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.
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5 comments:
I Absolutley liked Sophias and
Janes friendship it was quite unique. At first I wasnt too sure about there friendship because Nannie was a slave, but you can really tell that they were good friend. Especially when Nammie got imancipated like you said. She could have left but she stood instead. That shows that they were really close. They basically grew old together. They started off as young little girls and grew old together sewing quilts and talking about the past like ypu said. I liked how jane didnt treat her like a slave but treated her more like a fried.
I agree with what you said and I think some of these examples show that to me it seemed like Sophia Jane herself was turning into the "new women". Like with how she treated her slave, Nannie who was her friend(to me it seemed like they were best frieds). Even enough to feed each others children, which for two women of different races was not thought highly upon at this time. Also when Sophia Jane's husband died she had to work to support her family. At this time this was considered "man's" work but she had to do it to keep her family going.
I think that the scene in which Sophia Jane and Nannie are quilting together is symbolic of their lives. Pieces of their lives came together in the form of a quilt. Although they lead separate lives they were connected through children. And the fact that Sophia Jane owned Nannie added a twist to this relationship. Nannie and Sophia Jane had a complicated relationship that may have lead parts of their lives to cross and other parts to remain separate.
The relationship between Sophia Jane and Nannie was interesting becuase they seemed really close but they were brought together through the children and Sophia Jane owned Nannie. I really liked Sophia Jane as a character. She was strong and deticated to the things she loved as well as her loved ones.
I agree with you that the relationship between Sophia jane and Nannie is truly unique. Both came from such different worlds and yet they not only learned from each other but built a friendship that was stronger that war, freedom, children and even death. I think Sophia Jane saw some of herself in Nannie and treated her as such.They truly represent how the past steps on the heels of the present.
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