Category: English 10

Quickwrite Response #5

Aunt Harriet’s third child is a deviation to the social norm. It is never revealed what is wrong with the baby, but it must have been a minute flaw. Her last hope was to beg her sister (David’s mother) to switch children, before the inspector came to “clear” the child. However, in a previous chapter David, explains that his mother’s views align with his fathers, thus being strict about inspecting deviations. Aunt Harriet is rejected when she asks David’s mother. She obviously felt she had no other choice and without wanting to lose her third child, committed suicide. If I was in the same situation I think I would have collected my belongings including my baby, and run away and try to find someplace where I would be accepted. The entire system is screwed over the hatred towards flaws caused by the “devil”, so I don’t blame her for at least trying to hide her child.

Analysis: #7 Response

The stories Uncle Axle told Davis relate much to Greek mythology. Tall strong woman who governed men could be derived from the amazon woman in Greek mythology. They were a tribe of females, who lived in a all-woman kingdom and killed any child birthed a boy. Sailors who were shipwrecked and then eaten is most likely a representation of the myth about mermaids, as they have been known in stories to lure sailors only to trap and eat them.  The way that Uncle Axle was explaining these stories can show how the civilization of Labrador has not yet wandered off their own “spot” on the map. They yet cannot differentiate between the stories and actual world history of the “Old peoples” whom I assume are us in a sense, since in the modern world I am in today I can see the irony over my understanding of the stories but their lack of. It is mentioned in his explanation the theory of sailing over the edge of the earth if you were to go in the same direction thus proving the point that the town they are living in is still so young they cannot even receive any information about the outside world.