My Favorite Book This Semester

        This semester we've read five really good books. I liked all of them, but some stood out more to

me than others. Each book we've read I liked more than the last. This has definitely been my favorite

english class I've taken so far. That being said, my favorite book from this semester was "White Boy

Shuffle". My least favorite book was "Invisible Man".
     
         "White Boy Shuffle" was my favorite book because of the fast-moving plot and at sometimes

absurd situations. This book was easy to keep up with because I actually wanted to read it, I didn't

just read it because it was assigned. At times this book was funny, like when Psycho Loco is just able

to order a person through the mail with no second thought. This book was also set in the most recent

time so it was easiest to understand how society was at that time. With the relation between

basketball stars simply being treated as animals in the book, and how it actually is in real life, it was

easier to understand how Nick and Gunnar felt because we see this in our current society as well.
     
        My least favorite book this semester was "Invisible Man" because it was pretty slow-moving for

most of the book, in my opinion. It was harder for me to keep up with the nightly reading

assignments because it was a slow, and slightly weird, book. The whole book was pretty depressing

as the Narrator continually finds out that so many people are lying to him, like the Brotherhood or the

college dean. It definitely wasn't a horrible book but out of the five we read it is my least favorite. I

don't really like the ending either because it doesn't really give any closure to the book.
     
       Overall, every book we read in this course was really good. Beloved was really close to being my

first favorite, but it was too disturbing at times. I liked how Native Son was quick moving during the

first two parts, but it slowed down quickly during part three. I really enjoyed Their Eyes Were

Watching God because it was the simplest story, but the ending was really sad. African-American

Literature was a great english class!

Effects of Slavery on Different Generations

        The Novel Beloved by Toni Morrison depicts the life of Sethe's family before, during, and after

slavery. Baby Suggs was born into slavery and given her freedom by her son Halle, who she never

sees again. Sethe is born into slavery and escapes, having to do the unthinkable to keep her children

safe. Denver is born into freedom but is forever haunted by her family's past. Beloved shows how

slavery effects people of all different ages, even if they aren't slaves themselves.
     
        Baby Suggs was a slave for the majority of her life, only gaining freedom after her son Halle

buys it. After moving to Cincinnati, Baby Suggs is never able to see her son again, and nobody

knows what really happened to him. Halle is the only child of hers that Baby Suggs really knows

because the rest of her children were sold. She tries not to let herself love her taken children. Along

with the hard work entailed in slavery, Baby Suggs has to deal with a lot of tough emotions that

nobody should have to go through.
     
        Sethe is born into slavery like Baby Suggs but spends the majority of her life outside of slavery,

though it leaves life long scars. While being found by School Teacher, Sethe kills her young

daughter, "Beloved", in hopes of keeping her children from the horrors of slavery. Even though this

plan works, Sethe can never forget what she did. Scared of their mother, Sethe's sons Howard and

Buglar leave home, never to return again. Sethe is left alone with Denver after Baby Suggs dies.

Beloved's spirit continues to haunt Sethe, until it leaves forever. After this, Sethe is still broken over

the past.
   
     Denver is born during her mother's escape from slavery. Denver never has to experience slavery

first hand, but has to deal with its after effects on Sethe. Denver is lonely, as both her brothers have

left home, her older sister is dead, and Baby Suggs is dead. When Beloved arrives, Denver realizes

she is her sister and they start to become good friends. As Sethe and Beloved grow closer, Denver is

left to herself. Sethe loses her job and stops providing for Denver and Beloved. Denver finds herself

a job and starts bringing food home for everyone. Because of Sethe's past trauma, Denver is forced

to grow up and care for her broken mother.

What Janie Learns From Each Marriage

        Janie Crawford is married three times to three different men, all before the age of 50. Her first

marriage is to a farmer named Logan Killicks. Logan expects Janie to work hard and help out on the

farm. Her second marriage is to a soon-to-be mayor named Joe Starks. Joe Starks expects Janie to

work in the store and act as an ornament to his career. After Joe dies, Janie marries her third husband

named Tea Cake. Tea Cake lets Janie be who she wants to be. From each of these marriages, Janie

learned an important lesson.

        When Janie is only sixteen, her grandmother basically forces her to marry a much older man

named Logan Killicks. Janie believes that once she is married, love will come soon afterward. Janie

soon realizes that she cannot learn to love someone, and she will never love Logan. Janie believes

that once she realized marriage does not make love, she becomes a woman. Her marriage to Logan

forces Janie to grow up and forget her childhood dreams. From this marriage, Janie realizes she wants

to love her husband and she cannot expect love to come from marriage.

        Janie runs away from Logan and marries Joe Starks, who soon becomes the mayor of Eatonville.

At first, Janie believes that she loves Joe and that this marriage is different than her first. As Joe gains

more popularity and power, he essentially forgets about Janie and her feelings. He begins to expect

Janie to work in the store for him and never do anything for herself. He begins to degrade Janie and

even hits her. Janie begins to hate Joe and cannot stand him. Janie eventually stands up to him,

realizing that she deserves more. From this marriage, Janie learns that a wife should be respected by

her husband. Love and disrespect do not go hand-in-hand.

        After Joe Starks dies, Janie marries a much younger man named Tea Cake. Despite her friend's

warning, Janie leaves Eatonville with Tea Cake to begin their life together. Even though Janie has a

few moments of jealousy, she is very happy with Tea Cake. Tea Cake lets her do things that make her

happy and always cares about her feelings. Tea Cake looks at Janie as his true partner, not just

someone he married because he had to. From her short marriage to Tea Cake, Janie learns that true

love exists and this is what she deserves to have.

My Thoughts on Janie

        Janie is my favorite character so far. I think she is the most relatable and easiest to understand. She appears to be a very strong woman for her time. It seems like she wants to be more independent than her time will "allow". Also, I think it is easy to be sympathetic for Janie because of her marriage troubles that we've seen so far. 

        Since the book started with Janie as a 16 year old girl upset with her grandmother's wishes for her, it is easy as a teenage girl to relate to her. Even though our parents aren't trying to marry us off, we sill have different expectations for our future than our parents might. It is easy to understand why Janie feels like she does, making her a fun character to read about. 

        At the time that this book takes place, women are expected to tend to the one and do whatever their husband wishes. This does not appear to be the way Janie wants to live. First, she leaves her first husband because of the way he orders her around and expects her to do what he wants. When Joe offers her a better life, she runs away with him. As time passes, she strongly dislikes the way Joe controls her and doesn't allow her to truly take part in the town. Janie wants more for her life than what is really available to her. 

        Janie spends the majority of her adult life feeling stuck in two marriages where she is unhappy. Logan wants her to help out on his farm, which Janie feels is not appropriate for her to do. She thought that eventually she would learn to love Logan, but she realizes that she never will. When she first runs off with Joe, I think she loves him at the beginning but eventually comes to resent him. The more popularity and power that Joe gains, the more protective and controlling he becomes over Janie, which she doesn't like. Years of this behavior leads to Janie feeling pretty much freed after her husband's death 

        I like Janie a lot more than other characters because she is the first female main character we have seen so far. It's a lot easier to relate to her and her story is very interesting to read. It is easy to feel bad for Janie because of all of her troubles in marriage we see. 

How the Narrator Currently Compares to Bigger Thomas

When we first started reading Invisible Man, I thought that the Narrator was more of a “rule-follower” than Bigger Thomas. I still think this, but I think the Narrator is less of a “rule-follower” than he was before and is more like Bigger Thomas but in a more hidden way. 

Bigger Thomas was very erratic and liked to do exactly what he was not supposed to do, like murdering Mary. At the beginning of Invisible Man, the Narrator did everything he thought he was supposed to do, like sucking up to people in power, specifically white people. Now, the Narrator has joined an anti-racism group and speaks in front of huge crowds about exactly what white people of this time are afraid of' black people being equal to white people. 

At the end of Chapter 22, we read about the Narrator deciding to undermine leaders of the Brotherhood by making them think he is doing what the Brotherhood wants him to do when he is really trying to take the Brotherhood down. This is similar to after Bigger murders Mary and he acts toward the Dalton family as if nothing has happened so that they won’t suspect him. The Narrator is secretly standing up to people in power much like Bigger did. 

The main difference that still remains between the Narrator and Bigger Thomas is that Bigger is undermining people for bad reasons that include murder. The Narrator is trying to undermine people for a better reason which is that the Brotherhood is too controlling and corrupt. The Narrator has found out that the Brotherhood does not want him to think freely, so he wishes to take down the Brotherhood and lead the people of Harlem the way he believes is correct. Even though the Narrator is doing something that people might see as manipulative, he is actually doing something for the benefit of Harlem and the future relationship between black and white people. Bigger Thomas was undermining people for his own benefit to hide the horrible thing he did. 

The Narrator Then vs Now

At the beginning of the book, after the prologue, the narrator was very focused on succeeding. He wanted to finish college and become another Dr. Bledsoe. Throughout the story that we’ve read so far, the narrator becomes less focused on pleasing people and more focused on doing what pleases himself. 

            While the narrator is driving around Mr. Norton, he does everything that Mr. Norton wants him to do, knowing he will get in trouble with Dr. Bledsoe, yet knowing that he didn’t really do anything wrong. When he gets back to the college, Dr. Bledsoe really yells at him and tells him that he has ruined the future of the college by showing those places to Mr. Norton, who gives the college money. While getting yelled at, the narrator knows he didn’t do anything wrong, yet is apologetic toward Dr. Bledsoe. When Dr. Bledsoe sends the narrator away to New York, the narrator is very hopeful that he will be able to make his return to college in the fall after working all summer. Now he only wishes to become Dr. Bledsoe’s assistant. 

            The narrator goes all around New York delivering letters of recommendation written by Dr. Bledsoe to important men hoping to get a job. After no success, he visits one last man, who shows him what the letter really says. Finding out that Dr. Bledsoe has no intentions of letting him return to college in the fall, regardless of how much he works. Hearing this is shocking for the narrator, and he can think of nothing but getting revenge on Dr. Bledsoe. Now, instead of working to return to college, he works to earn money to return to the college to kill Dr. Bledsoe. 

            The narrator begins working at Liberty Paints where he works with a man named Lucius Brockway. Mr. Brockway threatens to kill the narrator after thinking the narrator has joined a union. Instead of just allowing Mr. Brockway to yell at him this way like he did with Dr. Bledsoe, the narrator actually fights back. They get into a physical fight where the narrator ends up knocking out his dentures. Before, I believe that the narrator would have just allowed himself to be threatened, but now he is standing up for himself. The narrator begins the novel as a follower and now is becoming a leader. 

Thoughts on Bigger Thomas vs "The Narrator" of Invisible Man

      When I first started reading Native Son, I didn't really like Bigger. He was rude to his family and his friends. I didn't really relate with him at all. When he murdered Mary, I definitely didn't agree with what he did, but I can understand why he did it. Plus, it was an accident. During those moments I felt pretty sympathetic toward him because he did something bad on purpose, and now he was going to be sent to death for it.
        When I first started reading Invisible Man, I did like the narrator. He was funny, at least in the prologue. He had a lot of weird, random thoughts and ideas, like stringing up 1,369 light bulbs just to steal electricity and spite the electric company. Throughout the beginning chapters, I could tell that the narrator is very different than Bigger Thomas. He is more of a rule-follower, who does whatever someone asks him to do, which isn't necessarily a good thing. Since we have yet to finish Invisible Man, I don't know if my opinions on the narrator will change or not.
       Bigger Thomas and the narrator are similar but also very different people. Both of them are drivers for a rich white man, but Bigger ends up murdering the man's daughter and the narrator does everything he can to keep the rich white man safe and happy. Toward the middle of Native Son, Bigger is being chased down by police and hiding in old apartment buildings. The narrator's "secret room" somewhat reminds me of this environment, but I don't know how he came to live in this hidden room.
        Overall, I like both the narrator and Bigger Thomas as main characters for these two novels. Both books are very good which makes it more fun to do the reading assignments. So far, I like Invisible Man more because it is more of a longer story on a longer timeline, while Native Son was almost too fast-paced for me.