For our fifth blog, we were asked to read and analyze Hills Like White Elephants (Ernest Hemingway). This short story begins with two lovers that are currently passing time by drinking and talking while waiting for their train to arrive. The conversation increases in intensity throughout the short four pages. Hemingway uses an iceberg effect, not telling the reader much, but leading the audience to understand that there is something much deeper that isn't being said. We were than asked to answer the following two questions.
Does she stay in her relationship with the man? I believe that she does stay with the man in the end. The conversation that is occuring during the story is about whether or not Jig, the woman, should have an abortion. The man is encouraging her to go forth with the operation, and that once she does, they can go back to being happy. While the man is trying to discuss this with her, the woman is simply dismissing his words by changing the subjects to the hills and the drinks. Eventually she becomes so overwhelmed by the conversation, that she begs him to cease talking about the subject. Jig says to the man "I know. But if I do it, then it will be nice again if I say things are like white elephants, and you'll like it?" This sentence shows her the dedication she has for their love. To say to someone that you would undergo such an operation just so you can the person you love can talk about the simple things in life without such worry, is a powerful testament of love. However, her hesitation to even talk about the subject leads me to believe that while she will stay with the man, and undergo the abortion to save their relationship, she will regret it because deep down she isn’t choosing the choice she really wants. She realizes she simply can’t have both. When have you made a important choice to stay in a relationship or leave a relationship -- OR -- stay or leave a difficult situation? A time when I have chosen to stay in a difficult situation, was when a family member I was living with relapsed. I don’t want to be too specific on who this person was because it isn’t my place to air their dirty laundry. My junior year of high school, a close family member relapsed on drugs. At first they tried to hide it, lie about it. I knew their behavior had changed but I felt as if I was going insane because I trusted them when they lied my face. I didn’t find out until my sister told me one night. The family member became irrational emotionally when their secret was out. They would throw class plate and bowls at me, scream and tell me how I was a horrible person. They continued to use and lie to me, and what hurt the most was when they told me they wanted to kill themselves because of me, that I would be happy if they were dead. I had to choose if I wanted to stay in that environment, or leave. However, if I left, I knew everything out change, and I knew there was a good chance I would have to leave the state and change schools or that this family member would actually kill themselves. Just like Hemingway, I won’t tell you the ending to my situation.
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What You Don't Know (Lulu Wang)
In the podcast, Lulu Wang talks about a time when her family lied to her grandmother. The grandmother was given a very short time to live, and her family has to decide if they should tell her or not. The class was then asked to answer the following two questions in a 200 word agreement.
For our third blog post, we were asked to read My Name is Margaret (Maya Angelou) In My Name is Margaret , Margaret was groomed as a servant for a white woman named Mrs.Cullinan, who decides to change Margaret’s name to Mary because it was shorter and more to her convenience. In protest, Margaret decides to break a casserole dish and two green cups in front of Ms.Cullinan and her white associates. After reading this, we were asked to answer the following questions below in around 200 words. I may have gone slightly over for both questions.
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