Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Which family in the short stories do I most resonate with?

I would have to say that I resonate most with the family from the story "A Family Supper." In this story, the narrator has an awkward relationship with his father and his mother is dead. My parents are divorced and I live with my mom, but I see my dad occasionally. Now that I'm away at school, it's awkward to come home because me and my mom don't really know what to talk about, just like at the end of the story with the father and son.

I could also picture my mother asking if I wanted to come live with her after I was out of school and on my own, out of politeness, but I would decline because even though I miss being home, I love Boston. Just like the narrator loves America, and he has friends back there. So, if I were to relate to a relationship in one of the short stories, I think it would be the father and son from "A Family Supper."

A Family Supper by Kazuo Ishiguro

My major is architecture and I had to do a project about Japanese residences, so I am familiar with the cultural references about this story. The tatami mats that they speak of are actually pieces of floor at a certain measurement. They use these pieces to know what the dimensions of a room are just by looking at it. The tea room they are in over-looks the garden, which is very common in Japanese houses, and sliding partitions are just like sliding doors, excpept they are made out of the same material as the wall, making all of the rooms seem closed off. This offers much privacy to the owner of the house.

Short Story Painting

This painting is called Usurer with a Tearful Woman, painted in 1654, but Gabriel Metsu. The painter is Dutch and was born in 1629 and died in 1667. The painting can be found in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

In this painting, the woman has borrowed money and can't pay it back. She is begging the lender to be a little leniant with her because she's extremely poor. The lender of the money looks cruel and money hungry while the begger looks very sad and in need of help. This painting would go very well in my house because at one point or another, we all struggled with money, and every time we would look at it, the painting would remind us of the rough times. This would keep motivating my family to strive for bigger things and work hard to achieve them.

An original short story:
I was sitting in my living room whatching the television show Blue's Clues learning my shapes and colors when I looked over and noticed the big painting on the opposite wall. It seemed to intrigue me more than the T.V. so I walked over to it and pondered about what it could mean. This painting wasn't like any I've seen in my story books. This one was very dark and dreary and looked like it was painted a long time ago. There was a woman standing over a table with a man sitting in a chair. The man had a lot of money on the table and looked very mean and wealthy. I know people like him. Then I looked at the woman and realized she was poor and very sad and needed his money. I don't understand why he couldn't just let her have some because he certainly didn't need all of that.
Shortly after I was still staring at the picture and my mother walked into the room. She saw that I was gazing at the wall.
"Hunny, what are you looking at over there?" she asked.
"Oh nothing. Just looking at this painting," I replied.
She looked at me, surprised I was intrigued by art.
"Mommy, why is the lady so sad?" I asked.
She walked over to me and began to explain that the woman was going through a tough time in her life and couldn't make any money. "She needed help and no one would give her any. So, she had to resort to borrowing money from a mean old man. Eventually, she couldn't even pay him back, and he grew angrier."
"So then what does she do? What happened to her?" I asked anxiously.
"Well, she knew she had to go back to school and get an education that could get her a job and make money. So, she did just that."
"Well, is she happier now?"
"She is very happy."
My mother kissed me on the forehead and went back to doing laundry. Ever since that day I have had much respect for my mother and the things she did for me and my brother and sister. She is one of the reasons I am so determined and self-motivated to be successful.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

My Father, The Englishman, and I

Cultural References:
The father and son in the short story were from Ogaden and spoke Somali. Their country was independent and powerful until forces came over to Abyssinia (present-day Ethiopia) and made them stronger. The people that came over used their weapons and strength to capture Harar in 1884 and raid Ogaden villages. Eventually, the Ogaden people gave in and signed a treaty, and Abyssinia took over their country in 1948. The narrator’s father was the translator for the Ogaden people and was present during the signing of the treaty.

http://www.sidamaconcern.com/articles/ogaden_past_present.htm

Vocabulary
Factotum- an employee who does all kinds of work
Boiled sweets- hard candies
Truant- wandering, straying
Jaamuus-
Euneched- castrated
Ignominous- deserving or causing public disgrace or shame

Class Notes
-Father is a translator for an Englishman.
-Father is short-tempered with his family and people he’s comfortable around.
-Kid is three years old and didn’t eat the candy out of respect for his mother.
-Father acts very passive towards Englishman, when the child knows he doesn’t act like this in the house.
-Before the child had to leave with his father to visit the Englishman, he remembers his parents arguing. His mother were asking why do you deal with these people who are taking over our county. Why don’t you stand up to them.
-Pivotal occasion in the child’s life.
-Child is saying that his father beats his older brother. The father was either very aggressive or patting them on the head. Remembered his hands.
-The child knew that even at the age of three, he had to behave when his father pushed him forward.
-Kid heard arguing and yelling going on between the people and screamed as loud as he could. Englishman looked down at the kid and apologizes to him and adjorns the meeting to another time.
-At the next meeting, the Ogaden people signed the treaty.
-He says that maybe is his mother was around, she could have had a say in it, but really, she didn’t have a say in anything.