Dewey Dell vs. The birds and the bees

Out of all the members of the Bundren family, Dewey Dell's situation really impacted me the most. Like Mr. Mitchell said in class, I can see how Faulkner adding her story was very risky during this time period because women's issues were never really discussed. However I respect him for contributing her story because it really does show the reader a lot about the status of women during that time and how they were treated.
Dewey Dell's lack of sex education from her family can definitely be seen as one of her main flaws. Unaware of the dangerous of unprotected sexual intercourse, she blindly lets Lafe take advantage of her because she felt she had to do it. For one thing, I find Lafe a repulsing character for knowing how much Dewey Dell's reputation he put at risk and still pressuring her to have sex. I feel so sorry for Dewey Dell and think it would be unfair for the Bundren's to be angry at Dewey Dell for her actions because they never properly educated her in the first place.
Once Dewey Dell found out she was pregnant, she was desperate to find a doctor to illegally get an abortion. So while the Bundren family was on a journey to the big city, Dewey Dell was on a secret journey to find a doctor with the "thoughtful" $10 Lafe left her. The first time we encounter Dewey Dell asking a doctor to help her, she won't even refer to her situation as being pregnant, but as the "female problem." When the doctor finds out she isn't married, he flips out at her and tells her to take that $10 to get a marriage license. This shows the reader how much of a big deal her premarital pregnancy is and how much the doctors would have to risk in order to help her because it is so frowned about in their society.
When the Bundren's arrive at Jefferson, Dewey Dell tried one last time to find a doctor to help her and finally found a man who claimed to be able to help her. He gave her some "medicine" and told her he would perform an operation at night in the basement to "help" her. Though its obvious Dewey Dell is skeptical, she is so desperate to find a cure she goes through with it despite knowing it was sketchy. Once again, Dewey Dell is clearly taken advantage of and is raped by the illegitimate doctor. Because the man sees Dewey Dell as a trashy farmer girl who is desperate for any type of cure, he thinks its ok to take advantage of her because she isn't important. This situation shows how poorly women were treated in this society and how precious it is to keep a good reputation because essentially that was all they really had.
Though the issue isn't as severe, women are still taken advantage of and abused in our society today. We can use Dewey Dell as an example that even though policies have changed, having someone to educate  women on safe sex is very important for teaching them to have their own boundaries and respect their bodies.

Sympathy for Addie?

From the very beginning of the book, the reader sympathizes with Addie because she is dying. We feel sorry for her because she is leaving such a quirky, but loving family. From the way her family treats Addie at her death bed by hand making her coffin and staying by her side and fanning her, we believe she must have been a loving mother that cared for her family. For over half the book, this is how we view Addie, and the Bundren's journey to fulfill her dying wish to be buried in her hometown seems justified. However then Faulkner adds in a chapter out of nowhere of a flashback in Addie's perspective , and the reader's perspective on Addie is completely changed.
The chapter opens with Addie talking about how her dad used to say, "the reason for living was to get ready to stay dead a long time." We learn that Addie is deeply depressed with being a school teacher and wishes she would die. This was very confusing for me as a reader because I thought it was ironic how the whole plot of the book revolves around Addie's death when she actually wanted to die. She talks about how the only part she enjoyed about being with the children is whipping them so she could leave her mark on them. This can be seen as Addie wanting to leave her mark on the world in any way she can because she is trapped in a life she doesn't want.
Then she goes on to talk about how she hates Anse but married him because she felt like she had to. And once she gave birth to Cash, she felt so alone and unhappy she couldn't even describe it. Then she had an affair with the preacher Whitfield and gave birth to Jewel, her only child she ever really cared about. To make up for her sin, she "gave" Anse two more children. Addie's whole predicament although to the reader seems appalling because the Bundren's are risking their lives on a mother who doesn't even want them. However really Addie's persona tells us something about the status of women during this time period. We repeatedly hear Addie talk about how she "did what she had to do," never really having a say in what she wanted to do with her life. This theme can also be seen in Dewey Dell when she got pregnant because she felt trapped in a situation and did what she had to do to get out of it.
Overall, I feel sorry for Addie. She never got the life she wanted, but did what she had to do to be socially acceptable.  However I also feel sorry for the Bundren's who never really found out Addie's real feelings towards them, and the family will live a lie the rest of their lives.

"George 'Baby Face' Nelson" vs. "George 'Bad-Ass' Nelson"

To help prepare for my response paper for The Odyssey/ "Oh Brother Where Art Thou," I re-watched  "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" and definetly picked up on a few details I didn't get the first time. While many aspects of the movie were clarified for me, one thing that I'm still having trouble with is the significance of George Nelson.
When I first watched the movie, I thought his role was to show one of the many twists and turns the prisoners experienced on their journey. However after re-watching it, I feel like he is suppose to signify how some people struggled with this idea of being a "good" christian in an environment where there really isn't any religious diversity.
When he is first introduced to the prisoners, he had just robbed two banks and was on his way to rob a third. In the car, he asks the boys if they are bad. Delmar answers, "I was bad until yesterday, but me and Pete have been saved." Once the boys arrive to the third bank, George Nelson declares, " Jesus saves, but George Nelson withdraws." After he takes the money, an old women says " isn't that baby face Nelson?" and he flips out, saying "I am George Nelson and I was born to raise hell." The scene then cuts to the boys sitting around the campfire with all of their stolen money, and Pete says stealing all this money "almost makes me wish I hadn't been saved." However George Nelson doesn't say anything, and appears to upset when we would think he should be happy from getting away with stealing a bunch of money. Then he gives the boys all the money he stole, and walks away into the darkness.
For someone who was "born to raise hell," it is clear George Nelson believes by going against the idea go being a "good" christian, he appears to be tough and a bad-ass. But at the end of the day, all he really wants to be is excepted.