Today's discussion questions are different for only one reason, they have a different composer. I'm excited to introduce our blog's very first guest writer, Ms. Taylar B.
I thought why not have a guest writer, this is what all other great blogs include. And this being a young but still great blog, should have a guest writer too. But it was not enough just for the reader to email their questions and I post them. No, it should be more.
I'd feature these ladies. Tell of how we met and how we ran into each other later in life or have yet to. Talk about their goals and life dreams. Give them the setting to be a character in their own story just like the ones we read about. Let them have the pleasure and freedom to be an author themselves.
Taylar and I met as children at daycare. She was the cutest baby there. I remembered her because she could sometimes be a great bit fussy and I would try to help calm her. Still, she was absolutely adorable. Of course one never stays at daycare. Life happens. We grow. Imagine my surprise when into a graduate chapter meeting pranced, the cutest and daintiest young lady on the west side the river with a face of familiarity unknown to me. She talks, I listen. She listens, I talk. She mentions her mom's name and instantly without my control, just like the grandmothers at church, I exclaim, "Oh! I remember when you were a baby!" I feel aged. But not for too long. Taylar carries on with conversation. Such that the next words of hers were...
I catch the elevator and press the button for "8". I watch as the light gleams and the elevator jolts to bring me to my desired floor. I step off and scan my badge thus entering the colorful and vibrant children's wing of the hospital that has become my new volunteer ground. I scribble my name on the sign in sheet and grab my assignments for the day. My first little bundle is located in ICU and I could here his screams before I reached the room. Then just as sudden as they had come, the screams stop and he is surrounded by nurses. The only family he had known since his time here. No family, no friends, just the nurses. The love and care they exude suddenly surges into me and I know that the path I had so longed to find but instead found me. My new dream had come into form and now I must continue to pursue it. It hits me. I start nursing school this fall.
The path hasn't been the easiest to navigate. Dark clouds of self doubt, jealousy, hurt and depression have strayed into my once sunny day. My faith has been tested and my heart has been pushed to limits beyond recognition. However, an easy path is not one I would ever have wished to take. Every trail and hardship has shaped me into a person that gets better with each day that passe by.
In thinking of Ruby's chapters 10 through 12, Taylar asks
How do you feel about Celie's desire to be the next Church Mother? Do you think it is a genuine desire or is she just attempting to be viewed as someone greater?
What do you think Ephram's strenuous cleaning of Ruby's home represents?
How do you feel about Celie's need to take care of Ephram and always have him around? Do you think she is one of the reasons he is the way he is? Why do you think she feels the need to constantly care for him and treat him the way she does?
In Chapter 12, Ruby thinks back on her time in New York and when she first brought to Miss Barbara's. What are your thoughts as you read through Ruby's experiences? Were there any scenes that had you filled with sadness, anger, confusion or any other emotions?
Answer any or all of these questions. Take your time. No need to answer them all at once. To draw us into the book more and for a better understanding, use quotes from the book to support your answers. Most of all, REPLY to other readers. Let's interact with each other as much as we can virtually.
I thought why not have a guest writer, this is what all other great blogs include. And this being a young but still great blog, should have a guest writer too. But it was not enough just for the reader to email their questions and I post them. No, it should be more.
I'd feature these ladies. Tell of how we met and how we ran into each other later in life or have yet to. Talk about their goals and life dreams. Give them the setting to be a character in their own story just like the ones we read about. Let them have the pleasure and freedom to be an author themselves.
Taylar and I met as children at daycare. She was the cutest baby there. I remembered her because she could sometimes be a great bit fussy and I would try to help calm her. Still, she was absolutely adorable. Of course one never stays at daycare. Life happens. We grow. Imagine my surprise when into a graduate chapter meeting pranced, the cutest and daintiest young lady on the west side the river with a face of familiarity unknown to me. She talks, I listen. She listens, I talk. She mentions her mom's name and instantly without my control, just like the grandmothers at church, I exclaim, "Oh! I remember when you were a baby!" I feel aged. But not for too long. Taylar carries on with conversation. Such that the next words of hers were...
I catch the elevator and press the button for "8". I watch as the light gleams and the elevator jolts to bring me to my desired floor. I step off and scan my badge thus entering the colorful and vibrant children's wing of the hospital that has become my new volunteer ground. I scribble my name on the sign in sheet and grab my assignments for the day. My first little bundle is located in ICU and I could here his screams before I reached the room. Then just as sudden as they had come, the screams stop and he is surrounded by nurses. The only family he had known since his time here. No family, no friends, just the nurses. The love and care they exude suddenly surges into me and I know that the path I had so longed to find but instead found me. My new dream had come into form and now I must continue to pursue it. It hits me. I start nursing school this fall.
The path hasn't been the easiest to navigate. Dark clouds of self doubt, jealousy, hurt and depression have strayed into my once sunny day. My faith has been tested and my heart has been pushed to limits beyond recognition. However, an easy path is not one I would ever have wished to take. Every trail and hardship has shaped me into a person that gets better with each day that passe by.
In thinking of Ruby's chapters 10 through 12, Taylar asks
How do you feel about Celie's desire to be the next Church Mother? Do you think it is a genuine desire or is she just attempting to be viewed as someone greater?
What do you think Ephram's strenuous cleaning of Ruby's home represents?
How do you feel about Celie's need to take care of Ephram and always have him around? Do you think she is one of the reasons he is the way he is? Why do you think she feels the need to constantly care for him and treat him the way she does?
In Chapter 12, Ruby thinks back on her time in New York and when she first brought to Miss Barbara's. What are your thoughts as you read through Ruby's experiences? Were there any scenes that had you filled with sadness, anger, confusion or any other emotions?
Answer any or all of these questions. Take your time. No need to answer them all at once. To draw us into the book more and for a better understanding, use quotes from the book to support your answers. Most of all, REPLY to other readers. Let's interact with each other as much as we can virtually.
Please read Chapters 13 through 14 for Wednesday's discussion.
Hi Taylar! Thanks for today's questions!
ReplyDeleteI think that Celie's desire to be church mother is rooted in her desire to have all of her hard work and sacrifice pay off. I don't think it has anything to do with the religious experience. It's the next step up for her in her life and she feels that she has earned the right and th others are not worthy because they haven't been as pure, worked as hard, or sacrificed as much as she feels that she has.
I think Ephram's cleaning of Ruby's house is symbolic of several things. It's a fresh start and a new beginning for both of them. But in a much deeper way it's symbolic of acceptance and caring, possibly even love. To enter that environment and clean it without any ulterior motives, but based upon the care and wellbeing of another speaks volumes about Ephram's inner strength and how strong his feelings for Ruby seem to be.
I think that Celia's relationship with Ephram is a representation of her ego. She has "made" him into this "perfect" you man. Although he has physical ailments, he's the representation of her hard work and sacrifice. I believe he acts the way he does out of gratitude and guilt to Celia for all she's done.
Ruby's accounting her time in New York elicited a visceral response from me. I've been a rape crisis volunteer and a foster care worker. Unfortunately, I've seen first hand what sexual assault, especially when you are a child can do to a person. My first thought was that I hoped that the scene didn't trigger anyone who might be a victim of sexual abuse or assault. It made me sad. It made me vigalent. It made me fully understand Ruby's appearance and behavior the day she returned to Liberty. I was also angry with Ephram's father and Ruby's grandmother for facilitating and participating in the theft of Ruby's innocence.
Celie's desire to be church mother is an act of redemption on behalf of the family. Her mother had a mental illness and her father was a molester, possible rapist and all while being a man of the cloth... (Called vs Chosen but that's another topic, lol). There's a stain on their name and the purity of such an office in the church validates her efforts to live righteous. I don't believe it's completely genuine. That was her goal and she did what was needed to be considered for that post.
ReplyDeleteHis cleaning is a way of purging his sin. He feels dirty by being there, morally. He feels dirty for desiring a woman of the night. He's cleaning to make himself feel better about that. He could also be cleaning because it's dirty. Lol! He could be doing a good deed. He clearly comes from an immaculately clean home courtesy of Celia so it's only natural to begin cleaning such a vile home.
She has no one else. He's the one thing that last. Her parents didn't. Her loves didn't. She could control him. She could ensure he needed her and wouldn't leave. She and life are why he's the way he is. He's sheltered and seems a bit slow compared to other men. She still treats him like a child.
I'm in utter shock as I read that! Oh my goodness that is thick! I began to feel pity for Ruby. She was dealt a very bad hand in life and my heart aches for the childhood Ruby. Those experiences torn down her self image and she sees herself as the names she's called. It's so disheartening. My emotions were all over the place while reading that!
Monique, I agree with both you and Charnel. I think Ephram is cleaning because the house is filthy and he is accustomed to neatness and order. But I also think that it's another gesture to say "hey, I come in peace."
DeleteWhy do you believe that he feels dirty for desiring her though? A part of me believes that he feels like it's his Christian duty. I'm not certain of that though. It was on quote that made me believe it. I posted it under the "Noteworthy Quotes".
Yea I can see that. The reason i said he may have felt dirty was because of how everyone around him viewed her. Or maybe it was nervous energy too. He's finally in the company of his childhood object of affection
DeleteMonique, I had not considered the redemptive qualities to Celia's desire to be church mother!! Excellent point!!! I love it!
ReplyDeleteI believe Celia had a genuine desire. She believed her works entitled her to be the next Mother. However it was genuine to her. She believed that she was the better of the others. I believe it came from a place of sincerity.
ReplyDeleteI believe Ephram's strenuous cleaning represented out with the old in with the new. I believe he believed that cleaning up the place would give Ruby a different outlook on life when viewed from a clean place.
To Celie, Ephram is all she has. She treats him as her child and not a brother. It doesn't matter how old the child is, mothers tend to look at em like their baby and not grown ups. However Ephram played a role by allowing it to go on so long.
When Ruby first was handed over to Ms Barbara, I wondered if Rev raped her when she fell asleep. That was a sad moment for me. Also when the men began to go in her room the thought of what she had to endure saddened me.
I don't who Celia thinks she's fooling. She just don't seem genuine at all to me. Especially after the stunt she's going to try to pull about she "had a fight with the devil".
DeleteYea that made me doubt her too
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