“You’ve never felt anything. Not on the inside, you know that...Not for others, and neither do I. We can’t help it. Nothing - gets - in.” (Thompson, pg. 56 ) Nothing gets in - Reflecting on himself, Cape Race argues with his mother, Lomia, describing their callous nature in Judith Thompson’s White Biting Dog. Perhaps what was unknown to Thompson at the time was that this argument would become a statement on the human condition in the 1980’s - the time in which this story is set. A decade of great economic prosperity and material growth, everything appeared to be bright and positive. However, this was only on the surface. As Thompson illustrates through Cape and Lomia, the 1980’s was in veritably a bleak period characterized by genuine apathy …show more content…
In a nutshell, Lomia’s character can be summed up by two simple sentences, “I have to take care of me. I am my caretaker. ” (Thompson, pg. 55 ). Lomia says this to her son Cape after he begs her to come back and live with he and his father, following it up with a comment on her nightmares of being a widow. Disregarding the state of her husband’s health, she cares only about how she will be regarded when she becomes a widow, and so, the only way to save herself is simply to not come back. This showcases the way Lomia consistently puts herself before others, caring only for her own feelings. Perhaps, she is more afraid of the feelings that will come with losing her husband than she is of her status as widow, therefore avoiding the situation in its entirety seems to be the only viable option. Later, in the same conversation, Lomia admits to Cape that she does not feel things; “I want to, I try to feel things -- I hate it in here, in this -- thick -- pitch -- everything I do, I do to get OUT (Thompson, pg. 56). Lomia is admitting to, more or less, hiding herself behind an emotional wall. However, what is important to note is that she wants to get out. She is able to realize her shortcomings and wants to be better, but does not necessarily know the right way to achieve this change. Instead, she becomes ensnarled in a cycle of self hatred and greed, playing with …show more content…
White Biting Dog provides a concrete example of what it felt like to be living in this time. Cape and Lomia are only two characters who showcase this, however, examples can be found in each character. All too often, we are distracted by a shiny exterior, but it is important to look past that and really delve into the core of what is happening, elucidating the truth underneath. The fear, the greed, anything to compensate. Nothing gets in - The fear, the greed, anything to compensate. Thompson could not have said it
From childhood to adulthood, Natalie's inability to discern that the perfect family is naught but a childish fantasy inhibits her mental growth. Perfection causes Natalie to be unprepared for the world; the sudden loss of perfection causes trauma that burdens her throughout her entire life and her inability to let go of perfection causes her to seek the past rather than the future. Until Natalie relinquishes her notion of perfection, Natalie will never attain
Brutal Dogs In the book “Number the Stars” written by Lois Lowry a brave girl swings into action as a mysteries packet is left on her doorstep. Will Annemarie risk her life to deliver the package to her restless uncle and save her beloved friend? Annemarie should not have transported the mysterious and inexplicable packet to the anxious uncle Hemrick. Annemarie should not have convoyed the packet to her uneasy uncle hemrick for these three reasons.
In this part of the story we see how she really is. When she is locked inside her house she starts to cry, “She cried out, she cried out for her mother…”(Oates 242) This tells us that she is still un-mature and still a
The most significant injustice which the narrator is blind to is the social inequality between white and black people. 1. Dazzled by the tantalizing yet superficial promise of success and power, the narrator passively accepts white superiority in order to curry favor with them. a. He is so absorbed with “flatter[ing] rich white folks” (38) that he fails to question why he must act subservient in the first place b. As the narrator unconsciously throws away his self-respect, he also exhibits the inability to make clear moral judgements on issues which seem undoubtedly wrong and unethical.
She creates stories and makes assumptions. She also prefers to talk, not listen. For example, when Beth and Calvin go to play golf, Calvin tells Beth that Conrad “needs to know that you don’t hate him”. She gets defensive immediately and starts to accuse Conrad of telling lies to his father, convinced that Conrad is against her. She shows signs of violence, including labeling Instead, she should control her stories and presume that people are basically good.
She implies in the paragraph before that there is still always room for improving. Implying that the use of his advantages will result in more “understanding and daily improving.” In addition, she makes him feel guilty for not wanting to expand and
In all her actions, she lets her own animosity take over and proves that she truly only cares about the wellbeing of herself as well as making others feel the pain she has felt. She “uses her power in a way that is selfish and hurts other people” all because of one motive,
This seems like she wanted to be a self-made outcast being able to accomplish her objective; putting everyone against her. She even avoids eating her meals at the common room. She then excludes herself from others and stocks up on ramen noodles in
When she was young, she could not process the way her father raised and treated her, so she believed everything he said. When she is able to understand, her tone changes and becomes clinical and critical remembering the way he constantly let her
So basically she wants to experience if poverty is truly a reality. To start off her experiment. she decided to set some limitations on herself. The first limitation was that she cannot fall back on any skills learned throughout her education or usual work. which throughout the book it seems that was not really the case.
She begins to do drugs, disobey her father, and when she meets a pimp named Alphonse she claims
She makes improvements in her identity and situation by taking advantage of available programs that are trying to help her better her future. Jolly in the first part of
She try be herself, she try to be happy but sadly to do this she had to distinct herself from society, which she couldn't really do. In the text it said. "Every step she took toward relieving herself of obligations added to her strength and expansion as an individual. She began to look with her own eyes; to see and to apprehend the deeper undercurrents of life. No longer was she content to "feed upon opinion" when her own soul had invited her."
While reading the story, you can tell in the narrators’ tone that she feels rejected and excluded. She is not happy and I’m sure, just like her family, she wonders “why her?” She is rejected and never accepted for who she really is. She is different. She’s not like anyone else
Dogs Dog's language isn't based on verbal signs, like humans', but on body language and mouth expression. You should pay a big role to dog's posture and the situation that he is currently in, to avoid any unpleasant misunderstandings. Eyes Normal eyes are calm, eyelids widened and whites of the eyes are not visible.