Secondary Source Blog Post

Ontiveros, R. (2008). A Fusion of attractiveness. American Book Review, 29(5), Retrieved from http://blackboard.strose.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_8_1

1. In the article fusion of Attractiveness, the author’s argument is that in the text The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is, Oscar is a new type of American. The author identifies him as an American who has assimilated to the point where he fits in nowhere. In providing this argument the author discusses Oscar’s character as a whole. He goes into details about the characteristics of Oscar such as how he has no sense of belonging and is criminally bad with women.

2.  In forming his argument the author brings up the main points about how Oscar was an obese kid who never left the world of Doctor Who and Dungeons & Dragons and in the end was cursed because he had so much food and fantasy in his life but no father figure. His obsession for fantasy and food kept him from love and separated him from the world of success. His lack of a father figure also has an impact. The author almost implies the belief that if Oscar had a present father figure in his life he would have not turned out the way he was. That a father figure would have provided him with a model of who he should be and how he should act. These two points support the author’s argument in that they address the ways in which Oscar sets himself up so that he is unable to fit into society. His obsession and love of fantasy causes him to be viewed as an outsider who is unable to make his quirks work for him.

3. In reading the article there were a couple of ideas that people might find useful for their paper. The first idea presented by the author is the idea that fuku is simply a myth and that Oscar was cursed because he had it too easy. He did not have a father figure to look up to and to base his own life on and became enveloped in the world fantasy and food. Another idea presented by the author is that by including strong feminine points of view within the text it creates a balance between male-oriented loneliness and sense of lust within the text. The third idea I picked up in the text is that the author claims that the text is attempting to be a new kind of fiction. He expresses that it is a book about immigration, comic books, virginity and violence.

4. In reading this article, there are a couple points that could be used to support an argument. If someone was writing a paper on the absent father, they could use the quote in which the author says “Oscar is cursed because he kind of has it too easy. So much food and fantasy, but no father figure” to show how the absent father had an impact on how Oscar turns out. Another point that someone could use to support an argument would be the quote about how Oscar was a romantic with standards of beauty that are crazy. This quote could be used in a paper that addresses the theme of love. Oscar was a romantic and therefore lived for love. His romantic character could be used to support arguments about what love can do.

Change of View: Jim

So i will admit that when i was first introduced to the character of Jim i disliked him and was suspicious of him. He was the topic of my Thursday blog. I was offended by the way he overstepped his boundaries with Birdie. After reading the next section, my view of Jim changed. I no longer disliked him. He truly cared about both Sheila (Sandy) and Jesse (Birdie). He appeared to make Sheila (Sandy) happy and was making a serious attempt to form a relationship with Jesse (Birdie). Even when Jesse (Birdie) denied him so many times, he never stopped trying. He wanted Jesse (Birdie) to trust him and believe that he was there to take care of her and her mother. The more Jim tried to get on Jesse’s (Birdie’s) good side, the more she hated him. I couldn’t help it but begin to like him as a character. He tried to make things better for Sheila and Jesse. He was intent on fixing up the old house and making a sky light for Sheila. I started to feel like i could finally start to trust Jim and no long felt like he was a FED. When Sheila finally told Jim the truth about her and Jesse, i was not surprised at all. I had a sense it was going to happen. I was impressed at how well he handled it and how he was still willing to stand by them and protect them. He truly loved both Sheila and Jesse. I completely understand Jesse’s feelings when she found out about this. Sheila had broken all of the rules that she forced upon Jesse and Jesse felt incredibly betrayed. I’m not surprised that Jesse decided to run away and leave. I can’t help but wonder if anything will come of Jesse and Nicholas. There seems to be something there but it never goes anywhere. There always seems to be an interruption. I wonder what will come next?

This Jim Character

When reading the third section of the book, i was immediately drawn to the character of Jim. Something just didn’t seem right. There was something about his character that seemed suspicious. I agreed with Jesse (Birdie) when warned her mother that, she thought Jim maybe an undercover FBI agent because of his vague stories and his constant visits to Boston of all places. Sheila (Sandy) stands by Jim and convinces herself that there is no way Jim is a FBI agent because of the shoes he wears. I feel differently though. I feel like it could be very likely that Jim is a FBI agent. Sheila (Sandy) thrives on the attention she is getting and completely shoves her rules of staying invisible out the window because of Jim. He appears to have a major affect on her which bothers me. She fails to listen to Jesse (Birdie’s) concerns and is just so caught up in Jim that she appears blinded from the truth. At the end of the chapter I developed a sort of hatred for Jim. When he reprimands Jesse (Birdie) for lying to the children, i felt that he was over stepping his boundaries. He had only been dating Sheila (Sandy) for a couple weeks and he was already trying to play the role of father. He was moving way to fast. When he referred to himself as Jesse (Birdie’s) parent i couldn’t believe it. How dare him claim that position in her life? He was not her father and had no right to try and put himself in that place. This is the last thing that Jesse (Birdie) needs after being separated from Cole and her father and having been on the run for so long. Jim needs to back off and chill out. I’m curious to find out what will happen with Jim and Sheila (Sandy). I hope he doesn’t turn out to be that character that Jesse (Birdie) thinks he is but who knows what will happen.

Caucasia pgs. 83-132

After reading the second part of Caucasia, I have a million questions that i would love to have answered. The first one and probably the one that will be talked about the most is, what has Sandy done that has caused the FBI to pursue her? We get some ideas that it has to do with the men that Cole and Birdie saw out there window that one night but we are never actually told what she has done. With that question arises another, Why is it that Cole, Carmen and Birdies father left to go to Brazil? Did they know of the trouble that was to come and thought it was best to flee because all three of them had characteristics that were marked African American? Also what was with Redbone? I was officially freaked out when i read the section where he is standing behind the fence near the kids playground and how he takes pictures of Birdie? Something definitely seemed up but i just couldn’t figure it out. I hope that the remainder of the book answers these questions.

Along with the question i liked how Sandy and Birdie came up with whole new identities as a way to disguise themselves from the FBI. Birdie changed her name to Jesse and Sandy changed her name to Sheila. They came up with back stories and everything. Birdie/Jesse was said to be half-jewish which i was kind of surprised by. As i read through the passage i was thinking that they would have chose Italian or Sicilian since individuals in the past had said that Birdie looked like she could be that. I guess the fact that Birdie had characteristics that were marked White worked out well for Sandy because the FBI were looking for a white mother with her black child. I can’t wait to find out what comes next in this book.

Birdie and Cole’s Relationship

After reading section one I was strongly drawn to the relationship between Birdie and Cole. They shared a strong sisterly bond in which they relied on each other for everything. Birdie defined herself by Cole. This is demonstrated on page five when Birdie says “Before I ever saw myself, I saw my sister. When I was still to small for mirrors. I saw her as my reflections that proved my existence.” Although in this quote Birdie talks about how when she was younger this is what she felt, i still feel that as she got older, she still viewed Cole as her reflection. Birdie was dependent upon Cole and it seemed as though Cole was more of a mother to Birdie than their birth mother was. It becomes apparent how reliant Birdie is on Cole when they entered Nkrumah. Cole easily fit in with the other students because she had the marked characteristics of an African American. Birdie on the other hand was teased and picked on. As Cole made friends and found her place within the school, Birdie realized that she also needed to find a way to fit in so that she would not lose the relationship she had with her sister. Both Cole and Birdie changed their appearances and personalities to fit into with there classmates. Over time Birdie found her own group of friends called the Brown Sugars but still tried to keep a close relationship with her sister. Unfortunately at the end of the section we get a glimpse into how their relationship is slowly diminishing. As Cole gets older, she seems to be separating herself from Birdie. It makes me wonder, what will happen to their relationship?

The Incredibles and the clouds

As I watched The Incredibles and looked for important concepts or uses of imagery. I quickly noticed the use of the sky and clouds in specific scenes. I first took notice of the sky and clouds, when Mr. Incredible came home from work. The sky was dark and filled with clouds creating a sense of darkness and misery. In the prior scene,  we observe Mr. Incredible at work where we are able to identify that he is absolutely miserable. By looking back on both these scenes i felt as if the sky and clouds represented the feelings experienced by Mr. Incredible. Since Mr. Incredible is miserable because he can no longer live as a hero and feels incomplete, the sky remains dark and filled with clouds. The clouds reappear in another scene when Mr. Incredible comes home from work. The sky has the same darkness and is still filled with clouds, demonstrating that Mr. Incredible is still miserable with the way his life is. We see a shift in the clouds when Mr. Incredible receives a top secret message from Mirage and is given the opportunity to play super hero again. After he meets with Mirage and finds out the details of his mission, the sky and clouds make a shift. The sky is no longer dark and filled with clouds, instead we see blue sky with white fluffy clouds. Mr. Incredible has found his happiness and fulfillment again because he can do what to him his life depends on; being a superhero. With the change of attitude in Mr. Incredible it only makes sense that there would be a change of imagery within the sky and clouds. The sky and clouds are closely tied together. The scenery provides insight into the emotions and feelings of Mr. Incredible. Did anyone else notice the clouds?

Brainstorming ideas for Paper 2

I pretty much already know what I’m going to write about for our second paper but I guess i’m having some difficulty addressing the how its important part and why it matters. The one connection that i made between the book and which i mentioned in class was appearance of Love and its driving force on the characters in both The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and also in Disgrace. In The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao we see both Oscar, Beli and even Lola, driven by this obsession or willingness to do anything because of love. Love is what drives their actions within the book and cause them to do things that are viewed as insane or crazy. In Disgrace, in David’s mind Love is what drove him to have sexual relations with Melanie and to partially rape her. He did not see anything wrong with what happen and even uses the line the he was a “servant to eros.” In his head, his actions were purely driven by love and that because of that, it was perfectly fine. I am able to clearly make that connection between the two books and theme of love and where they appear within the book. I was at first thinking about talking about Oscar, Beli and David but as i further thought about how i would develop the paper, i think i may want to only talk about David and Oscar. For Davids character i plan on using the passage where he talks about how he was a servant of Eros. I’m still trying to decide on which passages to use for David however. If anyone has any ideas please let me know! Also if you have any ideas about how i can incorporate or develop the why it matters part, please let me know. I had a couple ideas but I’m not sure about them.

Ideas for why it’s important:

The first idea was that as love drives both Oscar and David actions in both their texts, their actions cause readers to create specific views on them. If you think about Oscars character, his actions although were way overboard and sometimes absolutely insane, it was at the same time almost honorable. He was willing to give up everything for love and was willing to protect the one he loved. A view that a reader could create of him would be the “Honorable romantic.” As for David, we get a completely different view of him. His actions of sleeping with Melanie and in the one section basically forcing himself on her, cause readers to create the perspective that he is a creepy old disturbed man. Just throwing some ideas out there.

The second idea i had was to talk about how Love was used as the characters justification for their actions. So that although what they did was wrong. They could not be blamed because it was an act of love. That as long as something was done with the intent or feeling of love, it could not be perceived as unlawful or wrong.

Please let me know what you think or if you have any ideas!

Dinner with the Isaac’s

As i finished reading Disgrace, i was drawn to one scene in the book that spanned over a couple page. The scene in which David has dinner with the Isaac’s family. I never would have thought that Mr. Isaac would invite David to have dinner with his family at their home. I couldn’t help but keep asking myself why, why would you do that. If Mr. Isaac was my father, he would have kicked David out the minute he came into his office and that last thought that would run through his mind is to invite him to his house so that he could meet the rest of the family. This dinner gave David a chance to meet Melanie’s younger sister and wife. You could tell that Desiree and her mother were not comfortable with David being there and that was the reaction i expected. It was Mr. Isaac’s attitude and lack of reaction that confused me. He had no problem with it and just acted like David, was just a normal person and not the man who “raped” his daughter. Although i was confused about Mr. Isaac’s reaction, this scene in the book seemed necessary because it is within this scene that David finally admits that he is sorry for what he did and regrets it. This is seen on page 171 when David says ” I apologize for the grief i have caused you and Mr. Isaac’s. I ask for your pardon.” This scene begins to show the shift David is making and how he feels and felt toward Melanie. He loved her and believed things could turn out differently. He realized what he did was wrong and finally accepted it and knew that he would have to live with it. It was the start of a turn around for David. I guess the dinner with the Isaac’s was important but I’m still shocked that it even happened

The Dogs

After reading the third section and the discussion we had in class, I can not seem to get over the re-occurrence and focus on the dogs in the story. In the scene where Lucy and David are attacked. We get this intense and detailed description of how each dog is shot to death except for Katie. Rather then simple alluding to the killing of the dogs, Coetzee’s decides to provide this image for the reader. As we discussed in class, i feel this intense description allows the reader to understand the magnitude at which the three attacks. That if they could show such pure hatred and disregard for the dogs, who are living creatures, what was going to stop them from showing the same hatred with Lucy or David. It’s no surprise that David was set on fire. These three attackers had pure hatred and demonstrated it in rash ways. I think it attempts to give a characterization of the three attackers since we don’t know too much about them.

Then later on in the third section we get pages upon pages about David and the dogs. He helps Bev out at the clinic putting down the dogs and even offers to bring them to the hospital to be incinerator every Sunday. I think in this section we finally get a glimpse of a different side of David. He’s not fully taken a step in the right direction but he’s working towards it. He cannot stand by and watch the workers at the incinerator beat the dead dogs so that they fit in the incinerator. He feels as though he needs to tend for them now that they can not tend for themselves. We start to see an unselfish side of David where he cares for something other than himself. I think the dogs are important as they provide new aspects to David’s character. When David says the line “For his idea of the world. A world in which men do not use shovels to beat corpses into a more convenient shape for processing.” I get a very different interpretation that has nothing to do with the dogs. I feel as though David is making reference to the set up of society in South Africa. That David himself does not believe that people have to change or go through certain experiences to fit into the societies view. That women should not be beaten and raped so that the fit into the view of South African society. I may be completely wrong in my interpretation but that’s just what i pulled from it.

David and his contradictions

As i was reading through part two i tried to pay close attention to David’s contradictions. As i read through the pages in this section, i looked or any note of contradiction and not to my surprise, i found some. The contradiction that drew my attention happened when David had his hearing. During the hearing when the committee asked him to submit a form of statement that included him admitting to the charges and admitting that what he did was wrong, David wanted nothing to do with it. He felt his plea of guilty was enough and was not ready to admit that what he did was wrong or was sorry for it. He even avoids that question from a reporter about whether he is sorry or not. In both these cases, David does not seem remorseful or sorry about what happened but there’s a contradiction that occurs. If you remember in the first section of the reading David talks about how he felt bad for Melanie. How he thought about what she must be going through. It was something that was on his mind when she didn’t show for class or the times she looked upset or distraught. This to me seems to say that he did partially feel bad for what happened and was sorry. I mean the situation ended badly for him and it just seemed like David was trying to act a certain way at the meeting. I don’t truly know if i believe him when he said he didn’t feel like he did anything wrong and when he denied that he was sorry for the whole thing. It may just be me though. Does anyone else feel this way?