Jesse
Jesse, what kind of name is that? I mean, is it a boy or a girl’s name? If I heard some of my friends speaking of a person named “Jesse” I wouldn’t be sure whether if it was a boy or a girl. When looking the name up on urban dictionary it says that Jesse is a person “who everyone likes and who gets all the girls”1. Jesse is a boy’s name, and if a girl where to be named the same, it would be spelled “Jessie” as a short for Jessica. These were the first things I thought of before reading the story. The short story “Jesse”, written by Joy Boothe, is about how the narrator, who is also the writer, came to name her son Jesse. The whole story takes place over 22 years, and the “Jesse” begins when the narrator is 5 years old and ends when …show more content…
She describes the setting with a vivid imagery and the overall atmosphere of the surroundings which is mainly the house and the mill. The climate is described as very hot and humid “Jesse and Daddy work in the hot sun all day long…”4. Since the story takes place over 22 years, historical context is extremely relevant and this can also change the setting due to the fact that the story is based on such a long period of time. The weather and also the grandmothers opinion toward black people gives us an indication that the story is set in the Southern states in the United States. This could also mean that the years we are following the narrator and her close ones, civil rights movement and Martin Luther King could be an influence on the narrator’s opinion on black people, and also her grandmother’s …show more content…
It’s very clear that we are seeing a change in the generations, especially when looking at the narrator and her grandmother. The message we get from analyzing their relationship is that they were raised with an entirely different perspectives on segregation and people of other race. The granny symbolizes the elder generation’s incapability to change their view on the black population, where the innocent and less judging young girl is more open-minded toward all people. This message is closely linked to the main theme of the story. This story is set in a time with divided opinions on the view of black people, and with the civil rights movement, the March in Washington in 1963 and also the KKK’s reunion in mainly the southern states5, so the different opinions of the narrator and the grandmother send the message that this was also the situation of the whole country. Some people could change their mind, and some people remained stubborn. Overall the short story “Jesse” is an intense and realistic story packed into a short text, with both a shocking start but also a feel of relief in the end. We follow the narrator’s whole young life and in the end find out the very complex answer to why she named her first son
Jesse, what kind of name is that? I mean, is it a boy or a girl’s name? If I heard some of my friends speaking of a person named “Jesse” I wouldn’t be sure whether if it was a boy or a girl. When looking the name up on urban dictionary it says that Jesse is a person “who everyone likes and who gets all the girls”1. Jesse is a boy’s name, and if a girl where to be named the same, it would be spelled “Jessie” as a short for Jessica. These were the first things I thought of before reading the story. The short story “Jesse”, written by Joy Boothe, is about how the narrator, who is also the writer, came to name her son Jesse. The whole story takes place over 22 years, and the “Jesse” begins when the narrator is 5 years old and ends when …show more content…
She describes the setting with a vivid imagery and the overall atmosphere of the surroundings which is mainly the house and the mill. The climate is described as very hot and humid “Jesse and Daddy work in the hot sun all day long…”4. Since the story takes place over 22 years, historical context is extremely relevant and this can also change the setting due to the fact that the story is based on such a long period of time. The weather and also the grandmothers opinion toward black people gives us an indication that the story is set in the Southern states in the United States. This could also mean that the years we are following the narrator and her close ones, civil rights movement and Martin Luther King could be an influence on the narrator’s opinion on black people, and also her grandmother’s …show more content…
It’s very clear that we are seeing a change in the generations, especially when looking at the narrator and her grandmother. The message we get from analyzing their relationship is that they were raised with an entirely different perspectives on segregation and people of other race. The granny symbolizes the elder generation’s incapability to change their view on the black population, where the innocent and less judging young girl is more open-minded toward all people. This message is closely linked to the main theme of the story. This story is set in a time with divided opinions on the view of black people, and with the civil rights movement, the March in Washington in 1963 and also the KKK’s reunion in mainly the southern states5, so the different opinions of the narrator and the grandmother send the message that this was also the situation of the whole country. Some people could change their mind, and some people remained stubborn. Overall the short story “Jesse” is an intense and realistic story packed into a short text, with both a shocking start but also a feel of relief in the end. We follow the narrator’s whole young life and in the end find out the very complex answer to why she named her first son