i guess what she means by her being a small woman is that she wasn't really exposed to anything, she didn't really have many experiences in life. i guess with the encounter of the outside world and the sense of danger and excitement you get from adventures, big or small like the ones the Milkman and Guitar went through when they were kids, sort of makes you bigger or expands your self, your personality and your knowledge of the world. all she knew was her father all her life, he was her sense of security. its like a puppy and its owner, the owner seems like the all powerful knowledgeable master while the puppy is just ..a puppy. i guess she felt that her dad knew everything and could take care of anything and was, as she said, big, while she didnt think she knew anything and looked up to her dad for support and all that.
but i dont think she is a small woman and i think she knows that she's not a small woman. she has the ability to drive her husband and her son mad. she shot her husband's blood level up with just a smirk. she knows this too, she knows that what she would say, "yes, i am my daddy's daughter" would get her husband mad, but she said it like it was just a little comment with no real meaning behind it. she keeps herself so calm every time her husband yells or hits her because she knows that its really her husband thats driving himself crazy; she knows that to cry or be bothered by his abuse would satisfy him. her whole "i am a small woman" speech was an attempt to justify herself.
and the juxtaposition of milkman's birth and the insurance man's death, i wasn't really sure what to make of that. but it seems like the whole peacock thing sort of ties into it. the peacock is obviously referring to macon, perhaps the death of the insurance man is foreshadowing milkman's fate if he doesn't "take the jewels off". the insurance man tried to fly yet his weight was what brought him down and killed him. the text repeats that milkman wants to fly and relates the peacock who is unable to fly because of the jewels to milkman who is unable to fly because of his vanity, his family, his past. perhaps what the author is trying to say is that he has to let go of the past in order to be able to fly. his family's past is driving him crazy.
2 comments:
Ester--
Starting with your comments on Ruth. The puppy analogy is very relevant, especially when coupled with the character of Ruth in the Bible. The Book of Ruth teaches that genuine love at times may require uncompromising sacrifice and obedience. The poignancy of Ruth's sitting-empty, alone, and lonely-talking to her father's grave mirrors the Old Testament Ruth who tells her mother-in-law, Naomi, “Entreat me not to leave the, or to return from following after thee for whither thou goest, I will go;…Where thou dies, I will die, and there I will be buried.” The problem with this comparison is the question of whether Ruth Foster's love for her father “genuine love?” That is open to debate.
Throughout Song of Solomon, Ruth is identified at “Dr. Foster's daughter” and not as an individual person. In fact, Ruth grows into womanhood without a personal identity. I feel the fact that she is a “small woman” results directly from her personal action (or lack of action), for at no point does she rebel. There are only two times she asserts herself, one when she confronts Hagar and her attempts to kill Milkman, the other is when she asks Macon for money for the funeral.
Ruth might be a victim because she does not have a mother to nurture her through significant stages of her girlhood and womanhood. The fundamental bond between mother and daughter that most people insist is necessary is lacking here. Similarly, Hagar lacks a father figure in her life which might be a cause of her downfall.
Ester although I don't know you I really like what you said.
I agree with Mr. Sheehy said about she not having a real identity and how she is just pushed out to the side. I think that the realtionship with her fater and the great attachment or maybe dependence to him is what stopped her from really finding herself.
Post a Comment