The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick

Question:

What do you think Ozick's intentions are with this book? What does she want us to get out of it?

Response:

It's hard to say exactly what Ozick's intentions are with this book. I feel as though she has more than just one message to share. In my perspective, there seems to be a lot of different meanings one can come across while reading The Shawl. I believe that many readers can walk away from this book carrying separate ideas about what they considered to be the most important and common theme.

In my opinion, I think Ozick wants us to observe fear and hate. These two themes seem to be the most common within both sections of the book. In the first part when the focus is on Rosa, Stella & Magda it is very clear that they are living in fear and hate the situation that has come upon them. When Magda's presence becomes known to the guards she is tossed toward the electric fence, which ultimately kills her. The guards encourage Rosa to run in Magda's direction, but Rosa is aware of the consequences of doing so and fears what they could do to her. "...the steel voices went mad in their growling, urging Rosa to run and run to the spot where Magda had fallen from her flight against the electrified fence; but of course Rosa did not obey them. She only stood, because if she had ran they would shoot, and if she had tried to pick up the sticks of Magda's body they would shoot...."(Ozick, page 10). They constantly lived in fear and especially in this instance where Rosa could have been shot and killed for almost no reason at all. In the second section of the book where Rosa is the primary focus I find that her hatred toward her past is very evident. She hated her experience in Warsaw, she hated the customers who visited her old antique shop and she hated her living situation in Florida. After her struggle in Poland she arrived in NYC and became a rather successful store owner. However, after she destroyed her own shop because of her fear and hatred toward "the voices" (aka, the customers) her life quickly went downhill. For some time she was doing well for herself, but soon enough everything collapsed and she wound up in Florida in an old hotel room that is described as being very unkept and rather depressing.

Anyway, I think Ozick really just wants us to see the impact that fear and hatred can have on us. If we dwell on such emotions we can only do worse for ourselves.

When the Emperor Was Divine (#2)

Who had more difficulty returning home after life in the containment camp - the children or the parents?

Both the adults and children arrived home to a scene of disappointment and felt a great deal of unwelcoming vibes from their community. After living in a containment camp for such a significant amount of time, they were anxious to return home and attempt to pick up where they had left off. They were once again a family with the father now back in their lives and they were ready to begin their work and school routines. I don't think they were entirely prepared for what they ultimately came home to. I believe they were aware enough to know that it would take some time to socially adjust, however, I don't think they quite anticipated the change they actually encountered. The parents were probably more devastated than the children. Being that the kids are still very young, they don't entirely understand the situation. The daughter has a better idea of the family's circumstances, but the son is still too young to have a solid understanding of the whole ordeal. I believe the parents had more difficulty returning home than the children. After years of working so hard to obtain a successful life, they were now back at the start. Their home was run down and inhabited by unwelcomed guests, society was very hateful toward their culture and life really was at an all time low for the parents. The things they dreamed of coming home to weren't there. All they wanted was to return home as a family and have their own space again. However, there home situation made them feel like they had never really left the containment camp. Overall, I do think the parents had more difficulty returning home than the children. Though I do believe the kids were very upset in their own way. Children handle situations very differently than adults. They have very simple perspectives and are naive for the most part. I don't think the kids quite knew what they had lost, but nonetheless they were aware that they weren't in the home they once lived in. Time had taken a toll on their home and community as well as on themselves.

When the Emperor Was Divine (#1)

For this book it is important to have some background knowledge about the U.S internment camps and the reclassification of Japanese-Americans after the Pearl Harbor attack. The U.S wanted to relocate Japanese families to the mid-west. This act was exposed as being a way to keep these families from harm, but in actuality it was an attempt to separate possible Japanese spies from outside contacts. The U.S government wanted to prevent any further trouble so they decided to collect Japanese-American families living on the west coast and move them to internment camps where they would reside together. It was certainly nothing like the concentration camps used over in Europe, but nonetheless our country didn't want it to be publicized and viewed as cruel treatment. Though it wasn't nearly as bad as the concentration camps, families were still negatively effected. In the first chapter the mother is the main focus. It begins with her taking notice of signs speaking about the repositioning of Japanese-Americans. She takes note of what objects are allowed to go with the families and heads home to pack up and move out. Her children are aware of the move, but may not entirely understand why; at least, the boy doesn't comprehend, but I feel the girl may be somewhat aware of the situation. Anyway, the mother goes through the household items deciding what to leave behind and what to pack up. Pets were not allowed to be brought along so she had to do something about their bird and dog. She released the bird into the wild and killed the dog by impaling it with a shovel. Even though it was the 1940s I think she could have come up with a less barbarian method to getting rid of the dog; however, I guess with lack of time and being under stress perhaps nothing better could come to mind. In any case, while reading this initial section I really got to thinking about their situation and how I would respond to such an event. I can't imagine having to leave behind several personal belongings and a life you've worked so hard to achieve. They seem like a decent upper-middle class family and to have to be relocated and lose everything just seems so upsetting. It's actually beyond upsetting, it's devasting. Such a change can really inflict emotional damage, but in the case of this family it may bring them closer together. Aside from being separated from the father who was imprisoned for having possible Japanese connections, I think the mother - daughter - and son are going to stick together and try to look past this setback.

Question: Could Precious really break the cycle of abuse? How could she know how to be a good parent? Response: Despite the abusive behavior Precious has been surrounded by, I believe she can successfully break the cycle of violence and be a decent mother. She has a desire to raise her children and care for them. She wants to be there for them and provide them with the childhood she didn't get the chance to experience. Considering her personal motivation to be a better mother than her own shows a lot of promise in her future parenting. I think due to the amount of suffering she was put through by both parents, she has developed a greater interest in learning how to properly raise her children. She doesn't want her kids to experience the life she lived. Precious may not entirely understand what it takes to be a good mother, but I think she knows well enough what she shouldn't do. Based on her ambition to excel in school and obtain a solid job, I can forsee her becoming a good parent. She is showing a desire to get her life together. Even though she has had to deal with several obstacles, she continues to push through and look for the light at the end of the tunnel. All her life she has looked for love and affection and was never able to find any. Her mother treated her like a slave and her father traumatized her as well. With Abdul she finally has someone who doesn't fight her; he is someone she can actually love and care for and I think she really cherishes the relationship she has with Abdul. I don't think she will ever adobt the attitude of her mother, father or grandmother.

"Push" Reading about Precious Jones made me really appreciate everything I have - supporting family, good friends, an education and a promising future. I often take for granted the things I have in my life. I don't stop to think about how lucky I am to have a high school education or to be able to have the opportunity to obtain a college degree. I don't stop to think about how much my friends and family care about me and that I always have their help and support. It's things like this that get overlooked on a daily basis. After being exposed to the life of Precious Jones, I feel very fortunate to have all that I have. Precious had nothing - almost since the very beginning of her life. Her parents weren't mentally stable. She didn't have any positive influences in or out of school. Abuse was something she experienced nearly everyday and a low self-esteem followed her almost everywhere. Then, if her life wasn't difficult enough - she gets pregnant twice by her own father, whom also infects her with HIV. It was remarkable to see her overcome every obstacle that was thrown her way. After the amount of physical and mental abuse she was put through, she still had the desire to successfully raise her children, get a solid education and find a job that would enable her to be a more independent person. No matter how depressed and low she felt, she would always try to see the light at the end of the tunnel. She knew that she was meant to be someone special and there wasn't anything that could stop her from achieving her aspirations. I think about this story and how it is about this one girl and the many complications she was presented with throughout her life. Then I think about all the other people who may be out there experiencing the same situations. When you read a book like this you're hit with a sense of reality. You see that things really aren't perfect and that some people do in fact go through such events as rape, abuse, bullying, early pregnancy, incest, etc. This book has most definitely caused me to be more grateful for all that I have and to above all - value my education. If there is one thing I took most from Push it is that we shouldn't underestimate the power of education.

"Fun Home" Aside from the main characters - Alison & the parents - I question how her brothers felt about the family situation. She doesn't go into much detail about them other than their playful time together and moments when the dad forced them to help with home renovations. I'm curious to know if they have the same views as Alison and if they were as affected by the events as she was. Since neither one of the brothers was homosexual I'm sure they didn't have as much difficulty growing up as Alison did; however, with the parents being so emotionally detached I'm sure they still experienced many hard times. I wonder if they even cared that there was very little communication between children and parents. In the previous books we've read this semester, in particular Ensler's writing, it is suggested that women are more emotional than men. I think that idea can connect with Alison's "Fun Home" too. Because of Alison's gender did she take the family's disconnection more seriously than the brother's? Since there isn't much mention about the boys, it's left to the imagination to figure out how they may have felt about certain encounters with the mom and dad. So many questions come to mind when I think about her brother's reactions over her own. For example: - How do the brother's react when they eventually find out that their dad experimented with homosexual behavior? - Was there any connection between the boys and the parents? Was either one more like the mom or the dad or neither? - Did the brother's care as much that they never had quality time with the parents? - The brothers had each other and Alison was more or less alone. Do you think the boys' connection with each other made up for their lack of communication with the parents? - Did either brother ever take notice of Alison's homosexual tendencies? When her sexual orientation was finally determined what were the brother's reactions? Did they care? Were they surprised? Based on the information provided by Alison, these questions probably cannot be answered. However, it is still interesting to ponder what the brother's may have felt over those years and if they had similar feelings as Alison.