Ok, so the major theme that Ha Jin CLEARLY addresses is the censorship of the Communist Party, and with his newfound freedom of speech *care of the marvelous USofA*, Jin happily writes his innermost thoughts and feelings concerning this issue. I mean, DUH! If Jin tried to write even one of these short stories in his homeland, he might have been another artist, student, teacher, voice sacrificed, not unlike his fellow Chinese that died in Tiananmen Square. (Or should I say, like those who never were killed at the place by the thing that also never existed and the whole thing never happened I mean WHAT? THOU SHALT THINK AS WE TELL YOU TO THINK! ARG!) Ok, I don't think the Chinese are supposed to have Bible/pirate voices. . .
Similarly, Conrad might never have recieved the fame and success of HoD had it been published in Poland because, well lets face it, since when have any of us ever been required to take a Polish Literature class? No offense to Poland, I'm probably just ignorant when it comes to world literature, but the fact remains that other countries stay on the top of the heap here. And where would postco lit be without the racist/non-racist writings of Conrad? Well, I know at least one African writer who would have been pretty bored. . .
So, one of the biggest Communist moments (to me) that Ha Jin discusses takes place in the story "Alive," during the arranged marriage weddings (29-31). No one seems to freakin' care that they have to marry complete strangers!!! We've all heard stories about arranged marraiges before-- NOT FUN!! "However, the wedding wasn't jolly and noisy, as weddings should be. Most of the brides looked rather somber; a few grooms stoof motionless, their arms crossed before their chests, as though they were spectators" (31). Well, yeah, I'd imagine that after losing the real love of my life I might be a little disapointed at being forced to marry a post-earthquake victim who may or may not be a mass murderer or have substantial facial scarring from the horrible event. I don't mean to sound superficial, because it would be different had they already been in love before the accident and loved them despite these characteristics, because as I said in class, LOVE CONQUERS ALL! However, this is not the case! No one questions, protests, nothing! Gross!
Ha Jin makes another huge statement with the story Saboteur. This story is actually most like the Tiananmen Square incident- the police abuse their power wholeheartedly, the people didn't do anything other than stand up for themselves with whatever was left of their voice, and they were forgotten almost as soon as they were disposed of. WEIRD, how these two events might mirror eachother a little bit. Don't know how that happened. . .
Basically, China sucks. The end.
Oh yeah! If you want to go to Avalanche, me and Amy are putting a group together for Tuesday after class. Please come to get your picture and extra credit! We want a semi big group so it's not so expensive!! :)
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Bourne with an Indentity?
Ok, so Ralph hasn't exactly woken up on a foreign ship in the middle of a storm with a common case of amnesia, however he does find himself in the dilemma of not knowing who the heck he his, and considers himself and even his life a shipwreck.
Ralph has a lot of issues, but whether they stem from his childhood or simply from his diverse residencies is unclear. He definitely cares about what other people think-actually, it's almost his entire reason for being. He attests that his "present urge is, in the inaction imposed on [him], to secure the final emptiness" (13). He is constantly trying to create himself, create a new facade to display. He says of the persona Leini invented for him, " I must confess I was pleased then that the character Lieni created had in its own small way become a legend" (26). While he himself often evolved the character that people saw, he was pleased that even the character someone else made for him was just as satisfactory. He says even earlier, "I tried to give myself a new personality. It was something I had tried more than once before, and waited for the response in the eyes of others. But now I no longer knew what I was" (32).
That is what his eventual and continual struggle is. He doesn't know who or what he is. All he knows and remembers is everything and everyone that/who influenced these creations. He was laughed at by his peers in school, he remained withdrawn, and even his name became such a source of embarrassment that he altered it to sound less distinct. He isn't the type of person to attempt to make a mark on the world- he simply wants to observe and copy the accepted mannerisms of worthwhile individuals, becoming one of the "Mimic Men."
He is without a home, without a purpose, without a place in this world. As Stephanie said, he "derives [his] self worth from other people's responses [to his 'character']."How scary and how sad is that. This guy needs to get in touch with Dr. Phil, and fast.
Ralph has a lot of issues, but whether they stem from his childhood or simply from his diverse residencies is unclear. He definitely cares about what other people think-actually, it's almost his entire reason for being. He attests that his "present urge is, in the inaction imposed on [him], to secure the final emptiness" (13). He is constantly trying to create himself, create a new facade to display. He says of the persona Leini invented for him, " I must confess I was pleased then that the character Lieni created had in its own small way become a legend" (26). While he himself often evolved the character that people saw, he was pleased that even the character someone else made for him was just as satisfactory. He says even earlier, "I tried to give myself a new personality. It was something I had tried more than once before, and waited for the response in the eyes of others. But now I no longer knew what I was" (32).
That is what his eventual and continual struggle is. He doesn't know who or what he is. All he knows and remembers is everything and everyone that/who influenced these creations. He was laughed at by his peers in school, he remained withdrawn, and even his name became such a source of embarrassment that he altered it to sound less distinct. He isn't the type of person to attempt to make a mark on the world- he simply wants to observe and copy the accepted mannerisms of worthwhile individuals, becoming one of the "Mimic Men."
He is without a home, without a purpose, without a place in this world. As Stephanie said, he "derives [his] self worth from other people's responses [to his 'character']."How scary and how sad is that. This guy needs to get in touch with Dr. Phil, and fast.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
The Name Game
I'm going to preface this post with the statement: "I hope I am writing about what I am supposed to be writing about."In Spivak's essay, a teenie-weenie bit of emphasis was put on Antoinette's name change (Raiskin 242). I'm rolling with it.
"'Don't laugh like that, Bertha.'My name is not Bertha; why do you call me Bertha?' 'Because it is a name I am particularly fond of. I think of you as Bertha.'" (Rainskin 81). Okay, so here we are, newly married couple, neither of them hardly know each other, why the heck is Rochester calling Antoinette, the girl we know and love, "Bertha?" For one, the name sounds like it belongs to a cow, or at least a very large animal. Secondly, it makes me wonder if he had ever made love to a woman named Bertha previous to his marriage to Antoinette, and if he had then he indeed had slipped up somehow and called her by that strange woman's name by mistake while they wrestled between the sheets and he just lied and said he merely liked the name Bertha. (*breathing*) I mean has that ever happened to any of you no not me never. . . .
But seriously. Even Spivak says it, "Rhys suggests that so intimate a thing as personal and human identity might be determined by the politics of imperialism. Antoinette, as a white Creole child growing up at the same time of emancipation in Jamaica, is caught between the English imperialist and the black native" (Rainskin 242). Well, yeah. What he is basically saying is that he doesn't want her as she is- he wants her as he imagines she should be.Antoinette, forget where you came from, forget those who tainted your past with their black fingerprints. You are English, I hereby Christian you, "Bertha." (*Cough-cow-cough*).
Later in this same scene, Rochester actually croons, "'Of course, on this of all nights, you must be Bertha.'" and she gives in and replies, "'As you wish'" (Rainskin 82). Okay, enough already with the sick role play. Really, you keep writing this crap and kids across the country will be calling each other Bertha just to get all hot and heavy. Gross.
This is the exact same thing we talked about with Things Fall Apart, only now it's in a different country and it's happening to one woman rather than an entire race of people. Identity crisis. It sucks. To all young, impressionable lovers out there, do not let your partner render you powerless in this situation- remember your name.
"'Don't laugh like that, Bertha.'My name is not Bertha; why do you call me Bertha?' 'Because it is a name I am particularly fond of. I think of you as Bertha.'" (Rainskin 81). Okay, so here we are, newly married couple, neither of them hardly know each other, why the heck is Rochester calling Antoinette, the girl we know and love, "Bertha?" For one, the name sounds like it belongs to a cow, or at least a very large animal. Secondly, it makes me wonder if he had ever made love to a woman named Bertha previous to his marriage to Antoinette, and if he had then he indeed had slipped up somehow and called her by that strange woman's name by mistake while they wrestled between the sheets and he just lied and said he merely liked the name Bertha. (*breathing*) I mean has that ever happened to any of you no not me never. . . .
But seriously. Even Spivak says it, "Rhys suggests that so intimate a thing as personal and human identity might be determined by the politics of imperialism. Antoinette, as a white Creole child growing up at the same time of emancipation in Jamaica, is caught between the English imperialist and the black native" (Rainskin 242). Well, yeah. What he is basically saying is that he doesn't want her as she is- he wants her as he imagines she should be.Antoinette, forget where you came from, forget those who tainted your past with their black fingerprints. You are English, I hereby Christian you, "Bertha." (*Cough-cow-cough*).
Later in this same scene, Rochester actually croons, "'Of course, on this of all nights, you must be Bertha.'" and she gives in and replies, "'As you wish'" (Rainskin 82). Okay, enough already with the sick role play. Really, you keep writing this crap and kids across the country will be calling each other Bertha just to get all hot and heavy. Gross.
This is the exact same thing we talked about with Things Fall Apart, only now it's in a different country and it's happening to one woman rather than an entire race of people. Identity crisis. It sucks. To all young, impressionable lovers out there, do not let your partner render you powerless in this situation- remember your name.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Ta-Ta-Ta-Tia!
Ok, so I didn't really want to simply repeat the discussion we had in class today, which is kind of difficult since we covered pretty much everything that was important. However, while I was reading there was a character that stuck out who wasn't ever really explained- Tia. Tia is the daughter of Maillotte, Christophine's friend (Rhys 13). She is black. The reason I found her particularly intriguing is because the relationship that Antoinette and Tia share is so simplistic and a good representation of similar relationships that existed in America between blacks and whites.
After Tia and Antoinette became friends, they met together "nearly every morning" (Rhys 13). They played together and got along as well as any children do, but the turning point is when there is an argument over the bet of the pennies (Rhys 14). Antoinette says, "Keep them you cheating nigger. . . . I can get more if I want to," and the response from Tia is: " That's not what [I] hear.. . [I] hear all [you] poor like beggar." After that, Tia steals Antoinette's clean and freshly pressed dress, and Antoinette walks home hating Tia.
The separation and finalization of whatever friendship they had was displayed and pg. 27, after Antoinette's house had been set on fire. "Then, not so far off I saw Tia and her mother and I ran to her, for she was all that was left of my life as it had been. We had eaten the same food, slept side by side, bathed in the same river. As I ran, I thought, I will live with Tia and I will be like her. Not to leave Coulibri. Not to go. Not. When I was close I saw the jagged stone in her hand but I did not see her throw it. I did not feel it either, only something wet, running down my face. I looked at her and I saw her face crumple up as she began to cry. We stared at each other, blood on my face, tears on hers. It was as if I saw myself. Like in a looking glass."
This just reminded me that young children are often blinded from the same prejudices that thrives in the world of adults- that is, until one day when they come to the realization that it is a part of their culture, and they refuse to see the need for change.
Anyways, I thought this relationship was so simplified in this matter, I thought it needed to be expanded upon further than what had been said in class.
After Tia and Antoinette became friends, they met together "nearly every morning" (Rhys 13). They played together and got along as well as any children do, but the turning point is when there is an argument over the bet of the pennies (Rhys 14). Antoinette says, "Keep them you cheating nigger. . . . I can get more if I want to," and the response from Tia is: " That's not what [I] hear.. . [I] hear all [you] poor like beggar." After that, Tia steals Antoinette's clean and freshly pressed dress, and Antoinette walks home hating Tia.
The separation and finalization of whatever friendship they had was displayed and pg. 27, after Antoinette's house had been set on fire. "Then, not so far off I saw Tia and her mother and I ran to her, for she was all that was left of my life as it had been. We had eaten the same food, slept side by side, bathed in the same river. As I ran, I thought, I will live with Tia and I will be like her. Not to leave Coulibri. Not to go. Not. When I was close I saw the jagged stone in her hand but I did not see her throw it. I did not feel it either, only something wet, running down my face. I looked at her and I saw her face crumple up as she began to cry. We stared at each other, blood on my face, tears on hers. It was as if I saw myself. Like in a looking glass."
This just reminded me that young children are often blinded from the same prejudices that thrives in the world of adults- that is, until one day when they come to the realization that it is a part of their culture, and they refuse to see the need for change.
Anyways, I thought this relationship was so simplified in this matter, I thought it needed to be expanded upon further than what had been said in class.
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