Bastard Out of Carolina

In "Bastard Out of Carolina" by Dorothy Allison I thought about the gender roles that are used in the book. I think that Allison has something to say about the way that women are treated in Southern Society. She pays attention to the "white trash" version of white society.

One of the main points that Allison may be trying to make is the strength of women in this culture. Even though the reader gets the impression that the men are dominate in the culture, the women show extraordinary strength . The women in the Boatwright family in particular seem to be strong and rough. They are raising children and working outside the home. Working outside the home is a big departure from many of the reading about the south. These white women do not fit the mold of the Southern woman. Instead, they redefine how women act and behave. Their work outside the home sets them apart.

From the descriptions of the women in Allison's book the reader sees the the women are far from lady like. Many of the women in the Boatwright family use chewing tobacco and smoke. They also work in the yard growing and doing physical labor. They also seem to be in total control of the family. they are constantly running and managing the household in addition to working. Or when they men do not have jobs or are in jail the women take full of life.

Despite the strength that these women exhibit, I am puzzled why they allow the abuse to occur. I would think with all of their strength and ability to almost live independently of these men they would not allow it to occur. Yet, Allison describes these women in very positive and independent terms.

I think that Allison is trying to send a message about the way in which southern culture really operates. It is very different from the myth of the southern gentlemen and the southern lady.

Cherrylog Road

After discussing Cherrylog Road by James Dickey in class, I thought about the themes that became apparent in the poem that I had not seen. I also thought of possible symbols.

One thing that immediately came to mind was what the junked cars represented. I thought that they acted as a symbol of the past. When the narrator was weaving in and out of them and sitting it the seats he was exploring the past. He describes the partition that separates the woman from her black driver and he imagines what previous lives those cars may have had. I think that those actions represent the author exploring the south's past. A past that has links to the cars that he is exploring. The cars become a catalyst for the past.

I think the cars also have a connection to the past in terms of the author meeting his secret love at the junkyard. The author is breaking the norms of the society by meeting this girl outside of parental supervision. It appears that a moral code was broken. But the cars represent how society held up codes and broke them down based on the activities that happened inside of the cars. It seems appropriate that they would be breaking the moral code of society in a place that represented the past.

The overall message that I figured out from Cherrylog Road was that Dickey was trying to show the reader that the past is a developing concept. The cars illustrate the history and the complex nature of society.

God - Dog

After reading A Dog Sleeping On My Feet by James Dickey I thought about the symbol of the dog and animals and how they all seemed to be connected to this idea of nature and God being one thing.

Throughout the selection of poems by Dickey, it seemed that whenever he mentioned an animal there was a greater connection to God. In this poem, I think that the imagery at the end alludes to Jesus Christ:

A boy with a staff,
To loose them, beak and feather, from the spell
Laid down by a balancing child,
Unstable, tight-lipped, and amazed
And, under their place of enthrallment,
A huge, hammer-headed spirit
Shall pass, as if led by the nose into Heaven.

In that stanza I think that the boy with the staff is suppose to represent God leading people into heaven. The dog is a symbol of the good life and duty. And when the narrator feels the dog on his feet he is recognizing what the good life is. The dog has his purpose and fulfills it. And maybe that is the greater message.

The tone of the poem is not urgent but is more contemplative. I think that Dickey may have written it that way so that the message is not startling. Rather, the message becomes something to strive towards.

A Film & Novel - A Streetcar Named Desiree

The film A Streetcar Named Desire was an accurate adaptation of the play by Tennessee Williams. I think that the most astonishing aspect of the film was its portrayal of the two main characters Blanche and Stanley.

The character of Blanche felt more developed in the film rather than the play. In the film the viewer got the impression that Blanche was more fragile than how she was portrayed in the play. The way that Vivien Leigh leaned up against doorframes, used her hands to appear frantic, and her general body language gave life to Blanche. I also think that the music that accompanied Blanche really characterized her mood and the tension in many scenes. Although, the play had several notes about the music it was still difficult to image the tension without the music queuing the mood.

I had a problem with Stanley in the film. I imagined him to be more gruff and rough. Marlon Brando's acting almost made Stanley seem as if he was of the same class as Blanche and Stella, a distinction that was greatly emphasized in the play. Brando's physical appearance also surprised me as an actor for Stanley. From his description in the play I got the impression that Stanley was not a handsome man. The play characterized Stanley as having common features, not overly impressive. One area that I think that Brando accurately captured the character of Stanley was the way in which he captured his rage and anger with Blanche. At times, it was apparent that the anger was being controlled and at other time is obvious that the anger towards Blanche was unleashed.

I think that the only area that I wish was different in the film was that of Stella. In the play she played more of a prominent role. In the film it appears that Stella's character was marginalized by the over powering characters of Blanche and Stanley.

I think that overall the film was true to the play. I think that the acting was a good adaptation of the characters, which enhanced the depth of the play.

Fading Blanche

In the play A Streetcar Named Desire written by Tennessee Williams, the main character Blanche becomes the center of the play. I thought I would take a critical look at her character and look at what she represented. Blanche is described as a traveler who visits her sister, Stella, after her life back home at Belle Reve has fallen apart.

The reader gets the impression that Blanche represents the "Old South". She has the classic Southern Belle attitude. The reader gets the impression that Blanche is a damsel in distress. She is waiting upon on man to come and save her. Her life has been dictated by a very antiquated upbringing. It is evident by the fact that Blanche has difficulty using the telephone. And her response to Stanley's attitude represents her own old way of thinking. Stanley takes "women off of their pedestal". And to Blanche that is unacceptable.

The most interesting aspect of Blanche's character is her lying but I think it is in response to her Southern Belle attitude. Internally, Blanche may know that the way of life that she values no longer exists but she chooses to ignore that. And by lying and creating her own world she is fulfilling her dream of an old world. And I think that Blanche as a character changes after Stanley confronts her lies. She is exposed and left in the open. She can no longer live like she had before. Maybe for the first time she has been confronted with reality. The reality that she faces is more that she can handle and the fragileness of Blanche is exposed.

Blanche by the end of the play represents the end of the Old South. The idea like Blanche was fragile and crumbling. And Blanche ultimately represented that idea and how it was destined to end.

Strong, Independent and Freethinking - A New Deal

I was considering Hurston's stance on women and the idea of feminism. The complexity of Hurston's stance makes it difficult to easily determine what her message was regarding women's roles in society. I narrowed it down to a mostly positive idea of women. Janie's image as a woman is that of a strong, independent, and freethinking person.

The first instance that comes to mind represents Janie's free thinking abilities. Janie's grandmother has grand plans for her and wants her to marry a significantly older man Logan. But Janie was not going to have any of that. She begrudgingly marries him. But chooses to pursue her own path and leaves Logan for Jody a young man with big plans. Janie imitates the divorce from Logan, which I thought was an extremely independent move and freethinking considering Janie's place as a poor black woman.

I think that Janie's independence is illustrated when Janie is coming back to Eatonville. She comes back in overalls. Which signifies that Janie was a workingwoman and was working alongside her husband. This was seen her community as a representation of poverty since women were not suppose to work unless they had to. But in reality it was a decision that Janie made herself. Which signified independence.

But the biggest lesson to be learned for Hurston's novel was the resilience and strength of women. Janie was a strong woman. Her ability to withstand the criticism from the townspeople is a sign of strength. But the most significant place I see this is when Janie is forced to kill her husband Tea Cake. Even though it was a split second decision how many people could kill their spouse that way? The ability to do so was a way in which Hurston was able to illustrate the inner strength of Janie.

Hurston's Janie was a head of her time and was an example of women as strong people. Her Janie represented what women could become.

The Attitude

The Ethics of Living Jim Crow by Richard Wright is an autobiographical sketch of life in the early twentieth century South. The examples that Wright chose seemed to be very interesting and unique: chosen as a way of portraying life under the Jim Crow system.

One thing that I noticed about the anecdotes that Wright chose was that the events were small and isolated and didn’t appear to be related to any larger struggle or event. The instance when Wright describes the actions of the storeowners against the black woman. When they took her into the back and beat her for presumably not paying her store bill, seemed almost significant based on the reactions of other blacks that Wright told this too. Relating this Wright, compares this incident to the struggles that he had at other jobs. But he doesn’t give the feeling that this is what everyone’s experiences entailed.

Wrights experiences seem to shock and disturb him. He at first is unable to believe that this is how people were being treated. But the reader gets the impression that the way that Wright feels at this time is the anomaly. Wright gives the impression that most people accept this treatment as ordinary. I was surprised by this sentiment. I would have thought that most blacks at this time would have been offended and outraged by these actions. But Wright gives the impression that this was accepted and tolerated by most blacks.

The biggest message that I got from Wright was this idea that the way in which blacks were treated was acceptable by most people in society. I think that Wright exposed the apathetic feelings of his own community.