It is often difficult to guide college age students through aging’s affective domain; they’re too young. This article describes how Edward Arlington Robinson’s poem, Mr. Flood’s Party, was used to instill sensitivity for the social isolation that often accompanies old age and how the classic film, Man of La Mancha was used to demonstrate that the value of a dream is unrelated to the age of the dreamer. Those who teach any aspect of aging or gerontology may find these selections effective tools for exploring the affective domain of human aging.
For a number of years now, my teaching assignment has included “Healthcare Delivery in the United States,” a general survey of the American health care system. It is a required course for our undergraduate Health Science majors. During the spring semester of 2006, one of the general themes specified in the course outline was that Americans are living longer.
I wanted students to think critically about this theme, not only the economic and health-related consequences of an aging population, but also the human aspects of aging itself. It can be frustrating to try to instill age-related empathy within students who are barely into their twenties?
Supplemental readings can be helpful. I’ve used them in the past. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest provided an intriguing comparison of two concurrent realities within the American healthcare system: that of the patients (consumers of health care), and that of the providers (doctors, nurses, administrators, etc.). It showed, too, that perceptions can differ even within the same clinical setting (Metcalf, 2006).
Frankenstein – notwithstanding nearly two hundred years – helped my students contemplate the moral and ethical consequences of creating life, a contemplation that is all the more relevant today (Metcalf, 2007)
This article describes how poetry and cinema were used to humanize the aging process for youthful students, to help them feel the loneliness of old age, and to assess the virtue of living by a vision, even a vision that occurs in life’s final years. For the first objective, we turned to poetry and Mr. Flood’s Party Robinson). For the second objective, we turned to Peter O’Toole, Sophia Loren, James Coco, and Man of La Mancha (Miller).
Imagine yourself at the podium, halfway through a 7:20 – 10:00 p. m. night class, in front of a couple dozen “twenty-somethings,” talking about old age:
“Now then, in addition to the economic, health-related, and medical correlates of aging, we must also consider the human aspects. Old people outlive their spouses, their friends, sometimes even their children. Moreover, they are increasingly estranged from contemporary culture, aliens among their own as it were, frail, forgotten, and forlorn…blah, blah, blah.”
You can almost hear eyes slamming shut…and minds too. I’m thinking, “Maybe there’s another way.” What if we read Mr. Flood’s Party prior to class, write a short reaction paragraph, and then come to class ready to share the meanings that we have extracted? Maybe we could cover this material more effectively and more enjoyably. We tried just that last semester, and it seemed to work.
A Synopsis for Gerontologists . An old man pauses on his way home from town (where he had filled his jug with spirits) talking aloud and toasting himself:
"Well, Mr. Flood, we have the harvest moon Again, and we may not have many more;”
He is lonely, hopeless, and unprotected but for “A valiant armor of scarred hopes outworn.”
After more toasting and discourse, he is ultimately alone, and
“There was not much that was ahead of him,
And there was nothing in the town below--Where strangers would have shut the many doors
That many friends had opened long ago.” http://www.web-books.com/Classics/Poetry/anthology/Robinson_E/MrFlood.htm (7/7/06)
A Gerontologist’s Interpretation . His long life concedes but outworn hopes and isolation, not a cheery picture of the latter years. Still, there is a plucky insolence to Mr. Flood’s schizoid monologue. One feels but little pity for so tough an old bird, and certainly no embarrassment.
The 1973 classic, Man of La Mancha (Hiller), shows the splendor of living by one’s dream. It also confirms that a dream is in no way diminished simply because it occurs late in life.
We watched this film in small segments over many weeks, often during allotted breaks in the class where students were free to leave the classroom. This was not effective pedagogy. Students said afterward that it would have been preferable to have seen the film in its entirety. I agree.
Perhaps, too, it would have been better on a large-screen in one of our lecture halls, or even in our theater. Maybe I should have placed the DVD on reserve in the library so that students could watch it on their own schedule. Oh well, maybe next time.
Another challenge is that the movie involves a separate play within the movie itself, and that can confuse viewers. The exercise might have gone better if students had the benefit of a summary prior to the viewing. Here are two summaries that are available on the web.
“This musical version of Don Quixote is framed by an incident allegedly from the life of its author, Miguel de Cervantes. Don Quixote is the mad, aging nobleman who embarrasses his respectable family by his adventures. Backed by his faithful sidekick Sancho Panza, he duels windmills and defends his perfect lady Dulcinea (who is actually a downtrodden whore named Aldonza).” (Gagle)
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”In the sixteenth century, Miguel de Cervantes, poet, playwright, and part-time actor, has been arrested, together with his manservant, by the Spanish Inquisition. They are accused of presenting an entertainment offensive to the Inquisition. Inside the huge dungeon into which they have been cast, the other prisoners gang up on Cervantes and his manservant, and begin a mock trial, with the intention of stealing or burning his possessions. Cervantes wishes to desperately save a manuscript he carries with him and stages, with costumes, makeup, and the participation of the other prisoners, an unusual defense--the story of Don Quixote.” ( Moreno)
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A Synopsis for Gerontologists. The film is similar to “Mr. Flood’s Party” in that an old man at first appears pitiable, even pathetic. Don Quixote is hopelessly confused: He is not a knight; his giant is clearly a windmill; his helmet is a barber’s basin; and Dulcinea, his lady-fair, is but a kitchen-slut. Though his gloomy dementia embarrasses his family, his dream prevails. Both his beloved Dulcinea and his faithful Sancho embrace his exalted reality, He dies among them, in a knight’s armor and singing of glory.
A Gerontologist’s Interpretation . Can there be question as to the value of a dream and a life according to one’s vision, even the dream and vision of an old man? Not after viewing the film, I dare say.
Mr. Flood and Man of La Mancha have much to say to both the practicing gerontologist and to the student of the aging process. Here are some reflections and suggestions for those who may wish to explore these supplements for themselves or for their students:
Long after our reading and viewing and classroom discussions, I hope students will find comfort in Mr. Flood’s plucky insolence toward senescent loneliness and often find themselves humming aloud “I am I, Don Quixote, the lord of La Mancha,” lifted and buoyed by a late-life dream of their own.
but there I go again…being “Quixotic.”
Gagle, Reid. Summary Man of La Mancha, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068909/ Retrieved on 7/8/06.
Hiller, Arthur (Director) (1973). Man of La Mancha. DVD.
Metcalf, James (2006). Reading “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in an Undergraduate U. S. Healthcare Course. Journal of Health Administration Education. 23(3):
Metcalf, James A (2007). Victor Frankenstein may be a dead-beat dad, but he offers lessons for health science students. Radical Pedagogy. 9(1).
Moreno , Albert Sanchez. Summary Man of La Mancha, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068909/ Retrieved on 7/8/06.
Robinson, Edward Arlington. Mr. Flood’s Party. Famous poets and poems.com. http://www.famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/edwin_arlington_robinson/poems/18451 Retreived on 7/11/06.
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