Armand soon finds the letter. He reads the letter and he drops the letter and starts to stumble in disbelief. He then just has a mix of emotions not knowing what to think and how his wife and son are dead. He starts to think about his whole life is possibly a lie. He looks out into the field and starts to cry because he realizes that the reason that his wife and son is dead is because of him. He asks himself “What have I done?”. Armand goes into depression and he later goes and kills himself because of what he was feeling.
Fiction
Marxism in the Thirteenth Night & Feminism in Ichoyo
- After Oseki accidentally runs into Roku, she learns a lot about what he has been going through. There is a lot of irony in this run in because both Oseki and Roku were very unhappy with their lives. Oseki should be living lavish because she is married, is wealthy, and higher in the social class. But despite her having everything a person can ask for, her marriage is unhealthy. She is very unhappy with how things are with her husband because of how he mistreats her. Roku is not happy because for one he is financially unstable, he lost a daughter, and his marriage is also not doing well. This meeting is so ironic because despite their social class they have a lot in common. Their meeting connects to Marxist theory because both of them are under two different classes and they both have similar struggles.
- Oseki represents what it was to be a woman in her time. Back in her era women weren’t respected, they had no legal rights, no power over anything. Women were under the power of men. Their role was to keep their households clean and keep their family fed. They had to do whatever their husbands told them to do in order to keep them pleased. it was hard for women to navigate through systems of power because they were not educated enough how men were in that time because they had been following a system and role that was made for them to follow to please their husbands when they get married.
Racism and cruelty
For some reason, Critical Race Theory is so controversial to many people to the point that some states banned it from being taught in schools. Even so, I personally find it important to learn and understand how the victims of systemic racism are affected by the cultural perceptions of race, and how they are able to represent themselves to counter prejudice. Learning about CRT provided me with an understanding of the way that a person’s race, like my own, can shape their experience with the law and with society. I think it is useful to be educated on topics that are ingrained into our society because they affect me and others.
Colson Whitehead’s “The Match” piqued my interest. Whitehead addresses race relations in educational institutions by sharing the story of Griff, a black student in a racist school only noticed as a commodity, or form of entertainment to be used at the school’s boxing matches. Whitehead is able to clearly demonstrate the power dynamic between the white people and the black students. The students and teachers themselves are segregated, “The racial division of the school recreated itself in the gym, with the white boys taking the south half, and the black boys claiming the north”(Whitehead 4). There was no prevarication of the clear race relations in the school. While all this was happening, the school still tried to maintain a prestigious image when giving tours, the countless fights and the inhumane means of discipline were ignored, “They might have had a question or two but that was not part of the tour” (Whitehead 1). This furthers Whitehead’s points on race relations within an institution such as education, and lack of care when it comes to certain types of students.
Whitehead created the capacity for cruelty by setting the story in a reform school for juvenile boys whose main hobbies are boxing each other. These boxing matches are for white man’s entertainment, but at the same time, students like Griff use boxing as an outlet. The lack of regard for the black students in the story is also emphasized by the fact that the coach asked Griff to throw the tournament, and stop doing what he likes to do showing how the capacity for cruelty is bolstered by racist ideologies, and how the students used.
Race and Narrative
by Deborah Adekoya
Personally, I feel like race doesn’t matter when writing a narrative based on racism. It’s the same way you can have any type of teacher teach about racism or colonization. As long as the writer or teacher is respectable and doesn’t cross the line as someone whose ancestors did wrong most especially. I believe Chopin was very respectful in her delivery, we see on pages 1- 3 that Chopin utilizes the word “negros.” Which is risky but still respectful as it wasn’t the actual N-word. At the same time, I wonder why Chopin decides to write stories about racism, not just that but she also made the black character the antagonist and the white character the one we feel sorry for. This isn’t something that usually occurs in a racism narrative.
Government
In both short stories of “This is what it means to say Phoenix, Arizona” and “The trial of Thomas Builds-the-fire” the author Sherman Alexie alludes to a particular government and rulership. The two characteristics of the government system are unjust and discrimination. There was discrimination because when Thomas was in his cell a BIA said “It has to be a felony charge. We don’t need his kind around here anymore. That was a discriminatory comment for them to say about Thomas. A reason why it is also an unjust system is because Thomas was on trial without the judge saying what he was specifically on trial for. In the story it says “Your Honor” he said. “I don’t believe the exact nature of any charges against me has been revealed, let alone detailed.” Already unjust for being on trial without a description on what he was on trial for. Thomas can be seen as an allegorical figure because he is dealing with this discriminatory and unjust system by himself, he is representing himself and also representing Native Americans that are dealing with the same thing that he is going through.
Chopin- my ending
Deborah Adekoya
Armand read the letter that he had kept a secret all these years. He thinks back to when he first read the letter, right about when Desiree had shared the news of her pregnancy with him. He knew he had to do something, but he didn’t know what that something would be. If people found out Armand was black he didn’t know what they’d do, his business, status, and family’s life were on the line. So he hid the letter from everyone including Desiree, whom he loved. As he reads over the same letter that ruined his life, he starts to ponder on what exactly led him to do what he did to Desiree. He remembers how heard the town gossip. The word in the street said Desiree cheated on Armand with a negro. Armand knew that this wasn’t true but he still decided to use this as his scapegoat even if it meant he wouldn’t see his only love and son forever. As the letter sits in his grip, anger begins to flood him, he wishes he could do something but it’s too late. He burns the letter and he spends the rest of his life trying to fill the hole Desiree and his only son left in his heart.
Chopin
The writer’s race matters when the narrative deals with race because there is only so much that can go into a narrative about such a topic that a white woman in the 1890s like Kate Chopin, would never be able to fully understand and experience herself. It would be more important and more credible for the narrative to come from someone who actually experiences racism, not benefited from it. By coming from a family of slave owners, and marrying someone in the cotton industry Chopin may be able to see the oppression and racism firsthand, but there is always bias because Chopin was never the receiver of the racism. I believe that Chopin writing about the struggles of African Americans in the 1890s was advantageous to the extent that it was competing with social norms at the time. However, the white savior narrative is overused, the truth is behind the people who actually struggled with racism and slavery. The U.S has a long history of telling the story of racism from a white perspective, and it would make more sense for the stories of African American slavery to come from African Americans.
Feminism in Ichiyo
I believe the female character Oseki in “The Thirteenth Night” by Higuchi Ichiyo represents the life and treatment of women in society at the time. Ichiyo lived during the Meiji era, where women were constantly exploited and had no legal rights or power. Women were under the influence of the man of the household and were limited to mundane responsibilities. The women would work at overcrowded factories under very poor and unhygienic conditions. When at home there were more jobs such as keeping the family fed, clean and clothed, including the elderly, as well as managing household finances. Women were expected to be uneducated and could not partake in politics, making it difficult to navigate through the systems of power.
Happy endings
Reasons for Picking Story
I picked the story because the title of the account is inviting and makes one want to read it. The story’s beginning ushers the reader into a life that every average person aspires to attain. All of us want to meet the right person, fall in love the right way, and live a long and happy life with the person of our dreams. Therefore, far from being cliché, the story introduces the reader to the ideal life that everyone aspires to have. However, in the course of reading, the reader quickly realizes that it is not all a bed of roses. There are obstacles along the way. Since everyone is akin to obstacles in life, the reader feels a sense of connection to the events in the story. It is painful to see what people do and their motivations behind it. Margaret Atwood envisions all the scenarios and the possible endings that could accrue from the same beginning. Another reason why the story resonates with me is that it is a true reflection of society. After all, at times, the people we love never love us back. Other times, we only begin to see people’s worth in our lives after they are gone.
Understanding how and why things happen
Understanding how things happen and not only why they occur is an essential component. For instance, in the story in B, Mary falls in love with John, but John does not reciprocate. John only uses Mary for selfish pleasure. Although John does not treat Mary well, it is essential to understand the motivations behind his actions. The best guess would be that he was not raised appropriately for him to turn out the way he did. In addition, Mary is readily available for John to use. She presents herself, makes space for John every weekend, cooks him good food, presents her body to him, and cleans after they are done eating and getting intimate. However, John does not see any of these deliberate actions, and neither does Mary. She fails to see that John is only taking advantage of her kindness and neediness. Therefore, in trying to understand John’s conniving nature and affinity for using Mary, it is essential to factor in Mary’s naivety and willingness to be used. It could be that she lacked parental love and therefore does not know what love feels like. Thus, far from knowing the things that happen, it is far more significant to understand the motivation behind why things happen.
Feminism in Ichiyo
Based on Ichiyo’s story and the historical setting of the “Thirteenth Night,” the female character represents the gender inequality of women during that time. Oseki does not have a voice when it comes to his family, which is evident from her father’s orders to marry someone she does not love. Additionally, it is depicted in her marriage because Isamu does not respect her, nor does he see her as an equal because her main role is to obey his wishes. It illustrates women’s role during ancient times, where they performed household duties and were required to respect their husbands because they were the heads of the family. Unfortunately, women did not have any power because all the decisions were made for them, making it challenging to navigate through the systems of power. Ultimately, Oseki represents the struggles women faced to get equal opportunities with men during that ancient era.
