Denver Explained

Although Chapters 20-23 were arguably the most confusing section of the novel (so far), we did get new insight into Denver, who turns out to be more complex than I initially thought.

Denver's unhealthy devotion to Beloved is not a manifestation of her loneliness. Rather it turns out that Denver is desperately trying to protect Beloved from Sethe, whom she believes is insane. It's also revealed that Howard and Buglar was not run out of the house by Beloved's ghost but ran away to escape Sethe's "wrath." Denver herself is so traumatized after finding out the truth that she loses her hearing for several years. Since then she has lived in fear of Sethe, only staying with her for Beloved. Apparently, Sethe has elected not to explain her perspective to her children but rather let them find out only the surface of her action.  

We also learn that Denver's animosity toward Paul D is not from jealousy and what seemed like an attachment to Sethe. Denver was afraid that Paul D would force Beloved's spirit out of the house. She later even wishes for him to run off with Sethe, leaving Denver and herself to wait for their father.

Is anyone else anticipating a Halle appearance? 

Response to Style Wars

After watching Style Wars last Thursday, my perspective on graffiti was somewhat altered. I always thought graffiti was interesting but also insignificant. Clearly most, if not all, writers would strongly disagree with my past self. I never knew how something I've overlooked all the time could have such a deep culture behind it.

The key aspect of graffiti culture that the documentary stressed was that it isn't just the art itself but also the act of doing it. A form of rebellion against the society that spurns them. Freedom of expression in a life that restricts them. You could tell how serious each and every one of the artists were through their descriptions of how important their work was to them and how it feels to see it displayed. The doc really emphasized the advantages of train graffiti over the "traditional" wall graffiti in that the former allows for coverage all over the city.

It got me thinking, if something means that much to you, why don't you try to preserve it? Why not canvas instead of public property? Why not make money off of it? I asked these questions but right away I knew the answers. Who wants to be a sell-out? But is it really selling out when you're just trying to help your struggling situation?

An equally important part of the culture is the unspoken honor code similar to that of music. The greatest disrespect in the community is passing off someone else's masterpiece or style as your own. The fact that this is more of an offense than to erase or take down further shows how graffiti is more like other (more widely-accepted) art forms than many people think.

From my viewpoint, graffiti hasn't made nearly as much progress as rap in its progression and evolution but it certainly hasn't stopped. Although you could still make an argument that graffiti isn't art, you definitely can't reduce something so elaborate and rich to mere vandalism or defiance.

Justice For Some

Like many other people, I was unsurprised to hear that Darren Wilson was not to be indicted for his murder of Michael Brown. Nevertheless I was and still am incredibly furious and disappointed at the state of our justice system. It got me thinking of the Pledge of Allegiance that a lot of us were required to blindly recite every morning in grade school:

"I pledge allegiance, to the flag of the United State of America,

and to the Republic, for which is stands,

one Nation, under God, indivisible, 

with liberty and justice for all."

With recent controversies (e.g. Zimmerman, Rice, Wilson) springing up so often, "justice for all" is becoming further and further from the truth. It got me thinking, why have we gotten so lenient (to say the least) with severe law offenders? Recently I started watching How To Get Away With Murder. For those who don't watch it's about a defense attorney who hires a group of law students to help her win cases for the sleaze and scumbags of Pennsylvania. The show shows the extremes the defense go to in order to win at any cost and how immoral they are. Yeah yeah I know it's fiction but still, most defense attorneys are known to be despicable people. People are getting away with murder (hence the title) in cases where it's damn near obvious they're guilty! Of course I'm not only blaming DAs for the issue of injustice but they are undoubtedly a huge part of the problem.

When you think about it, our justice system gives way too much opportunity for those indicted to get off easily or even scot-free. Sure I'm all for fair trial for all but too many criminals end up not getting what they deserve. I mean I thought we hit rock bottom when Zimmerman was found not guilty but then came the Ferguson decision. It's one thing for juries to wrongfully acquit someone but to not even indict is just asinine. Still I'm not ready to give up on humanity as so many people seem to be doing. It always gets worse before it gets better, right? 

Final WBS Thoughts

Let me start off by saying how much I enjoyed the roller coaster that is The White Boy Shuffle. The change of pace and setting was really refreshing and it was interesting how there were still many connections to be made to the previous three novels.

Out of the three, there's no doubt that TWBS is most similar to Invisible Man. So much so in fact, it could almost be a remake set in the 90's. Gunnar and the narrator both start off incredibly unaware of the racial tensions between whites and blacks. They then get their whole worlds turned upside down by moving to opposite environments (Santa Monica to Hillside, the South to New York). There they undergo a series of transformations that culminate in a huge event of chaos that leave them forever altered.

Unlike Invisible Man, however, TWBS ends very somber and dark. Rather than signing off with a positive outlook toward the future like the narrator, Gunnar seems to have completely given up on the world. His dismal disposition is somewhat shocking as he has a growing family and friends to live for. On the other hand, it's understandable how he's fed up with the endless blind worship he faces at every turn. He wants to go out his way and the only way he can is to embrace death. Why give those who detest him the satisfaction of the kill? Beatty then closes spectacularly with the image of painted white targets centered around Gunnar's motel printed vividly in our minds. How appropriate.

Rant on Race

Last week we had an interesting discussion on whether or not white culture exists in our society. Some jokingly said it doesn't while others pointed out various white stereotypes. It got me thinking, why isn't white culture as tangible as other ones? What does race mean to us?

There's no point in denying it: our society is comprised of countless divisions ranging from a variety of characteristics. No matter how hard we try to break down those barriers, they still exist. That being said, out of all of them, it seems the racial one has cracked the most. All one has to do to see the progress is compare 17th century to 21st century America. It makes sense that we are the most progressive/open-minded today then we've ever been but it doesn't mean we should take it for granted or be satisfied with where we are.

When you think of white people who immediately come to mind? Caucasian Americans right? Black people? African-Americans. Asians? Chinese. Latinos? Mexicans. Alright so the last two aren't consensus but definitely common misconceptions even today. It's easy to place minorities into set groups but what about whites? Black people are associated with rap, slang, fried chicken, watermelon and Asians with math, video games, bad English, rice. We've heard it all. Most racial cultures are pretty concrete yet when one encounters a random White person, it's hard to categorized them into a predetermined standard. Yeah there's the rich white man or the redneck hillbilly but they aren't as "obvious" as the other stereotypes.

By definition a Caucasian is a white-skinned person; a person of European origin. So there's the answer to my first question. There are just so many different types of white people all with varying physical features, accents, dialects that it would be preposterous to put them all under one huge classification, right? But then what about other races? For Asians, there are Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc. each with -American counterparts. Latinos: Mexicans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Argentinians, Columbians, etc. each again with northern hybrids. Most Asian-Americans are more similar to Caucasian Americans than Asians. While occasionally we have prejudices derived from personal experience it's mostly media and/or ignorance that fuel the irrational organization. I admit it, I do it a lot. Happens to all of us.

It's fair to say that race has more of a social association than biological. That barrier is no longer held up by science but by us. It's so easy to get entrapped in our own bubbles and forget how massive the world is. Everyone is most accurately defined by where and how they live, not by social constructions.

Criticism of Wright's Criticism

I was little surprised to read that not only does Wright think Hurston failed to write about white oppression but that she goes a step further by entertaining white people, catering to exactly what they want to hear about black life. I can understand how Wright was upset about the book's purpose but I disagree that it was made for white people. The story focuses almost entirely on African-Americans albeit in a racism-free environment.

He hates how Hurston supposedly illustrates black stereotypes which is extremely hypocritical. Prior to writing the novel, Hurston spent a great deal of time living and documenting the lives of Eatonville's citizens. She then does them justice in the novel by giving them the same humanistic characteristics that white people have: ability to think, feel, and love. Wright's objection is most likely to the dialogue but Hurston clearly structured it based on the recorded speech of real citizens. Wright does exactly what he hates in his own book, Native Son. His main character is a static black male defined only as the product of white oppression.

In my opinion, protest novels do little to advance a group of people. While writers like Wright focus on angrily blaming white people for black suffering, Hurston took a different approach by trying to show that black people are the same humans on the inside. I think it would've been significantly more effective to have a balance of both types of literature during this tumultuous time period.

Janie's Evolution & Final Thoughts

In the beginning, I really disliked Janie because her static character made her a very uncompelling protagonist. I didn't feel much sympathy for her even after she was forced to marry Logan. My feelings were so strong that I wrote a full blog post (a controversial one I might add) expressing my disapproval. I'm glad to admit, however, Janie is actually a very dynamic person and much like her, my perspective has drastically changed.

The turning point in the novel for me was Jody striking Janie after the unsatisfactory dinner. This sudden jolt allowed her to finally realized Jody was not the person that she met. She had tried to disguise Jody's true self with her own version of him but that had been completely destroyed after steadily cracking since they arrived in Eatonville. Her imagination had finally run dry and now it was time to accept reality. When I first read this, I was annoyed to some extent. Why hadn't she realized this sooner? His mistreatment of her had begun long before this revelation yet she still managed to shake it off time and time again. We know that Janie never really knew who Jody was, but just assumed he was the one to save her from Logan. Of course, since she was 17, it wouldn't be fair to question why she didn't realize the moment she met Jody but it's perfectly reasonable to wonder why she didn't sooner into the marriage.

We see an incredibly different Janie when she meets Tea Cake. After rushing into two bad marriages, Janie takes her time and really thinks things through this time around. Although I felt she should've waited a bit longer to marry him, at least she didn't do so immediately. It was nice to finally see Janie experience true love and you could tell it was the only thing that mattered when they moved to the muck. Even through the tedious work and the wild hurricane, their love was enough to keep them going.

Now I want to touch on the pistol under the pillow. While others questioned why she didn't remove all the bullets or simply get rid of it altogether, I saw it as way for Janie to know when it was time for Tea Cake to die. She knew the minute he pulled the gun on her that he had reached maximum insanity and it would be cruel to let him live any longer. Had she not loved him so much, I think she would've put him down much sooner. It was when Janie held the dying Tea Cake in her arms that I felt real sympathy (for her) for the first time. I was also impressed how she was able to compose herself and move on with her life.

When we contrast Jody's funeral with Tea Cake's, we see an even further evolved Janie. With Jody, Janie only cared about the appearance of mourning while with Tea Cake, she is genuinely devastated, not even bothering to wear black. We also see that Janie no longer cares about what others think of her. She know that they haven't experienced what she has and therefore can never understand her. Hurston ends with Janie at peace which was really heartwarming.

I really applaud Hurston for developing such a strong female character. There aren't enough of those, especially as protagonists.