Monthly Archives: January 2021

Hawthorne Understood Mobs

By Robin Bates | Published: January 31, 2021

Hawthorne writes about the kind of mob that invaded the U.S. Capitol in “My Kinsman, Major Molineux.”

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Jude for When Things Seem Impossible

By Robin Bates | Published: January 30, 2021

A poem for the saint of impossible causes–at a time when many say, “The situation is impossible.”

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Proust Understood Political Shifts

By Robin Bates | Published: January 28, 2021

Strange new alliance have formed in response to Trumpism. Conservative David Frum points out that Marcel Proust described similar shifts in his day.

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Mitch McConnell, Master of Catch-22

By Robin Bates | Published: January 27, 2021

Mitch McConnell has invoked a Catch-22 to make sure Trump doesn’t face Congressional accountability for inciting an insurrection.

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Trump: Hemingway Wastrel, Le Carré Con

By Robin Bates | Published: January 26, 2021

Trump has some things in common with Campbell in “Sun Also Rises” and even more with Rick in “A Perfect Spy.”

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The City on the Hill Requires Climbing

By Robin Bates | Published: January 25, 2021

Amanda’s Gorman’s “Hill We Climb” provides an African American slant to Winthrop’s “city on a hill” image.

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Dante on Life beyond Resentment

By Robin Bates | Published: January 24, 2021

The envious in Dante’s “Purgatorio” shows that one can move past one’s resentments–important for the Biden administration to know.

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Out of Pain We Feed This Feverish Plot

By Robin Bates | Published: January 23, 2021

One can read Mary Oliver’s “The Fish” as a description of the eucharist–which is appropriate for today’s gospel reading about fishing for people.

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Move Past Trump, Embrace the Morning

By Robin Bates | Published: January 21, 2021

Life after Trump could be like emerging from an abusive relationship. Emily Bronte concludes “Wuthering Heights” with a useful image.

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