2) We haven't talked about Walter Bridge much, but I think he's a fascinating character, though he may be the most bland and static character you ever read about. He managed to be present for the entirety of chapter 12, the longest chapter we've read so far, and somehow say almost nothing. It's obvious that neither one of them like the Van Meters, but there's a stark difference in the way Mrs. Bridge handles their outing and the way Walter does. Instead of going silent, Mrs. Bridge entertains Mr. Van Meters antics. What does this interaction say about Mrs. Bridge’s character, Walter’s character, and the dynamic of their marriage?
3) “You should say the cleaning ‘woman.’ A lady is someone like Mrs. Arlen or Mrs. Montgomery.” I'm going to abuse my power as the blog writer to ask you guys: What the hell does this mean? Is this a race comment? Does it strictly have to do with socio-economic class? I have no idea, so I'd love to hear what you guys think of this quote.
1. Yes, I think Mrs. Bridge is definitely racist. After our first reading, I didn’t think there was enough evidence to conclude that she is, but now I think it’s pretty clear. The most obvious instance of racism that we’ve seen thus far occurs when Carolyn asks to attend Alice’s party, and Mrs. Bridge, upon hearing that Alice lives in a mixed neighborhood, says to Carolyn, “I wouldn’t go if I were you”(34). A more humorous example of Mrs. Bridge’s prejudice is her response to the overly decorated house in their neighborhood. After staring at the life-size santa cutout and six reindeer, she remarks, “My word, how extreme. Some Italians must live there”(32). Plus, throughout the book, we see Mrs. Bridge treating Alice differently, less respectfully, than she would any other child. She uninvites her to lunch and asks her to play outside of their house, small passive aggressive comments that Alice clearly notices: “Alice heard a note in her voice which Carolyn did not”(17). Though it’s possible that Mrs. Bridge’s treatment of Alice is unrelated to race, it seems far more likely that race does play a role.
ReplyDelete2. Honestly, I like Mr. Bridge. While Mrs. Bridge spends 4 pages making painfully awkward conversation with the only couple more bland than themselves, Mr. Bridge just sits back and relaxes. He doesn’t really seem to care what other people think of him, and he’s perfectly content to ignore them. I think that this illustrates a fundamental divide between Mr. and Mrs. Bridges, in that Mrs. Bridges is constantly compelled to behave in the manner expected of her, even though “she wondered if she was about to lose control of herself”(19). Mr. Bridge, however, “made no attempt to answer”(18) Van Metre’s pleasantries. I wouldn’t call him a free spirit, but he at least does not share his wife’s burden of social expectations.
3. I think this is definitely a classist statement. Mrs. Bridge believes that the term “lady” should only apply to women of a higher socio-economic status, and therefore should not be used to refer to a cleaning person. I also think this quote demonstrates Mrs. Bridge’s two-faced nature. She behaves very respectfully and kindly to the woman’s face, but then turns and tells her daughter that this woman worth less than “someone like Mrs. Arlen or Mrs. Montgomery”(14).
1. I think Mrs. Bridge is racist. I think that, just like everybody, she is a product of her society. The idea that white people are different and better than other races has probably been subconsciously engrained in her mind since childhood. At this point, I don’t think she is racist with the intention to be mean or malicious, but she believes that she is different and better than black people and that naturally comes through in what she says. In the Colorado vs Kansas City vacation debate, when Mrs. Bridge says, “Time would take care of the situation.” I interpreted that as racism. Alice convinced Corky that Kansas City was better than Corky’s expensive trip to Colorado. It seems that Mrs. Bridge believes that the expensive and fancier trip to Colorado is inherently better. She does not like this idea that Alice is convincing Corky that her experiences are better, when Mrs. Bridge believes that her “higher class” trips are obviously better. Then later she automatically hypothesizes that Alice has stolen a clothesline, for no visible reason other than her distrust of Alice. Then finally, when Corky wants to go to Alice’s party in a mixed-race neighborhood, Mrs. Bridge does not want her to go. It appears to me that she has an innate feeling that white things are better and black things are untrustworthy and dangerous. I don’t think she wants to personally upset anybody or hurt anyone’s feelings, but her innate sense of black people seems negative and prejudiced. She also makes a comment about a very decorated house likely belonging to Italians. All these instances lead me to believe that she harbors a lot of stereotypes.
ReplyDelete2. This interaction shows Mrs. Bridge’s tendency to want to please everyone and keep situations calm. When they go to the country club, Mrs. Bridge feels wildly uncomfortable, and she says, “she wondered if she was about to lose control of herself”. Yet immediately after that, she says, “What lovely tables”. She clearly hides her feelings and discomfort to create a sense of calm and normalcy. She feels obligated to be respectable in the eyes of those around her. Walter seems to care very little about how he appears to the Van Meters. He is distracted by his work and feels no obligation to add to conversation or make anyone else feel at ease.
3. I assumed his comment had to do with class. I think Mrs. Bridge is very focused on her own class. She feels she must embody certain standards because she is well off. She heavily identifies with the fact that she is wealthy. When she sees somebody that she deems ‘below’ her being labelled as the same class level as her, that seems wrong. It seems that she wants to distinguish herself from those of a lower class because she has pride about her wealth and prejudice against those of lower class.
Half of this question can be answered just by looking at Mrs. Bridge's position in life. She's a rich white woman, who has internalized her parents' teachings, and who lives in Kansas city, only some tens of miles from where the Sacking of Lawrence, Kansas took place, in which pro-slavery forces attacked many anti-slavery settlers. She's been raised in a culture with racist notions and views, and nothing we know about her suggests that she would challenge this culture, rather, she seems obsessed with being normal. But constructing a profile of her is by no measure enough to determine whether she's a racist or not. When Alice Jones comes running up to the Bridges' house one day to play, carrying a clothesline, the “first thing that came to Mrs. Bridge's mind was that the girl had stolen it” (15). Now, Mrs. Bridge might have judged Alice in this manner on part of her class or her wildness. But why would anyone ever steal a clothesline? The ridiculousness of the situation should have ruled out these options, capricious people aren't always judged for stealing, and poor people wouldn't have any need to steal a clothesline, they probably would already have one. The only explanation left is that Mrs. Bridge thought that Alice stole the clothesline because she was black. Sure, maybe the fact that she was wild and poor added to the judgment, but the prejudice is still there. And when Carolyn asks to go to Alice's birthday party, Mrs. Bridge thinks about how the neighborhood in which Alice lives is a “mixed neighborhood” (34). She then tells Carolyn that she “wouldn't [go] if I were you” (34). Mrs. Bridge still allows Carolyn and Alice to play with each other, despite their reservations, so the recommendation is not entirely due to Alice's behavior. Instead, her reluctance seems to stem from the fact that the neighborhood is “mixed.” This is interesting, for its ambiguous whether Mrs. Bridge does not want Carolyn to go where black people are, or because she doesn't want Carolyn to go were black and white people live together and she doesn't want Carolyn to get the wrong idea about race relations? Either way, she sees black people as unsuitable to interact with for white people.
ReplyDeleteWalter Bridge, I believe, is a workoholic, and this is why he seems so flat. When Van Meter remarks on the absence of cars from the road when they go out, Walter, “already bored and thinking of an important case at the office, made no attempt to answer” (18). He can't get out of work mode to entertain Van Meter. Immediately afterwards, Van Meter jokes about how they have the entire country club to themselves, and Walter “answers brightly” how he “gets so sick of crowds sometimes” (18). Why is he so excited about not being around people? I think that because he spends so much time at the office, he feels uncomfortable around other people. Maybe a bit speculative. Later, when Van Meter talks of Crandall, Walter exclaims that “he was mixed up in that USHA mess” (20). This is his only comment, and it seems to be about another case he worked on. He is only capable of talking about his work. Maybe this is why he seems so disappointed in his son, he wants a boy that is interested in work and only thinks of work, so when Douglas goes off to roughhouse, he feels let down.
Race and socio-economics are inextricable in this society. It does not matter if the cleaning lady is black or white, what matters is that Mrs. Bridge thinks that the person is lower than her and has to use the back door(so probably black), and therefore should not be called a “Lady.”
1. I think that Mrs. Bridge is racist. She is a product of society—every fibre of her being is geared towards fitting in perfectly into her place. The society she lives in is a racist one. Therefore, Mrs. Bridge is racist. I don’t think that she is consciously malicious (I don’t think she is consciously much of anything) but the way she treats Alice is not kind and this is clearly because of her race. Even if she is not acting with the intent to discriminate, she is still making the choice to not defy the racist conventions of society. And in my view, this makes her racist. By choosing to be complacent, she is making a choice, the choice to not challenge the discriminatory views of the people around her.
ReplyDelete2. I agree that he is a fascinating character. We as readers want to know what is going on inside his head all the time. I think Mrs. Bridge feels the same way. She doesn’t know him, doesn’t understand him, even though he is her husband. Her interaction with the Van Meters is very telling, I think, as to how much she cares about her appearance. She cannot allow herself to defy anybody, to disagree on any level. The contrast between Mrs. Bridge and Mr. Bridge is quite startling—they are not two people who I can imagine falling in love. I think that Mr. Bridge is a foil for his wife because his independence of and freedom from societal conventions contrasts starkly with her deep desire to fit in perfectly.
3. I think it’s a class comment. However, race and class are deeply intertwined in this country, in the world Mrs. Bridge lives in. So to say her comment is a classist one is, effectively, to say it is a racist one. I felt disgust when I read that comment because the deep level of disrespect Mrs. Bridge has for the cleaning lady seemed so malicious to me. I still believe that this is a product of the society she tries so hard to fit into, but it is difficult for me to not be upset (just like it is difficult for me to not be angry about the way she treats Alice Jones). She could have just let it slide, but she thinks about it all day until the evening when she scolds her daughter for referring to a woman who is helping them with a title of respect.
To piggy back on Stuart, Mira, and Emma: there seems to me to be no other way to read Mrs. Bridge's actions, for all the reasons Stuart, Mira, and Emma have stated. To attempt to add to the well-supported, thoughtful comments above; what I am struck by is the complacency, perhaps even joy, Mrs. Bridge takes in her racist actions towards Alice. She's been raised well—or has been, unlike Douglas so far, attentive to her parents' lessons; she is pleasant, well mannered , and no doubt clean racist. Of course, Mrs. Bridge would no more see the racism in her anymore than Mr. Bridge sees the racism in himself (spoiler: in Chapter 19, in reference to Grace Barron, the antithesis and best friend of Mrs. B, a liberal, he remarks: "'Ask her if she wants one to marry her daughter" [36 in my text]). Racism is not a word in their vocabulary. It is simply following the rules of their world, their upper crust society with Harriet, Mr. Jones, and the Filipino waiter serving them and domestics identified as "women" and society women like Mrs. Bridge, Mrs. Arlen, and Mrs. Montgomery are "ladies" (14). I cringe when I read about Mrs. Bridge's pleasant demeaning of Alice—and tellingly Alice knows exactly what Mrs. Bridge is telling her when she sends Alice off to have lunch with her father. Carolyn doesn't get it—but she will soon, taught in no doubt the same subtle ways Mrs. Bridge was taught.
ReplyDelete2. I dislike, if not on some strictly emotional level hate, Mrs. Bridge in her interactions with Alice and Carolyn. Yet I like her here, in much the same way Emma does. On one hand, she is so clueless here about the details Van Metre brings up and misunderstanding the story he tells about the martini; but Van Meter and his wife are, as she knows, "pompous" asses (18). This is like hell out of some existentialist drama, being stuck with the Van Metres in a dying country club dining room—with Mr. Bridge, who is terribly rude (as Stuart points out, thinking about work). As Jaliwa points out, neither of these couples like each other—but they are obligated out of social courtesy and convention. So bless her heart, Mrs. Bridge tries so hard to make the awful dinner work, with no help from her husband (barely in this novel, let alone her life). On one hand, this is silly and ridiculous and comic—she's making the most inane comments because that is what she feels is expected and necessary of her—while her husband feels no compunction to do so, and the Van Metres are so stuffy and arrogant that they don't even try to be gracious. So here perhaps is Connell satirizing these well-to-do Kansas City society people; aren't they ridiculous, particularly Mrs. B. But I feel at the same time that Mrs. Bridge is trying to be gracious for everyone concerned; and "good manners," that she values, do have a place in the world. For me, she rises above the rest here, in a way we haven't really seen in the book up to now; and I do believe she gets a subtle jab in at Van Metre at the very end; of course he hates the roast beef—but she likes it just fine. Take THAT, you pompous, self-important fool.
3. I think both, as Stuart and Mira argue. I go back to Chapter 5, "Christmas Basket," where she, like the good well-to-do Christian society woman, adopts a family; and as she often does, she uses this as a lesson for her children, Douglas in this case, wanting him "not to grow up thinking he was better than someone else" (7). Yet he realizes, I think, in a way that only makes sense later, how much of a hypocrite his mother is here. They are different—they have the nice car with the nice seats that the poor folks he's no better than touch like it's something from another planet. And Mrs. Bridge would definitely call the women here "women." Not ladies by a hundred miles.
I absolutely think that Mrs. Bridge is racist, and that it is because of her society. Racism is learned, not inherent, but I don't think Mrs. Bridge has any investment in un-learning the mindset that somehow Alice is inferior to potential white friends Carolyn could have, who - she unconsciously assumes - would not convince Carolyn that home is more exciting than an expensive trip to Colorado, or who talk about human gizzards and teach her daughter songs with lyrics like "Goddamn you, goddamn you, goddamn you!" Mrs. Bridge continually assures Alice's father that she is not a nuisance, but never has she said that he doesn't need to ask her that - the children have been playing together all summer, and every single day they play he asks if his daughter is being a nuisance. This automatically puts him in an apologetic position, and gives Mrs. Bridge the power to tell them to leave - it creates a power dynamic that Mrs. Bridge seems to assume is natural. Mrs. Bridge continually falls victim to stereotyping - from her assumption that excessiveness would indicate an Italian family, her automatic assumption that Alice had stolen the clothesline rather than it was something she owned or simply found, and that a "mixed neighborhood" would be populated by potentially dangerous people. Mrs. Bridge is racist, but like many of her traits, it wasn't really a conscious decision one way or another on that particular topic - she simply decided to believe what society was telling her.
ReplyDeleteWalter seems to have only self-absorbed behaviors - he works to give his children anything they want but never asks what it is that they want (which I believe is equal parts genuine care, and the assumption that the man must provide - thus, Walter's own self satisfaction with his capability to provide), enjoys having a physical relationship with India but can't remain awake long enough to return the favor, and he simply doesn't speak when he finds the conversation boring. India's behavior is almost entirely what she's been told to do, or is expected to do. In the case of a woman listening to a man's story in this time period, she is expected to make generally uninteresting but encouraging commentary, as she manages until the very end, where her courtesies slip a little. I'm under the impression that Walter has some very intense values and beliefs, but never mentions them, whereas India has fairly uninteresting values, but expresses them intensely. This, however, allows Mrs. Bridge's comment at the very end, where she contradicts Mr. Van Meter - given enough of a push, she can express genuine sentiments, whereas Walter simply remains silent. The quiet and rare presence of Walter combined with the uninteresting interactions that India manages (at least, unprovoked) make for a rather uninteresting and uninvolved marriage. It almost feels like they don't know each other. They were deeply passionate about one another at the beginning of the marriage - what happened?
I'd say it's a mix of both racism AND socio-economic class. Firstly, considering that the only people we've really seen in service - Harriet, and Alice's father - aren't white, I'd believe that Mrs. Bridge has an unconscious assumption that a cleaning lady wouldn't be white. I don't think that she would be inclined to think of any non-white woman, OR any poor white woman as a "lady," but I feel that she'd be less inclined to "correct" Carolyn if the individual in question was simply one or the other.
1. I think that when I read the first scene that showed Alice and Carolyn’s relationship, I was surprised that Mrs. Bridge was not showing more disapproval of their friendship, knowing her predisposition to constantly try and conform to societal norms. I at first thought Mrs. Bridge was happy with their friendship, and that’s how I interpreted the quote “pleased that Carolyn was not conscious of the difference between them” (10). I took that to mean that Mrs. Bridge’s was happy Carolyn saw no difference between her and Alice, because she would treat Alice as an equal and be less likely to break off their friendship because of race, which Mrs. Bridge would approve of because Alice deserved to be treated as an equal, despite what other people might think of her race. But then the second Alice convinces Carolyn that aspects of her life (not going to Colorado on holiday) are also fun, later on in that chapter, Mrs. Bridge seems to redefine Alice as some sort of threat. Which, in my opinion, is too extreme of a reaction to what Alice said. Mrs. Bridge believes that “time would take care of the situation” (11), which sounded a bit like an ominous end for Alice. What I assume Mrs. Bridge thinks here is that Carolyn will face pressures from society to not associate with people of color, the same way Mrs. Bridge undoubtedly received those same signals. She has raised Carolyn to be pleasant, and not get in the way of society, so why would she question what she will inevitably face? And the way Mrs. Bridge assumes that Alice stole that piece of clothesline, and then handled the situation, by closing and locking the door on her. Very passive aggressive, and certainly not something Mrs. Bridge would have done to someone who she deemed high enough up in society, or worthy of her company. She never even tells her daughter why she doesn’t want her to be around Alice anymore, nor does she say anything to Alice or Alice’s father. I think her lack of confrontation aggravated me the most with Alice, because it shows her disregard for other people’s feelings and even their worth.
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ReplyDelete2. I think this was one of the few scenes where I felt a little kinder towards Mrs. Bridge. I honestly felt that the whole scene was absurd, but I can’t understand Mrs. Bridge’s crippling need to hang around with people she dislikes because she needs those interactions on her social resume (I don’t wholly judge her for feeling this way, I’m actually not sure how I feel about this. It bugs me but I also can’t fully understand Mrs. Bridge’s side of it). I particularly like John’s use of the phrase “bless her heart” – that pretty much sums up my feelings. I felt almost angry at Mr. Bridge for his actions during that dinner, because he made absolutely no attempt to help his wife. I suppose, from one side, this could be positively viewed, because he doesn’t have the same unhealthy and superficial social obsessions that his wife does. But what bothers me is his complete and utter disconnectedness from everything. If he doesn’t like how meticulous Mrs. Bridge is about who they spend time with, he would say something to her about it. But my guess is he doesn’t care, so he doesn’t talk to his wife about it. Similarly, but on the flip side, he barely says two words to the Van Meters during dinner. He makes no attempt to connect with his wife over what she wants, whether he’s agreeing or disagreeing with her, and he seems to hold a similar mentality when interacting with his children: “[…] they responded deferentially, and a little wistfully because they missed him. Sensing this, he would redouble his efforts at the office in order to give them everything they wanted” (5). But Walter Bridge isn’t really thinking at all about what his family wants, only with his own desires. He wants to work as much as he does, so that’s how he spends his time. Saying that he works hard for his family almost seems like an excuse, or at least an extreme emotional disconnect from his family (or both).
ReplyDelete3. I think this is both a race and a socio-economic comment. And it speaks to Mrs. Bridge’s disregard and close-mindedness towards other people. Mrs. Bridge only cares for exteriors and labels, and she doesn’t bother with who people really are, as shown with her relationship with the Van Meters, whom she can barely stand, and her attempt to curb her son’s development into an actual human being because playing will, literally, cover him with dirt. This comment, to me, is another example of this. It matters to Mrs. Bridge that she, and her children, distinguish between terms like “lady” and “woman”, because it clearly defines one’s place in society. It doesn’t matter to her that regardless of whether someone is a “lady” or a “woman”, they are still a human being.
1. I think a lot of her attitude towards race has to do with her kind of compulsive need to fit in, but I don’t think that’s exactly an excuse for her racism. To simply write off her comments about Alice as being products of her time period is too easy. Mrs. Bridge may be shutting her eyes to some of the flaws in this society she so desperately wants to be a part of, but she’s able to take a bit of a stand against Mr. Van Meter, and she’s drawn to that deep new lady who talks about wanting to experience other ways of living. Mrs. Bridge is not as mindless as I once thought. She thinks and she feels, and because of that, because of how intentionally she goes about her life and raising her kids and handling the Van Meters, her racism somehow seems more dire now than it did when she fired off that one liner about Corky growing out of Alice. She’s a smart woman who is picking and choosing which parts of her world to see and which to blindly conform to. I love Mrs. Bridge, but her level of self-imposed ignorance is endlessly frustrating.
ReplyDelete2. I find Mr. Bridge is actually a pretty stand-up guy. He doesn’t say much at dinner because he has nothing to say. He doesn’t waste words on trivial matters. In fact, the most we hear him say is that the dumpy, rich, ginger boy who throws the rock at Douglas is going to end up killing somebody. That is no laughing matter. He tells Douglas to walk away from all future fights with him, not as some sort of punishment but as a precaution. He cares for his children, even if he doesn’t show it in the most obvious ways. He works like a dog to provide for his family, and he never yells. That, I find quite interesting. Douglas, the troublemaker he is, is often shouted at by Mrs. Bridge, but Mr. Bridge simply questions whatever naughty behavior he’s demonstrated and lets his son come to his own conclusions about what he did wrong. It’s because of this expert parenting and seemingly well thought out take on life that I’m glad we’re not reading a book about him. It’d be dull. We’d have no discussion or debate over what he’s doing wrong and why. With Mrs. Bridge, however, she’s just so wrong that she’s right for this class. Even more than that, I feel like I get Mr. Bridge and I don’t get her. I really don’t, so this should make for an interesting couple of weeks. Figuring out who Mrs. Bridge really is…that’s something that I don’t think we’ll ever really know until Mrs. Bridge herself figures it out, and from the way things are going, that might take a while.
3. I’d say this is primarily a classist statement, but I’m not even sure if the point of it is to depict Mrs. Bridge as some haughty, white housewife. I think, like John, that a lot of this has to do with the hypocrisy of her as a mother and a person. She’s trying to raise her kids with some very specific values, she’s trying to raise them the way she was raised, but, at least in what ive seen of her so far, she doesn’t seem grown up enough to even know what is she’s teaching them. It’s like she’s a little girl playing dress up in her mother’s clothes, except what’s at stake when she smudges her lipstick or mismatches patterns isn’t just a funny family photo, it’s the way her kids will grow up thinking. She’s a child teaching other children how to be adults.
1. I feel like we have definite proof of her racism now. In the previous chapters, she could have been hoping for the Alice and Carolyn’s friendship to end because she might have thought that her daughter being friends with a black girl would draw negative attention from the people she associates with and would create a disturbance. But now we see Mrs. Bridge is clearly racist from the way she acted towards Alice and her fear of the mixed race neighborhood where Alice lives. I’m guessing she probably isn’t even aware that she is racist or has any understanding of what racism is. It was just the way she was raised, which she never questions, and it is the way she will raise her kids.
ReplyDelete2. I got the sense that Mrs. Bridge was covering for Mr. Bridge in a way because she really wants this meal to go well with the Van Metres because she is all about maintaining her social standing and not becoming a couple that is looked down upon or judged as unusual or even boring. In social situations like these, I think Mrs. Bridge thinks that there should be some level of conversation happening throughout because “the silence became unbearable” (18). Mr. Bridge does not care if there is conversation; he seems to hardly care at all if the social interaction with the other couple goes well or well enough to maintain their standards. I’m wondering if Mrs. Bridge wasn’t there to keep things going if he would have no social life at all and fully concentrate on his work at all times. However, it could be that he cares that he maintains his social standing but he knows that Mrs. Bridge cares more so he is content with letting her do the talking but he would feel forced to talk if she wasn’t there. I don’t really know enough about his character at this point to know what is the case.
3. I have a hard time thinking that Mrs. Bridge would ever call a non-white woman a lady, so in that respect I think the comment does have to do with race but it is primarily classist. I also think this emphasized Mrs. Bridge’s hypocrisy as John and Alice mentioned, and if I was Mrs. Bridge’s child, (shudders) I think I would have a hard time making sense of her conflicting messages. This makes me think that she really does not care about helping the poor people during Christmas because how could she when she says this? If she does actually care about helping the people during Christmas, it becomes really interesting for me to think about how this apparent contradiction is possible.
1. I think that Mrs. Bridge is racist but I think it's mostly due to her complacency. I think the real question is whether or not she'd be racist had society told her not to be. She's more obsessed with this idea of being normal I think than really forming her own opinions. I don't think she thinks that there's anything wrong with Alice, but because it's not socially acceptable to be friends with a person of color I think she doesn't want for her daughter to continue being friends wIth her. This complacency is what makes her racist, not necessarily any direct action she takes.
ReplyDelete2.I think Mrs. Bridge makes more of an effort to kee the conversation going but she does so at the expense of her dignity almost. She allows for herself to be passively demeaned and she doesn't really contribute anything of substance to the conversation. Mr. Bridge doesn't contribute but when he does it's his own opinion and nobody goes against what he says like they do for Mrs. Bridge. In this section I wanted for Mr. Bridge to step in more for Mrs. Bridge, it was obvious the conversation was dying and I wanted for him to make more of an effort, especially considering they don't see each other often.
3. I think this is another example of Mrs. Bridge stressing the importance of places in society. I think it's less of her trying to be demeaning but more of her wanting for everything to be in it's place and for things to seem normal, even if it means stripping the woman of her worth in the process. I felt like this is her scrutinizing over things that don't necessarily matter, but that make all the more difference to her. I think this part spoke a lot of her values and of what she feels really matters.
1. I think she's definitely racist and her complacency just adds to it. Going along with what everyone else is doing doesn't mean that she's not racist. Choosing to do what everyone is doing or what is expected at the time is still a choice. To make matters worse, she obviously has an idea of how she wants to raise her children, but like Erin said in class, she wants them to be things that are relatively uncontroversial. She wants them to realize their privilege and be good people but race/race relations is somehow irrelevant to what she wants to teach them.
ReplyDelete2. It's clear that Mrs. Bridge is very affected with how she seems to the rest of the world. She cares about what people think of her and wants to please everyone. Mr. Bridge on the other hand couldn't care less about what people think of him. He has no problem just sitting down and not make conversation just for the sake of making conversation because it was the socially acceptable thing to do. This definitely makes for an interesting –if not awkward – marriage.
3. I think on the surface, it's a class comment and the term lady was historically used to distinguish class. And though it might not be a strictly racist comment, it is because race and class often go hand in hand. So it's definitely a classist, but it can and probably is perpetuated by racism.
1. Mrs. Bridge is racist. She makes quick judgements about people based on their race, and assumes nationality based on actions. She immediately assumes Alice stole the clothesline. We don't know whether this is true, but if it had been her own daughter, or even any of the white girls in the neighborhood, theft wouldn't have occurred to Mrs. Bridge. Later, we learn that though she knows the area where Alice lives, she "had never stopped there. It was a mixed neighborhood" (34). Whether this is that she doesn't want to stop in a neighborhood where black people live or she just doesn't want to risk being seen in such a neighborhood is irrelevant. We see enough bias in her that this, combined with her increasing distrust of Alice, shows her racism.
ReplyDelete2. Mr. Bridge seems to have some old fashioned ideas about what it means to be a husband and a father. He is the bread winner. He shows his love for his family not through what we would think of as loving acts but by working hard for them. This makes him seem distant. He is formal and removed even around his family, but unlike Mrs. Bridge, is unconcerned with appearances around people he doesn't care about. He's content to remain silent if he doesn't feel a need to talk. She can't stand an awkward pause. While she focuses on interpersonal relationships, he focuses on practical things. He tries to maintain the relationships he has through his actions, and doesn't worry about pleasing the Van Meters. His way of trying to show he cares is flawed, but not insincere.
3. I didn't not see this as a race thing. In the text, I don't think the cleaning lady's race is ever specified, and we know that class is important to Mrs. Bridge. We see through her obsession with table manners that being brought up right, in a proper, upper class home is important to her. The class boundaries are firm, and muddling them seems an awful transgression to Mrs, Bridge.
1. While Mrs. Bridge may not be explicitly racist, she is definitely implicitly racist, meaning that while she consciously thinks racism is "wrong" it is so interwoven into her thoughts that she automatically thinks racist thoughts. She does say that she is "pleased" that Carolyn isn't "conscious of the difference between [her and Alice," (10) but then she also secretly wishes for Alice to get out of Carolyn's life, telling herself that "time would take care of the situation" (11). Furthermore, when Alice is still habitually coming over to the house, Mrs. Bridge takes action, locking the door so she can have the opportunity to try and suggest to Carolyn that she read instead of hang out with Alice. She conforms to racial stereotypes by assuming that Alice stole the clothesline. Ultimately, Mrs. Bridge stops Carolyn from going to see Alice in her mixed neighborhood. Yet I believe that her racism is not purposeful -- at least not in the way we might think. I think her racism is simply Mrs. Bridge trying to emulate what she believes to be sophisticated behavior -- whether that means going to Colorado, knowing who Andrew Stoner is, or being better than "some Italians," (32) doesn't really matter to her. At the dinner with the Van Metres, we see her desperately trying to seem as worldly and well-connected as possible. In this situation, racism would be an unfortunate consequence of a "normal" behavior, and I would be hesitant to blame it fully on her, calling her a product of her society. However, it seems to me that her want for sophistication comes from a fundamental insecurity; we see her thinking in the night, constantly, about what life all means. We see her obsessively combing newspapers. I think that she feels insecure about her place in society, and racism is an easy way to affirm her sophistication -- almost a self-esteem boost. In this case, while her racism does seem to be implicit I would still place the blame purely on her and her shortcomings. We know that she is horrible at being sophisticated -- how many times did she try and pretend she knew more than she did with the Van Metres? But she tries anyways, constantly yanking her family to have sweeter dispositions or be cleanly. I think Mrs. Bridge needs to be happy with who she is, not try and be something she isn't. Ultimately, I think that's what the book is about -- I think this becomes clearer if we contextualize the novel to the epigraph by Walt Whitman: "But where is what I started for so long ago? / And why is it yet unfound?" Whitman pleads. This concluding couplet from "Facing Westward from California's Shore" chronicles a longing for something more. The speaker searches all around the world, through the "house of maternity," the "land of migrations," "Hindustan," "the vales of Kashmere," "flowery peninsulas and spice islands" but still finds nothing and realizes that although "very old" he is still "a child." I think this is what Mrs. Bridge is realizing -- that she has still not found herself -- the meaning of life. She can only look at herself in the context of her sophistication or her husband. That's why when she was deep in thought at the beginning of the book she immediately reached for Mr. Bridge instead of thinking for herself and trying to discover who she is. Other characters in the book do this to; like Corky who is so caught up in being the top of the class that she lies and cheats, but still can't imagine anything when playing with Alice Jones, or even Douglas who can't find himself because he always has to be focused on how much gravy he is taking, or what towel he is using, or other little mundane things even though, like he says: why does it matter if I feel fine?
ReplyDelete2. I think I already got into this in my first answer, but I think her constant attempts at conversation with the Van Metres were attempts -- feeble attempts - to prove that she is sophisticated, despite her utter misery. And she is miserable. She only goes out to dinner in the first place because "each couple felt obligated," even though she knows that she will, as always, end up at the country club that had "gone out of fashion ten years before." She has endure the painfully long drive, the wait as he slowly drives around the parking lot, the long and silent walk down the entry hall to an empty dining room for a couple hours of being put down by Mr. Van Metre as he corrects her every sentence -- except for when she says she's wrong, and supposes that [everything] "is different than [she] imagines." (21) She is so miserable she feels she is about to "lose control" (19), but she goes out of social obligation, and to try and prove that she is, again, sophisticated. I like that word -- "sophistication" -- because it ties into Carolyn's feeling of "sophistication" after she comes back from Colorado, and how she is beginning to be like Mrs. Bridge and value the seeming social status she can get from wealth, even going so far as to try and put down Alice -- talking "primly." Anyways, Mrs. Bridge constantly attempts to guess what Mr. Van Metre is about to say, but its really a lost cause -- he's going to contradict her no matter what. Mr. Bridge, on the other hand, only says things when he actually knows what's going on. I think this gets into a gender dynamic. Mrs. Bridge is fundamentally insecure about her sophistication, trying to prove to the Van Metres that she does know people, using people of color and cleaning "women" to bring herself up. Mr. Bridge on the other hand, possibly because he is a man, knows he is sophisticated and doesn't feel like he has anything to prove. Maybe because he is satisfied with his practice and his sufficiency in the workplace, he doesn't get ruffled as easily as Mrs. Bridge, who only has her husband's reputation to go off of. Again, like I said in my first answer, I think this speaks to a remarkable dependency that Mrs. Bridge has on her husband. She needs him for not only basic needs like food, water, or shelter but for her reputation and her social well-being.
ReplyDelete3. I think, like my second answer, it speaks to Mrs. Bridge's insecurity about her sophistication. Also, I don't think it matters if its a race or class comment. For Mrs. Bridge, it's all about sophistication and I think for her, race and class are inextricably linked.