Jaimesblog

Things fall apart

2005-05-02T08:09:00.000-07:00

I think that this story deals a lot with gender. It can go along with the theory tool box and differences. This story puts emphasis on how different the men roles are from the women. Some examples go as far as to what vegetables they can grow, Okonkwo says that yams are a mans vegetable, so the women grow the beans and other things. He never really shows emotion to his wives or children even though he cares for them. He also loves his daughter ezinma, but thinks it would be better if she were male. He probable doesn't really wish she were male but would rather show that kind of affection to his real sons, but wont do because that isn't manly. The women of the culture take pride in giving birth, since they really have no other role but to serve their husband. His one wife witch only has one child with him, enzima, chooses to disobey one of the goddesses and follows after her daughter, showing okonkwo that bravery is not only a masculine trait. Also Okonkwo tries so hard not be be a failure like his father, but it seems like he doesn't have very much luck. He is first respected but gets in trouble for beating his wife during the week of peace. He is looked upon badly for killing the boy he took in and considered his son. He also has to leave the clan for seven years for accidentally killing another mans son. this story also describes differences in religion. The clan has gods and goddesses and strange thingd=s like the evil forest and to throw teins in there. Nwoye starts to follow christianity because it answered the questions he was struggling with in his clan's traditions. Okonkwo is against it because then he wouldn't have an excuse for the murdering of his adopted son. Many of the clan take on christianity and change there ways. There then is the difference between the white man and the clan's men. The both have different ways of living but the white mens influence start to take over with their religion and their politics. I think this story is more about inacturate steoriotypes, and that is why so many things are to be questioned.

The Invisible Man

2005-04-19T08:47:00.000-07:00

I think the Invisible man lived in a world where no matter what he does he might be invisible or it goes against his peopel by living by the white mans rules, but what is he suppose to do, everything at that time was a white mans society, and by fighting it or living by it he is thought to fall in their trap. He went to college and that was wrong because it is acting the way white people wanted you to and was run under white people, he tried fighting white people but that was wrong too. I mean everything he did was thought as the wrong thing. If he should not go to school, not get a job, or not fight in a group then what else could he so besides stay in a basement and hide. I believe he should done what he wanted and not worry so much about what white people thought because that itself is having them have power over you. The best way to beat the white people is to live the life you want to live, now that you have the freedom to, take adantage of it and get an education and get a good job even if it is for the white people because then was a time with a lot of racism and like the saying if you cant beat them join them.

the house of the spirits

2005-04-04T22:11:00.000-07:00

The House of the Spirits is about two families, The del Valle and Trueba family. Thoughout the whole novel the are constant tragedies that occur. One of the main points in this noval is the difference between classes. Esteban was born into a poor family but worked hard and married into a wealthier family, the del Valle, when he married clara. Then their daughter blanca falls in love with pedro who is in the poor class, but esteban wont let them have anything to do with eachother. I think that is hipocritical because Esteban should realize before anyone that classes should matter else he wouldn't have been able to marry Rosa before. Plus he is all into keeping the poor poor when he should sympathize with them and maybe be more involved with charity, but instead it is clara and her wealthy family who are more concerned with the poor and try to help. I also think that so many of these characters deny theirselves their own happiness by not being with the people they love. Most of them are stay away from true love because of money or politics when I think less tragedies would happen if they would go with the one they love. Esteban is the loneliest one of them all even though he is in love with his wife. Her puts material things first and that is why not one loves him or respects him, his own family doesn't love him and he really doesn't have anyfriends either, so he dies alone.

Antigone

2005-03-25T07:48:00.000-08:00

Antigone is about a women who stood up to authority to do what she thought was the right thing. She covered her brother so he could have a propper burrial even though the king said anyone who did would be punished. Antigone makes a good point when sshe said that laws are created by man and can be broken by men. Plus since laws are created by man that means that all might not be right and there can be flaws to them. Antigone realized this and did what she believed was right anyway. I believe that this can relate to modern times and its politics. The king uses war to install fear in its people and abuses his power because he knows that the people will be behind him in time of war. Bush is said to be doing the same thing and this is a time when people are more patriotic and if someone goes against what the president says they are thought of being against the country. Like when the girl from the dixie chicks was hated by many because of her opinion of Bush. It takes a lot of courage to do what you believe is right when the whole country may look down on you but Antigone was willing to risk it for her family and not many people do that.

Cortez

2005-03-01T14:10:00.000-08:00

Cortez became a legend and his story was passed down throughout history. That's why there were many different variations. It sarts out with the sheriff killing his brother, who didn't really do anything wrong. Cortez defends his brother by killing the sheriff. When word came out that Cortez was the killer an award was offered to whoever could catch him. But no one can, there was this hunt for him that went on for a while and Cortez never was caught even when he was facing 300 people at a time. Then one day he just ended the chase and turned himself in. I think that he should have kept going instead of doing the right thing by turning himself in. Yeah he murdered a sheriff but I think it was justified because the sheriff wrongly killed his brother. But the fact that he did turn himself in show his good character.

2005-02-14T18:01:00.000-08:00

This story suggests that fate had a big role in deciding the ending of the story, and the choices that the characters had to decide. Throughout the book the sybolysims used foreshowed death, and unhappiness, and angry and passion, and because of this it is their fate to die.
I do believe that this story is suggesting fate and they did what they did because of fate, but i believe that it is their choices, and that most of them choice death. The bride would rather choice to die instead of marry someone else besides leonardo, and he would rather die than stay in his marriage because he is really in love with the bride, and I believe that the groom choose death because he would rather have revenge on the man who stole his wife, and wanted to fight what for what was his. I do believe that it is fate for the wife and Leonardo to be together, and fate did bring them together before, but it is not all left up to fate, your choices effect your fate, and they made the choice to not marry in the first place. They probably never married because of the financial situation, Leonardo didn't have money and she did. It shows that you can't just rely on fate because fate brought them all to a tragic death, and happiness for no one, while if you just sacrafice somethings maybe you can be happier. I believe even though Loenardo and the wife didn't have money they would have found happiness anyway, and since it was fate that brought them together fate would have probably found them a way to be financially succure.
You can relate this to the Awakening, she was also unhappy in her marriage and instead of doing something about it, like be with robert, and leave her husband, but she death as well. Death isn't the only answer to change your fate, There are other ways, you just have to make a few sacrafices to get what you want, and maybe hapiness will follow.

The Yellow Wallpaper

2005-01-30T11:09:00.000-08:00

This story is a lot like Frederick Douglass' story in the fact that it states the importance of writing. She continues to get sick and she is restained from writing or outside stimulation. Writing is important to her though in a different way from Douglass. She needs to write because it relieves her and in some way can make her get better, while douglass needed it to become like his masters and to tell his story to make a difference. While it doesn't say it much in the story how writing makes her better you learn it when you read why she wrote the book in the first place.
although in the book there are times when she mentions writing, like how john her husband/doctor tells her that she will get better if she just rest without doing any work or have any kind of stimulation, basically just sit in that yellow room. But the room is adding to her illness. She has nothing to do all day but to analyze the wallpaper, she analyzes it to the point that she can't take it anymore and rips it off.
It doesn't mention what her sickness is but it does state that she has a child, and she adores that chile but she can not take care of it, some one else does for her. Her sickness can have something to do with post partum depression. And John who she says is her husband may only be her doctor.
As to the question of is the author important in this writing I would have to say yes. Some people might say it is not because her name really isn't mentioned in the story, but I think it is because she was still a character who went through this and changed how dotors help people now whn they are ill. Instead of the theory of doing nothing to make you better, maybe it is better to write to express your feelings and get more stimulation from the world instead of one little world that can make you go crazier.

"Narrative" Douglass

2005-01-30T09:01:00.000-08:00

Douglass expresses the importance of writing in his life. Writing is what classified him as a person, because it was a time when his kind was held back from writing or any source of knowledge. Even knowledge about his own life, like his own birthdate. Slave owners made it so they could not know anything because they where not people they were properties. If the slave knew anything like reading and writting it would make them like the white people and white people didn't see them as equals at all.
Douglass' story was important at that time period because it was happening then and he used his writing to try to change the way of the times. Today maybe less people see the importants of story because we didn't live through the cruelities of slavery, we have only heard stories. Douglass is just another story to most, but the fact that it is his own story that he lived through and not just a fiction makes it more significant to me.
I still can't believe that people could treat other people like that and wonder why they didn't rebell or something. But Frederick was one who did, and he did it buy himself just by learning to read and write.