Their Eyes Were Watching God: Relationships

   Every person has a past that affects their lives in some way. In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston creates a character, Janie Crawford, whose past relatives and other's opinions let control her life in someway. In this blog, I am going to discuss how Janie’s grandmother instilled ideals in her that manipulate Janie's own ideas and desires, and the end results of this.
   Almost everyone I know has religious view, political views, and morals that stem from their parents. So, Janie is not different from modern people today. It is easy to understand why Janie let her grandmothers ideas cloud her view of things when in her life. When you are raised by people, you are easily influenced by them. This also leads to kids lashing out and doing complete opposites of what they've been told. Which lots of teenagers do today, this is what I see Janie doing.

   As Janie is a young girl, her grandmother heavily influences the way she makes decisions. In the introductory chapters of the novel, readers learn of Janie’s grandmother’s and mother’s past experiences. While Janie is becoming older, she starts to think of marriage. Her grandmother tells her of how poorly men have treated her relatives, by raping them and leaving the women to fend for themselves. Janie’s grandmother advices her to choose a man who can provide stability for her. Her grandmother talks of Logan Killicks only as stability. She says "'Tain't Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, it's protection" (15). Her decision to marry her first husband, Logan Killicks is purely to have a financially stable life. Her grandmother’s past and advice affect her decision making negatively because she is only in search for stability, not for love. She only does this because she knows that being a black woman, she would never be able to be on her own. The negativity from Janie’s first marriage follows her into her second.

   Janie’s next marriage is influenced negatively from her first. When Janie leaves her husband Logan, for her next, she believes it is for the right reasons. Unlike her first husband Logan, Joe Starks is not as financially reliable. As Janie pursues this next relationship, it is clearly evident she is searching for someone more closely fit for her. Due to the fact she never finds love with her first, she looks for immediate attraction, which she finds in Joe Starks due to he charisma and powerful attitude. The first thing she notices of him is clothes. She describes "the shirt with the silk sleeveholders was dazzling enough for the whole world... he walked liked he knew where he was going" (27). Though, as she finds out more through her marriage, she realizes attraction is not the only thing important in order to love a person. When Joe turns to hitting Janie to maintain her dominance over her, she decides she cannot love him. When Joe dies she is not sorrowful, but actually hopeful for her future that waits. Her marriage to Logan negatively affects her decision to marry Joe, but her marriage to Joe yet again changes her insight of love.

   When Janie meets Tea Cake, her relationship with Joe still cautions her. When Janie first meets Tea Cake, she is skeptical he might be using her for her money. As this idea fades, she begins to develop feelings for the young man unlike others she has before. Even this however, is not enough for her to fully trust the man she has fallen in love with. Then, Tea Cake steals her money and gambles it away, she ironically stays with him. Even after he does this she still feels a "self-crushing love" for him as he watched her asleep (128). It is then that she realizes love should not be about money or security, but about affection and passion. From her past relationships with her husbands, Janie learns to be cautious and not fall at face value or for material goods for a man. Her past relationships lead her to Tea Cake, and possibly contribute to her actions towards him.
   Janie's grandmother influenced her first relationship, and with her second and third, she was purposely going against what she learned was right from her and tried to go her own way. Although the second didn't work out well, she thought the third did with Tea Cake. This is what Janie thinks is true love. But really is it? Tea Cake beat her, stole from her, and controlled her yet she loved him unconditionally. The implications of this novel show what women look like in a abusive relationship. I think the novel did not end well because she was never treated well as she should have been, even if she truly was in love.
  

The Awakening: Literary Context and Conversation

The Awakening, a novella written by Kate Chopin, was an interesting text to analyze through the lens of a feminist critic. The story definitely highlights a lot of women struggles in the past and present and because of this, there have been a lot of critics of the novella, some even by feminist critics as well. So, that is why I focused on an article called “Kate Chopin's the Awakening as Feminist Criticism” by Emily Toth to understand a more in depth point of view of the novella.

            In this article, Toth’s main idea that she is trying to make is that The Awakening is didactic feminist literature. The dictionary.com definition of didactic is “intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive”. So, what she means by saying that the novella is a didactic feminist literature, is that she thinks that in Chopin’s writing, she is trying to show female struggle in the world that she lives in. In this, she thinks that Chopin is trying to show that women need to have “psychological, physical, social, and sexual emancipation” (Toth, 3). Although this was the main theme of the article, which she supported by context from novella, this is not what I would like to focus on from it.

            I think the most interesting thing the author brings up is the clothing that is brought up in the novella. She mentions several parts in the book that she thinks the author purposely uses as a parallel for Edna and her quest to freedom. She first brings up Edna’s little anecdote of when she was a young girl. While she is running through long grass as a little girl she says: “my sun-bonnet obstructed my view” (Toth, 4). Edna also casts off a lot of clothing throughout the novel, like in the end when she goes naked into the sea, or the first image of her when is not wearing her parasol and being scolded by her husband because of it. The author makes an interesting claim, in that the clothing parallels Edna’s in ability to see life for herself, and when she casts off her clothing, it parallels her becoming an independent free thinker.

            I also used the website, Sparknotes, to look at a different point of view of the novel. The website was split into many parts, so I focused on one specific symbol, the birds of the novel. I really thought one thing was interesting, that the parrot and mockingbird in the beginning represents two women in the novel. The author writes: “Madame Lebrun’s parrot and mockingbird represent Edna and Madame Reisz, respectively. Like the birds, the women’s movements are limited (by society), and they are unable to communicate with the world around them” (SparkNotes). This really stuck out to me, because there was so many mentions of birds and I really felt that they represented Edna’s freedom. They also said: “The novels “winged” women may only use their wings to protect and shield, never to fly” (SparkNotes). I totally agree with this statement. The women are supposed to only be mothers and take care of their families, but never go after their own goals and dreams, and this is what Edna struggles with.

            I thought that both of the ideas that each of my sources brought up were both intriguing and interesting. They both seemed to make sense. Although, the scholarly article by Emily Toth really had a lot of textual evidence and outside sources to support her claims and really went into more depth in her findings. Altogether, I think both of these sources were useful in different ways. Although they did not overlap at all, they both made sense, and could both be true. I also agree with both of them and I thought it was interesting and engaging to read them because it really made the novella more interesting for me and more in depth. Something that I did not think or pay attention to while I was reading the novella myself. I can really see how readings these sources can help while reading a novel.

SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Awakening.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.

Toth, Emily. "Kate Chopin's the Awakening As Feminist Criticism." Southern Studies 2.3-4 (Fall-Winter 1991): 231-241. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Janet Witalec. Vol. 127. Detroit: Gale, 2002. 20th Century Literature Criticism Online. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.

The House of Mirth: Lily Bart's Behavior

   The novel The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton primarily has to do with an upper class society of New York in the 1900s. To these people, most of their life has only to do with money and power. In this world, women are snubbed when they do not look wealthy and are not dependent of other men, and this is what I will be focusing this blog on. In this novel, women are thought of as possessions of their partners and this is what influences a lot of Lily Bart's behavior.
    In this era of the novel, women are thought of as possessions of men. Whether it is their father or husband, women have to look good because they are reflections of the social status of the men. This is actually still relevant today. This is probably where the concept of "trophy wives" came from, because it is really just the same concept. The men that are rich marry pretty, good looking women showing their status, and the women get to dress up in expensive clothes to further push this status. So, this book is actually relevant for us today because women are still some what looked at as possessions.
   The first thing that I see in the novel that alludes to this is the way that all the women dress. Lily Bart is so overly concerned with how see looks in the way that she dresses to impress men. She brings this up when she discusses with Seldon how his clothes are beginning to look a little shabby. She says "Your coat's a little shabby- but how cares? It doesn't keep people from asking you to dine. If I were shabby no one would have me: a woman is asked out as much for her clothes as herself" (Wharton, 12). This explains her obsession with buying new clothes for every season, even when she is putting herself into debt doing so. She tries so hard in her looks because she wants to show potential suitors how good she looks and how good she would look for them as a trophy wife. So, even though she is not married yet, she is still just a possession to all the men she is trying impress.
   Another reason I saw in the novel that women were just possessions of men was when Seldon and Lily talk about Seldon's cousin Gerty Farish. Gerty is a woman in the novel that lives by herself, unwed and is very looked down upon in their society. She is looked down upon when she wants to do things for herself and does not look for a husband to provide for her. In today's time, this would actually be a good quality in a woman, but not in this era. Lily tells Seldon that she does not like this when she says "How delicious to have a place like this all to one's self! What a miserable thing it is to be a woman" (Wharton, 8). She shows her dissatisfaction that woman cannot live on their own without becoming "unmarriageable". All her actions are just to find a man of wealth because she knows that as a woman, she cannot succeed on her own.
   Lily's behavior around Percy Gryce also shows that she will do anything to find marriage. When Lily finds Mr. Gryce, she alters her behavior to attract his attention to her more. She makes the tea well, she asks about his book collection and acts intrigued, and she thoughtfully and intelligently adds to the conversation with him to keep him attentive. Then, when Bertha Dorset join the two, Lily again changes herself to look more appealing to the young man. Mrs. Dorset asks for a cigarette because she knows that Lily smokes, but because Lily does not think that Mr. Gryce would like a woman that smokes, she replies "What an absurd question, Bertha!" (Wharton, 22). This again is an example of how concerned Lily is about looking good for chances of marriage. If she looks good, then she ultimately can be a good wife because she can look good for her husband.
   Even though a lot of these behaviors have changed in our lives, a lot of it is still there. Women wear tight jeans and heels to attract men. This is obviously still came from a time like this one. So, women are still somewhat inferior to men. Although, a lot of things have changed. When women want to make a living for themselves and be independent, it is a good quality. Women are expected to work just as much as men and can divorce and are not looked down upon. So, all together, this novel was interesting to read to see how women had to act in the 1900s to be respected, and see the good improvements we have made in our society, and improvements we still should make to make men and women equal.

The Color Purple: Gender Roles

   While Alice Walker is writing The Color Purple, it is very evident in many of the characters had switched traditional gender roles, much like in The Hunger Games, we read earlier in the semester. Although it is probably not the main theme of the novel, it is interesting to me. Especially being in a Womens Writers class, this idea throughout the book was really highlighted for me, and that is why I will be discussing it in the post.
   More so in the time that the novel was written, but also somewhat in society today, there are many different roles that go along with femininity and masculinity. For example, Celie (in the beginning of the novel more) is the traditional woman. She let her father take advantage of her for fear of being beaten or being ashamed. She cooked and cleaned for her husband she did not love, and let him beat her because that was what she was supposed to do. Then, she did the field work for her husband because he was too lazy and took care of children that were not hers. Some of these ideas are still in our culture today, like the wife should cook and clean and some women are too ashamed to speak about being abused. In the novel however, some characters do possess masculine traits, such as being strong, taking control, and having sexual freedom.
   The character that displays more masculine traits is Sofia. Being the wife of Harpo, she is supposed to comply to everything he does, including beating her when she is not behaving herself like she should. Although, Sofia does not take it. She gets sick of her husband when he tries to control her. She says "He doesn't want a wife, he wants a dog" (Walker, 64). When she realizes that this is what he wants, she does not want to be around. She then actually leaves him and takes her children with. In this era, this is not a common occurence. This shows the power and confidence in herself, which can be looked at as a masculin trait. Another masculine trait of hers is her strongness and willingness to fight. She is openly able to fight with Squeak when she is confronted, but it is completely different when she goes after the Mayor and his wife. Even though slavery is abolished, racisim is still very prevelent. Even if it wasn't, it would not be a good idea to get in a fight with the Mayor of a town. In spit of this, "Sofia knock the man down" in Celie's words, because they thought of her as a slave (Walker, 85). Her toughness is another masculine trait.
   Another female in the novel with "masculine" traits, is Shug Avery. When we are introduced to her in the novel she is a promiscuous. independent woman. In that she is different then other females of the novel. Not being married allowed her to be looked down upon, but Shug did not care, she loved her life. Unlike many women of the time she also does not care for her own children. She talks of them like they are nothing to her saying "My kids with they grandma... she could stand the kids" (Walker, 50). This is a more masculine trait to have, especially in this time, because usually the father was gone working while the mother watched after the kids. Lastly, the other part i noticed about her that is very masculine is that she controls the finances in her relationship with Grady. Celie mentions that Shug has so much money that she does not even know what to do with it, and Grady "spend Shug's money like he made it himself' (Walker, 114). The woman being the sole provider of the family is uncommon and very much masculine in nature. All of these reasons are reasons why I think Walker makes Shug such a prominent character in the novel.
   Due to these characters, and other characters having their normal gender roles swapped for the opposite sex, I think that Walker did it for a specific reason. I think that Walker is trying to show the power of women. She is trying to show that they do not need to be dominated by men and can live lives for themselves. She highlights the power of women through relationships, and because of this is think the author is a real feminist writer and this was a good pick to read in a womens writing class.

Kindred: Margaret Weylin Anaylsis

   Kinred by Octavia E. Butler, was by far my favorite novel we have read in class so far. Many different things made me like the novel, like the science fiction aspect, the slave narrative aspect, and the fact that the narrator of the story is a woman slave, letting us see first hand what she had to experience in this strange life of hers. Although, what I am choosing to write about is the power that changes characters, in particular, Margaret Weylin.
   Today, everyone is supposed to be treated equally in America, whether is has to do with sex or race or sexual orientation. Although there is definitely pregidous still out there, there is not much and it is not openly accepted. To be in a world where that is not the way things are is some what terrifying. That just because of sex or race, our peers could have power over us is quite ridiculous. That is one of the things that is so interesting about the novel being a female. It shows not just through the narrator, but supporting characters just what some power can really do to a person.
   In the 1800s while slavery was still legal, white people had the power over black people, no questions asked. Something that is not as emphasized, but still relavant in the novel, is the power men have over women. I have chosen to talk about Margaret Weylin because of the effect that being under the power of her husband seems to have on her.
   Due to the fact that Tom Weylin controls his wife Margaret, she seems to take her anger out of the slave women to try to overcompensate for the lose of power in her life. The first time we see this is when Dana comes to the Weylin house and is tortured by Margaret. While Dana some what takes the role of Margarets personal servant, she has her cook, clean, and is never satisfied. She even physically abused her by pouring scalding hot coffee on her. We see she is abusing power when Dana says "I did know how to sweep and dust no matter what century it was. Margaret Weylin complained because she couldnt find anything to complain about" (Butler, 81). This quote shows that she just feels a need to be mean try and salvage some sort of power over these women.
   Another woman that takes the lash of Margarets furry is Sarah, the head cookhouse slave. Margaret seems to take a liking of bringing specific agony to Sarah, as we find out in the novel. Sarah did have other children besides Carrie, but they were all sold. To show dominance of her, Margaret convinced her husband to sell her children. Sarah says she sold them because "she wanted new furniture, new china dishes, fancy things you see in the house" (Butler, 95). Destructing the family Sarah had created was the worst way to break the woman and show her exactly what she could do to her.
   Not only does she take her fury and frustration out on the women slaves, she takes it out on the children of the affairs that Tom Weylin has. Kevin and Dana can easily see reseemabance in the children, obviously telling of Tom's affairs. Margaret Weylin can't do much about the unfaithfulness, seeing that divorces were rare during the time. So, she takes her anger out on the children. Dana describes as following: "I'd seen Margaret Weylin slap one of them hard across the face. The child had done nothing more than toddle into her path" (Butler, 85). Her inablity to control her husbands behavior makes her focus on hurting others to prove her worth and power.
   Margarets abusive behavior shows because of her lack of power in her personal relationship with her husband really emphasizes the struggles women went through in the past. Not that Margaret suffered anywhere close to how the slaves suffered, but we do see womens oppression. So, I think that the novel not only gives insight to slaves, but to womens struggles as well.

The Handmaid's Tale: Offred is a Dissapointment

     After reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, I am very interested in the character, Offred. Atwood seems to have a lot a feminist values an ideas throughout the novel, but the main character does not seem to display these ideas, or even seem to care about them. This is why I have decided to focus on Offred and feminism for this post.

     Feminists in our current century still have a lot of fighting in them, and a lot of things that they believe should be changed having to do with gender in our society. Specifically, gender typing femine and masculine roles and jobs are a big part of the issue. Many people are trying to stop the stereotyping and look beyond just gender in individuals. Equality between the sexes with relationships and jobs are still an issue in our society. Feminism is still a big deal today obviously, and it is a big contrast in the ideas and thoughts of the main character in the novel, Offred. 

     One of the first things I noticed in Offred as being disappointing in a feminist aspect is the embarrassment and contrast she felt for her mother. Her mother was explained to be a riot lover and was concerned with women's rights. She lived in a time where women were only supposed to cook and take care of children, and was still shocked at how much change has been made in her lifetime. We see that she was fighting for women's rights when the narrator takes us to a flashback. Her mother is setting fire to magazines that had "a pretty woman on it, with no clothes on, hanging from the ceiling by a chain wound around her hands" (Atwood, 38). So, when Offred is embarrassed of her mother, she shows no interest in these movements. 

     It also becomes apparent Offred is not very interested in women's freedom when she doesn't try and join or help the resistance as Ofglen does. Though she supports it, she doesn't seem to want to be apart of it. This is showed when she refuses to look for the Commanders secrets that could lead to an escape for many women, including herself. She states "I scarcely take the trouble to sound regretful, so lazy have I become" (Atwood, 271). Even when she it comes to her own freedom, Offred doesn't show much interest. 

     Lastly, she is a very big disappointment in my eyes, and in the eyes of feminists I would believe, is when she starts to have a romantic relationship with Nick. She says "The fact is that I no longer want to leave, escape, cross border to freedom. I want to he here, with Nick, where I can get at him" (Atwood, 271). With this, she is actually able to be happy again and stops contemplating suicide or escape from her constraints, all because she is having sex. His just gives power to Nick, and any other men in the situation.

     Offred's lack of concern for women's rights and freedom throughout the novel is a disappointment to me as a reader, and also a contrast to the book as a whole. I see the authors feminist perspective through the characters of Offred's mother, Ofglen, and Moira being included in the novel. This is what's most interesting about the narrator and main character, Offred's ideas. Though I do not know exactly why the author chose to write Offred in this way, I think it may have to do with showing he wrongness and weakness of the character. This is why I thought the novel as a whole was very interesting. 

The Hunger Games: Katniss Everdeen's Power

            In the past, and even in our current generation, men seem to be in more control of relationships, whether it be family relationships, romantic relationships, or work relations. Though, throughout the Hunger Games novel, Suzanne Collins seems to try and depict Katniss Everdeen as the person with the power in her relationships. She is the provider for her family, in place of her father and has come to take on the role of the “man” of her household. She is also in charge when she takes alliances in the arena with Rue and also Peeta. While Collins is proving Katniss as being powerful and as the caregiver, she also gives her personality stereotypical man-like features. I would like to discuss the relationships in which Katniss holds the power.

            Through my experiences of the world, I constantly see stereotypically things that define femininity and masculinity. For example, baby boys are still expected to wear blue and girls pink. Girls play with dolls and boys play with trucks. Women baking and men working on cars. All of these are things that I see every day. So, Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games is a big contrast in what most people would think the hero of the story would be. Katniss doesn’t display any of the classic girl traits and also prevails in all of her relationships. The world is constantly changing, however and being that this is a future based novel, maybe Collins is trying to present her ideas of how stereotypes between genders should be broken.

            Within the first few pages, we are presented with Katniss’s relationship between her family, her mother and her sister. On page 9, she talks about her sister as if she were her own child to take care of. She talks to Gale about them leaving their families, but insists that she could never because they need her, without her, they would starve. She states: “You may as well throw in our mothers, too, because how would they live without us? Who would fill those mouths that are always asking for more?” (Collins, 9). Both Gale and Katniss have become the primary care givers of their families. So, Katniss has essentially become the father of their family, bringing the food by hunting. She also shows the masculinity in her appearance, “I swing my legs off the bed and slide into my hunting boots. Supple leather that has molded to my feet. I pull on my trousers, tuck my dark braid up into a cap, and grab my forage bag” (Collins, 4).  So, even before the games, Katniss has been in the position of providing for people and having power.

            The next relationship that I see Katniss having a sort of superior, leader type role in, is her relationship between herself and Rue. Katniss takes on the role of the leader right away for reasons such as having weapons, being able to hunt, and the fact that she is also older and stronger. She takes on the task of making battle plans and survival plans. For this, again she feels the need to protect and help. I see this in her when she is worrying to herself of her loved ones. She begins thinking of if she died, saying “Prim has my mother and Gale and a baker who promised she wouldn’t go hungry. Rue has only me” (Collins, 213). Although Katniss does not express the power she has over Rue, she still has it.

            Peeta and Katniss’s relationship is another where Katniss shows dominance. Due to the fact that Peeta is hurt when their alliance is made, Katniss has the upper hand. She has her health, food, sponsors, and weapons, all things that Peeta does not have. Their alliance in the beginning is purely reliant on Katniss. Once she is able to retrieve medicine to help Peeta’s leg, she also shows that her superior hunting skills put her at the top in their relationship. You also see her have knowledge that Peeta does not have. When Peeta gets berries that could have killed him, Katniss saves him. He realizes this saying “‘Doesn’t seem fair somehow. I mean, we would have both been dead, too if she hadn’t eaten the berries first…No, of course, we wouldn’t. You recognized them, didn’t you?’” (Collins, 320). Once again, we see another example of Katniss having power.

            Between all these relationships, Katniss is shown as the provider and the person with power. This is a change from what society usually portrays the woman of a novel as being. Collins expresses feminist views in stopping stereotypes and actually flopping roles between the men and women of the novel. Due to the fact that the world is continuously changing, it is a fresh new view of femininity showing that there should be real equality between men and women.