Author: Richard Wright Title: Native Son The passage I chose is the opening scene of Native Son, which takes place in the Thomas family’s one room apartment, and involves and Bigger and his family. There is a rat in their apartment, and while his mother and sister cry and yell, Bigger has to kill the rat. Having a rat in the apartment is nothing unusual for the place and time in which they lived; that is, the south side of Chicago at a time when African Americans were regarded as second class citizens. This passage introduces us to two major themes in the novel: fear and violence. Bigger’s mother and sister are almost paralyzed with fear. Here we see Bigger being forced into a violent action, similar to the way he felt forced to kill Mary later in the book. We also see here Bigger’s sense of helplessness, in the way his family yells at him to kill the rat, and him merely responding “O.K” over and over. He isn’t given a choice; he is just expected to kill.
Author: Richard Wright Title: Native Son The passage takes place during Bigger’s first day on the job as Mary’s chauffeur. Mary has just informed him that she intends to skip going to the university and pick up her friend Jan instead. Bigger’s introduction to Jan is awkward because he is not happy about the detour and then he feels uncomfortable about Jan’s demeanor as he introduces himself; Jan tells Bigger not to call him sir, and he attempts to befriend Bigger quickly and in an uncomfortable manner.
The passage specifically deals with how Bigger is feeling during his first encounter with Jan during his first day on the job. Bigger becomes extremely aware of himself, his race, and the difference between their two different worlds (black and white). The key literary component of the passage is the incredible detail and diction that provides the reader with a remarkable sense of Bigger’s consciousness. He feels “naked, transparent, like he has no physical existence, and that he is being examined for the white man’s amusement.” I believe this passage exemplifies the idea of “double-consciousness” that is a pervasive motif throughout “Native Son.” Double Consciousness is the concept of an internalized sense of identity founded on societal notions of a race that is conflicting with a personal sense of self and desire to be a whole person.
Book: Native Son Author: Richard Wright Passage: “Bigger walked to the front of the store and stood looking out of the plate glass window. Then, suddenly, he felt sick. He saw Gus coming along the street. And his muscles stiffened. He was going to do something to Gus; just what, he did not know. As Gus neared he heard him whistling: “The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down…” The door swung in.” This scene takes place after the boys return from the movies. Jack and Bigger are at Doc’s, but Gus is not yet there. As the others anxiously await Gus’s arrival, Bigger sees him through the window. Since Gus is not there yet, they cannot carry out the robbery of Mr. Blum’s shop without him. This passage is very important to developing Bigger’s character. From reading this, it is clear that Bigger is very fearful of robbing Mr. Blum. This is obvious when he feels sick after seeing Gus coming. Furthermore, his “muscles stiffened,” portraying his tense anxiety he has about going through with the crime. Bigger’s fear is an important element of the novel. It plays a huge role is all of his actions. For instance, when Gus comes in the door, Bigger ends up attacking and beating him violently. In doing so, Bigger hopes to impose fear on Gus, so he will no longer feel it himself. This passage establishes the unconscious part of Bigger, for he instinctively understands that it is better to fight Gus than to rob a white man, but he must keep this understanding buried beneath his consciousness.
Author: Toni Morrison Title: Beloved The passage I chose takes place directly after Sethe learns that her husband, Halle, went face first into the butter churn. In the passage, Baby Suggs is atop a flat rock in the clearing, surrounded by men, women, and children, preaching. She brings everybody together in a theraputic ritual, having the everyone dancing, laughing, and crying. This is a very emotional gathering in the clearing, trying to get people to abandon the past.
This passage reintroduces and emphasizes a main idea in this text. The idea of beating back, or "abandoning the past" is very evident in this passage. Baby Suggs is acting as a catalyst, making these people deal with their painful pasts and force them to move on. This is a very powerful scene in this text. Baby Suggs has the groups of men, women and children alternately dancing, crying, and laughing; getting out the pain.
The passage I chose is the fight between Bigger and Gus. This fight takes place at Doc’s place, a pool hall that Bigger’s gang likes to hang out at. The scene takes place early in the novel before Bigger takes the Job for the Daltons. This scene is important in developing Bigger’s Character. Gus did not do anything to deserve to be beaten up, but Bigger chooses to hurt Gus to make himself look better. He knows that the other guys in the crew will see him as weak if shows that he is nervous about committing the robbery. Instead of explaining to the guys why he is scared or simply just not going with them he shows his manliness by beating up Gus. This scene lets the reader know that bigger is acts irrationally to hide his fear and foreshadows that more irrational actions are to fallow.
Passage: “Then she did the magic: lifted Sethe’s feet and legs and massaged them until she cried salt tears. “It’s gonna hurt, now,” said Amy. “Anything dead coming back to life hurts.”
This passage appears in Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved. It is part of Sethe’s flashback of the day she gave birth to Denver. In this scene, a poor white girl, Amy Denver, is helping Sethe through her pregnancy and begins to massage Sethe’s tired feet to rid her of the pain of walking so long. This passage is important because it makes the point that in order for someone to heal from experiencing tragedy, he or she must first face his or her hardship head on, which is naturally quite painful, before healing can take place. This is portrayed through Amy’s saying: “Anything dead coming back to life hurts.” It is also interesting that Sethe cries “salt tears” because salt is particularly painful to get inside a wound. This reflects how extreme Sethe’s pain is when confronting her past demons.
Author: Richard Wright Title: Native Son "He did not feel sorry for Mary; she was not real to him, not a human being; he had not known her long or well enough for that. He felt that his murder of her was more than amply justified by the fear and shame she had made him feel. It seemed that her actions had evoked fear and shame in him. But when he thought hard about it it seemed impossible that they could have. He really did not know just where that fear and shame had come from; it had just been there, that was all. Each time he had come in contact with her it had risen hot and hard...And now that he had killed Mary he felt a lessening of tension in his muscle; he had she an invisible burden he had long carried."
After Bigger leaves the gang outside the drugstore with a new found feeling of empowerment, he reflects upon his murder of Mary. He explains how he feels no remorse and even justifies his actions by the fear and shame she had inflicted upon him.
This passage is so influential within the novel because it further illustrates Bigger's shame as a result of his double conscienceness. Throughout his life he has felt a shame that the whites oppressed upon him. When he murders Mary, however, he finally feels in control. In this sense, Mary is embellematic of a collective reality, which has never understood him and he has never understood. Through the act of murder Bigger is finally able to assert his individuality.
Author: Richard Wright Title: Native Son "They don't let us do nothing." "Who?" "The white folks." "You talk like you just now finding that out," Gus said. "Naw. But I just can't get used to it," Bigger said. "I swear to God I can't. I know I oughtn't think about it, but I can't help it. Every time I think about it I fell like somebody's poking a red-hot iron down my throat. Goddammnit, look! We live here and they live there. We black and they white. They got things and we ain't. They do things and we can't. It's just like living in jail. Half the time I feel like I'm on the outside of the world peeping in through a knothole in the fence..."
This passage takes place near the beginning of the novel just after Gus and Bigger play a sort of game in which they pretend to act and talk the way white people do.
Bigger finds it funny at first, but when he begins to realize how oppressed he really is, he gets angry. Bigger can't understand why he has to live this way and why he doesn't have the same freedoms that whites do. He feels like he's confined in this small area, with nowhere to go and nothing to look forward to in his future. Bigger even goes onto say that "[he feels] like something awful's going to happen to [him]..." and that he won't able to stop it from happening. This is representative of one of Native Son's most prevalent ideas, determinism. This doctrine says that all the events which occur in one's life and all the decisions one makes are completely inevitable due to other events in the past which make it that way. This is also foreshadowing Bigger's murder of Mary later in the novel and the fact that he won't be able to stop himself from committing this terrible crime.
Author: Richard Wright Title: Native Son Passage: "The reality of the room fell from him; the vast city of white people that sprawled outside took its place. She was dead and he had killed her. He was a murderer, a Negro murderer, a black murderer. She was dead and he had killed her. He had killed a white woman. He had to get away from here."
This quote happens during the scene where Bigger is up in Mary's room as soon as Mrs. Dalton leaves the room, and these are the first thoughts that come out of Bigger's head after he finds out that he has killed Mary Dalton.
This quote is not only important in the novel Native Son, but it is also important in the history of repression against African Americans. The reason why this is the first thought that comes in Bigger's head is because he lives in a society where whites look for anything against blacks which could be found as a reason to inflict pain/torture/death upon them. With the crime that Bigger committed, and what he hears in society, he knows that if he is found, he will most certainly be killed. From these thoughts, it can be assumed that Bigger is living a life in which he constantly think about what the white society would do if he committed a certain act. This is a thought that has also been important throughout history because African Americans were forced to live aware of the fact that if they committed any kind of crime, their punishment would be far more severe just because of the color of their skin.
Author: Walter Van Tilburg Clark Title: The Ox-Bow Incident pg 118 The passage I chose was when Tetley son was talking to Art, while riding to find the rustlers. The passage describes the young man's feelings towards lynching the criminals. It echoes the thoughts/doubts of many of the group members and how they do not want to be part of the posse. The passage is as follows: "I'm here because I'm weak," he said, "and my father's not." This describes the group mentality that he couldn't lynch someone alone, that he needed to be part of the group to do so. This also parallels the idea of why racism persisted as long as it did; One generation would pass their morals and values down to the younger generations.
Author: Toni Morrison Title: Beloved The passage in question is on page 130, and is when Paul D. has suggested having children with Sethe as he walked her home from work. Before they finish the conversation, Beloved interrupts and steals Sethe's attention away from Paul D, as Denver watches from the house.
This passage, in short, represents everything that has ocurred in the novel up to this point. Paul and Sethe have been having a good time, and were going on with their lives until they were interupted by Beloved. Meanwhile, Denver waits in the background, affected by the arrival of Paul D. and Beloved but unable to find her place in life. This small passage shows all the conflicts in the novel between Paul and Beloved, Denver and Paul, etc.
Author: Walter Van Tilburg Clark Title: The Ox-Bow Incident Passage: "That's what makes us sick to hear fear admitted, or lust, or even anger, any of the things that would make the pack believe that we were either weak or dangerous."
In this passage the younger Tetley is speaking to Art while they are riding at night. He is voicing his disgust with the lynching party, and telling Art that all of the men are acting out of fear.
Tetley uses strong adjectives of emotion while speaking to Art. He is saying out loud what none of the men want to say, yet what they all are feeling. His words refer to not only the lynching party, but also how he views all men as they go through life. Although Tetley can admit his fear and do what none of the others can, he is ironically still there, along with the "pack".
Author: Toni Morrison Title: Beloved The passage I chose is the scene in which Sethe over hears schoolteacher talking to his pupils. Sethe realizes that the lesson that schoolteacher is teaching for the day is categorizing the slaves on Sweet Home's animal and human traits. This passage is a very important part of the novel and has so much meaning to it. By categorizing the animal and human traits it shows that schoolteacher does not believe that the slaves are fully human. Schoolteacher then goes on to teach his pupils that the slaves are not fully human and that they are part animal. By teaching this to his pupils they themselves are continuing this thought process that the slaves are not fully human. Also this passage explains why schoolteacher treats the slaves the way he does. Because he feels as though they have animal qualities he treats them as if they were animals. Schoolteacher does not fully respect the slaves and beats them if he feels that they are not obeying orders.
Author: Toni Morrison Title: Beloved Passage: "Right off it was clear, to schoolteacher especially, that there was nothing there to claim...she'd gone wild, due to the mishandling of the nephew who'd overbeat her and made her cut and run. Schoolteacher had chastised that nephew, telling him to think - just think - what would his own horse do if you beat it beyond the point of education."
This passage occurs late in the novel and describes schoolteacher's reaction to Beloved's murder after he has caught up to an escaped Sethe. Upon viewing the grisly scene, schoolteacher renders her unfit to return to work at Sweet Home because his nephew has beaten her to the point of madness.
This passage offers a look at the novel's central event from schoolteacher's point of view. Unable to make sense of the drastic measures taken by Sethe to avoid slavery, schoolteacher blames his nephew for overbeating her as he would an animal. His comparison of Sethe to a "horse [beaten] beyond the point of education" illustrates the inhumane manner in which schoolteacher dealt with his slaves, both in mind and in body. By regarding Sethe only as an animal, schoolteacher (and the general white population he represents) is unable to emphatize with her decision and thus leaves her be, washing his hands of the bloody incident he is unaware that he caused.
Author: Wallace Van Tilburg Clark Novel: The Ox-Bow Incident Pg. 53 "True Law, the code of justice, the essence of our sensations of right and wrong, is the conscience of society."
In this passage Davies, clearly the smartest guy of the whole town, tackles the true notion of justice. Indeed, as Davies argues, justice is not some larger external force, but instead a deep sense deep within the human spirit. Davies' comparison of justice to conscience echoes the sentiment that each person's justice is his own, and that there is no universal justice. Instead, Davies argues, the most accurate form of justice is to take the opinions of a large group of people, instead of the small group of scared, drunk men collected together to go lynching.
Author: Toni Morrison Title: Beloved Passage: "First a playroom (where the silence was softer), then a refuge (from her brothers' fright), soon the place became the point. In that bower, closed off from the hurt of the hurt world, Denver's imagination produced its own hunger and its own food, which she badly needed because loneliness wore her out. Wore her out. Veiled and protected by the live green walls, she felt ripe and clear, and salvation was as easy as a wish." This scene occurs near the beginning of the novel, describing Denver and her life. The passage occurs when Paul D. appears in the novel and confronts Sethe and the ghost. This passage intoduces one of the prominent themes in the novel, loneliness and isolation. The feelings connoted with Denver's "hunger" and loneliness which "wore her out" represent the tone of the novel, and shows how Sethe's past comes into the future to further affect her daughter's life. The language also reflects vivid imagery of the "live green walls" that offered a false hope, adding to the sorrowful feel of the text. Loneliness is present throughout the novel in all of the characters, but is defined and introduced in Denver.
" 'The men in those buildings are afraid. They want to keep what they own, even if it makes others suffer. In order to keep it, they push men down in the mud and tell them that they are beasts. But men, men like you, get angry and fight to re-enter those buildings, to live again. Bigger, you killed. That was wrong. That was not the way to do it. It's too late now for you to...work with...others who are t-trying to...believe and make the world live again...But it's not too late to believe what you felt to understand what you felt...'
Bigger was gazing in the direction of the buildings; but he did not see them. He was trying to react to the picture Max was drawing, trying to compare that picture with what he had felt all his life.
'I always wanted to do something," he mumbled."
Author: Richard Wright Title: Native Son
This passage comes after Bigger Thomas has been condemned to death and is reflecting on what he has done.
This is one of the only passages in the novel where the true nature of what Bigger has done is explicitly laid out. At all other times in the novel his situation is described one side at a time, but this passage allows for all sides at once. Bigger's statement at the end serves as his explanation for why he did what he did. He only wanted to "do something", which couldn't be done WITH the white people so he had to do it in spite of them.
I just realized that this was posted in the wrong section...which happened because you have me listed in the wrong section on the right link section. I should be section 340, thanks.
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Author: Richard Wright
Title: Native Son
The passage I chose is the opening scene of Native Son, which takes place in the Thomas family’s one room apartment, and involves and Bigger and his family. There is a rat in their apartment, and while his mother and sister cry and yell, Bigger has to kill the rat. Having a rat in the apartment is nothing unusual for the place and time in which they lived; that is, the south side of Chicago at a time when African Americans were regarded as second class citizens.
This passage introduces us to two major themes in the novel: fear and violence. Bigger’s mother and sister are almost paralyzed with fear. Here we see Bigger being forced into a violent action, similar to the way he felt forced to kill Mary later in the book. We also see here Bigger’s sense of helplessness, in the way his family yells at him to kill the rat, and him merely responding “O.K” over and over. He isn’t given a choice; he is just expected to kill.
Author: Richard Wright
Title: Native Son
The passage takes place during Bigger’s first day on the job as Mary’s chauffeur. Mary has just informed him that she intends to skip going to the university and pick up her friend Jan instead. Bigger’s introduction to Jan is awkward because he is not happy about the detour and then he feels uncomfortable about Jan’s demeanor as he introduces himself; Jan tells Bigger not to call him sir, and he attempts to befriend Bigger quickly and in an uncomfortable manner.
The passage specifically deals with how Bigger is feeling during his first encounter with Jan during his first day on the job. Bigger becomes extremely aware of himself, his race, and the difference between their two different worlds (black and white). The key literary component of the passage is the incredible detail and diction that provides the reader with a remarkable sense of Bigger’s consciousness. He feels “naked, transparent, like he has no physical existence, and that he is being examined for the white man’s amusement.” I believe this passage exemplifies the idea of “double-consciousness” that is a pervasive motif throughout “Native Son.” Double Consciousness is the concept of an internalized sense of identity founded on societal notions of a race that is conflicting with a personal sense of self and desire to be a whole person.
Book: Native Son
Author: Richard Wright
Passage:
“Bigger walked to the front of the store and stood looking out of the plate glass window. Then, suddenly, he felt sick. He saw Gus coming along the street. And his muscles stiffened. He was going to do something to Gus; just what, he did not know. As Gus neared he heard him whistling: “The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down…” The door swung in.”
This scene takes place after the boys return from the movies. Jack and Bigger are at Doc’s, but Gus is not yet there. As the others anxiously await Gus’s arrival, Bigger sees him through the window. Since Gus is not there yet, they cannot carry out the robbery of Mr. Blum’s shop without him.
This passage is very important to developing Bigger’s character. From reading this, it is clear that Bigger is very fearful of robbing Mr. Blum. This is obvious when he feels sick after seeing Gus coming. Furthermore, his “muscles stiffened,” portraying his tense anxiety he has about going through with the crime. Bigger’s fear is an important element of the novel. It plays a huge role is all of his actions. For instance, when Gus comes in the door, Bigger ends up attacking and beating him violently. In doing so, Bigger hopes to impose fear on Gus, so he will no longer feel it himself. This passage establishes the unconscious part of Bigger, for he instinctively understands that it is better to fight Gus than to rob a white man, but he must keep this understanding buried beneath his consciousness.
Author: Toni Morrison
Title: Beloved
The passage I chose takes place directly after Sethe learns that her husband, Halle, went face first into the butter churn. In the passage, Baby Suggs is atop a flat rock in the clearing, surrounded by men, women, and children, preaching. She brings everybody together in a theraputic ritual, having the everyone dancing, laughing, and crying. This is a very emotional gathering in the clearing, trying to get people to abandon the past.
This passage reintroduces and emphasizes a main idea in this text. The idea of beating back, or "abandoning the past" is very evident in this passage. Baby Suggs is acting as a catalyst, making these people deal with their painful pasts and force them to move on. This is a very powerful scene in this text. Baby Suggs has the groups of men, women and children alternately dancing, crying, and laughing; getting out the pain.
Author: Richard Wright
Title: Native Son
The passage I chose is the fight between Bigger and Gus. This fight takes place at Doc’s place, a pool hall that Bigger’s gang likes to hang out at. The scene takes place early in the novel before Bigger takes the Job for the Daltons.
This scene is important in developing Bigger’s Character. Gus did not do anything to deserve to be beaten up, but Bigger chooses to hurt Gus to make himself look better. He knows that the other guys in the crew will see him as weak if shows that he is nervous about committing the robbery. Instead of explaining to the guys why he is scared or simply just not going with them he shows his manliness by beating up Gus. This scene lets the reader know that bigger is acts irrationally to hide his fear and foreshadows that more irrational actions are to fallow.
Passage: “Then she did the magic: lifted Sethe’s feet and legs and massaged them until she cried salt tears.
“It’s gonna hurt, now,” said Amy. “Anything dead coming back to life hurts.”
This passage appears in Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved. It is part of Sethe’s flashback of the day she gave birth to Denver. In this scene, a poor white girl, Amy Denver, is helping Sethe through her pregnancy and begins to massage Sethe’s tired feet to rid her of the pain of walking so long.
This passage is important because it makes the point that in order for someone to heal from experiencing tragedy, he or she must first face his or her hardship head on, which is naturally quite painful, before healing can take place. This is portrayed through Amy’s saying: “Anything dead coming back to life hurts.” It is also interesting that Sethe cries “salt tears” because salt is particularly painful to get inside a wound. This reflects how extreme Sethe’s pain is when confronting her past demons.
Author: Richard Wright
Title: Native Son
"He did not feel sorry for Mary; she was not real to him, not a human being; he had not known her long or well enough for that. He felt that his murder of her was more than amply justified by the fear and shame she had made him feel. It seemed that her actions had evoked fear and shame in him. But when he thought hard about it it seemed impossible that they could have. He really did not know just where that fear and shame had come from; it had just been there, that was all. Each time he had come in contact with her it had risen hot and hard...And now that he had killed Mary he felt a lessening of tension in his muscle; he had she an invisible burden he had long carried."
After Bigger leaves the gang outside the drugstore with a new found feeling of empowerment, he reflects upon his murder of Mary. He explains how he feels no remorse and even justifies his actions by the fear and shame she had inflicted upon him.
This passage is so influential within the novel because it further illustrates Bigger's shame as a result of his double conscienceness. Throughout his life he has felt a shame that the whites oppressed upon him. When he murders Mary, however, he finally feels in control. In this sense, Mary is embellematic of a collective reality, which has never understood him and he has never understood. Through the act of murder Bigger is finally able to assert his individuality.
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Author: Richard Wright
Title: Native Son
"They don't let us do nothing."
"Who?"
"The white folks."
"You talk like you just now finding that out," Gus said.
"Naw. But I just can't get used to it," Bigger said. "I swear to God I can't. I know I oughtn't think about it, but I can't help it. Every time I think about it I fell like somebody's poking a red-hot iron down my throat. Goddammnit, look! We live here and they live there. We black and they white. They got things and we ain't. They do things and we can't. It's just like living in jail. Half the time I feel like I'm on the outside of the world peeping in through a knothole in the fence..."
This passage takes place near the beginning of the novel just after Gus and Bigger play a sort of game in which they pretend to act and talk the way white people do.
Bigger finds it funny at first, but when he begins to realize how oppressed he really is, he gets angry. Bigger can't understand why he has to live this way and why he doesn't have the same freedoms that whites do. He feels like he's confined in this small area, with nowhere to go and nothing to look forward to in his future. Bigger even goes onto say that "[he feels] like something awful's going to happen to [him]..." and that he won't able to stop it from happening. This is representative of one of Native Son's most prevalent ideas, determinism. This doctrine says that all the events which occur in one's life and all the decisions one makes are completely inevitable due to other events in the past which make it that way. This is also foreshadowing Bigger's murder of Mary later in the novel and the fact that he won't be able to stop himself from committing this terrible crime.
Author: Richard Wright
Title: Native Son
Passage:
"The reality of the room fell from him; the vast city of white people that sprawled outside took its place. She was dead and he had killed her. He was a murderer, a Negro murderer, a black murderer. She was dead and he had killed her. He had killed a white woman. He had to get away from here."
This quote happens during the scene where Bigger is up in Mary's room as soon as Mrs. Dalton leaves the room, and these are the first thoughts that come out of Bigger's head after he finds out that he has killed Mary Dalton.
This quote is not only important in the novel Native Son, but it is also important in the history of repression against African Americans. The reason why this is the first thought that comes in Bigger's head is because he lives in a society where whites look for anything against blacks which could be found as a reason to inflict pain/torture/death upon them. With the crime that Bigger committed, and what he hears in society, he knows that if he is found, he will most certainly be killed. From these thoughts, it can be assumed that Bigger is living a life in which he constantly think about what the white society would do if he committed a certain act. This is a thought that has also been important throughout history because African Americans were forced to live aware of the fact that if they committed any kind of crime, their punishment would be far more severe just because of the color of their skin.
Author: Walter Van Tilburg Clark
Title: The Ox-Bow Incident
pg 118
The passage I chose was when Tetley son was talking to Art, while riding to find the rustlers. The passage describes the young man's feelings towards lynching the criminals. It echoes the thoughts/doubts of many of the group members and how they do not want to be part of the posse. The passage is as follows:
"I'm here because I'm weak," he said, "and my father's not." This describes the group mentality that he couldn't lynch someone alone, that he needed to be part of the group to do so. This also parallels the idea of why racism persisted as long as it did; One generation would pass their morals and values down to the younger generations.
Author: Toni Morrison
Title: Beloved
The passage in question is on page 130, and is when Paul D. has suggested having children with Sethe as he walked her home from work. Before they finish the conversation, Beloved interrupts and steals Sethe's attention away from Paul D, as Denver watches from the house.
This passage, in short, represents everything that has ocurred in the novel up to this point. Paul and Sethe have been having a good time, and were going on with their lives until they were interupted by Beloved. Meanwhile, Denver waits in the background, affected by the arrival of Paul D. and Beloved but unable to find her place in life. This small passage shows all the conflicts in the novel between Paul and Beloved, Denver and Paul, etc.
Author: Walter Van Tilburg Clark
Title: The Ox-Bow Incident
Passage: "That's what makes us sick to hear fear admitted, or lust, or even anger, any of the things that would make the pack believe that we were either weak or dangerous."
In this passage the younger Tetley is speaking to Art while they are riding at night. He is voicing his disgust with the lynching party, and telling Art that all of the men are acting out of fear.
Tetley uses strong adjectives of emotion while speaking to Art. He is saying out loud what none of the men want to say, yet what they all are feeling. His words refer to not only the lynching party, but also how he views all men as they go through life. Although Tetley can admit his fear and do what none of the others can, he is ironically still there, along with the "pack".
Author: Toni Morrison
Title: Beloved
The passage I chose is the scene in which Sethe over hears schoolteacher talking to his pupils. Sethe realizes that the lesson that schoolteacher is teaching for the day is categorizing the slaves on Sweet Home's animal and human traits.
This passage is a very important part of the novel and has so much meaning to it. By categorizing the animal and human traits it shows that schoolteacher does not believe that the slaves are fully human. Schoolteacher then goes on to teach his pupils that the slaves are not fully human and that they are part animal. By teaching this to his pupils they themselves are continuing this thought process that the slaves are not fully human. Also this passage explains why schoolteacher treats the slaves the way he does. Because he feels as though they have animal qualities he treats them as if they were animals. Schoolteacher does not fully respect the slaves and beats them if he feels that they are not obeying orders.
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
Author: Toni Morrison
Title: Beloved
Passage: "Right off it was clear, to schoolteacher especially, that there was nothing there to claim...she'd gone wild, due to the mishandling of the nephew who'd overbeat her and made her cut and run. Schoolteacher had chastised that nephew, telling him to think - just think - what would his own horse do if you beat it beyond the point of education."
This passage occurs late in the novel and describes schoolteacher's reaction to Beloved's murder after he has caught up to an escaped Sethe. Upon viewing the grisly scene, schoolteacher renders her unfit to return to work at Sweet Home because his nephew has beaten her to the point of madness.
This passage offers a look at the novel's central event from schoolteacher's point of view. Unable to make sense of the drastic measures taken by Sethe to avoid slavery, schoolteacher blames his nephew for overbeating her as he would an animal. His comparison of Sethe to a "horse [beaten] beyond the point of education" illustrates the inhumane manner in which schoolteacher dealt with his slaves, both in mind and in body. By regarding Sethe only as an animal, schoolteacher (and the general white population he represents) is unable to emphatize with her decision and thus leaves her be, washing his hands of the bloody incident he is unaware that he caused.
Author: Wallace Van Tilburg Clark
Novel: The Ox-Bow Incident
Pg. 53
"True Law, the code of justice, the essence of our sensations of right and wrong, is the conscience of society."
In this passage Davies, clearly the smartest guy of the whole town, tackles the true notion of justice. Indeed, as Davies argues, justice is not some larger external force, but instead a deep sense deep within the human spirit. Davies' comparison of justice to conscience echoes the sentiment that each person's justice is his own, and that there is no universal justice. Instead, Davies argues, the most accurate form of justice is to take the opinions of a large group of people, instead of the small group of scared, drunk men collected together to go lynching.
Author: Toni Morrison
Title: Beloved
Passage:
"First a playroom (where the silence was softer), then a refuge (from her brothers' fright), soon the place became the point. In that bower, closed off from the hurt of the hurt world, Denver's imagination produced its own hunger and its own food, which she badly needed because loneliness wore her out. Wore her out. Veiled and protected by the live green walls, she felt ripe and clear, and salvation was as easy as a wish."
This scene occurs near the beginning of the novel, describing Denver and her life. The passage occurs when Paul D. appears in the novel and confronts Sethe and the ghost.
This passage intoduces one of the prominent themes in the novel, loneliness and isolation. The feelings connoted with Denver's "hunger" and loneliness which "wore her out" represent the tone of the novel, and shows how Sethe's past comes into the future to further affect her daughter's life. The language also reflects vivid imagery of the "live green walls" that offered a false hope, adding to the sorrowful feel of the text. Loneliness is present throughout the novel in all of the characters, but is defined and introduced in Denver.
" 'The men in those buildings are afraid. They want to keep what they own, even if it makes others suffer. In order to keep it, they push men down in the mud and tell them that they are beasts. But men, men like you, get angry and fight to re-enter those buildings, to live again. Bigger, you killed. That was wrong. That was not the way to do it. It's too late now for you to...work with...others who are t-trying to...believe and make the world live again...But it's not too late to believe what you felt to understand what you felt...'
Bigger was gazing in the direction of the buildings; but he did not see them. He was trying to react to the picture Max was drawing, trying to compare that picture with what he had felt all his life.
'I always wanted to do something," he mumbled."
Author: Richard Wright
Title: Native Son
This passage comes after Bigger Thomas has been condemned to death and is reflecting on what he has done.
This is one of the only passages in the novel where the true nature of what Bigger has done is explicitly laid out. At all other times in the novel his situation is described one side at a time, but this passage allows for all sides at once. Bigger's statement at the end serves as his explanation for why he did what he did. He only wanted to "do something", which couldn't be done WITH the white people so he had to do it in spite of them.
I just realized that this was posted in the wrong section...which happened because you have me listed in the wrong section on the right link section. I should be section 340, thanks.
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