Although everything in life is trying to bring one down and stop one from going any further in life, one can only strive to push through and make the best out of their life. The internationally acclaimed science fiction writer author Octavia E. Butler did not only show this strength through her main character Rye in the short story “Speech Sounds," but also in her own personal life. There were so many roadblocks in life for these two women, but at the end of their journey, they could both look back and see how their strength helped them outweigh their odds handed to them.
Rye and Butler both overcame the tragedies life threw at them. Their struggles were not all that similar but struggles none the less. Butler’s journey of life was never an easy one; she lived through her father dying when she was a child, and her mother worked as a maid who had to bring her along on jobs” (1-1). The protagonist Rye, lived through a life of illness that “swept over the country… Language was always lost or severely impaired. It was never regained. Often there was also paralysis, intellectual impairment, [and, or] death” (411). Rye, tired of being lonely and only having a little bit of hope left, was trying to get to her only “group of relatives left alive - a brother and his two children twenty miles away in Pasadena” (409). Deep within these tragedies both of the women found a huge bucket of strength within them. One could simply give up and let the struggle over take their life, or one can turn the tragedy around and make a life lesson out of it. This is explained by the great author herself when she states “All struggles are essentially power struggles. Who will rule? Who will lead? Who will define, refine, confine, design? Who will dominate? ...
... middle of paper ...
...s the ability to speak to others who cannot communicate and express themselves as a dominant woman figure. The disease is a way the author chooses to express that language is important to a culture, without verbal communication the social structure will begin to breakdown and start to affect people’s lives. Butler gave Rye the power of speech, but she has to hide her power in her society were isolation was a prominent theme between a community. Butler was an African American woman that criticized her own society that time in which black women were not able to present their voice in a while male dominate society. Butler portrays that African American were not given the option to hold any power. When Rye identifies that the two children were able to speak she took them in and used her power of speech to protect them from the jealousy, and violation in their society.
...ism and segregation, it is what will keep any society form reaching is maximum potential. But fear was not evident in those who challenged the issue, Betty Jo, Street, Jerry, and Miss Carrie. They challenged the issue in different ways, whether it was by just simply living or it was a calculated attempt to change the perspective of a individual. McLurin illustrated the views of the reality that was segregation in the South, in the town of Wade, and how it was a sort of status quo for the town. The memories of his childhood and young adulthood, the people he encountered, those individuals each held a key in how they impacted the thoughts that the young McLurin had about this issue, and maybe helping unlock a way to challenge the issue and make the future generation aware of the dark stain on society, allowing for more growth and maximum potential in the coming years.
Jane was oppressed by the cultural norms and was forced to live in a society where the white society has power over the African-Americans. Emma is the result of long term overpowerment by the white society. John says, “She so despises her own skin that she can’t believe any one else could love it” (Fire, 14). Due to the cultural norms and stereotypes of the “Old Negro” she became a race radical. This is the old psychology which differed from the new psychology of the younger generations. In both plays, the opposing forces were Alec versus Jane and Emma versus John. These forces were the ideas that were attributed by the ideals that existed in society. It was believed that African-Americans talked, dressed, behaved, and thought in ways that lacked in sophistication and refinement. These were some of the attributes that society generally gave to the whites (Jarrett 837). Throughout, both plays the stereotypical language is present in both Jane and
The setting of both stories reinforces the notion of women's dependence on men. The late 1800's were a turbulent time for women's roles. The turn of the century brought about revolution, fueled by the energy and freedom of a new horizon…but it was still just around the bend. In this era, during which both short stories were published, members of the weaker sex were blatantly disregarded as individuals, who had minds that could think, and reason, and form valid opinions.
The theoretical concept of individual resilience has been long explored. Charles Darwin a famous theorist proclaimed “It is not the biggest, brightest or the best that will survive, but those who adapt the quickest.” Essentially, individuals are able to survive, if they adapt to the world around them. Octavia E. Butler creates this notion in her dystopian novel. In the year of 1993, Octavia E. Butler wrote the novel Parable of the Sower. The story is told through the eyes of the main character, Lauren Olamina. Lauren describes the horrendous and corrupt world around her and notes of the populations response to the violent acts. The year is 2025, when the world is overrun by corruption, greed, criminals, violence, famine, thirst, slavery and division. Through all this, Lauren is able to hold optimism in the world largely due to her background, hyperempathy condition and values. Lauren creates a set of fundamental values, that she wishes she can use to shape the world and create a symbolic home.
She explains how her son was just pushed through school. “Our youngest, a world-class charmer, did litter to develop his intellectual talent but always got by” (559). He got through school by being a good kid, he was quiet and didn’t get in trouble. This was how he made it to his senior year until Mrs. Stifter’s English class. Her son sat in the back of the room talking to his friends; and when Mary told her to just move him “believing the embarrassment would get him to settle down” (559) Mrs. Stifter just told her “I don’t move seniors I flunk them” (559). This opened Mary’s eyes that her son would have to actually apply himself to pass. He wouldn’t be handed a passing grade. After the meeting with her son teacher, she told her son if you don’t try you will fail, making him actually apply himself. This made Mary understand that Failure is a form of positive teaching tool. Only because her son had to work for it and, now he actually came out of high school with a form of
As a school teacher and with limited income from teaching and a family to take care, the narrator is still stuck with housing project in Harlem, he cannot make a bail or hire the best lawyer to defend his brother. The distress from losing his baby daughter; the feeling of guilt, desperation and failure to care and protect his younger brother from the deadly touch of drugs weight down the narrator’s life. Damaged while getting out of Harlem’s trap, and like his descended father, the narrator sees the darkness in every corner of
The contrast between how She sees herself and how the rest of the world sees Her can create extreme emotional strain; add on the fact that She hails from the early 1900s and it becomes evident that, though her mental construct is not necessarily prepared to understand the full breach against Her, She is still capable of some iota of realization. The discrimination encountered by a female during this time period is great and unceasing.
Obstacles are present within everybody’s travails through life. No matter the complexity of a problem one faces, it is something that will indisputably have to be completed. Although some predicaments may be more severe than others, the reactions and responses to them will ultimately determine the outcome. At a point of Kent Haruf’s National Book Award Finalist, Plainsong, one of the main characters, Victoria Roubideaux, witnessed an event that minor characters took part in, which unknowingly represented her primary internal conflict throughout the novel.
In the stories “A Rose for Emily” written by William Faulkner, and “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, talk about how two women are experiencing the same emotional situations they have to endure. Both of these stories express the emotional and physical trials the characters have to endure on an everyday basis. In the story “The Yellow Wallpaper” it shows a woman who is oppressed and is suffering from depression and loneliness. In “A Rose for Emily” it is showing the struggle of maintaining a tradition and struggling with depression. Both of the stories resemble uncontrollable changes and the struggles of acceptance the characters face during those changes.
Looking back on the death of Larissa’s son, Zebedee Breeze, Lorraine examines Larissa’s response to the passing of her child. Lorraine says, “I never saw her cry that day or any other. She never mentioned her sons.” (Senior 311). This statement from Lorraine shows how even though Larissa was devastated by the news of her son’s passing, she had to keep going. Women in Larissa’s position did not have the luxury of stopping everything to grieve. While someone in Lorraine’s position could take time to grieve and recover from the loss of a loved one, Larissa was expected to keep working despite the grief she felt. One of the saddest things about Zebedee’s passing, was that Larissa had to leave him and was not able to stay with her family because she had to take care of other families. Not only did Larissa have the strength to move on and keep working after her son’s passing, Larissa and other women like her also had no choice but to leave their families in order to find a way to support them. As a child, Lorraine did not understand the strength Larissa must have had to leave her family to take care of someone else’s
Octavia Estelle Butler uses the class, race and gender theme in traditional way with philosophical and religious views in the “Parable of The Sower”. In this book, Butler shows how the America of parable has essentially reverted to a less evolved state. Inequality in class, race and gender shows in this book. Class has determined the society and culture, race keeps mentioning, and gender is still an extraordinary case. Further, power plays in every aspect of the world. Survival should have been the prioritize of the chaotic world that Lauren lives in; however, gender, race, and class persist. In this book Butler shows that, although gender, race, and class insist; people in every class, race, or gender have to leave the tradition behind and not only prioritize their safety but to begin move the world back toward equality. This story is told based on Lauren, the narrator’s point of view from her diary where she explains how society has broken in every aspect and how she tries to survive.
Life is a struggle. All through their life meet an obstacle that they struggle to overcome, no matter what walk of life you will face struggle. Some struggles are ongoing and can only be overcome by the perseverance of those willing to fight to better themselves, and those they fight for. We see this in "The Street" by Ann Petry and "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt. Wherein the characters presented struggled to overcome the obstacle of poverty, poor living condition, and malnutrition, and ultimately persevered. When met with an overwhelming obstacle to succeed and overcome it, one must persevere and only then through their actions and strength of character will they overcome the obstacle at hand.
I am going to analyze this text using the intrinsic and feminist literary theory analysis. With the intrinsic analysis, I will brood mostly on the style and characterization of the text. According to Eaglestone, 2009, intrinsic analysis is a look into the text for meaning and understanding, assuming it has no connection, whatsoever, to the outside world. “Style is said to be the way one writes as opposed to what one writes about and is that voice that your readers hear when they read your work” (Wiehardt, n.d). The text uses mostly colors, poems and songs to deliver its messages. The main characters in the...
The first character we meet is Ruth Younger. Ruth is a hardworking mother who has had a thought life up until this point. The Writer opens up describing her by saying that “she was a pretty girl, even exceptionally so, but now it is apparent that life has been little that she expected, and disappointment has already begun to hang in her face.” (Pg. 1472) This description bears a strong resemblance to the line in Harlem, “Does it dry up, like a raison in the sun?” (Line 2) We immediately are thrown into the madness of her life. She wants desperately to have a happy family and is in constant disagreement with her husband’s ideas. We see how her living arrangements have made her believe that there will never be anything better in this world for her. The saddest part is that she believes that bringing another child into this sad existence is something she cannot do. When she makes the decision to visit the abortion doctor, it immediately brought me to the final line in the poem where Hughes states “Or does it explode?” (Line 11) There had to be an explosion of desperation for a w...
From the displays of power that have been shown through out this essay, we see that this story is a story about power. Power is the story is primarily about peoples need for some small amount of power to survive in life and to feel that hey have a purpose within their society which every society it may be whether its is Gilead or Nazi Germany or modern day Britain.