I enjoy reading Adah’s entries because of her engaging insights to the atmosphere of the Congo and to her own development there. She is an interesting character who thoughts and physical deformation play a central role in the moral of the story.
The first thing which is apparent about Adah is her sensitively to the sensations of the world. She has a similar curiosity about her surroundings as Leah does and she describes the world as being “a-boggle with colors and shapes” (30). This sensitivity suggests that she does not view her self as being as separate from her surroundings as the other characters in the story do. This is conveyed by her tendency to equate human actions and emotions with a state of nature. She states how the “sky bleeds” (30) and also characterizes people with animal or nature characteristics. For example, when she is describing the way the woman of the village wrap and unwrap a piece of cloth around their bodies, she states that “they resemble flocks of butterflies opening and closing their wings”(137). When she describes the Pygmies and their movements, she describes how they “grow still as tree trunks” (137) when they notice someone they don’t know. Despite her non belief in her father’s version of God, she does seem to have a spiritual understanding that is similar to brother Fowles, whose love and appreciation of nature and knowledge are similar to her own. She sees everything as having some kind of life force and this idea of non-separateness becomes clearer to her as the story progress. A particular instance where this happens is when she is describing the idea of nommo, muntu, and the significance of the Congolese words having multiple meanings and its connection to the idea of unity. This idea is shown when she states, “Here in the Congo…..there is no special difference between living people, dead people, children not yet born, and gods - these are all muntu…it would be simple [to understand] except that being here is not the same as existing”(209).
Another ways which Adah is similar to brother Fowles is an idea that is central to one of the main themes of the novel; the issue of translation and the danger of miscommunication. When Brother Fowles is talking to Nathan about scripture he asks allowed “who translated this?”(251). It is this question which Adah contemplates and physically represents with her emphasis on not speaking. There is a well known saying in Christianity which states “do not take the lords name in vain.” This is usually associated with an emphasis on not swearing but perhaps serves as a kind of warning as well; one that urges not to be so quick to associate one’s own thoughts and actions with Christianity, least one miscommunications the teaching and creates a misunderstanding that could be very dangerous. There is a similar warning expressed in Buddhism which Shunryu Suzuki describes stating that “The more you understand our thinking, the more you find it difficult to talk about…. the best way is just to practice without saying anything…there is apt to be misunderstanding” (90). This seems to be very similar to Adah’s view on translation and communication as she says of her self that “It is true I do not speak as well as I can think. But that is true of most people, as nearly as I can tell”(34).
In conclusion, Adah is a vital part of story as many of her insights, experiences and her physical state point to larger themes and morals in the novel.
Work Citied
Kingsolver, Barbara. The Poisonwood Bible. New York, Harper Perennial, 2005.
Suzuki, Shunryu. Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. Boston and London, Weatherhill, 2007.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
The function of the epistolary format in The Color Purple.
The form that Alice Walker uses to write The Color Purple is in a series of letters called an epistolary. It allows the author the “opportunity to present the feelings and reactions without the intrusion of the author and gives a sense of immediacy, because the letters are usually written in the thick of the action” (196).
A reason why the novel is written in this way is to perhaps give the idea of a confession like slave narrative. There have been a number of critics who have called The Color Purple an allegory of slavery. As Winifred Morgan states in his article The Color Purple as Allegory, “The common narrative pattern encountered in slave narratives- an innately good, morally superior person is unjustly confined and maltreated by a corrupt individual; through heroic efforts, the victim escapes and lives to tell the tale…”(178). This description of a slave narrative almost reads like the plot of the novel, in which a helpless and kindhearted girl is severely mistreated by her father and husband but through the strength of others and the discovery of her own strong self will, she escapes from her oppressive situation. Morgan further explains” although not born a slave, as the novel opens, for all practical intents and purposes, Celie is a salve” (181). This is certainly evident in the beginning of the novel, particularly when her father is handing her off to Mr. and her father makes her turn around so Mr. can inspect her as if he were inspecting an animal. This experience calls up the “reasons slave women were bought - their ability to endure hard physical labor and their potential as sexual objects” (180). As this cruel and degrading instance is indicative of the way slaves were treated, perhaps what Walker is suggesting is that not much changed for black woman after the end of slavery and that they are still being treated in an unjust manner.
Another reason why Walker might have chosen to write the novel in this way is that Celie’s letters to herself allow her to find her voice and an audience to comfort her and help her. Molly Hite explains this by stating that “the drama of Celie’s epistolary self creation revolves around the discovery of a female audience that finally fulfills the ideal of co-respondence…The process of finding her speaking voice is a process of finding her audience”(130). This can be seen with Celie’s interactions with the other female characters in the books as she relates to them and the reader compares the nature of each of the other female characters to Celie. The females of the novel allow Celie to asses her self and her possibilities and her character slowly begins to change as the story moves on and the other females influence becomes more apparent. This first happens with Sophie, who is a strong and tough women and the opposite of Celie. The first time Celie seems to talk about her self and her condition is with Sophie, as she states that Celie is like her mother stating that “she never stand up for her self”(41). But it is Shug who has the strongest influence on Cecile and acts as a sympathetic listener and also encourages her to talk about her past and to realize that she has the power to stand up for herself. Carla Kaplan suggests that “without a sympathetic audience, such as Shug, Celie might never have been able to go from her first self-effacing statement “I am” to her later declaration, “I’m here” (130).
An advantage to having the story written in an epistolary format is that it effectively dramatizes the need to tell a story. In the case of Celie, this is made even more important because “finding a listener and finding her voice are inextricably related”(130) and the letters and her exchanges with the other characters in the novel leads her to have more dignity and a stronger sense of self.
Work Cited
Kaplan, Carla. The Erotics of Talk: Women’s Writing and Feminist Paradigms. New York, Oxford, 1996.
Morgan, Winifred. The Color Purple as Allegory. Southern Writers at Century’s End. Lexington, University Press of Kentucky, 1997.
Harmon, William and Holman, Hugh. A Handbook to Literature. 10th edition, Upper Saddle River, Pearson, 2006.
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. New York, Harvest, 2003.
A reason why the novel is written in this way is to perhaps give the idea of a confession like slave narrative. There have been a number of critics who have called The Color Purple an allegory of slavery. As Winifred Morgan states in his article The Color Purple as Allegory, “The common narrative pattern encountered in slave narratives- an innately good, morally superior person is unjustly confined and maltreated by a corrupt individual; through heroic efforts, the victim escapes and lives to tell the tale…”(178). This description of a slave narrative almost reads like the plot of the novel, in which a helpless and kindhearted girl is severely mistreated by her father and husband but through the strength of others and the discovery of her own strong self will, she escapes from her oppressive situation. Morgan further explains” although not born a slave, as the novel opens, for all practical intents and purposes, Celie is a salve” (181). This is certainly evident in the beginning of the novel, particularly when her father is handing her off to Mr. and her father makes her turn around so Mr. can inspect her as if he were inspecting an animal. This experience calls up the “reasons slave women were bought - their ability to endure hard physical labor and their potential as sexual objects” (180). As this cruel and degrading instance is indicative of the way slaves were treated, perhaps what Walker is suggesting is that not much changed for black woman after the end of slavery and that they are still being treated in an unjust manner.
Another reason why Walker might have chosen to write the novel in this way is that Celie’s letters to herself allow her to find her voice and an audience to comfort her and help her. Molly Hite explains this by stating that “the drama of Celie’s epistolary self creation revolves around the discovery of a female audience that finally fulfills the ideal of co-respondence…The process of finding her speaking voice is a process of finding her audience”(130). This can be seen with Celie’s interactions with the other female characters in the books as she relates to them and the reader compares the nature of each of the other female characters to Celie. The females of the novel allow Celie to asses her self and her possibilities and her character slowly begins to change as the story moves on and the other females influence becomes more apparent. This first happens with Sophie, who is a strong and tough women and the opposite of Celie. The first time Celie seems to talk about her self and her condition is with Sophie, as she states that Celie is like her mother stating that “she never stand up for her self”(41). But it is Shug who has the strongest influence on Cecile and acts as a sympathetic listener and also encourages her to talk about her past and to realize that she has the power to stand up for herself. Carla Kaplan suggests that “without a sympathetic audience, such as Shug, Celie might never have been able to go from her first self-effacing statement “I am” to her later declaration, “I’m here” (130).
An advantage to having the story written in an epistolary format is that it effectively dramatizes the need to tell a story. In the case of Celie, this is made even more important because “finding a listener and finding her voice are inextricably related”(130) and the letters and her exchanges with the other characters in the novel leads her to have more dignity and a stronger sense of self.
Work Cited
Kaplan, Carla. The Erotics of Talk: Women’s Writing and Feminist Paradigms. New York, Oxford, 1996.
Morgan, Winifred. The Color Purple as Allegory. Southern Writers at Century’s End. Lexington, University Press of Kentucky, 1997.
Harmon, William and Holman, Hugh. A Handbook to Literature. 10th edition, Upper Saddle River, Pearson, 2006.
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. New York, Harvest, 2003.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Walt Whitman's Influence on Allen Ginsberg
There are a number of ways that Walt Whitman’s influence can be seen in Allen Ginsberg’s work Howl, including a similar style of format and flow, a similar reaction from the literary world and a concern with American ideals and its people.
A significant influence that Whitman has for Ginsberg is the fact that Whitman had been a breakaway from the literary establishment of his time, with his long winded style, sexual exploration and the presentation of himself as the everyman rather than a highly cultivated elite poet. In his book American Scream, John Raskin explains that “As late as 1955, Whitman was still largely untaught in college poetry classes and still largely unappreciated in academic circles, though he had a solid reputation in the nonconformist world”(20). This seems to closely relate to Ginsberg’s own experience in the literary world as well as both the writers were not acknowledged for a significant period of time after they began writing.
Howl also has a similar style and flow reminiscent of Whitman. Raskin speaks of Ginsberg’s style sating that “like Whitman he wrote long poems with long prose like lines and long catalogues of things, people and events”(20). This idea is particularly conveyed with the first poem in the text. Like Whitman, Ginsberg presents a sprawling view of the country, taking the reader form the chaotic underbelly of New York, to Denver to San Francisco and everywhere in between.
Another similarity between the poets was their subject matter. Raskin states that like Whitman, Ginsberg “wrote for American and about America” (20). But Ginsberg did not have an optimistic view of his country and what it was or could be like is evident in Whitman’s poems. Something which is readily apparent in some of Whitman’s poems is a warm love of his fellow man and a kind of trust and feeling of solidarity with the masses he came into contact with on the streets of the towns and cities of the country. Raskin points out that “…unlike Whitman, Ginsberg often did not trust the masses …he knew full well, the masses could be manipulated” (21). Yet at the same time, Ginsberg is certainly concerned about his fellow citizens and a Footnote to Howl expresses this. As Ginsberg cries “Everything is holy! everybody’s Holy!...Holy the vast lamb of the middle class!...Holy New York Holy San Francisco…” (27-28), it sound as if he is making an ecstatic and urgent plea for Americans to come to a recognition that their country, the world and themselves are holy; That they are not merely disposable objects that consume products, that they are sacred and are worthy of not being under constant threat of nuclear annihilation.
Further more, he felt that it was a poets “democratic duty” (23) to write about the problems and faults with the country and expose them to the public, as America was founded on dissent. The very structure of our government was set up for its people to question it, protest it, and change the laws if need be in order to protect the people form totalitarian absolute rule. Like wise, Howl is very much in the tradition of American patriotism, if patriotism is not having blind faith the government or having a Manichean view of it. Ginsberg acknowledges this duty, stating “It occurs to me that I am America” (41). The poem itself indicates a profound rift within the nation and a questioning of its current ideals, but more importantly the reaction to the poem certainly indicates the recognition of these faults and the need to break away from the old way of thinking. John Raskin speaks of this identification stating that Howl “conferred a strange power…It bound us together and gave us a sense of identity” (xi).
In conclusion, Howl is clearly a myriad of various influences; a kind a fusion between the “world weariness of T.S. Elliot and the innocent wildness of Walt Whitman” (244). It still has the power to shake American’s notions of themselves and their country, with its tenacious energy and thought provoking statements of life in America.
Work Cited
Ginsberg, Allen. Howl and Other Poems. City Lights Book, San Francisco, 1956.
Raskin, John. American Scream : Allen Ginsberg’s Howl and the Making of the Beat Generation. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1984.
A significant influence that Whitman has for Ginsberg is the fact that Whitman had been a breakaway from the literary establishment of his time, with his long winded style, sexual exploration and the presentation of himself as the everyman rather than a highly cultivated elite poet. In his book American Scream, John Raskin explains that “As late as 1955, Whitman was still largely untaught in college poetry classes and still largely unappreciated in academic circles, though he had a solid reputation in the nonconformist world”(20). This seems to closely relate to Ginsberg’s own experience in the literary world as well as both the writers were not acknowledged for a significant period of time after they began writing.
Howl also has a similar style and flow reminiscent of Whitman. Raskin speaks of Ginsberg’s style sating that “like Whitman he wrote long poems with long prose like lines and long catalogues of things, people and events”(20). This idea is particularly conveyed with the first poem in the text. Like Whitman, Ginsberg presents a sprawling view of the country, taking the reader form the chaotic underbelly of New York, to Denver to San Francisco and everywhere in between.
Another similarity between the poets was their subject matter. Raskin states that like Whitman, Ginsberg “wrote for American and about America” (20). But Ginsberg did not have an optimistic view of his country and what it was or could be like is evident in Whitman’s poems. Something which is readily apparent in some of Whitman’s poems is a warm love of his fellow man and a kind of trust and feeling of solidarity with the masses he came into contact with on the streets of the towns and cities of the country. Raskin points out that “…unlike Whitman, Ginsberg often did not trust the masses …he knew full well, the masses could be manipulated” (21). Yet at the same time, Ginsberg is certainly concerned about his fellow citizens and a Footnote to Howl expresses this. As Ginsberg cries “Everything is holy! everybody’s Holy!...Holy the vast lamb of the middle class!...Holy New York Holy San Francisco…” (27-28), it sound as if he is making an ecstatic and urgent plea for Americans to come to a recognition that their country, the world and themselves are holy; That they are not merely disposable objects that consume products, that they are sacred and are worthy of not being under constant threat of nuclear annihilation.
Further more, he felt that it was a poets “democratic duty” (23) to write about the problems and faults with the country and expose them to the public, as America was founded on dissent. The very structure of our government was set up for its people to question it, protest it, and change the laws if need be in order to protect the people form totalitarian absolute rule. Like wise, Howl is very much in the tradition of American patriotism, if patriotism is not having blind faith the government or having a Manichean view of it. Ginsberg acknowledges this duty, stating “It occurs to me that I am America” (41). The poem itself indicates a profound rift within the nation and a questioning of its current ideals, but more importantly the reaction to the poem certainly indicates the recognition of these faults and the need to break away from the old way of thinking. John Raskin speaks of this identification stating that Howl “conferred a strange power…It bound us together and gave us a sense of identity” (xi).
In conclusion, Howl is clearly a myriad of various influences; a kind a fusion between the “world weariness of T.S. Elliot and the innocent wildness of Walt Whitman” (244). It still has the power to shake American’s notions of themselves and their country, with its tenacious energy and thought provoking statements of life in America.
Work Cited
Ginsberg, Allen. Howl and Other Poems. City Lights Book, San Francisco, 1956.
Raskin, John. American Scream : Allen Ginsberg’s Howl and the Making of the Beat Generation. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1984.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Their Eyes Were Watching God is in a similar vein with Herman Hess’s stories of an individual going on a spiritual journey to try and understand themselves and their existence. The final line from the prologue of his book Demian states “We can understand one another; but each of us is able to interrupt himself to himself alone” (2). This encapsulates Janie’s path to a better understanding of herself through her relationships with the men in the novel and through an understanding of nature.
In the beginning of the novel, Janie is a young girl who is unsure of herself and how she fits in the world, yet she has an intense desire to gain some kind of understanding of her existence. How to go about this is beyond her and she doesn’t even know what she is exactly looking to find. This desire first manifests itself when she is sitting under a blossoming pear tree where she witnesses the harmony and oneness of nature. Janie speaks of seeing a “bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom….she had been summoned to behold a revelation” (11). She feels like she can attain this similar feeling of oneness but how to go about this she does not know. This idea is expressed as Janie is looking to all the harmonious relationships she sees in nature yet no answer for her self. At this point in the story, she feels both somewhat inside yet outside of this new world brought on by her revelation. Yet she feels the desire to begin searching; it is as if the outside world of nature is giving her clues and urging her to keep looking. Janie expresses this as a feeling that “an answer is seeking her, but where? When? How?”(11).
As the story moves on, Janie begins relationships with men, feeling that these relationships will help her on her quest that she can’t quite define. Although all the men try to control or define her in some way, she continues to develop her sense of identity according to her own ideas, even if the changes occur more frequently in her thoughts than in her actions. The first real decision followed by an action that she makes on her own comes about when she chooses to leave Logan and runaway with Joe. Joe embodies change, new developments and leaving the past behind for a new beginning. At this point in Janie’s character development, Joe represents this desire taking place in her. This idea is expressed with the lines “A feeling of sudden newness and change came over her…the change would do her good.”(32).
Unfortunately, Joe tries to mold her into what he thinks she should be and therefore controls and stifles her. Her independent feelings are suppressed but not entirely gone and they burst through with her final conversation with Joe. She attempts to convey to him “what kinda person [she] is.”(85). She expresses her resentment towards Joe for never really encouraging or being interested in her development as person with the line “mah own mind had to be squeezed and crowded tuh make room for yours in me” (86).
After Joe’s death, there is a sense of rebirth and renewal for Janie. She grows fond of “this freedom feeling” (90) and laughs off all the men telling her she needs assistance. Janie expresses her new feeling by dismissing her many suitors who wish to marry her and take care of her by stating “these men didn’t represent a thing she wanted to know about” (90). At this point, Janie feels more assured and confident in her sense of self and she doesn’t feel the need to yield to what is socially expected of her as the Mayor’s widow, hence her relationship with Tea Cake. For the first time, Janie experiences the passion and love she longed for when she was a girl under a pear tree bearing witness to the harmony of nature. She expresses this awakening by stating that Tea Cake had “taught me the maiden language all over” (115) and that he inspired her to “utilize [herself] all over” (112). Although Tea Cake treats her more equally than her first two husbands, he still has a sense of having some kind of authority over her. For example, he states that Janie will eat and live from the money that he makes (128) and that she is “wherever Ah wants tuh be” (148).
In the end, Janie ends up alone, yet she is not unfulfilled or longing for another companion. She is content with her life’s journey and the reader gets the sense that her experiences have helped her to gain a better and more complete understanding of herself and her existence.
Work Cited
Hesse, Herman. Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair’s Youth. New York, Harper & Row, 1999.
Hutston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York, Harper & Row, 2006.
In the beginning of the novel, Janie is a young girl who is unsure of herself and how she fits in the world, yet she has an intense desire to gain some kind of understanding of her existence. How to go about this is beyond her and she doesn’t even know what she is exactly looking to find. This desire first manifests itself when she is sitting under a blossoming pear tree where she witnesses the harmony and oneness of nature. Janie speaks of seeing a “bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom….she had been summoned to behold a revelation” (11). She feels like she can attain this similar feeling of oneness but how to go about this she does not know. This idea is expressed as Janie is looking to all the harmonious relationships she sees in nature yet no answer for her self. At this point in the story, she feels both somewhat inside yet outside of this new world brought on by her revelation. Yet she feels the desire to begin searching; it is as if the outside world of nature is giving her clues and urging her to keep looking. Janie expresses this as a feeling that “an answer is seeking her, but where? When? How?”(11).
As the story moves on, Janie begins relationships with men, feeling that these relationships will help her on her quest that she can’t quite define. Although all the men try to control or define her in some way, she continues to develop her sense of identity according to her own ideas, even if the changes occur more frequently in her thoughts than in her actions. The first real decision followed by an action that she makes on her own comes about when she chooses to leave Logan and runaway with Joe. Joe embodies change, new developments and leaving the past behind for a new beginning. At this point in Janie’s character development, Joe represents this desire taking place in her. This idea is expressed with the lines “A feeling of sudden newness and change came over her…the change would do her good.”(32).
Unfortunately, Joe tries to mold her into what he thinks she should be and therefore controls and stifles her. Her independent feelings are suppressed but not entirely gone and they burst through with her final conversation with Joe. She attempts to convey to him “what kinda person [she] is.”(85). She expresses her resentment towards Joe for never really encouraging or being interested in her development as person with the line “mah own mind had to be squeezed and crowded tuh make room for yours in me” (86).
After Joe’s death, there is a sense of rebirth and renewal for Janie. She grows fond of “this freedom feeling” (90) and laughs off all the men telling her she needs assistance. Janie expresses her new feeling by dismissing her many suitors who wish to marry her and take care of her by stating “these men didn’t represent a thing she wanted to know about” (90). At this point, Janie feels more assured and confident in her sense of self and she doesn’t feel the need to yield to what is socially expected of her as the Mayor’s widow, hence her relationship with Tea Cake. For the first time, Janie experiences the passion and love she longed for when she was a girl under a pear tree bearing witness to the harmony of nature. She expresses this awakening by stating that Tea Cake had “taught me the maiden language all over” (115) and that he inspired her to “utilize [herself] all over” (112). Although Tea Cake treats her more equally than her first two husbands, he still has a sense of having some kind of authority over her. For example, he states that Janie will eat and live from the money that he makes (128) and that she is “wherever Ah wants tuh be” (148).
In the end, Janie ends up alone, yet she is not unfulfilled or longing for another companion. She is content with her life’s journey and the reader gets the sense that her experiences have helped her to gain a better and more complete understanding of herself and her existence.
Work Cited
Hesse, Herman. Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair’s Youth. New York, Harper & Row, 1999.
Hutston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York, Harper & Row, 2006.
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