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Oswald's Childhood and its Future Effects

 Oswald's childhood was a troubled one. Growing up with his single mother, and changing schools from time to time was hard, let alone the fact that he was a loner. For this, he was made fun of, and led him to pursue different schools of thought in order to set himself apart. This post will be exploring this childhood of Lee's, and how it influenced his thoughts and behaviors later in life.     We are first introduced to Lee in the first chapter, In the Bronx.  He lives alone with his mother in their apartment in the Bronx. Their lifestyle is not a lavish one, shown by their lack of heating and broken down television, but Marguerite (Lee's Mother) still does her best to spoil him. At school, he is made fun of constantly and has difficulty keeping up with the material, so instead he skips it, rather preferring to ride the subway and observe the people there. While he is not stupid, he lacks a fatherlike figure in his life ever since his father and brother left. This la...
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An Analysis of Rufus

      If there is a good word to describe Rufus it is disappointing. Throughout the novel, he constantly argues with his father, disagreeing with him on many topics, but as the story progresses, it becomes evident to the reader how alike the two become. He constantly tries to be a good person, but succumbs to his impulses, doing what is easy and not what is right. This leads to his absolutely horrendous behavior, raping his love interest and breaking up families. It is almost like he recognizes how terrible he is, and yet does not have the willpower to stop himself, leading to his final moments in which he tries to rape Dana before being stabbed. This blog will attempt to unpack Rufus as a character, following him until his final moments before death.     He is first introduced to Dana when drowning, but never gets a chance to speak to her, so instead I will be jumping ahead to The Fire . In this scene, Dana is brought back to 1815, and is fi...
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Mumbo Jumbo as a detective novel

      The book Mumbo Jumbo presents itself as a detective novel, with Papa LaBas being the detective in this case. LaBas is a a  Haïtian priest, and throughout the novel, he acts as an investigator who tries to find the Sacred Text of Jes Grew in order to bolster its strength. And yet, while in many ways it shares characteristics with many detective novels, it also differs greatly. This difference is in large part caused by reeds blending of cultures, ideas, and reality with fiction.      For one, rather than being a purely logical or 'real' chain of events, the mystery is mixed in with African and African American cultural elements such as folklore, jazz, and voodoo, that serve to not only enrich the narrative but also provide Reed's own cultural commentary. By mixing in these cultural threads to the story, Reed transcends the boundaries of typical detective novels, transforming it into a vibrant text that reflects the intricacies of African American ...
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Ragtime Analysis: Captivity and Fake Freedom

    For my first blog post, I will be writing about captivity, a theme present in the lives of many characters in Ragtime. This does not necessarily mean actual incarceration, but rather being constricted by a certain idea, location, or societal norm. This post will compare and contrast three different characters, and their different experiences with this theme.     The first character I will be discussing is Harry Houdini. Obviously, there is the argument of physical imprisonment as his entire public persona is that of an escape artist, but that is not what I am referring to. In reality, the reason I am writing about him is his emotional struggles, and how they prevent him from performing or focusing on anything else in his life. Originally, this is set off by his mothers death. He is consumed by it, unable to do or think about anything else. He turns to spiritualism, which even he acknowledges as false, to hear her last words, and even attends a seance dressed as a...
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