Sohil's Story

In the Song of Solomon,  by Toni Morrison, we follow Milkman on a journey to find a bag of gold. However, instead of finding the gold, he is able to grow up and realize his flaws. Milkman realizes that he only thinks of himself and not of the ramifications that his actions have on others. The word Milkman uses is "deserve". He says that he did not "deserve Hagar's vengeance", and didn't "deserve his family's dependence" (Morrison 276). This realization that he was looking at his situation wrongfully, shows his development. He starts looking at his situation from other's perspectives and sees that he is not always correct. This passage made me think of every time I thought that the world was unfair or every time I thought I didn't deserve something. I realize that by using the word "deserve" I shift the blame for my situation to someone else besides me. This might be the same feeling that Milkman has. By saying that he did not

In the Song of Solomon , by Toni Morrison, the racism shown to blacks by whites is obvious. However, the racism between different classes of blacks is less obvious. This is shown by the attitude of Macon Dead's family toward poorer blacks. For example, when talking about blacks owning property on the lake, Corinthians says "You really think there'll be enough colored people - I mean nice colored people - in this city to live there?" (Morrison 35). This quote shows the racism that was instilled into her by others that not all colored people are nice. Another instance of internalized racism is when Macon Dead talks about his sister. He feels ashamed that his sister is not as rich as he is and that she doesn't fit into societal norms. This leaves him to distance himself from his sister. Macon tries to fit in with white people and feels that colored people who are poor or different are just holding him back. You can also see the internalized racism in the way Guitar a

In this page from Maus, by Art Spiegelman, Vladek is faced with a choice between registering as a Jew and taking the risk of it being a Nazi trap or not registering and not having legal papers with him. Vladek says "To go, it was no good, but, not to go - it was also no good" (Spiegelman 90). In Vladek's case this means that Vladek will face danger whether he goes the Dienst stadium or not. This quote is very accurate when  describing the Jew's situation at the time. There was no good alternative. They were stuck in the Holocaust. This page also shows Art's drawing ability to make the audience focus on one part rather than the other. In the fourth box, he draws the three Jews delivering the news in detail, while everyone else is shaded in. Similarly, in boxes four and five, Vladek and the people he is talking to are drawn in detail, while the others are shaded in. This attention to detail makes Maus such a powerful book. The book reminds us that we cannot truly un

Throughout Maus, by Art Spiegelman, we feel sympathetic toward Vladek. We understand that we will never be able to go through what he went through but we must try to remember the Holocaust. The main reason that the book is so powerful is that we see Vladek as a person not just as a weak prisoner that we are supposed to feel pity for. On page 134 in Volume 2 Art includes a picture of Vladek in his camp uniform. The picture's placement in the book is next to Art and Vladek talking about the picture. When Vladek tells Art about the picture, he immediately leaves to get it saying "I need that photo in my book!" (Spiegelman 134). Their conversation interrupts the flow of the story. By doing this, Art shows that the past and present are intertwined by Vladek's storytelling. The picture is tilted sideways possibly to show the disorder of the camps. Art also chose a picture of Vladek in camp uniform rather than any other picture because it shows that the stories in the book a