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‘MERICANS

This short story focuses on the idea of dual-citizenship and how being a Mexican-American is problematic. It is problematic in a historical, cultural and personal sense. Historical, because (as the little comic below shows) the Mexican border used to include Arizona and Nevada as well as a good portion of Texas. However, the Americans thought that land would look really nice with red white and blue and took it from them. It is culturally problematic because individuals who are stuck in these situations don’t know whether to be more American or more Mexican and it becomes difficult to find a place that is a comfortable middle-ground. In the personal sense, being a Mexican-American stems a lot from how Mexican-Americans are constantly being prejudiced against. As the short story from Sandra Cisneros shows, some of the more close-minded Americans may just outright assume you’re Mexican if you look the part. This is the type of stereotyping and prejudice that has become so problematic in todays political climate and how Trump has been focussing on immigrant policy. 

Something that just occurred on November 26th has made me read this short story in a different way. The US Government ended up closing the San Diego border crossing which had resulted in Mexican citizens protesting/rushing the border and crossing into the States. The US Government had replied to their reaction saying that anyone crossing the border would be deported and never allowed back in the States. 

But they were crossing into land that was theirs. This was the land that Mexico used to have. This is why borders are so problematic. They were written by the colonizer and used by the colonizers to oppress and segregate from other people. These other people used to have that land in the first place. 

The ending of ‘Mericans has the narrator repeating, “We’re ‘Mericans”. ‘Mericans. Not only is the narrator poking fun at how Americans speak, but he is also making a statement. ‘Mericans is both Mexian’s and Americans in a combinations of identities. It also leaves a sense of incompleteness. He’s missing the ‘x’ for Mexican and the ‘a’ for America. It may be a bit of a reach, but maybe this incompleteness is alluding to the loss of belonging. Not truly belonging to one or the other - a feeling of isolation. 

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/26/us/san-ysidro-port-of-entry-migrant-arrests/index.html

Picture taken from: https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/08/01/sutton/JVFNTCMFTxtLSGHUfhlMXM/story.html

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“A Small Place”

A common theme throughout Jamacia Kincaid’s story A Small Place is that of ugliness. The ugliness of human nature, the ugliness of tourism and the ugliness of corruption. 

To Kincaid, tourism is one of the most morally ugly things that colonizing people can partake in. She gives the example in the novel that whenever white people (yes, its almost exclusively the middle upper-class white people that go on these trips, check out Trevor Noah’s new stand-up for a funny example of this) go on vacation, it is typically to poverty stricken areas. They are in awe in the beauty in these countries with bright blue skies and the ocean - however the clear skies have a different connotation to those who live there. It could mean a drought is about to happen/is happening. But that does not matter to the tourist as once they leave it isn’t their problem. The tourists are essentially benefitting from the areas without having to deal with what actually happens there. They are at a higher place socially so they don’t have to worry about lack of resources or electricity. 

Another example of ugliness in the story A Small Place is the constant representation of the library. The library is one of the biggest metaphors in the novel. As the novel progresses, the library gets as degraded as the government. Through colonization, the government in Antigua had become corrupted. Kincaid recognizes that the oppression the government is putting on its people is directly correlated to the colonization and how the colonizers believe Antigua should be governed. The government turns the people against each other. The government ends up owning all public entities that make money, which is why the library is neglected. This plays into the perceived corruption of the government and their neglect for the peoples wishes. The government in turn, becomes the evolutionary step in oppression and colonization of the people of Antigua. 

Picture taken from: https://hiveminer.com/Tags/b%C3%BCcher%2Cdecay

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Perpetual Violence

Does an eye for an eye make the whole world blind? In Edwidge Danticat’s novel The Dew Breaker, the reader is exposed to a cycle of violence that has occurred in Ka’s fathers life. The cycle brings into question of whether violence is justified for redemption, as well as if you supported a violent individual (despite not knowing they were violent), does that make you complicit and in turn, just as bad as the offender?

In order to answer these complex questions it is worth while looking at the substantive factors that could have led to this violence. The novel takes place (somewhat) in Haiti. Haiti in 1967 was led by a president by the name of Dr. Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier. The election was seemingly rigged and the country was then plunged into violence. Papa Doc ended up attacking any groups that decided to oppose him and his rulership. These individuals were aptly named Volunteers, but were known by the people as Dew Breakers. This was because, as stated in The Dew Breaker, they would come at dawn while the grass was still wet with the morning dew and attack those who would seem as a threat to the state. 

With this in mind, how does someone who was employed to commit these acts try and reconcile what they have done? Ka’s father tried hiding it from his family - saving them from the knowledge but also hiding his shame for what he had done. As the reader, we are as conflicted as Ka. Can she still be supportive of her father despite the acts of violence he did? Does that make her as bad as him? Personally, I think that atonement is really the only way to answer that question. Her father obviously feels shame as he didn’t want to be represented by the wooden statue - but that is not enough to make up for what he did. 

One of the more interesting stories told in this novel is Dany’s. He discovers who Ka’s father is and recognizes him for the violence he enacted on Dany’s entire family. He wants retribution for what had happened to his family, and rightly so. His aunt is blinded, his parents murdered and himself was threatened. He ends up not doing anything. Why was this? In the story it mentions that he was not entirely sure that this was the Dew Breaker - but could it be that he did not want to stoop to his level? I believe it was the latter, although not mentioned. 

This moral question as outlined so wonderfully in Danticat’s The Dew Breaker is one that a lot of people should mull over themselves. It says a lot about a persons capacity for forgiveness, compassion, and their personal philosophies. I believe Ka is right to question her relationship with her father, and I think her mother was also put in a peculiar situation. The only way to stop violence is with the qualities outlined in this wonderful story. 

(Picture taken from HD Wallpapers)

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What is “home”?

Adrian Grafe’s critical essay named “Hopkins and home” contemplates what Gerard Manley Hopkins determines what home means to him in the poem “In the Valley of Elwy”. Home seems to be a central theme throughout many of the works we are reviewing for this class. From realizing what has happened to your home, to determining where home is now, and what home can mean for the future. This topic can be dated back to the original ideas of Socrates - particularly that it was a matter of life and death. He had the choice of exile or death, and he could not leave Athens, his home. Although he did not chose death, it is important to note that home may have expanded beyond the city limits and could have been represented by friends, family, Athens, Greece or even the state of mind of comfort and safety.

In order to understand the purposes of the word “home”, it is useful to observe its origin. “Home” is derived from the German word “heim” which means both “dwelling” and “world”. This means that to use the word “home” means to be in your dwelling or in the world. Thus, home is an expansive characteristic of individual lives. It is ever evolving as everyday life continues. 

This is why saying “I am from [input country here]” may be problematic. Since “home” changes so vastly from birth to old age, and the world being ever changing, home can have multiple meanings to any one individual and can be more than one place. 

With home being both a place and an idea it is reasonable to assume that any other person may have more than one home. Home begins with the individual - it can be where someone feels comfortable, or it can be a false-home where they no longer feel accepted in. Traditionally in post-colonial literature it is difficult to pin down where the narrator’s true home is (if there even is one they can truly call home). 

https://www.ted.com/talks/taiye_selasi_don_t_ask_where_i_m_from_ask_where_i_m_a_local?referrer=playlist-what_is_home

Grafe, Adrian. "Hopkins and home." Connotations, vol. 21, no. 1, 2011, p. 55+. Academic OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A287183058/GPS?u=ko_k12hs_d3&sid=GPS&xid=f64d3c6f. Accessed 14 Nov. 2018.

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Dorothea Smartt’s short story because i’m nothing you can name follows presumably a slave being brought over to the Americas by colonizing forces. We see that the narrator has been stripped of identity, a “nothing” to be made into “something” by the colonizers. The story shines light on the idea of ownership and the power of being able to say “I am” rather than being told what or who you are. Being able to tell not only others but yourself who you are is one of the most powerful things you can do. Giving yourself your own identity and characteristics is the best way to separate and individualize yourself. 

In the later half of the story, the narrator states, “I peer at my reflection/ at the quayside wondering/ if my mother will recognize me? Am i still my father’s son?” which is evidence of how they have been taken from their home to a different foreign place. The quayside being the platform at which a boat docks, the narrator has been shipped to another country, presumably as a part of the slave trade. However, the quote deals with even more than this as the identity of themselves is in question when regarding their parents. This suggests not only time passing, but also a sense of violence towards the narrator. We can see now the other aspect of their identity has been stripped away, becoming even more oppressive. 

The final couple lines are the most striking to me personally. The narrator says, “Because i am nothing you can name/ I am not,” which is hopeful because we see the narrator finally developing their identity. The first line in this segment shows resistance to what they are being named/told, but then the last line being, “I am not,” is very interesting. Are they now identifying themselves as Not - someone that will refuse any labels placed upon them unless self-defined? Or is this segment more dreary by realizing that in this world of slavery and oppression, they have no option but to accept the labels placed upon them? The vagueness of the ending definitely makes it more interesting to myself, and adds another dimension of pathos to the narrator. 

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Swimming Lessons follows the story of a young immigrant boy who is trying to learn how to swim after moving from an area where the water is too polluted/littered in to swim. He is terrified of the idea of swimming and does not seem to really want to swim. However, despite the title of the story and this overarching story, the narrative takes on a lot more. For instance, the entire story about the elder gentleman who is never named, and the constant flashbacks (or possible exposition from the home country). However, there is a consistent theme throughout this story: that water is a form of rebirth or reinvention. It is clearly referenced a couple times, once early on the narrator says, “Water imagery in my life is recurring. Chaupatty beach, now the high-school swimming pool. The universal symbol of life and regeneration did nothing but frustrate me,” in which he references the home beach and the new swimming pool he finds himself in. 

This is not a new concept. Throughout literature, going all the way back to the origins of Medieval literature, water has always been associated with healing or regeneration. However, in Swimming Lessons this reference is used in more of a character development choice. Each time the narrator steps foot in water, an event happens that changes how he thinks. After his first swimming lessons, the narrator seems more reflective of where he came from and what the conditions were like. By the second time he goes in water (when he is upset that he cannot see the girl’s pubic hairs), he becomes more sympathetic towards others such as the old man, and the final time he goes in water in the bathtub, he becomes more comfortable with his fears. He no longer is terrified of the water and being immersed in water. 

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Kamau Brathwaite’s story, The Marley Manor Shoot/in focuses on the events of July 16th, 1990 in Kingston, Jamaica. The picture included on this post is the same paper that was released when this event actually happened. An interesting characteristic of Brathwaite’s story is that they use several excerpts from papers covering the story. The first paragraph in the image are included on page fourteen of the story as well as other articles. This aspect of the story adds some more weight to what the reader is experiencing because it shows what information the general public would have received after the tragedy. This story puts the reader in a unique position however, since the reader gets a real-time depiction as to what happened on the early morning of June 16th. 

Brathwaite’s stylistic choices for this story are especially interesting as words are shortened or ‘simplified’, letters are enlarged, several images throughout the story and finally the peculiar decision to have varying margins from page to page. These stylistic choices make it seem like we are reading this story through the lens of a local of Jamaica. Some words are improvised such as “fass” being “fast”. It is clear that this is done intentionally to push the idea that English is not their original language. Even the descriptions of some of the areas/events sounds like how the locals would explain it in their own dialect. For instance, “Xcept that ants are never late as these now were too late although they came, their welcome rumbling in [...] a door kick-off at Stannpipe... another traffic axe... & all the other rapes & burns & murthers taking place all over Kingston in the kingdom of this world,” represents not only the love the narrator has to their country of Jamaica, but also shows off the unique dialect of narration. 

Later on, the reader discovers that this story is shining a light on all of the homicides that occurred that year. Approximately 300 people were murdered that year, and the story at the beginning portrays the terror that surrounded the citizens during this time. This is why this story is very effective, it provides an initial story that generates pathos for the innocent civilians from being terrified of the gunshots (shatts), but then gives more exposition for that year in crime and so the sheer amount of violence truly sinks in to the reader.

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Following after the confederate memorials in the United States being removed, Canada has decided to remove statues of Sir John A Macdonald out of respect for the 150,000 Inuit, Métis and First Nations people that he had put into Residential Schools all over Canada. Similarly to in the States, there were pro-removal and then anti-removal. Each side brings up valid points for why the statue should remain up or be taken down, however I believe that they were correct to remove the statue.

Sir John A. Macdonald did a lot for this country and set the foundation for who we are today as a country. For instance, he proposed a bill in 1885 to allow First Nations the right to vote. In a letter to Ojbwa chief Peter Edmund Jones he stated he wanted to put First Nations people on “a footing of equality with the white brethren,” but was unsuccessful in passing this bill. 

As stated in the CBC article however, he was the one deemed responsible for the displacement, starvation and diseases that plagued the First Nations people. Since he is the face known to be responsible for these horrible acts, having the statue still standing can be seen as very offensive to the communities he had wronged. 

to be continued maybe...

Do not mark please :) 

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“The Marrow Thieves”& the Significance of Story

In a story focussed on maintaining tradition and heritage, The Marrow Thieves takes several instances to illustrate the importance of knowing the history of your culture. In the first instance, Frenchie had just met with the rest of the rag-tag group and is told to join in their Story. RiRi, a younger member in the group, is not allowed to partake in Story, and is relegated to her tent. The significance of the youngest not being able to partake in Story shows that Story is going to go over in graphic detail the treatment of their people.

During Story, the youth are treated to the history of their people. It begins from when Canada was originally colonized by the British. Story highlights the oppression and discrimination that their people have suffered. It is important to remember history for it can influence the future and the decisions and attitudes that happen. Story also speaks on how resilient their people have been despite the horrible circumstances that plagued them in the past. 

The significance of Story goes deeper in The Marrow Thieves. It creates a sense of community and family in a group of nomadic individuals. This is another very important theme in The Marrow Thieves as family is recognized as kinship. As spoken on in class, kinship ends up being a fluid and transient idea. Family is both biological, but is also related to the environment and other people included in your culture. We see this in The Marrow Thieves when Frenchie recognizes the Miigwan as his family. Once he finds his father, he tries to decide between his biological family and the adopted family he ended up in. Story ends up being one of the connecting features of the Miigwans and how they see themselves as family rather than random individuals from all over the area. The Story almost ends up being ceremony in showing how family is greater than just blood. 

The second time Story is introduced into The Marrow Thieves, Miigwans focusses more on the effects on the environment. He speaks on how the world has come to be. Through pollution, overpopulation and neglect for self care. The reason given why people cannot dream anymore is “Those that were left worked longer, worked harder” and in turn made them lose control of their mental health. The significance of this story helps the youth generate a perspective on the future and how they are/will be treated. 

As outlined in this post, Story becomes foundational in preparing the next generation for the history of violence and discrimination that will most likely continue. Being aware of your history and how privilege and prejudice affects your community is essential for creating a healthy perspective for the future.

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