Bernard Cooper is the author of a short essay titled “Burl’s”, an autobiography story of himself when he was about 8 years old, starting to learn all the differences and fine lines in the world. The essay starts out as Bernard seeing everything as it’s portrayed to be and not what is actually there. Cooper describes everything he sees from the restaurant’s name “Burl’s” highlighted above the roof and chrome appliances inside to the waitresses brown uniforms. Bernard Cooper conveys hidden identity within everything through his use of description, imagery and symbolism. The main symbol he uses is the restaurant “Burl’s” itself. Another theme I found relevant was how this essay depicts society’s resistance to the unexplainable. The restaurant …show more content…
is one of the main symbols he uses because that’s where his perception of hidden identity begins. Inside the restaurant he believes everything has or serves a purpose and has a place, but once he steps out of the restaurant he truly finds his other identity acceptable, because he learns many things and individuals have a hidden identity and not only himself. Cooper describes everything in the restaurant that’s real but doesn’t notice all the things that are actually fake until he sees transvestites walking down the sidewalk, where he truly discovers his true self. “With its sleek architecture, chrome appliances, and artic temperatures offered a refuge from the street” (Cooper 132). In this quote Cooper is only observing the things that a kid his age would notice when one doesn’t know enough about the world or how fake things actually are, like the chrome appliances and architecture is usually something that first catches one’s eye to draw attention away from all that’s fake. Comparisons and descriptions were also a huge factor in this essay because the author compares one thing to something else that’s entirely different to paint a picture so the readers can see as he saw it. “Waitresses dodged and bumped one another, as frantic as atoms” (Cooper 132). Obviously the waitresses aren’t actually moving as fast as atoms but most people have been in busy restaurants so one can imagine what he was seeing in Burl’s that day. When Cooper tells the readers about the newspaper which he was meant to get for his father he is descriptive from the time he puts the dime into the machine until he takes the paper out, he even says how hard the machine snaps close by comparing it to a mouse trap. “I inserted the dime and opened the box, yanking a Herald from the spring contraption that held it as tight as a mousetrap” (Cooper 133). Another descriptive comparison Cooper made was when he went to the boys club and was taking everything in for the first time and one of the first things he noticed was a pot of plants. “The glossy leaves of the potted plants looked as if they’d been polished by hand” (Cooper 137). Most boys wouldn’t even notice the plants but especially wouldn’t compare it to hand polishing because that’s not what boys do. The figurative Cooper puts in his essay helps the readers to better understand how he was thinking at such a young age and I think it what makes the essay creative. The theme of hidden identity was discovered by Cooper after he saw the men pretending to be women. One should have been able to tell there wasn’t something right with them as he’s describing how he felt but what really got him was when they got closer and he discovered that they had Adam’s apples, which are more prominent in males and even though he was young he still knew this. The next hint as to what these women really were was when he realized she was wearing a wig and was very assured it was a wig because of his own mother. “I was certain it was a wig because my mother owned several” (Cooper 133). After seeing these women and realizing they weren’t as Cooper thought, he began reevaluating his life. “… I felt as if everything I understood, everything I had taken for granted up to that moment…had been squeezed out of me” (Cooper 134). Although he was only about 8 years he still saw how everything he knew and grew up around wasn’t how his parents or society made it seem. It was then when Cooper also recognized the “hazy border between the sexes” (Cooper 135). He discusses how he believed the world to be divided into boys and girls but yet his father would sometimes do feminine things and his mother would look as manly as his father which would confuse Cooper more. “My father after all, raised his pinky when he drank from a teacup, and my mother looked as faded and plain as my father until she fixed her hair and painted her face” (Cooper 135). Perhaps Cooper thought it was okay for him to be both boyish and girlish since his parents did both as he describes in his essay, but didn’t express this thought to anyone and kept hiding his true self. In the same way, the author uses imagery to make sure the reader sees exactly how he saw something and understands what he is trying to portray. “After I’d finished building the model of an F-17 bomber, say, I’d sit back to examine my handiwork, pursing my lips in concentration and crossing my legs at the knee” (Cooper 136). Here one can see how quickly he was able to shift between boy and girl behaviors by the way he created such an image with words. As the boy goes back into the restaurant after he’s seen these mysteries that were so foreign to him, he has a different outlook on everything. “Wax carnations bloomed at every table” and “Plastic food sat in a display case…” (Cooper 140). “…I wondered if her lofty hairdo and breasts on which her name tag quaked were real” (140). Here, he doesn’t only notice the chrome appliances and waitresses’ uniforms but now also everything fake that the restaurant holds. Seeing how hidden most things really are if one isn’t aware or actually looking for these things. Additionally, Cooper discussed how his feelings for men were also already known at this time in his life, but would stay hidden from the rest of the world, not knowing how they’ll react, especially his parents. “Who knew what other wonders existed- a boy, for example who wants to kiss a man- exceptions the world did its best to keep hidden” (Cooper 140). Perhaps what the author is trying to say here is that, it can feel like society doesn’t want these mysteries of a man becoming a woman or vice versa to exist or anything else that can’t be explained. Which is why many things are hidden and individuals hide themselves from the world because they may feel like they won’t be accepted by society. For fear that society won’t accept him wanting to be a girl or do feminine things, Cooper doesn’t do these things in public. I think that Cooper has this mindset that society keeps things the way they are and that’s it, they’re no loopholes or changing yourself. And in contrast, even if one does change themselves to something different or something not familiar to the world, individuals in society either don’t notice or do not really make a huge deal in order to prevent it from attracting more press or attention. For example when Cooper sees the transvestites he feels as if he is the only one seeing them for what they truly are because no one else on the street paid the women any attention. “I watched them disappear into the distance, their disguises so convincing that other people on the street seemed to take no notice, and for a moment I wondered if I had imagined the whole encounter…” (Cooper 134). As stated above, in that point in time either individual’s society didn’t actually notice these transvestites because they’ve never encountered them before or the people walking down the street just didn’t acknowledge them for the simple fact that they aren’t accepted. Furthermore, Society also makes one think that there are certain ways things should be done and a certain way people should act.
For instance if one was born a boy then they should act like a boy and want to do boy-oriented things for that matter. “Like most children, I once thought it possible to divide the world into male and female columns. Blue/Pink. Roosters/Hens. Trousers/Skirts” (Cooper 135). In this quote when Cooper says “like most children” is an important part because he is right, most children do not know that males can do female things and vice versa. They also do not yet know about the mysteries of the world or things that shouldn’t be but are like transvestites for instance. And it’s like that because their parents and society made it that way. Instead of parents encouraging their son to wear dresses or cheerlead those parents would encourage him to dress like a male and play a male sport like football or basketball, because most of society doesn’t agree with things not easily explainable. So when Cooper’s parent saw him acting like one of the girls from his class, they immediately took him to an athletic club with other boys. “Shortly after the Injijikian incident, my parents decided to send me to a gymnastics class at the Downtown Athletic Club” (Cooper 136). Here his parents were thinking about what society would have thought and wanted him to perform and act masculine, so therefore sent him to a boys
club. In the final analysis, hidden identity was clearly identified why it was one of major things I picked up from reading this essay. One can also conclude why it was such a big theme and why cooper had so much thoughts in his head about him liking males and doing female actions, but didn’t express them because perhaps he was afraid of what his parents and individuals in society might have thought of him at that early time in his life. He himself even describes how he thought of transvestites as a “He-she” because he had no other way to describe them or even heard of the appropriate word.
Symbols find their place within a narrative through a conscious desire of the author to create a pattern of meaning, while the reader on the other hand, attempts to re-construct these meanings by drawing upon conventional associations with events. Conventional symbols are thus internalized in our mental consciousness and associated with what we take to be their predisposed meanings. That is, our minds works to form preconceived mental pictures of what these symbols should universally represent. "13 Happiness Street" is thus a narrative that gains much of its significance through the subversion of conventional symbols against our expectations.
In Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, Ellison uses description of decorations such as mirrors, portraits and signs to reflect and foreshadow Invisible Man’s struggle in defining himself, especially during the stages of rebirth and perception.
Basically, what one needs to know before proceeding to read through this analysis of gender development is that gender identity refers to “one’s sense of oneself as male, female, or transgender” (American Psychological Association, 2006). When one’s gender identity and biological sex are not congruent, the individual may identify as transsexual or as another transgender category (cf. Gainor, 2000). Example, Jennifer in the book, She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders, who brought us through the struggle of living a transgendered life from start to finish. Also, the formation of gender identity is influenced by social factors, such as family, friends, the environment, etc. For example, fathers tend to be more involved when their sons engage in gender-appropriate activities such as playing baseball or soccer rather than wanting to become a dancer or a cheerleader.
The nature of humanity frequently masks and distorts an individual’s concept of their own true self-identity. By creating unique and controversial symbolic objects, Ralph Ellison conveys this notion in his novel Invisible Man. Ellison uses the symbolic objects the briefcase, the bank, and the Sambo doll to demonstrate the idea that human stereotypes, different ideologies, and an individual’s past all control personal identity. However, one can only discover self-identity if they give up interaction with these aspects of life.
In Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man, one of Ellison’s greatest assets is his ability to bestow profound significance upon inanimate objects. During the narrator’s journey from the bar to the hole, he acquires a series of objects that signify both the manifestations of a racist society, as well as the clues he employs to deconstruct his indoctrinated identity. The narrator’s briefcase thereby becomes a figurative safe in his mind that can only be unlocked by understanding the true nature of the objects that lie within. Thus, in order to realize who he is, the narrator must first realize who he is not: that unreal man whose name is written in Jack’s pen, or the forcibly grinning visage of Mary’s bank.
Don’t judge a book by its cover. We have all heard this cliché at least once in our lifetime. But how many times have we ever followed through with this expression? The author Raymond Carver writes about an experience where a couple is visited by the wife’s acquaintance Robert, whose wife has recently passed. The fact that Robert is blind belittles him in the eyes of the narrator, causing tension and misjudgment. In “Cathedral”, Carver uses irony, point of view, and symbolism to show the difference between looking and truly seeing.
Social norms and traditional conduct, if care isn’t taken, might affect a child. One should be able to express one’s self, by not being judged by the society. Whether one acts a certain way, the society doesn’t except one to act, one should have the freedom to express his or her gender roles in the way one wants it to be.
From the day they are born, parents play a huge role in socializing gender by giving their children toys to play with based on their gender. Boys are expected to like and play with toys such as trucks, cars, trains, and gross things like bugs and mud. Girls are expected to like anything pink, dolls, kitchen sets, and playing tea party with their dolls and stuffed animals. It is acceptable for girls to occasionally play with toys meant for boys but not vise versa. As they grow into their teenage years they are taught to like more things based on one’s gender. Kevin Macdonald writes, “boys like guns, boxing, wrestling and karate, team sports, and fixing things. Girls prefer dolls, sewing, cooking, dancing, and looking after younger children.” In their teenage years girls are not really suppose to like boy things and if they do they are seen as a tomboy. Through time though it has become more acceptable for girls to like a few guy things such as sports. As they become adults their expectations on what they like stays pretty much the same as teenage years. Men like things such as sports, cars, outdoor activities like hunting and fishing, and work. Women are expected to like things such as fashion (makeup, nails, clothes, shoes, etc.), cooking or baking, and doing
The man, whose face we cannot see, is almost completely hidden in the dark shadows. Like the bird, this “night hawk” is camouflaged by the low light and shadows in such a way that he almost vanishes into the night. With his distance from the couple, the impression is that the man is mysterious, bad or even sinister. With the absence of a door, to the outside, the people seem to be trapped or isolated. The other buildings and sidewalks are also examples of subordination by the artist, de-emphasizing the importance of the surroundings so that the diner becomes the strongest focal point in the
Each chapter will vary in focus, but will be centered on Giovanni’s Room and Invisible Man. The current chapter, chapter one, is an introduction into the essential theme of skewed racial and sexual identity as a result of significations that will be explored and discussed throughout this thesis. A literature review for each narrative serves as the conceptual framework utilized to assist readers with comprehending the proposed topic. The literature review dissects the critical literary discourse that has been published for both James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room and Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. Deconstructing what has and is being theorized by literary theorists and incorporating it with the aforementioned theme, permits readers to be familiar with the content that will be mentioned later on. The methodology is a supporting sector of the literature review. The methodology applies the theory of Jacques Lacan’s “Mirror Stage”, which acts as additional support of the previously mentioned theme of flawed racial and sexual identity due to signifying signs. In essence, the methodology applies Lacan’s “Mirror Stage” theory, to the central theme, in a means to illustrate how each protagonist of Giovanni’s Room and Invisible Man encounters adversity, both sexually and racially, as a product of the underlying signs found within each narrative. The introduction, review of literature, and methodology cohesively work as the foundation
While reading short stories, two stood out: Ernest Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants and Raymond Carver’s Cathedral. The themes in both stories are powerful and convey strong messages that really pose existential thoughts. Not only is each story’s theme attention grabbing, but so is the common and reoccurring use of symbolism throughout the stories. They did not just use the Element of Fiction symbolism, but even used one common symbol. Ernest Hemingway’s story Hills Like White Elephants and Raymond Carver’s story Cathedral each contain existential and similar themes such as talking versus communicating and looking versus seeing, as well as demonstrating creative and comparable symbolism throughout.
It is widely accepted that masculine is synonymous with male and feminine with female. While it is typical for males to enjoy typically masculine activities, it is seen negatively when males enjoy a typically feminine activity. Not only is it seen as a bad thing, but young boys are often bullied or even punished for liking something that is seen as feminine. Girls are also often shunned for liking anything associated with masculine hobbies, usually having to prove that they “are not like like other girls”, insinuating that even girls who happen to like feminine activities are not to be sought after in this particular social system. Doctor Vanessa Cullins from Planned Parenthood talks about how children learn from a young age how they are supposed to fit into our social system and how damaging that can be during adolescence while the children try to create their own identity. I chose this topic because I think that we, as a society, do not think into this issue too deeply and yet it persists in our everyday lives.
In today’s society, it can be argued that the choice of being male or female is up to others more than you. A child’s appearance, beliefs and emotions are controlled until they have completely understood what they were “born to be.” In the article Learning to Be Gendered, Penelope Eckert and Sally McConnell- Ginet speaks out on how we are influenced to differentiate ourselves through gender. It starts with our parents, creating our appearances, names and behaviors and distinguishing them into a male or female thing. Eventually, we grow to continue this action on our own by watching our peers. From personal experience, a child cannot freely choose the gender that suits them best unless our society approves.
In our current culture, there is a huge difference between what is considered to be for girls or boys. From birth, children are told what colors and styles of clothing they wear, what toys they should play with, and how they should act. Often, girls are told they cannot play with toys considered to be for boys and boys are told they are not allowed to play with toys considered to be for girls. Children who do decide they want to play with the toys not traditionally for their gender are often scolded by family members, pushing the children back to their gender-specific toys. Gender socialization starts at birth and continues from adolescence, to adulthood, causing specific and detrimental differences
But then you can’t just determine one’s gender because of that, there are lots of girls who loves boys clothe or rather who loves being boyish, but are not gay and there are boys who actually behave feminine, have a tiny voice, loves to wear tight pants and they are still straight. In the reading “‘No Way My Boys Are Going to Be Like That!’: Parents’ Responses to Children’s Gender Nonconformity” by Emily Kane, she talks about how parents determine their kids ' gender and sex, how parents are the major teacher when it comes to gender and of their children, through clothes, toys and other things they purchase for them. They teach the girls to behave like girls, wear them pink dresses and the boy dresses as heroes: superman, batman… in this reading, some parents talked about how they are ok with their daughters behaving boyish and not ok with the boys playing with Barbie dolls. I ask what is the difference between boys and girls, there are so many things boys do and girls do too, there is Bill Gate and there is Christy Walton, there is Michael Jackson and there is Beyoncé, Messi and Alex Morgan. All I am saying is that everyone, men or women, boy or girl can also be great in life not minding their