Posts from now on are for English-African American Lit.

The Curious Case of Janie

In “Their Eyes Are Watching God” by Zora Hurston, the main character, Janie, leaves readers with ambivalent feelings towards her. Everyone can agree that she is an independent woman as she does what her heart tells her. That could, however, present herself as an arrogant character. For example, Logan is the ideal husband for Janie according to her grandma. Janie would marry Logan, but then leaves him when she meets Jody. For some readers, this act by Janie is considered a betrayal. Logan never mistreated her or hurt her, but because Janie has an unrealistic idea of love, she thinks she would be better off with Jody. However, if you look at this from another perspective, you might find Janie to be the victim in all of this. Did she really wanted to marry Logan in the first place? No, her grandmother forced her into this marriage. Therefore, when she finds Jody, who fits her idea of love, it’s understandable why she left Logan. All of this happens after her grandmother’s death, so J...

Relationship Between Denver and Sethe

Throughout the reading of Beloved , I have noticed a trend in the relationship between Sethe and Denver. Denver always seems slightly tentative towards Sethe and we know why. She is scared that her mother might kill her just like she did with Beloved. For instance, on page 206 (according to my version of the book), Denver states, “When she finishes the combing and starts the braiding, I get sleepy. I want to go to sleep but I know If I do I won’t wake up“. It is disturbing to see the distrust Denver has for her mom, despite no ill intent from Sethe. The animosity between them, however, hasn’t always existed. There is a point in time where Denver is clueless of Sethe’s past. It’s probable that their relationship might have actually been a normal mother and daughter relationship. The truth comes out after Denver’s incident with the bullies at her school. The effect of the truth impacts Denver so much to the point where she is un...

The Revenge of the Odyssey

From our class discussion last week, a topic came up that I thought was very interesting. It was that the Odyssey has a series of revenge cycles. Throughout the book, almost every character has wanted to take revenge on someone. The most notable of these is Odysseus’ mass murder of the suitors. They ransacked his house and tried to court his wife, so it makes sense that he would be looking to get back at them. Another example of revenge in the Odyssey is when Odysseus decides to blind Polyphemus after he killed Odysseus’ crew members. This incident set off Poseidon’s rage and he trapped Odysseus on Calypso's island for 7 years. The cycles of revenge continue to the very end of the book when the suitors’ fathers want to murder Odysseus. I think that all of these revenge cycles were set off by one incident: Odysseus blinding Polyphemus. If he had kept his cool and not blinded Polyphemus, then everything would have been fine. He had another chance to save himself and crew, simply...

Hakuna Matata

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