"Crazy"

One of the professor’s questions was; is Rosa crazy? I feel that Rosa is crazy in certain ways.  Rosa went through hell during her time in the concentration camps, and once she was finally released she was able moved on. During our class discussion we discussed that Rosa might have turned “crazy” because she felt some type of guilt for succeeding after everything that she went through, she could not handle the fact that she was moving on with her life, when way in the back of her head she remembers what her and her family went through in those camps.  Rosa basically knew one way to live and that was the way she grew up in the camps, I think once she realized she was moving on and succeeding it got to her and she went “crazy”. After reading Rosa’s story she clearly went insane, by smashing the entire store and started living as a dirty bum in Florida. It is almost as something snapped in her, something was telling her that succeeding in life was a bad and that she does deserve it because of who she was and where she came from. Although Rosa experienced “voices” in head, I feel that it was something much more powerful coming from within Rosa herself, she just could not let go of what happened to her as well as her daughter.  Rosa was fighting demons all over, and it seems that the only way for her to come out on top was to regress back to what she knew, live the way she grew up. Rosa’s story is important to tell because I feel that are many people out that wondered what happened to the survivors of the holocaust. To be honest I knew of the holocaust and how people were treated but after reading Rosa’s story and seeing what she went through, with watching her daughter die in front of her eyes, and just seeing how affected she was by all the pain and suffering she went through, and never really was able to let go of what happened to her in the past. Even though I have not finished the book and Rosa’s story I have hope for her, that she would be able to heal herself. 

First Reaction

My first reaction to The Shawl was here we go again another monotone story, another historical piece of fiction that will not keep my attention for to long. However once I started reading the story of The Shawl, I felt it was going too different, a different kind of story to tell. The first part of the Shawl got off to a slow start, I could not quite get into the story, so I continued reading, I realize that this story had a bit more emotion then the previous one we read, it is almost as if mother was calling out to us for help. During this particular time many men women and children were confined to concentration camps, where they were imprisoned too one location of the camp, and where they suffered from exhaustion, starvation, and exposure. While reading Rosa’s story she was clearly a prisoner in of the concentration camps, and were she was trying to protect her daughters from the camp guards. The shawl represents how Rosa used it to feed as well as protect her daughter Magda from the prison guards. Rosa made her daughter suck on the shawl, with hopes it would feed her, I believe with Magda’s salvia is what she is feeding on, the more she sucked on it the more liquid she would get because Rosa’s body (breasts) dried up so Magda was getting nothing. The shawl also represents protection; she was trying to shield her daughter from the guards, until Magda got loose and ran, to be later shot down but the guards. I could never image watching my little girl suffer, that image would last with me for a long time, and I have a feeling that is what Rosa is suffering from. Once I began to read Rosa’s story it is clear to me that Rosa never really healed from what happened to her during that point of her life.  

Hope/Hopeless

To be honest I am not quite sure what to blog about for this blog post, so I decided to write about my final reactions to When the Emperor was Divine. Well first, in our class discussion we discussed briefly about if the book has a hopeful ending or a hopeless ending. After reading through the end of the book a few times, I think that for each character the ending is different. If you take the mother first, when she left the camp she was clearly not in the right state of mind, but once she left she started to turn her life around, for example with getting a job of her own. However, I think the camps affected the mother in many different ways, she was happy to be out, she got a job, but she still lives with the pain and suffering that she endured during that time. The same pain and suffering followed her out of the camps, but I think she hid it. I do not think she can let go of what happened to her and it will begin to take over her life, and I feel it is what kills her in the end. Now for the father, he just gives up, he does not fight for what he knows is right, he just confesses saying he did. There is no hope for the father, by him confessing he is saying, “I am done, and I give up.” It is almost as he knew that he would never win, so that is why he gave in. The only hope I see is for the children, the daughter might have a tougher time because of her age and she understands what was going on, but I think she will be able to work through the pain and suffering she endured during the camps, and she will grow stronger through her experiences. The son as well as because like the professor stated in class he entered the camps with a sense of innocence and came out with somewhat of that sense of innocence. He too will grow stronger from this experience and will live to prove everyone wrong, like his sister they will fight to prove they are “not the bad guys” they are good people. So as for hope, I have hope for the children but the not the parents, the children will live to tell their stories!

Broken Silence

When answering the question why does the author break the silence surrounding this historical event by telling this story? Otsuka choose to tell this particular story because to her, her family members and the rest of Japanese people it was an important event as well as life changing. What I do not understand is that if her own mother and grandmother lived in these internment camps, well basically lived through this awful time then why didn’t she write about their stories? However by Otsuka writing this particular story it allowed many Japanese people being to feel a sense of relief or maybe it allowed them to release any built up emotions that they have carried around with them all these years. To be honest without this particular book, and having it assigned as a book to read in class, I would know nothing about this particular period of time. I understand that we learned about the bombing and the war between the United States and Japan in our history classes but without the book and the stories we may never fully understand what the Japanese people went through during this time. However why did Otsuka wait so long to tell this story, if she felt it was an important story to tell then why so many years later. Like I previously stated that the book was a way of release, the release of emotions for the Japanese people, but Otsuka also published the book the same year of the 9/11 attacks. Was she trying to tell the United States something, maybe like payback for all these years of pain and anger the Japanese people suffered at the hands of the United States military. Or was she trying to let everyone know that when something terrible happens to a certain country and affects the people of that country that someone is willing to tell their story. With Otsuka writing When the Emperor was Divine it allowed many Japanese people to be free, free of everything, and allowed the people to have a voice after all these years.

"Monotone"

I would have to agree with my fellow classmate, when they described Otsuka style as being “monotone.” I feel that her style of writing is lacking an emotional connection between (me) the readers and with what the author is trying to tell us. However, I do not think Otsuka is a minimalist; she does a good job (at times) of setting the seen, for example when the little girl is on the train and she is remembering the horses and how she use to live in the old horses stables. With this particular part of the book, Otsuka does a good job painting a clear picture of what the little girl was remembering and feeling but for me the rest of the book it just not keeping my attention. What I do not understand is that if Otsuka felt that this particular story was important to her as well as other Japanese people, then why didn’t she use more emotion, or why didn’t she use several different stories instead of explaining just one, (many Japanese people went through this.) As I read through this book, I am finding it hard to get through, maybe it because most the books that we have read to this point have had somewhat of an emotional connection and could not help but feel for most of the characters in the other books. For example, we just finished the book Push, and Push was a very powerful book, it had strong emotion, as well as graphic pictures of what Precious went through. I feel like this book is like sitting through a boring lecture, that you cannot wait for it end. Also I might be more interested in the book if I did further research on this particular time in history because I had no real understand of this particular time. I understand that to many Japanese people that this story is important to them, and they like that it was told, but like I previously stated, maybe if Otsuka interviewed many others the book would not be so boring. 

Community

The role that Precious’ community plays in her life is a huge part, it basically shapes who she is at a young age, well into her adulthood. Precious grew up in a pretty rough neighborhood, in Harlem, New York. She is a welfare child, so basically she got what her mother could afford.  Precious would essentially see it all growing up, and even lived through it all. For example, she has seen abuse, as well as experienced such abuse. With Precious growing up in such a violent area, I think it made Precious very fearful, fearful from anyone and everyone. What got me about Precious’ community, mostly her own apartment building was that her entire building knew what was happening to Precious and no one was willing to help. Precious says, “Jezus Mary, you didn’t know. I knew, the whole building knew,” (pg. 10). Wouldn’t you think that if a whole apartment building knew what was going on to young child, that someone would step up and open their mouths. They all basically sat back and watched a young girl be abused and raped by her own parents. I understand that most people do not want to deal with other people’s problems, maybe they were experiencing the same problems just like Precious. However no child at any age should be put through that, and no twelve year old should be giving birth to its own child by her own father, it is just not right. When talking about Precious’ community, I feel that it is a “monkey see, monkey do” idea, growing up Precious witness and experienced abuse of all forms, so for her she did the same. For example, well in school her teachers would call on her or ask to talk her about school, and she wanted nothing to do with them, she basically yelled and cursed them up and down. Once she eventually got the help she needed, (EOTO), she was able to move forward with bettering herself, as well as her son’s. I feel that everyone’s community can shape a person’s individual self, if you grow up in crime and violence like Precious did and that is all you know then most likely you will become or take part in such violence. It is what you do with yourself, and the decisions you make that can change you life. 

Society

When reading through the book I often wondered why Sapphire was writing this particular book, it is almost as if she wanted to tell us something about our society and the people in it. I think that what Sapphire wanted us to be aware of is that a girl like Precious is not alone; there are more young girls out there that are dealing with the same problems as her. Precious as a young age was struggling to make it through life, but clearly was getting nowhere because of people and places in her life. Sapphire wanted also us to be aware of was the education system, abuse, and just trying to make it through life was very difficult for Precious as well as the other young girls who struggled. Sapphire writes about how Precious was clearly abused by her parents, as well as everyone else, and how the public school systems basically wanted nothing to do with her. Clearly Precious was uneducated, had a bad attitude, and seemed like she did not want any help from anyone. Sapphire writes how the societal institutions that failed Precious just like her family, neighbors, basically any one in Precious’ life. Sapphire wrote how the public schools wanted nothing to do with Precious; she had a bad attitude, and was suspended from school because she was pregnant. It is as if the schools and the teachers in them did not want to deal her and her problems. Sapphire also writes about how the hospital where Precious gave birth to her daughter, failed her as well. The nurse who spoke with Precious figured out that she was raped or abused, and started to do something about when she called the police, but once the nurse’s shift was over she left, which means she left Precious, which in turn means she failed Precious, like everyone else. I think Sapphire wanted us to see how society sometimes does not want to deal with the troubled, it is as life society as a whole wanted nothing to do with Precious, they looked at her as if she was a lost case. However, Sapphire does mention a school EOTO, which was willing to help Precious, and hopefully guide her in the right direction. Sapphire wanted us to know that it only takes one person to open their mouths when they know something is clearly not right with a certain individual, like Precious. We as a society need to speak up more, and not to sit back and watch, because when we decide to speak up it is to late.

Purpose of Fun Home

I choose to write this blog on one of discussion questions from class, “Why did Alison choose to write this particular book and why did she choose to write the book as a graphic novel?”

As a young girl, around the age of nine or ten Alison began a journal which basically was about her life, her relationship with her father, and as well as the other members of her family. I believe that for Alison writing and drawing out her life was a way of release. It is as if writing this was a way for her to let her feeling out that have been bottled up for years about her father as well as her family. Maybe in a way she felt a sense of freedom, freedom from her past life. As you read through her book, it is clear that she did not have the best childhood or teenage years, it was not until her father was gone that she began to feel a sense of relief. Also maybe it was a way to help her better understand her father and maybe what he went through or even just why the way he was. But why did she choose to write a graphic novel? One of my classmates talked about how her book would have been better or more emotional if the pictures were not there. I would have to agree with my classmate, I felt that this particular book would have greater emotion and a better understanding if the pictures were not there. I mean the some the pictures were useful in helping with understanding what Alison was going through, but without them the book might have been a bit more relatable. It was just too much to read and the pictures took a lot of attention off the writing and I began to focus more on captions. However the book was written and Alison did what she wanted to do, write and tell her story. In the end Alison felt the need to tell her story with hopes that it would release her from her years of bad memories.

Sexuality

1)   In the beginning of the book she mentions that she has brothers and they have a good relationship but how come it ends there? How come she did not talk about her brothers and how they grew?

2)   

Why did Alison Bechdel decide to write her novel this why? Graphic novel?

A question that was brought up in was Does Alison sexuality stem from her father’s ways? I feel that most of Alison’s emotions and behaviors stem from her father’s ways. In most of the class discussions it is clear that Alison never received the love and affection she deserved from her father, as well as her mother. As a young girl Alison did not quiet understand her father’s behaviors or his emotions toward certain things and certain people. She could not figure out why her father was more into flowers than cars or sports like every other man.  As Alison began to grow she would start reading books from her father’s collection and most of the books seemed to be in reference to sexuality. Maybe reading those books caused her to feel the way she does, or maybe it was the way she watched her father decorate their house. I think after reading through her story, Alison seemed to find her affection and love from anyone who was willing to give it to her, such as girls. Throughout her life even though she might not want to admit it, her father played a huge part in her life. I think deep down her father in way guided her to who she is now. Also maybe she felt that because her father was sissy like, (as Alison called him) she felt that she has to be more masculine in place of her father’s lack of man. Yes, she had two other brothers, but it seems as though her father actions toward everything affected her the most and might have shaped her to the person that she is today.