Sculptures in James Baldwins If Beale Street Could Talk Essay

In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself, Douglass describes his super as a man of the most inflexible firmness and stone-like coolness (Andrews 181). He adds that his mistresss tender heart became stone (Andrews 188). When he send-off tries to free himself from such people, Douglass ends up all alone, within the walls of a stone prison (Andrews 208). Throughout these references, the image of stone is repeatedly linked with the stonehearted and dramatic tweed oppression of African-Americans. James Baldwin also includes images of stone and wood in his novel, If Beale Street Could Talk. Stone and wood are often mentioned together and are used for a joint purpose as Fonny, the protagonist, uses these materials to create sculptures. The novels three mentioned sculptures act as foreshadowing symbols that predict what ultimately happens to their subjects they intricately detail the whiteness oppression each subject faces, their subseq uent imprisonment in stone, and their path to emancipation. Fonny gives one of his first sculptures to his girlfriends mother when describing the sculpture, his girlfriend, Tish, says, Its not very high, its done in black wood. Its of a naked man with one hand at his forehead and the other half screen his sex. The legs arevery wide apart, and one foot seems planted, unable to move, and the whole motion of the figure is torment (Baldwin 38). This sculpture acts as a foreshadowing symbol in the novel because, like the sculpture, Fonny is a vulnerable black man who tries to avoid being raped, but he ends up being tormented and captive in wood and stone. Also, like the sculpture, Fonny is ultimately left in the care and prote... ...g room (Baldwin 38). It will likely become quite a conversation piece, encapsulating his keep story more artistically and intricately than any family scrapbook or album. It will even link Fonnys story to Frederick Douglasss slave narrative, sh owing how twain of these black men faced betrayal, isolation, and metaphorical death through unjust imprisonment in stone. It will also show how they both struggled to find freedom from Caucasian oppression, and how Fonnys struggle occurred outside the context and time of slavery. Works CitedAndrews, William L., ed. The Literature of the American South A Norton Anthology. New York Norton & Company, 1998.Baldwin, James. If Beale Street Could Talk. New York dell Publishing, 1974.Rape. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 2000 Fourth ed. Bartleby.com. 30 Sept. 2004

Media, Appearance and Eating Disorders Essay -- Argumentative Persuasi

Media, Appearance and Eating Disorders Many women are concerned with their appearance. Too many of them are caught up with the image of being skinny and pretty. By seeing all the beautiful, thin women in the media and in society, they may feel insecure about the way they look. Therefore, they fork over and do anything they can to acquire that appearance. Methods they use to try and achieve this are by self-starvation, known as Anorexia, or induced vomiting, known as Bulimia. Anorexia nervosa and binge-eating syndrome nervosa are only two of the eating disorders that often result from their incessant desire to be thin and beautiful. Eating disorders, such as these, also pass by amongst men. However, it is less common. Standards for males simply are not as extreme or as inimical to normal body builds as are womens standards (Fallon, Katzman, and Wooley 8). It is not well(p) the biological aspect, though, that makes this occur more often in women. Fallon, Katzman, and Wooley claim On even a practical level, womens self-image, their social and economic success and even their pick can still be determined largely by their beauty and by the men it allows them to attract, while for men these are based largely on how they act and what they accomplish. Looks simply are of secondary importance for male success. (9) Beauty and fashion are also in part with their desire for social toleration and success. Women try to meet an unreasonable weight standard because fashion requires them to. Men are encouraged to be strong and precedentful. As they work to develop their power in the gym and at work, they associate thin with skinny and weak. Even though female models often look frail, (which men hate in themselves), fema... ...school, a majority of the guys would pine after the thin, pretty girls. The girls, with meat on them, would often be jealous of, therefore, feeling they are not thin enough to be beautiful. Low self-esteem and eating disorders would then result f rom these feelings. I, personally, do not think that thin is beautiful. Not only by your exterior, but what kind of a person you are and what you have inside, makes you beautiful. Works Cited Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, Inc. Updated September 2001. http//www.anred.com. November 27, 2001. Fallon, Patricia, Melanie A. Katzman, and Susan C. Wooley, eds. Feminist Perspectives on Eating Disorders. bleak York Guilford Press, 1994. Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth. Signs of Life. 3rd edition. Comp. and ed. Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon. New York St. Martins Press. 2000. 481-89.