Tiphanie Yanique

                Each of the three stories had something in common within their plot; they all dealt with relationships. Each of these included a relationship between a man and woman (boy and girl), but there were other important relationships in each story, such as that between Deirdre and Violet in The Saving Work, the protagonist and his father in Canoe Sickness, or Mason and his heritage in Where Tourists Don’t Go.

                In The Saving Work, the relationship between Thomas and Jasmine was very troubling to me. Thomas was absolutely enamored with Jasmine but had trouble showing his affection, a huge mistake on his part. And on top of that, Jasmine was a sweet, innocent, virgin girl that he has known for so long; he just wasn’t sure how to approach the situation. As soon as they get comfortable in bed, however, there is an extremely awkward moment between two friends who should’ve stayed friends, but got too close. Jasmine sees the power she holds over a man and it takes over her; she didn’t realize it was so simple and easy! She also didn’t realize one other important factor: she liked it. This changed her character dramatically and made her very easy, in my opinion, to hate. Not only did she have sex with Moby, she carried his child and pushed it onto Thomas, followed by getting married to him. This is a clear display of manipulation that is so cruel and unjust, not capable of a typical person.

                Deirdre’s place in the story is a bit confusing, but it is clear that she has a direct conflict with Violet. What is unclear is whether or not she caused the fire, and if she did, is her son’s marriage to Violet’s oldest daughter the reason she started it?

                The protagonist’s relationship with his father in Canoe Sickness interested me the most. On talking about how his father found out about his morning runs, “He knew discipline. Going to graduate school, working full time. Often, he wasn’t home for dinner. Sometimes when I came back from running, the sweat cold on my neck, he’d be in the living room on the couch. His body deep into the creases, the couch sinking into the floorboards. His shoulders and head leaning into a textbook.” (p 62). There is a clear mutual respect between the protagonist and his father. They both know what it means to be disciplined, something I can also relate to and leads me to also respect the two also. While the protagonist sees his father put the family on his shoulders metaphorically, he chases after his goals, both literally and metaphorically. There is a moment of conflict when his girlfriend mentions that his father may have a woman on the side, and is the real cause for his late nights out. This moment of distrust leads him to sneak into his parents’ bedroom, to watch them in their “natural state.” He saw what he was doing was wrong, and left their room embarrassed as his father watched. But he got over his conflict; he feared his father was less than perfect but he proved it to be a false fear and thus his respect for his father was maintained.

We Shall Remain

                The video sends a strong message about Indians vs. Europeans, dating back Europeans’ initial colonization of the Americas. There is a strong resentment of Europeans by Native Americans that has existed during this period of time, and is likely to persist for centuries to come. And they reserve the right to resent them, as they were tricked into believing that Europeans were their friends, only to soon realize that they were there to take their land. While I could argue all day about who is right and who is wrong, citing history to support an argument, this isn’t a history paper so I’ll stay away from that. What we can agree on is that the past is over, and now Native American’s must learn to live with “immigrants” and vice versa.

                The name given to the holiday, Thanksgiving, can be seen as an offer of peace. And while the feast was very peaceful, it drew the Indians off guard; that may have been the Europeans’ intention, but it is tough to say. What we can say is that each tribe was treated so cruelly and this treatment was unwarranted; if anything the treatment should’ve been reversed as the Europeans invaded their native land. We Shall Remain is a strong title because it shows that Native Americans understand they belong here, not the Europeans. This is there land and they refuse to give it up and go away.

Hit Record Post

Click here for my Hit Record contribution.

Response to Theme: David McGlynn

            One theme I noticed through David McGlynn’s short stories is that people who associate with a faith or religion strongly are still prone to slip up, a sin as its usually called. Commonly this sin was sexual in nature, such as adultery or pre-marital sex. This also brings about the fact that humans are sexual in nature; sex is a need that must be satisfied. The characters that commit these sins are disgusted with themselves and what they’ve done, but some still find the need to continue, such as Lee in Sweet Texas Angel.

            Jonah in Seventeen One-Hundreths of a Second is a clear example of someone who represses his sexual urges, probably due to his religion although he may not want to admit it. But each and every time he sees Abby, these urges get the best of him. His late best friend’s wife should be off limits, as it would be to most people. But secretly he was always in love with her and only her, and during the course of this story was his first real chance to be with her. He strayed off the path that he was supposed to follow as a Christian. As he describes in the beginning, I think it is possible that seeing Abby naked when he was younger may have led to the development of these feelings over time. When they eventually do have the sex that he clearly desired, he was a bit timid at first. But immediately after, he revealed a secret about Charlie that he knew she would be disgusted by, his lust for other women. He may have thought it would bring them closer together because they already had sex, but it seemed as if he weren’t in a healthy state of mind to say what he said. It was almost as if sex corrupted him.

            In Sweet Texas Angel, Kay’s sexual adventures with random men portray this need to fulfill sexual desires. However, Kay does not seem to be religious in nature and therefore has no moral qualms in doing so. However, when she begins sleeping with Lee, he realizes what he is doing is wrong, more-so because its with his blind wife’s caregiver with whom the family has spent the past fifteen years with. But under the assumption that there is sexual frustration boiling within Lee, which would probably be due Cory’s blindness and tumor, he does what he feels he needs to do. Kay fits what he is looking for: someone who he has known for a very long time, and he likely has lusted for her from the very beginning. Now, while there is a lack of sex, the beast within Lee emerges and he feels the need to commit adulterous acts not because he hates his wife, but because it takes over him. Sex, after all, is a need that, when presented, must be satisfied. And who better than someone he has known for so long, and possibly even loves?