Hi bloggers (and blog watchers)--
As always, please read ENTIRE post before writing.
My comments for this story in "Blogs from Previous Classes" can be helpful: when checking a blog, remember to click on the title of the blog, not the particular story listed underneath it, then scroll down to find the story and read my comments under "comments;" you may also want to read the bloggers' comments to get a context for my own comments on those comments... I have recopied the most important one, from the "English" blog, below...
Also, check the study sheet in Blackboard, which includes some quotes from critics that may prove useful (full articles may be found in the Literature Resource Center database).
As always, it is important to indicate specific setting and main plot developments in the opening summary. The demographics of the setting (the socio-economic, cultural/ethnic background) is important to establish at the outset. This is specifically a story about an African-American family, and the complex relationship of the characters to concepts of "heritage\" in an African-American context The story is told from a 1st person narrative perspective; Mrs. Johnson is the narrator. As such, it is very much her story (and secondarily Maggie's). Much of the drama in the story, esp during the final scene involving quilt, stems from Mrs. J's conflicted relationship with one of her daughter's, Dee (note early scenes involving dreams, Mrs J's compensatory self-description in response to those dreams, and Dee's attempts to "educate" Mrs. J and Maggie), vis a vis conflicting concepts of heritage as "lifestyle" (with the emphasis on style) v lived experience. The title of the story implies which side the narrative ultimately seems to valorize
Consider character conflict as it interfaces with contrasting concepts of "heritage"; the mother and Maggie are one on side of this debate, and Dee and her friend on the other...though there are complications both ways, and the mother is, in a way, a touchstone figure for the side of the debate the narrator seems to come down on, though the story reveals the value of both....Again, as for character conflict and change, as noted above, since the narrative perspective is 1st person, though the eyes of Mrs. Johnson, she is the point of view character in this case, and the one within whom reside the main conflict and change, though Maggie, too, undergoes change--though that change is most significant as it relates to how Mrs Johnson resolves her own conflicts (if she does, completely). (see my comments on the "short fiction eng" blog, 3rd set from bottom below of blogs from previous classes, where I elaborate this in a bit more detail, and suggest specific key scenes for consideration--see below on this post)
Here is my comment from the "English" blog (you may want to see that student's blog for the context):
The idea about the power of voice is interesting--you're thinking about Dee's forced attempts to "educate" her mother and Maggie? This is really the voice of a different cultural perspective, right?
When analyzing the story, consider the following issues:
If you look closely, the mother's relationship with Dee is quite conflicted, and she is actually much closer to Maggie, in character. Consider the dreams she has involving Dee, and also the final scene (Maggie and the mother on the porch as Dee leaves). Also, consider the contrast between Dee and Maggie as characters. This should lead to a discussion of one of the important themes of the story, heritage. But, again, this concept is ambiguous in the story. Through the interactions among the three main characters, Walker explores the complex and perhaps contradictory notions of "heritage." There are, at any rate, at least two perspectives on heritage that the story presents. One represented best by Dee, and the other be Maggie and her mother.
Consider especially scenes--the dialogue and character interaction--involving the butter churn and the quilt. Also consider the symbolic value of these items, as they relate to concepts of heritage. Consider the extreme detail of the narrator's reflections on these items, and what those details suggest and how they qualify one perspective on "heritage." Also consider Maggie's knowledge of these items, and how all this differs from Dee's views of/understanding of/attitudes toward these items and how this relates to her attitude toward her mother and sister as well, in terms of heritage. Consider also the story's title. In addition you may want to consider how names, and name changes, figure into the conflicting, or at least contrasting, views of heritage.
To understand the power and defiance of Mrs. Johnson's response to Dee, RE the quilts, we have to understand her conflicted relationship to Dee, and how her own feelings of inadequacy vis a vis Dee are projected onto Maggie (ironic considering Mrs. Johnson's physical strength and resilience as a character--see opening scenes of the story, Mrs.. Johnson's dream, etc). I.e., part of the realization that "hit" Mrs. Johnson in the climatic section of the story is this connection between the two of them, vis a vis Dee--they both have been "browbeaten," so to speak, by Dee--how so?
For more on Dee's character, take a look at my comment on Patricia Evans blog ("current blogs"): here are the main points=:
Dee's lack of self-awareness: Consider, for eg, how her dress--symbolizing a superficial, intellectualized connection to one sort of "heritage"--contrasts/conflicts with her own more bodily connection to the concept of heritage (notice the dinner scene--how/what Dee eats...) Mama and Maggie represent, which seems to be valorized by the narrative. Note how Dee's valuation of the quilts and churn are from a certain distance (what is that distance?) while a careful look at details of the scenes suggests she has no real connection --"personal" connection--to these items as Maggie and Mama do... yes, she is, in a sense, like the GM in O'Connor's "a Good Man..." a "misfit" in certain sense, while also, like the GM, somewhat in denial about her deeper connection to the heritage she rejects...
When analyzing secondary characters, like Dee, whom we can consider the "antagonist" in this case, while Mrs. Johnson and Maggie are "protagonists," we should start form her context within larger conflicts, which would first have to be clearly presented. As suggested above, the concepts of and attitudes toward heritage in the story are somewhat complicated. Dee's relationship to African and African-American culture is complex and contradictory. As noted above, the narrative makes clear that Dee rejects--in fact, attempts to fundamentally erase--a large part of her heritage, while at the same time being in denial of its fundamental--bodily--role in her identity (the dinner scene). She also romanticizes select aspects of African-American culture in a superficial sense, whereas her connection to African culture is basically theatrical. To do an adequate analysis of any character, the analysis must be done in context of the of that character's complete articulation in the story, otherwise we get an incomplete, partial view.
to reemphasize, as noted above, the story makes clear that Dee's valorization of one aspect of her culture(the "African" part) is superficial, whereas her conflicted connection to the "African-American" aspect is very real. Note one of the critics (article in Assignments) calls this embrace a "remote," intellectual, aesthetic connection. Several details of the story suggest she is only interested in the display of culture--both her "African-American" culture, which she at once rejects and selectively romanticizes (again, she is a complex and contradictory character) and her "African roots."
The general summary above takes into account the full articulation of that character; we can refer to several specific details from scenes throughout the story to support these generalizations, which we would do in an analysis of her character.
As always, when considering key scenes for analysis, as they help articulate conflict and theme, consider all aspects of the elements of fiction involved: character action and interaction (with other characters and set, including particular objects), dialogue, details of set and symbol.
Please note that the goal of these extensive blog posts and selection of articles in Assignments is to help guide analysis and provide background.
Happy blogging and analyzing!
