The Great Gatsby, Mrs. Dalloway, and In Our Time. On the surface, these books have very little in common. They have different messages, are part of different literary movements, and really are not similar. The one thing they do share, however, is the fact that they entered the public domain on January 1st, 2021. You may be thinking, why am I so excited about this? What makes public domain day for a book so special?

According to Standford law, public domain, “refers to creative materials that are not protected by intellectual property laws such as copyright, trademark, or patent laws. The public owns these works, not an individual author or artist. Anyone can use a public domain work without obtaining permission, but no one can ever own it.”(Stim) So here’s the general gist. A set amount of years after an author’s passing, there is nothing to gain from copyrighting their works. So, they enter the public domain. Everyone can use them, and no one can own them. It’s truly communal art at its finest.

So, Gatsby entered the public domain this year, and people were pretty excited. With the trainwreck this past year was, people needed some creative outlets for the upcoming year. For example, there is The Great Gatsby Except Gatsby Says Bestie Instead of Old Sport by fiopsonly. Also, a large portion of Disney fans are lobbying for a Great Gatsby movie… in muppet form? (While I personally think it would be amusing to see Mrs. Piggy as Daisy, it doesn’t seem likely because of Disney’s own copyright issues) My whole point is that the public domain not only allows us access to such pieces, but it also allows us to expand upon them.

Now I’m not going to sit here and say that replacing the phrase “Old Sport” with “Bestie” vastly improves the story. It doesn’t. But here is what the public domain can do for the public. Now, authors can use the plot of gatsby in a modern adaptation. You may be thinking, couldn’t they do that before? Well, not really. They would have had to buy the rights, and those rights don’t really transfer to a plot-based similarity. If you aren’t quite clear on what I’m saying, think of it this way. Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew was adapted into 10 Things I Hate About You. Its not anywhere close to the original text, but its major plot points are anchored in the novel. However, we can relate to Patrick’s ballads much more than Petruchio’s. Even though they lament the same thing, we understand Patric more because he exists in our world.

I believe that existing in the public domain can do this for all texts. In reference to Gatsby, we don’t live in the roaring 20s where we can buy a mansion across the lake from our beloved. But the message of that Unattainable dream is still relatable. That is why the public domain is so important. While there is nothing quite like the original text, having that story packaged in a relevant way to us makes it that much easier for someone to understand what Fitzgerald was saying, despite his not saying it.

What is public domain: https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/public-domain/welcome/

Other works released to the Public Domain this year: https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2021/

Quietness- by Rumi

Inside this new love, die.

Your way begins on the other side.

Become the sky.

Take an axe to the prison wall.

Escape.

Walk out like someone suddenly born into color.

Do it now.

You’re covered with thick cloud.

Slide out the side. Die,

And be quiet. Quietness is the surest sign

that you’ve died.

Your old life was a frantic running

from silence.

The speechless full moon

comes out now.

      As a poet who was striving for enlightenment, Rumi uses poetry as a vessel to tell the world about life lessons and how to make meaning of our time on Earth. In his poem, “Quietness”, Rumi uses silence as a metaphor for a transitionary period, creating the idea that letting a facet of yourself die is good, and helps promote personal growth.

      In the first three lines, Rumi goes right into the message using a second person’s commanding tone. Coupled with his end-stopped sentences, it creates a compelling argument stylistically as we read the poem. He tells the reader, right off the bat, “ Inside this new love, die.”(1) Even within the first line, he brings up the idea of death and gives the command for us to die. He combines the idea of comfort within love and fear within death and allows us to feel the embrace of love, even in death. The second line of “your way begins on the other side.”(2) seems mystical, and implies a journey, even beyond this realm. The choice of using the words, “way” and “other side” help convey this, creating our journey to the afterlife.

      The third line helps emphasize this point when he says, “Become the sky.”(3) By allowing ourselves to die(or a facet of our selves), he says we can transcend corporeal form and meaning, painting the meaning of our life. His use of words like, “die” and “become” help set the tone. One is very distinctive and harsh. The other is the gradual development. By contrasting this, he is able to help view death in a positive light; it’s something to work toward, note fear.  He continues this thought in the fourth and fifth lines, telling his followers to, “Take an axe to the prison wall./Escape.”(4-5) Once again, the use of end-stopped sentences is a clear stylistic choice, bringing out the urgency within his words. With his combination of short diction and frequent periods, Rumi rushes the reader, almost forcing them past our point of hesitation. Throughout this section, he also uses assonance to help section the transition of his poem, despite only having to stanzas. The use of words such as “die”, “side”, and “sky” help create the illusion of a transition into the next phase, despite there being none. The sixth line is where the transformative meaning of the poem in regard to the self starts to flower. After escaping the prison of your mind, then you can, “Walk out like someone suddenly born into color./Do it now”(6-7) This represents the shedding of the previous self. Once again, the succinct and direct addressing creates a powerful message. He contrasts this with the idea of quietness. While the connotation of quiet is usually audible, Rumi uses wordplay and context to shift the meaning from calm and quiet noise to a bleak color scheme. Comparing this to the self, he calls out those who cannot existing color; they are quiet and dead, for “Quietness is the surest sign/ that you’ve died.”(10/11) Once again, the use of assonance couples together these two lines, separating them from the rest of the block. In addition, the imagery he spins allows the reader to truly understand the implications of a quiet soul, and drive home his point. This is further supported when he says, “ You’re covered with thick cloud/ slide out the side.”(8-9) Metaphorically speaking, clouds often represent confusion or a person being lost. Rumi is calling the old soul lost, and no longer relevant. By using the adjective of a “thick” cloud, the metaphor is further implied as someone who is very lost; someone whose soul, whose mind is extremely quiet. 

     One direct contrast that further divides this stanza is the distinct lack of end-stopped sentences. In fact, Rumi moves into enjambment, which is the exact opposite of what he was doing previously. This change halfway through the poem once again signifies a transition but also signifies confusion. In the first portion of the stanza, Rumi uses end-stopped sentences because he is certain that he is right. He is commanding the reader to follow his lead. But as the “thick cloud”(8) starts to appear, even his vision is clouded, showing how muddied the old self truly has become.

     The last two lines in this stanza wrap up the initial thought but also brings it to a nice close. By saying that, “Your old life was a frantic running / from silence.”(12/13), Rumi acknowledges the human plight of trying to avoid this “quietness.” by using words such as “frantic”, he perpetuates that hurried tone, as if death truly is upon their heels. By separating the “from silence”(13) using enjambment, Rumi can isolate it, but also create this disjoined connection to the first part as if to understand the effort put into escaping it, even if it was futile.

     The final portion of the poem is significant because of how it parsed away from the rest. While it is physically parsed away, there is no mention of  “death” in any form, despite being abundant in the previous stanza. Quite frankly, the use of the moon, a symbol for the calm of the night, as a connection to the silence of the heart is odd. “The speechless full moon”(14) is the source of beauty, a muse, an inspiration for many. Despite its connotations, it ignites the soul back into color. For Rumi to pair it with the adjective “speechless”, shows us that even quiet can be multi-faceted, just like humans. While many crave that tranquil calm, not all calm is good, and this line showcases it better than others do. The final enjambed line of “comes out now.”(15) connects to the previous thought. The peace of the soul, though in full color can now come out. While it is quiet, it is not silent. There is an important distinction to make between the two words. By separating the last line from the previous one, he is able to do that, creating a semblance of that calm through the tone for the reader.

      Overall, Rumi’s use of contradicting stylistic choices helps bridge the gap between life and death as well as stagnation and growth.

A few weeks ago, I finished a book called Stalking Jack the Ripper by  Kerri Maniscalco. The historical fiction book recounts a mortician-in-training trying to solve the crime, using her wits to do so. One of the places where a body was found, however, was Scotland Yard. This is where General Lestrade from Sherlock Holmes works. It got me thinking; could Sherlock Holmes catch Jack the Ripper?

When surveying my family and friends, every single one of them said Sherlock Holmes.

“He’s Brilliant.” My dad said.

“But he needs clues to find the culprit. Jack the Ripper left nearly none.” I responded

“He can work with what he has to pull it off.”

I disagree. I believe that Jack the Ripper would be able to escape. I think that, despite his best efforts, Sherlock Holmes’ methods would work against him in this case.

On September 25th, 1888, Jack the Ripper  mailed his most credible letter to the press, detailing how he would mutilate the body of his next victim. This letter was not published until after that murder had taken place, showing that truly, Jack the Ripper had sent this letter. On top of that, the Grammar and language used in the letter were poor, showing that the homicidal maniac was most likely uneducated. Despite this, most of the suspects, even to this day, are educated men ranging from dentists to eccentric millionaires. His time frames were erratic, yet the murders always occurred in the same fashion; there was no doubt this was the work of a serial killer, but no one knew how to track him.

Enter: Sherlock Holmes. Born in 1854, the detective would have been in his 30s, his investigative prime during the string of murders. His stories of 221B have regaled people for ages. Some of his well known stories include A Study in Scarlet, The Hound of Baskerville, and The Last Bow. With his reputation for manifesting something from nothing, he has to be the man for the job, right? With a murder taking place in Scotland Yard, a serial killer now operating in his backyard, the Holmes and Watson team was sure to make a move.

Sherlock Holmes is a Genius. For that, there is no question. But, his particular brand of genius would not help him here. He has a very specific way of deducing what he can from what he knows. And, believe it or not, it has failed him before. In A Scandal in Bohemia, Sherlock Holmes is outwitted and outplayed several times by the woman named Irene Adler.

Irene Adler is a very peculiar woman, especially for her time period. She was a talented opera singer living on her own, who occasionally made midnight visits to the King of Bohemia.(the crown prince) When a photo is taken of the two together, the King turns to Sherlock Holmes after being defeated twice by her already. When she realizes the famed Sherlock Holmes is onto her, she dresses up as a man and tails him to confirm it, before leaving town with the photo included. So how was Irene Adler able to beat the amazing Sherlock Holmes? By being herself.

As mentioned before, Adler was not a normal woman. She operated outside of what society deemed woman should and would do. Sherlock’s methods to catch people bank on them playing to these norms so that they fall into his traps. Adler was not normal, but she also accepted the fact that she operated outside of these bounds. She used them to her advantage. That is how Sherlock Holmes was defeated.

Back to the concept of Jack the Ripper, this is exactly how he would evade Sherlock Holmes. At night, he stalks the East Side, killing women at random, but is completely normal in the day. His timing is erratic at best( a day between some, months between others), yet he was still able to go about his daily life, stirring no suspicion to him, even when he gave a letter providing more context about the person. While most people would think this odd behavior would make it easier for Sherlock Holmes to catch him, its that very same odd behavior, if leaned into, that could protect him from a very specific brand of genius.

Obviously, Sherlock Holmes is a completely fictional character, dreamt up by the brilliant mind of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Jack the Ripper is not. But, I do think that this is an important reminder: nothing and no one is infallible, even one of the most brilliant characters known to man.

Sources:

Jack the Ripper timeline: https://www.jack-the-ripper.org/timeline.htm

A Scandal In Bohemia by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle