Post by danyhong55 on Jun 4, 2014 6:32:29 GMT
Disclaimer: Not in your group but I really wanted to make a point.
Context contextualizes.
There are always more sides to a story than one. Many more in fact. I think that we as readers are only getting a brief picture of who Ruth is and the nature of her relationship with her father. She does not deserve much of the flak that Macom Jr. gives her. He walked into a situation that he was not prepared for, nor one he truly understood.
On the other hand, who Ruth is is a question of how much she is not saying. Her character is not defined by who she is, but who she is not. As many people have quoted and referenced before in page 75, "She was too insubstantial, too shadowy for love. But it was her vaporishness that made her more needful of defense." Morrison shows who she is not through the eyes of Milkman. However... we must consider that this is only one side to the story, Milkman's side. Not to say that isn't valid, but her character is far more complex than we can truly appreciate and to take things at a surface value is to devalue Ruth as a character.
Context contextualizes.
There are always more sides to a story than one. Many more in fact. I think that we as readers are only getting a brief picture of who Ruth is and the nature of her relationship with her father. She does not deserve much of the flak that Macom Jr. gives her. He walked into a situation that he was not prepared for, nor one he truly understood.
On the other hand, who Ruth is is a question of how much she is not saying. Her character is not defined by who she is, but who she is not. As many people have quoted and referenced before in page 75, "She was too insubstantial, too shadowy for love. But it was her vaporishness that made her more needful of defense." Morrison shows who she is not through the eyes of Milkman. However... we must consider that this is only one side to the story, Milkman's side. Not to say that isn't valid, but her character is far more complex than we can truly appreciate and to take things at a surface value is to devalue Ruth as a character.
