Who is the victim?

So I just finished the book, and I have to say that even though the book was about the assassination of Kennedy, Kennedy wasn't actually really too much a part of the book. Because of how much build up suspense to the actual shooting, it seemed to say how the actual shooting and the person being shot was not actually as important as the build up to the shooting. I felt like this book was more fiction than history.

I believe that Delillo should have provided more emphasis on Kennedy. There are many different perspectives given by different characters in the story and I just feel that a perspective given by Kennedy would have provided a different feel to the story which would lead to a more complex story. From what I have read in Delillo’s story, I almost feel no regret to the death of Kennedy, which I feel is something that Delillo does not want. However an argument to my opinion is that if Delillo does give a perspective of Kennedy which ultimately ends in his death, this touching subject could stir mixed emotions with the reader.
 
This book does seem to already play with the mixed emotions of readers. Before reading this book I would have definitely thought that Lee was the bad guy and Kennedy was the good guy. However now that I read Delillo’s take on the story, I kind of feel a little sorry for Lee. Ya, there were some times where I thought Lee was kind of stupid and arrogant like when he believed his diary was to be read by the masses. But, the way the book plays out I can’t help feel kinda bad for Lee for just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It almost seems that Lee is a victim in this story. I guess that Delillo is maybe trying to say that there is actually no good guy or bad guy, but something influenced by something we just can't control.

Fate

So during class one day we were showed the assassination of Kennedy. I had heard a lot about what had happened. How there was his wave to the public, the multiple gunshots, and Jackie  climbing into the back of the car. The tape was more surprising than I would have thought. I thought I was prepared for the most of it. However, the moment the first gunshot was fired caused me to flinch a bit. Even though you could not clearly see everything that was going on when Kennedy was shot, I felt a sense of importance. A sense of importance in the fact that history would be greatly affected by this event. Watching it over and over again caused me to feel a bit uneasy, but for some odd reason I just could not stop staring at the tape.

I find all this very interesting and there just seems to be so many coincidences for there not to be a conspiracy. I find it strange how someone would be filming the entire Kennedy assassination even though video cameras were quite rare in that time. I also find it interesting how the camera seems to be in the correct angle as to not give a clear indication of where the bullet was being fired at. From the video arose even more speculations such  as the possibility that Kennedy actually was never shot. The way that everything happened seemed to give off the aura that fate played a part in the assassination of Kennedy.

I feel that in relation with the book, Lee plays a crucial role in the flow of history. Throughout the book Lee seems to have this attitude that he is able to do anything. It is said that he is a good Libra, because there is a balance towards him. Lee seems to be the tipping point that allows the fate of Kennedy’s assassination.

Well these are just my opinions.

The Assassian

In Libra the most interesting character is without a doubt Lee Harvey Oswald. Most people probably already know Oswald as the man who shot Kennedy, however Libra gives us a side to Oswald that we never knew.

The title Libra is named after the astrological sign symbolizing balance and harmony. Throughout the entire book Oswald seems to be searching for his own balance in society. This search eventually leads to him assassinating the president.

We follow Oswald through many stages in his life. We start with Oswald when he was a kid and his talks with his mother. Oswald then becomes stationed with his fellow Marines at a naval base in Japan. However once becoming a soldier, Oswald defects to Russia. It seemed as soon as Oswald got to Russia, he then wants to return to America. As soon as Oswald returns to America his discharge is deemed as dishonorable.The FBI start causing trouble for him, his boss fires, and his attempts to enter Cuba was refused at the Cuban Embassy. It seemed that Oswald just doesn't really fit in anywhere. Oswald seems to have so many different identities, however each of these identities just don’t seem to fit in. Oswald almost seems like a child in some cases as he just does what he wants to do.

I also find it interesting that Oswald keeps a diary which he believes will be studied in the future. Even though Oswald does not really have a place he belongs, I can see that by thinking he has a important diary, it shows his ambition to do great things .

Oswald is a very interesting character and I believe Delillo’s depiction of him is very unique. I very much enjoy this mysterious and somewhat crazy side to Oswald. I so far very much enjoy this book.

A New Book

So I realized I wrote this blog awhile ago, but never really posted it, so I guess i'm sharing my initial reactions to Libra.

My first thoughts of Libra were uncertain ones. I did not know what to expect transitioning from reading about slavery to about Kennedy’s assassination. Before reading this book I did not really know much about Kennedy’s assassination, nor did I know why there was such a big hype of his assassination. I did not know why people found it finding to find the “truth” of Kennedy’s murder despite that the fact that we already know who did it.  

So the book starts off with many different storylines which made the story hella confusing. I had troubles piecing together who was who. One thing I had trouble with is I had trouble following the conversations of people and would get lost with who was who and what was going on. Even though we are spending more time reading this book it just does not seems enough. Just when I feel like I am about to understand the characters something crazy happens and suddenly there is random stuff happening in the future?

Despite the difficulty in understanding what is going on, I still enjoy this book. I think that the plot is interesting by giving us the perspective of Kennedy’s shooter, the CIA, and the mob. It really feels like reading an old-spy novel. I don't know what to expect yet. The book seems to not yet have pieced each component together yet, leading for me wanting to know more about just how Kennedy’s assassination in Dan Delillo’s story.

The impact of Kindred

Kindred by Octavia Butler is a book that infuses the aspect of history with science fiction. Butler takes two important times in American history: the period of slavery and the year of 1976. Butler uses time travel in order to show how the past has shaped and continues to shape the present.

    I believe that Butler specifically chose the year 1976 because it is the year where the United States celebrated 200 years of freedom. I believe that Butler uses these two different setting in order to show how important the past is to understanding the present.
    There are further similarities with the characters. Butler creates a double of Dana with Alice. Rufus even goes as far as to think that they are the same person. Rudus uses Alice for his physical desires and Dana for emotional comfort. “He likes me in bed, and you out of bed...all that means we’re two halves of the same woman” (229).  By establishing a relationship between the past and present, Butler not only gets the perspective of a free, twentieth-century black women's challenges in the nineteenth-century slavery, but also also a view on the nineteenth-century black woman’s life in slavery.
    Dana seems to be naive as she doesn't know the severity and harsh reality of a black women in nineteenth-century slavery. As time passes and she meets Alice, Dana begins to realize just how much Alice has to suffer. As time passed Alice “adjusted, became a quieter more subdued person. She didn’t kill, but she seemed to die a little” (169). This viewpoint on nineteenth century slavery really hits the crucial aspects of just how terrible slavery was and shows just how we have moved on.
   

Changes in Dana

Dana is the main character in the book Kindred. During the book there are some notable changes about Dana due to the circumstances of her traveling back into time. My first impressions of Dana were not that strong. I felt that she did not really have a purpose in life. Sure she wanted to become an author, but that goal was not really close. Instead she spent most of her days searching for odd jobs to earn money.

As Dana began spending more time in the nineteenth century my views about her changed. At first she seemed strong, she fought against all the opposition she was up against and won. An example of this would be when she started teaching some slaves how to read and write. This stood out to me especially because of how brave I thought Dana was. However, these actions may have been her naivety that she brought with her from the future.

As the novel continues, Rufus gets older, and with that Rufus gains more power as a white male on a plantation. Rufus is no longer that innocent child that we first met at the start of the book. Dana however looks more and more like any other female slave on the Weylin plantation as she does not age.

Near the end of the book it felt like Dana just kind of gave up. She becomes more submissive as she learns what society thinks of slaves. Rufus begins ordering her around doing stuff, and even blackmailing her. She does not have much power to do otherwise. It was only at the very end where she finally could not stand it and she kills Rufus. I guess this just shows how much change Dana goes through as she experiences these traumatic events.

A scar

The book Kindred started off faced-paced as we learn that the main character has lost her arm. However we do not know how she loses her arm till the very end of the book which caused me to feel that this book was very interesting. The ending of the book however was something unexpected to say the least. After murdering Rufus, Dana’s arm merges into the wall as she is transported back to her own time.

Even though Dana had also gone through a lot of physical abuse such as from whippings, I do believe that the most pain she went through was herself.I believe that Butler made Dana lose an arm to compare all her mental struggles. Her feelings toward Rufus are very complex. She has been with him ever since he was a little kid, saving him numerous times from drowning, burning, and getting beat up, however as Rufus starts growing older and becoming more like a slave master, Dana no longer knows what to really think towards him. Dana also had to worry during that five year period where Kevin was alone in the past. She had to worry whether or not Kevin would stay the same, or become influenced by the white supremacy. I do not think that anyone could just normally go back to their way of living, and the physical symbol of this lost arm is a good way to remind her. I agree that slavery leaves a big impact, and the lost arm is Butler showing just how much of an impact it actually made for Dana.