Malibu Hess
English
3/26/20
MP2
Throughout this semester, we learned all about borders, culture, and perspectives. We have dug into the depths of these and incorporated many ideas of how we have certain cultures or views. I personally believe society, and the views our family/parents or friends give us play a HUGE factor in what we believe. I believe that we can fall into a lot of categories like race, religion, politics, etc. I have decided to choose the book “Wide Sargasso Sea”, and the book “Boxers and Saints” to compare, due to how society impacts perspective. (And compare and differ them!)
“Wide Sargasso Sea” is a 1966 feminist novel, by Jane Rhys. It is a response to “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Brontë’s, describing the background to Mr Rochester’s marriage from the point-of-view of his mad wife, Antoinette Cosway, a Creole heiress. Although this book can go along with “Jane Eyre”, you do not have to read one to understand the other. But having read both can give new ideas and perspectives to the novels. This novel has racism, slavery, and a lot more aspects that can relate to borders. There is a lot of rage and injustice in this novel with how the treatment Antionette gets from her family or Mr. Mason gets from citizens. Slavery has always been something that has been a tragedy. Rhys has greatly portrayed through this novel that slavery included some unbelieve things, so characters in this novel often “forget” these things have happened. Rhys also has different age perspectives throughout “Wide Sargasso Sea ” and related the memories that Antionette has as a child, and they relate to the tragedies yet to come later in this novel. For example, in a part of this novel, Antionette felt very eerie and went to her brother’s room. She thinks on how Mr. Mason plans to cure the boy. It goes from Pierres happiness and the need to sleep and then hears crackling. This eerie part in the book prepares us for the events to come. Very few things in this culture and lifestyle that Antionette was living in, seemed normal. If you relate our childhoods, to times like this (slavery), they are very different. As a 2000’s baby, as most of us are, we did not grow up in times of slavery or war. But this does not mean that some of us did not deal with racism or poverty. Perspectives that we have dealt with can tie into stereotypes, such as being blonde, skin color, being poor, etc. Perspective is always something people deal with. Perspective plays a role in almost everything in this book, in a way.
“Boxers and Saints” is a novel that was written in 2013 by Gene Luen Yang. These are two companion graphic novels that are about two different people and their experiences and lives going on during the Boxer Rebellion. We later find out in “Saint” that her book was after her dying, which is why her novel is not in color. “Saint” is about a girl (Four-Girl) who is a peasant, who is later shunned by her family due to becoming stronger in her Christian faith. The novel “Boxer” is in color and is all about him joining the rebellion. Peasants were tired of being hungry and failing throughout life, such as farms. Citizens were tired of them hurting their society. Bao is the leader and wants to rid China of the peasants. The things that happen during these novels to these people are very different and they struggle with very different things, but are both dealing with the hardships of the rebellion and life in general. Boxer is dealing with joining the rebellion and what that entails. While in Saints, she is dealing with her new religion, her family disowning her, and what it means to be Chinese and Christian.
Although there is so much more than I can tell you about each novel, I want to hit on a few main points that have stuck out most to me due to perspective/culture with society. Culture is defined as the “symbols, language, beliefs, values, and artifacts (material objects) that are part of a society” (Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World, page 67). Religion falls into culture to me because I think culture is oftentimes, religious based and it is a part of the values and belief that a person tends to have. During my childhood, I was raised in church and bible school. My views on my beliefs due to religion are related to what I learned in those environments and what my mom has taught me. As I have grown up, my beliefs have become neutral in a lot of aspects. I feel as though there are always two parts to a story/view. “There are always two deaths, the real one and the one people know about.” (Wide Sargasso Sea). I relate this quote to the topics we have talked about for weeks in class because there really is, two parts to views or stories. Whether that is race, politics, stereotypes, or whatever else. Society has such a huge impact on the way people look or what they believe or even what they want to do. Bao joined this rebellion because it was what he knew and what he was impacted to do in a sense. Four-Girl was shunned for her religion by her own family in her novel which is something I could have never imagined. Her culture and lifestyle was very different than the one she wanted to be led to (Christianity). Something that the novel makes sure to point out is can you be christian and strong in faith while following your chinese culture. Which is something her family seemed to not think was possible. I think perspective in religion is such a big thing because everyone has a view on what is “right” or “wrong”.
Relating Boxers and Saints and Wide Sargasso Sea is hard but there definitely are things that they have in common, but things that make them differ. These novels are both a “two set read”, but you don’t need to have read one, to read the other. Perspective in the writing of these novels is such a big thing whether it has to deal with age like “Wide Sargasso Sea”, or whether it is two completely different characters like in “Boxers” and “Saints”. These novels both have a great amount of tragedy in them and were both difficult reads. They have racism, “ I hated the mountains and the hills, the rivers and the rain. I hates the sunsets of whatever colour, I hates its beauty and it’s magic and the secret I would never know. I hate it’s indifference and the cruelty which was part of its loveliness. Above all I hated her. For she belonged to the magic and the loveliness. She had left me thirsty and all my life would be thirst and longing for what I had lost before I found it.” (Wide Sargasso Sea) This quote comes from Antionettes husband, and Antionette has always struggled with racism because she is not welcomed by whites or blacks due to the color of her skin. This caused her to always search for her identity and where she belonged with herself and with the rest of the world. Her perspective towards herself came from how others treated her. Color of skin was a very big deal back then and continues even into society today. African Americans were not very common during this time period which caused them to be stereotyped and hated.
As well as in “Boxers and Saints”, Four-Girl is looking for her identity with Christianty and being Chinese. The way her family and other Chinese acted towards this impacted her greatly with her perspective on herself and her beliefs. Identity, borders, and perspective all fall into the same category because there is a way you can relate to them or compare them to one another. Both novels I have chosen to compare have these concepts throughout them which we can easily notice, or show up in close reading.
Overall, I feel as though society affects perspective on ourself in how we should act or look, and in these books they come from family, skin color, slaves, or ourselves. Society can make us think something we support is wrong (Four-Girl and her religion) or that we will never fit in (Antoinette due to her skin color). Talking about these topics in class was a difficult thing because everyone can see it with a different view. We could all have a different culture, religion, race, etc. Which can impact our perspective on anything.
Works Cited
“Boxers and Saints” by Gene Luen Yang
BookBrowse. “Summary and Reviews of Boxers & Saints Boxed Set by Gene Luen Yang.” BookBrowse.com,www.bookbrowse.com/bb_briefs/detail/index.cfm/ezine_
preview_number/8897/boxers-saints-boxed-set.
“Narration and Structure.” It.info,crossref-it.info/textguide/wide-sargasso-sea/29/1977.
Rhys, Jane. “An Introduction to Wide Sargasso Sea.” The British Library, The British
Library, 11 Mar. 2016,www.bl.uk/20th-century-literature/articles/an-introduction
“Sociology:Understanding and Changing the Social World”. University of Minnesota
Libraries, 2016, Pg 67. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
“Wide Sargasso Sea; Racism Analysis.” Chloetatum, 11 Jan. 2016,
chloetatum.wordpress.com/wide-sargasso-sea-racism-analysis/. “Wide Sargasso Sea” by Jane Rhys
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