Vagina Monologues Literary Anlaysis I asked a six-year-old girl

                “If it could speak what would it say?” “It would say words that begin with ‘V’ and ‘T’- ‘turtle’ and ‘violin’ are examples.”

                In this monologue Ensler asks a six year old girl about her vagina. Her responses are filled with a youthful innocence coupled with a carefree attitude towards the world around her. I found it refreshing to hear from such a young person whom has not yet been corrupted by the hazards of the world we all live in. Does this little girl understand just what women are facing in the real world? No. Better yet, can she fathom being oppressed in such a world, or becoming a victim of the violence described in the other monologues? Not likely.

                It is because of her blissful and innocent outlook on life that Ensler decided to include an interview with a six year old in her book. This monologue provides a window to the goodness of human nature that at one time or another existed within us all, criminals and victims alike.

“What does your vagina smell like?” “Snowflakes.”

This child’s answers to Ensler’s questions have no basis in the calculated logic of the adult world. Instead, her answers have basis in mere whims of pleasantry that exist in her young consciousness. While her innocence will eventually fall to the corruption that infects all members of our society, perhaps there is still hope that this child and others like her may inherit a world less prone to violence and discrimination towards women.

                If Ensler’s mission inspires some significant degree of societal change perhaps it is possible that our children will reject the physical, financial, and emotional oppression of women because those who read her book told their friends and raised their children to view women as equals rather than objects for male enjoyment. It is important for the future women of the world to recall snowflakes, turtles, and violins when looking back on their childhood rather than genital mutilation, rape, and other forms of abuse which have no place in the lives of children.

Vagina Monologues Question #5

The reaction of the audience is a key element towards Ensler’s goal of raising awareness towards violence against women and to better understand women in general.  It is necessary for this reaction, whether positive or negative, be felt by those who watch the performance. By pushing the viewer outside of his or her comfort zone you create a lasting impression upon them. They will discuss what they saw with their friends, and perhaps this domino effect will change the way they view the plight of women in our world.

                People will remember something that made them feel uncomfortable or gave them a sense of pleasure. They will think about what they saw, these thoughts lead to discussion, which eventually may lead to societal action. The Vagina Monologues is successful in this regard; pushing one out of their comfort zone is something Ensler is able to do exceptionally well particularly because of the realities that pervade the monologues.

                When reading the monologues you stop and think, wow this is someone’s story and it is being shared for probably the first time.  The monologues are a truly powerful read which at times can be humorous and disturbing. In my opinion the one monologue that I cannot seem to get out of my head would have to be, “My Vagina is a Village”. The negative imagery that monologue brought to my mind is hard to shake. As I read the words I began to cringe, it was hard to fathom that this grisly act had happened to this woman. I do not think it would be possible for anyone to truly comprehend the pain she was forced to endure that day.

                Being pushed out of your comfort zone is something that most of us avoid as often as possible. Ensler challenges us and is striving for a shift against violence towards women.

The Vagina Monologues Question #1

I think Ensler wants vaginas to be performed publicly simply because women are forced to repress so many parts of their lives. Society wants women to keep quiet about what they consider irrelevant, mainly emotion, sexuality, and individuality. This is why the vagina monologues are to be performed publicly, these pent up feelings need to be expressed in order to release women from the chains of oppression that bind them in their everyday lives.

                When people keep everything bottled up, whether voluntarily or through the fear of becoming a social pariah, they usually tend to appear to be peaceful and at ease with the status quo. However, it is really the opposite that is true. Within their consciousness they are at war with oppression, without an outlet they could soon lose this fight and fall into despair and hopelessness. The public performance of the vagina monologues allows for this outlet, in which female sexuality, individualism, and emotion are allowed to flow freely whereas they otherwise were dammed up by society.

                In my opinion, by giving vaginas a human form there is a more personal connection formed between the performer and the audience. A message is more likely to resonate with an audience if the message is coming from someone who has some sort of commonality with the audience.

                The way we see and think of vaginas does change. Before, they were taboo from discussion and only representative of sex. Now, the vagina is an image of sexuality and emotion. They are portrayed as the woman’s subconscious, a window into the seldom seen world of female sexuality and the all the emotions behind it. Ensler aims to change the way we perceive vaginas from a mere body part to a part of the soul that needs to be understood.

The Vagina Monologues Question #2

Ensler explores the importance of language in “The Vagina Monologues”. I found this quite interesting because far too often we ignore the words we use, how we say them, and the various emotions behind them however subtle. She goes on to list the various names she has heard people use when referring to vaginas, each with its own context. Some, such as twat and horsespot bring with them a negative feeling, as if the vagina was something bad or perhaps to be ashamed of. While others go on to have more playful names, for example nishi, mimi, and pal, which imply an embracing of their natural beauty. Still several nicknames imply a sense of forbiddance, dignity and ghoulie both imply that the vagina is something that should not be public in nature, let alone discussed in a novel such as this.

                All of these names are a reflection of our culture. It speaks to how our society nudges women towards what is acceptable of female sexuality. Especially when you look at how people who hail from different geographical, economic, or ethnic backgrounds view their vaginas. The language these women use to describe their vaginas in this book says a lot in this respect about culture.

                When Ensler asks women about what their vaginas would wear I think she is trying to unearth what all of these women envision the embodiment of their sexuality to look like. There is no one set definition of what sexuality looks like and these women are a testament to that. Some of the women when asked what their vaginas would wear said things such as, see-through black underwear, a bikini, or emeralds. Meanwhile, others envisioned their vaginas as rocking a pair of sweatpants, something machine washable, or even an electrical shock device!  Sexuality varies from woman to woman and Ensler is attempting to show the reader that it is normal and that women express their sexuality in very different ways.

Between the Pool and the Gardenias

This story is about a Haitian woman having had more than her fair share of tragedy and her struggle to cope.  Throughout her life she has been trying to become a mother to no avail. Every time she was pregnant she would have a miscarriage. It gets to the point where even her husband questions whether or not she is killing her children before they are born on purpose.

                She stumbles upon an infant which had been discarded in the street and takes it as her own. From here on her descent into madness is in full swing. The child she took was actually deceased and she begins to treat it as if it were alive and her own in a truly bizarre attempt at finally achieving motherhood.

                “I swayed her in my arms like she was and had always been mine”. Here Marie can be seen diving head first into her delusion leaving reality for a twisted version of her perfect family. The tragedy of losing her own children led her to delusion. The corpse she now gently swayed in her arms was symbolic of how close she had always been to being a mother yet reaffirming her reality. Marie has reached the breaking point and will no longer wait for her dreams to come to fruition, instead she decides to act.

 I see similarities between Marie, the woman in this story, and Guy from, “A Wall of Fire Rises”. Both characters could never realize their dreams whether they be motherhood or flying a hot air balloon, so they decide to take drastic measures so that they may live the dream if only for a moment.

Eventually Marie is forced to leave her dream when the process of decay begins to take away the baby Rose from her. Once again Marie is forced to put another one of her children into the earth, only this time society will not take her as a grieving parent, but rather a criminal.

A Wall of Fire Rising

There exists a theme in Danticat’s, “A Wall of Fire Rising”, of hope for the future yet hopelessness or even despair for the present day. In this story an everyday Haitian family is struggling to make ends meet, all the while encouraging their son’s young ambitions.  The father in this tale, Guy, also has ambitions to fly a hot air balloon which resides at the sugar mill and provide for his family, yet is still struggling to accept that they will probably never come to fruition. This becomes evident when Guy and his wife Lili are discussing his dream of flying the hot air balloon and he says, “Me too. I can do other things too.”  

Upon arriving at the sugar mill and seeing the balloon Guy says, “I wager you I can make this thing fly”…..”I know it”. You can see the ever growing desire within Guy to realize his dream, but again he is always brought back down to earth by his wife who accepts him for what he is however, he still longs to be more. Perhaps this is why he insists on going to the sugar mill, not because of the tranquility but rather because it symbolizes his unrealized dreams in the hot air balloon and a full time job.

Guy eventually is given a temporary job at the sugar mill yet it is but a tease as he still remains at number 78 on the permanent hire list. Guy and Lili discuss putting their son on the list so that when he is old enough he will have a job at the sugar mill. Lili says, “For a young boy to be on any list like that might influence his destiny. I don’t want him on the list.” This speaks to the theme of continued hope for the future in their son. Lili does not want her son’s dreams to be crushed by the reality that he was born to clean the latrines like his father did simply because his parents decided it would be best.  

Literary Analysis - What He Said to His Enemies - Nye

"Come in, look for me where you think I am. Then when you see no one is there, we can talk." (119). 

In the poem, a man is being pursued by those who consider themselves to be his enemies. They appear to be willing to go to any length in order to make his existence a miserable one, always on the run. These enemies wish to break him mentally, force him to give in to their logic saying, "You are no good, will never be any good". (119). Only when they break him, his culture, his dignity, will they end their pursuit.

However, if his enemies had their way what would be left of the man. Can one truly be considered human without their culture? I think that Nye is trying to create a parallel to the plight of Muslims after September 11th. There was a sense in America after that date that we had to be at war with Arab culture and there very way of life.  Americans had a hard time differentiating between the terrorists of al-Qaeda and the every day Arab.
"What made them think the world's room was so small?"(119). It is important for people of varying cultures to realize that there way is but one and certainly not the only way to live.   This poem connects back to the mission of giving Americans a view of Arab culture that not many have been exposed too, which Nye lays out in her introduction.

The man in this poem desperately wants to have a conversation with his enemies so that they may understand his culture and put an end to these senseless wars, cultural and physical, and embrace their similarities rather than their differences so that friendship may one day prosper between cultures.

Literary Analysis - Jerusalem - Nye

In the poem "Jerusalem" Nye writes about the long standing conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians. She tells us the story of her father who was hit in the head with a stone one day as a child, the spot in which he was struck never grew hair, yet he did not lay in the dirt and wallow in his pain he got back up. Such is the nature of the thousands of years of conflict between Israeli and Palestinian. Both have suffered incalculable pain in the past, the Holocaust for the Israelis in which six million lost their lives or the loss of their country for the Palestinians following the Arab-Israeli war of 1948 in which 725,000 had to leave their homes, of this there is no doubt, yet unlike her father these two remain on the ground drowning in the wrongs committed to them, surviving adversity yet not overcoming it.

At one point Nye writes, “He’s painting a bird with wings wide enough to cover two roofs at once" (93). This outlines the desire for peace among the people and that contrary to the history of the Palestinians and Israelis that their homeland is a homeland for both and that the ability for these two great cultures to coexist in a state of peace does in fact exist, they only have to accept each other.

This poem expresses frustration at the pace of which people will bring their dreams of peace to fruition. The feeling that peace is so simple, while war is complicated is conveyed as well as a sense of befuddlement at how these two factions continue to war against each other again and again, pausing only to contemplate new ways to inflict casualties on the other.

Nye writes, "It's late but everything comes next" (93). I interpret this to mean that eventually Israeli and Palestinian will realize they share a homeland and will drop their arms and embrace one another, for that is the only way in which they can see a day in which sons will bury their fathers again instead of the other way around.