Today Was a Bad Day Like TB

                Chrystos’ poem, “Today Was a Bad Day Like TB,” was a different type of poem. When I read it the first time, I automatically noticed how the author didn’t use any kind of punctuation marks, but she used spaces instead. I felt as if by the author doing so, it made us readers understand how bold the author’s words and feelings were.

                Chrystos was a Native American writer who obviously felt as if her culture was taken over; she didn’t appreciate other “white” people attempting to imitate her culture. In the poem, she clearly seems racist towards the white man who did attempt to get her attention with his flashy red peace pipe. In the second line in the poem she states, “Saw young blond hippie boy with a red stone pipe.” She wouldn’t give that “blond hippie boy” any attention at all.

                In class, we discussed if we thought the author was “racist” or not towards white people. I said yes at first, but after some thinking, I would have to say I “feel” for Chrystos. I have never had my personal heritage ripped out from underneath me, but who am I to call the author racist? She, along with many other Native Americans, had their culture torn apart, and many of their families had to suffer. The author doesn’t even have the power to take her culture/heritage back from us white people. She feels helpless, and in this poem, she clearly vented her aggravation.

                Chrystos compared her bad day to tuberculosis, which I thought was a very neat comparison, and clever. Back in the day, tuberculosis was a dreaded disease to Native Americans. It was a disease that, then, wasn’t curable and killed many Native American Indians. The author thought so badly about losing her heritage to us white people, that she compared her conversation with the “young blond hippie boy” to TB. Clearly, she shows her perspectives between Native American Indians and white people.

                Other lines that I thought were very strong and to the point, were the last four: “Today was a day like TB you cough and cough trying to get it out all that comes is blood and spit.” I feel as if the author was trying to say that no matter how hard she tries, she will never be able to retrieve her culture back again. It was already taken over in the past, and now she only has memories of it. She obviously is bitter about this fact, and like I mentioned earlier, she is defiantly clear about her personal feelings—she isn’t afraid to let her feelings show through. This is what makes the poem so unique; she expresses her feelings in such a way that other authors have never done before.   So would you all her racist? Now, that I sat down and put some thought into it, I don’t consider her racist. She is just a very strong and proud Native American Indian that wants her heritage back where it belongs.

The Elephant Man

The Elephant Man written by David Lynch was such an interesting play to read. Many people viewed the Elephant Man as a freak of nature. People would stare at his deformities for hours. At first, that’s all Merrick really was, a freak show, but as the play went on, Treves seemed to become a “hero” to Merrick. When I say “hero,” I mean by this – Treves gave Merrick, well tried to give Merrick, a normal life to live. Question has it, though, did Treves give Merrick a real normal life, or was he using Merrick for science and his personal interests? Different people have different opinions on Treves’ actions in the play.

I personally feel as if Treves did a little bit of both: He helped Merrick to the best of his ability and understanding when it came to giving Merrick a normal life to live, but I also feel as if Treves was interested in how the Elephant Man would react and respond in different situations. Treves wanted to allow the Elephant Man to feel normal, but he still seemed to have control over Merrick. For example, when Mrs. Kendal exposed her naked body to Merrick, Treves made her leave immediately, and banned her from seeing Merrick again. In normal life, Merrick is a grown man, and Mrs. Kendal didn’t actually do anything wrong, so I think it was not Treves responsibility to have made such a decision.

I found this play to be sad in several ways as well. Merrick has to battle his whole life with these horrible deformities, and no matter what, he will always be known as the Elephant Man. His parents disowned him when he was a small child, and he never actually has a real “home” other than the hospital Treves tells him to call home. Merrick isn’t even able to sleep like a normal human being, and at the end, he dies because of his deformities. Merrick, though, goes through life being bright and cheerful as often as he can be. He enjoys his visitors that Treves allows to come, and Merrick is actually a very intelligent person. Merrick has an awesome personality that many people cannot see just because of the way he looks.

Even with all the ups and downs Merrick went through in life, like I mentioned earlier, he still was able to maintain a positive attitude. He tried not to let his deformities come in between his old “freak show” life and his now normal life. I know I wouldn’t have been able to keep such a positive attitude, and truthfully, I ask myself – Would I be a person who would say nothing and just stare at the Elephant Man’s deformed body? Or would look past his deformities, and get to know his true personality? Of course, I would automatically state that his deformities wouldn’t amaze me, but how can I know for sure without ever seeing such a person like the Elephant Man? This is another reason why I believe Treves wanted to help the Elephant Man, but he also was amazed by him and used him for science.

The Fish

     Elizabeth Bishop's poem "The Fish" was really enjoyable to read. I read it once, and I actually felt like I understood what the narrator was trying to tell the readers -- At least from my point of view I did.
     This poem starts out by the narrator catching this huge, spectacular fish. When I first think about catching a huge, strong fish, I automatically visualize the fish fighting for its life, fighting to get free and back into the water; however, the narrator makes very clear in lines 5 and 6 that this fish wasn't putting up a fight at all --

"He didn't fight.
He hadn't fought at all."

Instead this fish seemed to accept defeat. As the narrator explained more, the fish wasn't a beauty, but was battered and obviously had some years on its lifeline. In lines 10-15, the fish was described as not only old, but ancient -- "...his brown skin hung in strips like ancient wall-paper." When I think of ancient wall-paper, I don't think of it being pretty and bright, I think of it being unique, and obviously this fish was one of a kind.
     The narrator did a good job of describing this fish from top to bottom. I had a clear mental image of what perhaps this fish looked like. The fish not only had ancient looking scales, but the narrator noted the mouth of the fish in lines 50-55. The fish's mouth contained not one but five old pieces of fish-line with the hooks still attached. The old fish wasn't released from past fishermen, but he had escaped! What a prize the narrator caught! This fish was a wise one, but the narrator finally won the battle the fish had fought for a long time.
    As the poem came to an end, the narrator's joy of catching this prize fish increased. My personal favorite lines from this poem were lines 66-67: "victory filled up/the little rented boat." Like I mentioned earlier, the narrator had finally defeated this fish -- she caught the fish that had probably years of experience of breaking fishing lines and escaping. Not this time, though, the fish's battle was over.
     The narrator uses up about 2 pages of paper describing this fish and how awesome it felt to finally catch it, but at the end of the poem, the narrator throws us a curveball in line 75: "And I let the fish go." The narrator released her prize catch! Why you are probably thinking, because at first I asked why myself -- that’s the irony in this poem. The narrator was excited to have caught this fish, but at the end, realized the fish deserved to live his life. The fish had fought for his life for years and years, so why defeat the fish now? The narrator perhaps compared the old fish to herself, old and wise. This poem can be thought in many different directions. The fishermen gave life back to the fish, allowing it to continue on fighting.