Sunday, September 9, 2007
chapters 6-9
The first Blog about The autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man. The character that caught my attention was the “widow”. She was explained in detail as being beautiful. The narrator was pretty much studying the widow and her companion both explained in detail. Then the scene that caught my attention about the “widow” was when she insisted him to come over and have a drink. The "widow" tried to get her companion jealous but sitting with the narrator. What surprised me was when the companion walked in he was not happy to see the narrator sitting in next to the "widow". When he came over and shot her in the throat i was very surprised. She did everything for him bought him the things that he wore, so that's why i suprised the he would do that to her. The things that bother me about book is that none of the characters have no names but are explained in detial. So the book is good so far but thats what i dont like about the book that there is no names.
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7 comments:
I agree. I think that if the characters had actual names instead of descriptors it would be much easier to relate, envision, and level with each one of the different characters. However, I also feel that since they don't have names it leaves a little mystery and allows the reader to relate the character to other fictional and non-fictional people. I guess I am trying to say that for me it allows me to relate the events of this story to the Harlem Renaissance as a whole, rather than to specific people in a specific time or event.
I also thought that the widow was an interesting character. I was very surprised that the widow's companion shot her. Like we discussed in class, I think that the widow's companion was fed up with always being under her thumb. Even though the widow took care of her companion by providing him with expensive clothes and other perks, he was constantly under her control because she was a white, wealthy woman. It seems to me that seeing the widow with the narrator was the final straw for her companion.
I agree that the widow is an interesting character. During the time of the Harlem Renaissance I wouldn't think of a white widow women as having an African American companion. I thought it was surprising that she was so willing her offer her money to him by buying him clothes and expensive items. As we discussed in class that I thought was interesting, was the power they had over eachother. She had power because of her money, but he had power over her because he intimidated her and eventually shot her.
I also agree with your thought on how the characters are nameless. I think it allows the reader to imagine why the narrator wrote the book this way, but also allows the reader to relate the characters to other people during this time period.
It would seem that the widow would have control over the black man due to the stuff that she bought him.
When he came over and shot her it seemed to me that there was an equal distribution of power between the two.
I didn't realize that about the characters names until class the other day. I too found the widow to be interesting and I think it was the fact that she gave him everything that he didn't want or couldn't stand her attention to be doted on someone new. Who knows, maybe there were actual feelings on his side.
I do agree with you. The fact that none of the characters have names is pretty annoying. The story would be much better if they had the detail but had the names along with them instead of the descripors.
I think the incident with the widow and her companion is actually just a brief way to comment on the danger of interracial relationships. Ever heard that many of our urban legends were designed to teach a moral lesson? (Think escaped mental patient hacks up so unsuspecting kids making out in a secluded area or something.) The point being that, doing thinks like going off to make out points are dangers and ‘morally wrong’ and will lead to something bad. In my mind, this was the narrators urban legend against interracial affairs.
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