blog number 17...First blog assignment on NATIVE SON

1. When Bigger chases and kills a black rat in his family's one-room apartment...this action and setting tells me that Bigger is living in a very poor and poverty type of situation. His family is obviously not wealthy at all, almost broke, living pay check to pay check type of deal. In addition, when Bigger chases and kills a black rat..shows that he is the oldest man living in the household, or one-room apartment.

2. Bigger hates his family because they do not give him support or love he needs. They are degrading and do not understand him.

3. Bigger and Gus are so interested in the plane flying overhead because it shows the limitations of the black people (their race) and what the white people are able to do. Bigger is interested in flying a plane, and loves the idea of him being able to learn how to fly a plane...but both him and Gus realize that it is an unrealistic dream due to their race as well as their social conditions.

4. Bigger and Gus imitate being white people by acting out or pretending to be the president (of US) and JP Morgan. They joke and poke fun about how they (as they impersonate the high status white people) are going to do to stop or prevent the black people from doing anything really.

5. Wright describes Bigger and his environment physically as a trapped feeling and much resentment. His environment is very limited and 'superior' compared to Bigger and he feels very enclosed. He cannot do much due to these unwritten restrictions.

6. Bigger gets mad at Gus in the pool room because Gus gives him a hard time about Bigger's idea of robbing a white man. But in truth, Bigger is only be hyprocritical for he is afraid too.

7. From the movies that Bigger and G.H sees, Bigger learns that blacks are inferior to whites. He can realize this because in the movie it shows the white people living a luxurous lifestyle with a lot of money while the blacks are shown as "barbaric" and very poor.

Consider the following quotes from Ellison’s “King of the Bingo Game” (1944):
“he felt vaguely that his whole life was determined by the bingo wheel”;
“the unlucky cards and numbers of his days”
“he felt that the man was making a fool of him”
“as the wheel increased its speed it seemed to draw him more and more into its power, as though it held his fate; and with it came a deep need to submit, to whirl, to lose himself in its swirl of color”
“This is God!”

Why do you think the protagonist/narrator discusses the wheel in these terms? What do you think happens to the narrator/protagonist at the end of the story?

The protagonist discusses the wheel in these terms because he is comparing him spinning the wheel to his life. He feels that the wheel represents everything that he is going through. The wheel is like taking a risk when one lets go of the wheel. When he lets the wheel go, there is a possibility that he will win something and then there is a possibility that he will not win. The protagonist feels as if his life is about his decisions to take the risks and if he will be lucky. He feels as if the fate is in his hands, as in whatever he does will help fate determine his future. I feel that the narrator realizes that taking chances is what is it about, and without taking chances he will never be able to succeed or fail. Therefore, he will think out his life, take in consideration of all the factors, and take risks.

1) ANTI-HERO: An anti-hero is a protagonist that lives by the guidance of their own flawed morality, as opposed to those recognized by the society in which they live, or that completely rejects traditional values and morality as irrelevant.

2) TRAGIC HERO: A tragic hero has the potential for greatness but is doomed to fail. He is trapped in a situation where he cannot win. He possesses some sort of tragic flaw, and this causes his fall from greatness.

Which definition best fits the character of Macbeth? Why? Support your answer with specific textual references.

I feel that....Macbeth best fits as an anti-hero. Macbeth does not really have a sense of morality. He is at fault with his own morality. For example, he directly and indirectly ruthlessly murders King Duncan, Duncan's guards, Banquo, Lady Macduff, and her children. Obviously he completely rejects traditional values and morality. His mindset is completely towards his selfish needs as being a King, therefore he guides himself by his unmoral ideas. Macbeth also opposes the lives of the people in the society he lives in. For example, his society were content with King Duncan's ruling and thinks that murdering is wrong. And Macbeth knew that the people would feel that way, yet he continues with the murder. In addition, his best friend Banquo was the person who brought up the evil in the weird sisters and how horrible the death of Duncan was. However, that didn't stop Macbeth from killing more. Macbeth is not a hero at all, but if he was to be one, he would be considered as an anti-hero. He is flawed in his moral codes, and he rejects the society morality, and continues to live the life he wants to, how he wants to.