Eyes Watching: End & Hughes

Ok, so Janie learning how to shoot did come in handy but not in the way I expected.  But I'm getting a little ahead of myself.  In chapter 17, Tea Cake "hits" Janie.  As I read this I was like, "Did I miss something?"  Nope.  Tea Cake just couldn't control his jealousy so he beat his woman to shoe dominance.  I don't think he needs to worry about Janie because she is getting older and has already been married twice.  Not to mention she loves Tea Cake.  She won't leave him.  However, they still had a close relationship: they loved each other.  Which made me extremely sad when Tea Cake went all crazy and Janie had to shoot him.  Oh I knew something was coming when that dog bit Tea Cake and probably got rabies.  Poor Janie: a widow once again.
But I shouldn't think the ending is all sad.  I could see that while Janie was married to Tea Cake, she was happy.  Sure there were downsides, but all marriages aren't perfect.  They were both happy.  And even after Tea Cake's death, Janie of course was sad but kept going.  In the end, my respect and admiration for her grew.

Hughes: Finally poetry that I can understand!  Well, I believe no poet or poem makes it easy for its readers to understand, however, Hughes' poems speak out to me a lot more.  My first favorite poem of Hughes is "Mother to Son."  If one were to describe the life of an African American during Hughes' time metaphorically, this is the poem.  Yes life is hard.  There are times when walking turns to climbing, when there is no darkness.  But what do you do?  Keep going.  I love it!
My second favorite is "Theme for English B."  "Sometimes perhaps you don't want to be a part of me.  Nor do I often want to be a part of you."  An African American is part of America just like a white man, and yet, everything they do seems out of place.  They are like everybody else: they eat and drink and love.  I see no difference, but Hughes makes it clear that there was.

Eyes Watching: Chapters 12-16

In our group discussions on Tuesday, we talked a little bit about the age difference between Janie and her men.  Poor Janie was married off to an older farmer at the age of sixteen.  Clearly, unprepared for marriage life, Janie was childish and naive.  However, she was quick to leave her husband when this new stranger, whom she later calls Jody, appears and sweeps her off her feet.  Yet, again, he is much older.  After twenty years of marriage, Janie is close to her forties and Jody is in his fifties.  He dies and leaves Janie with the store and status in the town.
In Janie's first marriage, Logan spoils her.  Because she's young and inexperienced, he does everything for her: provides for her, takes care of her, etc.  In the end, he gets fed up with her.  Well, honestly it's not her fault.  She is, after all, only a teenager and had no say in the marriage in the first place.
At least her second marriage lasted longer.  Twenty years is a long time, and although Jody was getting older and older, Janie remained faithful.  Janie being a lot younger than Jody, I believe, sparked him to make her feel old as well.  Maybe he was jealous of her youth and beauty.  Maybe he regrets marrying a woman much younger than him.  Again--Jainie being so young--he was the one who initiated the marriage in the first place.  It wasn't Janie's fault that she was so young.  He chose her!  In the end, he died...because he was sick...because of his age.
In Janie's third marriage with Tea Cake, we see the age difference still there but differently.  Tea Cake is the younger one, and much younger than Janie.  And Janie, being older and already married twice, comes with a lot of experience.  Now she will be able to understand some of her husbands' frustrations with being someone who is younger.  For example, her response to Tea Cake "fooling around" with a girl was understandable (130).  Tea Cake should have acted wiser: instead of playing along, he should have responded like a married man would.  Also the issue of him taking Janie's money turned out well.  i felt like his young mind led him to take the money and spend, but how he got it back was bizarre.  I've been so used to Janie being with older men that young Tea Cake's actions always catch me by surprise.

Eyes Watching: Through Chapter 11

Wow, Janie, it's about time you spoke your mind.  I found myself full of excitement while reading Janie's outburst toward her husband Joe.  I was seriously frustrated by Joe's treatment towards Janie, but I believe the age difference between the two affected him to the point where he commented that Janie was getting old.  However, I admired Janie for staying with him until the end.
At the same time, I sympathized with her.  She endured this second difficult marriage with a man that changed completely.  "Why must Joe be so mad with her for making him look small when he did it to her all the time" (77)?  She had to learn it the hard way when Joe slapped her.
After Joe died, Janie had to run things on her own.  The men didn't make it easy, but Janie pressed on.  At this time, I found it interesting that Janie hated her grandmother.  "She hated her grandmother and had hidden it from herself all these years under a cloak of pity" (85).  It was her grandmother that made her marry a much older man.  It was her grandmother that made Janie think something else of love.  It was her grandmother that made her think that marriage to any man was okay.  Honestly, I don't hate Nanny, but I wasn't very happy with her when she gave Janie to the farmer guy.
My impression of Janie has changed.  I no longer see her as this young, naive girl who gave in so easily.  I know see her as a grown woman who has had experience in life which resulted in her maturity and wisdom.

Now, when Tea Cake comes in, I see Janie mature but yet still young.  Tea Cake brings out her womaness in that she is cautious partly due to the age difference, and yet she enjoys the thrill of being with a guy like Tea Cake.  And the name Tea Cake, in my opinion, sounds intriguing.  What kind of man is named Tea Cake in the first place.  I'm curious to see what kind of relationship develops as Janie and Tea Cake continue to get to know each other.

Eyes Watching: Chapters 1-5

I found the character of Janie very unique in that I have respect for her past and am annoyed by the decisions that she makes.  In the beginning, when she explains to her friend how she found out she wasn't white was very interesting.  Of course Janie was unaware of it because she was raised in a white household.  Furthermore, her relationship with her grandmother is just as interesting.  Although I could see that Nanny, the grandmother, truly cares for her granddaughter, fear seems to drive her decisions.  For example, she gives Janie to a much older man, Killicks, to be married because he is decently well off.  Janie, young and naive, agrees thinking that eventually she'll love this man.  But unfortunately, she never does.  I find it hard to believe how quickly Janie gave in to marrying Killicks.  Yes, after a while being married and all, she realizes she still doesn't love him, but it's too late.  She is already married.  So what does she do?  She leaves her husband to marry another man!  Wow, she sure decides quickly.  She does weigh the options, however, it doesn't take long.  Also, her new husband Joe seems like the kind of man that can easily persuade people, so in some ways, I can see why Janie agreed to marry him.  Despite this, I must bear in mind the era in which Janie was living in.  It wasn't easy for a Black female like her to be living in a time like that, something that I admire from her and her grandmother.

Surprisingly, I was able to read this quickly.  Maybe because I have been exposed to so much written Black English that I'm getting used to it.  I also realized that as I read this book without thinking too much of the dialect, I was able to understand it as well.  With both of these in mind, I enjoyed reading the first five chapters even though I was a little frustrated with Janie.  To add, I have never heard of this novel nor the author which is actually exciting for me because it's been a while since I've read a book I have never heard of.  I don't know the style of the writer nor what the book is about.  I'm looking forward to see if Janie will learn from her decisions.

Elliot, Faulkner, & Hemingway

Not that I didn't like Elliot's poem or Hemingway's story--I did enjoy them--but Faulkner's short "A Rose for Emily" was so much more interesting and familiar.  By the time I read "Like when she bought the rat poison, the arsenic" (1001), I knew I've read this story before in high school.  And I knew what the ending was.  Just creepy.
Emily seemed odd from the beginning but the narrator seemed to go on and off about their impression of her.  One day they were sad for her because they thought she would commit suicide.  Then, they were happy when they assumed she was marrying Homer Barron, that one guy, the one dead guy she was sleeping with!  Miss Emily must have been completely obsessed with this guy to sleep with his dead body or she was seriously insane.  Anyways, I had the same feelings when I first read it: disgust, shock, huh? moments, and...disgust.  But yet again, was it really her fault she became the way she did?
Maybe it was the town she was living in.  I mean, this town sounded like those close-knit towns where everyone knows everyone about everything.  No secrets to hide, and if there were, people wanted to know them right away.  It could also have been her father who kept any males away from her.  His death even affected her greatly.  Who knows.

I found Hemingway's story to be a bit similar, not in the characters, but in the ending...strange.  I disliked the male character very much only because of how he treated his female counterpart.  I saw no reason in the relationship if he didn't lover her.  I bet he would have been a lot happier if he wasn't with her.  And she--so blind--was selfish and didn't seem to notice how much he disliked her.  In the end, I hate to say this, but I felt like the male lead kind of deserved to die.  And death was already making itself known.  I really liked the way Hemingway integrated death in the story as if it was a character itself.

Frost and Stevens

Oh, me and poetry just don't mix.  I truly love poetry in all its forms and creativity, but I have the hardest time understanding it.  I'm sure many people struggle with this as well, but most hate poetry because they can't understand it.  I love poetry because I can't understand it, so I have the power to make my own interpretations.  However, I am also the kind of person who likes to know exactly what the poet is trying to say.  So I take advantage of the discussion in class to make meaning of poetry.

The poem that stood out to me the most from Robert Frost was "Design."  Honestly, I don't know why since I am deathly afraid of spiders, however, the detail and word choice are very specific making the poem as a whole to be "beautiful."  This style reminds me of one of Hopkins' poem--don't remember which one--that refers to nature as "dappled" and "speckled."  He also integrated a lot of detail, specifically about nature, in such a short poem using just the right words.  His last quote "If design govern in a thing so small" truly speaks of the detail and beauty of even the smallest living creature.  A spider may not be extremely small, but small enough for Frost to notice the spider's detail.

I preferred Wallace Stevens' style of poetry more than Frost, but I found it a lot harder to follow.  Which is why I was very grateful for discussing "Sunday Morning" in class which also happens to be the poem I liked best of Stevens.  When I first read it, I did expect it to be like a Sunday morning, however, after discussing it in class, there were deeper religious thematic elements to it.  What stood out to me the most was not the meaning or the theme, but the style and again the word choice:
"The day is like wide water, without sound."
"Death is the mother of beauty, mystical, within whose burning bosom we devise our earthly mothers waiting, sleeplessly."
"We live in an old chaos of the sun, or island solitude, unsponsored, free, of that wide water, inescapable."

Carnival Post

First of all, to hear people's comments/opinions was really helpful to know what goes on in a person's mind while reading this kind of literature.  I found myself relating with many of them.  So, in order to organize what I've read, I've organized it by piece of literature.

1) Huck
The main theme that was highly discussed was slavery.  Yes this novel is controversial in its use of the word "nigger."  This was also mentioned as the reason why this novel was banned.  But the theme of slavery was thought of as a glimpse of the background of which this book came from: the history.  Back then, slaves were seen as property: uneducated and treated poorly.  Also, Huck's mentality on slavery throughout this novel changes.  At first, Huck sees Jim as a slave and that's all.  Eventually, he sees Jim as a friend, a companion, someone to lean on.  Their relationship strengthens due to the fact that they are both running away from their past lives and from society.  For example, Huck protects Jim from being caught.  Huck's view on right vs wrong, society vs morality was also discussed.  Huck was an intelligent young man in that he could fake is own death but he lacked education.  However, Huck soon realizes society's view on slavery and such, and eventually settles on what is right.
Another theme discussed that I found interesting was the feud between the Grangerfords and Sheperdsons.  How ironic that they die but the lovers live.  Sound familiar?  Ah yes.  The bloggers compared it to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.  The feud in Shakespeare's play was between the Montagues and the Capulets.  In the end, the two leading lovers die, but the families live.  Interesting that Mark Twain would have that as part of his novel about a young boy, but it in fact has a realistic view that the bloggers mentioned: life is hard, and that's just the way it is.
Lastly, bloggers highly emphasized the themes of realism and romanticism that this book portrayed mainly by the characters Huck, the follower, and Tom, the annoying one.  Most bloggers found Tom annoying, which I completely agree.  However, some did mention that because Tom is young, younger than Huck, and his knowledge was mostly based on books,adventure books, who could blame him?  Tom is a romantic who creates these wild, random, and even cruel ideas.  He is selfish and only wishes for an adventure.  Knowing all along that Jim was a freed slave, he still made up this plan to free him only to end up getting shot and being happy about it.  This kid is insane!  Switching to Huck, bloggers saw him as more realistic.  He was simple minded boy who observed rather than be observed.  Who followed rather than be followed.  He had arguments with himself about what was right and wrong which seems to portray a true human characteristic.  The ending as well was also seen as romanticized.  Because of the slavery theme, Jim being freed was seen as unlikely, however, he was freed.  Huck's father died and was then adopted, so even Huck had a romanticized ending as well.

2) Washington and DuBois
Although there was a lot to say on these two men, the themes were the same.  Washington believed that African Americans would rise, but his approach on equal rights was seen as subtle and time-consuming.  During this time, taking action was the key strategy--Du Bois' strategy--but who would solve the issue of inequality, racism, and such in a heartbeat?  It's basically impossible.  This is why the bloggers thought Du Bois disagreed on.  Du Bois' approach was aggressive but during that time period, it would have been seen as necessary.  He believed that African Americans should not submit, but the whites should assist them to rise.  Pretty much all the bloggers agreed that both approaches were greatly important, but their fight was for the same cause.

3) Dreiser, Crane, & London
Ah, the naturalism.  This was the main theme discussed among these three pieces.  There were two views on Sister Carrie: one was positive and one was negative.  Positively, Carrie was seen as an innocent stranger in an unknown city.  She was relatable in that she couldn't find a job which can compare to this century's female struggles.  Negatively, she was a victim of her own environment--naturalistic view.  Because she was inexperienced and naive, some bloggers were annoyed by that and others were depressed.  One blogger found her inadequate.  Basically, what was her purpose?
Crane's "The Open Boat" still had the same essence.  Instead of the city being Carrie's "enemy," nature was the dominant power.  Nature, the sea, pretty much controlled the story and the characters' fate.  The unlikely character to survive ended up surviving while the others died.  How ironic.  Despite this, out of all the stories, this one mentioned teamwork or brotherhood as we discussed in class.
Finally, London's "To Build a Fire" highly expressed naturalism.  The main character was also a victim of his environment: he died in the hands of winter's curse.  Many thought he was stupid for not being more prepared and thought the animal was a lot more intelligent.  Because of the man's overconfidence, his death was predictable.  However, some brought up the idea of human intelligence vs animal instinct.  Human intelligence lacked common sense, while animal instinct was ignored until the end when the animal went back to the camp after his master died.  Nature sure is the enemy in this story.  Like one blogger put it, his death was inevitable.