“Wicked” (the movie) shows us Trump-type scapegoating while “Wicked” (the book) also provides insight into how and why people are drawn to his sadism.
Author Archives: Robin Bates
Note to Trump: Time for Real Work
Marge Piercy’s “To Be of Use” should be a reminder to incoming politicians that the real work of governing is not a television reality show.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "To Be of Use", Biden administration, Election 2024, Marge Piercy Leave a comment
Defeating Dragon Despair after Harris Loss
The insights of “Beowulf” into grieving can provide Democrats guidance for dealing with Harris’s loss.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Beowulf, Depression, Donald Trump, Election 2024, How Beowulf Cann Save America, Kamala Harris, violence Leave a comment
Eliot’s Hollow Men and Trump’s Enablers
T.S. Eliot’s “Waste Land” does a good job of describing Trump’s Congressional enablers.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Hollow Men", Congressional Republicans, Donald Trump, GOP, T. S. Eliot Leave a comment
Jo, Nell, Tiny Tim Needed Vaccines
Victorian lit is filled with scenes of children dying of diseases we now have cures for. Does Trumpism want to go back to those days?
When the Light Knocks on the Door
Gwendolyn Brooks’s poem “truth” dramatizes the conflict between disturbing hope and familiar darkness. Think of it as an Advent poem.
My Childhood Love for Krauss/Sendak
Ruth Krauss’s children’s literature, often illustrated by Sendak, recognized and empowered me as a child.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Children, Children's lit, Crockett Johnson, Imagination, Maurice Sendak, Ruth Krauss Leave a comment
All Which We Behold Is Full of Blessings
Think of Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abbey” as a gratitude poem appropriate for Thanksgiving.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged gratitude, Nature, Thanksgiving, Tintern Abbey, William Wordsworth Leave a comment
Kipling’s Warning to Empires
Kipling’s “Recessional,” written as a warning to the British empire, applies as well to America today.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Recessional", Donald Trump, Election 2024, empire, Rudyard Kipling Leave a comment
