turkey 3

So I just read the next 60 pages of the Gravedigger's Daughter, and I think I might have underestimated Rebecca at first. This section is a flashback to the beginning of her life and with the way her family was, it's no surprise she grew up with some issues. 

"Calmly Pa said, You despise me, don't you. 

Calmly Pa said, Tell you what, Ma. I'll buy a gun. Shotgun. You can blow Jacob Schwart's head off, Ma. Spray his brains all over your precious wall. 

But Rebecca's mother had drifted away, indiffererent."

First, to clarify, Pa and Jacob Schwart's are the same person, and Ma is Rebecca's mother and Pa is her father. There are a couple of things that are interesting about this quote. Obviously, it's odd that a husband would give his wife permission to blow his head off with a gun. Previous to this Ma had made a joke about who would want even Pa's bones, but she isn't right in her head and this comment was clearly a very absent-minded one. Pa is a gravedigger and I think thats why he feels so free to say this because he has seen death so up close, some might even say he works for death. It also seems as though he feels he has nothing to live for. His two sons are failures, he didn't want his daughter, and his wife is non-existent to him except for her apparent use in blowing his head off. So far this book has been somewhat confusing, as there are a lot of those hints that author's give but then they won't follow directly up on the subject, they make you wait until the end of the book to tell the whole story straight. One thing that's clear though, is that these relationships are not based off of love. Not the one between Rebecca and her husband, and definately not the one between her father and her mother. How can two people stay together for so long and have no real affection, or even passion for eachother? That's my question for all of you. 

Sorry about this. 2

I've actually decided to switch my book report book because doing a non-fiction book was just not working. And Jesus really wasn't as interesting as I thought he would be. I switched to The Gravedigger's Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates and I don't really know what it's about, I just picked it off of my sister's bookshelf. So here are my thoughts after reading the first 61 pages. 

"Why could she not accuse Tignor of neglecting her. Wh could she not tell Tignor she loved him even so, she forgave him. He wasn't required to ask her forgiveness. She knew he never would. Only, if he would accept her forgiveness!" The majority of this section was about Rebecca, our heroine, being followed home from the factory by 'a man in a panama hat' who has mistaken her for another woman by the name of Hazel Jones. But in between this present scene, there are flashes of her life. About her son, and her husband, the factory where she works, the canal she is walking along, the town she lives in. But amid the rush of all these facts, this is the quote that stuck out at me most. I've taken the required health class, and I've read enough books to know the facts of an abusive relationship. In this case, Rebecca and her husband have more of a mentally abusive relationship than physically abusive, although she does mention his 'terrible rages' more than once. He leaves town for weeks at a time, hardly contacts her or sends her any money, and she stays there caring for their son and working at a factory. Yet when he comes back, she is still as in love with him as ever. She can't even 'accuse Tignor of neglecting her' which he is clearly doing! I know that many say that women in an abusive relationship cannot break the cycle and often need an outside intervention. But one of the things I despise more than anything is weak women. Women who feel the need to stay with a man who is clearly abusing them! Whether they have daddy issues or are just plain needy, they're one of the reasons the female sex is considered 'lesser' than men. I don't think humans need anyone. Screw Maslow's Hierarchy, I would like to see an independent society filled with individual hermits! So right off the bat I don't like our heroine very much, but we'll see how it goes. 

For Jesus' sake will the Twilight madness after stop!!!!!! and speaking of jesus....

The book I have chosen to read is called Jesus for the Non-Religious by John Shelby Spong. The first thing I would like to make clear is that I am an Atheist. For my definition that is that I don't believe in god quite simply. As far as a higher being, I've not completely made up my mind. And I've never really thought about Jesus before. I guess I always assumed that he was a real person who was simply another prophet that just got more press coverage. This book is about the 'real' Jesus. It's supposed to explore all of the myths in front of and behind the man. I also find it intriguing because it's written by a man who is Christian and believes that Christianity is actually dying and the modern term is being exploited. My dad bought this book for me a couple years ago when I chose to be Atheist, both my parents were raised a strict religion so they decided to let the three of us choose what we wanted, because he wanted me to still think about religion and understand why its important. I put it on my highest bookshelf and didn't think about it until it fell off one day when I ran in to my bookshelf. I'm now old enough to appreciate what my father was trying to do for me, and I've decided to give this book a go. Who knows, maybe I'll be saved in the process.