The male and female border

Earlier this semester we discussed some of Mary Austin's short stories and a few other works that dealt with the idea of the woman in the wild as apposed to civilization. In Austin’s “The Bitterness of Women” both the woman and the man are portrayed as sad characters; sad in the sense that neither of them needed one another, but felt that it was as good as it was going to get for both of them. The woman may have thought she loved him, but she is in a southwestern town where the options for women are not the same. In the same way the man would not have gone back to her had he not been mauled by a bear and become disfigured. It is amazing that SHE allowed him to walk back into her live after he dumped her to the curb. Austin was trying to convey the complex relationships between men and woman and the reality of men’s nature. The main character was not the most attractive girl in the town and maybe not the brightest, but she devoted herself to him after his accident without a single complaint, even finding some joy in playing the role of his caregiver, yet he, even in his state of deformity did not feel anything for her. He could only think about the many women that he would not be able to have a good time with. The bitterness of women in this story is that men can’t see past the physical in order to see women for who they truly are, therefore leading to the man’s own unhappiness.

Poverty of Today

How the Other Half Lives made me think of the many homeless and poverty stricken families that are still living in tiny apartments or on the streets today. Many times people do not think of those who can barely feed themselves week to week let alone their families because these families tend stay under the radar. If you can't see the problem, then maybe it is not there. When we were asked to think about crossing borders earlier in the semester, the issues talked about in How the Other Half Lives never crossed my mind and I believe it's the same reason mentioned above; it is not a an easily visible issue, especially around here. Racism and sexism on the other hand is visible and dealt with everywhere on one level or another. Another difference between some of the other borders we have crossed this semester is the very fact that living in poverty happens to any race, sex, or ethnicity making the problem universal instead of labeling the problem to a certain group.

The United States is seen as one of the world's riches countries, yet the level of poverty is more pronounced than most believe it to be. According to hungerreport.org, 37 million people live in poverty, including 13 million children under the age of 18 in 2007. There are a larger percent of minorities than whites in this category as well. 21.5% of Hispanics and 24.5% of black live in poverty compared to 8.2% of whites as of 2008, according to the website. More than one issue can be seen through these statistics. Why do Hispanics and black have a higher number of people living in poverty than whites? What is causing such a high poverty rate in general, especially when it has gone up since 2000 instead of down? In our present recession, it is more likely that the number will increase again.

Identity

Identity is something that has been discussed throughout the class, especially pertaining to those that have crossed some kind of border. The feeling of being lost, floating in a world that has been immersed with thoughts, traditions, rules, and other things unknown to the individual or individuals in question. Where is the safe haven or is there one? For many of the characters, there is never again going to be a place that is truly home, the characters are broken and hopeless in a strange world that they can’t or won’t adapt to because adapting is accepting the things that were never asked for in the first place, things that leave the characters vulnerable in a strange and unnatural world, a world that isn’t theirs.

The characters all try to find their own identity through their changing world. For example, in Ceremony, Tayo resorts to using the traditional ways of Native American healing and visits a medicine man. He also find his happiness in nature, back in the place that his people originally lived. In Sherman Alexie’s short stories the characters identity with alcohol and the remembrance of the old traditions, such as the boys in his story “A Drug Called Tradition.” The characters are not drinking alcohol, but instead have visions induced by some other drug that is not mentioned. In a way, the boys are partaking in a tradition of their tribe from long ago and visualize themselves being warriors in the old sense, which is impossible for them to achieve in the present day. Another way that the characters of his stories identity with their tribe is through story-telling, which Thomas Builds-the-Fire does throughout his whole life, but his people stopped listening to him, which almost seems to say that nobody identifies with the old ways of their people anymore because of things that stand in their way.

The theme of Alcohol in Alexie's short stories

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie has some interesting themes that are addressed. One of the more obvious themes is that of the role of alcohol among Native Americans. In his introduction to the collection of short stories, Alexie says that he doesn’t address the issue of alcohol because he is trying to be stereotypical, but he is rather taking his own experiences and using them in his stories. The debate about stereotyping Native Americans as drunks has been around for ages, but it originates from somewhere. Alexie himself says that his own childhood is filled with alcoholic parents. Luckily, his mother quit drinking, but his father didn’t.
His stories defy the stereotypical view in a sense because many of the stories contain characters that overcome the need to drink. For instance, in “The Only Traffic Signal on the Reservation” the two main characters do not drink alcohol anymore; in it’s place they drink Pepsi. Adrian and Victor are sitting on the porch watching the reservation. Although the two main characters are not drunk, the story dwells into the youth of the reservation and one particular basketball player who is thought to have been the best ever on the reservation. The two go so far as thinking of him as a hero because of his basketball skills, but sadly the potential of the basketball player is never met because he starts drinking. The way that Adrian and Victor talk about the youth shows the harshness of the reservation. They discuss whether the boy will make it or not in a nonchalant kind of way making it sound like this happens all the time. Nobody does anything about it either and lets the youth partake in drinking alcohol. This shows the hopelessness that the Indian population feels towards their situation, but there are a small number that do make it out, such as Alexie himself.

Language

It amazes me how much language says about a person. It expresses so much of one's culture and identity. Even though this is the case, people are still being told that their language is not acceptable in America. Oftentimes, people in America think well they live in America, they should speak English, if we go to their country we have to learn their langauge. It this really the case? If you think about it many foriegn places have a huge English-speaking population, especially if it is a big tourist place. Does this not accomodate Americans when they go to visit? America is made up of various groups, the majority starting as "outsiders." The English laugnuage itself was an outside language. Our ancestors did not accomodate for the Native Americans whent they came across the ocean. It is not and has never been about accomodating people, but rather acceptance, tolerance, and understanding. America, from it's birth has been a place of possibilities, where everyone, no matter their background, could express themselves without being persecuted for it...well, at least in theory. Shouldn't language be part of this dream? The different cultures and ethnic groups are what make America and by trying to stomp out someone's culuure hinders America's growth as a nation.

The mixing of cultures in Silko's Ceremony

In Silko's Ceremony, one of the major themes is the mixing of Indian tradition wit the white tradition. Tayo, among other characters in the book such as Betonie, is of mixed ancestry. The difficulty of this is seen throughout the novel, such as his aunt's reaction to him as well as the way the white population treat him. He is stuck between two cultures, never being fully accepted by either one. I think that this is part of the reason that he suffers so greatly. He is blaming himself for his mother's actions as well as the death of his brother and the rain that never comes.
Even the medicine man that helps him uses objects from the white culture to cure him. The reasoning behind this is interesting because instead of rejecting the fact that the white population is around and is not going away, Betonie embraces it and alters his "medicine" to include everything around him, including the white culture. Silko is trying to make the point that even though it is not ideal for the Indian population to have the white culture seeping into their own, it is there and needs to be recognized at the very least if not accepted so that tribes can move forward. Their culture still needs to be kept alive and remembered even though the white culture is intruding. Too often, as seen in the book, many of the tribal population are drawn into the world of white culture and feel as though they can never get back to their true selves. This is seen along the river where people sleep in boxes and would do anything for alcohol, which was they case with Tayo’s mother. Betonie serves as a equilibrium in a way because he keeps the tradition of the Indian culture, while at the same time using white culture to his advantage