arturo22’s Blog

The poem that I found the most interesting and fascinating was the poem about Edmund Pollard. In this poem Edmund tells us to live our life to the fullest, and the fact that he is said makes the message all the more interesting. The fact that Edmund is dead makes me want to think that he did not live his life to the fullest and he is advising us to live our life, because he wasted his life. When we were talking about this poem in class today, I got a vivid picture of the movie “Yes Man” in my head. I got that picture because Carl the main character was a grouchy do nothing guy until he became a yes man and had to say yes to everything. Although Carl took it to the extreme it can be said that he is living life to the fullest.

This message of living life to the fullest is a message that goes deep into my soul. I feel that this message is one of great importance due to the fact that we have only one life and once we die that is game over our chance is up. I don’t want to go out like a burnt out candle when it comes time for me to pass away I want to go peacefully not having any regrets, not saying “I wish I had done that.” I won’t say that because I would have done everything that I wanted to do in life. For me some of those things to do before dying are going to Spain, London, and Italy. I also want to see how far my soccer career takes me, if I do not make it to the professional level I won’t be disappointed because I know that I had tried my best. I also want to open a store. Once I have accomplished  all of these things I can pass away peacefully knowing that I sucked all the juice out of the great fruit which is life, and that I drank every last drop of that juice which brought me great joy.

I am still laughing over how funny Roger Heston’s poem was. When Mr. Wasserman first told me about this book I thought it was going to be a lot of dead people telling us their lives. But this book is funny, with people like Heston who just have crazy things to tell. Of the two I would have to agree with the outlook that Heston had on freedom. He felt that to be truly free you had to get out into the world, you cannot stand in the tub looking outside you have to try to make the world your tub. If you fail who cares, at least you tried. You are better off trying and failing than never experiencing life. This in a way is what happened to Heston the cow got complete freedom and it killed Heston, that is too funny. 

The most interesting poem in these few pages is the poem told by George Gray. I liked it the best due to its deep meaning and because it reminded me of Ishmael. The deep meaning in the poem is that you have to live life to the fullest. George Gray did not live his life, instead he was scared of life. Even though he was perfectly safe, he never got to experience the thrill of living. Therefore the boat that is painted on his tombstone does not show his destination but instead his life. For George Gray was the boat who never set sail, who never lived life, who never lived.

On the other hand you have people like Ishmael who do live their life. Ishmael starts feeling drizzly November in his soul and decides to go whaling.George Gray lived with that drizzly November in his soul for his whole life.   Ishmael doesn’t care about the danger involved in whaling, he realizes that he is going to live only life and he has to take advantage of it. If Ishmael had a tombstone the painting on it would have to be a boat in full sail, because unlike George Gray Ishmael’s boat took off. It didn’t stay in the dock rotting away, it took advantage of the wind and went on the vast ocean which is life.  

The poem that I found interesting and funny was the poem of Chase Henry. He was the town drunk during his life, he was so bad that the priest did let him get buried along with the other people. Then he ended up buried next to a banker, and the bankers wife. It just goes to show that we are all the same when we are buried six feet under. There are no longer any social or class distinctions, we are just one people in eternal sleep. No matter how much wealth you accumulate in your life it is not going to save you form death, because death is a part of life for everyone; including drunk, banker, and judge.

As we can see by Judge Spooners poem, what you do in life becomes completely irrelevant when death comes knocking on the door. Judge Spooners thinks that he should at least be buried better than the town drunk, but that is not the case. It is also funny how the town drunk is remembered, while one of the most famous people in the town is forgotten

So Ah’m back home again and Ah’m satisfied to be here . Ah done been to tuh the horizon and back and now Ah can set heah in mah house and live by comparisons.

As soon as I read this quote which is located on page 191 an image of Gatsby looking at the green light flashed in my mind, and I also thought about Ahab. I thought of those two characters because those two also tried to reach a certain goal a certain horizon, and both failed. And that failure is the fundamental difference between Janie and both Gatsby and Ahab. Because as we see from the quote Janie feels that she achieved that goal that she went to the horizon, something that neither Gatsby nor Ahab did.

Another difference is that Janie actually says that she is going to sit in her house and just live. But I couldn’t Imagine Ahab sitting down at his house taking care of his family, it just wouldn’t seem right. And I had a strange feeling that Gatsby and Daisy could not have gotten married, it just didn’t seem right. But on the other hand Janie feels that she has had enough, now she just wants to sit down and rest and live a normal life, something Gatsby nor Ahab would never do. 

I have recently been reading the news,but all that I am noticing is that there is so many things wrong with this world. For example there are so many wars, there are so many people dying, and diseases killing people, basically our world is a mess. And through all this I have to wonder where is God? Why is he not helping his people out? Why is he not stopping the killings? I would think that God would try to help his people but it seems that he thinks otherwise. And I am saying this because Janie and I share the same question; What is God doing? The quote that shows me that Janie is thinking that is on page 178.

She looked high to the sky. Somewhere up there beyond blue ether’s bosom sat He. Was He noticing what was going on around here? He must be because He knew everything. Did He mean to do this thing to Tea Cake and her?… She looked hard for something up there to move for a sign… the sky stayed hard looking and quiet so she went inside the house. 

In this quote Janie is wondering why God has cursed Tea Cake with rabies. She is wondering why her and Tea Cake. They had made a great couple and now this illness that Tea Cake had acquired is tearing them apart and endangering Tea Cake’s life, Why? I don’t feel that Janie is questioning whether or not there is a God; instead she is questioning his reasoning. And I too join Janie in saying what is going on with our God; and I too ask WHY?

In these few chapters Janie once again marries another man, but this time it isn’t for money or any material position. This time Tea Cake represents something she hasn’t had in many years Tea Cake represents change but most of all freedom. And it is this freedom that makes Janie fall in love with Tea Cake. The quote on page 106 basically sums up the relationship.

Ah’m born but Ah ain’t dead. No tellin’ whut Ah’m liable tuh do yet. 

And this quote shows us that Janie is still full of adventure and surprises despite her age. But these surprises and adventures are done with encouragement from Tea Cake. 

And Tea Cake therefore not only expresses freedom but also change because she is sick and tired of her and she needs something to spice up her life and that something is Tea Cake. In this sense of change both Ishmael and Janie are similar Janie needed change so she married Tea Cake, and Ishmael needed change and he went on a whaling voyage. They are different means of getting that change but nonetheless that dramatic change is accomplished one way or the other.

At first I thought that Chapter six had nothing of significant importance. But after I reread it I noticed that the free mule could symbolize the free blacks. The thing that made me realize this is how Jody is compared to LIncoln and other great heroes. And then the whole mule part of the story seemed to have importance instead of just being a story to take up space. And all the hard work that the mule had to endure under Matt can be seen as slavery, and the mule’s freedom is the same as the slave’s emancipation. But everything about the buzzards and the speech still confuses. The similarity between the two is there just a bit confusing.

And it is amazing that Hurston can make a simple story become a symbol for a whole race, that is just amazing. And I believe she put that in the book to show her readers how the slaves were treated. Just like the mule was starved and made to work. The slaves too were starved and then made to work. And it is this message of suffering and cruelty that Hurston is trying to show us in this story of the mule and the master Matt

In these few chapters Janie is victim to bad relationships. And what Hurston is trying to show in these relationships is that there needs to be true love in order for a relationship to succeed. For example even if Logan spoils her, there is no chemistry between them; Janie was forced onto him. And then when Janie goes with Joe a man of money with an education she also becomes unhappy because she is basically ignored because of the great importance that the town has taken for Joe. 

There is a quote on page 48 that expresses a very interesting sentiment that Hurston could have been trying to give us. The quote says, ” It sort of made them feel that they had been taken advantage of. Like things had been kept from them.” I feel like Hurston is trying to show us how different the lives of the poor black people were from the rich white people even from the rich black person. It is as if she is saying that a drape has been put over the eyes of the poor black society in order to keep them ignorant and away from main stream society.  

I don’t mind the language at all I got used to it. And I feel that it adds meaning to the book and to the words that are spoken. I admit that in Chapter one it tool me a while to get used to the language, I had to read a few sentences over, but I started getting used to it. The thing I got confused about was how many stories were being told. The grandma was telling a story to Janie who was telling the story to her friend I think. 

One thing that struck me in chapter two was the sacrifice that the grandma has made to raise Janie. The Grandma had to quit her job at the white person’s home just because she didn’t want Janie to be made fun at school. And at first that the Grandma was crazy when she told Janie to get married, but now I see that it is for Janie’s own security. Because the Grandma knows that she is going to die so she wants to see Janie safe with a husband before she dies.