One of the things that stood out in the meeting today was how Dr. Kopp pointed out how we as people are used to these codes that we are referring to. These are called the cultural codes, the semic code, the hermeneutic code, proairetic code. Each one playing a different factor in storytelling.
The semic code focuses on the connotations of the text. The settings of the scene that imply may imply the actions of the characters. When a character is carrying an object, they are either going to use the object or have already used the object.
The hermeneutic code is a mystery that is shown at the beginning of the story and will persist throughout the story. The reader develops a question because of that, and the question will remain unanswered for most, if not all the story.
The proairetic code refers to plot related events that lead to certain actions or reactions from the characters and maybe even the reader. There are some codes that I recognize as story elements taught throughout school, or that one learns as a reader. Like for example, I see the proairetic code as the conflict of the story, whatever happens that sets up the events of the plot or the actions of the characters.
For example, in Turtles All the Way Down by John Greene, I see the proairetic code as Aza struggling with her mental illness and her OCD. There are ways where it affects her as a character and it gives her little behavioral issues, such as her obsession with her finger. “Ever since I was little, I’ve pressed my right thumbnail into the finger pad of my middle finger, and so now there’s this weird callus over my fingerprint. After so many years of doing this, I can open up a crack in the skin really easily, so I cover it up with a Band-Aid to try to prevent infection” (Green, 06). There are also ways where it sets up her actions in the future, like the chemistry she develops with Davis.
The case of Russell Prickett going missing sets up not only the main events of the story, the mystery elements of the plot, but it also sets up the relationship between Davis and Aza as well. In a way, him going missing serves as both the hermeneutic code and the proairetic code. They in turn set into motion the cultural codes in storytelling. They are mostly the cliché story elements, what is typically expected by the reader from within the story. Within the case of Turtles All the Way Down, it is the romance between Davis and Aza.
Right from the way they meet each other, one can already sense the chemistry that is being built between them, seeing as how they both have a familiar tic or similarity. “Davis sat down on one of the teak loungers, and I sat across from him. He leaned forward, bony elbows on bony knees. ‘I thought of you a couple weeks ago,’ he said. ‘Right when he disappeared, I kept hearing his name on the news, and they would say his full name—Russell Davis Pickett—and I kept thinking, you know, that’s my name; and it was just so weird, to hear the newscasters say, ‘Russell Davis Pickett has been reported missing.’ Because I was right here’” (Green, 31). David exhibits a similar focus on the little details that aren’t entirely relatable to someone who does not struggle with OCD. Already, though it is entirely unintentional, he already made himself appear relatable to Aza and set himself up as a possible romance candidate. All of that being more ironic as at the beginning, Daisy was the more romantic between her and Aza.
Perhaps there is more going on with them than just falling in line with the multiple codes affecting their story. After all, there are moments that differentiate them because of gender differences. David, while he gets along with Aza, is a bit more imposing or for lack of a better term, close-minded when it comes to little things. This can be noticed with the way he acts when is dad is still missing.
“Once the car doors were closed, he said, ‘Everyone is always watching me. It’s exhausting.’
‘I’m sorry,’ I said.
Davis opened his mouth as if to speak, seemed to think better of it, and then, a moment later, continued. ‘Like, you know how in middle school or whatever you feel like everyone is looking at you all the time and secretly talking about you? It’s like that middle-school feeling, only people really are looking at me and whispering about me.’
‘Maybe they think you know where your dad is,’ Daisy said.
‘Well, I don’t. And I don’t want to.’ He said it firmly, unshakably” (Green, 39). This moment is a bit tragic for multiple reasons. We as the reader are looking at the possible character Davis’ father is based on how his son reacts to the way he is missing. It is possible that Russell Pickett may not care about his children or is neglectful of them. However, at the same time, this is also coming from a boy who lives in a very well-off house and has anything he could ever want, as well as his brothers. Aza herself is shown to be more passive in this, apologizing for events she is not responsible for and unable to understand Davis’ cold attitude towards his father. At this point, the reader can’t conclude about what Davis is telling Aza is true or not. Even if it was, it is still surprising that he would exhibit the cold neglectful behavior he despises in his own father. It could be because they are simply related, or it could be that they are also falling into a set of codes, perhaps one that affects gender norms.
This sort of passive Aza, abrasive Davis dynamic is witnessed multiple times by the reader throughout the story, no matter what. For another example, the way he hates to have to deal with Noah after the boy got caught holding pot. “’He needs a dad,’ Davis said. ‘Even a shitty dad. And I can’t—like, I have no fucking idea what to do with him. Lyle tried to talk to him today, but Noah’s just so monosyllabic— cool, yeah, ’sup, right . I can tell he misses Dad, but I can’t do anything about it, you know? Lyle isn’t his father. I’m not his father. Anyway, I just really needed to vent, and you’re the only person I can talk to at the moment.’
The only rolled over me. I could feel my palms starting to sweat. ‘Let’s watch that movie,’ I said at last” (Green, 177). The reason why this behavior is so odd is because for two people who supposedly have good chemistry, there isn’t much for them to relate on. When they look at the same situations that play out through the events of the story, they arrive to different conclusions of what should have happened and what should be done about whatever event is being discussed. Not only that, but Davis is the aggressive one while Aza tends to keep her real opinions to herself and simply lets him vent to her. Its like they are just falling in line with the heteronormative couple.
Between the two, Davis is the more powerful one in the relationship, or he at least has power over Aza and doesn’t even realize it. I could have sworn I had seen this type of unhealthy relationship play out before and I was right, I saw this within the relationship between David and Hella in Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin.
In both relationships, the men had some form of influence over the women that made them more dominant within the relationship. While the circumstances are entirely different, the results are the same. In the case of Davis and Aza, it is his more aggressive tendencies as a teenage boy that makes him more dominant in the relationship. He is not only falling in line with what is expected of him as a male teenager, but also as the male in a romance. In the case of David and Hella, he is taking advantage of her naivety and using her as a prop to fall in line with what is expected of him by both his father and the American society, despite the fact that he is in France. “She was by nature forthright and impatient; she suffered when things were not clear; yet she forced herself to wait for some word or sign from me and held the reins of her strong desire tightly in her hands” (Baldwin, 122). David as a bisexual man would be ostracized by his father if he remained in France and remained with Giovanni for the rest of the story. By having an affair with Hella, one in which he has more influence over what happens between them than she does, he abuses his power over her to satisfy the power being held over him.
But what is this power that is held over David? What causes Davis to be so aggressive? Why is it that Aza is so passive or why Hella is naïve? It is because of gender normativity, the force that has the cultural codes influence these characters in such a specific way. In David’s case, he is caving under the pressure put upon him by his society and despite being aware of what he is doing, and takes no pleasure in it, does so to both satisfy not just the people around him, but himself as well. In terms of how Davis goes, it is more instinctual, he is simply exhibiting the aggressive behavior expected of a teenage boy as the hormones are firing off into his brain. That brings into question the idea of free will. Are we as people capable of making our own decisions, do we have the world as our playground to do our bidding with? Are we simply doing what we were pre-programmed to do? Are we just slaves to the hormones and the neurons in our heads that decide our fates for us? Its hard to come up with a conclusion. I could see how people can come up with completely different answers to those questions by observing the behavior of David and Davis, as well as Hella and Aza.
I even recognized this behavior in myself as a man. I put focused more of my attention on the gender/hetero normativity of the male characters than I did the females, even my quotes are more focused on them as characters. Is it enough to recognize a pattern and admit to when its being done? I cannot say, all I can say are about how both the story telling and cultural codes influence the characters of these stories and me as a reader.
A Reading List By Group 5 
I agree with the cultural norms of the male in a relationship being dominant than the woman. As Davis was not a muscular guy, but he still had more power compared to Aza as he was wealthy and had connections, such as being the heir to the company, my guess as that was how it usually is with family companies. Additionally, Aza’s mother warned her not to take money from Davis and to be safe around him because of his class. She even talked to Davis about power and that you can’t do everything you want because of your status, which made Davis cry. Although, both of them seemed to be more reserved and quiet, and it did show that he had a soft side of enjoying poetry. But it was Aza who had those traits as she shied away from saying her opinions and asking him about his hidden blog with the poems later.
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I agree with the codes you use for each scenario. I think we can see that Davis is more powerful since Aza does have OCD and she doesn’t want to see herself as a human being. But to refer back to Giovanni’s room I never realized it, although I never even saw Davis and Aza’s relationship harmful, I just felt that they were different because of the condition Aza is in. I definitely think that Davis and Giovanni as the men had some form of influence over the women that made them more dominant within the relationship. I feel like Aza was too relaxed to notice the power Davis had, since he had a upper class lifestyle. No matter how much people warned her from Davis’ powers it was never a thought in her head because she tried to shield away her thoughts and feelings. In the end Aza realizes that its time to let go of what Davis was to her and she learns to be her own person even if she loves him.
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In your blog, you identify an instance of the symbolic code, which is made up of binary opposites as explained in the Silverman text. The instance in particular focused on being active or passive in a relationship, as Aza and Davis operate around one another. One that caught my eye was how Aza and Davis define their sense of self for the majority of the novel. I had trouble putting words to this binary, what were the ‘key’ words I could use? Blank versus blank? It started to look more and more like feeling outcasted versus overshadowed. There is a passage from the novel that you reference, were Davis says, “‘…it was just so weird, to hear the newscasters say, ‘Russell Davis Pickett has been reported missing.’ Because I was right here’” (Green 31). Here, Davis identifies with feeling overshadowed. He struggles to find a sense of self since his name is always connected to his father. He feels more like his-father’s-son than a true individual person. Aza struggles in a different way. She calls herself fictional, a sidekick, authored by others, controlled by her OCD, her mother’s daughter. Aza puts herself in categories that are outside of herself and others, essentially identifying as an outcast. What’s interesting is that both characters feel invisible in their lives.
Doesn’t your sense of self affect how you operate in a romance? Doesn’t society tell you that you are a good functional person when you’re in a relationship? And a bad dysfunctional person when you fail to be romantically involved with someone? This cultural code is a can with a million different worms. But we can take a moment to link the expectation to be in a teenage romance, and using that to help create one’s identity and I think we may just being to see a network of controlling values emerge. In blog 1 we identifying the controlling and counter ideas, these can make up the context and purpose of the controlling value. Maybe a possible context of the opposing controlling value could be, Giving yourself to others doesn’t leave room for you to find yourself. You won’t be able to find those individual unique aspects if you define yourself but others. And that’s a horrible problem. No way to create your self and stuck living my the projections and assumptions of others onto you, that sucks. What’s our beacon of hope, angels singing answer? Perhaps it goes something like, Focusing on your unique qualities can allow you to lead a fulfilling life. Now you are the individual, you are no longer subject to others projections. This is, of course, just a start.
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