Sticks and stones may break Bone, but names will never hurt her

Getting into "Bastard Out of Carolina," I was immediately drawn to the character Bone, which I'm sure many are considering that she is the main character. She is very interesting, and I like her point of view. She's not very typical of a ten year old in my eyes, but still seems somewhat innocent and young.

In the start of the book it seemed like she was a bit of an outcast, but a happy little girl. She had a mother who was beautiful and they were very close, and eventually a little sister, Reese, with whom she always played with and it seemed like they were very close. I definitely think that Bone's mother was the most influential person in her life. It seems that she altered her life in order to please her.

For example, their happiest time seemed to be when Anney and Lyle were together. Bone never really said anything negative about her feelings or her mamma's feelings during that part of the book. Once Lyle died though, Anney became very sad, and I think that Bone really felt that. She hated to see her mother looking old, and see that empty smile. Bone knew that her mother was sad and lonely, and it seemed to me that Bone was a little sad too. She really cared for her mother, and worked very hard to please. While Anney was in this slump it seemed that Bone was very understanding for a young girl and that she wanted to help her mamma.

Then when Anney first met Glen Bone seemed pretty happy for her. Some feeling came back into Anney's eyes that she hadn't seen in a while. When Anney asked Bone if she liked Glen there was no way that Bone was going to say anything negative because she could see how badly Anney wanted her to like him.

Eventually, this protecting of her mother became an issue for Bone. It was no longer just trying to make her mother happy, but it was putting her in danger. When Glen beat Bone all the time and broke her bones, she never really told anyone what was happening. She wanted to make her mom happy more than anything. She could see how tired and old her mother was looking again, and she just tried to be the best girl that she could.

Although, I haven't yet finished reading, I can see that Bone has been through so much. She takes criticism and abuse all the time, but somehow she still seems strong. Although the readers can see that she is hurt, scared, and lonely, I can see a happy ending in the future for Bone.

"Walking on Water"

After we went over this poem in class and I understood it, I liked it. At first I was a little bit confused, but now that I know what is going on I find it to be a very calm, relaxing, and a sweet poem.

I like how the kid in the poem is so confident and really enjoys his little experience. He doesn't take his it for granted and really seems to use it to reflect on himself. Although his "walking on water" experience wasn't actually walking on water and it happened when he was a kid, he still reflects on it when he is an adult.

Dickey uses words that are relaxing and pretty. For example I like how he said this, "A curious pilgrim hiking/ Between two open blue worlds,/ My motion a miracle,/ Leaving behind me no footprint,/ But only the shimmering place of an infinite step upon water." Once I put the words to a meaning I got a strong mental picture. It just seems so peaceful and relaxing.

Throughout the rest of the poem Dickey uses the same language to make the child seem so happy just gliding across the water. When the kid sees the shark it's kind of scary, but he just keeps on going, like he has all of the animals in the water mesmerized. It almost seems that he is mesmerized at well. No one can really believe he's just pushing his way across the water all by himself.

I also like how Dickey is telling the story of him "walking on water." I feel that he is telling it as it has actually happened to him, and perhaps it has because the details that he uses are so familiar.

A Dog Sleeping On My Feet

Oftentimes I have a lot of trouble reading poems. There is always some hidden message and I feel that I can't ever quite figure it out. Occasionally though there is a poem that I like and I think I get the feel for. I liked this poem, "A Dog Sleeping On My Feet." I thought that it was a sweet poem that was very relaxing and cozy somehow.

I like how Dickey uses his pet dog for inspiration. He seems to be sitting in his chair with his dog sitting on his feet, warming them. Apparently the dog has been there for quite some time because his feet become prickly and fall asleep. I like how he tries to sit through it though and uses it as an inspiration. Not wanting to disturb his friend he writes. He writes about a fox and relates it to the prickles in his feet.
"All, all are running.
Marvelous in pursuit,
Like a dazzle of nails through the ankles,
like a twisting shout through the tress
Sent after the flying fox"

When the dog gets up he is nearly finished. He concludes describing how he will go into his bed and
"From the dream of an animal,
Assembling the self I must wake to,
Sleeping to grow back my legs."

I like all of the descriptions that Dickey used. While describing his "pine-prickling legs" I can almost feel the same thing, and I know exactly what he means. Also, I like how he can relate it to something, and use the scent in the air to bring everything together. It gives a certain feel to the poem that is very relaxing.

O'Connor

At first when I read the O'Connor story I didn't really realize that it was religious. Once we talked about it in class though I was able to see it a lot more in the second reading, "Revelation." I thought that "Revelation" was a very interesting piece. To me it seemed humorous and religious at the same time and it was enjoyable.

Mrs. Turpin was my favorite character. I thought that she was funny. I liked how she prideshe realized that she wasn't really the person that she thought that she was all along. She made a strong point in telling herself all the time that she was kind and good, and that she always went to church. She would tell herself that she was a good Christian and thank God and Jesus for giving her a little of everything.

Mrs. Turpin really seemed to appreciate herself. She saw herself as pretty, kind, a good Christian and although she was a little overweight she was very pleased with herself. This pleasure with herself seemed to have come from viewing others negatively. Throughout the whole story we hear her describing her impressions and the appearance of those around her in the doctors off. This one was fat, that one was ugly, this one was rude, etc... Luckily though she was none of those bad things, therefore it seemed that those negative things were just that much worse.

When Mrs. Turpin finally comes to the realization after the ugly girl calls her a warthog from hell I think it's really amusing. She knew all along that she wasn't that great of a person, but now hearing from someone that she didn't actually know really got her thinking about her life. She was completely devastated by a teenager telling her she was from hell. Although she sees this as a sign from God and that she has actually known this girl for years it still comes out of an ugly teenager.

I think it's interesting when they finally head home from the hectic doctors office and Mrs. Turpin expects everything to crumble right in from of her practically (her home, farm, Claude). She gets so upset and practically challenges God because of what he called her. Mrs. Turpin just didn't understand how someone so faithful to the church and above the white trash and the black people could be looked down upon so much by God.

As the reader we can see the whole time that she is very judgemental and critical of others. She has no respect for the lower class and really thinks of herself as better than so many people. When she finally is exposed to this knowledge it is almost too much for her to take, and I was just really amused at how she handled the whole situation.

Movie vs. Reading

For the most part the movie "A Streetcar named Desire," and the actual play seemed very similar to me. Most of the characters were portrayed in way that I had them imagined in my head. There were a few things though that didn't really match up with my interpretation of reading the play.

To me, the most different character was Blanche. Although she was crazy in both the play and the movie, I think she seemed a little bit more over the top in the movie. She didn't seem as confident as I thought she would. Although she was conceited and tried to be proper, in the movie she seemed almost timid. Her voice was more hushed and she would have pauses between her quick sentences. Also, rather than just annoyed by Stanley's rudeness it seemed that in the movie was a more scared of him. Obviously in the rape scene in both the book and the movie I could sense her fear, but to me she seemed more often scared in the movie.

I get this sense because all throughout the movie we see Blanche burying her head in Stella. Stella seems almost like a mother to her. Every time she gets upset (which is often) she's there crying in Stella's arms. This brings me to another interesting point about the movie. To me it seemed that Blanche and Stella were almost too close in the movie. Instead of Stella just standing up for her and waiting on her like she did in the book, I was surprised how much the girls touched each other and hugged each other. I just didn't the impression that they were so affectionate while reading the play.

I also think that Blanche is a lot more crazy in the movie. The music playing in her head really seems to affect her and it shows. While reading the play I just thought that she played it off as nothing when others were around. In the movie however one can really see her company look at her funny, like they know something is going on inside her head.

In the movie as a whole, the main difference was the ending. After Blanche was taken away I was just waiting for Stella to run back into Stanley's arms like she did in the play. Instead of this she took the baby and ran. I think that may have been more powerful of a statement, but it wasn't Stella like we knew her in the play. Instead of looking for her comfort in Stanley it's obvious that she realizes what he's done, and it doesn't seem like she's coming back.

Desire

"A Streetcar Named Desire," I think is a very interesting title first of all. The streetcar isn't really the important part though. I think that desire plays a big part in this play though for many characters. Blanche, being a main character that really sticks out. She is so needy and it's ridiculous. Blanche has lost everything that she knew and it seems that she really can't handle it. Having a rich upbringing really brought her down. When she goes to stay with Stella for a little while, it seems that it's more than just a visit. She ends up staying for a while, and the whole time it doesn't really seem like she grew as a person.
Blanche really couldn't believe that Stella lived in such a small place first of all. Both of them had such wealthy upbringings, but Stella had been able to get past that and live a happy life. Unfortunately Blanche couldn't, and she had such a strong desire to be how she used to be. The whole play she is critiquing things on and off, and trying to change things, and convince Stella that Stanley isn't up to her standards.
Although Blanche just wants to be back to Belle Reve there isn't any way, and she doesn't really seem to be trying either. She wants and wants but does nothing to get it. The only thing that she really seems to be good at is getting men. With her southern belle ideals in mind it is hard for her because she seems to have such a strong sexual desire. For example, although she never slept with Mitch it was defiantly in her mind. Their first date she asks him to sleep with her in French. Obviously Mitch didn't know what she said, and they didn't sleep together it is clear that she had that desire, and was fighting it.
All in all, I'm not really sure if I felt sorry for Blanche or if I even liked her as a character. She was very interesting and definitely was a big part of the play, but she was so needed that sometimes the reader/viewer seemed to get annoyed by her. she couldn't do anything for herself but wanted so much.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

While reading this I really enjoyed it. I just thought it was good, and I liked the story to it. It wasn't until after we had our class discussion that I really started thinking about the contradicts or the possibilities of it being a feminist novel. Although I could see how the book could be classified under a feminist novel it may not necessarily. There are also good masculine representations throughout the book as well as negative female representations. But, looking at it from the feminist side, I see Janie as a very strong, intelligent character that I liked.
Janie seemed to be always looking for more in her life and never really finding it. She was pushed aside by her first two husbands because she was a woman. A lot of this novel was focused on Janie's life while married to Jody and working in the store. That is when I really started to feel for Janie. I thought that she was going to be happy leaving Logan and I thought that Jody would make her feel good and treat her well. In his eyes he did do this. It seems like Jody was kind of proud of having Janie as his wife. She was young and beautiful and he could see other men's desires for her. He seemed to think of her more as a trophy wife. This also lead him to some jealousy. Because Janie had very unique and beautiful hair other's wanted to see it and touch it, but Jody felt that it was only for him. He made Janie hide the one thing that really made her stand out. Instead of treating her well, Jody seemed to have really drained Janie. She wasn't really allowed to speak her mind, he called her stupid/made her feel stupid often, he made her tie back her hair, and never really spent any quality time with her.
It seems that possibly at first Janie may have enjoyed her time with Jody. She flirted with him while she was married to Logan, and she left Logan for Jody. Unfortunately the happiness didn't last, and Hurston tells us that eventually they weren't intimate any more. It just seemed like Janie was kind of a robot that got punished when she went out of the "natural order" Jody had in mind for her. Even when Janie brought this to the attention of Jody he still didn't seem to get it, and was only bitter. Because he had made such a successful life for them financially and status wise he thought that Janie should have been happy. To him, he had given her all that money could buy and that any woman would love to be Janie. It wasn't just about the money to Janie though. She always wanted to know what love was like and if it was real, but she felt trapped in Jody's world of belittled women.
Once Janie found love with Tea Cake I really started to be happy for her. I liked how Hurston wrote about Janie using her older years when she was younger, and now that she was older she was younger at heart. I thought that was cute. The reader really sees how much Janie loves Tea Cake and Janie realizes what she had been missing out on in her previous marriages. I think that it's interesting how once Janie finds love she loses love for her grandmother. Now that she knows what her grandmother has kept from her she is angry. To Janie, love was important, not money, but to her grandmother, money was important. Perhaps the grandmother was just trying to do the best thing that she could for Janie and set her up for a good life, but she really caused Janie to waste a lot of time being miserable.

Jim Crow

Each little section in the writing I found myself underlining a lot of it. There was just so much in such a short piece. So much was wrong with the way things were while living under the Jim Crow laws. I thought this piece was a little bit weird. It almost had the theme of coming of age, but in a sad way. Throughout the years, the narrator learned how to act so that he could live his life as safely as possible. He starts out this piece with his fight with the white boys. When he expects comfort from his mother, and gets a whipping the reader I feel sympathy for him. I think the mother was extremely harsh and she didn’t seem very understanding. Although she may have been doing so in order to protect him, he was just a boy and to me it didn’t seem like that was the right way to go.

Throughout the rest of the piece, the reader sees that narrator learn what to say and what not to say in order to please the whites. He doesn’t always do so successfully though. When he firsts get a job for an optical company the boss told him “Boy, how would you like to try to learn something around here?” The narrator was very pleased by this he thought “working my way up. Even negroes have those visions.” From that point it seems like the narrator isn’t going to have things so bad and that he is going to have a decent job and do well. It was so ridiculous how angry the other white workers were at when he finally asked about moving up. They must have felt pretty threatened by that because they didn’t want him learning about a “white man’s work.” Eventually when that job falls through it is because of a ridiculous reason. Apparently he wasn’t respectful to one of the white workers, and got backed into a corner. They told him “When you are working for white folks, you got to stay in your place if you want to keep working.”

The narrator learned many other lessons throughout his life that would help him stay alive. For example, if a black person is being punished, they are lucky to survive, or escape without rape no matter how severe a beating, if they escape death than they are lucky. Also, he learned that he must always be respectful; yes sirs were always necessary when talking to a white person. There must be no bastardies, there must be no looking at a white woman the wrong way, and no reading (too much of an education was threatening). Basically, the blacks were legally free, but definitely not considered free. Everything that they did had to be watched carefully, and everything they wanted to say they had to make sure they chose their words wisely. By the end of this piece the reader can see that the narrator has overcome a lot of obstacles throughout his life, and that he has had to alter his way of life in order to fit into what the white people wanted from him.

The Old Order

I find Porter's stories to be rather interesting and I enjoyed reading them. "The Old Order" in particular got me thinking. This section starts off with Grandmother and Nannie making quilts and kind of tying their past together. So, like "The Source" it's obvious that the Grandmother has strong connections with her past that she doesn't really want to get rid of. The story says, "They talked about the past, really-always about the past. Even the future seemed like something gone and done with when they spoke of it," but then Porter goes on and says, "Who knows why they loved their past? It had been bitter for them both." So as a reader I'm getting this vision of their past as tough, but something that they they were able to work through together, somewhat happily. And I believe that was true because later Porter describes some events of their past.
When both Grandmother and Nannie were of age they had children together (well not together, but they cared for them together, and had them at about the same times). At first it was Nannie's job to nurse both babies, but then when Nannie was sick Sophia Jane took over. It's interesting because with all of the lady like values Sophia Jane seemed to have, she was willing to this for a friend. It's very obvious throughout the rest of the story that Nannie and Sophia Jane really were good friends, and not just Nannie as her slave. They even stayed together after Nannie's emancipation. Although it was important to Nannie that she was emancipated, she still remained with Sophia Jane because they were friends.
"The Old Order" didn't just talk about the past and how it related to their growing friendship over the years, but also it talked about the hardships. It was unfortunate that Sophia Jane's husband died and "she found herself with a houseful of children, making a new life for them in another place, with all the responsibilities of a man but with none of the privileges." Therefore this southern lady who had kept quiet on all financial decisions in the past now had to take over and make a life for her 11 children. She tried going to a sugar plantation that her husband had said would be a sure thing, but she soon realized that he had been wrong and she had to build a life from the ground up. Eventually she got on her feet and was able to support her family and give a little something to her sons when they married. This was a very unusual situation back then, but she was able to handle it.
I think this just shows how strong Sophia Jane really was as a women even though she liked to think of herself as more of a lady. In her present day she couldn't believe that women were taking on men's jobs and how much everything was changing. She thinks that the past was much better and that everything was going way to quickly. It seems to me though that she was way ahead of her time anyways. She had done a man's work for most of her life and had done a good job for herself and her kids.

truth or dare

As soon as I read the title to William Faulkner's "Dry September," I immediately thought that it would be something kind of dull and sad. Faulkner really followed through with that first impression from the very start, "Through the bloody September twilight, aftermath of sixty-two rainless days, it had gone like a fire in dry grass-the rumor, the story, whatever it was." From this opening and Faulkner's style it kind of forced be to read slowly, but intently. I didn't really want to miss a detail because I was curious of the rumor. As we talked about in class, Faulkner doesn't really point things out bluntly, but really makes the reader think.
Continuing to read, I was a little surprised, as I always am, when the "n-word" was used so casually. It really shows that despite the fact that there are still racist people in the world, our society has really come a long way. When the rumor somewhat comes out, however, I was not surprised. Although the reader isn't 100 percent sure what happened, it was about a white woman and a black man which leads all our minds to about the same conclusion. There is no question to many of the characters as to what to do, but peculiarly one of the barbers in the shop, Hawkshaw, stands up for the accused African American, Will Mayes. It seems that he is the only one who has a conscience. There was no proof or investigation, but all of the other men didn't care, and thought that the only option was to get rid of Will Mayes.
Throughout the whole story Hawkshaw tries to fight for Will Mayes, he knows Will and knows that he wouldn't do such a thing. The response he gets to this is by McLendon "Happen? What the hell difference does it make? Are you going to let the black sons get away with it until one really does it?" I find that very interesting. No one was getting away with anything if it didn't really happen. I've noticed this reoccurring theme throughout some of our previous readings that African Americans were so harshly punished many times not only so that they wouldn't repeat the crime (if there really even was one) but so that the other slaves/African Americans wouldn't get any ideas. Although that makes some sense, oftentimes it wasn't justifiable.
Eventually Hawkshaw had basically had enough. To me it seems that he knew that there was no longer anything that he could do, so he didn't really give up on the situation, but I think that he more or less got the point. He either went all the way to the lynching, fought for what he believed in, failed, and got himself in trouble; or he could have done what he did which I think was still noble and the right choice. He dared to stand up for what he believed was right in a cruel society. All in all, again I'm getting the point as to what life as an African American was like in the past. It's sad how differently people can be treated just by the color of their skin. Poor Will Mayes who may have done nothing had to suffer from and accusation that probably only him and Minnie Cooper would ever know the truth to.

"cursed with the brand of slavery"

Kate Chopin had a very unique style of writing that I really enjoyed reading. I liked her use of irony and despite the time in which she was writing she wasn't afraid to write what she did. in all three of the readings we read by her I was very interested in her endings. As we talked about in class it was one of her trademarks, and I found it clever.

In "Desiree's Baby" Chopin really put an emphasis on how much Armand loved the baby, and how he changed and loved Desiree so much more with the baby. Things started to get shaky though when others were acting kind of strange about the baby's looks and once Armand found out that the baby was of mixed race he really rejected it. This was that same baby that he had grown to love and which he had made, but now it was as if it were an alien that he couldn't bare to touch or look at. Naturally, him being a slave owner himself could not possibly have been the parent that contributed to this mixing of races. He was so proud that he immediately blamed Desiree. It's quite odd though because she even said herself that she was more white than him and pointed out all of her obvious traits that were very different from the race of which she was accused. Because she honestly couldn't prove it though she had no choice but to leave, it was her fault.

Then the ironic part comes in. After it's too late Armand finds a letter from his mother to his father that writes "Armand will never know that his mother, who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery." First of all that is a huge shock to Armand and the reader. How could it be that Armand was actually the one of mixed race when he was clearly a wealthy white slaveholder himself? This letter leaves a lot of questions to the reader. For example, did he never meet his mother or if he did how didn't he notice? Also, it's strange how he became a master and rose to such a high position. It would seem that somewhere along the way someone must have known his background, and wouldn't have allowed it.

I also notice how the mother wrote the letter... "cursed with the brand of slavery." So, she couldn't just say his race, but even his mother who wasn't white thought of her race as a curse, and a brand. Obviously, life wasn't a picnic for slaves, but she just makes it sound so much worse. The word brand really strikes me too. She's not just of a different race but she's a type of person, she had a brand.

Frederick Douglass

After reading about a good amount of Frederick Douglass's life I definitely had a change in heart compared to how I felt after reading George Fitzhugh. George Fitzhugh made slavery sound good. Even though I knew in my head that it wasn't, his persuasive writing had an effect on me. Now however, I have gone back to my original feelings on slavery for the most part. I can still understand how slavery can be benificial, but it was completely unfair and cruel most of the time. Although parts of Douglass's life didn't seem as harsh as I sometimes imagined slavery to be, it's sad to think that he was somehow lucky (at least I would consider him somewhat lucky compared to many other slaves).
One benefit he had over many other slaves was that he was a slave to the Auld's in Baltimore. Douglass says "but for the mere circumstance of being removed from that plantation to Baltimore, I should have to-day, instead of being here seated by my own table, in the enjoyment of freedom and the happiness of home, writing this Narrative, been confined in the galling chaings of slavery." Douglass is saying himself that, without the opportunity that he had in Baltimore he felt that he wouldn't be the free man that he was while writing this Narrative. His master's wife took the initiative to teach him how to start reading. Somewhat odd during that time, but she still did it nonetheless. It seems as though she may not have known what to do with a slave. After her husband scared her out of treating Douglass well it almost seemed as though she started to feel guilty for ever taking the time to be kind of helpful. After she stopped teaching him how to read, seeing him with the newspaper made her furious. Perhaps she was scared of what she had started. If it wasn't for her he wouldn't be reading the newspaper and knowing what was really going on around him.
Douglass used his resources well and eventually became one of the few slaves that were able to read and write. I find it interesting that Douglass sometimes thought of this as a burden. However, this is understandable. Douglass knew what was out in the world but was stuck in slavery. In the end being able to read and write is actually what drove him to escape, or so he says. He bacame very crafty and determined. I find it interesting that for how much he talked about escaping he waited quite a while before attempting it, and after his first attempt was nearly discovered, he waited a decent amount of time again. For all the passion that he had to be free it would seem that he would have tried to leave right away, but maybe that makes him smarter than many other slaves. His timing and planned all seemed to be right, and he escaped slavery with many different skills and the ability to read and write.