Most stories depict a world full of misconception and over scrutinized facts which deal with an indirect narration of the past. The story is drawn out and over dramatized to the point of disbelief. Bastard out of Carolina is just that. On the contrary, this book is nothing but realistic. Comparing world sufficiency established by Dorothy Allison’s idea of the fifties to that of today’s standards, one would see it as if that world is one out of a fairytale; not so much a fairytale, but as more of a nightmare-tale. To the readers’ surprise, this fictional story is based off personal experience from that of the author. In conclusion, what is said in this novel could be directly compared to life as it was during the nineteen fifties in South Carolina. In particular, white folk of the time period are what is being analyzed and compared. Allison was born into a macrocosm of poverty and sexual abuse. To her, this was the normality of existence at a young age. Her life parallels Bone’s existence in the book and is an ideal structure to base assumption of the fifties off of. What was sufficient ‘then’ is highly different from that of expectations and sufficiency from a present day perspective. Sufficiency lies on a linear social line of expectation. The norms and ideologies of society lie along this line likewise. Defining what exactly sufficiency means in this context: sufficiency is the normality or the accepting of a certain level of knowledge, income, and interactive structure into a society. Essentially it is what is considered ‘enough’ in a given tense. In the fifties for example, role expectations in a family are extremely different from that of today’s expectations. The undertaking of a role today is more freely accepted than what ...
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...ere. One may set a higher bar of sufficiency for them due to advancements in technology that was not present in the fifties and one may have more expectations for their future, but from a young age, that is more inheriting the burden or luxury, than something one can control. Without a doubt, one could break free from their inherited life style, but that requires motivation and determination. Anney had her head on straight; she was just unfortunate enough to fall into various ‘fate’ driven struggles and blindly entered situations.
Works Cited
Reuben, Paul P. "Chapter 10: Dorothy Allison." PAL: Perspectives in American Literature- A Research and Reference Guide. URL:http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap10/allison.html (provide page date or date of your login).
Cengage, Gale, ed. Bastard Out of Carolina. N.p.: MAXnotes, 2002. eNotes. Web. 8 Mar. 2014.
...ism and segregation, it is what will keep any society form reaching is maximum potential. But fear was not evident in those who challenged the issue, Betty Jo, Street, Jerry, and Miss Carrie. They challenged the issue in different ways, whether it was by just simply living or it was a calculated attempt to change the perspective of a individual. McLurin illustrated the views of the reality that was segregation in the South, in the town of Wade, and how it was a sort of status quo for the town. The memories of his childhood and young adulthood, the people he encountered, those individuals each held a key in how they impacted the thoughts that the young McLurin had about this issue, and maybe helping unlock a way to challenge the issue and make the future generation aware of the dark stain on society, allowing for more growth and maximum potential in the coming years.
The stories that the author told were very insightful to what life was like for an African American living in the south during this time period. First the author pointed out how differently blacks and whites lived. She stated “They owned the whole damn town. The majority of whites had it made in the shade. Living on easy street, they inhabited grand houses ranging from turn-of-the-century clapboards to historics”(pg 35). The blacks in the town didn’t live in these grand homes, they worked in them. Even in today’s time I can drive around, and look at the differences between the living conditions in the areas that are dominated by whites, and the areas that are dominated by blacks. Racial inequalities are still very prevalent In today’s society.
In all, Tademy does a great job in transporting her readers back to the 1800s in rural Louisiana. This book is a profound alternative to just another slave narrative. Instead of history it offers ‘herstory’. This story offers insight to the issues of slavery through a women’s perspective, something that not so many books offer. Not only does it give readers just one account or perspective of slavery but it gives readers a take on slavery through generation after generation. From the early days of slavery through the Civil War, a narrative of familial strength, pride, and culture are captured in these lines.
the pre-Civil War era, only about 5 percent of white Southern women actually lived on plantations and about half the Southern households owned no slaves at all. Still, slavery defined everything about life in the South, including the status of white women. Southern culture orbited around the strong father figure, simultaneously ruling and caring for his dependents - Mary Hamilton Campbell was struck when her servant Eliza refererred to Campbell's husband as "our master". Black and white women never seemed to develop any sense of common cause, but every Southern female from the plantation wife to the field slave was assinged a role that involved powerlessness and the need of a white man's constant guidance. A Southern slave owner named George Balcombe advised a friend to "Let women and Negroes alone. Leave them in their humility, their grateful affection, ther self-renouncing loyalty, their subordination of the heart, and let it be your study to become worthy to be the object of their sentiments."
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