March 16, 2006
My Body is a Temple...
O'Connor, '''A Temple of the Holy Ghost'' -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)
"I dont dispute him. This is the way he wanted me to be."
This statment connect the child and the freak at the fair. The freak was referring to its deformity and the child was referring to her impure thoughts. The child immediately remembers this statement as reported from the other girls visit at the fair when she started having ugly thoughts in the "presence of god".
Im unsure of why the little girl was simply referred to as the child, unless O'Connor was inviting the reader to take that childs place in the story...
What also bothers me is the "maturity" of the two older girls sexually and the innocence of the younger one. There is only 2 years difference but it is completely noticable. I mean the 14 years olds were permitted to witness the transsexual at the fair compared to the 12 year olds idea of childrearing is "seeing" a rabbit spit babies out of its mouth. Thats a huge difference.
Posted by KayleeNorth at 05:15 PM | Comments (2)
A Stroke.... of good fortune...
O'Connor, ''A Stroke of Good Fortune'' -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)
"She felt her face drawn puckered: two born dead one died the first year and one ran under like a dried yellow apple no she was only thirty-four years old, she was old."
My first reaction to this story was amazement at her ignorance of the situation. She gained weight, had morning sickness, shortness of breath, her husbands recent hapiness, and just about every other indicator for pregnancy. I knew she was pregnant from the beginning when she described what the fortune teller had told her. Although, I must admit that I thought that she would have fell down the stairs or something of that nature to end the childs life and probably hers simply due to the depressing nature of the previous O'Connors we've read.
She sees pregnancy and motherhood as being old and making her age rapidly. She views children as heathens and then refers to her brother as worthless... I think that there is association between her brother and her unborn fetus, or rather her idea of what the fetus will develop into.
Posted by KayleeNorth at 04:39 PM | Comments (1)
The Life You Save May Be Your Own
O'Connor, ''The Life You Save May Be Your Own'' -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)
"And I wouldnt let a man have her but you because I seen you would do right."
This statement sticks strongly in my head because the mother is putting all her trust into Mr. Shiftlet. And then as the story goes on it is shown how exactly wrong this is. He leaves her at a diner with no knowledge of where she is, how to get home, or even survival instincts.
Then as he is driving he sees the road sign that says "Drive Carefully: The Life You Save May Be Your Own." I dont understand where this comes from. Plus it says how he is even more depressed being alone... So why wouldnt he just take the deaf girl with him. What damage would she have done? He could have atleast taken her closer to home to where she would have a slight chance of finding her way... Then the random outburst from the hitchhiker... I dont see the relevance of it. Was Shiftlet talking about his mother or Mrs. Lucynell??
I like the rain at the end. But it is also a weird request from Shiftlet. He prays, "Break forth and wash the slime from this earth!". When in all realness he is slime for taking advantage of the Lucynells. So I take it as he is praying for his own end.
Posted by KayleeNorth at 01:23 AM | Comments (0)
The River
O'Connor, ''The River'' -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)
"... I wont go back to the apartment then, I'll go under the river."
This statement shows Bevel/Harry's dislike for the apartment and being with his parents. The words of the preacher hold more appeal to him than his home and parents. By this statement alone it is noticeable that Harrys parents and homelife is less than perfect. Especially when Harry is so young (4 or 5). When a child is so young it is often hard for them to except anything bad about their parents and here Harry would rather go to the "Kingdom of Christ" with some strangers than be at the apartment with his parents.
Posted by KayleeNorth at 12:34 AM | Comments (0)
Good man is hard to find especially when your in Florida...
O'Connor, ''A Good Man Is Hard to Find'' -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)
The grandmother role in this story is rather contradicting. At the beginning she seems to be the old wise grandmother nagging at the family about what would be a better choice for their vacation. Then the mention of the Misfit makes her agruement even stronger. She claims, "I wouldnt take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it.".
Then later on in the story her "memory" of this dirt road begins their series of misfortunate events. Her convincing her son to go down this dirt road, caused the cat to escape from the bag, the car to wreck, and finally the death of all of them except for the cat.
This is why I consider the grandmother a contradicting character. The quote I mentioned above was actually the exact opposite than what unfolded in the story. But in a way I question who is to fault the untimely deaths. Whether grandma for leading them down the road or Bailey for not going to Tennessee like the grandmother wanted in the first place.
Posted by KayleeNorth at 12:16 AM | Comments (0)