Despite initially liking Guitar, I haven't liked him much at all lately. Now that I've read chapter 13 though, I don't dislike him quite as much.
Even though his speech to Hagar about Milkman didn't help her in the end, he tried. As far as we know, he has never treated women as badly as Milkman used to. Had Guitar been able to help Hagar earlier on, maybe she wouldn't have ended up dead. Yes, he thinks to himself that she is spoiled, stingy, and greedy, but all of this is true. Guitar understands Hagar, and even though he thinks she is spoiled, stingy, and greedy, he also tries to help her. He tries to make her see sense. Yes, he fails, but Pilate and Reba fail too. He is not the only one. Guitar's redeeming characteristic, in my opinion, is his good treatment of women, especially Hagar.
Ultimately, I don't like Guitar very much. I think his ideas about killing white people for every black person that gets killed are crazy. I don't think that's the way he should be taking action. However, even while I hate his actions, I understand the intentions behind them. His intentions make sense to me, and his actions make sense too, because he has a right to be angry. When people are angry, they act irrationally. We've seen this with nearly every character in this book from Hagar to Macon Dead II.
I can't dislike Guitar as much as I did before though. Even though he tried to kill his best friend (who I feel sympathy for, partly because he is the main character) and is involved in the Seven Days, he tries to help those who need it. He really understands Hagar, and that shows his ability to sympathize with people and to care about people. Guitar was able to love and has loved, but he's been hurt by love all throughout his life. It makes sense for him to understand Hagar, and it also makes sense for him to be tough and irrational about killing white people and even trying to kill his best friend.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Friday, December 9, 2011
Flying
"It was a warm dreamy sleep all about flying, about sailing high over the earth. But not with arms stretched out like airplane wings, not shot forward like Superman in a horizontal dive, but floating, cruising, in the relaxed position of a man lying on a couch reading a newspaper. Part of his flight was over the dark sea, but it didn't frighten him because he knew he could not fall. He was alone in the sky, but somebody was applauding him, watching him and applauding. He couldn't see who it was." (Song of Solomon, page 298)
After meeting Guitar for the second time since Guitar has decided to kill him, Milkman goes back to Sweet's house and "[sleeps] the night in her perfect arms." He has just learned why Guitar wants to kill him and has told his friend that he never found any gold. This point is just before the morning when he reconsiders his entire life, and consciously recognizes that he has needed to change.
Flying has been an important image throughout this book, so when I read this passage it struck me. Milkman finally seems at peace. His flight is like "floating, cruising, in the relaxed position of a man lying on a couch reading a newspaper." He imagines someone "watching him and applauding." I would argue that this night marks him really growing from a boy into a man. His flight is easy and relaxed, rather than uneasy and hurried. This idea that he has now really changed is supported the next morning when he consciously realizes it. Maybe this dream about flying is Milkman unconsciously realizing that he has changed.
After meeting Guitar for the second time since Guitar has decided to kill him, Milkman goes back to Sweet's house and "[sleeps] the night in her perfect arms." He has just learned why Guitar wants to kill him and has told his friend that he never found any gold. This point is just before the morning when he reconsiders his entire life, and consciously recognizes that he has needed to change.
Flying has been an important image throughout this book, so when I read this passage it struck me. Milkman finally seems at peace. His flight is like "floating, cruising, in the relaxed position of a man lying on a couch reading a newspaper." He imagines someone "watching him and applauding." I would argue that this night marks him really growing from a boy into a man. His flight is easy and relaxed, rather than uneasy and hurried. This idea that he has now really changed is supported the next morning when he consciously realizes it. Maybe this dream about flying is Milkman unconsciously realizing that he has changed.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Song of Solomon and Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man
"He was as eager and happy as he had ever been in his life."
I think so far, chapter 12 is my favorite in this book. In it, Milkman consciously considers his entire life, his family, and his personality. He realizes that he's changed and reflects on what a jerk he has been. We were talking in class about how we weren't completely sure the change would carry over and how he may not consciously realize he has changed...but this chapter is proof that he has changed and taken note of that change.
As I was reading this chapter and reading through all of Milkman's "revelations" I was reminded of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, which we read in Coming-of-Age. I remember being kind of disappointed by Portrait because Stephen Dedalus had SO MANY false "coming-of-age" moments. Reading Song of Solomon, I was a bit worried it would turn out similarly to the way Portrait did--leaving plenty to be desired. However, I am loving the way Song of Solomon is turning out. In this chapter, he has completely changed his way of thinking about his family, relationships, and all the women in his life (which is a huge deal considering the sexist ways in which he used to think), and he has also discovered significant information about his family and his past, not by being told creepy perverse stories, but by using his own mind and finding the information himself.
Milkman has finally (at almost 40 years old) grown up from the little boy in between his parents in the car, facing everything behind him but being made uncomfortable by everything he saw that had already happened without his input. Now that he can face his past, find his ancestors, and learn their stories, he has no reason to be scared of the past. Furthermore, when he thinks about the "perverted" part of the past now, it no longer seems perverse. He understand his "weird" mother and his controlling, greedy father. He's not selfish anymore and truly cares about how other people feel--his instinctive remembrance of Hagar when he was about to die has become more than just a passing thought. He now considers her feelings as important and significant, and even more importantly, recognizes his past cruelty toward her.
So the only question now is, will Macon Dead III escape death? Will he die at the hands of his first real friend, or will he be allowed to live a long life, enjoying the benefits of his new, mature personality?
I think so far, chapter 12 is my favorite in this book. In it, Milkman consciously considers his entire life, his family, and his personality. He realizes that he's changed and reflects on what a jerk he has been. We were talking in class about how we weren't completely sure the change would carry over and how he may not consciously realize he has changed...but this chapter is proof that he has changed and taken note of that change.
As I was reading this chapter and reading through all of Milkman's "revelations" I was reminded of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, which we read in Coming-of-Age. I remember being kind of disappointed by Portrait because Stephen Dedalus had SO MANY false "coming-of-age" moments. Reading Song of Solomon, I was a bit worried it would turn out similarly to the way Portrait did--leaving plenty to be desired. However, I am loving the way Song of Solomon is turning out. In this chapter, he has completely changed his way of thinking about his family, relationships, and all the women in his life (which is a huge deal considering the sexist ways in which he used to think), and he has also discovered significant information about his family and his past, not by being told creepy perverse stories, but by using his own mind and finding the information himself.
Milkman has finally (at almost 40 years old) grown up from the little boy in between his parents in the car, facing everything behind him but being made uncomfortable by everything he saw that had already happened without his input. Now that he can face his past, find his ancestors, and learn their stories, he has no reason to be scared of the past. Furthermore, when he thinks about the "perverted" part of the past now, it no longer seems perverse. He understand his "weird" mother and his controlling, greedy father. He's not selfish anymore and truly cares about how other people feel--his instinctive remembrance of Hagar when he was about to die has become more than just a passing thought. He now considers her feelings as important and significant, and even more importantly, recognizes his past cruelty toward her.
So the only question now is, will Macon Dead III escape death? Will he die at the hands of his first real friend, or will he be allowed to live a long life, enjoying the benefits of his new, mature personality?
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
The Voice of Reason
So far, the only person in Song of Solomon who seems mature and reasonable to me is Pilate. All of the other characters seem to be either far too "young at heart" or are just impossible for me to understand. It seems this has a lot to do with gender--the women generally seem to be the "younger" ones, while the men have control over them and are able to make them "crazy." Let's start with the Dead household: Macon Dead (II) is clearly in control, and is very controlling. I almost understand him, but he just seems so incredibly greedy, abusive, oppressive, and mean. Because of his jealousy complex, he abuses his wife, and therefore abuses his son in an attempt to further abuse his wife (whether he is consciously trying to abuse Ruth is debatable, but maybe it doesn't even matter), he oppresses all of his family members as if they are all very badly-behaved young children, and he is greedy for money and status, which is demonstrated by his crazy attempts to find the gold from the cave.
Now, if we analyze relationships with people outside of the Dead household, we see the same sort of gender dynamic. Milkman is a cowardly jerk in his relationship with Hagar, and although she is older than him, she seems like a child throwing a tantrum when he leaves her. This is entirely Milkman's fault, because he has treated her like something to be ashamed of for years. He has become his father in this respect, because he is emotionally abusing Hagar in the same way that Macon emotionally abuses Ruth. At least Milkman hasn't physically abused Hagar (as far as we know). In this relationship, Milkman is in the power position: he gets to make all the decisions and treat Hagar like a child. Of course, this puts Hagar below him in a very childlike position.
Looking at Corinthians's relationship with Porter draws similar conclusions. Although Corinthians is above Porter status-wise, she is humbled by Porter and must almost literally throw herself at his feet. Porter seems very much like the adult in this situation where she is banging on his window and then lies across the hood of his car, because he allows her to have her "tantrum," then rationally and calmly comforts her, and then gets his way and takes her home with him. This seems to be the most healthy romantic relationship in the book though. Corinthians genuinely cares about Porter and he seems to genuinely care about her. Of course, it is crushed by Macon (and Milkman who is dying to have the power that his father does).
Who keeps their head on throughout all of this? Pilate. Pilate is strong and tall like Macon, and this is a symbol for being just as powerful as a man. She is calm, cool, and rational, even more so than Macon, and gets her way for the benefit of not just herself, but for those she loves. Sure, Pilate is eccentric and a little bit weird, but she is incredibly intelligent. She is also pure--not in a childlike way, but in a non-corrupt way. In this way, she is similar to other women who maintain their childhood and therefore their purity in a sense. Pilate, however, does this in a very adult way. She doesn't become corrupt, power-hungry, and greedy like Macon and Milkman do; she sees the value in human life over the value of a bag of gold. Even though she didn't kill the man in the cave, she took responsibility for it and went back for the bones, in respect for the dead. Pilate is my favorite character in this book. She is confident and strong like a typical man, but she has not become corrupt and cruel the way so many male characters have.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
An Online Journal Entry Reflecting on the Online Journal
I have really enjoyed keeping an online journal for this class. Although I do understand (and agree with) many of the reasons for keeping notebook journals, I definitely prefer this online method. The main advantage to actually writing on paper, for me, is that writing fits more with the pace of critical thinking. However, I think that writing a little bit in our notebooks at the beginning of some class periods is a great way to balance this out and keep up some good old fashioned pencil-and-paper writing.
I like the online journal so much because I have found that it forces me to write better--and to think better too. Since I know everybody can see that I am keeping up with writing or not keeping up with it, I am much more motivated to stay on top of things. Furthermore, because this is a published blog that anybody can read, I try to make my writing better, or at least write so that my ideas make more sense--I flesh them out more than I would in a notebook. This is good, because the more I flesh out an idea, the more I am forced to critically think about that one idea and delve even deeper into it than I originally intended. I do feel like this has improved my writing and made response papers much easier (the notebook did this too, but not to the same degree).
I can see why people don't love the online journal. When we're stressed and neglecting it, it becomes obvious that we haven't done any work in a while. Not only is it much harder to procrastinate, but procrastination also leads to much more guilt. This is a good thing, because it forces us to update our blogs more regularly and be less stressed to throw something together the night before it's due (not that everybody did that; but occasionally I'm sure we all felt a bit rushed during that week of the journal deadline). It's also difficult to write for the public. Even though it's not likely other people will read this blog, it is very public to our classmates. While I think this makes for even better writing, it does not allow for as much scattered writing or more reflective writing that we may not want to publish on the internet. I think the simple solution to this is for us to write in notebooks if we feel compelled to write something that we don't want to publish. Or, we could simply compose a post but not publish it. Then we would still be doing all types of writing, but we could simply write without publishing.
The biggest advantage I see to an online journal is that it is easy to keep track of. I remember Mr. Mitchell stressing in Coming of Age that he wanted our journals to be something we could look back on as a record of our thoughts the first time we read these books. I agree that the journals are extremely valuable in that sense, and the fact that they are online makes it much easier to keep track of them (paper notebooks are much easier to lose over the years). So even if we didn't publish everything we wrote on these blogs, we could still come back to them ten years later and read both the published and unpublished entries, without having to worry about searching our old school things for an easy-to-lose paper notebook.
Overall, I really like the online journals and hope that they will continue to be used in years to come (and if they aren't, then I'm glad I at least got to create one), but I also see the value of private paper-and-pencil writing and I hope that remains a part of this class as well.
I like the online journal so much because I have found that it forces me to write better--and to think better too. Since I know everybody can see that I am keeping up with writing or not keeping up with it, I am much more motivated to stay on top of things. Furthermore, because this is a published blog that anybody can read, I try to make my writing better, or at least write so that my ideas make more sense--I flesh them out more than I would in a notebook. This is good, because the more I flesh out an idea, the more I am forced to critically think about that one idea and delve even deeper into it than I originally intended. I do feel like this has improved my writing and made response papers much easier (the notebook did this too, but not to the same degree).
I can see why people don't love the online journal. When we're stressed and neglecting it, it becomes obvious that we haven't done any work in a while. Not only is it much harder to procrastinate, but procrastination also leads to much more guilt. This is a good thing, because it forces us to update our blogs more regularly and be less stressed to throw something together the night before it's due (not that everybody did that; but occasionally I'm sure we all felt a bit rushed during that week of the journal deadline). It's also difficult to write for the public. Even though it's not likely other people will read this blog, it is very public to our classmates. While I think this makes for even better writing, it does not allow for as much scattered writing or more reflective writing that we may not want to publish on the internet. I think the simple solution to this is for us to write in notebooks if we feel compelled to write something that we don't want to publish. Or, we could simply compose a post but not publish it. Then we would still be doing all types of writing, but we could simply write without publishing.
The biggest advantage I see to an online journal is that it is easy to keep track of. I remember Mr. Mitchell stressing in Coming of Age that he wanted our journals to be something we could look back on as a record of our thoughts the first time we read these books. I agree that the journals are extremely valuable in that sense, and the fact that they are online makes it much easier to keep track of them (paper notebooks are much easier to lose over the years). So even if we didn't publish everything we wrote on these blogs, we could still come back to them ten years later and read both the published and unpublished entries, without having to worry about searching our old school things for an easy-to-lose paper notebook.
Overall, I really like the online journals and hope that they will continue to be used in years to come (and if they aren't, then I'm glad I at least got to create one), but I also see the value of private paper-and-pencil writing and I hope that remains a part of this class as well.
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