Because I have not posted much...I thought it would be nice to show you what I have been writing instead, and please no corrections. It would do me no good, I already submitted it to my teacher.
Joannis Lawlor
04/11/08
Composition 102
Lit Analysis
Epilogue: July 14, 2003 (Take Two)
It has been several years since the conviction of the men responsible for Michael’s death. My brother Paul assisted Lyle Ferguson in the case; he had completed law school the year before. Ten years, ten long years it took for Michael to get justice. This helped to calm Paul’s nerves down a bit. Then he met Deborah, they went on double dates with Lorraine and I. Though Lorraine and I went to different colleges, we both came back to Mobile. It was a bittersweet day, not even a year after I came home from college…my father died. He raised me and I respected him for that, but I finally had my chance at freedom, my own Jubilee. So I became a teacher at the same high school Lorraine taught Drama at, by 1987 we were married.
In 1988 we decided to go to New York City, so Lorraine could pursue her acting career. I became an advisor at a local high school, so other young people would have support in their dreams and aspirations, the support that I did not get. We lived in a light blue house in Milford, Connecticut, life was good. Whenever Lorraine and I go home to Mobile for the holidays, we get to see Paul, Deborah and their two children, Peter and Hannah. We even had some children of our own, they are good actors like their mother, and I seem to believe everything they say. To be able to find peace, I never thought this could happen to me…yes, I have had struggles with faith, but maybe there is hope for everyone to have a happy ending.
Now didn’t that sound like a wonderful ending to a potentially wonderful story? If only it were the real one… Like Trees, Walking is one of the more depressing books that I have read recently. I like stories with happy endings. And unfortunately Like, Trees Walking did not have that happy ending that I believe is so picturesque. The book is saturated with death. It begins with the lynching of Michael Donald and ends with Paul, the lead character’s older brother. However, it stands to reason that the lead character Roy is the seventh generation of morticians. Roy’s immersion in the world of funerals gives him a view that can seem so unique compared to the other characters. It’s as if death does not faze him anymore.
I had made more trips to churches for funerals than I had for worship, and each time I listened to the words the ministers had used for death. Transition. Home going. Passing. But I had drained the last of the blood from the bodies that lay beneath the flowers. By my lights, dead was dead. I sometimes watched the still baptismal waters and waited for any sign of a spirit that could do the impossible, raise the dead simply by calling their names. (Howard 66)
Because death is such a reality to him, it is hard for him to think of anything existing beyond his own reality.
As I read this book I tried to view it with an optimistic spirit. Thinking of the death of Michael as way for the town to begin anew, to remember the past and firmly change the future; the end of Lorraine’s last play to be the beginning of her future as an actress. Even the title to me exudes a sense of hope to me. The title comes from the bible, Mark 8:24. Like many verses in the bible if read alone they can be misunderstood. This verse comes from a story of Jesus healing a blind man. The man at first doesn’t see clearly when Jesus put spit upon the man’s eyelids. The man claimed he saw men, like trees, walking. But when Jesus places his hands upon the man for a second time, he is healed. However what is very intriguing is what Gould had to say about this verse, “This is the single case of a gradual cure in our Lord’s life…” (148).
I feel that maybe the title is referring the gradual process Roy goes through in life. He is very cynical as a young man. He hopes even with his unbelief that prayers will go answered, “My absence of faith didn’t mean I didn’t have any hope.” (Howard 119) With the impact of his brother’s death, he tries to fathom the power of an entity greater than himself. That he hopes his life will turn out alright, that something greater than him is really keeping the world turning.
But it as if every time we have reason to hope for that perfect happy ending, Howard just gives you another reason to give up (Just like Paul did). We see Lorraine’s aspirations to become an actress, but her father is so wrapped up in his work he hardly ever goes to her performances, you can see that it is having a toll on her (Howard 176-177). You may hope that the men who killed Michael are convicted, but they become…‘as free as the rest of us’ (Howard 213). You could even hope that Roy becomes free of his family responsibilities dealing with the funeral home.
However, even a long time after his brother’s death, he is still going to church every Sunday, and still burying dead people.
I stayed in Mobile to do the only work I’ve ever known. I still stand in those churches on Saturdays, listening to the same scriptures I hear repeated on Sunday mornings. We are for the bodies of the dead. The rest of them-I don’t know. I have more questions than I have faith. A mustard seed, they say. Maybe that’s enough. One day I’ll know. We all will. (Howard 252)
Through the whole book Roy is trying to find his way. He is trying to understand his lot in life, trying to find some peace.
If the book is any predictor of the future, I believe Roy will never find peace. He may reach astonishingly close, but not what he truly needs. He only wanted out (His responsibilities, Mobile, the funeral business…); he wanted his hopes and dreams fulfilled. Something he wanted, but would never get; Paul wanted justice for Michael, and that was a battle Paul lost. Lorraine hoped for the career of an actress, instead she became a mother and politician. As I read this book, I wanted to hope with the characters, that their own personal goals would be reached and when each subsequently failed, the reality set in…even though this book is fictional it is based on true events and the picturesque ending is extremely rare in the real world. Sad, but true; if you want a nice happy ending, I might suggest reading Chronicles of Narnia, or even Lord of the Rings.
Works Cited
Gould, Ezra P. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Mark. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1961.
Howard, Ravi. Like Trees, Walking. New York: Amistad, 2007.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Howdy!
So it's been about two months since I've last put something up here...I think it's cause I have a few problems.
1. I don't particularly enjoy writing.
2. My English professor seems to think that I don't do enough writing in my life, so there is always a paper of some sort to write for her.
3. (Not that good of an excuse, but still...) I find myself busy, most of the time too busy to write/type anything down.
But I have decided to post something so y'all can at least know I am still alive. In Boiling Springs news, about a week and a half ago the fire alarm went off in my dorm, Decker. I thought someone over cooked something in the kitchen. But a week after the fact, on the front page of our school newspaper, a gas main had been broken. There was some construction going on near my dorm, and apparently they discovered a tiny gas pipe that they did not know was there.
I think this is the biggest event that has happened all year, well earlier this semester the whole town lost power. I was like 10 minutes away from my classes being canceled. But they got the lights back on in time.
Also in Gardner-Webb news...Dimensions was awesome Tuesday. I went in and sat down like always. Tracy Jessup (The University Chaplin/Pastor/Preacher) said announcements like normal, then he told us a story.
There was a northern man who came down to the south and ate at a dinner. He ordered some Ham and Eggs. When he got the plate, there was grits on it too. He asked the waitress, "What is that?" She said, "Dem 'Thar grits." He said, "I didn't order grits." She said, "Grits just come wit' it."
Then Jessup said, like those grits...grace comes to you. The speaker they had planned did not watch his schedule closely, and was speaking at another college. So Jessup dismissed us. We sat there maybe...10 minutes. It was great. Usually we have to sit there listening to someone talk on and on...sometimes they are good, sometimes they are not so good. Last semester, there was a guy who said "Do Hugs Not Drugs!" Kinda cheesy to me.
Well hope everybody is good back home in Ky!
Miss y'all greatly,
Joannis
1. I don't particularly enjoy writing.
2. My English professor seems to think that I don't do enough writing in my life, so there is always a paper of some sort to write for her.
3. (Not that good of an excuse, but still...) I find myself busy, most of the time too busy to write/type anything down.
But I have decided to post something so y'all can at least know I am still alive. In Boiling Springs news, about a week and a half ago the fire alarm went off in my dorm, Decker. I thought someone over cooked something in the kitchen. But a week after the fact, on the front page of our school newspaper, a gas main had been broken. There was some construction going on near my dorm, and apparently they discovered a tiny gas pipe that they did not know was there.
I think this is the biggest event that has happened all year, well earlier this semester the whole town lost power. I was like 10 minutes away from my classes being canceled. But they got the lights back on in time.
Also in Gardner-Webb news...Dimensions was awesome Tuesday. I went in and sat down like always. Tracy Jessup (The University Chaplin/Pastor/Preacher) said announcements like normal, then he told us a story.
There was a northern man who came down to the south and ate at a dinner. He ordered some Ham and Eggs. When he got the plate, there was grits on it too. He asked the waitress, "What is that?" She said, "Dem 'Thar grits." He said, "I didn't order grits." She said, "Grits just come wit' it."
Then Jessup said, like those grits...grace comes to you. The speaker they had planned did not watch his schedule closely, and was speaking at another college. So Jessup dismissed us. We sat there maybe...10 minutes. It was great. Usually we have to sit there listening to someone talk on and on...sometimes they are good, sometimes they are not so good. Last semester, there was a guy who said "Do Hugs Not Drugs!" Kinda cheesy to me.
Well hope everybody is good back home in Ky!
Miss y'all greatly,
Joannis
Friday, February 22, 2008
So Much To Talk About...
I have been so busy with school...I'm sorry I have not posted in a long time. First off, I would like to thank everyone that sent me a birthday card, believe it or not mail is a great gift right up there with quarters and my mom can tell you how much I love quarters. When in college, quarters...well, unless you can go home to clean your clothes, quarters are very useful in keeping your clothes clean. We have to pay $2.00 a load to wash our laundry around here. 1.25 for the washer, .75 for the dryer.(and the machines only accept quarters!)
Anyway, last weekend was wonderful! My brother came all the way from Ky to see me for my birthday. And he only got confused twice! (confused meaning lost) I can tell y'all what happened...He arrived Thursday night about 7:00pm. All we did was empty his car, and I showed him the library.
Friday I woke up and went to my math class at 10:00 I told him to meet me at the library and he would go to my ASL class with me at 11:00am. I found him reading some Dumas books, and after ASL class I checked out those books for him. I don't think he got done with them in time. (I think he was reading the Count of Monte Cristo, but you would have to ask him about that...I maybe his little sister, but I don't know everything he does.)
I went to the Cafe and we have these to-go boxes, I filled one up with enough food for Jonathan and I both, we went to the basement and ate in the Kennel. There I met my friend Erin Mann. She works with costumes in the theatre department. She was planning to go to a fabric store; Mary Jo's in Gastonia, NC. I asked Jonathan what he wanted to do. And we agreed, I would go to the fabric store with Erin, and he would spend time in the library working on a paper for his college class.
Erin and I did not get back to Gardner-Webb until 6:30pm.
I went to dinner as soon as we got back, found Jonathan, and forced him to go to a Deaf Performance Night here at GWU. There were stories, funny ones, ABC stories, all sorts of stuff. We have group called Joyful Hands and they performed a couple songs, which looked wonderful. One of the few things Jonathan seemed to understand...well there is this one interpreter here on campus, she is very skilled. She also leads the Joyful Hands group. Apparently the girls in that group made something to challenge her. A melody of various snips of songs put together, she had to interpret them with no preparation or even knowing which songs they were gonna use, they did this twice, once in the beginning and another time later in the night. They used rap, rock, heavy metal, techno, musical, any type of music that you could think of that has lyrics, they had for her to interpret. It was hilarious when she couldn't tell what was being sung. I was finished at 9:30pm, a group of us went to Denny's afterward. Jonathan refused to go, so I went in a car with some friends. The interesting thing, because there was so many of us, and since all the hearing people did not talk, only signed, the tickets got messed up, and quite a few did not have to pay for their meal. I was one of them. Yeah all I got was a dessert, but still that $5.00 I could use for something else. We got back at 1:00 in the morning.
Saturday I woke up around 10:00ish, called some friends, found my brother and started baking my cake around 12:30ish. My friends, Matt, Chelsea, Stephanie, Amber, and my bro started watching some anime around 1:00pm in Decker lobby. After Amber got to eat some cake, (the cake was chocolate with chocolate icing) she left a few hours later. We only stopped for one hour for dinner, after dinner Stephanie had to leave, she had to play for the band at the basketball game. She is in the marching band/Pep band. After that, it was just me, Jonathan, Matt and Chelsea. We stayed up until 1:00am watching the anime. It was a great weekend!
Well that's all I feel like sharing for right now, hopefully I will find some more time to post more stuff sometime soon.
much love,
Joannis
Anyway, last weekend was wonderful! My brother came all the way from Ky to see me for my birthday. And he only got confused twice! (confused meaning lost) I can tell y'all what happened...He arrived Thursday night about 7:00pm. All we did was empty his car, and I showed him the library.
Friday I woke up and went to my math class at 10:00 I told him to meet me at the library and he would go to my ASL class with me at 11:00am. I found him reading some Dumas books, and after ASL class I checked out those books for him. I don't think he got done with them in time. (I think he was reading the Count of Monte Cristo, but you would have to ask him about that...I maybe his little sister, but I don't know everything he does.)
I went to the Cafe and we have these to-go boxes, I filled one up with enough food for Jonathan and I both, we went to the basement and ate in the Kennel. There I met my friend Erin Mann. She works with costumes in the theatre department. She was planning to go to a fabric store; Mary Jo's in Gastonia, NC. I asked Jonathan what he wanted to do. And we agreed, I would go to the fabric store with Erin, and he would spend time in the library working on a paper for his college class.
Erin and I did not get back to Gardner-Webb until 6:30pm.
I went to dinner as soon as we got back, found Jonathan, and forced him to go to a Deaf Performance Night here at GWU. There were stories, funny ones, ABC stories, all sorts of stuff. We have group called Joyful Hands and they performed a couple songs, which looked wonderful. One of the few things Jonathan seemed to understand...well there is this one interpreter here on campus, she is very skilled. She also leads the Joyful Hands group. Apparently the girls in that group made something to challenge her. A melody of various snips of songs put together, she had to interpret them with no preparation or even knowing which songs they were gonna use, they did this twice, once in the beginning and another time later in the night. They used rap, rock, heavy metal, techno, musical, any type of music that you could think of that has lyrics, they had for her to interpret. It was hilarious when she couldn't tell what was being sung. I was finished at 9:30pm, a group of us went to Denny's afterward. Jonathan refused to go, so I went in a car with some friends. The interesting thing, because there was so many of us, and since all the hearing people did not talk, only signed, the tickets got messed up, and quite a few did not have to pay for their meal. I was one of them. Yeah all I got was a dessert, but still that $5.00 I could use for something else. We got back at 1:00 in the morning.
Saturday I woke up around 10:00ish, called some friends, found my brother and started baking my cake around 12:30ish. My friends, Matt, Chelsea, Stephanie, Amber, and my bro started watching some anime around 1:00pm in Decker lobby. After Amber got to eat some cake, (the cake was chocolate with chocolate icing) she left a few hours later. We only stopped for one hour for dinner, after dinner Stephanie had to leave, she had to play for the band at the basketball game. She is in the marching band/Pep band. After that, it was just me, Jonathan, Matt and Chelsea. We stayed up until 1:00am watching the anime. It was a great weekend!
Well that's all I feel like sharing for right now, hopefully I will find some more time to post more stuff sometime soon.
much love,
Joannis
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Obama 08?
Well I really felt like posting about something we watched in English today. Now I am a republican and with my upbringing I really don't there was any way I was gonna become anything else but that, however Barak Obama concerns me regardless of my party affiliation.
As a young person on a college campus I can say first hand pretty assuredly that quite a few young people support Obama. I see Clinton getting the old school democrat vote with Obama getting the young ones, but not only young democrats, quite a few young republicans that are not as well connected with their party's platform as the older one, seem to have taken in the belief that Bush has done a most detestable job as a president, now I'm not saying he compares to Washington or even Lincoln, but still I feel sometimes that he is getting a bad rap just because he had the gumption to become more agressive in our foreign policy.
Quite a few young republicans seem to be liking Barak Obama a bit much. If he wins the democratic nominee, he very well could be the next president. (I can't believe I said that, but that's my gut feeling, and growing up around politics I feel that I can tell an extremely effective campaign from just an effective one.)
But what I wanted to share was a link to this music video made by some musician guy...he is supporting Obama, obviously, but the interesting thing that caught my eye that I was not expecting...the token "deaf" person. I don't know if the woman is deaf for sure, but she does sign what was being spoken in the song. When we watched it in class I was not expecting it, so I was only focusing on the words of the song, but as soon as I saw her hands move I focused. Yes that part only last for a couple seconds. But it was interesting how they threw that in...kind like "Oh, I think I'll try to get some deaf vote by having some one sign in my music video!" I'm just a little bit cynical of politicians who try to use those types of ploys. And Mom, if you notice Si Se Puede is repeated a few times in the song as well. (I think that's supposed to be Yes We Can in Spanish?)
Well watch it and tell me what you think, and I'm sorry to the deaf people out there the whole song does not have captions of any kind, but there are some graphics through out the video and I guess they get the main idea across...
Here's the link...
As a young person on a college campus I can say first hand pretty assuredly that quite a few young people support Obama. I see Clinton getting the old school democrat vote with Obama getting the young ones, but not only young democrats, quite a few young republicans that are not as well connected with their party's platform as the older one, seem to have taken in the belief that Bush has done a most detestable job as a president, now I'm not saying he compares to Washington or even Lincoln, but still I feel sometimes that he is getting a bad rap just because he had the gumption to become more agressive in our foreign policy.
Quite a few young republicans seem to be liking Barak Obama a bit much. If he wins the democratic nominee, he very well could be the next president. (I can't believe I said that, but that's my gut feeling, and growing up around politics I feel that I can tell an extremely effective campaign from just an effective one.)
But what I wanted to share was a link to this music video made by some musician guy...he is supporting Obama, obviously, but the interesting thing that caught my eye that I was not expecting...the token "deaf" person. I don't know if the woman is deaf for sure, but she does sign what was being spoken in the song. When we watched it in class I was not expecting it, so I was only focusing on the words of the song, but as soon as I saw her hands move I focused. Yes that part only last for a couple seconds. But it was interesting how they threw that in...kind like "Oh, I think I'll try to get some deaf vote by having some one sign in my music video!" I'm just a little bit cynical of politicians who try to use those types of ploys. And Mom, if you notice Si Se Puede is repeated a few times in the song as well. (I think that's supposed to be Yes We Can in Spanish?)
Well watch it and tell me what you think, and I'm sorry to the deaf people out there the whole song does not have captions of any kind, but there are some graphics through out the video and I guess they get the main idea across...
Here's the link...
Woo-Hoo!
So...I am very excited, my brother should be coming to visit me in about a week, the same time as my 19th birthday!
In other news, I have moved to a new dorm, unfortunately my roommate and I had a different sense of humor. So now I live in the dorm called Decker and plus the room I moved into was empty, so I don't have a roommate now! I can be sociable, but sometimes I just like being alone. I don't think it's bad, it's just me.
Because Decker rooms are a lot smaller, I bunked the two beds to give myself more space. The interesting thing was...when I first moved in, my friends and I could not find any of the metal rods that you are supposed to use when bunking the beds together, so what did my friend Marcus do...he took a pencil and broke it in 2, and used those piece to put the bed together. It stayed that way for about a week. Until I told my friend Ezelis about it, Ezelis is a RA and she is a CODA, she put in a order for the physical plant people to come and fix it. So Tuesday afternoon, I go to my room and find three guys working on my bed. I don't know if they could not get the pencil's remains out or what, but there was some drilling that went on in there, I was chilling in my friend's room across the hall. Wednesday the power went out in the whole town of Boiling Springs for almost a hour. So obviously they did not come back until today, but now my bed is back together again, and much safer to boot! :-)
Tonight I went to this bible study we have in my hall, they have in the room that is next door to me, so I don't have very far to walk. we talked about Leah and Rachel, and discuss about how sometimes us women get a bit to wrapped up in our desire to be loved that we are almost willing to do anything to get it. Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, so Leah had a bunch of baby boys for Jacob in attempts to win his love, Rachel got jealous so gave Jacob her slave, then Leah followed suit and gave him her slave as well...it just kept going back and forth. Our bible study leader Stephanie just said, that as young women we need to remember that not only romantic love, but even friendships with other girls will not always last, only our relationship with God will last through all our years...nice stuff I thought.
well hope you got something interesting out of this post. talk to yall later!
Joannis
In other news, I have moved to a new dorm, unfortunately my roommate and I had a different sense of humor. So now I live in the dorm called Decker and plus the room I moved into was empty, so I don't have a roommate now! I can be sociable, but sometimes I just like being alone. I don't think it's bad, it's just me.
Because Decker rooms are a lot smaller, I bunked the two beds to give myself more space. The interesting thing was...when I first moved in, my friends and I could not find any of the metal rods that you are supposed to use when bunking the beds together, so what did my friend Marcus do...he took a pencil and broke it in 2, and used those piece to put the bed together. It stayed that way for about a week. Until I told my friend Ezelis about it, Ezelis is a RA and she is a CODA, she put in a order for the physical plant people to come and fix it. So Tuesday afternoon, I go to my room and find three guys working on my bed. I don't know if they could not get the pencil's remains out or what, but there was some drilling that went on in there, I was chilling in my friend's room across the hall. Wednesday the power went out in the whole town of Boiling Springs for almost a hour. So obviously they did not come back until today, but now my bed is back together again, and much safer to boot! :-)
Tonight I went to this bible study we have in my hall, they have in the room that is next door to me, so I don't have very far to walk. we talked about Leah and Rachel, and discuss about how sometimes us women get a bit to wrapped up in our desire to be loved that we are almost willing to do anything to get it. Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, so Leah had a bunch of baby boys for Jacob in attempts to win his love, Rachel got jealous so gave Jacob her slave, then Leah followed suit and gave him her slave as well...it just kept going back and forth. Our bible study leader Stephanie just said, that as young women we need to remember that not only romantic love, but even friendships with other girls will not always last, only our relationship with God will last through all our years...nice stuff I thought.
well hope you got something interesting out of this post. talk to yall later!
Joannis
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