The Appropriation of Cultures

In this short story, Everett addresses racial prejudice shown through a character by the name of Daniel Barkley.  Daniel is taken care of through the inheritance from his mother and his mother's deceased sister and doesn't work, but he enjoys hanging out at a jazz club.  Right from the beginning, Daniel faces prejudice from some white fraternity members.He decides to play the song, however, with passion to insult the white men.  He is a strong man who is not so easily overcome by prejudice.

He accepted the song as his own, interestingly enough.  He had the anger a young, black male would have with the situation, however, he was also calm.

I love the change, where he decides he wants to buy a truck.  It is hilarious when he decides he wants to look at a truck with a big, confederate flag on it.  Reading through the text gave me one impression, a rather dull opinion of the text.  However, I found a reading from Percival Everett and his voice, tone and personality brought more life to the text.  I could sense the irritation of prejudice and I could empathize with Daniel. There is so much tension that I can feel when hearing him read the portion at Travis' house. The humor and tension presented in reference to the Confederate flag on the truck and the irritation that Sarah has seems to mock the prejudices between blacks and whites.  It almost undermines prejudices.

Daniel is a hilarious character.  I love his comment on the "Black Power Flag."  Everett does an effective job of mocking prejudice and insulting the stupidity of racism.



In case you were unaware, Lisa, here is the link to the reading by Percival Everett:
http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/entertainment/watch/v19965005Cpgg9SP7

Araby

There was one in particular thing that this story shows that I believe any reader has some kind of experience with.  The narrator becomes intensely fascinated/infatuated with Mangan's sister.  It is interesting how he is almost creepy about his infatuation.  He even goes as far as following her while she walks for a little while.  Maybe not to this extent, but I believe each of us has experience with infatuation and that yearning to know someone.  Even the way he becomes nervous to the point of not being able to talk to her is realistic.  I can recall times when I would be infatuated with someone to the point of not focusing on school work, work or various other responsibilities; because of this, I can relate easily to this story.  

I like also how the story shows that perhaps it is not best to plan things in your life.  The fact that the narrator attempts to go to the bazaar and buy Mangan's sister something shows that he planned a lot for this to happen.  Although the plans were perfect, the execution is not always what one could expect.  Due to his uncle's tardiness, the narrator arrives at the bazaar just as it is closing. Sadly enough, he is unable to buy Mangan's sister anything, but it shows that not everything goes according to plans.  Therefore, I took the message that we shouldn't put so much hope in our plans, when plans so easily fail.

Tapka

I really enjoyed this story.  I thought the story was going to be more of a detailed explanation of this Russian family's struggles as they adjust to life in Toronto, Canada; however, the story diverges from the story of the family to the story of the dog, Tapka.  Tapka, the dog of the Nahumovskys, is a beloved part of Rita and Misha's lives.  Originally, the perspective of the son (the narrator) focuses on the transition, however his perspective switches to Tapka. The narrator is the only one in his family who likes Tapka.  One aspect I really enjoyed about this story is the feeling the reader can obtain towards Tapka.  On one side, I think anyone can relate to loving some kind of animal, and most people can probably say they are dog lovers.  However, the wording about the narrator's mother's attitude toward Tapka allows the reader to find the dog to be drab.  They author writes, "They were simple people.  Rita had never attended a university. She could derive contentment from talking to a dog, brushing its coat, putting ribbons in its hair, and repeatedly throwing a rag clown across the apartment...they were good people, but a dog ruled their lives."  After reading this part, I personally felt bogged down.  I no longer thought very highly of a dog.  It makes you feel like a dog is too much work and not worth the effort, unless you're uneducated and have nothing better to do.  Then, you see the excitement of being around a dog as the narrator explains his visits to the Nahumovskys'.  The narrator states, "When I inserted the key into the lock I felt emanations of love through the door."  As the reader, it created an excitement inside me as I read.  Although this was only part of the overall story, this really stood out to me.

Brother Grasshopper

John Updike's story, Brother Grasshopper, is very well written.  It is interesting to me to see the relationship between Fred and his wife Betsy with Germaine and her husband Carlyle.  The two married couples spend much of their time together and originally it all starts out well.  In almost a cliché manner, Fred starts to fall in love with another woman.  It's odd because he seemed to be so in love with Betsy, but then his mood changes.  Despite his new love, he decided to stay with Betsy, though he was never as passionate.  It is strange yet understandable for him to confess this to his brother-in-law.  Obviously, he would want to talk to someone about it, but it is strange, to an extent, for him to confide in his brother-in-law.  Sadly enough, the happy couples both divorce, Fred and Betsy as well as Germaine and Carlyle.  After Carlyle's death, the others are united one last time for the scattering of Carlyle's ashes.  It's a sad yet redemptive ending.  I really liked this story!

The Lady With Her Dog

I found this to be an interesting read.  This piece was a little frustrating for me to read through because of the reality of such situations in life.  From the beginning, Dmitri seeks after this "lady with her dog."  Her name is Anna.  Dmitri's lack of happiness in his marriage leads him to have love affairs with other women.  It's odd how much work they go through at the end just to see each other, and it's sad that they work this hard at seeing each other but not at their own marriages.  Dmitri's realization that this is the first time he has fallen in love is a sad realization.  Ultimately, I found this to be a sad story with the connection to real life situations involving lack of faithfulness in marriage.  The last bit reads, "And it seemed as though in a little while the solution would be found, and then a new and splendid life would begin; and it was clear to both of them that they had still a long, long road before them, and that the most complicated and difficult part of it was only just beginning."  Although the story is sad, they finally have something they are willing to work for, even if it's hard.

Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man is Hard to Find

I really thought it was interesting how the grandmother was portrayed as the supposed moral character, however the reality is that she is just as bad, if not worse, than the other people in the story.  If you look at her words, she is often times very cynical towards the rest of the world.  She compares life as it is to what it used to be when she was a child.  I think she spent too much time thinking about the past that she did not see how she was acting in the present, which is contradictory to what she claims to believe.  The eye opening experience to why she is immoral is found at the end of the story when she is in front of the misfit with a gun to her face.  The misfit says, "she would have been a good person if there were someone to shoot her every day of her life."  She only pretended the times before to be the Christian woman she claimed to be and her only true goodness was found at the end, although she could have been faking those emotions to save her life.