Response to "Fried Butter"

When I first read the narrative “Fried Butter,” I really did not think too much of it. But after thinking about it, I have to agree that it can anger a person a lot. He treats his mother so poorly, stating that she takes care of him, his brother, and his father, and then doing nothing that shows any appreciation in any way. After reading the “Why I want a wife” essay by Judy Brady, and then reading this, you really do feel like you want to throw the book across the room. I re-read it once again before I started writing this, and I was truly annoyed by how he just ignored his mother when she stated that she wished to talk. I also got continuously annoyed with how he would connect and compare eggs to his way of life. Be it women, human nature, even eternal life. Why eggs? Could he not pick something that is not so repetitive in our day to day life? Maybe that was the whole point of comparing the two, but I found it almost useless in my mind’s eye.

"Letter from Birmingham Jail" Response

This letter by Martin Luther King, Jr. only shows his genius with interpreting ideals and principles into a form that the ordinary person could understand. His letter is a response to, not necessarily negotiations breaking down, but negotiations never taking place to start with. He even states “Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.” I have to agree with his statement that they were living in a negative peace. It may have been peace, but only in one group of people’s “acceptance of their unjust plight” could it possibly stand. It is a brave stand in trying to convince others to respect everyone. “It is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends.” That is what he states segregation to be, and what the Birmingham police are doing in order to maintain segregation. Ultimately he states that the police, although they might be commended for maintaining peace, it is the nonviolent activists who should be commended. For being unarmed, for persevering despite the hatred towards them, and for not using violence for doing what they consider is the right thing to do.

Blog 1. "Why I Want a Wife" Response.

The essay “Why I Want a Wife” by Judy Brady is full of sarcasm and repetition. That is the reason why it kept my attention for so long. Switching the wording from being the wife to wanting a wife only helped keep the reader’s attention. Starting each sentence with “I want a wife…” and then listing what may as well be slave labor hits people hard, maybe the men more so then the women, since it makes it seem like the men are almost the cause of it. It may be a little harder to understand today since most women are a lot more independent than they were forty or fifty years ago, but it is not hard to see past the irony of “wanting a wife” and the sarcasm of the work the wife seems obligated to do within this essay. My ultimate reaction to the essay was that I would hate for this to happen to anyone, regardless of who they are. A relationship is a partnership, especially marriage, and there must be equal expectations for both the husband and the wife. However, this essay makes it seem like while the husband is away, all the work is placed on the wife, and no real balance is maintained.