Annotated Bibliography

I couldn't get the spacing right. It wouldn't let me tab over or even space bar it over. I know it's a little late, but here it is anyways.

Annotated Bibliography

Dayan, Joan. “Review: Gothic Naipaul.” Transition 59.1 (1993): 158-170. JSTOR. Web. 15 Dec. 2009.

Drake, Sandra. “Race and Caribbean Culture.” Wide Sargasso Sea. Ed. Judith L. Raiskin. New York: Norton, 1999. 193-206.

In Sandra Drake’s essay she talks about how Antoinette is more comfortable with the native of the island. She would rather lean towards the natives then away from them. She realizes that the island is the direction of her past and her future. Although Antoinette is white she feels as if she fits in better with the people of the island. This goes along with my argument because although she feels as if she can relate better with the islanders, when Tia rejects her, she feels alienated and isn’t able to find her identity because she feels like she doesn’t fit in anywhere even though deep inside she knows it’s with the island somehow.

Fayad, Mona. “Unquiet Ghosts: The struggle for Representation in Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea.” Wide Sargasso Sea. Ed. Judith L. Raiskin. New York: Norton, 1999. 225-239.

In Mona Fayad essay she discusses the fact that Antoinette maintains a sense of autonomy because she labels Mason ‘white pappy’ therefore connecting her to her past with past. This relates to my essay topic because Antoinette can’t find her identity through her white heritage, and she can’t completely find it through her link to the black world either because she is not black.

Greenberg, Robert. “Anger and the Alchemy of Literary Method in V. S. Naipaul's Political Fiction: The Case of The Mimic Men.” Twentieth Century Literature 46.2 (2007): 214-237. JSTOR. Web. 15 Dec. 2009.

Harris, Wilson. “Carnival of Psyche: Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea.” Wide Sargasso Sea. Ed. Judith L. Raiskin. New York: Norton, 1999. 188-192.

In Wilson Harris’s he talks about how Anoitnette’s madness is her surrendering her life. She was unable to find her soul, so she lost it. This is exactly true, and it helps me with my argument because Antoinette and Ralph’s father gave up on life and Ralph chose to press forward and to move on through any obstacle.

Naipaul, V.S. The Mimic Men. New York: Vintage International, 1997. Print.

Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. Ed. Judith L. Raiskin. New York: Norton, 1999. Print.

ABSTRACT

In The Mimic Men, Things Fall Apart, and Wide Sargasso Sea there is a common thread of madness among people who don’t have a sense of identity. However not everyone who has a lack of identity becomes mad. The factors leading up the three people in these novels are all different but they correlate in different ways. Ralph on the other hand also suffered from a lack of identity, but he did not go mad because he was smart and had the drive to become successful where as the other three did not. These three were weaker and could not handle what life threw at them. There circumstances were too much for them and slowly they became mad because of them.

Each novel has a character who went mad and different circumstances led up to the event. In The Mimic Men, Ralph Singh’s father married into a family that made more money then he did and little by little that drove him crazy. Also, he doesn’t feel like he is being appreciated and recognized for his achievements for what he has done in his life including being a missionary. He proves his madness by taking his family on a reckless drive, he gets riled up about the bat and breaks things, he breaks all of the bottles in the store, and finally he leaves his family and takes a bunch of people outside the town for some religious following. In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo’s father goes mad because he can never be successful or be a great tribe member. He always has to borrow and he brings shame to his family. He ends up being an outcast and Okonkwo always things of him as a failure. In the Wide Sargasso Sea Antoinette had a crazy mother to begin with and a horrible childhood. She didn’t fit in and could make any real friends. She is coerced into a marriage with a man she did not know. She does many crazy things to prove her madness including drugging her husband, attacking someone while being in the attic and she doesn’t remember any of it. She also sees herself as sort of a ghost in the end of the novel.

Ralph on the other hand didn't have a sense of identity either but he never went crazy. This is counter argued by discussing the fact that he was a stronger person and had the drive and was smart enough to become successful whereas the other three characters did not. Ralph was able to realize when his marriage wasn’t working and was able to get out of it successfully. He was able to make a lot of money by buying land and selling spaces. Even though he didn’t really know himself very well he was a smart person and could overcome any obstacle.

THE AVALANCHE

So, this evening we made it to the Avalanche and they were SO surprised that there were only six of us (all girls) and we wanted to order THE AVALANCHE. Before they came out of the kitchen they yelled AAAVVVAAALLLAAANNNCCCHHHHEEEE and of course Heather and the other girls at our table started cheering and so everyone in the entire restaurant was staring at us when the waiter brought us the desert. EMBARASSING. Haha.

It wasn’t as tall as I thought it was going to be, but there was definitely WAY too much for the six of us to come close to finishing much less ONE person eating the entire thing. That is crazy. There is seriously a WHOLE BOX of brownie at the bottom starting that thing off. It was ridiculous! Haha.

Additionally, somehow it came up with the waiter that we were getting extra credit for this and so the kitchen staff wanted to know which teacher was doing this and so Heather said “Julie Meloni” and the waiter says “Julie Bologna?” All of us seriously LOL-ed. He didn’t understand why an English teacher would give us extra credit for getting a gigantic desert, but I explained to him how we had read a story that had to do with gluttony (the cowboy chicken story) and he totally got it.  The employees there were way too amused with us and our monstrous desert it was awesome. The whip cream melted all over the table and the busser kept eyeing us and our messy table.

THE AVALACHE:

SHE WAS SHOCKED!

AND HEATHER WAS HUNGRY…


FINISHED PRODUCT:

Proposal

I don't have a tentative works cited yet, but for my essay I'm going to write about madness in Wide Sargasso Sea and in The Mimic Men and how post colonialism effected it. Any additional ideas or comments would be appreciated!

Dubliners

In James Joyce’s Dubliners I found his stories to be interesting, but since we didn’t get a chance to talk about them in class I’m kind of wondering what the purpose of the stories are supposed to be. For example, in “Araby” he goes to the event because he wants to impress this girl that he likes and to buy her something special, but if you read the footnotes you come to realize that he has next to no money to buy her something with and the story ends leaving you wonder if and what he ended up buying her. It was a little random and disappointing.

“Evelyn” on the other hand was a little more dramatic. She had this once in a life time opportunity but her woman’s heart got the best of her and held her back. She felt guilty and stayed to help take care of her family when she could have had a potentially amazing life with this guy off in another country. This story had the potential of a fairy tale ending but instead it ends it with her being in the same place as she was in the beginning. I like fairy tale endings, so that was a little depressing for me. Haha.

I thought that the stories were unique and the style they were written in is interesting also. For example, he calls a dead end road a “blind road”. Maybe that’s an Ireland thing? Anyways, kind of interesting none the least.

Jhumpa Jhumpa

In Lahiri’s short stories I found it interesting that she blends culture with identity. I really enjoy learning about both culture AND identity, so I REALLY enjoyed these stories. Something that Maegan had said in her blog was “It seems to relate to my life somehow but I can’t really explain it. I somehow connected with these stories”. I found this to also be true. Even though I am not Indian and I have no Indian heritage I can definitely relate with the people in Lahiri’s short stories because in each of them the characters go through some kind of ordeal. They change, they grow, and they learn. We do those things in everyday life as well. Maybe I didn’t live in three different continents like one of the characters in the story, but I can relate to moving somewhere far from home and not knowing anyone and having to live with strangers. I too grew fond of some of these people that I had never known before. Similarly, I can relate to not having any money and having to work my way up from the bottom. These situations happen in life. I enjoyed, however, how she intertwined Indian culture into her stories. She made sure to describe Mala and how she dressed and how she acted. The reader can get a real feel for how she was and how it was for her and her husband when they were first married.

On another note, I didn’t speak up in class since this might have confirmed Heather’s accusations towards me of having my own sex diaries (I totally don’t even though I don’t think it’s weird AT ALL. Haha). But, I’m just saying…seizures can be caused by stress right? So, couldn’t it be that by having sex Bibi relieved the stress that was causing these seizures? It’s a possibility. Also, I’m not so sure that it was her cousin that raped her. She never said it was a rape. Although this is a possibility and she could just be keeping quiet out of shame I don’t think that’s what happened. I have a feeling it was consensual. She wanted to have someone. I don’t think she cared at what price that would cost. But who knows! Maegan says, “all she needed was a person to love her or for her to take care of”. This seemed to be the most popular idea, but I’m going my own unique idea. 

Ha Jin and Conrad

For Ha Jin, writing in Chinese for the people of China would be a difficult task for many reasons. Not only does the communist party censer everything they wouldn’t approve of his writing anyways. In Ha Jin’s short stories he talks about capitalism and communism. He identifies the ignorance and stupidity of the communist party. In the “Cowboy Chicken” story he shows the Chinese to be trained in the communism ways, and what should be known as common sense isn’t known to the Chinese because they are so absorbed in the culture of communism. In the story “Alive” we see this man who abides by every communist rule and law in the beginning and seems to do fine at first. In the end he ends up breaking free from this and making some of his own decisions. This shows us how many Chinese were taught to do what they were told and not to question authority. They were not taught how to think and act for themselves, but to do what is best for the party. This would cause conflict if written in Chinese for Chinese citizens, because he would not be able to get published because of the content of his stories.

Postcolonial literature may have changed if Conrad would have written in his native language, because Conrad was writing to a targeted audience. He knew that it was more beneficial for him to write in English. If he would have written in any other language than he would not have gotten the outcome that he wanted. He wanted to show the world what he had seen and been through and he was able to do that in English. If he had written in Polish or any other language his stories and the points he was trying to make may have been hindered therefore changing postcolonial literature.

P.S. If anyone would like to go to that restaurant after class this coming Tuesday for extra credit let me or Heather know. We’re trying to get 8 people at least to go so that way it’s only $5 each.

Rochester

In the essay “Wide Sargasso Sea and a critique of imperialism” Spivak writes about how other critics “have remarked that Wide Sargasso Sea treats the Rochester character with understanding and sympathy” (243). Now I realize that I am going to get a lot of hate comments about this, but I agree! I actually felt bad for him! I know that he’s not the greatest guy, and he did cheat on his wife with Amelie, and he was a racist, but let’s look at the whole picture. He’s from Europe and he was probably raised as a racist, and he probably didn’t know much better. I mean, He doesn’t treat them horribly except for the little boy whom he calls stupid, but if you think about it there are “stupid” white kids too, kids who aren’t educated and who can’t speak properly. The only things he outright says is when he’s questioning Antoinette and tells her he would never hug “them” inferring that he is better them. Additionally, when he sleeps with Amelie, he had just been drugged! Not that this is an excuse for being unfaithful to his wife, but who knows, he might have still been out of it, and even if he was coherent, he was probably pissed off that his own wife would drug him. He could not comprehend that his wife only wanted to make him love her, he didn’t understand that. To him, his crazy wife drugged him, for only God knows why!
I just don’t understand why they would go through such a hassle to keep Antoinette drugged. I don’t buy that story at all! She was a little loopy the whole time! I mean, look what she went through. All of the trauma that she had as child and as a teenager probably messed with her mind. Even Rochester talked about how during the day she seemed fine, but in the evenings she was quiet and strange. That was before the letter informing him that she was crazy came. Plus, I don’t care what anyone says, after he married Antoinette, he got the money. He didn’t have to give it back, he could have went to Mexico with it and lived happily ever after with some beautiful Latina, but he didn’t. He took his wife with him and got her a caregiver and made sure she was fed and kept a roof over her head. He was mad at his father and his brother anyways, and he never wrote any letters to friends that he might have had. So, what was keeping him there? Not much, probably. It seems that his loyalties still resided with his wife. He had no other logical reason for staying with her, (none that I agree with anyways). :-)

Thoughts.

I thought it was interesting how the husband got so angry about the wife telling the little boy that he could come with them to England. If the boy was so stupid, (Phys 104) and he didn't care about him, then he could have just left it at that. It doesn't seem like it would be so important to get angry about. I think that he was so worked up about everything else that he was just taking his anger out on this situation. It's obvious that taking the boy with them is a silly notion, so the husband didn't need to get so defensive about it. Children cry when they don't get there way, it's not a terribly big deal. That little boy is surely to get over it.

It's interesting also how the husband come off as a racist, but he ends up sleeping with Amelie who is colored. Even if he did that out of spite for his wife, it's still something interesting to note. Then after the fact he goes on to degrade the little boy calling him stupid and saying how he doesn't even know any understandable English (103). This contradiction makes him a hypocrite, and lessons his credibility as a character.

Nyowe.

One of the most upsetting things for me in HoD was Nwoye and his pathetic relationship with his father. It was so sad to see a father with such little love and compassion towards his son. The only thing Okonkwo cared about was structure, being strong, and being his own idea of success. I don't believe that Nwoye was any less of a man then his father, I don't believe that he was lazy or anything else. I think that Okonwo's standards for his son were incredibly high, and he was made to jump through all of these hoops just for a chance of some recognition from his father which he very rarely got. Even the glimmer of hope that he had from the kid from the other village was killed in an instant. Poor Nwoye eventually had to find the love and the nourishment that he needed from another family which he found in the white man's church. Okonkwo thought that this was a disgrace, but in all actuality it was his own lack and selfishness that drove his son away from him.

Should we read Heart of Darkness?

On the topic of whether or not we should read Heart of Darkness, it’s kind of complicated. If we’re reading it just as a story it’s not such a big deal because we can imagine it being fiction and take it or leave it as we please. But, if we read it as a piece of literature and scour every nick and cranny of the book we can pick it to pieces and ultimately form our own opinions whether bad or good about the book. Really it can be seen both ways. I feel that although there are a lot of literary critics who think that Joseph Conrad is a racist, there are a lot of things to consider when thinking about whether or not we should continue to read this book (Armstrong 238). When we look into Conrad’s life we see that he actually did sail through the Congo, but we cannot think of his story as an exact reenactment of history and what had happened there. Marlow is not Conrad, and his work is a piece of fiction even if some of what is in the story was based off real life. When we begin to read the story as just that, a piece of fiction, it seems a little less threatening. Also, a good thing to point out is the fact that even though Marlow is calling the natives of Africa “savages” and other things of that nature, it was common for white people to use such language when referring to people other than themselves. It wasn’t considered “racism” because these people weren’t thought of to be in a class as like themselves and racism wasn’t even a word in those days. I think that it’s ok to read Heart of Darkness but it’s important that we know the whole story and how Conrad himself fits into it. It’s also important to know what was correct and incorrect at that time, because of course if we were in Africa today calling the natives “Negroes” and other names, we would be considered horrible and a racist, but back in that day, that wasn’t the case.

Galton and Heart of Darkness

In Francis Galton’s essay, “The Comparative Worth of Different Races”, he basically gives a grading scale to a bunch of different races. He says that “The ablest race…is unquestionably the ancient Greek” (Galton 227). According to Galton, anyone not from that category is on a lower scale, the lowest being Australians. He talks about how most “negroes” are half-witted and that they make stupid mistakes that are childish and simple (Galton, 226). He bases his ideas off of books he’s read that were written by white Americans who portray this idea. He even states that he has no information of the idiocy among “negroes”, but he felt the need to share all of his opinions anyways (Galton 227). The idea that “negroes” are of a lesser worth than white people is supported in the short novel Heart of Darkness, because of many different instances. For one thing, Conrad repeatedly refers to the people of Africa as “savages”. The Webster Dictionary defines a savage as “not domesticated or under human control or lacking the restraints normal to civilized human beings. By Conrad using the term “savages” to describe the African people, he is implying that they are of a lesser worth than himself to say the least. He is implying that they aren’t even human, that they are closer to animals than they would be to his own race.

Introduction

Hi everyone! My name is Amy Hatch, and this is my first year at WSU Tri-Cities. I just finished getting my AA at Columbia Basin College, and I am super excited to be done with that school. I work at the Ihop in Kennewick, and I am usually busy ALL THE TIME with work and school. At least now my school work will be something that I enjoy doing, because it has to do with my major!

Well, if you want to know about me you can always friend request me on myspace!
http://www.myspace.com/itfeelslikeabuse

AND...in case you can't place my name to my face, this is me: