Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Post Response to Rosario Ferre Here
Greetings Woman Writer Scholars: (excuse belated posting!!--we will work on this in class today and you will follow up tonight)
Please post your personal response to "The Youngest Doll" here. First just give your reaction to the story, your interpretation (or thoughts about) various events and characters. I am especially interested in your ideas about the ending. Please quote at least once from the story.
Then read the accompanying essay that explains the economic and social situation of Puerto Rico at the time of the story and leading up to that time (1976).
After reading the essay, write a brief paragraph explaining how/why the essay helped you understand the story. Choose one passage from the essay that affected your understanding of the story and include a reference to it in your discussion.
So this is a two-paragraph blog--first on the story, then a response to the essay. Enjoy reflecting!
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"The Youngest Doll", I think, plays on the ideas of life and death - that is, what it means to be alive or dead. Life and death can share traits - the most obvious trait is that of inactivity. The play of inactivity, then, is played upon in the story. We see that "the aunt" who raised 8 of her nieces - who she made dolls for each year - "would [on their wedding day] give each them their last doll...telling them with a smile. 'Here is your Easter Sunday'" (4). Easter Sunday relates to Christianity and the idea of resurrection. Resurrection plays a role insofar as the living body - which is not already dead - becomes dead through marriage, stagnant, old, inactive through oppression. It is the "living" body which becomes dead, and the dead which comes to life. When "the doll lifted her eyelids, and out of the empty sockets of her eyes came the frenzied antennae of all those prawns" (7), the doll literally comes to life. The dead becomes life, saves the living through revenge, lives more than the living lived in life. The dead is resurrected as living - the revenge of the living.
ReplyDeleteThe essay helped me to understand the history of the folklore that took hold throughout the story. Apparently the folklore are "Derived from the original Taino inhabitants, African slaves, and Spanish colonists" and "The stories concern the oppression of the poor peasant...and the search for identity" (7). Thus, one sees that the story could not better represent the oppressed peasant - the woman - who, through marriage does not gain an identity ("Mrs.Something-or-the-other" in addition to "Maiden-name-person") but loses identity (strictly becoming "Mrs.Married).
I too saw that the Easter Sunday relates to Christianity however i didnt even know that it too could relate to Resurrection. it maid me see this story in a totally diffent way. good blog :)
DeleteI agree with Steven--your close reading of the resurrection idea is perfect! Reading it this way makes the story even more satisfying!
DeleteThe way i feel about this story "the Youngest doll" is how the aunt raised 8 of her nieces and than giving them each a doll for each year.i feel the doll repersent life and death. when the aunt gave each of her nieces their last doll on their wedding day and said "Here is your easter sunday". this quoate has a religion meaning to it. once sombody pass on they will be reborn again. so when the youngest died the dall came alive. also i feel that the first doctor was bad for taking money away from the aunt all that time he could have taken that fish out of her.
ReplyDeleteThe essay helped me understand the story back just a little. im still a little confuse in some parts in this essay. what i got out of it was that the story had a folklore veiw on it. the folkore are "derived from the oringinal Taion inhabitants, African slaves, and spanish colonists" and also "the search for identity". i feel like each doll repersent each of the nieces and how getting married will help them find that.
Steven--you've helped us understand the transfer from woman to doll through the Easter Sunday symbolism--the doll (gift) on Easter foreshadows the girl's death once married!
DeleteThe youngest doll discovers the aspects of life and death. The aunt in the story raises eight nieces that she loves very much. The aunt shows her apperciateion by making her nieces dolls that resemble each one of them. The last of the nieces is to marry the son of a wealthy doctor and the aunt packs the doll with honey and prawns that attacks the husband. I think the honey represents the innocents of the aunt and how she was taken advantage of. The prawns represent the revenge she was after. The prawns were her voice she used them as a outlet to release her anger.
ReplyDeleteThe story is still a bit confusing. After reading the additional information given on the background on the history of the doll i have a better understanding but i'm still confused about the ending the author left a cliff hanger
love your idea of the honey as innocence and prawns as revenge, Junisa!
DeleteIn ‘The Youngest Doll’ there is an aunt who as young girl bathed in the river. One day an angry prawn (a sort of large shrimp) bit her leg. I think the prawn was like something invading her freedom or what she had left to offer to make meaning for herself and other woman in PR. She got a doctor to see if it could be treated but it couldn’t be treated so she decided to live with the prawn in her calf. “She had been very beautiful, but the prawn folds of her skirt hidden under the long, gauzy folds of her skirt stripped her all of vanity”. She devoted her life to make dolls since she found beauty in them and because she can make them as beautiful as she wanted and because she probably didn’t see herself beautiful anymore. Also In the story it proves a point how men used the women for money instead of making their own. Like how the doctor took the money to pay for his son’s education or how the doctors son took his wife’s doll to sell it and get money from it. “but I just wanted you to come and see the prawn that has been paying for your education…”. It also proves a point on how women were objectified by men. “Each day he made her sit out on the balcony”. Instead of getting to know them the men used women for their beauty. Like if they were trophies. Finally I feel the aunt got revenge for what both the doctor and son did to her. She took the one thing the son love which was her niece. She planted a prawn in her and when he noticed she never age and he went to check on her the prawns came and I felt that aunt thought he had deserved that.
ReplyDeletenice focus on objectification of women that Rosario is describing, Elizabeth
DeleteI have to say this story probably reinforced my fear of dolls.The story is filled with symbolism. In "The Youngest Doll", I see it mainly as a representation of the society from the eyes of a woman. I also note the author trying to remind the reader's that they have a voice, regardless of the oppression/patriarchal society that they live in. I say this because of the ending. The dolls are somewhat of an embodiment of the whole culture of women at the time. How the aunt builds them is an example of this. The aunt would leave the eyeballs "submerged at the bottom of the stream for a few days, so that they could learn to recognize the slightest stirring of the prawn's antennae" (246). Which means that she bathes the eyeballs near the prawn's (which to me symbolize patriarchy)to help them be aware of what is happening around them, and also to empower them in a way. In the end, the doll comes to life and the prawn's come out, which to me is her way of showing that you can still be empowered even in a patriarchal society. To use the power to your advantage and release it.
ReplyDeleteFrom the essay I learned about operation bootstrap and it's failure. I also learned how it left many of the old sugarcane aristocracy without their status anymore because of the shift to industrialization. The protagonist's in the story are part of this and it shows when the youngest daughter marries the doctor, she just sits around with nothing to do which could symbolize how unemployment was rampant for girls over the age of 16 (59%).
Julio--good analysis of why she bathes the eyes; idea that dolls embody whole culture of women works well--and I find your coment that the story reinforced your fear of dolls hilarious!
DeleteWhile reading “The Youngest Doll” the first time, it was a bit confusing to me. But as I read it again, I was able to see that the story was bitter sweet. In the beginning of the story, the aunt creates a story through the dolls that she makes for her nieces. The making of the dolls are similar to the quilts. Then as the story continues, the aunt grows ill and has a doctor that falls for the youngest. Now the doctor becomes infatuated by the beauty and status of the youngest. So they get married and they live a wealthy life. But as the doctor is living his rich life, he treats his wife as a trophy. He would make her sit on their balcony so people can see that he married rich. In the end when he goes to watch her sleep, it ends with her becoming a porcelain doll. The way I see it is that by her becoming the doll, she truly became the wife that he wanted, beautiful and young.
ReplyDeleteThe essay helped me understand the history of folklore in Puerto Rico. I was most intrigued by the section “From the doll to larger society” I was able to learn how a doll represented female empowerment. But in the youngest doll, the niece becoming the doll represents how woman have no voice, but also how the woman can change the way they live.
Amanda--nice connection between doll making and quilt making--good reading of essay.
DeleteThe story starts off with a beautiful young girl who found pleasure bathing in the river until one day a pawn bit her calf. “She had been very beautiful, but the prawn folds of her skirt hidden under the long, gauzy folds of her skirt stripped her all of vanity” After this incident and a doctor telling her it wont heal, she decided to live through her dolls. These dolls she created for her nieces one each for each year. The dolls represented them as woman in society with no voice. But the pawn represented this revengeful voice. The last doll had a pawn in it and it was for the last niece who married a young doctor who only saw her as a trophy wife. This pawn took over the niece and that was the aunt's revenge to the father and son for not helping her when they could have.
ReplyDeleteThe essay helped me understand the history behind this folklore. How Puerto Rico, didn't allow women to have a voice, be independent.And how the doll represents their voice.
Yaritza--like your idea of prawns representing revengeful voice--esp for last doll!
DeleteMy first impression of ''The Youngest Doll'' was ambiguous. At times I was completely confused and disgusted. Other times I was tempted to chaulk the story up to ''another crazy Puerto Rican'' myth or legend, though I did see bits of purpose in the details. I just wasn't sure how to put then together. Even in the opening sentence, ''Early in the morning the maiden aunt had taken her rocking chair out onto the porch facing the cane fields, as she always did whenever she woke up with the irge ro make a doll''. I knew that the mention of sugarcane fields had to be important because of Puerto Rico's history.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the essay, it all made more sense. It actually pushed me to see more connections. After reading the essay by Diane R. Sneva, I was convinced that the women were representative of the island of Puerto Rico and the partriarchal theme was another way to tell the story of the Spanish, the U.S., and their imperialistic tyranny veiled with ''compassion'' for the lost and uncivilized. When Sneva says ''They are part of the wealthiest, most powerful nation on earth but remain the poorest community of the United States...'', I likened the prawn to the Industrialization that the U.S. Imposed. Also, both the aunt and the youngest niece represent what Puerto Rico is today; a beautiful vacation destination perceived as an abundant land with rich resorts, however, the prawn has handi-capped their ''leg to stand on'', and destroyed the true richness of Puerto Rico by Stripping them of the their wealth, which was cultivated by the land, and their voice.
Tabatha--Appreciate your honesty about your first reaction; and your connection to the story after reading the history essay--good additional analysis at end of your post re US behavior!
DeleteI found this story to be quite disturbing and similar to the way that Edgar Allen Poe writes, as the story has a dark, somewhat unexpected, mildly grotesque ending. The character of the Aunt is a sad women living with her inner anger or frustration in a patriarchal society. She chooses to remain unmarried after having a prawn bury into her leg at a young age and essentially take away her ability to use her limb. I interpret this reading as one that shows her damage from the prawn as her rejection of the assumed role of women at a young age. I think one theme that is important to this story is that this woman who is inferred to have never been with a man, essentially raising children, says, “Here is your Easter Sunday” (Ferre). I see this as a representation of the Virgin Mary. A virgin that raises a child, then creates dolls in the image and likeness of this child, or in the biblical sense in the image and likeness of Jesus. Then, after the child goes into the world as a married woman receiving her final doll the evil comes out of the doll, now tarnished by society or the husband. This might be a stretch but it feels as though the story is not only about women getting revenge as much as it is about the dark spirit of men and how the men take the genuine kindness and spirit from women, “he pried out the doll’s eyes with the tip of his scalpel and pawned them for a fancy gold pocket watch” (Ferre). He is not just taking the eyes, but he is stealing the worth of the doll or metaphorically the spirit from the youngest niece’s eyes and using that worth of them for his own greed. This feels like a commentary on how men, or “prawns,” are not only bad for women but how they actually tarnish them.
ReplyDeleteAudra--intriguing idea that SHE rejects role of women rather than that the disabling comes from patriarchy (more conventional reading)--very interesting reading of Virgin Mary parallel to the Aunt; also comment about dark spirit of men--do you think there is a tension in the story about who really has the power?
DeleteThe “Youngest Doll,” by Rosario Ferre controlled my imagination and thoughts for the story was nothing I have ever read before. I empathized for the Aunt whose leg was evaded by a prawn but at the same time appalled that it was so easy to have all styles jurisdiction over here. In relation to the Aunt, Ferre stated, “She had been very beautiful but the prawn hidden under the long gauzy folds of her up-skirt stripped her of all vanity.” The prawn was a source of imagery for patriarchy and how it was easy to control women. In a sense the aunt was confined and had only one real job to do. And that was making dolls for her nieces. The end of the story was confusing to me only because I cannot make out where the youngest nice went and how the doll took her place. If the author herself could explain the ending, that will be quite interesting. I would like to think that the niece escaped from her husband who only married her to be a wealthy man.
ReplyDeleteShikeera--thanks for your comment about how the story "controlled" your imagination! It kind of does that! I was confused by end of story too--two possible readings--she becomes the doll or she disappears and is replaced by the doll--which is better?
Deletehipity hopity women are property!
DeleteI found the story "The Youngest Doll" to be very interesting. I like how the Aunt makes dolls to represent each niece that she took care of. Each and every niece that she took care was unique and that's what the dolls represent. When the youngest niece was set to get married, the Aunt created a different doll with honey and a pawn. The ending of the story was the aunts revenge toward the doctor who was able to cure her but didn't because he wanted the money. I made the connection from the youngest niece to the youngest doll because that was the aunts last revenge with the release of the pawn from the doll. This was an indirect revenge.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the essay it made it a little clear as to what was going on around the time this story was written. But I had a better understanding of this story when we went over it on class.
Yelena--good focus on revenge through the prawn--and how it is indirect--subtle--the way women's power is deployed in many of our stories!
Delete"The Youngest Doll" story at first it struck me as mystical kind of story. The first time I read it I did not understand the ending and its significance. However, I found the aunts' devotion to the dolls and nieces as important as the making of the dolls. I felt as if it was the aunts' way of expressing and liberating herself as the nieces respectively left. "Here is your Easter Sunday" said the aunt as the nieces left with their last doll. Yet, Easter Sunday in reference to the Catholic religion is view was the Resurrection of Christ. Then, I wonder did the aunt meant for the nieces to be resurrected in their marriage or to escape it and be reborn.Overall, the story was mystical with the prawn being stuck with her leg and representing her limitations and resignation towards it.
ReplyDeleteOnce I read the historical background of Puerto Rico and the connection it had to the story everything became crystal clear. I understood that the prawn was a symbol of men's repression and man's power, the patriarchal line of power. The "Here is your Easter Sunday" was the aunts' way of saying goodbye yet hoping that her nieces' would be reborn after the marriage or perhaps liberated themselves of the marriage itself. "But i just wanted you to come and see the prawn that has been paying for your education these twenty years" said the doctor to his son. These particular lines infuriated me because the representation of man's power over a women was clear. He had purposely kept the prawn in her leg for his own convenience disregarding her life and her possible future. The end of the story with the prawn coming to life and taking revenge finally made sense. It was the necessary measure to take the doctor's son life since the doctor had taken her life. Overall, I like the story development and ending, I believe even nowadays man taking advantage of any woman life is an issue that needs to be address.
Izabella--you raise interesting questions about the meaning of Easter Sunday. Are they escaping or dying? It's true that the essay clarifies the social-political message!
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ReplyDelete"The Youngest Doll" story at first confused me to death. i had to re-read it a few times. even then i still was puzzled by some parts. Besides all of the confusion the story line is actually really nice. the fact that aunt is able to create exact replica's of each child for every year until they marry away and than make a wedding doll is insane i know it takes a lot of time to create this amazing dolls and she does it for each and everyone of her nieces. the aunt at the benign of the story is described as a beautiful women who enjoyed bathing at the river until one day a pawn bit her leg. “She had been very beautiful, but the prawn folds of her skirt hidden under the long, gauzy folds of her skirt stripped her all of vanity” i feel as if she blames every male for what happened to her. because the doctor didn't cure her when he absolutely knew that he could of instead he funded his son medical school education at her expense. it still puzzles me the reason why she wants revenge with and why she creates the dolls.. i really liked the story but, i feel like she left a lot of cliff hangers.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the essay i still didn't understand much about the story but it did explain the background to the river and the sugar cane fields.. because sugar canes fields are what set P.R into the what they are now it was their source of riches. i also understood the meaning of the pawns in the story as a form of men repression, as well as how much power men really do hold over their partner. with the reading of the essay i understood the reason why the prawn came to life in the end of the story. the prawn coming to life is a way of the aunt having revenge on the doctors family. As the one thing that will haunt them for a long time.
Stefany--I like the way you explain that the story confused you but you still liked it!
Delete"The Youngest Doll" story at first confused me a little bit but i understand the concept. i feel this relates to the story of dee and how the quilt represents the growth and somewhat tells a storyof that person in there family. also in life we all has we hold something of value tht as we grow we still hold on to remember "us" as a person
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the essay it made it clear tht anything as precious as a doll or quilt can hold such value to a person or tell a story.I had a better understanding of this story when we went over it on class
Nice connection to Dee and the quilt--need you to discuss story in more depth!
ReplyDelete