Speeding through Life

The 1920s or the "Roaring 20s" was the start of consumerism, new technology, and materialism. It marked the birth of one of the most important additions to society: the car. Families jumped at the opportunity of buying a car, often buying on credit - which eventually led to the Great Depression. Families and individuals were all looking for this new ability to control their lives, more specifically the "speed" and pace of their lives. The car gave families the ability to spread across the country. It made weekend trips more common. And most importantly it gave people power and the ability to show off wealth.

In The Great Gatsby, there are multiple examples of how the car symbolizes power and wealth. Nick calls Jordan a "rotten driver" when she almost gets into an accident which shows that this power consumes her. It makes Jordan want to flaunt this speed that she can obtain. The carefree nature she adopts is all to showcase that she has full control. But in reality, everyone with a car has this control which Nick realizes and questions "suppose you met somebody just as careless as yourself". Gatsby's Roll-Royce is a symbol of his wealth. He also shows how this power consumes him when he speeds through the valley of the ashes.

Today, much of this attitude about cars still exist. I see people driving 90 down Northfield or Long Lake to show off this power that the car gives them. Why does Jay Leno need so many cars that he has his own TV show for them? For many people the convenience of car is what attracts them to it which was its initial purpose. However, for many others its the power and wealth which drives them to buy it.

Jumping the Hurdles of Societal Standards

Both Toni Morrison and Kehinde Wiley make the difficult life of African Americans clear, as they depict the lives of African Americans amd compare to the ideal white standard. Morrison demonstrates the self-rejection of Pecola as a victim of white beauty standards; she constantly prays for blonde hair and "pretty blue eyes". While the black race is shown to be "ugly", the white race including Mary Jane and Shirley Temple are treated almost like gods for their beauty. Morrison uses this contrast to convey how blacks and minorities are at the hands of the white society. They are forced to conform to white beauty standards and societal standards. This is further exemplified when Morrison alludes to slavery mentioning "the master" who controls the black's beauty and in a sense their life.

Kehinde Wiley uses his paintings such as Officers of the Hussars (below) to demonstrate a very similar point. He mocks the original painting as he replaces the white man with a black man. He conveys that when we see a black man in a position of power, society has taught us to be shocked by that image. It looks so unnatural for this black man to be surrounded with such extravagance. However, when we see the original painting with the white man it looks normal to us. This goes to show how we have all fallen into this ideal white standard, making them superior to all others.  The black man is also stereotyped; he is depicted wearing the classic wife beater, baggy jeans and Timberland boots. On the other hand, the white man proudly wears his country's uniform. These standards have ingrained this divide between races to the extent where I see the black man as a thug in the streets, and the white man as a noble countrymen.

Through the use of different methods, both book and painting, Morrison and Wiley tell the story in the voice and point of view of a minority. The stark contrast created by each tells the audience the magnitude of the inequality in this world. They serve as a call to action; to shock us in a such a way as to change our perspective and seek change in society.

A Run Under the Bluest Sky

While reading Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, understanding the role beauty plays in society seems unfathomable. Pecola seems to be caught victim of societal beauty standards as she is constantly praying to fit in, wishing for those "pretty blue eyes". Pecola tries to do everything in her power to try and literally consume beauty. She "eat[s] the candy... eat[s] the eyes.. eat[s] Mary Jane... love[s] Mary Jane... [tries to] be Mary Jane". She also tries to get every chance to drink milk out of the Shirley Temple cup, once again trying to just consume beauty. However, because she doesn't have the stereotypical blue eyes and blonde hair she feels she'll never be beautiful. Her race also plays a factor, as it's assumed to be an ugly race, which they've just accepted. This shows how her Pecola's life has been confined by beauty standards, and she has no control over her own beauty.

When Maureen Peal is introduced, her impact is shown immediately. The reader sees the stark contrast between the treatment of whites vs blacks, and how Maureen's race allows her to be more beautiful.

Beauty being such an abstract topic, has been socially constructed. People no longer try to find the beauty within themselves, rather they try to conform and change to the standards society draws. As Toni Morrison talks about, being rejected for the way we look just leads to self-loathing. Our different features and unique traits should be what brings us together and makes us embrace each other rather than divide us. Race and beauty should be completely separate of each other; your race shouldn't define how beautiful you can be.

A Puzzling Workout

While others might say that having blue eyes shows beauty, Toni Morrison found it almost repulsive when trying to imagine her friend with such a feature. The Bluest Eye tells the story of Pecola who fell victim of racial profiling as she was mocked for traits such as her dark skin. Being rejected by society can have a wide variety of effects on each and every one of us. With the support of family and friends we can learn to cope with this pain; however, lacking this close company can lead us to shrink and become a so-called Lone Ranger. Pecola responded to the fire against her by dreaming and praying for features (blue eyes and blonde hair) which she believed would make her beautiful, allowing her to fit in.

In the introduction of this novel, Toni Morrison talks about self-loathing and breaking under the pressure of rejection. This self-loathing is often a very powerful force and even quite dangerous much like the addictive nature of gambling in a casino. The other extreme of self-loathing is the point at which one just crumbles under the immense hatred steered toward themselves, turning themselves "invisible". Beauty and conformity seem to a central reason many start to loath and hate themselves as they fail to understand that inside them they hold true beauty. 

Although this novel isn't a memoir, it is based on a conversation that Toni Morrison had with a young girl in elementary school. Morrison still incorporates "invented friends, classmates" to create the presence of truth or verisimilitude. It seems as if this novel will address the question of race and beauty, and I am looking forward to reading it.

Race not Race 🏁

When you Google "is race a socially constructed concept?" the most accepted answer appears saying "Race is not Biological. It is a Social Construct" (NY Times). While I agree that society draws the boundaries of where each race starts and ends, doesn't our genetic material make us look they way we do which allows for racial classification? With a term as abstract and controversial as race, there seems to be no one right answer to what the definition of race is.

Our in-class discussion regarding race helped me understand the very fluid nature of race; race changes as time goes on. Many times in history, race was created as a justification as domination. This very fact perfectly shows the changing nature of race. While the whites used skin color to assert dominance over blacks, Hitler and the Jews were both light skinned. So instead Hitler asserted dominance of the "Aryan" race - classifying people with their blond hair and blue eyes. But then what did mean to be a Jew? Not all Jews follow the religion of Judaism, and not all of them have the stereotyped long nose.

When asked what race one identifies with on standardized exams, what is the point if the person answering the question and the person collecting the data think race as totally different things. In my opinion looking at people's race does not provide people with that valuable of information because the term means something to almost every single person; once again it goes back to our discussion of perspective. 

I can safely say after reading Maus, discussing in-class, and writing my blog I am only more confused about what race is. At least one thing seems to be universal about race, and that is that we are all apart of the Human Race.

A Wrong Turn Reading Comics

When I heard that we were going to be reading a comic in class, I was pretty stoked. I myself have fallen into the general assumption that comics are kiddish and full of humor. Boy was I wrong about this. Maus by Art Spiegelman demonstrates the power of using words and pictures together to deliver the tragic and brutal journey of Vladek Spiegelman. Maus effectively merges the past with the present (as seen by page 45 in Volume 1 where Art's body represents the connection between the past and present) and creates the contrast of past and present through the non-linear form. The story is full of symbols and motifs (such as the smoke, swastika, jail cells) which show readers the depth and magnitude of horrific Holocaust.

While reading Volume 2, page 28 (below) really jumped out at me. Within this page we see a huge change in the tone of the piece. It begins with a very gloomy and depressed tone seen with the dejected nature of Vladek who is "worn and shivering and crying a little". Then in box three we see a sense of sarcasm from Vladek as he shows his anger and disappointment for being in such a horrid place. Finally, the last five boxes show hope. Hope and optimism are two words that probably don't come to mind while placed in a such a situation. However, Vladek's inspiration to grind and stay alive was sparked by something as simple as superstition. Vladek from this moment "started to believe" as the "saint" "put another life" into Vladek. This major shift just within one page shows the ability and effectiveness of comics and how Spiegelman is able to use this to convey his dad's story. Another thing that I noticed was how even after the Nazi's had taken everything from Vladek, even his name, giving him a number instead, he still learned how to find hope and believe. The shading on the page helps to trace the motif of order and jail cells as we see the uniform they are all wearing and also the lines in the background. I also found the very first box symbolic. The reference to the chimney traces the motif of smoke for which the ingrained memory in Vladek is the burning of people, while to Artie it is simply just something coming of his cigarette.

Reading Maus has been really enjoyable. Seeing and living the Holocaust in the perspective of a mouse was really interesting. It has also opened my eyes and has shown me the that not all comics are funny and for children. I'm looking forward to reading more of Spiegelman's work. 

Training our Minds

What is freedom? And what is liberation? This week in class we discussed two pieces which only further increased my curiosity to learn the answers to these abstract questions. However, I did learn that these terms not only are widely subject to different perspectives but also the crucial role they play in defining us as human beings. David Foster Wallace's "This is Water" and Bell Hooks' "Rethinking the Nature of Work" both opened my eyes to the strained relationship between people and the world we live in.

Dictionary.com has a whole list of definitions for freedom including "the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint". Wallace also addresses the fact that there are multiple conceptions of freedom which include "the freedom to be lords of our own tiny Wallace also addresses the fact that there are multiple conceptions of freedom which include "the freedom to be lords of our own tiny skull-sized kingdoms". However, he defines "real freedom" to be the ability to control yourself and pay attention to others. A freedom you have to fight yourself to obtain and exercise. This seems contradictory in the sense that you are limiting your own freedom. Wallace points out that it is human nature for people to be self-centered. I feel while people are all capable of caring for others, they definitely don't show it especially after the long and tiring day Wallace mentions.

The other piece, "Rethinking the Nature of Work", questioned the definition of liberation. Bell Hooks talks about how liberation is different for all women. Some women viewed work as liberation because they finally got a chance to get out of the home, while other women "quit working because the work they do is not liberating". Liberation is therefore all a matter of perspective and ideology. When people in general accept loss and take the easy way, they are inevitably risking the chance to reach liberation. So once again, we are stopping ourselves from reaching this liberation.

While trying to wrap my head around the meanings of these two words, I was able to realize that we hold the power within us to control the way we live and act. However not all of us choose to take advantage of this power, limiting us from our own freedom and pursuit for liberation.