My Favorite Novel From English 321

A Tie!

I would have to say that I am conflicted between my two favorite novels from African American Lit class. I am a huge fan of Going to Meet the Man, but I can’t say that I like Octavia Butler’s Kindred more or less than Baldwin’s writing.

Why I like Going to Meet the Man:

I loved reading Going to Meet the Man this semester, mostly because of Baldwin’s incredible writing. The way he writes just captures his audience and sucks them into the story. The pictures he paints of the impact of slavery on African Americans is beautiful and horrible, and really undescribable in words. You have to read it for yourself to truly see and feel the beauty of Baldwin’s words.

I also enjoyed the short story genre because it was definitely a nice change of pace from Nella Larsen’s Quicksand. I honestly could not take any more of Helga Crane’s crappy life. I seriously wanted to light that book on fire, but since the athletic department technically owns it and not me, I had to settle for hurling it into the messy abyss of my track locker, where it will never be seen again until I have to return my books.

My favorite short story out of the series of stories was “Sonny’s Blues.” I can’t really explain why, but there was something about it that really moved me. It isn’t my favorite because it is fun and uplifting, but because it is tragic and real. I felt like Baldwin’s words grabbed ahold of my soul. Maybe it’s because I have two brothers, and I am very close with my family. I can’t imagine having to deal with the pain of having a family member become addicted to drugs and be in so much agony all the time. Family is such an important part of my life that it truly pained me to see Sonny’s brother struggle with his family that was falling apart. “Sonny’s Blues” is real, and I think that’s why it moved me so much.

Why I Enjoyed Kindred:

What I enjoyed the most about Kindred was that it was a huge change of pace from Gabriel’s Story. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Gabriel’s Story, but it was interesting to see the change in perspective that the story provided for me. Butler chose to write the novel in media res, which I always think is a very interesting way to start off a work. I like being thrown in the middle of a story and having to figure out what is happening to the characters. I thought the unraveling of the story and of each of the characters was definitely interesting and kept me turning the pages. It was definitely the fastest read of all the novels for me, because I kept wanting to know what was going to happen next. I love books that pull me in like that and keep me reading. Novels that feel like a chore to read are not worth it to me. I loved Kindred for that very reason: that reading was a pleasure instead of a horrible chore. I also really liked the message that Butler was trying to send to her audience: those who think they know slavery truly don’t have any idea until they have lived it themselves. Dana tried to ignore her past until she was forced to confront it and experience the antebellum South firsthand. She ignored her history and thus was forced to confront it and LIVE it, and then she truly understood the horrors of slavery. Butler is a great writer and her words were simple yet compelled me to keep reading to find out what was going to happen to Dana next!

Add comment April 8, 2008

African American Lit in the 21st Century

I think that African American Literature is extremely significant today in the 21st century for many reasons.  I think slavery is a very long, complicated, and violent history that people are trying to understand still, even today. I think African American Literature is important, because people think they know slavery, when really claiming that in itself is as restricting and limiting in contemporary society as the institution of slavery! I think African American Lit is an attempt to show people that even today, we still don’t understand all that slavery is, and we should never be so arrogant as to think that we can possibly understand EVERYTHING unless we have directly experienced it ourselves firsthand.

The Known World really helps us understand the significance of slavery today. It tells us of the safety and danger that comes out of the known world.  It is also interesting within the book and important to note that the idea of what is KNOWN is defined by what is UNKNOWN. It is dangerous to believe that the world we know is all there is to know. Period. That is just not true, and it is arrogant to even think that way. It limits what we know and what we even attempt to understand. What is known constricts and controlls us because we will never know what is out there. We want to stay safe and comfortable in the known world. We enslave ourselves in thinking that we know everything there possibly is to know about the institution of slavery because we want to stay safe. It is scary to think that African Americans would own other African Americans, because it is not something that is widely known or heard of. I think the ultimate significance of African American literature in the 21st century, as seen in the known world, is that nothing is ever just cut and dry. 

No one can ever fully expect to completely, 100% understand the institution of slavery, unless they have lived it and experienced it themselves. We think we know everything just from the stories we’ve heard and what the history books say, but African American Literature seeks to explain that we really don’t know everything there is to know about slavery.

That, in essence, is the significance of African American Literature in the 21st century, in my own personal opinion. 🙂

Add comment April 8, 2008