Blog Post #3

Key Passage

“Mr. da Silva had spent a summer in Greece six years before. He was still keyed up about it. When he described visiting the Mani, his voice became even mellower than usual, and his eyes glistened. Unable to find a hotel one night, he had slept on the ground, awaking the next morning to find himself beneath an olive tree. Mr. da Silva had never forgotten that tree. They had had a meaningful exchange, the two of them. Olive trees are intimate creatures, eloquent in their twistedness. It’s easy to understand why the ancients believed human spirits could be trapped inside them. Mr. da Silva had felt this, waking up in his sleeping bag. (321-322).

In the chapter, “The Obscure Object”, we are introduced to Callie’s English teacher, Mr. da Silva. She speaks very highly of him and discusses his background a little bit and it seems as though she is really intrigued by him and his stories he has to tell. She also feels a strong connection to Greece which is where she is from which I think allows her to see Greece from a different perspective, other than her family’s. I think the word keyed is extremely significant because it shows us how much Mr. da Silva is holding onto his experience in Greece. He isn’t just still thinking about it, he’s really “fastened” up and the significance the trip had on him is clearly still there. The way she describes him talking about it and how his eyes don’t just light up, but they glisten and they shine which just shows us how happy it makes him to even talk about it. Callie also reiterates his story as if she were there and as if she really understands how it makes him feel. When she talks about the olive tree, she says “they had had a meaningful exchange, the two of them”, it almost sounds as if she’s talking about two humans having a really meaningful and strong bond upon their first encounter. Knowing that he’s spoken so highly of a tree really tells us a lot. It’s as if the tree is being personified. You can’t necessarily have an exchange with a tree like you would with another person. She also says, “olive trees are intimate creatures, eloquent in their twistedness”, this phrase is so significant in itself. The us of the word intimate to describe the trees because usually trees can’t be intimate. The word eloquent makes us think of smooth and meaningful and this tree is really being brought to life.