Question #1- "A Good Man is Hard to Find"
1. Having reviewed the lecture on O’Connor, explain why you think recognizing and understanding the concept of the grotesque is important to understand and more fully appreciate the texts.
After I heard/read the lecture on O’Connor I think recognizing and understanding the concept of grotesque is important to understand and appreciate in texts because it allows readers to take a different perspective on the story than they normally would. It adds more symbolism to the literature, which allows the readers to analyze the context they are reading in more than one way. For example, in the story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” in the beginning of the story a description that really stands out and gave a strong sense of what the mother’s character was going to be like was, “a young woman in slacks, whose face was as broad and innocent as a cabbage and was tied around with a green head-kerchief that had two points on the top like rabbit’s ears.” Based on this description, I instantly thought of a small, cute, shy, and timid bunny rabbit. Rabbits are also known for being fertile. This set the tone for how the mother’s character was going to be portrayed throughout the story. A woman with three children that doesn’t seem to have much of a voice throughout the story.
Question # 1- "Everyday Use"
1. Is this story best read through a feminist or a Marxist lens? What makes you think so? Be sure to use direct quotes to support your answer.
I think this story “Everyday Use” is best read through a feminist lens. I think this because the author relates the mother’s character in a way that makes her seem like she can do anything a man can. For example the mother says“I can kill and clean a hog mercilessly as a man ...I can work outside all day, breaking ice to get water for washing ; I can eat pork liver cooked over fire minutes after it comes steaming from the hog.” The mother’s character, Mama, is regarded with having power and being head of her household. “One winter I knocked a bull calf straight in the brain between the eyes with a sledge hammer and had the meat hung up to chill before nightfall.” Women weren’t usually viewed in this light by society. Also there is no mention of a father or husband and the story’s focus is on three main characters which are women.
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Interesting perspective, I had a hard time seeing the feminist perspective, other than in wondering whether Dee's new found interest in her heredity that she seemed to try so hard in the past to get away from, had to do with how she wanted to appear to her new man.
ReplyDeleteI went straight to the Marxist perspective. I found it ironic that Dee talked about how she "couldn't bear it any longer being named after the people who opress me" as she seems to opress all of those around her.
I agree with you that the grotesque style adds symbolism to a story, and understanding this better prepares the reader to grasp the writer's intent. I think that knowing that this is the style used allows the reader to better focus on the true meaning of the story without being shocked at the violence or any other extreme abnormalities involved. Although this is a great way for an author to shock the reader and force them to pay attention, some may get too shocked to learn the intended meaning. I also found it a little strange that the mother did not have much of a voice, but this just allowed the grandmother's character to be built up even more.
ReplyDeleteI do completely agree with you about how understanding the concept of the grotesque is very important to understanding this literature and others like it. I actually had to read it twice because I didn’t hear the lecture on grotesque, but when reread the story it opened a new perspective; as simple as the examples of the comparing humans to animal behaviors. Another example given was when the grandmother's hand is compared to a snack about to attack the Misfits arm which alarmed him due to her words.
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