Anney: A Terrible Mother or Bound by Circumstances?

I cannot stand the fact that Anney is such a bad mother. Yes, I said it. Anney is a horrible mother. In the beginning of the novel, Allison goes to extremes to lay the foundation of the importance of family bonds in the Boatwright family and the depths that she went to just to get a legitimate birth certificate for her daughter. As soon as she married Glen, she becomes so wrapped up in this new husband of hers that she rationalizes everthing and believes every word that Glen says. So while she may see or have an indication of what is going on she does NOTHING to stop Daddy Glen from abusing Bone. Even after Bone ends up at the hospital with a broken tailbone and countless bruising, Anney fails to do anything to change the situation. She fails to save her daughter from this monster. Still, when Ruth tells her what has been going on, Anney still won't believe it and stays with Glen. It is Ruth and the rest of the family who pitches in to rescue Bone by allowing her to stay with them when she does not want to go home. This choice is much like the one Stella had to make in A Streecar Named Desire. Who does she choose-- the sister/daughter whom they have raised and grown up with (I think this can be applied to both stories, since Anney was so young when she had Bone)? It is that kind of competition that allows Glen to dominate both of them and have this power over both Bone and Anney-- the fear of being alone, of doing something wrong and that fear that their family is really screwed up creeps in for Anney. For Bone, she is a child and what can she do? Daddy Glen is an adult and she must have done something wrong to deserve such punishment. Anney continues in this denial as her family falls apart: they are continually more isolated and with Glen being out of work so often, always moving and out of food, which continues the stigma that they are white trash that Anney has tried so hard to banish. This idealism is crippling and both Anney and Glen live in denial because they cannot face what they have done--destroying a little girl and ruined her childhood. Glen blames his behavior (whether is is losing a job or his family relations) on others and then takes his anger out on Bone, any little thing sets him off; like Bone running in the house. Much like the abuse in Dave Pelzer's off four book series A Child Called It. Nothing is good enough for these people and Bone though a smart enough child to stay out of Daddy Glen's way and to try to find something else to help her (like gospel music and church) will not be able to stop the abuse until she can vocalize it and tell someone. Child abusers never stop until they are forced to and Glen is not going to want to lose his emotional outlet.

Dickey: A Breath of Fresh Air

I have to say that I rather enjoyed the poetry of James Dickey, though at times found it hard to understand and even harder to connect with. Still in the poem The Heaven for Animals, I found it interesting that he imagines and creates this very distinct place where animals rule through his poetry. These animals live as they did on earth, but better, glorified and each class; both predator and prey know their place and is contented with it. I hope heaven has hip boots!!
I also really liked the poem Cherrylog Road and how the speaker, though himself a dangerous motorcylist from "the wrong side of the tracks" speaks about theforbidden love and the anticipated sexual tryst of Doris Holbrook. It was ironic to me that this love affair to place in a junkyard, when thecouple could commit their sin in peace and away from prying eyes, but it also allowed the narrator to indulge in another fantasy of his. This poem so masterfully combinied the themes that we have been discussing this semester, female virginity/purity, masculinity,courtship, and even danger.
Dickey's poems also symbolized to me the realization and the basking in the simple things that may be gone all too soon. The dog laying on his feet in A Dog Sleeping on My Feet, or the sweet experience of commanding the animals while out at sea all day in Walking on Water, or even sleeping outside in a tent and hearing the animals in Sleeping out at Easter. Dickey provides his readers with many things, but one of the best is the emotions that the poems evoke.

Vision or a Trick of the Mind

I really liked Flannery O'Connor's piece The Revelation. It gave me something to think about as I read it. The author was able to weave in the themes of racism, stereotypes, oppression and many others as she was able to use humor to write about a very touchy subject. I thought that the way that O'Connor used Mrs. Turpin as the reciever of this great mesage from God was ingenious, especially when she was the one who was so flawed and was so concerned with social hierarchy and what society thinks. It is interesting that Mary Grace, the one who is concerend the least with how society defines her is the one that the author chooses to give Mrs. Turpin this defining moment in her life. I love how the author chooses to use Mary Grace, a teenager to attack Mrs. Turpin. She can see in Mrs. Turpin what others cannot, that she has this shallowness and unkind heart. Children have the ability to see what others ccannot see and O'Connor choose to really play that out in The Revelation.
I also really liked the way the author used the white trash woman as a parallel for society- these people that are there, but that are either shunned or ignored. As she keeps trying to join in Mrs. Turpin and the pleasant lady's conversation, she is not able to because she is not of their class, nor is it socially acceptable for them to mix. Both are only trying to be cordially enough so the white trash woman will leave them alone. This is much the same with our society now. We see what happens with the different classes of people, but do we ever really open our eyes?
Flannery O'Connor also used the imagery of pigs when Mary Grace called Mrs. Turpin a "warthog from hell." This gives the picture that there are both the good and the bad to society and of the people themselves. I found it personally interesting that Mrs. Turpin saw this vision of heaven and all the different kinds of people that will be there- whites, blacks, poor, rich, middle-class, whatever they were on earth all gets mixed together and class is melted away.

A Streetcat Named Desire

I fell in love with the movie version of A Streetcar Named Desire and it was was not simply because Marlon Brando was such a cutie!! The way that the director portrayed Blanche's ever present psychological distress was absolutely brilliant. When she went in and out of reality, so did the voices she was hearing, almost like she heard them, but then they got lost somewhere between her understanding and slammed up against her brain and that's what we as an audience heard. The music would come up when Blanche needed an escape or when she was especially manic. I also loved the way light and shadow was used in the movie. At times, everything was in shadow, and that's when Blanche was feeling the most and trying to hide, or presenting this illusion of her as the pure southern belle. The light was so brilliantly utilized too as Blanche's lies are exposed and the paper lantern gets ripped down and her face is fully in the light- that's raw, naked emotion and you cannot hide from the light. The way the rape scene was portryed was great- just as in the book, if you were not paying close attention, you would miss it. The emotions that stemmed from that scene were so raw and gritty. I must say that Vivian Leigh did an excellent job portraying such a tough character. At times, I saw some of her "Scarlett O'Hara" belle creeping in and it was interesting to see her make a distinction between the two characters. I also really enjoyed seeing how Stanley was portrayed. He was the "Americanized immigrant", who has had to work for everything he has, yet has no real understanding of the society that Blanche and Stella come from. He still used violence in a very unhealthy way and we still see Stella stay with him, until he goes too far. I enjoyed the ending of the movie more than the book, because Stella left Stanley and went upstairs with the baby. Stanley's behavior towards Blanche, raping her and then sending her to an institution were the things that Stella could not abide by and it was nice to see that Hollywood acknowledged that no one should sellout their sister. All in all, the movie really hit home the themes that Tennessee Williams wrote about.

A Streetcar Named Desire

It was interesting to me as a reader that in A Streetcar Named Desire the author chose to pit the fleeting values of the past against the upcoming values of the future that were diametrically different. Blanche, the "southern belle" lives in that past, but is crushed by it as well. We see it come up again and again as struggles with her drinking , saying she rarely touches it, but Stanley feeling that he has to dominate her and shatter this pretty idyllic world that she has created, tells her that "Some people rarely touch it, but it touches them often." {page 639} In her struggle with her relationships with men we see Blanche search for that perfect match, someone to care for her, much like Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God , but Blanche, unlike Janie always self destructs. She can't quite attain the dream, so she settles for fulfilling her sexual needs, but hiding it, creating this idealistic world because women did not flaunt their sexuality. Stanley who discovers this uses Blanche's own past against her in the only way he can, taking that which a true southern belle holds to be her greatest gift. {Page 684} Even Mitch discovers Blanche's many lies and decides that she is not clean enough, that she does not possess the "womanly values" to be around him and his mother and is on the verge of sullying her already questionable reputation. {Page 680} It is a sad commentary on a life when a that's left is a path of lies and shattered dreams. Yet I see Stella as the more tragic character. She is the one who betrayed her sister in favor of her husband who beats her and will most likely beat their children. Stella is the one who left Belle Reve behind so it could fall. Stella is the one who choose to follow the new world values and leave behind everything. I find it ironic that in the end it is Stella who chooses of her own free will to live in this idealistic world where she has to believe lies and delude herself in order to continue to live with Stanley. It is an interesting commentary on life as we see how dependant the female characters on the men in the story. Williams as an author is portraying these gender roles so women have limited choices and we see how even Stella is locked into the past. Would we see, I wonder if Stella had chosen her sister to eventually leave Stanley, take her child and find a job, an apartment, a healthcare package and go on with life....without a man. Maybe that's the real elucidation of the story. men only complicate things and eventually make you go crazy.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

I really enjoyed reading Hurston's work and how Janie would not settle for what anyone else, her grandmother, her friends or even herself as she travlered through life thought should make her happy. She really broke the mold as to the myth of what women should act like in marriage and also as a woman. They are not the delicate, soft spoken, meek creatures that men saw them as. Janie in harnessing some of that freedom found herself some happiness in Tea Cake after two marriges that were less than desirable that severely limited that limited that freedom that Janie somehow managed to maintain. It is hard to imagine being so constricted and limited for so long that one cannot even let their hair fall loose on their shoulders and keeping that freedom of spirit. It seems like such a simple thing, yet that pleasure is a freedom that {yet in the readings that we have done} so often dies. Janie fights for her freedom and refuses to be without hers for long. It is that fiestiness that makes you relate and root for janie as you read her story. Somewhere in Janie there is a piece of you that can be seen and that is what Hurston is saying. Janie is all of us.

FAMILY TIES

Porter ingeniously illuminates the accepted Southern ideal, both negative and positive {unlike Fitzhugh and Faulkner who paint the South so negatively}. It is as though while she “tells us tales of the South” the issues of race, gender, family, freedom, family and even sexuality are broached, with humour, with irony and even a mixture of flattery and self reliance. One can picture being their as the stories happen.
We see with Uncle Jimbilly and Nannie, how freedom really is restrained after the war and emancipation. How many slaves were given this gift and did not have any idea of what to do or where to go next? Many, like Nannie and Uncle Jimbilly simply chose to stay where they were because they either had no where else to go, no skills, were attached to the land/family at the plantation or fear kept them rooted. Many slaves {such as Phyllis Wheatley at first} stayed on the farm, took their Master’s last name and continued as they were {Www.historychannel.com} Could this be another way in which the “supreme white race” further keeps slaves down, by offering freedom, but withholding supports, when many slave would need to be taught about freedom and what to do with it?
Sarah Jane, as a young woman I believe sees these inequalities and evils of society. This may be why she takes to her quiet way of rebellion and disobedience. From bonding with a slave, to working after her husband dies, managing the families affairs and resenting how her husband managed them while alive, and even breastfeeding both hers and Nannie’s infants and treating them more equally than anyone shows not only her character but her quiet determination to fight for change. She is the epitome of the Southern woman because she balances this notion so well with the expected virtues and ideals of a Southern woman, wife and mother. It was a strong woman then that is solely responsible for keeping her family together and she is shown as a hermaphrodite: filling both male and female roles. Truly extraordinary for a woman of that time to work the land, discipline slaves and children and keep the family together. In this way Sarah Jane shatters the old Southern ideas of what Woman should be and is instrumental in bringing about the “new woman” though she does not see it that way and tries to live in the past. Sarah Jane has strength, rather than softness, sensuality and disobedience in her character balancing what needs to be done with what she wants to do within her confines; the South, being a woman and a widow without a man and even being a mother. Maybe in that way, the white culture is even more bound that the slaves?!

Democracy and Freedom

Democracy and Freedom for All?!
Faulkner’s Dry September was so disturbing to me, not only because of the undertone of the lynching and murdering of Will Mayes, a member of this small community, but also because of the way that the author artfully depicted the means that the violence so quickly got out of hand. What began as a question of the truth of what actually happened between Will and Minnie Cooper {who are now separated by race and gender} swiftly turned into a heated discussion and then a call for blood based on innuendo and conjectures. The fact that Minnie is not the typical Southern female and has a questionable role in this situation is largely ignored by McLendon and the other men, as well as the small detail that Minnie has been ignored and ridiculed by the townsfolk for years. These particulars about Minnie do not seem to faze these men who simply take her “word” because she is a white woman, even after Hawkshaw vouches for Will’s innocence and good character.
The character of Hawkshaw can really be shown as someone who is basically good, but is caught between moral justice and violence. If he voiced his opinion anymore, he either would have met the same fate as Will Mayes, or be socially disgraced. The threat of violence would have been too much, especially after viewing the hostility and power of the mob. The violence that takes place is masked as “chivalry” - an archaic practice where men get together, bonded by testosterone who suddenly decide that some lady’s honour had supposedly been threatened and must be defended. How many innocent men died because of this very custom?
Faulkner highlights the rifts in society, both the roles between male/female and the social hierarchy, as well as the ever present racial tension that existed in the South. These were so well represented that it made me question the very fabric of democracy. This country was built on the blood of others who fought and died to bring freedom and democracy to all men, yet some like the men seen in this piece and witnessed throughout history like the KKK take it upon themselves to pass judgement on others, in regards to who is better than everyone else, racial purity and who lives and who dies.
Just as in Dry September, the power of one voice can make all the difference.

Douglass

In Frederick Douglass’ autobiography he states that he witnessed many misdeeds on the part of his various masters. As a child, he saw many members of his extended family {those he lived with on the plantation} being beaten, denied privileges, stealing to survive, running away or even being murdered. The author seems to briefly touch on each incident, without actually going into much detail. This may be due to the fact that Douglass was a child when he saw these things and cannot process the reasons why these things happened or why nothing was done about them. Douglass didn’t understand what happened or this may also be due to the fact that having a master, Douglass was told what to think about everything and did not dare put any real feelings into the piece for fear of either being chastised for it or bringing pain to those mentioned in the book. He did not understand the “They are only slaves” mentality that many slaveholders had when a death or a murder occurred. There may be another reason for Douglass’ silence on his feelings towards his feeling on his masters, as well as the things he saw and did as a slave. Frederick Douglass may also have in his writing felt that it was inappropriate to include his feelings in a book that was going to be available to the public at large and had them edited out, especially those childish feelings of long ago. Whatever his mentality about this, he was able to provide himself with an education through making a deal with boys on the street and keeping quiet. Would that we all could be that ingenious…

Chopin

In the piece “At the Cadian Ball” by Kate Chopin, the author paid a lot of attention to the description of each of the character’s finery as well as the development of the places surrounding them. The French that is used within the piece is interwoven so intricately that it becomes part of the story and the background of the characters. It is part of each of the character’s lives and their culture, not just stuck in there for show.
The author used distinction to emphasize the differences between men and women is markedly shown here. Chopin also went out of her way to accentuate their manners as the elegance of society. The better your manners are, the higher up in society you/your family is. The author also documented the competition between the sexes, especially how the women dominate each other over who has the better dress, or shoes, even the best beau. Men are shown competing with each other over the “fairer sex” as if they are a sport themselves.
It is an important historical note that Chopin wrote this piece during the coming in of the Victorian age, when women wanted more and were allowed to be somewhat more vocal {though doctors knew little of the female anatomy and were not allowed to examine females. See www.historychannel.com} Chopin may have described the piece as a “dance” because both sides have much at stake: the men are courting, hoping for a dowry and a proper wife while the women have to keep their gentlemen interested but at the same time without falling into the trap of giving too much and losing their chastity or worse.

Thoughts on Southern Readings

In reading George Fitzhugh's piece From Southern Thought, it was interesting to me that the author stated, numerous times that any society without black slavery would become dependant upon white slavery. In fact white slavery had historically occurred for centuries. Britain, in fact had been using white slavery since before the 1500, but in order to maintain the social niceties calling it "indentured servitude" However, in this case slaves could buy their freedom after seven years {the length of their bought contract} and were not in many cases treated as badly and black slaves. This seems to me an astounding concept to me that a white man would propose this concept, especially in a generally published article. Also interesting to me was the number of times that he brought Bible teachings into the mix, either to prove himself or disprove a point. It was almost like he was feeling guilty or he was hiding behind the Bible and using it as a protection point to anyone who would challenge him because Fitzhugh was ready with a defense. He was refusing to take responsibility for what he wrote or the fallout. In reading further on, it was neat to read that he treated the South as an actually living breathing person, a woman. That alone paints a picture of softness, delicateness, taking care of the family and home as well as education. This woman controlled opinions in fashion, education, literature, crop production, and societal acceptance. This piece places alight on what southern writers and society thought about slavery and how the though society would do without it.

Southern Food for Thought

In reading and discussing the piece The Swallow Barn by John Pendleton Kennedy, I found it extremelydescriptive, almost too descriptive, yet there was something about the author's style that made me want to keep reading. The picture that was painted for the reader of the plantation using the wording "... with the air of a grenadier recruit, posted behind a testy little veteren corporal" was so explicit that one simply could not ignore it. If one has ever seen a grenadier, not only are they extemely imposing {as demonstrated by their huge bearskin hats which were part of their uniforms} but they stand tall and proud, never turning away from battle. The grenadiers and the plantation especially are used as a comparison between the political and societal unrest that was occuring during the time that this piece was written. The grenadiers were used heavily during the Revolutionary War and won several battles, so in my opinion the author is using the two to epitomize the past which was being shattered by the war. As a reader, I also found that there were many sterotypes that the author broke through- the picture of a typical southern plantation, described in the delapitated and strangly shaped buildings, and even the portrayal of the of Frank Meriwether's character as he waffles back and forth. The authoe highlights his behavior as the "perfect southern gentleman" however as he makes choices and goes back and forth it breaks the stereotype of the ironwill and stubborness of the South that eventually lead to the Civil War in the first place. The author even pokes fun at the makeup of the family in The Swallow Barn by depicting the loss of the Walter Hazard plantation to Frank Meriwether and their relationship, as well as the usage of slavery on the farm. This piece was so well formed in using many different facets to describe one picture of the American South.