Tuff

I have to say, I enjoy Paul Beatty's "Tuff" more than any other book we've read this semester. I have a preference for the postmodern genre, and satire is kind of my thing. The only tv shows I watch are satire, and it's refreshing to find a book like that. "Tuff" seems to be the most modern book we've read this semester, although the others were written around the same time period. I think Beatty does this by giving us a stereotypical American environment that we have all been familiar with for some time. The "ghetto" of New York City has become a symbol for America's poor African American community, as well as the origin of drugs, crime, and cultural disintigration in America. I feel that the ghetto of NYC has been so over exposed, that a somewhat unreal definition of it has become the stereotype. Beatty uses the sterotype of this environment and the sterotype of the people who live in this environment, to satirize modern society. He does this expertly. Beatty's use of these stereotypical characters enables his readers to have a sense of familiarity with the story, while he is really attacking the readers for using the stereotypes. We discussed in class that satire is a good way, espcially in African American racial issues, to bring up big problems with society in a way that makes the readers feel more comfortable. It is ironic how Tuffy's father doesn't believe that Tuff can win the position for city council, when he is supposedly an ex Black Panther, who has always encouraged black empowerment. This book is filled with irony, and sometimes the irony is upsetting. What I mean by upsetting is, that at first it is funny or interesting, but when it actually sinks into your mind, it makes the reader upset at how correct that irony is. This is what Beatty is trying to do to his readers. Satire is a more comfortable way of reaching people on big issues, but I also think it hits its readers harder, because they see how correct the satire is when they look at thier own misguided first reactions to it.

Fledgling 3

This is a very long overdue post, but my final judgement of "Fledgling" is that it got much better towards the end, and I started to see much more symbolism. The idea of memory was one of the most important ideas I saw. Shori's memory loss is much like the present African American community's loss of memory for the pasts of their ancestors, as was also suggested in "All Aunt Hagar's Children." She doesn't remember anything about her past or her family. She does not feel she belongs anywhere, yet she is instructed to, "...seem more Ina than they" (272). She is also seen as a threat to many of the Ina families because of her genetic differences, as African Americans were seen as a threat to white Americans, and sometimes still are. A passage that was very thought-provoking to me was when Joan told Shori at the trial, "You begin to overshadow your dead" and, "Remember your dead...Keep them around you. And remember what you want" (245). The whole idea of Shori overshadowing her dead was interesting to me. Was this supposed to suggest that African Americans today are overshadowing the turmoils of their ancestors? I don't know, however, I think that Butler was trying to make the same statement as Jones that African Americans today are forgetting where they came from and must remember their histories if they want a chance at equality or justice.
Another tie I saw between the story and the real world was the Ina's initial denial of racism within the Ina people. Wells insisted that race meant nothing to them when looking for symbionts, and that they were happy about Shori's genetic superiority. This seemed equal to many Americans' views that racism is no longer an issue in America. As in America, the Ina soon found out that there was still much bitter racism going on, and it was the main cause for all of the recent Ina deaths. My favorite passage in this book, because it reminded me of the African American sense of dislocation and search for equality, was when Shori said, "My memory of them is gone. I can't even mourn them properly because for me, they never really lived. Now I have begun to relearn who I am, to rebuild my life, and my enemies are still killing my people. Where is there safety for my symbionts or for me?" (271). This is what I think the current African American community is going through: relearning, rebuilding, and the ever-present sense of dislocation.

Fledgling 2

I've noticed a sort of slave owner- slave relationship between the Ina and their symbiants. We've talked about how they both seem to need each other. The Ina need the symbiants for food and energy, and the symbiants will die if they aren't exposed to enough of their Ina's venom. This can be compared to the way slave owners needed slaves to do the work that they couldn't handle all by themselves, and the slaves didn't necessarily need the slave owners, but would have had nowhere else to go in a land full of animosity towards them. I think it is safe to say the Ina are the ones being compared to the slaves in this book, however. When Brook is describing some of the Ina's history, she says, "...physically, he and most Ina fit in badly wherever they go- tall, ultrapale, lean, wiry people. They usually looked like foreigners, and when times got bad they were treated like foreigners- suspected, disliked, driven out, or killed" (136). So either way you look at it, there is support for the suggestions of the Ina or the symbiants being compared to slaves, or an opressed race in general.
I thought it was very interesting when Brook and Shori were talking about where the Ina species came from and some stories about what they are doing on earth. I saw a comparison to Toni Morisson's "Paradise" when Brook says, "Some future generation of them is supposed to leave this world en masse and go to paradise- or back to the homeworld" (137). This really reminded me of the last lines of "Paradise," and just the whole idea that these people are all looking for some idea of home or paradise.
Also, I am starting to warm up to this book, though I still think it is far less superior to those we have read previously. :)

Fledgling (afterthought)

Also, I forgot to mention that my dictionary's definition of "fledgling" is : "a young bird just fledged: an immature or inexperienced person." And the definition of "fledged" is: "to develop the feathers necessary for flying or independent activity" (Merriam-Webster). The title ties into Renee's situation of discovering who she is and where she is from, or developing the history she needs in order to have an identity, much like a bird developing its wings.

Fledgling

So far, I've been very disappointed by this book. The books we have been reading for this class have all been exceptionally well-written, and in my opinion, this one is not. The dialogue is so forced and unbelievable, it makes me feel like I'm in grade school again. Aside from my opinion of its flaws, I have found some themes in this story. One theme I have found is the story's dwelling on the feeling of isolation and forgotten identity. The young girl vampire seems to have lost her family and her whole sense of who she is. She's trying to remember where she came from. I can see this tying to racial issues of African Americans trying to find their own identity in our society, and also trying to identify their roots. Renee claims that "the experimenters" made her black so that she could withstand the sunlight better than those of her kind who are pale (37). I thought this idea of the experimenters was very interesting. They could possibly symbolize "god" or this could be a statement that people with brown skin are superior to those with white skin. I'm hoping to hear more about these experimenters.
Renee and Wright are trying hard to figure out where she came from, and more about her kind. They do all kinds of research, but can't seem to find anything useful. Renee says, "Whoever and whatever I was, no one seemed to be writing about my kind. Perhaps my kind did not want to be written about" (39). I thought this was a very important passage. To me, this was a connection to the opression of African Americans and the supression of the African American voice in our society. Maybe it's not that her "kind" didn't want to be written about, but they were ignored altogether. Renee seems to feel fine with her differences, yet she is aware that her differences have caused something bad to happen in her past.

The Intuitionist 2

In the last half of "The Intuitionist," much was added to the allegory of this book. I saw a very religious side to it, too, aside from race. I saw Fulton's notebook as being a metaphor for the Bible; everyone reads it a different way and gets a different message from it. It's messages can be taken out of context. Maybe the black box was something that never really existed but was a false hope for the people to have faith in. This sounds rather pessimistic, but people will probably always have some defect, they are not perfect. Also, the elevator inspectors thought that Lila Mae was important since her name was written in the notebook, but we saw that Fulton was just writing her name in the margin almost unknowingly; he didn't really mean anything by it. So, the notebooks seemed to symbolize the Bible or any religious writings to me. I also thought of the elevators as people in general, rather than slaves, towards the end of the book. I thought the idealistic black box would be "the perfect elevator," or, a person who didn't factor race/gender/any differences into the way they viewed people. The perfect person would look beyond the "skin of things."

The Intuitionist

Colson Whitehead's "The Intuitionist" is an allegorical novel. I think he is using the Intuitionist elevator inspection industry as a metaphor for the African American race, but it is too early to tell. There are a few hints. One example is the description of the area "the Department has allowed the colored men" (18). Lila Mae sees one of Chancre's campaign posters on the wall and it has been graffitied by the "colored men." Whitehead writes, "No one notices them but they're there, near invisible, and count for something" (18). I took this as a metaphor for the African American race and the idea that their voice in the nation has been and still is ignored or invisible.
I also saw an argument against the literary "canon" which we have discussed in class. On page 21, Whitehead is describing Chuck's desire for being an elevator professor. He says, "His students should be acquainted with the entire body of elevator knowledge, not just the canon" (21). This was very interesting word choice and made me think Whitehead meant that people need to be more familiar with all literary voices, including African Americans, instead of just reading the so-called American "canons." I think he means to say that the canons are not really true American canons if they don't include the history, voice, and opinions of all Americans of every race. Whitehead uses the ideas of Empiricism and Intuitionism in elevator inspections as a metaphor for this.
We talked a little bit about how confusing the time frame for this book is. I think it could be taking place in the future even though it seems like the past. A passage that makes me think this is, "Because there must be patterns, experience is recursive, and if the pattern has not announced itself yet, it will, eloquent and emphatic in a mild-mannered sort of way" (28). I think this means basically that history repeats itself. If this is an idea in Whitehead's book, then it could be taking place in a future where history is repeating itself and elevators are once again something to wonder at.
The main theme I see so far in this book is isolation, especially the isolation Lila Mae feels. She feels as if she is invisible. When the two men come to her apartment and search it for evidence, she feels completely violated. "She doesn't feel as if she lives here anymore...She doesn't live here" (40). This is a huge hint of isolation and a feeling of dislocation. Also the subject of the white characters being Irish brings in another factor of that feeling of dislocation. These will be the main ties to the allegory, I think.