The Invisible Man

I was not really a fan of this book. It was kind of slow and boring to me. The one thing I did like about this book was the point that it kinda brought across to me. I think the book was trying to say that no matter how many falls and push backs you have in life you have to continue to move on and strive forward. Life is hard and sucks at times but that is not a good enough reason to give up and I think the narrator of this book kind of gives up on his life. He tries to become invisible and basically does I think because he does not want to deal with the world anymore. Being invisible is his way of escaping the harsh realities of life. He tried so many times in his life to overcome what color he was and was push down so many times he just gave up. The narrator also seemed to be confused about who he was. He seemed to just go with the flow and agree to what the people around him said. That could be another reason why he said he was "invisible", because he really had no perception of who he was. I guess there could be many other reasons why he became and said he was "invisible" but those were my two guesses.

The House of the Spirits

Clara was one of my favorite characters in this book. She always seemed so calm about things and she seemed like such a caring person. Like she was one of those people that you could always go to for help and advice. I also liked her daughter, Blanca. The reason I liked Blanca was because she loved Pedro and no matter what everyone said she still saw him and loved him for who he was. She did not let her father take that away from her. Many people tried to tell her that he was not right for her just because she was from a different class as him. The only thing that mattered to Blanca was that she loved him and he loved her. That is the only thing that should ever matter in love, not what color or class the other person is. Esteban was another main character in the book. I did not like him at first because he thought he was the greatest and could do anything he wanted, but in the end my view changed of him. When his wife, Clara, died I realized how much he loved and cared for her. He sat in bed with her when she died and just talked to her about things he never could before. It really showed the other side of Esteban. He was also a good worker. He put most of his time and effort into making Tres Marias better for the people, even though he wasn't always nice to them, he helped them out a lot. This book was interesting because it goes through so many generations and peoples lives. It was an exciting book from the beginning to the end, you never really knew what was going to happen.

Antigone

This was another story about doing what you think is right and standing up for what you believe in. Antigone thinks that her brother should have a proper burial, but her sister is worried about getting killed if they give him the right burial. Antigone does not care if she gets killed, she just thinks its wrong that they can not give their brother the proper burial. Kreon, the king, is against giving Antigone's brother a burial. She is ordered to death by Kreon. Antigone is not scared by death. She is going to fight for her brother until she dies. That is her family and she will die for them. It takes a lot of couage to do what Antigone does in this book. Some people would fight but when it came to their own life they would leave it alone. She continues to fight on no matter what. She is like a hero, standing up for what is right and no quitting until she gets what she wants or is killed because of it

Gregorio Cortez

Gregorio Cortez was a brave man. He stood up to many rangers and officers of the law. He believed what he was doing was right and he was helping his brother out. I do not think it is good to run from things but Gregorio Cortez did and he almost got away with everything. They were after him for shootin the sheriff, but everytime people found him they would let him fo because they were too afraid or they had too much respect for him. I think the bravest thing that Gregorio Cortez did was to turn himself in the end because he knew that many people were getting killed because he was running from the law. This story had a good moral to it, to be couragious and know the difference between right and wrong.

Blood Wedding

I really liked this play. The bride in this play was getting married to someone but loved someone else. The bride got married and everything and then decided to run away with the real person that she loved. I think it was wrong that she went and got married, but I also think that you should be with the person you love no matter what. The important thing is about you being happy with the person you are with, it is pointless to stay with someone if you do not love them. The bride also caused many deaths that could have been avoided if she would have just picked who she wanted before the wedding. She caused the bridegroom and her lover, Leondaro to be killed. It was a tradegy that they both had to die because of their love for the bride. So in the end the bride did not get either on of them because of her confusion for the one she loved. It is very hard to choose because you can see both in good people, but in the long run you have to choose one or you are going to lose both of them, like the bride in this play did.

The Awakening

Edna was very confused with what she wanted in her life. She had a husband who she loved, but she also had a lover whom she loved also. She did not want to be like all the other people who lived in her town. She wanted to be an individual and be herself. She did things, like learn how to swim, to prove that she did not have to be like all the other ladies she hang out with. The book is called awakening because I think Edna had an awakening to figure out who she was and who she wanted to be. It is so hard to find out who you are and it is a challenge that Edna accepted and did not care what other people thought about her. That is a very brave thing to do and I admire her for that. Edna shows that she can be a strong woman in this book and back in those days it was very hard to be perceived as a strong woman. Many people in the book thought something was wrong with her or that she was crazy, but I think it is good to try and be an individual and do what you feel is right.

The Yellow Wallpaper

After reading this story, I did not know what to think. It was wierd and crazy. The man has his woman locked in a room and she is going crazy or was already crazy. She is obsessed with the wallpaper and rips it down cause she thinks something is wrong with it. He tells her she has nervous condition and I think he is more in denial about her being crazy. He locks her in the room as a way for him to kind of hide it and not have to face it. The lady talks about how much she loves her man, John, thoroughout the whole story, but he just locks her up all day. I think she is very confused and is crazy. The story also says something about a baby, so maybe they had a baby and the lady went crazy. I think her husband thinks its a good idea to keep her away from the baby because she might hurt it by accident. I was not really sure what to think of this story except that it was confusing and I did not really understand the point of it.

Narrative-Douglas

This reading really opened my eyes to what the slaves had to go through. I knew that what they went through was hard, but I never imagined it would have been like what Douglas describes in this story. The white people back then thought that this behavior was normal and saw nothing wrong with it. Even if someone did not agree with what everyone else thought they could not say anything because people would think they were crazy. White people believed that they were superior to all colored people and basically wanted no one to come in the way of them being in control. They did not allow the slaves to read, write, or even know when they where born. The white people treated slaves like they were nothing and that they deserved nothing all because of the color of their skin. How can people judge other people just because of the color of their skin? The color of someone's skin does not change who they are, it is just one part of them. People still have racism instilled in them in the world today and it just does not make sense to me.
Even though Douglas was a slave and was treated unfairly, he overcame many obstacles in his life. He taught himself how to read and write. Douglas was put down his whole life, but still managed to be rather successful. He got beat up, yelled at, and almost killed at times but still got back up and was determined to succeed. I think it would be so hard to get back up that many times after being told that you are worthless and do not even deserve to live. It takes alot of courage and strength to get through something like that. I think my life is hard sometimes but this story really makes me think that I have it easy. I don't think I could be that stong, like Douglas is. I really respect him and honor him for his success and his fight for freedom, even though he never really received it.