Dickens’s “Dombey and Son” captures the relationship between a tyrant and his sycophant—not unlike what we are seeing in the White House these days.
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Monthly Archives: May 2026
“Parasite and Tool of a Proud Tyrant”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, Donald Trump, sycophants Comments closed
Aslan’s Song of Creation
In the recently published “The Green Worlds of C.S. Lewis,” John Gatta says that Lewis has a vision of God’s creation as one that is always unfolding, never static.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged C.S. Lewis, creation story, Green Worlds of C.S. Lewis, John Gatta, Magician’s Nephew Comments closed
Cavorting through Literature’s Wonderland
In which I look back over a career of teaching a wide variety of literature courses.
Posted in Uncategorized Comments closed
The Odyssey, U.S. Fascism, and the Iran War
Two recent applications of the Odyssey: Elon Musk complaining about a Black actress and Jay Kuo applying the poem to Trump’s Iran troubles.
The Loneliness of the Tyrant
Trump is a Richard III figure. A Robert Hayden poem tells us how to counter him.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Donald Trump, Richard III, Robert Hayden, Stephen Colbert, William Shakespeare Comments closed
How Roberts Might Rewrite the Classics
A comic exercise imagining how a teenage John Roberts would interpret various classics.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged 1984, Anna Karenina, Christmas Carol, Don Quixote, Huckleberry Finn, John Roberts, Jungle, Lolita, Modest Proposal, Narrative of Sojourner Truth, Oliver Twist, Othello, Pride and Prejudice, Scarlet Letter, Supreme Court, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Tom Jones Comments closed
Bivouac of the Dead
O’Hara’s “Bivouac of the Dead” does more honor to the military dead that would a vast triumphal arch.
Pentecost in Prince Caspian
Powerful images of Pentecost appear in both Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged C.S. Lewis, Hannah Swithinbank, John Gatta, Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Pentecost, Prince Caspian, Rob MacSwain Comments closed
On Losing My Father
On remembering my father following his death.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged “Boy with the Golden Crown", Everything that Rises Must Converge, Flannery O'Connor, Scott Bates Comments closed