Comment on Shannon's Topic

I like the topic you have chosen because I think it has a lot of significance throughout the entire book, so you will definitely have enough material to use for support. Also, I think it was a good decision to combine this topic with the one about the narrator finding himself, as I think the two will connect well together. I like the set-up that you have for organizing each sub-topic. Organizing it that way shows parallelism, and I think it will make your paper very organized.

Chosen Topic

I have chosen the topic of technology for my term paper. I think that technology is a recurring topic throughout the entire book, so there will be sufficient support for my ideas. The narrator gives many different examples about how technology is perceived, whether it be good or bad perceptions. There are certain aspects in technology itself that are thought to be bad, while there are also positives.

I plan on using the characters’ different opinions regarding technology, in addition to its practical application in the real world. Also, I am going to explain technology’s presence in the book as a whole, which will be separate from the specific opinions that each character holds. Lastly, I want to find out a little bit more about how technology was present during the time the author wrote the book, as well as the time period that the story takes place in. I think that intertwining the story’s emphasis on technology with its historical and modern application will prove to be more beneficial than to simply focus on the book as a whole. Therefore, two of my main points in the paper will focus primarily on the novel itself with specific events and quotes as supports, while the other two ideas will center around practical application in both history and modern day.

i.                     The manner in which technology is presented to the reader from the book as a whole

ii.                   The different opinions regarding technology as presented by the narrator and John/Sylvia

iii.                  How technology was used and perceived during the time period and location in which the story was written by Pirsig

iv.                 How technology demonstrates its positives and negatives in modern society

Thesis: Technology is one of the central topics in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which focuses greatly on highlighting both the positive and negative attributes that it has to offer. 

Response to Melanie’s Topic (Zane Mandell)

After reading through everything you had to say I found myself very intrigued but also slightly confused. I find that this may be a problem with all of these posts as we are trying to bring something that may be very large into a concise explanation. Having said that, I find your topic is very well grounded in necessary support points. The major problem that I have with your post is the thesis itself, because you talk about the concept of ‘Zen’ so much in your argumentation setup but the word doesn’t even appear in you most important thought. So I think the thesis will have to be redone and tinkered with, just like I think of mine, but I believe that you are off to a very good start, as you have a strong sense of direction with your paper. I will be interesting to see the more that you have to say about ‘Zen’.

Defining the Undefinable (Zane Mandell)

I have chosen Quality to be my topic because I believe it is not only the most important notion presented in the book, but the most important subject to remember in life. The thing about Quality is that it is known to be there; every person can distinguish the Quality of something against another, but that is just it, we know it is there but we are unable to explain it. Everything that we see is based upon its Quality yet we are still unable to define the concept at its essence. But that is what makes Quality so important. I would like to reiterate the quote that I used last time when presenting the topic as it is central to the ideas I have behind Quality based upon the novel. “A real understanding of Quality captures the System, tames it, and puts it to work for one’s own personal use, while leaving one completely free to fulfill his inner destiny” (283). Quality is the subject that I feel is best to approach as it encapsulates so many other idea presented in the novel. As I plan to support the idea of Quality I will attempt to approach the following topics. I also would not like to limit myself to these as I have not delved deep enough to fully understand where this paper is headed at the moment.

I.               The classic clash between Romantic and Classical Thought – the “Subject-Object Duality”. For this subject I plan to show how Quality is in fact the midpoint of this duality, therefore destroying the sense of a duality itself.

II.       The understanding of what Quality is within the Church of Reason.

III.              What the “System” is and its deep relationship with Quality.

IV.            What Quality means to the narrator in his conflict with his past (Phaedrus).

V.            How Quality in the end becomes the solution for the narrator and how this solution relates to the conflict that is so central to the novel that is the conflict that the narrator is having with himself between about his son, Chris.

What I feel like I am trying to do here is capture all the important bits and pieces of what makes Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance such a powerful work of philosophy. I would love to be able to capture all of the topics that I chose last week within the context of Quality. After all, Quality truly does encompass everything else within it. Therefore I came to the conclusion of this thesis:

Quality is the framework by which humans judge all matter and thought. It is so central to how humans are, yet it is something that can only be known and not fully explained. That is what makes Quality so powerful; it is a ghost that is always with man, but it is always just out of reach. 

Topic Chosen

The topic I chose is this one:

The conflict between the consciousness of Phaedrus and the consciousness of the narrator, and the decision of whether one is “better” (which can be defined in many ways). We are lead to believe that Phaedrus was unstable, an unsuitable husband and father, and difficult to deal with, whereas the narrator seems calm, rational, albeit still not the best father. Yet, at the conclusion of the novel, we find that Chris liked Phaedrus more than the narrator, and that the narrator felt most comfortable, most “zen” as Phaedrus. He describes being Phaedrus as “living in a dream”, and describes his current life as “living in reality”, so are we to assume that he is running away from his reality, or was Phaedrus his reality all along?

Although I usually become quite “gray” with my opinions, this is a paper, so I must choose a side. Because the novel is called Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and the narrator claims his most zen state is when he is Phaedrus. Although Phaedrus was unstable, the narrator constantly reminds us of the importance of finding one’s self- what we never realized was that he was taking that very literally.

There is a reason why he underwent electroshock therapy; without a doubt, Phaedrus was not secure in the mind, but I do believe that if the narrator finds that this state is the most “zen” for him, then it would defeat the purpose of the whole novel to not agree that this was the best state for the narrator.

I.                    The narrator describes his most comfortable state as Phaedrus, despite his instability

II.                  Others around him best know him, and love him, as Phaedrus (except for John and Sylvia, who I assume he met later on), especially his own son, who greets Phaedrus at the end with “where have you been?”

III.                The analysis of his reoccurring nightmares and his inability to reach the peak of the mountain

IV.                The fact that this novel is somewhat autobiographical, so it should be applied in an honest situation; is an insane person a zen person, and is it safe let him be this way?

Thesis: The betterment of one’s self begins with finding one’s self, and in order for the narrator to achieve that, he had to become Phaedrus once more, despite plunging into insanity.

The topic I chose is...

            I chose to go with the topic about the journey versus the destination. From all four opinions that I got back, they were split between this one and the one about finding himself. I have decided that they both have to do with each other and I brought them together. This will make it more interesting and give more topics to talk about. I am actually quite excited. This is weird.

             I thought it would be quite interesting to tie in all the opinions of the different characters and give specific examples. One would be John and Sylvia and the fact that they were so determined in reaching something far away from technology, which they believe they needed, that they just rode their motorcycles in hope to get there.  The issue about technology itself has many different opinions on this topic expressed in the novel. There are other characters that feel the same way, such as Chris, but the narrator has a completely different standpoint. This also relates to finding himself, which I could speak about, bringing in the other topic that everyone seemed to like. I think the journey of reaching the realization that Phaedrus was his prior self before hospitalization is better than the destination of knowing. Also Phaedrus’ journey to find the definition of Quality was much better than reaching the destination of becoming obsessed and hospitalized. I do not believe that he actually found himself, because he is still distraught. Sure, it may be the resolution for the novel, but not for his emotions. Phaedrus wants answers, and the narrator as well. When he figures out it is the same questions because it was his prior self, there is no way to escape. The destination has trapped him. He actually enjoyed himself when he was on the motorcycle. It was peaceful, and he was able to just think as he watched beautiful scenery pass by. He no longer has that. But then again, he did resolve the conflict with Chris…

Thesis: The view on the satisfaction of the journey versus the destination arises in multiple characters in the novel. It is a defining characteristic of their personlaity and leads to other thoughts and actions.

John and Sylvia- destination
Chris- destination
The narrator/ Phaedrus (how he finds himself)- journey (both metaphorically and physically)

Response to Monica and Shannon

1.       Monica: you clearly enjoy your third theme, and I do agree with you on it. I would like to see you further discuss it, for I do believe it is important to analyze the downfall of the main character who, for a majority of our first readings, seemed to be all-knowing, rational, and sane. It is a daunting topic, for there is fear that life as we know it may be futile, especially if we spend our lives attempting to answer questions that just lead to more, and more, and more, until we either give up, break down, or die before we even reach that decision.

2.       Shannon: I really enjoy your third theme. The narrator himself claims that we are working on a cycle and it is called ourselves, and yet the narrator struggles to work on himself his whole life and the duration of the trip. I would like to see your research and opinion on whether or not he succeeds in finding himself, or if he just digs himself into a deeper hole than he had originally woken up in.