I interpret Lucille Clifton's "Wishes for Sons" as a metaphor; it is more like "Wishes for Men," since all men are sons. Her poem seems less like a tender sentiment than a resigned one, as in, she is tired of discrimination and violence toward women, but recognizes that there is likely no end to it. If men had the same anatomy as women and the same experiences as women, they might be less likely to discriminate, hurt, and assign outmoded gender roles to them, but it's not going to happen.
Erika Lopez's story isn't so much about criticising some women's boycott of the tampon industry as describing the (if you will) sticky predicament that women find themselves in--support a greedy industry that holds the almight bloody dollar higher than real concern for women's wellbeing (tampons are made with rayon and cotton, which contain dioxins and pesticides, and they're too expensive), or use a method that is less convenient, less accepted, and sometimes probably seems ridiculous (e.g., applique-ing a gold mandala on your handmade maxi-pad). She presents neither option as appealing. The speaker might be proud of herself for trying an alternative method of flow control (when she washes out her sea sponge tampons in the public bathroom sink) but not ready to face the criticism of other women for taking the path less traveled (so she jams the door closed with her foot). Lopez recognizes the inner voice that reminds people that there is a little bit of hypocrisy in every action they take to "make a difference" (and that includes me. I think everyone hears that voice sometimes).
"A Selection of Cartoons" by Eric Johnson is humorous and thought-provoking, but it also elicited the feeling that I am incredibly naive and will never understand what it is like to be a person of color. I mean, I understand why something is funny, but the realization that some of the situations that the black character finds himself in are based on real-life situations is sobering. I laugh, but I cringe, too, and I recognize that the reason I'm cringing is because I've never had to deal with anything like this, and then that makes me realize the extent of "white privilege," knowing that I'll never have to worry about someone assuming I'm from the ghetto or using me as a footstool. It seems that Johnson, like Lopez, recognizes that social activists are also guilty on occasion of hypocrisy, particularly in the cartoons about the black maid and the black janitor. The most humorous one, to me, is of the guy on the phone saying he's the one with the corsage instead of "I'm the only black guy in the room." I find it ironic because many white people automatically qualify people of color when it is unnecessary, e.g., "This black guy I work with told me about a great restaurant." I believe Johnson's comics probably provide a cathartic release for him, evoke a knowing chuckle from people of color, and, hopefully, make everyone take a look inside to check themselves.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
On poetry and graphics....
How I dream about the words that Lucille Clifton writes. I have many times cursed at the stupid, inconsiderate male who happens to cross my path on a bad day. I usually don’t feel bad for the exact reasons Clifton mentions. Wishes for sons, is a feminist anthem, in it’s own right. While the subject matter is less than hostile, it carries a sense of determination and bite. I felt empowered just reading it. Even though it relays negative images, the overall message expresses a sense of power and magic in being a woman.
Of course, Erika Lopez, is more than familiar with the female anatomy – as her graphic story portrays. I laughed the whole way through, maybe in an attempt to keep from crying and agreeing. Amusing that all of women’s troubles can be simplified to the blood that runs from between your legs. It also never occurred to me, that tampons were a capitalist invention. Or that cats could talk. Her images in the story are perfect in their context and assist in generating humor from the story.
On a completely separate subject, I loved the comic on page 17. The comic was mostly hilarious because it reminded me so much of New College, and Marriot. The lack of cultures and ethnicities, other than upper-middle class white kid, astounds me. Don’t get me wrong I’m a middle class white kid, but it still makes me dumbfounded when I think about the lack of multicultural diversity on campus. Of course, Ham Center really does try to mix it up with all those burritos, nachos, and egg rolls.
Of course, Erika Lopez, is more than familiar with the female anatomy – as her graphic story portrays. I laughed the whole way through, maybe in an attempt to keep from crying and agreeing. Amusing that all of women’s troubles can be simplified to the blood that runs from between your legs. It also never occurred to me, that tampons were a capitalist invention. Or that cats could talk. Her images in the story are perfect in their context and assist in generating humor from the story.
On a completely separate subject, I loved the comic on page 17. The comic was mostly hilarious because it reminded me so much of New College, and Marriot. The lack of cultures and ethnicities, other than upper-middle class white kid, astounds me. Don’t get me wrong I’m a middle class white kid, but it still makes me dumbfounded when I think about the lack of multicultural diversity on campus. Of course, Ham Center really does try to mix it up with all those burritos, nachos, and egg rolls.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Commentary on graphics and poetry (Okay, focuses on the graphics)
Several things jumped out at me throughout the reading of the graphics section of Humor Me. And possibly the most prevalent among them was the (occasional) sense of the absurd that ran through the comics, used to sometimes gloss over a very weighty meaning. The first comic, for example, focuses in on an African American man who is on the phone. The caption, that “I’m wearing a corsage so you’ll know me.”, carries at first a sense of ridiculous humor. Of all the reasons for this man, from the images the only non-white man in the room, to be immediately recognizable, a corsage is not the first on the list. Underneath this apparent absurdity is an accusation, however. The deep accusation that the only way an African American can get into this sort of gathering is still in the position of a ‘servant’ one of the caterer’s employees or something similar to that, as opposed to being one of the corsage-wearing guests.
A similar implication, with far less subtlety involved, comes with the image of a man jumping onto a firefighter safety net. The man, again African American, is shortly to be surrounded by for men in the white hoods of the Ku Klux Klan. The accusation of preferential treatment by firefighters, and extension police and medical personnel, for white folks in comparison to those of color is potent.
In a more relaxed setting, a white psychologist meets with an African American man. The comic draws immediate tension between image and caption, as the psychologist rests his feet upon his patient, while question why he believes that he gets no respect from those around him. The parallel here is deep and powerful, as the calls for respect and truly equal action from the African American population still go unheeded, as portions of the city that have African Americans as the majority of their citizens often go underfunded and cared for in comparison. Yet when the accusation is made, it is often smoothly deflected or ignored by the ‘powers that be’, even as the situation is made worse, (such as when the psychologist asks why he believes he gets no respect, while he contributes to this belief by using his client as an hassock.
A similar implication, with far less subtlety involved, comes with the image of a man jumping onto a firefighter safety net. The man, again African American, is shortly to be surrounded by for men in the white hoods of the Ku Klux Klan. The accusation of preferential treatment by firefighters, and extension police and medical personnel, for white folks in comparison to those of color is potent.
In a more relaxed setting, a white psychologist meets with an African American man. The comic draws immediate tension between image and caption, as the psychologist rests his feet upon his patient, while question why he believes that he gets no respect from those around him. The parallel here is deep and powerful, as the calls for respect and truly equal action from the African American population still go unheeded, as portions of the city that have African Americans as the majority of their citizens often go underfunded and cared for in comparison. Yet when the accusation is made, it is often smoothly deflected or ignored by the ‘powers that be’, even as the situation is made worse, (such as when the psychologist asks why he believes he gets no respect, while he contributes to this belief by using his client as an hassock.
response to poetry and graphic section of humor me
I liked the poem “a crash of rhinos” by Paisley Rekdal. I think it dealt with the concept of sex and desolation in an interesting way. By relating human relationships to animal interactions, Rekdal creates a world where humans are on a hopeless quest for happiness and helpless to determine their fates. Everyone is lonely and lost, futilely searching for meaning in relationships that inherently have no meaning and seeking out bodily satisfaction that is unable to fulfill their spiritual needs. I like the way the poem addresses the reader throughout the poem with lines like “this is how you got here”, making the reader the main character of the poem.
I thought the cartoon with the police staking out a black panther exhibit at the zoo was funny because it was ridiculous. The graphic story at the end of the graphic section was strange. It told all these things that the author did to feel empowered as a woman and to not be shameful of her period. I was a little confused as to the point of the story though. The speaker’s empowerment is a bit ridiculous and is unable to completely free her and in fact it inhibits her in some ways. For example she writes “I walked around my apartment carrying a spider plant between my legs, and singing made up songs about Germaine Greer to classical music written by extremely dead men”. It is clear that she in unable to free herself of the constraints of her (male) society by refusing to buy tampons. The end of the story emphasizes this because she says she is spending the money she saved on therapy bills and she in unable to find lasting peace or happiness.
I thought the cartoon with the police staking out a black panther exhibit at the zoo was funny because it was ridiculous. The graphic story at the end of the graphic section was strange. It told all these things that the author did to feel empowered as a woman and to not be shameful of her period. I was a little confused as to the point of the story though. The speaker’s empowerment is a bit ridiculous and is unable to completely free her and in fact it inhibits her in some ways. For example she writes “I walked around my apartment carrying a spider plant between my legs, and singing made up songs about Germaine Greer to classical music written by extremely dead men”. It is clear that she in unable to free herself of the constraints of her (male) society by refusing to buy tampons. The end of the story emphasizes this because she says she is spending the money she saved on therapy bills and she in unable to find lasting peace or happiness.
Tenderness
The thing that really impresses me when reading any kind of literature is not the wit, or wordplay, or ingenuity, but the humanity that goes into it. For that reason "wishes for sons" was one of my favorite poems. What I interpret in the poem is not cruelty, which, one might get as a first impression, but the desire of a mother to give her sons strength as she understands it. I see a mother who loves her sons so much that she wishes she could have them experience the kind of cramps that make you double over, so that they understand a little better. The agony and humiliation of your period surprising you. The terror of a late period and the immensity of the relief when it finally comes. Those kindsof things are all things men miss in their life. They live in a kind of protective comfort of never having to worry in that way, and for a mother to wish that knowledge as a loving "understand me" gesture, is simply beautiful. Also, female gynos are evil to women...
I did however find quite a few of the cartoons to be horribly clever. The first one, "I'm wearing a corsage so you'll know me" the only black man in the room full of businessmen. It's funny, and yet tender in that he is the one who seems ignorant of his situation, though one would assume he should be the most aware. He is the "token" black male. I like the illustration of the firefighters because it speaks of discrimination by authority figures who should be there to protect everyone regardless. I was also pleased to see that they addressed discrimination against black women, even by black men, such as teh Black Panther cleaner, and the man who "brings his work home" despite his wife's "request." It is terrible how women are so overlooked in race talks.
I did however find quite a few of the cartoons to be horribly clever. The first one, "I'm wearing a corsage so you'll know me" the only black man in the room full of businessmen. It's funny, and yet tender in that he is the one who seems ignorant of his situation, though one would assume he should be the most aware. He is the "token" black male. I like the illustration of the firefighters because it speaks of discrimination by authority figures who should be there to protect everyone regardless. I was also pleased to see that they addressed discrimination against black women, even by black men, such as teh Black Panther cleaner, and the man who "brings his work home" despite his wife's "request." It is terrible how women are so overlooked in race talks.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
The Black Native American Panther Son of Boris and Natasha
Reading the personification of two humorous cartoon characters from a childhood show was unexpected. Who ever takes the time to think about the personal lives of cartoons? We never think about what happens after the artist abandons his/her pen. At least they can have a private life. No journalist from the National Enquirer would think about publishing a fabricated story on cartoons. It would, amazingly, be too beyond belief for an adult, American audience. In this way they are lucky. However, when and if Boris and Natasha want to file for divorce, I would like to see them try to convince a judge of their case.
growing up.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Poems, cartoons and a graphic story
As there are quite a number of poems in the book, I decided that instead of commenting on all of them, I will rather point out one or two that have especially caught my interest:
I liked Lucille Clifton's poem "wishes for sons"quite a lot. Most men tend to take a mother's love for granted. In fact, that's probably what most children do or at least start out doing. However, most sons usually do that with an unconciuous arrogance because they cannot and will never have to understand what a sacrifice it is on a woman's part to be pregnant, to give birth. Just how much, embaressment, pain and emotions are involved. Daughters - as future moms - tend to develop a kind of closer understanding of the matter. I like the poem because it displays the toughts many mothers have at least once in their life when confronted with their sons' blind arrogance of their sacrifice - be it a stupid joke about PMS or just the simple question "What's for dinner today?"
Allison Joseph has made me laugh and made me love her for her poem "In Praise of the Penis". Although a guy, I think this poem is amazing in the way how it describes women's opinion about our little lovestick . How we men often try to draw attention to the little thing, how we make it sound so much more than it really is, how we are so insecure about it sometimes and, however, last but not least, also how women find this ridiculous but love it at the same time. Furthermore, the rhythm is kind of catchy, the words sometimes similar making the reading smooth and fast, sometimes (when describing the penis for example or in the last line) hard, accented and different, slowing down the reading, accentuating parts.
When I first read Tim Seibles' "Natasha in a Mellow Mood" and "Boris by Candlelight", I did not know who these characters were. However, the structure of the poems struck me as very interesting - this statement and reply theme. So I looked up who they are and the lines fell into place. I found it very interesting how the author takes cartoon characters and gives them more of a personality than they usually have. After all, that is what most children do when they watch cartoons. They envision what the heroes do after the episode, where they live, come up with their own stories about them and play in the garden with an invisible Superman. When we grow older, our parents have usually told us a thousand times that that's just TV and so we stop imagining these things. The interesting twist in Seibles' poems was for me that he takes this kind of childish game but uses an adult background of feelings and experience when he lets the characters come to life.
The cartoons and the graphic story:
It was nice skimming through the cartoons. Probably the one that struck me most was the one with the white publisher telling the black writer that his book about black anger won't sell not realising that he himself is probably the very reason for that.
I take the graphic story as a satire on the notion of some women that they can stop pollution by using recycable self-made tampons taking these women's behaviour a little to the extreme. The reason why I think it is a satire and not an appreciation of that movement is that the poem displays a few hidden criticisms. For example, the woman in the story says she "was proud as I [she] rinsed them in public sinks, jamming my [her] foot against the bathroom door". Well, if she was so very proud of it, then there would be no need to hide it. In fact, you would want to show people, to let them know. Also, the resignation on the last page in my opinion holds the message, that in this world, that approach to environmentalism is unrealistic. It to some extent ridicules the practise, making fun of the "tampon boykott cash".
I liked Lucille Clifton's poem "wishes for sons"quite a lot. Most men tend to take a mother's love for granted. In fact, that's probably what most children do or at least start out doing. However, most sons usually do that with an unconciuous arrogance because they cannot and will never have to understand what a sacrifice it is on a woman's part to be pregnant, to give birth. Just how much, embaressment, pain and emotions are involved. Daughters - as future moms - tend to develop a kind of closer understanding of the matter. I like the poem because it displays the toughts many mothers have at least once in their life when confronted with their sons' blind arrogance of their sacrifice - be it a stupid joke about PMS or just the simple question "What's for dinner today?"
Allison Joseph has made me laugh and made me love her for her poem "In Praise of the Penis". Although a guy, I think this poem is amazing in the way how it describes women's opinion about our little lovestick . How we men often try to draw attention to the little thing, how we make it sound so much more than it really is, how we are so insecure about it sometimes and, however, last but not least, also how women find this ridiculous but love it at the same time. Furthermore, the rhythm is kind of catchy, the words sometimes similar making the reading smooth and fast, sometimes (when describing the penis for example or in the last line) hard, accented and different, slowing down the reading, accentuating parts.
When I first read Tim Seibles' "Natasha in a Mellow Mood" and "Boris by Candlelight", I did not know who these characters were. However, the structure of the poems struck me as very interesting - this statement and reply theme. So I looked up who they are and the lines fell into place. I found it very interesting how the author takes cartoon characters and gives them more of a personality than they usually have. After all, that is what most children do when they watch cartoons. They envision what the heroes do after the episode, where they live, come up with their own stories about them and play in the garden with an invisible Superman. When we grow older, our parents have usually told us a thousand times that that's just TV and so we stop imagining these things. The interesting twist in Seibles' poems was for me that he takes this kind of childish game but uses an adult background of feelings and experience when he lets the characters come to life.
The cartoons and the graphic story:
It was nice skimming through the cartoons. Probably the one that struck me most was the one with the white publisher telling the black writer that his book about black anger won't sell not realising that he himself is probably the very reason for that.
I take the graphic story as a satire on the notion of some women that they can stop pollution by using recycable self-made tampons taking these women's behaviour a little to the extreme. The reason why I think it is a satire and not an appreciation of that movement is that the poem displays a few hidden criticisms. For example, the woman in the story says she "was proud as I [she] rinsed them in public sinks, jamming my [her] foot against the bathroom door". Well, if she was so very proud of it, then there would be no need to hide it. In fact, you would want to show people, to let them know. Also, the resignation on the last page in my opinion holds the message, that in this world, that approach to environmentalism is unrealistic. It to some extent ridicules the practise, making fun of the "tampon boykott cash".
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Some Short stories
Alexie's Assimilation showed how the prejudice in society could affect a marriage between the common American couple. Mary Lynn was feeling a case of boredom with her "white" husband. She felt it was safe. This is a result of the social stereotypes of the different races in a society. Mary Lynn feels that if she were to sleep with a man of different race that is looked down upon it would make some part of her life or her self more exciting. The fact that she likes that an Indian man has scars on his stomach shows that she is trying to fulfill her stereotype of an Indian man as being dangerous. This danger that Mary Lynn seeks is a false way of overcoming the problems with her and her marriage. Her problem being that she is bored. Her husband, Jeremiah, feels committed to marriage and not to Mary Lynn. This is also a result of the social pressures that is placed on marriage. Both Mary Lynn and Jeremiah are so afraid of breaking social conventions than just being happy whether with each other or on their own. They are so caught up on keeping a marriage and family together because society says that is what is most important. It leaves them no room to love each other as individuals until the very end of the story.
The short story, Pyramid, I found interesting. It had strong imagery and left me guessing what the story meant. It seems like a scholar is doing some research on ancient Mayan markings in a pyramid. However, the character that seems to be an archeologist spray paints words that you find in a subway station on the precious pyramid. He refers to this as his “work”, which gives it more meaning than just graffiti. He has a purpose that is not clear in the story, but it’s more than just a prank. He wants some theory of his to be proven which means this could be for other researches to look at and for the main character to observe their reactions. The story is humorous in a way, but strange because there is little explanation. The Glass Eye also had a dark humor to it. The character Folio seems to be a recluse that plays with his eye a lot and doesn’t get out much since he was so amazed to see a woman in a bikini. The glass eye he had before the new eye allowed him to see what he wanted. He wanted to see the woman as thin and attractive. Once the woman gave him a new eye and he tried it out he saw the woman as fat. It is unknown whether the new eye showed reality or if he was just a madman.
I felt sympathy for the character in I Know What You Did Last Summer. She struggled with her love of poetry and her own works. The setting was during the grunge era in music and she was on tour with very famous bands during that time. She was pressured to succeed with her poetry and with her desire to have a good summer. She finds that people don’t appreciate the art of poetry anymore or at least in the places she goes. She was placed in a “corner” near the bathroom to read her poetry and people were just yelling rude things at her. She notices the annoyance of young teens at the time and is bothered by their ignorance. She points out how the different classes dress how they think the lower class teens dress, but yet the lower class population doesn’t even dress that way because they would be seen as dangerous. She notices that poetry of her time has become cliché and stereotypical over her summer. This makes her shift her goals to making good burritos at a stand. She becomes bored with society, poetry, and even making burritos at the end. This shows the boredom with meeting the expectations that society pressures people to be and accept as what’s ‘in’ at the time.
The short story, Pyramid, I found interesting. It had strong imagery and left me guessing what the story meant. It seems like a scholar is doing some research on ancient Mayan markings in a pyramid. However, the character that seems to be an archeologist spray paints words that you find in a subway station on the precious pyramid. He refers to this as his “work”, which gives it more meaning than just graffiti. He has a purpose that is not clear in the story, but it’s more than just a prank. He wants some theory of his to be proven which means this could be for other researches to look at and for the main character to observe their reactions. The story is humorous in a way, but strange because there is little explanation. The Glass Eye also had a dark humor to it. The character Folio seems to be a recluse that plays with his eye a lot and doesn’t get out much since he was so amazed to see a woman in a bikini. The glass eye he had before the new eye allowed him to see what he wanted. He wanted to see the woman as thin and attractive. Once the woman gave him a new eye and he tried it out he saw the woman as fat. It is unknown whether the new eye showed reality or if he was just a madman.
I felt sympathy for the character in I Know What You Did Last Summer. She struggled with her love of poetry and her own works. The setting was during the grunge era in music and she was on tour with very famous bands during that time. She was pressured to succeed with her poetry and with her desire to have a good summer. She finds that people don’t appreciate the art of poetry anymore or at least in the places she goes. She was placed in a “corner” near the bathroom to read her poetry and people were just yelling rude things at her. She notices the annoyance of young teens at the time and is bothered by their ignorance. She points out how the different classes dress how they think the lower class teens dress, but yet the lower class population doesn’t even dress that way because they would be seen as dangerous. She notices that poetry of her time has become cliché and stereotypical over her summer. This makes her shift her goals to making good burritos at a stand. She becomes bored with society, poetry, and even making burritos at the end. This shows the boredom with meeting the expectations that society pressures people to be and accept as what’s ‘in’ at the time.
I'm assuming you're all interested in what I thought...
I enjoyed all the fiction stories from Humor Me for their terrible sense of reality. Each story was grounded in an all too real social conflict. The threat of a failing marriage, the emptiness of untried potential and ambition, the fulfillment of pseudo-Oedipal desires, all pulsing under the surface with racial, sex-related, and class prejudices that make each character feel the pressure of their particular situation all the more. Nelson's Run is fascinating because of the conflict that never arrises. If the father had realized what his son was up to, you can easily imagine him flying off the handle and disowning Nelson or grinning broadly and giving Nelson a slap on the back. Deciding which reaction was more likely put the story in two lights after I read it.
Despite the "realness" of each piece, they tend to end in a rather happy ending or at least an ending that ties everything neatly into a knot of satisfaction. Nelson never has to deal with his father's discovery, Mary Lynn and Jerimiah forgive each other without really needing to confess, Art sets off in the direction of a new life with his memories in tow, and Juan gets the best deal out of all of them. You'd think he'd be engaged in constant self-conflict with the lie he is living with such a kind family and the betrayal he commits towards the family he left behind. However, Juan does exactly what everyone would proclaim to do in his situation. When watching a movie or reading a book and the character comes to these sort of crossroads where he can have considerable comfort with the sacrifice of shame or self-loathing, most audiences chide the character for his decision to behave honorably and go through hell to keep the esteem of the family still in Mexico. Juan does not disappoint the audience with yet another show of chivalry--he lives the double life to the fullest and supposedly lives "happily ever after."
Now, of course, there are few pieces that don't portray any sort of standard. Ray Gonzalez's 5 short fictions are all very symbolic. When taken at face value, they're all darkly humorous, but when looking deeper you get a meaning behind the madness--which is the case with most madness. Jalepeno Contest's events and outcome can be easily applied to any competitive situation, especially pointless ones that gain nothing but fleeting fame or glory.
Despite the "realness" of each piece, they tend to end in a rather happy ending or at least an ending that ties everything neatly into a knot of satisfaction. Nelson never has to deal with his father's discovery, Mary Lynn and Jerimiah forgive each other without really needing to confess, Art sets off in the direction of a new life with his memories in tow, and Juan gets the best deal out of all of them. You'd think he'd be engaged in constant self-conflict with the lie he is living with such a kind family and the betrayal he commits towards the family he left behind. However, Juan does exactly what everyone would proclaim to do in his situation. When watching a movie or reading a book and the character comes to these sort of crossroads where he can have considerable comfort with the sacrifice of shame or self-loathing, most audiences chide the character for his decision to behave honorably and go through hell to keep the esteem of the family still in Mexico. Juan does not disappoint the audience with yet another show of chivalry--he lives the double life to the fullest and supposedly lives "happily ever after."
Now, of course, there are few pieces that don't portray any sort of standard. Ray Gonzalez's 5 short fictions are all very symbolic. When taken at face value, they're all darkly humorous, but when looking deeper you get a meaning behind the madness--which is the case with most madness. Jalepeno Contest's events and outcome can be easily applied to any competitive situation, especially pointless ones that gain nothing but fleeting fame or glory.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Hurmor Me assignment
The humor in this anthology seemed to me to be a hard-won and toughened humor, the kind of humor that come out of ironic adversity and a will to make the best of things. My favorite is probably “Nelson’s Run”, just because it’s so well written and told from such an interesting perspective. I think it’s really interesting to look at a person through the lens of where they come from and what influence them when they were impressionable. Family is intrinsically tied up in race and heritage for the obvious reason that you family is where those identities come from. There is something to be said for genealogy when examining any individual.
I also really like “Godoy Lives” because it had the theme of recreation (and creepily enough, reanimation) and of gaining a new life entirely separate from the previous one. I liked that it combined one death with another life, creating a new family link in a way that isn’t explored in “Nelson’s Run”, a family of influence, a chosen family as opposed to the family you can’t help but have.
These stories didn’t have me laughing out loud, but humor did linger in a sense of tireless optimism, the kind of attitude that says “c’est la vie” when something bad happens, and allows people to get on better because of it.
I also really like “Godoy Lives” because it had the theme of recreation (and creepily enough, reanimation) and of gaining a new life entirely separate from the previous one. I liked that it combined one death with another life, creating a new family link in a way that isn’t explored in “Nelson’s Run”, a family of influence, a chosen family as opposed to the family you can’t help but have.
These stories didn’t have me laughing out loud, but humor did linger in a sense of tireless optimism, the kind of attitude that says “c’est la vie” when something bad happens, and allows people to get on better because of it.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Ambiguity and Rezervation
What is striking about Sherman Alexie's Assimilation is the subtle ambiguity as to the race of the main character Mary Lynn. She is identified as an "Indian" early on in the story, but with the overuse of the supposedly politically correct "Native American" distinction in a particularly American culture, one is almost immediately drawn to assume Mary Lynn's familial lineage stretches to India. The initial images and details of womanhood and sexual frustration, and all therein that is wrapped up in self-identity, quite easily overpower the references to Sitting Bull and Crow Fair, etc. Moreover, the common lay-reader would likely struggle with the term "Cour d'Alene" and perhaps at least recognizing the French roots, would likely miss the historical context of the French Jesuits and fur traders that engaged with early native peoples, notably the Huron, in the Upper Midwest Americas and Canada.
What is more, is that we dismiss the word "indigenous", when Mary describes her sought lover, as meaning someone born in India - indigenous to India, and from this we interpret either, first, that Mary Lynn is not a "full-blood" Indian, or that she has ethnically mixed parents. Also we may tend to think the name Mary Lynn as being quite American, fitting of choice for a family immigrating to America or for a first child born in America (despite the present trend of reviving ethnically-identifying names). It seems reasonable that, judging from the title and implied time period based on Mary's apparent age, that her parents would choose a name for her that would help with her ethnic acclamation, especially if we again infer that she is light-skinned because of her parents' different ethnicities. It is our American-cowboys-and-savages mindset that assumes that if Mary were a squaw her name would be something more like Mary Gentle Pheasant.
It is not until Mary explicitly begins talking about growing up on the "rez" and listening to powwow CD's that we realize, Oh she's that kind of Indian. However, we're still not sure, because we're immediately confronted with the image of the man she is vying for working in a local coffee shop. Now we've got ourselves thinking, first about sex, then whether or not this guy owns the shop, and sooner or later we're on to wondering about all the 711's in Montana, and why we're so racist. It is racist, but I've had hundreds of cups of coffee all over the U.S. and I've never seen a Native American behind the counter. Also, I've been to a lot of different counters all over the U.S. and I've seen, met, and personally know a fair number of Indian's and Pakistani's who work behind them. (Essentially, I am as racist as my previous experiences allow.)
The things is, all people learn about Sitting Bull in eighth grade history. A bunch of people have read Zane Grey and like his stories about the rugged west whether or not they understand the implications of manifest destiny on indigenous peoples. We also don't know how long it took her to find the first Indian man "she could find." I don't know how hard it is to find a Native American in Montana as compared to finding a person from the country of India. The location itself adds to the ambiguity. If the story was set in a major metropolitan city for instance, one can assume that it would have been harder to find a Native American than and Indian or someone you could confuse with an Indian as is common with generalities.
All in all, the story is meant to highlight the distinctions of race at certain intervals, it is not a glaring racial expose and not meant to be. It's a story of the struggle between love, sex, family and success set against a racial backdrop, and Alexie does well to keep the reader unsure, while focussing on the consequences and conflicts of, and inherit in, Mary Lynn's racial identity from the outset.
Reaction to Fiction Section of Humor Me
A short story must, in a limited amount of space, create a scene and characters with a past, present, and future. It inevitably has to leave some things out, details to be extrapolated by the reader. I think finding a balance between providing the reader enough specifics and letting them fill the gaps for themselves is a very hard thing to accomplish. That is why I paid particular attention to the shorter works by Ray Gonzalez. I especially liked his story ‘The Glass Eye”. “The Glass Eye” leaves many things unexplained. It presents us with a character, Folio, who has a glass eye but doesn’t explain anything about how he got it. When another character, a pretty girl in a yellow bikini, comes to his door and gives him another artificial eye, one that changes her appearance greatly, the reader is faced with many questions. I had to wonder, “Who is the girl in relation to Folio?”, “What is the magic of the new eye?”, “Which form is the girl’s true form?”, and “Why does Folio love the girl in her second form, when she is obese?” I think the great value of this story is that these questions are left explicitly unanswered. Gonzalez purposefully paints us a bizarre scene and then abandons us to interpret it as we will.
Overall, I found the content of the fiction section of Humor Me to be strange and surprisingly somber. The stories did not strike me as humorous at all. Rather many left me feeling puzzled about their strange plots and sad at the unjust order of the world they created. For example I was very troubled by Daniel Chacon’s story “Godoy Lives”. In it Juan, crosses the border pretending to be a man named Miguel Godoy but then when he encounters Godoy’s family he assumes the role of Godoy and abandons his old life and his family. It was very disturbing to think of a person actually doing what Juan does in this story, and it was all the more troubling because Chacon creates a realistic character in Juan, a man who simply chooses the easy way out, in the dilemma he is presented. I liked this story because it challenged my assumptions that Juan would make the morally righteous decision to tell the truth about his identity or return to his wife at some point in the story.
The entire book Humor Me also presents an interesting perspective since it is “an anthology of humor by writers of color”, so the issue of race pervades even the stories like the two I discussed, that are seemingly not racially charged.
Overall, I found the content of the fiction section of Humor Me to be strange and surprisingly somber. The stories did not strike me as humorous at all. Rather many left me feeling puzzled about their strange plots and sad at the unjust order of the world they created. For example I was very troubled by Daniel Chacon’s story “Godoy Lives”. In it Juan, crosses the border pretending to be a man named Miguel Godoy but then when he encounters Godoy’s family he assumes the role of Godoy and abandons his old life and his family. It was very disturbing to think of a person actually doing what Juan does in this story, and it was all the more troubling because Chacon creates a realistic character in Juan, a man who simply chooses the easy way out, in the dilemma he is presented. I liked this story because it challenged my assumptions that Juan would make the morally righteous decision to tell the truth about his identity or return to his wife at some point in the story.
The entire book Humor Me also presents an interesting perspective since it is “an anthology of humor by writers of color”, so the issue of race pervades even the stories like the two I discussed, that are seemingly not racially charged.
Distance in marriage in Assimilation
Sherman Alexie’s Assimilation struck me as a very interesting take on the issue of multi-racial couples. Normally you think of the main issue in a multi-racial couple being external pressures from people not being accepting of a multi-racial union. In this story this is not the issues, however. In this story it seems that normal marital problems are complicated, both in the story, and in the minds of the characters, by the issue of race.
The main character describes the frustrations in her marriage. She is disinterested in the sex, despite the fact that her husband seems to be happy with it. She describes a scenario in the supermarket in which she becomes strongly attracted to a rather homely random woman. She also describes her frustration with her husbands need to be involved in everything he sees going on. She says that neither of them love each other and that her husband merely loves the marriage itself. All these issues are issues that could be present in a marriage without a race issue.
Race, however, adds another aspect to each of these matters. Her general disinterest in sex within her marriage turns into a desire to have sex with an Indian man. Though she first realized attraction outside of her marriage to a white woman, she decides that it is not a general desire for infidelity, but a desire to have sex with an Indian man. She explains that white men were always safe and dependable in her mind, so she was always with white men. An Indian man, then, is dangerous and exciting. She sees her husband’s need to get involved in everything as a result of his rage that she had seen “in other white men when their wishes and desires were ignored”. At the end of the story the suicide of a woman makes both characters realize that they want to be together. Despite their differences in experience of life and the fact that they have grown apart over the years, they, “loved each other across the distance”.
The main character describes the frustrations in her marriage. She is disinterested in the sex, despite the fact that her husband seems to be happy with it. She describes a scenario in the supermarket in which she becomes strongly attracted to a rather homely random woman. She also describes her frustration with her husbands need to be involved in everything he sees going on. She says that neither of them love each other and that her husband merely loves the marriage itself. All these issues are issues that could be present in a marriage without a race issue.
Race, however, adds another aspect to each of these matters. Her general disinterest in sex within her marriage turns into a desire to have sex with an Indian man. Though she first realized attraction outside of her marriage to a white woman, she decides that it is not a general desire for infidelity, but a desire to have sex with an Indian man. She explains that white men were always safe and dependable in her mind, so she was always with white men. An Indian man, then, is dangerous and exciting. She sees her husband’s need to get involved in everything as a result of his rage that she had seen “in other white men when their wishes and desires were ignored”. At the end of the story the suicide of a woman makes both characters realize that they want to be together. Despite their differences in experience of life and the fact that they have grown apart over the years, they, “loved each other across the distance”.
oh, nelson.
The collection of short stories in Humor Me are drenched in irony and a mordant humor about race and ethnicity as seen through an American viewpoint. One of the most prominent example of this irony is in Peter Bacho's "Nelson's Run" - which, in addition to the slightly bigoted view (completely overexaggerated) shown within the first prologue, shows mainly sexual stereotypes of the Filipino-American persona. The lecturer, Dr. Bulaklak (from the Tagalog word for "to bloom") illustrates the history of the Dona of Samar (a white woman)'s personality cult, including events such as an upswing in a desire for a "whiter, brighter" Philippines and the need for role models culled from the colonizing power. Donny Osmond is a gift to the small island of Leyte. The Filipinos (in this parallel world) have an overwhelming desire to acquire US citizenship and start voting Republican, becoming consumers in the US capitalist system and honor the Catholic roots of their culture through "vote for the prettiest martyr" beauty pagents of transgendered individuals. This history extends to an anecdote about the 1992 election, reports of her "blessing" the campaign of Bing Bong Big by "playing his flute". This works against her image as a character akin to the Virgin Mary and yet endears her even more greatly to the people, who not only endorse Bing Bong, who not only protect her "sacred virginity", but upon prompting from Bing Bong, started sucking, fondling and licking each other. The prologue abruptly ends here and picks up with a bizarre postscript line: Dr. Bulaklak is looking to marry a woman - or at least sleep with one and offers his citizenship in the US as a prize for whomever will take it.
The second prologue of "Nelson's Run" is entitled "an overworked axiom - a tree and its falling fruit" - which serves as both foreshadowing (as Nelson takes after his father with his rapid exchange of female companions) and an ironic tone - an illustration of his moral decay as it comes. The mother attempts to shield Nelson from the tree itself and upon its discovery, much like the Biblical Adam, he cannot return to the unaware state of the Garden of Eden. He has been exposed to the truth: his father is the man in the Polaroid picture. The father that had been stashed in a drawer, never to be found, has been revealed and exposed as a factor to shape the rest of Nelson's life.
At first, Nelson's father is portrayed as a rich man, a real estate shark who trades female companion for female companion, asking Nelson to refer to all of them as "Mom" and asking that he not become attached to them. Upon questioning, Nelson's father explains that, as a rich white man, it is his duty to practice Social Darwinism and eliminate the weak link - the women - and continue onward, looking for ways to spread his seed. He mentions racial superiority against all groups, especially the Chinaman. Women "resent their place" (under the men) and refuse to adhere to their niche. Ergo, this oppression he does of them is perfectly alright and justified.
The grand irony of the whole piece occurs when Nelson's father brings home a islander and proclaims her perfection as the demure, exotic type. By using Thomas Jefferson as example, suddenly, this misogynistic and racist outlook is fine! This, I suppose, seems to be "humorous" in some way, at least picking on Jefferson and comparing his political and social policy to his personal life. There is no such comparison with Nelson's father. The events that drive Nelson to having sex with his "Mom" are humorous in an ironic sort of way.
Sylvia, Nelson's "mom", is using Nelson's dad to stay in the country. She is being used as a status symbol. Is it any surprise, then, when, much like the Philippines, she rises up and stabs her oppressor with a nail file? Eventually, much like the country she represents, she is forgotten in favor of a newer, younger prospect by Nelson.
(Really, I enjoyed this story, it was just... bizarre... borderline incestual... and historical enough for me to wince. After uncovering some of the clever allegorical usages and references, this story and I were square. The others within the collections felt a great deal like this, too.)
The second prologue of "Nelson's Run" is entitled "an overworked axiom - a tree and its falling fruit" - which serves as both foreshadowing (as Nelson takes after his father with his rapid exchange of female companions) and an ironic tone - an illustration of his moral decay as it comes. The mother attempts to shield Nelson from the tree itself and upon its discovery, much like the Biblical Adam, he cannot return to the unaware state of the Garden of Eden. He has been exposed to the truth: his father is the man in the Polaroid picture. The father that had been stashed in a drawer, never to be found, has been revealed and exposed as a factor to shape the rest of Nelson's life.
At first, Nelson's father is portrayed as a rich man, a real estate shark who trades female companion for female companion, asking Nelson to refer to all of them as "Mom" and asking that he not become attached to them. Upon questioning, Nelson's father explains that, as a rich white man, it is his duty to practice Social Darwinism and eliminate the weak link - the women - and continue onward, looking for ways to spread his seed. He mentions racial superiority against all groups, especially the Chinaman. Women "resent their place" (under the men) and refuse to adhere to their niche. Ergo, this oppression he does of them is perfectly alright and justified.
The grand irony of the whole piece occurs when Nelson's father brings home a islander and proclaims her perfection as the demure, exotic type. By using Thomas Jefferson as example, suddenly, this misogynistic and racist outlook is fine! This, I suppose, seems to be "humorous" in some way, at least picking on Jefferson and comparing his political and social policy to his personal life. There is no such comparison with Nelson's father. The events that drive Nelson to having sex with his "Mom" are humorous in an ironic sort of way.
Sylvia, Nelson's "mom", is using Nelson's dad to stay in the country. She is being used as a status symbol. Is it any surprise, then, when, much like the Philippines, she rises up and stabs her oppressor with a nail file? Eventually, much like the country she represents, she is forgotten in favor of a newer, younger prospect by Nelson.
(Really, I enjoyed this story, it was just... bizarre... borderline incestual... and historical enough for me to wince. After uncovering some of the clever allegorical usages and references, this story and I were square. The others within the collections felt a great deal like this, too.)
I think the thing that struck me the most while reading these short stories was the fact that almost every single one of these stories was humorous, yes, but humorous in a different way than seeing Ernest Goes to Jail or something as relatively ridiculous. This humor was a more serious, truthful look at the real life injustice and biases that exist in our world. In some of the stories the inequalities and negativity are triumphed over, but in others, like “Nelson’s Run” by Peter Bacho, we are left with this feeling that racial disproportion will continue in our world for years to come, tracing through the veins of the sons and daughters of the ignorant.
And I was also wondering how much more humorous these stories would have been if I had ever been in situations like that. For example, I found Daniel Chacon’s “Godoy Lives” to be my favorite of the stories. I thought it was hilarious. But I wonder if I had ever been in a situation similar, if I had ever tried to illegally cross the border, if I would have found the situation to be ten times more hilarious. And if I also would have understood the emotions the main character encounters as he leaves his life in Mexico behind and creates a new one in America.
I think these stories are great ways to approach the racial discrimination that still exists in the world today. I think the ability to laugh at the past and the crappy things that happen to you in your life is the best way to keep moving on and getting ahead of the rest of the fools in the world. But I also appreciate how although there is laughing and there is humor, there is still this sense of empowerment, this sense that “although I may get kicked and although as a minority I sometimes get dealt a crappy hand, I am not going to let it stop me.”
And I was also wondering how much more humorous these stories would have been if I had ever been in situations like that. For example, I found Daniel Chacon’s “Godoy Lives” to be my favorite of the stories. I thought it was hilarious. But I wonder if I had ever been in a situation similar, if I had ever tried to illegally cross the border, if I would have found the situation to be ten times more hilarious. And if I also would have understood the emotions the main character encounters as he leaves his life in Mexico behind and creates a new one in America.
I think these stories are great ways to approach the racial discrimination that still exists in the world today. I think the ability to laugh at the past and the crappy things that happen to you in your life is the best way to keep moving on and getting ahead of the rest of the fools in the world. But I also appreciate how although there is laughing and there is humor, there is still this sense of empowerment, this sense that “although I may get kicked and although as a minority I sometimes get dealt a crappy hand, I am not going to let it stop me.”
I think the most interesting part of delving into Humor Me - an anthology of humor by writers of color was assimilating the title of the anthology, and therefore my expectations of the text, with the actual writings presented. My preconceived notions of humor led me to anticipate a lightly entertaining and perhaps slightly satirical collection of stories spanning the ethnographic chart; however, the stories were actually quite miserably depressing sometimes, to the level where they rose up and became humorous once again.
For example, in the story “Assimilation,” an American Indian woman desires nothing but to sleep with an Indian man - any Indian man. She feels incomplete without achieving this task, which is disturbing on many levels: Does she really need a man to complete her? Is it necessary to sleep with someone of your own race to be whole? Does race really matter all that much? Still, while this internal dilemma forces a sort of grievance for humanity, there is a bold humor in the way Mary Lynn performs her “seduction,” and in the banal conversation she and her husband share afterwards. There is a sort of humor found only in misery.
The most disturbing story seemed to me to be “Godoy Lives,” the tale of an illegal immigrant assimilating himself into the United States. While I don’t disapprove of his tactics of entering America (I think if we had more lax immigration laws we wouldn’t have to worry about such circumstances) I find the way he effortlessly forgets his home and family and renews himself quite disconcerting. Is it really that simple to forget everything that means home and love? The story makes it seem as if it is, and I’m afraid it may be correct. Yet there is a sort of gloomy amusement found in this forgetfulness - again, a glimpse at the dark humor that penetrates throughout this anthology.
For example, in the story “Assimilation,” an American Indian woman desires nothing but to sleep with an Indian man - any Indian man. She feels incomplete without achieving this task, which is disturbing on many levels: Does she really need a man to complete her? Is it necessary to sleep with someone of your own race to be whole? Does race really matter all that much? Still, while this internal dilemma forces a sort of grievance for humanity, there is a bold humor in the way Mary Lynn performs her “seduction,” and in the banal conversation she and her husband share afterwards. There is a sort of humor found only in misery.
The most disturbing story seemed to me to be “Godoy Lives,” the tale of an illegal immigrant assimilating himself into the United States. While I don’t disapprove of his tactics of entering America (I think if we had more lax immigration laws we wouldn’t have to worry about such circumstances) I find the way he effortlessly forgets his home and family and renews himself quite disconcerting. Is it really that simple to forget everything that means home and love? The story makes it seem as if it is, and I’m afraid it may be correct. Yet there is a sort of gloomy amusement found in this forgetfulness - again, a glimpse at the dark humor that penetrates throughout this anthology.
Reaction
After reading many of these stories i've been lead to believe that humor me is more of the idea that one humor the writer as he articulates his feelings on society, more than anything having to do with comedy. I felt that some of the stories had a comic edge to them but what I felt linked all the stories together was varying social commentaries. Take for example the first and second stories, Alexie's assimilation and Nelson's Run which both dealt, as did many of the stories, with race issues and issues of loyalty.
For me personally the most fascinating story was Nelson's run. The idea of the young boy being so un emotionally involved with his surroundings and his lack of loyality to his family made me wonder how he could have gotten to that point. The real kicker for came at the end when his lover from Manilla stabs his father and pleads with him to help her find a lawyer and he wonders to himself about what his date will be like. It was so cold. I had a hard time relating to a reaction like that and because of that, found it all the more interesting.
The second familial story that I found interesting as well as disturbing was the story about the brother and the jalapeños, called the Jalapeno Contest by Ray Gonzalez. I just couldn't wrap my head around the idea that these guys were so desperate to compete against eachother that they would make themselves almost sick to win and watch eachother. I couldn't help but wonder as I read it what would have driven them to treat each other like this. What was their motivation, aside from winning? It killed me.
For me personally the most fascinating story was Nelson's run. The idea of the young boy being so un emotionally involved with his surroundings and his lack of loyality to his family made me wonder how he could have gotten to that point. The real kicker for came at the end when his lover from Manilla stabs his father and pleads with him to help her find a lawyer and he wonders to himself about what his date will be like. It was so cold. I had a hard time relating to a reaction like that and because of that, found it all the more interesting.
The second familial story that I found interesting as well as disturbing was the story about the brother and the jalapeños, called the Jalapeno Contest by Ray Gonzalez. I just couldn't wrap my head around the idea that these guys were so desperate to compete against eachother that they would make themselves almost sick to win and watch eachother. I couldn't help but wonder as I read it what would have driven them to treat each other like this. What was their motivation, aside from winning? It killed me.
Internal Angst leads to External Change
In Alexie’s Assimilation, the main character seemed to feel trapped in her life and seeking dramatic change. She seemed frantic for change to happen immediately, and took drastic steps to influence it. She did this haphazardly, not completely analyzing the reasoning behind her actions. She longed to sleep with an Indian man, and that was all that she knew. She was not concerned of anything other than this, this would solve her aching desires because it was what she did not have. She had married a man who was white, and this was what she thought may be the root of her issue.
But when she found an Indian man, and attempted to use him as a catalyst, she was unimpressed and unchanged. She told herself that she hated him like she hated her husband. She found no solace from him, until she was with her husband and then she dreamt of him in a different light. The Indian man was sacred when she was not with him because he was not white and not her husband. He was nothing to her except a tangible representation of the ideal conception of what could be different in her life. It was not until the couple were stopped on the bridge and the woman was left alone without her husband that she expressed love for him. This love was partially based on familiarity and partially on respect. I believe that this experience did not cause her to change, but rather to become aware of the internal conflict that fueled her angst if only for a moment. She ended up in the same place that the story began, married to her very white and familiar husband. But she found comfort in that rather than confinement.
This story is very similar to Serros’ I Know What You Did Last Summer. The main character in this book also began the story seeking change. Her expectations were also high in regard to the experience that she was seeking. Her experience happen slower and more gradually than the woman in the previously discussed story, but similar trends are very apparent. She slowly realized that she was unfulfilled and disappointed and that she was not getting what she had expected. The girl grew weary quickly of the entire trip and sought more change. In the end she too ended up where she had begun. She was still searching and expecting her inner angst to be solved by external change.
But when she found an Indian man, and attempted to use him as a catalyst, she was unimpressed and unchanged. She told herself that she hated him like she hated her husband. She found no solace from him, until she was with her husband and then she dreamt of him in a different light. The Indian man was sacred when she was not with him because he was not white and not her husband. He was nothing to her except a tangible representation of the ideal conception of what could be different in her life. It was not until the couple were stopped on the bridge and the woman was left alone without her husband that she expressed love for him. This love was partially based on familiarity and partially on respect. I believe that this experience did not cause her to change, but rather to become aware of the internal conflict that fueled her angst if only for a moment. She ended up in the same place that the story began, married to her very white and familiar husband. But she found comfort in that rather than confinement.
This story is very similar to Serros’ I Know What You Did Last Summer. The main character in this book also began the story seeking change. Her expectations were also high in regard to the experience that she was seeking. Her experience happen slower and more gradually than the woman in the previously discussed story, but similar trends are very apparent. She slowly realized that she was unfulfilled and disappointed and that she was not getting what she had expected. The girl grew weary quickly of the entire trip and sought more change. In the end she too ended up where she had begun. She was still searching and expecting her inner angst to be solved by external change.
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