Blog #2

[timshel]

Part 1:
In the story "Boys and Girls," there are three areas in the narrator's life that she spends time describing in detail. These areas include where her father and mother work, and where her and her brother sleep. She uses both similar and different descriptions for all three areas, but feels differently about them all. For his job, her father works part-time in a brightly lit, "whitewashed" cellar used for the skinny process of the foxes. He also works in the fox pens, which are setup like a "medieval town," in the cold, dark outside. Her mother works day in and day out inside, in a "hot dark kitchen." The narrator and her brother sleep upstairs in the attic of the house. She describes this space as "stale" and "cold." 

The descriptions and feelings expressed towards these areas in the girl's life illustrate many binaries. Her father's two work areas display the binary light verses dark. However, although the cellar is brightly lit and outside has a darker feeling, she loves both areas. Her mother's kitchen is also described as dark, but she hates spending time there. The bedroom is also described as scary when dark, but is safe when the light is on. This leads to another binary of afraid verses safe. She talks about feeling safe outside and feeling uneasy inside, however this is not always consistent. She differentiates between being upstairs and downstairs in her house. When she sleeps in the attic, she is left with the "reminders of the warm, safe, brightly lit downstairs."

Part 2:
Eustacia Vye in "The Return of the Native" is described as an "oddity." She is a beautiful young woman, but she holds herself apart from everyone else, which makes some "think she's a witch." Eustacia hates the heath where she lives, but also refuses to adapt to it. She constantly dreams of being rescued for a better life, but "undeniably causes a lot of her own problems." When reading how Eustacia dies, it is unclear whether or not she died by accident, or wanted to end her life by throwing herself off the weir into the water below.
Moby Dick is the story of Captain Ahab and his whaling ship in pursuit of the great Sperm Whale, Moby Dick who took his leg. The captain sacrifices his life and his ship with crew, in order to fulfill his desire to kill the whale.
Ham Peggotty in David Copperfield was raised by his uncle, as his father drown when he was a child. Ham has a hard time communicating what he wants to say, but he is a "quiet, self-sacrificer." Ham dies in his attempt to save people who were on a boat that crashes, which demonstrates how self-sacrificing he was.

Comments

regarding your blog 2

[flower123]

I agree with you how the narrator seems to love her father's work and finds it very important while her mother's was not important to her at all.

[cruella24]

I really enjoyed your light versus dark comparisons, it's so right that the dark is seen as a bad place. Its interesting because, as our teacher already stated, it's a very western thing to say one is better than the other, whereas, in eastern culture it's more yin and yang. I have to wonder where this first started, why we see darkness as a bad thing, the sky turns black every night, and I know, for myself, that I welcome it because it means I can sleep! ;-)

[juju_izbiz]

I didn't catch the point that the father had two work spaces described quite differently. One being dark, the other light, yet the narrator loved both, I only recognized the mother and father having two work spaces as either dark or light. And the narrator hating the dark her mother experienced in her work space. I also liked your point about safe vs. afraid.

[always_succesful]

I love your reference to the “whitewashed” cellar in the story “boys and girls.” It’s really interesting binary because the last place you would expect to find a slaughter and stripping operation would be in a white room. It’s also interesting to note that the narrator feels most safe in a place that is covered in blood and that smells of fat and intestines.

[filipi87]

Your open interpretation of Eustacia's death is interesting because I didn't consider the possibility of an accident, but its defintely an insightful theory!I assumed she commited suicide, but the author left room for imagination

[cardiac_arrhythmia]

The binary between the levels of the house is interesting and a point I had not considered. Do you think this is evident of anything? I enjoyed reading your thoughts on this peace.