Close-Reading of Blankets

On page 162 of Blankets, Raina is depicted as being in a state of despair. She is upset over her parents divorce and her inability to cope causes her to seek out someone who can comfort her--in this case, Craig. She drives to see him but gets halted by a blizzard. Since she can't see him, she decides to call him instead. The scene in the phonebooth is filled with restlessness and darkness. The majority of the background is dark, with the exception of a few snowflakes. This darkness allows the sole focus of the panels to be Raina, whose face is strewn with tears. She appears four times on the page, even though it appears that there are only two individual panels. The collage in the first panel illustrates how restless she is; she appears three times in the panel in varying positions. The way that the panel is drawn makes it feel as though these three distinct gestures happen within moments of each other. The second panel shows the phonebooth and better illustrates the treacherous weather that Raina has endured to try to get to Craig. Raina and the phonebooth appear to be entirely secluded from the rest of the world, which is most likely how Raina is feeling now that she knows that she must turn around instead of seeing Craig.



Pages 100-101 illustrate Craig's relationship with himself. When he is offered to smoke marijuana by the only peers who have accepted him, he doesn't hesitate for a moment in denying the offer. He stays true to himself and doesn't give in to the peer pressure that is enveloping him. I think that this is an side of Craig that is unexpected; since he has always had such a hard time fitting in, I thought that he would grasp on to any potential friendship--no matter what the circumstances--in order to experience the acceptance that he so desires to find. The way he handles this situation, though, causes me to think that Craig is more comfortable with himself than he is made out to be in the chapters preceding his time at church camp as a teen.

Glossing Over Text

The plotline of the short story of Winnet and the sorcerer in Oranges are Not the Only Fruit is very similar to the plotline of the story of Jeanette. Eventually, the two stories become so similar to one another that the author decides to use some elements of the stories interchangeably. On page 176, Jeanette concludes that her mother has "tied a thread around [her] button, to tug when she pleased." The idea of the existence of an invisible thread also appears in Winnet's story. When Winnet is preparing to leave the sorcerer's castle, she has a short discussion with a raven. During this discussion, the sorcerer "[ties] an invisible thread around one of her buttons" (148). It is possible that, in both stories, this invisible string signifies the power that both Jeanette's mother and the sorcerer have over Jeanette and Winnet, respectively.

Another element that appears in both Jeanette's world and the short story of Winnet is the attempt to hide from the problems that surround them. On page 142, Winnet "[hides] her nose in her jacket and [tries] not to breathe" when she discovers just how enticing the sorcerer can be. Trying to fight his power, she decides to use this attempt at hiding as a defense mechanism. Jeanette also has the tendency of trying to hide from the world. Her method of hiding is very similar to Winnet's, and, though I can't specify the page of the passage at the moment, there is one point when Jeanette goes so far as to suck on her toes while curling up into this familiar position of hiding.

Even though some may consider their beliefs to play a major role in their lives, that isn't the case for me. I have never been a religious person; rather, I find the whole idea of religion to be overwhelming. Growing up, my family seemed, for the most part, apathetic about religion. I think that this apathy was transferred to me. My lack of beliefs has, thus far, posed no problems. Having no beliefs makes it difficult for anybody to challenge them. I've gotten so comfortable with a life without religion that I think it would be very difficult for me to change and see things from a different perspective.

In Oranges are Not the Only Fruit, strong Christian beliefs are urged and upheld for the narrator, Jeanette. She was adopted by a woman who spent every waking moment dwelling on God and his will. Jeanette's mother adopted her with the intention of conditioning her to be a missionary, doing God's work. For a staggering portion of her life, Jeanette is raised in a sheltered world where all she is exposed to is her church and her family. The bubble that Jeanette is placed in evokes an inability to relate to her peers when she is finally forced to attend public school. Jeanette quickly begins to doubt some of the things that she has been conditioned to believe. She begins to suspect that her mother has been withholding information that is potentially monumental, and Jeanette hungers to know what her mother has been hiding for so long. "She thought I was satisfied, but I was wondering about her, and wondering where I could go to find out what I wanted to know." (75) She knows that her mother won't tell her what she wants to know, so, for the first time in her life, she seeks a new source that does not possess the obvious bias that her mother does.

What are we fighting for?

The texts that we've read so far all contain a common theme of self-perception and how it affects us. If we are able to accept and be comfortable with who we are, we are then able to broaden our focus in life so that it encompasses more of what the world has to offer. If we are unable to establish a comfortable relationship with our identity, then our minds will become obsessed with and constantly aware of this discomfort; we'll spend all of our time thinking about what we can change about ourselves in order to be better, rather than appreciating what we've been given. The fact that this theme appears in the literature that we've read thus far is not uncanny. Our identity is something that we think about every day. As a reader, it is easy to relate to Pecola and Jin because we, too, have established our own self-perceptions, and it is likely that many of us aren't wholly pleased with who we are. At one point or another, we have all experienced thoughts such as: "If I were funnier, people would like me more and I would be happier" or "If my family were rich, my life would be so much better because I wouldn't have to worry about money." Since we are all so familiar with these yearnings, the texts that we've read are infused with a new meaning; we have been in the shoes of these struggling characters. In The Bluest Eye, Pecola desperation for blue eyes is alleviated when her wish is granted. Upon this fulfillment, though, a new yearning manifests in Pecola. Even though she has blue eyes, worry fills her at the thought that there is someone out there with eyes more blue than hers. On page 203, she asks, "But suppose my eyes aren't blue enough?" It is clear that her satisfaction of having blue eyes is merely temporary; it is quickly replaced with a new desire. This desire seems just as dire as the previous. Pecola's newfound yearning illustrates the idea that a person can never be happy with what they have. There will always be something to strive for. Discomfort and dissatisfaction will consume you until you fulfill that desire, and, soon after, a new desire will manifest and take the place of the previous desire. It is safe to assume that this is a part of human nature. American Born Chinese does not support this idea as seamlessly as The Bluest Eye, however. In the end of the graphic novel, the reader is left to assume that Jin has finally come to terms with who he is. This makes the novel seem as though it is unresolved, since we are all familiar with the idea that one cannot be completely content forever. It is very possible that Jin has finally become comfortable with his heritage, but there are many more aspects of the self than that. It is only a matter of time before Jin finds another flaw to focus on.
Overall, it appears that our perception of self is meant to be a struggle. bell hooks might blame this on society. She might say that we are conditioned by society to be uncomfortable with who we are. While I would disagree, I can definitely see where one would get that idea. I blame the problem on the nature of humans; this problem is one that is inescapable in today's world. There will always be something that we want that we can't have; if we don't strive to achieve it, then what are we fighting for?

American Born Chinese, pt. 2

Page 229 of American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang depicts a scene in which the character, Wei-Chen, is having trouble with his identity. The Wei-Chen that we've been familiarized with up until this point is a nerdy, young boy who seems to be immune to the influences of society. He parades through life with a positive attitude and seems to be content with his decision to live on his own terms. On this page, though, we see a different Wei-Chen--one that has clearly succumbed to the outside forces that he has avoided up until this point. He is smoking a cigarette, driving a "tricked-out" car, and dressed in a way that would be thought of as "hip." However, in the fifth panel of the page, we see Wei-Chen as what he truly is--a monkey. This panel is illustrated in black and white to show that it is a step away from reality. What the main character, Jin, is literally seeing is the new Wei-Chen. However, the monkey illustration shows how Jin sees Wei-Chen when he looks at him as more than just an outward appearance. After learning that Wei-Chen is actually a son of the Monkey King, Jin is unable to look at Wei-Chen without seeing his true, underlying identity. Wei-Chen is desperately trying to cover up this identity by putting into practice all that he has learned about fitting in to society.