Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Blogpost 22: Oscar Meyer... Wao?

Junot Diaz often uses footnotes throughout the text as an opportunity to tell backstories about Oscar's life and Dominican culture. Unlike most authors, Diaz's footnotes have just as much, if not more character than the regular text, because they are just as vital to the story as the text itself. These footnotes enhance the story by bringing the reader closer to the author because they are Junot's chance to speak directly to his audience. They also enhance the story primarily through their ability to provide background about Dominican culture and history- key influences on the behavior and gender roles of the society in which Oscar lives.

The reader has a love/hate relationship with the protagonist, Oscar. On one hand he is an endearing young boy who struggles with his abilities to fit into a society with traditional gender roles. Knowing Oscar's struggles and his unfulfilled desire for affection, the reader feels sympathy for him. On the other hand, Oscar has skewed values and judges people in ways that are far from admirable. He places too much importance on his ability to have a relationship, he objectifies women, and he values attractiveness over intelligence regarding his own self worth and the worth he places on girls. His consideration of his own depression and his complete disregard of Olga's following the breakup that ended his "Golden Age" is just one example of the double standards he has for the way people of different genders should behave. However, the way he judges people is only a result of his upbringing. From an early age, he was taught that the ideal man is strong, dominant, non-emotional, and sexually versed and the ideal woman is submissive, beautiful, and only useful for staying home to take care of the family. So on one hand, the reader wants "fuku" to teach the sexist, materialistic, and shallow Oscar a lesson, but on the other hand, the reader just wants Oscar to be able to rise above the norms of Dominican culture so he can express himself and be loved, no matter how he compares to the cookie cutter ideal male.

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Blog Post 21: Or Does It...EXPLODE?

The money the family is expecting to receive carries large significance because it plays an important role in the family's past, present, and future. In terms of the past, the family has never had much money, so they have not had very many opportunities to make their dreams reality. For the future, the family wants this money in order to open up more opportunities to make their dreams come true, whether it be Walter's dreams of a successful career or the next generations dreams for the life ahead of them. The money is also important for their current situation, because at this point, many of the families' interactions are arguments, many of which involving money. They all experience frustration with their current financial standing and it sparks many debates, whether it be over marriage, Walter's career, Beneatha's education, Beneatha's boyfriend, or Travis's school project. Money constantly places limitations on their way of life, which results in a broken family dynamic.

Walter's life centers around the concept of money. In the end, his desire for wealth only hurts him because he cannot see the positives in his life and does not draw attention to what really matters, such as his family. His preoccupation with financial status will only steer him towards quick fixes rather than lasting solutions for the family.

Blog Post 20: The Evolution of D

Throughout the text, Paul D struggles with his sense of identity and manhood. His decisions are often guided by his avoidance of the past and his yearning to feel like a man.

Paul D's past scarred him because his experiences as a slave taught him he was no better than an animal. Mr.Garner always said he treated his slaves like real men, but when the school teacher came, Paul D felt like he was being treated no better than a rooster. The brutality Paul D experienced taught him that to survive, he would have to lock away all of his memories and feelings in a "tobacco tin buried in his chest where his red heart used to be" (Morrison 86).

Once Paul D escaped slavery, he was known to be a wanderer, never settling down anywhere for too long. Because of his tobacco tin, he did not want to feel attached to anything or anyone for too long, so he found it easier to cope wandering around on his own. However, when Paul D came to 124 and found Sethe, he finally found a place he could not leave. Sethe reminded him of his past and gave him the strength to face it, and her home and family provided him the opportunity to assert dominance and claim his manhood. Even though he had no business taking the role as head of the household, he immediately started trying to take over because he had a necessity to prove to himself that he was a man.

A key turning point for Paul D was when he had sex with Beloved. Beloved is representative of all the pain harnessed in the past, and him having sex with her was a demonstration of him confronting all of his repressed memories. After the sexual act, Paul D's "tobacco tin" is again replaced with his "red heart" because he is now vulnerable and ready to have all the emotions his past and current life entails (Morrison 138).

Chapter 19 represents another key turning point for Paul D because in this chapter, Stamp Paid tells him about the murder of Sethe's first daughter and Paul D decides to leave 124. His discovery of Sethe's crime alters his perception of Sethe and her household, and he is too afraid to remain there with her. Before given this insight, he had imagined a future with Sethe in which he could build a family and claim his manhood, but now that dream is tarnished and he feels the need to remove himself. This leaves him questioning his future, his past, and his identity as a man and human being. This is clearly seen by the disheveled state he is found in: "on the steps of Holy Redeemer, holding his wrists between his knees and looking red-eyed" (Morrison 222).


Friday, January 20, 2017

Blog Post 19: HoneySUCKLE Rooooose....

One could argue that Baby Suggs' treatment at the hands of her masters in slavery was better than the treatment she received from her community as a free woman. When describing her time as a slave at Sweet Home, she continually repeats that "nobody knocked her down...even when she slipped on cow dung and broke every egg in her apron" (Morrison 164). No matter how badly she messed up, she was always respected and listened to, and never criticized. However, as a free woman, she was constantly knocked down by her community and continually experienced "the scent of disapproval" (Morrison 162-163). Instead of interpreting Baby Suggs' acts of generosity as true benevolence, they took it as "uncalled for pride," "overstepping, giving too much, and offending them by excess" (Morrison 163).

Denver's suckling her sister's blood along with her mother's milk accounts for both her acceptance of the non-material spirit in the house and her acceptance of Beloved as the material re-embodiment of her sister's spirit. When Sethe nursed Denver, she refused to clean herself,despite Baby Suggs' discontent, because she still felt the pain of what she had done and was clinging onto the past. When Denver suckled both her mother's milk and her sister's blood, she became connected to Sethe's painful past. The non-material spirit of Beloved often represents Sethe's guilt, which was represented by the baby's blood. The milk represents the nourishing side of Sethe's motherhood, which is what allows Sethe a second chance when Beloved comes back as a material re-embodiment of her spirit. Denver connects to Beloved in both of these ways because they both have a distrust for Sethe yet are reliant on her for nourishment to live.