Red Sam

A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor

The whole scene with red Sam and the Grand Mother is an odd one to me as it seems as it is a place for a lot of foreshadowing, but I believe that there is a little more to tell.  The first thing that needs to be unwrapped, is the character Sam. Readers are able to believe that he is a Veteran of  the war and now a cook at his famous Barbecue restaurant and gas station.  

He does say some things that are very odd as if he is enlightened by the Grand Mother. When the two spoke about "better times", I wonder what they spoke about.  I assumed at first glance it was nothing to really worry about. However, as I looked at the text again it seemed as if they interaction was similar to the ending interaction between the Misfit and her. How, just like the Misfit he was engaged to make conclusion into his own life.

"Two fellers come in here last week," Red Sammy said, "driving a Chrysler. It was a old beat-up car but it was a good one and these boys looked all right to me. Said they worked at the mill and you know I let them fellers charge the gas they bought? Now why did I do that?"

"Because you're a good man!" the grandmother said at once.

"Yes'm, I suppose so," Red Sam said as if he were struck with this answer.(Page 141 and 142)

Now I can't figure out why he is good, is it really "good" to allow people to fill gas probably without paying or they paid, but put a lot more in then they should. It still makes a mystery at least for me to understand Sam, because I feel he is more to depict from this fat veteran and wonder what he is figuring out in his mind about this answer he came up with.

Another instance where I feel he come to another conclusion is when speaking of the Misfit with the Grandmother. Here the Grand Mother is cut off in her speech by Sam. I always wondered why this interruption occurs: "I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he didn't attract this place right here," said the woman. "If he hears about it being here,I wouldn't be none surprised to see him. If he hears it's two cent in the cash register, I wouldn't be a tall surprised if he . . ."

"That'll do," Red Sam said. "Go bring these people their Co'-Colas," and the woman went off to get the rest of the order. This is a similar event to the ending when the Misfit cuts off the Grand Mother is mentioning the Misfit as her child. The whole interaction could be nothing however, I believe that there is more to tell and would like to hear some peoples' ideas on this matter.  

Comment Response to eng130_ThreeAmigos: Violence Makes It Real

eng130_ThreeAmigos: Violence Makes It Real:             While discussing Kindred during class we spoke about the role of violence in the narrative. We brought up the point that viole...



Like Coltan, I like how you've put some thought into this, but I also question the matter on if she should be subjected to the rules of that period as well though I do like your idea of the rules not seeming to apply to her until she is violated. I think that the rules would apply to her since other people in the time period can see her, but if she was truly a by-stander to all the events witnessed and no one was able to touch her, then the idea of the rules not applying would work I think. One idea I had that you may be able to build upon is that, part of the reason that the violence escalates, she expects to go home anytime her life could be endangered or she could be harmed. Like the first time she came back, she had never had the experience of a gun in her face, so she expected to die and she went home, but after that, each time that she faced violence and expected to go home, she didn't and it was only once she realized that she truly had to believe her life was in danger and not just have the expectation of going home in order for it to work - maybe that's more complicated than it needs to be, but that's the thought I had when reading.

The Ghost in the Well

Pre-marital sex and the consequences of social ostracization if the mother gets pregnant is a fairly common theme in many stories of a family member who did not conform to the cultural norms of a certain group. This is true for Kingston’s short story, “No Name Woman.” However, something that I think made this story unique for me was the motif of ghosts. Kingston uses ghosts as a way to express various aspects of the consequences for the aunt getting pregnant, and the narrator even uses this as a way for her to understand her cultural and sexual identity within the context of being a part of both Chinese and American culture.

            The first time that we see her use the image of a ghost is when she retells the first time that her mother told her the story of her aunt who killed herself by drowning herself in the well with her newborn baby. Her mother tells her that her aunt was called “pig” and “ghost” (5). This first image sparks for the narrator the idea of her aunt believing herself a ghost before she even died. Later, in her imaginings of what could have been her aunt’s story of how she came to be pregnant and her feelings through the whole process, she imagines her own family calling her a ghost and even a “dead ghost” (14) as though being a ghost didn’t imply death as it was. This moment acts as a bridge between the villagers telling her aunt that she is a ghost and her believing that she is one.

            This takes itself up on the following page after she has given birth and she describes calls her baby “little ghost” because the child has been born into the mother’s reputation and therefore is a ghost and has no future because her once socially accepted and alive mother is now dead to their community which heavily relies upon one another. This moment creates an issue for the narrator in figuring out how to view her own sexuality and multi-culturalism. On the one hand, she has come from this culture and community which is very interconnected to everyone within the community and everything you do should be for the good and propriety of said community. However, since she appears to be of the first generation born in the US, she is also a part of a culture which is not heavily reliant on the idea of your actions being for the betterment of the community and is rather geared toward the idea that you do what is best for you.

            Here, we can see the paradox for the narrator, if she did not mind losing her Chinese family and community, she could end up pregnant as her aunt did and not have to face the same consequences because she could still have the opportunity to be successful in her life as an American.

            This, however, is still a scary thought for her because her haunts her (16). She even explains how, as someone who identifies with the Chinese culture, she knows that the Chinese “are always very frightened of the drowned one, whose weeping ghost, wet hair hanging and skin bloated, waits silently by the water to pull down a substitute” (16). While the her own images of her aunt and cousin as ghosts create sympathy for them, this final image of her aunt waiting to pull her down as a substitute is one that is chilling and terrifying because it creates an image of the aunt which paints her as someone who wants revenge against her community and no longer identifies herself with the family who disowned her and is willing to kill those who were not alive at the time of her death.

            With this, the image of the ghost changes from one that is melancholic to one that is similar to that of a poltergeist. It makes you want to watch your back and stay away from ditches filled with water. 

A Daughters Exploration of Sexuality

        From reading “No Name Women” by Maxine Hong Kingston and from discussions in class,  I feel as though Kingston is writing this story as a way of exploring her own sexuality.  Like Professor Oster told us in class, many of Kingston’s stories are parallel with her real life, even though the characters are changed.  With this information we can infer that the daughter from “No Name Woman” is speaking for Kingston.  

After learning about her aunt, the daughter imagines possibilities as to how her aunt became pregnant.  The scenarios that she imagines are possible scenarios that the daughter herself has experienced, or that she has had thoughts about.  She gives multiple explanations for her aunts actions because she is wanting to explore what is ‘ok’ and what is not, in terms of sexuality. 

The scenario I find most interesting is the one that the daughter mentions only briefly.  She ponders, “It could very well have been, however, that my aunt did not take subtle enjoyment of her friend, but, a wild woman, kept rollicking company.  Imagining her free with sex doesn’t fit, though” (8).  I assume that the daughter is so quick to dismiss this thought because it does not relate to her own life.  She cannot imagine herself free with sex, and therefor cannot imagine the aunt being free with sex either.  Why not though?  I think that the daughter has always been taught that sex is a chore that women tend to for when they have a husband.  It is as though the mother is saying to her daughter, “don’t have sex for enjoyment, sex is for your husband and only him, and if your have sex with anyone else, you will get pregnant, commit suicide, and be exiled from the family.”  To put this into a more relatable example the mother is saying, “don’t explore your sexuality because it will lead to bad things.”  Although this statement is rash,  I think this is what the mother is warning her daughter of.  We can conclude by the end of the story that the daughter fears having the same fate as he aunt.  I guess you could say the the mothers method of suppressing her daughter’s sexuality worked. 

Though we as readers don’t know for sure, Kingston could have been writing this story when she was facing the difficulties of exploring her own sexuality.  She used this story to debate between sticking with the Chinese traditions, or developing her own beliefs. 

Comment repsonse to Engl130 Team BLT(R): The Yellow Wallpaper Ending

Engl130 Team BLT(R): The Yellow Wallpaper Ending:         I think I have finally understood the ending of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. At a first look, this story seem...



I really liked your interpretation of the ending - how the narrator and John seem to switch roles where she is the calm and collected one and he is the frantic one who is assuming the worst of the situation. I especially liked how you connected this to John not really knowing and understanding his own wife enough to know what she is like and what she would do or is capable of because he has given into this idea of women not being capable of managing their own lives and men needing to be completely involved with every aspect. Granted this is a married couple and they should be involved with each other, but not to the extent where one of them doesn't get to choose what happens. One thing I do wonder about your analysis is what makes you think that the narrator had "continuous failing attempts [...] to gain some control over her life" - I see where that comes from, but I kind of saw some of her actions as what she needed to do in the moment in order to get back to what she wanted to do.

The "Good" Misfit

The group discussion during class about A Good Man is Hard to Find written by Flannery O’Connor brought up conflicting views on who we as readers though was as fault for the families death.  The grandmother gave directions leading to a house that she supposedly had fond memories of.  Little did they know that the house she was speaking of was in a completely different state and in the opposite direction.  The children begged and pleaded with their father, Bailey, to go see the house because they were interested in the hidden silver that was never found.  Bailey finally complied, but was still resentful.  To make a long story short, because of the decision to go see the house, all of the family members were killed by the Misfit, a man rumored to have committed crimes and was on the run.  Now, between the grandmother and the Misfit, which of these characters did O’Connor want us to side with as to who was responsible for the families deaths? 

From the title, I think that O’Connor wants readers to defend the Misfit. By using the title A Good Man is Hard to Find, O’Connor is conveying that the story is in search of a good man.  And by the end of the story we do find a good man, the Misfit.  We can define the Misfit as good because of how he is characterized differently than the other men.   As we read through the story we come across Red Sammy, who is rude to and demanding of his wife.  “Red Sam came in and told his wife to quit lounging on the counter and hurry up with these people’s orders” (121). Then there is Bailey, who shows no affection towards his wife and is also rude to the grandmother.  “Bailey turned his head sharply and said something to his mother that shocked even the children. The old lady began to cry…” (127).  From these example we can characterized these two men as not being good men.  Compared to the other men in the story, like Red Sammy and Bailey, the Misfit is characterized as having manners towards the grandmother.  After hearing Bailey yell at the grandmother, the Misfit says; “Lady” he said, “don’t you get upset. Sometimes a man says things he don’t mean.  I don’t reckon he meant to talk to you that away” (127).  Although it seems irrational to be on the side of the murder, this evidence from O’Connor implies that the Misfit is indeed a good man. 

In defense of the Misfit, this argument would place the blame on the grandmother.  Although she did not intend to, she lead her family astray.  The grandmother brought the cat along for the trip and the grandmother lead them in the wrong direction.  When she happens realize this, she jumps and spooks the cat, causing Bailey to crash the car.  This is a series of unfortunate events which are all traced back to the actions of the grandmother and not the behavior of the Misfit.  

"The Shawl"

Work Makes You Free, Dachau Concentration Camp. Personal photograph by author. 2014.

This story really gave me the chills. It’s horrifying. The imagery that Cynthia Ozick uses is so powerful. I honestly couldn't sit still as I read this short story. It was unsettling, and it should be. Coming into this short story I didn’t know at all what it was about, but it soon became clear with the language Ozick uses. There were some red flags when I first started, but what made my mind go to the Holocaust is when Magda is being described, “hair nearly as yellow as the Star sewn into Rosa’s coat.” (Ozick, 4). As soon as I read that line my mind automatically switched to the Holocaust.

One of the lines Ozick writes that caught my eye was describing Magda’s emerging tooth. “One mite of a tooth tip sticking up in the bottom gum, how shining, an elfin tombstone of white marble gleaming…” (Ozick, 4). There is an interesting parallel in this description between growth and death. Magda is a baby who is starting to teeth, a sign of her growing. Ozick then compares this tooth to a small tombstone a representation of death. I think particular sentence is foreshadowing of Magda’s death at the end of the story. I also feel that this illustrates there was no age discrimination in those that died in the Holocaust.

Another passage that caught my attention was when Rosa claims that the hum of the electric fence sounds like sad voices (Ozick, 9). “The farther she was from the fence, the more clearly the voices crowded at her.” (Ozwick, 9). These voices that Rosa says she hears I believe are victims that have already died. Their last pleas and cries for help before they died that linger on the premise. It’s very eerie because there were so many victims, so many voices to be heard. It reminds me of when I travelled to Germany where I was able to visit two concentration camps: Dachau and Sachsenhausen. Walking around both of these camps was the least to say quite an experience. I remember seeing these fences. The few buildings that remain standing today. The entrance that said, “Arbeit macht frei.” Work makes you free.

It’s very different to physically be at a concentration camp and see what remains from that terrible time instead of just reading accounts in books. When I was there it the atmosphere felt so heavy. However, I think Ozick is trying to evoke the same emotions one feels walking around the camp and reading this particular story. She does this with strong imagery that can make you feel uncomfortable and shift in your seat. Even though this story is very dark I did enjoy it because it took me back to the concentration camps, and I think that speaks volumes on how this story represents the Holocaust.

Barbwire Fence, Dachau Concentration Camp. Personal photograph by author. 2014.

           

Comment for Engl130 MKYT: Slavery: Turning Slaves and Slaveowners alike into...

Engl130 MKYT: Slavery: Turning Slaves and Slaveowners alike into...: In the book Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass , an American Slave , the author Fredrick Douglass recounts his experiences as a man...



Again, the internet hates me.



I really like this idea of everyone being compared to animals - kind of like 'Animal Farm' only instead of animals representing humans, humans are representing animals in a way. It really goes to show that by treating other people like animals and being cruel and not even trying to use basic courtesy towards another human, you're making yourself an animal as well and reversing those things which we believe to be that which separates us from animals. I also really liked how you pointed out the quote of how he viewed them as being cowardly as well as cruel because only people who think that they may be challenged use meanness and fear to rule. This idea is also reinforced when he has that fight with Mr. Covey and he doesn't admit that he got beat by a black man but instead acts as though he won.

Death and Resurrection

            Sylvia Plath’s poem, “Lady Lazarus” is such a dark poem! Although I did initially think it would be a little dark because of the name Lazarus in the title. It made me think of the man in the bible who was brought back to life. While I don’t know the complete story of Lazarus’ resurrection, I felt that it was going to be some sort of theme of the poem.

            I think what really made me associate Lazarus from the bible to this poem is when Plauth compares herself to a cat. “And like the cat I have nine times to die,” implying that she has the ability to live multiple lives (“Lady” 21). She also states in the poem that she has already used some of her lives. “The first time it happened I was ten. / It was an accident.” (“Lady” 35-36).  One of the things I found to be dark in this poem are the verses following: “The second time I meant / To last it out and not come back at all.” (“Lady” 37-38).

            To me this tells me that Plauth wanted to die. I’m getting that she tried to commit suicide, but her attempt didn’t work. As she says, “They had to call and call / And pick the worms off me like sticky pearls.” (“Lady” 41-42). Picking off worms makes me think that she was already in the ground and “resting”. This rest was interrupted and I feel like she was pulled out from a place of comfort. While I do feel like her plans were interrupted I don’t think that it fazed her at all. I think she planned to try to attempt suicide again in the future. She continues to say, “Dying / Is an art, like everything else, / I do it exceptionally well.” (“Lady” 44-46).

            I’m a little confused about the end of the poem though. For the most part I get death, suicide (and an eerie comfort from that), but at the end I feel like it suddenly switches to resurrection. “Beware / Beware. / Out of the ash / I rise with my red hair / And I eat men like air.” (“Lady” 80-84). Woah. Am I the only one that though this was a bold finish to this poem? It kind of made me think of Wicked when Elphaba is warning the people of what is to come if they get in her way. It feels like a threat. Red is hot, dangerous, angry, and she consumes man! Someone please help me with that last strophe, because wow I don't know how to approach it. It is such a strong statement.

            While this poem was a little dark I enjoyed Plath’s writing. I’m taking a lyrical French poetry class so it was interesting seeing her writing style since the format is different than most I’ve read (we mostly read rondeaux, and sonnets). It was also just nice to read poetry written by a women since only two of the poets we’ve this semester were women. What’s up with that? That’s an entirely different subject though…

Reading Between the Lines: Magic and Reality

Though I’m not sure if this was a common thing in Charles Chesnutt’s writing, I think it’s interesting that he had two separate short stories which were connected directly with its cast of characters and a connected (though separated by a passage of time between the two stories) directly by a chronology of some kind. The narrator’s wife, Annie, in these stories is a character that we don’t necessarily see very much of. Other than the details which we learn of from the narrator himself, we, as the audience, only see her actions and behavior a handful of times when she is with both the narrator and Uncle Julius.

            We don’t see much of Annie in “The Goophered Grapevine” but what do see of her tells us that she gives Julius legitimacy and authority as a story teller. We get our first glimpse of her in the first sentence of the story when the narrator explains that she had been in poor health, and that it was by their family doctor’s advice that they made the decision to move from their home in the Great Lakes, to a place with a more agreeable climate (and one that would enable him to continue his work in grape culture). Apart from this, we only see her when they go to the plantation which he intended to buy, and we see that she became weary after a time of walking about the yard which led them to the acquaintance of Uncle Julius (34). The first words we hear from Annie is the question she poses to Uncle Julius at his conclusion of the story of Henry: “’Is that story true?’ asked Annie doubtfully, but seriously” (43). These being the only words we hear from her, it’s hard to make much of her, but we are able to create some sort of assumptions about her – she is curious and interested in what Julius has to say and takes him seriously as a story-teller but is also logical in her thinking of what is real and what is not. In this case, what is real is the exploitation of Henry and his seasonal changes and Julius’ warning to not become like the slave-owner and what is unlikely is the goopher on the grapes.

            We see this curiosity more fully in the second story we read, “Po’ Sandy.” In this story, we see Annie being friendly and cordial with Julius when she asks him to explain who Poor Sandy was (46). In this instance, we see her treating him as an equal of sorts because she reinforces his authority as a story-teller by encouraging him to tell them what happened while the narrator makes no such move to engage in similar conversation with Julius.

            We see her give him even more authority when he concludes his tale and she voices her amazement that, “what a system it was […] under which such things were possible” (53). Her husband, the narrator, immediately misunderstands her meaning when he asks her if she’s “seriously considering the possibility of a man’s being turned into a tree,” but Annie is able to clarify, “not that […] poor Tenie” (53). Unlike the narrator who debunks Uncle Julius’ stories and the details in them because they contain elements of magic, Annie sees past the parts that would be impossible in their reality to the details which tell a tale of families being torn apart and watching your loved ones beaten and killed right in front of your eyes (51).

            Because of Annie’s ability to understand and sympathize with Uncle Julius, she is able to convince her husband that they shouldn’t use the schoolhouse’s lumber for her new kitchen because Uncle Julius perhaps didn’t feel like he was in any kind of position to speak directly to him about why the schoolhouse means something to him (if it does apart from the ending). This, I feel, goes back into the culture of former slaves becoming a part of a different form of slavery in which there is still a hierarchical structure in place and a code of conduct which tells us that you can’t speak directly to people who are above you about personal matters such as Uncle Julius wanting to use the school house for group meetings. 

Fredrick and his last poem

 I really enjoyed reading the Appendix of Frederick Douglass' narrative as he brings the ideas of Christianity to another light. A light in which has been dimmed by the South. Frederick discusses a wide range of "heavenly unions" in his writing titled A Parody. 

I really see this piece of writing as almost like slam poetry. The rhymes and emphasis on words   very raw and rigid, and can be argued as slam poetry.  It may even bring me to the thought of this may have been the start of written.

 “Come, saints and sinners, hear me tell 
How pious priests whip Jack and Nell, 
And women buy and children sell, 
And preach all sinners down to hell."

Its crazy to see and hear his rhyme scheme. He adds a very 1800 century flow to his poem. The 

“They’ll read and sing a sacred song, And make a prayer both loud and long, 
And teach the right and do the wrong, 
Hailing the brother, sister throng,  
With words of heavenly union. 

I believe that the "Heavenly Union" is for emphasis on his belief in Christianity. To bring focus of Fredrick's narrative this piece of writing depicts his views of Christianity of slavery. The abuse of African Americans by their "owners". It was an interesting perspective.

ENG130 Group 2: Standards of Beauty

ENG130 Group 2: Standards of Beauty: The standards of beauty that we know today are at the extremes. You’re either a size 2 and perfect or anything else and flawed. Girls start...



here's my comment because technology hates me. Enjoy!



I like that you start out with how the media portrays beauty today in your discussion of "The Birthmark." Although one thing that comes to mind, if Georgiana, in the eyes of everyone except Aylmer, is truly the perfect woman and the birthmark enhances her beauty, what does that say about Aylmer? Does it mean that he is maybe that force behind the media that constantly drives the beauty standards higher and higher? Or maybe even the idea that these models who are so beautiful are also photoshopped and can't even live up to the standards that exist. I also wonder if it could even represent the push for stars and models to get plastic surgery and become ever more "perfect." I think that could also tie into an argument for the nature versus science aspects of the story and how in our natural state, we can never truly be "perfect" and that perfection is not real and what is real is imperfect.

engl130team5: The Placebo Root

engl130team5: The Placebo Root:         Have you ever heard the story of some frat that was given kegs full on non-alcoholic beer, but were unaware of it?  Well, the memb...



So for some reason I can't actually post comments under the actual blog posts, so here is my comment in response to this post and I'll probably end up continuing to do this until I figure out why technology hates me so much :(



I was thinking similar things during your presentation yesterday. I feel like it's kind of like in The Big Bang Theory how Raj can only talk to women when he's drunk. There's one episode when all the characters are on a train and Raj is drinking non-alcoholic beer (though he doesn't realize it), so he's able to talk to this woman that all the main guys are interested in - until Howard points out that it's non-alcoholic beer. When he realizes this, he freezes up and can;t talk to the girl anymore even though he could before.

I think it may be a similar case with Douglass. I also believe there were other factors that played into his standing up to Mr. Covey, but I think the possibility of the root working gave him the little boost he needed to do what he needed to do. It then makes me wonder if anything after that incident would have happened if he had not been given the root or if it was one of those things that would have happened no matter what - like if it wasn't the root, it would have been something else like a pebble.

The discussion on this point yesterday also made me think for a moment if it was a literal root from the ground or if Douglass was using that as a different name for something else kind of like how he skipped over the exact details of his escape to protect others.

A Voice for the Victims

I wanted to take another look at the scene with Aunt Hester because I think this scene illustrates those things which we really don’t want to remember or even acknowledge to have actually happened and be a part of our history. It’s common knowledge that slavery is a horrible thing that dehumanizes people to the point where it would be better if they were merely beasts of burden as their masters believe them to be. But they aren’t. They are people with blood and a voice.

            Those two things are what make the section with Aunt Hester so hard to stomach. We can confer Mr. Plummer’s beatings of her are a regular occurrence based on Douglass’ description of how he would “whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood […] He would whip her to make her scream, and whip her to make her hush” (2). This is the moment where we see the lust for power over someone else that is at the heart of what slavery is. Mr. Plummer’s goal on a daily basis is to draw blood and take away Hester’s voice and only allow it to come forth when he wants it.      

            This is even more prevalent on the following page when Douglass shows us what he saw on the day that he entered “the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery” (2). I think what touches me most deeply about this scene is how Douglass’ language makes the sight and sounds appear the way it would be if it were rape. He slows down the scene and begins, not with the actual act of the whipping, but the events which lead up to it. Mr. Plummer “took her into the kitchen” (3). For me, the word “took” doesn’t necessarily sound excessively forceful as compared to “he dragged her into the kitchen” – no, he took her. He then “stripped her from neck to waist, leaving her neck, shoulders, and back, entirely naked” (3). Now it starts to sound more forceful because he stripped her from neck to waist and it sounds as though she were not a person but a piece of wood that needs to be filed down and rid of its rough edges. except her doesn’t uncover her completely – he leaves her bottom half covered because all he seems to care for is the soft, scarred flesh of her back.

            The tension continues to build as Douglass describes how Mr. Plummer “made her get upon the stool, and tied her hands to the hook […] Her arms were stretched up at their full length, so that she stood upon the ends of her toes” (3). He made her – whether she wanted to or not, she had no choice – and her arms were stretched so that she stood upon the ends of her toes. Everything about this image is tense, and we see her hanging there like a piece of meat that is about to be stripped of its skin to expose the muscle and bone beneath – which is what is about to happen to her, and we already know it just from this image.

            And then it hits us. “[H]e commenced to lay on the heavy cowskin, and soon the warm, red blood […] came dripping to the floor” all while we hear “heart-rending shrieks from her” (3). At this point in our lives, almost everyone knows what blood looks like, and we see it here the same as anywhere else we would see it – warm and red, dripping to the floor – and we hear the pain in Aunt Hester’s voice. It’s the same here as it would be if it were a white woman that this were happening to, yet it makes no difference to Mr. Plummer because to him, she’s just an animal that he’s strung up and, somewhat ironically, using another beast’s skin to punish her. This scene shows us how she is dehumanized in Mr. Plummer’s eyes very similarly to how a rape victim is not seen as being another person in the eyes of their rapist.  

            With this interpretation in mind of how the way the scene portrays her as being a piece of livestock that’s been sent to a slaughter house, I think the scene is justifiably graphic. In some ways, yes, it may humiliate her further but considering the way that she had been dehumanized as she is, what further damage could she sustain by being seen as she is here. She is a woman who is being punished and treated in a manner which takes away any opportunity for her to be seen as belonging to that domestic sphere which is so essential to this time period. What else could be done that could harm her more than what has already happened to her?

To be honest, reading this scene wasn’t the hard part because I have a tendency to distance myself from the speaker and characters when reading a piece of literature in order to analyze it better. Trying to write about it and convey my feelings about the scene without becoming nonsensical is the hard part – that is, I want what I’m trying to say to make sense without my emotions getting in the way too much. Which is hard because this is a topic which I have very strong feelings about because, as a writer myself, the thought of having my voice being taken away from me is the worst possible end. I think that’s the reason why Douglass learning to read and write was so vital to his salvation.

“Go’way”

First of all, wow, I did not except this story to start nor end the way it did. [Just FYI if you haven't read "In the Land of the Free," you definitely should cause spoilers, so you've been warned.] I feel like the title, “In the Land of the Free” somehow lied to me. When I think land of the free I don’t really think of someone’s child being taken away from them, I just think America. Personally, I felt like this story was heartbreaking. A mother and her son are finally reunited with dad who hasn’t met their son, and the kid gets taken away! [See spoilers]

            I think what hit me the hardest in this tale was the end. After ten months of separation between mother and son to hear your child say, “Go’way” must be heartbreaking (Far 101). A mother’s love is unconditional and when Lae Choo heard these words come out of her son’s mouth it must have felt like a stab to her heart. She probably felt that her title of mother was taken from her by the missionary woman who took care of her son when she was unable to. Not because she didn’t want to take care of her son but because he didn’t have the proper paper work to allow him entry into the United States.

That last scene made me feel like she was a complete stranger to her son. “But, the Little One shrunk from her and tried to hide himself in the folds of the white woman’s skirt.” (Far 101). I don’t get the feeling that the little boy was just being shy, but maybe a little afraid because he didn’t recognize her? When he is hiding from his mother she is on her knees with her arms stretched towards her son (Far 101). I’m not a mother, but I feel like that would feel awful. You carry someone with you for nine months, and you care for them after their born, you love them, and to have them not connect with you? Yikes. That’s all the author leaves us with too, the son telling his mother to go away. We don’t know what happens afterwards, which really bothers me. Like I want to know that they’re okay. That eventually the little boy and his family were able to gradually connect again, but I will never know. Maybe this was a way for the author to allow the reader to come up with their own ending, be confused, or face the reality of what happens when separated loved ones are reunited. I don’t know, but I really wish I got some closure!

            It’s sad to think that immigrant children are probably taken from their parents by customs officers more often then we think. “There cannot be any law that would keep a child from its mother!” (Far 96). Sadly though, this story illustrates that somehow there are laws (at least at this time) that did separate a child from its mother. In this case, there was no proof that Lae Choo or her husband were his birth parents. This scenario doesn’t just apply to children though, I’ve known parents separated from their children because they’re illegal immigrants and their children born here in the United States. It probably doesn’t feel like the land of opportunity, or the land of the free when your family is torn apart.