13. Soaphead Church and his letter

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Soaphead Church seems a repulsive pedophile at the beginning. But, after I read his letter which was written to God I could develop empathy with him and understand his feelings. It is interesting that Morrison uses many ironies about Soaphead. She calls him "the clean old man". Yes, it is difficult to justify him and his behaviours but after I read his letter I discovered his loneliness. May be this is the reason for his concern of little girls and their breasts and so on.:( He lies about his familiarity with God and his power. But, I think he needs it in order to overcome his misantrophy. I don't know why but somehow I can't blame him. He is a misanthrope, pedophile, dishonest or other bad things:(. But I think his fight is with his blackness nothing else. May be he is the "the clean old man" but he ruins this image because of self-hatred and blackness. We can see his anger with his life by reading his letterç He blames God by not fulfilling his duties. He tells him about Pecola and how he was impressed by her wish(blue eyes). He also tells about his pedophillia and reasons behind it. He says that he doesn't harm little girls but likes to touch them(may be in order to remove his loneliness by touching pure and innocent lassies). Also, Soaphead was abandoned by Velma and this was also a big sorrow in his life:(.

I am a bit angry with Soaphead in some ways. Tell me Soaphead, why did you give the poisionous meat and use Pecola to kill the dog(Bob)?:/
Why did you use people's frailty and deceive them by superstitions?
Why did you think you are ALSO superior like white people?? (Because you have a mixed blood! It was wrong)
Finally, tell me you were so religious and educated right? So, why couldn't you change things and defeat your self-hatred?

OK, that's all Soaphead Church. Other than this, I believe that you are a good person in spite of appreance.:)

12. The Sweet Dream

Here is the house. It is green and white. It has a red door. It is very pretty. Here is the family. Mother, Father, Dick and Jane live in the green and white house. They are very happy. See Jane. She has a red dress. She wants to play. Who will play with Jane? (...) See Mother. Mother is very nice. Mother, will you play with Jane? Mother laughs. Laugh, Mother, laugh. See Father. He is big and strong. Father, will you play with Jane? Father is smiling. Smile, Father, smile.

This is the picture of happiness. But is it fake? Yes, it is. It is only a sweet dream. It is not the real picture out of from Pecola's life.:( This picture does not tell about her life, it only tells about her desires.

Let's focus on Pecola's real life:

Here is the storefront. It is old and cold. It has a "coal stove". It is out of control. Here is the family. Mrs.Breedlove, Cholly, Sammy and Pecola live in the old and cold storefront. They are miserable. See Pecola. She has "the meanest eyes in the town". She puts her mask(ugliness). She wants to have blue eyes. She wants to love and loved. Who will love Pecola? See Mrs. Breedlove. Mrs. Breedlove is strict and stoic. Mrs. Breedlove, will you love Pecola? Mother, gets angry. Huff, Mother, Huff!. See Father. He is alcoholic and cruel. Father, will you love Pecola or WILL YOU HARM? Father is beating her wife. Beat, Father, beat.

I try to adapt Pecola's real life to create the picture of "reality". I hope you would like it:)

11. The Bluest Eye

"The white race originally possesed the monopoly of beauty, intelligence and strength"- Gobineau

I liked this quotation because in a way it summarizes the idea of our novel. In this novel, there is a white doll which symbolizes beauty of whites. Claudia tries to destroy the doll because she also wants to look like that doll or she can't accept the unfairness(black=ugliness, whites=beauty). In addition to that, Pecola also prays for blue eyes. She wants a different appearence and even to reach the beauty of white girls. Thus, "white race originally posses the monopoly of beauty". Besides, Rosemary Villanucci is the white neighbour of MacTeers. She eats bread and she is rich. She is superior than black MacTeers and that's why Claudia beats Rosemary. So, "white race posses the monopoly of strength". These are some examples out of the story in further chapters I will try to cover racism a bit more deeply. I hope you liked the relation with the quotation and story:)


FIND THE DIFFERENCE(?!)

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OR


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10. Shooting an Elephant

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In this story,there is an elephant ravaging the bazaar and fears "natives". Because natives had no weapon to stop this elephant they expect the police to kill it. This elephant also kills an Indian black coolie. After that, English public waits excitedly to see the dead body of the elephant. They want it in order to have a bit fun and for it's meat. Police doesn't want to shoot the elephant but there are expectations from him(he has to impress natives not to loose the domination of white man image). He even doesn't like to be served to this jonb and he is against to imperialism. But no matter what he thinks, he shoots the elephant! SO, WHAT? Here, the police is not an individual anymore he is the puppet of people. Elephant dies in half an hour:( After the death of the elephant, the owner of it gets angry but he is only an Indian. So, it doesn't make any sense. At the end, there are two ideas: 1) An elephant is more valuable than an Indian collie. 2) Police is right to kill the elephant, because it threaten human life.

This is the story:)

Here are some quotations which tells us about racism:
*"Whites man's domination in East"
*"When the white man turns tyrants it is his own freedom that he destroys."
*"my whole life, every white man's life in East, was one long struggle not to be laughed at!-(the obsession in being the superior & this idea let them become a puppet instead of an individual!- what a pitty!
*A white man mustn't be frightened in front of natives -(be the courageous and stay as the superior!)



PS: * there is also a word called "sahib", I don't the exact meaning but I think it is the same in Turkish - sahip(the owner) so it refers to European colonial in India.

9. After a Sps Exam:)

RACE & GENDER
Here are some ideas about race and gender which are related both with SPS and ENG102 themes.

I want to take attention on two events and try to show the underlying message of them.
One of them is "Haiti Revolution"(1791-1804). In this revolution, Nort-African blacks were against to English and French armies. After it, Haiti was established(1914) But, here the most crucial question is: How many of us know about this revolution? If we ask people about French Revolution, most of them might have an idea about it unlike the Haitin Revolution. Here, we can see the silencing of the Haiti revolution(the silencing of the "unthinkable"). The superior race(white) didn't accept to announce this revolution all around the world not to damage the view that whites are the best! So, in other words, they refused to accept triumph of the inferior race.

Another event is related with gender. Türk Kadın Birliği(Turkish women's association) was established in Turkey. However, in 1925 they closed this union. The reason of closing this union was the same reason above. The superior men refuse to accept the inferior women to associate, to announce their voice and to be active. That's why they also choose to close it.

I learned these events from SPS102 and I think there is a great relation between them. There are inferiors and superiors in a race or gender and it is difficult to make the superiors to accept rising of inferiors. I hope, you liked my connection this is all for today:)