I believe that the film, Pearl Diver, portrayed Mennonites as those that do what they think of as the right thing. Marian tells Hannah that she would not base her decision about what to do for Rebecca, her daughter, off of what others think that she should do. When Hannah talks to Isaac, they talk about what Mennonites would do in which she replies, "...turn the other cheek."
The film also portrays the Mennonites as a very caring community. When Rebecca is in the hospital towards the beginning of the movie after she is involved in a farming accident, some of the people from their community come into her room while her parents are in the room, and they sing. During the scene at the church, Isaac says the farming accident involving Rebecca was just that, an accident. The basket is then passed around to collect money that is given to Marian, John, and Rebecca to help pay for medical bills or for the surgery for Rebecca.
I personally found it strange that Marian had a telephone in her house. I thought that because Marian, John, and Rebecca were, in a way, Amish, they would not have any technology except any farming equipment. Another use of technology is the typewriter that Hannah continues to use rather than using a computer.
I think that the film perpetuates stereotypes when it shows the community coming together to help Rebecca and her parents. Since I live in "Amish country," I expect for the Amish to help each other. In October 2007, when the tornado had torn through Nappanee, I saw Amish helping rebuild a barn that was destroyed when I was driving through the back roads to see the damage done.
The story of Dirk Willems was told by Marian at the courthouse for Sam Pope, her mother's alleged murderer. In this story, Willems was fleeing arrest. The man pursuing him fell through the ice. Willems was sent back to jail before being sent to death after he had saved the man. The film shows flashbacks of Marian and Hannah's mother's death throughout. Towards the end of the flashbacks, it tells the story of Sam Pope. Sam Pope finds Young Hannah and tells her to run to the neighbor's farm. He also sees his partner in crime, the murderer of Rachel (the mother) drown in a manure pit. In the end, he was caught and convicted of the murder of their (Marian and Hannah) mother. His story is almost the same as the story on Dirk Willems. Pope does something bad (break into the house) and in the end, he does something good (lets Young Hannah go) before he is wrongly charged with murder (the murder of Rachel). I am not sure if the film referred to any Mennonite stories because I am not a Mennonite (actually, I'm not religious) and I do not know any Mennonite stories. The only story that I know because I have heard it several times in other classes is the Dirk Willems story.
I think that the film suggests that the Mennonite writer is just a human being. They go through the same sad, angry, and happy things. Hannah tells Marian that she wrote a book (currently is just a manuscript) on their mother's death because she thought that everyone else needed to know it. Marian said that the book should not have been written, especially without being consulted by her sister. At one point, Marian tells Hannah about what happened that night. She basically tells her that she made sure their mother's killer was dead (he fell into a manure pit and she pulled a board out of his reach). After Isaac reads the book because Hannah asked him to, he sits down with her and Marian and tells them about being in love with their mother and what had happened (his wife was pregnant and he was gone) the night their mother was murdered because he wanted them to know.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
CMW
The works I will be focusing on from the CMW website are the blogs from “Confessions of a Tattooed Mennonite” by Becca J. R., Keith Miller, and “Mennonite Oku no Hosomichi” by Ross Bender. The three bloggers include something about their lives and any works they have published or read.
When I saw the title "Confessions of a Tattooed Mennonite," I was personally hoping that, somewhere in the blog, there would be something about a Mennonite having gotten a tattoo. As I quickly scanned through at first, I did not see any piece of writing saying something about a tattoo. As I went through the blogs, there was nothing mentioning getting a tattoo. I think that, in a way, your religion can be a tattoo although it can't be seen. In Becca's first blog, she says that there were times when she wanted to throw her laptop out the window. She admitted that she spends more time on Facebook and e-mail rather than doing other things such as talking to friends, family, or students face-to-face. She also admitted to things that she will not give up such as snail mail and hard copy books. It's funny because during this time, everything is becoming electronic because you can fax someone something or send them an e-mail, just so long as they have them. The title for one of Becca's blogs is “Top 10 songs Michael Jackson never wrote about the Mennonites…” She made note of it being taken from a poll in 2009 that was in the Mennonite National Convention newspaper. The funny thing is that I know most or all of the songs that were mentioned because I listen to Michael Jackson's music. On her blog, she includes photos about her life. One of the photos shows a suitcase with many letters in it. She says that the letters are from a great-aunt in the air force before, during, and after World War II. I find it weird how letters from 70 years ago were kept through all of these years.
The thing about the second piece of blogs that I read that immediately caught my attention without going into the blog was “Why I Became a Writer” by Keith Miller. I simply wanted to know why this person wrote. As I looked through the blog, I saw photos and/or paintings. Some of the paintings were very colorful in my opinion. This also caught my attention immediately. The first two original posts that he posted are ones that just say that he has a book that has been published. The third post has two drawings that he thought two characters would look like. In the fourth post, “The Library on the Wrong Side of Nairobi,” he talks about a library that he visited when he was younger. When he went back as someone older, he could not believe how small it actually was. He also said that he took out a book and read the last name that was written on the card which was his name. In his blogs, Miller includes things from Egypt, Alexandria, Africa, and other places in the world.
The one thing that caught my attention with "Mennonite Oku no Hosomichi" is that Ross Bender posted things about Japan because I like some things that are Japanese, especially all of the music that I know. What I like is that Bender posted pictures from Japan. He also includes things that are changing in Japan (different clothing, anime/manga, laws, et cetera). He also has sayings that are in Japanese on his blogs. Bender also includes some sayings in other languages such as Spanish or French. The things that are in a different language, he has the English translation to it. Bender includes articles from newspapers such as Kyodo News and Japan Times. He also includes the history from 710-784 in Fujiwara-kyo (today's Kashihara) which was the capital of Japan during those years. He had posted a video on his blog in August of 2010. He also includes poems and some news such as the blog title "Longest Noodle" from a TV station, FujiTV.
When I saw the title "Confessions of a Tattooed Mennonite," I was personally hoping that, somewhere in the blog, there would be something about a Mennonite having gotten a tattoo. As I quickly scanned through at first, I did not see any piece of writing saying something about a tattoo. As I went through the blogs, there was nothing mentioning getting a tattoo. I think that, in a way, your religion can be a tattoo although it can't be seen. In Becca's first blog, she says that there were times when she wanted to throw her laptop out the window. She admitted that she spends more time on Facebook and e-mail rather than doing other things such as talking to friends, family, or students face-to-face. She also admitted to things that she will not give up such as snail mail and hard copy books. It's funny because during this time, everything is becoming electronic because you can fax someone something or send them an e-mail, just so long as they have them. The title for one of Becca's blogs is “Top 10 songs Michael Jackson never wrote about the Mennonites…” She made note of it being taken from a poll in 2009 that was in the Mennonite National Convention newspaper. The funny thing is that I know most or all of the songs that were mentioned because I listen to Michael Jackson's music. On her blog, she includes photos about her life. One of the photos shows a suitcase with many letters in it. She says that the letters are from a great-aunt in the air force before, during, and after World War II. I find it weird how letters from 70 years ago were kept through all of these years.
The thing about the second piece of blogs that I read that immediately caught my attention without going into the blog was “Why I Became a Writer” by Keith Miller. I simply wanted to know why this person wrote. As I looked through the blog, I saw photos and/or paintings. Some of the paintings were very colorful in my opinion. This also caught my attention immediately. The first two original posts that he posted are ones that just say that he has a book that has been published. The third post has two drawings that he thought two characters would look like. In the fourth post, “The Library on the Wrong Side of Nairobi,” he talks about a library that he visited when he was younger. When he went back as someone older, he could not believe how small it actually was. He also said that he took out a book and read the last name that was written on the card which was his name. In his blogs, Miller includes things from Egypt, Alexandria, Africa, and other places in the world.
The one thing that caught my attention with "Mennonite Oku no Hosomichi" is that Ross Bender posted things about Japan because I like some things that are Japanese, especially all of the music that I know. What I like is that Bender posted pictures from Japan. He also includes things that are changing in Japan (different clothing, anime/manga, laws, et cetera). He also has sayings that are in Japanese on his blogs. Bender also includes some sayings in other languages such as Spanish or French. The things that are in a different language, he has the English translation to it. Bender includes articles from newspapers such as Kyodo News and Japan Times. He also includes the history from 710-784 in Fujiwara-kyo (today's Kashihara) which was the capital of Japan during those years. He had posted a video on his blog in August of 2010. He also includes poems and some news such as the blog title "Longest Noodle" from a TV station, FujiTV.
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