When people refer to the "south" I think of a very
selective, very close bunch of neighboring states- Louisiana, Texas,
Mississippi, and Alabama. But technically I am missing a realm of states. Like
what about Georgia, Florida, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Arkansas... New
Mexico even?
Well, good 'ole Tim Gautreaux, Lucy, and the array of
southern gothic material that we've read has made me reconsider my personal
boundaries for the "south." I may not be a William Byrd dividing line
specialist, but I have expanded my idea of which states are included in the
south.
For starters, I have never pictured Georgia as being in the
south. Even after I visited it this past summer I put it off as being an
in-between state. I think this was mostly because it is so mountainous;
however, the place I was staying was so so humid and did provide us with Tony's
food seasoning... so that in itself is a clear indication of southern-ness.
In class we discussed the importance of the conversation
between Obie’s wife and Julian, and since then it’s still echoing in my head.
Their conversation was not only important for further development of the
characters, but it’s a leading characteristic for all of the characters that
we’ve read about.***
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SO- Hate to admit it, but I was a little like Julian from
Gautreaux’s story, “Idols.” I was pretty much in my own little world. But at
the end of the day it’s not I who arranges the time zones, nor I who jurisdicts
what is considered southern- and it isn’t Julian’s job, either.
When Julian called from Mississippi to Georgia, he didn’t
realize there was a time difference, and me? I wouldn’t have realize it either,
considering I’ve stayed put in Louisiana my whole life. So I get it, it’s human,
but how he handled it was his defining moment. Julian never apologized for
coming off as rude, even when Obie’s wife called him out on it being after
midnight he didn’t pause and logically work through it- he even tried to correct
her! Funny enough, Obie’s wife tried to put him in his place… “Mister, you
caught up in your own little world so much you think the rest of God’s universe
is in your time zone. It’s twelve-ten in Georgia.” I think if Julian’s head
wasn’t stuck so far up his own but, maybe, just maybe his perspective of life
would have changed. But from the ending of the story, we know that Julian still
puts himself above everyone else. This makes me question where he comes from.
Where’s his southern charm? His southern hospitality? I’d like to know where
this fella came from, what his positionality is. He’s so caught up in his own self, so much so
that he divorced his wife rather than lay off the typewriters. I mean who in
their right mind would trade human interaction, love, and affection for a
dusty, metal typewriter? It’s so perplexing to know so little about a character’s
background, and then have to watch them go through their life. It’s like,
reading this story I really wanted to be able to explain or understand the way
he was, but I couldn’t because there was nothing to go off of. As readers we
all are curious to know why a character is how they are. Even as every day,
ordinary humans we want to know people’s background- it helps us to justify and
predict their actions. That’s one of the keys to building a relationship- knowing
where exactly they come from… but I think this particular short story was just
that- a short story. There was nothing to get emotionally attached to,
considering we only know one (crappy) side to this main character, and there
was a true ending… the house fell apart and he never changed his attitude. In
all honesty, I’m more emotionally attached to Obie, at least I know a little
bit about him and a more vulnerable side to him. So really, this was an appropriate story for The New Yorker. Was it maybe even a little chuckle toward all of the people who read it? I mean we did discuss how people read this on the subway and think they're so cool... and I think Julian would definitely be one of those people.
