Larissa's Blog

In Kindred Dana and Rufus are both stuck in a time-travel paradox, in which Dana repeatedly gets sent back in time to safe Rufus, her ancestor. Due to their unique circumstances, Rufus and Dana seem to share a mutual relationship of trust. On her second trip to the past, when Dana saves Rufus from the fire, she feels a maternal instinct towards this young boy and wants to fix his horrific beliefs caused by the 1800s environment. However, throughout the book, Rufus’s personality declines significantly, exhibiting the effects of 1800 society. Every time that Dana is called back to the past to save Rufus, she is appalled at how much he has changed and how terrible of a person he has become. Dana quite literally went from being a maternal figure for Rufus to somebody that he attempted to rape when they became around the same age. Similar unbalanced relationships can additionally be seen through Rufus’s relationships with other slaves on the plantation. He was originally close friends with ...

       Throughout Mumbo Jumbo, Ishmael Reed creates the idea of a “Talking Android” to reflect on how Western politics manipulate ­­perceptions to appeal to a greater audience. Mumbo Jumbo uses non-traditional storytelling to frame history with an Afrocentric perspective, rather than a Westernized one. An epidemic, Jes Grew, takes over the country, causing extreme turmoil in the eyes of White people, as Black people begin dancing more and begin embracing their culture more. There are two primary opposing sides: the members of the Mumbo Jumbo Kathedral who work to advance and restore Black culture, and the Wallflower order, a secret society that promotes Atonism and controls most of the politics and society. To appeal to a wider audience, the Wallflower order uses a “talking android” to promote their ideals. This is essentially a Black person who praises Western culture and can work from within Black communities to instill Eurocentric beliefs. The use of the “talking ...

Throughout Ragtime , Doctorow delineates the lives of two separate families: Mother, Father and the little boy, and Tateh and the little girl. These two families heavily differ in their social and financial statuses, and therefore also in their ways of life. The little boy is full of excitement for his future, while the girl lives in fear of her past. The contrast between the little girl and the little boy in Ragtime , as well as between Tateh and Father, exemplifies the enduring disparate frames of mind that derive from different upbringings.  Tateh and Father are two extremely different men who came from separate upbringings, yet Tateh has become satisfied with his life, while Father has not. Tateh is a Jewish immigrant who lost his wife and has raised his daughter on his own. He previously lived an unhappy life, but always found passion in his art. Although it was risky and difficult, Tateh decided to move from New York to find a better life for him and his daughter. It didn’t...