Disturbing painting at MFAH

This particular picture in the exhibit at the MFAH struck me as very dark and disturbing. The girl holding the baby has a very mischievous expression on her face. Probably since she is holding a defenseless  baby in her arms, this makes me feel as if she is about to do something terribly cruel to it. She holds the baby with such a nonchalant attitude. Her arms seem very relaxed as if she doesn't care if the baby might slip and smack its head on the hard ground. She also seems very young to be all by herself with an infant like this. Many parents wouldn't trust a small child with a baby like this. If you notice the background  of the area, there is absolutely no people there. The girl is all by herself with an infant and has an evil expression upon her face. This painting scared me greatly. 

"White man's burden" and "Black man's burden"

White man's burden:
The white men described as here in this poem, sounds like an ideal human being. Strong, courageous, free willed, everything a hero would be. This is extremely close to how Joseph Conrad describes the character " Kurtz" in "Heart of Darkness". (In the book) Marlow's entire secret goal is to see Kurtz. This man that he admires, looks up to. He describes him as one could describe an angel.

I couldn't find a specific place in the novel that states the point that I am about to get across in exact words, but, I can give a line from the main character. Marlow repeatedly asks: "who is this Kurtz". He only knows this man by being told he is the first class agent of this company who so far, Marlow seems to be slightly disturbed by. Marlow hears many of the other workers gossiping about Kurtz and how bad and crazy he is. All of these negative thoughts about this one man and yet, Marlow is drawn to him through some form of fascination.


Black mans burden:
This poem is obviously very close to " the white man's burden" because they are both describing the traits and actions of both races. When Kipling was describing the white men in his poem, I envisioned a strong courageous figure that protects what's his and he will never give up defending it. "The black mans burden" described a person who is very much strong and valiant, but also stressed. "Pile on the Black Man’s Burden" was the first line of the poem. To me, this suggests that these people are having more and more problems and activity (not always good) shoved into their hands. 

( page 31) "the hurt nigger moaned feebly somewhere nearby, and then fetched a deep sigh that made me mend my pace away from there." This passage makes the black person sound creature like, possibly animal. The poem is like a different side of the story. The poem is showing the story from the native's point of view. In the book, they are very minor roles that make appearances that paints them as a disturbing figure,

Personal thoughts: One could realize how short "the black man's burden" is compared to the "white man's burden". This I think is most likely because they didn't have a big schedule on their hands. The black men were slaves that worked hard and painfully in the day. Or free men living in fear because people with darker skin at this time were not free, they were owned. As a side note: this poem was hard for me to decide of it was written back around the same time as "the white man's burden". Sure, if one was to look at the basic facts in history, such as: black people were not allowed to write or learn. But, both of these poems are entitled "black MAN'S burden" same as the "white man's burden" if this poem was written in the more recent time period, this poem would be titled "black people's burden". By shortening the title that focuses only on men and ignores women, to me, seems like the basic stereotype for a poet of the older days where topics such as these were not considered racist or sexist.

Heart of darkness part 3

The Russian trader tells Marlow about Kurtz's true nature. Apparently, the trader has been with Kurtz for many months now and tells Marlow that Kurtz is obsessed with ivory. Kurtz has supposeivly raided many of e native villages in search for it and the native's love of him has given him extra power because he gets some other natives to go on the raids with him. On posts around Kurtz's hut, there are heads of African natives put up like fence posts encircling Kurtz's hut. Apparently, on Kurtz's way to another ivory raid, he got terribly sick and that's when the entire sickness thing started when Marlow arrived. Marlow starts to make excuses by saying that Kurtz is just empty on the inside and he needs something to fill him. Suddenly, a group of men surround the house that Marlow and the trader are at and try surround the stretcher that is supporting the now dying Kurtz. Out of the darkness, an "apperition" as Marlow describes it, of a. beautiful African woman appears to Marlow dressed in golden paint and tribal cloth. Before disappearing again, she gestures towards the sky and then exits. Later, while everyone is resting, Marlow notices that Kurtz is missing and sees his trail. Marlow goes and retrieves him and finnally realizes that Kurtz is crazy and he needs to be at rest. The morning comes, and everyone is prepared to return to Europe. Kurtz is put in the ship as well as the others. Marlow is at his bedside where he is given a stack of papers and photographs from Kurtz. Much later, Kurtz dies. Marlow has returned back to  Europe in a fit about his idol, his friend dying before him. Marlow goes and finds the woman in the photo that Kurtz gave him. She ends up being his wife they talk for a while about Kurtz until Marlow says that Kurtz said her name as he was dying. 

Heart of darkness Vocabulary parts 1-3

Part 1 vocabulary

Gravesend-Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. Wikipedia

Brooding- showing deep and unhappy thoughts.

Personage- used to elevate the importance of a being.

Uncanny- strange or mysterious

Billowy- swelling or growing in waves and clouds (storms)

Part 2 vocabulary

Snatches-

Pestifurious- harbor ing infection and disease.

Sagacious- shrewdness

Shoals- a sandbar

Heralded- a sigh that something is going to happen

Part 3 vocabulary

Mötley-incongruously varied in appearance or character; disparate.

Particoloured- diffrent colors patched together.

Cartridges- a container holding a spool of photographic film, a quantity of ink, or other item or substance, designed for insertion into a mechanism.

Ornamentation- things added together to make decoration on something else.

Jocose- playful and humerus 

Satiated- another term for sate

Innumerable- to many to count

Droning- a constant low humming sound

Ulster- a province in Ireland 

Circumventing- to find a way around an obstacle 

Heart of darkness part 2/ what I learned at the African art exhibit

Part 2 of heart of darkness

Marlow is laying down on the still destroyed steam boat, Marlow hears the manager and his son complaining about Kurtz. They are talking about him coming to the Congo to reconstruct the stations into civilizations and how he is thinking of taking the manager position. They continue to bicker about Kurtz until they change their subject to another person who is suspicious to them, he is a trader that wanders around. The manager just wants him executed and to get on with their day but nobody is exactly sure what position of authority (if any) he is here. At this time, Marlow springs to his feet so that they would notice him listening. They were startled, but pretended to not acknowledge that he was there and they walked off. Later, Marlow's steam boat repairs are almost done and he is preparing to go up the river to Kurtz. The boat is run by the natives that the Europeans call "cannibals". Marlow finds the natives to be enjoyable people. As night falls, Marlow hears the beating of drums and sees the native homes along the river. He feels a bond, like a relative between himself and the natives.  Later, they are slowly approaching Kurtz's hut when they find another hut with firewood beside it with a note that reads: "wood for you, hurry up, approach cautiously". The  manager thinks it must have been left by that trader that wanders around. As the steamboat is approaching Kurtz on the second night now, a great fog fills the area blinding them from what may lie ahead. A cry and scream in the night scares the rest of the crew except the natives. The leader of the natives on the boat tells Marlow that the screams came from one of his fellow white- men, the " savages" were preparing to eat them. Marlow drew the conclusion that this was because they must have been terribly starting, they are not allowed to go to the station to get food for themselves and the rotting hippo meat that they did have was thrown into the water by the Europeans. Later, the ship is ambushed by a group of natives that send a swarm of arrows at the ship.the native that was steering the ship grabs a gun as well as the pilgrims and gets shot in the process. Marlow is angry at one of the pilgrims for not helping shoot and now has killed someone in the process. A few of the pilgrims on the boat just stand there as he is dying while Marlow throws his bloodstained shoes and socks overboard into the water as he worries if Kurtz is okay. The story is interrupted by one of the friends on the ship with Marlow and is curious about why he would throw a perfectly good pair of socks and shoes overboard. Marlow just states the fact that he would thereafter never know Kurtz behind the rumors. Marlow goes on with this story by sptalking about Kurtz and how good a man he though that he was. Yes, he thought highly of him until he found a not in which Kurtz was taking power by saying: " exterminate all the brutes". This note made Marlow wonder if Kurtz was really worth all of the native lives lost and yet to be lost. Once the boat reaches the shore of the inner station, the wandering trader calls them to shore and gets on the boat. Once on the boat, the trader tells Marlow that the natives don't mean any harm. Marlow of course was not convinced at first because of the entire boat being ambushed just minutes ago. The trader explains that the steam boat running into the rocks and being "accidentally" broken was a lie, he says that the boat was purposely slashed by the natives because they didn't want Kurtz to leave. The traders final word on the matter is that you don't talk to Kurtz, you listen to him, he says Kurtz has "enlarged his mind".

At the African art exhibit yesterday, I learned about the tribes and their different ways of sculpting. One tribe put lines running down the faces and things that they made statues of. It was very interesting to see the entire exhibit as well, to look around and see if their were any similarities between statues. 

If there is any symbolism in the book I think it would be the scene in part 2 when the boat is about to be attacked. The fog sets down, the crew hears the spine tingling scream and it is night, this is the perfect scene before something bad is going to happen.   

Heart of Darkness part 1

A pleasure ship (cruise ship) named  the Nelly is at the mouth of the Thames waiting for the tide to die down. Five men  are on the deck, relaxing and talking to one another. The captain of the ship, the lawyer, the accountant, Marlow, and the unnamed narrator. These men have been friends for a very long time " held together by the bonds of the sea". As night comes, the area is starting to appear " less brilliant but more profound", the men start to remember that this area that they are anchored in, was where men would set sail to go on explorations over seas. Suddenly, Marlow brings to the attention that this place was once one of " the darker places of the earth", that when the Romans first came to England, they saw nothing but a savage jungle.  Marlow starts to remember his times as a fresh- water sailor when he was  a young adult when he rode a steam powered ship up the Congo River. He said to the men that he first got this idea, coming back from a voyage to Asia where he saw in a shop window in London, a map of Africa, this sparked his fascinations as a young man about the "blank spaces" on the map. Marlowe starts to recall his job with the Belgian company that's profession is trading on the Congo River. The company was very excited about shipping Marlow to Africa because one of the past captains had been killed in the midst of a fight with a few of the area's natives. Marlow has made his voyage across the English channel to a city that he says reminds him of " white sepulcher". He arrives at the city to sigh. The paperwork for his new job, but first, he is told the story of the former predecessor named Fresvelen that had already gone into the African village and had been murdered over a fight about a few hens and how he struck the chief. The cheif's son stabbed Fresvelen and the natives left him there to die in the center of the village. Once Marlow arrived at the office of the company he was soon to be working for, he is taken to the room where he is to sign his contract and soon after is sent to a doctor to be checked before his journey to Africa. The French steamboat that has been taking Marlow on the coast of Africa, the boat stops every once in a whole to drop off and pick up soldiers, Marlow is not enjoying the ride at all. Once the boat arrives at the mouth of the Congo River, Marlow boards another boat that takes him another thirty miles upriver until he arrives at the company's landing. Marlow is shocked, the entire dock is a shambles, and there are black prisoners chained together. Marlow continues and finds dying native workers under a tree. He offers one of them bread and as he is doing this, he finds a string tied around one of their necks. Marlow then is introduced to the accountant of the company. Marlow waits for ten days for his caravan to the next company station. Marlow's caravan has finally arrived and they embark to go to the next station. One of the caravan members is a white man who becomes sick and is carried all the way by the natives. Marlow shortly finds out afterword, the steamboat he was supposed to conduct had sunk. Marlow is told that the ship was accidentally driven into some jagged rocks and the bottom had ripped open. Marlow is informed by the general manager who had broken the boat along with a volunteer skipper, that the was taking the boat out to go relieve the inner stations. Especially agent Kurtz's who is supposedly sick. A straw hut burns down with supplies and the natives are accused for it, one of the natives is beaten and then runs away into the forest. Later, Marlow eavesdrops on the manager's conversation with the brick master about agent Kurtz's appearance at the fire. After the manager leaves, Marlow starts talking with the brick master. The brick master tells him that Kurtz is actually a prodigy who was a favorite of the administration, that is how he started working as an agent for this company. Brick master talks about how he was ready to become manager until Kurtz arrived and stole the position. This confuses Marlow and sends him wondering the rest of the day about Kurtz. 

So far, the main protagonist seems to be Marlow. He is against racism as far as I could tell, he was horrified at the sight of seeing the salves bound in chains and rotting in the sun. The antagonist seems to be the entire company he is working for! They all seem to be for slavery and the mistreatment of human beings that are not white. Marlow even thought that his boat was punctured by someone who didn't want him to travel to his next destination. 

Marlow: a sea man who has recently sighted up for a job for a company and the main character if this story. He seems to be against racism.

The captain of the ship, the lawyer, the accountant and the unnamed narrator:  All friends of Marlow, Marlow is telling the story to them.

Heart of darkness introduction/ what did I learn about colonialism?

What did I learn about European colonialism?:

1. Marxism- going out of style( explanation for colonialism)

Example:
Marxism said that British rule needed to be temporary in order for India to flourish.

P.S.
I have heard the word Marxism and Marxist but I have never known what it truly meant. For a long time, I thought it was a religion.

2. When the Spanish took over, they ins laced the natives and acted superior and told the natives at what they were doing was just because god told them too. Natural law is what people believed was a law that was a law that existed outside of governments.The Spanish and the natives were different and the Spanish thought the differences made the natives savages so, they didn't like them.

3. For and against colonization:

In order to keep culture, you can't put other cultures and mix them in with other cultures or else they will get messed up.

Believed that they can't keep "savages and barbarians" in with "civilized people".

Both of these views are very bigotrice and wrong, yet, these kinds of views are typicall for people of this time period to think. I have always heard that the people of this time period are this way (racist and cruel) but I never had any examples of why they thought this way (atleast not this intricate).

Heart of darkness introduction:

Conrad's relationship with African related things stretches all the way back to when he was still a child. He would look at maps and read stories about Africa. Most stories he heard were of the Europeans taking over and the giant racial divide between " savages" and "civilized people". At age thirty three, Conrad became a merchant sea man, he then sighted a long term contract to work for a Belgian company in the Congo. At this time of course, the Congo was ruled by king Leopold II of Belgium. Conrad was so wanting to go back to Europe came faster than he thought. He suffered the after effects of dysentery and malaria that made him extremely sick and effected him for the remaining entirety of his life. This illness was said by his close friends that it was what changed him "from a sailor to a writer".

Conrad's job, sickness, and the finally his evolution from sailor to writer I found fascinating. Even though these three things are jammed into one small spot in the intro, I thought that it was probably one of the most interesting stories of how someone became who they were destined to be through their whole life. Conrad sounds like a wonderful author and I can hardly wait to start reading the book.

Vocabulary:

Beuracrat: "(A beuracrat and a soldier)"

Dysentery: " plagued with the after- effects of dysentery and malaria"

Vindicatory: " in addition, Kurt's deathbed scene brings with it vindictory suggestion"

Overview on oral history project

The entire oral history project was a wonderful experience. The interview was probably my personal favorite part because when you look up someone and you find out all of the wonderful things that they did, when you finally meet them in person, it blows me away to hear there personal stories in detail. The project as a whole has challenged and amazed me. His project was a great experience and I think that it should be enjoyed by everyone.

Reflection on transcription.

My transcription work was interesting but at many times very frustrating. In my mind, I thought that he said things that he didn't and it was good to look back over the interview to see what he actually said. For the majority of the time, the transcription frustrated me. The whole transcription gave me a lot of stress, this is probably because I was working on my iPad and instead of opening two windows, I had to exit out of one app and open another repeatedly. I finally found out that on the earbuds that I had has a pause button on it. I was using the pause button until one day at home, I accidentally dropped the earbud with the pause button in a bowl of water and it didn't work anymore. The whole transcription process was definitely a project that kept me alert at all times and it was a good experience to have.

Reflection on my interview expirience

I think my interview with Ray hill was very fun and it went well too. I thought that he was hilarious and all of the things that he had to say were very funny and interesting. From the information he gave he sounded like he made a huge impact from every little step that he took, to fight for gay and prison rights. Even though he was funny, he would change the mood of the topic quickly, and it was hard to stop laughing or grinning when he would get into a topic that was to be taken in a more serious seance. That is probably what I could have improved but the rest I thought went perfectly well.