Celie, Shug and Sofia

Shug, Sofia and Celie are all very different. Shug and Sofia are more alike though than how Celie is. Shug and Sofia are both more strong and independent woman. They do not take crap and they stand up for themselves. Celie does not and she is the complete opposite compared to Shug and Sofia. Shug and Sofia both stand up to them men in their life and do not let them push them down. Sofia fights back when Harpo tries to beat her and Shug would never ever let Mr. touch her in the wrong way. Both these girls have strong personalities that can take control of situations. They also do not let things get them down and keep going. Both these girls work hard and do not let bad things ruin their life. They go and move on and try to make the best out of situations. They both think for themselves and don’t let the men in their lives control their lives. Celie is the complete opposite of these girls. She stops living when things get tough and she lets people walk all over her. She lets Mr. beat her and do whatever he says unlike the other two. Celie has no control and no voice in anything. She lets her self be controlled and hates it but doesn’t do anything about it because she thinks it is what is supposed to happen. Celie is weak compared to the other two and doesn’t know how to speak up or stop things from happening.

John Henry Days

We find out that J. is in a hotel and in West Virginia because there is an event for the new stamp of John Henry. J. does not seem to enjoy the event or hotel and mostly seems to think that it is all a waste of time. You read about him talking about the hotel and how it seems not up to standards. He also kind of seems like he really does not care at all about any of this and just wants the weekend over with. He talks about how he is not going to spend a lot of time on writing the report and just get through the weekend and leave. In the first chapter J. notices that he is the only black and that is kind of annoying to him. He doesn’t like the fact that one girl keeps smiling at him and he almost feels like it is more out of sympathy. He feels this way because John Henry was an African American who was a slave but freed. Most of the people there are not tourist and do not acknowledge J. very much. They just kind of leave him alone. At the end of the chapter though, J. meets this other black women who is the florist and they have a little chat. He is in an environment of a bunch of white people who live in the town and who feel somewhat awkward around him. He doesn’t enjoy it much and seems to not take too much interest in everything that is going on.

Walter's Decision

When Mrs. Younger first bought the house a man stopped by to pay them off to not move into the house. It was a white neighborhood and the whites did not want any blacks in the neighborhood. They declined this offer because everyone wanted out of the apartment and into a new house. Of course, this all happened before Walter lost all of the insurance money and even the part that was going to go to Bennie’s college fund. Walter felt he needed somehow to get the money back and his life revolved around money. He felt it was the only important thing in life and the thing to go after. He called the man back over on moving day to accept the man and the neighborhoods offer. This was his plan at first but then his mom and the rest of the family felt this as a disgrace and that it was wrong to sink so low for money. Walter in the end decided to go with his pride instead of the money. This was a very, very hard decision for Walter because for a very long time or for most of his life he only cared about being rich and being a business man. It was not an easy decision for him but it was definitely the right one. He went away from it stronger and with pride. He went away with his family being proud of him and that is what matters more than money. I think he did a very difficult thing and that it was completely the right thing to do. It is terrible that they were in that situation where Walter would give up his pride for money but times can be rough. I think that the Younger family will do a lot better now that they are out of the apartment. I will feel there will be less fighting once they have more space and hopefully they come more together as a family. I think Walter has learned a very good lesson and hopefully he can go from there and change what is most important to him.

W.E.B. Dubois

W.E.B. Dubois talked in this chapter about how music was important and how it didn’t just affect the blacks but it also affected the whites to. The blacks moving into the religion really changed how religion and the songs in church were. At the end though he talked about how the negro problem affected the blacks soul. He touched on it about how mean the whites were and how the blacks had to act a certain way. The way that the whites wanted them to act so that they could somehow get through life. The blacks had to cover up their true soul in order to please the whites and be this person who is not them at all. They could though bring out their soul in their music and in church which was somewhat of a relief but it was also that they had to change their religion due to the whites. So this wasn’t completely who they truly were. They had to always watch their steps and make sure they were always pleasing. They had to watch what they say and could never really let their soul be free and be who they really are. This was such a hard task for the blacks and it took a great toll on them and they had hope that one day their soul could be free. They always tried to keep some hope on that things would be better or that they finally would be free.

Ethics

I try to live a life where I treat people as the way I would like to be treated. This is just one of many of my ethics or values that I have learned through the years. I really think that giving back is also something I live by and believe strongly. I think that you should be thankful for what you have but also give back to those who do not have as much. I believe in treating my teachers and peers with respect and not being rude to them. They help me in many ways and I should not disregard that. I also have ethics in how I treat my parents and family. I look up to them and respect them as much as I can. I believe that you should be kind to others and have just an understanding and acceptance of others. I try to live up to all of these as much I as can but I in no way am perfect. I think that my teachers and friends have had a great influence on what my ethics are. I have been very fortunate to go to two private schools where their sole purpose is to each us about diversity and being kind to others. They have such great morals both those schools. I have learned from my peers and friends the kind of ethics I would like. I have seen the bad ones and know that I never in my life could understand or want to act the way some do. I do have great friends who think sort of in the same way I do and it is nice. My parents have influenced me too and taught me how to respect and what I should be doing. Many people play a large impact in how I live up to things.

Booker T. Washington

Frederick Douglass believed that the blacks should not go north because then it is just ignoring the problem in the south. He felt that it would be better off to stay in the south and actually try to change things and make your self more respected than it is running away and going to the north. The North had a lot to offer but it wasn’t incredible but he strongly felt the true way to get rid of slavery and to work on the problem was not to run away from it. Booker T. Washington touched on some of the ideas Frederick Douglass made. He never spoke negatively about the north or even talked about the north but he felt that it was much better to keep the blacks in the south and form better relationships between the whites and blacks. He used the term, “Cast down your bucket where you are.” He was saying that the blacks and whites should cast down their buckets and learn more about each other and give more respect and help to each other. He thinks that this is what should happen to help rid of slavery and that the start really needs to be forming better relationships. It would be much better to work in the south and form the bonds than just run away. He was telling the whites to look and see how hard working and how well the blacks were doing for them and for the blacks to show more trust and to open the doors to the whites. Both groups needed to put down their buckets and form relationships right where they were at so that slavery could be fixed.

The Lovers of the Poor

Loathe Largesse means despising charity work. It literally means that the people do not like doing charity work or getting involved in minority stuff. They say hey, there are those people over there lets just leave them alone and let them work it out. They are over there and we are over here. Unless the work is easy for the ladies then they do not want to do it because it is too much for them to handle. The ladies want to just leave it alone and go about their days. The people in the area would rather be left in their group than except charity either. It is like we talked about yesterday and how if you see a minority group over there then they are over there and you might acknowledge them then go about on your own. People just stay to themselves and leave each other alone. The people who do charity don’t exactly like it and as long as it is easy then they will do it. The people want to just have something easy to do and if they go into to do charity and see that it is just really bad off then they just leave because they cannot handle it. They say that they do charity but do not even really like it or want to do it. The people say oh those poor ones over there but usually just go on with their day.