glass menagerie pt 3

While reading this you notice that Tom and Laura's dad isn't in the picture. On page 62 Tom says "I'm like my father. The bastard son of a bastard! did you notice how he's grinning in his picture in there? And he's been absent going on sixteen years!" Tom got a job in place of his fathers absence, but if his dad was in the picture I think Tom would have already listed himself since he wouldn't have to worry about taking care of his family and being the man of the house.

The story would be different because Tom would be away and doing what makes him happy. He might not drink or smoke as much, if at all. Laura might feel more comfortable with telling her mom she dropped out and she might be more accepting of her not meeting a man. She might feel that she can take care of herself. 

The mom might encourage Tom to do what makes him happy, and not get so upset about him always being at the movies. She might even be okay with him drinking a little since she can't say the guy who left her drank often. Paura wouldn't have to go to the store to charge butter and have to make payments on the lamp if both the father and son had jobs, or the father had a good paying job.

I don't think I would like this book if this was all the actual book  because it wouldn't have as much to wonder about, and there would be much less drama And it just wouldn't be as interesting. 

the glass menagerie pt. 2

I think there's an untold story to this. The untold story is what it's like to have to settle for less to benefit others. Tom gets up everyday to go work a job making barely any money. He wakes up early and does the same thing everyday. On page 23 Tom says "You think I'm about crazy about the warehouse?"
Tim puts other people's needs in front of his to make the happy. He knows his mother and sister can't afford to live without him so instead of helping himself and only doing for him. People think that just because he works there that he enjoys working there but he doesn't have much a  choice.

I think another untold story would be living with a flaw. Laura has a problem and must walk with a boot. When she was in High School she would be the last one to walk in class and because he seat was in the very back she felt self concious that everyone could hear her coming with how bulky and loud her boot was. She even got so nervous that it caused her to get sick and she dropped out. She was scared to tell her mom so she didn't dissapoint her. People probably don't realize how you feel when you've got a "disability" of feeling like everyone is watching you or notices you, even if they don't.

The Glass Menagerie Pt. 1

At first this book took a little bit to get into. While reading it I realized a major theme was having a problem finding happiness.

While Tom has a real job, and can handle the real world, he still has to create his own little world to help cope with things. He can deal with having a job and talking to people but in the end, he would rather just have his own little world and shut out everyone else and avoid reality to escape to his little "bubble". I think he uses going to the movies as an escape from everything else and to get a break. 

He works and gets his business done however he drinks a lot, all the time and he smokes really often which I think he also uses as an escape. He says he needs adventure and he can't get that in the warehouse ("Id rather somebody picked up a crowbar and battered out my brains"). With Tom however I think by keeping in his bubble, he might be slightly depressed with how his life turned out to be. I think I would also be depressed or sad/mad if I felt I had tons of potential to be using my time/work ethic more wise and I was suck working crazy hours at a factory not making nearly as much as I feel I deserve.

When I think about now, I think that a lot of people settle for what they can get. It's so hard to find a job, that most people just find something with a pay thats they can barely live from check to check. They settle for a job with crazy hours, and sometimes even multiple jobs working all hours of the day/night just to make ends meet with jobs that require lots of labor, working with the public or even fast food. The stress form working those types of jobs can cause a person to settle for less than they should and make them eventually feel worthless or unimportant which can lead to depression. 

I understand the way Tom feels but at the same time, you just have to do what you've got to do until you can find better.

The Stolen Party

In "The Stolen Party" I noticed that Rosaura is very important. During the story Rosaura's mom doesn't want her to go to the birthday party but never really says why. I think that the mother doesn’t want Rosaura to go the party because in lines 59-60 Rosaura’s mother tells her to say she is the daughter of the employee, and to be proud of it. Her mom is scared that she will get hurt or made fun of because of the fact that they are in a different social class.

Even nowadays people tend to stick with people in the same social class. We become friends with people in our social class because we tend to befriend those who live in the same neighborhood. In Timber Creek the majority of people are relatively around the same social classes.

When Rosaura talks about the monkey, it made connections with how the Monkey was trapped in his cage, couldn’t get out and the magician called the monkey his “partner” on like 81. Rosaura relates to the monkey because she might feel trapped in her social class, even if she doesn’t realize it. When she was helping pass out the cake, she felt very happy with herself and when she went to leave she thought the birthday girl's mom would give her a gift, she was given money to take her for her service. I think that really hurt her feelings, but it goes to show that it is really hard to escape what your family around you has created to be your normal.

When her mom told her she didn’t want her to go, Rosaura was really upset and wanted to even more than she did at first. I think once she was offered money, she felt used and horrible about herself because she was actually enjoying herself at the party thinking that she was great at what she was doing and was doing it just to help out. She thought she was there for her friend, but her friend really wasn’t a good/true friend.

Just like now, sometimes the people with more money will make someone with less money feel bad about it when in actuality they can’t control what they’re born into and what they do or don’t have, but only when they’re older they can control it.

Kaffir Boy

When I was reading "Kaffir Boy" I noticed a lot of different meanings behind the story. The most prominent would have to be the usage of colors. In the beginning he talks about how his school, full of black children, is different than the school full of white children. How for his school he must wait and run to cross the street while the children have a man helping guide traffic with a signs.

On lines 20-25 he is talking about what the white people have at their school versus what his school does not have. How they have immaculate lawns, a new driveway for the school, lots of bright yellow buses, bright flowers, swings, etc while at his school doesn't have school buses or very many books.

I think this is very ironic because even now you still see a lot of these traits still in our current time. Even though separate schools aren't a thing anymore, there’s still schools that have a surplus of supplies while others are lacking in that area. Where as a school in Winslow might not have such great teachers, or lots of books/computers, and then there’s schools like Timber Creek that have the privilege to have many computers, a big library, teachers with a better education.

On line 59 Granny says that Master Clyde is older than her grandson, he is much bigger. I think it’s crazy that while trying to put Master Clyde up and compliment him, she puts her own grandson down to fit in and feel more accepted with the white family. I feel like the author wrote and added this in the story to go along with lines 77-79 when Mrs. Smith tells Granny that her food will right near the washing machine. I think she said that just to remind her that she isn’t eating where the rest of the family does, almost as if she’s holding her power over her.

Girls

The story Girls is all about the different rules of being a girl. Its coming from a mother going to a daughter and telling her how to be a good woman that a man will want. When I was reading this I was very surprised with what she was telling her. I felt like the daughter had so many rules to follow, like how to smile at people you like, don't like, and people you really don't like.

I thought it was ridiculous that her own mother kept referring to her as wanting to be a slut, and that any little thing would make her one. She acted as if the smallest thing would make her one.

The story gave the theme of strict, harsh and serious. The woman in the story have a specific set of rules they must abide by. When they talk about the different ways of being a slut, and how to not be one even though you want to be one.  Slut shaming is very big in this story and now a days women are trying to make it more acceptable to everyone in our society to be more comfortable with ladies doing what they want with their own bodies. Lines 38-39 it says “this is how to make a good medicine to throw away a child before it even becomes a child” which goes against how it says women shouldn't be a slut. If she isn't expected to act a certain way why is there a way to get rid of a problem that they shouldn't have been in the first place?

Abortion and slut shaming are two very serious topics that are just as criticized now as they were back then.

Why is it more acceptable to get rid of an unplanned pregnancy than it is to feel comfortable in your body and do as you please with it?

Reading this made me realize that women are held to a different standard than men. Women have a long list of things to do and are expected to please their man while men are expected to just kind of, be there. There is a double standard in this story; that women have to follow these set of rules and do what it takes to please men, but this shouldn't be how things are. Women should be able to act how they want, do what they want and be whoever they want to be. Whether it be a stay at home mom/wife or a lady who wants to go out, get a good job and be able to support herself/family.

Purple Hibiscus Part 3

When I finally got finished with the book, I was really sad. I felt like it was extremely sad how it ended.
When Kambili was with her Aunty, she felt more herself than she felt at home. Her Papa forced her and Jaja to come home by going up there and getting them. He was extremely upset that they didn't tell him their grandfather was visiting and staying with them, and then when he found out his father died, all he did was offer to pay, and kept pushing to have his funeral in a Catholic Church.

Before they left, her cousin gave them a painting of their grandfather before he passed away. They knew Papa would never allow it in their home, so while he had guests over they were admiring it. Papa walked in on them and they both claimed it as theirs. (Pg 210) "Papa grabbed the painting from Jaja. His hands moved quickly and swiftly, working together."  Papa then kicked Kambili over and over again. Kicking, hitting, using a belt. I think this shows how she knew it was coming, but just couldn't stand his ways anymore. She expected it. This ties in with how she felt so much like herself at her Aunts house, she didn't want to go back home and have no part in who she really is, or her family and be forced to be someone she isn't.

At page 213, she's in the hospital and asks her mom to call her Aunt. Her Aunt says "When a house is on fire, you run out before the roof collapses on your head." because she knows that Kambili's mom would go back to Papa, even after what he did. He's hurt them all so often that she just goes back, and hopes for a change. Her aunt is tired of seeing them get hurt over and over again.

When they found out mama poisoned Papa, I think everyone understood, but no one talked about it happening or about Jaja taking blame for it. It's sad that they felt the need to kill him because they were too scared to leave.


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