Blog 2, Option 5

You've gotta ask yourself a question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, punk?

The story that caught my attention for this blog was The Lottery. I think that Shirley Jackson was trying to show the negative aspects of communism. In the story, Mr. Adams tells Old Man Warner that in the north, the towns are considering giving up the lottery (Jackson, 4). Old Man Warner then says nothing good comes of giving up the lottery. When I read this, I immediately thought of how communist was (and in many places is) a political theory that was being fought out by countries like the U.S. Everyone feared the communists, besides those in charge of the communist parties, which seamed to be represented by Old Man Warner. The children were the first to gather the stones (Jackson, 1). The stones symbolized the tools of destruction when I read this. I viewed this as the younger generation who get riled up in excitement about things they don’t understand will be their demise. The young get excited about communism because they want equality for all without realizing it only holds back and destroys. By the time they realize it, it is often too late. I would absolutely recommend this read. It is interesting and shows a new light not only on communist, but also on many aspects of life. The ambiguity of the short story is wonderful. It can be related to smoking or drinking, how the young are excited in it without realizing its destruction until later in life, for example. I give it a 5 simply because it makes such a simple point, but doesn’t show the point until the very end. The reader is intrigued as to what the lottery is all about until the end when all of the symbolism is tied together. I loved it. I thought it was brilliant.

The Soundtrack to Bone's Life

The Soundtrack to Her Life

Music can describe things about you that you didn’t even know you were feeling. It can make you understand situations just because you now have a sense of how you should feel. When reading Bastard Out of Carolina by, Dorothy Allison I couldn’t help but think of these 5 songs; “Concrete Angel”, “Pretty/Unpretty”, “My Little Girl”, “Invisible”, and “Warrior”.

“Concrete Angel” (Martina Mcbride)

 The reason why I chose this song is that it depicts the sexual scenes throughout thewhole novel. The part that struck me the most is the very beginning of the song when she sings:

 “She walks to school with the lunch she packed

Nobody knows what she's holdin' back

Wearin' the same dress she wore yesterday

She hides the bruises with linen and lace”

It reminded me a lot of when Daddy Glenn beat poor Bone. “The belt went up and came down. Fire along my thighs” (Allison, 234). The whole time I was reading this I couldn’t help but picture this song and even the music video where you see a young girl get beat by her mother and you see the bruises of the aftermath.

“Pretty/Unpretty”(Glee Version):

This song kept coming back up in my mind every time I heard the Boatwright’s refer to each other as being ugly. In this song they talk about feeling pretty and looking inside who you are to feel pretty. This song reminded me of a few scenes throughout the novel. One being when Anney talks about Aunt Ruth and when she tells Bone “I wish I could be sure Ruth knew how Beautiful she was” (Allison, 231). Also another scene that reminded me of this song was when the Boatwright’s also call each other ugly “Ruth was never pretty, you know” (Allison, 229). To me when I was reading this novel I couldn’t help but feel like this song is something Bone would say:

“I wish I could tie you up in my shoes

Make you feel unpretty too”

I feel like Bone would want someone to see what she was going through in her family and then maybe someone could tell her that she really was pretty.

           

“My Little Girl”(Tim Mcgraw):

 Now this may seem strange that I put this song in this soundtrack, but as I was reading the book I couldn’t help but think of this song. I didn’t think it because of a certain scene it was more of because I wanted Bone to feel this love from her father. I also know that in the novel Bone wishes and wonders why Daddy Glenn doesn’t love her. This broke my heart because everyone should have that father figure that you know will always love you:

             “Go on, take on this whole world.

            But to me you know you'll always be, my little girl.”

“Invisible” (Hunter Hayes):

This song reminded me a lot of how I pictured Bone was feeling:

“And you've been trying for so long

        To find out where your place is”

This to me describes Bone. No one understands her or what she is going through except for her and I just wanted there to be someone there for her so she could relate to and not feel so alone. When Bone was talking about liking the feeling of being numb I related it to feeling invisible, or at least wanting to feel invisible.  “It was kind of interesting being drunk. I liked the numb part” (Allison, 243). This is why I feel like this song pertains to Bone because to me being numb is being invisible.

            “Warrior” (Demi Lovato):

 The reason why I chose this song was not because of the novel but because of the author. When we talked about the author’s story I remember thinking of this song. In the song Demi talks about the struggle she went through and how it affected her but how she broke through all that by telling her story:

     “This is a story that I have never told

     I gotta get this off my chest to let it go

       I need to take back the light inside you stole

                   You're a criminal”

It really reminded me of when the author told her mom to read the story yet her mom just thought it was funny and didn’t pay attention to the actual truth. This novel is the author’s story of her life and struggle. Just like Demi she has beat the struggle and now uses her story to help others. Many people believe that this novel gives a voice to the kids who never had one. This is why I chose this song for this novel.

Option 5

            I would recommend Bastard out of Carolina, by Dorothy Allison to a friend with the warning that it is a tough read and covers sensitive topics. Even though it covers topics that are difficult to read, I think it was well written. Going through something such as Bone went through, being beaten by her step father and the masturbation, can be a bit overwhelming because it is something most of us would rather not talk about. Allison paints very graphic picture of these events that make most people uncomfortable, the family and personal problems Bone encounters, many others in the world go through too. I think Allison is trying to portray to people who can sympathize with Bone that you may think staying quite will be in the best interest of everyone but it’s not. If Bone had confided in her Aunt Raylene maybe she could have saved herself sooner. Bone struggles with who she is continuously going back and forth with the idea that the way daddy Glen treats her being her fault and then it not. Bone’s mother furthers the struggle by saying things like,” Bone. Is it because of Ruth? Is that why you started yelling at Glen? Honey you know you can’t do that (Allison, pg. 235).” Although no matter how true this may be it puts even more pressure on Bone to watch everything she does so she doesn’t set off Glen. After Raylene sees the marks on Bone after Glen beats her Bone states, “’Mama’, I whimpered, and tried to push up to her. ‘ I made him made. I did’ (Allison, pg. 247).” When everyone is around Bone tries to take the blame for Glen’s actions but when she’s left alone she starts to think about how she is worth something and it isn’t her fault. Part of Bones’ struggle could be from the lack of love she is desperate for. There are multiple times where she states she just wants a fathers love but doesn’t know what she did wrong not to receive that love. Anney claimed she loved her daughter but her actions said other wise. Unfortunately there are many children who go through situations similar to Bone’s. As a society we just feel uncomfortable when we hear about it because we don’t want to believe any thing like this could really happen, but it does. By writing this Novel Allison is able to reach out to children like Bone and help them find their voice and open societies eyes to the reality of the children in these situations. As a result of the gruesome topic of the book people will generally say they don’t like it. I would have to disagree with this though. Some authors may be reluctant to write about such a topic but Allison does a good job of showing readers an issue in society that most victims, or people in general would keep quite about because it goes over many personal problems and details.

Amanda Patino: Blog Option #4

Identities are often viewed as the way we are perceived by the outside world. But how do we receive our identities? Are we born with a pre-conceived identity or are we able to create our own? In the novel Bastard Out of Carolina, written by Dorothy Allison, the main character Bone struggles to find her own voice and identity.

Although nowhere near the level of Bone’s story, I can relate to her in the way that I, myself am still trying to find my own voice and identity. Growing up with two brothers as the middle child could be at times hard, but overall an experience that has made me evolve. Throughout our younger years, my brothers and I were able to try our hands at various activities that interested us each. But the tides soon turned and as we all became older, it seemed as if I was getting compared to each one of my brothers for their achievements-even my younger brother!

Throughout my earlier school years I had been a student of the many teachers who had my older brother as a previous student and each year I would find myself being compared to him on what seemed to be a daily basis. Each teacher would have the same comments “ Oh wow, you’re Stephen’s younger sister! He was such a great and bright student! Hopefully you are too”! If you could picture the most annoyed face, then you would be visualizing the look on my face each year I had to endure statements like that.

As the years passed, my older brother Stephen proved to be very good at academics and a bright student dominating the education system. My younger brother JC began to show signs of being a talented artist and has developed his skills to the point of being in all AP art classes and praised by his art teachers and fellow classmates. And then there’s me- the middle child stuck in-between, trying to figure out my life.

Although I don’t have much figured out yet about what I want to be when I grow up or what I want to be known for, I do know that I want to be my own person. I know that I am a dreamer, a do-gooder, and an optimist. By trying new things and pushing myself beyond my comfort zone, I will be able to make the identity I want for myself.  As the great William Shakespeare once said, “we know what we are, but not what we may be”.

Blog Number 2: Option Number 3

            In 1992 Dorothy Allison published a controversial novel that both allowed her to tell her child hood story while helping many people open up about their own personal experiences as well. However, like most great pieces of literature, critics have exploded with opinions on writing about such a vulgar topic.

            Bastard of Carolina, by Dorothy Allison, takes place is Greenville, South Carolina. It is here that the story of the Boatwright family, a family known for drinking, and rough men, unfolds. At the core of the novel is a girl named Ruth Anne Boatwright, more commonly known as Bone throughout the novel. Bone, is a bastard child with an illegitimate birth certificate who grows up to find herself immersed in a conflicting household and relationship triangle.

            In summary, Bone’s mother Anney marries a man by the name of Glen when she is very young. Later in the text Anney becomes pregnant. While Anney is delivering the stillborn, Glen rapes Bone in the parking lot of the hospital. This initial rape in the parking lot is the first real attack on Bone in the novel that leads into a downward spiral of events in Bones life as her stepfather continually rapes, beats, and emotionally tortures her. The cumulating abuse gives Bone bruises, broken bones, and a haunted heart. Throughout the novel many characters face inner battles. Bone struggles between silence and speaking up to regain her dignity before she looses everything.  Glen battles against what he knows is the right thing to do and what his temper makes him do to Bone. Anney also is at war with herself to make the decision to finally leave Glen or stay with him.

            An article in The New York Times, tells of a very fascinating yet disturbing account of domestic violence within Hollywood. Woody Allen, born december 1st, 1935 is an American Director, screenwriter, and playwright. Woody Allen married Mia Farrow. 

           Woody Allen and Mia Farrow's daughter Dylan Farrow made public a personal account of her tormenting experiences in a letter to the New York Times, in this letter she tells of Woody Allen's sexual abuse towards her during her childhood.

         Dylan Farrow, in her letter, says, “I was seven years old, Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim, closet-like attic on the second floor of our house. He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother’s electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me.” She goes on to explain that for as long as she can remember Woody Allen had been doing things to her that she did not like. She reveals of how he would make her get in bed with him when he was in his underwear, touch her thighs inappropriately, and place his head in her naked lap. I was immediately drawn to this article because these things were the exact things that were happening to Bone. Bone says in the novel when explaining what Glen was doing to her, “He pinned me between his hip and the sink, lifting me slightly and bending me over. I reached out and caught hold of the porcelain, trying not to grab at him, not to touch him.”

            In both Bastard of Carolina and Dylan Farrows letter to the New York Times, women stand up to reveal their deepest and most disturbing life stories. Furthermore, both Bone and Dylan are victims of sexual assault from their stepfathers.

         Later in Dylan Farrows letters she tells of how after many years of silence she asks her mom if what her stepfather is doing to her is normal. This is turn leads to huge family conflicts. Her mother whom is concerned is also worried that she may be lying. Bone experiences many of these same conflicts when trying to tell what has happened to her. Dylan explains that after she tells her mother this, the doctors and lawyers start getting involved and she must re account her story again and again. Bone experiences interactions with the doctors when Glen abuses her one-day so bad that she must see a doctor for her crushed tailbone. The doctor immediately assumes domestic violence and asks Bone is she has been abused.

         In Bastard of Carolina, Anney leaves Glen after learning about his violent tendencies towards Bone only to come running back to him again and again. Similarly, Dylan Farrow say’s, “my mother declined to pursue criminal charges [. . .] Woody Allen was never convicted of any crime. That he got away with what he did to me haunted me as I grew up. I was stricken with guilt.”

Both mothers in each story struggle immensely with the love they have for their child along with the love they feel towards their husbands. I feel like both mothers allow the dark truth to be repressed in their minds to the point where it is almost as the abuse is not a reality. In Chapter 5 of Bastard of Carolina, Bone say’s “When he let me go, there was a bruise, and Mama saw it right away” (Allison, 70). From this quote the readers knows early on that whether Anney admitted it or not she knew there was domestic violence occurring, and essentially it was her decision to stay with Glen.

            Both Dorothy Allison writing this novel, and Dylan Farrow publishing this letter about her celebrity father, made many people angry. In my opinion however I am extremely glad that these women stand up for themselves and work to share their stories with millions of people despite the embarrassment, shame, guilt, and difficulties in inflicted on their life. Literature should seek to both excite a reader emotionally and work to teach a lesson. Literature is not made only to please a reader because it is something that exposes a story and sometimes life is not pretty and things are messy. Good books in my opinion make you really think, they make you angry, sad, sympathetic, and lastly they are relatable. Millions who read this article and novel have learned that breaking your silence can be one of the hardest yet rewarding experiences in ones life.

http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/01/an-open-letter-from-dylan-farrow/