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.