Ordinary People

I chose to bring in Ordinary People by Judith Guest because it is one of my favorite books. It's about a teenage boy who tries to committ suicide and how he and his family deal with it. This book focuses mostly on the boy and his feelings and recovery process but after taking this course I was really able to look into a female character of this book: the mother. Conrad's mother is trying to live the perfect life with the perfect family. So when her perfect son dies and then her other son attempts suicide her whole world crumbles. She lives in constant denial and fear of looking bad. She tries to pretend that everything is okay and by doing so she tends to ignore her son and his obvious need for attention and help. She is so desperate to have the perfect family and the perfect life that she almost ignores her sons problems. She does love him and wants him to be well but this need to perfect in others eyes keeps her from really showing that love very often. While Conrad's mother is a secondary character in Ordinary People she was able to stand out more to me because of taking this class. I was able to look at her differently and grapple with her narrative of wanting the perfect life. Maybe society has put this pressure on her (the family is upper class) or maybe she puts the pressure on herself. Either way she became a new character for me because of taking Women's Lit and I think I am able to understand her character better.

Right to Be Wrong

I've got a right to be wrong
My mistakes will make me strong
I'm stepping out into the great unknown
I'm feeling wings though I've never flown
i`ve got a mind of my own
I'm flesh and blood to the bone
I'm not made of stone
Got a right to be wrong
So just leave me alone

I chose the song "Right To Be Wrong" by Joss Stone. I really like this song because it conveys such a sense of independence of a female, especially from a man and relationships. Joss Stone is a very unique artist because she is not afraid to be herself and be independent. In this song there is also the image of wings and flying, which we talked about earlier in this class. Unlike some of the narratives and images of women that have been discussed, Joss talks a bout being left alone, and not caring if someone thinks she is right or wrong. I like how she says her mistakes will make her strong, because most people think mistakes are always a negative, but she turns it into a positive.

The Last Blog

The text that I thought grappled with the narratives about women we’ve read is a Destiny’s Child song entitled “Independent Women”. The title along should give it away what the song is about. This song was huge in 2001 due to the fact that it was the theme song for the hit movie “Charlie’s Angels”. I picked this song because it is an empowerment song for all women. I am a person who lives hip-hop and sometimes the lyrics are so disrespectful and degrading to women. So when DC came out with this song it was a good break from what I am used to hearing. The narrative that this song contradicts is that of women are only good for being sex objects, servants, mothers, and wives. However Destiny’s Child states the opposite. They say that women are independent people who don’t need a man, or anybody for that matter, to take care of them, they can do it themselves.

jolene

The first song I thought of when I thought of women's issues was Jolene, by Dolly Parton. It's very sad, and describes a woman's poor self-image and dependence on a man. Her husband or boyfriend has cheated on her with Jolene, and instead of leaving him or confronting him about it, she goes to her and begs her to stop. WHAT??!! She talks of Jolene of having "beauty beyond compare, with flaming locks of auburn hair, with ivory skin and eyes of emerald green" and "I cannot compete with you, Jolene." And she begs Jolene not to take her man, and "my happiness depends on you."
It's a beautiful song, I love it, but it's sad also. If this were written today, I think it would have more of a "screw you" attitude toward the guy.

This One's for the Girls

This is for all you girls about 13
High school can be so rough, can be so mean
Hold on to, on to your innocence
Stand your ground when everybody's givin' in
This one's for the girls
This is for all you girls about 25
In little apartments, just tryin' to get by
Livin' on, on dreams and spaghettios
Wonderin' where your life is gonna go
CHORUS
This one's for the girls
Who've ever had a broken heart
Who've wished upon a shooting star
You're beautiful the way you are
This one's for the girls
Who love without holdin' back
Who dream with everything they have
All around the world
yeah This One's for the girls(This one's for all the girls)

This is for all you girls about 42
Tossin' pennies into the fountain of youth
Every laugh, laugh line on your face
Made you who you are today
REPEAT CHORUS
Yeah, we're all the same inside (same inside)From 1 to 99
REPEAT CHORUS
(This one's for all the girls)Yeah, this one's for the girls(This one's for all the girls)

I chose this song because it is such a realistic narrative of a life of a woman. It talks about the struggles and the things that worry us...like our wrinkles...and it is just so true of the things we really deal with. I like it even more because it really stresses the fact that we are beautiful the way we are. It stresses that even with our "laugh lines" and our struggles, women can be strong and beautiful and should be proud and happy to be themselves.
It starts out talking about a teenage girl...trying to be strong and not give into the temptations that a girl faces in high school. For me, I can see this situation so vividly and I know exactly what the singer is referring to.
It then goes to focus on a 25 year old woman trying to make something of herself and trying to figure out what she's going to do with the rest of her life. This is also something that I can really imagine. It seems as though I know the girl is going through a rough time, that it's okay, because it's just part of life and I know that she's going to get through it.
I love the third verse because it says "you're beautiful the way you are." It is talking to any girl that has been heart broken. It is sort of an encouragement and tries to give strength to a woman in that situation.
I love the line in the last verse that says the "laugh lines on your face makes you who you are today." I remember the first time I heard this song and that has always been my favorite. I know it's hard getting older and realizing a new wrinkle or imperfection that has come from aging, but it makes me feel a lot better when I think about all the laughing and smiling that I did to get that wrinkle. It makes me realize the importance of grasping our imperfections as well as our attributes and accepting them because they are what makes us, us.

I think overall, this song focuses on life events and tries to bring out the positive side of them. I this song is really important for women, especially those who haven't yet discovered their strength or importance.

The Truth is I Never Left You

If I had the movie (which I sadly admit I don’t) I would bring Andrew Loyd Webber’s Evita star none other than Madonna. Instead, I will choose the song Don’t Cry for Me Argentina. Not only do I love this song and know it by heart, but I think it shows a great story of a powerful woman shown in a positive live. Eva Peron rose to a high position of power through debatable means, but in the end won the hearts of the people of Argentina. She rose from very modest beginnings to a position of great power, and tragically died which cemented her story in history. As we have discussed before, in many movies, women of power are presented as evil or bitches, but Evita is loved by her people. Here is a small section of her story.

Don’t Cry For Me Argentina

It won't be easy, you'll think it strange
When I try to explain how I feel
That I still need your love after all that I've done
You won't believe me
All you will see is a girl you once knew
Although she's dressed up to the nines
At sixes and sevens with you

I had to let it happen, I had to change
Couldn't stay all my life down at heel
Looking out of the window, staying out of the sun
So I chose freedom
Running around, trying everything new
But nothing impressed me at all
I never expected it to

Don't cry for me Argentina
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don't keep your distance

And as for fortune, and as for fame
I never invited them in
Though it seems to the world they were all I desired
They are illusions
They're not the solutions they promised to be
The answer was here all the time
I love you and hope you love me

Don't cry for me Argentina

Don't cry for me Argentina
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don't keep your distance

Have I said too much?
There's nothing more I can think of to say to you
But all you have to do is look at me
To know that every word is true

Don't cry for me Argentina

Entry for 3 August

I won't be in class, but, if I was going to be in class, I would've brought another movie. This sounds really cheesy, but this class made me think about "My Best Friend's Wedding" with Julia Roberts. I thought about it because of the day we were talking about women who like to be pursued and how there's rarely a narrative that involves a woman going after a man. I think this movie goes with and against some of the narratives we've been talking about. Most conspicuously, the woman as the pursuer is very different from the traditional narrative that we recognized where the woman wants to be pursued. What's ironic, though, is that it doesn't work in the movie because the man that she pursues ends up with another woman. So really, maybe it's not going against the narrative that much in the first place. Also, she does all kinds of sneaky, underhanded, manipulative things to try to win the guy over, which I think is in line with the image of women as, well, sneaky and manipulative. I also saw the narrative of the competition between women here because the fiance thinks she will never stack up to the Julia Roberts character, but the Julia Roberts character complains about the perfection of the fiance and how annoying it is that there's nothing annoying about her perfection. (That's not me being unclear; that's what they say in the movie. Anybody who has seen it will vouch for me.) Anyhow, that led me to think about the narratives of friendship between women and between women and men. I think that there's one narrative that says that men and women can't be friends because one will end up being attracted to the other, which is obviously the basis for this whole movie. But I can't decide if the movie supports that or not because, in the end, part of me wants to believe that the Julia Roberts character (Julianne) wasn't really in love with her best friend; his engagement just threatened the security that she found in their relationship. The images that the fiance and Julianne represent are also different ideas about kinds of women. The fiance is girly and giggly and a horrible driver and Julianne is a tomboy and hates PDA and other emotional stuff. Anyhow... those thoughts aside, there's a bunch of secondary women characters that represent other images of women like the two promiscuous cousins and even the women in the bathroom at the stadium who, despite their being dressed in less feminine ways and the slang they use that seems to represent a different class or type of women, still relate to the drama and competition between the fiance and the Julia Roberts character.

Song Blog

For the song that grapples with images and narratives of women/gender, I chose “The Voice Within” sung and co-written by Christina Aguilera. Regardless of personal views on Aguilera, it cannot be denied that she tackles some deep issues in many of her songs. I think she is conflicted, though, because she sings about getting “Dirrrrty” and about how to “Get Mine, Get Yours,” but also about being “Beautiful” and being able to “Soar.” Many of her songs show cultural narratives about women. This particular song grapples with both physical self image and emotional self confidence narratives that women deal with from the time they are young girls. She sings that women shouldn’t look outside of themselves to find happiness. In the fourth stanza she also says that running away is not the way to change things you want to change. I feel she is talking about avoiding real life problems. She is a firm believer in fighting for yourself and things that you want. Later in the song she sings about life being a journey and that women should keep exploring life and never settle for less than their best. I feel that this song is along the lines of an independent and unique woman narrative. It’s a beautiful song and encourages me to persevere whenever I have self confidence worries.

The Voice Within

Young girl don’t cry
I’ll be right here when your world starts to fall
Young girl it’s alright
Your tears will dry, you’ll soon be free to fly

When you’re safe inside your room you tend to dream
Of a place where nothing’s harder than it seems
No one ever wants or bothers to explain
Of the heartache life can bring and what it means

When there’s no one else, look inside yourself
Like your oldest friend just trust the voice within
Then you’ll find the strength that will guide your way
You’ll learn to begin to trust the voice within

Young girl don’t hide
You’ll never change if you just run away
Young girl just hold tight
Soon you’re gonna see your brighter day

Now in a world where innocence is quickly claimed
It’s so hard to stand your ground when you’re so afraid
No one reaches out a hand for you to hold
When you look outside look inside to your soul

Life is a journey
It can take you anywhere you choose to go
As long as you’re learning
You’ll find all you’ll ever need to know
(be strong)
You’ll break it
(hold on)
You’ll make it
Just don’t forsake it because
No one can tell you what you can’t do
No one can stop you, you know that I’m talking to you

July 31 Blog

In this text, I found many passages interesting throughout. In the first part Charity is described as "blind and insensible to many things, and dimly knew it; but to all that was light and air, perfume and colour, every drop in her responded." All during the text Wharton uses the phrase, "Charity was not thinking.." Why was she not thinking?? I asked myself this question many times during the reading. We know she fell in love with Harney and was wrapped up in him..even eventually losing her independence and the ideal of herself in him. She wasn't thinking many times because it seems as though to me that love overwhelmed her and her independence was then forced to the side. However, I don't think that her independence was completely lost...but maybe lingering because even at the end she wrote a letter to Harney pretty much letting him go. She was also independent in the fact that she decided not to have an abortion and marry Mr. Royall because she wanted to put her baby's best interest first over her own.

Summer: Better Late Than Never

“’Marry you? Me?’ she burst out with a scornful laugh. ‘Was that what you came to ask me the other night? What’s come over you, I wonder? How long is it since you’ve looked at yourself in the glass?’”

“’I guess you’re good, too,’ she said, shyly and quickly. He smiled without answering, and they went out of the room together and dropped down to the hall in the glittering lift.”

I chose these two passages because I wanted to discuss the relationship between Mr. Royall and Charity. I was a little too sleepy to comment much in class today, but after class I thought of a few things I still was not that sure of. First, I personally felt slightly sorry for this man, while at the same time I did not trust him. He seemed to really love this girl, so in a way he plays the underdog in the story—she talks cruel to him when he proposes but finally settles for him (though out of necessity not love). I didn’t trust him in the fact that he seems to have a drinking habit and a taste for other women. Also, he was her guardian. I know she wasn’t his real daughter, but hadn’t he always been her father figure growing up? This seems very Woody Allen and his adopted daughter/wife to me. Wouldn’t it be scandalous for this girl to marry the man that raised her, especially if it turns out she is pregnant? Would that have still been better than for her to have just been a single mother? I guess the financial stability plays a role there, but wouldn’t people still think it odd?

Summer

“She knew that Mrs. Royall was sad and timid and weak; she knew that layer Royall was harsh and violent, and still weaker.”
This stood out to me because I don’t often associate weakness with being harsh and violent. Harsh and violent make me think of a strong and scary man. But when these words are paired with weakness, I see the reason for his harshness and violentness. It shows that he is weak and therefore he has to be harsh and violent to protect himself…it’s sort of a front so people don’t see the real him. Since Charity lives with him, she is able to see that weakness.
I think this relates to lawyer Royall’s weakness with alcohol and his desire to be with Charity. These things both show his weakness…so this line is just a hint to make sure the reader realizes it. I think that it describes the cultural narrative of men being strong and sometimes too strong, but I also think it kind of expands on it. I think that by having the reader consider that strength is a way to cover up a weakness is something that really hasn’t been considered in other readings…or at least isn’t something that I haven’t noticed yet.

“Oh, I don’t believe half the bad things you all say of the Mountain!”
This stood out to me because it really says a lot about Harvey’s character. It shows that he isn’t judgmental and does not place value on someone because of where they’re from. I was really impressed at the way he made Charity feel good about herself and made it so she didn’t need to be ashamed of where she was from. This really made me like Harvey. I think it relates to other parts of the book because it sort of re-affirms at the realness of Harvey. Through the book up to this point, Harvey has always seemed to have a genuine care for people and has been very considerate of others…for example, when he accidentally got Charity in trouble with his aunt…he felt bad and talked to his aunt about it for her. I think this sort of contradicts the cultural narrative that many city people look down upon country people. This showed the city boy actually giving the country people a chance before judging them.

summer

"A girl came out of lawyer Royall's house, at the end of the one street of North Dormer, and stood on the doorstep."

Whenever I read a book, I always pay attention to the first line, because it often foretells a theme or message in the book. I think that the opening line in "Summer" is no exception. In the beginning, Charity is standing on the doorstep of adulthood and maturity, still not quite fully a woman, but not fully a girl anymore. She is on the doorstep, waiting to be pushed more in one direction or another. I think that the relationship of her and Lucius is the catalyst for her to take a step out of the doorway and into adulthood. However, as she seems to think that she is ready to step out, she is obviously still naive. Like many of the narratives we talked about in class, if she would have taken time to read the books in the library she worked in, then maybe she would have been more prudent about expectations of Lucius and his commitment to her.


"She had never learned any trade that would have given her independence in a strange place, and she knew no one in the big towns of the valley, where she might have hoped to find employment."


I like this quote because it is a statement within the fictional novel that also was true in the world that it was written in. Throughout history men have used knowledge and education as a means of control. Obviously lawyer Royall had issues with control and possession, and that is why it is not surprising that Charity was trated in this manner. If she was never taught to do anything else, then she would have been forced to do only what she knew how to do, in the place that she was most famliar. This is also a theme that was shown throughout our class discussions about narratives and the collages, and I think that since this book was written in the beginning of the first wave of feminism, that it speaks directly to these themes.

July 31

"You're from the Mountain? How curious! I suppose that's why you're so different..."
"Her hapy blood bathed her to the forehead. He was praising her--and praising her because she came from the Mountain!"
I thought that it was strange that being called different was praise to Charity. When I first read what Lucius said to Charity, I was expecting her to take it as an insult. However, it seemed as if it was the greatest compliment anyone had ever given her. To me, it seems like people do what they can to fit in and not be different for the most part. Being different is usually meant to call people strange or not quite right. I think that she was almost nervous to tell Lucius that she was of the mountains, just from the negative impression of it she had recieved from the people of the town all of her life. I think that we will find out a lot more about the mountain life now that she has someone else interested in it and to help her investigate it.

"She understood that, profoundly as she had despised Mr. Royall ever since, he despised himself still more profoundly."
I thought that this passage was interesting to me. It seems to show just how ashamed Mr. Royall was of what he did that night. It seems also that Charity doesn't even have to be upset with him, because he is beating himself up about it enough on his own. The relationship between Charity and Mr. Royall is very strange to me. I imagine it was different before Mrs. Royall died. I think things would be more clear if we knew how Mr. and Mrs. Royall came about to be guardians of Charity. It also seems that Charity now has the upper hand with the decisions made and what goes on at the Royall house. Maybe Mr. Royall is kind of giving in to her because he is afraid she will go tell other people in the town of what happened or else, coming from the quote, he is so angry at himself for what happened he is giving in to make up to her what he did.

Summer

I have to start by saying that I really like Edith Wharton. Ethan Frome is one of my favorites and Wharton is an excellent author so I was happy to hear that we would be reading Summer this semester.
Okay, moving on...
Of all Mr. Royall had said she had retained only the phrase: "He told Miss Hatchard the books were in bad shape." What did she care for the other charges against her? Malice or truth, she despised them as she despised her detractors. But that the stranger to whom she had felt herself so mysteriously drawn should have betrayed her!
I like this passage because it is so relateable. Charity is smitten with this young man and is heartbroken that he has betrayed her by tattling on her to Miss Hatchard. She isn't concerned with being fired or with the books; rather she is concerned about the fact that Lucius has betrayed her. It seems like we've all been there at one time or another. Heartbroken by a crush, a lover, a friend and nothing else seems to matter except for their betrayal. This passage certainly opens up the rest of the book and the relationship between Lucius and Charity. She is taken with him and he with her and so the romance begins.

When she came down from her room for supper he was not there; and while she waited on the porch she recalled the tone in which Mr. Royall had commenced the day before on their early start. Mr. Royall sat at her side, his chair tilted back, his broad black boots with side-elastics resting against the lower bar of the railings. His rumpled grey hair stood up above his forehead like the crest of an angry bird, and the leather-brown of his veined cheeks was blotched with red. Charity knew that those red spots were the signs of a coming explosion.

This passage was important to me because it reaffirmed that lawyer Royall will most likely be the obstacle in the romance narrative of Charity and Lucius. I had a feeling before when he told Charity that he wanted to marry her and tried to come to her room but this passage really stood out to me. This man is obviously odd, lonely, depressed, weird, etc. and Charity knows it. I think he will really stand in their way and it makes me hope that Charity will get out of there. Wharton does an excellent job of describing Royall and I personally just get an odd sense about him. I think he is really going to be a villain in this novel if he hasn't been already.

"But anyway we all live in the same place, and when it's a place like North Dormer it's enough to make people hate each other just to have to walk down the same street every day." I think this quote perfectly describes the feeling for the rest of the book - a small town where everyone knows each other and resents the fact they can't get out easily and hates each other for it. Being from a small town myself, this line made me laugh because I can relate. Everyone knows everything about each other and gossip makes it's round very quickly.

"You were seen going into that fellow's house. . .you were seen coming out of it . . ." This quote relates to my first one, in the fact that gossip travels quickly, and even stranger, someone actually waited and watched for her, just to tell Mr. Royall. I think this describes the narrative of a girl should be married and shouldn't do as she pleases, like go to see a friend - a guy friend - at nighttime. Even Mr. Royall calls her a "damn whore" later, just out of suspicion due to her appearance.
I also noticed the marriage narrative later on. Even though Charity is about independence and doesn't care what people think, she finds herself thinking about Harney that way. On page 93 she thinks "with ten dollars he might have bought her an engagement ring. . ." but quickly realizes it and tells herself they're just friends. I think that's interesting. . .something to look for as the book continues.

Summer part 1

"But all that had happened to her within the last few weeks had stirred her to the sleeping depths. She had become absorbingly interesting to herself and everything that had to do with her past was illuminated by this sudden curiosity."

This quote stood out to me because it summed up all that was going on with Charity, and how she had this new curiosity about herself, and lots of new things to think about. First she is having Mr. Royall asking her to marry her, which to me is still so bazar. I know he was lonely, but I still don't really understand why he would marry the child he adopted? I know he wanted her to stay with him, but I still thought that part was really weird. Charity also gets a job as a librarian, and then also almost loses it. And she starts really falling for Harney. I think Harney has put a lot of good into Charity and made her have something interesting in her life, and something to look forward to. She is just beginning to to be curious about her past. She now has something to discover about herself, and where she came from. My cousins from my dad's side of the family were adopted, and when they found out, they were pretty shocked and wanted to know their story. They wanted to meet their parents, or at least see pictures and know what they were like. They were on a misson of discovering who they were and where they came from, like Charity.

"The signs of his liking were manifest enough; but it was hard to guess how much they meant, because his manner was so different from anything North Dormer had ever shown her."

This quote stuck with me because I think the relationship between Charity and Harney is pretty interesting. It reminded me of Seventeen Syllables with Rosie and Jesus. I also found their relationship interesting, and I couldn't quite figure out when I was reading it if they had feelings for each other or not. I felt the same way with this book. At first, I really did think a romance would spark between Charity and Harney. I thought that just the way they looked at each other showed some feelings, but then as I read on, I realized that it was true that there weren't any real signs of affection from Harney toward Charity. In this case, it seems like Charity is looking to be with Harney more than the other way around, but in Seventeen Syllables, I felt like Jesus was more of the pursuer. From what I have read so far, there is no romance between Charity and Harney yet, but I still feel like it will come. I think its interesting too how their relationship has a lot to do with Charity's relationship with Mr. Royall, and how jealous he is of her wanting to be with Harney more than him. When he was talking about how the whole town knew that Charity was over with Harney the night before, it made me think of Sula, and I thought their village in this book really reminded me of the Bottom in Sula. Both of these places knew everything about everyone, word got around fast, and they both talked about people being "watched."