Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Christmas on the run
I feel like all the running Christmas is doing, in chapter 14, is peeling away sheets of protection from society, he seems to forget how important race is to the society he belongs to, for example when he walks into an all black restaurant expecting to be served without second guessing from the severs. He even seems a little more peaceful by himself in nature than in towns where he is forced to obey laws of society. However i'm not sure if this time alone is truly helping Christmas, because the chapter ends with this ere sentence, "mark on his ankles the gauge definite and ineradicable of the black tide creeping up his legs, moving from his feet upward as death moves.". I suppose I am a bit torn between what Christmas is truly feeling while on the run...
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I'm curious- what do you think the mark represents?
ReplyDeleteSo you're saying that time will make Christmas accept himself or the thought of there being no time will ?
ReplyDeleteThis reminded me of how when ever some one is going thro something they always say "Just give it time to heal" or "Time heals all wounds"
DeleteIm saying that this is a possibility, so yea I guess time can help heal Christmases problems.
DeleteIn all honesty I doubt that Christmas' past wounds will ever heal. Instead, I wonder if he is trying to simply come to terms with his inescapable future. It's true that he cannot find peace on either side of the racial spectrum. However, knowing that he finds peace in self isolation within nature, so this leads me to believe that he cannot find a way to release himself from his past pain, maybe he wants to spend his last few moments in the only peace he knows.
DeleteI feel like the time he is alone is helping him develop as a person.
ReplyDeleteI actually think that time will help him become a better person.
DeleteI don't think that the time alone is really helping him. He still doesn't let go of his past.
ReplyDeleteI agreed I feel like the time alone will only take his mind off of things but once he begins to interact with people again he would not know how to handle it because he is not used to being in a room with carrying people
DeleteI agree with both of you. I think that for a certain amount of time Christmas might be able to finally be at peace with himself but perfection doesn't last long. Once Christmas goes back into reality, all the "peace" he had will simply disappear.
DeleteI don't think time alone will help him change but I do believe it is something that will help, but like you said he needs to let go of his past.
DeleteI agree, in order for him to change he first needs to let the burden of his past go.
DeleteI think that the analogy that you made about peeling away sheets is quite interesting. You bring up some interesting points. It does seem as if he worries about whether a certain place belongs to people who are "white" or "black".
ReplyDeleteI agree with julia. I think its interesting how you say he is forgetting the division between the whites and the blacks. He walks into the restaurant and expects to be served because he is a person and not a certain colour.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it is because he is mixed so he can see him self in both worlds and forgets that the real world is divided.
DeleteI agree to, I think that maybe this time alone is not so helpful after all. I think he still remains the same no matter what. Now, i do agree that he may not be able to interact well with others if he realizes that he had to return back to the town. Who knows if Christmas will ever find any type of acceptance.
ReplyDeleteA lot of people are saying how Christmasis always found in nature and is somewhat ok when he is alone. Do you guys think that Faulkner is suggesting the idea of transcendentalism? That Joe can only come to terms with him self through nature?
ReplyDeleteI never even thought about it being a transcendentalist theme, but i totally agree about this being a transcendentalist idea.
DeleteGisslle, bring up a good point with the trancdentalism, but I dont think he was ever trying to find himself in nature. Joe was most likley trying to forget about his past.
ReplyDeleteI like how you said that when Christmas walked into the restaurant he was able to feel a little more accepted. He was finally being treated as equal to everyone else rather then being judge by his skin color. I think slowly Christmas might be accepted into the community.
ReplyDeleteChristmas is very hard to read and figure out what he is going to do next. Some people just like being alone. Maybe that's why he is such an interesting character. He brings curiosity to the reader.
ReplyDeleteI like how you said "He even seems a little more peaceful by himself in nature than in towns where he is forced to obey laws of society" I think every one can relate to this. When you are in society you are having to follow these rules, do this and do that. You can never really do what you want to do. But when you are in nature, alone by your self, you can do what you want. There is no none thereto tell you what you can and can not do because there is no rules in nature. I can see why he would be more peaceful in nature.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Many people learn more about themselves and who they are when in nature as opposed to being around society.
DeleteYes, in nature they are allowed to be themselves.
DeleteHim being alone does help him forget about his past but in the long run I don't believe isolation is going to help him accept himself.
ReplyDeleteChristmas is confused it's almost as if he does not fit in either way however I don't feel like its a transcendental move .
ReplyDeleteTime alone will not heal Christmas. Remember Christmas has been in pain his entire life time, 30years. When he was in the woods he felt happy and free. He felt like he was in a world where ethics did not exists. When he was with the black family he felt the same, but he felt peace. The way Christmas can heal is by being alone and with blacks because blacks go through similar things
ReplyDeleteRunning away is not the solution. He will have to stop eventually and everything will come back the same if not in a stronger way. Being alone his problems will be in with him and being with people wont make his problems go away. Maybe he is raching a state of unconsciousness!
ReplyDelete