Monday, March 29, 2010
Comparisons
In Jean Toomer's "Blood-Burning Moon," we see rage unfiltered through main characters Tom Burwell and Bob Stone. In this story, is Louisa important to both men? Either of the men? What is the role Louisa is playing in this story? Yes, she is the love object, but how else does the author use her to create tension between the black man and the white man? How does the author use her to display prejudices and viewpoints of blacks by white in the context of this story? Use textual support for your answers - the song lyric at the end of each section, the dialogue between Louisa and Tom in section two, the full moon, the mob scene at the end of the story when Tom is killed.
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I think Lousia is important to both men. It is hard to distinguish whether Bob really loved her or just used her for lust. I think he did love her even though he may not have wanted too. Tom on the other hand, may have loved her only because he felt that they belonged together only on terms how their color and situations. The role Lousia is playing in this story is not only a love object but an example of the tension between interracial relationships. Society influences Lousia how it is only custom to go with Tom because he is of same status at her. Although she seeks how Bob could be an opportunity to get away from her poor life. “She is worth it.” (1277) Just by that quote you know that Bob means in what he says. Although he may not believe it as he would if Louisa was white, he still thinks she is worth it. Society has such strong influence on interracial relationships that it has become hard to see the truth in what people want in a relationships. In the back on their mind there is always a second doubt that the color of skin matters. Like Bob will always think.
ReplyDeleteMeghan Viola
Louisa holds a certain importance to each of the men, but they are ultimately more interested in their own conflict over who gets to be with her. The fight that occurs between Bob and Tom is not based on them looking out for Louisa's best interest, as it should be if they really cared about her, but rather to satisfy their anger towards one another. In the end, Louisa is the one who is hurt the most when both of her potential lovers get murdered. There is evidence throughout the story that points towards the lack of integrity and empathy when it comes to relationships, however at that time it was not uncommon to pursue relationships this way. Bob refers to his superior status as Louisa's master, and uses this excuse to claim her as his own. Tom, on the other hand, is much older than Louisa, which he reveals when he says he has watched grow up from a child, and threatens to use his physical build and merciless fighting tactics to make sure no one else tries to take her from him. Personally, i think Louisa was too innocent and young to understand the tension being made around her, and she seemed to enjoy being the focus of both men. The whole situation goes to show how equality is needed to succeed in any relationship.
ReplyDeleteI felt that the two men had a real hatred for each other even if Louisa wasn’t in the picture. The underlying tension between the two was their difference in race, I think of Louisa as more of a spark that starts the fire between them. Almost as if she gives them an excuse to take out the built up hatred on one another. This became a fierce and in the end deadly competition between the two men, to be with Louisa would prove who the better man was. Bob Stone being a white man treated Louisa more as a piece of property than an actual human being, and even though African Americans had been emancipated he still held it above her. I don't believe she really understood how serious things were until it was too late and Bob was killed.
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ReplyDeleteIn theory Louisa is important to both men, but in reality, she is not that important to either man. The role that Louisa plays in the story is the love interest of a white man a dn of a black man. Tha author also uses her to create tension in the story because she becomes the “thing” that both men want but can not have because of their race. The author uses her to display prejudices and viewpoints of blacks by white by showing that since Bob a white man is going after a black woman that he is seen as different because that is not done in his society. It also shows that blacks are seen as inferior to white menl this can be seen in the story when after Bob finds out that Tom is interested in Louisa, he decides to go after him and eventually gets Tom killed. This can especially be seen when Bob fakes that Tom cut him. (pg 1278-1279)
ReplyDeleteI believe that Louisa is not important to either of the men. Tom only feels like he has to be with Louisa just because they are considered to be the same color. I believe Bob only wants to be with Louisa to use her for sex. “He saw Louisa bent over the hearth. He went in as a master should and took her.” (Toomer, 1277). Tom doesn’t like the fact that Louisa is getting involved with a white man. Louisa is bringing out bad characteristics between the two men which then causes a conflict. Tom is jealous of Bob because he wants to be the one that buys Louisa what she wants but he can’t because he isn’t getting paid enough money. If Bob does have feelings for Louisa, he cant love her because he was raised from a white family. Bob has to see Louisa behind his families back so that he doesn’t get caught. Tom ended up attacking and killing Bob once he found that Bob was interested in her. As soon as the white men heard that bob was killed they finally had an excuse to harm Tom and ended up killing him as well.
ReplyDelete-Amanda Bordiere
In my opinion Louisa's role in "Blood Burning Moon is not as the protagonist like many may think but as we discussed in class, that she is the foil character. She brings about a new consciousness to Bob and Tom that other would not be able to do. I think "love object" is a very appropriate description of how each man saw Lousia. I feel like this because to each man that is exactly what she was, they were in love with her, but not her exactly, they were in love with the object that they viewed her as. She gave each of the men a reason to start a fight with other. Tensions may have already been building up because prejudices each race has of the other, but now they had a reason to fight each other. "White men like ants upon a forage rushed about" (Toomer 1279). This selection shows the prejudices between whites and blacks by showing how the fight between those two men created such an uproar among the white men. Because Tom killed Bob all the white men got together to kill Tom, and they felt it was their right to lynch him and set him on fire. The prejudice shown here is that Black men are inferior and they have to be punished for severely like that. But if it was the other way around and Bob had killed Tom nothing would have really happened and Bob would have probably just walked away.
ReplyDelete-Ashley Piper
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ReplyDeleteI believe that in the short story of “blood burning moon”, both men had used Louisa. The main problem in this story is not the torment that they are putting among Louisa to win her heart, but that they are fighting over the fact that the segregation of the two races has gotten the better of both men causing them to have that in mind 24/7 and wanting to win Louisa as a prize to show that race had won. Louisa is not only portrayed as a love object, but an object of victory. Whoever wins her heart will win this race war and therefore will have the upper hand in the people’s eyes in this town.
ReplyDeleteIn the story “Blood-Burning Moon” Louisa is not really important to both men because Tom believes that she should not be with a white man and that is why he is so attracted to her. Bob on the other hand just sees Louisa as his property because he is white and she is black. Louisa’s role in this story is to show the conflicts between blacks and whites even know slavery is over. The author uses her as a object for the white man and the black man to fit over, to show that there is still prejudice feeling between the men. The mob scene shows that the white men will jump right on the blacks when they do something wrong.
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