The two stories "The Swimmer" by Cheever and "Good Country People" by O'Connor were stories that were told in the same way because they both have the beginning, middle and end. In "the swimmer," Cheever has this man that took his life for granted, and went for his goal. He wanted to swim across the county and at each yard he stopped to swim the length of the pool memories, or a certain place of recongition was written about each. To him the journey had gone by so fast, but when he got back to where he started and time hit him in the face that his family has up and left him, his good friend was ill and his house was sold. In "Good Country People," O'Connor has the story based on a family and a friend and her family. Mrs. Hopewell had two daughters. One of 15 that was married with a baby on the way, and another who was 32 with blonde hair and a fake leg. They meet this boy, Manley Pointer who came to the house selling bibles, but ended up in the end being bad news for Joy-Hulga. He left her stranded with her one real leg in a barn in the middle of the woods. I think both these stories were like any other story being told, and of course in the end had a point to the whole thing. "The swimmer," in not to take what you dont have and then forget what you do have, and in "Good Country People," you shouldn't let your guard down on people until your ready to face the pain afterwards.
These two stories have the same "telling" idea but the structure is a little different, because in "Good Country People" that saying is constantly repeated throughout the text. That oncce you get to know people and have an idea they get labels. In the Swimmer, the man didn't think of the result of him leaving to swim across the county. In O'Connor's story you were more involved in the characters head and what they were thinking at point, but in Cheever's it was much more narrative of what the characters were doing. Both these stories had unhappy endings, and i dont like reading those kind of stories.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Their Eyes Were Watching God. (Treatment of Women)
In the novel Their eyes were watching god, women were treated much different then what they are today. Women were considered a property of men. They could control what they do, wear, talk to and hit them.
"What she doin coming back here in dem overhalls? Can't she find no dress to put on?-Where's dat blue satin dress she left here in?- Where all dat money her husband took and died and left her?-What dat ole forty year ole 'omen doin' wid her hair swingin' down her back lak some young gal?- Where she left dat young lad of a boy she went off here wid?-Thought she was going to marry?-Where he left her?-What he done wid all her money?-Betcha he off wid some gal so young she ain't even got no hairs-why she don't stay in her class?" (Page 2)
This paragraph basically sums up what the people of the town expected from women. They addressed first of her clothing. Women were to be seen in dresses, nothing other then dresses. Being in a certain class is where you are supposed to stay. When she ran off with Tea Cake, everyone talked a big game when he was the one she truly loved. Money also had a lot to do with her class. They expected Janie to mourn the rest of her life from her dead husband, and appreciate what her husband left her. Her hair was long and beautiful but the town still talked because you have to be "young" in order to let your hair how you want it to be.
"why dont you go on and see whu Mrs. Bogle want? Whut you waitin' on?"... "Naw it ain't neither. You ain't put it where Ah told yuh tuh. If you'd git yo' mind out de streets and keep it on yo' business maybe you could git somethin' straight sometimes." (Page 70)
This dialect of Joe talking to Janie is an example of how the men looked down upon the women. He talked to her with no respect, and basically told her that she wasn't good enough at what she does. This was at the time when everyone was watching the boys play chess and she was very interested and Joe demanded her to not watch. He could have said to take care of the customer so she can come out and continue watching. Men were allowed to be rude and disrespectful to women and they all took it, and the town thought of it as the right way.
"What she doin coming back here in dem overhalls? Can't she find no dress to put on?-Where's dat blue satin dress she left here in?- Where all dat money her husband took and died and left her?-What dat ole forty year ole 'omen doin' wid her hair swingin' down her back lak some young gal?- Where she left dat young lad of a boy she went off here wid?-Thought she was going to marry?-Where he left her?-What he done wid all her money?-Betcha he off wid some gal so young she ain't even got no hairs-why she don't stay in her class?" (Page 2)
This paragraph basically sums up what the people of the town expected from women. They addressed first of her clothing. Women were to be seen in dresses, nothing other then dresses. Being in a certain class is where you are supposed to stay. When she ran off with Tea Cake, everyone talked a big game when he was the one she truly loved. Money also had a lot to do with her class. They expected Janie to mourn the rest of her life from her dead husband, and appreciate what her husband left her. Her hair was long and beautiful but the town still talked because you have to be "young" in order to let your hair how you want it to be.
"why dont you go on and see whu Mrs. Bogle want? Whut you waitin' on?"... "Naw it ain't neither. You ain't put it where Ah told yuh tuh. If you'd git yo' mind out de streets and keep it on yo' business maybe you could git somethin' straight sometimes." (Page 70)
This dialect of Joe talking to Janie is an example of how the men looked down upon the women. He talked to her with no respect, and basically told her that she wasn't good enough at what she does. This was at the time when everyone was watching the boys play chess and she was very interested and Joe demanded her to not watch. He could have said to take care of the customer so she can come out and continue watching. Men were allowed to be rude and disrespectful to women and they all took it, and the town thought of it as the right way.
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