(Im)Possibilities

As we have been reading Zulus and having discussions about the novel in class, I have noticed a common feeling among our class: we do not like being confused. Continue reading “An Answer to an Important Question”

How Zulus relates to our class topic of racism was on my mind while we have been covering the book. Prior to our conversation of how the book reflects the consequences of prejudices that is associated with Alice’s weight and its parallelism to racism, I had wondered what race Alice was. Although this may not be relevant to the story overall, I had assumed that Alice was black due to the context of the class. However, it didn’t occur to me until not too long ago that there is an overweight white woman on the cover who is most likely Alice. This actually reminded me of a debate I had whilst reading Home. There is a scene in which Frank arrives in Georgia and is jumped by a number of people. An individual he calls a “Samaritan” approaches Frank, helps him up, gives him money, and then sends him along his way. I do remember that there was a conversation in class where we discussed the possible race of this Samaritan, and many agreed that he is most likely African American like Frank due to his use of the word “brother” when talking to Frank. This assumption of the race of both the Samaritan and Alice reminded me of a riddle I would like to propose to you all.

“A father and son are in a horrible car crash that kills the dad. The son is rushed to the hospital; just as he’s about to go under the knife, the surgeon says, “I can’t operate – that boy is my son!” Explain.

Were you confused at this? Did you think how could the son be the surgeon’s son if the dad is dead? It might be because you assumed that the doctor is a male; the surgeon is actually the boy’s mother. This is a riddle that a psychology professor from Boston University has utilized in order to reveal how ingrained gender bias is in the minds of groups of children and university students. This made me wonder about how I assumed Alice’s race to be African American due to her unfortunate circumstances. It also made me realize how in my mind, I associated overweight women with the African American women that was portrayed to me through high school. I still remember the pictures shown during history class of African American women slaves who were always shown to be on the bigger side with the title as a cook. It was just interesting to me that even with a book that does not address the idea of racism directly (even with a black character present), I still find myself exhibiting such stereotypes onto the characters in the book. Have you?

Grace

There is always the debate about nature vs. nurture. Is a person born evil or have there been events that caused them to become evil. The one thing we do know is that children are very good at learning. If a child is constantly told they are stupid by their parent, who is pretty much guiding them through life while they still can’t reason on their own, that is what they will believe. Alice in the book Zulus by Percival Everett is constantly reminded that she is fat. Her mother died while Alice was very young and her father later committed suicide. Her grandmother blames her father’s suicide on her. “Alice Achitophel hadn’t liked her grandmother; the old woman had blamed her for son’s death, claiming that her obesity had embarrassed him and driven him to suicide.” pg. 40. Although Alice knew the real reason her father killed himself, I think it still gave her a sense of insecurity and low self-esteem. Hearing some tell me that my parent killed themselves because they were embarrassed by me would definitely destroy my self-esteem.  Also in Home by Chloe Ardelia Wofford, Frank’s sister Cee was always put down by her grandmother while her parents were away at work. “Being born in the street–or the gutter, as she usually put it–was prelude to a sinful, worthless life.” Pg 43. This constant reminder of being worthless prevented Cee from reaching her full potential. It was not until she went through a traumatizing experience and learned from the women that helped her heal, that she was able to become strong and independent.

This also got me thinking how exposing a child to racism at a young age could shape their whole future of how they look at people. I personally never had a very diverse community so I never knew about racism. However Avery replied to my first post and said the community she grew up in was very diverse but she was also never exposed to racism (Link). We grew up on totally different environments and never considered racism. “So where does this hate or though that someone is less valued based on their looks come from?” I think it is just based on what children are exposed to from a young age. Teaching a child that someone is worse than them will most likely stick with them for majority of their life. Of course maybe not their whole life, at least until they are able to reason it for themselves but even then there will be some form of bias. Just like anything that we learn wrong for the first time, it is much harder to learn it the right way the second time around.  It feels like racism almost becomes heritable. That is why proper parenting is so important. Children need to learn confidence and love for others at a young age because it will shape their whole life.

 

Death is a common occurrence: it happens every day, every person will have to deal with the death of someone they know and, at some point, death will  happen to every person on earth. In Zulus, Sue Kabnis asks Alice Achitophel to report any patients that have died as she makes her rounds to collect urine and pills. During her daily routine,  Alice makes an observation, “She dumped the medicines into the drawer held open by Sue Kabnis, as she did before, and left to go home with a stomach that was upset, tossing bile, because she had been asked to actually witness the dying, to acknowledge, to make it real by reporting it.” (page 203) Alice is forced  to face the fact that people die more frequently than she’d like to believe. Continue reading “Acknowledging Death”

Being fertile in the society of Zulus is suppose to be impossible. Sterilization is a regulated procedure created by the government and even those who live outside the city still live with the repercussions of this decision. Alice evades the procedure to be sterilized and in her head is always aware of her potential to have kids. When Alice goes on to become pregnant she is praised by others for this ability but to her it has become a burden. While reading the book, this type of situation seems very unrealistic, something we can never experience, but in all actuality its something some people live with everyday. Continue reading “Finding Our Own Alice Achitophels”

After finishing Fledgling and our discussion of Shori as a character in class, I decided to look into why Shori is such a likeable individual. More so, I want to look into Shori’s “Ina traits” and her “human traits”. Is Shori more human or Ina? Can we even classify all traits into human and Ina categories?

Perhaps one of the most apparent characteristics of Shori and other Ina is that they age very slowly. Wright thinks that Shori is ten or eleven when in reality, she is fifty-three. Does Shori’s child-like appearance make her likeable? I believe at first glance that it does. For example, there are certain characteristics that we associate with children. Such characteristics include: innocence, purity, happiness, dependent upon others, adventurous, small, curious, young, funny, and honest. For most people, I feel as though they tend to assign positive traits to children, reflecting how they feel about them. Even though Shori is far from a child in human years, her physical appearance leads most to immediately categorize her as a child.

Another aspect that makes Shori a very likeable character is her genetic makeup. Her mixture of human and Ina DNA give her desirable characteristics and advantages in the Ina community. Shori’s genetic composition allows her to stay awake during the day and walk in the sun. These are tremendous advantages to any Ina, resulting in many Ina families, like the Gordons, wanting to mate with Shori. However, these traits are also a problem. For example, the Silks find Shori to be a threat to the Ina. They do not see her as a real Ina due to her human characteristics and label her as an outcast.

One quality that definitely makes Shori likeable is her bite. Butler writes, “Venom from Ina females is more potent than venom from males” (109).  Shori’s symbionts love receiving Shori’s bite. For them as well as Shori, it is an intoxicating euphoric experience. Although this clearly makes the symbionts like Shori, does it hinder their perception of her? Do they actually like Shori or do they like the pleasure they get from her bite? Does this bite make them want to stay with her or do they willing choose to? I believe that her bite plays a huge role in determining whether these symbionts choose to stay and bond with Shori. I guess the more specific question I have is: How large a role does Shori’s bite play in the symbionts perception of her?

Finally, one of the main reasons why I like Shori is the human way in which Octavia Butler chooses to portray her. Shori’s human characteristics make her more relatable to the reader. In addition, it makes it easier to sympathize with her and root for her during the Council of Judgement. Shori is an extremely moral character within the book. Her morality can be most clearly seen in the treatment of her symbionts. As a group of people, Shori treats her symbionts very well, but she also takes the time to go to each of them individually. Even when Shori meets her father and others of her kind, she still puts her symbionts first, making sure that they will be okay moving into a new community and directing questions regarding their needs. She also seeks justice for the ones she loves such as her Ina families and Theodora. Because Shori follows her moral compass and feels things on such a deep level, Shori is depicted as a loveable character.

Do you think Shori is more human or more Ina?

As we’ve discussed in class, Racism, Medicine, and Literature are all interconnected and are incorporated in other fields of study beyond their boundaries. I’m a Political Science major and right now I’m taking a course on International Relations/Politics. So far in this course, we’ve learned how theorists view interactions between different states (term used for countries) across the globe and how these interactions impact others around them. I guess I’ve experience a ‘both/and’ situation between these two courses, especially when discussing medical volunteering pros and cons. In the International Politics, we’re reading The Essentials of International Relations by Karen A. Mingst and Ivan M. Arreguin-Toft. We’re focusing heavily on theories and the structure of the international system and how interactions with other states impact them for better or worse. The ‘both/and’ connection I made was about how these main theories (Realism, Liberalism, Radicalism, Constructivism, and Feminism) play a role in medical voluntarism. Before I explain how the theories apply to this controversial situation, I’ll define the meaning of each theory so you have background context of International Relations. Continue reading “A Political Take on Medical Voluntourism”

After discussing the issues of ageism that Butler brings to light through Shori’s relationship through Theodora, I began to think more about the connotation that older women have in our society.  This reminded me of a piece that I wrote for Syracuse University Project Advance (SUPA) while in high school, in which a blog brings and binds together women of the senior set through their passions that are often overlooked due to their age.  The blog, Advanced Style (http://www.advanced.style) helps create a platform and discourse in which older women have a comfortable environment to express themselves without limits on their age.  I figured I would share my paper on this blog, as to give some insight and thought into our society’s concept of fashion and aging.  Please keep in mind that this was a piece written in high school that I have not touched since.  Continue reading “Ageism and Fashion”