The Yellow Wallpaper

            “The Yellow Wallpaper” is one of the few stories that I remember being assigned to read in high school that everyone seemed to have a similar reaction to, and that reaction can be summed up in one word that appears several times throughout the text: creepy. On the surface this story is about a mentally ill woman who finds both fear and comfort in the wallpaper of the room in which her physician husband has her confined. She says that she sees women “creeping” around her garden and outside of her windows, and she even sees a woman creeping inside her own room behind the yellow wallpaper. I think this story is commenting on the mental health of women and how it was once assumed that they needed to comply with certain social norms to be happy and healthy. Even the narrator feels that she should be a mother, be more social, and be a better wife to her husband because she feels that those things will make her better; but it is those things that cause her exhaustion. It’s not until she feels the freedom of being able to creep about the gardens and wallpaper that she feels better mentally. When she is able to experience and write about the things she wants outside of the room, even if it’s all in her head, she has a better outlook on her own health.

            This story’s handling of mental illness is important to note. The narrator’s husband is a physician, and even he cannot see that something is seriously wrong with his wife. He thinks she’s just being an irrational woman and babies her like she’s not an adult herself. She has no say in the way she’s treated for her sickness even though she tries to make it clear she is not well. Mental health is a complex topic that’s not even understood today as well as we’d like it to be. It wasn’t even until the late 20^th century that lobotomies stopped being common practice for simple disorders that we understand so much better today. It is relevant that this story was published in 1892. People had so little grasp on what to do with mentally ill individuals. It’s just not something that was understood. If the story was written more from the husband’s perspective I could probably see him having a different side to the story. Maybe he just didn’t want his wife committed to an asylum where she’d probably be abused, neglected, and experimented upon. Maybe that’s why he took her out to the house away from society and hoped she’d get better, but that could also be a stretch on my part.

            I really like this story.

Desiree's Baby/ Wife of His Youth

Desiree’s Baby was actually a little bit of what I expected. Once it was revealed that there was something peculiar about the child I somewhat knew where the story was headed, but it was still well-told so I never lost interest. The messed up thing is that people still disown their own children for similar reasons. One of my good friends has slight albinism, and both of her parents are black. Her father left her when she was just a baby, accusing the mother of cheating with a white man even when he knew the condition; and it’s crazy because he and his daughter look just alike. Maybe it was some pride thing that led him to leave his daughter, but I can’t even imagine doing that. Skin color is such a superficial thing, yet it’s such a big issue.

The Wife of His Youth stirred up a lot of emotions in me. I went from pissed off to sad, and then from sad to optimistic. Being of a lighter complexion myself, as far as black people go, I’m often judged by others that are darker than me. They say that I’m not really black or that I think I’m too good. Light Skin vs. Dark Skin is a sickening issue to me, and it’s a very real one. It’s an odd distinction that black people give themselves, and it’s helpful to no one. On the other hand, light skinned people are often perceived to be more attractive than those with dark skin, so everyone loses in this game. It really upset me in the beginning of the story that there was a society for mixed people who felt that associating with those of darker skin would be demeaning. I hear people talk about stuff like that today. Hell, get on twitter and search “Team Light Skin” and it’s like an internet society of lighter people who are black but don’t see the big picture. It’s a mess. Anyway, the old woman’s story was quite moving to me. I really wanted her to find her husband, and once I realized it was Mr. Ryder I was shocked. I didn’t think that he would acknowledge her, but he did.  At least the story ended on an optimistic note. I do like that it addressed issues of light vs. dark skin, though. That’s something that I wish would end.

The Luck of Roaring Camp

I’d actually never heard of Bret Harte or this story before today, so I went into it not knowing at all what to expect. Overall I’d say that I liked this story. It was cool to see the transition of the settlers’ behavior from rowdy and rough to caring for the infant, whose mother they did not care for. I feel like I’ve read a very similar story to this one, or maybe I’ve seen a loose film or TV adaptation. I’m not sure really, but the story seems familiar- barbarians who change their ways to raise a child. I’ll have to think about that a little bit. I like that the birth of the child gave hope to the settlers, and they seemed to value themselves more after Tommy was born. Once a town where death and violence were commonplace, Tommy gave the men a reason to be civil. I did not enjoy the way the story ended, with Luck dying. However, I did appreciate the irony that water is what brought the gold to the gulches and took the Luck from the settlers.  

Mark Twain

These two stories were entertaining to say the least. I’m not sure how much I actually understood from them, but I’ll give it a try.

I really liked the Diaries of Adam and Eve. It was great to see another side to that story, and to hear it directly from the minds of Adam and Eve was great. This style of writing generally appeals to me. The Color Purple is one of my favorite novels, and it’s told very much like a diary; and letters are a major part of that book. Back to Adam and Eve though, my favorite parts of this story came from the miscommunication between the two. Eve’s curiosity leads her to be intrigued by Adam. She thought that he was just shy and that she was helping him when really he was avoiding her and thought she was an annoying creature. The two have their differences, but they love one another in the end. I think this story has quite a sweet ending. Maybe I’m being too simple, but the fact that they could find Eden in one another even after losing paradise made me smile. If there’s more commentary there about the way men and women communicate or if there’s a more religious context to the story, I’d be glad to hear about it in class.

Journalism in Tennessee definitely caught me off guard. The Narrator is just sitting there editing an article and gets maimed in a great many ways. I had to read it several times before I could really piece together what was happening. It was confusing at first, but then I found it hilarious. After I was done laughing I started thinking about how this story might be relevant to politics, especially considering the past election. The narrator wrote a rather straight-forward story that his editor hated due to his own personal bias, and that kind of thing is still quite apparent today. I didn’t take much time to really get into an analysis of this story, but I look forward to the discussion. Should be enlightening.

Emily Dickinson

I can’t say that I actually enjoy Emily Dickinson’s work, but some of it is rather interesting. Amongst the poems that seem to be all about death I found a couple that I think have a slightly more optimistic tone, and I mean slightly.

The first stanza of “Success is Counted Sweetest” is motivating to me. To quote one of my favorite songs, “You’ve got to lose to know how to win.” A similar message is apparent in this poem. Those who only know success may rest on their laurels and expect it to happen all the time even without putting forth an effort- those sweet nectars of victory are taken for granted because such a person has never tasted a bitter defeat. I just think that it’s important to always have something to strive for even when you feel like you’re on top. There is always something you can do to improve yourself.

Another poem I appreciate, “I Like a Look of Agony”, isn’t a happy poem; but I think it’s important. Every day here, and especially around student election time, I’m surrounded by people who have smiles permanently plastered across their faces. Don’t get me wrong, I love to smile. I would say I laugh more than the average person. I’m quite happy, chipper, and downright silly sometimes. I’m no enemy to happiness, but as human beings we have bad days sometimes. There is just no way a person can be happy inside and out all day every day. I’ve seen kids break down crying at night after keeping up this charade of overwhelming sunshine, and they’ll vent to me about how they feel like they have to be perfect to be liked. People are far from perfect. I’d much rather be friends with someone who walks around looking pissed off every now and then than someone who is trying to hide real feelings. After a while it just seems phony. People try too hard to please others, making themselves out to be something they’re not even when on the inside they’re hurt and just need a hug.

Whitman and Dickinson

Facing West from California's Shores and The Dalliance of the Eagles are definitely my favorites of the Walt Whitman poems in our readings. The former is just interesting to think about. Whitman feels that people have come a long way around the world from the east, where he believes civilization began; yet that region is still so mysterious to him. I particularly like that he refers to himself as a child even in his mature age. Being older doesn't necessarily mean that we know everything about the world, where we're from, or where we'll go. The latter poem is just a great observation of nature's ferocious grace. The eagles locking claws and spiraling downward towards rocks or the sea and separating just before impact has always been an interesting thing to me. It's like some kind of war dance. It's both scary and beautiful.
Reading Emily Dickinson generally puts me in an odd mood. It's not necessarily a bad one, but I'm certainly not getting much hope or humor our of her poems. They're dark and rather depressing. Her obsession with death isn't a bad thing, but that's all I seem to get from her. Maybe I'm not reading far enough into her works, and a class discussion can help me flesh out some of the ideas she's working with.

Poe

          I distinctly remember the first time I read The Tell-Tale Heart. My 8 year-old self was sitting in the front seat of my elder sister’s beat-up ’92 Bonneville waiting for her to drive me to McDonald’s. I cracked open the short story anthology and happened to land on the Edgar Allen Poe tale, which I’d just heard some of my 4th grade friends (the big kids) talking about the other day at recess. I was instantly hooked to the murder plot and the seemingly sane nature of the would-be murderer. As the story went on my heart raced faster and faster until the conclusion when he gives in to the beating heart and confesses his crime. I read it two more times that night. While I’m not quite as riveted now, reading this story at five in the morning just before work, I can say that I still enjoy it quite a bit. I’m easily attracted to psychological thrillers and suspenseful stories, and the final paragraph is quite suspenseful. When it’s clear that the protagonist is going through some internal struggle, going from calm to frantic, I can’t help but grin. Not that I think murder or madness is funny, but it’s just a well-written paragraph and a good conclusion to the story.
         
          I also appreciate The Cask of Amontillado, mostly for the descriptions of the catacombs that become a tomb for the unsuspecting victim. I don’t like this story as much as Tell-Tale Heart, but it’s definitely not a bad read. Poe seems to get my darker sense of humor, which I like. Even though ultimately this story features a man being buried alive, I find it rather funny in a way that I cannot explain; and I’d like to think that Poe had fun writing it. Fortunato is far from fortunate by the end of the story. The revenge aspect of the story is something I like as well. Good revenge stories that end with the protagonist getting what he or she wanted are often ones that I enjoy. On a somewhat related note, Kill Bill is one of my favorite films.

          I really enjoyed both stories and can't wait for today's presentation.