step back, you may be the one who is actually in the wrong. This movie and text
can teach people moral values about themselves.
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The next image is of Hannibal Lector. I used a quote from Heart of Darkness that says, “I
asked; „what would you do with them?‟„Eat „im!‟ he said curtly, and, leaning his elbow on the
rail, looked out into the fog in a dignified and profoundly pensive attitude” (56). Hannibal
Lector is a cannibal, which is someone who eats humans. In the book, Marlow is traveling along
the Congo with a crew of cannibals. The connection that I made between the text and picture was
the cannibals were all trying to not eat humans at one point. In the picture Hannibal Lector has a
mask on to prevent him, and the cannibals were only tempted when a man on the ship died. For a
younger generation, this type of comparison may help them to truly understand what a cannibal
is. When you read it in a book, many may not know what it actually means, but seeing a movie
about it, helps a person understand. This can also show the will power it takes to not do
something. Both picture and text, the cannibals tried everything to refrain from eating another
human, this shows how they had to have strengthen from within to help them.
The final image is from Mr. and Mrs. Smith using another piece of text from Sir Gawain
and the Green Knight. The quote says, “I‟ll tuck in your covers corner to corner, then playfully
parley with the man I have pinned” (103). The image from Mr. and Mrs. Smith is a seductive
woman, in the text the Lady of the castle was seducing Sir Gawain. In our society today, people
believe that it is ok to dress and act like Mrs. Smith and the Lady of the castle. When reading the
text, one can see how strange it is that a married woman would be doing this. Looking at the
image, one can see that this is the same thing as the Lady was doing, just modernize. Both of
these pieces are not appropriate and can teach people to believe it. Younger generations should
not learn that seducing people or sleeping with married people is ok, and the text can help prove
that.
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Overall, there is good reason to study old text with new pictures. Putting the two together
can show morality issues and will power. Older text still deals with all of the problems that are
faced today. When putting it with new pictures from our generation it can only make it clearer.
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Work Cited
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. 2nd. Boston, NY: Bedford Books of St. Martin‟s Press, 1996.
Print.
Poet, Pearl, and Simon Armitage. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. New York, NY: W.W.
Norton and Company, 1962. Print.