The cat

While this is for everyone’s entertainment… it’s meant to be existential (if you couldn’t tell) and it’s also for school, so seriously… and criticisms would be appreciated. It’s supposed to be encorporate Notes from the Underground, and Beyond the Geneology of Morals

    The cat lazily climbed down the carpet covered steps; each one representing a way to get to the next, and thus serve its function. Its inquisitive gaze reached the scene upon arriving on the floor and was seemingly unfazed to find the boy lying in the middle of the downstairs foyer, drunk. As the cat neared the unconscious human it wrinkled its nose at the absurd scent that the humans engulfed on certain occasions. The cat did not understand a lot of things, and this was certainly one of them. Why do the humans drink something which they know will harm them?  
The feline neared the sprawled out victim of circumstance and tilted its head to peer the boy straight into the eyes. This was somewhat of an unusual event for the cat for two reasons: firstly, because the boy’s eyes are usually closed during its slumber cycle and, secondly, it noticed in the past that most of the time the boy avoided eye contact. The cat, like the drinking, also did not understand this phenomenon for he preferred to look straight into the eyes of the humans, as well as the cat which it lived with. How else could one catch a glimpse of the intentions of another?
“Kitty…cat” 

The cat was mistaken, the boy was awake.
The sounds that the boy made were of no importance to the cat as it did not understand them, but the feline backed up slightly anyways. Now that it was awake, the human was extremely unpredictable and the cat was aware of this. The boy raised himself off the floor giggling, finally coming to rest on his hands and knees. He paused there for a second, noticing his agility was severely impaired, much like with the other sessions with the liquid. It was then that the boy did something which truly infuriated the cat; he tried to mimic it. The boy on his hands like the animal walks growling and biting in the direction of the cat, albeit in a sloppy manner. It does not take much time for the cat to decide what to do, it knows what to do and when to do it, and for this particular emotion, violence will suit the need. The feline knows that it is vastly more quick and agile than the human, even when it has not been drinking the liquid, so in this case landing a paw square in the eye of the boy was not a problem for the small animal. The boy, seemingly forgetting intoxication which had him on all fours flies to his feet in visible pain. The cat did not mean to hurt the boy so much, and although it is much more quick, it knows the human could easily end his life if he so choose.
“Son of a…” the boy breathes, with his head tilted over and one hand cupping under his eye, like something might fall out. “Ally you stupid cat!” the boy yells at the cat.
Once again, the words mean nothing. The cat can tell the boy is upset and injured, but feels this should be a reasonable deterrent against this type of behavior in the future. On the other hand, the boy is much bigger than the cat and has shown, from what appears to be rare, random incidences that it can seriously damage the small animal by stepping on it. In these instances the human mysteriously showed immediate compassion, but cat realized that angered, it might not. They were not like animals that were so predictable; their actions were beyond understanding for the cat. Despite this, why should not the cat attack when angered; for it feels like the right thing to do. Growing bored of this exchange of expressions, the cat turned back towards the threshold of the stairs and began to saunter towards it.
“Come here little buddy, let’s have a chat”
The voices were back, and before the small feline could react the cat felt the intelligent hands wrap around its body and pick it up. The grip was smarter than the cat because when it was in this position, there was not much the cat could seem to do to escape. Held in the position the boy proceeded to walk towards his room, the cat did not like his room. The cat most certainly did not like being held in the position, but it did enjoy the point of view; being able to see more, and being closer to the glowing light at the top of the room. The boy walked with the cat towards the boy’s room, and the cat did not like the boy’s room.
“Hey, sorry you passed out so I just thought I’d listen to some music…” said the girl sitting on the bed, to the entrance of the boy. “Are you…are you alright?” the girl asked, her eyes running over the haggard boy, who was clutching the cat.
To the cat she seemed very different from the boy, ‘untainted’ was the best concept the small feline could grasp.
“I didn’t pass out” responded the boy, his voice booming down from above the cat in a less cohesive manner, compared to that of the girl’s.
“Um… well it looked like it”
“You couldn’t understand, why are you even still here?” the boy retorted. The sounds the boy were making were becoming more aggressive and the cat, held tightly in place against the human’s body, of course did not understand.
“Listen, You’re right, I don’t understand, but I want to” the girl started, getting up off the bed and walking towards the boy slowly, with her hands up slightly, motioning like she might want to take the hand of the boy. This of course was impossible as he was holding the cat, and quite tightly it would probably add. “Listen I think you’re really smart, I enjoy your weird quirkiness, why can’t you just tell me how you feel, is it really so hard for you to let go?”
This took the boy off guard; he turned to the window of the bedroom to listen to the sounds of the few cars present on the raised freeway next to their house at this hour, slowly making their way to whatever destinations they might have.
“I like your cat…” the girl offered, watching the boy contemplate.
It did not take long for the human to decide on what he was thinking, and he quickly turned back to the girl, ignoring the cat comment. “Don’t think you can analyze me!” he snapped. “That the problem here…” He trailed off for a second, “Don’t go down that road, it’s not worth it”. He shook his head at this.
Both the boy and the girl stared at each other for a long time. The cat, from his vantage point, still did not understand.
“I think you should go”
The girl seemed sad, but she appeared to at least agree. Both the cat and the boy watched as the girl made her way out of the door, and headed towards the stairs. With this the boy threw the cat on the bed and collapsed on it soon behind the cat. The cat was unafraid of a little air born experience. It thoroughly enjoyed it and that was enough for the cat. For that brief second the small feline felt free, natural and alive. It aspired to fall with no fear of what might await the union of its feet. It always knew it was more agile than the human.
“Well that was intense eh buddy?” the boy said, laughing slightly as lay flat on his back on the bed, his eyes looking up at the ceiling.
The cat looked up at the ceiling for a second, as the human’s sounds seemed to be directed that way. Seeing nothing the animal stared at the slumberous being for a second, puzzled yet again.
As if sensing the cat’s curiosity with what was transpiring in the early morning hours, the human rolled over to look the cat in the eyes again. “You’re the only one I can talk to kitty cat” he reached out his hand towards the cat’s head but it backed up slightly. The cat did not like being touched. “You’re the only one I can love, ever since I bought you at the store” the boy breathed before turning over to his side and curling up into his usual sleep position, his brown eyes slowly closing.
The cat was starting to grow tired of what we going on in the boy’s room, in fact he had forgotten why he had come in here in the first place. He hopped over the head of the human and after rubbing against the boy’s leg for a second as he walked down the length of the bed, he jumped off and made his way towards the door. Before leaving the room the cat turned back to look into the room once more. For the small feline it would be quite an enjoyable room to be in, plenty of things to climb and explore with great vigor from the pure innocence of the unexplored. The cat however, knew that beyond that exploration was the absurd scent of the liquid, the guilty looks that succeed the strange communicative noises of the human. This is why the cat does not like the boy’s room.
The small animal made its way out into the foyer. It uselessly attempted to open one of the downstairs doors, it knew it most likely would not open, but it could always hope; besides it wanted to stretch. The cat realized its captivity by order of the humans but it did not bother the feline much. It did what it felt like, why should it be concerned with anything besides what to do next? As it walked towards the stairs it was comforted by the fact that its actions were allowed to pass for what they were. The cat does not know why it cannot go outside, or why it slashes at the eyes of the boy sometimes, and looks into them at others. These questions are as pointless as the stair previous to the one his paw is on. With this mentality, the cat ascends the stairs towards the upper level of the house.

The problem is not the story or the cat, but the assignment itself. Fact is, if I may opine, Nietzsche and Dostoevsky have the same ill effect on depicting cat psychology as they do on that of human psychology. (I’ve lived with cats and humans.) And if, as a student, you share this sentiment (and it may be nothing more than that), that we are more than merely absurdity-recognizing ubermenschen, you might add a trill or two just to let the teacher know that you see the false boundaries here – willing to play in them – but you see them. That’s what the big boys call making the grade.

Hmm… I’m not exactly sure what you mean by trill. Some kind of commotion?

I have to go to go Cape Breton for b-ball this weekend… I’ll come back to this on sunday

I guess I meant a gracenote. A small detail to show that it’s not so pat as these two philosophies.

I have a tendency to have trouble with first person cat stories. Nobody knows what cats are thinking and it never rings true when people try to tell me what animals think. The cat seems overly anthropomorphic and somehow, French, circa 1905.

Why are you taking it so literal though?

We’re all animals.

The cat is both human and man… just like some of the really dumb, spontaneous people the UGM runs into. The cat/human relationship is also to demontrate the balance of power that Neitsczhe talks about in the geneolgy of morals, remember… the prof only really wants the 2 books to be included in this.

I think you’re really smart gamer… that’s partly why I asked you, but you’re gonna have to talk in plain english for a second

just explain this: I guess I meant a gracenote. A small detail to show that it’s not so pat as these two philosophies.

Gracenote, trill, these are musical terms. I do that too much. What I meant is it might be fun to add a few small plot or character elements that incorporate a third fourth or even fifth philosophy. First, research some of the objections, or ammendments, made directly against these two philosophies…see where they have fallen short or been taken further, and then toss that in. If you haven’t already been exposed to these further developments by osmosis, being on ILP a lot, then forget it. The essence of philosophy is to take it further, ask another question…and I believe every assignment should push forward rather than regurgitate or show mastery. Because true mastery of this particular subject of your paper IS to go outside the boundaries of the assignment. Live dangerously Gobbo. Ask yourself…what would Nietzsche do? How would he surprise your professor and defy expectations? Or how would you defy Nietzsche? How would Nietzsche react to this story? Remember, every revelation of the partiality of a previous point of view will contain within it an unquestioned commitment to some further point of view, which it must take for granted while it is depending upon it…the genealogical enterprise cannot ever be fully completed.

Interesting… .ok I’ll give it annother go and see what happens.

PS: Your prose was fine. But I like your posting voice better than your narrative voice. Maybe tell your story with a Gobbo narrator in mind instead of whoever your real name is. If you’re anything like me your true real name IS Gobbo. Good luck.

I was going for an objective voice. For some reason I thought it might work better being as how there is a an animal in the story, and thus gives it a sort of ‘how do you know what the cat is thinking’ type deal.

The course is 2 papers… so I might switch it up for sartre

So you want the reader to say “wait, how do you know this?” I’m just saying cats probably don’t marvel at the self-destructive impulses of inebriated humans. I didn’t get the cat-as-metaphor thing. The reader needs to know if that’s the case. You didn’t get to the Gregor Samsa vibe if that’s what you were going for.

Also, you have a lot of charm and frankness, youthful pluck at your disposal and doing the detached narrator thing is a letdown, maybe cause I know you. Plus, there is editing needed…a few extra adjectives and adverbs that could come out.

A lot of college papers are so pregnant with meaning, like the virgin mary herself. It takes the fun out of reading, trying to find the academic syllabus encoded in the characters. The more thoroughly you do the assignment, the harder the writing gets to appreciate.

I like Kafka, Camus, Hesse. But I have trouble with fiction assignments in school. My comments are designed to make you into me, which is stupid. Plus, my college papers weren’t even turned in or scrawled at the last second to secure a C or D. Never were they transcendant and challenging to the system. What I wouldn’t do to be in school now. Oh dear, what I would do to those poor teachers. Anyway, yours is A or B material, depending on where you are.

Sorry I should have explained better earlier… it wasn’t that I wanted to make the people think ‘how do you know what the cat is thinking’ it was more that Ihad a hard time envisioning what the cat was thinking… that’s why I adopted a more objective voice. I’ll be frank… I rarely have a ‘plan’, it just sort of comes to me. I never edit… the only reason this is on here is cause I accidently did it a week early.

Also… existentialism is always so subjective, I thought it might be cool to look at it from another angle. Whatever POV… it’s always clear what the underlying philosophy is, that’s partly why E is so cool.

Part of existentialism is making a choice and living with it… plus I don’t have too much time to rework this with b-ball and other courses. I’ll stick with the objectivity

I think it’s more that you know me, and you want to see more creativity… at least in the forefront. Don’t worry… the other paper will be a bit more lively… I just wanted to see if I could actually write a detached paper, as most of what I write on here is simply stream of thought… hence all the '…'s I use… as I literally just write what comes to mind.

The cat is a metaphor for those without power, as opposed to those with, as neitzsche talks about in GOM, as well as a voicepiece.

and… who is gregor samsa?

I thought the cat might be a symbol for the boy’s Nietzschean heart. A cat for the powerless makes an odd symbol, for me. As they say, a dog thinks people are his family, a cat thinks people are his staff. A cat is a tiger proportioned to allowing people to take care of him. (I imagine a Blake-Nietzsche connection here.)

I hope your paper is ready to turn in now, so I’m not breaking board rules by helping with your homework. :wink:

By the way, what is Notes from the Underground about? I’ve seen it, but haven’t read it.

Vale bene, (Be well,)
my real name

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notes_from_Underground

Too high to summarize :sunglasses:

  1. Wikipedia is amazing! What anybody knows about anything – that someone will take pride in posting.

  2. Wikipedia says: “Also the Beatles made a song describing the protagonist from this book.” Anyone know which song?

  3. What is the point of existentialism if it rests on the irrationality of man. It seems to me people do things for dumb reasons sometimes, but they always have some reason. (“When I stand, I stand for the good; when i walk, I walk for the good.” – Plato)

Thanks Gobbo,
mrn

Not to sound cliche, but the point is that there is no point. If to me, as gobbo I see someone as irrational, and myself as rational… then in effect, that’s how the world operates. It’s liberating in that we all exist in this, our own way, it’s about making choices amongst ourselves that fully excersize this right to change the world in our own little way.

Why fret over whether or not an action is good, bad, stupid, smart… it’s an action and that’s all that matters, because it made the next action possible.

…Because “the unexamined life is not worth living”?

It’s not unexamined though,

Here is a good quote about existentialism I like… .

Thanks for that quote. I still don’t know how you construct your life while downplaying the good and the bad, the smart and the stupid. But on the other hand, the passage helps me realise the debt I have to the influence of existentialism. The world on the whole seems better for it’s influence; I just can’t accept irrationality as an end.

Irrational/Rational are very hard concepts to pin down…

like I said… it’s so subjective