Thursday, February 16, 2012

The Wife of His Youth

One thing I was trying to get from the story, "The Wife of His Youth," was whats the point?  Chesnutt always had a point to make in his work, and for a while it eluded me.  But I think I cracked it, and I think that it is a statement about how you cant hide from your past.  Even though Mr. Ryder had done everything in his power to shed away his past, it ended up right at his door step.  But the way that he dealt with it was how any reasonable and civilized person would, even thought it took a while, by addressing it head on.  I think this is a statement about how the past, no matter how different it maybe, needs to be embraced and remembered.  It does not mean it should drag you down, but any attempt to forget it or bleach it from your memory is futile and you would be lying to yourself in the process.  Thoughts?

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Dave's Neckliss

The thing that struck me as the most crucial theme of the story was the effect labels can have.  The allegory with Dave and the ham illustrating this point rather well.  He held strong in his beliefs at first, but after relentless verbal abuse from the people around him, coupled with the physical ham being tied around his neck, he broke down.  He became so used to the label, that he became it.  He even missed the ham around his neck.  The fact that he could read and was a preacher makes the fall even more drastic, and the statement even more powerful.  The whole story also makes you sympathise with Julius' point of view about ham, and feel the effect of labeling as well.  I know that, for a while at least, I will be reminded of this story whenever I see a ham.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

The Long Arm

First of all, what a great story.  I love the style of narrative where the first part of the story is an account after the fact, then the last is segmented into days like a journal (even though I doubt anybody could remember conversations in such accurate detail).  As soon as it made that switch to the journal entries I became very concerned that Miss Sarah Fairbanks would not come out of this story alive.  The red herrings were well placed and fequent enought to keep my attention. 

I must say though, did anybody else figure it was Phoebe Dole immediately after she bossed Maria around?  That expression of power struck me as such a telling clue, and got my mind racing about how her being the murder would be the most interesting outcome by far. 

One question on the sheet that was handed out today that I felt that needed answering was about the heterosexual vs. lesbian relationships in the story.  The heterosexual ones are viewed as just fine and dandy.  Even though there are some forbidden and secret relationships going on in the Fairbanks household, both parties are consensual in their love.  While the lesbian relationship on the other hand seems to be controlled completely by Phoebe.  Maria did not seem to have mutual feelings for her, but Maria's timid nature and fear of Phoebe pushes this aside.  So the only homosexual person in the story, is also capable of murder.  I chalk this up to Wilkins staunch religious upbringing, giving her the perspective that she does on homosexuality in general.  Does anyone else share this viewpoint that I have or am I just a little crazy myself?  Either way, the story was well written and a fun read.