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.