• Blog – Continue the idea of values. What ideas are being presented in these protest songs that echo back to the older works we’ve looked at?
These three protest songs all deal with the reoccurring themes of freedom and racism. In the protest song, “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round” the reoccurring themes are bravery and freedom. This song shows that those who sang this song were not scared of jail, “Ain’t gonna let no sheriff turn me ‘round” (Line 13) as well as a variety of other things. The song shows different examples of the different things people did to the slaves to try and make them give up hope of freedom. Freedom presents itself in that the words “turn around” mean that the slaves thought they could changes minds that they can be free. The slaves were very set on freedom; nothing was in their way. In this song all the whites are trying to get the African Americans to stop fighting racism. The song, “Strange Fruit” is a song about having a vision of hanging black men in the south; those are what the slaves were referring to each time they sang this song. This protest song dealt with racism directly. To me, this song stood out the most. It was as though it was different from the two others but in a way the same. In the song, “We Shall Overcome”, the main themes are believing and hope. The slaves believed that racism will be overcome in the future, they won’t give up and that they will win. “We’ll walk hand in hand someday.” (Line 6) All of these songs have the theme of anti-slavery and mention the horrible things that have happened to the slaves and the fact that they will never give up, which is how they are similar to the others we have read.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
John Henry
John Henry is about a man named John Henry who from when he was a kid said that working on the railroad would kill him. “Setting on his mamma’s knee, He said The Big Bend Tunnel on the C. & O. Road Is gonna be the death of me.” (Verse 2) The ballad later goes on to tell that John Henry will be participating in a contest in which he has to race a steam drill. While John Henry beats the steam drill he died afterward. My interpretation on why he raced the steam drill is that it could have been for money or to fight a technological process because he wanted to prove that a man could beat technology. So, if John Henry did this contest because he was fed up with how the railroad company was treating him this ballad could have influenced the songs “The Message” and “N.Y. State of Mind.” In both of these songs the artist sings about how he is either about to be pushed over the edge or has been. In the ballad, “John Henry”, I think that he has been pushed over the edge because he let himself be. However I think that this ballad relates more to “The Message” because in that song the artist tells of how he is trying to the right thing throughout a struggle. In John Henry the railroad system is pushing more towards efficiency and not so much concerned about the workers. John Henry proves to them that a man can beat a steam drill and that the workers should be treated better. What makes me think that the railroad didn’t treat the workers well is because John Henry’s last words were, “Give me a cool drink of water ‘fore I die.” (Verse 19) To me that says that the workers had to work long hours without water or food. In “The Message” it also talks about living in a harsh environment, the ghetto. Both the ballad and “The Message” tell stories of how living life was hard.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Johnny Got His Gun Blog 8
• Blog – What does Joe want and why is it against regulations?
Joe is finally able to communicate with the new nurse. After she spelled out “MARRY CHIRSTMAS” on his chest he begins tapping again. Instead of trying to comfort him like the other nurse did, she leaves, and comes back with a man who taps, “WHAT DO YOU WANT?” Joe cannot however think of anything that he wants because has been longing to communicate with people and now he can do just that. At first Joe thinks to himself, maybe they are asking what material goods I want. Joe doesn’t want any material goods; he has no use for them. Then Joe goes into thinking that they, the hospital staff, should know what he wants, legs, arms, ect. Joe’s wanting to have a new life inspires himself to think more. However, Joe knows that taking this outside the hospital would cost money that he does not have. In order to pay for this Joe imagines himself being put on display for paying viewers to come and see his body. After he translates this to Morris Code the man leaves. Then comes back with the response, “WHAT YOU ASK FOR IS AGAINST REGULATIONS WHO YOU ARE.” He then feels the sharp pain of a needle being struck into his skin. At this point Joe realizes that the hospital just wants to get rid of him. They are giving him more dope. He doesn’t understand why they wont even let him talk. As Joe goes into an unconscious state, he has another dream with Christ. In this image Joe realizes now why they won’t let him talk. Joe’s body needs to be kept in secret so that generals can still recruit men to go off to war. If young men would happen to see Joe’s body they believe that it will scare them off because they have seen the common horrible truth about war.
Joe is finally able to communicate with the new nurse. After she spelled out “MARRY CHIRSTMAS” on his chest he begins tapping again. Instead of trying to comfort him like the other nurse did, she leaves, and comes back with a man who taps, “WHAT DO YOU WANT?” Joe cannot however think of anything that he wants because has been longing to communicate with people and now he can do just that. At first Joe thinks to himself, maybe they are asking what material goods I want. Joe doesn’t want any material goods; he has no use for them. Then Joe goes into thinking that they, the hospital staff, should know what he wants, legs, arms, ect. Joe’s wanting to have a new life inspires himself to think more. However, Joe knows that taking this outside the hospital would cost money that he does not have. In order to pay for this Joe imagines himself being put on display for paying viewers to come and see his body. After he translates this to Morris Code the man leaves. Then comes back with the response, “WHAT YOU ASK FOR IS AGAINST REGULATIONS WHO YOU ARE.” He then feels the sharp pain of a needle being struck into his skin. At this point Joe realizes that the hospital just wants to get rid of him. They are giving him more dope. He doesn’t understand why they wont even let him talk. As Joe goes into an unconscious state, he has another dream with Christ. In this image Joe realizes now why they won’t let him talk. Joe’s body needs to be kept in secret so that generals can still recruit men to go off to war. If young men would happen to see Joe’s body they believe that it will scare them off because they have seen the common horrible truth about war.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Johnny Got His Gun Blog 7
• Blog – Explain the dream with Christ.
Joe is seeing a collection off images in his mind. One of those images is of the women looking for her son at the train station. He sees that her son is Christ when he is coming up through the desert. The image goes on to when Christ goes to the railway station to play blackjack/cards with Joe and others. As the game progresses, the men strike up a conversation about war. One of the men states that, “…what the hell is this other guy doing here he ain’t going to die.” (Pg. 192) This is directed towards Joe because he will not actually die in the war. However, after Joe explains what happens to him instead of dying, the men agree that his fate is worse than theirs. After they bored the train, Joe goes out and searches for Christ, wanting him to aid his suffering. Joe in this image wants to have died rather then being in the state he is in now.
Joe is seeing a collection off images in his mind. One of those images is of the women looking for her son at the train station. He sees that her son is Christ when he is coming up through the desert. The image goes on to when Christ goes to the railway station to play blackjack/cards with Joe and others. As the game progresses, the men strike up a conversation about war. One of the men states that, “…what the hell is this other guy doing here he ain’t going to die.” (Pg. 192) This is directed towards Joe because he will not actually die in the war. However, after Joe explains what happens to him instead of dying, the men agree that his fate is worse than theirs. After they bored the train, Joe goes out and searches for Christ, wanting him to aid his suffering. Joe in this image wants to have died rather then being in the state he is in now.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Johnny Got His Gun Blog 6
• Blog – Why does Joe start tapping?
Along with his attempts to master time, Joe is now trying to think of ways to communicate to people. What gets his mind on the idea are the vibrations that the doctors make when they come to see him. He determines that he could use tapping, or Morse code. When he was young he used to use the Morse code with his friend Bill Harper. They used it when their parents refused to let them go out because of the weather. “On such nights he and Bill Harper used to dot and dash each other and they had a hell of a good time.” (Pg. 162) Now Joe’s only problem was if the nurses could understand him. Much to Joe’s disappointment the nurse didn’t understand, or so he thought. Joe described how he could feel the nurse just standing over him looking at him. Instead of understanding his “SOS” message, the nurse just laid her hand on his head to try and clam him down. “His tapping grew slower and her hand got still heavier and finally he lay back very quietly against the pillow while she brushed his forehead.” (Pg. 164)
Along with his attempts to master time, Joe is now trying to think of ways to communicate to people. What gets his mind on the idea are the vibrations that the doctors make when they come to see him. He determines that he could use tapping, or Morse code. When he was young he used to use the Morse code with his friend Bill Harper. They used it when their parents refused to let them go out because of the weather. “On such nights he and Bill Harper used to dot and dash each other and they had a hell of a good time.” (Pg. 162) Now Joe’s only problem was if the nurses could understand him. Much to Joe’s disappointment the nurse didn’t understand, or so he thought. Joe described how he could feel the nurse just standing over him looking at him. Instead of understanding his “SOS” message, the nurse just laid her hand on his head to try and clam him down. “His tapping grew slower and her hand got still heavier and finally he lay back very quietly against the pillow while she brushed his forehead.” (Pg. 164)
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Johnny Got His Gun Blog 5
• Blog – Why does Joe decide to master time? How does he do it?
Joe decides that he wants to teach himself something new. He tries to remember math, narratives, but he is not entertained by that, he wants to try something new. He decides to try and teach himself to master time. Joe’s first attempts at mastering time fail. He tries to count every second, every minute, and every hour between nurse visits. Each time Joe gets to around eleven minutes then looses track. He is unable to concentrate for long periods of time. After giving it some more thought Joe realizes that he can sense the change in temperature with his skin. He knows when it is day and night because of the different nurses. During the day there is usually the same nurse, he has recognized the feel of her smooth hands and her thundering walk. Joe determines that every two hours or so he gets a visit from a nurse. This time his plan works flawlessly. Joe is able to imagine himself watching the sunrise over his town in Colorado.
Joe decides that he wants to teach himself something new. He tries to remember math, narratives, but he is not entertained by that, he wants to try something new. He decides to try and teach himself to master time. Joe’s first attempts at mastering time fail. He tries to count every second, every minute, and every hour between nurse visits. Each time Joe gets to around eleven minutes then looses track. He is unable to concentrate for long periods of time. After giving it some more thought Joe realizes that he can sense the change in temperature with his skin. He knows when it is day and night because of the different nurses. During the day there is usually the same nurse, he has recognized the feel of her smooth hands and her thundering walk. Joe determines that every two hours or so he gets a visit from a nurse. This time his plan works flawlessly. Joe is able to imagine himself watching the sunrise over his town in Colorado.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Johnny Got His Gun Blog 4
• Blog – What does Joe believe is worth fighting for? What is not worth it?
Joe believes that your life is worth fighting for. He says that when most men go to war they were told that they are fighting for liberty. However, Joe cannot comprehend this because liberty is not something tangible, he cannot see it. “For Christ sake give us things to fight for we can see and feel and pin down and understand. No more highfalutin words that mean nothing like native land.” (Pg. 113) Joe feels that his reason is right because he considers himself the closest thing to a dead man on earth. He would trade all those meaningless words such as democracy, honor, liberty ect in a heartbeat for his life back. To Joe, there is nothing noble about dying. At the end of chapter X Joe is telling an imaginary person not to go to war based on these thoughts. “If they talk about dying for principles that are bigger than life you say mister you’re a liar. Nothing is bigger than life. There’s nothing noble about death.” (Pg. 119)
Joe believes that your life is worth fighting for. He says that when most men go to war they were told that they are fighting for liberty. However, Joe cannot comprehend this because liberty is not something tangible, he cannot see it. “For Christ sake give us things to fight for we can see and feel and pin down and understand. No more highfalutin words that mean nothing like native land.” (Pg. 113) Joe feels that his reason is right because he considers himself the closest thing to a dead man on earth. He would trade all those meaningless words such as democracy, honor, liberty ect in a heartbeat for his life back. To Joe, there is nothing noble about dying. At the end of chapter X Joe is telling an imaginary person not to go to war based on these thoughts. “If they talk about dying for principles that are bigger than life you say mister you’re a liar. Nothing is bigger than life. There’s nothing noble about death.” (Pg. 119)
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