Passing/Compromise

I really enjoyed the rest of the novel Passing. It was left very open ended which I thought was an interesting way to leave something. Most novels when finished have an ending that tells you how things happened or the way things happened. With this novel you really get to decided what happened to Clarie on your own. I believe Irene pushed Clarie out of the window. All the motives were there and a lot of things in the book point to Irene. It would be very interesting to talk to the author and figure out what really did happen.

The folk play Compromise was interesting. I enjoyed reading this because it's something that I haven't read to much of. It's a good chance of reading. The poetry confuses me, and I enjoy the novels, but plays are fun to read at times to. At the beginning I was confused while I was reading with who was talking and who that person was, but after getting part of the way through it I was realizing who was who and it was making sense. The only thing with this play that I didn't like is that I don't understand what happened to Annie and Jack. Did I miss something when I was reading or does it not tell you why she came home crying? Maybe someone could clear that up for me.

Passing

Before I post anything about the reading I wanted to comment about the class discussion we had on Wednesday. I was shocked to hear that there are a lot of things in the news right now about lynching. A few weekends ago I was in Georgia for a wedding and I did notice that it wasn't uncommon to see a Confederate flag. The story in class that really had me surprised was the one about the teacher who put a noose around a black students neck. What makes an individual think it's okay to bring a noose into school to teach lynching and put it around a black students neck, or any students neck for that matter? I was very disturbed by the whole story and I reall hope this teacher looses their job. How stupid can some people be?

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I think it's nice taking a break from the poetry to read another novel. So far I really like Passing by Nella Larsend. In the beginning I thought it was a little dull, but the more and more I read the better I like it. Irene and Clarie are both very interesting characters. Irene only passes for while when she needs to, but Clarie always passes as white, and her husband doesn't even know that she had black blood in her. I feel like Clarie is ashamed of who she really is. I didn't care to much for Clarie's husband. I thought he was very rude. I don't understand why someone would be so rude around people they doesn't know. Irene has very good self control to sit there and not say anything about the fact that his wife is actually black. I find the whole idea of passing to be interesting. It must have been very common during the time that this novel takes place. At the N.W.L dance people were talking and trying to figure out if Clarie was black or white. The conversation on page 118 was interesting. "It's easy for a Negro to pass for white. But I don't think it would be so simple for a white person to pass for coloured." When thinking about the time period, yes it would be harder for a white person to pass for a black, but why would anyone want to? It doesn't seem like something that would happened if it was easy.

Film

I enjoyed the film we watched in class. It was nice watching something rather then just reading about things. It was a good change of pace.

I thought the images of African Americans were interesting. I do think it's harmful to portray African Americans this way. But I believe it happens with all races and it's just a part of society. A part of society that can cause violence. The film portrayed African American's as having big lips and bugged out eyes. It portrayed women as being servants who were large and had deep voices. I thought the statue that they showed of a black woman pushing a white baby was interesting. It was as if it was saying that African American didn't care for their own children, they only cared for their white masters children. It was also interesting and ridiculous that African American's had to blacken their face even more for the shows they were in. I thought it was interesting how the one man was talking about how could work on stage and make a lot of money, but yet he couldn't go into a bar unless he had a white man take responsibility of him. The whole thing is just ridiculous.

I do think these images had an impact in the past and I think they have an impact on us today. They are still present in today's society. Aunt Jamima syrup is one of these images that are still present today. This syrup comes in a bottle shaped like a bigger African American woman. I can also think of a commercial with a little boy talking to Aunt Jamima and saying that she is "thick", but in a good way. This is just one example, but I'm sure there are other advertisements that fit this topic.