Huckleberry Finn Novel Essay: Correlated To My Life:
“And the wind was trying to whisper something to me, and I couldn’t make out what it was, and so it made the cold shivers run over me(Huck, chapter 5, page 4).”
Cold shivers. I feel those same cold shivers as I try to find the words to write this essay. As I write, I just keep thinking of the quote from Roxanne Gay in response to Kara Walker’s work of art: “ Art doesn’t ask you to just react, it asks you to move towards something different…” And as I try to keep her compassion and calmness in my mind and heart, I also feel that same amount of fiery anger. I feel overwhelming sadness. I feel my ancestors are feeling and speaking through me. It is my responsibility, my obligation, to let God and the use me for this exact discussion. Because honestly I need thier help with this one. We never got to HuckleBerry Finn back in high school because they said it was too damn controversial. That it was too serious and we were too young. Boy if that ain’t the craziest stupidity, I don’t know what is.
Reading HuckleBerry Finn in the 21st century is like getting hit by a bulldozer. Honestly, my body and emotions felt every word. It really put me in a different head space. That feels unexplainable. Like, torn. Feeling everything all at once, but then your body trying to protect you and numb all the things you are feeling at the same time because it’s almost too much for one person to take. Almost overwhelmingly excruciating. Especially now. Just the disbelief that history again, never fails to repeat itself. Time and time again. Over and over. Being a human in this world is a battle. But being a biracial human in this world is a true battle. One of the truest forms. It’s like being pulled in a million directions all of the time. If I speak a certain way I’m “too white”. But if I act a certain way I’m “too black”. My brothers and I have been looked at half and half. A light skin. A half breed. It’s normal for mixed people to have brown eyes. My three other brothers do. But my other brother and I got green eyes like our mom. So we always throw people off because it’s one thing to be biracial. It’s a whole other thing to be a light skin with funny colored eyes we say. People aren’t used to that. Ha, it’s fun at times actually. My mom always says when we see people staring, that they’re just trying to figure us out because we’re too beautiful. Like angels. But it’s hard at times too of course. Our whole lives. How we dress, how we speak, where we’re from, how we carry ourselves, who we know and run with. Though, what all it comes with, I still wouldn’t change a thing. It’s one of the many character builders at the start of my life, until the end of it. No matter what, I know who I am and I’m built for it. And I’m proud and prideful of it. So truly reading HuckleBerry Finn just really magnified my strength even more. Especially my response.
In May 2020, was the very first time my ancestors woke my spirit completely up and shook it to make sure I understood exactly what was unraveling in front of my eyes. As well as God. I marched in a Black Lives Matter Movement protest. A protest that you learn and read about in the history books. I felt Martin, Rosa, Malcolm, George, Breonna, Elijah, and every other name, God rest their souls, standing with me that day. I remember preparing myself for the worst if this protest went left in my hometown, Marion Ohio. I remember understanding the people rioting and thinking about almost rioting myself. But I didn’t solely agree with messing up and breaking into stores and setting things on fire for all the wrong reasons. However, for the right reasons I felt for it though. And half of me, I can’t lie, wasn’t too upset about it either. I think that was the Black Panther in me. For 500 years we went about this the right way, the just way. And never got heard. Now ya‘lol wonder why we setting shit on fire and wonder why we crazy. (In my Tupac Shakur voice). I remember making a motto, “If I ever see the police killing you, we either gon’ survive together or we gon’ die together. And if it comes down to it, I won’t be afraid of either.” At the moment terrified, but in the moment brave. I wouldn’t be afraid. I was 18 at this time. I’m now 20. To think of being 12 years old like Huck Finn, a child, to go through and see the things he’s seen, is beyond me.
“You gwyne to have considerate trouble in yo’ life and considerable joy. Sometimes you gwyne to git hurt, en sometimes you gwyne git sick; but every time you gwyne git well ag’in(Jim, Chapter 4).”
I believe Jim in Huck Finn and I do believe him in life. When I read that quote, it immediately reminded me of another one. It’s from the spinoffs of the Rocky’s, which are Creed I and II. My favorites. Rocky starts training Apollo Creed’s son, Adonis. And tells him “One step at a time, one punch at a time, one round at a time.” It’s all a part of life. We’re going to go through things that hurt us, and that we feel we didn’t deserve. We’re going to learn the hard way in lessons, and get answers right when we’re supposed to get them and not a minute late or before. Heartache. Blessings. Confusion, trials and tribulations. Struggle. But remain strong. It’s hard. Because it wasn’t designed to be easy. And it’s okay not to be okay all of the time. It’s hard for a strong person to grasp that. We forget that we’re allowed to break, we just can’t sit in our misery too long. We’re survivors. You have to keep pushin’, keep it movin’. It’s just another piece of our armor. That we unlock, learn, and earn.
“Git up and hump yourself, Jim! There ain’t a minute to lose. They’re after us!(Huck, Chapter 11, page 79).”
Though we’re all different and we come from all different places and stories. All different walks of life. And we’re not going to agree or even like each other all of the time, or even know each other, one thing we inevitably have in common is that we’re all human. And none of us sit high enough to look down on each other period. “I don’t care whether ‘twas little or whether ‘twas big; he’s here in our house and a stranger, and it wasn’t good of you to say it. If you was in his place it would make you feel ashamed; and so you oughtn’t to say a thing to another person that will make them feel ashamed.(Mary Jane, Chapter 26).” It doesn’t matter what we wear, where we’re from, or what you’ve got, it’s what you make of what you’ve got. And know that someone always has it worse.
“Call this a govment! Why, just look at it and see what it’s like(Pap Finn, Chapter 6).” Deeply rooted, we need to fix humanity. But systematically, it’s much deeper. It’s as deep as it gets. Messed up humanity and a screwed up system is a horrible mix. It all needs to be rewritten and dealt with. Lord, but how? It’s like we’re in too deep, where do we even start? I don’t know but what I do know is that HuckleBerry Finn, Mark Twain was the start…
“Not a sound anywheres- perfectly still- just like the whole world was asleep, only sometimes the bullfrogs a- cluttering, maybe(Huck, Chapter 19).”
Chaos silenced. World peace. And even if world peace isn’t fully secured and guaranteed. At least peace of mind. The strength to stand up. To think. That’s the goal. Stop killing each other and the planet. The world is off balance. it’s a heavy weight of off energy that I feel. Even all the natural disasters are telling us so. It’s unraveling right before us. In front of our own eyes. Don’t you dare tell me you can’t see it. Don’t you dare tell me you can’t feel it. And don’t you dare tell me you aren’t going to do a damn thing about it. This is what I say. And this is exactly what Roxanne was saying when she said “We’re forced to confront history. Don’t look away, sit in the discomfort.” “It challenges me.” She had exactly the same perspective and thought process as Mark Twain and his whole purpose of this writing… And that should be our whole purpose of living in this life. Riding this river through the calm and rough waters.
“The River was the way to Freedom(Book cover)”.
The End
Written:10/27/21
Revised & Self Published: 9/16/24
Lysistrata Novel Essay: Correlated To My Life:
“They can if they like- it won’t bother me. Doesn’t matter what they threaten to do- even if they try to set fire to the place- they won’t make us open the gates except on our own terms(Aristophanes, Lysistrata And Other Plays Book).” “ The whole future of the city is up to us. Either the Peloponnesians are all going to be wiped out- and the Boeotians be destroyed too- and Athens- well, I won’t say it, but you know what might happen. But if all the women join together- not just us, but the Peloponnesians and Boeotians as well- then we can save Greece(Aristophanes, Lysistrata).” Oh to be a woman in a “man’s world” right? But we all know what the best part of the song was. “ It ain’t nothin without a woman or a girl.” And truly if that ain’t the truth, then I don’t know what is. That’s the very thing satire is. The very thing that literature is in itself. Satire is grit to the bone with exactly the the exposure and message it is trying to convey. The drama, the irony, the exaggeration, even all the funny business with the humor. Through and through it’s designed for the good, the bad, and the ugly of the dysfunction of the world. Of life itself. The world we live in consists of the social issues that we still face not only as women but as society, as a human race. Issues from 400 years ago are still occurring. Still re-introducing themselves like they never left. As if they never are going to. They’ve just been crafted and developed over time like clay. Just to be molded and molded again and even molded again, just to stay in its original form. It’s like it keeps getting molded and each time you think maybe it will come out different. And maybe you even see a few little dents and you think finally progress. Finally improvement. but then you let it sit for just a minute. Then the dents disappear. The clay molds and goes back to its original form. The same damn thing. History repeating itself. From Greece to today. Time and time again.
One of the many social issues is gender roles. The battle of the sexes. Women have to work so much harder than the average man. We have to go toe to toe and fight just as much if not more to be just as strong, just as successful, just as intelligent, just as equipped. I say bullshit. I was raised by one of the strongest women I have ever known. My mom. A single mother who made sure we had whatever we needed. She did everything in her power and whatever she had to do to provide for us even when she had to stop providing for herself at times. And still managed to give us a good life no matter what struggle came. That same struggle was conquered. The next struggle and the next one, beat into the ground by the woman who raised me. She truly is my definition of a queen. A true goddess figure who taught and showed me how to carry myself as a woman. To be strong, to respect myself, to be smart, to be real, to persevere, to truly be independent with or without someone. Let alone a man.
But I also was blessed to learn and be around even more strength and grit by growing up with all men too. I’m the youngest and the only girl out of four brothers. Also with the love from my dad too. That’s a title I’m very prideful and fond of. To have such true incitement as a woman but to also have true incitement of a man’s mentality as well. So when I hear an issue or see and experience it first hand concerning gender roles it really sparks something in me. Because I know myself. I also know for certain that I fear no man. I don’t fear any challenge that I have and is to come and will continue to face towards anything of the sort. As for a job, a certain position, a livelihood, etc. Because although it’s very frustrating, it doesn’t phase me. Because I know I’m a mans equal. I know what I’ve done and will accomplish and nobody can take that away from me. I know us women are true equals in this life! And it will be known. It’s been on the rise. Time’s are truly changing with gender norms. And that’s beyond any sexual desire.
The corresponding moments between Lysistrata and Chi-Raq are significant. Chi-Raq literally is the modernized version of the Lysistrata story. The war between the gangs, the Trojans vs. the Spartans, obviously the war between Athens and Sparta. Then you have Lysistrata in the movie representing Lysistrata in Ancient Greece but also have a true modernized Lysistrata when Miss. Helen in Chi-Raq is talking and educating Lysistrata and tells her about Leymah Gbowee, a real Liberian peace activist responsible for leading a woman’s peace movement (sex strike) that helped bring an end to the second Liberian Civil War in 2003. “ Take power as a woman. Deny your man sex. You tell him, if you have any power to end the war, you go and do it (Leymah Gbowee).” So it was pretty amazing how everything symbolized and intertwined with each other. Also, how we had four different versions of Lysistrata but solely the same main woman empowerment between Lysistrata from Ancient Greece of course and the Lysistrata, Miss. Helen, and Irene from Chi-Raq.
The End
Written: 9/8/21
Revised & Self Published: 1/31/25
Shakespeare Much Ado About Nothing Novel essay: Correlated To My Life
” In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare interrogates both the idea of love and the idea of truth. Words and truth are negotiable: love… given the masks of language and trickery, is a difficult proposition.”
For this essay, we have to choose either love or truth, to show how Shakespeare makes it abundantly clear that both intellect and emotion can be manipulated. How am I suppose to choose between the two?! We all want love, yes. We all need truth. However, only half of us really want it whether we’re ready for it or not. See, in another life, I would’ve chosen love. And half of me still would. Though sometimes even love isn’t always enough. But boy the truth, the truth will always set you free. No matter the harshness of the good, the bad, and the ugly. I choose the truth. And if you’re lucky enough, you can see and feel the truth through a lie. here we’re at a crossroads again. Because intuition is a crucial variable, but it’s not the only variable. The other variables are the deceit of the eyes, ears, emotions, and intellect. They all work and intertwine together, and yet have their own specific parts and jobs to do.
You can love someone and they still hurt you. Someone could love you and still lie to you. You can love someone and still have to walk away. Someone could love you and still choose someone else. You can know you love someone with all your heart, and then not know at all about their feelings for you. They think they love you but they are not entirely sure. Or they want to love you the way you love them but they can’t or don’t. Or they might. or they do. There are so many different scenarios with being in love. Not just in love in significant other relationships. Love in itself. Love in general with all relationships. Family, friends, etc. But here we are talking about the infatuation of being in love. The feeling of someone or something else having so much control over your emotions. So much so that it could literally make or break your day. That at times it takes your breath away. That at times you can’t see or think straight. That’s a dangerous thing. Though so bittersweet the sound.
I’ve learned the difference between getting my feelings hurt and being heartbroken. Those scenarios up there I’ve had experience with. There’s no other way for me to explain something, to write, to speak, to have knowledge on if I haven’t lived through, experienced, can relate to, understand, and have felt first hand. I’m way ahead of my time on a lot of things. especially the emotional realm. So I know and have been told plenty. I’ve learned that it’s nice to have somebody, but you don’t need somebody. I’ve learned that as hard as it is you can’t give someone the power to have so much control over your feelings and happiness because as quick as you think they bring it and keep it safe, they can take it away from you and leave you with nothing but heartache just as quick. Even quicker. You can’t be truly happy with someone if you’re not truly happy within yourself. You can’t possibly take care and be with someone if you can’t take care of yourself. It’s our job, our responsibility to hold ourselves accountable to find ourselves. Our own happiness. To know ourselves. In order to be okay by ourselves. With or without someone.
Beatrice in some similarities reminds me of myself. Most definitely the stubbornness and the independence.
When Beatrice sarcastically asks about Benedict surviving the wars:
Beatrice: I pray you, is Signor Mountanto returned from the wars or no? (1.1.30.)
It‘s funny how she tried to play it off as if it’s not that serious to her like he’s not that important to her. As if she’s not sensitive towards him. When really she’s full of it.
When Beatrice is showing her independence and stubbornness:
Beatrice: I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.(1.1.126.).
Yeah yeah it’s true half of her means that but the other half of her would be so flattered to hear Benedick tell her he loves her.
Finally the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Beatrice confessing and admitting her love for the man, the myth, the legend, Benedick:
Beatrice: I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest.(4.1.300).
Finally Beatrice finds a man just right for her. He lowered her walls for her to finally express what we all know and have been thinking until…
The good, the bad, and the ugly raw true colors of two people come out to the light:
Beatrice: Kill Claudio.
Benedick: Ha! Not for the wide world (4.1.300-304).
There it is. The blindside of the deepest and darkest secrets and moments of “love”.
The good, the bad, and the ugly continued:
Benedick: We‘ll be friends first.
Beatrice: You dare easier be friends with me than fight mine enemy(4.1.310-311).
Benedick: Tarry, good Beatrice. By this hand, I love thee.
Beatrice: Use it for my love some other way than swearing by it(4.2.340-341).
In this generation today we would call this relationship toxic. How do you use someone’s love for you to your own advantage? Manipulation to the hundredth power. But we become naive at times depending where our hearts lie. So you see. There’s truth in all of it. Everything in life has a balance. Good, bad. Happy, sad. Up, down. Side to side. Left, right. Wrong, right. Big ,small. In the middle. Makes sense, doesn’t make sense. Time will reveal. Predictable, unpredictable. Love, no love. Care, careless. Day, night. Real, fake. Something can not be what it seems. Something can be exactly what it seems. We can feel it in our bones for certain with our intuition. Or other times we may have trust issues, PTSD, anxiety that makes us feel or think someone or something has wronged us. Or if they haven’t already, eventually they will. Paranoia. And it’s either true and spot on or we overthink and self sabotage and it’s not. That’s what Shakespeare wants us to think about. Really think about the line that love, truth, lies, emotions, words, sight, and intellect teeter that very same line of manipulation and mistrust. And how can you really know, tell, feel, and see for yourself? The illusion of language. Oh the trickery.
The End
Written: 9/22/21
Revised & Self Published: 3/17/25