Wolves ---Mary Oliver style Poem

The moon is full tonight.
Wolves dance playfully
in the white shadow of the evening.

They prance and pounce
and roll down the green feathered hills,
unconcerned with the passing minutes.

Their smaller friends,
the rabbits and squirrels, and raccoons,
live in meek anticipation,

waiting for a fate
that will hopefully not come
but still might...

Maybe in the shadow of a tree,
or beside the stream,
but always in that brief second

between existence and mortality.
That second, it seems,
is what some must fear, but

others, like the wolves,
continue to prance playfully
beneath the glittering moon.

Poetry Reader Response

Mary Oliver’s American Primitive and Billy Collin’s Picnic, Lightening are both great collections of poems. While one focuses more on nature and the other on more day-to-day things, they both caused me to look at ordinary things in a different way.

One of the most interesting poems that I came across was “Paradelle for Susan” in the Billy Collins collection. It was written in a form that I have never seen before. At the bottom was a note explaining that it is a demanding French fixed form. It is structured so that the first sets of two lines are identical and the following are jumbled lines using the words from the proceeding ones. This is a very refreshing way to look at poetry since all of the other poems have basically the same structure.

American Primitive seemed to have main topics and themes throughout the collection. For example, I noticed that many of the poems were about either ponds (water), honey, and dreams. As a whole, it is concentrated in nature poetry. She seems to enjoy summertime as many things such as blackberries and honey are related to happiness itself. For example, in the poem, “The Plum Trees,” Oliver writes, “the only way to tempt happiness into your mind is by taking it into the body first, like small, wild plums” (84). It almost seems that the plums are a metaphor for happiness. In the poem titles, “Cold Poem,” it seems that the poet is trying to say that winter exists so that we can better appreciate summer. This seems evident to me in the part that reads, “Maybe what cold is, is the time we measure the love we have always had…” (31). As for the subject of ponds, two of the titles include the word, pond, in them, and many other poems involve ponds or water. “White Night” begins with “All night I float in the shallow ponds…” (54) and “A Poem for the Blue Heron” has the line, “Now the Blue Heron wades the cold ponds of November.”

A question I had specifically about a particular poem in the American Primitive collection is that I want to know what Mary Oliver is trying to say about time in the poem, “Blossom,” where it is written, “…into the night where time lays shattered, into the body of another” (50). I cannot fully grasp the meaning here.

I thought it is very interesting how Billy Collins writes about the most random topics. It makes the poetry relatively interesting to read when there are titles such as, “Taking off Emily Dickenson’s clothes,” and “I Chop Some Parsley While Listening to Art Blakey’s Version of “Three Blind Mice”.” I found some of them to be comical because of the subject matter and how they were written. Overall, I think that Billy Collins is my favorite of the two poets.

Since all poetry uses a lot of creative language devices, I think it is important to comment on some of the ones that I found in the collections of poetry. A personification that I really liked was in American Primitive: “The rain rubs its shining hands all over me” (45). In “Taking off Emily Dickinson’s Clothes,” there are a few metaphors at the end: “Hope has feathers, that reason is a plank, that life is a loaded gun that looks right at you with a yellow eye” (75).

Overall, these collections caused me to have a greater appreciation for poetry than I did before. Billy Collins and Mary Oliver both create an interesting atmosphere with their writing and I enjoyed that the poems were relatively easy to follow and obtain their meanings.

Japanese Face-White Face

The mask that sheilds him from others
presents his purpose to be a killer.
How could someone of this descent
not be our suspected blood spiller?
All thanks to his guilty Japanese face.

The other man's identity fits in with the rest,
except for the one that he wants to embrace.
How could a minority woman love a man
that is not of her same race?
All thanks to his forbidden white face.

His distinguishment prevents him
from obtaining his one true desire.
How could someone sell their land
to a man with his facial attire?
All thanks to his unworthy Japanese face.

Our Caucasian will never succeed
in the marriage to his secret amenity.
How could society ever accept a couple
that doesn't share the same ethnic identity?
All thanks to his unfortunate white face.

Both men have downfalls
because of the way that they look.
If only they could have somehow switched,
and grasped what the other took.
All thanks to his Japanese face...
All thanks to his white face...


I decided to write a poem about the two main characters of Snow Falling on Cedars for my extended journal. Kabuo (Japanese face) and Ishmael (white face) both experience many problems because of their race. Kabuo is on trial for murder, and also loses the acres of land his family had worked towards obtaining. Ishmael is turned down by the Japanese Hatsue, and he is bothered by it throughout the entire novel. I just wanted to show how each of them had different problems because of their ethnicity, and how if they had switched, they would have received what they wanted. If Kabuo was white he would not have likley been put on trial for murder and would have been granted the land. If Ishmael was Japanese, his love with Hatsue would never have been forbidden.

Snow Falling on Cedars -- reader response

Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson, is one of my new favorite books. It takes place around the time of World War II on San Piedro Island. This novel is about discrimination, war, and justice. I think that it has a very good structure and that it has an interesting plot.

Guterson did an amazing job organizing the time periods and flow of his novel. He begins with Kabou’s court case and then goes back in time to explain the background of the characters and the events leading up to Kabou’s accusation of murder. Periodically, the author will return to present time to describe what is happening during the case. One thing that did disappoint me, however, was the ending. “The heart of any other, because it had a will, would remain mysterious” (460), is something that Ishmael is typing up at the very end of the book. It is after Kabou is found innocent and Hatsue is returning to him. I felt that there was just so much leading up to this moment that it was frustrating that Ishmael and Hatsue did not end up together. We learned of their love story, their past, and it seemed that they should end up married. I was not sure why Guterson chose to have it be that Hatsue was never as in love as she thought she was. It almost seems pointless for there to have been a past with those two because in the end, Hatsue and Kabou remained in love and together.

I really enjoyed all of the characters. This book is similar to The Things They Carried because of the many references to the effect of war on a man: “He had not been particularly happy in this time period, but in that regard he was like other veterans. He was keenly aware of his pinned up sleeve, and troubled because it troubled other people. Since they could not forget about it, neither could he” (31). I think that there is a meaning behind Ishmael’s name. Ishmael Chambers. On the last sentence of the book, it says, “…That accident ruled every corner of the universe, except the chambers of the human heart” (460). I am still trying to discover its complete meaning, but I do think that it has something to do with Ishmael’s name. I think that it symbolizes how deeply his heart aches for Hatsue.

I found it disturbing how the people of Japanese origin were discriminated against. “It was also a matter of having to go because his face was Japanese. There was something extra that had to be proven, a burden this particular war had placed on him…” (92). Many Japanese-Americans felt that they had to go to war or they would be thought of as spies. It did not seem to matter anyway as many were put into internment camps. This was a very troubling part because a few years of their lives were wasted in camps. Ishmael and Hatsue were separated; Hatsue eventually marries Kabou in these camps. No one was actually a spy, and no one deserved to be treated as such. The fact that Kabou is Japanese made him nervous about his court trial. He felt that he was going to be discriminated against and therefore found guilty. Fortunately, Nels Gundmundson, his attorney, was able to prove everyone wrong.

I think that it was very impressive that one book could include love, war, discrimination, and a trial all in one. It was very involving and I learned a lot more about the Japanese internment camps.

Persepolis extended journal

For my extended journal, I decided to attempt to write a poem about the veil that the women of Iran had to wear. I wanted to emphasize that many wore it to avoid harassment or punishment or because they believed they were doing it for religious reasons. Others felt shame in wearing this veil, as if it was like they were submitting to the government. It took me about an hour to develop the idea, experiment with different lines, and attempt to make a pattern for it to follow. I decided to create it from Marji's perspective, in a way, to show what her feelings were about wearing the veil:


"THE VEIL"

It clings to my fear and shows my surrender
And it hides the essence of my very gender
Made of cloth but woven with doubt,
It makes one appear to be extremely devout

Without it I am exposed to utter contempt
But with it, from punishments, I am exempt
Should I wear it to avoid confrontational insults?
To face this situation like an adult?

Is opposition worth this absolute fret?
The hassle, the fear, the incoming threats?
It seems that one must make a choice
A decision between safety and having a voice

Persepolis Close Analysis

Marji Satrapi was a young girl at the time of the Islamic Revolution. Her story shows what she saw through her own eyes, and by following her changes and reactions throughout the story, one can obtain a greater sense of what was actually going on with the people of Iran in the early 1980s.

It is clear that Marji, or anyone really for that matter, did not know what was really going on during this time. She was born a religious person, and aspired to become a prophet. Despite the discouraging reaction of her peers and teacher, she spoke with God on many occasions about becoming this type of leader. Marji also put extreme importance towards having a hero for a father. When it says, “The battle was over for our parents but not for us” (44), it is referring to the battle between the children about who’s father killed who or who had a heroic family or not. There are a number of references to people’s confusion throughout this event. One example is when Ramin tells Marji that his father killed communists rightfully. Her mother reacts with, ‘”My God! He repeats what they tell him! He will understand later…”’ (46). Marji seems to obtain most of her opinions from the television and other sources of questionably reliable information. She tries explaining some statistics to her uncle and father, in which her mother has to respond with, “Calm down, Eby. She’s just a child who repeats everything she hears” (62). Interestingly enough, when she is saying these statistics, the box reads, “Sometimes, I even formed my own opinion” (62). Clearly, what she heard on the TV was simply something that she only adopted as her own opinion because she did not really have one of her own.

Following along the same lines as the issue about having a “hero” or not in the family, Marji was one of the worst at this. She made up things about how her father had been tortured to try to induce him into confession. Unfortunately, her friends were unimpressed. “And I had a hero in my family…naturally, I loved him immediately” (64). When she says this, she is referring to her Uncle Anoosh who had been in prison. She instantly formed a connection with this man and respected him. Later on in this graphic novel, however, Marji finds that being a hero is not necessarily, what she wants. When Anoosh is executed, she demands that God leave her and never come back; a sign of remorse. It was interesting, however, that before he was actually executed, one of Marji’s thoughts were, “Nine years! That’s more than Laly’s father…” (60).

Another way that Marji changes “with the war” throughout the novel is in the way she dresses. Obviously rebellious, there is a point in the book after her parent’s vacationing, that she is wearing “inappropriate clothing.” She was walking through the street singing “Kids in America” while wearing tight jeans, “punk” shoes, a denim jacket, and a Michael Jackson pin. One of the Guardians of the Revolution tells her, “Lower your scarf you little whore!” (133). Later on, Marji is caught wearing a bracelet to school. When the instructor sees her wearing it a second time, she attempts to confiscate it. Marji ends up hitting her and is expelled from school. People wear bracelets in America all the time, but in Iran at this time, it was a risky endeavor.

Marji Satrapi lived during the time of the Islamic revolution, and proves that she had very strong resisting opinions and actions against what was happening around her. Because of this novel, a greater understanding can be found as to why some people were religiously wearing their veils and following the new rules. The reader can now know that there were many dissenting opinions, even though opposition was almost impossible at times.

Persepolis Reader's Response

Marjane Satrapi’s, Persepolis, is one of the most interesting “books” I have ever read. Because it is a graphic novel, both the graphics and the text must be interpreted. It is interesting how such a serious topic could include as much humor as it actually does.

“To die a martyr is to inject blood into the veins of society” (115). This is probably one of the most important quotes of the novel. It is brought up on two different occasions, and each time it had a large effect on me as a reader. The first time this quote is introduced, the graphic is of a man with blood being taken from all over his body. This was hard for me to look at, but it fit with the text. Translated into simpler terms, the quote basically means that to die for your beliefs is to feed into society and motivate them. No deaths are in vain, essentially, because society benefits from it in some way. It does not seem, however, that the students of the school at least, respect the martyrs. They mock them and make fun of them on page 97.

The topic of social classes is obviously a prominent theme in Persepolis. In the beginning, Marji is with the maid, who is sent away. The text reads, “We were not in the same social class, but at least we were in the same bed” (37). The main character seems to be noting the fact that class really does not matter. It does not keep two people from having a relationship, or even sharing a bed. The higher the power, it appears, the higher the amount of evil. People with power take advantage of it and run away with it. When Marji says, “Back at home that evening, I had the diabolical feeling of power” (53) while looking in the mirror, she has devil horns on her head. She does not say “a” diabolical feeling of power; she says “the” diabolical feeling of power. This indicates that power can only come in the form of evil. Something that relates to the lower class, is the part of the novel that reads, “the key to paradise was for poor people. Thousands of young kids, promised a better life, exploded on the minefields with their keys around their necks” (102). The poor people did what the higher people told them to do. They fought for something that they didn’t necessarily believe in because they were promised of a better life, or a “key” to a better life. So many young men died with the “keys to freedom” wrapped around their necks.

Many things happen do not essentially make sense. Towards the beginning, Marji says that it was actually, in fact, “our own who attacked us” (39). Her mother had slapped her and the maid for being gone for too long. She felt like she was being caged, and their marks remained on their faces even after they left the scene (each has a black hand print on their face). This, in a way, marks them. They are marked as “punished.” Father on, on page 117, Marji smokes as “her own rebellion against her mother’s dictatorship.” In a way it seems that her problems at home, to her, are almost as bad as the problems within the country. When Marji’s mother says, “now that the devil has left” (43), it is somewhat ironic, because in the picture, there is a devil illustrated surrounding her with its arms reaching out; I am unsure of why this is so.

Some questions I still have involve Marji and her family’s trip to France. They are floating on a carpet for some reason, and I am wondering who the woman is beneath them that is floating in the wind. I also want to know why, on page 132, it displays Marji with two faces, and also the man with two faces. It is possible that it is supposed to suggest that they are shaking their heads “no” but I cannot see a reason why they would be doing that by looking at the text.

Extended Journal - Sula

For my extended journal, I decided to focus on how the different elements (fire, water and earth) represented the three most important characters in the book (Eva, Sula, and Shadrack). I drew a picture that illustrated this and then included quotes to support my reasoning. Two of them were obvious: Eva represents fire and Sula represents water, but for Shadrack I was able to come up with an explanation as to why earth should represent his character as opposed to water. It took me about two hours total to draw and find research/quotes to back up my logic.

The Significance of Death

Death is a topic most people don’t want to discuss very often. In Tim O’Brien’s, The Things They Carried, and Toni Morrison’s, Sula, this subject is embraced fully and shows as a main theme in both books.

Death is usually something that comes abruptly and without warning. That is the very thing that makes it so frightening. To Shadrack, “it was not death or dying that frightened him, but the unexpectedness of both” (Morrison 14). He feared this aspect so much; in fact, that he institutes something called National Suicide Day, in which it was everyone’s “one chance to kill or commit suicide” (Morrison 14). From The Things They Carried, Ted Lavender is also prepared to reduce such uncertainty. He carries extra ammo, and tranquilizers in hopes of ensuring his own survival.

With the unexpectedness comes irony. In Sula, the townspeople have high hopes that they will get the opportunity to help build the tunnel that the “thin armed Virginia boys, the bull-necked Greeks and the knife-faced men” (Morrison 162) got to build instead. On National Suicide Day they decide to march through this tunnel that they were kept from building and end up being crumpled by the rocks above. There is a similarly ironic death in The Things They Carried, when Kiowa sinks into the Earth. Being one of the favored characters, it is interesting that he was killed in the most grotesque way: drowning in a field of shit. Both authors seem to have the wish to get the message across about death’s erratic ways. It can come for anyone at anytime and there is no way to prepare for it. Even the most liked characters can die, and not necessarily in an honorable way.

“They did not believe that death was accidental—life might be, but death was deliberate” (Morrison 90). Clearly, death is sometimes intentional. Suicide is apparent with Norman Bowker in The Things They Carried, and with Hannah in Sula. In both instances, it is only after a feeling of unworthiness or unloving comes about inside them. Hannah, after feeling that her mother doesn’t love her (or at least like her) lights herself on fire and burns to death. Unfortunately, Eva jumps out the window almost dying herself to save her daughter, but it is in vain as Hannah dies anyway. Somewhat similarly, Norman hangs himself years after the war because he is consumed with loneliness and unworthiness. He is missed by his friends because in their eyes, he had no reason to feel unloved or guilty. Everyone needs to feel love; sometimes it becomes a tormenting factor. In both stories, the need for love drives people to take their own life because they feel that they lack affection in one way or another. The power of this emotion is apparent in both books.

Surprisingly, death does not always spring emotions in people; they become indifferent to it. When Chicken Little drowns in the river, a bargeman finds him: “He would have left him there but noticed that it was a child…He dumped Chicken Little into a burlap sack and tossed him next to some egg crates…”(Morrison 63). The boy is basically dehumanized by this act. In The Things They Carried, there is so much death every day that the men form immunity, “they kicked corpses. They cut off thumbs. They talked grunt lingo” (O’Brien 20). They authors could be trying to get reaction out of the reader; they want us to feel angered and ask ourselves, how could death be so ineffective in someone?

There are many deaths in both books. Sometimes it is ironic, sometimes it is deliberate, and sometimes it seems to be something trivial and repetitive. Tim O’Brien and Toni Morrison find ways to show the different sides of death and how it affects people. Readers can open their eyes to the suffering of the characters and realize that anything can happen.

Sula - Reader Response

My initial reaction after reading Sula, was that it was confusing. It wasn’t confusing in the sense that I didn’t understand the plot; I couldn’t figure out what a lot of the meanings were. This is a very different book that has a lot of interesting events and characters. The main themes seem to deal with two things: death and sex. I am hoping that I will further understand this book after more analysis and through class discussion.

I was intrigued by the whole concept of “the Bottom”. It is described as, “the bottom of Heaven” (5), which I thought was an interesting way to describe the town. This place seems to be very preoccupied with death. I found it a little bit uncanny how so many characters were killed in harsh ways. Eva kills her own son, Plum, by dousing him with kerosene and then lighting him on fire, “the smoke of which was in her hair for years” (32). The incident follows her and haunts her as her daughter, Hannah, asks her mother why she killed Plum. After doing so, Hannah lit herself on fire, causing her own death. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of grief coming from these deaths, especially from Sula; Eva was “…convinced that Sula had watched Hannah burn not because she was paralyzed, but because she was interested” (78). When Sula kills Chicken by accidentally throwing him into the river, there appears to be little remorse. This bothers me because the value of life is almost belittled by the characters. In the book, it claims that “they did not believe death was accidental—life might be, but death was deliberate” (90). This made me notice that there was someone behind everyone’s death except for Sula’s: Eva burned Plum, Sula threw Chicken into the river, and Hannah burned herself only after talking to Eva. No one came to her aid until it was too late, and, as mentioned before, Sula watched her mother burn without doing anything about it.

The character Shadrack is an amusing person that relates to death as well. He invents National Suicide Day in which it was “their only chance to kill themselves or each other” (14). On his supposedly last celebration of Suicide Day, Shadrack was joined by many members of the town. Ironically, most of them were killed in the tunnel that they had dreamed of being able to help create. I am curious as to why they were killed off in such a way. I found myself questioning what the actual purpose of Shadrack’s character is. Besides his National Suicide Day, I think his most important role is where he tells Sula the word, “always” (62). I am unsure of the real meaning of this quote; however I think that it relates to when Nel is describing Hell. Sula had said to her, “Hell ain’t things lasting forever. Hell is change” (108). Later in the book Shadrack thinks about the incident and how it was permanency is what he was trying to assure the little girl of. In that respect, he could have said “always” to tell Sula that Chicken’s death wasn’t going to cause a big change in her life; things were going to be okay.

The Peace women always seemed to want “man love,” yet none of them hold onto a man. For that matter, many of the other women in the book can’t hold onto their men either. It began with Eva constantly having men over. She was married to BoyBoy, but he left after only five years. Hannah, Eva’s daughter, ended up being a woman that the others despised. She seduced many of the other women’s husbands, and, like her mother, had many male visitors. She was against commitment, however. In the book it is described how she only was a lover during the daytime because it was more like “love” when it was at night. In turn, Sula ends up the same way as her mother and grandmother. Not only does she also have many lovers, but she gets involved with her best friend’s husband, Jude. I was wondering why these women seem to need this type of attention so much, yet they don’t want it for the long run. It is evident that for Sula, what she wanted was someone to confide in. This is why Ajax held so much importance to her. All of the Peace women are very independent. I think my favorite quote in the whole book is when Sula is lying in bed talking to Nel and she says: “But my lonely is mine. Now your lonely is somebody else’s. Made by somebody else and handed to you. Ain’t that something? A secondhand lonely” (143). Sula didn’t even exactly understand why Nel was so upset by her relations with Jude. She claimed that if they were such good friends, it shouldn’t matter. Sula had never really known what marriage was, exactly, because of the environment she had grown up in.

I am interested to understand many of these meanings more clearly. I thought this book was very unique, but it left me with a bad feeling. I felt sad about everything that had happened in the book and I didn’t feel a good sense of closure.

GGRW - is Lionel self actualized

Lionel Red Dog is a fascinating character in Green Grass, Running Water. His life choices and motivations are sometimes questionable, even though his intentions are good. The main focuses on Lionel throughout the book are on his attempts to better his life and his ties to his Indian background. In examining this character through a psychological lens, his motives can be seen more clearly.

“First, he would resign his position at Bursum’s….the second thing he planned to do was return to the University and get a degree….third, he wanted to talk to Alberta about his new life, about commitments, about babies….last, he wanted to go to the reserve and spend more time with his mother and father” (306-308). It is clear that Lionel has very good intentions, but he doesn’t seem to have a lot of motivation. Looking at Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, there are suggestions as to why this is so. Each person strives to become “self actualized.” This is defined by Maslow as: a person's need to be and do that which the person was "born to do." Clearly, Lionel does not feel that he was born to work at Bursum’s for his entire life, yet he does not seem to step away from it. Self actualization, however, cannot be achieved until physicological needs, needs for safety, belongingness and esteem are fulfilled. This character seems to have made it past the stage of ‘belongingness’ and is stuck in the level of the need for esteem. On his 40th birthday, Lionel feels a new sense of optimism. He makes his four goals and plans to become a new person. This, in itself, should not only make him feel better about himself and his life, but it would bring him closer to being a self-actualized person. If Lionel had achieved these goals, he would be well on his way. However, there is the question as to whether any were met.

Lionel isn’t a very assertive person in regards to his lifestyle. He knows that he would be able to respect himself more by getting a degree, just like Charlie, Eli, and Alberta, but there is confusion as to whether or not he does. At the end of the book he says, “well, maybe when the cabin is finished, I’ll live in it for a while…. Of course, I should probably go back to school…maybe that’s what I’ll do” (464). It can possibly be assumed that he goes back to the University, but Lionel doesn’t give the reader a definite answer. It seems more like another empty ambition, something he will think about, but never actually accomplish. It seems that Lionel might be actually be happy where he is, but feels that he has to do more in order to get respect from other people. He may feel that he has to go to school just because everyone else did. On another note, working at Bursum’s makes him feel inferior and un-accomplished, and he never actually tells Bursum of his plans to quit. This is not a sign of a self actualized person.

Lionel seems to be a man confused about what he wants to be: Indian or white. Although of Indian descent, he makes many efforts to be “white”: “Your uncle wanted to be a white man, just like you” (36). Some more evidence of this comes from his desire to be like John Wayne: “The John Wayne who saved stage coaches and wagon trains from Indian attacks” (265). This quote really shows his interpretation of Indians. He wants to be the man that saves white people from Indian attacks, as if Indians are always the enemy. This view changes slightly, however, at the end of the book. This is where the reader can begin to see more visible progressions through the level of esteem needs and towards self actualization. He starts to accept his culture more by going to Sun Dance and spending time with his family. He even speaks of staying in the cabin after it is rebuilt; the cabin that his mother had built. Another point is that he seems to have a better chance at a life with Alberta. Even though she usually seems declined towards marriage, Charlie had left to Los Angeles, leaving more time for Lionel to talk to Alberta about the things he had been wanting to.

There are varying views on whether or not Lionel became self actualized by the end of the book. The strongest interpretation, however, is that he failed. He created many goals, but he did not pursue them with confidence. He lacks the real motivation to accomplish his dreams and advance in life. Lionel is likely to spend his life working at Bursum’s selling televisions. One good thing that he achieved, is embracing his Indian culture to a farther degree. His appearance at the Sun Dance is a positive sign that at least in one aspect of his life, he is becoming who he was “born to be.”

GGRW extended Journal

Charlie, Lionel, Norma, Eli…each of these people are part of the Blackfoot Indian tribe. Whether they want to be or not; their heritage comes from these roots. The word, Blackfoot comes from ash on the bottom of their moccasins. Many of the traditions of the Blackfoot are reflected in Green Grass, Running Water, by Thomas King.

Just as most Indians were in the nineteenth century; this particular tribe was eventually put onto reservations. Prior to this, they occupied the region extending from the North Saskatchewan River of Canada to the Missouri River in Montana. The reservations of the Blackfoot are primarily located in Alberta, Canada, which is where Green Grass, Running Water takes place.

In the season of summer, this tribe participates in the Sun Dance. Although similar to many Indian rituals, the Sun Dance has a few distinctions. It would take four days to just prepare the campus alone. Teepees would need to be moved and the Sun Dance lodge built. The purpose of the lodge was for the men to encounter spiritual experiences to farther their significance in their tribe. Medicine bundles were very important in this ritual. After fasting for a certain amount of time, a person would wait to have a vision; this is where the bundle would be received. If someone did not have a supernatural experience, they would buy a bundle. It was after preparation for the ceremony that the dancing would begin. Participants had to refrain from food or drink during this time. When it came to be the time that the men danced, there was a slight difference. They included self torture in their ritual. Their skin and muscles would be pierced with skewers; sometimes they would hang by skewers inside the lodge from the ceiling. This was done in order to ensure benefits for the past in future because it was reflecting their need to give something of themselves. This is an event not described in Thomas King’s novel. It is hard to know whether Norma and the rest of the participating characters were involved in the pain-inflicting part, but there are hints to assume that they were. Eli talks about an instance from his past where, during Sun Dance, a tourist began taking pictures of the dancing men. Eli’s uncle, Orville, sternly told the man, “You can’t take pictures at Sun Dance” (153). He didn’t allow the curious tourist to leave unless he handed over the camera. It is possible that no pictures were allowed because their system of pain-infliction became illegal in 1904 and they didn’t want to be exposed.

A site known as the Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo Jump reveals significance to the Blackfoot tribe. In all of North America, it is one of the largest buffalo jumps. It is derived from the story of a Piegan man who stood to watch a hunting session. Later he was uncovered from a pile of buffalo with his head crashed in. Something interesting from this particular site is that the creation story was told in 1997:

"In the beginning all the world was water. One day the Old Man, also
called Napi, was curious to find out what might be beneath the water. He
sent animals to dive beneath the surface. First duck, then otter, then
badger dived in vain. The Old Man sent muskrat diving to the depths.
After a long time muskrat rode to the surface holding between his paws a
little ball of mud and blew upon it. The mud began to swell, growing
larger and larger until it became the whole earth.
The Old Man then made the
people."

Head-Smashed in buffalo jump (1997)

This ties back into Green Grass, Running Water because water holds so much significance throughout the story. All of the parodies begin the same: “In the beginning, there was nothing. Just the water” (1). When Thomas King satirically describes the Christian story of creation, it is clear that he included the Blackfoot story as well.

Currently the Blackfoot tribe consists of about 1.7 percent of the entire Indian population of America. Most are living in Alberta, Canada, while the rest, for the most part, live in Montana.

Green Grass Running Water- Reader Response

I found Thomas King’s style of writing to be very unique. I liked how all of the various stories seemed to have the same underlying message. This message appears to relate to how Indians are perceived by others, and also how Indians perceive themselves.

Lionel Red Dog and Charlie Looking Bear make their resistance to their culture quite clear. Norma, their aunt, addresses this by saying, “your uncle wanted to be a white man, just like you” (36). She is referring to Eli, when she says this. He is the men’s uncle. At first I was wondering why these people are so ashamed of their heritage and why it was only the men. After reading the middle of the book, I realized that the reason could be that Indians are portrayed as inferior in the media. King incorporates western movies and novels that the characters of the book are viewing. This is evident when Christian asks his mother, “how come the Indians always get killed?” (216). She responds to him, “if the Indians won, it probably wouldn’t be a western” (216). Throughout this whole section of the book, westerns seem to have the same characterization:

“Indian leaves the traditional world of the reserve, goes to the city, and is
destroyed. Indian leaves the traditional world of the reserve, is exposed
to whit culture, and becomes trapped between two worlds. Indian leave the
traditional world of the reserve, gets an education, and is shunned by his
tribe” (317).

I also noticed that John Wayne seems to be the big hero. Even for someone like Lionel, he sees the white man as his idol over the brave Indian chiefs, “the John Wayne who saved stagecoaches and wagon trains from Indian attacks” (264). I found this sad that the Indians always lost and how that was reflected in the feelings of Charlie, Lionel, and Eli.

On another note, the parts that confused me the most were those involving Hawkeye, Robinson Crusoe, Ishmael, the Lone Ranger, and Coyote. I am not sure whether their stories that they tell are the same, only in different versions, or if they are completely different. I noticed how each elder had a different “woman” that they described. The Lone Ranger had “First Woman,” Ishmael used “Changing Woman,” Robinson Crusoe used “Thought Woman,” and for Hawkeye it was “Old Woman.” I sometimes saw biblical relations, other times the stories made absolutely no sense. Coyote was the one always listening to the elders speak. I think that he is metaphorically represented in each of their stories in some way. For example, in Robinson Crusoe’s version, Thought Woman enters a river and exclaims, “this must be Tricky River” (254). This is after the river claims to be warm when it is actually cold. In the Lone Ranger’s version with “First Woman,” the tree tricks her into eating the food, angering the G O D. I still, overall, do not understand the purpose of all these characters and the meanings of their stories. It is confusing how they show up the Western movies, also. “On the bank, four old Indians raised their lances. One of them was wearing a Hawaiian shirt” (343).

I noticed a lot of generalizations in this book. Coyote, especially tends to do this: “I don’t shoot Indians…I would make a wonderful President” (332) and “I’m compassionate, too. I must be white” (434) and “I have a keen sense of smell…I must be an Indian” (434). This seems to be a main theme throughout the book. This is especially evident when Nasty Bumppo is describing gifts: “Indians can run fast. Indians can endure pain. Indians have quick reflexes….whites are patient. Whites are spiritual. Whites are cognitive…” (434). I got the impression that Thomas King is trying to get the message across that people tend to generalize and that Indians are the biggest victims of this generalization. I found it interesting also, that the "gifts" of the Indians were all related to war (pain endurance, reflexes, speed, etc.) and the white "gifts" were ones involving spirit and intelligence (patience, cognitive thinking, spirituality, etc.).

The satire in this book is clearly bitter. I feel that throughout the entire book, King is implying that Indians feel ashamed of their heritage and that they need to act “white.” This goes along on the same path of how the western movies always had the Indians lose and how Lionel, Charlie, and Eli all acted as if they were not Indians. When he says, “In the end, [Eli] had become what he always had been, an Indian….an Indian back on the Reserve” (289), I think there is the implication of the lack of civilization that Indians had. This is because after that statement is made, King goes on farther describing the cabin: “no electricity, no running water, a wood stove, an outhouse…” (289). I definitely get the feeling that Thomas King thinks that the Indian culture is being “washed away.” It seems almost sarcastic how he portrays white people as the "big heros." I think he could possibly have resentment towards white people.

The Things They Carried- extended journal

I decided to research Post Traumatic Stress Disorder of the Vietnam War Veterans. I thought it was interesting because it held so much prevalence for the returning men. When I was reading through some of the symptoms, I noticed that many were related to Norman Bowker's feelings as he drove around the lake so many times...


Fifty-eight thousand, one hundred and sixty-nine American deaths arose during the years of the Vietnam War. This is a statistical number relating to the war. One thing that cannot be measured with a numerical value, however, is the psychological effects on the survivors. In 1980, specifically after the Vietnam War, the Psychological Association developed the category of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a diagnosis for veterans. This is because the war had resulted in the highest percentage of cases. In general, the most common group to suffer from this turmoil is the combat veterans. PTSD is a disorder that follows an event that held a high amount of stress; an inevitable factor when considering what the men had gone through.

The Vietnam War was different than many of the other wars. On average, the men fighting in Vietnam were seven years younger than those of WWII. There was much more inexperience and less strategy. The object evidently was to kill as many men from the opposing side as possible. The men did not work in groups, unlike WWII. They fought with a more individual basis. Young boys, some coming right out of high school, are not raised to kill, nor are any men of any age. Even upon returning home, there was a very short transition time. Normally they would be sent quickly back to the states, alone, with no time to even process what happened. When they did return, many did not find the relief of pride and respect. Because the war was quite unpopular among citizens, many of the veterans were spat on or considered enemies. The United States may have held out their hand to accept their returning soldiers, but it was a cold and bitter hand.

To prevent the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, one must be allowed the chance to talk out their situation and receive understanding. The most significant source of the disorder is that the veterans are not capable of incorporating the incidents into their day-to-day life. It is difficult to transfer quickly into such a different routine; it becomes hard to relate to anyone. Commonly the veteran will feel as if the past experiences of the war are occurring in the present. They become overwhelmed with anxiety; sometimes this anxiety is to the degree it was when the event was actually occurring. They see images of their trauma that seem to be real. Combat veterans will tend to have nightmares and be startled easily. So much stress and lack of sleep also lead to depression. A normal life cannot be pursued until the man can put the past behind him and concentrate on his “new” life.

As time goes on, a person with PTSD will become emotionless and unresponsive. Sometimes there will be sudden outbursts of aggression. Many of the men also experience the feeling of guilt. So many deaths occurred and a large number of men watched a close friend die. It is expected that some are going to take the burden of blame onto themselves. This adds to the emotional trauma after the war ended. Because of so many mixed emotions, drugs and alcohol became a friendly-looking solution. A number of men entered the world of toxicities to try and forget their shady pasts.

Vietnam was the longest war, it was one of the most controversial wars for the United States, and almost sixty thousand men lost their lives. Unfortunately there isn’t even the closure of a successful outcome. There is no clear “winner” for the war, and no consolation to the many men that returned with their lives. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a likely occurrence for anyone who has been through a particularly stressful time. Those involved in combats in the Vietnam War are the best examples of that statement.

The Things They Carried- Close Analysis

Kiowa’s death has a strange effect on many of the characters in The Things They Carried. Three people in particular “carry” the burden of guilt. All of them in their own way feel that if they had done just one thing differently, their friend would not have been lost, especially in the manner that he was. Jimmy Cross, Norman Bowker, and the “young soldier” are the characters who take on responsibility for Kiowa’s tragic ending.

Jimmy Cross, first lieutenant, is the leader of the men. That, in itself, makes him feel responsible for any death that occurs. The fact that he had followed orders to set up camp in a swamp, even against his own intuition, was what brings on this guilt, “Looking out toward the river, he knew for a fact he had made a mistake” (164). In being consumed with these thoughts, Jimmy composes a letter to Kiowa’s father. He accepts full responsibility for what happened, and “place[s] the blame where it belonged” (169).

Norman Bowker is probably the most affected by what happened. As a fellow soldier, Norman had been the one who attempted to pull Kiowa up from the “shit,” but ended up letting go, apparently losing the Silver Star. In the chapter, Speaking of Courage, Norman makes twelve revolutions around a lake in his hometown. He claims that “…when Kiowa got wasted, [he] sort of sank down in the sewage with him…” (156). In driving around the lake so many times, the author could be alluding to what Norman’s days feel like. His life seems to be an endless path, “no hurry, nowhere to go” (143). Norman doesn’t really know what to do with himself after the war. Everything seems so simple and naïve, in comparison to the killing and fighting he had endured.

Norman spends his whole eighty four miles thinking about what had happened during his life-changing stay in Vietnam. It seems that Norman’s dad has a big influence on him. His story about Kiowa’s death inquires as to how not only does Norman feel guilty, but he also feels ashamed in front of his father. He uses the same excuse multiple times in his head when he is reasoning out to his father what had happened: “The stink, that’s what got to me. I couldn’t take that goddamn awful smell” (143), He pictures that his father would take pride in the fact that his son had earned “‘seven honeys’” (154), or medals, even if he had lost himself the Silver Star. In each situation that Norman thinks up, his father is at least in one way or another telling Norman that what happened was okay, and he wasn’t to blame. It is clear that things aren’t justified in Norman’s mind, however. Nothing can rationalize his “survivor’s guilt.”

It is a question, however, whether Norman really did earn the Silver Star or not. He claims many times that he lost it because he let go of Kiowa, but in the end of the chapter Notes, Tim O’Brien claims that, “[Norman] did not freeze up or lose the Silver Star for valor. That part of the story is my own” (161), completely contradicting what Norman was saying previously. Assuming that Tim O’Brien’s statement is a conclusive one, however, Norman possibly felt that he didn’t deserve the Silver Star. Even if he had earned it, the fact that he hadn’t tried harder could have brought him to the point where, in his mind, he was not worthy of such an honor. Another possibility is that it was actually, in fact, Tim O’Brien himself who was responsible for the death. Considering that he had used Norman as a way to place his story in another perspective, there are allusions to the chance that it was Tim who did not succeed in pulling Kiowa from the muck. In the end it cannot be determined for certain.

The final character who takes credit for Kiowa’s death, is the man known as the “young soldier.” Jimmy Cross finds him with his hands through the mud, searching for something. The boy claims he is looking for a picture of his girlfriend that he had dropped, “this picture, it was the only one I had. Right here, I lost it” (176). At first it appears that the young man is selfish, because instead of helping everyone find Kiowa’s body, he is searching for a personal belonging. It is later revealed, however, that the soldier felt the reason Kiowa died was because of his flashlight. The boy had turned on the flashlight during the night to show Kiowa the picture he is looking for, and in turn they were ambushed. “The flashlight had done it. Like a target shining in the dark” (177).

Is it possible for three men to be responsible for the death of one soldier? Is anyone responsible? There is always going to be blame; the only question is where the blame will be put.

The Things They Carried reader response

Tim O’Brien’s writing style had a very big impact on me. He tells a story about his experiences so that it seems more a book about life instead of war itself. The way he jumped around from before, during, and after the war, I found to be valid to the plot. He focused on the journey from simple innocence to meaningful realizations about what war is really about.

There seemed to be double meanings for many of the ideas sent across throughout the book. For example, the word coward is used frequently, “They were too frightened to be cowards” (22). By this, Tim O’Brien is implying that the men weren’t afraid of going to war; they were afraid of what people would think if they didn’t. O’Brien says it himself, “I was a coward. I went to war” (61). This surprised me because my first thought about war is death. I can’t imagine being so vulnerable, especially to guns and grenades. It is described, however, that war is the opposite of death. “…Proximity to death brings with it a corresponding proximity to life. After a firefight, there is always the immense pleasure of aliveness” (81). The author goes on to describe how after surviving a fight, there was the realization that they were alive. They were still breathing and still had a reason to keep going. In a way, I think it is meant that they felt encouraged. The significance of “the things they carried” also has two perceptions. The first assumption is literal. “The weapon weighed 7.5 pounds unloaded, 8.2 ounces with its full 20-round magazine” (5). The clothing, weapons and food were all described, including their weights. Those were the physical aspects of what they carried. On another level, “they carried their reputations” (21), “They carried the land itself….they carried their own lives” (15). Things that don’t have a mass; their feelings, their burdens and thoughts of loved ones were all things the men had to carry with them.

There are many relevancies to guilt throughout the story. Guilt didn’t always necessarily come from actually killing someone. Jimmy Cross, for example, felt indirectly responsible for the death of Ted Lavender, “He felt shame…Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone for the rest of the war” (16). He felt that if he wasn’t so in love with Martha, his friend wouldn’t have died. In Kiowa’s death, many people carried the burden of guilt, “There was nothing he [Jimmy] could do now, but still it was a mistake and a hideous waste” (164). Jimmy Cross felt he was responsible because he hadn’t realized the danger of camping on such wet grounds. Norman Bowker felt the blame because he hadn’t been able to pull Kiowa up from the muck, “[He] remembered how he had taken hold of Kiowa’s boot and pulled hard, but the smell was simply too much…” (153). Another of the soldiers felt he was responsible: “…He’d been showing Kiowa a picture of his girlfriend. He remembered switching on the flashlight. A stupid thing to do, but he did it anyway…and then the field exploded all around them” (170). All of these men carried the same burden, but it is clear that there isn’t one person who caused Kiowa’s tragic death. I think that guilt is something that definitely would be prevalent under these circumstances. Everyone seems to blame themselves when something goes wrong.

The Things They Carried involved so many different aspects of life. It gripped reality in a very apparent way; it made me think about why people feel the way that they do.

*Why did Tim O’Brien hold such a great amount of resentment towards Bobby Jorgenson?
*I am a little confused about exactly where Mary Ann disappeared to and who she joined with.

Postpartum Depression

“In carrying out my general plan of treatment it is my habit to ask the patient to remain in bed from six weeks to two months. At first, and in some cases for four or five weeks, I do not permit the patient to sit up or to sew or write or read.”
-Weir Mitchell, 1877

Postpartum depression is a naturally occurring phase that some women go through after giving birth, usually within the first year. In the short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper," the narrator suffers from that very problem. Her husband, John, follows the procedures of the “rest cure” by taking her to a country house for three months. She describes some notable qualities about the room she was to rest in, “…the windows are barred for little children, and there are rings and things on the walls” (12), “…that great bedstead nailed down…” (33). These descriptions can lead the reader to believe that the room was meant for a mental patient, which was something that the narrator soon came to be. A normal room would not have barred windows or “rings and things” on the walls.

After spending weeks trying to discover the meaning of the “…hideous…unreliable and infuriating [wallpaper]” (25) she slowly falls from depression into plain madness. The narrator claims that she “[had] spent hours in trying to analyze [the wallpaper]” (29). If she had not been condemned to three months of rest, it is likely she would not have had time to become entranced by such a simple adornment. The longer and longer she spent staring at the wallpaper, the more insane she became. This is evident when she shrieks to John, “I’ve got out at last…in spite of you and Jane! And I’ve pulled off most of the wallpaper, so you can’t put me back!” (36) at the end of the book. The narrator had become so enveloped in the wallpaper that she began to believe she was actually inside of it. That is not a sign of someone improving from depression. It is an obvious indication that someone is worsening in their mental state of mind.

One symptom of postpartum depression is the tendency for a woman to harm herself or the baby. Although the narrator does not seem to be a danger, she does see bizarre images in the paper. “[The women] get through, and then the pattern strangles them off and turns them upside down, and makes their eyes white!” (30). Being exposed to the same pattern for such a long time, was possibly the cause of her hallucinations. To my knowledge, Weir Mitchell’s “rest cure” theory was unsuccessful. Had the narrator been up and about more often, she most likely would not have begun to see the images in the wallpaper. It is questionably whether her husband realized this or not. It can be assumed that he was simply following procedure to what was the best known cure in the late 1800’s.

Ironically, the very thing that was supposed to cure the narrator’s depression ended up being her downfall. Not only did her nervous tendencies increase, but she became insane. Her fixations on the wallpaper led her to hallucinate and become captive to the intrinsic designs. Clearly, the cures for postpartum depression in the 1890’s, at least in this particular case, needed some more work.

John is a loving husband: revised draft

John’s love and devotion to his wife are evident throughout the book. Our knowledge of him comes exclusively from the narrator, who isn’t within mental capacity to give us reliable information. Based on what we do know, however, it is a likely assumption that his intentions for his wife are good. Because they had a child together, he is linked to her on a much higher emotional level. It isn’t likely that he would wish anything bad against the mother of his child: “I beg of you, for my sake and for our child’s sake, as well as for your own” (24). John is pleading for his wife to come to her senses, making a point to mention that it is for the baby’s sake. He is insistent that she get well so they can return to a normal life. “[John] said we came here solely on my account…” (12). This quote farther proves that his only motive in bringing the narrator to the country house was to improve her condition. As a physician, he knows what is best for her and makes all possible efforts to accommodate to her needs. He fails to follow her mental web of insanity because of how she hides it: “of course I don’t [cry] when John is here…” (19). If he doesn’t know that her mental situation is worsening, how is he supposed to help her? She also mentions several other times throughout the book how she doesn’t bring up the wall-paper to him anymore. He had no reason to believe she was getting worse, especially since physically, she was improving. Within what he knew, John did what he could for his wife, especially since at the time, bed treatment was highly recommended for a woman in the situation she was in. He is a good man who only wants to protect his wife so they can live a normal life with their new baby.

John is a loving husband: draft 1

John is a character who seems hard to figure out. Our knowledge of him comes exclusively from the narrator, who isn’t within mental capacity to give us reliable information. Based on what we do know, however, it is a likely assumption that his intentions for his wife are good. Because they had a child together, he is linked to her on a much higher emotional level. It isn’t likely that he would wish anything bad against the mother of his child. “I beg of you, for my sake and for our child’s sake, as well as for your own” (24). John is begging his wife to come to her senses, making a point to mention that it is for the baby’s sake. He is pleading that she get well so they can return to a normal life. “[John] said we came here solely on my account…” (12). This farther proves that his only motive in bringing the narrator to the country house was to improve her condition. As a physician, he knows what is best for her and makes all possible efforts to accommodate to her needs. He fails to follow her mental web of insanity because of how she hides it: “of course I don’t [cry] when John is here…” (19). She also mentions several other times throughout the book how she doesn’t mention the wall-paper to him anymore. He had no reason to believe she was getting worse, especially since physically, she was improving. John is a good man who only wants to protect his wife so they can live a normal life with their new baby.

The Yellow Wall-Paper

I thought The Yellow Wall-Paper was a very interesting book. I found the narrator to be a likable character because her naivety is prevalent throughout the story. She almost gives off a childish vibe as she explains what is happening around her. Because the reader follows her into a web of insanity, it is hard to know exactly what is really going on. When the narrator exclaims, “I’ve got out at last…in spite of you and Jane!” (p. 36), it is clear that John and Jane weren’t actually keeping her locked up behind the wall-paper. The reader must assume that she is going insane after considering the fact that a person cannot literally be kept behind the bars of wall-paper. Because of this, much more insight is needed in order to get a clearer picture of the actual happenings in the book. It is almost comical reading about what the narrator is thinking as she describes the women “creeping” outside or trying to shake the bars in the wall-paper.
It is interesting how the narrator went from simply trying to figure out the pattern in the wall-paper, to thinking that she is stuck inside of it. There is a clear difference in where she was mentally in the beginning to where she was in the end. I believe that her post-partum depression was the beginning of the mental journey in her mind. Ironically, John’s request that she stay inside the room and sleep, only made the situation worse. She began to see herself as being “locked up.” When she noticed the women in the wall-paper, it made her realize that she was just like them; she was barred from the outside world. When her husband and sister-in-law forbid that she write, she felt the need to “creep” in a literal sense. The women in the paper were creeping because they were trying to hide the fact that they had gotten themselves “free.” When the narrator was writing, it was her freedom. Basically, my belief is that the women in the paper reflected what the narrator was feeling. She had to be locked up and was forbidden to do what made her feel free to express herself.
“I get positively angry with the impertinence of it and the everlastingness. Up and down and sideways they crawl, and those absurd, unblinking eyes are everywhere” (p. 16). This is one of my favorite quotes because it really captures the effect the wall-paper had on the author. Instead of simply noting that there was ugly wall-paper in the room, she allows it to envelop her in anguish and frustration. This is part of the book where she is just beginning to relate the wall-paper to living things. At first, before I realized that the woman was going insane, I thought of her simply as a figurative writer. I assumed that the “unblinking eyes” and the woman behind the bars were metaphors, not what she thought was actually there. It wasn’t until the part where she says, “But I know she was studying that pattern, and I am determined that nobody shall find it out but myself!” (p. 27), that I really began to realize that she was going crazy.
Something that I questioned about was the character, John. The narrator identifies him many times throughout the book as her husband; it seems that he must care about her a lot: “He said I was his darling and his comfort and all he had, and that I must take care of myself for his sake, and keep well” (p. 23). I wonder if he noticed the mental state she was in and was just in denial about it. She mentions many times that he said that she seems to be getting better. I want to know what he actually is thinking throughout the book as her situation gets increasingly worse, mentally. Did he realize what was happening, or was it not until he caught her “creeping” that he realized it?