The Yellow Wallpaper

In class on Tuesday we discussed how some writers may create texts to affect change in a society. After reading The Yellow Wallpaper, I agree that Perkins Gilman is one of these writers. Many women are manipulated in men in this society and is a concept that has been around for centuries. I believe that Gilman is trying to fight for women rights' by portraying Mary to be the oblivious woman in The Yellow Paper. "He is very careful and loving, and hardly lets me stir without special direction." (356) Mary believes that her husband is so careful and loving because it looks like he cares for her but what I got out of this passage was that he didn't allow her to make her own decisions and she doesn't see that is what John is really trying to do, manipulate her. She begins by writing how John believes she has a nervous depression and she disagrees with their opinions. She is on many medications and doesn't know what any of them are for. This was one of the first things she mentioned that grabbed my attention at her being oblivious. In my opinion, someone taking medicine everyday would ask what they were taking and how it is supposed to help them. Mary tells us that John does not like it when she writes but also says that she loves to write. This is another instance where John is controlling and manipulating her because as soon as she sees him she hides it. "There comes John, and I must put this away, --he hates to have me write a word." (356) I had many different mixed feelings about John not allowing her to write. The first thought was him manipulating her by not allowing her to do the things she loves. However, I also thought, and this could be far fetched, that possibly he was crazy and later down the road he wouldn't want anyone to find her readings so someone else may realize what he was doing to her the whole time.

Tom Sawyer

After reading chapters three and four I found the discussion of religion very interesting. During chapter 4 especially, I felt that Twain was satirizing religion and the church. He uses satire to moke the Sunday school class. When Tom is able to trade his items for tickets to win the Bible, I felt as if Twain was trying to mock the church by understating that the Church couldn't tell a difference between work and bought favors. I also found it very interesting on page 350 when he is talking about all the children showing off and also Mr. Walters, the super-intendent, showing off. "Mr. Walters fel to "showing off," with all sorts of official bustlings and activities, giving orders, delivering judgments, disharging directions here, there, everywhere that he could find a target." (350) At the beginning of the chapter, Mary is helping Tom memorize his versus. Tom seems to respect Mary a lot and they have a bond of trust it seemed like. I saw Mary to be a saintly figure and don't think it is a coincidense that her name is Mary, as in "Virgin Mary." Page 341, the beginning of chapter 4, starts off with Aunt Polly saying a prayer after breakfast. Aunt Polly is very serious when it comes to religion and I feel as if Twain is finding humor of it, once again mocking religion. "Breakfast over, Aunt Polly had family worship: it began with a prayer built from the ground up of solid courses of Scriptural quotations, welded together with a thin mortar of originality; and from the summit of this she delivered a grim chapter of the Mosaic Law, as from Sinai." (page 341)