If you liked "Bad Neighbors"...
If you liked Edward P. Jones' "Bad Neighbors"....
then you might also enjoy ”The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara or ”Everything that Rises Must Converge” by Flannery O’Connor. For Friday, read the first of those stories and post a 4-5 sentence reflection/reader response here as a comment to this blog post. You also need to REPLY DIRECTLY to 2-3 of your classmates comments (think: Instagram/Facebook feed, but slightly more detailed than a series of emojis or five word responses!) as part of this assignment. There's no need to include actual textual evidence in either your original response or when you comment on classmates' work, but you certainly can. If you're having a hard time generating ideas, feel free to look back to the short story questions we used last term. I just want to get a sense of what you thought about the story you've chosen; there's no pressure, so have some fun and be creative. I can't wait to have a virtual discussion with you all!
then you might also enjoy ”The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara or ”Everything that Rises Must Converge” by Flannery O’Connor. For Friday, read the first of those stories and post a 4-5 sentence reflection/reader response here as a comment to this blog post. You also need to REPLY DIRECTLY to 2-3 of your classmates comments (think: Instagram/Facebook feed, but slightly more detailed than a series of emojis or five word responses!) as part of this assignment. There's no need to include actual textual evidence in either your original response or when you comment on classmates' work, but you certainly can. If you're having a hard time generating ideas, feel free to look back to the short story questions we used last term. I just want to get a sense of what you thought about the story you've chosen; there's no pressure, so have some fun and be creative. I can't wait to have a virtual discussion with you all!
In Toni Cade Bambara's "The Lesson", themes of the consumerism are explored from the view point of a poor African American girl, Sylvia, living in New York City as the different characters and settings symbolize different socioeconomic backgrounds. Sylvia becomes frustrated when she is taken on a field trip with a well versed, successful woman named Miss Moore due to prices that seem outrageous to her. She doesn't understand how people spend so much money on items that don't seem necessary; however, she and her neighborhood friends begin to understand how pricing works, which alludes to a bigger theme that is brought to light which is the way that race and socioeconomic background disable them from fully understanding different lifestyles. Sylvia and her group are paralyzed by poverty, but Miss Moore is a literal symbol of an escape from this, as she is a savvy, successful black woman. As the story progresses, Sylvia understands that these items she sees through the window are nothing more than a symbol of status, which in turn points to the bigger theme of consumerism.
ReplyDeleteGreat look at how Bambara uses material items and their cost as part of the "lesson," for Sylvia and for us. Does Sylvia learn that lesson in the end?
DeleteI like how consumerism was a larger part of how you viewed the story. It is especially amplified using the setting of New York, where everything is expensive and that wealth that is so concentrated to inner manhattan makes poorer families have to move to different parts of New York in order to support their familis. New York's racial history as well makes for this socioeconomic gap to correspond with a racial gap that creates the cycle of poverty that is another well explored theme in the story.
DeleteIn the short story “The Lesson” by Tony Cade Bambara, Sylvia’s character development is depicted as positive for she realizes that she, just as Miss Moore, can thrive in life. Sylvia, a poor African American girl, is first portrayed as an oblivious “young and foolish” child who would prefer to be at the pool then with Miss Moore. Sylvia’s development starts fast for when she is in the cap she thinks about how to spend the money that Miss Moore gave her rather than doing as the other children. When getting to the toy store Miss Moore asks the kids to pay attention to the prices of the toys causing Sylvia to realize what she and her family can do with thirty-five dollars and questions this economic inequality. Although Sylvia continues to criticize Miss Moore for asking them questions she understands why Miss Moore is asking them. By the end of the short story Sylvia decides to think about her day over catching up to Sugar.
ReplyDelete-Michelle
Good analysis of the end...I like how you're arguing that Sylvia does learn the lesson, even though she messes around a lot on the trip and claims not to really respect Miss Moore. Miss Moore clearly has an effect on her and teaches her the lesson despite Sylvia's resistance...I wonder if Miss Moore sees something particular in Sylvia over the other kids in terms of potential?
DeleteI really like the way you discussed Sylvia's character on the basis of race, and therefore how this affected her coming of age in the story. I also like your take on the symbols and how they affect Sylvia's coming of age and the way all the characters are out of touch due to race, regardless of white or black.
DeleteI like this take on the story a lot- I never really saw Sylvia's character development as positive since she kind of storms off at the end, but I like how you saw that as just a trait of her character, and that the way that she chose to hold onto the four dollars was the true indicator of her character development. I also think this story does a great job of implying character development prior to the actual story taking place with its detail in the description of Sylvia's relationships with the other kids, so that the reader is more able to see the character's development.
DeleteIn Flannery O'Connor's "Everything that Rises Must Converge", the conflict between Julian and his mother reveals their generational conflict on the basis of race which is the main theme for the short story. Julian is young, and more open to radical thoughts, while his mother is the complete opposite. The reader takes the point of view of white people after the buses have been integrated. Julian's mother is very opposed to riding the bus, while Julian is intrigued by the new people he had yet to transport with. The short story does a good job of showing not only the conflict between two different generations of white people, but also the way that age makes perception different, but not necessarily better. Obviously, Julian's mother is more outward with her racism, and this is something that Julian likes to critique and bother her about; however, Julian's view of black people on the bus is complicated and multi-demensional. He wants to speak to the black man next to him, but is somewhat fearful, and wants to do it to spite his mother, not to be polite. This signifies, in a sense, the way that embedded racism and societal norms affect both Julian and his mother, regardless of age. With that being said, Julian is a symbol of a white person that tries to except racial issues, in this instance it's integration, but can't because of embedded racism. When Julian's mother is pushed down by Carver's mother, this is a representation of the barrier between white and black people due to white ignorance. This short story is a critique on white arrogance and generational conflict, as the reader sees different symbols of the different thematic ideas.
ReplyDeleteGood job...I like your focus on the bus and the moment when the mother is pushed down. I wonder about connecting that moment to the fight in "Bad Neighbors," when the emotional overflows into the physical. Does racism--internal and external--lead to the downfall of certain characters? Or is it more an epiphany? If it's an epiphany, is it for Julian in this story, and is it an emotional epiphany?
DeleteGreat take on the generational divide, interesting how things like that continue to be seen even in the present. I know for one that my grandma wasn't keen on my cousin coming out as gay whereas all the younger gens were very supportive and "more open to radical thoughts."
DeleteAgreed on the front of Julian not really having the right intentions for his outwardly anti-racist actions and thoughts. They seem to be in the right place, but the fact that he did it largely to spite his mother and teach her a lesson about human dignity is kind of hypocritical since he is then using the man reading the newspaper on the bus and the mother on the bus as pawns in the lesson he is trying to teach his mom. Lame.
DeleteIn the short story “Everything That Rises Must Converge” by Flannery O’Connor, Julian and his mother are highly influenced by societal change; Julian thinking he has adapted to a interracial society while his mother, being trapped by her past and traditional beliefs, is very closed minded about an interracial society. Julian criticizes his mother's racism but when on the bus he only thinks of scenarios in which he might converse with a person of color, for when a colored person does enter the bus he is scared to talk to him, showing his internalized racism. Julian's mother thinks that she is “‘adjustable’” which is ironic for she cannot adapt to societal change. Julian's mother's past, she believes social conduct shows one's character, hence her need to look presentable in the eyes of society, even on the bus.
ReplyDelete-Michelle
I think it is also very interesting how both "Everything That Rises Must Converge" and "Bad Neighbors" deal with the social dynamic that you've mentioned about between people changing with society and those who are unable to adapt. The concept of being "presentable" also mirrors the Benningtons, who were treated as outcasts for being different.
DeleteIt is also interesting that even as the main character criticizes his mother, he too has the same past and mindset that he has to get over. The two characters are meant to seem opposite as told by Julian, but when examined and put in real situations they act the same.
Delete--Kate Golson
It's also interesting to consider O'Connor as part of this discussion of adaptability and change...very often in her stories, there's a character who embodies the Old South, and often that character, who is nostalgic for something that didn't really exist, doesn't fare well in the end. That common thread in her work appears here in what you're all smartly observing about Julian's mother.
DeleteI like the reference to Julian's mom talking about how adjustable she is. It's also a funny point to make because she previously really stressed the importance of knowing yourself and being that one person, even though the person that she claims to be is an "adjustable" one. That's contradictory in and of itself, which is kind of unsurprising and fits her character.
DeleteI really enjoyed reading "The Lesson" because of how real it is. I love the way that Bambara uses first person perspective to show the true perspective of these kids, and the change of setting from something that these kids are comfortable with (their neighborhood) to something that is so uncomfortable and unusual for them that they can't even truly process it at first (FAO Schwartz) allows the reader to see their perspective in a more well rounded way. I think that the way that Bambara uses disrespectful and crass interactions between the three main characters, Sylvia, Miss Moore, and Sugar, points out the way that lack of priveledge because of race effects different people, and the different mindsets of those people. Miss Moore, for example, is an interesting character because at first she is posed as an antagonist because of the distain for her that Sylvia seems to have, but as the reader begins to see her true colors it's clear that she wants nothing more than for these kids to understand both their place in the world, and open their minds to the possibility that they could become the kind of crazy white people that shop at FAO Schwartz too if they really set their minds to it. Sugar is a great character because she does what she can with what she has, like at the end when they have the four dollars and she wants to conserve the money and make a whole day out of it. She clearly has questions about unfairness of the world and asks them instead of dwelling in her anger and resentment like Sylvia does. I think Sugar is a great character firstly because of the way that she uses these questions to kind of bridge the gap between Miss Moore and the kids in a way that could not be done otherwise because of Sylvia's distaste for being told what to do, and secondly because she balances this ability to make that connection with Miss Moore with not letting what she is told to do stop her which leaves her connected with her peers, for example when she steals from the store even after being told explicitly not to. Sylvia, however, allows her desire to not follow any rules, be told what to do, or be beaten by anyone at anything, dictate her actions, and this is used as a symbol for the cycle of poverty that really starts at the age of the kids in the story. 9/10
ReplyDeleteEverything That Rises Must Converge is a fantastic short story about generational change as well. It goes nicely with The Lesson, because in both a lesson is learned about what from older views of racial roles needs to be changed to fit the times, and what cannot be changed immediately because of those who still see the old ways as the only ways. However, Everything That Rises Must Converge is particularly interesting because it uses the innocence of youth to showcase this generational divide. The son truly is of the new generation. He understands not only black people's need for rights- which he supports so much so that if it wouldn't give his mother a stroke he would have sat in for a civil rights protest- but also their desire to be treated with decency, and not as a charity case. However, he isn't content in just having these beliefs as his own, and craves for those who don't understand to learn why they cannot treat other people as if their desire for rights is cute and that it will never come to fruition. The situation on the bus where the black mother sits next to the white son, and the black son sits next to the white mother gave an interesting new perspective on the role of the white mother, and her true view on race. From the perspective of the white son, his mother is a racist and a bigot and he really cannot stand her, but during her interaction with the black woman's son, it becomes more clear that she has no harmful intentions, she is just painfully unaware of all humans' craving to be treated with dignity. The end of this story was a shocker for sure- it is interesting how the white son says earlier in the story that he would not bring home a black girl out of fear of giving his mother a stroke, and yet that same fear of this newly liberated way of viewing race that her son has adopted through being a youth in the civil rights era is what gives her a stroke in the end. Very crazy story but such a good one. 9.5/10
ReplyDelete