Kincaid- Role of Domesticity 08/03/2013

Role of Domesticity

Jamaica Kincaid’s short story, “Girl,” draws attention to the myriad of actions and behaviors that are expected of women in a patriarchal society. A major theme in the piece is learning to fulfill society’s expectations of women by perfecting domestic duties and suppressing behaviors which do not align with the expectations demanded of them. The story is told in one winding sentence in the form of a mainly one-sided conversation between a mother and her daughter. The author’s use of one long sentence to list all the expectations of women mirrors the lengthy and exhausting requirements imposed upon women. 

The girl’s mother begins her lecture by instructing her daughter how to wash and sew clothes and how to prepare food; these instructions reveal society’s expectation for women to concern themselves with domestic duties. Not once in her lecture does the mother mention reading, writing, or studying, so it is evident that women are expected to maintain the home and never seek educational pursuits. With this in mind, women must rely on a man to provide for them, so the girl’s mother teaches her both “how to bully a man” and “how to love a man” (Kincaid 1726).  Women must know how to manipulate men in order to survive in a patriarchal society because without men, women are essentially helpless. 

The girl’s mother is quite concerned about her daughter being perceived as a “slut” (1725) and warns her three separate times to act like a lady instead of “the slut [she] is so bent on becoming” (1725). The mother’s preoccupation with her daughter acting like a slut appears to be rooted in the fact that one must be able to present herself as a lady in order to thrive in society. Ladies are expected cook, sew, clean, and “smile to someone [they] don’t like at all” (1726). In other words, women must always give the appearance of being proper and polite, and they are expected to hide their true feelings. 

The major theme of society’s differing expectations of boys are girls becomes apparent when the mother tells her daughter, “don’t squat down to play marbles—you are not a boy” (1726). Although the girl in the story is most likely a young adolescent, her mother is desperate to make sure the girl learns to behave in ways which align with society’s expectations of women. Written in 1978, the theme of women fulfilling the role of domesticity is still relevant in today’s society, and mothers all over the world are faced with the daunting task of raising their daughters to be able to survive in a male-dominated society. 

Work Cited

Kincaid, Jamaica. “Girl.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin Puchner. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2013. 1725-1726. Print.

Homeland 07/28/2013

Left with Noting but Rocks

Mahmoud Darwish’s poem, “Identity Card,” addresses the feelings of isolation one feels when detached from his homeland and forced to live as a second-class citizen in another country. The speaker asserts in the beginning of the poem that he is an Arab, and he poses a question that appears to be addressed to all of humanity: “What’s there to be angry about?” (Line 6). This question is repeated three times throughout the poem, suggesting the anger and hatred projected upon Arabs in a foreign country.

Throughout the poem, the speaker reminds his audience of his humanity by giving details of his past and current life. He explains that he has eight children, with another on the way, yet he “beg[s] for no alms at your door” (14), displaying his pride and independence. He feels disconnected from his surroundings, described as a “whirlpool of anger” (21), and fondly recalls his hardworking father and “peasant” (29) grandfather. The descriptions of his family are a stark contrast from the “highborn nobles” (28) surrounding him, and to them he asks, “Does my status satisfy you?” (33). The speaker clearly feels victimized by prejudice, and he laments on the loss of his homeland, accusing the government of stealing his “forefathers’ vineyards” (46)

The speaker describes his homeland as “village, remote, forgotten” (40), demonstrating his inability to return to it. He criticizes the government for taking everything from his family, leaving them “nothing but…rocks” (50). Contrary to the men in the new country, the speaker explains that he does not hate people, but that if he were hungry, he would “eat the flesh of [his] usurper” (57). The speaker was forced to abandon his homeland and only wants to be treated with dignity. He does not understand the hostility that confronts him; if anyone should be angry, it should be him.

Work Cited

Darwish, Mahmoud. “Identity Card.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin Puchner. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2013. 1607-1609. Print.

Neruda 07/20/2012

The City as Death and Ugliness

Pablo Neruda’s “Walking Around” portrays a bleak outlook of city life that renders the speaker “tired of being a man” (Line 1). He enters establishments “all shriveled up” (2), feeling uncomfortable and out of place. Feeling suffocated by the confines of the city, he desperately craves the comfort of “stones or of wool” (6) found in country life. The city appears as a monstrous entity which fills the speaker with loathing and disgust. He grows tired of the “establishments,” “gardens,” “merchandise,” “glasses,” and “elevators” (7-8), signifying a desire to abandon the artificial feel of the city and return to the authenticity of the pre-modernized world. 

The tone of the poem is somber and Neruda expresses overwhelming feelings of helplessness and frustration. The speaker compares himself to a “root in the dark,” stifled by the city and unable to grow or pursue his dreams. He compares his life to a “solitary tunnel” (25) and refers to “corpses,” “dying,” and “pain” (25-26) to convey a sense of extreme loneliness amidst the bustling city. 

Neruda relies heavily on the sense of smell to articulate the rancid nature of the city. He notes that the mere smell within the barber shops makes him “sob out loud” (5) and complains of shops that smell of vinegar. The putrid aromas are juxtaposed with horrific images of “intestines hanging from the doors” (34-35) and “teeth in a coffee pot” (36) which demonstrate the encompassing ugliness of his surroundings. Throughout the poem, Neruda portrays the city not as the center of life and prosperity, but rather of ugliness and death. 

Work Cited

Neruda, Pablo. “Walking Around.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin Puchner. Vol. II. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2013. 1423-1424. Print.

"The Rod of Justice" 07/08/14

The Power of Women

 

Though men are often portrayed in literature as the stronger of the sexes, Machado’s short story, “The Rod of Justice,” illuminates a heightened sense of women’s power through their use of manipulation, threats, and violence. The male protagonist, Damiao, is helpless as he escapes from the seminary with nowhere to go and dismisses the thought of asking his godfather for help because he “has no will of his own” (972). Both Damiao and his godfather Joao are portrayed as weak and unable to think on their own. Damiao seeks the help of his godfather’s widowed mistress, Sinha Rita, who works to provide for herself and owns many slaves. Though she is very kind to Damiao, she is verbally abusive toward her young female slaves, ordering one, “Get along darky,” (913) and threatening the young and sickly Lucretia with the rod simply for laughing. She is “fierce as the devil” (913) and unnecessarily brutal in her treatment of her slaves, but her orders are always obeyed, thus her power is indisputable.

Instead of name-calling or using threats of violence to convince her lover to plead with Damiao’s father to accept his son’s leaving the seminary, Sinha Rita uses her power of manipulation. She confidently orders Joao to go and threatens to end their relationship if he disobeys her. Despite great fear of Damiao’s raging father, Sinha Rita demonstrates her power over him as he continues to try to honor her wishes.

Sinha Rita’s power over the other characters appears to have no boundary. Despite Damiao’s sympathy for Lucretia and his inner conflict over how to proceed when faced with the opportunity to save her, Damiao ultimately obeys Sinha Rita and hands her the rod to beat the girl.  Sinha Rita has absolute power and the males in the story are comparable to the female slaves who are equally powerless against her. She uses her mind and body to enslave others and demand ultimate authority, and in this sense, the story challenges the traditionally held views of women as subservient to men.

Work Cited

Machado de Assis, Joaquim Maria. “The Rod of Justice.” The Norton Anthology of World

            Literature. Ed. Martin Puchner. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. 911-916. Print.

 

Marti and Dario 07/01/2013

The Interconnectedness of the Universe

Jose Marti and Ruben Dario’s poetry was inspired by the work of many great poets, especially that of Walt Whitman. With common themes of the complexities of life and humanity’s niche in the universe, both Marti and Dario rely on nature as a comparison in order to capture the essence of human life. In Marti’s poem, “I Am an Honest Man,” the connection to Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” is immediately drawn when the speaker notes that he “originates from the same earth as the palms” (Marti 2). Like Whitman, who wrote of interconnectedness between all living things, the speaker in Marti’s poem emphasizes his relation to the natural world surrounding him. He proclaims that he is one with the world and comes “from everywhere” (5). Whitman captures this same universal origination in “Leaves of Grass” as the speaker explains that his “tongue, every atom of [his] blood, formed from this soil” (6). Both Whitman and Marti seem to note a common energy  that is shared between all things in this world, and in this sense, all the parts that exist within the world are united to form a complete whole.

On the other hand, Ruben Dario’s poem, “Fatality,” uses comparisons to the natural world to emphasize the pain and confusion that accompany human life. The speaker notes that the tree and the rock are “happier” (2) than man because they do not feel; the conscious life is the greatest “burden” (4). The universe may be interconnected, but only man is conscious of his existence and his place in the world. Whereas Whitman “celebrate[s] [him]self” in this epiphany, Dario’s realization of his essence is followed by fear and anxiety of the unknown. The speaker focuses on man’s awareness of his impending death and worries that he will “not know where to go/ nor whence we came” (Fatality 12-13). To this, it is likely Whitman would have responded that mankind both originates and returns to the dirt and the grass in order to perpetuate the cycle of life.

Works Cited

Dario, Ruben. “Fatality.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin Puchner. Vol. 2.

            New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. 695. Print.

Marti, Jose. “I Am an Honest Man.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed.

            Martin Puchner. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. 681-682. Print.

Whitman, Walt. “Leaves of Grass.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed.

            Martin Puchner. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. 648-653. Print.

An Essay of Man 06/25/13

Man's Role in the Divine Order

Universally, mankind has struggled to comprehend the existence of evil and disorder in a divinely created and ordered world. How could God, who is all knowing and good, be responsible for atrocities and injustices that take place in his perfect creation? In An Essay on Man, Alexander Pope seeks to illuminate the “Wisdom infinite” (Line 44) of God’s divinely ordered universe and persuade humanity to accept its limited comprehension of the order of God’s plan. Man is prone to taking tragedies personally and using his unique power of reason to try to make sense of wrongs in the world. His reasoning leads him to question how God could allow such wrongs to exist, and to this question Pope responds, “whatever wrong we call, May, must be right, as relative to all” (51-52).

Pope asserts that man’s pride fuels his reasoning but “to reason right is to submit” (165) to the mysterious will of the divine and accept that each individual is simply a part of “the amazing Whole” (248). It is absurd and narcissistic to assume that the universe should revolve around man or for man to challenge the divine Order. Pope compares the “stupendous whole” (265) of the world to existing of nature as its body and God as its soul. In this sense, man is but a miniscule part of nature, and everything in the universe is as perfect as it was designed to be. Pope commands man to accept his limited scope of the “mighty maze” (6) and to “Secure to be as blest as thou canst bear” (295). Man’s purpose is to attain happiness in this life, not to use his power of reason to try to grasp knowledge that is beyond his realm of comprehension. To achieve happiness, man must surrender his pride and acknowledge that “Whatever Is, Is Right” (293). 

Pope’s arguments certainly seem legitimate when one considers humanity’s limited understanding of the universe and all of its scientific functions. Though man would like to believe he is the most intelligent creature, he is limited in his ability to fully access the complex workings of nature. Man still hasn’t mastered science; humanity is constantly researching, inventing, and progressing, but it is still far from ever uncovering all the secrets of physics, biology, and chemistry. If man struggles to comprehend science and nature, how can he ever comprehend or think to question God, the “soul” of the world, and his divine will? 

Work Cited

Pope, Alexander. An Essay of Man.  The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin  Puchner. Vol. 1.  New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. 90-97. Print.

"Barbarism" of Cultures 06/20/13

Montaigne

In his book, Essays, Michel de Montaigne examines what it means to be human and how the “mind works” (1649). Rather than focusing on differences in civilizations, Montaigne argues that “cultural norms are relative and should be free from judgment” (1649).  Montaigne boldly asserts that the term barbarism is defined as anything that is not “in one’s own practice,” (1653) and his views are corroborated by the judgments held by technologically advanced civilizations which perceive simplistic and primitive lives as being barbaric. For instance, many people find it difficult to relate to the lives of the Amish, many of whom refuse to utilize the luxury of electricity and have maintained an isolated existence despite being surrounded by advanced civilization. 

The ideologies of the Amish differ from those of the dominant culture in their preference for simplistic and domestic life. The Amish stand out immediately in a crowd, clad in what many would refer to as outdated garb. Children are schooled at home or in small school houses and are sheltered from most of popular culture. What might be the most “barbaric” feature of the Amish is their use of a horse and buggy for commuting rather than a motorized vehicle. Some may struggle to understand how or why a group would choose to live such an old-fashioned way of life amidst the technological advancements of the twenty-first century, but similar to the barbaric civilizations in Montaigne’s essay, “Of Cannibals,” those living an old-fashioned way of life actually “retain…their genuine, their most useful and natural, virtues and properties, which we have debased…in adapting them to gratify our corrupted taste” (1653).  The Amish rely on nature and one another for survival; they do not need to conform to the dominant culture’s use of technology, and they actively protect their children from many of the corruptions that accompany modern life. In doing so, it may be said that it is not they who are barbaric, but rather the majority of Westerners who have lost their ability to fend for themselves and instead rely solely on technology and the labor of others in order to survive. 

Works cited

 “Michel de Montaigne.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin  Puchner. Vol.

            1. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. 1647-1650. Print.

Montaigne, Michel de. Essays. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin

Puchner. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. 1650-1665. Print.