Last Posting

The literature we have read has been all very interesting. When the theme of the course is revisited we come across how the idea of change in society really has been pervasive in the texts and in the lives of the characters we have read about. Sometimes we witness how dramatic these stories can be since we take a journey to a time so much different than our own. The institution of slavery is a real part of history, yet we cringe at the struggles and hardships endured by slaves when reading slave narratives and sometimes would prefer to sugar coat this reality. I find the story that struck the biggest chord with me was Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper because it was not at all censored.” Perhaps it is because my mind seems to be so preoccupied with medical knowledge being a student of nursing, but I’m drawn to the story because it illustrates a change that has already happened in how we perceive women’s emotions and physiology. Yet, at the time this page was only beginning to turn in the lives of women. The post partum depression that inflicts the narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” was so misunderstood and it pains me to read the story knowing what needs to be done is not! In essence, this story documents a woman’s gradual decline. I liked this story because as all literature does it allows you a glimpse into the human psyche into behavior and subtleties that in the conscious world we may not be aware of in people. As a nurse this is helpful because it aids the assessment process and we may be able to gather an understanding of our mental patients by a previous insight from this story. A psychologist, I feel, should be very versed in literature to be able to draw the universal themes, emotions, and dreams that present themselves to all of us. Overall, very good reading.

Gilman and Wharton

To say the least, in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the timeframe of the narrator’s existence encompasses the four ideals of womanhood, which included piety, purity, domesticity, and submissiveness. These ideals of womanhood serve as the backdrop of the tone that is set. The tone always accomplishes an air of intimacy probably due to the epistle like construction of the prose. It is in essence a secret diary that the narrator writes, therefore the diction of the narrator can be observed and used as a measurable documentation of her progress toward insanity. The development of such a mental state is indicative of the role women were expected to fulfill.

Initially, the narrator expresses what appears to be a distaste for the yellow wallpaper. There are also numerous examples where the role of woman as subservient intellectually inferior beings is reinforced. Take for instance the narrator’s prohibition of writing in the following line, “I did write for while in spite of them;but it does exhaust me a good deal having to be so sly about it, or else meet with opposition.” This not only implies that a woman should not preoccupy herself with mental strain, but also is left to go about mental stimulation in a clandestine sort of way. Thus, this is where her literary exploration of the yellow wallpaper is born. Could it be that the narrator’s experience is post partum depression coupled with isolation? Baby blues is a normal sequence after childbirth, however more than 10 days, “We have been here two weeks, and I haven’t felt like writing before, since that first day,” could be an indication of this type of depression.

Freeman and Chesnutt

I find it amazing what a person is a capable to doing in the name of love. The story of Chestnut’s “The Wife of His Youth,” was very heartfelt and inspiring. Although “A New England Nun” had an unexpected outcome it was still a love story nonetheless. I will dwell on Freeman’s reading more in this blog because Louisa reminded me much of the main character from one of the movies I saw this weekend, the “Ugly Truth.” The plot of the story is humorously criticizing men and women’s perception of relationships and ideas of courtship. The main similarity however was not in the plot, but in the character of Louisa and Abby, a television producer in the “Ugly Truth.” Both characters are very clean and neat women with type A personalities that lead their lives in total control of their environment. Somehow they embody the pure and proper women with pious ideals. Both characters have made a life for themselves by their own hard work and independence. When Louisa finds that she made a promise to Joe that she would marry him upon his return from Australia she plans do so even though the reader get the impression she does not love him. In the Ugly Truth, Abby detests working with Mike, a man she disagrees with for his unforgiving perception of women and relationships, but does so since the ratings of her show have increased since his segment has aired. Both women find themselves tied to a situation they cannot control- a test to their integrity as characters. In the end of the story we discover love to be the great mediator and healer as Louisa realizes the love between Joe and Lily and makes the decision to break her promise and live as a nun. The last line of the story captures very well this catholic allusion. "Louisa sat, prayerfully numbering her days, like an uncloistered nun.” Since nuns are celibate, solitary, and very disciplined by their own will this embodies Louisa very well. As for Abby, she discovers she is in love with Mike, which is strong enough to break down the barriers both characters have built regarding how men and women really are. Lets face it in modern relationships and today's world no one would make the decision to become a nun! Try watching the film yourself and see if you can pick up on any of these similarities. Perhaps it is something I just constructed by direct association since I had just watched the film!

Chopin

I was fascinated by Chopin's stories. They were very captivating and really express another side of the human experience that we have not seen in other works we have read. Borrowing from the prompt that was posted I do see the strong references to sexuality, marriage, and intimacy. Reading a story like “The Storm” in today’s society is no surprise and appears as novice work compared to the sexually charged films that are produced. However, when it was written we must recall that it was done so in a time in which women were held to different standards. During the late 1800’s of southern Louisiana a woman could not vote, did not have rights and much less had any place expressing her sexuality as a woman. For Calixta, in “The Storm” Chopin makes evident that her desire can be embraced regardless of society’s standards of virtue and that an act of nature is inevitable in its physical sense as well as its literary setting. Alcee, her lover also points out, “if she was not an immaculate dove in those days, she was still inviolate, characterizing her as pure of heart regardless of her state of chastity. Again, we are starting to see a new acceptance of women not only as mothers and domestic caretakers, but also as lovers. The idea of the storm is very interesting because it is a part of nature as is a woman’s sexuality and plays out as an extended metaphor throughout the story. In essence, the literary struggle of man vs. nature is at play.

Mark Twain-The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

I find that these stories are very entertaining. Perhaps sometimes it is more enjoyable to read about an isolated situation of a story as you have it then trying to analyze long difficult to read literary work and draw political or national critique. Nevertheless, in someway this is also accomplished in The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. We see that in a small community such as the one Jim Smiley is in people can occupy themselves with theses games of gambling and frog racing. It reminds me of my grandfather who lives in a small rural community in Mexico and on afternoons spends the entire evening at the local town store chatting it up with other elderly gentlemen. What other things are there to do then just tell stories and perhaps drink or gamble when you live in such a small community. Yes I can think of other more constructive activities, however people are social beings and it is much easier to socialize when we are drinking or playing a game. This depiction Twain portrays is kind of a look into the simple life again, a contrast from Industrial America.

Life in the Iron Mills- Davis

In order to get a real picture of what it was like to live in the age of the industrial revolution I will be recommending people read Davis’s Life in the Iron Mills! As compared to today’s society I get the impression that people were much stronger in those days. Their work was a labor of change that they wielded with their own hands. The tears and sweat that was shed by workers such Wolfe Hugh came with sacrifice. Most people in today’ society rely on technology and we suffer from an obesity epidemic laden with Diabetes and Heart Disease and though we may have a surplus of food are world can still be bad. It is easier to be good when you are not hungry and most crime nowadays is because of poverty; however Davis points out that the type of hunger those living in the Industrial Revolution endured was beyond humane and unlike anything else. Yet, like many authors we have studied, the strength of the human spirit is salient as we witness Hugh make art in the form of a korl women statue. The narrator notes she has kept the statue in the corner of her library. I can only imagine creating art to be a way to maintain his sanity in the mills and I’m sure Poe would agree except if he would of wrote it he would of made a gruesome scene out of the factory machinery! The interesting part is that we never learn who the narrator is yet she is optimistic writing “ God has set the promise of the Dawn.”

Melville Post

After reading Melville’s Benito Cereno I pictured myself on board with Johnny Depp on the set of Pirates of the Carribean. There is an air of gothic imagery the way in which the ship is portrayed. Delano stated it reminded him of an old ruined castle. It was a bit difficult to read at first, however as I began to get accustomed the 3^rd person narrative I was able to get a feeling for the characters and the plot. I gathered that what took place was a slave rebellion. The reading was exciting and suspenseful and in many ways struck me as an attempt to give slavery some justification at least from Delano’s point of view. The reader can see in many ways how he is annoyed by Cereno’s carefree attitude in running the San Dominick. One example is when he witnesses a black boy hitting a white boy, which to him is an alarming situation. Cereno merely views this occurrence as child play. This suggests that there is a dichotomy of thought and could be a political interpretation of how slaves should be perceived. All of the characters, mainly the slave workers were also very interesting to follow and became growingly intimidating as the reader discovers they were the ones who ran the ship. The Ashanti conjurers in particular are very frightening! I would hate to be on the same ship with them. Throughout the short story they are depicted as sharpening their hatchets very ominously. Don Benito Cereno I find to be the least threatening and somewhat lax.