Overall I felt this book was an enjoyable read. i felt i hit the hardest part of the book to read as it became quite boring towards the end (but not the end) with all the religous stuff. I know that the point of the book had much more to do with music and such but i didnt enjoy hearing about the religoous preachers, singers etc it was just boring. I feel bad about this, I dont even hardly ever go to church anymore (maybe holidays) because it is so boring. This book made me think back to days when people would get up early and go to church. Some towns, cities, states are still pretty much shutdown on sundays, and i dont think its because the people need a rest, it is because Sunday is supposed to be considered the Day of Sabbath. How many people still go to church anymore though? Apparently large numbers because I still see churches flowing with people in or out on saturday nights and sunday mornings and there are plenty of chruches... but i would bet that in America the percentage of people that attend has dwindled. I wonder what it was years ago that drew people to church... was it hope for a new day? Has that new day come?
I was very happy that the narrator finally found love in this book. I like the idea that he had settled that love was the biggest thing in a persons life. I feel that the point that love is great in life was drawn by the author to be a bigger point than most people would recognize. I also feel it was good that the narrator finally accepted himself as white. His father was white and he looked white, he should have never doubted himself. During this time period he should have embraced his looks and never doubted himself. If he was going to bring acclaim to the black race than he should have done that. Instead he setup himself for the biggest failure... turning his back against himself at a time where he should have shown his greatest strength.... The author may have been taking a poke at white people hear, it shows he was weak and succumbed to the american dream building and saving with money in mind, a more devilish trail to take than to to further a race like he could have and should have. Than again he found his wife and he was satisfied... until she passed and he began to doubt himself again. The story turned into a bit of a dissapointment for me as it concluded, as it probably did for everybody. I am dissapointed in the american dream and for this man who couldnt live up to his own dreams so stopped and took a shortcut; settling for the common.
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6 comments:
I am not a religious person by any standard. I don’t mean to offend, diminish, or downplay any religious beliefs in my comment. I believe that as you say, “still see churches flowing with people in or out on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings and there are plenty of churches...” I think that church is simply a crutch for people because people need something to believe in, hold onto, and “hope for a new day”. I think this is particularly relevant for what we are reading in this class. As we finished this book and read word after sickening word about the lynching that took place, I would have wanted to flee to a church to pray for “a new day” also. I can understand why people have looked outside of us as a people to believe in something higher and better. Why would we want to look at this life, this world and think this is all there is to hope for or believe in. Especially knowing how savage and cruel is has been, can be, and unfortunately continues to be.
Angie and Steve,
Personally, I am an atheist, meaning I don’t believe in a higher power of any form, good or bad. But I was actually interested in your comments because I hadn’t thought of this part of the book like that. I look at it this way, religious was a huge part of African American culture and heritage after Emancipation. Not just because they needed to believe in a new day, which admittedly they did, but because of their interaction with the preacher or Reverend and the other members of the congregation. Gospel and folk songs brought them together and enforced their belief in Liberation Theology. Furthermore, the actually church or meeting place itself provided space for reading clubs, adult and children’s schools etc. I think the narrator wanted to express this for a white audience. As he himself admittedly is not a religious man, but is still moved.
The question you brought up in the first paragraph of your post was interesting. I use to go to church all the time with my grandmother and then as I grew up I just stopped going and now I don't go at all anymore. I also didn't really enjoy the religious parts of the books. I found myself not paying attention to the reading at these points and I had to re-read a lot in order to make sense of what was going on. I felt like this book had some really good parts and then other parts it was dull and I wanted to put it down.
I to was disappointed at the end of the novel also. I would have liked to have seen the narrator stay true to his roots. I think if I was black I'd feel as if he was a trader.
I also thought that the religous parts were boring in the book. Maybe because it's something that we are not accustumed too and if you think about the time period in which we live the church is not crucial in our daily lives. We have priests who are abusing children and people are stealing money. I think thats why that part of the book was boring for me!
I felt that he put such emphisis on religion because at the time it was such a crucial part of peoples lives the same way that leisure time is improtant today. I think that it shows an distinct difference in values of then and today.
I am not religous at all. This could be due to my lack of time, or my lack of commitement or non-religous upbringing.
I feel that the end of the book where our narrator "accepts" himself as white is justafiable. It is something I would have done myself. It seems like he is afraid of bieng persecuted.
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