Run Where Told

There are a couple of scenes in "Battle Royal" that strike me as extremely interesting. The author of "Battle Royal", Ralph Ellison, does not illustrate his message with his words; instead, he leaves it to the reader to decipher his convoluted implications. It takes a comprehensive understanding of the time period, the context, and message for the reader to solve this puzzle.
The first excerpt of the story that puzzled me was the purpose of the dancer in the boxing ring. At first I thought that she was just a dancer and symbolized nothing, but then, after reading the entire story, I found that she acted as a foil for the narrator. The dancer in the ring was a beautiful white woman. Although she was white, she did not receive the respect from the white community that a typical white woman did. This was woman was an object— an object of lust and affection. The only other people that acted as objects in the narrative were the black people. The white woman, because of her profession and circumstance, was taken down to the low level of the black community. She was an object performing in the boxing ring for the white community just as the black people were an object performing in the boxing ring for the white community. This is strange to me because the black community was not allowed to look at the white woman, but the white woman was subjected to the same level as the black community.
The other part of the story that startled me upon first glance was the ending. At the end of the story, the grandfather, through a dream, says to his grand son the message, “Keep This Nigger-Boy Running” (536). It is not the words themselves that startled me, but instead, the tone of mockery in which they were projected. This makes me think that the grandfather is not all that proud of his grandson for earning a scholarship to the black college. This is in fact the case, the grandfather is laughing at the boy for falling for the white people’s trick. He is going to go to college, but he is going to go to the college that the white people want him to go to. He will make a difference in the black community— not the white community. I believe that the grandfather is laughing because the boy will continue to run indeed, but he will continue to run where he is meant to run— where the white people want him to run. (425)

Are We All Introverted?

During our discussion of summer reading books, a book called The Perks of Being a Wallflower came up. This narrative was brought up in relation to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. Having read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime during summer, I was able to see how these two books are incredibly integrated within each other.
In both of these novels, the main character is somewhat of a recluse or “wallflower”. They are very introverted and self-sufficient protagonists. The reader is introduced to more of their inner thoughts than their relationship and interactions with other characters. With this method, a deeper understanding of the idiosyncrasies that plague these two characters allows the reader to latch on to their innocence and naivety. Having most recently read The Perks of Being a Wallflower, certain excerpts from this book are still fresh in my mind.
The main character of the narrative, Charlie, forms a deep relationship with his freshman English teacher. The English teacher understands Charlie and gives him advice on a consistent basis. At one point in the book, after the teacher realized that Charlie is an “over analyzer”, he gives him a suggestion to clear his over-crowded mind. The teacher tells Charlie that thinking and analyzing is an excuse to avoid human interaction. This instantly stunned me. I am a deep thinker and I often find myself thinking and analyzing instead of interacting. I do not believe that I make a conscious decision to think in order to avoid conversation, but that is often the outcome. I, also, do not consider myself a wallflower, but I see myself mirrored in many of Charlie’s actions. His teacher tells Charlie what he cannot always observe life from the sidelines and that Charlie must “view life from the dance floor” from time to time. Charlie finds that he is more of an extrovert than he could have ever imagined, but his inner thoughts are in a constant flow. He thinks before he acts, because when he does not, he often makes irreversible mistakes. I find that, for me, this is the case on numerous occasions. I am so used to over-analyzing situations, that when I do not, I feel out of control, just as Charlie did, and act on an impulse. I think that this is a self-imposed destruction because I later convince myself that if I had thought about my words before I acted on them, I could have avoided the uncomfortable situation entirely.
As I noted, I do not view myself as a wallflower. I see myself as an even mixture between an extrovert and an introvert. The Perks of Being a Wallflower points out that if a character is extremely well developed and his inner thoughts are made known to the reader, then anyone can find a tad of himself or herself in that character. (482)

Indifference or Love?

The narrator of “The Cathedral” strikes me as an extremely multidimensional character. Upon first impression, the reader is presented with an apathetic and somewhat— for lack of a better word— boring character. He is presented as an extremely flat character with little insight. He is emotionally detached from both his wife and from real life situations. The narrator and protagonist’s name is not given through out the entire story. Without an identity, this character is extremely distant from the reader. I think that this method is extremely affective in establishing the relationship between the narrator and the reader— a relationship of both misunderstanding and aloofness. In the narration, the main character’s wife is graciously opening her house to a friend from the past. The narrator of the story is not confident in the arrival of this distant friend. We, the readers, are notified that the narrator’s wife is emotionally connected to this man and that their relationship has been steadfast throughout the ten years they have been apart. The narrator of the story acts detached and careless about the arrival of this stranger, but the emotions that he shares with the reader proves otherwise. The narrator cracks wise remarks about the stranger’s disability only bringing attention to his insecurities and jealousies. We see these wise remarks when the narrator is talking about what he will do upon the arrival of the blind stranger. He smugly comments on this man’s disability when he says, “Maybe I will take him bowling”. I think that the narrator is using humor as a defense mechanism. He is using his humor to create a wall between him and his wife. He is feeling insecure and jealous about the arrival of this man and he knows no other way to deal with his emotions, so he resorts to humor. By making fun of this man’s disability, he is psychologically putting himself on a pedestal as if he is better than the stranger.
This air of indifference that we first get from the narrator is not who this man actually is. We begin to see a glimpse of his inner tenderness and workings when he talks about the blind man’s wife, “A woman who could never see herself as she was seen in the eyes of her loved one.” This depth is who this character truly is. He is not the shallow character we are made to believe he is—he is extremely intuitive.
This modern character, with his hidden intuition and sensitivity, is able to put himself into the position of this blind stranger and experience and appreciate his world. He closes his eyes to put himself in the position of this blind man and realizes that maybe the blind man is on a pedestal. He realizes tha this “misfortune” is not as debilitating as it seems. He gains great appreciation for this man and his lifestyle. The reader, at the end of the narrative, is proud and content that this originally bland and disconnected character has found emotional attachment in the stranger that he had so feared. (511)

For a Little Power

John Updike does a fabulous job of tapping into the caddy world of adolescent girls. For being of the male breed, he understands the trivial games that young girls generation after generation succumb to. His intense and sometimes too familiar accounts of these girls takes you right back to remembering “that girl” from grade school. John Updike’s description of one of the girls pin-points emotions that I myself have experienced, ”…you know, the kind of girl other girls think is very "striking" and "attractive" but never quite makes it, as they very well know, which is why they like her so much”. I now regard these feeling with far more caution because, with Updike’s assistance, I realize what a twisted yet common situation this is.
On the surface, John Updike seems to be solely concerned with the doings of these young girls; I believe that he uses them merely as a prop to get across his deeper message. John Updike’s description of these girls and his mental accounts of them seem superficial and intended merely for entertainment purposes, but his deeper message resonates. I think that there is an underlying message of authority and power. The owner of the store makes it his duty to inform the girls that they are dressed inappropriately and he shuns them for their poor choice in clothing. Weak men often will do anything to get power and this seems to be the case with the owner of the A&P store. He is asserting his authority of these girls because he knows that he can do so without confrontation. This ends up not being the case. The “queen” senses the owner’s insecurity and feels that she can make a rebuttal. She speaks for the girls that she is with. This is indicative of how she is the voice of her “group” in other situations. The tables are turned, and the queen is the one with the power. (324)

An Unconventional Love

I have yet to decide what Lahiri’s main theme is in “Interpreter of Maladies”. Although its main message is not readily apparent to me, there are many excerpts from the narrative that stick out in my mind as significant.

Jhumpa Lahiri’s use of realistic and relatable people that succumb to human pressures is pertinent to the reader’s emotional attachment. Her description of and insight into her characters’ minds and beings creates an extremely deep relationship between the reader and these fictional characters. Mr. Kapasi, an Indian tour guide, expresses that he is unhappy in his marriage. He, then, out of his own misery and disillusionment prejudges an American tourist. Mr. Kapasi begins to assume that Mrs. Das possesses what his own wife lacks. He begins to presume that she, like he, is miserable in her own marriage. Mr. Kapasi fantasizes about a future relationship with this stranger. Mr. Kapasi thinks about communicating with this woman as if in the few hours they had spent together on the tour they had fallen in love. Mr. Kapasi is clearly a lonely desperate man who is unappreciated at home. He is looking for comfort in an idea— an idea of a relationship with Mrs. Das. Perhaps, this fantasy that he has created in his mind serves as a tool to keep Mr. Kapasi occupied and mentally with company. But the company that Mr. Kapasi is keeping is a stranger and his presumptions of Mrs. Das prove to be incorrect. Mr. Kapasi finds that Mrs. Das is in fact unhappy in her marriage, as he predicted, but it is what follows that brings his fantasies to a halt. Mr. Kapasi’s imaginings are fruitless when finds out that Mrs. Das is unhappy in her marriage because she keeps a secret illegitimate child in her company. Mr. Kapasi realizes that his own unhappiness and loneliness had driven him to feel connected to this person that is not who he thought she was. He snaps back to reality and is quick to let his fantasy shatter to pieces.(341)

The Trials of Motherhood

Teenage Wasteland is a story about the hardships that accompany being a mother with a troubled child. Daisy, that mother of delinquent Donny, with the help of an outside narrator, shares her trials and tribulations. Daisy, having somewhere along the road lost the son she once knew, attempts to revitalize her relationship with Donny.
Anne Tyler, an author that I favor, spends an incredible amount of time getting into the depths of her characters for such a short narrative. With the presence of such detailed characters, the reader cannot help but become emotionally attached to the story. Tyler starts the narrative by describing the late physical aspects of Donny, “He used to have very blonde hair— almost white— cut shorter than other children’s so that on his crown a little cowlick always stood up to catch the light (36).” Through this description of Donny’s past physical appearance, it is implied that it is not only his physical appearance that has changed, but also his internal structure. Without Daisy knowing, her son has grown into someone that she does not recognize.
There are a number of reasons that Donny became who he is today. Daisy talks about the arrival of her second daughter and how all of her attention was diverted from Donny and to her new daughter, Amanda. Upon reflection, Daisy realizes that she, not consciously, neglected Donny while trying to tend to Amanda’s needs. Tyler expresses this notion when she writes, “She remembered when Amanda was born. Donny had acted lost and bewildered. Daisy had been alert to that, of course, but still, a new baby keeps you so busy (37).” An additional reason that could have possibly led to the “failure” of Donny is his lack of self-confidence. Donny was not receiving assurance and encouragement at home so he turned to an outside source to get the love and comfort that he needed.
With the help of Daisy, Donny finds a tutor to help him lift his failing grades. Donny’s tutor is named Cal. Cal offers Donny what he has been yearning for, love and appreciation. Cal consumes Donny’s life and takes the broken boy under his wings. He creates a relationship with Donny that seems inappropriate at times. Cal brainwashes Donny in many areas and Donny absorbs every cult-like lesson that Cal throws his way. Donny begins to question his parent’s lack of leniency professing that more independence would cause less rebellion on Donny’s part. Donny is a moldable soul and Cal is willing to pick Donny up from the hole he has fallen in to. With self-confidence at a minimum, Donny holds tightly to anything or anyone that alleviates the pressures of his life. Cal acts as this force of relief for Donny.
Anne Tyler immerses the reader in this twisted world and leaves the reader feeling even more convoluted inside when she ends the narrative with little progression. Donny runs away from home and the reader is left with the impression that he will not be returning to repair his warpath anytime soon. (519)