The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf

I tend to concur with the common belief that this book was hard to read. I wish I could say that I enjoyed it even a little, but I cannot. This was the least entertaining book I have read yet. These negative feelings could come from one of many factors. First, even though it was of simple vocabulary, besides all the arab words, to me the book was a slow read because I could never get the names squared away. Two, there were many points in the book which I found myself rereading sections and paragraphs because I dosed off and could not keep attentive. Third, my unfamiliarity with the Muslim community made it hard to connect with the characters and really understand what they were going through. Fourth, this book took a long time to read! Lastly, the writing style was atypical and I just did not like it. This book has made me realize my need for fantasy in a novel.

One of my favorite lines of the book is this...
"Well, why are you Muslim then? If anything else is just as good?"
"Love," she says slowly. Love and attachment. I love the Quran, for example. And the forms and rhythms of Salaah. I keep coming back to it. It has a resonance for me."
"But you think someone else can pray another way and find a path to God?"
"Absolutely."

To me this one little part of the book had a lot of meaning and emotion behind it. There has always been a struggle and questioning of different religions. By this, I mean that many people feel that there is only one right religion and that people who are not involved in their religion are wrong and "sinners". To me it is the generalized idea of religion that we are to believe in a higher power (God for instance) and through religion find our path to God. I feel this line really shows that religion is more than just praying but it is a way of life and there is no write and wrong religion out there. It is dependent on what style of life you want to lead and choosing the religion that allows you to lead the lifestyle you need to find God! It was relieving to see this line brought up in the book. We choose religion to define how we want our lifestyle not to differentiate ourselves from others and divide us into good and evil. I feel that this is a common misconception today!

This line also plays a big role in the progression of the story for it is a step towards
Kandra Shamy and the final goal of finding out and defining who she is as a person.

The Bluest Eye

This novel was a real pleasure to read yet, it was very depressing. It was short enough to keep your interest but long enough to divulge you with symbolism and detail. The novel takes place in the 1940s and tells of a little girl's childhood and the hardships of a black girl growing up in a white-idolizing society.

A main lesson learned from the completion of this novel was the effect on a child’s life due to the insufficient amount of love passed on from parent to child. It was made very obvious how the lack of parenting capabilities, and past experiences of parent's childhood, really shape the environment of kin. It just goes to show how important it is to bring up your children in a proper fashion. This "fashion" is definitely relative and has many variables that make no two situations the same and many variations acceptable. Note: the way Pecola grew up was not acceptable!

A very important theme that I thought was well represented throughout the novel was the idea of seeing instead of being seen. At one point in the novel when Pecola's parents were arguing Pecola disappeared into the darkness and the only portion of her body that stuck out of the dark was her eyes. At this moment, Pecola could view the world without being seen. Her eyes were the window to which she could view the world and symbolized the idea that if she could change the color of her eyes then she could change the way that she viewed the world. Pecola wanted to see the world through the eyes of a white person and be seen as an equal of whites. This yearning to be white brought on a lot of self-discrimination of many blacks within the novel.

This novel really made me realize how blessed I have been to have my parents in my life.

Kindred

This novel really exemplified the difference between thought and engulfment within a situation. We, contemporary beings, look back on the past and take it for granted. We accept history without any real effect on ourselves. Dana, the main character of the novel, a middle aged black female, is transended through time into the age of slavery. She experiences first hand what it is like to be a slave yet she still has one advantage that the other slaves don't hold. She is an educated, knowledgeable and needed by a "superior". Even with these set advantages she has to live the life of a slave and experience what it means to be a one.

There are many similarities between the old times and current times. In the book Dana states “I never realized how easily people could be trained to accept slavery”. This is concurrent with today’s society and the discrimination of women. In today’s world it is statistically shown that women hold inferior positions to men in industry and are paid less (on average). Well educated people look back on the situation and do not understand how anyone could stand to "put up" with the treatment that blacks were put through in the 1800's. This is when you have to look at the difference between living through something and reading about it. When you read about it you accept it for what someone else says to be fact and move on with your life. When it is a question of life and death this mindset is obviously changed.

This novel was a great way to learn what it was actually like to be part of the antebellum south without actually going there. Butler, the author, allowed the reader to experience everything through Dana and was able to show the effect such events had on a persons life and being.