Monthly Archives: September 2022

580 but amongst men there is no distinct judgment, between the prophetand me—which of us is right. One man may pass another in wisdom but I would never agree 585 with those that find fault with the king till I should see the word proved right beyond doubt. For once in visible form the Sphinx came on him and all of us 590 saw his wisdom and in that test he saved the city. So he will not be condemned by my mind. I chose this passage because it shows how they praised the king and I feel like they see him as this great man. You can see that also in the beginning the priest along with the children came to beg him for help. They are suffering and say he is their savior as he saved the city once. The old men said that “One man may pass another in wisdom”, but they will never defy and doubt the king. They need to actually see evidence of the faults in the king before condemning him. It is like Innocent until proven guilty. They are united and will stand by the king. I think we can see the old men are very loyal to the king Oedipus. It shows that they are tight knit, and they are supportive of the King Oeidupus. I think that is what is needed to have someone that has your back.

“25 out of the depths, out of the bloody surf. A blight is on the fruitful plants of the earth. A blight is on the cattle in the fields, a blight is on our women that no children are born to them; a God that carries fire, ” This whole passage speaks of death and the toll that the city’s citizens are facing. They had come to Oedipus hoping for help. The belief in their gods that they would be saved was something that they had sincerely believed in because everyone loved Oedipue so much that they had no doubts about him and they saw him as a great leader. A focal point in the play is finding out who killed the king before Oedipus his late father. When he comes and finds out that he was the one that had killed his own father and married his mother he is appalled. As the plague that is affecting his entire kingdom is caused by himself. I chose this passage because it exemplifies exactly what he is causing to his own people. Blight is a rapid spread of disease. That word alone tells me that the people of Oedipus is suffering and they are looking for his help, showing their undying loyalty to him.

those children that are born lie dead on the naked earth unpitied, spreading contagion of death; and gray-haired mothers and wives everywhere stand at the altar’s edge, suppliant, moaning; the hymn to the healing God15 rings out but with it the wailing voices are blended. From these our sufferings grant us, O golden Daughter of Zeus,16 210 glad-faced deliverance. In the play, it speaks of a disaster that they face with many babies dying and everything is just kind of dead, “spreading contagion of death…” everyone is just kind of sick and they are praying and giving offerings to the gods to help them through this time. I chose this quote because it shows what the people are going through and it paints a picture of how bad it was that they were turning towards the gods for help. It shows that through the suffering they all gathered at the altar to ask for blessings from Athena, “golden daughter of Zeus” to help stop the god of war, Ares as they think it is him that “…burns us” They attributed their suffering to Ares and want the other gods such as Zeus and Athena to help them. 

Oedipus cared about power and dominance, not the people or Thebes. To kill the previous king for his own benefit of becoming king is one thing, but to then scout for the kings killer whilst knowing it is him who had done it is treacherous. The chorus was blinded by Oedipus’s hero image, that he conquered the Sphinx’s riddle. When Oedipus seeks for the priests and prophet’s help, he is boastful, but still seeking for an answer he already knows. He speaks of his own power he has gained, but praising the knowledge and profession the priest and prophet has. The prophet, Teiresias, and Oedipus had an intense conversation. Teiresias tried his best to keep quiet and not speak of what Oedipus already knows, but Oedipus started to put the blame on Teiresias and belittling his profession. That made Teiresias speak his truth, more than he had to, revealing that he knows Oedipus killed the previous king, Laius, and that his marriage to Jocasta is of sin. Oedipus and Creon are now rivals, Oedipus thinks Creon spoke ill of him to the Teiresias to make him say the things he said. He wants Creon dead and out of sight. He doesn’t want Creon to have an ounce of power or leadership in Thebes. Oedipus is focused on ruling that he would lose the friendship of the man that handed over his wife, he is willing to belittle and gaslight the higher entities that he asks for help, just so he can cover his tracks.  

“195 Our sorrows defy number; all the ship’s timbers are rotten; taking of thought is no spear for the driving away of the plague. There are no growing children in this famous land; there are no women bearing the pangs of childbirth. 200 You may see them one with another, like birds swift on the wing, quicker than fire unmastered, speeding away to the coast of the Western God.” In this passage the chorus is crying for help and expressing the devastating condition the city is in. They are saying: “all the ship’s timbers are rotten, taking of thought is no spear for the driving away of the plague.” This is a very powerful visualization where we can imagine how things are deteriorating while no actions are being taking to get the justice the citizens are seeking. The mood is very dark and hopeless, there is no new life and aspiration. The chorus is comparing the women of the land to birds who are swift on the wing: ”speeding away to the coast of the Western God.” They are not bearing children and are being taken by the god of death.

I felt that this play was very interesting because of the Monarchy and how the citizens loved Oedipus. This is because, from my past reading and history in general, people have always wanted to overthrow the King, and they did everything in their power to do so. Oedipus was a king that was loved by the people in Thebes. They wanted him to find the Laisos’ murderer. It seemed that the people trusted him dearly with huge actions and they believed in what he said. He was very defensive and stood his ground with Teiresias. He was being taunted and started to get angry. I feel that he was worried about how he looked during this encounter. I wonder if there is a real reason behind Creon using Oedipus’ weakness against that. I found that very disrespectful and today I feel that people use a person’s weakness and insecurity to power over them. I think that he was jealous and envious of what he had. I felt that Oedipus was kind and always willing to help the people in the city but I felt that he looked into Social Validation too much and he had a very boosted ego. In Lines 255-264, he takes initiative in what he thinks will help the people in the city.

In Oedipus the King, the Chorus functions as the collective voice of the citizens of Thebes. The chorus’s role is also to reflect the feelings of the audience and the citizens of Thebes and to interpret what is happening on the stage. In this week’s reading part, we see that the chorus is also serves as the king’s adviser when they suggest he call Teiresias. Oedipus is trying to find out who murdered the last king, Laius, and the chorus tells him that Teiresias sees things similar to the way Lord Apollo used to see and that he could help him find who killed the king; “I know that what the Lord Teiresias sees, is most often what Lord Apollo sees. If you should inquire of this from him you might find out most clearly” (Line 305). We can also see how the chorus is loyal to their king and won’t say anything bad about him, after he saved them. “Truly Zeus and Apollo are wise and in human things all knowing; but amongst men there is no distinct judgment, between the prophetand me—which of us is right. One man may pass another in wisdom but I would never agree with those that find fault with the king till I should see the word proved right beyond doubt. For once in visible form the Sphinx came on him and all of us saw his wisdom and in that test he saved the city. So he will not be condemned by my mind” (Line 578). Teiresias blames Oedipus for killing king Laius, and although the chorus said before that he sees things clearly, in other words – that they trust his prophecies, they stand by Oedipus, their current king, until a clear proof would say else.

“580 Amongst men there is no distinct judgement, between the prophetand me—which of us is right. One man may pass another in wisdom but I would never agree 585 with those that find fault with the king till I should see the word proved right beyond doubt.” I choose this passage because it really demonstrates the chorus loyalty to the king even though they realize teiresias has more wisdom than him. It also exhibits how their rationality far exceeds their loyalty which is impressive because you would expect more bias towards a king, however at the same time that strong loyalty for the king makes them slightly indecisive not because he’s simply the king but owing to the fact that they experienced first hand how the king wisdom has saved the city in the past as shown in line 588-590 “For once in visible form the Sphinx came on him and all of us 590 saw his wisdom and in that test he saved the city. So he will not be condemned by my mind”.  

In Oedipus the King, the Chorus sang an ode between 181-230. The ode was about seeking help from other gods. They were seeking help because the God of War Ares had a plague against them, that the plague was spreading contagion death to their city. Children were born dead and laid naked on the earth. Having their people suffer just because a savage god wanting to burn them. The only one to blame was the God of War Ares. They were asking the gods Zeus, Apollo, Athena, and Artemis to go against any god that wants to burn them which would be Ares. They were asking to dishonor the god of war due to his actions against the city. The reason for asking these specific gods for help because as the chorus said in lines 193 and 194 that the gods once drove the flames of destruction away from their land.  

“560 He is sad and lonely, his feet that carry him far from the navel of earth;39 but its prophecies, ever living, flutter around his head. Strophe The augur40 has spread confusion, 565 terrible confusion; I do not approve what was said nor can I deny it. I do not know what to say; I am in a flutter of foreboding; 570 I never heard in the present nor past of a quarrel between the sons of Labdacus and Polybus, that I might bring as proof in attacking the popular fame 575 of Oedipus, seeking to take vengeance for undiscovered death in the line of Labdacus.”   I selected this passage from Odeipus the King because you truly feel the Chorus’ shock to the situation. The elders are confused and perplexed by the information Teiresias delivers. They don’t know what to believe. “The augur40 has spread confusion, 565 terrible confusion; I do not approve what was said nor can I deny it.” The Chorus want to remain loyal to their King but they are able to remain logical because they want to see the proof if it’s actually true. They handle the situation in such a logical way. They want vengeance to whoever is responsible for the killing of Laius. Oedpius is just as angry and confused about the information. In the passages just before this Odepius is getting angry with Teiresias but the prophet is just there to deliver the news, he means no harm but only wants for Odepius to see the irony of how he is blind to his actions. And although the prophet is blind he can see the truth. I was just as perplexed while reading the beginning of Odepius the King and can appreciate the art of Greek tragedies.

LINES 813-836 JOCASTA: Do not concern yourself about this matter; listen to me and learn that human beings 815 have no part in the craft of prophecy. Of that I’ll show you a short proof. There was an oracle once that came to Laius, — I will not say that it was Phoebus’ own, but it was from his servants— and it told him 820 that it was fate that he should die a victim at the hands of his own son, a son to be born of Laius and me. But, see now, he, the king, was killed by foreign highway robbers at a place where three roads meet—so goes the story; 825 and for the son—before three days were out after his birth King Laius pierced his ankles and by the hands of others cast him forth upon a pathless hillside. So Apollo failed to fulfill his oracle to the son, 830 that he should kill his father, and to Laius also proved false in that the thing he feared, death at his son’s hands, never came to pass. So clear in this case were the oracles, so clear and false. Give them no heed, I say; 835 what God discovers need of, easily he shows to us himself. In this passage, Jocasta informs the new king, Oedipus, about an oracle who told the old king Laius that it was “Fate” that he would die by his own son. But this Oracle was not true because the king’s death was by highway robbers. He informs the new King Oedipus to show him an example and to not be feared because he had his own beliefs. He believed that whatever God has planned, “he shows to us himself”(836). Furthermore, he tells this story to him because he and King […]

“for the contrivance34 of an envied life!445 Great store of jealousy fill your treasury chests, if my friend Creon, friend from this and loyal, thus secretly attacks me, secretly desires to drive me out and secretly suborns35 this juggling trick devising quack, 450 this wily beggar who has only eyes” I feel like this passage best portrays Oedipus’s insecurities after he sought out to become king by any means necessary. This is an excerpt from a conversation between Oedipus and Teiresias. Teiresias is wise to the fact that Oedipus is too emotionally immature and undeserving of this new status. A little into the conversation, Oedipus brings up his friend, Creon, out of nowhere in a fit of paranoia. I interpreted line 445 literally and I enjoyed the imagery of the jealousy store, i think it’s kind of funny. To think that someone (sane) would be jealous of his power and how he got to that point is pretty laughable as well. It goes well with his wildly ignorant character, along with all the hypocrisy.

“This is a terrible sight for men to see! I never found a worse! 1490 Poor wretch, what madness came upon you! What evil spirit leaped upon your life to your ill-luck—a leap beyond man’s strength! Indeed I pity you, but I cannot look at you, though there’s much I want to ask 1495 and much to learn and much to see. I shudder at the sight of you.”  I interpreted this quote as religious karmic payback. Combining the dynamic between Oedipus and Jocasta and Oedipus and Laius, all the morally questionable actions that happened throughout the play make it so that the life choices he made came back to bite him in the ass. In line 1493, “ill-luck” is very important to how like dominoes action after action is karmic. In exchange for these poor actions, they had to give up something to balance it out. For Oedipus, his father’s killing being unintentional makes everything more impactful. Even in lines 1493 through 1496, the chorus can’t look at him but are intrigued at how he got to this point. I think it’s a double meaning one for his sins and the other for his appearance with the gouged-out eyes, doing so with Jocasta’s own dress pins. He is a tragic hero, being the King of Thebes and having many flaws. Overall, the quotes from the chorus shame Oedipus not only for his crimes of incest and murder but also for his attempt to escape the reality he created, gouging his eyes out in shame and disgust at his own actions.

In this weeks reading  “Oedipus the King” the passage I chose to analyze is “A blight is on the fruitful plants of the earth.” (Line 28), “A blight is on the cattle in the fields,” (Line 29), and “A blight is on our women that no children.” (Line 30). The reason I chose to analyze this passage is because the priest is claiming a disease if on the plants on the earth, a disease is on the cattle, and a disease is on the women that cannot bare children. I believe the priest is saying they’re being punished for something and they’re asking the god to help them. The priest is asking for his city to be lifted and saved. He called himself and everyone else “mortals” he also mentioned only the greek god Oedipus can help them through this situation. The priest feels as though since Oedipus saved the land they call him their savior so he must help them.

“O generations of men, how I 1370 count you as equal with those who live not at all! What man, What man on earth wins more of happiness than a seeming and after that turning away? 1375 Oedipus, you are my pattern of this, Oedipus, you and your fate! Luckless Oedipus, whom of all men I envy not at all.” –   What I gathered from this reading is Oedipus, the king of Thebes, was watching his people suffer from some kind of curse or plague brought upon by the murder of a King.  Oedipus discovered that not only was it him who murdered the king but, the king was his biological father and Oedipus’ wife was his mother and this misdeed was the cause of the curse in Thebes.  In the beginning of the play, Oedipus arrogantly proclaimed his status among his people as ” Great” he spoke of his people almost like beggers and he seemed to pity them.  After being made aware of all the unfortunate events that were surrounding him and how he made it to be king, he stated that had he not survived in the wild after being abandoned, all of the humiliation and punishment of his people could have been avoided.  Although seemingly inexorable, the chrous describes him as luckless and even the only man they could not envy.  Oedipus couldn’t see the truth and his blindness was what plagued them.

The story Oedipus the King is truly interesting. It was clear that Oedipus didn’t realize how his treachery put his own town into shambles. Creon knew Oedipus character and used his weakness against him with Teiresias pretty much exposing him. I feel like this left Oedipus confused because, how can they know such a secret? Creon had a motive to blackmail him and it it is working, because the anger Oedipus is displaying is not good to show from a King. The saddest part of what was read so far is how the town is suffering because of his actions (the secret). The Chorus from lines 185-210 explains how much they are suffering. They are begging for answers from God to understand why they are going through such demise. In line 195 it is stated that “there are no growing children in this famous land; there are no women bearing the pangs of childbirth”. Line 205 also elaborates more on what is happening on the land, and the people are calling out for deliverance.

Well Oedipus the king was a play and an example of the great Greek tragedies. The play was interesting to read because I’ve never read anything like this, to me it contains great imagery which is relevant today. Oedipus was a good king who was loved by the people, they also wanted him to find the murderer of Laios  and to left the plagues that’s destroying the city. Oedipus was running away from his fate that was told by his oracle Delphi and he was doing everything to avoid it. Killing his father and marrying his mother was told by the oracle, but it was tragedy when his mom hanged herself because people knew about it.

The story Araby by James Joyce is not a love story as we see in the end. It is more of a life experience story, a story of reality and to talk about how we can be blind from the reality because of simple things or our feelings or expressions, For example he is in love with Magan’s older sister and he is blind from the outside world. Another example is Joyce promises Magan;s older sister that he will buy something for her in Araby, as he sees this as an opportunity to get close to her. At the end he realizes Araby is not the magical place he thought and his eyes burned with anguish and anger. As we can see it more of a life experience where he is blind from the reality because of his love to the girl and he later realizes the truth.

“Araby” by James Joyce is a story about a boy who thinks he is in love and his realization that what he is feeling is not love but a simple attraction towards someone he thinks is attractive. The narrator himself realizes this a little before the end of the story in paragraph 5 where,” if I spoke to her, how I could tell her of my confused adoration.” even when the narrator assumes he is in love he is confused about why he became like this. We the readers can also tell that something is wrong as the we don’t even learn the girls name. There is also nothing mentioned about her other than her beauty like in paragraph 9 where,” The light from the lamp opposite our door caught the white curve of her neck, lit up her hair that rested there and, falling, lit up the hand upon the railing.” When the narrator finally gets to go to Araby it is mostly closed except for a few stalls and he goes to shop at one. When asked by someone if he wished to buy something he says that he doesn’t and he pretends that he is interested in the vases and tea-sets. After leaving he realizes that he wasn’t in love with the girl as he didn’t even know anything about her. Instead he was in awe of her beauty and mistook it for love and is angry at himself for deluding himself into thinking it was love.

Alex Barrios  Professor Conway  ENG 201 Sec. 0517  September 25, 2022  My takeaway from “Araby” is that things do not always go the way you want them to go and sometimes it can be extremely frustrating when there’s something you want so badly yet it feels like the universe conspires against you. Between bad timing and poor choices, it seemed like the circumstances were simply beyond the narrator’s control. I understand why it’s not a “Love” story while simultaneously understanding how others can view the story through those lenses. This is a person who was simply smitten and developed an obsessive crush to which the narrator goes about their day thinking about the girl and dreaming what it would be like to be the one who pleased her by providing a gift from the bazaar. I think had the narrator told the uncle about the girl he was interested in then perhaps maybe the uncle would’ve been more considerate and would even go as far as helping him reach the bazaar and pick out a gift.        

Araby is a complicated short story as at first glance it seems to be about love. However, as you dive deeper you realize it is actually about a boy whose longing after a girl becomes an unhealthy obsession. He describes the world as gloomy and depressing with his description of the street he lives on as “conscious of decent lives within them, gazed at one another with brown imperturbable faces.” The only time he sees any sort of excitement in his life is when his crush, Mangan’s sister, is around him. He said “But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires.” This statement clearly shows that he is crazy about her in an extremely unhealthy way. Furthermore, in the book he gets so nervous when she asks him a simple question, whether he will go to the bazaar. The first thing he says is why can’t she go. This along with the rest of the things he does in the short story clearly shows he is obsessed with her in an unhealthy way.

When I first read the title of this story, I thought that it would be more about nature. I thought that “Araby” was a very interesting piece, because it discussed love, but it wasn’t all around it being a love story. His surroundings are very gloomy and melancholy. He explains and describes that he is not happy in his environment. The narrator is in a very dark environment, however, the girl gives him light in his life. The narrator is very observant of this girl and admires her a lot and is very passionate about her. He becomes overly obsessive with her that whenever he hears, sees, or thinks about her, his dark life just disappears. She is like a distraction for him or even more so, a drug. Her presence is temporary but when she is there he craves it. He thinks about her and makes her do things that are very weird and creepy, it changes his behavior and body language.

“Araby” by James Joyce is not a love story. It is a story about a boy who is growing up and his fascination and obsession with his friend’s older sister. He speaks to her hardly ever in the story. The main interaction that the two of them share is when she talks about the Dublin bazaar that is happening that she wants to attend but can’t because of her school. The main character finally comes to terms with the fact that she is talking to him, he lies and says that he was planning on going and will get something for her. The only other times he says her is when she calls her brother in for dinner. Or when he would watch her from afar. There is no real connection between the two of them. He watches her and follows her around time. He thinks about her and how he would approach her as a way to escape from the monotonous day-to-day of his school work and home life with his Aunt and Uncle. This is the story of a young boy’s obsessive crush, not one of two people in love.  

“Araby” by James Joyce did not feel like a love story at all. The narrator describes his day to day life and his surroundings seem like a very gloomy, sombre and a piercingly lonely environment. We get a very overwhelming contrast between “the dark” reality the narrator lives in and “the light” that the girl he is infatuated with represents for him. We don’t know much of the story of his childhood but we learn that he lives with his uncle and aunt. I believe there might be an implied connection that the lack of parents in his life and his very joyless, dull outlook on the surrounding world grows in what seems like “an obsession” with the only source of a positive sensation which his friend’s sister represents. His emotions are overpowering: “Her name sprang to my lips at moments in strange prayers and praises which I myself did not understand. My eyes were often full of tears (I could not tell why) and at times a flood from my heart seemed to pour itself out into my bosom.” His emotions seems to be very powerful but we don’t see much of a romantic connotation in his mind. It’s almost like this obsession gives him some sort of purpose or a distraction from a hostile reality.

I believe “Araby” by James Joyce is about infatuation and anticipation regarding young people “falling in love” for the first time. I’d agree in saying Araby is not a love story but follows the emotions someone naive would go through for someone they like. Usually, in love stories, authors highlight the name of the character they are in love with, but James purposely leaves out both the narrator’s and friend’s sister’s names. Mangan is the only bridge between the two characters. I think this was done to incorporate the theme of the boy being blinded by love. Throughout the story, we see how much the narrator thinks about Mangan’s sister and going to Araby to bring her something. The narrator was so deadset on making sure he was able to impress Mangan’s sister that he wanted to go to Araby to get her something because she wasn’t able to go. He was impatient but had to wait all day to be able to go. He built up a lot of anticipation for going to Araby to find a gift when it was time to go he was first disappointed that his Uncle, the one who was supposed to give him the money to go, arrived late alluding to the fact that his Uncle had been drinking. After getting the money he went to Araby but upon arrival realized it was about to close for the night. He went to the only open stalls but the people running it made him uncomfortable. Overall, I think Araby is really about what infatuation will make you do. His infatuation blinded him that all he could focus on doing was bringing her something from the bazaar. When he failed to do so, his whole world came crashing down. So this may not seem like […]

In the short story “Araby” by James Joyce is about a boy who is overly obsessive over Mangan’s sister. He would hide in the shadows or even go further by laying on the floor in the front pariour watching her door. In the story when Mangan’s sister and him was conversing, he found out that she couldn’t go to the bazaar. He told her that if he goes, he’ll bring her back something. He was blinded by her beauty that he would go beyond lengths just to give her a gift. On Saturday, he reminded his uncle that he was going to the bazaar in the evening only for his uncle to forget and come in the house at nine o’clock. His uncle prolonged in giving him the money buy eating then saying, “the people are in bed and after their first sleep now”. but the boy didn’t want to hear it. he was fixating on buy this crush a gift. when he finally reaches to bazaar, he doesn’t buy anything which made him upset.

“Araby” is not a love story. This story is more of a “wake up to reality” for the narrator. Throughout the story, the narrator uses many literary devices to show the setting of the place he lives in and mainly talks about this girl he seems to be fascinated by. In my opinion, he is more obsessive than fascinated. He noticed the times she leaves, so he would leave at the same time, but it wouldn’t be for an actual conversation. This friendship or “relationship” that they have with each other is more one-sided because the narrator seems to be more interested in her than she is. This can’t be a love story if only one person is interested more than the other person. Throughout the story, the narrator talks to the girl and she brings up a “bazaar” that she wants to go to, but she isn’t able to. This led to an idea for the narrator in going to the bazaar himself to buy the girl a gift to show his “attraction” to her. Eventually, he ends up going to the bazaar, but he arrived late due to his uncle not arriving in time to give him money. When he arrived, everything was basically closed and the only shop that was open didn’t have something that was worth gifting. At the end of that night, he felt frustrated, asking himself why he went all this way for something he didn’t need to do. This made him realize he didn’t have a love for the girl and felt that he made a fool out of himself because he went all that way for nothing.

Araby is a story about a boy in Ireland who is infatuated with a girl living across the street. When the young girl talks about how badly she wants to attend a particular festival, he sees an opportunity to win her heart by attending the festival himself and bringing her back a gift. However, the boy’s plans are dashed when he arrives at the festival too late and finds that it is already over. The boy is left feeling disillusioned and empty-handed. He has gone through all the effort of traveling to the festival only to be let down, and he feels like he has missed his chance. The theme of the story “Araby” is that a person’s subjective feelings and the objective world are two opposing things. There is no agreement between them. First, we do not understand this disagreement, but later we come to understand that, and we are disillusioned. Even though he had the chance to win her heart, he was never given an opportunity to explain himself. The story ends with the girl walking away from him, never to be seen again. This story shows the importance of communication and how it can change the course of a relationship. The boy in the story never had the chance to tell the girl how he felt about her. If he had been able to communicate his feelings, the outcome of the story might have been different. The boy’s inability to communicate his feelings leads to his disillusionment. This story highlights the importance of being able to communicate effectively.

What is “Araby” really about?    “Araby” in my opinion is about a young boy that experienced his childhood playing with friends, becomes drawn to a crush but also matured shortly and becomes self-aware of adult issues surrounding him. The boy is completely infatuated by his friend Mangan’s sister, almost as if he built an obsession over her in a short period of time. As the story unfolds, the boy begins to fantasize about her almost in an unhinged way. He becomes fixated with the idea of going to the Araby Bazaar for an opportunity to buy her a gift to impress her and for her validation. Towards the end the boy starts to reflect on his desires, realizing he was drawn to the idea of admiration and motivated by pure vanity. He deemed to be a people pleaser and which results in feelings of low self-worth. At that moment he held himself accountable for his foolish ways and blossomed into a mature version of himself.  

The short story Araby by James Joyce isn’t a love story as it would appear on a surface level it’s more of a story about a child who is infatuated with Mangan’s sister he is obsessive and even goes to the point of wanting to get her something from the Bazar when she hasn’t really shown much interest in him but after his uncle gives him money he goes to the Bazar but realizes it is closed and it disappoints him because he couldn’t get her something when he promised her he would. He also started to realize he had too high of expectations when he was the only one that was showing interest and was infatuated  her which causes him to lose hope and be disappointed in the end because his love wasn’t reciprocated and it seems that he was more so obsessed with her than in love with her for who she was as he didn’t really know her well in the grand scheme  of things which is why Araby is not a love story.

   Araby is a coming of age story where the main character changes his way of thinking by the end of the story because in the beginning all he really had on his mind was the girl that he liked but because of the bazaar he ends up realizing that reality wasn’t all he thought it was. He has a crush on a girl but by the end he grows up in a way when he realizes that his imagination and reality conflict with each other. This is shown when he goes to the bazaar expecting for it to be this amazing place where he’ll find something to give to his love after she mentions that she wants to go but is unable to but when he arrives at the bazaar he ends up finding it to be a somewhat empty and lonely place with rude people. Which was nothing like he thought it would be. At the end he realizes that he wasted his time by going to the bazaar instead of having a fairy tale view of the place.

I believe “Araby” is a coming-of-age story centered around the narrator’s infatuation induced naivety. In the third chapter the narrator finds themselves inexplicably smitten with the older sister of their friend Mangan. The narrator spends the remainder of the story consumed with this girl.   This is shown when the narrator explains that they spend every morning watching her door waiting to follow behind her enroute to school. It is further illustrated when the narrator states, “Her image accompanied me even in places the most hostile to romance” all the while not truly understanding the source of these emotions “Her name sprang to my lips at moments in strange prayers and praises which I myself did not understand”  When the narrator is presented with an opportunity to impress the holder of his infatuation, they eagerly seize it. Their immaturity is displayed by the narrator’s expressed delusion of going to this “magical place” and finding the perfect gift that will cause the girl to fall for them of We see the main character become frustrated when their uncle doesn’t arrive in time to take them to the bazaar and fear when they arrive to see the place closing. upon arriving late to the bazaar, the narrator finds most shops have closed and the one shop open does not contain anything they feel is worthy. In his failure the character comes to realize that he did not love the girl and in realizing that he realizes what he has become something of  a mockery of himself   His attraction represents his maturing, his disillusioned fantasy of going to Araby and getting the perfect gift that will make her fall in love with him represents his childlike innocence that lingers. 

“Ararby” is certainly not a love story in my opinion. The narrator saw Mangan’s sister as this beautiful girl by the way he described her. But he seemed like he was obsessed with her. He would watch her every morning so he can leave at the same time she did. He mentioned that he’s never spoken to her before just a few casual words. I feel like you can’t be in love with someone who you have never gotten to know. She had this control over him. When she mentioned that she wanted to go to Araby but couldn’t he jumped on it and told her that he would get her something from there. It was a long way, but he eventually got there. At some point he saw a girl talking to two other guys at the shop while he was looking for something for his crush. At the end, he didn’t get anything. It seemed like something switched in his head and felt like he let his unhealthy obsession go out of his way to get something for the girl that he doesn’t know. He was angry in the end.

The story “Araby” by James Joyce isn’t a love story but rather a story about a child that is infatuated with Mangan’s sister. The boy constantly keeps a distance from her but always is close enough to keep watch of her and admire her. When he was finally able to talk to her she mentioned if he was going to Araby. He had all these ideas about how magnificent the event would be. He went as far as wanting to buy something for her because his “like” was so deep for her. But when his uncle comes home late and gives him some money, as he rushes off to go to the Bazar and arrives he notices that it was dark and most of the stalls had already been closed. This disappointed him as he had told Mangan’s sister that he would go and buy something for her. At this moment he realizes that his expectation of the Bazar was not what it is at all. At the end of the story, he is mad that he was not able to buy anything for her but he also realizes that his expectation was too high and the hope he had was no longer there. The story was about a coming of age of sorts realizing that his obsession lead him to go this far for someone that would not really have noticed him in the grand scheme of things which had led him to become disappointed and upset.

“Araby” by James Joyce is not a love story. What is “Araby” really about? “Araby” is a short story written by James Joyce. This story revolves around a boy and recounts his disillusionment. The boy develops a big crush on his friend’s older sister. The narrator at first describes his mundane life. Then, Mangan’s sister becomes a mental escape for the narrator. All thoughts strike him as an escape from the real filthy world to the ideal world not only physically but mentally. Mangan’s sister provides him mental escape and the thoughts regarding Araby bazaar also provide him with an escape. He thinks of her every time. At some points, he could be seen daydreaming about that girl. He explains her in religious terms. Moreover, he thinks his studies are useless after falling in love with the girl. However, in the end, all his beliefs proved wrong and Araby market brought the understanding of epiphany to the narrator. The narrator thinks of something foreign in the Araby market. However, he found out that nothing in the Araby market matches the description he made in his mind. He observes people speaking English. He noticed things there are not so special. He realizes his illusion of love. At that time, all his delusions turn into disappointments.

Araby by James Joyce is far from a love story, it’s about infatuation, obsession and what it means to find light in the darkness of ones surroundings. The young boy’s environment was cold, somber and mostly quiet, until the Christians Brothers’ school was out of session. He explored his home a bit, revealing that the previous tenant had passed in that home, in the drawing room. He found old papers that have no relevance, books that were shriveled and moist. He explored the garden, that wasn’t being tamed or looked after. The boy’s home was even depressing. He and his friends played in the cold and somber streets, which there’s a high chance that the young boy felt joy laughing and running around. Joy that he did not get at home or school. The streets were so dark that the lights from people’s houses filled his area with light. The young boy would hide if he had ever seen his uncle turning the corner, he would hide in a dark spot with his friends until they have seen his uncle go inside the house. But, when the young boys friend Mangan’s sister was to ever call out for Mangan, the young boy did not feel inferior. He felt intrigued and delighted to be near her, even if they never spoke, her presence was enough for him. The young boy described her so elegant and soft, that her figure was defined by the light of the house, her dress swaying with her when she moved and her hair so soft, moving side to side. He watched her, he sought for her. As if she was something that made him light up inside. He could not stop thinking about her, even in times there was nothing about what he was doing she […]

After reading “Araby,” a short story by James Joyce, I believe that its main idea is teenage love and despair. The short narrative shows us how our young man progresses from his regular tasks to being in awe of the young woman he so desperately wants. He develops a strong desire for her and gains the opportunity to prove his sincerity. After spending so much time getting ready for the market and with all the adrenaline he has to show his love for the young woman, the young man realizes that nothing about getting there is as it seems. Then, at the very end of the night, when he arrives at the market, reality sets back in. There is nothing that he can accept and buy that is equal to his feelings for this young woman. The short story contrasts teenage angst with disappointment, or what some of us now know as plain reality. It’s a reference to seeing the world through rose-colored glasses, love can truly cloud your judgment.

“Araby” isn’t a love story but it’s about frustration and disappointment. The young boy had a huge crush on Mangan’s sister and wanted to win her heart by buying something. She brought up the bazaar and he liked the idea just because she mentioned it. As he arrived late, he was immediately disappointed with what he saw with most of the stalls being packed up and ended up buying nothing. This boy is losing himself because of his immaturity, he believes he’s inferior and is blinded by lust which the girl takes advantage of. She sees how obsessive he is with her and she sees the opportunity to obtain gifts from him without any commitment. At the end of the story, the boy feels disappointed with his behavior, firstly realizing Araby is a trade show and not a magical place. Secondly, he’s annoyed with himself for how obsessive he became with his crush and knows that he was just blinded by her, realizing she doesn’t care for him. 

“Araby” isn’t a love story, but more of a story about having high expectations and disappointment. This young boy  had such a huge crush on Mangan’s sister. Big enough to where he wanted to be around her and buy her something. She brought the bazaar up in conversation, and he envisioned it to be something grand, but only because “his crush” spoke about it. He couldn’t wait to experience such a place and upon his arrival it was nothing like he imagined. His high expectations of this place lead him into a place of disappointment because most of the bazaar was closed, it was dark, and there wasn’t many people, but that wasn’t the only time he was disappointed in the story. He was so eager to have this experience he depended on, the on time arrival of his uncle so he can give him money to go. His uncle came home late and claimed he forgot that he had to give him money. This not only disappointed the boy but it also led him to grow frustrated and angry. Nothing in his day went as planned. I grew up with the saying “do not disappoint yourself with high expectations”.

“Arbay” is not a love story. In my perspective, it serves to distinguish between objective reality and subjective feelings. Throughout the story, the narrator uses multiple metaphors, hyperbole’s, similes, etc. All of which makes us use our imagination. In the beginning of the story he states, “But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires.” He is evidently infatuated with her. He thinks of her constantly which clouds his judgement and view on anything that’s not her. Later on in the story, after being held up by his uncle- he took the train to the bazaar. He even mentions that he has to “remind himself with difficultly” why had came, as if it had not met his expectations. He seemed to be unsettled throughout his visit, wandering around he realized that his stay served no purpose. “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.” Towards the end of the story, the boy’s perspective starts to shift.

I just wanted to jump in here, which I don’t usually do. So many responses come so close to the meaning of this story, and some touch at the heart of it. Observations about the negative effects of obsession are very relevant and well expressed. But then the question becomes: Why is the boy so obsessed? Why does he need this focus in his life? What does the girl represent to him? A closer look at the character of the boy suggests answers to these questions. And by the way, don’t be fooled by his failure to buy the girl a gift. Ask yourself if the girl would have cared about him even if he were able to buy her a little tea set or trinket from the bazaar?  One last request for when you are posting: In the “Category Sticky” box to the right, please do not change anything. Leave that to read “Select a Category.” In the box underneath this, which reads “Categories,” check the box for the current week, and then click the blue “Publish” button. Thank you!

Discussion 5 “Araby” by James Joyce is not a love story. What is “Araby” really about? This story is about a young boy blinded by lust. The protagonist told his point of view story about is a young kid trying to obtain the love of his friend Mangan’s sister that lives across the street. The young protagonist narrator believes that he’s in love with his friend’s sister. He then heard his Mangan’s sister speak about how badly she wanted to go to a certain bazaar. The young boy thought that was his way to win the girl’s heart by going to that bazaar and getting her a gift. However, when he made his way to the bazaar he ends up going late at night, right when they were already closing. Arriving at the bazaar he then finds himself disenchanted with the reality of bazaar and the real world. He expected the  bazaar to be a extraordinary magical place , but it was mostly deserted. He then saw himself helpless in a dark place. As a creature driven and derided by vanity with his eyes burning with anguish and anger.

”Araby” is a powerfully emotional story. In my point of view, this reading represents the confrontation of a child with frustration who plays in the street, that is, he is very young, and he cannot get what he wants because he does not depend on himself but rather on his uncle to go to the bazaar. He wanted to go to the bazaar because the girl he liked wanted to go, he saw this as an opportunity to win his heart to buy her a gift since she wanted to go to the same place. He is probably in a hurry and perhaps time will give him an answer since he was short of money and understanding that this was the main conflict of this reading, it may also be that the boy is vain and wants to conquer the girl with details. However, this reading can perhaps indicate how we are maturing from youth to adulthood.

“Araby” by James is indeed not a love story. Instead, it’s rather more of an obsession story. ” Every morning, I lay on the floor in the front parlor watching her door. The blind was pulled down to within an inch of the sash, so I could not be seen. When she came out on the doorstep, my heart leaped. I ran to the hall, seized my books, and followed her. ” His multiple attempts to impress her lead him to continue being disappointed and discouraged. The night at nine o’clock, the boy asked his uncle for the money he was supposed to give him so that he could buy his crush a gift. By the time the boy got near the store, he had feared Bazaar might be closed, but then he found a way in and recognized silence. A young lady asked him if he wanted to buy anything with a discouraging tone. In the end, he realized a gift wasn’t worth it and that doing so much wouldn’t get him anywhere. Being left with disappointment.

What is “Araby” really about? To me “Araby” is a story about obsession. James Joyce uses impressive figurative language to make the readers feel that the narrator is blinded by love. The narrator develops a crush for his friends sister who he hardly knows. He admires her from afar and daydreams about her. Once they finally speak and she lets him know of her wishes to go to the bazaar he becomes obsessed with going so he can bring something back to her. He uses his imagination and thinks the bazaar is going to be this extravagant market where he can get something that will hopefully make Mangan’s sister like him. Once he arrives, he is extremely disappointed and let down because the market is basically closed. He already felt very isolated and sad during most of the story and this final event makes him feel even lower. I think the main point of the story is to show that obsession and delusion is no good because you could be heavily let down when your expectations are not met.

“Araby” by James Joyce is not a love story. What is “Araby” really about?. The narrator is blinded with his obsession for his so called love for Mangan’s sister. It is not reality and only delusion obsession. This so-called ” love obsession” forces the narrator to grow up and face reality and take off his rose-colored glasses. He viewed the Bazaar as an exciting and exotic place to go like a white knight on an honorable quest to fetch something for his fair maiden, his one true love but in reality, he is not in love with her it is more of an unhealthy obsession that he bases his existence on until he finally gets to the Bazaar and is forced to take his rose-colored glasses off to see how it’s just like any other market there is nothing exciting or exotic, people are just going about their everyday life just like Mangan’s sister is and in this way the narrator has a realization and grows up and sees that he’s been delusional.

The coming-of-age story “Araby” by James Joyce is about a young teenage boy who has a crush on his neighbor, Mangan’s sister. The story’s setting is dark and gloomy Dublin, and when the narrator tells us about Mangan’s sister he writes about it as he is charmed and fascinated by her, she is like a light in all the darkness. I chose to use the word crush because he didn’t really know her or even talk to her but he had strong feelings maybe even an obsession with her. Finally, she spoke with him and asked if he’s going to Araby. She said she would go there if she could but unfortunately, she can’t, and then the narrator promised her that if he will go he will bring her something when he is back. Going to the bazaar wasn’t very important for him until he made this promise to her. We can see that it is really important for him to go there since he doesn’t want to disappoint her. The story ended up with his disappointment that he didn’t make it on time to the bazaar. When he finally got there most of the stalls were already closed and it was mostly dark. He was very eager to go there; reminding his aunt and uncle about it, and walking up and down the stairs impatiently while his uncle was late. This is why when things did not go as he expected he was upset and angry.

After I started to read “Araby” by James Joyce I realized what you mean in activity one that it’s not a love story. I feel that the mood throughout the story was very down, sad, gloomy, and dull. Well, there was a crush, like, love, young boy love. Whatever its call it’s sadly one-sided. He was you can even say obsessive over her and was very desperate for the sister. You can see a lot of that with his gift. While his, at this point let’s just call it a, crush on her, in the end, seem to kick him into some kind of depression “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity, and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.” (37)    “

This story is not so much of a love story as it’s closer to a cautionary tale. This story is rich with literary devices to  The symbolism in “Araby” is very prominent and indicative of the young narrators naiveté. To give some context to the story, the nameless narrator we know to be a young boy, falls in love with this considerably older woman he hardly knows anything about. She is always presented in a positive bright light. He is deeply infatuated with her. While on the other hand, truth and reality are always tossed aside in the darkened background. He has a very literal black and white way of thinking. Of course, with this much blind infatuation doesn’t end up well. He ends up not being able to impress her by getting her something at their local bazaar. It seems like by the end of the story he realizes how foolish he was going as far as to call himself a “creature driven and derided by vanity”. I like where this story ended. I think anything more or less would have lessened the impact of the last sentiment.

I wanted to respond to the Week 4 discussion about “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara. I was very impressed by many of your comments in which you compared two characters from the story. Many of you discussed Mercedes, who serves as the “outlier,” as Eoin observed in his post. Clearly, she learns nothing from the expedition and only feels more hopeful that she might someday be accepted into the society represented by the clientele of the toy store. I don’t think she realizes how unrealistic that dream of acceptance actually is. There was also some excellent discussion of the interesting character Miss Moore, whom some critics say represents Black empowerment soon to come historically. I was glad to see mention of the other minor characters too, each of whom has slightly different reactions to what Miss Moore is trying to show them. They are so insulated in their world that they do not even realize their own poverty until this trip to the toy store. Some of you focused on Sugar, Sylvia’s best friend, who arrives at an intellectual response to “the lesson.” She is able to make observations about societal inequity and pose rhetorical questions about democracy, but that is as far as she takes the lesson of Miss Moore. It is only Sylvia who learns something about herself. She is an interesting, dynamic character, who runs through a gamut of emotions during the story. At first, she is cynical, wisecracking, and offhand about the venture. She is the clear leader in the group, which is why Miss Moore entrusts her with the taxi money, yet as the story develops readers see that there is deep vulnerability behind her tough exterior. She truly understands that she is not part of the world she has just been introduced to, […]

After reading Araby, I feel like many of us could have had a similar situation like this in our life. The narrator is so full of light and positivity and that it  fills his head whenever discussing Mangans sister but when life and reality actually hits him it’s always a more negative and dull mood. The narrator fantasizes about this girl and he doesn’t even know her name, he’s so infatuated with her and that’s how it is whenever you have a crush, but the feelings aren’t mutual back. All the little things he wants to do to get her attention only end up hurting him more in the end. The frustration starts to build throughout the story when things don’t go his way and this is just the reality of how life is. This disappointment and frustration that the narrator feels at the end of the story is quite a normal feeling for the people because they all have their own life to live, the Dubliners are focused on survival instead of love. The frustration really sets in at the end of the story when the narrator finally comes to the realization that this is just an illusion that he’s come up with and it won’t come true.

In “The Lesson” the secondary main character is a black woman named Miss Moore. She has a somewhat jumbled appearance which lets the townespeople feel justified in making fun of her. Unfortunately, eventhough she is college-educated, as a result, she tends to spend her time with the kids of the town. She invites any and all the kids with their vastly differing lives and backgrounds. Most of the kids don’t exactly enjoy their time with her and call her boring.  As naive as kids are, they don’t understand the reason for her bringing them to these places. When in reality, she is trying to educate them on the economic inequalities of the town and how far it reaches.  On the other hand, probably her most inexperienced child, Mercedes, is a young girl with a wealthy family. In turn, she was more happy and more well-off. She didn’t exhibit the kind of bitterness the other kids did as she didn’t have a reason to. I liked the example of the paperweight. One of the kids pointed out an expensive paperweight not knowing its purpose of it. Mercedes not only tells the kids that she has her own desk but with other goods on top of it… along with the paperweight. 

Miss Moore is trying to teach the students about the injustice of her country. She took the students to the toy store so they knew how some people could afford to buy things that would cost them their food money for the year. She wanted the kids to learn a lesson about how unfair their country is. She was like a role model for the students. Sylvia is the story’s main character who’s telling the story from her point of view. She tells us how she doesn’t like her teacher, Miss Moore. Sylvia tells us how she thought the toy story was too expensive and why people would buy the toys for too much money. Even though Sylvia and the other students talk behind the teacher’s back and do not appreciate what she has done for them, she still tries her best to teach the students a lesson.

This story was intensely emotional.  When the boy describes his environment, it seems to revolve mostly around how it effects him. He describes dark/night as gloomy and lonely. When the evening arrives, he describes the homes in his neighborhood as sombre. It feels like he is looking for something that brings him joy.  In the beginning, he explained how he liked a book, “The memoirs of vidocq” not because of it’s literary content but because of it’s yellow leaves. When there is mention of light, whether it be through windows or the light that created the shadow of Mangan’s sister, the tone of the writing seemed more uplifted.  It’s almost as though he associated the girl he was infatuated with, with the light. With a positive feeling. As he walked through the market area’s with his aunt, he explained that he imagined that he had bore his chalice safely through a throng of foes. Which sounds to me like he was able to maintain his sanity while strolling the amalgamation of sounds that he didn’t find pleasant or enjoyable. He seems to be very in tuned with his senses. I felt as though he may have been going through anxiety, loneliness and connected his feelings to the world around him.  He seems to have felt a rush of intrigue and admiration for Mangan’s sister. The excitement he felt when thinking about her or seeing her. gave him a rush  that he was almost dependent on it to feel happy.  I found it strange, considering the ability to describe his surroundings and pair with an emotion, that he did not describe Mangan’s sister.  He mentions the rope on her hair and the sway of her dress when she moves but did not describe her as beautiful, he did not mention her […]

The two characters from “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, Mercedes, and Sylvia clearly show contrast in their experience and point of view in response to the visit to the FA0 Schwarz toy store.  I associate Mercedes with a wealthy family(one little portion of the society) when she emphasizes that the price tags of the toys were not much of a surprise for her and whenever she wishes to have one, she can get it. On the contrary, the rest of her classmates were stunned by every piece in the store, especially by the price tag which didn’t make sense to them since similar products were found in a different location at a way cheaper price. Sylvia was one of my classmates and all she could think of was who would pay for those insane prices.  She expresses her anger by asking Miss Monroe “Watcha bring us here for, Miss Moore?” but later on everything falls in its place and the lesson of the experience is revealed. At the end of the trip, everyone was overwhelmed to know that there is a part of society that lives differently from what they used to see and live.  When did Miss Monroe ask what did you learn from the class? Mercedes responded that she will return when she has her birthday money while the rest of the class including Sylvia thought that price tags could equal to the rent or feed six-seven family expenses. The inequality gap between poor and rich was huge that so the lesson was “poor people have to wake up and demand their share of the pie” and change the system.

The two characters I choose from “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara are Mercedes and Sugar. Mercedes is the only one of the eight children that doesn’t seem fazed by the insane prices at the toy store. She barely even talked when visiting the toy store that I forgot she was a character until she finally said something. When she did start talking it was to join the conversation about the paperweight and desks and unlike the other children she has a desk and stationery. When entering the store she is the only one able to walk into the store and act normal. After the day is over and everyone is asked what they thought about the store she is the only one who actually wanted to go back to buy something. Sugar’s experience is different as she went from a child who would yell about wanting this and that. She then like the other children was surprised about how expensive everything was and felt out of place when in the store. When asked about her experience only her and the narrator Sylvia understood what exactly Miss Moore wanted to teach them about inequality.

“The lesson” is a story which shows how some young people are aware of socio-economic inequality. There are two characters, Sylvia and Sugar, that show the difference in their understanding of socio-economic equality their thoughts and actions when they visit FAO Schwartz. For example, Sugar said “You know, Miss Moore, I don’t think all of us here put together eat in a year what that sailboat costs.” This statement of hers clearly shows that she has some understanding of finances as she knows that the amount of money spent on one of her and her friends’ necessities is inconsequential to those who shop at FAO Schwartz. Therefore, it shows that she is aware of the socio-economic inequality that she faces. On the other hand, Sylvia is angry at the situation but is not able to put it into words. “And I’m jealous and want to hit her. Maybe not her, but I sure want to punch somebody in the mouth.” Sylvia is angry at the fact that the sailboat cost a lot but is unable to communicate why she is angry at this particular situation. This clearly shows that Sylvia is not as knowledgeable as Sugar regarding socio-economic inequality.

The passage, “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, teaches children about the different viewpoints in the world, and how in certain circumstances we all see different things, more specifically our financial circumstances. The children in the passage were taken to the FAO Schwarz Toy Store. The prices in the toy store were remarkably high, which taught the children to learn more about money and purchases, that not everyone has access to everything, and more importantly, to be grateful, because what may seem a reasonable price to you, may not seem the same way to someone else. Sylvia is the main character in the story, she explains to the readers what she sees, hears, and thinks. Sylvia is a very observant young lady and kept detailed notes in her head about the people she comes into contact with, as well as what she does. She explains her hatred for Ms. Moore at the beginning of the passage by explaining how she always assigned them boring activities. When she arrives at the toy store, she immediately belittles the prices and was stunned by the items that was being sold. She kept on complaining about ridiculous they were. On the other hand, Mercedes was another student that did not seem too bothered by the prices and the items that were being sold. She explains that she would like to pay a visit to the FAO Schwarz Toy Store again when she can get her birthday money. This immediately explains that, financially, her life was more stable than the other children’s. Her family had money, and whatever she asked for she had probably gotten without any hesitation.  She immediately stood out to me, because of her enjoyment and agreement at the store, while other students were complaining around her.

“The Lesson” is a very interesting story by Toni Cade Bambara. In this story, there are two people named Mercedes and Sylvia and they both visited the “FAO Schwarz Toy Store”, they both had different experiences. When they first arrived, Sylvia realized the area they are in is dressed in expensive clothing. It made her upset and annoyed by it, and I think it’s because she came from a family that wasn’t very wealthy. Throughout the whole time, Sylvia was thinking how the money people are using to buy these expensive toys could be used for her family with rent, and more important things. On the other hand, Mercedes came from a wealthy family and was surprised by all the expensive toys and how the world is sort of different in the expensive toy store. She was sort of motivated and wanted to go back to the store with her own money to purchase. Mercedes had a complete opposite “impulsive” reaction that Sylvia had to the toy store. Mercedes was not bothered by the store, while Sylvia on the other hand was completely bothered and made it clear she did not like the place.

The short story “Salvation” by Langston Hughes is centered around the ideas of transformation and faith. At the beginning of the story, the young and naive narrator has been taught and adheres to the image of faith. In place of faith, he mentally pictures Jesus as a human figure and expects him to be a real, tangible person. It’s not his fault he took this idea so literally. His entire environment supported this kind of idea. Upon learning that Jesus wouldn’t actually appear in front of him, he is so upset he denounces his faith all together. If anything, with his worldview, this seemed inevitable. The tone of the story changes to be more melancholic and helpless as his whole life was based on faith before he understood what that meant.

In the short story “The Lesson” we learned that Ms. Moore’s goal was to inspire and motivate these young girls but also shed light onto economic inequality going on. It seems to be that without teaching these kids about wealth, they would have never really imagined a life that has more to offer other than living in poverty. I loved Ms. Moore’s as their role model, she is educated, well spoken, patient and very caring. Ms. Moore was determined from the start about influencing the kids, she didn’t lose sight of her goal. Sylvia was a carefree girl that is used to living a limited lifestyle with zero ambition. She doesn’t seem to have much knowledge about the outside world in terms of wealth. Her character changes dramatically from bravery to shame. She felt as if she didn’t belong, she felt threatened about entering such an expensive store that didn’t align with her lifestyle.

Ms. Moore is a representation of a new future, “a symbol of changing times” as it was described in the critical essay on “The Lesson”. Ms. Moore stood out in the neighborhood and was different from all the parents not only because she had a college degree but with her outlook on life and her understanding of justice, unlike the rest of people in the community she disdains the church and even her physical appearance highlights her being different “she has nappy hair” and she “wears no makeup”. When Ms. Moore brought the kids to the F.A.O Shwarts toy store it opened up a curtain into the world they didn’t know of and we could clearly see a difference in kid’s reaction. While Sylvia, who is usually so confident and bossy in her hood, for the first time feels shy and ashamed, scared to go into the store. Finally “tumbled in like a glued-together jigsaw done all wrong”, getting everyone’s attention at the store and being out of place. Meanwhile Mercedes acts like she belongs to that world unlike the rest of the kids in the group she confidently squeezes past them “smoothing out her jumper and walking right down the aisle”. She was the only one to have a desk at home and proudly comments that her father would buy the sailboat toy for her if she wanted it. Mercedes feels proud to belong to this “white world reality”. The only lesson she takes home with her from this field trip is that she would like to come back there again with her birthday money. Meanwhile Sylvia’s vision of the reality has been shifted significantly and she is going through a rollercoaster of emotions that challenge her perception of the world she’s been living in up until now. She […]

In the short story “The Lesson” by Toni Bambara you are introduced to a wide variety of characters. There are 3 characters that stand out to me for how much they contrast in the toy store. Sylvia, Mercedes, and Miss Moore all stood out to me. Sylvia stood out for how headstrong she is always wanting her 2 cents in every conversation, wanting to be the leader and drag Sugar with her to any event that Sylvia had planned for the two. She has a very negative view of the world due to the environment that she is growing up and seems to not care much about others and only cares for herself and Sugar since she was “just right”. Miss Monroe was an educated woman who graduated from college and took it upon herself to look after the young ones’ education. Mercedes as she contrasted Sylvia as she seemed the nicest and most caring out the bunch. Miss more decided round up all the kids by the mailbox and wanted to take them on a trip down to the toy store. Once they got into the cab and started making their way to the store Miss Moore decided to hand Sylvia a 5 dollar bill and told her to give the cab driver a 10% tip of what the total come out to. Once they got to the destination the meter came to 85 cents and for a while Sylvia tries to calculate the 10% until Sugar tell her to give the cab driver a dime. Sylvia thought to herself that the man didn’t need the tip and kept it for herself. Once everyone got out the cab they decided to look into the windows before heading into the store. For every item that each kid wanted Sylvia had […]

When reading “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara there is a clear distinction between two characters and their experiences in the FAO Schwarz toy store. These two characters are Mercedes and Sugar. From the very start once they get out of the taxi they see all the white people in their attire. They head to the toy store and see a toy that catches their eyes instantly but once they know the price they are in awe. Mercedes seeing all the fancy stuff shows from the start that she is more educated on certain things and is more fortunate than the others seeing that she owns a stationary and that she would go back when she got her birthday money. On the other hand, Sugar tells us that even saving up all the allowance money they would have already outgrown the microscope that they had seen in the window. The clear separation of social class and education shows that they have completely different upbringings. Mercedes isn’t fazed when she finds out what stuff costs at the store and wants to come back when she gets money, while Sugar knows she isn’t fortunate enough even if she saved for some time.

The two characters I chose are Mercedes and Sylvia who visited the FAO Schwarz store and seemed to have different reactions. They both saw that toys were so expensive. They both realized that a sailboat toy cost was the same as the cost of rent, but it seemed like Mercedes really wasn’t surprised. She mentioned that she would like to go back on her birthday when she gets money. She seemed to come from a family who didn’t struggle. I felt like this isn’t something new to her and she is okay with it. As opposed to Sylvia, was upset and angry about it. She was surprised that there are people who are okay with buying these toys when that same amount of money can be used for bills and rent. Sylvia seemed like she was interested at the store but didn’t want to show it to Miss Moore. I think was Mercedes was nonchalant about it. On the other hand, Sylvia was processing her thoughts. I think Sylvia didn’t find it fair that she wasn’t part of that life.

The story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara focuses on equality, class, appearance, and education. The story raises the issue of unfairness in society and the way children learn about it.  While we read the story, we come across with multiple characters. Miss Moore is  a school teacher who constantly plans different  activities for the kids. One day she decides to take kids to the FAO Schwartz on the fifth avenue. As soon as kids arrive to the location, everyone seems very intimidated by the prices and the toys. I would like to discuss and compare behavior of two characters, Mercedes and Sylvia. Sylvia has always had a very negative attitude towards Miss Moore. She did not like the way Miss Moore would speak or dress. She hated her for her college degree. Sylvia and her friend Sugar mock the woman because of her “nappy hair” and “proper speech.” Once they arrive at the FAO Schwartz, Sylvia realizes that they’re on Fifth Avenue, where everyone is dressed in expensive clothing. It immediately makes her feel upset and irritated. When they enter the store she did not understand what was the point of seeing all those fancy expensive toys without any money.  She imagines how ridiculous it would be to ask her mother to spend that much on a toy clown. Sylvia thinks about all the things that much money could pay for in her family. On the other hand, how see a different reaction from Mercedes who was very excited and happy to see the place. She even says that she wants to go there with her birthday money. She truly appreciated everything she was and felt motivated at the end. She felt that she could do so much more in life regardless of the circumstances. Seeing all the amazing […]

Two characters that caught my attention in “The Lesson” are Sylvia and Mercedes. Firstly, Sylvia doesn’t want to go to the store at all and doesn’t even know why she’s going as she knows she doesn’t belong there. She has a feeling of shame when Miss Moore urges the children to go inside and has the shame of being lower class, hating Miss Moore for even taking her. Sylvia doesn’t understand why people buy such expensive toys as she sees such an expensive one but then sees one that’s $35 that she likes but realizes the money used on it can help her family instead. On the other hand, Mercedes wasn’t surprised by the prices of the toys and she’s already an upper-class girl and it’s normal for her. She knows more of the items than the other kids as she has expensive things and it’s nothing to her. She wants to come again with her birthday money and buy more toys and it’s like a shrug on the shoulder for her, nothing expensive really. 

In “The Lesson”, the two characters I want to compare are Mercedes and Sylvia. Their characters had a different experience in the lesson that Miss. Moore was trying to teach them. Mercedes didn’t see the lesson because she out of the group had the most money the the only one that had a desk at home. On the other hand, Sylvia realizes that there was no equality in the world. Sylvia realized that in order to afford these expensive toys, you’ll have to be like the who’re people or live like them, but for Mercedes she wanted to be like the white people, seeing no wrong in what she learned. This story is what I can relate to because me being in the “hood” I never realized the inequality in the world because everyone around me had the same. It was until I went out of my neighborhood to travel to school was when I seen the difference and mine and other neighborhoods. And also social media had open my eyes that in the “ rich or suburban” neighborhoods had more than mines. They had “better”. They they buy things that I wouldn’t even touch because what was taught in the “hood” was to be cautious on what you spend. Sylvia was right when she stated “…this is not much of a democracy if you ask me.”

     In “The Lesson”, Flyboy is someone who comes across as more mature and way more talkative than the others. Based on what he said and did he was someone who understood a lot about the things around him like how to manipulate the adults into pitying him by saying things like how he doesn’t have a house. He also spoke up more and was more confident with himself even though he might be wrong at times.      In contrast, Junebug was way more naive about things and it shows how she said she didn’t have a desk at home and then questioned if she was right by saying “do we?”       Although they were both different in terms of personality they both seemed to understand that the toys in the store were for pretty wealthy people and were able to see the financial differences even if it wasn’t at a deeper level than others might have.

The short story “The Lesson’ By author and advocate for African American and women’s rights, Toni Cade Bambara included nine characters. Eight of which are adolescents and one adult. The emphasis of this story in my eyes were put on Sylvia and Miss Moore, two other supporting characters are Sugar and Mercedes. Sylvia had a rotten and bitter attitude towards most things, especially anything that Miss Moore had to say or do. Sylvia wanted to control everything around her, she despised the idea of not being in charge. I think it made her feel belittled and not much of anything other than a young black girl that felt poor and helpless, she needed her ego to drive her to feel of importance, apart of her being headstrong made her a good leader, but not always a good student. Sugar was her right hand girl, they were “the only ones just right.” Sugar followed behind Sylvia most of the time. Mercedes was a little different from all the other characters, she had more than what they had to settle with and her outlook on the division between her African American community and the White American community differed. Miss Moore was an educated black woman, a neighbor that felt responsible for the children in her neighborhoods education. Although, the parents talked poorly of Miss Moore at times, they knew what she could do for their children’s futures and success. Miss Moore took all the children to a toy store, unfortunately it was not the children had hoped. It was a lesson, not a shopping spree. Mercedes thought highly of the rich and white, she wanted to reach that level of success. What she did not realize is that there was a separation of her community and the other communities, that what she […]

In the short story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara we read about the kids’ visit to FAO Schwarz and their experience there. We understand that those kids come from a poor neighborhood. They went to FAO Schwarz with the new neighbor who they hated, Miss Moore. Miss Moore believes in education for the young generation, which is why she took them to this store, to let them see and experience something that they never see in their neighborhood. The goal of this trip was to teach them about money, democracy, and equal chances for all citizens. How rich people can enjoy the possibility of buying luxury goods, in this case, expensive toys. The two characters I decided to compare between are Sugar and Sylvia. Sylvia is talking about her and Sugar as one team during the story, they both were “the only ones just right”, and they both hated Miss Moore together. That is why it was such a shock to Sylvia when Sugar decided to respond to Miss Moore’s question after their experience at the store. It seems like Sylvia is more stubborn and is not open to new people or views. On the other hand, Sugar, who suppose to be on Sylvia’s same page was suddenly answered Miss Moore’s question of what they think about the trip to Schwarz.

The two characters from Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson” that I’ll talk about are Sylvia and Miss Moore. Sylvia is shown to be an arrogant person who doesn’t mind expressing herself, speaking fluently and unhindered, singing the truths if necessary, and freely just as she also seemed to dislike Miss. Moore. Sylvia got a different experience compared to the others as she was angry and distressed visiting FAO Schwarz because the prices in the store were close to what it might cost to feed some families meaning they were very expensive this showed the Economic inequality within their society. In the end, she ended up being an optical person to improve her life. In addition, Miss Moore is an educated person, a black woman who sought improvement for the children and her understanding of Sylvia’s thoughts towards her. However, the trip to FAO Schwarz was definitely an eye-opening experience for both Sylvia and all the children and it really gave them what society is like for different groups of people this was something that really made her see what Miss. Moore shared with her the same point of view on the unbalanced system in their society.

The characters I want us to focus in is Ms. Moore and Sylvia, In “the lesson” by Tony Cade Bambara” e can see Ms. Moore as a very intelligent and educated person, she is first introduce and is compare like a old weird woman, but than as the kids meet her, We get to really know her and she is a well educated person and a person who sees society and others things their true color’s, Sylvia, is a girl who we know as a person who thinks different than the other kids, she Is also smart her way, she looks out for herself and she ha her own skills, We can compare both there experience as a “way of saying what in the world is this, ” or “Is this society crazy” as angry too because they can realize how those who are rich can, or are crazy enough to spend more than 5 dollars and more to buy a toy, In my opinion, they think the same way because Ms. Moore wanted the kids to know how bad is the society and how those just who have money can send money on whatever even if it’s nonsense. Sylvia is angry because she can’t believe or does not like the way those who have money spend money on whatever they want and do not actually see how hard is to get or seen money, like those who do not have as much money as them.

The characters I want to focus on are Mercedes and Sylvia. Mercedes is a very clear outlier to all the children in this story. Everyone else had some sort of reaction to the toy store. Every other child was in some state of disbelief. She was the only one that walked in and was not shocked by the amount of money that all the toys cost. She treated it like it was something that she was used to seeing, that was normal to her. Mercedes seems to know more about the items than the other children like she knows what the paper weight does. Her main response to the whole experience was when she casually mentioned she wanted to come again when she got birthday money. Now Sylvia had the complete opposite response. Her was one of shock and more anger. She seems to almost understand the point that Miss Moore is trying to show her, but Sylvia is having a hard time accepting it. It angers her that other people get to have these extremely expensive toys, and have the money to so causally spend 1,000 dollars on a sailboat. I’m sure that it is also worse that one of her classmates gets to have this kind of life and Sylvia doesn’t.

Miss Moore’s character is presented as a kind, good-hearted, educated black woman that wants to help the people in her community, specifically the children. This alone brings about a sense of jealousy within her community because of how she carries herself and the life that she chooses to live. In the story we are told that the people in the community talk about her and not in a good way, she chooses to do things differently such as not going to church and throughout history we see how important religion is in a black community. But that doesn’t stop Miss Moore from living her life and sharing her knowledge with the kids, she still remains kind and this shows that she really does have a good heart.  Sylvia is one of the kids that Miss Moore extends her knowledge with but they don’t always see eye-to-eye because of Sylvia’s pride. Sylvia is shown as this independent kid that won’t hold her tongue back on anyone. But as we get to know her character more she lets her guard down a bit and she starts to see the lesson that Miss Moore wants to teach them.The trip to FAO Schwarz was definitely an eye opening experience for all of the kids and it really showed them what society is like for different groups of people.  Before even entering the store the kids noticed how the people around them dressed from the way adults in their community dressed, it was more luxurious and expensive. Miss Moore blended in well with these people but the kids were so amazed by everything. The lesson that Miss Moore taught them after being in the store was an eye-opener for all because the money that people spend on useless stuff in that store could be spent […]

Ms. Moore’s character juxtaposes the narrator, Sylvia’s point of view in a lot of ways. It was done purposely to show the main theme of the story. Class and status is the common theme throughout  “The Lesson”, Toni Cade Bambara uses both characters to show their similarities yet differences. Ms. Moore is depicted as a put-together wealthy educated woman. Not only does she have a college degree but she tries to educate the children in their community. It’s also alluded to that she is unmarried and doesn’t go to church. Sylvia is the opposite. She’s a young girl who is shown to be very outspoken and rowdy. When they go to the store, Ms.Moore is very calm and collected, watching the way the children react to being in the store. Sylvia before heading into the store was very headstrong and confident but after entering was timid. She felt shameful being in the store with such expensive toys far out of her budget. Everyone else in the store is acting unphased, being regular shoppers.    Ms.Moore took them there on purpose to learn about money. FAO Schwarz represents what Ms.Moore achieved in her life. She can blend in amongst the people in the store while Sylvia starts to understand that the way her family lives compared to people that can shop there is completely different. Bambara uses things we couldn’t imagine being privileges that Sylvia and the other children don’t have such as a desk and stationery in your home. Both characters are very intelligent but have very different ways of living. Ms.Moore’s proper socially acceptable way of living clashes with Sylvia’s childhood rebellion. In the end, both of them have the upper hand, both having the intelligence to understand the way the world works and where they stand in society.

Alex Barrios  Professor Conway  ENG 201 Sec. 0517  September 14, 2022  Personally, Sylvia’s attitude towards her peers and to Ms. Moore contrasts to her friend Sugar but it’s relatable and understandable. Sylvia wasn’t all too interested nor was she concerned with the social and economic inequalities that were going on at that time period. She showed agitation towards Ms. Moore who is an educated and older woman that simply wanted the kids to know that there is more to experience out in the world. Sugar, who was more open and receptive to the lessons, asked questions and showed curiosity. She was aware that the toys were so expensive that even if you were to combine the allowances between all the kids. However, Sylvia only focused on taking the money for herself, which perhaps says a lot about her mentality. She was raised to spend money on what’s necessary only. That any toy regardless of the price was simply a luxury that she could never afford and that her passive-aggressive attitude could simply be her feeling jealousy and resentment towards her current circumstances and to Ms. Moore for reminding her of the hard reality that black people were living in during her time. 

The characters I plan on talking about would be Sylvia and Sugar.  In the beginning, they were just kids in a neighborhood doing what kids do, then a lady name Miss Moore moved in and taught the class Sylvia and Sugar are in.  Miss Moore asked the type of kids if they knew what money was. She then brought the course to a toy store called FAO Schwarz. The kids then began touching and looking at multiple toys, wishing those toys were theirs and how a kid name Mercedes said, “My father buy it for me if I wanted it.” Sylvia and Sugar were shocked by the price tags in the store. Sylvia saw a thirty-five-dollar clown. She started comparing what she could buy with thirty-five dollars; the whole household could visit Grand-daddy Nelson in the country, pay the rent, the piano bill, and a bunk bed for Junior and Gretchen’s boy. Sylvia was so shocked that a toy could cost so much. Sugar, on the other hand, started talking about the cost of a toy and society, “Imagine for a minute what kind of society it is in which some people can spend on a toy what it would cost to feed a family of six or seven. What do you think?.” Sylvia is unhappy about Sugar talking all smart, so she tries forcing Sugar to shut up by stomping her. Sylvia seems jealous and mad about how smart Sugar was talking in class, so in the end, Sylvia leaves Sugar and goes on her way, saying, “ain’t nobody going to beat me at Nuthin.”

Miss Moore vs Sugar Miss Moore is most likely the teacher for the group of kids. She is the one that took the group to the toy store and her response to the experience was probably the calmest of everyone. She planned the trip out to teach the kids the lesson and has seen this before in her life but she is still in this lower class of people. In the end, she was very happy that her lessons came through for some of the students for example Sugar, who is the narrator’s friend who also lives in Harlem with her family, who spoke up about the inequality she saw after the trip. Sugar started out the trip by asking “Can we steal?” Sugar asks very seriously like she’s getting the ground rules squared away before she plays.” (2). this really showed her thinking process of how stealing is normal where she lived but then she see the boat which made her realize the inequality in the society.

After reading “The Lesson” By Toni Cade Bambara. The two characters I will be choosing to compare during their visit to F.A.O. Schwartz are Sylvia, and Sugar. As sugar entered the store she expressed how everything is expensive and was upset about the $1,000 she wasn’t really fond of being there. When Ms. Moore asked “what did you think of FAO Schwartz?” sugars response was “I don’t think all of us here put together eat in a year what that sailboat cost”. Sylvia who I believe is the protagonist in the story reaction to Ms. Moore question was her feeling embarrassed because Ms.Moore gave her a shrilly look. After M.S Moore asked “did anybody else learn anything today?” she walked away because she didn’t like the fact that Ms. Moore brought her them to that expensive toy store. but overall I feel as though they both had the same feeling but sugar was more vocal and nice about the whole ordeal and Sylvia did not speak about it she chose the rude approach and walked off.  

Upon arriving at FAO Schwartz all of the children seem to be very intimidated by the prices of items and the visual of fancy toys. However Mercedes did not allow that intimidation make her feel less than. Miss Moore took these children on a trip to show them something different from their normal everyday lives growing up poor. I feel like her hopes were to enlighten them to have a mindset that there is more to life, and they too can accomplish becoming wealthy. When the children approached the doors of this fancy toy store they hesitated. They had a sense of feeling like they didn’t belong. Mercedes confidence led the group inside. Her mindset became rich and that is how she portrayed herself regardless of her circumstances. Sylvia on the other hand was stuck in her ways and not budging to change her way of thinking. She felt like there was no point in being there especially if they didn’t have the money to buy anything. She even became upset with her cousin Sugar for interacting with Miss Moore about her experience in the store. In my opinion as Mercedes grow into adulthood that experience alone is going to motivate her to want more out of life. As for Sylvia she just may be content with what she is used to, which would be unfortunate.

The two characters I want to talk about are Mercedes and Sugar. I’m under the assumption Mercedes is a little younger than Sylvia and Sugar. I think Mercedes was trying to have an open and innocent experience at F. A. O. Schowartz. Instead of having to think about the price she just admired the toys and even wanted to come back with her birthday money.   Sylvia had a really different experience. She was angry and appalled about the prices in the store being close to what it could cost to feed multiple families. I understand Sylvia, it’s really sad as a kid realizing that you are poor. You see your parents struggling to put food on the table and become hyper aware to how much less you might have than others around you. You see your friends at school getting huge gifts or going on vacations. You don’t really get to enjoy your childhood. I think that is why Sylvia felt so much anger towards this experience. Being at the store probably made her feel like she was being taunted.

In Salvation by Langston Hughes the narrator starts off super naive in and gullible he had an obsession of being saved because it was what he was told for his whole life, he even got to the point of waiting for Jesus and he had an optimism to him but as the story goes on he starts to lose his sense of joy and optimism as he sees other children being saved while he wasn’t and by the end of the story he is lying to his family that the reason he is crying and hiding under the covers is because he was saved but the truth was he was the only one that didn’t get saved and didn’t know why. In the end he comes to the conclusion that because he didn’t see Jesus and that Jesus didn’t save him that he didn’t believe in jesus anymore because he didn’t see the point anymore after he felt abandoned.

“The lesson” was about these group of kids that were taken on a field trip to 5th Ave by Miss Moore. She took them on this trip to teach them about money show them how the other side lived, the group noticed how expensive things were. They were one person in the group that stood out her name were Mercedes it was obvious she was a clear difference in the group because it seems like money wasn’t hard for her to get so she was treated different. They noticed how expensive things were on  that side of town, Miss Moore also were teaching them the value of money and to see how the other side lived. It also show how unfair the system were in the United States, Miss Moore opened their eyes to their reality of the world.

The narrator felt joy was expecting to experience and see Jesus for the first time because of his aunt. His aunt described to him how he was going to feel when Jesus will save him from his sins with the rest of the teenage kids. At church when he was sitting with the group he was waiting for the moment to see Jesus, but all he saw was all the kids being saved by Jesus except for him. So, in the end he had to lie to his aunt that had been saved by Jesus. He felt sad, hopeless and disappointed because he was never saved by Jesus  and had lied to his aunt. At the end he did not believed in Jesus.

In “Salvation” by Langston Hughes the narrator is different than he was at the beginning of the story. In the beginning he was told by his aunt about how she was saved by Jesus coming into her life and he believed Jesus would also come into his life, but he thought Jesus would come physically. While he waits for Jesus everyone ends up on the altar and he is left alone. Even though he doesn’t see Jesus he is starting to feel pressured by everyone around him and guilty for taking up their time. He ends up lying about being saved and everyone celebrates. The narrator who once was a young innocent child had changed for the worse. He once had faith in Jesus but he ends up losing that faith and is doubtful that Jesus is even real and also feels guilt for lying to everyone about seeing Jesus.

The young narrator is different from when the story first started because he was a lot more naive and gullible. He wanted to be saved and thought that this was going to happen, as this is what the people in the church have discussed with him. He was waiting to be saved. and was upset that there was no symbol of light that he could see, he was very doubtful of what is going on. When his aunt convened him to come and sing he decided to because he wanted what was best for him. Towards the end of the story, the setting was very happy and you can truly feel everyone’s joy and relief. They wanted to be free of sin and wanted to know that God was going to forgive them, it was very important to them. However because Langston did not see the light he had to pretend with them as well, He was very disappointed to know that he did not revive help and that help was not coming for him.

The young narrator was different in the beginning because he seemed hopeful and trusting of his elders all describing what one can feel and see when you get saved. They all described seeing a light and something happening inside of them, they expressed how they heard and felt Jesus and so Langston believed them. He believed that he was going to feel the same things everyone felt.   Langston took the “Measures” to be saved, after not feeling Jesus, he thought it was all a facade which led to completely losing his faith. He felt guilt for lying to everyone and losing his Faith to Jesus.

I just wanted to pop in here to give some general feedback about your posts for the first two weeks. Week 2: Your responses to  “The Most Handsome Drowned Man”  were sensitive and intelligent. Some of you mentioned the compassion that is seen in the story. Others focused on the idea of keeping an open mind and having a willingness to change. Others wrote about the importance of imagination and inspiration. All of these observations were wonderfully expressed, and many directly addressed the prompt about why I might have assigned this story as the first. All were valid and part of the reason. One answer by Alex Barrios hit particularly close. He wrote, “Maybe some of us are the village, and this course is our Esteban.” For me, this story is about the power of stories to change lives. In the story, a community comes together to create a story from their imagination about a man who has no story when he washes onto  the store. In their made-up story, they imagine a life for him that is greater than their own. Then they set out to change their own lives to live up to the myth they have created. My hope is that the stories we read in this class will expand your perspectives in a similar way. I hope that at least one of the works of literature we read in this course will stay with you forever. Yes, I mean it. Forever. Week 3: What I noticed and appreciated about most of the Week 3 responses was the clear response to the prompt about the change in the narrator. Sometimes students who are new to studying literature end up retelling the story rather than analyzing it. In ENG 201, we are not writing book reports like the […]

I think that Professor Conway might have assigned “The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World”  by Gabriel Garcia Marquez to us as our first read so we can think outside the box and play with our imagination and ideas in order to create something meaningful in preparation for our upcoming weekly assignments.  In this story, we see how the villagers are introduced to this drowned man that showed up on the beach out of nowhere.  They didn’t know who he was or where he was from.  All they knew is that he didn’t look like them.  They named him “Esteban” to give him an identity and by doing so, they created an elaborated story to bring forth life to Esteban, who was actually a dead man.  I see the similarities between the villagers and us trying to write an essay.  We have an idea, a focus point and then we gather all the supporting details to construct it.  Just like the villagers did with Esteban, when they cleaned, dressed and brought everyone together.

In this story two of the characters seemed to have had different experiences at the toy store.  Sylvia, the main character, was observant and put on a false bravado through most of the story.  Despite having a dislike or “hatred” for Miss Moore, she seemed to absorb all the information she was giving to the children.  Even reciting it back with a cynical tone. The story reminded me of myself as a child. I was bold and loud and aggressive. I remained in my comfort zone which were the borders of my neighborhood. Like Sylvia, I was confident when I was there. It was familiar and everyone lived similar to how I did; In poverty, in the street with friends misbehaving.  Going into the toy store she expressed a feeling of shame. She said she’s never felt shy before and she didn’t know why she was feeling funny about being there.  The experience for her friend Mercedes was very different.  Mercedes seemed comfortable and assured that she could even come back to this highly expensive toy store and possibly buy something for her birthday.  Immediately I could separate how Sylvia and Mercedes life experience was very different. Especially after all the children shared the lack of study space and furniture because they were too poor to afford a luxury like that even though Mercedes explained how she had a nice study desk with personalized stationary gifted to her by her god mother.  I believe the shame Sylvia felt was the feeling of not belonging. Not being part of that world where a toy clown that merely flips and does pull ups on a bar could be equal to the expense of a household bill.  Unlike Sylvia, Mercedes pushed her way passed everyone in the entrance to the store and did […]

The story “Salvation” tells the pivotal point in the narrators (Langston Hughes) life when he loses his belief in Jesus. In his youth the narrator is told that when he is “Saved” he would see a light and experience a change of sorts followed by an appearance from Jesus. Initially the narrator is optimistic about receiving salvation. Having a clear idea as to what he will experience in that moment he awaits his “salvation.” As the evening goes on, we see that his faith slowly begins to waver. As he watches the other children leave the bench and be saved, his naivety is on full display which is expressed by his genuine belief that there would be visual cues for his salvation. The narrator soon experiences fear and shame. Fearful that he would be the “only lamb left in the cold.” Thus, failing congregation. He becomes ashamed that he had not experienced the “change” alluded to by his aunt. His belief comes into question even more as he hears Westley use the lord’s name in vain and (in his outlook) feign salvation without consequence. Although he does not experience the phenomena he was informed of, he chooses to act as if he does to appease his aunt and the rest of the congregation. Due to his adolescent innocence, he finds himself stricken with grief due to his dishonesty. At the end of the story, it is clear to the reader that the experience has left the narrator crestfallen by the lie he told to the point that he no longer believes in Jesus. 

In the story “Salvation” by Langston Hughes we see how the affects of one’s personal strife and pressure from your peers and elders compelled a young boy into lying to his Auntie. Before even arriving to the church weeks in advance his Aunt was giving him ideas on how being “saved” would feel and look like that you will know that you were saved when you saw a bright light and felt a feeling inside that once that happened you knew that Jesus was in your life. This set an expectation on what to expect on the night of the mass that he would know he has saved if only these 2 things happened to him. On the night the preacher talked about a story one little lamb left out in the cold and it’s refusal to come and be welcomed by Jesus. This story stayed with the boy as he did not want to be the one lamb who was left out in the cold. As the mass progresses all the kids were brought to the front where they sat at the mourners’ bench as the sermon went on more and more kids left the bench to come to Jesus until all was left was westly and the young boy. After sometime the boy whispered into his ear stating “let’s get up and be saved”. This affected the boys beliefs as he was all alone and the boy who did not see the light and be touched be Jesus was able to walk to the alter and be saved an no one was able to tell that he was not truly saved. The young boy still holding onto his Aunt’s words waiting to see the light and be saved stayed alone as the preacher now focused his attention onto […]

I think the narrator was different by the way he was in the beginning was very excited about going through this “salvation”. When his aunt was explaining to him on how he was going to see this light and feel it in him, you can tell that this was something he was looking forward too. He was anxiously waiting and yet didn’t feel anything or see anything. He was waiting and nothing. He was really trying to wait and actually feel it.  Yet he still got up because he felt like he didn’t want to waste their time. At the end he was crying, and he said that he didn’t find it in him to tell his aunt that he lied. I feel like he was disappointed that he lied and really didn’t feel like he was actually saved. I think the narrator’s faith was broken because now he didn’t believe in Jesus.

“Salvation” by Langston Hughes was a very interesting read because it brings a lot of emotions and perspective into play. Throughout the story, it talks about how Hughes developed a fear over something he believed would be very positive for him. At the end of the story, he states “I didn’t believe there was a Jesus anymore, since he didn’t come to help me”. His attitude towards being “saved” completely changed everything for him at the end of the story. At the same time, Hughes was only thirteen years old at the time, and he couldn’t have possibly known what it fully meant to be “saved”. This story also shows, in my opinion, peer pressure. One of the kids decided to just lie and go up and be “saved” and when Hughes decided to do the same, which ended with him feeling guilty and sad about it. And this brings me back to the sentence Hughes wrote at the end of the story because it shows how much his attitude and feelings towards Jesus changed in the end.

In ” Salvation” by Langston Hughes, the young narrator changes from being hopeful, naive and excited at the beginning of the story to feeling turmoil and grief at the end of it. At the beginning of the story Hughes is shown to have trust in what the adults around him say and believe, this trust fed into his excitement at attending the church meeting. This trust fueled his belief in God, and it was put to the test during his church’s prayer night. During that night, Hughes was forced to lie about his belief in God by the pressures of the people in his church, he followed another who also lied about seeing Jesus. This traumatic event caused him grief and turmoil since he lied to the congregation and, more specifically, his aunt. This turmoil grew further when his aunt recognized his crying as being happy for having found God and not for having lied about it. This shows a further disconnect between him and his aunt, and also with himself from the beginning of the story.  

In the short story, ” Salvation” by Langston Hughes explains about the narrator losing his faith in religion and stating that he’s a sinner. It’s a controversial piece that leaves readers with an ongoing debate. In the beginning of the story, he places his setting at a revival at his aunt church. There was a special meeting for the children for them to meet Jesus. He really believed he was going to meet Jesus because all the older adults had told them so. When he sees the kids going, he starts to worry, but when he sees one if his friends using God name in vain and lying about see Jesus and God not doing anything about it, he starts to question. He values honesty. I say that because towards the end of the story he cries in bed because he lied, and the church lied to him. his trust is broken.