The House on Mango Street- quote response

Page 747:
"They always told us that one day we would move into a house, a real house that would be ours for always so we wouldn't have to move each year."
*This is a sad quote because the narrator tells it like she knows it is an impossible feat to overcome. The narrator knows that her family is poor and even at a young age realizes how muh off a strain it would be on the family in order for them to get a house, let alone get the house they dream of.

Page 748:
"I knew then I had to have a house. A real house. One I could point to. But this isn't it. The house on Mango Street isn't it. For the time being, Mama says. Temporay, says Papa. But I know how those things go."
*The narrator is implying that her parents still have faith and are trying to spread that faith upon their children. However, the narrator seems to know better and look at life more realistically than her parents notice her to.

Seeing - quote response #2

*page 702*
"A fifteen-year-old boy, who was aslo in love with a girl ath the asylum for the blind, finally blurted out, "No, really, I can't stand it any more; I want to be sent back to the asylum again. If things aren't altered, I'll tear my eyes out.""
This quote struck me as interesting because it put into persepective how powerful eyesight is. The impact on a life that seeing has is great. The quote is one example of this. THe boy who had been blind and recieved surgery was in love with another blind girl. The fact that he could now see and had to be removed was life changing for him. One of the changes involved was never "seeing" his love again. This drove the boy to almost insanity in order to just be in her presance again. That is why he made the statement he did.

*PAGE 704*
"Like a blind man at the ball game, I need a radio."
The narrator is trying to elaborate upon the fact that unless she knows exactly what is going on inher surroundings she will simply observe. Therfore, not saying anything, she just becomes aware of what is going on around her. Only when in a familiar place will the narrator speak and speak openly. When in a familiar place she will speak freely. This analogy relates because it is as if she were at a baseball game. Since she does not understand the sport and may not be able to follow where the ball goes, rather than talking she watches and pays attention in order to better her understanding of what is happening.

Seeing- quote responses #1

*page 693*
"But I never lurked about. I would go straight home and not give the matter another thought, until, some months later, I would be gripped again by the impulse to hide another penny."
This is the narrator speaking of the days when she was about six or seven and had desires to hide her pennies for other people to find. The way she describes how she planned it out and then leaves quickly seems kind off creeepy to me.

*page 695*
"Finally I asked, "What color am I looking for?" and a fellow said, "Green." "When at last I picked out the frog, I saw what painters are up against: te thign wasn't green at all, but the color of wet hickory bark."
I was intrigued by this quote because I always seem to have the same problem. Whenever I ask what color something is, people always give me back a general color. Sometimes I disagree with this color and often times it maddens me to think that people dont know any specific colors. People are too vague for my taste when it comes to art. A true artist could tell you exactly what color something was like the wet hickory bark. I do the same thing. Wehn people ask me what color somethign is, I tell them exactly what color the object is.

The Dharma Bums-quote response

Page 172:
*I went out to the privy and, coming back, wishing to surprise Japhy with a Zen trick I threw the roll of toilet paper through the open window and he let out a big Samurai Warrior roar and appeared on the windowsill in his boots and shorts with a dagger in his hand and jumped fifteen feet down into the loggy yard.
--After hes says privy I am completely dumbfounded. To me, privy is used as the word for bathroom by Australians. I tought that Ray portrayed Kerouac whom in turn I believed to be English. I was shocked after I read that...and somewhat dissapointed. Privy is such a weird word to me that when I read that for some reason immediatly "YUCK" popped into my head. Other than that the quote really had no meaning to me.

Page 186:
* "You love her, don't you?" "You damn right, I oughta marry her myself." "But she's your sister." "I don't give a goddamn. She needs a real man like me. You don't know how wild she is, you weren't brought up with her in the woods."
--Japhy turned out to be quite the disturbed and disturbing man. Not only does he get fed up with his sister's fiance because he thinks that the guy sucks, but he has it in his head that he ought to marry her instead! This is incest and inbreeding. Another thing it is is disgusting and the fact that Japhy portrays one of Kerouac's real live friends frightens me. However, if that is how he really feels abotu his sister, then I believe he should pursue his dreams and invest in true love as logn as his sister truly felt the same way. Individuals need to learn to be happy with themselves and treat themselves with respect , once in a whiel giving in to their sheer desires.

The Dharma Bums-quote response

Page 150:
*"I sit and smoke a pipe and drink tea and hear the wind beat the slender eucalyptus limbs like whips and the cypress windrow roars."
-- This is in a letter Japhy wrote to Smith on his way over. To me this sounds like paradise because of the way he describes his life so casually. Not only does he get to lounge around all day and just lay back and relax on his little straw mats in California, but he gets to drink his calming tea and listen to the music mother nature supplies him with. That to me is ideal in the sense that I love nature and living organisms and sitting outside lounging around, all curled up and cuddled with my favorite drink sounds heavenly.

Page 166:
*"I cooked up a nice pot of beans for you." "You did?" He was tremendously grateful. "Boy, what a relief to come home from work and don't have to cook up a meal yourself. I'm starved."
-- Meaningful and beautiful is what this quote is. Ray had made and cooked a bean meal for Japhy and brought it to him. Today, had anyone done this for anyone else I am aquanted with would find this very odd and would not be the least bit thankful. I suppose since Japhy is Buddist this might have something to do with his beign very grateful. It makes me happy to know that there are some people in the world who are grateful for what they have/get. Knowing that the characters int eh book prtray real people is a comfortign peice of information.

Alcoholism

The abusive consumption of alcohol is known as alcoholism. Almost like a disease, the effects of alcohol on a body can be fatal. Not only do you put your liver to work in a way that over stresses your body, but you can also die from the poisoning. Alcoholism tends to be a problem for people who seem to be having social/personal problems. A person who has an abusive spouse, or abusive parentals tend to have more depression related problems which in turn leads to the alcohol. When a body shies away from social help and strays to alcohol in order to forget about their problems, then what that person needs is serious psycological help. The fact that a substance can take over a life is frightening. The fact that that substance can end a life is even more frightening. Alcohol has always been a favorite in the pleasure department. In the 1920's men would drink all the time in order to get drunk and go wild, beleiving that the drunker they were the more fun they would have. Today substance abuse still exists. This is shown in the novel "The Dharma Bums" as seen by man character Ray Smith who portrays the author himself, Jack Kerouac. Kerouac battled with alcohol in real life just like Smith portrays him to. Smith, when in conversations with another character, often refers back to wine. As you read you begin to see how much of an alcoholic Ray really is. Not only does he constantly rave about wine, but he constantly drinks it. One example of this is on page thirty seven where Ray and another character, Japhy, are discussing their plans about a mountain climb they want to take: "...Do we bring wine?" Ray asks this of Japhy due to his curiosity about what they are bringing. Japhy sort of chuckles and explains to Ray that that would not be an okay thing to do and Ray immediatley becomes dissapointed.

Paper Topic

****ALCOHOLISM****