Yellow Woman

Presentation

The Man Who Was Almost a Man

In the story, what does the gun symbolize?

            The first thing that the gun symbolizes is Dave’s want of masculinity.  Dave’s “family, coworkers, employer, and the store owner all call him ‘boy’ and remind him that he is only a child,” but he does not like that (2517-2518).  Because of this, Dave wants to be considered a man and he believes that a gun will grant this to him.  He tells Mister Joe that he’s “gittin t b a man like anybody else,” so he believes he should have a gun (2519).  Once Dave has the gun in his possession he thinks he is a man, but it is made known to the reader that this is not true.  The story reveals that Dave is still immature because he did not obey his mother by bringing the gun straight home and also because he chose to fire the gun without truly knowing how to, which in result killed Jenny (2522-2533).  Therefore, the gun plays a very significant role in Dave’s life because he believes that it is something that he must have in order to be considered a man. 

            The second thing that the gun symbolizes is Dave’s want of power.  Dave does not seem to like people calling him a boy and it was as if he craved some kind of power over people.  Dave even tells his mother that they need a gun in their house because “yuh kin never tell whut might happen” (2521).  Once Dave has the gun, he says that he felt a “sense of power” and that he could “kill anybody, black or white” (2522).  He did not seem to think about the true power that the gun had itself, but rather just the sense of power that it gave to him.  It is proven that he underestimated the power of the gun when he shot and killed Jenny by accident; when he did this, he did not want his sense of power to be taken away from him so he insisted on lying about what had happened (2523-2524).  He also did not seem to learn the true power of the gun and instead was only concerned with his own power when he still considered shooting at Jim Hawkins’ house, but he was out of bullets.  Therefore, the gun allows Dave to think that he has his own sense of power, even though that it is not truly the case.

            Dave believes that owning a gun solves all of his problems because he seems to think that he has become the man that he has always wanted to be and that he has achieved the extent of power that he wanted.  Even though he should have realized that none of this was true when he shot Jenny, he did not learn his lesson.  Although the gun did not truly give him the masculinity or power, he continued to think it did because at the end of the story he goes back to get the gun, thinks about shooting at Jim Hawkins’ house, and runs away (2527).

What was the purpose of Richard Wright’s skillful use of dialect throughout the story?

            The author’s skillful use of dialect truly put an emphasis on the story.  The different dialects that are seen in the story truly add to the meaning.  Dave’s family appears to have a much different dialect than Mister Joe or Jim Hawkins (whites); Dave’s family along with himself seems to have a much more slurred dialect than the others, they do not seem to pronounce words the correct English way.  Also, their dialect was much harder to understand and took more time to read, but it truly stood its purpose in the story.

The purpose of the use of dialect is to reflect upon the time period in which Wright was writing about.  Wright often wrote about similar experiences that happened to him, therefore he uses the dialect from the time period that he lived.  The dialect that he uses truly shows how different people were in the time period, such as Dave’s family and the whites.  It seemed as if Dave’s family had the dialect that did due to a possible lack of education.  In this time period, whites were seen as higher than blacks; the dialects in this story can truly reflect upon that.  The author’s use of dialect truly places the “story firmly in its sociohistorical setting” (2518).  Without the use of dialect in this story, the reader might not have a significant understanding of the time period or setting in which the story takes place.

            Also, Wright’s skillful use of dialect allowed the reader to truly visualize the characters.  Because of the different dialects that the author uses, the reader can visualize how dissimilar the characters were.  The dialect adds a significant amount of imagery to the story because when you are reading, you can truly picture the characters talking the way that they are.  It is almost as if you can hear the characters talking themselves.  Because of the dialect adding imagery to the story, it makes it much more interesting.  The skillful use of dialect that the author uses allows for the reader to truly picture the characters.  Without the use of dialect in this story, the reader would not be able to clearly see the differences amongst the groups of people: whites and blacks.

The Daydreams of a Drunk Woman

Why does the woman in “The Daydreams of a Drunk Woman” drink?

            Just like we can see in today’s society, the woman appears to drink because she is unhappy with her own life.  Early in the story it made it obvious that she was not happy with her own marriage or did not even care about her marriage.  She said that she did even care about what her husband looked like when it was his day to do business on the city and even that she “despised him beyond words” (2804 and 2806).  She also did not appear to be happy that she had children because it was said that she “took advantage of their absence” (2804).  She also did not appear happy because she seemed to be jealous of others, especially the woman she was talking so bad about in the restaurant.  She did not seem happy that the woman in the restaurant was prosperous and that she was not (2807); she said that she would have liked to slap the woman, which does not make her appear as a happy person.  She seemed as if she really enjoyed drinking because she said “how satisfying to lose” her soul, which probably relates to her forgetting all her troubles when she was drunk (2806).  She is unhappy with several different aspects of her life, so she drinks because she believes that the daydreams she has when she is drunk is better than her reality.  Although she thinks drinking will solve her unhappiness, she will eventually have to face the problems she is facing.

How does the woman in “The Daydreams of a Drunk Woman” view herself?

            In the beginning it seems as if she thinks of herself very fondly because it says that “her eyes did not take themselves off her image” as she was standing in front of the mirror (2804); because of this, I assumed that she was a person who thought a lot of herself.  However, it seemed as if when she was drunk she viewed herself much differently.  When she was drunk she scolded herself and even called herself a “lazy bitch” (2805).  She saw herself as being sensible, but this irritated her (2806).  Also when she was drunk she viewed herself as a very unhappy and miserable person; she found her husband “ridiculous” and in the restaurant she even said that she was “so miserable” (2806-2807).  Even though she may not have realized it, she also appeared to be a very jealous person when she was drunk.  It was when she was drunk that she talked so bad about the women in the restaurant who was “all dolled up in a hat and jewelry, glittering like a false icon” (2807).  At the end of the story, she even called herself a slut (2809).  Although she seemed to think a lot of herself when she was sober, it was when she was drunk she viewed herself very negatively.  It is possible that the way she viewed herself when she was drunk was who she really was; she saw herself as lazy and she did not appear to have any job or to do any housework and she saw herself as a slut and she was not in love with her own husband.  The way she viewed herself changed dramatically depending on whether or not she was drunk or sober.

Janus/The Swimmer

In “Janus,” what is the symbolic meaning of the bowl?                           

            I believe that the main thing the bowl symbolizes in “Janus” is the memory of the affair that Andrea had.  I believe that it symbolizes an affair because it said that Andrea wanted to talk to her husband about it, but she kept it “such a constant secret” (89).  It seemed as if it were something she were hiding from her husband and something she could not possibly tell him about.  I believe it symbolizes her affair because when she left the bowl behind by accident once, it said that “she felt like rushing past the frowning woman and seizing her bowl” (88); I think that symbolizes her affair because it almost made it appear as if she were jealous that another woman was handling her “bowl.”  I also was led to believe the bowl symbolizes Andrea’s affair because it said that it was “only handled by her, set safely on one surface or another” (90); I thought that symbolized the affair because affairs are typically “handled with care” because they do not want others to find out what is happening because it could mess up many aspects of their lives.  It seemed as if the bowl was something that comforted Andrea because it constantly reminded her of her affair with her past lover.  I ultimately believe that Andrea is still truly in love with her past lover and the memory of him, therefore she holds onto this bowl that he bought her because it reminds her of their love; a love that was “perfect” (90).

In “The Swimmer,” what is the symbolic meaning of Ned’s journey?

            Ned’s journey in “The Swimmer” through his county and the pools in his county symbolizes his life.  In the beginning when he was with his wife at the Westerhazys’ pool he had the impression of “one of youth” because he was full of energy and sport and the weather was “clement.”  It was here that he took on the challenge to swim all the way home.  He swims through the Grahams’ and Hammers’ pool with no problem at all, and still looking forward to continuing his journey.  He swam through the Bunkers’ pool without a problem, but he heard thunder, which could symbolize something getting ready to change in his life.  After he swam through the Levys’ pool he felt somewhat tired, but still pleased.  Although he felt “pleased with everything” at that moment, it stormed.  It said that he had some excitement towards storms, which could symbolize his excitement or anxiety for changes that occurred in his life.  He noticed that there was a “sign of autumn” and he became sad; this symbolizes his life going by.  When he found the Wlechers’ pool dry he was “disappointed and mystified” which could symbolize a certain event in his life.  Although he was feeling somewhat down, he heard a tennis game which cheered him probably because it reminded him of the memory of his children.  At the Recreation Center he saw things as loud and harsh, which could symbolize the hardships of his life becoming worse or growing.  At the Hallorans’ him not acknowledging what Mrs. Halloran was talking to him about symbolizes the denial that he was living in.  Also at the Hallorans’ he was cold, tired, depressed, and lost his strength; all of this symbolizes how he felt about his misfortunes that he was in denial of.  At this time in his journey it was autumn, symbolizing even more of his life passing by.  At the Sachses’ pool he felt as if “he had no freedom of choice about his means of travel,” symbolizing that he felt as if he could not help the events that were truly occurring in his life.  He also came close to drowning at their pool, which symbolizes that he almost gave into the struggles of his life by giving up.  It was at the Biswangers’ pool that he noticed a “wintry gleam,” which revealed that he was aging and time was going by much faster than he realized.  The next pool, Shirley Adams’, holds a significant amount of importance to the story; this pool symbolizes his affair that he had, which could reveal why he sold his house or why he did not have his kids.  Through the next few pools, the Gilmartins’ and Clydes’, he was constantly losing strength and did not even feel the urge to celebrate that he was almost done with his journey.  These pools symbolize how his life had changed for the worse because of the actions of his affair.  He finally approached his house, the end of his journey, but it was empty and dark.  This ultimately symbolizes how long he had been away and also the end of a life.  “The Swimmer” contains strong symbolization to show the journey of Ned’s life.  He started out his journey as determined and full of energy, but by the end much time had passed and many things had changed making him feel very weak and also aged.