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What would Oswald think?

 The assassination of JFK sent shockwaves through the U.S. It was described as the country’s trauma, and many people who were around at the time remembers exactly where they were when it happened. Of course with this much emotion surrounding the case, the main suspect of the assassination will get just as much attention. In this case, Lee Harvey Oswald. Beyond the attention that Oswald received, many conspiracy theories sprang up regarding the assassination. People didn’t want to think that one random guy was able to take out one of the most famous and influential people in the world. But to be fair, there was a decent amount of evidence that it might not have been Oswald working by himself. These conspiracy theories vary in many different ways, with some people even theorizing that the driver turned around and shot Kennedy. I want to think about what Oswald would think about the current landscape of theories regarding the JFK assassination as Oswald is depicted in Libra. Oswald is...
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KEVIN

 Throughout our discussions about Kindred  in class, a hot topic we discussed often was Kevin. Kevin is one of the few white people in the novel, and the only one that isn't a slaveowner. So when Kevin was placed in the past of slavery, it was only natural that we would question whether or not Kevin would be able to withstand the priveleges of being a white man in a time period in which white men were put on a pedastal and given all the priveleges one can think of. His own wife can't help but question whether or not Kevin will return home the same man he once was. However, throughout the novel we see Kevin stay strong and he doesn't fold to the indulgences for the white man in the 1800s. However, he does have his flaws. An example of Kevin holding strong is when he tells Dana that he had been helping slaves escape, even though it may cost him his life. This shows Kevin's commitment to the cause. However, Kevin struggles with interpersonal relationships with slaves and h...
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I get the feeling Ishmael Reed doesn't really like white people.

  Mumbo Jumbo has to be, without a doubt, the weirdest, craziest, stupid book I have ever read. However, there is a lot of social commentary intertwined with the odd plot. One thing I picked up on was Ishmael Reed's constant satorization of white people, which I thought was kind of funny and pretty interesting. Ishmael Reed often makes fun of white people, almost to a point where it becomes offensive at some point. I think that Reed is basically inviting white people to be offended when he includes the point of view of people in Africa when white colonizers first entered Africa. PaPa LaBas comes across some lampoons in Abdul's office. He shows the point of view of the African people, and they go in on the appearance of white people. They say their skin looks like chalk and they are depicted as ridiculously ugly. The Africans had a great sense of humor which the Christians stamped out and instead brought "glumness, depression, surliness, cynicism, malice without artfulness...
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The Crazy, Wacky, and Silly Ending to Ragtime

During our discussions in class there was much heated debate about the ending of Ragtime. Some enjoyed it and saw it is a clever way to end the story, while for others it left a lot to be desired. A lot of people complained, saying the ending was rushed and didn't provide a satisfying ending to some major characters in the book. Others defended it saying that it was just a way for Doctorow to show how the era of Ragtime is over at this point, and that it signifies the continuation in time past the book. While the ending can leave a lot to be desired, I think that Doctorow does this on purpose and isn't just a "bad ending". Doctorow cuts off a lot of the main characters quite mercilessly, quickly skimming through how each character dies. Of course this leaves the reader feeling very unsatisfied, but I think that Doctorow uses this to show how "life goes on". We fell in love with the characters and felt they needed better closure, but in real life, people don...
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E.L. Doctorow's Genius Methods

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  Ragtime  by E.L. Doctorow has a very unique style, one that I haven't seen used in any other book. I would characterize this book as historical fiction, but unlike other books in this genre, it intertwines real characters with fictional characters, and also makes real characters interact with other real characters, although those interactions never actually happened (as far as we know). He also uses his fictional characters to link to another story about a real-life event. These are really important aspects of the book, but there is a reason for this unique style. It allows Doctorow to make political commentary or poke fun at certain things in American history. A good example of this is Peary's expedition. The Peary expedition was a very real event, in which Peary and his group of men set out to find the north pole. Doctorow ties this in with Father being included in this expedition, although he wasn't actually in that group, as far as history tells us. Father is sent hom...
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