If I could talk to Macon...

        The first thing I would do is tell him to shut up. I'd follow that up by asking him to explain to me what gives him the right to demonize white privilege then use that same privilege to go and rob people. By this time he'd probably spout something about being a leader and saying that someone needed be the martyr for black rights. I'd calmly respond by saying he actually needs to watch what he's doing to these innocent people before he gets hurt. He probably call me ignorant for not seeing the what he stands for and that white people needed to take responsibility for their privilege. At this point I'd ask him "Then why hasn't anyone robbed you for your white privilege?". No one and that's because robbing people for their privilege doesn't make sense.

         I would've liked what Macon stood for if he wasn't so rude in the way he did it. Besides the robberies, he's constantly disrespecting everyone he gets into interviews with. For example, when he makes Kim Sheffield cry and run off set by using the n-word. Who gave him the right to throw that word around like it was a joke? He needs to conduct himself with respect if he wants to be seen as a greater leader than Malcolm X and MLK. I'm sorry if this post just sounds like a rant but the way he tries to "fight white privilege" infuriates me so much. In the end I honestly think that if he used his vast knowledge of black history to support black culture constructively instead of robbing innocent people, I'd have no reason to be so upset with him. Do I seem too harsh in my hypothetical confrontation with him or do you guys think that I go to far? What would you say instead if you could meet with Macon Detornay in person?

That Special Place

   The Room is such an interesting concept because it can be seen as so many things depending on who's looking at it. To the outside world who had never set foot in Room, it was like a foreign planet inhabited by aliens that needed to be questioned about their way of life.  They will never know what it is like to have so much of their life taken away for someone else's cruel pleasure and we as the reader never truly will either. There is also Ma who had spent seven years there. Ma saw it as a prison that was taking away her life and the only thing from letting Room do that is her motivation and savior Jack. She needed to stay strong and put on a mask of happiness in front of Old Nick to keep Jack safe.

   Lastly we have Jack and to Jack Room was a special place. It's where he found comfort, safety and peace. But for Ma it means the complete opposite. She rarely had the same feelings of security because she was able to experience the outside world. As the novel goes on Jack slowly makes a transition from wanting to return to Room to seeing it as just a small shed. Instead of developing a hatred for Room, Jack was able to say good-bye as if it were a part of his family. It makes his actions during the great escape seem so much more heroic in my opinion because unlike his mother, Jack actually planned on coming back. If I were in Jack's position I don't think I would have been able to go through with Ma's plan in leaving everything I knew for this new world of things that I thought were all just on TV. Does anyone else feel this way or is there something about this situation that would still compel you to do it anyway?

Jack of all Trades

        In the section "dying", I believe that Jack has truly become a hero. Sure he was confused and really didn't know what he was doing but he did it anyway. He was able to travel to a brand new world that he didn't even know existed. I'm glad that he was able to have a safer escape then what could've happened if say the guy walking his dog didn't come. Although I did think  it was funny that everyone kept thinking Jack was a little girl the entire time. It took a lot of scavery to do what he did and be separated from his mother for the first time ever. With this being his first time in Outside, a lot happens. There is so much to take in and it all happens so quickly with Old Nick chasing him. There are so many things that could've gone wrong and did go wrong and he knows that.  I think this new experience of traveling out of Room would be like traveling to a different planet and trying to communicate with aliens. He'd have to learn how to talk with the people, understand how they live and even get used to their air.  It's something that I would never want to experience because I just wouldn't know what to do.

        We also can't take away the huge contribution made by Ma. She had to sell the acting that Jack was dead which was crucial to Old Nick taking Jack out of Room. Maybe when Ma was "acting", she actually believed that Jack was going to get killed if something went wrong and I thought it was impressive that she managed to do this. Seven years of torture in a closet finally ending and the way the plan was made and executed really made me believe this could happen. It wasn't a simple plan that just appears after they stare at the roof and not everything happens as planned like in a movie. There was a real chance that too many things went wrong and they both end up dead. I think its because of this possibility of danger for the main characters that makes what they do seem so much more heroic.

Jack's so innocent

     The characters in this book are each very unique. Like I said in class, I think that Jack is a good character because he's so young and innocent. He genuinely doesn't know what is happening around him in this tiny box of a room and just cares about the well being for his mom. Sure he seems like a handful when he barrages his mother with questions but I feel like that is just normal for children his age. Especially because of the strange situation Jack is in with his mom being the only person he really can talk to.
     Ma and Uncle Nick are  an interesting pair and it seems the further we get into the book, the more interesting they become. Mr. Mitchell made a point in class about how  Uncle Nick is the cruel provider with the option to just not bring home food if he doesn't get what he wants or physically abuse Ma and Jack. We've seen him do it once to Ma so I wonder if this will happen more later on in the book as we learn more about them. Right now I'm really looking at the development in the characters and their relationships between one another and as a group.

Why Stephen... Why?

       This was originally just an audio book so maybe it was sent to Stevie Wonder because there is no way we read the same thing and he's calling it "An American original, worthy of a place on the shelf". The book starts off pretty good tho. A smoking fat dude goes on a cross country trip to see his deceased sister. I thought it was supposed to be a feel good story but after reading the ending I felt something else...but we can get to that in a sec. At first I thought Smithy's little visions of Bethany were cute because they were like motivating him to keep going, but honestly at the end when he's pushing imaginary Norma I think  he's just lost it. Norma on the other-hand was just obsessive. You can see this on page 324 when she is just bombarding Smithy with questions about Chris I immediately thought "Dang girl, Chillllllll. Let him get a word in". But Smithy isn't a saint: "Rebecca Coin looked particularly full", you're at your sisters wedding man, c'mon just stop with the breast obsession thing for a little bit. The main characters just made me upset or confused most of the time with what they did. I did really like the side character stories like Philip Wosley or Carl. These parts felt the most well written and I wanted to go into more depth in their stories but unfortunately McLarty doesn't feel the same.  Lastly, you're broke, have no money, job, bike, and your bag looks like trash and if I read this correctly you just kissed your dead sister. Excuse me if I think you're a crazy homeless person. I might seem harsh but I honestly just expected a lot more from the ending of this book with all the build up of this journey. It kinda just pisses me off that he sees the body, calls it ugly and tells the Chinese guy to just burn it.

James Franco please...

          Short story, if I didn't just read the book for the class I wouldn't have had the slightest clue what was going on in this movie. According to IMDB, Matt Rager and James Franco were in charge of "screenplay". What really disturbed me was how the characters would constantly break the forth wall and stare at the audience. These moments just were too intense for a book that seemed to be a little more joking than what his adaptation was going for. Still being a downer, I really didn't like the screen being cut in half because it just looked...bleh. Though from what we saw the movie really did follow the book plot-wise which is pretty good. Every time I think of this film I just pictured Anse smiling with his new teeth and that is something I could live without.

           Speaking of Anse I don't like how he got such a happy ending. The worst thing that may have happened to him was that he broke a sweat. The rest of his family was left either physically or emotionally destroyed. Poor Vardaman  didn't get his toy train, Jewel loses his prized horse, Cash loses a leg, Darl is heading toward a psychiatric ward and Dewey Dell is still pregnant. Anse gets a new wife and a new set of teeth and that just seems unfair to me after all that everyone went through.

Bumbling Bundrens

         The story As I lay dying is very different from other books. First off we have the way that the chapters are set up. Each chapter gives us the perspective of a different character which is nice because in this this book its really important to know what each of the characters are thinking when they do what they do. It also skews our views because we end up finding out a lot about the characters they don't know. Like Addie's affair and deep hatred for her family. If Anse knew about this, he probably wouldn't be making such a huge deal about this trip.
      In addition we have have the plot of the story. Everyone wants to bury Addie in Jamestown because it was her dying wish but is it worth the trouble? We've got this horrible storm that has flooded the river and taken out the bridge. Because of Anse's stubbornness, cash breaks his leg, their mules are sleeping in the bottom of the river and Addie's coffin is actually making everything smell like death. It's also kinda strange that most, if not all the people in the Bundren family have alterior motives for even going. Vardaman wants a toy, Dewey Dell wants an abortion, Cash wants tool, Anse wants teeth, and Darl doesn't even want to go. What a lovely family.
     Lastly, Faulkner provides us the perspective of some people outside of the family. The Tull family would basically have the same views with most of the people the Bundrens would meet. Vernon thinks this trip is a bad idea but at least Anse is trying to respect his wife's wishes. Cora on the other hand thinks its its terrible that they are parading her body all over the place. In the end I agree with Cora. This entire trip doesn't really seem necessary and if they really wanted to get some random stuff from town, they could just get it later.

Oh brother, There you are!

I really liked the movie Oh Brother, Where art thou? It was really funny and something I looked forward to that week. When we went over some of the connections in class I realized that there were actually a ton of them that I didn't originally notice. Like how Big Don was the equivalent of  Polyphemus or those girls in the woods were the same as the Sirens. But there were also some things that my classmates pointed out that I didn't notice like how Everett's crew messed up with the train just like how Odysseus's crew messed up with the bag of wind which ended up making both of their journey's a lot longer than they needed to be. The movie made a lot of subtle connections that would have gone by if I hadn't read the book so I decided to show my brothers the movie to see if they liked it even tho they never read The Odyssey. Turns out they liked  it a lot even though they didn't really get all the hidden connections, because without them they were still able to enjoy the comedy and the soundtrack. I know there are people out there who hate movies based on books because they mess up and don't capture the book just right but I want to know if you guys thought Oh Brother, Where art thou did a good job or was there something that it really needed to change?

Suitors in Body Bags

        We are right at the end of the book and about to read the ending to The Odyssey.  From what I've heard without actually reading the ending yet, the Suitors meet a really brutal end. I'm expecting heads being smashed and people being cut up which is very gruesome.  Do they really deserve it tho? It all really depends on the perspective you take. Whether you're looking at it from Odysseus's or the suitors point of view.
        From the view of suitors they're using Greek hospitality as a reason to allow them to stay at Odysseus's house. They come to the house they are accepted and allowed to eat and drink. But this never really turns off and they just keep eating, drinking and taking advantage of the hospitality.  Penelope and Telemachus don't like what they're doing but they also never really stand up and demand that the all get out, since Penelope is just telling all the suitors maybe to marriage and Telemachus just can't stand up for himself. But there is also this group of suitors that is plotting against prince Telemachus which isn't something that should be taken lightly because what would stop that same group from doing that against Odysseus if they were successfully.
      Odysseus on the other hand had some justifiable reasons to be mad. Not only were they trying to kill his son, they were trying to take his wife as well. And as far as I know there isn't really a definition of hospitality which makes eating all my food, trying to kill my son, and marry my wife OK. We also have the thing vengeance hero thing where he's dressed up as a beggar and takes all this abuse just to get his revenge but at the same time this is sort of weird because he's sort of expecting the abuse. But the most convincing thing that I heard in class was what Dong-Ha said. And that is Odysseus had been gone for 20 years and has lived his through his hero's journey. He wants to get home and relax not have to deal with all these horny college kids trying to get with his wife.
     In the end I don't think slaughtering is really necessary. Maybe they could have been put in jail. Like "Oh you liked my house so much, why not try the big house?" That sort of thing but thats just me. Do other people feel the same way or do you all think they should just die?

2015 Honda Odysseus

       After the great presentations of the Wanderings last week, I got a pretty good view of Odysseus. It caused me to wonder if Odysseus's characteristics would allow him to be called a hero. He was a leader but often lead his crew to their death. Could that have been their stupidity tho? He was a show off and unfaithful to his wife. Or was all that normal and accepted back then? But on the other hand, he was also being diplomatic with the people he came across and very emotional when it came to the topic of getting home. These were just some of the things I noted and I really say that Odysseus could be 50/50 from hero to just lucky dude trying to get home. Maybe all the crying he did is what convinced the Gods to help him in the first place. And speaking of which, a lot of people said that because he received so much divine intervention on his travel home, it makes him look less heroic. Are all of these problems and enough to discredit him from really being called a hero, and if so what should we call him instead?

A Hero in all of Us

    I always loved the idea of a Superhero. When I was younger, my brothers and I would run around outside pretending to be superman saving the world. The thought of having super speed and being able to fly always came across as appealing. But during that time my definition of Hero would probably go something like this "A man or woman that can fly and save the world from evil". As I grew up my opinion on what made someone a hero would change.
    Back when I was smaller and still thought I couldn't be a hero unless I wore a cape, I was asked by my dad what I wanted to be when I grew up. I told him I wanted to be just like super man and he asked why. I stood up and said "I want to be able to help people".  He told me that I can help people by being a firefighter or police officer and that becoming a doctor is a little easier than getting heat vision. Back then I ignored what he said but as I got older I realized that there wasn't anybody in a cape stopping meteors. And the people that everyone really appreciates are the ones that help with everyday things.
      I learned that a hero can be portrayed in more ways that what we are shown in movies and comics. Being a hero doesn't mean that you have to accomplish the impossible everyday, it could mean that you do anything at all. My description of a hero then became "Anybody who can and is willing to help others". It doesn't take powers or money to assist others, all it takes is that bit of humanity.