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dreamtelfair-blog · 6 years

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Blog #3- Be Cuckoo

One of my favorite novels of all time is “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey because it not only sheds light on how mentally ill people are marginalized from society, but it shows how eccentric or different minded people are always forced to conform to what’s considered normal. When this book was first published back in 1962, many people were against it because it exposed mental health institutions by showing how poorly they care and ‘cure’ their patients. McMurphy, the protagonist of the novel, symbolized defiance, insubordination, hope, rebellion and creativity. All of these characteristics were unheard of before McMurphy was checked into the psych ward. Nurse Ratched, the head nurse of the ward, symbolized the simple minded society of that time; traditional. Before McMurphy was checked into the ward, whatever Nurse Ratched said or demanded, the patients obeyed on an exaggerated scale. The patients were miserable and arguably oppressed by their mental illnesses and Nurse Ratched’s reign. McMurphy gave life to the patients in a way that that would help them fight off the tyranny of Nurse Ratched and their illness. But no matter how influential McMurphy was or how much of a sacrifice he made, Nurse Ratched, in the end, still ruled over the entire ward. If this book where to be banned, I would advocate for this book to be brought from every school in America because Mental Illness and self expression are always overlooked. Other than abolishing electric shock therapy and lobotomy from Mental Health Institutions, people should have taken from this book that society (Nurse Ratched) had and still has a very disgusting habit or trying to shape how people should be. This book is not only those who endure mental health, but those who are fighting off the haters; this book gives power to those who are usually ‘othered’ and isolated from “normal people.” Normal is overrated; be yourself. Just be.

#OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest #ForgetSociety Be

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dreamtelfair-blog · 6 years

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Blog #2- Book Review (this book is so valid)

One thing I personally love about Octavia Butler is she has the power to really make her books come to life. There are so many hidden and subtle messages that she includes in her writing that sometimes go unnoticed that need to be brought to light. Specifically, In Kindred Butler not only compares the past to the present, but she explains the effects racism have on both white and black people. Being able to create a book that mirror’s society is extremely powerful coming from a black women, but writing about truthful and raw topics such as racism and white supremacy in the past and present is a lost art in all genres. Dana, an African American women, is the main character, and throughout this novel she time travels through alternate worlds. She travels back and forth from the Antebellum South to her present day 1976. For her first couple travels, she is alone and encounters a white male named Rufus who, she figures out later, is her ancestor. Every time she travels, she saves Rufus’s life. For every time she travels to the Antebellum South, Rufus grows older; for example, a few hours in her present day 1976 is about a few months in the Antebellum South. Crazy, right?! Yea, I know. On one of her visits she travels with her husband back in time to save Rufus and is encountered with his father, a spiteful traditional slave owner. Unfortunately and awkwardly, her husband has to pretend to be her slave master. Oh, did I fail to mention? Her husband is a white man named Kevin! That has had to be the most uncomfortable feeling in the world. So, “roles” were given to both Dana and Kevin: a slave and a slave master. Dana, who is completely unfamiliar with the ways in which slaves are to act, is challenged with disrespect, racism, discrimination, oppression and physical and mental pain. Each trip she says longer and endures much more. During one of her stays, she is beat for teaching a slave how to read; during another she is slapped in the face by Rufus’s mother; another time she is beaten for running away. One of the key take aways in this novel is the effects of slavery. Towards the end of the book, Dana travels back to the present without her husband. She stood in the present for 8 days while he stood in the Antebellum South for 5 YEARS!! Woah.. Once he came back to the present day, after Rufus tried to shoot his head off so he can make Dana his slave, he was so unfamiliar and uncomfortable with his ‘new yet old’ surroundings. Slavery is a monster that is from the past that still haunts the present and the future.

#RacismIsTheRealMonster

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dreamtelfair-blog · 6 years

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Blog #1 - Not Cool Rufus

Octavia Butler’s impressive aptitude for writing never fails to leave readers thinking about real life situations within the book that reflect today’s society. Octavia Butler explores the world of science fiction head on with no remorse or fear even though people of her color are seldom in that field of writing. The main character she creates, Dana, is a 26 year old woman who gets married to a white man named Kevin. Unheard of, right? Wrong! Love is love. Anyways, Dana is burdened with time traveling back into the Antebellum South where she has to be a slave and her own husband has to act like her slave master! Oh Em Gee. Every time she travels back in time, she has to save Rufus, her pathetic and whore of an ancestor. Through the ups and downs she comes across a black women names Alice, a women who Rufus is madly in love with. Arguably, Alice and Dana are foil characters because they both have underlying factors that have led them to be slaves and under Rufus Weylin’s reign. When Octavia Butler first introduced both characters, they were both free. Alice was born a free black while Dana was lucky enough to be born in the present where slavery has been abolished. However, as Dana’s time travels become more troublesome and painful (physically and mentally), both Dana and Alice are stuck under Rufus’s spiteful rule and are considered the same person. Dana is like a mother to Rufus which is why he wants her to stay in his house and be his slave. During one of Dana’s time travels, Kevin was did not travel back to the future with her, so she was stuck with Rufus (who was becoming a more disgusting slave holder than his traditional father). Since Kevin is not there to claim her, she is forced to work for the Weylins. Alice, on the other hand, is stuck under Rufus’s ruling because he is in love with her. Because society has made him out to be oppressive and dominant, he forces his love onto her; he does not know how to properly love a black woman or any woman for that matter. Dana and Alice are both loved by him, so they’re forced to stay with with him, but because it is two different love types, they are each burdened with a different type of Rufus’s love. Alice is Rufus’s personal slave and Dana is a slave to the house which means that they are no longer living free like they did when they were first introduced.

#NotCool RufusIsALoser BurdensomeLove

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