Final Critical Thinking Blog

So I've decided to do my final blog on Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People." The story is a classic case of appearences being decieving. The mother of the family believes that good country people are the salt of the earth. She wants to make herself look good by hiring people who are poor to work in her household. On the other hand she considers them stupid and beneath her. The bible salesman is who she immediately connects with because who doesn't think a bible salesman who is poor is the ultimate man of trust? The man ends up being more evil than normal since he hurts the daughter and steals her leg. The theme of the story seems to be that while people may have limited means they are just as capable of evil and turning on those who trust them. Even the servant woman who works in the house pushes the daughter's buttons because she can. She immediately sees through the bible salesman since she isn't blinded by wealth or poverty. The bigger idea of deception runs throughout and shows that everyone can be blind to what's in front of them no matter what.

Critical Thinking Question: What other themes do you see in this story? How do both parties come across, do you see a positive to their actions?

Critical Thinking Blog #11

I decided to look at Sylvia Plath's poem "Morning Song" because it seemed the most cold. In comparision to Ariel which went a bit over my head, Morning Song seems very detached and cold. The woman is talking about having a child, yet feels no connection to her offspring, "I am no more your mother/Than the cloud that distills a mirror to reflect its own slow/Effacement at the wind's hand." She seems to be saying the child is merely a reflection of the mother, much like a mirror, but has no real depth or personality of its own. She also seems to show the burden of childrearing, "...I stumble from bed, cow-heavy and floral" yet still just seems to be stringing pretty words along. The last lines were the most confusing to me, "Whitens and swallows its dull stars. And now you try/Your handful of notes;/The clear vowels rise like balloons." To me it just seems like the child is crying but it also conveys the image of maybe putting something new out in the world. Balloons tend to symbolize belief, change, freedom. Maybe with this child comes freedom of some kind. It just seems kind of symbolic that Plath killed herself with her children in the house and this poem seems to have a detachment to children.

Critical Question: What do you think is the meaning of Plath's poem? Does it say something different about motherhood, or is it even about motherhood at all?

Critical Thinking Blog #10 - Going to Meet the Man

In the story Going to Meet the Man you follow Jesse as he recounts his racist thoughts and the story of how he witnessed a black man killed and tortured by his father and the townspeople. Throughout Jesse maintains that what he is doing is just and right. While racism is condemned far and wide the story forces you to look at how a racist justifies their actions. Jesse himself even wonders at times whether he is a good person. I think the most powerful indictor of Jesse's racist thoughts come from his tale of watching the black man killed. The townspeople make a big specatcle of going, much like a party, and Jesse eventually considers it a thing of honor to be trusted with watching this event. It boils down to a case of nature vs. nurture. Jesse is raised in a racist enviornment and the racism trickles down to him. His father, being the sheriff, instills in Jesse a sense of pride and eventually Jesse himself becomes the sheriff as well. He takes pride in his father's job, wants to be him, and decides to follow his thoughts wholeheartedly. If Jesse's parents had been against racism things might not have changed at all since the town was behind the decisions as well. When a person is drenched completely in a particular viewpoint it's hard to change and be different. The fact that Jesse has moments of questioning shows that possibly the enviornment is changing and he's being given different views. This concept could also be applied to The Adventures of Augie March since Augie's grandmother is racist, which could cause him to be one as well.

Critical Question: Does enviornment play a big role in Jesse's personality? How does this compare/contrast with the character in Adventures of Augie March?