In Bacchus We Trust

Dr. Bacchus, splendid savior of students all over the world! On behalf of all students, I would like to thank you for all your efforts to wake us up when we need to be aroused. Whenever we are cramming for exams or oppressed by tons of assignments, we look for you. You always reply to our desperate calls with your tangy yet sweetish flavor. To us students, you are the holy light glimmering under the total darkness of our seemingly determined fate. At nights, we sense an overwhelming iron curtain of weariness casting over our hopeless future. You give us the power to find a loophole in the iron curtain with you magical prescription, Taurine.

Dr. Bacchus, the greatest benefactor of all! As you always told us, life is full of obstacles and stressful situations. God has deceived us in that he gave us only 2/3 of our lives. It has been ages since people hoped to get hold of the rest 1/3, and now look at what great privilege you have given us. You made it possible for us to get through with whatever obstacles we face and live our lives fully. You are the true guardian of mankind who bravely stood up to God’s dishonest decisions.

Dr. Bacchus, friendly yet tough companion of weary souls! You are well-liked among exhausted students, but you are not so popular among other doctors. Sorry to tell you this, but you are being bullied in the medical world. Other doctors do not really trust your methods of therapy, saying you are a mere charlatan. But no worries, for I have no faith in every single word they speak out. It is they who are real charlatans, belittling your talents in order to get rid of a skillful competitor. Dear doctor, I have great devotion for you and would like to get advice from you even in my dreams, but I just cannot, for you always keep me awake due to your immense presence.

Dr. Bacchus, helping anyone in need! Often times, I am worried about my absolute faith in you. You sometimes fail my honest request against sleep. Last time you gave your answer to my prayers with 3 bottles of your magical drink, but I was defeated by the evil forces of fatigue. Since the time I met you, you have made my sense of time-management as dull as it can be. It was all because of your madly effective treatments. So please do not ever leave me alone at times of hardship. O’ doctor, doctor! Master of eventide! Only you have the power to let me survive in the long nighttime and see the rising sun with warm hope for the imminent day. I will ask for you tonight as I always have done. Until then, farewell!

Tales of the Unexpected - Journal #1

     In Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected, stories have routinely uncomplicated structures: playful-toned storytelling until almost the end and then a sudden twist-usually swiftly turning towards the extreme negative-at the end. Through such negative twists at the end of the stories, Dahl successfully conveys his themes on the ugliness of human nature pertaining to greed.

     In most of the stories, the setting and milieu of the scenes are luxurious. In stories such as Taste, My Lady Love, My Dove, Dip in the Pool, and Skin, characters who engage in a broad range of lavish activities appear: from gourmets and lovers of wine to a dilettante who acts as if he was a great patron of arts. The settings are also quite deluxe as well, ranging from a grand house of an aged but bored couple of wealth to a passenger ship with auctions going on. However, the characters are not really fit for such deluxe lifestyle. Often, Dahl’s clever twists at the end reveal this truth. Richard Pratt turned out to be a cheater after all, the young Snapes were actually not so affluent and were desperate for money, Mr. Botibol committed stupidity for money and lost his life, and Drioli certainly was not a man who could afford his expensive tastes for the arts. 

     Comprehension of the deep meanings underneath these few silly stories becomes possible with the recognition of the basic desire of mankind to lead luxurious lives far above those of others. Although people are born with such longing, people stop and resign with simply feigning their ideally desired selves in plebeian environments because the futile dreams they had held turned out to be much too unrealistic. In Tales of the Unexpected, Dahl explores the inane high-dimensional greed and the sad reality that prevents such yearning from coming true.

     Because of the initial calm tone and description with nothing noticeable going on, I first got the impression that the stories were too naïve and dull. However, after getting accessed to the sudden bend, I was able to grasp Dahl’s intentions. The initial plainness was intended to arouse a sense of normalness that anyone can find in commonsense situations. At normal settings like these, people wouldn’t do such foolish things just as the characters mentioned above have done. But when the silly desire for luxury comes in play, they are capable of committing silly and even wicked deeds to feign what they wish to be.

     Take Mr. Schofield in Taste for instance; a righteous person-just the person Mr. Schofield would have been if it wasn’t for the wine-would never bet on his daughter over something so trivial like guessing some facts about a specific brand of wine. However, when two fancy houses and his pride in wine, a symbol of luxury, come into play, Mr. Schofield stupidly bets on his daughter. His lavishing craving for aristocratic livelihood, although he was never fit for such a lifestyle, distorts his humane consciousness.

     Drioli, the poor protagonist of Skin, is another fascinating example. He was certainly not a man of the upper class. However, he acts as if he belongs to such aristocratic class, even when he is left old and impoverished. After he decides to “sell” Soutine’s painting on his back due to extreme hunger, he leans towards a luxurious lifestyle-which actually was not meant for him-that the hotelier proposes. Craving for an opulent life at the hotel, poor Drioli just follows a total stranger without considering the possibility of deceit. Miserable Drioli may have been too hungry to think over the stranger’s proposal, but there is no doubt his greed for sumptuous style of living cast a great deal of influence in his making a dangerous decision.

     Dahl rather explicitly reveals the dark side of human nature with a clear contrast between the plain, fun tone at beginning of each story and grave, gruesome twist at the end. I have not yet read more than half of the stories in this book, but it has become quite clear that he wanted reveal that greed comes in play even in most normal settings, and people carry out downright stupidity because they have a desire to belong to the upper cluster.