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Henceforth...

 This will be a 20th century literature blog. 

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The Beauty of Existence

  The Mezzanine is a novel which reminds us to stop and smell the roses. As busy individuals it is easy to finds oneself caught up in large problems and obstacles, when the most beautiful and enjoyable part of life might be in the details. Baker expertly conveys this throughout this book. His character is as relatable as he is unique and as compelling as he is pedestrian.  It is easy to be drawn to Howie as he is able to articulate a large part of the human thought process in ways that we ourselves might not be capable of. In my mind at least, I find myself often engaging in the speculation and h y pothesization that Howie so clearly maps out throughout the pages of his work. I find it extremely attention-grabbing, therefore, that an author was able to put my thoughts to paper in some respect.  Overall we can take a lot of inspiration from Howie. While he is lucky in that his life is unobstructed by obstacles, he has also managed to achieve a level of contentment that mos...
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Trauma in Kindred

In  Kindred, our main character Dana is subject to horrors that we find unimaginable and frankly even impossible. It is obvious that over the course of her journey these events begin to take a psychological toll on both her and her husband Kevin. She notices it in Kevin, that his time as a white "slave-owner" pre-civil war, has changed his mannerisms and even speech ever so slightly. She also notices herself slipping in the mentality of a slave. When Kevin wants to go out for fireworks she stays home because she feels that she is still entrapped by the past she keeps returning to. She is always on edge awaiting a return to a horrible nightmare. This nightmare even leaves physical marks on both of them, Kevin acquiring an unknown scar and Dana eventually losing her arm. In this novel we are introduced to a level of trauma that we can't comprehend ourselves. In doing this, Butler shows us the true damage of slavery and the effect it had on people then as well as now. In...
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Coalhouse Walker's Pride

Coalhouse Walker Jr is an upstanding gentleman with unquestionable class, style, and sophistication. So many things about him set him apart from those around him, however his most undeniably unique trait is his burning sense of pride. In a time in American history in which black people were expected to "ingratiate themselves" and put their dignity aside for the sake of the white man, Coalhouse refuses to do so. The matter in which he stands his ground, may be considered fairly small in a larger context of hate crimes, but his decision to fight is far from insignificant. What Coalhouse demands is to simply be treated with basic human decency. The crime committed against him, while not violent is disgusting, Coalhouse was treated as if he were not a man worthy of respect. The profoundness of Coalhouse's movement lies in the simplicity of his requests. So much damage is caused over the destruction of a car. A crime that the fire chief and his crew are most certainly guilty...
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