Yellow Woman

Why do you think the “Yellow Woman” stayed with Silva after their first night together? Do you think she would have had a chance if she would have tried to flee?

In Yellow Woman, the Indian is “abducted” on the riverbank by Silva. I placed abducted in quotation marks, but I’m not sure that the “Yellow Woman” really didn’t want to go with Silva. On page 3145 she says, “I don’t have to go…” and then goes on to say “I walked beside him, breathing hard because he walked fast, his hand around my wrist..” She tried to resist him, but them stopped and actually enjoyed his company. I think the “Yellow Woman” stayed with Silva because it was something exciting, dangerous something out o the norm for a married mother of the Laguna Pueblo Tribe. She was enticed by his forcefulness and his spontaneity. I think she found in him, what she didn’t find in her husband. Al was more of a loving, caring individual, someone one would like to raise a family with; Silva was more someone you would like to spend a weekend with, his ruggedness and risqué lifestyle. I think maybe the “Yellow Woman” needed a change in her life, grew bored, and needed something to spice up her life. Or also, I think she may have been scared of Silva. Going along with the second question, I think the “Yellow Woman” may have stopped resisting because she knew she had no choice, she was going to have to follow him and do as he said. Silva said to her “You don’t understand, do you, little Yellow Woman? You will do what I want” (3147).  Then she says “I was afraid because I understood that his strength could hurt me (3147). I think the “Yellow Woman” knew that they were in the middle of nowhere, Silva lived alone, and was a very rough man. She thought he was very capable of killing her and feeling no remorse. She was scared of his strength and didn’t want to find out what he was capable of. That’s why I think is another reason she stayed with him longer than just the first night. Also, I don’t think she would have had a chance to flee. He was capable of killing her anytime he pleased. He lives away from any civilization, was a thief, and had a rifle and a knife that he could easily kill her without anyone ever knowing. Obviously the family wasn’t too worried about her because they assumed that she would come back and went on with their everyday life.  So, I don’t believe she would have been able to flee even if she was given the chance to.

The Man Who Was Almost A Man

Did the use of dialect add or take away from the overall message of “The Man who was Almost a Man?”

At first I was very confused by the dialect used. It was very different from many of the other pieces we have read this semester and it was hard to adjust my eyes to the improper grammar and poor spelling. I found myself looking forward to the parts where I didn’t have to analyze every letter to figure out what he was saying.  Although it was hard to get used to at first, I believe that the use of dialect helped add to the message of the story. It helps show the differences between the black and white characters. Mr. Hawkins talks with a Southern drawl, but he seems more educated. When Dave arrives early to the fields on page 2522, the dialogue between them it is quite evident who is the more educated one of the two. “What’re yuh doing here so early?” “Ah didn’t know Ah wuz gittin up so early, Mistah Hawkins. Ah wuz fixin t hitch up ol Jenny n take her t the fiels.” Mr. Hawkins talks more in complete sentences, with all the syllables and words complete. Dave’s dialect seems to leave out letters and syllables of words. His and his family’s dialect almost seem like a puzzle that needs to be put together. The dialect helps put into perspective that there is very little growth for Dave. It will take him two years to pay for Jenny. There is no room for opportunity and the dialect helps show that.

What does the gun symbolize?

The gun symbolizes power, respect, and becoming a man. It is everything that Dave wants. He wants to have power; he wants respect from his coworkers, boss, parents, village people, etc. Dave thinks that the gun will automatically get people to respect, “…feeling a sense of power. Could kill a man with a gun like this. Kill anybody, black or white...nobody could run over him; they would have to respect him” (2522). He thinks that by owning a gun everyone will treat him like an adult and not like a child and will no longer call him “boy.” Although he believed this, possessions can’t make you any more mature or respected, which is why Dave made the mistake he made. If he was a little more mature and his father taught him how to operate the gun cautiously he would have been able to avoid this situation. After seeing the consequences of their actions, most people learn from their mistakes, endure their punishment, and move on. Its shown that Dave hasn’t matured at all from his mistake when he wants to shoot the gun again and then pictures shooting Mr. Hawkins house, “Ah’d like t scare ol man Hawkins jusa little...Jusa enough t let im know Dave Saunders is a man” (2526).  He hasn’t learned or matured any from his mistake and still strives to be seen as masculine, and wants to be respected.

The Daydreams of a Drunk Woman

What does the woman’s thoughts about other people reveal about her true personality?

While she was at dinner with the businessmen she critically judged both a woman who passed by and the waiter. As the woman walks by her she things “She felt the urge to give that blonde prude of a woman playing the grand lady in her hat a few good slaps on the face….she was nothing more than a fishwife trying to pass herself off as a duchess” (2807). I think the drunk woman was critical of this woman because she hates that the other woman is truly happy and looks beautiful. The drunk woman isn’t happy with her current state in life and resents every other person in life that is happy. So instead of trying to work through her trying times in an unhappy marriage and children, she drinks her sorrows away. The drunk woman constantly tries to escape reality and find happiness in the bottom of a bottle. Once the effects of the alcohol wear off she returns to that unhappy state that she is all to familiar with.She wants to find a man that she is truly in love with and wants to spend the rest of her life with. The drunk woman wants to be the happy woman who can get dressed up and be classy and have the waiter “serve her full of gestures and finesse” (2807.)  Her thoughts of other people show that she is truly insecure and unhappy with her current stage in life.

The drunk woman is constantly worried about ruining her self-respect. Do you think she really cares about her self-respect?

After oversleeping and missing her chores the drunk woman says, “God, I’ve lost my self-respect, I have! My day for washing and darning socks…What a lazy bitch you’ve turned out to be” (2805).  She mentions self-respect many other times in the story like she said “What a slovenly, lazy bitch you’ve become.” describing her unclean floors (2808). I think the woman cares about her self-respect and image to an extent. Basically, I only think she cares about herself when she is sober. Such as, when I mentioned above on page 2805 she only says that after recovering from a drunken evening and sleeping it off all day. While drinking and drowning her sorrows she becomes completely oblivious to how she treats herself and others. She sleeps the day away and awakens only a few short hours before her children are supposed to be home and the house is still a mess. The drunk woman doesn’t have a job, the least she could do is remain sober for a few hours and clean the house, versus laying in her bed all day (2804-05). Also she displays a vast amount of public drunkenness which she shows herself off to the public by falling around, and barely walking.  The drunk woman truly respects herself only when she is sober. When she is drunk and delirious her view of respect is skewed and she ends up not having respect for herself at all.

Janus/The Swimmer

What is the symbolic meaning of the bowl in “Janus?”

The bowl in “Janus” symbolizes Andrea’s past life, the one she had to move on and leave behind. The foot note explains that the title Janus is “usually artistically represented as a figure with two faces, looking in opposite direction (87).  Andrea wanted to keep both her lover and her husband, she didn’t want to have to choose. So both her “faces” were looking in opposite directions. On page 90 when describing how her lover felt, the lover said “she was always too slow to know what she really loved.” I think that this statement shows that Andrea finally is realizing what she missed out on. She completely adores this bowl and even feels “guilty that she had such a constant secret” (89). The bowl represents her life and her lover. She treats the bowl like a secret, a lover of some sort. I think she uses the bowl to fill the void of her past lover that left her when she wouldn't choose. Andrea dreamed of the bowl, kept it a secret, and it was basically her number one priority. She treated it very carefully, "would remove all the other objects from a table." (89). I think the bowl ultimately symbolizes the affair and her guilt and love she had for the man that left.

What is the symbolic meaning of Neddy’s journey?

Neddy’s journey symbolizes his lifetime. In the beginning of this story he has “the especial slenderness of youth” and even slid down his banister that morning. This is to suggest the beginning of life when a person is youthful and full of life. He swims throughout the first few pools feeling energetic and ready to continue onto the next leg of his journey. He feels the warmth of the sun and wants to keep on. After the storm hits however he starts feeling chilled to the bone, and feel lonely. Soon after he becomes frail, not diving into pools anymore and climbing out of the pools using the ladders. I think the storm may represent a hardship in his life, maybe the affair he had with Shirley and his wife finding out. This event would cause him to be alone as he wife would leave him. By the end of the journey, Ned didn’t think he could make it across the street to his house. This shows the journey of life that life will take you through so many trials and there will be happy and depressing times and that one wrong decision can turn your life upside-down such as Neddy’s affair. In the beginning of the story he was extremely happy and eating lunch with his daughters, but by the end he went to his house it was empty, his kids and wife left, leaving him feeling completely empty and disheartened.