Author: avapeterson20

Here is a book cover for The Awakening. The sea is a central theme in the book, and something that Edna engages with a lot. She learns how to swim, she wants to swim farther than anyone else has ever before, and at the end of the book she commits suicide by swimming far out into the sea so that she is physically unable to swim back to the shore. As a way of engaging with the text, I looked up other images of women and the sea and chose one which I think could serve as a better book cover for The Awakening than the one pictured above. The image I chose portrays a shadowy, almost mist-like, silhouette of a woman wading into the water. Other than the obvious connection to the novel’s ending, the blurriness of the picture, and the fact that the woman’s face is obscured, fits the tone of the novel because Edna is in deep emotional turmoil and is confused about her identity as a woman and a mother. At the end of the book she is hardly present in her family or community and I think this image captures that.  It is similar to the real book cover because the woman’s face is unseen and the sea is a prominent aspect. In many ways, the two images have a similar composition and color palate. The reason why I think it could be a better, more updated book cover is because of the subtlety of the colors and the ghost-like appearance of the woman, it hints at the intense sadness of Edna in The Awakening.

Francie Nolan is a young avid reader and writer who is very unique and has been faced with many hardships surrounding her life. Here is a playlist that highlights some aspects of her character. I expanded on three of the songs and explained why I chose them, the rest of the songs are listed at the bottom of this post. 

1. Walden Pond by Atta Boy

There are two reasons why I chose this song. One reason is that this song mentions the singer’s father quite a bit, and a line that particularly resonates is “I’m just the daughter of a man who lives on oak and wine”. These lyrics can easily be applied to Francie’s alcoholic father. However, this is not the reason why I chose this song, I chose it because the message is one of well wishes and optimism, which are primary characteristics of Francie. 

2. Tears In The Typing Pool by Broadcast

This song is about writing. It reminds me of what Francie might feel like when she is sitting on the fire escape reading, or when she is deep in thought and writing. It portrays a sense of calm and peace in her inner world.

3. The First from Me That’s Flown by Sorcha Richardson

This song is very melancholic and reminds me of how Francie might feel about her Dad’s death. The lyrics that are particularly poignant are “They say we’ve time on our hands, but no we don’t. Keep you on my mind, I’m keeping you close.” It is a very honest song that deals with the death of a loved one.

Here are the other songs I included on the playlist:

My Little Corner of the World by Yo La Tengo

Plants by Crumb

Spacing Out by beabadoobee

Young by Frankie Cosmos

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a semi-autobiographical work written by Betty Smith that is set in the early 1900s. Similar to Francie Nolan, the protagonist, Smith grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in the early twentieth century. Francie’s story follows Smith’s childhood closely and as she begins to grow up and change, so does the world around her.

World War I and the suffrage movement playing in the background of Francie Nolan’s coming-of-age novel made it historically significant. These events altered Francie’s world and impacted the novel in many ways. By including these historical events, Smith brought the reader into not only Francie’s childhood but commented on how the world was shifting during those times as well. The Nolan family, along with most of America, faced many hardships brought by war. Steady jobs were more difficult to find and food prices rose. Francie was also exposed to gender bias, sexual assault, and the harsh thoughts surrounding women’s voting because of the era she was in. The thought of women’s voting was brought up numerous times and Francie was subject to hear men discussing the anger and disbelief  of this possibility.

Both of these historical events altered the future of the United States and by including them in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Smith contributed to understanding the culture of America during this time period. It also commented on how the U.S. handled these events and brought what they learned into the future.

Edna Pontellier struggled with motherhood from the very beginning of the novel and this struggle followed her throughout. The most striking quote appears near the end of the novel:

“The children appeared before her like antagonists who had overcome her; who have overpowered and sought to drag her into the soul’s slavery for the rest of her days”

(Chopin 300)

I think that the author, Kate Chopin, chose to include this aspect of Edna’s hatred of motherhood and dislike of her children to prove the extent of entrapment that women can face within the traditional roles of women, mainly motherhood. I feel that the severity of her dislike for her children was a bit unnecessary. Although Edna did not wish to be a mother, her children, who are four and five years old, did nothing wrong and therefore do not deserve to be hated for putting Edna in a motherly role. 

Some may say that Edna signed up for this life of motherhood by marrying and having children but in reality, there wasn’t another option for a woman in her community during that time. I understand this but when someone enters parenthood, they have a responsibility for their children, especially when they are so young. When a parent leaves, mother or father, it can significantly impact the children in a very negative way. Edna has a duty not as a woman but as a human being to care for her young children, even if she doesn’t love them or want any part in parenting. 

Francie Nolan used to write about beautiful things but since her father’s death, she has started to write about him, his alcoholism, their poverty, and hunger for a better life. These stories were her way of trying to show that “in spite of his shortcomings, he had been a good father and a kindly man” (p. 321). Francie’s teacher, Miss Garnder, tells her to start writing about different subjects for her class compositions. She questions Francie about the change in her writing and tells her that the subjects of “poverty, starvation, and drunkenness are ugly subjects to choose. We all admit these things exist. But one doesn’t write about them” (p. 321). She continues with, “the writer, like the artist, must strive for beauty always” (p. 321). This made me wonder about what the purpose of a writer is and what obligation to certain topics they have. Is Miss Garnder right that writers should only strive for beauty or is shedding light on the misfortunes of life important? This is a question about what the purpose of art is, an expression of the human condition or beauty alone. But Miss Garnder continues and quotes Keats when she says “Beauty is truth, truth beauty.” (p. 321) Francie questions this as well and points out that the things she writes about, although not beautiful in Miss Garnder’s sense, are the truth. But Miss Garnder says they aren’t and that truth is only the more poetic things like the stars, the sunrise, and the birds. Miss Garnder seems to have a flawed definition of truth, or at least a specific and solely poetic one. Overall, this whole exchange between Francie and Miss Garnder leads the reader to think deeply about the obligations that writers have to the greater world.

Ever since Francie Nolan was a baby, her mother read her one page of the Bible and one page of Shakespeare. This all began with her grandmother’s advice to her mother to help her get her children out of poverty: “Every day you must read one page from some good book to your child. Every day this must be until the child learns to read. Then she must read every day, I know this is the secret.” For Francie Nolan and her family, literacy and education are major priorities. Katie, Francie’s mother, came from a poor immigrant family with parents that did not know how to read or write. Coming from this background, Katie was determined to have her children escape poverty through education. Even when the Nolan’s were struggling financially and unable to eat, Katie would not let her children quit school to work for the family. This was common for many families in their situation but she was not willing to sacrifice their education and future. Katie finds that it isn’t necessarily about wealth but quality of life and presence in the world. She wonders what the difference is between two women in her neighborhood. One is Mrs. McGarrity, a wealthy woman but her children are greedy and rude to the other children. The other is a schoolteacher, Miss Jackson, who works for charity and is poor but has a way about her that makes everyone feel well again no matter what. Katie finally finds what distinguishes the two women, “It was education that made the difference! Education would pull them out of the grime and dirt.”

In John Steinbeck’s The Grapes Of Wrath, family and sense of community play a large role in the lives of the Joads as well as other families and people that they encounter. The Joads cling to one another during their journey for a sense of belonging and peace of mind. We can see throughout the novel that individuals like Jim Casey, who did not belong to a big family, hold on to this sense of community. Although some family members, like Noah, leave the family, Ma aims to keep the family together. It is human nature to strive for a sense of community and this characteristic is especially pertinent during times of struggle. Occasionally, when some people are faced with hardships, they isolate themselves and break from their community such as Noah and Connie. Apart from this, most people do want this sense of community and people that they are able to lean on. A great example of creating a sense of community is the dance in the camp. Although they are struggling, people are able to come together and create an enjoyable event that allows them to feel normal again and part of a larger community. This part of humanity is brought to life when people are facing hardships.

Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn begins in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Contemplating a word to describe it, Smith decides that “Serene was the only word for it; especially on a Saturday afternoon in summer”. This sets the tone for the pages to follow. An eleven-year-old girl, Francie Nolan, is introduced with a fitting description of her house and yard. Smith illustrates the one tree in her yard that had “pointed leaves which grew along green switches which radiated from the bough and made a tree which looked like a lot of opened green umbrellas. Some people called it the Tree of Heaven”. Smith goes on to say that the tree “liked poor people” and grew in only neighborhoods that they lived. With this at the start of the novel, it infers that wealth and class will mater throughout the novel. You can see another hint at this theme when children would yell “Rag picker! Rag picker!” at other children despite their similar upbringing and economic status.

Smith describes a typical Saturday for Francie and the other children in her neighborhood. Francie and her brother, Neeley, spent their walks home from school collecting an assortment of trash and kept it in the cellar until Saturday mornings. They would bring the stuff to Carney who would pay them for it and would give girls an extra “pinching penny” if they let him pinch their cheek. Following this, Smith says that Francie would turn the money over to Neeley even though he was a year younger than her because “he was the boy; he handled the money”. Shortly after, the siblings go the candy store, Cheap Charlie’s, and only Neeley goes inside because “by an unwritten law, it was a boy’s store”. This sets up for the role that gender will play and the different treatment of Francie and Neeley.

McCarthy offers a unique experience with the soliloquies by allowing the reader into the mind of Ed Tom Bell at the start of each part. The soliloquies reveal many layers to Ed Tom Bell’s personality and how he views the world. Bell is a lawman who has struggled with fighting the evil in his town and seems to be growing tired of the never-ending battle. He is very contemplative and appears to think very deeply about his work and the well-being of the town. McCarthy begins the novel with Bell discussing the one time he had to put a criminal to death and how he struggled with the idea of it. This first monologue shows the reader from the beginning what kind of person Bell is.

Additionally, The function of these soliloquies can vary from part to part but generally are meant to give the reader insight on the events surrounding that chapter. Bell is reflecting on past experiences and struggles with his thoughts to tackle the current issues he faces. McCarthy discusses the unsureness Bell faces with his work and how he will deal with the increase of violence in his town. Bell contemplates the criminal mind and the nature of evil. His thoughts resemble and outline the novel’s main themes.