Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield

Katherine Mansfield was a writer of short fiction from New Zealand. She went to Great Britain at some point in her life and met writers D.H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf. She is best known  for tow of her more famous writings, "The Daughters of the Late Colonel" and " The Fly". I read her short story Miss Brill. This story could not help but to ring a thought of mental illness to me.

The short story Miss Brill also seemed to based in what today we would call mental illness. I consider myself an observer of people. I could relate to that characteristic in Miss Brill. However for her she became a movie, a script role. Somehow she lost herself and became what she was observing. The more you observe people the more you learn about personalities and gain a more genuine understanding of people. In her case she became the people she watched because she was not having any experiences of her own. Miss Brill also appeared to be a lonely woman like the woman in A Rose for Emily. She appeared to long for a relationship from the people she observed but would never initiate any conversations to try and start any form of communication with them. It appeared she was in a constant acting role in a movie. Her life was the movie and she was the star. There was a scene near the end of the story where Miss Brill hears crying coming from her fur. I wondered if she was having a self-realization that she was not living her own life she was playing a role in unscripted film in her head. She felt she was invisible but the teen boy that yelled out rude remarks about her as if she was preventing his plan to score with his girlfriend is a good example of that. She ignored his comments and did not even respond or acknowledge they were about her. As if she does not see the fact some people may be offended by her paying constant attention to what they are doing.

- Cassa Arnold

This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona by Sherman Alexie

After reading this short story I was paying close attention the the locations and how they relay to the story. In another class I had this semester we had to pay close attention to plot, theme ecetera in literature we were reading so that is how this came about in this story. All the location and environment descriptions in this story really help to set a scene for the characters in this short story. I felt all the locations, although they were very different in appearance and locations were very depressing in theme. The reservation seemed at first as thought it could be a great place because the Indians could keep a lot of their cultural beliefs; then you realize keeping those traditions came at a cost. The Reservation had a high poverty rate. None of the people had updated school books and learning the correct information. They as a people were falling behind and disappearing on the world stage. The tribes were broke. They could not even help Victor pay for the trip to retrieve his father’s ashes. Thomas brought in a nice addition to the story and I found it interesting this young man had the money to help Victor and take himself along too but the tribe could not. That to me shows what kind of situation they were in. To not be able to return the body of a loved one in Indian culture is a big deal from what I have heard before on old history shows.

The airplane provided a little joy in way that they were always on the reservation and a plane is a whole new experience for them. They flew like the birds but the experience was not full of joy due to the purpose of the flight but they did get a few laughs with the young lady they met who was in the Olympics. The purpose of the flight is was really gives this environment a dark tone in my eyes. How can you fully enjoy this experience when you are retrieving the body of a loved one? Victor’s dads house has the worst feelings for me. It is dark and depressing and the stench of his father’s decomposing body from having been left in the house for so long before the discovery all throughout the house made it the most horrifying location of the story. At the end of the story when they drive through Arizona deserts this is where you notice that Victor and Thomas notice their surroundings and the feeling of death from no visible life grows in a dessert. It was like in this moment in their journey their traditional ancestry roots were awakened and they mourned for the life lost in this area of the land. The scene when ar first they were a little upset at making roadkill of the only sign of life they saw in Arizona, but then laughed it off as a way of consoling one another really made this scene although depressing in nature transforming to the journey.

Victor was an aggressive and proud character. He loved his family and had much honor in my eyes because he went out into the unknown and brought his father back. Thomas was more vulnerable and appeared to be more traditional in views. He was true to himself which really makes him stand out. No matter how much he was looked down upon for staying so traditional he stayed true to himself and appeared to be happy. I found he was a good foil character to Victor.

This story is the shortstory to the movie we watched "Smoke Signals" for class. The story is almost exactly a like however the relationship between Tom and Victor is explained more which made me feel like I understood Tom's character more in the movie.

- Cassa Arnold

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

I have read the book and watched the movie. I have always loved the movie. After reading the book I found so much more depth in the story. I loved the way it was written in the format of which you felt you were reading her letters or journal. This aspect of the book reminded me of Saphire's Push. Both stories mimic one another in the aspect of incest and abuse of the girl children in the family. Both stories are very disturbing but in The Color Purple I felt at least there was a happier ending for Celie. She ended up having a deeper relationship than I first beleived with Shug Avery after reading the book. It was hard to read this story. You could definately tell it was another child telling the story. This story spanned over many years so you got to grow up with Celie within the story.  Celie was always told she was too dumb to go to school or read. I could not help by find myself cheering when Nettie was teaching it to her. Everyone should have this right.

 You got to be a personal witness to the rascism that took place during those times. Sofia ended up having to be enslaved by weathly family by a display of behavior that other whites could have done with out such harsh treatment. You could clearly see the social differences of the blacks in the story in comparison to their white counterparts. The book did a great job exploring Celie's personal journey in finding her inner strength and chaning her life for what was best for her. It was exciting to see Celie gain confidence to leave Mister. She ended up gaining such good friends and surrounded herself with them. That last dinner with Mister, Sophia, Harpo, Shug and the rest of their families was the climax for me. She got to tell how she had felt all her life to everyone she needed to all in one sitting. While the words flowed on the pages I felt her being liberated from her prison. I could hardly put this book down.

- Cassa Arnold

Fahrenheit 451 / Book of Eli

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is a graphic novel I read by Tim Hamilton . Although both Ray Bradbury and Tim Hamilton are American this story had a real plot for books and literacy that I had to comment on it. This story is about a fireman Guy Montag. The firefighters in this book do not fight fires, they start fires. You heard me right. They start fires. What amazed me and frightened me is that in this book reading and books are illegal and punsiable by death by fire. They would burn the books and if you did not get out of the way they would burn you too. If you did leave the house you would be arrested. They had a concept that too much knowledge (and reading contributed to more knowledge), made you unhappy because you questioned things. So everyone had a telvisionator that projected on your walls and showed you only what they wanted you to see and beleive. Reading was illegal they were burning all the books they could find. What else was scary was the fact that if you were smart you were a fugitive at large. University Professors were all wanted fugitives hiding out just for being smart and wanting to read and save books. It really made me think about what it would be like if they took our right to read away. Said our books were illegal and we should all have the same amount of knowledge. If you were a curious individual like that of the 16 year old girl Claisse McClellan who loved to ask questions of everything. She loved to ask why, she was very inquisitive so she was labeled crazy by her society and eventually killed. The thought that this could happen; if any government decided books caused the greater good to be bad and destroy not only them but the people who seek to read them, is devasting and very frightening.  The people who lived in a doomsday scenario outside of the cities decided to memorize books then destory them to evade harm if they are stopped with the books on them.

 I recently watched a movie "The book of Eli" written by Gary Whitta born and raised in London England and directed by Albert and Allen Hughes also known as the Hughes Brothers. These brothers had a African American father and Armenian American mother. In this movie Eli is the last person in the world whom carries the actual copy of the Holy Bible. Many men with evil intensions want this book. They see it as a way to domainate the world. They are killing people for the books that are left. The story line is similar to Fahrenheit 451. In the end Eli who has memorized the bible helps monks translate and republish the book. I had the same uneasy feeling when watching this movie. How scary is that to lose your basic right to read and have books? To kill people for the books that are there? Throughout history there has been many instances in which destorying our knowledge has set humans back. In 212 B.C The Chinese emperer Shih Huang had all books burned and only one copy saved then he had that copy destroyed with his death. The Nazi regime did this to students in 1933. Destorying all books that they felt were "Un-German".  There are many more instances of this throughout history. Hopefully we learn from our mistakes.

- Cassa Arnold

Open-minded; Open thoughts

I had an interesting conversation about racism with a friend of mine who offered me a perspective I had not considered. I was explaining "Intuitionist" to her and we started talking about racism that exists today. Her thought was that racism exists in large part  because many people are afraid to discuss it openly. I thought of the modern day comedian Dave Chappelle who is able to be so straightforward and I began to think she might be correct. It seems like everything in today's society focuses on being "politically correct" to the point where teachers and those individuals of the most influence just avoid these topics all together.

This same friend also happens to be albino and one of the first things she does when in a new group of people is crack a joke about herself to deflate the tension. She lets everyone know that she is ok with them asking any questions they might have, for her the awkard sidestepping conversations are worse than a straightforward question. I realize that not all people are as comfortable with themselves as she is, but I have to wonder if it would not be easier if they were. I think that language is a powerful tool that can be used to fight the hatred of racism, it should not be something that is ignored because it does still exist.

It also seems that it is more difficult for some races to be able to speak about racism than others. I think that if Dave Chappelle were white it would be awkward and uncomfortable to listen to his routines, but for some reason him being African American seems to make all the difference in the world. I think that in a perfect world everyone would be able to talk to each other openly and there would not be the obvious discomfort in different situations. Of course our world still has a long way to go, but a good start would be acceptance and awareness, not uncomfortable denial.

-Elizabeth

BIG BLACK GOOD MAN! By Richard wright

The author’s history helps to give some insight to the purpose of his stories. He was a son of a sharecropper in Mississippi as a child. As he grew older he became very upset with the treatment of African Americans and became a communist with Marxist views in 1932. He eventually moved from the United States for Paris due to his dislike of the treatments of African Americans. He continued on to write many stories and poems. A set of long stories won Best manuscript in a Story Magazine these stories were published as Uncle Tom’s Children. He continued on to write, Eight Men, Black Boy and Native Son many of these stories have the Marxist perspective to them. I have not read these stories but have read Big Black Good Man (1957).

This story is about Olaf Jenson a white hotel manager. He is not racist in his opinion but when he meets Jim a very tall, muscular and very dark skinned African-American he became very hateful towards in. For this instance he became very much prejudice and for the life of himself he could not figure out why. The more you read you see if felt he was not racist but Jim had all the characteristics of black people that he had not seen before. He feared him due to his size and color. He spent a long time cursing this man and not wanting to even give the man a room when he had them. In the story Olaf was really confused to why after dealing with cultures of all races including blacks why this man he feared so much. When Jim leaves the room after six nights there he put his hands around Jim’s throat and massaged his throat. Olaf was terrified and swore Jim wanted to kill him. The more I read the more I believed Olaf may have envied the health and strength of this man. He also found himself questioning the lady he kept sending to Jim as if Jim would hurt this lady. For several nights Olaf cursed the ground, water and anything the Jim would touch. He wished him harm and death. He pleasured himself in the thought of Jim’s death. A year later Jim returns. Again Olaf is terrified and promised himself he would shot Jim dead if he gets close to him. This time he did refuse Jim a room but Jim was not looking for a room. He brought Olaf gifts. Six nice shirts he presented to Olaf. Olaf was blown away by the gesture and guilty for all the hate he sent to Jim. He admitted to Jim he thought he was trying to kill him and cried openly at that thought. In the end Jim left and Olaf had realized he had judged a book by its cover. This story almost had me in tears. How many times have I judged a book by its cover? How many times did I think I knew what someone was thinking about me and prejudged the situation and took action on those thoughts? I can say many times and reading this story helped me to see that you cannot possibly know everything and your own insecurities can tell you a whole story that is not there.

- Cassa Arnold

Lila Mae; Giver to her society

The way the "Intuitionist" ended reminded me of one of my favorite books, "The Giver", a short story by Lois Lowry about a boy from a strange futuristic version of our world where everything is equal and therefore "Utopian,"even down to the colors. The the main character, a boy named Jonas, is selected to become the next receiver of all the memories before the age of Utopia, memories of colors and music, memories of depth and variety. I associated Lila Mae with Jonas because to her as to him the world looks differently than how everyone else sees it. The way the giver gradually offers to Jonas more and more memories or knowledge as he is prepared to receive it is quite similar to the way Lila Mae and Fulton were gradually distributing the knowledge of the "Black Box" to a culture that was not quite prepared for its repercussions. Jonas realizes through his newly acquired knowledge that the society he resides in is not the Utopia he thought it to be. Jonas seems to make the same realization that Lila Mae and Fulton make and that is; even though distributing such knowledge will mean chaos for awhile, it is necessary for the world to understand what these individuals are already aware of. I also finding interesting that while in Lila Mae’s world color was a deep rooted societal issue; Jonas world showed that monotony or lack of awareness of color did not create a perfect world. There will probably never be a “Utopia” of human beings, they just change and evolve and this is done through knowledge.
-Elizabeth