Keen Senses

In Moore’s “The Kid’s Guide to Divorce”, it’s interesting to see how the kid is portrayed. Although it was pointed out in class that we aren’t given if the kid is a boy or girl, we can see that he/she obviously is familiar with his/her parents’ situation and is able to act accordingly. This is evident at the end when the mother asks “How did the last three days go?”, and the child decides to “leave out the part about the lady and part about the beer. Tell her they went all right, that he’s got a new silver dart-board and that you went you to dinner and this guy named Hudson told a pretty funny story about peeing in the hamper. Ask for a 7-Up” (52). The child knows that telling his/her mother about things like the new girl in her ex’s life will just upset her, so she leaves out the ugly parts and sticks to the short and sweet parts. He/She knows that telling her mother anything that may hint that her ex has moved on and is now bringing their child into a new, dangerous environment will bother her. If the mother knew that the child’s father has been partying with his child and drinking alcohol around him/her (possibly letting him/her taste some too), while she just sits at home, crying during a movie that she’s seen a thousand times, she probably wouldn’t want her child hanging out with his/her father anymore, both because it may be dangerous, but also because it puts the mother in an awkward situation. Assumably, the dad doesn’t want to be overbearing towards his child, so he relaxes and lets him/her hang out with the big kids. This leaves the mother to have to buckle down in order for the child to have a positive upbringing. The mother doesn’t let her child have soda late at night or watch too much scary tv (although the child did seem a bit frightened and was glad when the mother offered to change the channel). Instead of being a cool parent, the mother has the be the responsible one.

This also worries the mother in that, as the child grows older, he/she may drift towards the father because he was “more fun” growing up. Although I have never been in this kind of situation, I can see how being the responsible parent has its setbacks as one is forced to give up being the fun parents in order to teach important morals. It’s almost like there is this competition between the divorced parents, each trying to appear as the better parent. Even though we don’t get the father’s perspective, we can see what kind of character he is through the thoughts of his child. When envisioning the father, I pictured a kind of rockstar who is always on the road. A party animal who will bring his child to his concerts and to hang out with his other band members once in awhile. (Pictured below is an 80s look and a more modern view. In my mind, the father was a mixture of the two).

I mentioned this in class, but this sort of scenario reminds me of the film Boyhood, where the father is seen as the fun and cool parent who comes on the weekends in a nice car and gives the kids presents, making the mother’s hard work seem boring and unappreciated in the kids’ minds. I can see how the father in Moore’s story could be seen as a more appealing parent in the kid’s perspective. At mom’s place, you have to sit and watch tv with her (which really means watching mom sob over a movie she’s seen a thousand times), not even allowed a drink of soda before bed. Whereas, at dad’s place, assumably, you get to stay up late, drinking soda (maybe even trying some of dad’s beer), hang out with dad’s hilarious friends, play darts, and maybe test your luck with some curse words. Although the mom is only trying to be responsible, she isn’t being “fun”, which would hurt her in this apparent competition.

Now, thankfully for the mother, the child seems to understand this. He/She knows that mom is seemingly having a harder time with the divorce than dad. He/She knows that he/she must tread lightly so as not to say the wrong thing that will upset mom, whether it be a new curse word that they learned at dad’s place or the fact that dad has a new woman in the picture. It’s quite impressive that the child has picked up on this kind of thing, for I picture him/her pretty young. (Possibly a young teenager, around eleven or so), so it goes to show just how much work the child does as well in order to make both parents happy in this unfortunate situation.

Dumbfounded

In Lorrie Moore’s “How to Be an Other Woman”, it’s interesting how the narrator is constantly reassessing her situation, unable to fathom how or why she got into this complicated situation. She describes the moment that she and her “lover” met as “dumb...but it is how you meet” (4). Now, after their initial encounter, the woman, Charlene, seems dumbfounded that this is actually how she and this guy met. While on the bus, she tries to explain binding warpage, makes a nerdy, corny joke, and in the end, probably walks away, having given the guy her number and agreed to meet up again later. She is surprised that this is really how she and this guy met. It just seems so cliche. As Mr. Mitchell pointed out, and I’ll bet as the narrator noticed this too, this scene seems straight out of the script of the most cliche, romantic movie ever made. Girl and guy meet on bus; girl makes awkward conversation; guy keep talking to girl; girl spews out a nerdy joke; guy laughs; girl and guy fall in love; girl and guy live happily ever after. Now, if I hadn’t read this twice, I would have thought that these two had just walked onto the set of Serendipity.

But, thankfully, Charlene is just as confused as we are. She recognizes that she’s that girl who typically stands alone, drawing peace signs on fogged over windows, while waiting for the bus. She gages every step she takes, where her eyes wander, what moves he makes. And in the end, she is left baffled as to how this outcome came about. She didn’t talk about a typical passion of a cliche, romantic girl; she explained binding warpage to him...AND HE WAS INTERESTED IN IT! She didn’t follow any of the typical steps, and yet, the glass shoe fit, and she was swept off her feet by her Prince Charming. The two go to museums, concerts, and movies together, almost like a modern-ish Rhett and Scarlett.

But, after nine-and-a-half dates, the ball is dropped. Patricia. The original woman is brought into the picture as Charlene gets bumped to the other woman spot. Although when asked how this makes her feel, Charlene replies that she is fine with it, as readers, we know her true thoughts and can see that this thought of being the “other woman”, being just another woman in this man’s life, really shakes her up. “You walk differently. In store windows you don’t recognize yourself; you are another woman, some crazy interior display lady in glasses stumbling frantic and preoccupied through the mannequins... ‘Hello, I’m Charlene. I’m a mistress’...It is like having a book out from the library. It is like constantly having a book out from the library” (5). In another fashion, it is like Charlene is the library book. The man she is currently with has had a different book checked out for a long time, but has gotten tired of reading it, so he has moved on to explore Charlene’s pages. Of course this leads one to ask what will happen with the man is bored by Charlene’s content, or can’t stand the binding warpage on her.

On the outside, Charlene appears calm and reserved throughout the conversation, but deep down, she is mulling over what this means for her. In fact, she doesn’t even really question the morality of the man, who, to Charlene’s knowledge at this point, is with two women at the same time. Instead, she focuses on how this whole experience is immediately changing her outside appearance and character. She states that she can’t even recognize herself in windows. To her, she is a totally different person. This reminds me of Baldwin’s “Come Out the Wilderness”, as the narrator explains how, in her previous relationship, the man, Arthur, changed her. He flipped her personality upside down until she was almost unrecognizable to her old self. Now, Charlene’s man does this too, only I suppose he’s a little less forceful than Arthur.

“I’m not an organized person, like Patricia, for instance. She’s just incredibly organized. She makes lists for everything. It’s pretty impressive.”

Say flatly, dully: “What?”

“That she makes lists.”

“That she makes lists? You like that?”

“Well, yes. You know, what she’s going to do, what she has to buy, names of clients she has to see, et cetera.”

“Lists?” You murmur hopelessly, listlessly, your expensive beige raincoat still on. THere is a long, tired silence. Lists? You stand up, brush off your coat, ask him what he would like to drink, then stump off to the kitchen without waiting for the answer (6).

Now, I’m not an expert in the mistress category, but I’m pretty sure it’s the number one rule to not mention one’s current wife as much as possible around the woman you are cheating with. Kind of seems like an important rule to remember as Charlene seems furious by this comment. I mean, assumably, one would think that this guy doesn’t like his current wife, which is while he is sleeping around with another woman. But, apparently, he likes her lists, which consequently makes Charlene believe that she needs to start making lists in order for this relationship to work. He changes her, making her believe that she now needs to be making lists in order to please him. That he would enjoy her better if she were to be a list-maker, like his wife. Again, Charlene asks herself, how did she get into this situation? And why didn’t she leave?

But the ball doesn’t stop there, oh no, it just keeps on rolling as an even bigger spoiler is revealed towards the end of the story, when the man mentions that “Patricia is not his wife. He is separated from his wife; her name is Carrie...Patricia is the woman he lives with” (21). So Charlene isn’t the other woman, she is the other other woman. Patricia is the other woman to Carrie, and Charlene is the other woman to Patricia. She has now been bumped down to third place in line for this sleazy guy’s heart. So, she appropriately responds by rhetorically asking, “You mean, I’m just another one of the fucking gang?” (21), and then proceeds to throw the guy out and slam the door. Again, how did this happen to her? She isn’t the cliche type. She isn’t one to fall head over heels over a guy she just met. She isn’t one to start a relationship with a married man. She isn’t one to start a relationship with a divorced man who is already in a different relationship. She isn’t one to be reduced to just another woman. And yet, now she is. By some odd way in the universe, she is now just the other woman in this man’s life.

This is a sad story as it highlights that these sort of situations can happen to any ordinary person, not just the hopeless romantics. Charlene was assumably a normal woman until this man walzed into her world and she fell head over heels for him, unraveling his complication past and present situations. It’s an unfortunate situation that could have obviously happened to anyone.

Left on Repeat

Throughout Baldwin’s collection of short stories, we have been reading of the different sides of racism in America. Whether it be someone who can’t find a home, a man afraid for the safety of his family, and most recently in “Going to Meet the Man”, the act of lynching, which was seen as a celebratory event as white people to gathered and ate while watching a man die because of the color of his skin. Now, an interesting aspect of this story is the fact that it is told in the perspective of the white sheriff, Jesse. He has never experienced an ounce of racism against him in his life, So, instead, he is one of the people dishing it out. But, giving us Jesse’s perspective helps us understand parts of his violent, racist personality.

The story begins with Jesse being unable to sexually perform, and so his wife decides to call it a night. Now, during this time, Jesse lays in bed thinking about why he seems so troubled. He thinks to the protestors he has to deal with the next day. He also thinks back to when he was eight years old, where his mother and father took him to his first celebratory lynching. “Now he saw the fire--of twigs and boxes, piled high; flames made pale orange and yellow and thin as a veil under the steadier light of the sun...then he saw that this chain bound two black hands together at the wrist, dirty yellow palm facing dirty yellow palm...he saw the kinky, sweaty, bloody head...His hands were straight above his head. All his weight pulled downward from his hands; and he was a big man, a bigger man than his father, and black as an African jungle Cat, and naked” (246). At first, Jesse is confused as to why everyone seems to be laughing and enjoying the event, while a naked man is tied to a pole, immersed in flames. But, as his father sits him on his shoulders, symbolizing the father-son aspect of this “picnic”, Jesse begins to understand. He forgets about Otis, his best friend, and begins to focus on how enjoyable the experience is. This sort of moment urges us to see how part of Jesse’s personality can be attributed to his upbringing. His father appears proud to bring his son to his first lynching, giving Jesse the idea that these sort of events are positive and meant to be enjoyed.

Now, with that being said, I don’t think all of Jesse’s personality can be blamed on how he was nurtured, because parts of his character are just his disgusting nature. After remembering this pivotal moment when was eight, Jesse becomes sexually charged and proceeds to finish what he was trying to start with his wife. “Something bubbled up in him, his nature again returned to him. He thought of the boy in the cell; he thought of the man in the fire; he thought of the knife and grabbed himself and stroked himself and a terrible sound, something between a high laugh and a howl, came out of him and dragged his sleeping wife up on one elbow...’Come on, sugar, I’m going to do you like a nigger, just lieka nigger, come on, sugar, and love me just like you’d love a nigger’” (249). The image of the boy he brutally injured and of the man dying in the flames with his genitals mutilated turns Jesse on, which is honestly one of the sickest things I’ve ever read. This shows the despicable, disturbing side of Jesse’s personality, proving that he is severely messed up.

Now, while looking at this scene, as a white girl, I am tempted to think that these sorts of things are a time of the past, and that we’ve moved on as a society to become more accepting. But, unfortunately, this isn’t true. As Mr. Butler says, “History doesn’t repeat itself, it rhymes”. Although we have become more accepting of races other than Caucasian (unfortunately, there is still evidence of racist to this day), we have chosen a different group of individuals to discriminate against; the LGBT community. As a country, we are still struggling with granting LGBT their God given rights. Even though gay marriage was legalized across the country, there are still cases where a gay couple is refused the right to marry because it apparently goes against the marriage license official’s personal beliefs (ie. they are ignorant and close minded...and also lawbreakers now). See, we like to think that we are advancing as a nation, but while problems are solved, other arise. Although gays and lesbians are slowing gaining more rights, transgender individuals are finding it increasingly harder to be accepted in such an, all together, close minded country.

So, although I would like to argue that, however horrific Jesse’s situation is, that those are times of the past, similar things are happening to this day. People are murdered just for their sexuality and/or sexual orientation, and even when this problem is eventually solved, new ones will bubble to the surface. We throw around religion like it’s a safe card to hide our true inner problems. I’ll bet Jesse and others told people that not lynching a black man would be going against the bible. And yet, to this day, we see similar phrases being used against the LGBT community.

Now, I could go on and on, but then this blog post may never end. All in all, although Jesse’s situation is awful and mortifying, his thoughts aren’t times of the past. People in America still discriminate against black people, except now it’s not acceptable to share those thoughts out loud. Being given Jesse’s inner thoughts allows us to see just how sick and twisted a person of that time could have been. But, even though we are given a glimpse into Jesse’s upbringings, his character should not be completely blamed on how he was nurtured. I believe, by nature, he has and would always have been a disgusting person, and that his parents just furthered his development down that path. So, we can see that as time goes on, history tends to repeat itself as new problems arise and we are led to discuss the rights and dictate the destiny of people we know nothing about.

Mixed Feelings

When asked at the start of class if we enjoyed the character Ruth in Baldwin’s “Come Out the Wilderness”, I can honestly say that I have mixed feelings. I mean, this is the first time in this collection that the female character has been brought to the forefront. Characters such as Roy’s mother, Eric’s mother, and Sonny’s mother are all figures that tend to wade out in the background of their respective stories. We aren’t even given most of their official names, just their relation to the main characters. So, assumably, it would be a breath of fresh air when Ruth came along; finally, a story with a female protagonist! But, unfortunately, I don’t think I’m sold. See, almost the entirety of the story involves Ruth’s internal thoughts as she struggles with the relationships in her life. Although I can see the pain Ruth has constantly had to endure throughout her life, I found her a somewhat frivolous and uninspiring character, as she thinks more about the men in her life than her own job or her future.

Now, with that being said, I do sympathize with Ruth. She escaped the claws of her religious, conservative family by fleeing to New York, a place seemingly symbolizing freedom and new adventure; a place where she could start a new life, out of the hands of those who wish to control her. But, unfortunately, New York ends up not being the safe haven she had hoped for. She came with heavy baggage on her shoulders. After getting caught being in a room along with a boy, she is proclaimed as “dirty” by her family, a label that she carries without wherever she goes. When she runs away with Arthur to apparently the land of promises, she begins to realize the problems she has made. First, Arthur is a controlling partner, never quite satisfied with Ruth’s personality. He opts to change her by sending her to school and dressing her the way he wishes. On the other hand, Ruth does credit him with allowing her to somewhat accept herself. “Through him, she got over feeling that she was black and unattractive and as soon as this happened she was able to leave him” (209). Once he had finished remaking her into the woman he wished to be with, she found the courage to go off on her own path. With Arthur, she felt like she was unable to move and breath the way she wished, for he was molding her into his ideal sculpture. Good thing she was able to leave him, right?

No. In fact, she got about a year or so of a break until she found Paul. Now, after leaving Arthur, Ruth found herself some new found independence. She found that she was able to support herself financially with her newly learned skills, and so I believe that she enjoyed Paul’s presence because she was not only able to support herself, but him as well. But, while Paul became seemingly financially dependent on Ruth, she became emotionally dependent on him. Even though now, she doesn’t even love him, she feels like he has a hold on her. “She had no place to go, she only wanted him. She had tried hard to want other men, and she was still young, only twenty-six, and there was no real lack of opportunity. But all she knew about other men was that they were not Paul” (199). At this point, she can’t image life without Paul. Even though she does not love him and thinks constantly of when he will end it between them, she is lost without him. Paul has created this void in her life that can’t be filled by any other man. She feels incomplete without Paul in her life.

It’s unfortunate that Ruth flees to New York, in search of a new life, a life of freedom and new opportunities, but  finds herself stuck, unable to break the molds others have set her in. She describes the scenery of Manhattan as: “For her as for most of Manhattan, trees and water ceased to be realities; the nervous, trusting landscape of the city began to be the landscape of her mind. As soon her mind, like life on the island, seemed to be incapable of flexibility, of moving outward, could only shriek upward into the meaningless abstractions or drop downward into cruelty and confusion” (203). The idea of Manhattan was this place where she could have a fresh start, but in reality, it has caged her in. She allows others decide her fate for her, leaving her no room and opportunity to expand the fields she wished to. She has found herself stuck in two dimensions, unable to break into the third. As she stays with Paul, she will increasingly find herself being reduced to the first dimension; a point. A dot that will stay stagnant, under the control of those she depends on.

But, like I said earlier, although I can see and sympathize with Ruth’s situation, I didn’t see her as a very compelling character. Perhaps it was the constant mentioning of her relationships that got to me, for she came off as sort of a drama queen. Now, I can’t even fathom being in such a binding situation where you are unable to move an inch onto your own path, but I still can’t seem to find Ruth a likable character. Her constant mention of the fact that her boyfriend might break up with her seems so middle/ high school - esque. We even get snippets of her conversations with Paul, where he doesn’t seem like he is going to break Ruth’s heart, and yet she builds the reader up to think so. She makes up situations in her head, not allowing life to come at her and take her where it pleases. She came to New York, in search of a free spirit, but she hasn’t let her feet leave the ground yet. Her mind doesn’t take the time to be concerned about herself, for she only thinks about those around her. She too worried about how her past has affected her in instead of focusing on what lies ahead.

Cryptic Endings

A very symbolic moment that caught my attention was the last scene in Baldwin’s “This Morning, This Evening, So Soon”. In it, the narrator picks up his son from a family friend’s place and proceeds to take him back to their room in order to get read for their journey to America. The two ride an elevator up with Paul, the narrator’s son, in his father’s arms.

I put him on my shoulder and walk out into the hall. Mme. Dumont looks up at him with her radiant, aging face.

“Ah,” she says, “you are going on a journey! How does it feel?”

“He doesn’t know yet,” I tell her. I walk to the elevator door and open in, dropping Paul down to the crook of my arm.

“She laughs again. “He will know later. What a journey! Fusqu’au nouveau monde!”

I open the cage and we step inside. “Yes,” I say, “all the way to the new world.” I press the button and the cage, holding my son and me, goes up.

Now, initially, this scene could be read as pretty straight forward. The narrator and his son are about to travel all the way to the new world and they are taking an elevator to their room so they can pack and head off. But, after Mr. Mitchell mentioned the possibly symbolism regarding the referral of the elevator as a “cage”, I began to think of alternative meanings to this ending. So, the first aspect to focus on is, as Mr. Mitchell pointed out, the “cage” that the narrator and his son ride to their room. The use of the word “cage” implies confinement, which is what the narrator has been getting at as he describes his past experiences in America and why they haunt him to this day. During his childhood, the narrator felt trapped in this role of always needing to serves to the white man’s needs. He had to be overly polite, subservient, while also giving them the benefit of the doubt. As he states when talking about Louisa’s experience with white people, “all the white people she had ever met needed, in one way or another, to be reassured, consoled, to have their consciences pricked but not blasted; could not, could not afford to hear a truth which would shatter, irrevocably, their image of themselves” (151). In their experience, in every aspect of their lives, they have had to cater to the white man’s needs. (And woman’s, for that matter). Even if they were being treated cruelly, they had to show them that their hearts meant well, even though they didn’t. They were forcibly put into this role that they never even auditioned for. Their lives were spent caged in this bubble, a confined space of which they didn’t have the power to break out of, having to obey the spoken and unspoken rules and regulations of white people. And now, moving to America with his family, the narrator worries that he’s just bringing his son and wife into the bubble with him.

Throughout this ending scene, the narrator seems very sarcastic, nervous, and a little pessimistic, which is very reasonable. His life may never be the same once he steps foot on American soil. And if he and his family’s life changes for the worse, he could be held responsible. He is the one bringing his family along in order to further his career, so he would be responsible if the environment ends up tearing them apart. He is the one bring his son into this cage, one that they may not be able to make their way out of.

A last observation that I noticed is that, when the narrator walks into his son’s room, Paul is asleep. In the beginning, we see that the narrator is worried about preserving his son’s innocence, and that if/ once he brings him to America, he will assumably be immersed in a hateful, racist environment, seemingly tainting his innocence. But, after talking to Vital, the narrator decides that they must travel to America, and so he wakes up his son, picks him up, and takes him into the elevator, which is one of the first steps in their journey. The narrator picks up his son and takes him into the elevator, but he says that they are going “all the way to the new world”. In this, the narrator could be inferring that they will soon enter a world where he can’t always hold his son’s hand. Paul is going to have to experience the harshness of the world sometime or another, and the time is now.

Now, all of this could be completely false, and Baldwin could be thinking of a different meaning behind his ending, but it’s interesting to see how this short ending can be interpreted in numerous ways. All in all, we know that the narrator has discovered that racism is everywhere and that Paris isn’t immune to it, so he sees that America may not be just a bad idea. There will be troubles adjusting, but the hope is that his family will stay strong as they travel overseas to the new world.

Nightmares to Reality

In “This Morning, This Evening, So Soon”, it’s interesting to see how the narrator’s life has changed since he’s left America and moved to Paris, and to speculate how his life will be when he returns. As he and his family prepare to relocate to America, where he can further his film career, the narrator has some concerns. He experiences flashbacks of when he was in the states and was constantly having to be on his toes, afraid to say the wrong word or use the wrong tone. Scared to be verbally, physically, and emotionally harassed, and being unable to do anything about it. “I had not had to deal with these faces in so long and I had forgotten how to do it. I had once known how to pitch my voice precisely between curtness and servility, and known what razor’s edge of a pickaninny’s smile would turn away wrath. But I had forgotten all the tricks on which my life had once depended on” (163). Just thinking about going through customs makes the narrator on edge. Throughout his life in the states, he went through immense psychologically (along with physical) torture, constantly having to play the role of the subservient, yet not too weak, black person living in a white man’s world. And now, he will be bring his family to America, and they will assumably have to endure the same thing.

But, there is more behind all of this. Once he moved to Paris, the narrator states that he felt free, not being constantly watched by those around him. He states that when he fell in love, he not only fell in love with his soon-to-be wife, but also Paris itself. “During all the years of my life, until that moment, I had carried the menacing, the hostile, killing world with me everywhere...that world on which I knew one could never turn one’s back, the white man’s world. And for the first time in my life I was free of it...For the first time in my life I had not been afraid of the patriotism of the mindless, in uniform or out, who would beat me up and treat the woman who was with me as though she were the lowest of untouchables” (158). Paris has provided the narrator with this safe haven, one where he’s left alone and isn’t judged by the color of his skin or the woman he is with. His wife, Harriet, is a white woman from Sweden. She has never been to America, so she has no idea what the kind of environment is like there. The narrator worries that when he brings her with him to America, she will be judged and ridiculed for her choosing of her husband. A white woman with a black man is seemingly unheard of, and would cause an outcry among the American people. This could possibly cause tension in their marriage, as they will have to fight through the all the pain other may cause them in order to see why they found and stayed with each other in the first place.

Another area of concern is Harriet’s and her husband’s son, Paul. Now, Paul is mixed, and this if fine in Paris, but it may not be taken so lightly when in America. The child of a white woman and black man could cause him to be seriously bullied in school. At his age, Paul still is very innocent, and the idea of him coming to America, immersing him in a dangerous, racist environment that his father remembers so vividly, worries the narrator. He won’t be able to protect his son from everything, and he will probably have to learn the hard way that things are different overseas.

Now, all of these are legitimate concerns, since the narrator has experienced the harsh, racist environment in America first hand. Knowing his background and concerns, it was interesting to speculate how his life will be once he gets to America. (Props to the group that led the discussion on Friday for coming up with this notebook prompt). So, typical answers to the prompt included that Paul would be bullied, Harriet may be able to fit in for a little bit until people find out that she’s married to a black man, and the narrator’s success may rely on how well he’s received, even though he is black. Now, these are all possible, and would confirm the narrator’s nightmares. But, while writing my answer for this prompt, I decided to take it in a creative route, one that would probably be unlikely, but I was having fun with it so here it is:

The whole family is on edge, specifically the father, on the trip to America. They are all nervous, wondering how they will be received. When they get to customs, even with the narrator’s grief, the whole family gets through fine with just a few judgemental stares from the officials. But, once they begin to settle in, things start to go south. The husband is very successful in his acting and is received relatively well among the community. But, his family endures a lot of backlash (subtle, but still present). Harriet is ridiculed in the community for marrying black man and having a child with him. Paul, being the son of two different races, is seriously bullied in school, prompting his mother to take him out and begin homeschooling. The husband is blind from all his family problems because he has been swept up in the fame. This causes marital tensions as Harriet begs her husband to look past all the lights and camera and see that they are suffering. Harriet then considers to take her son and leave and find a place where they can be safe...Well, this story could go on, but I wouldn’t want to give too much away to possible screenwriters. (Also, I didn’t have time to think about what would happen next).

So, this little plot line is just a “what if”, since Baldwin leaves us with the family getting ready to begin their journey to the states. But, it is definitely reasonable that the narrator is having nightmares over his experiences in America and worries about what will happen to him and his family once he returns. It will certainly be a drastically different environment than Paris, which has proved to be very open to the narrator and his family. My hope would be that societal pressure won’t break up the family, for it seems that the bond they made in Paris was very special and hopefully can’t be broken by American harshness and racism.

Has He Changed?

An interesting question that can be posed after reading James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blue” is if the narrator has changed. In the beginning, we get the sense that the narrator feels like he’s above most people. I mean, it is pretty impressive that he has relatively paved his own way by focusing on his education. He kept his mind straight, avoiding the many distractions I’ll bet he encountered on his way to becoming a math teacher. Because of this, he tends to look down upon those who lose track of their education. This is evident when he runs into one of Sonny’s friends and states, “I hated him. I couldn't stand the way he looked at me, partly like a dog, partly like a cunning child” (105). The narrator takes one look at this “boy” and equates him with a immature, misguided child who has no business hanging around the school playground. Now, first of all, the narrator remembers that this “boy” was one of Sonny’s friends, so I’m assuming that, right off the bat, the narrator is starting to place the blame of Sonny being arrested on this mystery guy. In fact, he refers to him as a child, even though he is a grown-up man. The narrator is stating that this man has yet to grow up and find a life for himself, unlike the narrator, who has become a successful mathematics teacher. In the narrator’s mind, this man has yet to move forward with his life as it seems like he has no direction to go with the way he’s living.

But, the narrator has a slight change of heart (don’t get too excited though) when this man mentions that he’s scared that Sonny’s incarceration could possibly be his fault. Having heard this, the narrator states, “I began to listen more carefully” (107). Listening proves to be very hard for the narrator, as we’ll see later on, because he believes that he doesn’t have to listen to those below him. He’s made a successful life for himself, so why should he listen to those who haven’t? But, once he sees that this man is handling the situation with Sonny better, seemingly acting more mature than he is, he begins to listen, because right now, he is wading in unfamiliar territory. Sonny and his brother barely even know each other and so the narrator is struggling with the idea that maybe it’s too late for Sonny and his help. Thankfully, the narrator decides to write to Sonny, even though it takes him a while, he still reaches out to his brother.

This leads me to when he and Sonny sit down and talk about the future. Now, I know this is before Sonny gets arrested, but this scene comes when the narrator is reminiscing and it helps play into my third point...so deal with it. Now, as the narrator sits down with his brother and asks him what he wants to do with his future, it seems as if he asks a loaded question. “What do you want to do?” (119). Now, this kind of question seems open ended, but I’m sure that is not the case with the narrator. He asks this question with the intent of wondering how far in the educational system Sonny will go up to, like if he’ll possibly become a math teacher like his older brother. So, he is surprised, and disappointed, to find out that Sonny plans to drop out of school to become a musician, a jazz musical to be specific. Now, the idea of become a jazz musician in particular doesn’t resonate with the narrator. Sonny’s brother is a math teacher, so he is a man of formulas and control. But, with jazz musicians, people are allowed to let free and improvise, assumably not having a clear path in life. Also, the narrator is seen to belong to a respectable class, and jazz musicians are seen as a rough group of people. (Sorry for the Mr. Sutton reference, but once Aarthi mentioned it in class, I couldn't get it out of my head). Sonny’s brother believes that there is a formula to life: go to school, get a job, and live a stable life. At the moment, Sonny is sacrificing step one, messing up the entire formula and leaving his life up for grabs. The narrator doesn’t get the meaning behind Sonny’s decision because it doesn’t fit into any formula, it’s more broad and free.

This leads me to the final scene, where the narrator actually hears his brother play the keys and seemingly has a revelation. “Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us to be free if we should listen, that he would never be free until we did...I saw my little girl again and felt Isabel’s tears again, and I felt my own tears begin to rise” (140). Sonny’s piano playing brings his brother back to his own family, ancestry, and even further. It helps him realize the true nature behind Sonny’s talents and why jazz music is so special to him. The narrator has never listened to true jazz music and so once he finally does, he can seemingly understand the real things that have happened in his and Sonny’s life. He can see that jazz is Sonny’s vehicle to fly free in life, just like heroin does to most people, assumably Sonny as well. The narrator is finally, after all these years, able to open his ears and heart to Sonny and accept him for who he is. He may not understand his brother’s choices, but he can see how talented he is and why he’s seemingly addicted to it.

But, the question still stands: Has the narrator changed? I mean, I do feel like he’s had a revelation, but soon, he will return to his job, a job that requires precision and order. Sonny has just given him a taste of his free lifestyle and it would be interested to see if this affected him in any way. I definitely believe that he will view his younger brother differently, but I don’t think the experience will change his personality. Part of why the description of the music Sonny produces is so magnificent, is because we are reading the account of someone who has never been introduced to this kind of music before. So, he doesn't’ truly understand the meaning behind everything, although he can see how the music is a kind of dance in that there’s a lot of push and pull among the musicians as they play together. So, has the narrator changed? Well, we can’t say for sure, because Baldwin leaves it open ended, but I think he won’t have changed much. He may have a new understanding for Sonny, but he will never stop being the brother who pushes his sibling to continue his education so he can have a stable life.

the role he was never born to play

In Baldwin’s “Previous Conditions”, we see the character Peter is in an unfortunate situation in life. He is constantly bombarded with racism in every aspect of his life. From his job to his living situations, he is always having to settle because of the color of his skin. This kind of life has made Peter tired. Tired of be constantly forced into a role he has never wanted to play. Coincidentally, Peter is an actor. He travels from city to city, in search of a job, one that he won’t be type casted in, like Native Son. But, as Peter states, “[He’s] not tall and [he’s] not even good looking and [he]can’t sing or dance and [he’s not white; so even at the best of times [he] wasn’t in much demand”(84). Peter has all the odds stacked against him. All he can do is act, which wouldn’t be so bad if he weren’t black. See, most white actors don’t need the embellishment of singing and dancing to help their acting career. But, being a black man auditioning for presumably white productions, he already faces a setback for the color of his skin, and since he can’t do much else, he’s basically screwed nine times out of 10.

Another way Peter has been screwed in life is his housing arrangements. We read of a particular situation where Peter gets kicked out of his rented room for being black because he’s scaring the other tenants. Although I disagree with the act of kicking Peter out because he’s black, I do see the reasoning behind the landlady’s actions. Housing people is her profession, and, as she states, “I don’t have nothing against you, but you gotta get out”(91), she just values multiple tenants and the revenue they produce over just him. She runs a business and, unfortunately, she must make sacrifices. Now, we don’t know if she’s racist or not. In fact, all we know is that she is scared of kicking Peter out, assumably because she racially profiled him as aggressive and dangerous. She is scared to kick him out because of what she thinks he might do to her. She even threatens to bring in law enforcement, pointing out the fact that she has people on her side that will get this job done if he doesn’t leave. Basically, all throughout Peter’s life, it’s been him against the world. Even though he has friends, they don’t truly understand the pain he goes through on a daily basis.

This brings me to the third part of Peter’s life that unintentionally feeds to his disatisfaction, which is his friends. Now, I haven’t the slightest doubt that both Jules and Ida mean well when they try and talk to Peter about his problems, but, as Peter states it, they just don’t get it. Jules is a Jewish man, and although he experiences antisemitism, it’s not nearly as bad as Peter situation. This is because, on the outside, Jules is white. If people don’t know he’s Jewish, they just look at him like he’s your average white male sitting in a bar or walking down the street. But, Peter can’t do that. He wishes people didn’t judge him on the basis of his skin color, but he knows that people do it constantly, even when he’s walking down the street. Jules doesn’t have to sing and dance in order for people to accept him, the color of his skin does the talking. Unfortunately, Peter doesn’t have that luxury. I mean, his skin does some talking, but not in the way he prefers. In fact, he doesn’t even have to say or do anything in order to people to think negatively of him. He has no voice in this judgemental society.

Peter also has Ida, who is an Irish, white woman who married herself into money and attempts to help Peter is any way she can. It’s not clear what their relationship is (whether or not it’s platonic or romantic), but I do think that Ida means well in the ways she tries to help Peter. Unfortunately, like Jules, Ida has no idea what Peter goes through on a daily basis. She tries to console him by stating that other people have to deal with just as bad of problems, but it only makes the situation worse. The way I read it was that, by saying that, Ida was unintentionally telling Peter to grow up. Now, this seems like a very negative accusation, but it make sense. Ida is basically telling Peter that other people have problems too in other parts of the world, that he isn’t alone, and that they are dealing with them, so he should too. He should give in and accept his fate.

But, that’s it. Peter is sick and tired of getting in and settling for less than he deserves. Unlike Donald Trump, Peter hates that he is forced to settle. He’s trying to make his way out of Harlem, but he keeps getting knocked down by the white community. This causes him to not belong to either community, making him stuck in the middle with no way out. Peter just wants a day (or more optimistically, a life) without people constantly judging him and typecasting him. He’s even trying to play the part of a good, respectable citizen by being nice to policemen and paying his rent, but he just can’t seem to gain the respect of those who have already made up their mind about he and his race. It’s a very unfortunate situation and I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to live a life like that.

They’re Just so Lonely

In Baldwin’s “The Man Child”, one theme that I recognized is the idea of loneliness. Almost all the characters experience loneliness at some point in this story. Eric, Eric’s mother, Eric’s father, and Jamie all feel this emptiness in their lives. Jamie is the most obvious one because he has literally lost almost everything in his life. His wife left him and he wasn’t able to properly take care of his land, so his “best” friend, Eric’s father, had to take it off his hands. All Jamie has left is his dog, who seems to be a little crazy at times, and Eric’s father, who is apparently his best friend, but I’m not sure their friendship is as true as Eric may see it. Although they may have fought in the war together, it seems like, all his life, Jamie has always been subordinate to Eric’s father. It almost seems like that older-younger sibling relationship where you’re close, but the older sibling just seems to always do better in life. Things just seem to work out for them, leaving the younger sibling upset because they can’t seem to live up to their older sibling’s accomplishments. It’s sad because there’s nothing Jamie can really do about it. He is lost in life and things are just not working out for him.

Then we have Eric’s father, who seemingly has his whole life together, at least, compared to Jamie he does. He has a son, one who can look over the family lands once he gets too old. And then he also has another baby on the way. On the outside, life seems pretty good for Eric’s father. But, deep down, things aren’t okay. There’s a saying that adults always tell kids who are being bullied that states “If someone picks on you, that probably means they are insecure about themselves”. (This isn’t the exact saying, but ya’ll get the gist). One things that always bothered me about Eric’s father’s character, is that he feels the need to poke fun at Jamie’s life situation at any and every time he gets. But, I think he only does this because he’s trying to convince himself that his family situation is great, even though it may not be. His wife seems very distant from him and gets easily annoyed at his presence (mostly because his comments are very rude and somewhat disturbing). And his son doesn’t seem very interesting in the family business, or even the family at that matter. This is evident at the end scene, when in a dire situation, Eric offers Jamie all the land and even himself, offering Jamie the chance to kill his father and replace him. This is a very disturbing offer to be made, especially from a young child, and it comes to show just how dysfunctional this family is on the inside. Eric’s father can sense this and therefore tries to bring people together by having another child with his wife, providing a companion for Eric, while also offering to name the child after Jamie. Unfortunately, it comes off as him trying a little too hard, as in turn, it ends up pushing people away.

Then, we have the wife, whom I touched a little on earlier. Eric’s mother appears very tired with her marriage to her husband. Firstly, she has to cook and clean for her husband’s best friend, as if he’s her own husband/child. And secondly, she has to put up with Eric’s father’s possessive and negative comments towards her and Jamie. Eric’s mother seemingly has no say in this marriage, as she sits back and waits until she produces another child for her husband. Now, we can see that Eric is the only things she seems to truly love, so I would have no doubt that should would have loved her second child just the same. But, things took a turn for the worse as she miscarries and returns home to her only son. This event takes a huge toll on Eric’s mother, as she has just lost a huge pieces of her that would make her life a little bit more bearable. The loss of her second child has left her alone and hopeful that nothing will happen to Eric, for he is all that she has.

Not only does the loss of the second child effect Eric’s mother, but also his father. That child was a way that he was trying to keep the family happy and hopeful for the future. With the child gone, even though they still have Eric, a shadow seems to have been cast over the family as Eric’s father becomes very distant, straying away from his previous, peppy self, most likely because he has given up on a hopeful future.

All in all, it seems like all four characters experience some kind of loneliness. Although some appear to not be in order to save face, it is easy to see that there are tensions between all of them because of their discomfort around each other. Assumably, this family bond was doomed from the beginning, so as time presses on, things begin to become unbearable for all of them. One of them snaps, in a very unfortunate manner, and it deeply affects everyone.

Room: Off the Pages and on to the Big Screen

So, I know this isn’t related to this short story class, but last year in Hero's Journey, we read Emma Donoghue’s Room. I have written blog posts pertaining to this novel in the past, but if you don’t want to scroll back (I won’t judge), here’s a brief synopsis of the book: The book is told in the perspective of a five year old boy named Jack, who lives with his Ma in Room; a secured single-room garden shed containing a small kitchen, bathtub, wardrobe, bed, and TV set. Jack was born in Room, so he believes that only Room and the things it contains are real. The two are constantly visited by their captor, Old Nick, who brings them necessities every Sunday. Nick kidnapped Ma when she was only seventeen years old, and has kept her imprisoned for the past seven years; Jack is the product of Old Nick’s rape of Ma. The book begins at Jack’s 5th birthday where Ma begins explaining to Jack that there is an entire world outside of Room. She then devises a plan to get Jack out of Room so he can get help. She pretends Jack is sick when Old Nick visits, but he just tells her that he will get medicine. So, when he comes back with the drugs, she pretends that Jack has died and needs to be buried somewhere far away from Room. Jack, who has been rolled up inside of a rug, is then transported into the back of Old Nick’s truck, and taken away from Room. Per Ma’s instructions, Jack then rolls out of the rug and runs to the nearest person, who then contacts the police. In spite of his fear, confusion, and inability to communicate effectively, Jack directs the police to Room to free Ma. The two and then taken to a mental hospital, where they receive medical evaluations and a temporary home. Ma and Jack are then reunited with Ma’s family as they struggle to learn (relearn in Ma’s case) how to interact with the larger world. Jack feels overwhelmed by new experienced and people, stating that he only wants to return to the safety or Room. Meanwhile, the case has attracted a lot of attention from the media, making it even harder for Jack and his mother to start living a normal life. After a television interview that ends badly, Ma suffers a mental breakdown and attempts suicide. Jack then goes to live with his grandmother and her new partner for several days. The rest of the book basically discusses how Ma and Jack learn to readjust to the outside world. It is a very powerful book and I would recommend it to anyone who’s willing to read a heart wrenching story.

Room was published in 2010, and was written by Emma Donoghue, who drew her inspiration for the story after hearing about five-year-old Felix in the Fritzl case. In 2015, there was a film adaption, starring Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, with Larson winning the Oscar for Best Actress. Now, I just recently watched the movie and wanted to write this post explaining the similarities and differences between it and the book. Even though the script was co-written by Emma Donoghue herself, there still were some changes that made me unhappy.

First is that the most poignant aspect of the novel is that it is told in the perspective of Jack, a five-year-old boy. Because of this, we are given this innocent view of a horrible situation. If we were given Ma’s perspective, we wouldn’t be reading everything in such a positive light. But, in the film, the perspective of the story jumps from being on the outside to Jack’s perspective. Although I don’t know how successful the movie would have been if it was entirely from Jack’s perspective (mostly because that would be a considerably hard thing to accomplish), but it definitely disappointed me a little, being a huge supporter of the novel.

Another difference was Old Nick. Now, in the book, Old Nick is presented as this looming shadow that haunts Ma. Jack is scared of Old Nick and stays away from him, but only because Ma says he should. In the book, we never see Old Nick’s face, giving the feeling that he is this faceless monster who lurks in the shadows of Room. But, in the movie, we do see Old Nick’s face. In fact, we even jump to his perspective when he hears Jack making noise in the wardrobe and therefore proceeds to approach the wardrobe until Ma distracts him. Although, in a way, it’s nice to give Old Nick a face in the movie, I definitely think it didn’t capture his true, dark personality as well as the book did. Giving Old Nick this faceless character added to how horrible this whole situation was.

Finally, after Jack and Ma get out, I felt like the rest of the movie was rushed. In the novel, half of it is dedicated to Jack and Ma inside Room, and the other half is them adjusting to the outside. The movie is about two hours long, and I’m just sure exactly how they split it up, but it felt like an hour and a half focused on Ma and Jack in Room, while the last thirty minutes showed them outside of Room. Because of this, valuable scenes were lost, especially scenes of Jack interacting with things outside of Room. (For readers of Room, the scene where Jack goes to the mall is totally lost. Also, the bond that forms between Jack and Leo is also fairly absent...sorry if this is a spoiler).

All in all, although I liked the film adaption, I feel like, since I read to book before hand, I already knew what was going to happen, so I just criticized the movie while watching it. Although some scenes were left out, I think the filmmakers did a decent job recreating the book. (Assumably because the author was helping them). I would definitely recommend reading the book before watching the movie (as it usually is in all cases with books and film adaptations), because the book creates a more poignant atmosphere. The movie kind of rushes things, while the book takes its time and really submerges you into Jack’s world. All in all, it is well worth the read and was worth it to watch as well.

Baldwin's Lion King

Just as a heads up, this post may seem pretty long, but it has a lot of pictures and videos. Also, sorry if I spoil anything for those who haven’t seen The Lion King, but I hope this post will then convince ya’ll to see it because it’s my favorite Disney movie. Anyways, enjoy.

So, I know I mentioned this in class, but throughout the Baldwin’s story, “The Man Child”, I was getting some serious Lion King vibes. If it’s been awhile since you’ve watched The Lion King, or you haven’t at all (of which I believe is a travesty and that you must watch it right way), here is a brief synopsis: In the Pride Lands of Africa, a lion rules over the animals as king. The birth of King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi’s son, Simba, creates envy and resentment in Mufasa’s younger brother, Scar, who knows his nephew will now replace him as heir to the throne. After Simba has grown into a young cub, Mufasa gives him a tour of the Pride Lands, teaching him the responsibilities of being a king and the circle of life. Later on, Scar lures Simba to a gorge and tells him to wait there while he gets Mufasa. On Scar’s orders, a band of hyenas stampede a large herd of wildebeest into the gorge. Mufasa saves Simba, but as Mufasa tries to climb up the gorge’s walls, Scar throws him back into the stampede, where he is trampled to death. After Simba finds Mufasa’s body, Scar convinces him he was responsible for his father’s death and advises Simba to flee the kingdom. Scar then proceeds to take over as king of the Pride Lands...Well, you all get the picture. Typical Disney stuff. If you don’t know the rest of the story, and would like to know, you can watch the movie or read more online.

In Baldwin’s story, once we get to the scene when Eric takes a walk with his father, where he is shown the land that his will inherit once his father becomes too old to run it, my Lion King senses started going off like mad. There is a scene in The Lion King that parallels this almost completely. (Except with lions, of course).

Interestingly enough, Mufasa, like Eric, also talks about the sun. Mufasa uses the sun to illustrate to Simba how, in the future, he will have to step down as king, and Simba will rise up as the new leader of the Pride Lands. In the scene with Eric and his father, Eric’s father explains that once he gets old, Eric will have to look over the land, along with Eric’s children. In this scene, Eric’s father is introducing to him the responsibilities that he will eventually inherit. It’s a scene to shows a powerful bond between a father and son.

Another parallel between “The Man Child” and The Lion King was the whole situation with Jamie. Now, although there aren’t clear similarities, Jamie reminds me a lot of Scar. First, is the relationship between Jamie and Eric’s father. Now, in The Lion King, Scar and Mufasa are brothers, and there is a lot of tension between them, especially since Mufasa was first born, so he inherited the Pride Lands, and then he bore a son, so basically Scar has no chance of inheriting the lands at any point in time.

Although the relationship between Scar and Mufasa doesn’t directly correlate to Jamie and Eric’s father, they do share some resemblances. One of which being that Scar could have ruled over the Pride Lands, if he hadn’t been born second. In Baldwin’s story, Jamie could have kept his land if he hadn’t apparently messed up his marriage and then failed to take care of his own land, leading Eric’s father to pay to take over it. In this sense, he makes Jamie seem weaker than Eric’s father, being the seemingly lesser fortunate of the two. Even though they are apparently close friends, inseparable even, there is still this competition for dominance, and Jamie is seemingly losing by a significant amount.

The last correlation has to do with the last scene of Baldwin’s story. In it, Jamie randomly kills Eric, leaving the reader to figure out why. Now, during Jamie’s birthday celebration, all Eric’s father does is poke fun at how unfortunate Jamie’s life has turned out. He enjoys making fun at the fact that his wife left him without a son, but that doesn’t matter because he has no land to hand down, even if he did have one. Eric’s father, on the other hand, has Eric, his only heir to the family land. Although, Eric’s mother had another boy on the way, but she got sick and miscarried, leaving the family with just Eric as its heir. One could speculate that Jamie saw how Eric’s father’s legacy hinges on Eric, since he is the lone son of the family. Assumably, this would be the reason why Jamie sought to kill Eric, so as to stop the family line to spite Eric’s father, who constantly makes fun of the fact that Jamie has no family line.

In The Lion King, during the stampede, Mufasa risks his life to save Simba. After he does so, he jumps up onto the rocks in order to get away from the rampant wildebeests. Scar awaits at the top of the rocks and while Mufasa struggles to climb to the top, Scar grabs Mufasa’s paws and throws them off the rocks, sending Mufasa down to his death.

After Simba finds his father dead, Scar convinces him that it was his fault that his father died, and he tells Simba to run away and never return. With Mufasa dead and Simba gone, Scar returns to Pride Rock and claims the spot of king.

There is also another similar scene in The Lion King where Scar and Simba fight. Simba comes back to claim his rightful spot as king of the Pride Lands. But, Scar isn’t so easy to give his newly given title up. The two fight, as seen in the picture below. In this, Scar has already killed the old king of the land, Mufasa, and now he is about to kill Mufasa’s son. This act would have him end that bloodline, allowing Scar to be the permanent king of the Pride Lands.

Now, although these are some loose connections, being an avid enthusiast of The Lion King, I got very excited when I saw some parallels. Whether or not this has convinced you that there are in fact similarities doesn’t really matter to me, because I just rewatched The Lion King...so I could properly assess the similarities between the two stories. (Completely for educational purposes only).