The House of the Seven Gables
The House of the Seven Gables had amazing characters. Hepzibah Pyncheon is an older woman who appears to be scowling and an overall grumpy person, but in reality, she isn’t. The reason why she frowns when looking at people is because it helps her see things clearly; she has bad vision. Hepzibah is a social recluse, but she is very sweet, loving and loyal to those that she loves. She proves that by welcoming Pheobe Pyncheon, her cousin, into her house, which is the house with seven gables. She also cares greatly for her brother, Clifford, when he comes to live with her. Hepzibah does this by spending time with him, doting on him and helping Clifford out immensely when he became ill. She is so strong and has many good intentions. Near the beginning of the story, she opens a cent shop so she can earn money to take care of her property. Hepzibah also made sure that she was providing enough for the family without the help of her other relative, Judge Pyncheon, for she knew that Clifford was scared of that person. Hepzibah was my favorite character because she was very willful, stubborn and would stop at nothing to create a happy, sane life for herself and those around her. Despite the scary horror, taunts and negativity that came with the house’s history, she was tough. I love seeing heroes in female characters.
I did not like Clifford; he seemed like such a baby. Clifford stayed in prison for many years and that makes him unapproachable show more sometimes during the novel. He’s also a character that you can sympathize with, even if it is just for a little. Clifford was just very temperamental and cried whenever the Judge was mentioned around him. I like how the character named Pheobe Pyncheon was young, beautiful and could do just about anything she set her mind to. I also like that, similar to many people, she had her imperfections. Pheobe laughed quite a bit during the wrong times on different occasions. During the beginning of the story, she was very naïve and childish. You see her character develop into a grown, mature woman.Judge Pyncheon is the only member of the Pyncheon family that is revered by the town where the house of the seven gables in situated, but is the family member that is bad a greedy. He believes himself to be righteous and good, but has really brought misfortune to the rest of the family by his neglect of his own family. In the end of the story, he suffers from the fate of his family member named Colonel Pyncheon: he gets killed. Holgrave, commonly referred to as the daguerreotypist, is appears to be sympathetic, but deep down shares the same bitterness for the family curse that is impinged upon the Pyncheons. His politics are a blast of excitement during the story and he truly cares for Clifford, Hepzibah and Pheobe. He falls in love with Pheobe in the end of the story.
This story is in third person because you always know where each of the characters are. Everything is so well described in this novel. The setting for each place in this romantic novel super detailed. Here’s is a description of the setting. “Halfway down a bystreet of one of our New England towns stands a rusty wooden house, with seven acutely peaked gables, facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge, clustered chimney in the midst(13).” I think that is such a great beginning to the story and it is full of imagery. I did not like how it seemed as though Pheobe had a crush on the Judge when she first meets him. The way the author wrote that part of the book made it seem that way to me. I thought it was strange how she liked him at first and then hated the Judge. The theme was being able to overcome something difficult. In this story, it was getting over the family curse. Each character showed a difference in how they coped with it. Hepzibah handled it by letting her family back into her life. Clifford was able to get over the haunting of the house after Judge Pyncheon died and Pheobe and Holgrave overcame it by being so blissfully in love. I love this theme because it provides hope, even in destitute situations. show less
The House of the Seven Gables had amazing characters. Hepzibah Pyncheon is an older woman who appears to be scowling and an overall grumpy person, but in reality, she isn’t. The reason why she frowns when looking at people is because it helps her see things clearly; she has bad vision. Hepzibah is a social recluse, but she is very sweet, loving and loyal to those that she loves. She proves that by welcoming Pheobe Pyncheon, her cousin, into her house, which is the house with seven gables. She also cares greatly for her brother, Clifford, when he comes to live with her. Hepzibah does this by spending time with him, doting on him and helping Clifford out immensely when he became ill. She is so strong and has many good intentions. Near the beginning of the story, she opens a cent shop so she can earn money to take care of her property. Hepzibah also made sure that she was providing enough for the family without the help of her other relative, Judge Pyncheon, for she knew that Clifford was scared of that person. Hepzibah was my favorite character because she was very willful, stubborn and would stop at nothing to create a happy, sane life for herself and those around her. Despite the scary horror, taunts and negativity that came with the house’s history, she was tough. I love seeing heroes in female characters.
I did not like Clifford; he seemed like such a baby. Clifford stayed in prison for many years and that makes him unapproachable show more sometimes during the novel. He’s also a character that you can sympathize with, even if it is just for a little. Clifford was just very temperamental and cried whenever the Judge was mentioned around him. I like how the character named Pheobe Pyncheon was young, beautiful and could do just about anything she set her mind to. I also like that, similar to many people, she had her imperfections. Pheobe laughed quite a bit during the wrong times on different occasions. During the beginning of the story, she was very naïve and childish. You see her character develop into a grown, mature woman.Judge Pyncheon is the only member of the Pyncheon family that is revered by the town where the house of the seven gables in situated, but is the family member that is bad a greedy. He believes himself to be righteous and good, but has really brought misfortune to the rest of the family by his neglect of his own family. In the end of the story, he suffers from the fate of his family member named Colonel Pyncheon: he gets killed. Holgrave, commonly referred to as the daguerreotypist, is appears to be sympathetic, but deep down shares the same bitterness for the family curse that is impinged upon the Pyncheons. His politics are a blast of excitement during the story and he truly cares for Clifford, Hepzibah and Pheobe. He falls in love with Pheobe in the end of the story.
This story is in third person because you always know where each of the characters are. Everything is so well described in this novel. The setting for each place in this romantic novel super detailed. Here’s is a description of the setting. “Halfway down a bystreet of one of our New England towns stands a rusty wooden house, with seven acutely peaked gables, facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge, clustered chimney in the midst(13).” I think that is such a great beginning to the story and it is full of imagery. I did not like how it seemed as though Pheobe had a crush on the Judge when she first meets him. The way the author wrote that part of the book made it seem that way to me. I thought it was strange how she liked him at first and then hated the Judge. The theme was being able to overcome something difficult. In this story, it was getting over the family curse. Each character showed a difference in how they coped with it. Hepzibah handled it by letting her family back into her life. Clifford was able to get over the haunting of the house after Judge Pyncheon died and Pheobe and Holgrave overcame it by being so blissfully in love. I love this theme because it provides hope, even in destitute situations. show less
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
The first time I had ever heard a reference to the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe was when I saw Roger’s and Hammerstein’s “The King and I.” In this musical, they briefly showed the characters Tom and Topsy, but I mostly saw Eliza and her baby running away from this evil character named Simon Legree. Now that I have read Uncle Tom’s Cabin, I realize how “The King and I” wasn’t so true to the book and as to which characters affiliate with whom. I did some research about this novel before I dove right into it. I found out that Uncle Tom’s Cabin was made in 1851, during the time when slavery was still flourishing. In creating a book describing the violent, cruel system of slave trading and ownership, it reminded the good or unchristian men of the United States that these obscene actions were taking place. I knew I wanted to read this book because it was highly praised of and it illustrated the importance of not having indifference toward the slave organization throughout American history.
The point of view is third person because the author doesn’t use “I” to tell the story. In the beginning, or exposition of the story, the characters and setting are well described in this part of the novel. By doing this, the author made the beginning effective. Starting with these characters, you see their life story get played out in the novel. Eliza, her son, Harry, and her husband, George, are introduced in the first four show more chapters. Uncle Tom, Aunt Chloe, Mr. and Mrs. Shelby and Mr. Harley are also mentioned in these chapters. Eliza has been brought up by Mrs. Shelby. Although she is black, she has been raised to be a devote Christian and to forgive easily. Eliza is like a fresh, ripe piece of fruit. A delicate fruit is one that hasn’t had a bite taken out of it or ceased to have its savory sweetness rot away. Eliza’s situation is similar to this in sense that she’s never been exposed to the cruel hardships of slavery; she’s never been whipped before in all her life. She has also never seen a world beyond her master, Mr. Shelby’s, farm. Harry, her son, is quite the jokester and he is like Eliza in a sense that he is ignorant of how most slaves are treated. This makes him and Eliza very vulnerable in many ways to the slave trading system and how bad a black person can be treated by their masters. George, Eliza’s husband, is a bright, hardworking individual who is very savvy with the technology. George felt the harsh beatings of white men and was whipped multiple times for ridiculous reasons. This was why George became bitter and upset with the way his people were being treated. Aunt Chloe and Uncle Tom are the old couple owned by the Shelby’s; they have lived on this plantation all their lives. Aunt Chloe loves to cook and cares greatly for her children. Tom is a very pious man who would take his life for the ones he loves. He is a religious leader for blacks and is never mean, depressed or unhappy with the way his life changes, whether it is for better or worse. Mr. and Mrs. Shelby strongly opposed to separating families and loved ones in their property of slaves. They are forced to when Haley, a slave trader, knows they are in debt and takes advantage of their state by offering to take two of their best slaves. With many tears and deciding to go against their good beliefs and morals, the Shelby’s trade Tom and Harry. By the way the Shelbys were upset in doing this shows that they think of slaves as humans, but must sacrifice some in order for them to keep a sustainable living. This major slave trade is the basic situation in the exposition of the book. The setting in these chapters takes place in the Shelby household and in Tom’s cabin. Since the Shelbys aren’t the richest people, their house is not ornately decorated, just very humble. The floors are wooden and the rooms are small. Here is a quote from the story describing what Uncle Tom’s cabin looked like. “The cabin of Uncle Tom was a small, log building, close adjoining to ‘the house,’ as the Negro par excellence designates his master’s dwelling. In front it had a neat garden-patch, where, every summer, strawberries, raspberries, and a variety of fruits and vegetables, flourished under careful tending (290).” The narrative hook for me was in the beginning of the story when Eliza, after hearing that her son would be traded to Haley, decides to run away with her child and become a free slave. That sparked my interest because it was the first time Eliza had ever defied her master and it was the first time she had ever left the plantation.
Near the middle of the story, where the rising action takes place, a whole new set of characters are introduced. After Tom has been traded to Haley, he rescues this beautiful, little girl named Eva. Eva is this angelic, sweet girl that convinces her father to by Tom so she can take care of him. “The shape of her head and the turn of her neck and burst were peculiarly noble and the long golden- brown hair that floated like a cloud around her face, the deep spiritual gravity of her violet blue eyes, shaded heavy fringes of golden brown… (142).” I thought this quote was a great description of Eva because in the middle of the quote, where it compares her head to a cloud, is good use of the master technique called a simile. Throughout this part of the story, Tom becomes Eva’s playmate, religious influence and teaches her the cruelties of slavery. Eva’s character develops in her sense of understanding what can happen to many slaves, like how mothers get separated from their children all the time during slave trades. Eva’s father, Augustine St. Clare, is a renowned farmer, who treats his slaves with compassion and as equals to himself. St. Clare is of Greek inheritance, incredibly smart, doesn’t like church and his most important being is Eva. Surprisingly, he is quite compatible with his wife, Marie St. Clare. Marie is the total opposite of her husband and daughter. She frowns upon the notion of having slaves as equals, is miserable and sick, and incredibly selfish. Miss Ophelia, the cousin of Augustine St. Clare, and Topsy are two characters that also come into play in this part of the story. Miss Ophelia is against slavery and voices her opinions of how the north is prosperous without it. She’s very intelligent and gets into many deep conversations with her cousin St. Clare. Although she is racist of blacks, she doesn’t believe in slavery. When Augustine St. Clare bought a little, black girl named Topsy and convinced Miss Ophelia to teach her how to read and write, you see how the characters Topsy and Miss Ophelia develop. Topsy was very outgoing and proud of her African heritage. She did many naughty things like pulling pranks and messing up Miss Ophelia’s room. She only did this because she had no love while growing up. Everyone had told her she was wicked and bad all her life and eventually, she believed them. Eva finally gets through to Topsy saying that both she and God loved her and soon, Topsy becomes religious because she is influenced by Eva’s kind ways. The main conflict in this part of the story would be when Topsy caused so much trouble among the household that at one point, Miss Ophelia almost gave up teaching her all together. One time she got one of the slaves to trip over a bucket of hot water in a trap she set up. Since Topsy gave everyone so much grief many times, it really caused confusion, paranoia and inconsistency in the St. Clare household.
The climatic moment in the story was more towards the end. When Tom was sold to a slave owner named Simon Legree, that was the climax for me because that was where the story had the most change. This was the first slave owner that was cruel to Tom and all of his slaves. There was foreshadowing in the book that mentioned how Tom would belong to a different slave owner sometime after he left the St. Clare’s. “… those things which good-natured owners say to their servants, to alleviate their horror of being sold, without any intention fulfilling the expectation thus excited” (224). This is what Augustine St. Clare was thinking to himself after he promised to make Tom a free man. Tom ends up being traded only because both Eva and Augustine St. Clare die around the same time and the newly widowed Marie St. Clare puts all of the St. Clare property up for sale. Legree was a northerner, born in Vermont, and treated slaves as worthless varmints that should only be used up for work and soon replaced when they die. Simon Legree is determined to rid Tom of his Christian beliefs of a better life. One of the cruel things he does to Tom is when he got Negroes to beat Tom over and over again to whip out the Christian in him. This fatal beating was what killed Tom. Legree was the nastiest character during the whole story. The characters Cassy and Madame Thoux are also introduced in this last part of the book. After having an impoverished life and having her children traded away from her, Cassy is brought into the hands of Simon Legree. She lived as his mistress for many years, learning about the ways of the attaining money and how to be stealthy and sneaky. Eventually Tom inspires her to go back to her Christian roots and find hope. She is clever and devises an escape plan and makes it up to Canada. She finds her long lost daughter, who happens to be Eliza! Madame Thoux lived a happy life with her husband, but when she found out from Mr. Shelby, who was on his way to retrieve Tom’s dead body, that her long- lost brother George, Eliza’s husband, is up in Canada, she makes it there as well. This story has an effective conclusion when George’s family moves to Africa. After a long search to find Tom and how he was beaten so brutally that he died, Shelby frees all his slaves. This ending is so effective because it creates a happy ending, despite how Tom dies. The positive part about Tom dying is that he found a better place and went to heaven. The story has a happy ending because everything works out for each character in the story, even mean old Simon Legree.
The theme in this book was being able to make the best out of any given situation. Tom was able to do this by staying positive and making friends in all of the different families that he worked for. He went from the Shelby’s to the St. Clare’s and then to Simon Legree. Whether times were good or bad he was able to make lemonade of lemons and stayed true to his Christian values. I really liked the character Augustine St. Clare because he was able to be a sweet slave owner without resorting to the Christian faith. I probably liked that mainly because religion didn’t interfere with his good judgment. Most of the dutiful, Christian characters were both poor and not very intelligent, like Tom. Eva was a smart character, but she ended up using Christianity all the time. I think this was because she was naïve and found comfort and safety in the Christian religion. St. Clare happened to have neither of these traits, which is why I love his philosophy of how religion really messes up everything. My least favorite part of the story was when Simon Legree started emptying Tom’s pockets and forced him to wear these run down farming clothes. This was on the way to Legree’s plantation. It just sickened me because I knew that Legree was just going to sell these fine possessions Tom had. He also did this in the meanest, most nasty way. My questions about certain parts of this book were mainly about Tom. Why did Tom act so benevolent and good towards his masters and everyone all the time? Civil rights leaders have referred to blacks who are always nice to white people as “Uncle Toms.” They don’t mean it in a nice way. Most blacks think that the character of Uncle Tom is a stereotype of how black men used to be subservient to the white man during slavery in order to survive. Since African Americans are now free, they feel as though the character of Uncle Tom is demeaning. This is also how I wonder why Uncle Tom’s Cabin is so popular still. I understand it’s a classic, but black people don’t act like Tom anymore. Also, I noticed how Miss Ophelia was from the north and was racist towards Negroes. Simon Legree was also from the North and treated slaves like dirt. I had never thought of northerners ever having these sort of feelings. I had always known that the north opposed slavery. I found these two characters shocking because of this. This book was an eye opener for me because it described to me in detail the evils of slavery, not by the southerners, but by the American nation. show less
The first time I had ever heard a reference to the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe was when I saw Roger’s and Hammerstein’s “The King and I.” In this musical, they briefly showed the characters Tom and Topsy, but I mostly saw Eliza and her baby running away from this evil character named Simon Legree. Now that I have read Uncle Tom’s Cabin, I realize how “The King and I” wasn’t so true to the book and as to which characters affiliate with whom. I did some research about this novel before I dove right into it. I found out that Uncle Tom’s Cabin was made in 1851, during the time when slavery was still flourishing. In creating a book describing the violent, cruel system of slave trading and ownership, it reminded the good or unchristian men of the United States that these obscene actions were taking place. I knew I wanted to read this book because it was highly praised of and it illustrated the importance of not having indifference toward the slave organization throughout American history.
The point of view is third person because the author doesn’t use “I” to tell the story. In the beginning, or exposition of the story, the characters and setting are well described in this part of the novel. By doing this, the author made the beginning effective. Starting with these characters, you see their life story get played out in the novel. Eliza, her son, Harry, and her husband, George, are introduced in the first four show more chapters. Uncle Tom, Aunt Chloe, Mr. and Mrs. Shelby and Mr. Harley are also mentioned in these chapters. Eliza has been brought up by Mrs. Shelby. Although she is black, she has been raised to be a devote Christian and to forgive easily. Eliza is like a fresh, ripe piece of fruit. A delicate fruit is one that hasn’t had a bite taken out of it or ceased to have its savory sweetness rot away. Eliza’s situation is similar to this in sense that she’s never been exposed to the cruel hardships of slavery; she’s never been whipped before in all her life. She has also never seen a world beyond her master, Mr. Shelby’s, farm. Harry, her son, is quite the jokester and he is like Eliza in a sense that he is ignorant of how most slaves are treated. This makes him and Eliza very vulnerable in many ways to the slave trading system and how bad a black person can be treated by their masters. George, Eliza’s husband, is a bright, hardworking individual who is very savvy with the technology. George felt the harsh beatings of white men and was whipped multiple times for ridiculous reasons. This was why George became bitter and upset with the way his people were being treated. Aunt Chloe and Uncle Tom are the old couple owned by the Shelby’s; they have lived on this plantation all their lives. Aunt Chloe loves to cook and cares greatly for her children. Tom is a very pious man who would take his life for the ones he loves. He is a religious leader for blacks and is never mean, depressed or unhappy with the way his life changes, whether it is for better or worse. Mr. and Mrs. Shelby strongly opposed to separating families and loved ones in their property of slaves. They are forced to when Haley, a slave trader, knows they are in debt and takes advantage of their state by offering to take two of their best slaves. With many tears and deciding to go against their good beliefs and morals, the Shelby’s trade Tom and Harry. By the way the Shelbys were upset in doing this shows that they think of slaves as humans, but must sacrifice some in order for them to keep a sustainable living. This major slave trade is the basic situation in the exposition of the book. The setting in these chapters takes place in the Shelby household and in Tom’s cabin. Since the Shelbys aren’t the richest people, their house is not ornately decorated, just very humble. The floors are wooden and the rooms are small. Here is a quote from the story describing what Uncle Tom’s cabin looked like. “The cabin of Uncle Tom was a small, log building, close adjoining to ‘the house,’ as the Negro par excellence designates his master’s dwelling. In front it had a neat garden-patch, where, every summer, strawberries, raspberries, and a variety of fruits and vegetables, flourished under careful tending (290).” The narrative hook for me was in the beginning of the story when Eliza, after hearing that her son would be traded to Haley, decides to run away with her child and become a free slave. That sparked my interest because it was the first time Eliza had ever defied her master and it was the first time she had ever left the plantation.
Near the middle of the story, where the rising action takes place, a whole new set of characters are introduced. After Tom has been traded to Haley, he rescues this beautiful, little girl named Eva. Eva is this angelic, sweet girl that convinces her father to by Tom so she can take care of him. “The shape of her head and the turn of her neck and burst were peculiarly noble and the long golden- brown hair that floated like a cloud around her face, the deep spiritual gravity of her violet blue eyes, shaded heavy fringes of golden brown… (142).” I thought this quote was a great description of Eva because in the middle of the quote, where it compares her head to a cloud, is good use of the master technique called a simile. Throughout this part of the story, Tom becomes Eva’s playmate, religious influence and teaches her the cruelties of slavery. Eva’s character develops in her sense of understanding what can happen to many slaves, like how mothers get separated from their children all the time during slave trades. Eva’s father, Augustine St. Clare, is a renowned farmer, who treats his slaves with compassion and as equals to himself. St. Clare is of Greek inheritance, incredibly smart, doesn’t like church and his most important being is Eva. Surprisingly, he is quite compatible with his wife, Marie St. Clare. Marie is the total opposite of her husband and daughter. She frowns upon the notion of having slaves as equals, is miserable and sick, and incredibly selfish. Miss Ophelia, the cousin of Augustine St. Clare, and Topsy are two characters that also come into play in this part of the story. Miss Ophelia is against slavery and voices her opinions of how the north is prosperous without it. She’s very intelligent and gets into many deep conversations with her cousin St. Clare. Although she is racist of blacks, she doesn’t believe in slavery. When Augustine St. Clare bought a little, black girl named Topsy and convinced Miss Ophelia to teach her how to read and write, you see how the characters Topsy and Miss Ophelia develop. Topsy was very outgoing and proud of her African heritage. She did many naughty things like pulling pranks and messing up Miss Ophelia’s room. She only did this because she had no love while growing up. Everyone had told her she was wicked and bad all her life and eventually, she believed them. Eva finally gets through to Topsy saying that both she and God loved her and soon, Topsy becomes religious because she is influenced by Eva’s kind ways. The main conflict in this part of the story would be when Topsy caused so much trouble among the household that at one point, Miss Ophelia almost gave up teaching her all together. One time she got one of the slaves to trip over a bucket of hot water in a trap she set up. Since Topsy gave everyone so much grief many times, it really caused confusion, paranoia and inconsistency in the St. Clare household.
The climatic moment in the story was more towards the end. When Tom was sold to a slave owner named Simon Legree, that was the climax for me because that was where the story had the most change. This was the first slave owner that was cruel to Tom and all of his slaves. There was foreshadowing in the book that mentioned how Tom would belong to a different slave owner sometime after he left the St. Clare’s. “… those things which good-natured owners say to their servants, to alleviate their horror of being sold, without any intention fulfilling the expectation thus excited” (224). This is what Augustine St. Clare was thinking to himself after he promised to make Tom a free man. Tom ends up being traded only because both Eva and Augustine St. Clare die around the same time and the newly widowed Marie St. Clare puts all of the St. Clare property up for sale. Legree was a northerner, born in Vermont, and treated slaves as worthless varmints that should only be used up for work and soon replaced when they die. Simon Legree is determined to rid Tom of his Christian beliefs of a better life. One of the cruel things he does to Tom is when he got Negroes to beat Tom over and over again to whip out the Christian in him. This fatal beating was what killed Tom. Legree was the nastiest character during the whole story. The characters Cassy and Madame Thoux are also introduced in this last part of the book. After having an impoverished life and having her children traded away from her, Cassy is brought into the hands of Simon Legree. She lived as his mistress for many years, learning about the ways of the attaining money and how to be stealthy and sneaky. Eventually Tom inspires her to go back to her Christian roots and find hope. She is clever and devises an escape plan and makes it up to Canada. She finds her long lost daughter, who happens to be Eliza! Madame Thoux lived a happy life with her husband, but when she found out from Mr. Shelby, who was on his way to retrieve Tom’s dead body, that her long- lost brother George, Eliza’s husband, is up in Canada, she makes it there as well. This story has an effective conclusion when George’s family moves to Africa. After a long search to find Tom and how he was beaten so brutally that he died, Shelby frees all his slaves. This ending is so effective because it creates a happy ending, despite how Tom dies. The positive part about Tom dying is that he found a better place and went to heaven. The story has a happy ending because everything works out for each character in the story, even mean old Simon Legree.
The theme in this book was being able to make the best out of any given situation. Tom was able to do this by staying positive and making friends in all of the different families that he worked for. He went from the Shelby’s to the St. Clare’s and then to Simon Legree. Whether times were good or bad he was able to make lemonade of lemons and stayed true to his Christian values. I really liked the character Augustine St. Clare because he was able to be a sweet slave owner without resorting to the Christian faith. I probably liked that mainly because religion didn’t interfere with his good judgment. Most of the dutiful, Christian characters were both poor and not very intelligent, like Tom. Eva was a smart character, but she ended up using Christianity all the time. I think this was because she was naïve and found comfort and safety in the Christian religion. St. Clare happened to have neither of these traits, which is why I love his philosophy of how religion really messes up everything. My least favorite part of the story was when Simon Legree started emptying Tom’s pockets and forced him to wear these run down farming clothes. This was on the way to Legree’s plantation. It just sickened me because I knew that Legree was just going to sell these fine possessions Tom had. He also did this in the meanest, most nasty way. My questions about certain parts of this book were mainly about Tom. Why did Tom act so benevolent and good towards his masters and everyone all the time? Civil rights leaders have referred to blacks who are always nice to white people as “Uncle Toms.” They don’t mean it in a nice way. Most blacks think that the character of Uncle Tom is a stereotype of how black men used to be subservient to the white man during slavery in order to survive. Since African Americans are now free, they feel as though the character of Uncle Tom is demeaning. This is also how I wonder why Uncle Tom’s Cabin is so popular still. I understand it’s a classic, but black people don’t act like Tom anymore. Also, I noticed how Miss Ophelia was from the north and was racist towards Negroes. Simon Legree was also from the North and treated slaves like dirt. I had never thought of northerners ever having these sort of feelings. I had always known that the north opposed slavery. I found these two characters shocking because of this. This book was an eye opener for me because it described to me in detail the evils of slavery, not by the southerners, but by the American nation. show less
Mary Fried
Memoirs of a Geisha
Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha is such a fantastic book. I was engrossed completely in this novel just after reading the first page. The point of view in this memoir is not omniscient but in the first person. Sayuri, the main character telling the story, narrates her life beginning with when she was nine years old and the subsequent years that follow. Yoroido was the small town that Sayuri lived in as a little girl. She lived in a tiny, wooden house off the cliffs by the ocean where it was always windy. Sayuri called this house the “tipsy house” because it was also lopsided. Her father was a fisherman and all her life she lived off of the barest necessities.
In the small town of Yoroido, fishing was the only way of getting income and the village had a modest temple and school. Sayuri’s mother became extremely ill and the family didn’t have enough money to give her proper medical attention. When she was nine, she and her sister, Satsu, were sold by their father to become servants. This was their father’s vain attempt to cure their mother. After being sold, they moved to an industrious city called Gion. Compared to Gion, Yoroido was deficient in infrastructure, size and immaculacy. Gion is the icon of Japan and the home of many geishas. Sayuri caught her first glimpse of automobiles and other motor vehicles in Gion. After WWII however, Gion changed from a hotspot for entertainment to vast factories with little or no geisha. Upon show more arriving in Gion, Sayuri was separated from her sister and sent to an okiya, a household where geishas reside, and was forced to make a transition from her once happy life to a servant.
The daily life of a geisha seems simple, but it is not an easy road. Many geisha earn money by impressing men with their wit, talent, high spirits and vivaciousness. Despite their harmonic social appearance, the feelings of intense ruthlessness between a geisha and her competition are strong. A geisha’s life is very complicated. In every okiya, there is a head geisha. Hatsumomo, a bright, beautiful young woman was the honorary geisha of the household where Sayuri lived. Hatsumomo’s looks were quite deceiving because she was incredibly diabolical and scheming. She lashed out at Sayuri numerous times. Hatsumomo launched a reign of terror for many years in the okiya because as the head geisha she had a huge amount of power. She was intent on making Sayuri’s life miserable. Many prominent geisha, such as Hatsummomo, look after a younger apprentice geisha, or geisha in training, who are often referred to as little sisters. An older geisha would take her little sister on outings to famous theaters and teahouses to make her popular. Hatsummomos little sister was a clumsy, former servant girl nicknamed Pumpkin for the way she chronically stuck her tongue out when completing strenuous tasks. Pumpkin and Sayuri had a wonderful friendship until the battle to be the next geisha of their okiya damaged their relationship forever. Pumpkin was very naïve throughout the novel and becomes a traitor to Sayuri in the end of the book. Mameha, the preeminent geisha during that time took Sayuri in as a little sister and taught her proper etiquette, dance and how to succeed as a geisha. Both Sayuri and Mameha were eventually able to overthrow Hatsumomo and drive her out of Gion.
The Chairman is a very complicated and mysterious man. He is the hero of the story because he saw the true potential in Sayuri and asked Mameha to take her in as a little sister. The Chairman and Sayuri fall in love by the end of the memoir . Nobuku, second in command to the Chairman, also loved Sayuri very much. Hatsumomo would call him Mr. Lizard because half of his entire body was burned in a terrible accident. Nobuku had a strong temperament and was happy that Sayuri could see past his physical appearance. Sayuri is the sweet, mellow voice of the memoir that is full of hope and love. She was able to get past various grievances in her life and find true happiness with her one love, the Chairman. I deplore how some girls where sold into okiyas against their own will. Also, geishas were never able to settle down and have a husband, let alone a true love. I love that Sayuri and the Chairman felt contentment and bliss with each other. During that time, it was difficult to find peace, clarity and true love. A major theme in this memoir is the change in upholding traditional values in Japan during the early twentieth century for a young woman. Another theme occurring in this novel was being able to overcome adversity with hope. Both of these themes exemplify Sayuri’s life because when she was traded off to the okiya as a young girl the essence and customs of her life changed perpetually. Also, despite Hatsumomos hatred, how Pumpkin backstabbed her and the immeasurable amount of effort put into becoming a geisha that Mameha enforced, Sayuri prevailed by always having a vestige of hope throughout Memoirs of a Geisha. show less
Memoirs of a Geisha
Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha is such a fantastic book. I was engrossed completely in this novel just after reading the first page. The point of view in this memoir is not omniscient but in the first person. Sayuri, the main character telling the story, narrates her life beginning with when she was nine years old and the subsequent years that follow. Yoroido was the small town that Sayuri lived in as a little girl. She lived in a tiny, wooden house off the cliffs by the ocean where it was always windy. Sayuri called this house the “tipsy house” because it was also lopsided. Her father was a fisherman and all her life she lived off of the barest necessities.
In the small town of Yoroido, fishing was the only way of getting income and the village had a modest temple and school. Sayuri’s mother became extremely ill and the family didn’t have enough money to give her proper medical attention. When she was nine, she and her sister, Satsu, were sold by their father to become servants. This was their father’s vain attempt to cure their mother. After being sold, they moved to an industrious city called Gion. Compared to Gion, Yoroido was deficient in infrastructure, size and immaculacy. Gion is the icon of Japan and the home of many geishas. Sayuri caught her first glimpse of automobiles and other motor vehicles in Gion. After WWII however, Gion changed from a hotspot for entertainment to vast factories with little or no geisha. Upon show more arriving in Gion, Sayuri was separated from her sister and sent to an okiya, a household where geishas reside, and was forced to make a transition from her once happy life to a servant.
The daily life of a geisha seems simple, but it is not an easy road. Many geisha earn money by impressing men with their wit, talent, high spirits and vivaciousness. Despite their harmonic social appearance, the feelings of intense ruthlessness between a geisha and her competition are strong. A geisha’s life is very complicated. In every okiya, there is a head geisha. Hatsumomo, a bright, beautiful young woman was the honorary geisha of the household where Sayuri lived. Hatsumomo’s looks were quite deceiving because she was incredibly diabolical and scheming. She lashed out at Sayuri numerous times. Hatsumomo launched a reign of terror for many years in the okiya because as the head geisha she had a huge amount of power. She was intent on making Sayuri’s life miserable. Many prominent geisha, such as Hatsummomo, look after a younger apprentice geisha, or geisha in training, who are often referred to as little sisters. An older geisha would take her little sister on outings to famous theaters and teahouses to make her popular. Hatsummomos little sister was a clumsy, former servant girl nicknamed Pumpkin for the way she chronically stuck her tongue out when completing strenuous tasks. Pumpkin and Sayuri had a wonderful friendship until the battle to be the next geisha of their okiya damaged their relationship forever. Pumpkin was very naïve throughout the novel and becomes a traitor to Sayuri in the end of the book. Mameha, the preeminent geisha during that time took Sayuri in as a little sister and taught her proper etiquette, dance and how to succeed as a geisha. Both Sayuri and Mameha were eventually able to overthrow Hatsumomo and drive her out of Gion.
The Chairman is a very complicated and mysterious man. He is the hero of the story because he saw the true potential in Sayuri and asked Mameha to take her in as a little sister. The Chairman and Sayuri fall in love by the end of the memoir . Nobuku, second in command to the Chairman, also loved Sayuri very much. Hatsumomo would call him Mr. Lizard because half of his entire body was burned in a terrible accident. Nobuku had a strong temperament and was happy that Sayuri could see past his physical appearance. Sayuri is the sweet, mellow voice of the memoir that is full of hope and love. She was able to get past various grievances in her life and find true happiness with her one love, the Chairman. I deplore how some girls where sold into okiyas against their own will. Also, geishas were never able to settle down and have a husband, let alone a true love. I love that Sayuri and the Chairman felt contentment and bliss with each other. During that time, it was difficult to find peace, clarity and true love. A major theme in this memoir is the change in upholding traditional values in Japan during the early twentieth century for a young woman. Another theme occurring in this novel was being able to overcome adversity with hope. Both of these themes exemplify Sayuri’s life because when she was traded off to the okiya as a young girl the essence and customs of her life changed perpetually. Also, despite Hatsumomos hatred, how Pumpkin backstabbed her and the immeasurable amount of effort put into becoming a geisha that Mameha enforced, Sayuri prevailed by always having a vestige of hope throughout Memoirs of a Geisha. show less