I spy... a Booker T. Washington reference!

"He didn't do nothin' but hold us back- talkin' 'bout work when de race ain't never done nothin' else."
Janie and Mrs. Turner have a conversation about Booker T. Washington on page 142. I was pretty excited that I had a background knowledge of the controversy over Washington's methods and ideas and could understand their comments. I thought it was a little bit ironic that Mrs. Turner was so critical of Washington and considered him to be an enemy when she basically wants to be white. She prides herself on her "white folks' features" and worships Janie because of her "Caucasian characteristics". In the mind of Mrs. Turner, there is a class system among African Americans: the more white you look, the higher you are ranked. I think there is something very wrong with this woman's brain.
I'm not sure how I feel about Tea Cake. He's better than any of Janie's other husbands and seems to really love her and care for her, but I think he slides into thinking of her as an object sometimes as well. It was sketchy that he disappeared right after they were married and took it upon himself to spend a little of "their money". The story he told didn't seem to be very legitimate either. He seems to encourage Janie to be a person and enjoy life, but also seems to make all the decisions for the two of them. I found it very hard to like him at all as a character when he slaps Janie around in chapter 17 so he could be "reassured" in his "possession" of her, especially after he was chasing some other girl around and flirting excessively in chapter 15.

"Yo' Nanny wouldn't harm a hair uh yo' head. She don't want nobody else to do it neither if she kin help it"

Wife-beating seems to be a hot topic in Their Eyes Were Watching God. It seems to be completely acceptable, if not expected, by the male characters. It seems that you are considered a weak man if you don't beat your wife. Logan Killicks threatens to beat Janie, Joe Starks smacks her around in chapter 6, and Tea Cake has a "brainstorm" and starts beating her in chapter 17. The men hanging out on the porch of the store in town have a couple of conversations about whether or not so-and-so beats his wife and why he should be beating his wife. At the beginning of chapter 17, Tea Cake and Sop-de-Bottom have an entire discussion about how fortunate Tea Cake is that Janie bruises when he hits her and never opposes him beating her.
The female characters either don't like it and physically/verbally fight it or just kind of accept it. When Janie complains to her grandmother about her first marriage in chapter 3, Nanny automatically assumes that Logan has "already" started beating Janie. Janie generally just accepts abuse from all of her husbands, whether physical, verbal, or emotional. The women who fight back are generally spoken about in a negative tone.

Robert Frost stuff

I read "The Road Not Taken" in a literature class in about 8th grade and hated it. I thought Robert Frost was a complete sap to focus an entire poem on an itty bitty decision changing the outcome of life and potentially regretting it. My thoughts were along the lines of "You can't change the past. Why bother focusing on one little decision so much?". Obviously, I didn't read the poem very closely in the first place and it certainly wasn't explained to us. Now that I have a better understanding of the poem, I no longer feel like it or Robert Frost should be held in contempt. It seems to me that Frost is really suggesting that some decisions really don't matter much either way, even though we will probably look back upon them and (perhaps erroneously) think they changed our lives. By no means do I think our decisions don't matter or don't have consequences, but, realistically, we have to make decisions and we can't make a big deal over every decision we have to make. I hope this all kind of makes sense.

Brrr!

I thought reading To Build A Fire and The Open Boat back-to-back was interesting. The Open Boat carried a slight hope and optimism that To Build A Fire did not. Growing up with South Dakota winters helped me to relate to Jack London's short story better than Stephan Crane's. I have no experience with the open sea, but I certainly understand sub-zero temperatures, although not the the extremes of To Build A Fire. I don't deal well with the cold and the thought of slowly freezing to death makes me want to put on another sweater and stay indoors. I kind of wanted to shake some sense into the main character. From the beginning, his decision to travel alone had "STUPID" written all over it. I cringed a little every time he took his gloves off; even I know to keep all body parts covered in cold weather. The end was a little sad but expected under the circumstances. I thought it was tragically ironic when the character says to himself, as he dies, that people back home have no concept of cold and he will be able to inform them of real cold after his experience. Although the story was a bit depressing, I now kind of want to pick up a book by London when I have a spare moment. I will definitely be reading it indoors with a blanket though.

Carnival Post

I'm trying my hand at this carnival post stuff. Technology isn't my strong point, so I'm not going to try to put the link thingys in. I'll just use people's names. Hopefully that's ok :)

Whitman and Dickinson

• Tanisha found Whitman "enchanting and moving" and appreciates his views on death. She found Dickinson easier to read and enjoyed the "to-the-point" nature of her poetry.
• Nate appreciates Whitman's writing but finds it somewhat confusing. He prefers Dickinson, with "I Heard a Fly Buzz-When I Died" being his favorite.
• Erin appreciates Whitman's writing, it's roots in American culture, and connection with nature.
• Dannika liked Whitman's radical ideas about life and religion and his honest self-evaluation. She went on to read section 20 of his Song of Myself and enjoyed it.
• Nikki related Whitman to biblical themes and related to the winter theme of Dickinson's poem #320/#258.

Huck Finn

• Brian thought reading the end of Huck Finn was somewhat a waste of his time and comments on the movie version of the book.
• Dannika related the feud to the Civil War and was disappointed by Tom and Huck's treatment of Jim, but enjoyed the end of the novel.
• Glenda relates Huck Finn to the problems children have in the world today.
• Kristi appreciates the novel now more than she did in 6th grade and brings knowledge from her history class into her reading of the novel.
• Naomi comments on the complicated relationship between Huck and Jim and expresses her annoyance about the ending of the novel.
• Nate vents his irritation about the con-artists in Huck Finn, confesses that he did not enjoy the novel, and expresses his desire to punch Tom.
• Nikki sums up her thoughts about the novel and expresses her strong dislike for Tom.
• Tanisha explores the relationship between Huck and Jim and says she enjoyed the novel.

Booker T. Washington/W.E.B. Du Bois

• Glenda is inspired by Booker T. Washington and is dismayed by lingering prejudice.
• Tanisha compares Washington and Du Bois and explains why she prefers Du Bois.

Sister Carrie

• Dannika blogs about a recent "Sister Carrie experience".
• Brian relates Carrie's job-hunting experience to the difficulties of finding jobs today.
• Tanisha loved Dreiser's writing and character development and enjoyed his description of the magic of a city at dusk.

Jack London and Stephan Crane

• Dannika compares and contrasts "To Build A Fire" and "The Open Boat".
• Tanisha enjoyed the brotherhood between the men in "The Open Boat".
• Nikki was able to relate to "To Build A Fire" more than "The Open Boat".