"Columbus in Chains"

"Columbus in Chains" is all about a picture in a book that Annie had. In that picture is Christopher Columbus tied up with chains in feet and hands. Annie is always critizizing Columbus and Mrs. Edwards is mad because he Discovered the land the lived on. And Mrs. Edwards think that Annie is being disrespectful to the history. And send her to the mistress, and as a punishment she told her to write the two volumes of Paradise Lost which is the history of the discovery of Antigua.

But I think that Annie's attitude is not right but neither is bad. Because everyone has the freedom to express their thoughts, no matter what. But Annie is being more realistic. Because Columbus could discover the land but not the right way. Because the spaniards on those voyayes were looking for gold to enrich themselves and they went land, to land exploting, abusing with the people that live on the lands. Columbus never respected their original culture and come to impose a new culture and religion eventhough that wasn't what they believed on.

In some way I agee with Annie because the perspective that she has isn't the past is what they did to make them what they are. What she wrote "A great man no longer just get up and go" What she is trying to say is that no man called great can come change everything by force and then just leave like that without fixing things back. Columbus just came and go. So he should not be great to just come and go. Annie is thinking in the past and the rest just think in the present in themselves. But Annie is thinking in her ancestor that suffered everything Columbus came to do, the explotation her ancestors had to stand.

I think this chapter is trying to make them react about the history behind the present. She is trying to let people know the truth about the history. And I think Mrs. Edwards should listened first instead of punishing her for thinking different, for expressing their thoughts.

"To Hell with Dying"

This story is about a man who had earned the affection of a family had always been there for him. He was a smoker, drinker but besides everything he did he had always been there for the kids. They were two kids from his neighborhood. First it was the boy, but in the story the boy and Mr. Sweet were not together that much as his sister and Mr. Sweet. Mr. Sweet knew how to make her laugh. And she knew how to make him gain strength when he was about to die. Her father every time he was about to die, he told Mr. Sweet this phrase: "To hell with dying, these kids need you".

As I understand it, this story in a way is a message to the people, because every time Mr. Sweet was sick the girl and her family always try to help him to live, but we could see that at the end she could not do anything for him. When the death is there for us, when our moment arrives there's nothing we can do. No matter how hard we try we cannot control things like that because we are not God, to make people live longer. In the time the story was written the science and medicine was not at its highest point like now, that we have anything for every pain we feel. In that moment it was the nature of the body that take care of everything. Diseases were not under control the disease control the human. There was nothing they could do.

As we can see these family was something special because they were the only ones that causes effects on Mr. Sweet. Since the beginning the two kids were always with Mr. Sweet, they were like his grandchildren. So they were inside his heart, they were tied to his feelings, because he was always carrying and worrying for them. It was the strong relationship that they had that gave her the power to cause an effect on the moment Mr. Sweet was about to die. And we can see this because in the story Alice said that everyone in the neighborhood looked for them every time Mr. Sweet was sick. They did not looked for anyone else except for them. This means that they have a strong, bonded relationship, it is like if they were family. They are, maybe not blood family but they reacted like family. Because every time they went to look for the family they did not waste a second and run over to Mr. Sweet's place. So I think this story shows us how to treat and react to the family.

Everyday Use

Everyday use is a story of a woman, a black woman and two kids. She started the story describing her backyard that she made it with Maggie. She was humble, hard worker, caring person. After that she talks about a TV show. And she said that the TV program only shows a dream of life, a dream of how they want to live. But reality is not that easy to live, life is a lot more complicated than what the show describes. The show hides the reality behind an imagination. In reality she is fat and with man-working hands, because when she was younger she lived during segregation. She does not have education because of the segregation, but her kids do have education and enjoy it.

Her two kids are two totally different personalities describing the society. Dee was the imagination, she was always dreaming just like the TV. Dee has nice hair and fuller figure, she represents the white people. She is always walking with her face up and always dreaming of life, a better life. Maggie was different she always walk with her head down and eyes on the ground feet in shuffle since they lost their first house. Dee hated the house but Maggie loved it. She enjoys living there. Dee has a few friends but Maggie has one. Dee was so ashamed of her life that she always leaves with her friends. Dee was so ashamed that she changes her name to Wangero.

The story’s subtitle For your Grandmamma is because at the middle of the story Dee confronts her mother because she wanted something her grandmamma made. But She was saving that to Maggie’s wedding. But Dee was impulsive and wanted that piece nothing else. Maggie gave it to her because she felt so bad that Dee does not have anything even though she was never home. Dee wanted a better life; she wanted the best and left the worst to Maggie.

This story as I understand it is cultural and ethical. Because they represent a culture of African American people during a period of time that was not like ours in present. In that moment there were very less opportunities to an African American to develop and be somebody in the society. After all Dee is the chosen of the family to be that somebody, but then Dee really changed her personality when she moved from the house. She disrespected her family by taking away the only thing they have left, the only thing her mom preserve for Maggie, and totally disrespect her mother by taking everything with a value in her house. Dee left them with nothing.

I think this story is just the reflection of most people that do the same thing. That thinking of them they forget of their families and leave them with nothing. And it is not only in that time but in present we see it a lot. Maybe not under the same circumstances but the same situation.