The Inheritance of my Father: A Story for Listening

 The story titled The Inheritance of my Father: A Story for Listening is a story about a man's home country and a child's dream to visit where her father is from. The child dreamed about going to her father's homeland to see where he came from. It is important to know where you come from especially where your parents came from. It gives the individual a sense of belonging to a certain culture and background. The child's grandmother which was the mother of the child's father wanted her grandchild to visit so badly that she would call the home every day and tell her to come to visit. The grandmother was still in her homeland and she knew she didn't have much time left on the earth. So needed to see her grandchild before passing on. The grandmother had a large piece of property back where she lived. She would have given the property to her son when she passed on but since he moved away and disobeyed her, she decided to give it to her grandchild instead. "Everything that our eye looks at on this plantation and everything out ear hears on this plantation and everything our hand touches on this plantation is my grandchild's, and therefore my grandchild has to learn our secrets as well"(The Inheritance of my Father: A Story for Listening, Astrid Roemer). The inheritance was originally for her father but since he left the country, married a white woman, and hasn't returned to his home country until now the grandchild gets the plantation.     

Comments

  1. BryceF112November 22, 2020 at 1:31 PM

    The inheritance of my father truly is a story for listening. We listen to the different perspectives subconsciously as we read the story. The father, the daughter, and grandmothers different perspectives. The father left due to the relationship with his mother going bad. He starts a new life in the States and has a family. The grandmother didn't have much time left and wanted the relationship with her granddaughter. She felt that she needed to know where she came from. It was important to her to give her grandchild that opportunity. The child was always curious about her fathers roots but never knew if she'd have such an opportunity. The relationship established between the grad-daughter and grandmother is important because it passes on the good and bad of the families history.

    ReplyDelete
  2. emma nowakowskiNovember 22, 2020 at 1:38 PM

    Knowing your roots and heritage is something that is valued when coming from a place such as this one. While reading this story I got to learn the perspective from the grandmother in a way I never thought about. I know from this course that during these times there were many racial injustices and it happened to be colored people being left out which is why I could see why the grandmother felt so passionate about her son marrying a white woman. She felt betrayed which is understandable but at the same time it creates an endless cycle of white people against colored and vise versa.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Christopher Columbus Documentary

     In the documentary Christopher Columbus, researchers believe that Columbus's had landed on the island of San Salvador. The island matches the description from Columbus’ logs, and there have been remnants found on the island from Spain. “It looks like I have found what appears to be a coin” (Clark’s History Reels. “Christopher Columbus”). Almost all of the natives of the island died from European disease and exploitation. Columbus was convinced that he had landed somewhere on the coast of China. He was originally looking to land on Japan, but he thought he was landing on the islands surrounding Japan. “Along with finding a new route to the Orient, spreading Christianity was one of Columbus’ primary intentions” (Clark’s History Reels. “Christopher Columbus”). Columbus left crosses along the coast, he did this for Spain and to Christen the land. Any natives who did not conform to Christianity were burned at the stake. They told the natives that only Christians can find ...
Read more

Haiti: Land of Tragedy, Land of Hope

  Haiti has over eight million people in the country with a life expectancy of fifty years, seventy percent of the population below the poverty line, and sixty-five percent of the population can read. This is crazy to think about that in today’s age a county can fall behind so much with the rest of society. In 1994 the country finally instilled a democratic institution to allow the country to hopefully thrive in the near future. The leaders of Haiti understand that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will Haiti. They understand it is going to take time to fix the country, but they know they are moving in the correct direction. There is now hope in the people of Haiti, hope of the people and of the national level. Some people of Haiti believe that the political leaders enjoy the power they have and do not want to give up that power. So, they decide to stay in power and people in Haiti want them out of power so the country can move forwards and be given more freedoms. The birthpl...
Read more

Rosena on the Mountain

 This story is very different from the other short stories that we have read. Rosena on the Mountain  is a short story about a young Haitian boy who wants to join the sainthood. He grew up from nothing in the slums of his town. He feels that God has to lead him to become closer to him. "I felt destined to rise at two o'clock each morning of my life and to utter only three words a week" (Rosena on the Mountain, René Despestre). The boy went to the mountains to start his journey in sainthood. There he met a girl that helps with the sainthood that is called Rosena. She would help in the kitchen, making food, and gathering water.  Rosena has her eye on the boy and the boy starts to feel a certain way with Rosena. The boy knows that he cannot sin with Rosena because it does against her beliefs. The temptation becomes too strong and Rosena and the boy sin together. The boy is in love but is distraught at the same time because he has gone against everything that he has lear...
Read more