Yellow Wall-Paper: When I was reading Yellow Wall-Paper I was thrown into a deeper and deeper state of depression. From the beginning of the story when the main character describes the new house as " . . . a haunted house" (41) to her description of the room where she would be kept stating that ". . . the windows are barred for little children, and there are rings and things in the walls" (43). The main character describes this room as having been used as a nursury prior to her arrival and then goes on to describe destruction that these children may have caused to the room. She speaks about clawing at the floors and peeling away at the wall paper and describes the bed as looking as though it has been through a war. These images, along with the disturbed mental state that she takes on as the narrative progresses, reminded me of in-school suspension. Being stuck in a tiny room for the entire school day, nothing to do, no one to talk to, was very mind numbing. I did not have quite the breakdown that the main character did, but I can see how being kept in the same room for such an extended period of time could drive her to her end.
When I Was Growing Up: When I was reading When I was Growing Up I was struck by the image that is mentioned in the second stanza of the poem, "people told me I was dark and I believed my own darkness" (295). The girls feeling a great sense of her darkness is an image that is repeated throughout the poem and it reminded me of visiting certain neighborhoods in Chicago. That feeling of being the outsider. This image also struck me because the way it is written it is almost as though the girl, in being reminded of her darkness, is viewing herself as evil or somehow bad/wrong. The image of darkness representing both her outer skin color and her percieved inner evil based on societies actions towards her.
The Thirty Eighth Year: When I was reading The Thirty Eighth Year I was confused by the authors use of the image of herself as "an ordinary woman" (296). She first describes herself as this ordinary woman, and then moves to state that she expected to be more than just this ordinary woman, and finally expresses that she ". . . had expected more than this . . . had not expected to be an ordinary woman" (298). When I read this image and when I return to it I am not able to wrap my mind around a specific example or picture of this image. In my mind there is no 'ordniary woman', every woman is destinctly unique as is every man. Even identical twin exhibit destinct personalities that often make them quite unique in their own ways. So I am confused as to why the author has chosen to depict herself as this 'ordinary woman'. There is no ordinary woman, there is no plain woman, there is no simple woman.
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I saw Lucille Clifton's poem working to point out that she does not feel as though she has come into her own life yet. She writes, "out of my mother's life/into my own" (298). Her mother was beautiful and wise, but she was sad. Clifton wants to leave that same sadness, loneliness, and unexceptional life behind. She wants to have a life that is different than the role that is played by the common woman, the role of the wife, mother, and household manager. It seems as though she realizes that she is getting older and has yet to break through this idea of what being a woman means. It's a desire to accomplish more than what is expected of women by society.
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