Can I just start off with Wow!! The Last Leaf was not my favorite of the Porter Pieces, but it gave some incite to who Nannie was and her relationship with Uncle Jimbilly. I found it interesting that Maria didn't realize that Jimbilly and Nannie were married. It illustrates the relationship that they show to people. They were not married because they love one another, but they say that over time you develop a love for the person you married. I also thought it interesting that they do not talk about their children in a way that illustrates that the children have two parents. Its almost like their spouses are dead. Then there is the scene where Jimbilly and Nannie are sitting on porch I think that Jimbilly was trying to create a better relationship with his wife, but she quickly shut that door on him. Its just an "interesting" relationship to say the least.
The Grave opens with a VERY interesting little bit of information about the Grandmother moving the husband's body twice. Why would you want to move a dead body twice?? In this time period we move the bodies to where the person wished to buried, but we don't dig them up and move them when we move. I wasn't really sure what Porter was to do with this opening. I guess it brings in the idea of moving the dead family members to the public cemetery. Then we see the children playing in the empty family plot. I think the way the children are playing and dressed are illustrators for the fact that the family is out of control now that Grandmother is dead. I was amazed by the fact that Miranda was willing to stand over her brother while he skins the rabbit with out a problem. I would be walking away from that. EWW!
I definitely enjoy the women writers over some of the men we have read so far.
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I also was perturbed by the Grandmother uprooting the buried Grandfather as she moved. That would not pass by today’s standards. I think the fact that she went through this trouble, though, of moving a man whom she found irritating to Louisiana and then Texas does show how much value she places on family togetherness. So many things change after she dies. Her family no longer has to preserve the old ways that they were simply tolerating her maintaining while she was alive. I feel bad that her children buried her in a public cemetery because she was the one who had tried so hard to keep the family together.
I think you are right, too, that Miranda is allowed to take part in more masculine activities now that the Grandmother is dead, including wearing overalls, riding horses astride, and hunting. I thought it was interesting that Miranda and Paul seemed to have more reverence for the dead rabbit than the graves of their dead human relatives. Clearly the old sentiments are lost on them. Besides introducing Miranda to sexuality as we talked about in class, I think the rabbit incident had another effect on her. I think it showed her the permanence of death. It is irreversible and a huge change. Those baby rabbits were about to be born but now were a bloody mess. Perhaps if she went back to the graves she would have an easier time evoking a “suitable emotion” (49).
I have to say that I am also astonished that the children didnot know that Nannie and Jimbilly where married. That the relationship they had was something not talked about and had no affection towards each other in it. I find it interesting that these two people lived togeather that long and in the end did not learn to love each other but more tolerate the other.
What I liked about Nanne was the fact that she was that her and her husban acyually loved eachother. As appose to an arrange marriage. It was a strange relationship but by far different from the previous readings. I also like the fact that no one really knew is like they kept it hidden. I think its better sometimes to keep your love hidden like they did, maybe that why they were able to keep such a long relationship.
The last leaf did a lot to show the relationship between nannie and the family/younger generation. it showed how these relationships grew due to the death of the grandmother. the children didnt know that nannie and jimbilly were married, and they also didnt appreciate the work she did, or notice how much they needed her until she left. they allowed race and posistions in society to put a barrier between potential relationships.
i was happy for Nannie when she moved into the shack. she was standing up for what she wanted, and she was set and determined that she wasnt going to care for anyone in her last days and this extended to her husband. I feel like while the grave was a coming of age story for miranda, i also think that the last leaf was a story about learning and growing for nannie. she finally was able to become her own person, connect back to her routes and spend her last days in liesure with no one to answer to.
I don't think that Uncle Jimbilly and Nannie ever found that love that you're talking about. I actually think Nannie probably liked Jimbilly just fine before they were forced to get married, and as the years went on she grew more and more bitter towards him. Also, I think Uncle Jimbilly just wanted to get out of the tiny room he was living in, so he tried to guilt trip nannie.
About the part in The Grave dealing with the Grandmother, and moving her husbands body- I don't really find that so strange. The grandmother wanted her husband to be close to her, and not just in a spiritual way. It was like someone said in class, about carrying the urn filled with your loved ones ashes...sure it's a little strange to some of us- but to other it's just their way of grieving.
I agree that it was quite interesting to read about Nannie and Uncle Jimbilly's relationship. I did not realize that there was any connection between Nannie and Uncle Jimbilly until Miranda pointed out that they were married.
I thought moving the Grandfather's body so many times said a lot about the traditions of family in the South at the time. Even though Grandmother had expressed that she did not care for her husband or men in general it was important to keep the family together. Apparently this carries over in death also.
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