Do I Belong?

I am currently reading the book Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt.  It is incredible!  I really love it!  In the book Angela's Ashes, the main character is Frank McCourt himself.  The book is all about his childhood and about his growing up partly in “The New World” (America) and partly in “The Homeland” (Ireland).  I think a big part of this book is fitting in.  A big theme is belonging.  Frank doesn’t belong in New York, or in Ireland.
    Frank doesn’t belong in New York, where he was born.  In New York, Frank is the Irish kid.  Frank is an outcast because of where his parents were born.  People don’t accept him because everyone in America is an immigrant.  For example, his neighbors are Jewish, and even though they are sweet people.  Frank can’t really play or fit in with their son because of their nationality differences.  Another example of his not belonging, is how when he is looking for his father in the bars, the men in the bars are all of one nationality or another.  When he asks for a Malachy (his father’s name) they all say no because the name is not of their nationality or group.  Frank isn’t really a part of New York.
    Frank doesn’t belong in Ireland either.  In Ireland, Frank is the ‘Yankee’ kid. 
Frank doesn’t know squat about what to do in Ireland.  For example in school he gets punished a lot because he doesn’t understand religious customs of Ireland.  Another example of how he doesn’t belong is that when his grandmother meets him she gets angry because he is an American.  Even his grandmother doesn’t accept him all because of his nationality.  Frank doesn’t really belong to Ireland either.
    In conclusion, I think Frank doesn’t really belong anywhere.  Frank is kind of in between worlds, he is not fully Irish or fully American in a sense.  Frank would need to commit fully to one world in order to finally belong completely.  This idea of belonging reminds me of Funny Girl, and how in that movie Fanny doesn’t quite belong to the theatre or to Mr Arnstein , or to Henry Street, or to The Follies.

Two people, Two stories

 I am reading the book The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.  It's a book that was originally written in French.  It's beautifully written and has an incredibly interesting plot.  The main characters in the story are Paloma and Renee.  Paloma is a genius twelve year old.  She is growing up in a very rich family and really doesn't agree with their ideals most of the time.  Renee is the cranky old concierge that works in the building that Paloma lives in.  Even though they seem so different they actually are pretty similar in the end.

Paloma is an incredibly smart and interesting twelve year old.  Her family is very rich and prestigious.  She is planning on taking her life when she turns thirteen.  The reason she has decided to do this is because she really hates her family.  The thing is, she doesn't hate them, she almost feels sorry for them.  She believes the way they act is fake and hollow.  She understands why they act the way they do, but she doesn't comprehend why they believe in the things they do.  Her mother fills her emptiness by taking care of plants, her sister pretends to be worldly and intelligent, and her father throws dinner parties.  They are all so fake.  Paloma feels like the only real person she knows.  She has real interests and passions, for example she loves Japanese culture.  She hates the world she lives in.  Little does she know, someone real is right next door.

Renee is the  only other real person nearby.  On the outside Renee is a cranky old concierge.  When you dig a little deeper, you see a very interesting and intelligent person.  She is obsessed with incredibly advanced Russian novels and Japanese culture too, like Paloma.  She is sophisticated and smart, but because of these fake people's expectations, she is kept silent and seemingly dumb or stupid.  Because she works for these fake people, she hides her true personality so they are happy.  They are only when everyone decides to assimilate to their stereotypes.  She must hate getting turned off by these insignificant people.  I think it's so ridiculous that a real person be shut down like that.

I, like Paloma and Renee don't understand the fake culture that people practice everywhere.  The world they live in is filled to the brim with these kind of people. I would hate to have to deal with the artificiality everyday.

22 Humans

I  saw the link to Slavery Footprint on my ELA teacher's blog and decided to check it out.  (The link is: slaveryfootprint.org.)  It is a program that tries to spread the  word about modern day slavery.  So many people worked SO hard to kill slavery off, but it's still here.  I'm not talking about picking cotton for rich white southern plantation owners during the 1800's.  What I'm talking about is the idea that people NOW are being forced to work for consumer's needs.  When you buy something that is mass produced, chances are, unless it is a special company making the product, it has been touched by a slave.  Anything from shorts to shrimp to diamonds to cars can and probably employs some sort of slave labor.

The web site gives you two options, you can either pick the "What? I have slaves working for me?" button or the "Take the Survey!" button.  I first read the about page on the site, then took the survey.  There was a huge variety of questions about your lifestyle.  They asked about diet, clothing, sports equipment, electronics, where you live, housing, medicine, age, gender, children or not, and jewelery.  At first I didn't really understand why they were asking about these things, then I began to read the facts beside the questions and I was shocked.  For example, "Bonded labor is used for much of Southeast Asia's shrimping industry, which supplies more shrimp to the U.S. than any other country. Laborers work up to 20-hour days to peel 40 pounds of shrimp. Those who attempt to escape are under constant threat of violence or sexual assault.", this fact was listed next to the diet questions.  The mere thought that people wouldn't get paid to do their work is shocking to me, but the idea that if they tried to escape they could be abused if unbelievable.  It really makes me sick.

22.  That's 22 people forced into labor without their consent.  I have 22 slaves working for me.  At the end of the survey they give you your results with comparisons to the average, extraneous variables, and other extra tidbits of information.  I still can't believe I only have 3 people under the average "working for me".  I felt awful when I read my results.  In the future I will be much more cautious about how I conduct my life and my consumption of stuff that could be produced by slaves.

The most interesting part to me is the fact that if you told me this was something that happened in the past I would be angry and shocked, but my response in the end would be, "It was different back then."  The problem is that when we say that slavery happened because "It was different back then,", it's ridiculous because it still happens now. 

Does Class Matter?

I am reading Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld.  I just started it an I already really enjoy it.  It is a book about a girl named Lee Fiora who moves from Indiana to a Massachusetts boarding school called Ault.  Ault is really fancy and has not just an air of wealthiness, but a consuming air of wealthiness.  The book deals with a lot of issues, but the most pressing one is separation of the classes.

Life is wildly different at Ault than in Indiana. In Indiana, Lee was the kid who was the top of her class.  In Indiana, Lee was praised constantly for being so smart.  Lee always knew the right thing to say in Indiana.  In Indiana, money never mattered.  Lee's life at Ault is the exact opposite.  Here Lee is really lonely and really has no friends to help her adjust.  She's nice and kind and smart, but no one feels the need to be her friend because everyone else has friends already.  At Ault all the kids come from incredibly rich and wealthy backgrounds.  In Indiana, Lee didn't have a lot of money but there it didn't matter.  Here at Ault, it's part of what makes her an outcast.  In fact, the plot doesn't entirely revolve around how much her being on scholarship affects her, but it's a huge component. At Ault kids really throw money around.  It truly doesn't matter for them.  Like the character Little says at one point, "They buy 70 dollar track warmups and it means absolutley nothing."  Most of the kids have lawyers and doctors as parents.  Lee has farmers for parents.  Now while Lee didn't go from rags to riches, her surroundings definitely did.

If I were in Lee'splace I don't know if I would be able to keep it together.  It must be really stressful to be an outcast the way Lee is.  It kind of humiluiating to be in her shoes.  She's so lonely, and it's all because of her economic class.  I mean, can you imagine being with a ton of kids who can do the one thing you can't and being an outcast because of it?  Lee is already lonely, because she's not being accepted into multiple different social circles, but on top of that she's on scholarship.  Lee is an outcast on both counts, socially and econnomically.  She came from a accepting place where her economic situation was common, now Lee is uncommon.  Lee had to transition radically.  One day, top of the world (In Indiana), the next, bottom of the heap (at Ault).  One day average income, next, "dirt poor".  Now, she's not poor but she's definitely not in the same class as most of the kids at Ault. 

I think enconomic class separation is a huge issue both in this book and in the world.  It can prevent people from becoming friends, and can even tear apart friendships.   It is a destructive and elitest mindset, and it doesn't just happen economically, it happens racially and socially too.  Just look at Maria and Tony in West Side Story, true love torn apart by class differences.

Julie is Julia, or Not?

I am finishing the book Julie and Julia by Julie Powell this week.  It's a really good book.  I loved the whole story.  It's all about Julie's journey to cook her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  That's cooking over 500 recipes in only 365 days!  Julie, in addition to trying to complete this daunting task, offers a unique and funny perspective throught the book.  Julie often compares herself to Julia Child.  They funny part is that while they kind of share a name, they are vastly different people.  They have some similarities, but they are incredibly different from each other.
Julie Powell is a almost 30 year old woman.  She is married to a man she met back in Texas in High School.  She is a secretary at a government agency who's policies she doesn't agree with in the slightest.  She really hates her job.  She moved from Texas all the way to New York City to become an actress.  She lives in a terrible apartment with a lot of really big functional problems.  Her plans and goals she set out to accomplish are not really panning out.  She's not exactly happy with her life at this point.  She needs something to improve her life at the beginning of the book.  When she decides to attempt to cook her way through MtAoFC many people really doubt her.  Julie is kind of disheveled.  Sher lives a mainly frugal live, and she's a little bit crazy.  Although on the other hand, Julie is a really determined and proud person in my opinion.  She's fun and interesting and clever, she just doesn't really have her life figured out, and in her case that's really not a good thing.

Julia Child however, is vastly different.  In the Wikipedia artickle about her it says "Julia Child (née McWilliams;^[1] August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for introducing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking".  She was a very sucessful person.  Julia Child was dignified and wealthy, and while she was reported to be a fun person, she seems very serious.  When I read the parts about her in Julie and Julia, Julie demonstrates great respect for Julia, Julia however, "is reported to have been unimpressed by Powell's blog, believing Powell's determination to cook every recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a year to be a stunt."  I don't really know what to think about this but, she is definately entited to her own opinion.  Julia Child to me means good and fun cooking, but French sophistication along with a dignified personality.

Julie and Julia are really different people.  Then again, how would you like to be compared to one of the greatest home chefs of all time?

The Man Who Walked

He was the man who walked across the Twin Towers.  He was regarded as brave and strong, yet insane,  after, when people knew who he was. He was a different person before and after the stunt.

Before he walked across the towers he was a different man.  He was a man with no job or real stable life.  The trouble was, he needed money for his plan to really work.  He truly was a mastermind.  He had it all planned out.  He knew they would need, fake IDs, wire, balancing pole, bribe money and all sorts of tools for the mechanical aspect of it.  To make money he just did petty things he didn't care for.  He did all sorts of odd jobs, and I don't mean like a handy man, he was talented and found all sorts of jobs he could use his talents in.  He was a magician at parties.  He hated it sometimes and sometimes enjoyed it, he made himself into different people at these jobs.  He performed in parks in bad neighborhoods for tips.  When he did this he was near junkies and drug dealers all the time.  He only cared about raising the money to pull this "trick" off.  He was completely obsessed with his plan to walk across the towers.  His whole life was all about pulling off his stunt.

After he pulled off the stunt he must have been a different man.  He was not injured.  He was not hurt mentally or physically.  He was happier as a person.  In one chapter there is a judge and he is the judge for Philipe Petit's case in court.  He describes him as a happy man.  He almost thinks of him as too happy and pleased with himself.  Throughout the whole book the people who see and hear him all describe him as a happy person who is incredibly pleased with himself.  It's interesting because he has committed a large crime and has made many people look ridiculous, but he's still so happy.  When you see his perspective you are amazed and astonished by the way he views everything.  Although his voice is not in the first person he shines through the authors voice with passion and emotion.  You are able to see his point of view and you can see why he was so happy when he finished this spectacle.   This was a monumental thing for this crazy man.

He is such an interesting man.  He really made all of  New York City reexamine their experiences and how much adventure they have in their lives.  He was a revolutionary.

Which Life?

In the book Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann, he shows all sorts of characters.  Two characters in particular that he demonstrates very well are Tillie and Claire.  These two women are vastly different.  Tillie is a prostitute and Claire is a rich woman.  These two woman are as different as two woman can be.

Tillie is a woman who has been a prostitute for almost her entire life.  She seems really sad.  She's also very lonely, even though she's with someone every night.  She's also totally unstable.  She uses drugs all the time, she talks about shooting up all the time.  It also makes me really sad to read about her demeaning herself.  She constantly calls herself "Tillie F*&%ed up Henderson".  She's really mean to herself.  She calls the pimps she's with "daddies" She has a new "daddy" all the time.  She also lives on the street.  She also has no friends just competitors.  It's also really upsetting because she was expected to become a hooker.  I mean, even her mother wanted her to become a hooker.  She wanted her to go on "the stroll" (that's what they all call being a prostitute).  Even though she has a ton of sad and depressing things that complicate her life, she also is very free.  She doesn't really have to be chained by the things most people are chained by.

Claire is extremely different.  She has the life many people would dream for.  She has a really nice life.  She lives in a beautiful house in a beautiful neighborhood.  There is a sense of stability in her life.  She has a huge income, a husband, and a whole life that is almost the same everyday.  That's not to say that her life is great or perfect, because it isn't, but her life is pretty good in general.  She knows her son, unlike Tillie.  Claire's son died in the war in Vietnam.  Even though he died, she still knew him, she still loved him and raised him.  She has a husband she can rely on, and is proud of herself for what she has accomplished.  The whole situation that she's in is light years better than Tillie's, except for the fact that she's confined to rules and a life she has to have because of her accomplishments.  I think she's got a good life but sometimes I feel sorry for you.

All in all, I think both woman's lives have pluses and minuses to them.  They both have good parts in their lives and bad parts, some people have more bad than good and some have more good than bad, but it usually evens out in the end.  Still, I can't imagine what it would be like to be either of them.