"The Heroic Bone Boatwright "

In, “Bastard out of Carolina”, Dorothy Allison uses several themes. Some are repeated more than others. In this book obviously child abuse, stigma of society, male dominance are all major themes in this book. But I also noticed how significant death was in her book. Death seemed to occur a lot in her family. I felt that she used to signify how change occurs no matter what you do.
Another theme I noticed in this book was love. I felt that there was a lot of love in Bone’s life at times, but it was a confusing thing for her. Whether it is Glen telling her he loved her while he abused her, or her Mom telling her she loves her then leaving her side when she is hurt. Love is something that again is an ever-changing theme in her book, and I think its something that is ever changing as well in the real world. On so many levels Allison brought out many realistic possibilities that no one thinks about so deeply, and she provided graphic detail. Her book made me feel that I learned something about child abuse, and it has taught me about what it may do to a child.
In class today we discussed whether or not we felt the book ended on a good note. Although I felt that terrible things happened to Bone I do not feel that the book ended with her being soley identified by these moments. In this book I felt that Bone was forced to grow up fast in a wild mixed up world and in retrospect it made her stronger, wiser beyond her years and not afraid of anything anymore. During the rape scene we see this when Bone thinks to her self:
“ I had always felt that it was my fault, but no it didn’t matter. I didn’t care anymore what might happen.” (Page 282, Allison) I felt that she left this experiences with truth and wisdom, she wasn’t scared anymore. She saw the worst. Some people say that it’s better to experience bad times because you get stronger. It’s the same idea. I feel that Bone is a heroic figure for women. Not only is Bone a true survivor, she is also a very risilent person. As a person she took the experiences and built a protective shield around herself.
I researched a little about Dorothy Allison and I found out that not only was she born into a, “trash” family, but she was also abused by her step-father for 6 six years.
As I read on I learned that Allison wrote because it gave her power over her bad experiences. Writing was her outlet, and literally the only thing she had when her mother her safety net was gone. Writing was so important to her that she even created, “The Independent Spirit Award in 1998” for writers in the small press industry that, “helped to sustain that enterprise.” This is to inspire and encourage new writers into the field and to help out small privately owned businesses.
I feel that she really loves to write and I feel privileged to read a book by such a talented author. I also found that Allison is a member of the, “International Pen”

Pen
~ The worldwide association of writers, was founded in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere; to emphasize the role of literature in the development of mutual understanding and world culture; to fight for freedom of expression; and to act as a powerful voice on behalf of writers harassed, imprisoned and sometimes killed for their views. It is the world’s oldest human rights organization and the oldest international literary organization. PEN originally stood for "Poets, Playwrights, Essayists and Novelists," but now includes writers of any form of literature, such as journalists and historians.
{ http://en.wikipedia.org }
She serves on the advisory boards of the National Coalition Against Censorship, Feminists for Free Expression, and the James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Award (a prize that is given annually to science fiction or fantasy work that explores and expands on ideas on gender).
{ http://en.wikipedia.org }
Quotes from the this amazing author that we all can gain from:
~ “Class, race, sexuality, gender—and all other categories by which we categorize and dismiss each other—need to be excavated from the inside.”


~ “There is a place where we are always alone with our own mortality, where we must simply have something greater than ourselves to hold onto—God or history or politics or literature or a belief in the healing power of love, or even righteous anger.... A reason to believe, a way to take the world by the throat and insist that there is more to this life than we have ever imagined.”

~ “Writing is still revolutionary, writing is still about changing the world.”

~ “Things come apart so easily when they are held together by lies.”
Thank you everyone!! It was a fun class!!

Bastard: Out of Carolina

Reading Dorothy Allison felt very familiar at first. The southern tone reminded me of Faulkner and the way they were scared of, “black” being in their blood.
• This book was very different though, it was much more descriptive and intense. It was interesting to me that the story is in “Bone’s” perspective. Mama was my favorite character, I could feel her strength. I felt for her every time she went back to the court to get the clerk to give her a new birth certificate. I was pleased when on page 4, she blurted out to the clerk after she read the word, “Illegitimate”, “I don’t want it like that.” I loved how she stood up for what she believed in even though she knew it probably wouldn’t make a difference. Although I feel that Mama is very naive in the respect that she got pregnant at the age of 17, before she was ready. I feel that she has “flaws’” (like we mentioned in class) like everyone, but she is a very good mother in many ways. I respected Mama when she made Bone go back to return the Tootsie rolls because she had stole them from the Woolworth’s.
I loved what Mama said to Bone about stealing and why not to on page 94, “You’re my pride. Do you know? You and your sister are all I have, all I will ever have. You think I could let you grow up to be like that?”
o Mama really reminded me of Drew Barrymore from the movie, “Riding in Cars With Boys.”

Another character I really enjoyed was Aunt Alma. She reminded me of Stella. She liked the bad boy kind of guy, and was in a denial about the abuse. I thought the conversation on page 91 between Aunt Alma and Mama represented every other woman in the world. I laughed with them when they made fun of Wade’s excuse for cheating,
• They said: “A man has needs…so what you suppose a woman has?”
• This book touches the reader on a very real level. It describes the whole situation of difficult and confusing lives among the characters. I look forward to reading further. I feel that this book which is actually based on a true story, really captures the way we are shaped by our childhood and most important our family. Everyone can relate to Bone when she expresses frustration with the link and stigma she has because her family. This story is not only interesting and full of drama, it’s also a serious look into the eyes of a family experience that was scarring and and completely dysfunctional.

"Revelation"

I really enjoyed reading "Revelation." Although I don't usually go for books about religion, I really was interested in this story. I was able to see the humor in O'connor's "Revelation" but it very a very violent story as well.

Mrs. Turpin was very typical and lacked a soul, even though she was a faithful church goer. She was the normal hypocrite. felt that O'Connor's characters are very real and resemble many things that we do. I feel that many people obsess over appearances and compare themselves to others all the time. The hierarchy that Mrs.Turpin was obsessed with exists in every society. I feel that the reason this story was interesting is because O'Connor deals with problems in a real society and explores these things through her characters.

The waiting room scene in which Mrs. Turpin engages in cliche conversations and small talk, reminds me of everyday life. I even think there was a Seinfield episode on the topic. I think that it was hilarious how Mrs. Turpin categorized people by their shoes. It's normal to judge people on their clothes and dress but strictly their shoes is weird.

I feel that this story had the most meaningful ending so far out of all the books we've read. The ending involved Mrs. Turpin having a "spiritual awakening" in which she realized that everyone was the same. She realized that she was living an empty life and she needed a deeper meaning. I feel that O'Connor did a wonderful job in exploring religious meaning and the search for God. If only every snobby person that viewed people as white trash could have a spiritual awakening...We would then live in a Utopia.

Great Presentations!!!

I just wanted to tell everyone that the presentations have been great!!! Everyone has really found a way to make their presentation interesting and unique. The food that we had in class today was excellent, and the presentation on, "The Color Purple" was very creative, the picture was so cute. I'd like to thank my partner Lisa for doing a wonderful job today, we were a good team!
I feel that it is sometimes nerve racking to stand up in front of the class and talk, but it's worth it in the end. I know it's hard to get up there initially, but it makes you a stronger public speaker later on. Afterward you feel like you've really accomplished something. Although I'm not always a fan of presentations (mainly because I get nervous), I feel that they provide you with experience that you can grow from. I feel that presentations allow people to get actively involved in their education by playing the role of the facilitator. I feel that you cannot fully grasp certain pieces of knowledge if you are unable to teach the information to an audience. I hope we all took a little something from each presentation. They all offered interesting bits of information that could easily relate to many of the pieces of literature that we have read over the course of this semester. I felt that this was a great way to explore several different specialized areas in many different contexts. All of our presentations dealt with the South, but they all offered something different.
I feel that I have now learned so much about the, "Deep South" and the southern way of life. I feel knowledgeable and secure enough to maybe even start up a conversation about the deep rooted racism in the south or maybe the male dominance that exists in southern societies.

Thank you everyone! You all did a great job!!

Flannery

Flannery O’Connor

“A Good Man is Hard To Find”

By the looks of the title I thought this story would be about finding a man or about love in some way. Wow was I wrong; this was a crazy and disturbing stories, about murder and religion. All I kept thinking while reading this was about how it reminded me of a scary movie in the way that I didn’t want to know what was going to happen…but I couldn’t stop reading. I thought it was very typical that the family was on vacation and they made a wrong turn somewhere and it lead to their death, but in a way it’s very chilling still. It’s a long time horror myth that still puts fear in people, and although it’s a common plot for a scary tale…it works.
The characters were all very interesting, and distinct. The grandmother was typical southern lady who believed in the past, the children were extremely snobby and bratty, the misfit was a total socio-path, the parents were boring, and the deep south was as screwed up as always.
In this story as well it’s interesting how O’Connor uses religion to portray good and evil. I felt that the misfit character was a very intriguing and deep one. I felt that the last moment when the Grandmother knew she was going to die, she accepted the Misfit as one of her children. I found it interesting that before this movement, the grandmother as religions as she acted, only wanted things done her way, but in her last living minutes when death was close by, she became a saint almost. This was her spiritual awakening. When she saw the truth. She reached out to the evil Misfit, and felt close to him. I thought it was bizarre that she felt compassion for him in the end, after he killed her family. I felt that the story was too disturbing and tragic for this random act of kindness.
This was the first time I ever read anything that was southern
Gothic literature, but I enjoyed it. This was a pure southern piece of literature, it was apparent in the language the locations, and the style. O’Connor was able to successfully mix several themes such as religion, the old south and even good and evil in the story. I feel that O’Connor was trying to portray immorality and morality in this story and I think she was able to do it in a creative way.

"Street car named Desire" movie vs. book

I really enjoyed reading, “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee

Williams. I felt that the characters that Williams presented were very strong and the story was very backwards, just like a lot of the other literature we’ve been reading. When reading this I was able to see how Blanche represented the South, and how Stella and especially Stanley in a way represented the, “New American Man and Woman.” Stanley represented the, “mans-man” and his character was very masculine. I feel that this story also represented the change in society from agriculture and plantation life to a more industrial life style. The way Blanche lived on Belle Reve was much different than how Stella and Stanley lived in New Orleans, but Belle Reve was gone and the, “Old way of life” was also slowly fading. I feel that this story was a great depiction of how the South’s transformation away from the plantation life affected the people.
I felt that the movie captured even more of the interesting details about the story and displayed them for you. I felt that (Marlon Brando) Stanley was way hotter in the movie, and in the movie he is the epitome of a sexy man. I felt that the way he was wearing a tight shirt or sweating really illustrated how masculine he was, and was much different than the southern, “Gentleman” type. In the movie I felt that the characters obviously are able to embody more of their characteristics and show them. For example in the movie, Blanch had so many facial expressions, and she always spoke in a southern soft-spoken voice. Stella in the movie was very affectionate toward Stanley, and you could see by her looks at him and her body language that she was in love with him. At times I also found it interesting to see how aggressive Stella herself could be. In the movie she pushed and screamed at Stanley a lot. The movie just illustrated in pure sight the aggressive relationship between Stanley and Stella. One that involved passion and, “desire.”
It was a little strange that the movie cut out the homosexuality issue regarding Blanche’s first husband, but that is Hollywood for you. In the movie they also censor swear words and soften the rape scene involving Stanley and Blanche. In class we also discussed how in the movie we are able to see the steam from the train, and this really helps to add to the representation of the New Orleans lifestyle.
All in all I really enjoyed this story, and enjoy even more watching the movie. I think that every girl in the class can agree with me that this was a love story more than anything, and that’s something we’re always drawn to. Looking past the bad stuff, it was touching in a way to see how Stella was infatuated and in love with Stanley. Plus Marlon Brando is so hot!!

Street car named Desire"

I really enjoyed reading this play, I felt that Williams was a good writer who could develop many emotional storylines. I really fell in love with Stella as a characetr. I felt that she was smarter than she acted and I felt that she was a rebel from her family and the southern way of life. I feel that Stella is a free spirit that allows her desires to lead the way. While this would make anyone think she was just stupid and naiive, I feel that it shows her bravery and daringness in a way. I feel that she is trying to be the one she wants. Although my practical side tends to agree with Blanche, especially in the end, when we see Stanley's true colors, I tend to like Stella as a character. Although we discussed in class about how Stella is passive and and in denial, I feel in a way, she wants its that way. Especially when she says to Blanche, "I'm not in anything that I want to get out of." When reading this play, I thought of many girls that are with guys that suck, and you ask them why are they with someone that sucks, and it seems as if they like the guy that much more if people think he's bad for them." I see it all the time. The first relationship I could compare to this right now though is the one between, Kevin Fen. and Britney Spears. What is going on with her?