english

FINALLY, our last blog post!!! Now that we are done with our last book I have to say that I really enjoyed it. Not only was it something completely different from what we have been reading but it also was a page turner as well, which constantly kept me interested.

A point in the novel that I found to be quite interesting, was on page 229, when the narrator states:

“ We were always oral. We were forever biting , we bite hard, we spit and shined each other, we licked each other, we slobbered, we gorged, we made elaborate meals of ourselves, we made holiday feasts Scotch and Korean, the cold strange meal of tongue, of ankle, of toe, we made a mess..” At this point in the novel, the narrator is telling the reader how he is making love to his wife for the first time in a while. But what I noticed to be interesting is that Henry once AGAIN talks about their ethnic differences while talking about how he is about to have sex with his wife. He mentions that they ‘made holiday feasts scotch and Korean.’ I feel as though Henry can never get over how different they are ethnicity wise. He constantly mentions it in almost any big event that happens in their lives. Which could be a problem, even though they are beginning to ‘mend’ their damaged relationship.

He even states how its been“.. 5 months since he has seen her naked and maybe eight or nine since he has really touched her…”

This just proves what a horrible relationship they had over the past couple months and they were just beginning to solve it right then and there. I find it a little sad that for so long that those two lost each other in a way, they forgotten the love they had for each other with Lelia constantly going away on her “solo” trips and Henry never speaking up for himself. Henry also states how “he had forgotten how to make love to his wife.” I feel that Henry and Lelia grew apart from each other mostly because of their son Mitt’s death. Especially since they both dealt with their sons death so differently. As in previous chapters Henry and Lelia got into a huge fight about how Henry is always so quiet about their son’s death and Lelia constantly wants to talk about it

All of this happens at the end of the chapter, and continues on into the opening paragraph of the next chapter with them moving back in with each other. They are finally starting to begin to heal their broken relationship.

Upon reading the final chapters of Sula, I would have to say that they weren’t that bad. I actually enjoyed reading this novel in particular simply because it had so many twists and turns; especially with the character Sula. I never expected her to turn out to be the “bad omen” of the town.

In class, we went into groups and concentrated on certain parts of the book, my group had Sula’s funeral. This part of the book I found to be very significant, simply because no one cared that Sula died nor even mourned her death. The whole beginning paragraph of Section 1941 talks about how the townspeople either came to her funeral to 1. Make sure that Sula was truly dead or 2. Make sure that no one truly disrespected her funeral. The town looked at Sula as some sort of witch when she was alive, mainly for the fact that bad things happened whenever Sula was around; for example, when the boy fell off Sula’s porch and she got blamed for pushing him. And even in her death, they looked down upon her and still blamed her for things that went wrong in their lives. However, it was really ironic how she was looked at as such a horrible person, because in reality her horribleness is what made everybody so good. Sula in a way made them straighten out their lives for the better when she was alive and when she died everyone went back to their horrible crude ways. A quote that immediately caught my attention was on pg 153, it states, “Without her mockery, affection for others sank into flaccid disrepair…now that Sula was dead and gone with , they returned to a steeping resentment of the burdens of old people. Wives uncoddled their husbands; there seemed no further need to reinforce their vanity…” In other words, this quote already emphasizes what I have already explained. It even states how wives no longer were affectionate or cared about their husbands like the way they did when she was alive. They only loved their husbands in fear of Sula sleeping with them and now that she was dead, they didn’t have to worry about it. It just further explains how truly messed up this town was and how screwed up the people were that resided in it.

Upon reading the beginning parts of “Sula” By: Toni Morrison, I’ve found it to be very interesting yet very similar (in ways) to a lot of the other books we have read so far. I feel like the majority of the books that we have read whether they are canonical or non-canonical have to do with racism or African Americans besides “The Great Gatsby.” This makes it seem like there isn’t any diversity in the literature that we are reading.  It’s to the point where before we even begin reading a novel, I feel as though I can predict its either going to be about racism or something really disturbing like in “The Sound and the Fury” for example, how the brotherly love went a little bit further than just normal brother/sister relations; Or in “Invisible Man” when the whole ring match/electrocuting all the African Americans.

However, aside from all of that, when reading a little bit further into the book we read about how one of the characters, Eva, kills her son,
Plum. Now I found this to be so bizarre. She said she did it because he was all mixed up after the war but that’s no excuse. This really made me mad and also made me look very differently at her character. No matter how messed up someone is in the head that is no excuse to kill them, especially YOUR own son! I also found it to be very confusing with all the different characters that appear all over the novel.  I feel like they listed so many, that it makes it so easy for even the reader to get confused.  We (as a class) even found it hard to put together who was whose grandmother/mother, and what daughter belonged to who, between all of the female characters Eva, Helene, Nel, Sula, Hannah and Cecile; which was quite confusing

Chapter 11 starts out a little crazy and it opens with the narrator being in the hospital and he has not one clue to how he has gotten there or what has happened to him. He cant even remember his own name when asked. As I continued to read, I realized that the doctors racism gets in the way of their professional duty (which is to help the victim, no matter what race they may be). The doctors argue over how to treat the narrator and even talk about castration at a point. After some arguing they finally agree to continue to electrically shock the narrator (which brought me back to the beginning of the novel when the narrator was electrically shocked on the rug for the white man’s amusement). Also it is here that the characters in the novel show just how racist they are, even as the “professional doctor.” One of the characters in the operating room state as they are in the process of electrically shocking the poor narrator, “They really do have rhythm” and the man states this as in the sense that “all black people have rhythm.” It really is so sick that the narrator is in the hospital, getting electrically shocked to probably help save his life and all the doctors can do is make a racist comment like that. Its just so unnecessary and makes me sick to know that someone your suppose to trust with your life is joking around at such a crucial time in the novel. Racism comes up constantly throughout this novel, whether it is just casually mentioned or if it is turning your stomach upside down to the point that you cannot believe that people feel the ignorance to treat other human beings in such a horrible manner. It is just so unbelievable at times.

Another part in the novel that immediately caught my attention was during Chapter 13 when the narrator is walking down the street and stumbles upon the eviction of an elderly black couple by white men (even though the white men explain to the lady that they don’t want to do the evicting, but they have to). She keeps crying and hollering to the crowd. They were just tossing and throwing the couples life belonging onto the pavement like they are pieces of garbage. As the narrator sees this he just gets an adrenaline rush in a way and starts speaking out to the crowd , he states, “ Black men, Brothers, that’s not the way, we’re law abiding we’re law abiding people and a slow to anger people.” From this statement the narrator continues to spurt out more inspirational information to the crowd which draws their attention and triggers them to grab a couple of the old couples things and run them back into the building.

Another part of the novel that I found to be really interesting, that kind of jumps away from my idea about racism is the fact that the narrator joins “the brotherhood,” and they tell him upon joining that he has to change his name and move to an apartment that is owned by the brotherhood. The narrator agrees and is handed a piece of paper that holds his new name. I just found it totally weird that we still don’t know his name. Not his “old” or “new” name. He is just referred to as the narrator. I feel as though its eventually going to be stated its just kind of annoying that we still aren’t given his name. He even switches his name and we still don’t have a clue to what it is or was.

So we have finally moved on to the non-canonical novels of the course and I couldn’t be any happier. From the novel I read with my group and the novel we are currently reading “Invisible Man,” I feel as though these pieces of literature have so much more to offer then those that belong to the canon. So far each novel has something that more realistically relates to the average american then the canonical books we have read so far. Its more real life to me, in “their eyes are watching god” the main character struggles for independence, she also deals with emotional abuse from one of her husbands and has to deal with a death of a loved one.

Now in Invisible Man, its quite a different story. The main character who is nameless so far has to deal with the struggle of being black in a “pro-white society.” From the start of the novel, his grandfathers dieing words were to basically do anything to please the white people. Well not exactly “anything,” but just don’t go against what they have to say. Basically what we talked about in class “kill them with kindness” The rest of the chapters are really sickening that follow, especially the battle scene, where the blacks were forced to fight one another with blindfolds and then fight for money(which we later find out is fake) while being electrocuted. The narrator gets kicked out of college without him even knowing it over something that wasn’t his fault entirely (the whole true blood incident where Norton goes into shock about the incest and Bledsloe blames it entirely on the narrator) and then Bledsloe forces the narrator to leave the college to work and if he does so he is welcomed back. Little does the narrator know that he wont be welcomed back and the letters of recommendation that he was sent away with reveal this to the readers.

So, we are kind of half way into this novel and I find it to be really interesting, and to be a much easier read then past pieces of canonical literature we have read such as “the sound and the fury.” Although at points, I just want to shut the book and we like “ew gross” I still find it really intriguing to read, especially because I feel as though some Americans can relate to it.(well maybe older Americans that have possibly experienced the cruel treatment that used to happen way back in the day).Its way more realistic then “the great Gatsby.” And thus far, am enjoying reading the book.

Upon ending our group work with all the wiki’s, I would have to say that I very much enjoyed it. I feel as though working with others on a webpage about the novel gave you a more in depth look into each piece of literature. My group members pointed things out that I necessarily wouldn’t of if I were to have done the wiki page all on my own.

The novel that my group concentrated on was, “Their Eyes were Watching God.” Together as a group we discussed the various themes that were floating around the pages of this piece of literature. We all agreed that this novel includes both canonical themes and non- canonical themes. Which I think make this piece of literature that much more interesting to read. Some non-canonical themes we picked up upon were: Speech v. Silence (which talks about Janie‘s choice of silence against her husbands verbal abuse), Control and Liberation (which represents Janie throughout the book, she basically is controlled all her life by everyone that surrounds her until the very end when she is alone in the world, this is where she finally reaches liberation from control), and self-representation (is something that Janie seeks throughout the novel). Now, there were also many many other themes throughout this novel that are considered canonical, such as forced marriage, death, materialistic values, Not loving your husband/wife, loving/loosing, etc. However, I feel as though the non-canonical themes were the most important in the novel and were what made it that much more interesting.

Compared to the Hemingway stories, The Great Gatsby, and The Sound and the Fury, the non-canonical literature that we have read in groups was way less stressful and boring. Personally with the novel my group read, I didn’t spend the whole time wanting to tear my hair out with confusion.

After reading the books that were assigned to our groups, I was definitely happy to find it more pleasurable to read than the two previous books that we have read as a class. The book that was assigned to my group was “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston. This book was about an African American woman named Janie who tells her life story. The book opens with a couple jealous neighbors gossiping false information to each other. One of them being Janie’s true friend tells Janie what they are saying about her and Janie sits her friend down and tells her the real truth to the story of her life from start to finish. While Janie was growing up her grandmother filled her head with all of these materialistic values, and about how she should marry rich, and it doesn’t matter if you really love the man or not, as long as you have everything you need. Throughout the course of the novel Janie’s goes through two marriages where she was the most unhappy women ever all because she married for money over happiness. She leaves her first husband for the second one, and after the second one dies, she swears to herself that she will never marry again according to her grandmothers materialistic values. Upon meeting the next man in her life, he isn’t wealthy what-so-ever and Janie finds comfort in that. She likes being her spouse’s equal..not feeling as though she is below him in any way shape or form. She eventually marries her third husband and is happier then ever..until he gets rabies and she ends up killing him before he kills her. It is some what of an unhappy ending. But Janie realizes the importance of marrying for your happiness over materialistic things. After her third husband dies, she likes her new found independence and doesn’t seek to find another man to put into her life.

In my opinion I liked this book so much more than “The Sound and The Fury.” This book wasn’t too difficult to read yet wasn’t the easiest either. It actually kept me wanting to read more and more whenever I picked it up. Unlike the previous novel that I dreaded reading every time a new section was due. To me, there should be more books like this involved in the canon not books like “The Sound and The Fury.” Yeah “The Sound and The Fury” may have some hidden meaning that I haven’t discovered yet but in my opinion, “Their Eyes were Watching God” is a more reader friendly book that I believe more people would enjoy reading.

Upon finishing The Sound and The Fury, I felt as I did in the beginning…still confused. Not confused in the sense of the book in itself, but confused oh how this book is considered “Canonical.” I have definitely read other books that are way more intriguing that aren’t in the canon, and that makes me frustrated to know. It makes me feel as though if I were to read other books in the canon, I would fear they would be as bad as this one. Talking with my classmates and our discussions in class only made me realize I wasn’t the only one who felt this way, the majority of the class did as well. Which makes me think that there has to be something special about this book that has made it canonical worthy. I’ve sat and thought about what qualities it has that have made it so significant for the canon, maybe it’s the common themes found throughout the novel..maybe it isn’t. I Just don’t know and I cant seem to think of any more. But I cant express it enough that I couldn’t be any more happier to be done with reading and talking about The Sound and the Fury. Its even frustrating for me to have to write about it again for a blog just because I have nothing really left to say. The characters in this book were all twisted and screwed up in one way or another whether it was weird relations between brother and sister or the fact that Benjy’s family ‘decapitated’ him or the fact that Jason was so money hungry he stole from his own niece. The book was difficult to follow throughout and I cant express it enough, I’m thankful the torture is over.

I italicized all the sexual references in this passage that Quentin and Caddy exchange with each other*

“it wont take but a second Ill try not to hurt

all right

will you close your eyes

no like this you’ll have to push it hardertouch your hand to it

but she didn’t move her eyes were wide open looking past

my head at the sky

caddy do you remember how Dilsey fussed at you because your drawers were muddy

don’t cry

im not crying caddy

push it are you going to

don’t cry poor Quentin

but I couldn’t stop she held my head against her damp hard breast I could hear her heart going firm and slow now not hammering and the water gurgling among the willows in the dark and waves of honeysuckle coming up the air my arm and shoulder were twisted under me

what is it what you doing

her muscles gathered I sat up

its my knife I dropped it”

I chose to do my close reading on a small piece of the part when Quentin holds a knife to Caddy’s throat. Previous to the specific part I picked out, Quentin and Caddy were discussing her virginity and about all the different/poor decisions she has made with boys. Quentin then whips out a knife and holds it to Caddy’s throat and threatens to kill her along with himself. Instead of freaking out and crying, Caddy just calmly sits there, teasing and mocking her brother in a way to cut her throat, she uses a bit of reverse psychology, telling him to push it and slit her throat. There’s more then just the “murder attempt” going on this scene. Although he is holding a knife to Caddy’s throat, there are many sexual references as well. Leading the reader to believe that Quentin really just wants to have sex with his sister Caddy. Quentin also brings up the time when Dilsey yelled at her for having her underpants dirty. Which I found kind of strange because why would any brother bring that up to his sister? Caddy also tells Quentin not to cry as he is attempting to slit her throat and he shoots back with that he isn’t crying, yet Caddy keeps telling him not to cry. Finally, after a while of Quentin holding the knife to Caddy’s throat, he ends up dropping the knife.

This specific passage to me is one of the more important scenes throughout the novel and stands out the most in many ways. First, I noticed that in each line there are references to Quentin wanting to have sex with his sister, “will you close your eyes, it wont but a second, ill try not to hurt, touch your hand to it , do you want me to, push it hard, she held my head against her damp hard breast.” These couple of lines keep repeating through out the passage and hint at the fact that Quentin has a strange longing connection to his sister. He is in love with her and it all comes down to the fact that he wants to have sex with her..not slit her throat. I also noticed that within this passage there are no periods, commas, or anything else. Its all words and statements running into each other, at points, you as a reader get confused with who is actually talking. I also noticed that no letters are capitalized except for Caddy, Quentin, “I” and Dilsey. Which I thought to be weird, because the book started out with correct punctuation and in this chapter it slowly disappears. Even the names I just stated loose their capitalization as the chapter continues. Other lines that I thought to be interesting were when Quentin says “but she didn’t move her eyes were wide open looking past.” and “caddy do you remember how Dilsey fussed at you because your drawers were muddy” Through out holding a knife to his sisters throat he often stops to observe her emotions and facial expressions. He also out of nowhere brings up her muddy draws that Dilsey once yelled at her for and he mentions this in between their little argument about whether he is crying or not. Through out this passage, there are many moments of tension of whether Quentin is going to slit Caddy’s throat or have sex with her. However, in the end, he ends up dropping the knife and Caddy gets up.

In my opinion, this is just another weird/disgusting scene out of this novel. The reader is sitting there wondering, is Quentin going to kill or rape his sister and then kill himself? How could a brother let his love for his sister go anything beyond a normal brother-sister love for one another. In this scene in particular the reader actually sees how he wants to have sex with his sister just by the statements he made that I italicized. Its just disgusting to me and then to find out later in the novel that Quentin kills himself. That just symbolizes the fact that he was unhappy, with either not having Caddy in the end or it finally hitting him how sick it was to do what he did.