I've Read These Books Before

Octavia E. Butler's Kindred  begins with Dana admitting that she had "lost [her] arm on [her] last trip home. [Her] left arm" (9). Interestingly, the book employs a sort of in media res  tactic, immersing the reader in the physical cost of Dana's time travel. In fact, the novel essentially begins and ends with the arm; it's clear that Butler regards it as an important symbol for Kindred's  message.  On the surface level, Butler asserts at the very beginning of the novel that Kindred  isn't a sci-fi adventure story. Instead, it's closer to a horror trope, a story where the journey permanently takes a part of Dana away with her. In a way, Butler directly contrasts it to the classic Hero's Journey, where the protagonist returns with newfound wisdom. The book must be taken seriously, as there's no "reset" button to pretend that the loss of her arm never happened—just like slavery.  During the actual moment of the loss, just after she stab...

In the dockside seizure of Hinkle and Safecracker, Reed twists the conventional narrative of U.S.--Caribbean history as satire. The tactic once used by the U.S. to extract Haitian sovereignty becomes the exact stage where Haiti asserts its  justice.  The U.S. occupation of Haiti happened from 1915 to 1934, nearly 20 years. Yet, it is not covered in a traditional school curriculum. Reed notes that the history that most Americans know selectively omits the occupation, yet we now know it happened. Clearly, history can be warped, and the version of history that most know and understand is flawed. He raises the following question: is any version of history objectively correct? Rooted in postmodernist thought, he (somewhat satirically) claims that a version of history with secret orders, African spirits, and ancient Egyptian scripts is equally correct.  Another layer of this story is that the Black Plume is literally docked at a U.S. port. This satirizes the "gunboat diplomacy"...

 Doctorow, in his 1975 novel  Ragtime , embraces the spirit of postmodernist fiction by weaving historical figures into the narrative. A common thread of this "collision of worlds" construction is that upper-class members are villainized, and their depictions are laced with irony. Some of these characters include Ms. Fish, Harry K. Thaw, Peary, Ford, and Morgan. Of these, we will focus on the arctic exploration of Peary in Chapter 10.  Peary, in his Arctic exploration with father, carries on the spirit of colonialism. The beginning of Chapter 10 tells us that, Peary "loved to discuss his system" (73), which turns out to be a mere adaptation of the Esquimo way of life. He carries the knowledge of "the material and designs of the sledges, the food that was to be eaten, ..." (73) with pride. In fact, the Esquimo people are seen as the Arctic version of the "noble savage": Peary asserts that the Esquimos are "children and ... [should] be treated...

 In Sag Harbor , Ben's interactions with his father characterize his family dynamics and, in part, explains Elena's self-distancing from Ben's family. His father is frequently described as destructive: for instance, Ben fears the sound of the alcohol cabinet opening, implying that domestic violence is frequent.  Throughout the book, the father is shown as a figure in the post-civil rights movement generation: he lives by the teachings of DuBois and feels a strong racial pride as an African-American man. More precisely, most of the Sag adults feel this pride-- DuBois was one of the "certain names ... [with] an emanation or halo" (18). In fact, even Ben reports being blown away by DuBois' teachings of double-consciousness during his college years (18). However, his dad is special in that this pride often comes at the cost of his family and influences Ben's actions. The first example of his father's violence is when Ben is hit for not retaliating against ...

 During the chapter Goose Fair, Jason enters the Hall of Mirrors, in which he views multiple reflections of himself, each representing a different aspect of his mind. Jason says that the mirrors in the room "melted [him] into self-mutants" (248). This scene can be viewed as a crucial part of his coming-of-age in which he has an internal conversation: after this scene, Jason tears apart his bully's calculator and mocks him in front of the whole class. The internal conversation that Jason has in the Hall of Mirrors convinces Jason to merge his external and internal selves into his true self.  In the first mirror, he sees an "African tribesman with a neck giraffed by iron rings" in his reflection. The man asks, "Can a person change ... into another person" (249)? He sees this reflection as a representation of the self-criticism he has developed toward his fake identity in BSG. From the start, he is fixated on his external representation in society, planni...

 Throughout Fun Home , Bechdel makes multiple notable literary references, even stating that her "parents are most real to [her] in fictional terms" (67). Through her childhood as the daughter of two English teachers, and her literary explorations throughout her life, Bechdel has been exposed to a plethora of prominent works of literature. These analogies are used frequently in Fun Home . Some notable analogies that will be discussed include the story of Daedalus and Icarus and Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. The first analogy, appearing a mere two pages into the book, is about the story of Daedalus and Icarus. In the myth, Daedalus is a talented craftsman and the father of Icarus; to allow himself and his son Icarus to fly out of prison, he builds two pairs of wings. Although Daedalus warns Icarus not to fly too close to the sun, Icarus disregards his father's warnings and his wings melt. The story concludes with Icarus' fall and subsequent death. Bruce is compare...