The Rez

In "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian", Junior lives on a reservation, where everyone knows each other and where alcoholism is wide-spread. On Junior's rez poverty is a big problem as well as bullying while abuse runs-wild. He states, "But my grandmother had never drunk alcohol in her life. Not one drop. That's the rarest kind of Indian in the world." In this book Junior's grandmother is killed by a drunk driver, however she herself had never drank a drop in her lifetime. Another theme that is prevalent throughout this story is loss. That is what life on the rez is mostly about. Junior himself sees many people, very close to him, die because of reasons such as alcoholism, poverty and recklessness. At the beginning of the book, Junior losses his dog. Oscar [the dog] is very sick and instead of getting him to the doctor, Junior's dad shoots the animal to put it out of its misery. The lack of money in Junior's family to take the dog to the veterinarian forces his father to simply shoot the poor thing. "A bullet only costs about two cents, and anybody can afford that, " Junior's disappointment about the situation is expressed in this sentence. Later Junior losses his grandmother, and then his dad's best friend [and his friend as well], Eugene, and lastly his sister, Mary. Unfortunately these three deaths were due to the nature of alcoholism.

Rez life is unlike my life. I live in Dunning, a neighborhood on the Northwest side of Chicago. As stated before everyone on the rez knows each other; the community is very close-knit. In Dunning however, that is not the case. I only know a few families within the neighborhood. There aren't any organized events in my community that would enable others to meet up and become friends. I don't even know everyone on my block.

On the other hand I can relate to Junior when he starts going to Reardan [a school outside of the reservation where he is the outside]. Although I wasn't an outsider when I first started going to Beaubien [my elementary school], it sure was different. This school is in the Jefferson Park neighborhood, a couple of miles from my home. There everyone knew each other since they lived in the same community, they went to the same pre-school and kindergarden and played on the same sports teams. However as time went on, and as I started to meet new people, things got a lot better. They became family.

Native Sons

"Native Son", a book written by Richard Wright, is both complex, fast-paced and addresses many social and racial issues, such a racism. Bigger Thomas the main character of this story, as a black African American living in the 1930's, starts working for a well-known, rich white family, the Dalton's. Within the first day, Bigger Thomas kills Mary and than burns her remains. He acts innocent and even hints that her Communist affiliated boyfriend did it. Eventually Bigger is caught redhanded and runs away. He tells his girlfriend, Bessie, what he has done and in the end rapes and than kills her, to keep her from telling the authorities about his plans and whereabouts. Bigger is than caught by police forces and sentenced to death.

From the beginning of the book, Bigger Thomas's life is shrouded with fear, shame and anger with added. His violence tantrums uncalled for, he even turns on his friends at one point. Although I understand his situation and don't wish any of this upon anyone ever, I still believe that he should be sentenced to death. His first murder, was accidental, I get it. He could've left her body there and told the family what had happened. Although he still would've been sentenced to time in jail, his actions would be clearly illustrated. Bigger would then tell the truth to the court and there would be evidence to support his claims. He would tell officials that he smothered Mary, there would be evidence; he would tell the court that he didn't rape Mary, there would be evidence. However, I don't think they would believe his motive, that he acted on fear of Mrs. Dalton sensing them there in her room together. I don't understand his actions afterwards though. Burning her and than cutting her head off, only worsens his cause. Totally unnecessary.

Bessie's rape and murder was unnecessary as well. At the start he should've never involved her. Her murder only adds to his troubles. His actions were definitely justifiable [to him at least], in that he wanted to keep her quiet, however not morally correct at all. Bigger got what he deserved. If a white person did the same thing, they would get the same answer to their pleas, just like Bigger, the death penalty. The jury was indeed swayed favorably towards death because of the color of his skin because of the racist stereotypes and labels that whites put on blacks at that time, but Bigger, in my opinion, was sentenced correctly.

A Principle To Keep

In my eyes, an important principle to keep, no matter the situation is to do your best. This principle can have many different interpretations, whether it be to do you best in keeping your family safe, or even in everyday tasks. The situation you experience dictates what doing your best means. For example if I were living on Earth when "The Road" takes place, my principle would apply to doing my best in keeping alive as well as keeping those close to me alive. Doing your best doesn't necessarily mean being perfect; no ones perfect. It means putting 100 percent into anything you do. No matter the magnitude or importance give it your all. In everyday situations giving 90 versus 100 percent might not matter much, however in life threatening situation, like the ones that the father and his son face in "The Road" giving 99 versus 100 percent of your effort may mean the difference between life and death. Doing your best means not giving up, even when times get tough. It means not losing hope; because when you lose hope, you loose your will to live. The father in McCarthy's novel sees hope for a better future in the form of his son, that is why he gives his all when it comes to staying alive. He still has hope which drives him to stay alive. Hope is an important idea to hold on to. Even when things get hard.

"Their Eyes Were Watching God": Janie

Janie, a character in Zora Neale Hurston's novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God", is a woman that I feel like is overshadowed by men. Although she likes being independent from others, there is a fine line between being independent and being lonely. Her loneliness overshadows her independence and forces her to rely on others such as her grandmother, Nanny, Logan Killicks (her first husband), Joe Starks (her second husband) and Tea Cakes (her current lover), because of certain female social standards that women are expected to keep to at that time. From the beginning she has no say in her choices in life. Instead of finding true love, like she hopes, young Janie is forced to marry the older Logan Killicks because Nanny told her so. Even though her grandmother did it out of her love for Janie and for her future well-being, she didn't have a choice.

However as time goes on I feel like Janie gains confidence and is presented as more out going and forward, stating her mind to her then husband Joe Starks right then and their in a shop in front of the entire town, is an example of such a change.

Her hunt for true love hasn't been accomplished yet. The folks in the town that she grew up in told her that love will come with marriage, to just give is a bit of time and to be a bit patient. However a sense of love didn't come in the three months since marrying Logan so she ran away with Joe. Janie realized that after almost 30 years of marriage she didn't love this man. At this time not much is known about Tea Cakes but I can assume that his presence will change Janie for better or worse.

I find that connection that Janie has with nature very interesting. She turns to these natural figures for support, since she herself didn't have much growing up. Her mother and father both abandoned the girl at a young age. Janie is a complex character with many unique characteristics and a certain outlook on life. Her quest for independence and true love show us her true colors.

Thanksgiving

English is undoubtedly one of the funniest classes of the day. Not only do my classmates and teacher make english class that much more enjoyable with constant jokes and funny arguments, but the overall content that Mr. McCarthy teaches is enjoyable and interesting. This Thanksgiving has been a bit less enjoyable, I've been sick for the entire break. However I want to give thanks to Brashana and Nayeli, my closest friends during fifth period english. 

Both are fun to be around. I'm grateful for sitting by them the first day of school. Both are very smart and funny. They encourage me when I tell them of my test in AP next period. They listen to me when I'm having a rough day. The jokes they crack cheer me up when I'm not in the mood. Group work with them both is interesting and exciting. They are great at providing needed insight on the various books and stories we read. I'm glad that I got to know Brashana and Nayeli better this year.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway; a man praised for his wonderful contributions to American literature; a man haunted from birth; a man with a distinct, unique yet memorable style of writing; a man that experienced many losses throughout his lifetime. This man, although born with a talent for writing, had a troubled life.

From the beginning, Hemingway's mother dressed him as a girl. Although this was particularly (and weirdly) normal for that time, his mother, Grace, took it a bit too far. She always wanted twin girls. Instead she got Marcelline (Hemingway's older sister) and then about a year-and-a-half later, Ernest. Instead of embracing the fact that she had a son, Grace insisted on dressing him up in Marcelline's old clothes. This persisted until Hemingway was about 6 years old. Ultimately, his mother's actions, caused Ernest to perpetuate his masculinity later in life, as seen in his stories. The only way that Ernest could express his masculinity as a young child was when his father took him camping or fishing.

To make up for lost time in expressing his masculinity during his childhood, Ernest enlisted in the army to fight the war in Europe. To his dismay he got rejected because his vision wasn't so great. Nevertheless, Hemingway really wanted to participate in this war any way possible. In the end he joined the Red Cross in Italy. Later he got injured on the Italian front and had to stay in a hospital in Milan. These series of events sparked Hemingway's inspiration for his short-story titled, "In Another Country".

Other events in Hemingway's life that proved his masculinity, include (1) his constant fascination with bull-fighting, which led him to spend time in Spain, observing the running of the bulls in Pamplona, (2) his passion for fishing that led him to the Key West in Florida, as well as Cuba, (3) his journey to Africa to experience a safari, which led to big-game hunting, (5) his alcoholism later in life and lastly (6) his constant habit of jumping around from one women to the next once he got bored. Hemingway was a control-freak, that had to be dominant, the ultimate alpha-male. He once dated Martha, an independent women that put her work in front of Hemingway. This caused Ernest to dump her because she wan't giving him  enough attention. He then met Mary, a very submissive women, that would cater to his needs. In the end, Hemingway married a total of 5 women and had affairs with countless others. 

Hemingway was an extraordinary writer. His influence is still felt to this day. However he fought with many internal demons day after day. In the end, these demons led him to take his own life. 

Six Word Stories

• I enter our house, my house
• A black bag, life no more
• Gradually, we fell out of touch
• A whisper from the depths unknown
• A doctors appointment, feeling great  - Cancer
• Bullets flying above, a hit, loss