"Bastard Out of Carolina" #2

This is one of my favorite stories this semester, and one of the easiest to read, not content wise but style wise.
We get to see the relationships grow and change and Allison has a way of fully immersing you in her story so that you keep wanting to know what happens next.
One of the things I have found most interesting is the relationship between Bone and Reese. It is almost non-existent. There are characters that are not present in the story very often, such as Bone's aunts, or uncles, or grandmother but you still understand that Bone has a strong relationship with all of these people and they are influential on who she is. Yet, Bone lives with Reese and there is no relationship explored. The only time Reese is ever mentioned is to say that she was in fact there, as a way to set the scene for the reader.
Another thing I thought was interesting was that Bone being illegitimate is never really mentioned even though this is in the title of the book and a key way that Bone identifies herself because it is so important to society. But, there are points where this is noticeably the underlying issue. For example, when Bone has to return the stolen candy and the man insinuates that Anney is a bad mother or can't control Bone because Bone doesn't have a father, and that he needs to help discipline Bone. Another scene was on the bus when Bone says "I watched her face- impassive, self-sufficient, and stubborn; she reminded me of myself, or at least the way I had come to think of myself." (pg. 154) This is an important key to hoe Bone identifies herself but is so central that it is buried beneath all the more obvious traits and characteristics of who she is, which is exactly how Allison writes it.

Starting "Bastard Out of Carolina"

So far I really enjoy this story. It is much different from what we have been reading lately. The works we have read recently (plays and poems) are short so they get to the point immediately. Its a bit of a change to have a novel where it takes a chapter or two to get the feel of what is happening in the story.
One thing that is very noticeable from the very beginning of the story is the importance of family. Bone's mom and aunts and uncles all have a very close relationship and the aunts and uncles are all very involved in Bone's life. The scene at the hospital where Bone's grandmother and aunts were trying to fill out her birth certificate and didn't know how to spell Ann was quite funny, especially since Ann was Bone's mother's name. Not being able to spell your own daughter or sister's name gives us a pretty good idea of what their social class was and how much education they had.
This is another story that has already established the female characters as strong. Bone's mother continues to fight the "illegitimate" stamp that is on Bone's birth certificate even years after Bone's is born. This is something that is so stigmatized and seen as so wrong by society, she does not want Bone to have to live without that label above her head.
The female characters are also seen as being independent. Their is no mention of the grandfather except in negative terms and the grandmother does not care what anyone else thinks, she does her own thing. Bone's mother is also portrayed as being independent and taking care of her children but their is also the contradiction that she needs a husband especially when she sees Glen and her thought is that she "needs a husband." The men in the family also help take care of everyone and watch out for Bones and her mother and her sister and are given important roles because of that.

Cherrylog Road

For some reason I had a hard time trying to interpret most of James Dickey's poems. This may be just because I was trying to read into them to far, looking for themes we've talked about in class but I'm not sure. I chose to write about "Cherrylog Road" because its theme and imagery seemed a little more obvious to me.
Dickey used a lot of imagery in this poem but most of it was from the main character's imagination, Dickey wasn't explaining events that were really taking place. Dickey did this using similes and metaphors. For example, "I climbed in And out the other side, like An envoy or movie star" and "A radiator cap raised its head, Become a real toad or a kingsnake."
The main theme or issue that this poem is about is social class and inter-racial relationships. The girl and boy are hiding their relationship, she has to sneak out for fear of how her dad would react. From the beginning Dickey gives you the impression that the boy is lower class especially at the end when they go their seperate ways and he leaves on his motorcycle. The social class difference was very evident as was the fact that the girl was white which was stated when Dickey said "Her back's pale skin." But it wasn't until the second time that I read through this poem that I got the impression that the boy was black and this is why their relationship was so thoroughly unexceptable, because this is what society believed and clearly the girl's father did also.
The line that introduced race as an issue was "The glass panel in between Lady and colored driver Not all the way broken out." This means that racism still existed and that the barriers between people are still there. Society's racism and disapproval of inter-racial relationships would explain why he would think he doesn't have a chance with the white girl and why her father's reactions would be so drastic.
In the beginning of the poem the junkyard is compared to death. This is a symbol for the relationship, it has no hope of going anywhere or amounting to anything. Just like if something is dead. At the same time though there is some hope and that is why the relationship continues. We glimpse this hope through the boy's imagination when he enters and exits the cars and sees himself as something better.
The cars themselves also are a symbol of the boy. People have given up on these cars, they will never be anything and are worthless. This same tone is used for the boy. The cars are described as broken and unfixable, this was a lot of the same attitude that society has had towards blacks. Thinking that being black means there is something wrong with that person that can't be fixed. The cars also do not have any wheels which means they are not going anywhere which reemphasized that the boy can not escape his situation. This symbolism is repeated throughout the poem.
At the end of the poem there tone changes slightly so that there is the possibility of hope for the boy when takes off on his motorcycle that is "fleshed with power." That he is not completely hopeless and does have some control and power.

The Displaced Person

I thought this piece was really interesting and it seemed to tie together a lot of the themes that we have talked about throughout the semester. It also encorporated a religious aspect that we had yet to see in our readings. It was really interesting to find out that Flannery O'Connor was a woman because I had assumed the author was a man. In the other pieces that we have read so far that have been written by women, it was much clearer because many of the main characters were women, strong, independent women, who varied from their element and gender roles. It was really the first time that women really had personality. But O'Connor was focused on other themes such as religion. Although I found it hard to decipher the religious symbols that she used. For example, the peacock, O'Connor wrote about it in a way that I knew it was important I just found it hard to figure out what it was supposed to represent. The same was true for Mrs. Shortley's visions, I had a hard time understanding what she was seeing and why it was important. At the end though, it was easy to draw the parallels between the Displaced Person and Jesus. A lot of the time Mrs. Shortley appears to be quite a hypocrite because in one breath she is praising God and in the next she is cursing blacks. This two attitudes do not seem to go hand in hand. Once again it is a view of the life and culture at the time.
In many of the stories that we read at the beginning of the semester that dealt with slavery, the slaves were viewed as being animals. If you were black, you were not considered to be human. This same type of racism was expressed toward to the Displaced Person, not because he was black but because he was foreign. The same root of racism was in both though. Slaves were different because of their skin color and language. Polish immigrants had the same white skin color but they spoke differently and had a culture that was foreign to Americans. Both were not understood.
I found it interesting that in the end Mrs. McIntyre chose to keep the black workers over keeping the Displaced Person despite the drastic difference in the profit she would receive. We see that like adjusting from the Old South life to the New South, people are still afraid of change. Despite seeing blacks as inferior and unequal in all aspects, they were part of Southern life, something Southern whites were used to. Immigrants were different and not part of the life they were used to.
The importance of obeying racial boundary lines was also emphasized, just like it was in "Desiree's Baby." Mixing of races was against all cultural and social rules. Mrs. McIntyre almost has a panic attack when she realizes the Displaced Person wants his white cousin to marry one of the black workers. She can't explain why it is so wrong and not allowed, she is just adamant that it can't be done. Chopin had this same problem with her characters and marry across class lines. There was no real reason why it was so unacceptable or couldn't be done, it just couldn't. These are social rules they were socialized with, not something they ever questioned. They just did it. I think the Displaced Person was the first character we ahve read about that openly questioned this aspect of Southern life.
Once again we also see the importance of home. Mrs. McIntrye does all she can to save her home and her land. The Displaced Person did not have a home. This was just another way to make him different. This was another issue that seemed to be two-sided though. The Shortley's were living on Mrs. McIntyre's land and when they decided to quit, they too were displaced and without a home but this was overlooked.

Play vs. Film

I really liked watching this film, if only for the simple face that it brought the play to life. Like any play/book that has been made into a movie there are a lot of similarities and differences. The film did I really great job of sticking to the original script, except for the ending but I'll get to that shortly.
The characters' personalities where very similaer to those in the play which helped the film to stay on page with the play. Personality had a lot to do with the way these characters acted and responded to situations. Reading the play, Stanley hold a lot of anger from the very beginning. But in the film, Stanley acted more like a jerk (not just angry) but as the film continued and he learned more about Blanche he transformed and his anger just kept exploding.
Seeing Blanche's character on screen we saw a lot more of her nervousness and uncertainty with her surroundings just through the way that she talked. She talked fast and seemed to babble about unimportant, random things. It was really hard to understand her. In the film we could also actually hear the music that Blanche always talked about hearing. This just added to Blanche's character because we could actually see how it effected her. Honestly, Blanche kind of creeped me out in the film. The music only increased a lot of the tension and suspension that was going on. Instead of just reading how Blanche's behavior was getting stranger and she was starting to lose it, the film actually used all of these acting cues so that Blanche looked increasingly crazy as the film went on.
Stella was much more passive and even more of a pushover in the film than she had been in the play. The actress who played Stella showed this by the way Stella is always hiding her face. She was always either covering her face with her hands or standing with her back to the speaker and her face against the wall.
Reading the infamous "Stella!" scene in the play, my impression was pretty much "seriously?! she just went back to him?" But the film made this scene have more of an impact. Yes, it was so dramatic that it was quite funny. The film showed us that Stella and Stanley really did have a relationship. Reading the play, it didn't really seem like there was much between them despite the fact that they were married.
The openess of the set in the film expands upon the theme that Blanche does not fit in with the culture and changing South. The openess places her right in the middle of it. People are always just walking in, she's constantly bombarded by people who fit in the "new South."
Now, the rape scene and the end of the film... I have to say that I much preferred the film version. The rape scene looked much more violent in the film than I read in the play. Then at the very end, the way the men looked at Stanley was very accusatory where they hadn't made any comment in the play. And then the fact that Stella tells Stanley to never touch her again and then leaves Stanley, changes the impact so that the blame is actually put on Stanley. Reading the play, I felt bad for Blanche because she was being sent away. But, watching the film I felt that it was necessary for Blanche to be sent away and Stella didn't have a choice because Blanche was not handling any changes or basically life. I liked the ending of the film better because as passive as Stella was throughout the whole film, she all of a sudden had a burst of courage and left Stanley at the end.

A Streetcar Named Desire

This was an interesting piece because it was so different from our other readings and especially our last reading, Their Eyes Were Watching God. A lot of the differences though, were similar to Kate Chopin's writings. Both Williams' and Chopin's pieces were set in Louisianna where the culture was completely different. "A Streetcar Named Desire" had even less mention of race than Chopin did. There was only one mention of a black woman in the 1st scene and then not again. I think that the minor detail that this was character was only given the title of "negro woman" (she wasn't given a name) shows that race was still an issue. The only scene this character was mentioned in, she was given a task to do by a white woman, implying that she was a servant. Racism was still an issue but not in the way that we have become accostomed to in our readings and in our class discussions, it was not white vs. black. Because "A Streetcar Named Desire" was set in the French Quarter in New Orleans. Blanche's biggest issue with Stanley was his race, he was an immigrant. I found this interesting that Williams still covered one of our biggest themes-racism, but in an entirely new way and amongst different individuals. Yet at the same time, Williams keeps one of the strongest themes of culture in Blanche's character. Blanche is the stereotypical Southern belle who had grown up on a plantation. We have seen repeatedly in our readings how important the plantation is a symbol of the Southern family. Here there were also similarities to Katherine Anne Porter's writings. This picture of the Old South and this way of life was disappearing. Blanche and Stella's family had died and they had to sell Bella Reve, both the physical and symbolic aspects of their family had disappeared, and this was a key theme for the Old South. Stella had managed to adjust to life and fit in to life in the French Quarter. Stella's life symbolizes the New South. Blanche on the other hand represents the Old South and when she went to live in New Orleans with Stella and Stanley, she did not fit in and in the end she wasn't able to make it.
I also found similarities to Zora Neale Hurston in the scene where Stanley beats Stella. (on pg 653-654). The issue of domestic abuse is glossed over as though it is no big deal. The same happened when Tea Cake whipped Janie. Its almost like its expected. It was not unusual. This was another scene where it was obvious that Blanche did not fit in because of the fact that she saw domestic abuse as a problem. I thought this was very interesting that this was a pair of the culture and society of the time.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

I think this book was my favorite reading so far this semester. That is probably becomes the length of the novel allowed for more development of the characters. It was more of a story than just a brief look into a social issue.
Hurston took a completely different stance on the life of blacks at the time. Hurston does not compare Janie or any of the other characters to whites or place them in an inferior social class. It is a story about Janie, not a social novel about how racial issues depict Janie’s life. This way of life is made apparent when Janie and Tea Cake move to the muck and Hurston writes of the way blacks in the muck live. Hurston goes against the typical stereotype of the time by showing the blacks enjoying themselves and having fun. Wright only wrote about the hardships that blacks faced and the injustices that were done against them by whites. Hurston was the complete opposite by showing poor blacks minus whites and injustices or social issues. Hurston celebrates the black community; she doesn’t look at what the black community is missing because of the attitudes of the white community.
It was really hard to find an opinion on Tea Cake. After Jody, Tea Cake is introduced as a character that allows Janie to embrace her innocence and enjoy life, to be free for the first time in her life. But Tea Cake’s actions continually force us to reevaluate our opinions of him. When Tea Cake left with Janie’s money after they are first married, I immediately thought the worst of him, but Tea Cake continually redeems himself. Then once I am really starting to like Tea Cake and be happy for Janie and the life and freedom that she is able to have with him, Tea Cake whips her. This scene was a complete shock to me. Yet, like all of the other incidents with Tea Cake, Hurston writes it so that I didn’t hate Tea Cake. Whipping Janie is a social acceptable issue and Hurston writes so that we, as readers, see it that way also. This almost gives us a better understanding and insight into Janie because Janie understands society’s stance on the issue and then her love for Tea Cake on top of that makes it so that she does not hold it against him. We feel the same way, as shocked as we are, we don’t hold it against Tea Cake.
One of my favorite quotes was at the ending when Janie was talking to Phoebe and says “…you got tuh go there tuh know there…Two things everybody’s got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves.” (pg 285) This basically summed up Janie’s entire life and this novel. She needed to live and experience life. That’s what her life was like with Tea Cake, she was no longer playing safe and doing what others expected. Janie was living with feeling and emotion.

The Ethics of Living Jim Crow

I really enjoyed this reading, as much as you can enjoy a reading that depicts the sad realities of racism and the Jim Crow laws in the South. The tone throughout this story is casual, as though Richard Wright has already accepted the Jim Crow laws and what they mean for his life and is now just reporting the facts. He has removed his emotion and feelings from the writing. The first thing that Wright does is describe the land, to let us know that the South was not just racist is its actions but also in the way towns were set up. Wright associated anything green with white people because the only green that could be found was where the white people lived. Blacks, on the other hand, had cinders in their yards. Blacks and whites were also separated by railroad tracks, with the blacks being located behind the tracks. Using the word "behind" implies that the whites were in front of the tracks, emphasizing the superiority of whites. I think one of the most surprising and disturbing events that Wright described was when he talked about fighting. "Broken bottles were dangerous; the left you cut, bleeding, and helpless." (pg 549) Whites fought in a way that blacks could not. I think this fully describes racism; whites treated blacks horribly and behaved any way they wanted but blacks could not retaliate or behave the same way towards whites. This was the basic definition for the Jim Crow laws. Learning the Jim Crow laws meant that blacks had to accept the way they were treated and we see Wright realizing this more at the same time that he grows more distant from his writing. This education took time because the Jim Crow laws were dictated by whites and changed to fit any situation or action that a white person felt necessary. In the incident were Richard was accused of not saying "Mr." in front of Pease's name, Morrie and Pease trapped Richard between the two benches with his back to the wall. This was a perfect symbol for how blacks were trapped by white rules and how they were supposed to interact with whites. Blacks were always unsure of how to act and they were always outnumbered by whites. Richard "stood hesitating, trying to frame a neutral reply." (pg 551) We see Richard's final acceptance when his education is just about when every time there is mention of a black person being abused or beaten by a white, they are referred to as 'lucky." "Huh! Is tha' all they did t' her," (pg 552) no one is surprised by the extent of whites cruelty towards the black community.
I felt that this was the most shocking piece we have read because it did not just look at racism and the abuse of blacks. Richard Wright explained how the only way to live in the South as a black was to fully accept the horrible way you were treated and often go so far as to believe that you deserved it. Wright's way of writing facts and lacking emotion makes the piece even more powerful.

The Old Order

I really enjoyed reading Anne Porter's "The Old Order." I had thought that Chopin was breaking out through the use of her characters but Porter's writing was entirely centered on the strength of her female characters, Grandmother and Nannie. The only mention of male characters was in tones of disgust. In the comparison between the characters the female came out as the stronger gender while the men were portrayed as weak and lacking focus. Where all of our readings so far have focused on southern culture and the southern belle and southern men needing to protect women, Porter's Grandmother was filling the men's stereotypical role and taking care of and providing for the family. It was also interesting that Grandmother's best friend was a black woman and former slave that she had grown up with.
There was a lot of focus on this being post-Civil War and post-slavery. This in turn centered a lot of focus on the past. On pg. 10 almost the entire page is about how Grandmother is always reminiscing about the past and even goes so far as to relate the future to the past, hoping that things will come full circle and go back to the way they were. But both Grandmother and Nannie were well aware of the faults of the South and even wondered why they missed the past so much when "so much suffering and confusion could have been built up and maintain on such a foundation." (pg. 11) I thought this was interesting. It is understandable though, post-Civil War South underwent a great deal of change in a short period of time. Even just the end of slavery was difficult for everyone. The South had been entirely built on this foundation and whether right or wrong, whether you agreed with it or not, it was the way everyone was raised, the only thing anyone knew. With just the Emancipation it was completely erased. Even Nannie, although she was no longer a slave, was unsure what to do, "she had all her life obeyed the authority nearest to her." (pg. 11) It is hard to just one day completely change your way of life.
It was also interesting when Grandmother was explaining her youngest son's new wife. She was basically explaining women's changing roles in society. Porter really focused on women in this piece. But all the things Grandmother disapproved of in her new daughter-in-law like independence, working on the land, and having authority are all the traits that Grandmother herself is described as having. Maybe the difference is that life events forced Grandmother into these roles where it was her daughter-in-laws choice to undertake them. But I think Grandmother would have stood out in society just as much for running a farm and raising 11 children by herself.

Dry September

When I first saw that our reading assignment was William Faulkner I dreaded it a bit. In high school I had to read the Sound and the Fury and I had a really hard time interpreting Faulkner’s stream of consciousness writing style and figuring out what exactly was happening in the story. I was surprised to see that the stream of consciousness writing style that Faulkner was famous for was not present in “Dry September.”
There were however, several themes that we have seen in our other readings present in this story. Right from the third line of the story when it says “Something about Miss Minnie and a Negro” (439) you know that the class structure dividing whites and blacks is evident. It is not said that Miss Minnie is a white woman but the tone Faulkner uses leads readers immediately to this assumption. This story is not set during the time of slavery; blacks are “free” but are still not considered equal citizens so there is also the theme of racism.
It was also interesting to note that Faulkner packs each sentence with detail, so much that by the time you finish a sentence you have almost forgotten what the beginning of the sentence was. As much detail as Faulkner uses though, as a reader I was still unable to form a picture in my mind either of the characters or of the surrounding area. Faulkner uses detail to convey those points that he feels are most important. In Chapter I, detail is focused on the stale air and odors from sweat and emphasizes that it hasn’t rained in 62 days, all of these detailed elements contribute to the mood and restlessness that the men were feeling. We know all of the men introduced were white but if asked I could not describe them because we only knew enough about each man to understand his opinion. The opinions are what is important. In Chapter II, there is more detail given to Miss Minnie because we need to understand her and what would lead to her lying. The feelings and the type of people each character was emphasizes the themes of racism and society dictating the separation of blacks and whites and white superiority.
It was also interesting to note that for white men, blacks were used as property, to make a profit. Miss Minnie used Willie the same way; she used him in a game where he was merely a disposable piece, so that she could regain her status in society. Also, because Hawk stood up for Willie, he was seen as being just as bad as a black man.
“Dust” was a recurring image throughout the story. “They went on; the dust swallowed them; the glare and the sound died away” (445). The dust was caused by the dry weather that created the tense/on edge mood but it also worked to cover things such as the actions of the white men against Willie. No one questioned what happened to Willie, he just disappeared.

Kate Chopin readings

Kate Chopin introduced a different region of the South that we had yet to see in our readings. This region brings along with it a new and different culture also. In our previous readings the only classes that we had really seen were white plantation owners and black slaves. Chopin focused on the Louisiana bayou area where people came from both Hispanic and French ancestry, greatly influencing the culture.
There was a difference between the classes in "At the Cadian Ball" and "After the Storm" but it did not appear to be as dramatic as the separation between slave owners and slaves in our other readings. Bruce was mentioned as a slave belonging to Alcee but Bruce was described more in terms of being a servant. The slaves that were mentioned in "At the Cadian Ball" and "After the Storm" were not described the way Frederick Douglass described a slave's life. The description of Bruce was similar to the way that John Pendleton Kennedy described his slaves in "Swallow Barn." Kennedy described his slaves in a way that implied that slaves enjoyed their life. Kennedy and Chopin both seemed to imply that slaves were content with their lifestyle, the importance of the story was not placed on the slaves though, it was centered on particular white characters or a white-based theme. Slaves were not the important part of the story, or of the daily lives of white Southerns (or the Cajuns and Creoles), they were necessary to keep life running but were not accredited with this.
In "Desiree's Baby," Chopin place much more emphasis on the slave. This was necessary to explain the social impropriety that surrounded having a child of mixed race. Calixta who was a central character in both other readings by Chopin was also of mixed race which readers were made aware of in her detailed description but she did not have "black blood." Being any part black is where the impropriety and out-right disgrace laid. Armand had several slaves and treated them horribly, he was more like the slave masters that Douglass described, he really emphasized the class difference. So although the first two pages of the story was Chopin described and convincing readers of Armand's love for Desiree, as soon as the baby started to show signs of being of mixed race, it was almost a surprise how fast and completely Armand rejected both the baby and Desiree. Chopin had us, as readers, completely convinced that Armand really loved Desiree. It made you twice as aware of how horrible they considered a child who looked like they are partially black to be there own. This social wrong out-weighed everything else.

a new view on the same South

Frederick Douglas offers a new and entirely different perspective of the plantation and Southern life. Douglas views the plantation as a means of separation. A way to keep families separated and keep slaves from forming familial bonds or any sort of attachments to others. Douglas never speaks of another slave or person with any sort of attachment nor does he have any attachment for the plantation he lives on, his “home.” Unlike Kennedy and Jefferson, Douglas does not overly perfume his language. Douglas is not focused on using details or imagery to romanticize the South or to sway you towards his beliefs. Douglas is focused on the facts. There is no need to thoroughly detail each memory so that it has more impact on the reader. Simply stating the facts is enough for the reader to understand the horrors of slave life. I think if there had been more detail used by Douglas it would have had the reverse effect and been too much for the reader. Douglas had no ulterior motives in his writing. His writing or way of life was not dependent on which side of the fence his reader fell, Douglas was purely trying to inform the public about people who could not tell there own story, either because they were still in slavery or because they were kept uneducated for just such reasons.
It was also interesting to note that Douglas learned to read and write from poor white children that he met on the street, not from high class white men such as Jefferson or Kennedy. Yet, in my opinion, Douglas’ writing was the easiest to read out of all our readings so far, both because of his syntax and word choice.

Swallow Barn as a character

The excerpt for John Pendleton Kennedy's "Swallow Barn" showed that he really has mastered the skill of creative writing. The entire first chapter is explained through visual imagery. It is not until the end of the chapter that a character is introduced, the character being the slave woman and children, but even these people are explained in the same way and using the same descriptions as the house and the surrounding property. It is as if Kennedy is subconciously explaining the Southern view on slavery. That slaves can be bought and traded and are treated as though they are property. The slaves mentioned, even those that are considered friends such as Carey, are not given the same characteristics that Frank is given when he is explained, such as intelligence, educated, handsome. No, they are explained by what they can do and in a tone that implies superiority by the master. The slaves were not even worth a thorough description, Carey is only as explained as "the perfect shadow of his master." This is enough to tell you that slaves are not the real characters of importance in this story. They are necessary to make the story flow just as they are necessary to make the South run but they are not accredited or talked about.
In the first chapter, Kennedy goes into such great detail about Swallow Barn and its surrounding property that this in itself allows for Swallow Barn to become an important character. Every detail of the land is perfectly described in all it's age and glory so that the reader can have a clear picture in their mind's eye. I felt that I had a better picture in my head of what the land looked like than I did of what Frank looked like, for the slaves I had no picture at all, they were just the shadows in the background which I am sure is what Kennedy had intended when he wrote this story. As well as being thoroughly detailed through visual imagery, Kennedy also used similes to personify the house and emphasize it's role as a character in this story. The windows on the house are described as a "face without eyebrows." (pg 60) Later the wagon carts and are described as though they are real people also.
Reading this excerpt it was easy to see Kennedy's romanticizing of the South and what exactly was important to Southern whites. Swallow Barn was old and falling apart but there was pride in the family history that had come with that age and the events that had led to the house falling apart. Family and history were important and the plantation was the ultimate symbol of the South used by Kennedy.

The Real John Smith

Reading from John Smith's "A Description of New England" I felt like I was being preached to. But the tone was very bullying, as though one could only benefit from acting as John Smith dictated. John Smith and the other colonists left England because they felt as though they were being pressured to follow a certain religion and act and live a certain way, yet in his writings to England are a narrative on how those still in England should be living their lives. Apparently the journey to America was quite long, long enough to forget their reasoning for wanting to leave England in the first place. This is only shown further when John Smith explains the native Americans, or as he refers to them, the "savages." According to John Smith and the other colonists the "poor savages" must be converted to Christianity.
Religion was very influential in the lives of those in England as well as the colonists, even if it was a source of conflict and John Smith knows this. John Smith uses the religious conscience of those in England to his advantage referring to "God's blessing" and what could be "more agreeable to God." God is being used almost as a way to guilt trip those reading his essays. John Smith does not do much to actual describe New England which is supposed to be the purpose of his writings instead he uses propaganda and weaknesses of the English to make them believe that by traveling to New England they will be satisfying God and leading happier, more productive, more beneficial lives.
In his second writing from "The Generall Historie of Virginia," John Smith explains the story that all children grow up hearing. The story of John Smith and Pocahontas and how she saved his life. This story is written differently than the first because in this one John Smith writes entirely in the 3rd person, this and the one-sided way the story is written appears to be John Smith's way of ensuring his place amongst the legends. I'm sure if the viewpoints of a few native Americans were added to the story would be quite different, as would the universal belief as John Smith as a hero.