Flight

When we began reading Song of Solomon, Ms. Maxey mentioned the idea of flight as a means to escape, and this motif has been repeated many times throughout the book as several of the characters have found themselves in a situation where they might be happier up in the clouds than on Earth. In chapter eight when Milkman speaks to Guitar about the peacock being stuck as a flightless bird Morrison draws a powerful comparison between Milkman and the bird, "Too much tail. All that jewelry weighs it down. Like vanity. Can’t nobody fly with all that shit. Wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down” (179). I bring up this quote because I think it captures the gist of what flight means in this novel. For Milkman, flight is being able to let go of his material possessions and his social baggage in order to escape. Although one could argue that in Milkman's bubble there isn't much he needs to escape from, I think that flight can also represent Milkman freeing himself from immaturity as he stops placing such a large emphasis on the "shit that weighs [him] down" which is his money and social skills.

Names

In Song of Solomon, there are many characters with very odd names. Though Toni Morrison would not have named her characters Mr. Dead, Guitar, or Milkman without a purpose. I always have a habit of looking for meaning within the names that authors of fiction choose because a name seems to say a lot about a person or at least it says a lot about the image of a person. In Macon Dead's case, his name seems to represent oppression. Macon Dead's name came about when a drunk white man wrote his name down incorrectly, so it gives the idea that Macon's name or identity is determined by his white oppressor. What is very interesting though is that after Macon's true name is revealed to Milkman, Milkman begins to view his family in a whole other way. Just a change in a name seemed to open Milkman's eyes and make him behave kinder than normal especially to those who knew his grandfather. I think the change in the name caused Milkman to see a different side in his grandfather. He thought that his new name was a much more fitting name than the one given him by some random white man of authority.

Response to Toni Morrison's quote

“I felt that nobody wrote about those black people the way I knew those people to be. And I was aware of that fact, that it was rare. Aware that there was an enormous amount of apology going on, even in the best writing. But more important than that, there was so much explanation…the black writers always explained something to somebody else. And I didn’t want to explain anything to anybody else! …If I could understand Emily Dickinson—you know, she wasn’t writing for a black audience or a white audience; she was writing whatever she wrote! I think if you do that, if you hone in on what you write, it will be universal…not the other way around!”

Toni Morrison's quote dismisses the idea of "writing for" a specific racial group by claiming that good writing can be understood by anyone and that writers should not have to explain themselves in order to get their points across. This quote gives insight as to why Toni Morrison was inspired to write in the first place. It seems that she grew frustrated seeing other black writers try to explain what life is like and not simply writing in order to write. She also was frustrated that the image of black people in literature was not "the way [she]  knew those people to be." Her allusion to Emily Dickinson is important, because Dickinson stands as the model for good writing in the eyes of Morrison. I agree with Morrison that when people write novels or stories, they should focus on their own ideas before contemplating the ideas of their audience. While centering your words around your audience can be a beneficial way to write when trying to be persuasive or relatable, when you restrict or alter your word choice in order to fit the audience's preference, the ideas backing the writing has been lost. Writing should be universal, so tailoring a work to a specific group will only lessen the strength of the piece. 

Loving and Hating Poetry

There are tons of people in the world that love poetry. These people love it so much that they have created poetry societies, awards specifically for poems, and museums dedicated solely to the art form. Although many people, including some very intelligent people, seem to categorize poetry as unimportant, abstract, and possibly a little boring. I think that the reason why our opinions on poetry are so black and white is because people either choose to be patient with poetry or not. To really appreciate a poem you have to read it through several times to get all the juice out of it. A novel, on the other hand, can be read through once and the reader can come away from it feeling as though they have a connection to the book and have gotten to know the characters really well over the course of the week. Poetry can be easily forgotten sometimes, because readers can begin and finish reading minutes. The speedy poem reader may not have gotten very much from the read and dismissed it as something too abstract to make sense of. The people who don't give it the time classify it as unimportant, maybe claiming that no big idea of importance can come from only a few strings of words. Poetry asks a lot of the reader, because there's not much filler for the mind to process what is happening or for the reader to "read" while his or her mind is focussed elsewhere. Poetry demands the reader's time, attention, and their own thoughts to fill in the cracks. Those who aren't patient enough to meet the demands, dislike poetry, and those who are patient, enjoy it very much.

Milkman's Short Leg - SoS

In chapter three, the reader learns that Milkman has one leg that is shorter than the other. This deformity does not exclude him from activities, although he is known to move a little differently from others. As we learned in How to Read Literature Like a Professor, an author does not add a disability to a character unless it has a deeper, symbolic meaning or other reason to do so. In the case of Milkman, there could be many reasons why the author pays close attention to the length of his legs. For one, it helps to illustrate Milkman's relationship with his. Given that Milkman shares a name with his father, it is easy to try and compare the two, but Morrison uses Milkman's shorter leg to show contrast, "because of the leg, he could never emulate him" (63). Milkman's deformity also leaves room for lines like "The deformity was mostly in his mind" which may suggest themes of racism with the idea that those who see African Americans as less capable than Whites have simply made up the notion in their minds (62). Lastly, this bit of information about Milkman's deformity develops Milkman's character as a charismatic young man. While some kids might be bullied for a funny walk, Milkman was embraced for it. They even mentioned that although Milkman's dance move looked a little different than the normal way the dance move is done, the other kids thought it was cool and wanted to emulate it. Even this small bit of information about the main character gives the reader a lot to analyze and learn about the novel.

Favorite Sentences - SoS

In our most recent paper, Ms. Maxey asked us to pick one single sentence out of the first three chapters that we believe is the most important. Before writing, I sifted through the pages wanting to write about other sentences that I felt deserved more attention, but aren't necessarioy important to the plot or character development. For example, I love this sentence: "If she had been younger and had more juice, the glitter in her eyes would have washed down onto her cheeks" (21). This sentence brings a vivid picture to my mind. I love the imagery of "glitter" in her eyes and showing the glitter "washing down" brings up a very familiar sight. I read this sentence over and over many times trying to figure out why it seemed so beautiful to me. I am still unsure. Another sentence that I appreciated was the spiel on darkness. "You think dark is just one color, but it ain't...May as well be a rainbow" (41). I had never thought of "dark" being another color than black, nor have I really thought about the color of darkness at all. Although this shows that the character searches for the truth in people and things, and is able to see greatness in something as boring and simple as the color of "dark."

Response to Telling is Listening

Ursula K. Le Guin draws several comparisons between humans conversing and other connections in our world in order to highlight the special relationship that is formed when two humans converse. I think this one line in particular explains her thoughts very clearly, "In human conversation, in live, actual communication between or among human beings, everything “transmitted” — everything said — is shaped as it is spoken by actual or anticipated response." It is interesting because there are many different actions one person can take in order to obtain that anticipated response. This made me think about those people who might ask about your day, simply in order to speak about themselves and how their day went. However, this does not make the relationship between the two people conversing any less connected, because the person who is sharing still speaks in order to obtain that anticipated response. Le Guin also writes about how humans change the words. The tiniest imperfection or shift in tone of voice when saying a word can change the entire connotation. I completely agree with almost all that Le Guin has said in the article. It is interesting that the way we transmit information must be tied to some deeper, more intimate part of ourselves. I think it says a lot about humans and shows that humans inherently must rely on others. 

Response to Cormac McCarthy's Punctuation

It seems odd for a writer to have such a strong distaste for proper punctuation, but McCarthy seems to think that anything other than a comma, a colon, or a period is nothing more than "weird little marks" on a page. Punctuation's purpose is to make writing clearer to the reader in order to convey a message seamlessly and with minimal confusion. I suppose McCarthy thinks that his protest to the traditional use of punctuation presents him as a more accomplished writer, one that has enough skill to not have to rely on little marks to get his message across. Although, I think it is a useless skill. All readers have learned the rules of punctuation, and it makes the piece easier to understand, so why not use those weird little marks? Simply because one can understand the work with minimal marks doesn't mean that one should. I've read books before that do not use regular punctuation, and sometimes I become more focused on the lack of punctuation than the actual story. Punctuation is a system that makes reading simpler so that we can understand the ideas and stories of many writers with different styles without having to focus too hard on little things like who is speaking and when to catch your breath when reading aloud.

Heart of Darkness - TGOST

The history house is a place that is supposed to be representative of Kerala in order to inform tourists and natives alike about the history and culture of the Indian state. However, the allusion to Joseph Conrad's novel, Heart of Darkness, shows that the history house truly functions in order to please the tourists. The natives of Kerala do not think very highly of these tourists as they often assume that they are unintelligent. The narrator even goes as far as to compare them to rats, "The rats racing across the ruined landscape with dollar signs in their eyes. The world crashing around them" (223). When the tourists visit the history house they learn about the best parts of the state. They neglect to see the problems in the country and by doing this they make it so that the natives cannot enjoy the best parts of their own country. When telling historical stories it was mentioned that the natives felt, "trapped in the bog of a story that was and wasn't theirs" (224). Not only does the history house give out a false sense of culture in Kerala to the tourists, but it also impacts the natives, because after telling a watered down version of a historical story for so long, the meaning of the story begins to change. The historical stories became partially owned by the tourists since details were changed to make it seem less foreign, and these changes left the natives dissatisfied. Despite the name, the history house seems to be not where Indian history is embraced, but rather where Indian history goes to die.

Quote Analysis - TGOST

"That night in the lodge, Ammu sat up in the strange bed in the strange room in the strange town. She didn't know where she was, she recognized nothing around her. Only her fear was familiar."

In this quote, the readers gain a final glimpse at Ammu's feelings as we learn what is going through Ammu's head moments before her death. These last few moments are somewhat representative of Ammu's lifetime. It seems like Ammu always has something to fear. While she was with Chacko, she constantly feared abuse as he would lash out on her constantly. Then, after their divorce, Ammu took on a fear of society's punishments for her since she had broken the love laws. Just before this quote, the narrator explains a nightmare she had about the police coming to chop off her hair, which is what they do to punish prostitutes, so one can observe that Ammu continued to feel an intense guilt up until the end of her life, and probably struggled with the idea of retribution for her "unlawful" actions.Whether it was fearing a life with Chacko or a life no longer with Chacko, Ammu felt fear regularly. In the quote, Roy uses repetition of the word "strange" to contrast her unfamiliar surroundings with her well-acquainted feelings of fear.

Velutha and Bahka - TGOST

In the novel Untouchable, Anand attempts to create a character who, for the most part, is representative of all the untouchables in India. After being introduced to Velutha from The God of Small Things, my thoughts on the opportunities of an untouchable and Bahka's character had changed. Unlike Bahka, Velutha does not feel trapped by his social status and because of that, he has almost been able to rise above the other untouchables. Velutha has the courage to strive for a position as a supervisor, and even walk in a communist march. Even though both characters share a desire for a better life, Velutha's actions are things that Bahka could never have the confidence to do. The different responses may be due to the characters' different environments. While Bahka is stuck in a dream state, constantly reminded by his father that there is no hope for his future, Velutha doesn't feel the same pressures from his family. Due to my limited knowledge of Indian culture, I am unable to determine whether Velutha is an incredibly positive and motivated character, if Bahka is just someone who gives up, or if these two characters merely represent two extreme cases.

Capitalization - TGOST

Arundhati Roy uses plenty of stylistic techniques like nature imagery, italics, anaphora, onomatopeia, (to name a few) which all help her storytelling to be present and flowing. However, Roy also includes some capitalization of words in odd places, so odd, that it almost seems random. This technique does not help the story flow, but rather causes the reader to pause at the word and wonder, "Is that important?" Obviously, this type of capitalization cannot be seen in most works of literature, though Emily Dickinson seems to be no stranger to this technique in her poetry. When Emily Dickinson capitalized words in the middle of sentences it was to draw attention to them in order to highlight a certain symbol or theme. Roy does this as well, but since her literature is in a form of a novel, she includes foreshadowing as well. For example, Roy capitalized the words, "Good Sign" and "Man" in chapter four. Although I have not been able to verify the foreshadowing yet, those words seem to be setting up a romance that I am looking forward to reading about.

FRQ

In many works of literature, culture plays a pivotal role in the plot of the book. Choose a novel or play in which the main character could not be the same if placed in a different setting. Then, write a well-organized essay analyzing the effects that India's culture has had on Bahka's character and how it influences his relationships with other characters in the novel.

Silent Untouchables

Living under a demeaning title like "untouchable" has considerable effects on the actions of the people. Untouchables have a lack of confidence, self-pity, and believe that their feelings should not be shared. The reader can see that Bahka exhibits these types of feelings through his choice of silence. In many cases, Bahka chooses not to defend himself. For example, when Bahka bumps into a man on the street by the market, the man publicly shames him and even slaps him across the face. The stream of consciousness following this event alerts the reader of his intense feeling of hatred, though no action is taken in order to defend himself. Not only does Bahka have trouble defending himself, but this also extends to his family. When his sister is violated by the town's priest, Bahka is insanely mad and suggests that he should beat him up. However, this never happens because he knows that he is an untouchable. Even in the less extreme circumstances, Bahka's title causes him to remain in silence. At the market, Bahka notices that the cashier weighs his candy incorrectly and overcharges him for the food. Bahka says nothing. As you can see, the title of "untouchable" is very limiting not only in the written social rules, but also in their self-image. The theme of silence throughout Bahka's day helps to represent the real untouchables living in India. Since many people are not aware of what is happening in India, the untouchables are suffering in silence. They cannot defend themselves on their own because of their low status, and even those who have extremely high standards for themselves, like Bahka who dreams of being British, cannot defend themselves.

Quote Analysis - Untouchable

“‘Kala admi zamin par hagne wala’ (black man, you who relieve yourself on the ground).” p35

In this quote, the Tommies show their hostility towards the Hindu people who do not have a high enough status to use the latrines like them. Since this is a perfectly common interaction to hear from people of different castes, it helps to paint a picture of daily life for Bahka and for those who live in India's rural areas. These words are horribly offensive and show the deep running sour relations among the citizens of India. Bahka overhears these words, and it is reasonable to believe that instances like these cause Bahka to cling to British culture instead of his own. The Tommies made the Hindu people feel embarrassed and ashamed of themselves because they relieve themselves in public, and Bahka is tired of feeling humiliated. It is interesting that Anand chose to keep this phrase in Hindi instead of translating it like the quotes in the rest of the book. Perhaps he thought that writing it in the language would increase the depth of the reader's understanding of Indian culture. Nevertheless, the quote is very upsetting and powerful, and it is also an important factor that drives Bahka to pursue a more British life. 

Generations of Untouchables

Almost anyone from the western world could categorize the life of an untouchable to be a humiliating, disgusting, and unfair life to lead. However, untouchables who have not been exposed to another way of living don't seem to question why their life is so poor or how they can change it. While living as a person below the entire caste system is dreadful, Bahka's life is especially hard because, unlike older generations of untouchables, Bahka has dreams. He is obsessed with the culture of the British and feels that he is worthy of living that type of "glamorous" life. His belief that he is equal to those in British culture makes it especially hard for him to follow orders of those who have a higher status in the caste system. Conversely, Bahka's father's life is easier day to day. Even though they are both untouchables and they have basically the same duties, Bahka's father gets the peace of mind that his daily work will help him to overcome the sins that his soul committed in a past life. The thought that his life is meaningless creates a sense of relief for his father. On the other hand, Bahka feels trapped between the expectations he has for his life and the hateful comments that tell him that he is unworthy of simple pleasures like retrieving his own drinking water. Living as an untouchable will become harder and harder in the modern world, which hopefully will cause the system to break down.

C.S. Lewis on Why We Read

"Those of us who have been true readers all our life seldom fully realize the enormous extension of our being which we owe to authors. We realize it best when we talk with an unliterary friend. He may be full of goodness and good sense but he inhabits a tiny world. In it, we should be suffocated. The man who is contented to be only himself, and therefore less a self, is in prison. My own eyes are not enough for me, I will see through those of others. Reality, even seen through the eyes of many, is not enough."

Today, I love reading books, however, unlike C.S. Lewis, I did not grow up as a reader. Today I still would not classify myself as a "reader." C.S. Lewis confesses that a large reason why he reads is to gain a sort of new set of eyes to view the world with. This line resonated with me, but I cannot say that it was due to the books I have read. The idea that I might live my entire life with only my own set of eyes or live inside a "tiny world" terrifies me. However, I believe that reading is only one of many ways to widen your perspective. I like to draw comparisons about the world of books and the world of internet videos. To me, it seems that reading works of many authors is similar to watching the videos from a variety of channels on youtube. Each author and Youtuber has many stories to tell, and the quality of the creator's substance varies. There are Youtubers who create in order to entertain,  share news, document their daily lives, make political statements, teach, brag, inspire, make money, and a myriad of other reasons. There is not one type of person who creates Youtube videos. All walks of life from many different countries and demographics like to create and share their ideas via internet videos. Although the activity does not seem as intellectual as reading, both activities give its audience the benefit of enriching their lives through gaining perspective. Reading is a wonderful way to become a better, more informed person, however, it is not the only way.

Chinua Achebe on Storytelling

 "It is the storyteller, in fact, who makes us what we are, who creates history. The storyteller creates the memory that survivors must have — otherwise surviving would have no meaning… "

In this article, Achebe in no way underrates the storyteller, and after reading a compilation of his quotes, I have to agree with him. While most of the time it is the "drummer" or the "warrior" who receives all the fame from the press when history has been made, we often forget that without the duties of the press to tell the stories of our warriors, the mark in history might as well not have been made. Since we would never learn from our mistakes, the same issue would reoccur in years to come. Even with our refined storytelling today, we find that our history repeats itself. A large part of history is made by doing. However, we cannot forget to emphasize the importance of recounting events, sharing them in an understandable platform, and analyzing the activities of the warrior or drummer, because, "otherwise surviving would have no meaning..."