2.3.10

Hurston, Cather and Glaspell

Zora Neale Hurston

I have never read any of Zora Neale Hurston's works but I have heard of many of them, and if the others are as well written as "The Gilded Six-bits" then I do believe that I may take the time to read more of her work. I did not really enjoy the first piece we had to read; it was sort of bland and uninteresting to me, as most essays usually are. However, I did like the message that the author was trying to express in the essay; Zora spoke of her childhood and the times where she realized the difference between black and white but didn't understand why there was such importance put on the differences between people instead of what made them all human beings. I believe that society should begin to see everything in a shade of gray instead of just black and white, then maybe we could make some progress in the world. With that said, I did really like the second piece we read; it was a very good story and I think it teaches some very good lessons. For one I think it shows that a good relationship is built on trust and sometimes it takes a bit of a test to show just how strong that relationship really is. The husband caught his wife with another man and even though he was hurt and betrayed, he stayed with his wife and ultimately forgave her in the end. That is a very good relationship if you ask me; I think every woman would be lucky to have such a loyal and forgiving man in their life. I thought it was so great at the end when he came home to his wife and started to play that old game with her again, it was very touching. I can only hope my Chris could be as wonderful to me as he was to her.



Willa Cather

After reading the pieces written by Willa Cather, I wonder whether she was a lover of music and art because both of these pieces deal with a character who has an unusually strong relationship with music and art. Both pieces were very nice stories and I enjoyed both of them very much even though they both ended rather depressingly. I can completely relate to the main characters in both pieces because I too have a great love for art and music; I could not imagine my life without music, it would be so drab and colorless. I can be having a horrible day and then I can listen to a nice piece of music like Claude Debussy's “Claire De Lune” or Vivaldi's “Four Season's” and I'm much better. I found Paul's character to be a bit tragic in a way because he was a little misunderstood and he just wanted what made him happy. I think we can all say that about ourselves in one way or another you know? Everyone is a little misunderstood and are just trying to find a bit of happiness in their lives. Georgiana's character was very tragic as well, she gave up everything she loved to be with her husband and make him happy. That is something that too many women of that time fell into, they had to give up their happiness for the sake of men, but who said that women aren't allowed to be happy? I think that Georgiana should have taken her love of music to new heights,made a career out of it or something so she could have at least kept her love and happiness alive. I don't think I could have kept my sanity or even survived out in the middle of nowhere with no music of any sort, especially if it was such a big part of my life beforehand. Kudos to all those women who gave up a part of themselves for their men, it took some serious guts.


Susan Glaspell

Susan Glaspell's play, “Trifles” has always been interesting to me. She captured the reality of the differences in the way men and women thought and behaved in that time and even now in some instances. Men and women have always had a difference in opinion when it came to what was important but what is ironic is in the play it is these insignificant things that really solve the crime. The men were so wrapped up in trying to find anything they could to pin the murder on Mrs. Wright that they overlooked everything that pointed to the motive of the crime; everything that only the women would notice because they can understand the sorrowful life of a childless farmer's wife and ultimately women go about things and think much differently then men. I have always felt sorry for the main character, Mrs. Wright, because she had such a sad life. I don't blame her for killing her husband because he was a mean old thing and he didn't care at all about wife's happiness. Mrs. Wright had always wanted a family but she and her husband had no children so her pet bird was the closet thing to a child, friend and companion that the poor woman had. I feel the same way about my dog, Rusty, he is the closest thing to a child a may ever get due to my health and I don't know what I would do if I lost him. The remnants of her happiness was in the little yellow bird and when her husband killed it she couldn't take it anymore. I have always thought that it was very good of the women to not tell the authorities about everything they found and let the men go one wondering what really happened. I really love this story and I may choose it as the topic for my first paper.

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