Other Americas Blog- Ian Miller

 "Rosena on the Mountain" is certainly one of the more interesting short stories that we have read so far this year. I found that the style and plot of the story make for a very intriguing read. It details the story of a priest and how he is fighting off the urge to commit the sin of pre-marital sex. It definitely has a unique style as Depestre writes this short story with a very imaginative approach which allows him to go into great detail about all of the conflicts thought the story. Something else that was very interesting was Depestre's depiction of Haiti. He describes it as a very lush and rich landscape, but also as a very poor nation. He states, "The worst of fortunes in the Americas was to be born Haitian.". It depicts just how terrible the living conditions were in Haiti, as the author claims that out of any place in the Americas to live Haiti was clearly the worst due to the poverty low quality of life.     In addition, the story was so interesting bec...

 This documentary was focused on the shambolic conditions of the lush and beautiful country of Haiti in the Caribbean. Haiti has been a country subject to a lot of hegemony. Haiti was a French colony, and they were subject to a lot of hegemony during the reign of the French. They tried to revolt many times, and the French instituted their ruling class while making the native people feel far inferior to the Europeans. In addition, in the documentary it highlighted the role of the government in the country's problems. It was not until 1994 that the country established a democratic system according to the documentary.  I believe that the faulty government plays a huge role in the whole government, and especially Haiti. The Haitian rulers have been extremely inconsistent and self-centered. They are ineffective at best. I believe that the faulty ruling body is present throughout many Caribbean nations, and it is responsible for the financial limbo that many Caribbean nations are in...

Infante's "The Doors Open at Three" is an intriguing read that captivates the audience in a very short and sharp story. The story focuses on the relationship of two main characters, Silvestre and Virginia. They are almost star crossed lovers, who know that they could never be together. They are both from such different paths and upbringings that they could both never be together. He says in the story, "  I saw her at the corner, coming towards me yet not yet to me – and nothing else mattered anymore." I found this to be extremely tragic, Although he wants to be with her more than anything, he cannot due to the social  stratification that is prominent in Cuba during the time.      There are many stories that are similar to this throughout fantasies and folklore. This however, was and is a real life issue that many face. Even today, there are places and people who believe if you are not from around a similar social class as someone else it is wrong to da...

"Journey to the Seed" by Carpentier,  tells the story of Don Marcial, who born and raised in Cuba during the 19th century. It is a fictional realism that basically tells his life story in reverse. He goes from dying to then living his life backwards, from an old man the whole way back to being in his mothers womb. The story is very interesting as it tells a story in a chronology in almost nothing that I have ever read before. One story that I believe is similar to this short Story Is Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol".  However, there are obviously stark differences. In  "Journey to the Seed" Marcial is dead and is going through his life in reverse, whilst in  "A Christmas Carol", Scrooge is going back in time and seeing instances in his life, going from his youth to seeing what will happen if he does not change. All in all, this comparison shows the uniqueness of Carpentier's writing. In addition I find it interesting that the intonati...

 The final installment on Caribbean history finishes off the three parts on Caribbean history for the week. They start the last episode in Nicaragua and they focus on the small fishing town right on the coast. In the town they talk about the new canal being built in the channel. There have been so many attempt for the canal to be built throughout time, however none have been successful. Finally a Chinese backed consortium is leading the efforts to build the canal. Although this is something that many want and feel will be beneficial, it will also have a big ecological effect. The area is home to an incredible amount of wildlife, and when the canal is built it could take away the home of many species and leave a trail of cut down wildlife. This illustrates the idea of trade-offs of new building. Do the Caribbean natives want to modernize or protect their wildlife? I believe their is a happy medium, and I think the canal in this case would provide more positives and there is plenty o...

 This part of the documentary on Caribbean history was very interesting. Usually in the middle of some documentaries or stories the middle can be boring. However, I found this section on Caribbean history intriguing. The first couple minutes are some of the most fantastic bits of the entire documentary.      Mr. Ifill is a native Bajan, and he lives on the coast in a house that was originally bought by his grandmother. She originally bought the land for 24 dollars. I find this to be incredible, now the land is worth exponentially more. The land was originally seen as undesirable and was a place where people would go and use the bathroom. Now it is called the "Platinum Coast", and is one of the most desirable vacation spots for millionaires and celebrities across the world. Mr Ifill then says that somebody offered him eight million dollar US for his home, but he rejected it as he does not want the money. This is very admirable and I find him to be a great example...

 This was the first part of the documentary on Caribbean history. I found it very intriguing how the host dove straight into the Caribbean culture and way of life. He goes and visits Dajabon and he is almost culture shocked. He says that it looks like the monthly market, but is told that this is what it is like daily. He says that he feels as if he was catapulted into chaos. The market is busy mainly with foot traffic back in forth across the border of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The citizens go and buy their products to sell or for their daily life creating a constant stream of traffic. It seems like an organized chaos that shows the producer and seller relationship that has been developed over time. To me, this illustrates the daily life of the Caribbean and how they go about their days. They seem to follow a routine, and they are used to the high volume in the streets as well as feeling with the chaos. The people also go into Haiti to buy products to sell back in the Domin...

      "Triumph" by C. L. R. James is quite a short story. It tells the story of a group of women that live in Trinidad and  Tobago. It highlights the poverty that ravages the Caribbean nation, and how it affects everyday life. The culture and daily life is starting to fade with the peoples' hopes of better life quality. However, James tries to argue that if you are optimistic, life can be joyful like the times of Carnival. The story focuses on the relationship between Irene, Celestine, and Mamitz. They all live in the barrack-yards which is where the lower people of their cultural hierarchy live. But even here, the social class structure is highlighted within their class, dividing their class into subclasses.      I believe that this was almost a common practice for the Caribbean islands as a result of their previous colonization. The colonizing nations brought in their idea of social hierarchy along with their control of each conquered ...

 Frank Collymore's "Some People are Meant to Live Alone", is an interesting short read that focuses in on the conversation and relationship of a child and his Uncle Arthur. Uncle Arthur is older and lives by himself. When his Nephew comes to him and asks him, if he feels like he ever gets lonely, his response is a puzzling one. He says that he never gets truly lonely and that, " Some people are meant to live alone.". In this instance it seems as if Uncle Arthur almost admits to being somewhat lonely, while trying to defend his own situation. By saying some people are meant to be lonely, it shows a sort of fixed mindset. He comes off as someone who deserves pity and he seems almost content with being lonely. However, as the story goes on it is almost not the case.      Uncle Arthur has chosen the path that he is on because he has dealt with betrayal, and in reality it is not loneliness, but rather solitude. Arthur though, has a past where he h...

      This documentary on the Caribbean gives a present day insight into the islands of Monserrat, St. Lucia, Martinique, and others. While visiting them in a relatively new  time period, The host goes in depth about the English and French culture on the islands while also discussing the past histories of the islands that were dependent on Slavery. I focused in on the segment about St. Lucia, due to the fact that I have been to St. Lucia before. What I found surprising is that almost all of the natives are of African descent and Castries is one of the biggest shipping ports in the Caribbean. In addition Zoe shares that the Gros Piton is now a natural world heritage site, which was originally inherited by the Arrowack Indians.      The slave history of St. Lucia is also extensive. The sugar cane industry relied on slave labor for the good to be delivered back to Europe. England, France, and the Netherlands were all fighting for the wealth...

"Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers", is the focus of this blog, as it had more content than just the introduction to all of the short stories from the class book. "Pioneers, Oh, Pioneers" by Jean Rhys, takes place on the Caribbean island of Dominica and it focuses on the story of Mr. Ramage and his relationship with Isla Harrison. This story shows how it was incredibly unusual at the time for a white person to have a relationship with a person of color. Ramage is constantly tormented by the city people for his relationship. He was seen as insane, and one lady even says, "' He was evidently mad, poor man'". He was seen as an outcast for his relationships, and frankly, seeing people for who they were despite their skin color. This illustrates how prejudiced people were during the time of this story.     In addition, the story also illustrates how colonialism led places in the Caribbean to deteriorate after the  ruling countries withdrew their power. The imperia...

    The History of Mary Prince was an interesting read that leaves the audience wondering what if there were even more  accounts from slaves and about slaves from around this time period. Mary Prince said that she wanted to record these accounts so, " good people in England might hear from a slave what a slave had felt and suffered". It starts with Mary Prince's background, she was born of a mother who was sold as a slave and a father who worked on ships in Bermuda. She lived quite the tumultuous life. She was sold  multiple times and went through many masters during the period whilst she was enslaved. However prince says her time with her original Master Williams was her happiest time. She recalls,  "the happiest period of my life; for I was too young to understand rightly my condition as a slave." It is so crazy that this period would be the happiest of her life, but it was almost entirely due to the fact that she did not understand what was rea...