Blog #1 - "I Get Born"

As with many of you in class today, I Get Born was my favorite piece we've read so far throughout the semester. It was definitely the first piece I completely understood the first time reading, and didn't have to look back a few different times to really think about it. I love her style of writing, and love the memoire feeling this piece has. I also loved how her humor shined through the story. "...but it is pretty well established that I really did get born." on page 289 is one example. Another line where we see her humor is on page 291 - "They tell me that an old sow-hog taught me how to walk. That is, she didn't instruct me in detail, but she convinced me that I really ought to try." As Professor Mcgee said in class, I agree that I don't think her father's feelings about her being a girl affected her as much as readers think it might. When I read the line on page 290 "Plenty more sons, but no more girl babies to wear out shoes and bring in nothing," I thought that was terrible, and can't imagine a father feeling that way, especially in my own personal experiences because I have such a close bond with my father. However, at a time when woman had limited oppourtunities I can understand him feeling that way in a certain respect. I think that Hurston can understand it as well. The way I interepreted the piece was a metaphor for how strong Hurston is. She was born into a family where she felt unwanted by her father, her birth was a struggle, and she seemed really weak. At the end of the piece, we see that against these odds, she gets up and walks on her own out of harm's way. The last line was one of my favorite parts as well. "Some children are just bound to take after their fathers in spite of women's prayers." I felt this line reinforced that she wasn't bitter with her father, and that line felt like she actually looks up to her father. I decided to do a little research on her, and found some interesting things about her family and her life. Here is the link to some more information on her incase you were as intrigued with her as I was! http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/hurs-zor.htm