Blogging This Week...

I am going to give you a week off from blogging (and myself a week off from reading blogs). As you know, my daughter has been sick (she has RSV), and this coincides with a few days when I am painting and re-carpeting my house. With all of this going on, it will be difficult for me to keep up on the blogs. We will be discussing Reader-response theory on Tuesday, and please be prepared to discuss the poems on Thursday. (Which reminds me, I need to post them to the website!)

If you have any questions in the meantime, please email me. Thanks so much.

Marie

While reading Marie, the recurring theme seemed to be Marie's dislike for herself and her situation in life. She seemed depressed and disappointed about the way her life had ended up. It seemed like she felt that she settled. The story seems to focus on human relations, and how they affect a human being. While reading, I got the impression that Marie had not ever been married, or even had a boyfriend or loved on in general, from a few lines including "Marie sought help from no one, lest she come to depend on a person too much" and "She was haunted by the way Vernelle's cheek had felt, by what it was like to invade and actually touch the flesh of another person." But then, reading on, we find that she has been married three times.
Marie's lack of human relationships seems to be a large factor in her unhappiness. She does not trust anyone, confide in anyone, depend on anyone for her support and health. She talks about her dislike for the relationship her friend has with the old, dying man. She doesn't understand the reason for loving someone only to see them go away. And that seems noteworthy. Perhaps she does not have relationships because of her multiple relationships that have failed, whether romantic or family relationships.
The recording of her own voice and the tape player she does not know how to work represent her history, or perhaps a large amount of memories she failed to create. Perhaps that is why she put the recorder in the deepest part of her desk, never to look at it again. How could she face her miserable past?
A quick note on tension in the piece (this is a little scattered, sorry!) The tone was completely depressed and she seemed doomed to destruction because of her unwillingness to stand up for herself. I loved when she smacked that rotten secretary across the face. She finally stood up for herself. Marie was obviously raised in a different culture, another time. She was not taught how to stand up for herself and cause a bit of a fight, but in her new world, enough was enough. Perhaps there's a little lesson in here for everyone, to stand up for what we believe in.

Respect

I think that the theme of the story is all about human relationships and how Marie believes she should be treated vs. the reality in which she is treated in every day situations. Not only treated with in the interactions of people, and the government, but how she treats herself as well. The fact that she is always so overcautious (taking the knife, wearing a coat, being early) clearly reveals that she doesn't feel that she can trust people enough to treat her with enough respect so she expects the worst at all times and in all situations. Of course Marie being an African American woman is the main cause for being more prone to inequality; not to mention the fact that she is and old woman and essentially disabled (blind in one eye). People judge, take advantage, and react in certain ways to certain people due to all of those reasons.

I think one important symbolism to realize due to the respect she has for herself, has to do with the voice recordings and the guilt that presides from slapping the woman (not apologizing). She hates the sound of her voice and is ever conscious of that guilt that comes along with not apologizing to the woman that she slapped in the face. She knows that "she wasn't raised that way" and she is hard on herself because she is realizing that she is being hypocritical to the fact that she wouldn't want to ever be treated that way, and yet she acted in that exact manner. When listening to her voice she is reminded of the person she was raised to be as well as the other influences in human relationships that she has has in her life which don't seem to be traced with any respect (ex-husbands, where are her kids?...)

I think the reason that the death of Wilamena's boyfriend is so profound on Marie is because she feels like someone does respect her and in a sense needed her there (Wilamena asked her to, he held her hand, vented to her with his last dying breaths) those last moments of his death; in which it surprises her and thoughts spur within her mind because has not often felt that experience before. He also reminds her of what people are made up of and where people come from (telling his story) and he is identifying that people are different in all aspects of respect determining where they are from and how they grew up--just like her voice recording relay to her. Just as the example of calling Mrs. Wise and hearing from the phone what kind of literal and implied "background" she was coming from--it changes your viewpoints on people.

Marie

The Overall theme of this story could be seen as the parallels between Courage and Fear. Marie, in here old age is caught in the paradox of living in the security of her fears. She is overly precise when it comes to the details of getting to her Social Security Appointments on time, making sure she has all the proper documentation, arming herself against the threat of attack, even, as the story describes, "when going down the hall to the trash drop".She takes all these steps and precausions out of fear. Fear that she may lose her source of income, fear that she may be overlooked, fear that she may be harmed. It is ironic that she feels a sense of security living in these fears. The text states that she felt life was all chaos and uncertainty, and therefore she must always be prepared, always stick to a regimented set of rules. She thinks this will keep her safe from challenges that would cause her fear, but really she is a prisoner of the anticipation of fearful or unpleasant encounters.

An interesting irony is that she finds courage when life does present new challenges, and she actually throws off her fear. She secretly wishes for another jab at the man who attacks her, and seems to have taken some pleasure in the power found in slapping Vernelle in the face. Later on in the story we read that the incident of the train, leaving her stranded without luggage, though distressing, brought her to the Heaven like city of Washington D.C., land of possibilities. It is when she sits and thinks, and is not in action, that fear and regret take hold of her again.

Marie

I think Marie does not like what she sees when she takes a look at herself. In this short story the reader has seen her slice a man’s hand and slap a woman’s cheek. She attempts to apologize to Vernelle for slapping her and genuinely seems sorry for what she has done, but she never gets the guts to actually apologize. She never cleaned the blood off the knife after cutting the man’s hand, but allowed it to dry and flake off by itself. It’s almost like she was going to let the memory of cutting the man’s hand let itself disappear without any act on her part. She didn’t do anything to provide a sort of closure for her violent action. She even told herself that she should clean that knife, but she never did. Like when she told herself to apologize to Vernelle, but never did. Was she even sorry for slicing the man's hand like she was for slapping Vernelle?

Two weeks after she slapped Vernelle, Marie thought of the “phrase she had not used or heard since her children were small: You whatn’t raised that way.” She chastises herself for this blunder she has made. She is disappointed in herself and her actions. And right after the act, she locked herself away from the rest of the world by using both chains to lock herself in her apartment. She knows what she did wrong, but never fixes it.

When Marie first listens to what George has recorded of her history, she stops him because the sound of her own voice stuns her and turns her world upside down for a few moments. The shock of listening to her own voice gave her a glimpse of herself that may have been unpleasant. After turning the tape over and over, it’s like she almost wants to be able to somehow change herself or change her view of herself when she “lightly touched the buttons of the machine.” She has no idea how to work the machine in the same way that she doesn’t know what to do with herself or the view she has just gotten of herself. At the conclusion of the story, she tucks away the tapes into the deepest corner of her drawer knowing she would never listen to the tapes again. Even though they are full of her own history and stories of her life, “she could not stand the sound of her own voice” or the distasteful view she got of herself when she listened to them.

CLASS CANCELLATION 2/18

Hi everyone. I am really sorry, but my daughter is really sick, and I don't have anyone to watch her today. I hate cancelling class, but I'm afraid I don't have another option today. I would still like you to post your responses before the normal deadline, and we can talk about "Marie" online. I will also talk about the story in class on Tuesday before preceding on to our discussion of Reader-response. If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact me via email. My sincere apologies, and I will see you on Tuesday.

Marie

For years Marie had been receiving letters from the Social Security Office’s John Smith, telling her what to do in order to continue receiving her SSI benefits, and she always obeyed those orders. The organic unity of this piece of literature is the coldness of the government institution that Marie is subjected to on a regular basis. The lack of respect the receptionist as well as the case workers show towards their clients is indicative of the world that Marie has been living in her whole life. As a black woman in South Eastern United States she has learned to fear government agencies. “She always obeyed the letters, even if the order now came from a dead man for she knew people who had been temporarily cut off from SSI for not showing up or even being late. And once cut off, you had to move heaven and earth to get back on.” Fear of the government cutting off her SSI benefits, even temporarily, rules her activities. But even the most patient person will lose control of themselves when pushed too far. The arrogance of the benefits office becomes too much and even, with all her fears still there, she snaps.

Marie is a product of the environment she lives in, she is a product of the discrimination she has been subjected to and her story is symbolic of the way minorities and the elderly are cared for in this country. “She could not stand the sound of her own voice.” In the end, she is insignificant, she is only as important as the documents in her drawer that verify her age and disabilities.

Maria fights "The Man"

There are a couple of interpretations that came to my mind as I read through the short story Maria. But aside from my different impressions that I got from the reading, I truly believe that this story is about how nobody can truly rely on the government to solve their problems. In her old age, Maria is dependent on receiving social security, to which she is entitled to. But in the process of receiving that entitlement you can clearly see the flaws in the system. The amount of time that she has to wait in line and the overall care of the receptionist is the author’s way of displaying the problems that go with the way the government runs itself.

The question Marie asks the receptionist, “why you have me wait so long if she wasn’t there”, is the author’s way of showing the lack of care that goes with a government employee. Marie’s mother was certain that “a human bein could take they troubles to Washington and things would be set right.” Unfortunately Marie had to experience the lack of order and care that comes with governmental service.

So in conclusion I feel that this piece of literature was written in order to illustrate the authors feeling’s and beliefs about government oversight and control and how if we as citizens of the United States let the government slowly overtake our programs, then they will dictate the way we live life and we will all be waiting in line for something.

A Stranger to Self

She could not stand the sound of her own voice is the concluding statement in this short-story. But as I used the lens of a New Critic to analyze this story, I will argue that her voice is representative of her past and her inability to never look back on many aspects of her life. Whether it be the act of not washing away the blood stain from the knife she used on a potential "killer", an apology due to a woman whom she slapped across the face, or tapes recorded by a young man detailing many intimate details of her entire life - these are the things she could not handle.

Marie, is an elderly woman who's understanding of life is to expect chaos even in the most innocent of moments. Throughout the short story, Edward P. Jones gives clues into the ideology, background, ethnicity and age of the main character, Marie. In the beginning of the story, there is a line that reads, Marie thought it bad luck to have telephoned a dead man and hung up. This non-sense can help the reader to define the woman as an elderly woman. This same characteristic is supported when Marie makes this comment in regards to the dress standards of her attempted "killer", dressed the way they were all dressed nowadays, as if a blind man had matched up all their colors. It is not till the end of the story that the author gives us more information about her race, revealing that the "white family" that her mother worked for had a son that needed a maid, and she was the response to their want. Jones continues to speak of Marie's theories and makes the comparison with life and the weather in Washington. I find it interesting that the weather is described to continually go up and down - too like life. As a weather person announces on the radio that it would be warm enough to just wear a sweater - Marie wears a coat. I dissected this specific section of literature, and believe that this to be a dramatic metaphor for Marie. She protects herself from the ups and downs in life and weather, she never takes any chances to "dance in the rain."

Vernelle Wise is questioned my Marie whether or not she was actually "wise," when the text reads, There was a nameplate at the front of the woman's desk and it said Vernelle Wise. The name was surrounded by little hearts, the kind a child might have drawn. Another in-text assumption comes from when Vernelle is communicating with the other receptionist about the guy she is dating, Vernelle said this, "It kind of put me off when he said he was a car mechanic. I kind like kept tryin to take a peek at his fingernails and everything the whole evenin. See if they were dirty or what." We can evaluate that Vernelle likes men that are clean cut, thinking too that a mechanic is a low job.

As Marie is locked in chains, one can see that Marie is truly a victim of her own choices. She has locked herself inside her own walls and can't get out. She is ashamed of what she has done - but will NOT allow herself to go back, make changes, or set herself free. The only sense of freedom that we feel from Marie is when she talks to Calhoun on his dying bed. As he relates to her his life story of love and happiness in Nicodemus, I had the feeling that he was telling her to go be with people of her own - black people. As the man goes home to his God, Marie realizes that the last thing Calhoun knew of this earthly existence was a stranger. Is she a stranger to herself? Will she (a stranger), be the last thing that she encounters in this life? These questions seem to arise in that moment as she contemplates life.

Life has passed her by and she still - won't face the past. Marie.

Fear Governing Your Life

The story "Maria" was told from the point of view of an elderly person. The universal theme that the author is conveying in this story is how fear can govern your life. The stories' organic unity being constructed by many experiences in which she feels fear or lets fear govern her actions. From the very beginning, she talks about the letters she recieves from the social security people, how she always obeys the letters because she doesn't want to be cut off from her social security. She goes to great lengths to get there on time, so that she won't make the social security people mad. She takes a knife with her at all times because it helps her feel more safe since the knife kept her from getting robbed. As she recalls the scene, we are able to read her thoughts as she continually reinforces in her mind that she will not back down from this young man who tried to take her money. She is afraid of the man who knocks on her door, wanting to conduct an interview, thinking that it was the social security people or a murderer. Maria even wants to tell her best friend Wilamena not to date the man she is seeing because she thinks Wilamena's heart will be broken when he dies. The examples that reinforce the univeral them of being governed by fear are endless.

Civil Rights Movement

The story “Marie” is a tale of a woman Marie Delaveaux Wilson. In the story Marie describes her countless journeys to the Social Security Office. She would receive letters from Mr. Smith telling her that she needed to come in. Marie was always afraid not to do so because she knew that she would be cut off if she didn’t. On several occasions Marie arrives to the Social Security office to be sent back home with no one to talk to. She would sit hours on end waiting for the individual who supposedly was to help her. Throughout her battle of trying to see someone at the SSI she encounters other challenges that affect her life.

The first challenge that Marie is faced with is a young man “twenty, no more than twenty-five, dressed the way they were all dressed nowadays, as if a blind man had matched up all their colors.” The man then pursues to burglarize the woman by tearing one of her pockets to retrieve money. As the attempt is occurring the woman pulls out a knife and cuts the man’s arm. A bit of irony occurs within this sequence as Marie is walking up 13th street and explains how she feels safe. After stabbing the man she doesn’t clean off the knife and the blood dries up and begins to flake off. This action could be interpreted as a way for Marie to take a part of someone else’s life as the SSI is trying to take hers. At the beginning of the story she talks about how she doesn’t want to be cut off by the SSI, yet here she is trying to cut off this man’s arm. The man exclaims, “You done crippled me,” as to say that she is performing the same actions she is seeking help for.

The second challenge comes from a man named Calhoun Lambeth a boy friend of Marie’s friend Wilamena. However, it seems at this time it’s possible that Wilamena, though be it a possible friend, is actually some sort of caretaker of Marie’s. Marie gives her a key so that she can come in at anytime. One day Marie and Wilamena go to see Calhoun at his apartment, but as I gather some retirement home. Marie sits and talks to the man before he dies later that day.

The third challenge is encountered when Marie is conversing with a man that comes to her door from a university. He explains that he wants to know of any complaints that she has in life. From what I gathered from this information is that he is a psychiatrist and evaluating Marie. She talks about her father and how he viewed the president. He said that “this poor man sittin in that chair for four long years while the rest of the world went on about its business… Maybe I thought that by his sittin in that chair and doin nothing else for four years he made the country what it was and that without him sittin there the country wouldn’t be what it was.” Marie decides to share this specific story because it relates directly to her own life. She sits at her apartment until she receives letters from the SSI. When she does leave it seems as though nothing but trouble occurs. She hits the receptionists at the SSI, she almost gets mugged, and a man dies in her arms.

As I read this story I realized that it was about the trials and tribulations of African Americans in the United States. As Marie travels to D.C. and finally settles there she feels as though she is in heaven. This is a fallacy of many sorts as many African Americans may have viewed D.C. during the civil rights era. Finally, Marie concludes by hiding the cassette tapes she had recorded in the back of her dresser, almost to say that the problems of the Civil Rights movement were not going to be taken care of today, but possible someday.

"Marie" Prompt

I enjoyed class today. You did a very nice job with Ellen Bryant Voigt's "Lesson," and I learned a lot about the poem based on your comments.

As I mentioned in class last week and today, you can either post a response to the prompt below OR post a comment to the response of one of your classmates (or a comment on a comment, etc.). You need to alternate week to week, so if you post a response this time, you need to post a comment next week, etc. We will do this until further notice.

Since we are all New Critics this week, there is only one prompt for "Marie":

What interpretation of "Marie" best establishes its organic unity? How do the elements of the text itself work together to support a universal theme, and what is that theme?

In answering this prompt, focus on the text itself and only the text. What does it reveal? You might point to the text's concrete universals, particularly its symbolism, figurative language, imagery, tone, irony, ambiguity, paradox, tension, etc. to arrive at "the single best interpretation." (As we discussed in class today, we may not be comfortable with words like "universal" or "best," but reading like a New Critic is nevertheless a worthwhile exercise that can help us become closer, more careful readers.) Whatever is in the text is fair game.

I ask that you don't go online, or to the library, to look for critical interpretations of Jones's story. Normally I encourage any and all research, but since the whole warp and woof of New Criticism is to focus exclusively on the text itself, I want to be true to that. Pretend "Marie" washed up in a bottle on the shores of your desert island.

Thanks. See you on Thursday.

Gender Roles

The first thing I noticed while reading "House on Mango Street" was the separation between girls and boys. Not only are her brothers only friendly in the privacy of their own home, this boy/girl separation seems to make it extremely difficult for her to find a true friend at all. The way she talks about her sister shows there is a strained relationship, and she just wants a best friend all her own.

Nenny is too young to be my friend. She's just my sister and that was not my fault. You don't pick your sisters... she is my responsibility. Someday I will have a best friend all my own... until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor

It is evident in every one of the short stories that Esperanza is stuck in a patriarchal society. I believe this is a big influence in how she feels about herself and about her life. It is one of her core beliefs that you are what you look like -- here's an example:

Everybody is laughing except me, because I'm wearing... the old saddle shoes I wear to school, brown and white, the kind I get every September because they last long and they do. My feet scuffed and round, and the heels all crooked that look dumb with this dress, so I just sit.

There are more examples, but the main idea is that Esperanza is growing up in a patriarchal society where being a girl comes with many rules and an over-all feeling that you're inferior. At times, her pain is intertwined with her words as she describes her life.

mango street

Mango street is a place where gender roles are obviously prevalent. Esperanza is a soar thumb in this community. She calls herself the ugly sister and does not abide by gender roles, instead she pushes them away. I found "sire" almost commical because she was so unwilling to cross the street like other girls would have. She like boys wanted to prove that she was tough and that she could handle what ever was thrown her way. She did not want to be like the other girls who were weak in her eyes. She is one that described Lois as this person who is somewhat preppy and tries to put herself above Lois by saying that she can tie her shoes and Lois can't. She does this because she wants to be Lois in a way. She wants to be that girl under Sire's arm. She seems a bit hipocritical.

Gender Roles

There are many instances in the reading where it is pretty obvious Esperanza is struggling with the gender roles. From beginning to end she is confused at which role she really wants. This leads her to change her opinion and desires many times during the story.
One of the longest chapters in the story is when her and her sisters get to wear and run around in women's shoes. She obviously enjoys this until they are bothered and solicited by the Bum Man. This bad experience leads to her not really caring that her mother threw the shoes away.
At one time she talks highly of Sally and how she wants to be just like her. She thinks Sally is beautiful, and likes the way she dresses, and wishes Sally could teach her how to be this way. Then a few pages later she is calling Sally a liar because of the awful experience by the red clowns.
It also shows how she is confused in what she says about her hips while they are jump roping. She says "I don't care what kind I get as long as I get hips." She is pretty much saying here that she hasn't made up her mind yet what kind of woman she wants to be but she knows she wants to be one.
These are just a few of the examples of her being confused with gender roles. Its interesting but not really surprising that men are the main reason of why she is so confused. The bad experiences she had with them and the horrible way she was treated by some of them made her not want to play the traditional role of women. It seems to me a part of her wishes to rebel against "the traditional role," but also there is still a little part of her that wants to be like Sally and her Mom.

Men... can't live with em.. can't live without em

There are many instances where Esperanza is attempting to go against the gender roles that are so prominent on Mango Street. Some of the instances that struck me most were when Esperanza was walking down the street and she kept staring back at Sire almost like a challenge. She was not content on crossing the street or looking down when he stared like the other girls did, she wanted to show him that she wasn’t intimidated. Esperanza was fighting back against the gender roles that were previously formed. Like a man, she left the table before others and didn’t clean up her plate and she will not grow up tame. Although Esperanza fights the social norms placed on women, she still has that drive to be apart of it. She idealizes Sally, she wonders when someone will hold her and kiss her in the dark alley, and she describes herself as the ugly sister. The fight is like the boat described in the Great Gatsby, working hard against the current but is slowly pushed back towards the island.

The House on Mango Street

One of the things that stood out to me in this reading was noticing "the male gaze". There are a lot of examples of this, such as in the chapter where Esperanza tells us about Sire. She doesn't avoid him like the other girls because she is determined to keep the control. She says, "They didn't scare me. They did, but I wouldn't let them know." Even though she's afraid, she doesn't want to give the boys the satisfaction of knowing they had the power. However, I think this plan backfired on her. Although she was the only one brave enough to walk directly past and figuratively stare "the male gaze" in the face, she was only subjecting herself more to "the male gaze". She put herself right in their path and made herself stand out more. The fact that she's continually watching him and dreaming about him ends up giving Sire the control over her anyway. It is likely that the other girls that avoid Sire altogether aren't thinking the way Esperanza is. It is sad that, in a moment when she believed she had power, she was really giving more of it away.

I also think that on some level, Esperanza wants to be looked at by those boys, whether she admits it or not. She's very aware that they're looking at her, and she says "..I knew that he was looking. Every time." If the fact that they were always watching her made her that uncomfortable, she probably would choose another route. In her mind she's telling herself that she's doing it to prove something, but she might just enjoy the attention.

Esperanza

In the first short story "Boys and Girls" Esperanza is struggling with the females socially constructed gender. Her voice sounds pained as she points out that her brothers talk to her in private but not in public, that her brothers are only best friends with each other. She distinquishes men and women so greatly that she compares them to coming from different worlds. The comparason magnifies her biological essentialism way of thinking. Esperanza seems saddened that she can only talk to Nenny, but Nenny is too young to be her best friend. There is a bitterness to her voice as she dreams in longing about what it will be like when she has a best friend. Right from the beggining of Sandra Cisneros' stories of Esperanza, it is clear that she is being exposed to a patriarchial view. That patriarchial view is echoed throughout the rest of the compiliations of short stories. Esperanza conveys great satisifaction of looking good for boys. She walks around in her shoes with her friends so that boys will think she is beautiful. Her friend liked being called beautiful so much that she offered a bum a dollar to kiss her. Esperanza also displays self conscience when she said no to a boy that asked her to dance because she thought that her shoes were ugly. These great desires to look good for boys could possibly be a result of the belief that women are in a sense tools meant to please women; tools to be looked upon.

I hated it.

Not every girl I know is a feminist. There are a few and I do know two extreme feminists. The extremists would take the view that in this story the girls were subject to "the male gaze." Let me say something about this. If a woman does not want to be gazed at by a man then don't wear the things that today's culture has deemed sexy or attractive. By doing this, they are contradicting their own beliefs. If television shows, commercials, woman's and men's magazines, and billboards are exposing women or making them appear inferior to men than DON'T BUY IT. The truth is, woman want to feel the way hollywood has made beauty out to be. Our culture says these things are attractive, not men. If the girls that wore those shoes on Mango Street didn't like the results they should have listened to their advisers in the story and not worn them. Strangely, later in the story, she wants more of the same shoes that, again, her mother would not like. The black suede and nylons attract male attention. If you don't like it, don't do it.

That being said, the whole story read like the girl was victim to all the things that happened to her. This is why I didn't care for it. I actually felt like I was reading a story to depress myself. It implied that she had no control of her own life and that her actions were always meant to be judged by men and society. She said she didn't want to "inherit" her grandmothers place by the window which was the idea that she couldn't do all she wanted to do in life because a man took her like a "fancy chandelier." As if this could be inherited! This was a small example of Esperanza thinking her life is to be ever-ruled by men whether subtle or not. There are many more implications from the author through the whole story. If I could talk to Esperanza I would tell her, "If you don't like it change it! Quit sounding so depressed."
A famous comedian agreed that when men approach women, "No means, No!" The skit took place in a club or bar where the woman was dressed like she was in Las Vegas at the ripe age of 21.The woman went on to say that just because she was dressed like this did not mean that she was easy. The comedian continued and said something to the effect of, "Ladies if I were walking down the street in a police officers uniform and some lady came up to me screaming HELP! HELP! That man stole my purse, do you want me to say 'Just because I am dressed this way does not mean that I am a police officer. Hummph!' The comedian said "Ladies that sh** is confusing!" When the bum man offered her a dollar for a kiss it's because she wasn't dressed like a nun! (sorry this wasn't a prompt)

Break the barrier

I thought it was very interesting how prevalent all of the excerpts portrayed patriarchy within society and it dominates Esperanza life in how she thinks, feels, and reacts in all her situations, as well as the underlying precepts of how woman really do have that "semiotic language," and "multicultural feminism," in which it is clear that Experanza is experiencing because she doesn't feel like she shouldn't have to conform and wants to be that "free spirit" that her Grandmother once was and not to have a "sack thrown over her head" or be subject to the oppression that the patriarchal society inflicts on woman. She also conveys this to the audience when she repeatedly says that Nenny has the wrong mindset or doesn't think for herself (jumping rope). Esperanza shows us that she is a girl/woman in a typical patriarchy societal situation: she conforms because she doesn't want to be rejected, she has ideas of her own and wants to step outside to form her own identity, but is pressured by peers and self-esteem issues that everyone presses upon her, and consequently, is subject to the traditional culture.
I think the women in the end have a strong impact on Esperanza and are the literally analogy to the fact that she can make "a wish" and that she has that right to form her own identity not based on the patriarchy of society. They also say that it is important that she "comes back for others" which i thought meant in hopes of breaking some of those barriers that woman face in society and bringing others with her. I took out from when they said "you can't forget who you really are" that they were telling her that those intentions and desires of her true identity, that has always been dominated by the traditional ideology, can and should be uncovered and that she can be where and who she has always wanted to be.

écriture féminine

Cisneros's style is a perfect example of écriture féminine, as it does not follow, as Tyson puts it, "correct methods of organization", like ridged sequential patterns and is built up much more of emotions and the psychological rather than the logical. Each section of the story is written this way, For example, in Four Skinny Trees, we read:
"Keep, keep, keep trees say when I sleep. They teach."

Taken out of context, the sentences are very confusing and lack proper structure. But as we read throughout the stories, these broken sentences flow very fluidly together like our own stream of conciseness. The most striking example to me was the story The Family of Little Feet that begins by describing this family by their feet, and in the next paragraph is talking about about shoes. But again, it is easy to read as this is the way our minds naturally jump from subject to subject.

I would argue that in many ways, Cixous's idea of écriture féminine is the most natural way, and thus perhaps the most correct way to write and read literature.

Escaping the Patriarchy of Mango Street

Sally tries to escape her father’s oppression, her life in a home where her family is “very strict in his [her father’s] religion” (81; note that the religion doesn’t belong to the family, but to the father). And she does so by doing things that are in her culture considered dangerous at her age: she wears nylons and black clothing and “paint[s] her eyes like Cleopatra” (81), and she has premarital sex (well, that’s implied in “Red Clowns”). She rebels against her father’s control, and he has shown her how, saying that “to be this beautiful is trouble” (81). But even her rebellion is a product of the patriarchy; she emphasizes her beauty to make herself more enticing to men. Apparently, though, her dress and her behavior don’t help her feel free, so she follows other instructions that the patriarchal society she lives in has given her. The patriarchy says that a woman must get married to be free of her father’s house. So Sally gets married—and young, she’s not even in eighth grade yet. Maybe in marriage she escapes her father, but she ends up just moving from one oppressive patriarchal house to another.

I wonder whether, by telling us Sally’s story, Cisneros is saying that escape from the patriarchy is impossible. And if she is, what should we make of Esperanza’s “own quiet war” (89)? When she “leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate” (89), will her rebellion be as ineffectual as Sally’s is?

Or does Cisneros want us to have more hope? Maybe that’s the point of the episode with the three sisters. They tell Esperanza that “she’ll go very far” (104) and that she will leave Mango Street, and they command her “to come back for the others” (105), which suggests that abandoning the patriarchy is possible for anyone. But they also say something that can be interpreted as denying that idea: “You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango Street. You can’t erase what you know. You can’t forget who you are” (105). They might mean that no matter how much we fight, we’ll never win. But they might mean that to succeed in destroying patriarchal thought, we must not forget it, must always fight against it. So maybe Cisneros is telling us that we can escape and is showing us how.

Mango Street

To me the voice of Esperanza was distinctly female, primarily because the subject matter was clearly female oriented. The Boys & Girls chapter tells us out right that Esperanza is female. The activities Esperanza participated in (jump rope, wearing high heels, dancing with her uncle in a pink striped dress, discussing hips, etc.) are all typical female pastimes and things that society associates with female behavior. The emotions she expressed and some of the things she was concerned about can also be considered typically female.

The writing style of Mango Street had many elements of écriture féminine including the free style and lack of “structure” or traditional organization. The chapter on hips is also one that is specifically mentioned in Critical Theory Today as being écriture feminine described as the “unfettered, joyous vitality of the female body”. The form isn’t that of a typical novel. Each chapter jumps from subject to subject without interpretation by a narrator or explanation of time or place, going against “correct methods”.

Mango Street

One instance where Esperanza is having trouble with gender roles is when she, Lucy, and Rachel wear the pretty shoes and Rachel almost kisses the bum man for a dollar. When they make it back to Mango Street, the girls hide the shoes and Esperanza says, “We are tired of being beautiful.” This is also an example of sexage. Because of sexage, and the ways in which women are conditioned, women may feel a need to always look their best and be beautiful. After Esperanza has this troubling experience, she is tired of being beautiful because she knows what can come of it. And later in that same passage, Lucy’s mother throws the shoes away and “no one complains.” Even at a young age, the girls have seen the way men, even a lowly bum man, are given power because of “the male gaze” and how close one of their friends comes to falling under it.

Esperanza also shows huge defiance towards gender roles in the passage “Beautiful & Cruel.” She says she has decided “not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold of waiting for the ball and chain.” She doesn’t want to be imprisoned in the female gender role. She doesn’t want to be the tame woman that does whatever she is told. She looks up to the “beautiful and cruel” woman in the movies who laughs all the men away, whose “power is her own,” and won’t give her power away. Esperanza sneakily starts her rebellion against socially-constructed gender roles by leaving the table “like a man.” She does what is unexpected of her gender in hopes that one day she will be totally free of those gender roles.

the urge to go against

The cultural influences that shape Esperanza is very significant to the way patriarchies are perceived. Cultures shape views on multiple things that people within that culture view in different ways. In her case being Mexican influences her differently than say a white girl in a higher social economic status. In "My Name" Esperanza says,"but i think this is a Chinese lie because the Chinese, like the Mexicans, don't like their women strong"(10). This proves that within her culture she believes like other Mexicans that the women is not supposed to be strong. This has been a patriarchal ideology that has been excepted by her culture.
Esperanza talks about her great- grandmother being a "wild horse,so wild she wouldn't marry." This was looked upon as wild because a women was supposed to be married. Society in her culture had set up the behavior of being a single women as being "wild".
Esperanza is going through an internal conflict within herself of wanting to except some ideologies that have been put into place and not wanting to be stuck within that. She doesn't want to be like her friend locked up in her house not even able to look out the window. But she also enjoys her womanly assets, and would like to have men look at her. She has this fixation with appearances... But then she has key figures in her life warning her of them... "Her father says to be this beautiful is trouble" (81). I think it is hard for her to grow up not knowing what is the right thing and what is the wrong thing. "I have begun my own quiet war. Simple. Sure. I am one who leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate." I think Esperanza has the urge to go against patriarchy and traditional gender roles.

Boys and Girls

"The boys and girls live in separate worlds," has nothing to do with biological essentialism in the section, "Boys and Girls". Esperanza's brothers communicate a lot with her and her sister Nenny inside the house. But when their out in society where people can see them, they will have nothing to do with their sisters. The author seems to be saying that the segregation of men and woman and traditional gender roles are a result of social constructionism.

People are comfortable, and themselves at home where they're amongst family. When someone is in their element, they do things that are natural to them. Esperanza's brothers, biologically, are very comfortable being social with their sisters. However, socially, it's not accepted and they respond to social constructionism. They can't be friends with girls because girls and boys have nothing in common. This idea makes it very easy to understand how feminism has been such an issue throughout history. People are socially constructed at a young age, while at the same time learning their gender and identifying themselves.

Esperanza - Sexage

Though there are many cultures that give women equal voice, there are also many cultures, Latino being one, that are completely Patriarchal. In the Hispanic culture, women are a possession, they are a commodity to be controlled, traded, objectified. In Esperanza’s world, she is without voice. She tells us in the beginning of the piece, “The boys and the girls live in separate worlds. The boys in their universe and we in ours.” There is a definite separation between the sexes and outside the privacy of their own home, they do not cross the divide. You can see this sexage when Esperanza describes the circumstances of her birth. She is born in the year of the horse. The horse is a sign of strength, but for a female that is considered unlucky and prophecies of her future when she talks about her grandmother who was born in the year of the horse as well. Her grandmother was a woman with spirit, but that spirit was repressed by her grandfather when she was forced to marry leaving her sad and longing for a future she will never have. Though Esperanza does not want this same fate for herself, it seems hopeless to think she will escape this fate. The women in her narrative are proud of their beauty hoping it will bring them the life they crave; they long for change from the poverty they live in, but in the end they are objects to be used, abused and, at times, thrown away. As she gets older, more mature, more woman-like, she describes her desire for her own power, but that power is taken. As she is attacked, her only defenses are her pleas and they go unheeded; she can only cry for herself. She is the slave made to bend to the will of the master and the master is any man that feels it necessary to control her. “I love you, I love you, Spanish girl.”

Mango - Sisters

It feels a bit redundant to ask if, maybe even discuss, any instances of sisterhood show up in the reading... but I guess I'll do so anyways. 
I found it interesting the different emotions the narrator impressed upon the reader, and how quickly they switched from one feel to another. As well as moving between these, I also felt like she flipped between a positive view of sisterhood to that of a negative one.

Example: there are a series of reflections (Beautiful & Cruel, Red Clowns, Linoleum Roses) that all include extreme examples of degredation of women, many times, in which, other women stand to the side, allowing it to go on. In Linoleum Roses, Esperanza clearly states that Sally only receives visitors, but only when her husband is at work... Why then, if her friends are aware of her living conditions, do they not help? It says so much about the restrictions of women and the discouragement of a full sisterhood, one in which they'd remove another from such an abusive situation/relationship.

The last exerpt, following directly behind Linoleum Roses, however, is, in its strange way, positive and almost uplifting. From the three old sisters, Esperanza finds a source of strength and support to leave the circumstances in which she is trapped, a clear metaphor, if I don't say so myself, for their conditions of life. In their encouragement of her leave, however, they ask her to "remember to come back for the others." The statement/passage was so empowering, I was baffled to understand that that was indeed what I was feeling - a pride in the bonds of my sex.

It's fascinating to consider Esperanza's relationship with her sister, Magdalena. Their relationship seems indicative of the speakers relationship with her gender.

In the initial section, Esperanza is expressing her frustration with the way her brothers act toward her, circumscribing her ability to have friendships outside of her gender, and pointing to her sister as her best friend. She rejects this, feeling instead that her sister (read: gender) is a responsibility, a burden.

Futher in the section about hips, Nanny warns that if you don't grow hips, you could turn into a man. But, interestingly, Esperanza steps in, backing up her sister. She explains "She is stupid alright, but she is my sister." She may dislike her gender, but she's not willing to have the devalued.

Male Gaze

Sexage and the “male gaze” are seen throughout the book “The House on Mango Street.” One of the first passages that stuck out in my mind was Esperanza’s great-grandfather and his usage of “the male gaze.” This passage shows how Esperanza’s great-grandfather views his newly-wed wife; “Until my great-grandfather threw a sack over her head and carried her off. Just like that, as if she were a fancy chandelier (11).” Another passage I found prevalent was when Esperanza and her sister’s are walking down the street with their “new shoes.” “Lucy, Rachel, me tee-tottering like so. Down to the corner where the men can’t take their eyes off us. We must be Christmas (40).” In this passage the girls are viewed through “the male gaze” by several men around their trip. One man in particular (a bum man) tries to persuade one of the girls to kiss him. Although the girls run off in this venture, Esperanza is again faced with the same type of attack, but with a different man. Referring to an Oriental man that she worked with who asks her if he could have a birthday kiss. “He grabs my face with both hands and kisses me hard on the mouth and doesn’t let go (55).” Her mother often uses sexage throughout the book. One example is the passage about her mother not buying the “new shoes” for Esperanza. This example shows how her mother doesn’t want Esperanza to subjected to the society around them. There are numerous accounts in which Esperanza is viewed with “the male gaze”, too many to document in this small blog.

The House on Mango Street

There are many examples of patriarchal binary thought throughout the reading. The opening paragraph itself seems to set up an opposition: “The boys and the girls live in separate worlds. The boys in their universe and we in ours”. The rest of the paragraph seems to enforce the idea that boys are superior to girls. Her brothers “can’t be seen talking to girls” outside of the home. Because of this supposed superiority, Carlos and Kiki can’t be friends with their sisters but instead have to be friends with one another because they are both boys. We can see that the narrator, Esperanza fights against this binary thought. She wants “a best friend”: “One I can tell my secrets to. One who will understand my jokes without my having to explain them.” She never specifies a gender for her best friend. She just wants someone who will treat her like an equal. Throughout the reading, the female universe only seems to cross paths with the male universe when a man deems it okay, when a man looks at a woman, when a man wants to use a woman for his own pleasure and gain.

Another example of patriarchal binary thought could be that the women are always described as either pretty/beautiful or ugly: “We are tired of being beautiful”, “my feet are ugly”, “the boys at school think she’s beautiful”, “I am an ugly daughter”. Whenever a female character is called beautiful or ugly, it is usually in regards to her relationship to men. A woman can only go anywhere by marrying and she will only be desired by men if she’s beautiful: “Those boys that look at you because you’re pretty…”, “I am an ugly daughter. I am the one nobody comes for.” Even in Esperanza’s mind, being pretty and having men look at you seems to be the superior choice. She is embarrassed to dance at her cousin’s baptism party because she is wearing “ugly” shoes. She dreams of Sire holding her tight like he does his “tiny”, “pretty” girlfriend. She wants to be like Sally because all the boys think Sally is beautiful. She wants to experience the love Sally has told her about. However, in a few sections of the reading we can see Esperanza fighting against this patriarchal way of thinking. In the chapter, Sally, she says, “You could go to sleep and wake up and never have to think who likes you and doesn’t like you. You could close your eyes and you wouldn’t have to worry what people said because you never belonged here anyway and nobody could make you sad and nobody would think you’re strange because you like to dream and dream… [you could lean against someone] without somebody saying it is wrong, without the whole world waiting for you to make a mistake when all you wanted…was to love…and no one could call that crazy.” Although her identity has definitely been shaped by the patriarchal culture, Esperanza is aware that there are things about her that can’t and shouldn’t be determined by society. I found it interesting that in the last section, the three aunts do not describe her as ugly or beautiful, according to binary thinking. They simply tell her “she’s special”, giving her individuality and not just seeing her as a woman in a man’s world.

Mango Prompts

1. Esperanza's voice is obviously that of a child, but is it also distinctly female? In what ways might Sandra Cisneros's writing style, and the form of The House on Mango Street, be called écriture féminine?

2. Discuss moments in the reading where you see Esperanza struggling with socially-constructed gender roles. Also look for moments where Esperanza is attempting to form her own gender identity within a patriarchy that promotes biological essentialism.

3. One aspect of material feminism is "the male gaze," or the idea that the man looks and the woman is looked at. The looker is therefore the controller, and the woman becomes a token or a marker, even a commodity. This reduction is known as sexage. Examine moments in Mango Street where Esperanza is being looked at, or wants to be looked at, by men and women (women in a patriarchy also look with "the male gaze") and discuss these in terms of sexage. You can also broaden this idea and discuss how Esperanza is viewed by the patriarchy in which she lives, not just by the people living in it.

4. Are there examples of patriarchal binary thought in the reading? Explain.

5. Are there any instances in our reading where sisterhood, as a means of resisting patriarchy or improving women's situations, is either promoted or discouraged? What are the implications of these instances?

6. One important thing to remember about patriarchies is that they differ between nations, cultures, and classes. How are Esperanza's needs and desires shaped by her race, socioeconomic class, and nationality?

Thanks. See you on Thursday.

superstructure

The narrative voice is like a superstructure in how these directions pave the way to becoming at one with the culture, the better part. These directions make evident the socioeconomic divisions within a society or culture. They are also the "do this, not that" of a superstructure, leading to false consciousness. By following the given directions, the "girl" is being shaped into what is expected of her. The warnings and demanding nature of some directions (ex: "is it true that you sing benna in Sunday School?" "don't sing benna in Sunday school" "but I don't sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday school") are reminiscent of a leader who doesn't hear its follower's words or pleas. after all the directions, the criticisms, the condescending nature of words spoken to unknowing people, at the end the speaker, again, tells the listener that if they don't follow their directions, they will end up being the kind of person "the baker won't let near the bread" -- or the slut she's so intent on becoming.

The worth of the "Girl"

The girl in this story is absolutely being instructed on how to best serve others, how to best see to their needs, how to be an asset to them instead of herself. Nowhere in this story does the mother, or the instructor, tell the girl how to help herself in order to simply improve for her own well-being and happiness. In what ways does she work to become a commodity for others? The obvious answer is in all three ways: use value, exchange value, and sign-exchange value.
In my interpretation of the text, the girl is being prepared to serve with a higher sign-exchange value. What immediately came to my mind was that the instructor, perhaps family member, was training the girl to become a symbol of wealth and high-standing in the community, therefore bring honor to her family. It did not seem to matter what the girl became on the inside, only what she appeared to be. By doing this, her family's value would increase in social circles. She would work as an instrument to bring her family a better name and standing.
Concerning her exchange value, the girl is being trained to be completely competent in hard work, in serving others. Perhaps her mother is trying to get her married off. Perhaps she thinks the only way she can do so is by proving to a man that she can serve him unfailingly, as well as serve everyone around him.
It is all about what she can do to better improve someone else's happiness and comfort. The girl seems destined to live a servant's life, someone or something that only does what she can to look the part, without being true to herself.

Fluidity of Life

I had the distinct impression, while reading through the story, that the use of semi-colons and the lack of breakage in the paragraph was a direct reflection of the social classes of the two characters presented. It seemed as though the mother was preparing her daughter to live her life out exactly as she had, a continuation of class, if you will. Parallel to this same idea was the continuation of the sentence, largely unbroken, much like the class situation of the family. 

As stated in the text example of the homeless man in the bus station, I have to agree that in this case, also, that there's an implied, capitalist-serving message of the lower class being nothing to "worry about; they're doing alright for themselves." Perhaps the statement is true, perhaps not; either way, both the story and it's characters play into this ideal.

Humor

This is how not to write a Marxist response to “Girl.”

Maybe “Girl” has a bit more of a sense of humor than it first appears to. Maybe it isn’t only a, what’s the stock phrase, scathing commentary on the oppression and (apparently voluntary) commodification of women.

Here is one reason I think maybe the piece isn’t completely dour. Although the main speaker and the girl are probably Christian—that’s how I’m reading the references to Sunday school—the speaker also mentions things that seem to indicate non-Christian superstitions (but I don’t know much about Caribbean culture, so I could be misinterpreting): “don’t throw stones at blackbirds, because it might not be a blackbird at all”; “this is how to throw back a fish you don’t like, and that way something bad won’t fall on you.” That second example leads to a mildly comic moment later on. See, throwing back a fish in a certain way to prevent “something bad . . . fall[ing] on you” sounds like a ward against evil or bad luck. And the speaker uses the phrase “fall on you” in association with something else that sounds like a ward (but, again, I might be misreading): “this is how to spit up in the air if you feel like it, and this is how to move quick so that it doesn’t fall on you.” Spitting in the air could be like properly returning an unwanted fish to water or like a practice more familiar to us, knocking on wood. But when the speaker tells how “to move quick so that it [spit] doesn’t fall on you,” I think that’s sort of funny; getting spit on your face is the bad luck that moving quickly prevents.

Don't be the slut....

Sign-exchange value is the most prominent commodification found in this story. Almost all of these instructions given portray the ideological woman. A woman who won’t exert herself promiscuously, cooks the proper way, cleans the proper way, goes to church and so on. All of these promote an image of woman that in a lot of societies is highly looked upon and in return have a high social status placed on the owner. A lot of times this social status can be exchanged for a prominent marriage or added privileges. This story reminds me a lot of the 1954 attitude on how to be a good wife, where the idea of “looking” the part and “acting” the part is more important than anything else a woman can bring to the table. It doesn’t just include woman in both of these examples, men are put into pressurized roles of social ranking just like woman are. It feels like our country is a lot of times more interested on whether or not you portray the ideal image rather than being that type of image deep down. Acting like a gentleman is more important than if you really are one. The sign-exchange value has greater worth than the use value.

THE GIRl - Societal advancement

The girl is rehearsing all the rules and ways she is supposed to conduct in her mind, or it could be the voice of her mother in her mind either way these rules and regulations that the girl has to live by is nothing more than commodification. She is no longer an individual,we can see this my the use of no name given her in the story only "girl". She is a tool of exchange value. The commodification is for an own advancement to be able to have all that a women of any worth is supposed to posess. (which is very sexist in my opinion) The fact that the girl is only seen as an object of exchange most be confusing and degrading for the girl who seems to always mention not wanting to become a slut. "like the slut I know you are bent on becomming." She is being pressured to think that sexual desires are wrong or not wanted in a women of worth to the world.
Seeing that there is no real plot line in the short story makes it even more interesting. There is just the ideology that her societal role is to appear like a well-mannered and skilled women, her labor is the exchange that men in society probably want from a women to be able to withstand domestic life.

The Molded Woman

Within the text for "Girl" the ideology of the "submissive woman" in society is indeed prevalent. The way the author portrays the list of things being told out in the text is also very much like how the woman's brain is said to always be working--she must be thinking of 20 million things at once as well as analyzing and over analyzing decisions to be made and ways to conduct herself in society, (not being a slut, not to sing benna, etc) as well as only having a small category of things that women should be concerned with and not to be able to handle anything else besides those things. The ideology that women are supposed to know how to cook and sew this way, know how to conduct themselves in certain atmosphere's (Sunday school and the Baker's), and to only be concerned with the "woman's work" is the lecture given to the girl. The two main things that are repeated over and over are: not to be "the slut you are bent on to becoming" and singing benna in Sunday school. The main ideology set up for a women to adhere to and be judged upon is the image that they portray in society (nice girl, intelligent girl, dirty girl, and in this case a slut) and those two lines are repeated in order to emphasize that the way the world see's you externally and where you stand in socioeconomic status, as well as what people say about you, reflect who you are as an individual and how you should react within the society you live in as well.

This story infuriates me for those reasons in particular. I hate the idea of a categorized woman and I also hate the whole concept of conformity, as well as the precept of being judged externally and by the material things of the world. Every individual (woman) has so much potential to be so unique and this story is just gathering everyone up and squishing them into one character mold in which the society expects them to be and if not they are rejected. Ugh.

Girl

I assume the person giving the girl all the advice is her mother. It seems that she is speaking from an either lower class or middle class perspective. More than likely she's middle class and sees herself as upper-class, or likes to see herself as upper-class; this explains her hatred toward lower class. She seems to have some good advice against becoming a slut; maybe she was one, or acted like one and attributes her former behaviors to her current middle or lower class status.

She's living through her daughter's future and being ever so careful to tell her to do all the things she wishes she had done in order to obtain higher class status. She's also telling her not to do some of the things she did that ruined her chances with the upper class men. She tells her how to make the medicine that prevents children before they become children; if only she had known about this medicine when she was impregnated by a lower class scoundrel. All that matters now is that her daughter knows, and if she makes the same mistake it won't be the end of her upper class dreams.

Girl

The girl in the story is reminded three times of not becoming or looking like slut. Becoming a slut would make the girl an example of one with exchange value, which the main speaker, who I assume is her mother, seems to frown upon. But by the end of the story, the mother appears to be encouraging the girl to have exchange value, and maybe “sell” herself in a way, when she questions if the girl will become the “kind of woman who the baker won’t let near the bread.” The mother wants the girl to be the kind of woman that the baker will let near the bread to test whether it’s fresh or not. The mother contradicts herself in first telling the girl to not become one who displays exchange value and then ends with the implication that she wants her daughter to do that very thing. There is also one line where the mother almost assumes that her daughter may become a slut: “this is how to make a good medicine to throw away a child before it even becomes a child.” The medicine, like the morning after pill, will prevent the daughter from getting pregnant with the unwanted child that may have been a product of promiscuity.

When I reread Girl looking for the use value, exchange value, and sign-exchange value of what the girl is being told, I found a lot of evidences of use and sign-exchange value. The mother is telling her how to wash, cook, sew, grow, sweep, set, and make all these things that will show the girl’s use value. The mother also tells the girl things that will give her “owner” social status: eat politely, “walk like a lady,” don’t speak to “wharf-rat boys,” hem the dress to not look like slut, set tables properly, behave this way in the presence of a man. But the part the really flabbergasted the mother was when the girl asked “what if the baker won’t let me feel the bread?” I believe the mother ultimately wants her daughter to become some sort of commodity that will "sell herself” in a way that will get her better things in life like being able to go near the bread.

There are many aspects of Marxist theory that I don't necessarily agree with. However, I do actually agree with what he calls alienated labor. I think we as a society have become so obsessed with the "American Dream", we tend to disassociate from what we are actually doing each day. I know I have struggled with this issue lately in my life.

I recently decided to make a career change because I felt I was just wasting away at a job and just doing what was necessary to get my paycheck. I went to work and as the days went on I got to the point where I didn't even care anymore. I did the routine each day then went home. I started acting the way I thought my co-workers and superiors wanted me to act. I lost all personal touch I had on my job and did the job how I thought they wanted it to be done. I felt as if I was just going through the motions and finally I realized this wasn't working out for me. I made the change and now feel like I am actually make some kind of difference and now have a chance to leave my name on something.

I guess in many ways this is similar to the girl in the story. She was told exactly how to live her life and how to be. She was also given warnings of what to avoid and exactly what the world wanted her to do. Whoever it was that was telling the girl these things, wanted her to be a specific way. They felt this was the only way for her to obtain the life that "everyone" supposedly wants. (the "American Dream")

trouble

Within the confines of the text, there is a certain fatalism in regard to being a slut. In a way, initially, Speaker1 seems to simply be warning Speaker2 (who may be the same person) that there are certain behaviours one must avoid to avoid being seen as or acting as a slut. There's also evidence that those are the same thing to S1.

Further on in the text is the discussion about the ways to love a man. If one takes the word "love" as a euphemism, which is supported by the complete lack of sentimentality in the rest of the paper, this (especially the existential denial of the last statement) show a regard of the female expression of sexuality as an unfortunate reality.

In Feminist Marxism, this is an extension of gender inequality. The subject is encouraged to view natural biological desires as sinful or dirty. This is used as a means of control, in the sense that it's juxtaposed against pseudo-constructive activity that the subject is expected to be proficient. In this way the subject represses these inclinations by activity, and is rewarded societally for those activities. Further, when the ultimate finality of sex finally enters the picture, to take satisfaction from it makes one wanton.

In other words, you're going to be a slut, your should feel guilty for your horrible ways, but at least if you do all the work you're expected to do well, you will be a good slut for your man.

ADAM WILSON DOES NOT ENDORSE THIS POSITION.

2-4-10

The mother (I only assume this because she instructed the duty of tending to Father's khaki pants) seems to contradict herself. She refers to the daughter (again, only an assumption) as attempting to be a slut, which may be the mother's way of saying that they were not going to live in the "American dream," as Tyson put it, or be subject to being placed in some social status. The characteristic of a "slut" would be to sell herself (comodification) to obtain "better" things than she has at the present. It may be harsh to say, but I would consider Myrtle Wilson to be practicing this quality of a "slut." She may not be selling sex but is trading her marriage, morality, and standard of living for a higher one from the highest bidder, Tom. The mother does not want her daughter to become this and instructs her three times to refrain from being a "slut." This would prove her to have a Marxist point of view.

On the other hand, the mother is instructing the girl to do whatever it takes to appear "better" in any social setting. She wants her to have nicer looking clothes, always be clean, and eat so that it won't turn someone else's stomach. She implies that if all this is done than she will not be the type of girl the baker would dare lecture. Ultimately, she would be "better" than the girl that the baker would normally ask. Clearly the little girl already knows she is the type that the baker would veer away but the mother says she can be better. This contradicts the Marxist view.

A Girl's Exchange Value

Clean the pots and pans with Kleen King; use hot water for the rinse; mop the kitchen floor with soap first and then once again with hot clean water to make sure it is clean; change the sheets on your bed every Saturday; when cleaning the bathroom don’t forget the base of the toilet or the walls surrounding it; clean all garbage cans each week and replace the liners; always wear stockings with dresses to make the proper impression; low cut blouses are for those other girls; every meal should have the proper balance of meat to vegetables; freeze your flour to prevent the bug eggs from hatching in it; homemade cookies are better than store-bought; freeze your yeast to make it last longer; use fabric softener instead of dryer sheets to keep your clothes fresh longer; check the expiration dates on dairy products before putting them in your shopping cart; wash your hands after coming home from the store, you don't know where that money has been; fold the shopping bags and put them away to keep the counters clear.....

I could go on and on just as Jamaica Kincaid could.

Jamaica Kincaid was born in 1946; this was the beginning of the Baby Boomers. Being at the end of that same cultural group. AS young children and women we had that voice in our heads of what we could and should do in order to make ourselves marriageable. We were raised from birth as a commodity to be traded. We were being taught from a very young age to give ourselves exchange value. Our mothers bought us little ironing boards and irons, mops and brooms; we had aprons just like our mother’s. If we could keep a clean and organized house, make sure we had all the skills necessary to make a good match, and the more valuable we were as women and potential primary care-givers, the better our circumstances in marriage would be.

Each line is given the same importance through Kincaid’s style of writing. Not using capital letters or periods to separate her sentences helps the reader to understand the importance of each thought running through her head. Each thought is equally important and necessary for the level of exchange value. The thoughts of not becoming “the slut you are so bent on becoming” is also important to the ideology of exchange value. A slut will not have the same exchange value as the pure young woman, thus by repeating these thoughts they get stuck in her head and make her think twice about that low cut blouse or high rise skirt.

Girl

I read this story as society being the one "talking" to the girl. These are all things that this girl will need to know and do to be useful and valuable, as well as proper. The actual voices could be different (her mother could be the one instructing her how to do her laundry, and the lectures about not becoming a slut might come from a father figure), but this seems to me like a concious list with a title of 'Things I need to do to be accepted'. Society expects her to be this girl.

If she is useful around the house, she has use value, which will probably play the biggest factor on who wants to marry her. If she behaves the way society portrays a "lady", she will have sign-exchange value. Society will make her a commodity if she is able to accomplish all of the things on her list. If not, in the eyes of the contributors of this list, she will be an object of no value.

Girl

The Girl is depicted in this story as one who is the extreme product of alienated labor. She only receives directions of proper etiquette and manners for the sole purpose of making her presentable in a world that has been established on certain rules and laws by which manners are run. In other words, it is the person that has given her these directions that is the result of cultural conditioning. It cares not for her wants and desires, and only wants her to find acceptance in the world around her. Being part of the social group as a whole is one of the main aims in the Marxist approach. Whether or not this Girl has any desire herself, her life is directed for the pleasing of others, giving no regard to herself as an individual.

The repeated comment about the Girl becoming the “slut I know you are bent on becoming” is a very harsh thing to say about someone. It points to the fact that regardless of the Girl’s wants and desires, her actions have been labeled and no matter what she does it’s all in pointing towards her becoming a slut. This of course is only held in the perception of the way society has deemed what a slut is, and therefore the Girl is a product of alienated labor. She must please those above her and present herself with the proper way to smile so she might find a suitable lot in life.

"girl"

Kincaid throughout "Girl" has the idea of commodification. In my British literature class we are studying about women's rights, and when I was reading this I actually picture a man talking to the "girl". There has been this stereotypical idea that women do not have a mind of their own, that men think for them. Also that as a whole women are only good for their body, and to be used as slaves. When I was reading this I picked out the words that were commands such as, cook, wash, sew, sweep, make, hem, soak, don't, grow, smile, set a table, and even love. She is not taught to be an individual person. their is nothing that makes her stand out.

The repetitiveness of "girl" also proves the point that women do not have a mind. For example, "This is how you iron your father's khaki shirt so that it doesn't crease; this is how you iron your fathers khaki pants so they don't have a crease" the "girl has been show how to iron a khaki fabric, but she needs to be shown again, and again. Her whole life is spent preparing herself to be sold to a man for a marriage and nothing more. She needs to prove herself in society, and to do so she needs to be a mindless idiot who can be taken advantage of.

Commodities?

Many things the girl is told to do helps commodify herself; the examples of this are endless. However, "use value" according to Marxism's definition, is not a commodity. Therefore, many of the things that she is told to do, such as what day to do certain colors of laundry, wouldn't be comsidered a commodity unless you were exchanging the service for another commodity or for money. Most of the things the girl is taught i would say fall more under "exchange value" or "sign exchange value". She is taught how to smile to people she likes and to people she doesn't like, hoping to appear proper adding social status to the girl. Learning how to smile definitely has "sign exchange value" because it helps raise your social class status. She is also taught to not be a slut, hoping to appear to a higher social class. Growing okra could be an example of an "exchange value" commodity because okra could be traded for other goods or sold for money.

Wanted: Someone to Impress the Baker

Kincaid does an extremely good job showing how the "girl" needs to commodify herself. As I dissected this short story, I envisioned the "owner" of this child, (whether it be a mother, father or government) dictating these specific directions on how to commodify herself to the world. She is directed three specific things to be sure of so she doesn't become a slut she's been warned about becoming.

1. On Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming
2. This is how to hem a dress when you see the hem coming down and so to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming.
3. This is how to behave in the presence of men who don't know you very well, and this way they won't recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming.

These specifics help her to show "others" that she has refined taste - in other words - she's commodified herself. Impressing others is the interest of the dictator of this story. They want their "girl" to impress others, therefore making this story a direct example of sign-exchange value.

Sign-Exchange Value restricts the dictations to the "girl" throughout the piece, but is especially evident in the last sentence reading: you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won't let near the bread? The voice of this story reveals that a baker would want to be impressed by a woman, and not the slut that the "girl" is warned against becoming.

Seperation of Powers

My post is in relation to question number five and the superstructure that is involved in "Girl." Noticeably one can read the short story as a list of items one must accomplish. As I read the story it is very easily construed as this very thing. Possibly this is a list for one not to achieve a decline in one's self being. However, I believe the real reason behind this paper is to preform the transitions between social status; between the wealthy and poor. As you read "Girl" you can see how Kincaid structured the criteria to fit to the decline of social classes. There are three defined social classes described as follows within the semi-colon breaks.

Wealthy Class: "nice blouse", "cooking pumpkin fritters in very hot sweet oil", and "always eating your food in such a way that it won't turn someone else's stomach."

Middle Class: "sew on a button", "ironing your father's khaki shirt and khaki pants", "sweep yard, etc.", "setting a table"

Lower Class: "wash every day even with your own spit", make a good medicine for a cold", spit up in the air if you feel like it"

Obviously there are true descriptions of how Kincaid wanted to portray the social classes. Although there were only two classes that were discussed in the Marxist theory I can see the possible American approach to the short story.

Girl

I read Kincaid’s “Girl” before reading the chapter on Marxism so I was able to relate the short story to many of the themes of Marxism as I read Tyson. The one that seemed to scream at me from the pages was the idea of commidification. I feel that whoever was speaking to the “girl” believes whole-heartedly in the ideology that women can only make it in the world through an advantageous marriage, which supports the socioeconomic status that women are below men. Their place is in the home. The “girl” is taught how to wash and iron clothes, sew a button and hem a dress, cook meals, sweep a house, and set a table. She isn’t taught anything that will allow her to further herself as an individual because she isn’t an individual. She is property to be bought and sold to a wealthy, powerful husband someday. Kincaid doesn’t even give the “girl” a name, something that would give her individuality. By keeping it impersonal, she becomes an object just like ‘the car’, ‘the house’ or ‘the property’.

Her purpose in life is to catch a husband: “this is how to behave in the presence of men who don’t know you very well, and this way they won’t recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming”. She’s told to stay away from the low-life “wharf-rat boys” because there is no sign-exchange value in giving yourself to them. This will only bring the “girl” closer to “looking like the slut [she is] so bent on becoming.” She is also told to not “sing benna in Sunday school”, benna being a form of folk communication and therefore an association with the lower class or proletariat. These things will lower her exchange value as a future wife and homemaker. Whoever is speaking to the “girl” wants her to become “the kind of woman” that will be valued by society, a woman with high exchange value and sign-exchange value. The “girl” should benefit both the buyer and the seller.

"Girl" Prompts for 2/4

For Thursday, please read Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl" and respond to one of the following prompts. Be sure to use specific examples from the story.

1. For the most part, the precepts espoused in "Girl" are inseparable from acts of labor. In what ways are these acts examples of alienated labor?

2. In what ways is the "girl" in the story being asked to commodify herself? Which is most important within the context of this story: use value, exchange value, or sign-exchange value?

3. Many readers of "Girl" hear the voice of a mother giving instructions to her daughter, but the story can be usefully read in other ways as well. How, for example, is the narrative voice a kind of superstructure? How might that superstructure be promoting a false consciousness?

4. In what ways does the story promote capitalism? In what ways does it censure capitalism?

5. In what ways does the form of the story--a single paragraph, semicolons rather than periods, many conjunctions--relate to its content? More specifically, how might the form reinforce a Marxist reading of the text?

Thank you. See you on Thursday.

Fear of Intimacy

In the descriptions of the few loves that Anders has had, it seems that he is projecting his own inadequacy onto the women in his life. His coming to despise his first love's playfulness could be his frustration of his lack of playfulness. He wants to be more fun, care-free and exciting, but is embarrassed to do so, maybe because he thinks he will make a fool out of himself in front of the woman he is trying to impress, especially in bed. It also mentions his wife, how he grew tired of her predictability. Maybe he was frustrated at his own predictability, with his life as a writer, and husband.

I also think being a scathing book critic is probably a good facade to hide behind if you are someone who is himself not writing anything of much value and significance. He recalls his admiration of one of his fellow classmates and the book he had written, and perhaps he envied him? It doesn't mention anything Anders had written, other than he was a critic. Perhaps he was projecting his own inadequacies as a writer onto those works he condemned.

family dysfunction

As the reader, we are given a look into the core issues Anders has repressed and never dealt with. However, these issues have defined him for the entirety of his life. The element I find interesting to explore in Bullet in the Brain is the legacy of family dysfunction.

I believe his dying mother's statement that she should have stabbed her husband in his sleep coupled with the Anders deliberately crashing his ffather's car into a tree show a sad family history. I would guess that he often harbored immense hatred toward his father, yet because of his mother's influence at least tried to find some sort of decency in human nature. Of course we do not know when his mother died, yet if it was earlier in his adult life it may partly explain his change into a cynnical, critical man.

One could also assume that, if his mother did infact die early in his life, Anders was left seeking someone like his mother... or maybe the exact opposite? I'm not sure, but I believe his unending boredom stems from always searching for something new and exciting to keep his mind off of painful memories. When his wife became too predictable, he leaves. There could even be a debilitating fear of abandonment that forces Anders to be the first to shut people out before they can hurt him by leaving.

Then we jump to the pieces of information about his daughter. The memory of standing outside his daughter's room, listening to her lecture and describe an "appalling" punishment to her bear seems to be more than just a memory of his daughter. This could very well be an exact reflection of Anders disciplining his daughter. Maybe this repressed memory brought pain and self-doubt concerning the way he treated his daughter; even going so far as to say he might have realized he was continuing to treat his family the way his father had treated his mother and him. And yet his daughter ends up just as excited about her job as a professor as Anders is about his job.

Family dysfunction is often a long legacy that can be traced far into our family's history then back again to the present. It is so very powerful and usually defines the family members in a negative way, if they do not consciously work to fix the negative behaviors and thoughts. I believe Anders became the cynnical, critical, bored man he ended up being largely because of his family dysfunction. So, at the time of death and flashing memories before his eyes, of course he remembered the one happy memory as a child.