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.