I have read many of Amy Tan's writings, and I must say she is a very important spokesperson for the dynamics of the Chinese-American family that has immigrated to the U.S.. The children acclimate to their new environment much easier than the elders of the family This puts a huge strain on all the family members involved. This is a recurrent theme in her writings.
The story we read this week by Amy Tan was titled Half and Half. On the surface this story is about a young woman who is going through a divorce, and her hesitancy to share with her mother for fear of reprisal. If you look deeper though, you see a story about faith, fate, and the stressed relationship between a mother and a daughter who might as well be worlds apart. Through the story within the story about the tragic death of the main characters younger brother while on an outing to the seaside we are able to clearly define the moment the mother loses her faith. She tries everything she can think of to try and bring her boy back from the ocean. She tries christian prayer, oriental mysticism, and it isn't until the inner tube she has thrown into the water is pulverized by the rocks and waves that she finally gives up and goes home. From then on, her little bible can be seen under the too short table leg which to an outsider is seen as sacrilegious and strange, but even now after all the years she still makes sure the bible is clean and free of dust. Perhaps this is a symbol of the last vestiges of hope the mother has. I think deep down somewhere the mother still has some modicum of faith, however small, that keeps her going, and this little, white bible reminds her of this fact.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Alice Walker- "Everyday Use"
Despite the fact that Alice Walker was the last of eight children, born into poverty, she surmounted the odds and became a very important voice for the rights of southern blacks, especially women. Her most famous book is probably The Color Purple which was adapted for the screen, and received critical acclaim. She even won a Pulitzer Prize for the book.
The story we read this week by Walker was called Everyday Use. The story opens with a mother dreaming of being reunited with her daughter after years of separation. She imagines being on a television show and being the kind of woman her daughter wishes she would be- articulate, light skinned, thin, and witty. In reality she is a large, husky woman well-suited for hard labor rather than intellectualism. She is a realist who sees the importance of hard work and doesn't have time for frivolity. She has two daughters. One is Dee who left long ago, and said while she may be back in the future she certainly wouldn't bring any of her friends to meet her mother and sister in there little shack of a house. She thinks she is better than they are, and when she finally does come for a visit, she is snobbish and uppity. The second daughter's name is Maggie. Maggie was caught in a fire years ago, and is now a timid little waif of a girl who shuffles around with her eyes to the ground. She is unsure of herself and doesn't interact well with other people.
The main part of the story is about Dee paying Maggie and their mother a visit with a man she may or may not be married to. They have taken on African names, and put on like they are better for it. Dee has become Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo because, she says, Dee is a name after those who oppressed her people. Anyway, Wangero and this man waltz in and start taking things from the small house. They take a butter churn and say they will use it as a centerpiece. She even wants to take some quilts made from fabric from three generations to hang up on her walls. These quilts have been promised to Maggie, but Wangero says she will just ruin them-that they aren't for everyday use. Everything in the house is quaint and kitshy to Wangero and her man-friend when, in reality, it is a very utilitarian house with very utilitarian things in it. These everyday use items are seen by Wangero as something to put into a museum, not as useful things meant for everyday use. In the end the mother grabs the quilts from Wangero and gives them back to Maggie who she knows will appreciate them and put them to the good use they were meant to have.
The story we read this week by Walker was called Everyday Use. The story opens with a mother dreaming of being reunited with her daughter after years of separation. She imagines being on a television show and being the kind of woman her daughter wishes she would be- articulate, light skinned, thin, and witty. In reality she is a large, husky woman well-suited for hard labor rather than intellectualism. She is a realist who sees the importance of hard work and doesn't have time for frivolity. She has two daughters. One is Dee who left long ago, and said while she may be back in the future she certainly wouldn't bring any of her friends to meet her mother and sister in there little shack of a house. She thinks she is better than they are, and when she finally does come for a visit, she is snobbish and uppity. The second daughter's name is Maggie. Maggie was caught in a fire years ago, and is now a timid little waif of a girl who shuffles around with her eyes to the ground. She is unsure of herself and doesn't interact well with other people.
The main part of the story is about Dee paying Maggie and their mother a visit with a man she may or may not be married to. They have taken on African names, and put on like they are better for it. Dee has become Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo because, she says, Dee is a name after those who oppressed her people. Anyway, Wangero and this man waltz in and start taking things from the small house. They take a butter churn and say they will use it as a centerpiece. She even wants to take some quilts made from fabric from three generations to hang up on her walls. These quilts have been promised to Maggie, but Wangero says she will just ruin them-that they aren't for everyday use. Everything in the house is quaint and kitshy to Wangero and her man-friend when, in reality, it is a very utilitarian house with very utilitarian things in it. These everyday use items are seen by Wangero as something to put into a museum, not as useful things meant for everyday use. In the end the mother grabs the quilts from Wangero and gives them back to Maggie who she knows will appreciate them and put them to the good use they were meant to have.
Bobbie Ann Mason- "Shiloh"
Having never read anything by Bobbie Ann Mason before this week I was pleasantly surprised by the story Shiloh. It was a story about the relationships between a husband and wife, a mother and daughter, and a son-in-law and mother-in-law. These three very different relationships each had their own dichotomies and nuances. The husband and wife (Leroy and Norma Jean) have a very strained relationship. The husband was injured in an accident when he was driving his tractor-trailor, and has been unable to work because of this. The wife is used to having lots of time to herself, and doesn't quite know how to relate to her husband now that he is always there. Norma Jean sees his presence as a hinderance and is slightly resentful towards him. Leroy feels this strain but doesn't really know what to do about it. He wishes they could be closer and that they could be able to enjoy this time together. The mother and daughter (Mabel and Norma Jean) relationship also appears to be strained, but for different reasons. It seems like a stereotypical mother-daughter interaction. Norma Jean feels like a little girl around Mabel, and Mabel still tries to control her daughter's life. She wants Norma Jean to be a better wife and daughter. She suggests that the couple take a trip together to Shiloh, Tennessee with hopes that it will straighten her daughter out and strengthen her and Leroy's relationship. Now, the relationship between Leroy and Mabel is another story altogether. They seem to be able to stand each other, but not really like one another. They have trouble interacting, but manage to be civil to each other.
The overall theme running through the story is that Shiloh will save all the relationships involved in the story. It was where Mabel went on her honeymoon, and she is confident that if the married couple take a trip there that it will solve all their problems. In the end Leroy and Norma Jean do take the trip, but with different results than expected. Once they get there Norma Jean announces that she wants to leave the marriage. She then gets up and walks off. At the very end of the story she turns around and waves her arms at Leroy, and we are left wondering what she means by this gesture.
The overall theme running through the story is that Shiloh will save all the relationships involved in the story. It was where Mabel went on her honeymoon, and she is confident that if the married couple take a trip there that it will solve all their problems. In the end Leroy and Norma Jean do take the trip, but with different results than expected. Once they get there Norma Jean announces that she wants to leave the marriage. She then gets up and walks off. At the very end of the story she turns around and waves her arms at Leroy, and we are left wondering what she means by this gesture.
Billy Collins and his poetry
I was surprised to learn of this poet named Billy Collins. He was the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry in 2001 and 2002, gives reading all over the globe, and often reads his poems on NPR (which I listen to all the time), but somehow I have managed to not hear of him until now. I must say I really enjoyed these few poems we read this week, and I plan on looking up more in the future.
The first poem, Winter Syntax, was about the difficulty of forming a complete thought. Collins used the images of of a cold, winter night to explore the idea of how one comes by, and is able to express, a thought. "But the traveller persists in his misery" until he is finally able to get his point across. The next poem, Books, was about how a person can get lost in a book; how what we read can transport us into another world. It is a remembrance of days gone by and the adventures had by an avid reader. The third and last poem was entitled Introduction to Poetry. It was about how silly people can be about poetry. All they want is to have a firm meaning they can grasp onto while a poem has so much more to offer. Collins implores the reader to flow with the poem-to see where it will take them. He wants us to explore the images presented and decide for ourselves what the poem means to us individualy, not look for a clean-cut, starched universal meaning. He wants us to really get lost in the words and syntax and decide for ourselves where the poem is going to take us.
The first poem, Winter Syntax, was about the difficulty of forming a complete thought. Collins used the images of of a cold, winter night to explore the idea of how one comes by, and is able to express, a thought. "But the traveller persists in his misery" until he is finally able to get his point across. The next poem, Books, was about how a person can get lost in a book; how what we read can transport us into another world. It is a remembrance of days gone by and the adventures had by an avid reader. The third and last poem was entitled Introduction to Poetry. It was about how silly people can be about poetry. All they want is to have a firm meaning they can grasp onto while a poem has so much more to offer. Collins implores the reader to flow with the poem-to see where it will take them. He wants us to explore the images presented and decide for ourselves what the poem means to us individualy, not look for a clean-cut, starched universal meaning. He wants us to really get lost in the words and syntax and decide for ourselves where the poem is going to take us.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Nikki Giovanni
After looking up a biography of Ms. Giovanni at www.nikki-giovani.com I was very intrigued to read her poetry. Born in 1943 inTennessee and raised in the suburbs of Cincinati, Ohio, Nikki Giovanni quickly became a renowned writer and activist. She won many awards for her writing and has been named Woman of the year by several magazines. She currently teaches at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.
So, I finally read the poems assigned this week and am left wondering what took me so long to read them. I feel they are excellent portrayals of what it was like to be black and a woman in the 1960s and 1970s. Ms. Giovanni captured her desperation as well as her strength of character. She wrote of the misconceptions people had about someone who grew up poor and black in the poem titled Nikki-Rosa. The character wants to focus on her good memories, but nobody understands how she could even have any good memories at all. The poem also speaks of black love being equal to wealth. Just the fact that her family was together was enough. It didn't matter that they never had much in the way of money and property.
In the poem I'm Not Lonely Giovanni writes of a woman alone, but better off because the man that was there is now gone. She knows she should feel lonely, but all she really feels is relief that it is all over.
The last poem by Giovanni was my favorite. I like her play on words,and the be-boppy style in this poem. I also see this poem as a cry to her fellow citizens (especially the children) to really wake up and think about what they were doing. She was asking that they come to the realization that their situation needs to change or the future will be lost for the young ones of the day.
So, I finally read the poems assigned this week and am left wondering what took me so long to read them. I feel they are excellent portrayals of what it was like to be black and a woman in the 1960s and 1970s. Ms. Giovanni captured her desperation as well as her strength of character. She wrote of the misconceptions people had about someone who grew up poor and black in the poem titled Nikki-Rosa. The character wants to focus on her good memories, but nobody understands how she could even have any good memories at all. The poem also speaks of black love being equal to wealth. Just the fact that her family was together was enough. It didn't matter that they never had much in the way of money and property.
In the poem I'm Not Lonely Giovanni writes of a woman alone, but better off because the man that was there is now gone. She knows she should feel lonely, but all she really feels is relief that it is all over.
The last poem by Giovanni was my favorite. I like her play on words,and the be-boppy style in this poem. I also see this poem as a cry to her fellow citizens (especially the children) to really wake up and think about what they were doing. She was asking that they come to the realization that their situation needs to change or the future will be lost for the young ones of the day.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Tillie Olsen
I Stand Here Ironing, by Tillie Olson was the story of a mother trying to figure out where things went wrong with her daughter. She has received a call from one of her daughter's teachers saying she (the daughter) needs help, and could she (the mother) please come in for a visit. The mother sees this as an exercise in futility as she herself has no idea how to help her daughter let alone tell someone else what to do to help her seemingly lost daughter. She keeps going back to the fact that her daughter had been such a beautiful baby, so full of promise. This thought keeps recurring as the mother goes over and over the girls awkwardness while growing up. There were years where the girl was considered homely, and it wasn't until recently that she was once again seen as a lovely, beautiful girl, but her new-found beauty is discomforting...she is not used to being a creature of beauty. Her mother talks of her daughter's uneasiness with herself now that she has grown into a young woman.
Most of the story is spent on the mother's sense of regret and remorse over the way her daughter was raised. She feels that she was a failure, and that even her best mothering was nowhere near adequate. She is constantly blaming herself for her daughter's awkwardness and dis-ease in life. She cannot get past the thought that even though she did the best she could, she is responsible for all her daughter's problems when in reality she has been a good mother, and everything she did was so her daughter would be safe and secure.
Tillie Olsen was a strong proponent of the rights of all individuals, and her stories portrayed the struggles of the underdogs and poverty stricken people of the United States. I think her writing holds so much power because she herself was forced to deal with poverty and had to work many menial jobs while trying to raise her family.
Most of the story is spent on the mother's sense of regret and remorse over the way her daughter was raised. She feels that she was a failure, and that even her best mothering was nowhere near adequate. She is constantly blaming herself for her daughter's awkwardness and dis-ease in life. She cannot get past the thought that even though she did the best she could, she is responsible for all her daughter's problems when in reality she has been a good mother, and everything she did was so her daughter would be safe and secure.
Tillie Olsen was a strong proponent of the rights of all individuals, and her stories portrayed the struggles of the underdogs and poverty stricken people of the United States. I think her writing holds so much power because she herself was forced to deal with poverty and had to work many menial jobs while trying to raise her family.
Flannery O'Connor
I liked the reading we had this week from Flannery O'Connor entitled Good Country People. The four main characters in the story are Mrs. Hopewell, her daughter Joy (who insists on being called Hulga), their tenant farmer's wife, Mrs. Freeman, and the young man impersonating a bible salesman. (I just realized how appropriate the characters names are, and applaud Ms. O'Connor for her wit and sense of irony.) We are first introduced to Mrs. Freeman and Mrs. Hopewell during one of their morning talks.
Mrs. Hopewell is a widow and craves these talking sessions with Mrs. Freeman. If it weren't for Mrs. Freeman, she would be left alone with her surly daughter who insists on being called Hulga (the ugliest name Joy could come up with--perhaps just to incense her mother). Mrs. Hopewell continually attests to the importance of "good country people," and insists there is no better kind. When the seemingly modest, simple young man comes to the house disguised as a bible salesman, she is instantly convinced that he must be an upstanding individual because he seems to be a good country boy with good morals and manners. In the end though we find that he is a demented con who cares about no one, and covets the crutches of the physically disabled.
I think the moral of the story is twofold; Don't judge a book by its cover, and appearances can be deceiving. While the message of the story seems a little cliched, I think Ms. O'Connor found a very creative way to get her point across. I really enjoyed this reading.
Flannery O'Connor accomplished much in her short 29 year life. Her writings were filled with ironic wit and stark realities. I saw a great deal of these traits in our reading by O'Connor this week.
Mrs. Hopewell is a widow and craves these talking sessions with Mrs. Freeman. If it weren't for Mrs. Freeman, she would be left alone with her surly daughter who insists on being called Hulga (the ugliest name Joy could come up with--perhaps just to incense her mother). Mrs. Hopewell continually attests to the importance of "good country people," and insists there is no better kind. When the seemingly modest, simple young man comes to the house disguised as a bible salesman, she is instantly convinced that he must be an upstanding individual because he seems to be a good country boy with good morals and manners. In the end though we find that he is a demented con who cares about no one, and covets the crutches of the physically disabled.
I think the moral of the story is twofold; Don't judge a book by its cover, and appearances can be deceiving. While the message of the story seems a little cliched, I think Ms. O'Connor found a very creative way to get her point across. I really enjoyed this reading.
Flannery O'Connor accomplished much in her short 29 year life. Her writings were filled with ironic wit and stark realities. I saw a great deal of these traits in our reading by O'Connor this week.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)