How does this story compare to the one we read last fall?
Describe the narrator?
How is the tone different?
This story is very ironic. What is the central irony?
Does the narrator strike you as being detached? Why or why not?
What is the significance of the people on the bridge hearing the noise coming from the roadhouse? (Note here: “A good time woman” is a madam; this place is part saloon, part whorehouse; blacks would not have been allowed near the bars in town so this was their place.)
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The two essays share the common element of African Americans being downtrodden and what they did to try and not be overwhelmed by it. In this story they used religion and in the other one sarcasm was used. This piece's tone changed as I read it. The beginning had a more weary tone when the people were being described after their work. All of the descriptions such as "shoulders drooped even as they laughed" helped reinforce even a kind of hopeless feeling. During the sermon however, the tone becomes much more hopeful and in a way powerful. The people became one unified voice while singing and listening to the evangelist give his sermon. The irony I thought came from the two-faced quality of the peoples' religion. They are praying for harmony and charity and yet at the end of church everyone of them were thinking of the "whitefolk" going to burn in hell. We even get a sense of satisfaction coming from the people while they think of this. They have twisted the message of their own faith to become something vengeful. One can't be all that surprised though when one sees the oppression that they have gone through. I think that the narrarator seems to be looking at their society but not really taking part in it. Especially in the beginning when she is making her comments on her race, saying that its masochistic and hateful. She almost seems ashamed to be a part of her society. At the end, the roadhouse brought the people down from their temporary euphoria. It was bringing them down to reality.
ReplyDeleteThe narrator seems to be a child. She states that her mother would not be happy if she told them to stop leaning on the counter and she says things like the pickers roared out of the yard with a sound like a giant's fart. The tone seems fairly proper for a young adult or child. talking about religion things and church stuff. The irony in this story is what they do with the church. they pray for peace n everything but they want the whitefolk to burn.
ReplyDeleteThis story is similar to the one that we read last fall because in both of the stories blacks were put down. The narrator is a black girl who is probably pretty young. The tone changes from beginning to end. In the beginning it is talking about them working and how they felt and all that. In the end when they are at church they all seem a bit more powerful and all unified that its ok that they have to go through all of this now because they will go to heaven while the white people spend an eternity burning in hell. The irony in the story is exactly that. They pray for charity, yet want the white people to burn. The significance of the people on the bridge hearing the noise from the roadhouse is to basically bring the blacks back to reality.
ReplyDeleteThe tone of this piece seemed a lot more angry than the other one we read of hers. When it came to the church service, however, it changed tone to one more judging of her vengeful culture. The entire church service reminds me of a comic set in the South after the Civil War. In the comic (Ghost Rider: Trail of Tears) a free black man and his family are killed by Ku Klux Klan members. The man comes back as the Ghost Rider, a spirit of vengeance to set things straight. Unfortunately, the problem with vengeance is that it is never satisfied. When people (such as the people in this service) first taste vengeance, they are all too happy to let it consume them. These people let vengeance become their reason for living, and pervert everything around them to become part of their wrathul mission. The irony of it is that the entire idea of Hell is that it was never made for humans, only Satan and the demons. God never delights in sending anyone to Hell, but He is a God of justice. To have free will, we had to be able to make the wrong choice. Now that I'm off of that rabbit trail of philosophy, I feel like the author is somewhat detached, but not entirely.
ReplyDeleteThis story is very similar to the essay, Graduation, which we read last fall. It just so happens that Graduation and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings were written by the same author, Maya Angelou. Both pieces are presented by the voice of a young African American girl and describe the hardships that African Americans face.
ReplyDeleteThe narrator of this story is a young African American girl who has a great curiosity as to why things are the way they are. She wonders why her family is so content with living under such poor conditions and questions the their habits of worship. There is no criticism meant by it, however, she is just being innocent and child-like.
The tone of this piece is different from that in Graduation because it doesn't create the feeling of excitement or anticipation. I would say that the tone is vengeful, even though this emotion is conveyed in a subtle manner.
The central irony of this story is that despite the fact that the people are praying and worshiping, they still show anger towards the white race. All while they are talking about charity and harmony, they can't get their feelings of vengeance out of their minds. ("They had been refreshed with the hope of revenge and the promise of justice.")
The significance of the people on the bridge hearing the noise coming from the roadhouse was that it brought the people back into reality. For a while they had been filled with hope and inspiration, but it was only temporary. As the narrator put it, "The people inside had forsaken their own distress for a little while."
This story runs parallel to the story we read this fall in that it has a sense of hope. That african americans will have their day. There is hope for them in the future. The hope in this piece comes from their faith...their good deeds "charity" will bring them salvation.
ReplyDeleteThe narrator is a young child in the piece, and most likely had a difficulty fully grasping the idea.
I found it very ironic that the people who were worshiping, taking each day as it came and being good people were secretly hoping that the whites would burn in hell...I understand their frustration but that doesn't seem very Christian to me..
What happens in the church seems very dramatic and overwhelming- yet the author does seem detached. She related herself to this in no way, just relayed the series of events to the reader.
When the people hear the noises coming from the warehouse this makes the african americans realize their reality once again. They were basically fantasizing about the afterlife and how they could just go through their lives to get to that...but then they had to step out and continue facing it.
I find the narrator to be similar ethically to the narrator of Graduation, the tone of the piece primarily is meant to be a "negative" tone. The central irony is that this in fact is remotely about religion that is meant to be all accepting and non-denominational but in reality racism is very heavy in this community. They hate the white race. The narrator didn't so much seem detached to me just very ignorant and blatant.
ReplyDeleteThe narrator is an African American woman who is now old enough and wise enough to reflect back on a situation and see the irony in it. She describes parts of the revival as she saw them back then but her distance from it and time for brooding over it has led to more than one tone to the piece.
ReplyDeleteAngelou takes us to a different place than that of her hopeful graduation, a revival that could be described as "gilded" with hope and a positive future for Angelou's people. I say
"gilded" because all of the theatrics and 'amens' attempt to cover up a life of turmoil, oppression, injustice, and repressed rage against the oppressors.
It is ironic how the African Americans of the south at this time are 1) celebrating when there seems so little to celebrate and 2) yelling "love" but thinking "hate" and "revenge" against the whites. This hate may seem justified, but it totally goes against their supposed message and purpose anyway. After all, it's hard to wait until the afterlife for justice and happiness...trying to convince yourself of that is a form of escapism yet the worst form of masochism at the same time...
The narrator does seem detached from the situation as she's describing it and I think she's this way because she never saw it as logical or particularly healthy and that to convey it to her audience she has to look at it from an outside POV as we would...(think of how much easier it is to describe/analyze a situation when you are not directly involved)
I love how Mr. Nuthall felt he had to explain his last question to us, but anyway...I found that one of the most interesting parts of this short story. It showed how at the end of the day whether you were righteous or a sinner you were still an African American in the South during the 20th century-you were looking for any kind of escape. How you found it was up to you...
Everyone commented on the irony being how while they're praying for peace and love they are actually thinking hate and burn. Jon even went so far as to compare the people in the story with Ghost Rider which I think is appropriate. Most everyone said that the roadhouse was to bring people down to reality, but after reading Christyn's blog I would have to agree with her in that it was used for escapism just as the church was.
ReplyDeleteI had trouble explaining the correlation between this piece and the essay we read last fall, but I think sam nailed it because there is definitely hope in both of these pieces. Kudos to Jon for finding a way to include Ghost Rider in his blog and I find it interesting that a lot of people think the narrator is a young girl, whereas Christyn says it is an older woman reflecting on her past
ReplyDelete