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.
Friday, October 31, 2014
Friday, October 24, 2014
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.
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.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Janie's Fantasy
After today's discussion, I knew my final blog post of the quarter was going to be about Janie. Whether you think she's whiny, lazy, or are sympathetic toward her, (I think) we can all agree her conception of love/marriage is very flawed and warped.
When Janie was 16 she had a very intense experience with witnessing what "love" is with the bees and the pear blossoms. With all the fertility of springtime around her, her developing sexuality was clearly accelerated and magnified. One can't really blame her for then creating an expectation and desire for exactly what she's seeing: a love that's pure and genuine and a marriage that represents that. We can blame, however, Janie's grandmother for not helping her understand what's she's feeling and going through like many mother figures often do. One can argue that it's not entirely Nanny's fault since she herself never experienced or got to experience what it feels like to fall in love. She was forced to grow up in the real world right from the start with the birth of an illegitimate daughter. It's easy to understand how Nanny would be more preoccupied with making sure Janie had a stable future life than to worry about her personal wishes. However, had Nanny at least given Janie some hope for finding love, perhaps Janie would've learned to love Logan with time.
Nevertheless, we see Janie doesn't fully understand how marriage works when she can't accept the work responsibilities of being a farmer's wife. It's safe to say she never gives Logan a fair chance. After a short period of contemplation, she then elopes with Joe Starks who gives off the initial impressions of the perfect husband to satisfy her. That, unfortunately, turns out not to be the case as Joe reveals himself to be overly protective and selfish with Janie despite being very generous and helpful to the town. Ironically, she runs out of an unhappy situation to an even more miserable one.
Although Janie hasn't had any luck with a properly functioning marriage, her fantasy of a man simply taking care of her for the rest of her life is just ridiculous and juvenile. To me, Janie is only in love with the idea of true love and perfect marriage. It's obvious she was way too quick and eager to be able to find it. It takes her two unsuccessful relationships and many years to finally develop patience as well as appreciation for being single. Although no woman should have to endure Janie's terrible 20 year marriage, it seems to have been just what she needed in order to learn, mature, and get her life in order.
When Janie was 16 she had a very intense experience with witnessing what "love" is with the bees and the pear blossoms. With all the fertility of springtime around her, her developing sexuality was clearly accelerated and magnified. One can't really blame her for then creating an expectation and desire for exactly what she's seeing: a love that's pure and genuine and a marriage that represents that. We can blame, however, Janie's grandmother for not helping her understand what's she's feeling and going through like many mother figures often do. One can argue that it's not entirely Nanny's fault since she herself never experienced or got to experience what it feels like to fall in love. She was forced to grow up in the real world right from the start with the birth of an illegitimate daughter. It's easy to understand how Nanny would be more preoccupied with making sure Janie had a stable future life than to worry about her personal wishes. However, had Nanny at least given Janie some hope for finding love, perhaps Janie would've learned to love Logan with time.
Nevertheless, we see Janie doesn't fully understand how marriage works when she can't accept the work responsibilities of being a farmer's wife. It's safe to say she never gives Logan a fair chance. After a short period of contemplation, she then elopes with Joe Starks who gives off the initial impressions of the perfect husband to satisfy her. That, unfortunately, turns out not to be the case as Joe reveals himself to be overly protective and selfish with Janie despite being very generous and helpful to the town. Ironically, she runs out of an unhappy situation to an even more miserable one.
Although Janie hasn't had any luck with a properly functioning marriage, her fantasy of a man simply taking care of her for the rest of her life is just ridiculous and juvenile. To me, Janie is only in love with the idea of true love and perfect marriage. It's obvious she was way too quick and eager to be able to find it. It takes her two unsuccessful relationships and many years to finally develop patience as well as appreciation for being single. Although no woman should have to endure Janie's terrible 20 year marriage, it seems to have been just what she needed in order to learn, mature, and get her life in order.
Friday, October 10, 2014
Rapper "Credentials"
After two raps performed for poetry readings (Q-Tip's Dance on Glass by Linus and Kanye's Heard Em Say by Jonah), it got everyone, including me, thinking what are the qualifications of being a "legit" rapper? What are you allowed to rap about?
In class today we seemed to reach an agreement that a quality rap song should have a balance of self-praise and skill. I, like many others, think all good rappers have a certain level of confidence (some more than others). The success that a rapper achieves and the duration of their career are really what allow expression of their greatness to be acceptable. For example, it would be completely blasphemous for me to write a rap right now dissing Biggie, 2Pac, Eminem, etc, and stating how great I am. That of course is an extreme case but even an amateur/starting rapper shouldn't be arrogant if they want to stay relevant in the game. Respect and paying your dues goes a long way in life and the same goes for rapping.
The most common criteria (in my opinion) when judging the legitimacy of a rapper is how they grew up. "The struggle" is an equally recurring theme in rap songs and it varies from personal stories of one's past to how one made it out successfully. Although it doesn't seem entirely fair that you have to start from the bottom (sorry I had to), you probably have a lot more stories to tell if you've come from the unstable inner cities. With all of those memories etched inside, rapping can be an extremely helpful outlet. It's not necessary to rise from the ground up, but a lot of the great ones do.
Rappers often get criticize for only doing it for the money but for me that's not a really big deal. Unless that rapper is proclaiming themself as one of the greats while displaying little-to-no skill, I have no problem with them (it's likely I haven't heard of them anyway). Like I said before, great rappers tend to (but not always) come from desolate beginnings so it makes sense that part of their desire to join the rap industry is to reach financial stability. Many them repeatedly support or show love to their hometown communities as a way to remember their roots and stay grounded.
So the next time you criticize a rapper, ask yourself: do I know enough about them to condemn them? Obviously it's perfectly okay to dislike and even hate songs but you can't fairly judge the artist without knowing their story.
In class today we seemed to reach an agreement that a quality rap song should have a balance of self-praise and skill. I, like many others, think all good rappers have a certain level of confidence (some more than others). The success that a rapper achieves and the duration of their career are really what allow expression of their greatness to be acceptable. For example, it would be completely blasphemous for me to write a rap right now dissing Biggie, 2Pac, Eminem, etc, and stating how great I am. That of course is an extreme case but even an amateur/starting rapper shouldn't be arrogant if they want to stay relevant in the game. Respect and paying your dues goes a long way in life and the same goes for rapping.
The most common criteria (in my opinion) when judging the legitimacy of a rapper is how they grew up. "The struggle" is an equally recurring theme in rap songs and it varies from personal stories of one's past to how one made it out successfully. Although it doesn't seem entirely fair that you have to start from the bottom (sorry I had to), you probably have a lot more stories to tell if you've come from the unstable inner cities. With all of those memories etched inside, rapping can be an extremely helpful outlet. It's not necessary to rise from the ground up, but a lot of the great ones do.
Rappers often get criticize for only doing it for the money but for me that's not a really big deal. Unless that rapper is proclaiming themself as one of the greats while displaying little-to-no skill, I have no problem with them (it's likely I haven't heard of them anyway). Like I said before, great rappers tend to (but not always) come from desolate beginnings so it makes sense that part of their desire to join the rap industry is to reach financial stability. Many them repeatedly support or show love to their hometown communities as a way to remember their roots and stay grounded.
So the next time you criticize a rapper, ask yourself: do I know enough about them to condemn them? Obviously it's perfectly okay to dislike and even hate songs but you can't fairly judge the artist without knowing their story.
Saturday, October 4, 2014
The Narrator's "Invisibility"
The main theme of Invisible Man is obviously invisibility. The very first line itself is the simple statement: I am an invisible man. As we continually discussed this over the course of the book, we realized that everyone has their own interpretations of what it means to be invisible. Here's mine.
In order for us to get a solid grasp on what the narrator means, we need a lot more information. To provide sufficient context, he retells his entire life story through a typewriter. Through his perspective (the only one I might add) we're able to see just how each event pushes him, in varying extents, toward the full acceptance of invisibility. For the first half of the book, nothing really seems to change his mindset no matter how bizarre or evocative an event may be. Such occurrences that come to mind right away would be the battle royal and the Golden Day incident. In the case of former, he's preoccupied with appeasing the white elitist crowd rather than being angry (like a normal person) at the injustice he's subjected to.
It's only when he's "treated" following the explosion by the Liberty Paints doctors that he becomes a different man. Evolving only when something drastic like this happens speaks volumes about his character. Nevertheless, we finally get to see the narrator think more carefully and profoundly which reminds us of the man from the prologue. He gives in to his desires and roots (yam scene) and even speaks his mind (eviction speech). Things are definitely looking up for him but then the Brotherhood crosses his path. While they initially seem like a good vehicle for him to continue in the right direction, the complete opposite happens. Even with his new found sense of wariness and questioning, the narrator fails to realize how he is not in control of his actions but rather the Brotherhood is steering him. When he finally uncovers the truth, he is able to take himself out of society completely. Took him long enough, am I right?
His ultimate revelation is that in order to avoid the lose-lose situation of what actions to take, he must fully succumb to his invisibility. He found himself in unfortunate circumstances regardless of whether he acted for others or on his own so he took the only way out. With the arc finished, I can properly analyze the opening statement. His "invisibility" does not have the connotation of complete imperceptibility but rather the inability of being viewed as an individual. The same invisibility that Bigger faces in Native Son as well as countless other African-Americans during this time period. The same invisibility that we all experience from time to time.
In order for us to get a solid grasp on what the narrator means, we need a lot more information. To provide sufficient context, he retells his entire life story through a typewriter. Through his perspective (the only one I might add) we're able to see just how each event pushes him, in varying extents, toward the full acceptance of invisibility. For the first half of the book, nothing really seems to change his mindset no matter how bizarre or evocative an event may be. Such occurrences that come to mind right away would be the battle royal and the Golden Day incident. In the case of former, he's preoccupied with appeasing the white elitist crowd rather than being angry (like a normal person) at the injustice he's subjected to.
It's only when he's "treated" following the explosion by the Liberty Paints doctors that he becomes a different man. Evolving only when something drastic like this happens speaks volumes about his character. Nevertheless, we finally get to see the narrator think more carefully and profoundly which reminds us of the man from the prologue. He gives in to his desires and roots (yam scene) and even speaks his mind (eviction speech). Things are definitely looking up for him but then the Brotherhood crosses his path. While they initially seem like a good vehicle for him to continue in the right direction, the complete opposite happens. Even with his new found sense of wariness and questioning, the narrator fails to realize how he is not in control of his actions but rather the Brotherhood is steering him. When he finally uncovers the truth, he is able to take himself out of society completely. Took him long enough, am I right?
His ultimate revelation is that in order to avoid the lose-lose situation of what actions to take, he must fully succumb to his invisibility. He found himself in unfortunate circumstances regardless of whether he acted for others or on his own so he took the only way out. With the arc finished, I can properly analyze the opening statement. His "invisibility" does not have the connotation of complete imperceptibility but rather the inability of being viewed as an individual. The same invisibility that Bigger faces in Native Son as well as countless other African-Americans during this time period. The same invisibility that we all experience from time to time.
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