No Name Woman......

So my first thought as I read this story is RAGE! Unbelieving, anger at the ignorance, the waste, the ridiculousness of such a thing. How can this happen, then, so, so sad. I think as I imagine a woman giving birth alone, so desperate, terrified with no hope, so little hope that she can kill her child as well as herself. I feel as though the author feels rage, at her Mother maybe, for telling her this story. It s a threat, a story like that for a young girl, its a way of control. Societies way of controlling women. Women's way of controlling other woman into behaving in ways that are unthreatening. She threatened them, the woman of the village. Because they know one of their men did it, and they don;t know who. This angers them, but they blame her. THE WOMAN. Nobody was running around destroying the house of the man, no one even tried to find out who it was, if it was rape, abuse, whatever. Then I'm angry because why wouldn't she just leave her village, go away, anywhere, away from these people that cut her off, shut her out. But I do think the author felt rage, for herself, on behalf of her ancestor, at her mother for perpetuating this myth, her father as well, maybe just for their very old world "Chinese-ness" I feel it in how her writing spirals, first one way, then another, searching, looking for an outlet, a reason, an imagining for some way to understand a culture she is part of yet can never understand, never identify with. She is conflicted between understanding and loving her parents yet being completely unable to understand a culture that could perpetuate such horrors. But I keep coming back to control, this is a way for people to manipulate and control other people and I sense the authors need to understand and come to terms with her own history.

last post for wench

So I finished this book over a month ago so its been hard to keep going back to it and over it to re-think what I read in January. Had I been "close reading" consciously at that point it may have been easier but I was really still doing it unconsciously and am still working on trying to do it period. Anyway, so I keep trying to rethink what really was the theme of the book. It wasn't slavery really, that would be too trite, too easily summed up because the conflicts were about slavery but yet were so similar to the conflicts of woman today that I don't think that was the real theme. Lizzies real conflict was whether or not to stay in a relationship with an unequal power structure where she is very much the "other woman". Very similar to many modern relationships that are not formed in "real slavery" but are mimicking it none the less. I think the theme is relationships, with men and with other women. When to stay and when to go, trying to figure out what you want from your life and your relationships and what you will accept in order to get it. For a book dealing with a dark subject matter the tone is fairly light. Lizzie, the narrator, is a slave but doesn't project the same despair in her station as the other woman because she loves her master. I don;t think she really feels like a slave. The only dissatisfaction you really sense from Lizzie is that she wants to make sure her children are free in case something happens to her. On the other hand, Drayles wife, Fran has gone through bouts of making Lizzies children her "pets" when she feels the need to fulfill her maternal urges. All in all Lizzie is not a dark character. She exudes a lightness not expected in such a character, a naivety bordering on simpleness. An unquestioning character, and for all that she is the most educated slave in the book she is oddly innocent compared to most of them. She accepts the fate of slavery, rape, abuse mental and physical as just part of her lot in life, in such a way that although she should be jaded from, she really isn't; and that in the end, is why she stayed, because I don;t think she really thinks of herself as a slave. She would I believe be more easily identified with the mistress of a married man today. Always being pacified, insecure in love but too in love to leave, waiting forchance to be number one.

Reading for conflict

OK, so now that I'm reading for conflict I realize there is conflict all over this book, with all the characters. Lizzie, especially and I would identify her as the main character. Lizzies conflicts are as follows:

Lizzie loves Drayle her Master and she is conflicted about this, embarrassed when Mawu's asks her.

Lizzie, is eventually conflicted about running away. Does she stay or does she go? This causes other conflict. If she goes she leaves her children behind, as slaves, even though they are Drayles children, she doesn't know how they;ll be treated or if she will ever see them again.

Lizzie is conflicted in her feelings for Mawu, she cares for her, and is a little jealous of her at the same time. Some of this conflict I think spills over into her decision to tell Drayle about Mawu.

She is internally conflicted over whether or not to tell that Mawu is planning on running away; she does tell and this causes external conflict with the other slaves and caused MAwu conflict with her Master who beats and rapes her publicly as punishment.

Lizzie is conflicted the 3rd year at Tawawa as to whether to ask Drayle to finally sell Phillip to the barber so he can marry the barbers daughter. She realizes that this favor may have penalties in regards to Drayle ever freeing her children. i.e. 1 favor of this magnitude is all Lizzie may ever be able to get.

Fran, who is Drayles wife is conflicted over her husbands affair with Lizzie and conflicted in how she feels for Lizzie. SHe both hates her (tries to sell her while Drayle is away) pinches her, is mean to her. But later in the story when Drayle finally brings them both to Tawawa house the same summer and Lizzie gives herself an "abortion" and can;t stop bleeding, Fran takes care of her and sleeps on the couch next to her so Drayle can't force himself on her while she is still recovering.

Mawu doesn't really feel any conflict regarding her slavery, she wants to run and will do it the first chance she gets, but apparently (i say apparently because this is speculation from other characters) she feels conflict about leaving Lizzie behind. The next summer when Mawu and Reenie run, Reenie goes and keeps going until she gets to NY where Mawu stay's locally in a little cabin in the woods.

Mawu's conflict was only when to run, and when she had the opportunity she pretty much set her master on fire and tried to kill him. When he was pulled out of the burning cabin still living her and Reenie run during the confusion. She knew she had to because she is pretty sure her master knows she tried to kill him. Glory knows where she is and the following summer when Lizzie comes back with Drayle and Fran, Glory takes her to see Mawu who gives her notice that she is going soon and asks Lizzie to come with her. Apparently they think Mawu was waiting for Lizzie.

This was a bad decision for Mawu because Lizzie decides not to go and then Mawu gets caught. You only ever here this from the servants at the hotel and never hear her story, so it's resolution is unsatisfying at best. Mawu's conflicts are really unresolved, Lizzie never comes, she tries to run away and only stays gone for a year before being caught. You never find out what happens to her but the assumption isnt; good.

Lizzie stays because of her children and her love for Drayle and even because her and Fran seem to have reached a certain understanding of each other. You still never get the feeling that she resolved anything in her internal conflict. You really never get the sense she wants to leave, just that the others think she should want to leave and she really only considers it because she feels like she should

Drayle may have conflict during the story in regards to whether or not to free his children (they are his bargaining chip with Lizzie) and decides not to, but at the end promises Lizzie that he will send Nate, her boy north to be educated at school for mixed blood children. But Rabbit, her daughter will stay (Rabbit will be the bargaining chip that gets Nate to come home).

Drayle decides to sell Phillips based on Lizzies speech and with holding of affection and seems resigned if not pleased in the resolution of his conflicts.

Fran seems to come to terms with Lizzie by taking care of her and pretty much admitting that she has been jealous of her relationship with Drayle and jealous that Lizzie was able to bear his children when she was not. But she seems to realize is that Lizzie's part in it may not be all "roses" and that she is part of their twisted family.

Reenies earlier conflicts the second summer was when she walks into he water and tries to kill herself (due to thecommencement of the managers late night visits). The other girls stop her so her suicidal conflict is resolved but her second conflict whether to run or not is never discussed. But when Mawu runs, so does Reenie. She gets to NY and gets job cleaning and has someone send Lizzie a letter to Tawawa house so she knows where she is and that she is ok. Conflicts resolved.

Sweet's children all die from smallpox of something back at the plantation the summer that Mawu and Reenie run, she goes a little crazy mourning them and then pretty much throws herself in a ravine and dies. So her conflicts are all resolved.

Phillip is a minor character and his conflicts are really Lizzies and he serves as a sounding board for Lizzie, but he wants to be sold and marry the barbers daughter and he is. He is living in Ohio and learning the barbering trade with his new wife. He comes back to Lizzie to give her info she will need if she decides to run. So his conflicts are resolved as is his brotherly relationship with Lizzie.

All in all analyzing this book is starting to feel like beating a dead horse. Uhhh....

broken spirits

after Mawus beating the spirits are broken 1 by 1. Phillips hopes are dashed when Drayle won;t sell him to the black barber who's daughter he is in love with, MAqu's beated, Reenie is being molested nightly. Lizzie was being cold shouldered by them all for telling. At a loss for companionship she seeks out Glory, the white Quaker woman in the woods for companionship. THis is a new and strange friendship for Lizzie who hasn;t before had an equal relationship with a white woman. Then Sweet gives birth finally but the baby is sickly and dies a few days later.

Lizzie tries to gigure out how to act with Glorys husband and reconcile her "rules on how to act with white men" when around him. All of whihc begin with "don;t look them in the eye". Glory deperatley wants a child of her own but can;t seem to conceive. All in all they end the summer in a sad place, with all of them worse off than when they went to Tawawa house.

Lizzie tells.....

So of course Lizzie tells Drayle about Mawu's plan. And says to him "Don;t let him hurt her Drayle" He says he has to tell. She says, ""talk to him and don;t let him beat her hard, just enough to keep her from__"

Lizzie feels justified for telling because she is worried about Mawu getting caught or worse during the escape. She is afraind she'll be killed or taken away in chains. But Lizzie doesn't quite get that Mawu's existence is worse than that already.

Mawu's master stands her in fron t of the slaves and 2 white women in the distance, whips her telling her that her and her children will never be free. Just as Lizzie thinks it won;t be too bad a beating, he rips off Mawus clothes until she' s naked and whips her bloody, then pushed her on to her knees and rapes her from behind. Alll Lissie can think is that here at the resort they forgot to protect themselves, they started to feel human.

Dinner party

Oddly enough the men tell the women to get ready to have dinner with them at the Hotel in a private room, as opposed to in their cabins. They are given some pretty shabby dresses and 2 days to sew them into presentability. Most of them try to look pretty except for Reenie who chooses the most unbecoming and modest of the dresses. The rest are trying out this dinner party mentality. They are unsure as to what the free kitchen staff thinks of them. Back home they deal with jealousy pride and pity because they are the Masters women but they are not sure of the attitudes here. This feeling of being ostracized at home binds them together at the resort each summer.

Reeniw is filling her masters pipe, sweets master has his head in her cleavage, Mawu's master is drunk and getting drunker and Drayle is asking Lizzie to dance. You can really start to see the difference in each girsl situation. They all note the hotel manager checking out Reenie and Lizzie is getting nervous. However Lizzie is paying more attention to how the servants are serving so she can learn how to "serve fancy" back at home. She still managers to have pride in her jobs I guess.

The hotel manager has a quick conversation with Reenie's master, who goes over and talk to Reenie. Reenie yells NO!, says she's not doing it. Mawu trys to jump in and help , Sweet starts to cry and Lizie starts to plead with Drayle. Their reactions are all indicative of their character thus far. Reenie goes limp and has a look of a woman that is done fighting. Mawu chastises Reenies Master, (Sir) who smacks her in the face and says "don't try to come between my and my property." Reenie is forced in to the managers bed for the rest of the summer.

Lizzie later asks Reenie her story (stories don' t get told lightly). Turns out Reenies master is her own brother and her daughter is her daughter and her niece. She had her family help fix her so she can;t have anymore babies, but her brother keeps sleeping with her. Her mother was raped by Sirs father until he died. After he died his wife had her beaten until one day she just disappeared.

Lizzie can;t stop thinking about how different her life is with Drayle. How good he is to her children. She can;t believe that Reenies mother just left so she thinks she must be dead, she can;t imagine a mother leaving her childred. She is also scared because she knows the fugitive slave law was just passed and the northerners have to help the slave catchers now.

Meanwhile a free black barber comes to cut the mens hair. He is trying to buy Phillip from Drayle. Lizzie is not getting this, but the barbers daughter is with him and looking at Phillip. d Drayle doesn;t want to seel and can;t understand why or how the barber could could want to buy this slave. Lizzie is starting to realizie that is Drayle won't free Phillip for a good price, who he can easily replace, he will most likely never free her children. Lizzie, though, dope that she is, just think show wonderful Drayle is that he discussed the matter with the barber as if her were a white man. She really is pretty ignorant and blinded by love I guess. Ugg! What an idiot.

Mawu gets that the barber is trying to buy Phillip because his daughter who works at the plantation is in love with him.

defining moments

So the defining moments so far in the book are as follows; the slaves get a day off, leaving 1 (sweets who is very pregnant) behind almost as collateral; if they were even a few minutes late, Sweets would be beaten, never mind if they ran away. This is the day they decide to take a walk over and see the resort next door that they heard about. A resort for free blacks. They meet a quaker woman in the woods names Glory who shows them the way. They all have some trust issues, the slaves and Glory but they get through them and Glory shows them the way. Lizzie feels as though she needs to see this, to know it exists for her children's sake, so she can tell a world without slavery does exist. She feels the limitless they would have if there father would just free them. Mawu, as usual is the only one who has the nerve to go up to the hotel and talk with the free people, Phillip goes with her but the rest hide in the woods. The end result is that Mawu can't understand how they can all be there in free land, right by other free blacks and not be thinking about running away. They are all up in arms remarking that the others would never get to come back again if 1 ran away. The others all ahve children back on the plantations, and for the women, they children are mostly from their masters. Mawu starts outlining aplan but she needs Lizzies help to write a letter and Lizzie is the only one that can read. THis is Lizzies defining moment.

Some back story on Mawu next. Her Master started trying to take her when she was really young, being a fighter she held him off a while, but after haven been beaten down she is raped repeatedly, for years. She's had 4 or his children, 3, of which he sold outright. The 4th fell out of her sling while she was working in the fields and hit his head on a rock and is not quite "right" any more. Mawu is done loving anything, even her last child. She's been trying everything to keep Tip, her master away from her. Chewing stinky herbs, not washing, but he enjoys her resistance. She is determined not to be had again and cant understand why Tip brought her to the resort.

You can not really understand the differences between Lizzie who is in love with her Master and her and her children are treated fairly well, to Mawu, who's existance is hell.

Mawuis on Lizzie to write the letter but she is stalling. We don;t know much about Reenie at this time but Reenie tells Lizzie she is "undecided" as of yet. Lizzie is afraid but entranced. She has also noticed Drayle (her Master) payin some attention to Mawu and is struggling with some jealousy.