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

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...

The Role of Reverend Ambrose

In “A Lesson Before Dying”, there’s a sense that every character has his or her own role to play within the story. For example, Grant’s role is to be a teacher to his own students and Jefferson, Tante Lou’s role is to take care of Miss Emma including Grant, and Jefferson’s role is to learn that he is a man. However, one character that has an unclear role is Reverend Ambrose. He does have the same role as Grant, but he’s ineffective within his role. He is unable to make a connection or have any influence on Jefferson. All the while he criticizes Grant for basically doing what is asked of him. As if Reverend Ambrose is annoyed at Grant, he keeps pushing him to do things that Grant doesn’t want to. Take chapter 27 for example, he tells Grant to teach Jefferson the words of God as he says, “This is a mean world. But there is a better one. I wish to prepare him for that better world. But I need your help”, knowing that Grant is not a religious person (Gaines 214). Personal...

Hakuna Matata

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