Ambiguity of Belonging Zusammenfassung

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beginning & ending of Larry's & Silas' friendship Gun ownership connected to masculinity, power, having a father figure (Carl saying to Larry & Silas that giving his son a firearm is a father's duty); attractive to young Larry & Silas family/ peer group, gender In their adult lives, both men are rather suspicious of guns (Silas never shot his gun) Violence in Gran Torino . . ● ● Escalation of violence: insults, threats, physical violence (Smokie burning Thao with cigarette; Walt beating up Smokie; gun attack; Sue's rape; Walt provoking gang into shooting him dead) Walt probably suffering from PTSD: distant relationship with fellow men, emotional numbness, bitterness, recurring feelings of guilt (shaman sees that) → guilt / redemption Walt used to solving problems by use of violence (former war veteran) → gender Ending of the conflict & Walt's redemption & self-sacrifice: Walt is unarmed → guilt / redemption Gender Gender in Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter ● ● ● Gender in Gran Torino . ● . ● . Larry seen as not manly enough by his father & peers → family / peer group (Ch. 3) Larry's "girlishness" one of the reasons why he is an outsider & why his alleged date is so important to him → family / peer group (Ch. 7) ● One aspect of the plot: (sexual) crime against women (Cindy Walker, Tina Rutherford), Wallace Stringfellow's misogynist attitude (dog John Wayne Gacy, named after serial killer & rapist; Wallace saying some women would like to get raped) Religion (Christian) Religion in Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter Ina Ott is highly religious (night time prayer about a "special friend" for Larry) → family / peer group Larry initially wants to continue to go to his mother's church, connection to his mother, loyalty →→ family / peer group Church is the place where Wallace Stringfellow sees Larry for the first time Churches mostly segregated in Larry's & Silas' youth (Ch. 3)→ ethnicity (Christian and traditional Hmong) Religion in Gran Torino Dorothy's wish for Walt to go to confession → guilt / redemption Walt's rejection of the hypocrisy of the church (at Dorothy's funeral reception) Hmong shaman one of the first to sense Walt's troubled soul (barbeque in Lor household) . Walt's stereotypical masculinity: drinks beer, eats beef jerky, special language with his friends → language, former soldier, solves conflicts with violence, handyman, does not want to show any weakness, hides his illness, refuses gadgets for elderly people Walt as male role model for Thao → family / peer group Walt's aim: "manning Thao up": acquire basic handyman skills, get a job, learn how to curse, ask a girl out (Thao & Walt at the barber shop) Traditional gender roles in Hmong culture: patriarchy, men as leaders who should be strong & in control & women whose primary roles are childbearing & household chores & who should be submissive & obedient to their husbands / fathers / brothers (conversation between Hmong relatives after traditional birth ceremony about Thao not being a man) Often especially difficult for Hmong boys to find their place in American society because of fathers who are either absent or not able to fulfill the expectations of strong leaders: Thao's insecurity & gang violence as consequences → ethnicity (conversation between Walt & Sue in Walt's car: "The girls go to college, the boy go to jail.") Father Janovich's development: from rather shallow, meaningless sermon to learning about life & death through Walt's example (Walt's funeral) Walt's Christlike sacrifice (Walt being shot dead) → guilt / redemption Family / Peer group 1 Background information Family concepts Nuclear family: Larry's family, Walt's family, Walt's son's family Single-parent household: Silas' family Blended family: Thao's family Voluntary kindship: Walt & Thao Family / Peer group in Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter Family ● . . ● . Peer group Larry's youth: outsider, not accepted by other boys, victim of school bullying (Larry's difference from & apparent inferiority to the other boys at his school; Larry trying to impress classmates with jump off swing) → gender Friendship with Silas on unequal footing: Silas is socially inferior → class, but more self- confident, more popular (Larry having pity with Silas saving gun hulls as something valuable; Larry worrying about losing Silas because he started to play baseball) Interracial friendship unusual → ethnicity (Larry & Silas becoming friends outside of "social boundaries") ● . . . Silas' relationship with his mother: Alice loves Silas dearly & works hard to provide him with better chances in life; Silas on the one hand is dissatisfied with his poor & fatherless upbringing & his mother's seeming servility to white people, on the other hand he often feels guilty for not being a good son & "lacking something" in his mother's eyes → guilt / redemption (Silas & Alice on their way to Chabot, Silas running away because he ● doesn't want to be a part of a society where he has to be inferior; Silas feeling guilty towards his lonely mother) Silas is Carl Ott's illegitimate child Larry's character strongly shaped by the presence of a dominating/ cruel father, Silas' by the absence of a father figure (Silas' realization after having secretly mowed the Ott's lawn, Larry & Silas in hospital, talking about their father) Larry's lifelong loyalty to his parents: becomes a mechanic like his father, diligently looks after his parents' house & his mother's chickens, regularly visits his mother in care home Silas' popularity & social standing in Chabot: baseball star, later police officer, but also based on concealing the truth about Cindy's disappearance (Silas remembering his youth & his abandonment of Larry) →→ guilt / redemption Silas' relationship with Angie: only gradually opening up to her & letting her see behind the façade of the famous ex-baseballer & popular police officer (Silas opening up to Angie about his past) Larry's life after Cindy's disappearance: marked by complete loneliness (Wallace being his only friend; Silas imagining Larry's lonely life) Wallace (an underprivileged young man) sees the outsider & potential criminal Larry Ott as a role model to look up to (Larry being a hero to Wallace) → gender Family / Peer group in Gran Torino 2 ● . Class Background information Class in Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter ● ● ● ● . Walker family: lower class, dysfunctional family, Cindy's wish to escape → family / peer group, BUT: Silas prioritizes his career and tries to forget about Cindy's disappearance (Silas trying to justify himself in front of Angie) - guilt / redemption Class in Gran Torino ● ● ● Generation conflict I: different degrees of integration / assimilation in Hmong family → language, gender Generation conflict II: in Walt's family conservatism against "spoilt youth" Relationship between Walt & his sons: feelings like greed, disappointment, lack of understanding & interest (Steve saying there is nothing that wouldn't disappoint Walt) Family does not need to be defined by blood ties: Walt's closer relationship with Sue & Thao than with his own sons (Walt's realization after the Hmong shaman has read him) Wrong image of family loyalty as propagated by Hmong gang ● ● Larry is born into a rather well-off-middle-class family (possession of land, father's respected job in his own garage → family / peer group Silas' early time in Chabot marked by extreme poverty: single mother Alice having two jobs, living in Ott's old cabin; Silas aware of this inequality → family / peer group As an adult, Larry's social standing has deteriorated: high school dropout, few customers, has to sell land →→ family / peer group Adult Silas, however, has become a well-respected member of society: first his baseball career offered him an opportunity to go to college, then he becomes a member on Chabot's police force → family / peer group "White Trash Avenue": Wallace Stringfellow, Irina Mott and others as typical representatives of a white "underclass" Thao without direction as to his future until Walt tutors him & gets him a job in construction (Walt encouraging Thao to get a job) Language Language in Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter Especially in direct speech: Southern vernacular which emphasizes the novel's local character ● Setting: impoverished neighborhood in Detroit whose automobile industry was once flourishing → home Gang violence probably a result of disorientation, hopelessness & lack of future prospects →gender, violence Walt's blue-collar mentality: has worked in the car industry for almost thirty years, proud of Gran Torino & handyman skills → gender Contemptuous of his son Mitch & his middle-class existence (job in sales of foreign cars) → family / peer group Partly racist slurs & insults to mark "men's speech" (Carl Ott, Cecil Walker, but also Wallace Stringfellow) (Carl entertaining customers in his garage) → ethnicity, gender Larry represented as rather well-read through his use of technical terms (Larry correcting Wallace's use of a foreign word) 3 Language in Gran Torino Hmong family: older generations do not speak English at all (Phong, Vu), whereas Sue & Thao ere bilingual → ethnicity, family / peer group . ● ● Home Background information Home > house: place, refuge, security, memories, roots, identity, family, basis, longing, habits, familiarity, love Home in Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter . Hmong gang speak English (rebellion against older generation) Typical sociolects for different ethnic groups (Trey, different gangs) → ethnicity Walt's racist & insulting language presents his masculinity, it is a part of manning Thao up (at the barber shop) → gender ● Larry's and Silas' local area / home: Chabot, Amos & Fulsom, Mississippi: places in decay, drug problems, etc. Silas moves to Chabot from Chicago at 13, returns after college (Silas starting to feel like he belongs to Chabot after starting to play baseball & befriending Larry) Larry does not leave despite being an outsider & having no customers → They both have a deep-rooted connection to home: family loyalty → family / peer group, "unfinished business" → guilt / redemption Home in Gran Torino ● Walt still lives in his old neighborhood, although he feels alienated there because of the many Asian immigrants & although his sons urge him to move out; his reasons for staying: connection to Dorothy / seemingly well-ordered past, tying to remain in control Neighborhood: helping each other (Walt seen as hero & getting gifts from his neighbors after driving the gang away), refurbishing houses in the neighborhood Ethnicity Background information The American South and race relations American South includes states that fought for the Confederate States in American Civil War (1861-1865), i. e. states that wanted to keep up slavery & leave the Union (South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee; border states: Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri) Past: slave labor, plantations; after Civil War: segregation of schools & public facilities (Jim Crow laws) Civil Rights Movement (mainly 1950s & 1960s), Civil Rights legislation in the 1960s officially ended segregation & discrimination, but de facto there are many areas of inequality up until today 4 The Hmong In the 1960s, the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) recruited Hmong people to fight in Vietnam War (1964-1975)→ heavy losses among Hmong soldiers When the US withdrew from Vietnam in 1975, Hmong people were persecuted by the then communist regime → thousands of Hmong people fled to Thailand, many were also resettled in the US; Today: more than 260,000 Hmong people in the US Ethnicity in Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter Setting: Southern United States: Mississippi, late 1970s (after segregation period) Larry & Silas go to a racially integrated high school, racism still part of daily life (Larry knowing that it is inappropriate for black people to drive with white people) African American Alice as maid (and mistress) of white Ott family (Carl), poverty, single mother, Silas' feeling of being disadvantaged / inferior (Larry thinking Alice should be grateful for Silas' & his friendship) ● . ● ● ● Ethnic group in East & Southeast Asia (originally from China, spread in China, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand) . Ethnicity in Gran Torino Walt's prejudice: feels alienated in his old neighborhood → home, likes order & cleanliness (exemplified by his Gran Torino), traditional values (Walt's sons talking about his outdated worldview) ● Larry's racism as means to belong to a group of white boys ("Monkey lips"-incident) & as reaction to humiliation & bullying (Larry's racist thinking while being bullied by the black children in his class; fight with Silas) Mixed-race relationship between Silas & Cindy still undesirable, which sets in motion the events leading to Cindy's unexplained disappearance (Silas & Cindy drawing attention when walking together; Alice warning Silas off of his relationship with Cindy referring to Emmet Till) Insult "nigger" ends Larry's & Silas' friendship (connection with inferiority, humiliation, getting the upper hand) Walt's intolerance & racism are further fed by his past as a soldier in the Korean War: had to learn to have a low opinion of Asians in order to justify the atrocities, calls his Hmong neighbors "gooks”, “chinks", "zipperheads", "swamp rats", etc. (Walt threatening the gang on his lawn with his rifle saying what he did to them in the war) Thao as typical example of a teenager torn between two cultures Sue seems to be different: knows Hmong customs well, seems to be proud of her heritage, but also at home in American society (white boyfriend, college) Gangs seem to provide orientation for alienated male teenagers (Hispanics, Hmong, African American) → gender (Spider trying to get Thao join his gang) Guilt/ Redemption 5 Background information Stage 1: bad deed: immoral action, violence, sin, crime, lie, betrayal causes Stage 2: guilt: remorse, bad conscience, (self-)blame, hatred, revenge, vicious circle overcoming of Stage 3: redemption: compensation, atonement, relief, self-sacrifice, apology, forgiveness Guilt / Redemption in Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter Apparently obvious guilt (Larry & his alleged crime) vs hidden guilt (Silas' cowardice) (Silas guiltily admitting his involvement in Cindy's disappearance for the first time) "nigger" insult maybe as pretext for conscience-stricken Silas not to tell the truth & rather ending the friendship (Silas trying to justify his abandonment of Larry) Walt's obvious guilt & Larry's attempt of denying it . . Silas' attempts at making up for past errors: feeding the chickens, visiting Mrs. Ott & Larry, finally telling the truth Open question: is forgiveness possible after years of lies? (Silas driving Larry home from hospital & Larry offering Silas to repair his carburetor, cautious rapprochement) Guilt / Redemption in Gran Torino ● ● Walt's bitterness: feels guilty for not having a close relationship with his sons (confession in church), doing cruel things in the Korean war (killing a kid without being ordered to), escalating violence of Hmong gang (Sue's rape) Walt feels "soiled", does not want Thao's "pure" soul to suffer from the vicious circle of violence, too (locking Thao in the basement and hindering him from taking revenge) Walt's act of self-sacrifice in Christlike manner, saving Sue & Thao from further violence & redeeming his former sins (after Walt's confession: Walt has finally found his peace, in contrast to his state of mind when the shaman was reading him) → religion 01 6