Start of African American Lit. Posts

 From this point on all blog posts are related to African American Lit.

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Clarissa's Opinion on Mental Health Professionals

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    The Doctor's Visit by Jan Steen                  Throughout Mrs. Dalloway , the so-called mental health professionals of the time are portrayed in a very negative light. Septimus abhors Dr. Holmes, referring to him as “Human Nature” which Septimus views as inherently evil. Dr. Holmes, despite his assumption that he knows best, does nothing to help Septimus and instead further pushes him over the edge. Sir William Bradshaw, though more helpful than Holmes considering he actually believes Septimus is mentally ill, also ultimately makes matters worse by attempting to force Septimus to live away from Lucrezia. Woolf makes it explicit that the added stress of these looming doctors that ignore the feelings of their patient is part of what drives Septimus to commit suicide, suggesting a deep contempt of the doctors Woolf encountered in her own life.             After finishi...
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Free Will in The Plague

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  The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo (c. 1508-1512) There have been many different responses to the plague. Some townspeople have chosen to essentially ignore it and wait for it to pass, some have decided to help fight the plague, and some have set their houses on fire. The way different characters have reacted reveal a lot about their worldviews. In Paneloux’s case, he has decided to give sermons about the plague, stating that the plague is part of God’s unwavering plan. Meanwhile Tarrou has set out to help the health committees control the spread of the plague, showing that he believes human efforts can save lives. I find Paneloux’s and Tarrou’s viewpoints particularly interesting, as they seem polarizing, and get into the question of whether the people on The Plague have free will. As Paneloux says in his sermons, he firmly believes that the plague is God’s will and that God’s will must be accepted in its entirety or fought in its entirety—there cannot be any middle ground. ...
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Fighting Invisibilty?

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Equestrian Portrait of the Count Duke Olivares  by Kehinde Wiley (2005) Having now finished Invisible Man , I find that there is an aspect of the novel that I am conflicted about and have been since the prologue: the narrator’s acceptance of his invisibility. In the prologue, when the narrator is first introducing the concept of invisibility, he says, “I am not complaining, not am I protesting either. It is sometimes advantageous to be unseen, although it is most often rather wearing on the nerves” (3). I find this passage interesting because the narrator is explicit about the hardships of being invisible (and then proceeds to write a whole book about them), but he also seems rather accepting of his invisibility. On one hand, I think it would be impossible for the narrator to be “visible.” His invisibility is completely out of his control and has entirely to do with the fact that he is a black man living in a racist society. Additionally, before discovering his invisibility, the ...
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