In having read the books of BLU Anthology and Giovanni’s Room I have been able to reflect and get two main ideas that the authors have portrayed as messages to the audience. These two books show a lot of being same sex attracted. One of the messages that I have found is a big part of these two books is that society has a big influence in what happens to the characters. The other message is that people have an internal conflict in accepting their own sexual identity. These two messages are portrayed in these two stories and we are able to see how they make the stories more interesting.
The way in which society has a big influence in what happens to the characters is shown in Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin because it shows that David and Giovanni both have to hide in order so that they would not be discovered. This is a big deal because it shows that sometimes we are afraid of what society has to say and so we have to find a way to hide our real self. The other story that I feel that shows this same idea is in the BLU Anthology in the story of “Blessed Assurance.” This story shows this when the dad wants to send his son away because he does not wants anyone to find out that his son is homosexual. The father is the one that worries about what society would say and he does not want anyone to find out.
The other idea that I felt was brought out was the one of characters feeling internal conflict in accepting their own sexual identity. This idea is shown a lot in Giovanni’s Room with David because he really does not know what he wants with his life and cannot accept the fact that he likes men. In the BLU Anthology it is also shown in the story of “Vanishing Rooms” because Lenny cannot accept his own homosexual feelings. The way he does this is by beating on a guy who his friends believed that touched him so that he could feel better and not worry about his homosexual feelings. In this idea you are able to see that people have a problem with the person that they truly are.
In both of these ideas a lot of who the character really is because it brings out the person more and we are able to get to know them. These ideas give more to the book because it makes them more interesting and I actually enjoy reading it. In this two you are also able to see that we really get a lot from a character because of some of these ideas.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Giovanni's Room
In reading the novel of Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin we meet the protagonist David an American who lives in France and is having an intimate relationship with a man and a woman at the same time. The author gives two important messages about the act of having sex. One of the messages is the fact that David believes that having sex should only be between a man and a woman and not two men. The other is that David feels that when he does have sex it is because of love. These two messages are shown a lot in the story of Giovanni’s Room.
The first message about sex that we see is when David begins to talk about his first experience with a man named Joey. He begins by saying, “But Joey is a boy. I saw suddenly the power in his thighs, in his arms, and in his loosely curled fists. The power and the promise and the mystery of that body made me suddenly afraid. That body suddenly seemed the black opening of a cavern in which I would be tortured till madness came, in which I would lose my manhood.” This shows that he feels that the only way in which he could accept having sex is if it was with a woman but not with a man. David does have feelings for this boy but he still cannot accept what he just did because he was always taught that this was wrong.
This message is important because it shows that sometimes what is expected from society in the way that a person has to be is what causes us to ignore what we are truly feeling. This is what happened to David because he fell into having to show his manhood and felt that if he did have sex that it would decrease his manhood. This is just showing that sometimes also gender roles play a big part of this.
The other message that is given by the author is that David the main character feels that sex should only be between him and people that he feels he loves. This is shown especially when he actually does have sex with someone who he knows that he has no feelings for and so after having sex he feels bad. David says, “I also approached Sue as though she were a job of work, a job which it was necessary to do in an unforgettable manner.” This showed that because he had no feelings for her, he felt that she meant nothing to him and was also not worth anything. On the other hand with Giovanni he felt that it made him feel loved when they were actually having sex. This is shown when he says, “When it was over, I lay in the dark and listened to his breathing and dreamed of the touch of hands, of Giovanni’s hands, or anybody’s hands, hands which would have the power to crush me and make me whole again.” The comment he makes here is just so much different from the one he makes of Sue because here he feels that Giovanni makes him feel loved and that he likes this feeling.
I think that this is important to the audience reading the book because it shows that sometimes we do things just because we have to but really don’t enjoy what we do. The message is given to us so that we could really make sure that we are able to think before we act because David did not really think about it and then he just felt bad.
In the theme of sex we have seen that for one love plays a big part in this act and also that sometimes our own life brings us to believe what is good and bad about it. This is why I really feel that the author made sure that we noticed these ideas about this theme because it gave a better understanding to David. It showed that by him becoming aware of these things he was able to get to know himself better and grow as a person.
The first message about sex that we see is when David begins to talk about his first experience with a man named Joey. He begins by saying, “But Joey is a boy. I saw suddenly the power in his thighs, in his arms, and in his loosely curled fists. The power and the promise and the mystery of that body made me suddenly afraid. That body suddenly seemed the black opening of a cavern in which I would be tortured till madness came, in which I would lose my manhood.” This shows that he feels that the only way in which he could accept having sex is if it was with a woman but not with a man. David does have feelings for this boy but he still cannot accept what he just did because he was always taught that this was wrong.
This message is important because it shows that sometimes what is expected from society in the way that a person has to be is what causes us to ignore what we are truly feeling. This is what happened to David because he fell into having to show his manhood and felt that if he did have sex that it would decrease his manhood. This is just showing that sometimes also gender roles play a big part of this.
The other message that is given by the author is that David the main character feels that sex should only be between him and people that he feels he loves. This is shown especially when he actually does have sex with someone who he knows that he has no feelings for and so after having sex he feels bad. David says, “I also approached Sue as though she were a job of work, a job which it was necessary to do in an unforgettable manner.” This showed that because he had no feelings for her, he felt that she meant nothing to him and was also not worth anything. On the other hand with Giovanni he felt that it made him feel loved when they were actually having sex. This is shown when he says, “When it was over, I lay in the dark and listened to his breathing and dreamed of the touch of hands, of Giovanni’s hands, or anybody’s hands, hands which would have the power to crush me and make me whole again.” The comment he makes here is just so much different from the one he makes of Sue because here he feels that Giovanni makes him feel loved and that he likes this feeling.
I think that this is important to the audience reading the book because it shows that sometimes we do things just because we have to but really don’t enjoy what we do. The message is given to us so that we could really make sure that we are able to think before we act because David did not really think about it and then he just felt bad.
In the theme of sex we have seen that for one love plays a big part in this act and also that sometimes our own life brings us to believe what is good and bad about it. This is why I really feel that the author made sure that we noticed these ideas about this theme because it gave a better understanding to David. It showed that by him becoming aware of these things he was able to get to know himself better and grow as a person.
Vanishing Rooms
The book Black Like Us is a book with short stories written by African American gay, lesbian, and bisexual fiction writers were we come to a story by Melvin Dixon, called “Vanishing Rooms”. Vanishing rooms is about a man named Metro who was killed by Lonny and his friends because Lonny told his friends that Metro had touched him because of his homophobic fear. In this story we are able to see how sometimes we are afraid of our own feelings that we say or do things that get other people into trouble.
The character of Lonny who is the protagonist is a gay white man who is insecure about his feeling. While on the other hand Metro is the antagonist even though he does not seem like a bad person. The story takes place in New York City. In this story we are faced with some of the different conflicts that we have seen in some of the other stories. One of those conflicts is the one between people because Metro is faced with having to get beat up by Lonny’s friends. This conflict also occurs when Cuddles starts talking about Lonny’s mom and so they also get into a fight because Lonny is offended. The other form of conflict is inner because Lonny is having a hard time accepting the fact that his friends killed Metro and he did nothing to help him. Another way in which he shows this is when he is thinking a lot about the conversation that he has with Metro when he asks him his name and he wants to know why he feels that way.
One of the passages that I feel that show why the author wrote this story is when Lonny says, “I was hot standing there thinking about Metro and hating myself for letting him talk like that to me.” In this passage it tells a lot about what he is going through and gives the impression that he is going to wan to do something to Metro because he feels uncomfortable around him. This shows how homophobia takes place into this character just like any other person and they will do anything to make the other person feel inferior. Another phrase that really gives me a better understanding of this story is when Lonny says, “I lay down in the shape of the dead man, fitting my head, arms, and legs in place. I was warm all over.” In this passage what the character mentions is that by being in that place he feels connected to dead guy because he knows that it could also be him. This is also a form of showing the significance of why the author wrote this story because he shows that we are all humans with some of the same feelings.
I really like this story and felt that sometimes we judge people because of the way that they come up to you. I feel that I have learned an important lesson with this story which is that no matter our race or our sexual orientation we are all the same. We have the same feelings and we can also have some of the same interest but we don’t notice them because we judge each other all the time. If Lonny would have just gotten to know Metro then maybe they could have something in common with each other.
I personally would recommend this book because a lot of people are very judgmental about others just because of the way they interpret things. This book would be a great opportunity to show people that homophobia is around and that sometimes we ourselves are at fault. I think that sometimes I am even at fault sometimes without noticing it. So we really have to be careful of doing this and it would be a good for people to see that this violence still exists.
The character of Lonny who is the protagonist is a gay white man who is insecure about his feeling. While on the other hand Metro is the antagonist even though he does not seem like a bad person. The story takes place in New York City. In this story we are faced with some of the different conflicts that we have seen in some of the other stories. One of those conflicts is the one between people because Metro is faced with having to get beat up by Lonny’s friends. This conflict also occurs when Cuddles starts talking about Lonny’s mom and so they also get into a fight because Lonny is offended. The other form of conflict is inner because Lonny is having a hard time accepting the fact that his friends killed Metro and he did nothing to help him. Another way in which he shows this is when he is thinking a lot about the conversation that he has with Metro when he asks him his name and he wants to know why he feels that way.
One of the passages that I feel that show why the author wrote this story is when Lonny says, “I was hot standing there thinking about Metro and hating myself for letting him talk like that to me.” In this passage it tells a lot about what he is going through and gives the impression that he is going to wan to do something to Metro because he feels uncomfortable around him. This shows how homophobia takes place into this character just like any other person and they will do anything to make the other person feel inferior. Another phrase that really gives me a better understanding of this story is when Lonny says, “I lay down in the shape of the dead man, fitting my head, arms, and legs in place. I was warm all over.” In this passage what the character mentions is that by being in that place he feels connected to dead guy because he knows that it could also be him. This is also a form of showing the significance of why the author wrote this story because he shows that we are all humans with some of the same feelings.
I really like this story and felt that sometimes we judge people because of the way that they come up to you. I feel that I have learned an important lesson with this story which is that no matter our race or our sexual orientation we are all the same. We have the same feelings and we can also have some of the same interest but we don’t notice them because we judge each other all the time. If Lonny would have just gotten to know Metro then maybe they could have something in common with each other.
I personally would recommend this book because a lot of people are very judgmental about others just because of the way they interpret things. This book would be a great opportunity to show people that homophobia is around and that sometimes we ourselves are at fault. I think that sometimes I am even at fault sometimes without noticing it. So we really have to be careful of doing this and it would be a good for people to see that this violence still exists.
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