Final Blog

From the very first piece of literature we read in this class, I feel as if humanitarianism has been one of the main themes in the course and in women’s literature. Humanitarianism is “the doctrine that man’s duty is to strive to promote the welfare of mankind” (www.dictionary.com, 2011). Every piece of literature that we read in this class caused me to think about myself in relation to society and the community, forcing me to constantly think of one of my favorite quotes of all time: “Be the change you want to see.”

 Every author had their own style and technique for getting readers to think about how society views certain groups or types of people in their own unique way, that forced readers to think about themselves in relation to what they author was talking about and society in general. Even though they all had their own style and technique, I feel as if all of the authors and all of the pieces of literature had played on people’s emotions to prove their point, but again, each author did this in their own unique way. I think this was an effective mechanism to really force readers to think about his/herself in relation to what the author was saying and the point that each woman was trying to make.

Naomi Shihab Nye promoted humanitarianism by having readers think about the person, the individual; not the person in the context of society or a specific culture or group, in her poetry book 19 Varieties of Gazelle. She accomplished this by sharing stories that explained some of the Middle Eastern traditions to show they are human, just like everyone else. One of her goals was to have readers try to understand their culture a little bit better to help American society develop a more accurate picture of the culture and the people rather than think of them in the context that the aftermath of September 11, 2001 created.

Although promoting the same ideas of humanitarianism, Julia Alvarez took a different approach, but was still just as effective in her piece of historical fiction, In the Time of the Butterflies. Alvarez introduced readers to four very different sisters and took readers along on their journey through life. Three of the sisters were activists, fighting for the improvement of their nation, but each of these sisters had a different path to getting there. In the end however, they had one common goal and that was to improve the state of the nation. Although the forth sister, Dede, may have not been an activist like her sisters, she too played a role in the fight for the nation by carrying on their legacy, sharing their stories after they died, and helping to raise their children. Dede practiced humanitarianism by hoping to inspire others through sharing her sisters’ stories while her sisters practiced humanitarianism through activism.

Alison Bechdel promoted humanitarianism by challenging what the traditional American appears to be with what the traditional American family tends to be in reality in her graphic novel, Fun Home. This was the first graphic novel I have ever read and it really left an impression on me, because I love imagery. Bechdel challenged what American culture considers to be the traditional family by allowing us into her childhood and her journey to adulthood. She was a member of what appeared to be a traditional family, mother, father, son, daughter, and pet, and her family played the part in public, but in reality, this was not the situation. Her father struggled with his sexuality and gender orientation; Bechdel herself struggled with her sexuality; the mother worked, something very uncharacteristic for the time period. This caused things to never really be as they seemed. Their community viewed them as “normal” when in fact they did not fit the stereotype. Bechdel was promotion humanity by sharing her story and saying hey, its ok to be a little bit different; no one family actually fits this cookie cutter image society has set forth on what a family should be.

Sapphire also addressed humanitarian issues in her novel Push. Sapphire challenged society by sharing the story of Precious, an autistic teenager who was sexually molested by both her mother and father and bore children out of incest. She was what most would define as a “menace to society,” because she was not moving up in the educational system, appeared to be unintelligent and ignorant, and lacked a support system. Sapphire promoted humanity by having readers sympathize with Precious and understand why she was the way she was. I think that Sapphire’s goal was to just have society stop and think about how what really causes an individual to be in this type of situation, and what society can do to help people develop the life tools and guide them to the proper resources improve their lives.

In conclusion, the reading I did this semester really caused me to think about myself in relation to society and the community of which I am a part of. I really did not know what to expect going into the semester, but was pleasantly surprised. All of these books motivated me in some way and had a positive impact on me. As a future public health professional, I consider myself to be a humanitarian whose goal is to improve the quality of life for the public, especially underserved, deprived populations. The literature we read this semester gave me a different perspective that will help to keep me motivated when I enter the profession.

I decided to examine one of the little pieces of life advice that Dorothy Allison gives through out her memoir. “Two or three things I know for sure, and one is that I would rather go naked than wear the coat the world has made for me,” (pg. 71).

Allison uses this quote to conclude the section where she shares that the story of the last time her stepfather beat her when she was sixteen with readers.  However, it is not just a story of how she stood up for herself the last time her stepfather beat her. She tells readers how she reclaimed herself and how she would not let this one aspect of her life define who she was and the woman that she wanted to be. “I took back my sex, my body. I claimed myself and remade my life. Only when I knew I belonged to myself completely did I become capable of giving myself to another, of finding joy in desire, pleasure in our love, power in this body no one else owns, (pg 70).

Out of all of the stories, phrases, and life advice in the book, I believe that these are the most powerful, and that everyone, man or woman, can use this type of advice and perspective to help them get through something, because of the truth it resonates. Everyone has some type of stereotype that follows them, some role that they are expected to fill or fall into. What most people do not realize is that is their option on whether or not they do. I believe that falling into a stereotype and filling the role you are expected is the easy path in life or the easy way out, because you are only doing what is expected.

I am like Allison. I believe in creating my own life and paving my own path, setting or raising the standard along the way. I could be the typical college student, but instead, I went above and beyond, creating opportunities for myself and others, and developing into a woman and person whose reflection I could be proud of. It was not easy and at time it was infuriating, but in the end, it was worth it. 

Allison Blog 1

            I feel as if I have said this a few times this semester, but this is a new literary style and tactic for me. I have read autobiographies before, but never one like this. I feel although this is an autobiography or a memoir, Allison tries to keep us on our toes, as we read. I think she best accomplished this through the contradictions that I have picked up on so far in the book. I feel like as I am trying to absorb the story, I find myself thinking back to previous things that she said or photographs that were shown. For example, she will talk about how the women in her family are ugly because they are poor one minute, but give a physical description of why they are ugly, but their looks to that of movie stars. At one point, she talks about how one physical feature, the high cheekbones I believe, make them look like peasants, but then later she talks about the high cheekbones in relation to movie stars. The contradictions just throw me off, because it changed how I pictured the story happening.

            I also feel that she keeps readers on their toes by throwing in little phrases that make you question what she is saying. There is no doubt in my mind that she experience all of the things she discusses in the novel, but I think it is very important to think about the perspective of the story, just like with the previous book we read. At some points during the reading, I felt a little bit unsure of whose perspective it the “story” was coming from, because I know it is supposed to be autobiographical, but their was something about the way it was told that just threw me off. Maybe it was because it was the adult version of Allison looking back and telling the story. Maybe she understood or had an epiphany about what happened and that changed her perspective in it. I am still trying to put my finger on it.

            I wanted to touch on the photographs, because I know that was discussed in class today. I love photography, and think that pictures can be worth 1000 words. One thing that kept crossing my mind as I was reading was why she selected the photographs that she did, which is something I tend to think about in general when I see a photograph. I want to know what it was about that picture; what was the story behind it; what made it stand out to her from others? I feel like some of these questions could have been better addressed in the “story” by having captions instead of having the context of the photo in the “story.” I also think it is a little bit of a contradiction to have an autobiography or memoir, which is told from the individual’s perspective, and then have photographs, which she did not take, because they are from else’s perspective. I sometimes wondered who took the photographs and what their story was in relation to Allison’s.

            So far, I am glad we are ending the semester with this type of book. I graduate at the end of the month, and I think Allison is on to something when she says, “the 2 or 3 things I know for sure.” Anything can happen and life can change in an instant. While trying to figure out what I want the next step to be for me, I have been stopping and thinking, what do I know for sure? Right now, I know 1 thing for sure, and am using it to try to help me figure out what comes next. 

Ozick Blog 2

            On Friday, I could not verbalize what my thoughts in the in-class writing or the class discussion, so have decided to try to do it in this blog, and hopefully I am much more successful.

            Although it was not a very significant line in the passage, when the hotel manager told Rosa to go home, I started thinking about what Rosa considered home. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, there are a handful of definitions for the word home; one of which is “the social unit formed by a family living together.”

Rosa was ripped from her home and her family in her early to mid twenties. Readers never find out what happened to Rosa and Stella’s family, nor if Rosa or Stella found out what happened to them. The last place that Rosa felt she had a family was in the concentration camp before Magda was executed by a Nazi throwing her into an electric fence. When a mother loses a child, part of the mother dies with the child and I believe this is extremely evident with Rosa. When Magda died, she began to regress emotionally and started sucking on the shawl the way Magda would. When Magda died, Rosa felt she lost all that she considered to be family and home. Rosa may have been alive physically, but mentally and emotionally, Rosa died with Magda in the concentration camp.

Rosa tried to create this sense of family by writing letters to Magda and creating a fantasy life; she was trying to create a place where she could feel at home. Although Rosa seems to be out of touch with reality most of the time, I think it is because she never fully coped with what she experienced and everything she went through.

Although Rosa does not treat Stella very well, I think it is safe to say that Stella still associates Rosa with a sense of home. Stella younger than Rosa when the Holocaust started, and I feel that allowed her to be more resilient when moving to the United States to start to put the pieces back together. Stella demonstrates her commitment to Rosa by sending her money each month to survive. I also believe this is why Stella wanted Rosa to take part in the study. Stella feels she has done all she can to help her aunt put the pieces back together, but knows she has not gotten anywhere and that her aunt is slowly losing touch with reality. Stella knows that Rosa needs guidance to be able to deal with everything they had to endure at the concentration camp, and feels that the study will help her to do that. Stella wants Rosa to take part in the study because she does not want to lose the last family member that she has and the sense of home that creates.

This novel has been a bit challenging for me to read. It is not one you can sit down and read leisurely. You have to take the time to keep re-reading passages to pick up on the carefully placed symbolism and irony to understand what is happening. Sometimes I feel like I spend so much time focusing on one part, that I do not get exactly what I should be getting from the other parts. I also think this is why I had some trouble verbalizing what I was thinking on Friday. I am also a little bit intimidated to talk about this book during class discussions, because I am not sure if I am on the right track. 

Ozick Blog 1

            Like we discussed in class, many novels, especially about horrific events in history, have some type of happy ending, where the main character(s) get some type of closure, regardless of how severe the hardships were. Although this is very appealing to readers, this tends not to be the reality of a situation. I think the “happily ever after” most stories have, especially when they are historical fiction, take away from the harshness and the reality of what happened. I was pleasantly surprised to find out in class that this novel would not be like that, and that readers would get more of an understanding of the healing process, or lack their of, after unthinkable events such as the Holocaust.

            When thinking about people heal after tragedies such as the Holocaust, I think that we must look at what Rosa and Magda. We never find out how Magda was conceived, but I think it is safe to say that Rosa was sexually assaulted by an Nazi officer because of the physical description that Ozick gives readers. Rosa did everything that she could to protect Magda and keep her safe, and the shawl allowed her to be successful at this for a little over a year. When Magda was discovered, she was thrown into an electric fence and murdered. Rosa was paralyzed with emotion and anxiety, but knew she would be shot if she did anything to protect Magda, and then they would both be dead. Rosa was forced to watch her infant daughter be executed.

            Readers know that Rosa and Stella eventually are released from the camp and become refugees in the United States. Going back to what was discussed earlier, it would be unrealistic to have Rosa magically “heal” from what she had to endure while in the camps just because she was released and became a refugee in the United States. Although I find this book completely confusing and frustrating at times, because it is difficult to follow what is going on, the fact that Rosa struggles with what she endured while at the camp intrigues me and draws me in. It makes me wonder what is going to happen next and how the story is going to end.

            This story really makes me stop and think about the healing process. So many people have gone through so many awful things, you just have to stop and wonder how they got through the experience and what they did to heal. Although none of the children at my internship have gone through an experience such as Rosa and Stella, some of them have been through extremely traumatic events. I want to be a Public Health Specialist, because I want to help children overcome all of the traumatic things economically disadvantaged children have to go through, and show them there is a better way then gangs, violence, drugs, etc, but it is hard when this is how they are raised. I think the greatest struggle I will face is finding the children that want to heal, such as Stella. Although she may not have “properly” healed in Rosa’s eyes, she did make great strides in life considering all of the hardships that she had to endure and the lack of support and love she had. The one thing she did have though, was fight, and she knew she was not going to let this experience define her. I think that Ozick showing this side of the healing process is amazing, but at the same time, I hope that Rosa does not let this define her as she has been. 

Otsuka Blog 4

            Although the shortest chapter in the entire novel, I feel that “Confession” is one of the most significant, because the reader gets a close look at what Japanese people went through emotionally. The other chapters are very superficial, and the reader has to do close reading in every chapter to pick up on carefully placed emotion, symbolism, irony, and underlying message. The final chapter of the book is more up front and in the readers face. How different this chapter is compared to the rest is made evident right off the bat, because it is written in first person as opposed to third person. This is a dramatic transition and makes what the father is saying more direct and personable, and the accusations in the false confession more mind boggling and ironic. At multiple points throughout the chapter it almost feels like the father is addressing you, the reader, as the accuser. There is a sense of confusion and anger in this chapter that is not as evident in the other chapters. The reader can tell from the way the father is speaking that he literally cannot believe everything he is being accused of, and that he is angry that the accusations never really seem to stop. The father is definitely the every man character in this chapter. Although he may have been accused of more than one terrorist act, it is difficult to fathom that he was actually accused of doing all of these things. Some of the accusations are probably what he heard other men being accused of; men that he could relate to and that he understood on an intimate level, because they knew exactly what he was going through. The father, along with all of the other men falsely imprisoned, lost their sense of self, their identity. They know longer knew what to believe, because their were so many lies going around, and because the truth could not save them. The words coming out of their mouth did not matter; their race and ethnicity did. The fact that these men were Japanese was more important than the type of men they had become. I believe this is the significance of the false confession. The father admitting to “doing” all of these terrorist acts was his way of rebelling against the system and the way they tortured him. He made a mockery of what the system put him through by showing society how ridiculous and absurd what was happening and what the Japanese were being accused of really was. One of my favorite parts of the entire book was the sarcasm and cynical attitude it ended with.

“So go ahead and lock me up. Take my children. Take my wife. Freeze my assets. Seize my crops. Search my office. Ransack my house. Cancel my insurance. Auction off my business. Hand over my lease. Assign me a number. Inform me of my crime. Too short, too dark, too ugly, too proud. Put it down in writing – is nervous in conversation, always laugh loudly at the wrong time, never laughs at all -  and I’ll sign on the dotted line. Is treacherous and cunning, is ruthless, is cruel. And if they ask you someday what it was I most wanted to say, please tell them, if you would, it was this:

                        I’m sorry.

                        There. That’s it. I’ve said it. Now can I go?”

           

            This ending was just the icing on the cake for me, for both this chapter and the entire novel. The father basically gave the system the middle finger and said how can you really do this to me in a “free” country. It is absurd and unethical. He said what they wanted to hear, because the truth did not matter.

Otsuka Blog 3

            After our brief discussion on identity in class today, I decided to expand on this more in my blog post, because I feel that it is extremely significant to understanding and getting the most out of this story. Throughout this entire novel, knowing who you are and where you belong has been the most prominent theme. In the beginning of the novel, all of the family members identified with being American more than they identified with being Japanese, and each demonstrated this in their own way. By the end of the novel, all of the characters had a change in identity and felt they could relate to being Japanese more than they could relate to being American. I feel that the characters that had the greatest change in identity were the boy and the girl.

            In the beginning of the novel, the girl is presented to readers as a typical teenage girl. “The door to the girl’s room was closed. Above the doorknob was a note that had not been there the day before. It said DO NOT DISTRUB.” This is a very Americanized when compared to the Japanese culture where women and children are expected to be submissive and do what they are asked without question and meant to blend in. In the same chapter, the girl demonstrates that she is confused with her identity, because she feels that she does not look as American as she feels. “’Is there anything wrong with my face?’ she asked. ‘Why?’ said the women. ‘People are staring.”’ Here, the girl is clearly demonstrating that she knows that her physical Japanese characteristics make her different, and that even though she feels more American than Japanese, people do not perceive her that way. By the end of the novel, the girl is identifying more with the Japanese culture than the American culture, primarily because of the lifestyle change that came with being at the camp. The changes in the girl were subtler than the changes in the boy. The girl’s biggest change was that she became more submissive and ready to please. In addition, she knew that no one would look at them or treat them the same.

            The boy also changed which culture he identified more with as well. In the beginning of the novel, he was your typical little boy. He enjoyed spending time with his father and loved baseball. He had a sense of innocence that could not be missed. The first time we see a change in the boy is when they are talking about horses and jockeys. The boy said that he wanted to be a jockey. Someone told him he should want to grow-up to be a big American man instead, therefore identifying the Japanese culture as small and weak, like a jockey. When the boy hears, this he says he wants to grow up to be a strong, American boy. Whether or not he realizes it, he is distinguishing between the two cultures; he wants to go from being a weak Japanese boy to a strong American boy. In addition, he would also walk around the camp muttering the Emperor’s name, even though it was forbidden. This deliberate action shows that he does not want to identify with the American culture right now, because he does not like what they are doing to the Japanese.

            Overall, there is a clear identity and sense of belonging transition throughout the novel. The family goes from clearly feeling and identifying more with American culture to Japanese culture. The family started to have some misidentity in the camp, because even though they felt American, they were being treated like Japanese, an enemy of the state in most Americans’ eyes. Even though they do not want to identity with the Japanese culture because they do not want to be seen as the enemy, they do, because of their experiences.