A Streetcar Named Desire

Tennessee Williams’s play. A Streetcar Named Desire, was different than many of the readings we have read in class. This play was a much easier read for the fact that it was a play with characters that consisted mainly of dialogue. I liked this style of writing because it flowed well and wasn’t dry or difficult to understand. I have not read a play in awhile, and it was different to read this style of writing and to have to imagine everything that was occurring whenever Williams wrote in italics to let the reader know what was occurring.
As well, I enjoyed Williams’ play overall for the plot and the messages that were being demonstrated. This play was written in a time of male dominance, where women were supposed to act like cliché southern belles. Stanley was a perfect example of what was expected of the males, in the way that he made all of the decisions for Stella and Blanche and let them both know what was expected of them. Stanley loved Stella in an abusive way, because he would beat her whenever she didn’t do exactly what he wanted her to do, the “right” way, but at the same time was still a good husband to her in most aspects. I think that Stanley was abusive to Stella because he wanted to make sure at all times that he had authority over her. Stanley was an insecure man, and needed to know that Stella was his and would never leave him. Stanley would abuse Stella in front of their friends and Blanche, Stella’s sister, which I felt was a sign of disrespect. Stanley knew he had complete control over Stella, and I felt this was unnecessary to not only abuse Stella in front of their friends, and especially Stella’s sister. Stanley could have had more respect for Stella if he accepted her sister, Blanche, and didn’t try to ruin everything for Blanche. This was a common theme that was found throughout the whole play. From the start, Stanley didn’t like Blanche, and his goal throughout the entire play was to ruin her reputation. Whenever Stanley got an opportunity to knock Blanche down, he did and made sure that she knew he didn’t like her. I feel that Stanley raped Blanche at the end of the play to show that he still had the upper hand regardless of their situation and regardless that Stella was in the process of having a child. I feel that Stanley raped Blanche at this specific time to show the extent to his authority, and to show the extent to which he had authority. If Stanley could get away with raping Blanche while Stella was in labor, and would still be able to keep his wife, this shows the extent to which Stanley held power over Stella.

Her Eyes Were Watching Love

Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God” was a novel that focused on Janie, and her journey with love, as well as the process of learning and growing from it. I felt that this common theme was present throughout the entire novel, where Janie had no idea what love was in the beginning, but from her experiences, learned what love meant to her, even if it resulted in killing Tea Cake in the end. When Janie was married to her first husband, it seemed as though she was only married to him because she wanted love, but didn’t know what it was. She felt this was what she was “supposed” to be doing, and went along with the process yet had no idea what she was getting herself into. Her first marriage, to Logan, was not what Janie wanted or expected out of a marriage. I think that Janie thought that when you marry any person then you will find a way to love each other the way you are supposed to in a marriage where there is already existing love between two people. Logan and Janie’s marriage was arranged by Nanny, who felt that financial security was more important than love in a marriage. Janie followed her Nanny’s guide because that was what she was supposed to do, but ended up feeling used, and knew that there was no love connection between her and Logan. This marriage was a big learning experience for Janie however, and I feel she needed to experience the marriage in order to learn what love isn’t, and know what she does not want in a marriage.
Janie’s strength that she endured was very helpful when she left Logan for Jody Starks. At first, Janie feels that this marriage will be better for her due to Jody’s gentleman-like qualities, but soon after Jody becomes very money and power hungry, and lets it take over his marriage with Janie. Janie and Jody turn into a couple that are staying together for the sake of being together, not because of love or any other reason that a couple should be together. Jody takes over the town of Eatonville, and becomes the mayor as well as every other important ruler to the African American community. As I read about Jody’s power and responsibilities, I felt as though he played the role of a dominating white male in Eatonville. As Jody’s power grew, he became more and more well-respected in the community, and held the position that most white males do. He became very authoritative, which soon lead to the deterioration of their relationship. Jody and Janie’s relationship soon ends, however I feel that Janie got a sense of what love was from their relationship. It was unfortunate that Jody did not have Janie as his priority and became power and money hungry, but if he didn’t then they could have possibly worked out their differences. Jody was very protective of Janie and didn’t let her be herself in her own skin. Jody felt he had to control Janie in order for her to function correctly around other people, which was unfair to Janie. I think that Jody was insecure about him, which led him to take his self-consciousness out on to Janie. Janie never let Jody know of her feelings about situations and whenever they argued, Jody always had the upper hand. Janie grew to secretly hate Jody, and I feel that his death was almost a way to relieve Janie of her hostility, and was a chance for Janie to let her true colors show.
Janie’s third husband, Tea Cake, was very different than most males, and much younger than Janie. Tea Cake let Janie be the person she was inside, and let the child in her come out more often than she ever was allowed. Tea Cake would do things with Janie that she was never allowed to. Janie was uneasy at first with her relationship with Tea Cake because of the age difference and because she didn’t want to get hurt again a third time. Tea Cake and Janie grew to truly love each other. Janie grew a lot from the start of her relationships to the last relationship she had with Tea Cake. Although Janie ended up killing Tea Cake, I feel she came full circle and conquered her quest. Janie shot Tea Cake because he tried to shoot her with a gun and killed him in self defense. I feel that Janie could have been, in a sense, taking Tea Cake out of his misery from the rabbis he encountered when he saved her life from the dog that tried to attack her. Janie also learns here that she does not need a man to love her in order for her to live. The commonality at this time was that women were supposed to get married when they are young and have children and be supporters of their husbands. Janie learned that she doesn’t need a relationship in order to function and I feel that she shows this at the end of the novel by killing Tea Cake. Janie truly loved him, but needed the relationship to end, where she would have the upper hand at the end. Therefore, I feel that Janie needed to be with all three of her husbands, Logan, Jody and Tea Cake, in order to find herself.

"The Ethics of Living Jim Crow"

Richard Wright’s, “The Ethics of Living Jim Crow” is an autobiography of Wright’s life and the hardships he faced growing up in a time of discrimination and racism. The amount of racism that Wright encountered as a child was disgusting to read about, but he talked about it as if it were any other topic. Wright talked about how it was difficult to grow up and live in a time like this and gives the reader a clear idea of what it was like to be at the receiving end of racism. He wrote his autobiography about his younger years growing up in this difficult time and the discrimination he faced in the work atmosphere as well as his own neighborhood.
Wright’s way of writing was not as “graphic” as Frederick Douglas’ was. I felt as though Wright was simply telling his life story and experiences, and not going into details of the abuse he faced. While reading Frederick Douglas’ autobiography, I found it very difficult to read at many times due the graphic descriptions he gave of beatings that he felt and witnessed. Wright took a different way of approaching the topic of racism, but they were also at different times. Douglas was a slave and was abused, while Wright was a young boy living in a town where racism was at its highest, but there were no slaves anymore. However, Wright’s style of writing still was interesting to me. While reading his story, you could tell that Wright did not want to be pitied for his experiences and was not looking for help in any sense. He talked about racism as if it were any other topic that is discussed and his style of writing was very nonchalant. I feel that he wrote this way to tell the realness of things, and how racism WAS viewed as something that was normal for the time. It was common at this time to discriminate, and was almost expected during this time.
Many times throughout Wright’s story he speaks about the idea of being “lucky.” He repeats this time and time again through the voices of his African American characters. I feel that they used this term “lucky” as a way to get through their hardest times and relate the idea of being lucky to having someone watching out for them, such as a religious figure. I got this feeling when I read this because I feel that the African American’s as a whole did not have a lot of hope because no one in society cared about them or their well being. They were constantly discriminated against and their voices meant little to nothing in any affair. This idea of being “lucky” was not common and when it was applied to African Americans it meant a lot. I feel that they turned to religion as a guidance to get them through life, and it was some kind of god that they believed in that would save them and they’d be lucky to still have their life, or whatever the situation may be. Specifically, there was an incident that Wright wrote about where there was a group of white boys were picking on him and were saying hurtful things to him. The boys left Wright and told him he was “lucky” that they were going to leave him alone and not kill him. To Wright and other African Americans at this time it was very common for them to receive death threats such as this one, but they considered themselves lucky to escape them. I think religion played an important role in their lives due to the amount of discrimination they faced, because they had no one else to look after them, especially in times of need.