Wednesday, April 4, 2012
A Feeling of Power
There were a lot of interesting points I wanted to talk about in this reading section but one of the ones that really caught my attention was when Lutie was at the butcher's getting dinner for her and her son. I thought it was very interesting how Lutie describes handing the butcher money but then tucking the meat under one arm and placing her pocketbook in her other hand. This caused the butcher to put in more effort to place the change on the counter. Lutie questioned herself as to why she did this and said "because he was white and forcing him to make the small extra effort of putting the change on the counter gave her the feeling of power?" (62). Although it was only a small amount of effort and the butcher probably didn't even notice, to Lutie it made some sort of difference in her day. I smiled a little when I saw that passage because I was excited that even though it was such a small act, to Lutie it was making such a big statement. I was proud that she took that stance even if it only meant something to her. For everything she has been through she deserves that satisfaction.
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I thought it was interesting that Lutie was unaware that she was doing this when she began making the butcher put in the extra effort. Even after Lutie realizes that she does this, she is still slightly unsure as to she is doing this. I feel that once Lutie was aware that she was making the butcher put in a little extra effort, she felt empowered. I am interested to see how this feeling of power translates to Lutie's actions later in the novel.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting thing to point out. I think Lutie was aware of her actions, taking advantage of any opportunity to have a say in the matter of things. I think with such few opportunities to feel empowered, she does what she can to prove that she still is capable of controlling things.
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