Belated Musings on Course Themes

I’ve been meaning to write this post after class on 1/27, but I’m just getting around to it now, so I apologize for the slightly delayed discussion. The passage we read from Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye really struck me with what I’ve interpreted to be the themes of this course to be.

The first line of the second paragraph of the excerpt reads, “There is a difference between being put out and being put outdoors. If you are put out, you go somewhere else; if you are outdoors, there is no place to go.” This seems to emphasize one of the themes of the class- the importance of having a home. Morrison is talking about what happens when you are displaced from where you are as opposed to having no where to go, also stating that, “Outdoors, we knew, was the real terror of life.” This reminded me of the documentary we watched in class, The Old Man and the Storm. Those affected by Hurricane Katrina were either “put out” or “put outdoors,” and the distinction between the two is rather heartbreaking. Those who were “put out” were displaced, to family, to friends, but they had somewhere to go. Many, however, realized soon that they were “put outdoors.” The storm revealed how many homes the victims had, whether they had a place to turn to, to take them in, or if the entire epicenter of their lives was in New Orleans. Those in the latter group were stranded.

I’m excited to explore, throughout the semester, more about the importance of home, and of having a place to be grounded in.

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