Monday, November 15, 2010
Holt
The McPherons ran Dwayne off to protect their daughter and granddaughter. The last chapter features all the characters interacting like one big family. Victoria is a mother to the baby, and Maggie could be a mother to Victoria. Maggie could also be in the place of Ella and act as a mother to Ike and Bobby. The new baby represents new beginnings. The McPherons have something more than each other.
Ike and Bobby
The boys begin smoking. They flatten coins and their mother's bracelet. They then bury it. This must be symbolic of their mother emotionally flattening and being as good as dead to them.
Labor
Victoria is more calm than the McPherons. after hours of labor, she gives birth to a healthy baby girl. The McPherons joke about how their "womanfolk" have doubled in population, but they are excited. Like parents, grandparents, or fathers, they thank the doctor and send him fresh meat. That is the way the express gratitude of the highest degree.
more...
Victoria practices nurturing when the boys show up at the McPherons. Mrs. Stearns, a motherly female figure, has died. The are being passed around to different maternal figures.
Victoria admits to the doctor and the McPherons about the substances she has been putting in her body. The baby is going to be fine, but the McPherons do everything in their power to ensure the baby's health.
Victoria admits to the doctor and the McPherons about the substances she has been putting in her body. The baby is going to be fine, but the McPherons do everything in their power to ensure the baby's health.
Beckman hurts Ike and Bobby
Ike and Bobby are teased and tormented by Russ Beckman. It seems as if they are most upset by the fact that the girl did not try hard enough to save them, paralleling her to their mother. I was sickened by Russ' language and worried that something sexually abusive would happen. Guthrie finds out and takes matters into his own hands. He may be a "cold' man, but he stands up for people when he should!
Victoria goes back to the McPherons
She tells them that she is sorry and begins to cry. Like most men, they are uncomfortable with females crying, and they comfort her and tell her that all is going to be fine...just like parents.
Victoria leaves Denver and Dwayne
Yeah! Victoria finds closure and gets herself back to Holt. I admire her strength to leave! Dwayne is not good news.
Elko dies :(
The boys witness death by seeing their horse die. My first thought was that someone poisoned Elko or fed him razorblades. I'm relieved to know that it was only a twisted gut. The scene of the autopsy is very long and graphic, and the fact that the boys don't cry says something about their transition of emotional states from that of children to men. They are hardening and becoming like the McPheron brothers, which I am neither deeming good nor bad.
Victoria...oh my
We learn that the expectant mother is going to parties. At one she drinks alcohol and smokes weed, the rest she cannot remember. She feels guilty and scared afterwards and refuses to attend any more parties. I'm glad she learned, but I am shocked she made the mistake in the first place.
Guthrie fights with Beckman
Guthrie and the Beckmans end up in a quarrel the school board meeting. This chapter is significant because it places Mrs. Beckman in the white trash category with her offensive public language. I think the Beckmans will do something to harm Guthrie.
The McPherons look for Victoria
The two older brothers are worried about Victoria. When they talk to Maggie they realize that she's probably not dead. Safe? Who knows. At the end of the chapter it is unclear if they are talking about Victoria or a cow when they say, "She's young. She's strong and healthy. But you don't ever know what might could happen. you can't tell."
Victoria goes to Denver
I am so upset with Victoria so making the McPherons worry! She gets in the car and drives with Dwayne to Denver without thinking! To be continued...
Guthrie sleeps with Judy
Guthrie sleeps with Judy. Perhaps Haruf included it as to not take away from the intimacy between Guthrie and Maggie by letting us know that he has had a vasectomy. Why is this important? He and Ella decided that they didn't want any more children. Maggie is upset that Guthrie has slept with Judy. Cigarettes are abundant.
Victoria and the McPherons go crib shopping
The McPherons don't know what to do with a pregnant teenager. They call Maggie Jones for advice. The brothers take Victoria in to town to buy a crib for the baby. She is clearly upset by something. Does she want to keep the baby? Is the baby healthy enough to live to use a crib? Does she feel like a sponge accepting help from these two kind men? It is in this chapter that we really see the two brothers acting like protective parents to Victoria rather than simple caretakers. They sooth her, buy her the best crib, and even examine what they are buying. They tell her that she's going to have to be okay with the purchase. I think a little guidance and semi-authority residing over her is just what she needed.
Ike and Bobby in Denver
The boys go to stay with Ella and their aunt in Denver. The aunt is acting like a mother to Ella. The boys try to connect and have fun with their mother, but it is not rainbows and butterflies. The saddest part about all of this is that I can tell that Ella loves her children and she does not have a distorted sense of love. She is simply ridden down with depression. She knows her boys and good children. She never yells at them, and it is even the aunt who corrects them for smashing eggs on the sidewalk. This seems like a kind of closure for the boys, a letting-go, and they are happy when their father comes to get them.
Victoria meets the McPherons
Victoria goes out to live with the two brothers. Things are awkward at first and nobody wants Maggie Jones to leave. When she does they begin to talk about cattle, which I think is very sweet, because Victoria does not care about cattle but the trio needs to feel comfortable with each other. This chapter is filled with hope and is a random act of kindness.
Guthrie, pages 152-158
It sounds to me like Guthrie and the gang are in a bar much like Papa's. Guthrie has left Maggie's faculty Christmas party to go have a drink. At the bar he runs into Judy who is bragging about how young she is...yet she has a daughter in college, leading me to draw the conclusion that she had her baby at a young age just like Victoria. Judy wants to sleep with Guthrie. She makes it happen. Later on we discover that Maggie and Guthrie have a thing of some sort so looking back on this chapter, I feel angry for Maggie that Guthrie left her Christmas party and ended up sleeping with another women. Guthrie and Maggie sleep together later in the book so I think that Maggie was withholding sex to give him time to think clearly about Ella. By sleeping with Judy, she has been given an informal invitation to claim what she wants.
There is a man in the bar who just went through detox. Oh boy!
Plethora of cigarettes!
There is a man in the bar who just went through detox. Oh boy!
Plethora of cigarettes!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Ike and Bobby, pages 144-152
Mrs. Sterns is an old lady who is missing her child. She sees that the boys need a female figure to take their mind off of things and bring them back to childhood. She entrusts them with a keep and says about her wallet, "you know where it is" suggesting that they are already fmailiar and comfortable with each other. Her hair reminds me of the description of Bone's friend in "Bastard outr of Carloina." Like an older lady, she shows affection through baking. It is a good, warm chapter. I think if the author meant otherwise, he would have done somehting along the lines of spoiling the milk or making it sour. Like a mother breastfeeding, Mrs. Sterns nourishes the boys with glasses of milk.
Victoria
Maggie says about the McPherons that "They're about as good as men can be." Hmm, any females hurt by men in this book?
Victoria's "first view of the McPherons was obscured." This isn't only physical.
On page 130 Raymond says taht he is feeding mother cows and heifers. What Haruf meant was Victoria and her baby.
Victoria's "first view of the McPherons was obscured." This isn't only physical.
On page 130 Raymond says taht he is feeding mother cows and heifers. What Haruf meant was Victoria and her baby.
McPherons page 103-113
We find out that Victoria is only seventeen. The McPherons will take her in, but they don't know anything about babies and young girls. Even their wording is funny. Harold asks who the sire is rather than the identity of the father. Victoria needs them, and they need her to fill in for something they have missed out in life...family? females? babies? being responsible for other people?
Ike and Bobby
"one of the trees with a long weep of sap"
I think the weeping sap represents the desire to cry by the boys and Ella in this chapter. They are trying to please their mother and probably blame themselves, but her depression is not their fault and she knows it, but has no solution.
I think the weeping sap represents the desire to cry by the boys and Ella in this chapter. They are trying to please their mother and probably blame themselves, but her depression is not their fault and she knows it, but has no solution.
Victoria, pages 92-99
Here we learn that the baby's daddy is named "Dwayne." his mother will not let Victoria speak to him. I thought that this was the last time we would seeor hear of Dwayne. Nature images also sprinkle this chapter. There is a mother in the cafe who loses her temper with her daughters, and I thought that it served as a foreshadowing. Maggie's father is going to harm Victoria if she stays there much longer, and I feel bad for the soon-to-be mother for she probably does not feel safe anywhere. How will she protect her baby?
Ike and Bobby pages 86-91
This chapter is full of images of nature. I think this important because of the natural flow of life the boys are following. Their world is being flooded with sex as well as curioity and confusion about the subject.
Guthrie
Tom confronts the boy who upsets Victoria. What's nice is that this is the same troublemaker throughout the text. Beckman is the boy from the sex scene, the one who offers Victoria a ride back to school, who causes Guthrie problems in school, and the one who hurts Ike and Bobby in the end. When I first read this chapter I thought he might also be the father of Victoria's baby.
Victoria
Victoria finds out that her baby is healthy and cries. Yeah! We find out that she wants to keep it. I'm shocked at the way the doctor talks to her...not in a bad way...but it dates the setting just a smidgeon because now it would be inappropriate and subject to a lawsuit. I'm glad Victoria is showing emotion.
McPherons, pages 58-71, Little Heifers
My obsession with cows in this book starts here. Although it is business and many people simply view them as animals, as a vegetarian and animal lover this chapter hits me hard. I don't think less of people who eat meat or who are in the cattle industry, but it was here that I picked up the idea for my final paper. The cows in "Plainsong" are not accessory items, but something much more symbolic. For me, the cows exhibit the idea of proper motherhood and all the emotions that are entailed.
On page 62 Raymond says, "But she was a good mother, you have to say that for her." He is talking about a cow, but the statement could reach across the species barrier to the McPherson' mother, Ella, and Victoria.
The passage that follows rips your heart out if you replace the animals with humans. A mother and her baby are being separated. Perhaps I am too sensitive in this arena (ha, no pun intended!) but I imagine images of government violence and the Holocaust when I think of a mother being denied her child in the eyes of death and torture.
On page 67 Tom is "kneeling at his (Bobby's) head" which to me is another religious symbol.
This is also a chapter in which the boys are taken out on a manly bonding trip/experience with their father and older men.
Harold uses inappropriate and gender-specific language when he becomes angry with the red-legged cow and says to her, "you gd crazy old raw-boned bitch."
Maybe we are seeing the boys slowly lose their innocence.
On page 62 Raymond says, "But she was a good mother, you have to say that for her." He is talking about a cow, but the statement could reach across the species barrier to the McPherson' mother, Ella, and Victoria.
The passage that follows rips your heart out if you replace the animals with humans. A mother and her baby are being separated. Perhaps I am too sensitive in this arena (ha, no pun intended!) but I imagine images of government violence and the Holocaust when I think of a mother being denied her child in the eyes of death and torture.
On page 67 Tom is "kneeling at his (Bobby's) head" which to me is another religious symbol.
This is also a chapter in which the boys are taken out on a manly bonding trip/experience with their father and older men.
Harold uses inappropriate and gender-specific language when he becomes angry with the red-legged cow and says to her, "you gd crazy old raw-boned bitch."
Maybe we are seeing the boys slowly lose their innocence.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Ike and Bobby, pages 51-57
Religious astoundment, cigarettes, and sex. This chapter is full of imagery and symbolism.
This is the first time the boys have seen people having sex, and what an odd situation! They see the girl have sex with two boys, one for pleasure, the other to satisfy another. The boys emit strong feelings for the girl as they realize that she has been disrespected in some way by the redheaded boy. I had a feeling that the alpha male was Beckman.
This is the first time the boys have seen people having sex, and what an odd situation! They see the girl have sex with two boys, one for pleasure, the other to satisfy another. The boys emit strong feelings for the girl as they realize that she has been disrespected in some way by the redheaded boy. I had a feeling that the alpha male was Beckman.
Victoria, pages 48-50
In a few short pages, Victoria finds out she is pregnant. The reader has the idea that she is anyhow, but if the reader is a female who has peed on many a stick, the chapter brings with it a sickening feeling. If the reader is male, perhaps it brings anxiety.
Mrs. Stearns
She's just an old lonely lady who needs someone in her life. The boys also need an elderly female figure. I predicted that they would go back and visit her. She too is a smoker.
Intermission
I really like this style of writing! It is surprisingly easy to read even without the presence of quotation marks. I am predicting that all of these lives will converge. Nick Hornby's "A Long Way Down" all over again!
Victoria
This chapter is significant because it is the picture of a mother abandoning her child. Ella does the same to Ike and Bobby, but it is less distinct than the clear cut made by Victoria's mother.
Ike and Bobby, pages 28-30
I think Haruf was careful about where and how much he dropped religious images. In this chapter, a manger and a barn are mentioned which makes me think that there may be sybolism regarding birth or new beginnings.
Victoria, pages 23-27
Vienna sausages. ew. but sometimes this is all that people can afford to eat, so to each his own! Could this be a class indicator?
The boy who says something to her is driving a Ford Mustang (very American).
The women at the cash register makes me laugh when she says that the teenagers should be getting sleep, and sleeping in their own beds.
"Is it that time of the month?" I think Victoria wishes that she was PMS rather than pregnancy! Makes me think about how much we moan about Aunt Flow until there is a possibility that we can be pregnant, then we beg for that time of the month to roll around.
The boy who says something to her is driving a Ford Mustang (very American).
The women at the cash register makes me laugh when she says that the teenagers should be getting sleep, and sleeping in their own beds.
"Is it that time of the month?" I think Victoria wishes that she was PMS rather than pregnancy! Makes me think about how much we moan about Aunt Flow until there is a possibility that we can be pregnant, then we beg for that time of the month to roll around.
Guthrie, pages 17-22
Tom's problems are presented here:
He is sexually frustrated, he is at odds with a problematic student, and he has some kind of affection for Maggie Jones.
I picked up that he is a good man who means well. He defends, not disrespects, women.
He reaches for the cigarettes, indicating that he is stressed while also leading the reader to make an assumption about the class to which he belongs.
He is sexually frustrated, he is at odds with a problematic student, and he has some kind of affection for Maggie Jones.
I picked up that he is a good man who means well. He defends, not disrespects, women.
He reaches for the cigarettes, indicating that he is stressed while also leading the reader to make an assumption about the class to which he belongs.
Ike and Bobby, pages 12-16
The boys' mother, Ella, is not functional. I initially thought that she was down with a physical illness, but after revisiting the pages I with the knowledge that she is depressed, it is clear that the boys need a mother than cannot be there for them.
Victoria pages 8-11
Victoria Roubideaux. What a wordly name for a character that is supposed to be plucked from white trash! "Victoria" is a classy and elegant female name. "Roubideaux" is French.
The first paragraph features a sick girl, but I think it is interesting to not ethat she is in the praying position.
Her mother is angry, disrespectful, and degrading. Her choice of words labels the class she belongs to-"little miss, you knocked yourself up,slut"-
Cigarettes make their debut in the book.
Victoria only has a few clothes to alternate between and I feel bad for her. She goes to school after she is sick, probably in clothes that smell like smoke.
The red purse is symbolic of something, but what of I am not sure just yet!
The first paragraph features a sick girl, but I think it is interesting to not ethat she is in the praying position.
Her mother is angry, disrespectful, and degrading. Her choice of words labels the class she belongs to-"little miss, you knocked yourself up,slut"-
Cigarettes make their debut in the book.
Victoria only has a few clothes to alternate between and I feel bad for her. She goes to school after she is sick, probably in clothes that smell like smoke.
The red purse is symbolic of something, but what of I am not sure just yet!
Plainsong pages 1-7
Guthrie
First introduced to Tom Gutherie. By the end of the first chapter I drew the conclusion that he is a father, a husband, and a school teacher. There are many words dealing with school (such as pencils, paper, playground, and chalk) that are dropped in the chapter. At page seven I am left with the feeling of staring into an intense, sharp, and painful light.
First introduced to Tom Gutherie. By the end of the first chapter I drew the conclusion that he is a father, a husband, and a school teacher. There are many words dealing with school (such as pencils, paper, playground, and chalk) that are dropped in the chapter. At page seven I am left with the feeling of staring into an intense, sharp, and painful light.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Bastard Out of Carolina, Final Post
So Anney chooses her lover over her child. I nearly hate her. What happens to Reece, I wonder? The end of the novel is hopeful because although Bone has lost her mother, she had gained safety and the love of her aunt. I think Anney is selfish and does not actually love Bone like she says, or maybe she doesn’t, and that's why she leaves her with Ray because Ray can give her a better life. I'm so happy my mother didn't choose a man over me.
Anney knowingly remains in the dark about the abuse. She is a poor excuse for a mother, and in my opinion she is just as guilty as Glen because she did not step in and end it. What is wrong with her? Her actions go against nature. Bone is lucky she did not die because Anney would not have stopped it in time.
I was wrong about Anney. I was wrong about Glen for I didn't think he would be this violent. Also, I am disappointed that the family did not step in sooner because it seems blatantly obvious that the child is being abused.
Excellent novel, however, and one that should be read by everyone if only to educate them on the true nature of some people and the role they play in child abuse.
Anney knowingly remains in the dark about the abuse. She is a poor excuse for a mother, and in my opinion she is just as guilty as Glen because she did not step in and end it. What is wrong with her? Her actions go against nature. Bone is lucky she did not die because Anney would not have stopped it in time.
I was wrong about Anney. I was wrong about Glen for I didn't think he would be this violent. Also, I am disappointed that the family did not step in sooner because it seems blatantly obvious that the child is being abused.
Excellent novel, however, and one that should be read by everyone if only to educate them on the true nature of some people and the role they play in child abuse.
Bastard Out of Carolina, Chapter 5
Yuck. My mom has been married three times now, and I don't blame her or think it is bad, but I've grown up with a daddy "issue." By the age of eight I began to detach myself from paternal figures because as far as I was concerned, they weren't my daddy, and even he was not permanent. I started loathing men, actually, except for my uncles and grandpa. However, I was jealous when my friends loved all over their daddies. I wanted that, but was unwilling to force a bond that I felt could be broken over a single argument. Also, I developed a sixth sense for men and their true intentions. My momma grew up in the "ideal" 1980s family: 5 kids, three girls, two boys, all popular and well dressed, all drove nice cars and went to Southside High School. Nobody ever suffered from a want of anything. It wasn't until all the children were out of the house that my grandparents separated, but that's a different blog post. My point is that my mom didn't need to have a daddy for me because she was essentially my mother and father all wrapped into one, but she felt guilty that I didn't have the "regular" experience and wanted for me to have a daddy I could call my own. The man I call "dad" today didn't come into my life until I was a teenager, but that's okay! You cannot plan love.
I remember feeling like Bone, not being able to naturally call Jack my "daddy" without feeling awkward and like I was giving in to being inferior to him. Actually, although I loved him dearly I was happy the day my mother left except for the fact that we had to move out of our brand new house and move into an old rent house. As a kid I missed my house more than I missed him. He wasn't a dad to me, but a competitor like Daddy Glen but on a much more innocent scale...or so I think...to be quite honest I blocked many things out because they were too painful to think about, but one thing is for certain and it is that he and I were like tectonic plates bumping and scratching each other all the time. Then he would attempt to turn me against my mother. For a while it worked because I liked being hugged and defended when she was legitimately mad about something I had done wrong. In addition, he and I were physically closer than we should have been, but I didn't know what to say or how to say it. Moreover, I loved the presents he would buy me after we fought. My mom made a point not to spoil me as a child, and he did it with dangerous consequences.
So there we were...mom and I at Wal-Mart...the new card machine for Father's Day that would let you watch while it printed a card with a Rugrat on it. This was before personal printers were popular so I was very excited. Yuck, she encouraged me to write "I'm ready to call you Dad" on it...and I did because she was pressuring me, trying to force our family trio...and I hated glorifying him by calling him "Dad." I knew he was not the fatherly figure he was supposed to be- my grandfather hated him as well as my uncles, and I loved them, but he tore me back to him.
"shiny as mica on in sunlight"...I just like this because it has my name in it. My real father, when he talked to my mother after I was born, jokingly asked why she had named me after a rock.
Bone confuses sex for love. She also hates moving from house to house. Ringworm is mentioned on page 65, but everyone knows it is only a mark of filthy quarters, and not something that challenges human life.
"In one year I went from compliant and quiet to loud and insistent....wished we could complain for not reason but the pleasure of bitching." Word!
"ANGER hit me like a baseball coming hard and fast off a new bat." Did I write this book?
Bone starts lying. I did too. When I went to a new school I took pleasure in convincing all the kids that I was a supermodel that modeled in Limited Too Magazines and they absolutely bought it. "Suckers," I thought. I remember feeling intelligent, like a politician or CIA agent or car saleswoman that could lie through my teeth. Rather than feeling embarrassed about the truth coming out, I had the best day ever at school! This was right after my mom left Jack, and I was to transfer to my little cousin's school, my little cousin who is more or less my sister. She was in the third grade and before I went to school for the first day, I sent her with photocopies of a collage of supermodel body parts that we had put together. The cutest boy in the fifth grade messaged me on AOL and was excited that I was coming to his school. Their faces were priceless when I walked in on the first day, the furthest thing from magazine beauty! Somehow I made friends? And a LOT of them!
Daddy Glen tells Anney to "shut up." I hate these words more than any other in the English language.
I remember feeling like Bone, not being able to naturally call Jack my "daddy" without feeling awkward and like I was giving in to being inferior to him. Actually, although I loved him dearly I was happy the day my mother left except for the fact that we had to move out of our brand new house and move into an old rent house. As a kid I missed my house more than I missed him. He wasn't a dad to me, but a competitor like Daddy Glen but on a much more innocent scale...or so I think...to be quite honest I blocked many things out because they were too painful to think about, but one thing is for certain and it is that he and I were like tectonic plates bumping and scratching each other all the time. Then he would attempt to turn me against my mother. For a while it worked because I liked being hugged and defended when she was legitimately mad about something I had done wrong. In addition, he and I were physically closer than we should have been, but I didn't know what to say or how to say it. Moreover, I loved the presents he would buy me after we fought. My mom made a point not to spoil me as a child, and he did it with dangerous consequences.
So there we were...mom and I at Wal-Mart...the new card machine for Father's Day that would let you watch while it printed a card with a Rugrat on it. This was before personal printers were popular so I was very excited. Yuck, she encouraged me to write "I'm ready to call you Dad" on it...and I did because she was pressuring me, trying to force our family trio...and I hated glorifying him by calling him "Dad." I knew he was not the fatherly figure he was supposed to be- my grandfather hated him as well as my uncles, and I loved them, but he tore me back to him.
"shiny as mica on in sunlight"...I just like this because it has my name in it. My real father, when he talked to my mother after I was born, jokingly asked why she had named me after a rock.
Bone confuses sex for love. She also hates moving from house to house. Ringworm is mentioned on page 65, but everyone knows it is only a mark of filthy quarters, and not something that challenges human life.
"In one year I went from compliant and quiet to loud and insistent....wished we could complain for not reason but the pleasure of bitching." Word!
"ANGER hit me like a baseball coming hard and fast off a new bat." Did I write this book?
Bone starts lying. I did too. When I went to a new school I took pleasure in convincing all the kids that I was a supermodel that modeled in Limited Too Magazines and they absolutely bought it. "Suckers," I thought. I remember feeling intelligent, like a politician or CIA agent or car saleswoman that could lie through my teeth. Rather than feeling embarrassed about the truth coming out, I had the best day ever at school! This was right after my mom left Jack, and I was to transfer to my little cousin's school, my little cousin who is more or less my sister. She was in the third grade and before I went to school for the first day, I sent her with photocopies of a collage of supermodel body parts that we had put together. The cutest boy in the fifth grade messaged me on AOL and was excited that I was coming to his school. Their faces were priceless when I walked in on the first day, the furthest thing from magazine beauty! Somehow I made friends? And a LOT of them!
Daddy Glen tells Anney to "shut up." I hate these words more than any other in the English language.
Bastard Out of Carolina, Chapter 4, Part Deux
Another thing I noticed was the gender role reversal we find when Bone is the ring bearer. Interesting.
My mom was married to a crazy man named Jack, and he reminds me of Daddy Glen when on page 43 he says, "Come on, girls." He is loud and impatient for no apparent reason. He seems agitated with them because he already has a superior being on his way as Anney is pregnant with Glen's baby boy. He treats these girls like they are inferior and in the way of his happiness.
Daddy Glen is now eating cornbread and pinto beans on the regular, an inverse situation from chapter two? in which he ate "lower class" Southern food for the first time. He is branching out far beyond his upper class roots, and the roots are starting to take hold as the reader can see.
"Beau didn't like Glen much at all, couldn't, he admitted, since he never trusted a man who didn't drink." Hahahahaha. My love-hate relationship with white trash comedienne Chelsea Handler goes a little something like this. In one of her books she writes that there are two kinds of people she cannot trust, those who do not drink and those who collect stickers. I practice both of these regularly! There is something strange though about those that do not drink...sometimes...I don't drink but a few glasses of wine a year, but it is for health reasons. I've found that most people who don't drink have some strange air about them.
"Mama thought it was unlucky to choose a name for a baby till it was born." Mama chose Ruth Ann's name before she was born.
Daddy Glen touches Bone and I don't know what to write about this yet except that it is not uncommon. Uncomfortable to read, but reality is uncomfortable and I applaud Allison for being able to write about it.
Fortunately not everyone endures an older male who takes advantage of a younger female. However, when I was ten years old I was cornered by a thirteen year old friend of my cousin. It was when that huge ice storm came through in 2000 and we were out of school all week. While every single one of my relatives was taking refuge in/on my family's estate, I was on the same property becoming familiarized with things that were not cushioned by time or age. I understand what Bone feels...confused...hurt...does this mean that he likes me?...ashamed that someone would find out...guilty...like it was my fault...dirty. Although my experience did not involve a father figure, it was a male that I trusted. I completely understand what Allison was trying to convey through Bone. I too had seen my cousins naked, but seeing it in a not so jovial situation made my stomach turn.
My mom was married to a crazy man named Jack, and he reminds me of Daddy Glen when on page 43 he says, "Come on, girls." He is loud and impatient for no apparent reason. He seems agitated with them because he already has a superior being on his way as Anney is pregnant with Glen's baby boy. He treats these girls like they are inferior and in the way of his happiness.
Daddy Glen is now eating cornbread and pinto beans on the regular, an inverse situation from chapter two? in which he ate "lower class" Southern food for the first time. He is branching out far beyond his upper class roots, and the roots are starting to take hold as the reader can see.
"Beau didn't like Glen much at all, couldn't, he admitted, since he never trusted a man who didn't drink." Hahahahaha. My love-hate relationship with white trash comedienne Chelsea Handler goes a little something like this. In one of her books she writes that there are two kinds of people she cannot trust, those who do not drink and those who collect stickers. I practice both of these regularly! There is something strange though about those that do not drink...sometimes...I don't drink but a few glasses of wine a year, but it is for health reasons. I've found that most people who don't drink have some strange air about them.
"Mama thought it was unlucky to choose a name for a baby till it was born." Mama chose Ruth Ann's name before she was born.
Daddy Glen touches Bone and I don't know what to write about this yet except that it is not uncommon. Uncomfortable to read, but reality is uncomfortable and I applaud Allison for being able to write about it.
Fortunately not everyone endures an older male who takes advantage of a younger female. However, when I was ten years old I was cornered by a thirteen year old friend of my cousin. It was when that huge ice storm came through in 2000 and we were out of school all week. While every single one of my relatives was taking refuge in/on my family's estate, I was on the same property becoming familiarized with things that were not cushioned by time or age. I understand what Bone feels...confused...hurt...does this mean that he likes me?...ashamed that someone would find out...guilty...like it was my fault...dirty. Although my experience did not involve a father figure, it was a male that I trusted. I completely understand what Allison was trying to convey through Bone. I too had seen my cousins naked, but seeing it in a not so jovial situation made my stomach turn.
Bastard Out of Carolina, Chapter 4
"Yeah, Glen loves Anney. He loves her like a gambler loves a fast racehorse or a desperate man loves whiskey. That kind of love eats a man up. I don't trust that boy, don't want our Anney marrying him."
The definition of love is skewed from Bone throughout the novel. As a retrospective narrator, I believe the adult Bone knows what love is, but the child Bone had a distorted sense of the meaning. Why do we call a table a table? For the simple fact that we've been told that this object with four legs is a table is defined as such, and we've been told it our entire lives. My point is that I'm not at all surprised by the sheer number of people who have an unhealthy notion of the meaning of love. "Love" can be obsession, hurt, greed, or selfishness in sheep’s' clothing. Daddy Glen probably thinks that what he feels for Anney is love because that's what he was taught. The Bible says that love isn't jealous, and love is kind. I believe that. However, love IS protective. Daddy Glen takes it to the extreme by becoming jealous of Anney's child, greedy in the raw. He does not understand that there are different kinds of love. He wants Anney's undivided attention. He has never had a child of his own, so perhaps he is missing some paternal understanding that is said to come the second your first child is born. I speak not out of experience, but out of a projected idea. What I do know is that Daddy Glen isn't healthy in the heart or in the head, both in the perpetual and literal senses.
The lines I've lifted from the text turn my stomach into knots. I have been "loved" by someone whose actions and emotions reminded me of those of a gambler or an alcoholic. More often than not they are also alcoholics and gamblers, too. What's difficult is when you love one of these people in return, thinking you are both on the same page. Unfortunately, my young heart was hurt most when I caught on to their attraction being motivated by pride, a sense of ownership over something/someone that couldn't be bought with money, and domination. There I was, thinking about beautiful souls and they were simply name dropping. How people treat each other behind closed doors says a lot about the health of their relationship. When a boy is annoyingly all over a girl in public, and then chills to a cold touch when nobody is looking, something isn't right. People abuse and misuse their significant others, grow angry out of fear of that person leaving, and then in turn attempt to oppress then to keep them from leaving. Being in a relationship is a privilege, not a right, but it seems that people lose touch with that fact. Rather than lifting their partner up they try to keep them down, keep them second-guessing themselves, keep them thinking that they are lucky to be with the abuser. I use the term "abuse" lightly and quite liberally here, but it can range from small words to mind games to actual physical abuse.
A gambler seeks thrills through risking everything. A gambler can only keep a high for so long.
Alcoholics are addicted to a substance. Misguided lovers use this substance to mask their own flaws and insecurities, tend to ignore what cannot be kept at bay, and end up hiding from the confrontation of reality.
This kind of love is not stable. Much like a free radical in the body that is not stable, this kind of love can lead to destruction.
An interesting documentary to add to your "must watch" list is titled, "The woman who loves a psychopath"...I think...a highly regarded program which I found fascinating. You have the right one if it is about a European couple.
The definition of love is skewed from Bone throughout the novel. As a retrospective narrator, I believe the adult Bone knows what love is, but the child Bone had a distorted sense of the meaning. Why do we call a table a table? For the simple fact that we've been told that this object with four legs is a table is defined as such, and we've been told it our entire lives. My point is that I'm not at all surprised by the sheer number of people who have an unhealthy notion of the meaning of love. "Love" can be obsession, hurt, greed, or selfishness in sheep’s' clothing. Daddy Glen probably thinks that what he feels for Anney is love because that's what he was taught. The Bible says that love isn't jealous, and love is kind. I believe that. However, love IS protective. Daddy Glen takes it to the extreme by becoming jealous of Anney's child, greedy in the raw. He does not understand that there are different kinds of love. He wants Anney's undivided attention. He has never had a child of his own, so perhaps he is missing some paternal understanding that is said to come the second your first child is born. I speak not out of experience, but out of a projected idea. What I do know is that Daddy Glen isn't healthy in the heart or in the head, both in the perpetual and literal senses.
The lines I've lifted from the text turn my stomach into knots. I have been "loved" by someone whose actions and emotions reminded me of those of a gambler or an alcoholic. More often than not they are also alcoholics and gamblers, too. What's difficult is when you love one of these people in return, thinking you are both on the same page. Unfortunately, my young heart was hurt most when I caught on to their attraction being motivated by pride, a sense of ownership over something/someone that couldn't be bought with money, and domination. There I was, thinking about beautiful souls and they were simply name dropping. How people treat each other behind closed doors says a lot about the health of their relationship. When a boy is annoyingly all over a girl in public, and then chills to a cold touch when nobody is looking, something isn't right. People abuse and misuse their significant others, grow angry out of fear of that person leaving, and then in turn attempt to oppress then to keep them from leaving. Being in a relationship is a privilege, not a right, but it seems that people lose touch with that fact. Rather than lifting their partner up they try to keep them down, keep them second-guessing themselves, keep them thinking that they are lucky to be with the abuser. I use the term "abuse" lightly and quite liberally here, but it can range from small words to mind games to actual physical abuse.
A gambler seeks thrills through risking everything. A gambler can only keep a high for so long.
Alcoholics are addicted to a substance. Misguided lovers use this substance to mask their own flaws and insecurities, tend to ignore what cannot be kept at bay, and end up hiding from the confrontation of reality.
This kind of love is not stable. Much like a free radical in the body that is not stable, this kind of love can lead to destruction.
An interesting documentary to add to your "must watch" list is titled, "The woman who loves a psychopath"...I think...a highly regarded program which I found fascinating. You have the right one if it is about a European couple.
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