Them, too

Langston Huges, a poet in the Harlem Renaissance, writes meaningful pieces about the slavery and inequality of blacks in America.  Huges writes about a theme of separation of blacks and whites in his piece, "I, Too".  Huges describes African Americans as being a "darker brother", a euphemism which employs the multiple denotations of the word "dark" in its description.  Along with expressing a tone or shade of color that contains a blackish hue, dark is often related to being ignored, unseen, and forgotten.  This creates verisimilitude in that the African American people were viewed as lowly, not as true human beings.  For example, when their white owners invite guests over, they "send me to eat in the kitchen".  The speaker, an African American, is sent to the kitchen so as to make room for the white guests, and does not hold a true seat at the kitchen table.  In the poem, the kitchen table serves as a symbol for America.  Often when sharing a meal with others at a table, experiences and thoughts are shared.  The fact that blacks were denied a seat at the kitchen table (America), they were equally denied the expression of their thoughts and feelings at this time.  The author expresses discontent with this idea through the statement "I, too, am America".  African Americans, dwellers in America, the majority of the population in America, should be acknowledged as a part of the nation.

You cannot put a price on that

After reading The Diamond as big as the Ritz, I was reminded of an event in my life in which I also lost a real jewel/gem.  In the short story, Mr. Washington, the father, destroys the giant diamond by employing explosives.  I, in a similar way, lost a pearl earring in the washing machine.  In both instances, a valuable is lost, but the reasons why the item holds so much worth is very different.  For Mr. Washington, the diamond was valuable because of its monetary value, yet in my instance, the pearl earring was valuable for it's emotional correlation to an important moment in my life.  My mother gave the pair of earrings to me before my first communion, a religious ceremony in which the recipient receives for the first time the body and blood of Jesus.  While the loss of my "diamond" can never be recreated, the worth of the diamond can: that is, if Mr. Washington finds another large diamond.
While the losses of material things can seem like a catastrophic event, one must remember all of the more important things in life.  Family, true friends, religion, etc., are immeasurable in worth as they are so priceless.  These things are irreplaceable, and provide one with love, happiness, and joy that cannot be achieved with petty objects.

Black Friday is a part of us

At the end of The Great Gatsby, Nick notes how the island must have appeared to the first people to arrive on the land.  How it held much opportunity to the travelers.  Shortly afterwards, Nick compares this to Gatsby's perspective of his land; Gatsby saw all opportunity by looking across the water towards the green light on Toms and Daisy's dock.  Gatsby's dream, as well as the dream of many American's at the time of the novel's publication, were viewed as too superficial and shallow by author F. Scott Fitzgerald.  Gatsby, whose goal in life was to attain wealth to ultimately attain Daisy, was a representation of the shallowness of the American dream at that time; a dream that valued success by the amount of money and goods one owned.  After experiencing the festivities of Thanksgiving, reading the novel reminded me that our obsession with goods has not been a new trend.  It seems as though the true meaning of Thanksgiving: to give thanks for all blessings, has become overshadowed by the commercialism of Black Friday.  After sharing a hearty meal with family and/or friends, society willingly arises at ridiculous hours of the morning to fight for "deals".  In truth, the dangers and risks one is exposed to in order to get these deals are not worth the reduced cost.  However, perhaps it is more the mindset of the success of getting the exclusive deal that drives consumers to these great lengths.   Regardless, a simple holiday meant to display gratuity has become a mad shopping tradition.  As simple necessities like freedom and independent survival were common among their precedents, people of the 1920s became spendthrift and extremely lavish.