Emily Dickinson's "We Grow Accustomed to the Dark"

Below, I created an interactive/visual version of Emily Dickinson's We Grow Accustomed to the Dark. I don't think it needs a visual version, the words are enough, I just had the idea and wanted to explore it a bit.

We Grow Accustomed to the Dark

We grow accustomed to the Dark --
When light is put away --
As when the Neighbor holds the Lamp
To witness her Goodbye --

A Moment -- We uncertain step
For newness of the night --
Then -- fit our Vision to the Dark --
And meet the Road -- erect --

And so of larger -- Darkness --
Those Evenings of the Brain --
When not a Moon disclose a sign --
Or Star -- come out -- within --

The Bravest -- grope a little --
And sometimes hit a Tree
Directly in the Forehead --
But as they learn to see --

Either the Darkness alters --
Or something in the sight
Adjusts itself to Midnight --
And Life steps almost straight.

Emily Dickinson

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/we-grow-accustomed-to-the-dark/

 This is also pretty cool... a visual poetry video by a student.

     What I like best about We Grow Accustomed to the Dark is the cadence and silkiness of the words when read aloud. They convey a sense of mystery and uncertainty. Dickinson's use of rhyme is subtle and not forced which is a style that I appreciate. Many times, I think that forcing a poem to perfectly rhyme takes away its integrity and power.

     I think the pronoun 'we' is important in implying that the experience described is a collective one. The experience of finding the way and adjusting to the dark is yours, mine, and therefore ours. Dickinson describes the literal adjustment of our eyes to darkness as well as the figurative. We all know the feeling of stepping the dark and physical sensation of our eyes adjusting. But what does it mean to adjust to the dark figuratively? She ends the poem by saying 'And Life steps almost straight' and I can't help but think that the result of our adjustment is the ability to see life from another perspective.

"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" paragraph

     The world was sodden with gray. Crabs scuttled under the feet of a sick child. In the courtyard, an old man appeared looking as bleak as the dripping sky. He had enormous wings but they flapped futilely. He was imprisoned with the chickens who provided neither company nor comfort. The people questioned whether he was a beast, an angel, or a man? The winged man's miracles were unmiraculous and narrow minds soon moved along. Crabs scuttled under the feet of a healthy child and the winged man flew away. His nature was never revealed.

Toni Morrison's "Recitatif"

     After reading through "Recitatif" twice (a few days apart), I'm still trying to wrap my head around different aspects of the story. After the first couple pages I thought that this would be a story about a black girl and a white girl who would develop a friendship, reunite, and defy the racial tensions of their time. However, stories are not always quite that satisfying. When Roberta coldly talked to Twyla at Howard Johnson, I was crushed. When they met up at the grocery and reminisced, I was elated, but then I was crushed again.
     What I found most interesting about "Recitatif" was the idea of perception. Twyla describes her situation at St. Bonny's by saying: "...we weren't real orphans with beautiful dead parents in the sky. We were dumped" (131). What Twyla is communicating is the discrepancy between society's ideas and feelings about orphans/kids in a shelter. The children who lost their parents due to sudden death/illness/etc. were pitied and comforted. However, Twyla (who has been "dumped") has a low self-esteem because she feels that in a way she is unwanted. Even the other children view Twyla and Roberta differently although they are in the same situation living in the shelter.
     The other main issue with perception in this story is Roberta's and Twyla's versions of the incident where Maggie falls down in the orchard and neither one helps her. After reading this story, I still can not figure out the truth (which is probably intentional.. and does it matter?). At first I thought that Roberta envisioned Maggie as black to give herself an excuse for not helping her or that Twyla envisioned Maggie as white to hide her shame. Either, or neither, of these may be true but I think what matters is that neither child stood up for someone who couldn't stand up for themselves. Is this a reflection on the racial turmoil in the story? Absolutely. If someone is being mistreated and abused, isn't being silent just as bad as being the one mistreating or abuser? I also think it is interesting how flippantly Twyla regards the Puerto Ricans, upstate Indians, and Koreans. She uses a tone that makes it seem that it should be surprising that she was treated worse than them. She also expresses shock when she thinks that Roberta married a "chinaman."
     There is a lot to discuss within this story and I look forward to exploring it in class, I will undoubtedly understand more than I do now after discussion. My favorite quote from this story is: "There was this silence that came down right after I laughed. A silence it was her turn to fill up" (135).

Toni Morrison Talks about Writing

    

James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues"

     To start of this post I want to share my list of notes/thoughts that I jotted down while I read and I will try to address more or less all of them (they are woven together): darkness vs. light, the 'outside,' childhood, purpose of life, sound/ listening/ music, narrator's tone/description often pessimistic, suffering, and alikeness of father/brother, father/son, narrator/Sonny.
   
     "Sonny's Blues" addresses the opposing darkness and light of both the narrator's and Sonny's lives. In the opening paragraph the narrator is described as being "trapped in the darkness which roared outside" (75). This darkness is mentioned over and over again throughout the short story as a "menace" (72), the place where children who do not play jacks and jump rope hang out (82), and the place where the old folks had come from and where children were going (83). This darkness could refer to many things-- the darkness inside of ourselves? the dangers of the streets of Harlem? the harsh realities of life, especially when exposed to children? and/or loss and suffering? Baldwin seems to distinguish the darkness as a part of the outside, but I'm not sure that I see a difference between the outside and the inside (yet?). It seems to me that the darkness envelops everyone everywhere, it is just more 'silent' on the inside.

***

     One passage that strikes me the most in this short story is found on page 88:

     "Well, Sonny," I said gently, "you know people can't always do exactly what they want to do--"
     "No, I don't know that," said Sonny, surprising me. "I think people ought to do what they want to do, what else are they alive for?"
     "You getting to be a big boy," I said desperately, "it's time you started thinking about your future."
     "I'm thinking about my future," said Sonny, grimly. "I think about it all the time."

     This dialogue makes me think of the perennial question, "What do we live for?" Is it true that we go to school, then go to more school, to get a job, in order to make money or to be 'serious' ? I would like to think there is more to it than that-- that between that mix there is room for passion, love, and joy (as is Sonny's relationship with music). Is this realization a part of the narrator's often bitter tone? Does he realize that although Sonny has problems with addiction, he followed his dreams/passions, unlike himself (maybe?). There are many similarities between the narrator and his brother, they essentially had the same childhood until their parents died (they both stole from the same stores, experimented with sex in basements, and hurled tin cans and bricks from roofs [pg. 81]). I think this relationship is very closely linked with reality. Siblings can grow up in the same situations in life and turn out very different from each other, I can notice that with my own relationship with my brother. For more information on this from a research standpoint check out this NPR article.

***

     I could probably write pages and pages on my thoughts on this story but I would just like to add a few more things...

     I really liked Baldwin's mention of "Am I Blue" by Billie Holiday. After listening to the song's lyrics, I could see the connection between the lyric "Ain't these tears in my eyes telling you," and the performance and I could see Sonny playing the piano and what his eyes must have looked like as they met his brother's.

 

 Lyrics to "Am I Blue"

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..and lastly, my favorite lines:

"He began pressing the beer can between his hands, I watched the metal begin to give. It glittered, as he played with it like a knife, and I was afraid he could cut himself, but I said nothing." (96)

     In my mind I was screaming at the narrator, say something, you've stayed quiet far too long, but then I thought even if you are silent, at least listen. I'm still not sure how I feel about it.

-Runda

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day

 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. "I Have A Dream" speech