The Humor of Lot 49

The first time I attempted to read The Crying of Lot 49 it did not go so well. I was forced to read the first two chapters twice. It was quite frustrating because I didn’t comprehend the humor in it. After reading further into the novel and understanding, the characters I started to catch onto the whit of Oedipa and fully realize the oddities she was put through. The humor in the book was probably my favorite part. It is a different type of humor though because it’s not “in your face humor”, this humor grows as you read and it makes you become more attached to the characters. I also thought the word WASTE was an interesting part of the novel.
I particularly enjoyed the part when Oedipa is pulled into the deaf/mute dance at the hotel. I thought it was so funny when she was talking about how she was just waiting to have a collision with another couple and how each person had a different tune in their head. Another part that was amusing was when Oedipa was talking with Mucho’s boss and he was telling her that Mucho has changed. The line when she says, “pray, has he been, Ringo Starr?” I think this really shows Oed’s character and how she sticks up to her husband’s boss.
The word WASTE has a few meanings that are relevant to the novel. I believe that the most important meaning is that wasteful nature that human beings possess. It is shown throughout the book that people waste so many things and are not appreciative of what they have. All of those poor people who attempted suicide had such a hard time while other was concerned with much less important facets of their lives. Overall, I did not really enjoy the plot of the book, but I did like the characters and the humor it brought to the reader.

mother in laws

The Brooch by Faulkner exposed a relationship between three members of a family. The relationship between the mother and the son showed a controlling mother who didn’t let her son date much of anything, let alone leave the house. The other relationship I found interesting was the mother and daughter in law relationship. I feel as if this is a relationship that is dreaded by all new wives who are anxious to meet their mother in laws and their new family.
The relationship between Howard and his mother is a strange one. It gets particularly strange when she moves to Charlottesville to live near him while he was in college. I am surprised he didn’t die of embarrassment when that occurred. I couldn’t tell whether this relationship between son and mother could have been sexual or not. I lean towards the “not”, because the reader can tell the mother really cares for her son and I cannot see her physically abusing him. I can see her mentally abusing him though. All the years he is made to take care of her and given no freedom to grow and build relations with females.
Amy and her mother in law also have a very complex relationship. I feel as if the brooch is curse. I don’t think it was given to Amy as a blessing of love, I think it was given to her in order to have the mother in law on her mind the entire time she was wearing it. My favorite line of the short story is when Amy says, “I’m scared of your mother.” I think this is a great line and prefaces the entire relationship they will have together. Howard is now not only tortured by his mother, but by his wife.

Queens

There Was a Queen written by Faulkner kept me interested the entire time. It was attention-grabbing to see a world of women living together because of their lost husbands and grandfathers and other male kin. The only male that is left is Narcissa’s son Bory. This story accurately displays the ongoing battles females have not only with men, but with other females. The generality of the male and female relationship is delved into as well as the relationship that a mother and a son can possess.
Throughout the story there were plenty of times the old woman would make strange and off toned remarks to Narcissa. For example, when Narcissa is trying to tell her about the letters she interrupts her and says, “If it’s marriage, I told you. I told you five years ago that I wouldn’t blame you.” Throughout the next few paragraphs the old woman continues to tell her niece that she would not blame her. The assumption that a man must and will make a woman happy is absurd. This seems like a very cold hearted thing for a relative to say to their kin.
It is also said by the old woman and by Elnora that Narcissa will “never be a Sartoris.” This battle between the household is ridiculous, how could a woman treat a member of their family with such rude remarks. This story represents a struggle that women faced back then and are still facing in the present day. If the war between females does not stop, and we do not support one another, progress will not continue.

Married and Lonely

While reading “The Young Housewife” Williams captured my imagination. It was one of the easiest poems that I read, but it has a deep subject matter that makes it all the more interesting. I actually saw this beautiful woman walking around her house after she has just woken up in the morning. The first thing that came to my mind was the loneliness the housewife was feeling. When Williams writes “moves about in negligee behind the wooden walls of her husbands house”, it shows that she is possibly a prisoner in her own home. It insinuates that she has had no freedom to make her house her own and add her own feminine touch to it.
The next line that caught my attention spoke of her walking out to the curb. I feel as if this showed she was only allowed out to perform meaningless tasks, and that a strange man saw her doing these tasks and felt her lonesomeness. Lastly, the fallen leaf could mean many things in the young housewife’s life. Because it is a “fallen leaf” it makes us believe she has been mentally injured in some way.
As I was looking at the website I came across a comment by Rachel Blau Duplessis. She addressed the fallen leaf metaphor as well as the “wooden walls of her husbands house” and I agree with her statements. She says, “This "leaf" metaphor also follows from "the wooden walls of her husband’s house," sympathetic lines suggesting her mild imprisonment and the husband’s clumsy stolidity.” Both of these lines as well as the rest of the poem really express a hollow loneliness that was captured greatly by William Carlos Williams.

Goophered

When I first started reading The Goophered Grapevine I couldn’t believe that the bulk of the story was written in a difficult dialect. Although it was somewhat hard to read and took a few times to go over a paragraph I started to become entranced by the words that Uncle Julius was using, and couldn’t wait to keep reading. There were many possible themes that could have been picked out in the tale, such as race and the slave era. But there were two things that jumped out at me when reading this short story, first was Anne and second was the clear and crisp image I was given throughout the story.
Anne is a very interesting character, and even though she doesn’t get many words in, she is the reason for the move and the purchasing of the vineyard. She is immediately viewed as weak because she is said to be sickened by the weather in the North, she is then viewed as a very proper lady who became “weary” while walking around the grounds. It is interesting to see her so interested in the man’s story and her inquisitiveness surprised me.
The other aspect of the story that engrossed me was the vivid picture I was able to form about the vineyard, Uncle Julius, and the slaves that used to work on the grapes. I almost thought of it as a flashback when Uncle Julius started to talk about his master when he first purchased the grounds. While he is talking about these stories, the reader can really picture the people and what was going on. Overall I thought it was a great story and kept me interested the entire time.

Huck

While reading the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn I noticed a common theme involving pride and honor. Throughout the novel Huck Finn and other characters comment on what makes an honorable man and how one can be proud of his accomplishments. We first see an example of this with Tom Sawyer; it also resonates throughout the life of Huck Finn and his relationship with Jim.
Tom Sawyer is seen early in the novel wanting to form a band of thieves with his friends. He comments on how robbers and thieves have a great sense of accomplishment and are quite honorable. He immediately forms this band of robbers in search of acceptance and pride. It is interesting how something so morally wrong such as robbing innocent people can be seen as a good deed to children in the South during this time period. It shows the inner calamities that are occurring during these children’s lives.
Next we see Huck Finn talking about life on the river and his time as a raftsman. He says, “There was a power of style about her. It amounted to something being a raftsman on such a craft as that.” I feel that Huck has been so beaten down with his father’s unruly nature and Miss Watson’s extreme strict attitude, that Huck needs something like this raft to boost his confidence and allow himself to have some place in society.
Huck battles with himself over his honor when taking Jim with him to a free state. Huck talks about how he would never turn Jim in, but realizes that he is committing a very serious crime. What’s most interesting to me is that Huck wants to help Jim to safety, but he wants to do it for himself, not Jim. Early on we get the sense that Huck wants to get Jim to safety for his own pride.

Scarlet

In the poem “the name of it is “Autumn”, there are many internal meanings and hidden meaninigs that can discovered. I think it is interesting that a female such as Emily Dickinson wrote a poem of this vulgarity and truth. I think it shows a lot about the female population during the civil war and the lack of knowledge that students have of women writers like Emily. When I first started reading her poems it was not what I expected. I think people sometimes pin point female writers to only speak of light subjects and that is very untrue with Emily Dickinson. I did some outside reading on this poem and some scholars said that it may or may not have been speaking about the Battle of Antietam during the Civil War. Due to the fact that this was based in the north, it could explain the emphasis of Autumn time and the leaves and nature.
The color imagery in the poem was phenomenal to me. The red of Autumn can directly link to the red color of blood that runs through veins and arteries which is then rained upon the ground and poured into a basin which forms a bloody pool of redness. The rose mentioned at the end is also red. My favorite line of the poem is “and spill the Scarlet rain”. When I read this line I not only thought of the color red/scarlet but I thought of the movie Gone With the Wind, which also discussed the Civil War years and the reconstruction era. Although this movie was released earlier than the poem was, it still came into my mind.
The turning point to me in the poem is early and immediately when she mentions the veins and arteries, I believe that the reference to the human body can suddenly makes things real and the imagery becomes even more important.