Thursday, February 9, 2012

Conroy Chapter 4

       The sentence that I picked out from chapter four was "They threw a thousand yasuhs in my direction, which made me uncomfortable, but I met some of the island's most colorful figures when I went down to talk with the fishermen."  This line in the chapter stood out to me because I believe that is the part of the story where Pat Conroy is truly trying to get to know the islanders on Yamacraw.  I believe that this is important because by getting to know the individual islanders he is learning about the community.  The island community in which his students live.  By going down and talking with the fishermen everyday he gained new insight about the island, and had new things that he could discuss with his students in order to get them active in class, as well as get to know them better.  Another reason why this particular sentence stuck out to me is because I think that not only is Conroy trying to better understand the community where his students live, but because he wants to get to know the islanders.  He's been on the island for a little while by this point in the story, and most of the people that he has actually talked to are his students.  He talks to Mrs. Brown in passing, but mostly about school.  He also spoke with Mr. and Mrs. Stone, but only because they controlled pretty much everything on the island.  But, Pat Conroy had been pretty much alone since he came to the island, and I believe that not only was he trying to get know the islanders, but that he was also trying to make friends.

2 comments:

  1. Conroy wanted to learn all there was to know about his students, and that meant understanding their culture and surroundings. He was definitely a brave man to get out and visit some. He wanted his students to learn so much that he beat himself up that they were not about to write anything labile. But, I believe the students gained so much than just someone to take Ms. Brown’s role. They gained a friend and someone they could trust. They shared what it was like on the Island and how people settled disagreements. He wanted to explore the Island so that he could understand their way of living and beliefs.

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  2. When I read this sentence in the chapter, I felt like Conroy told us this to show how uncomfortable it made him. He was more than aware of the divisions between himself and the people of the island because of the color of his skin. He was all to aware of the many discrimination and flat out monstrosities that black people had experienced. Every time he heard the phrase "yasuh" thrown in his direction, it reminded him of these divisions. It reminded him that not too long ago white people where the "masters" of majority of the blacks in the south. It reminded him that there were still many divisions and injustices that were inflicted by white men. He wanted to reach the children of the island and he knew that he needed to be accepted by them. Everytime he heard yasuh he knew that he was still not one of them.

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