Of Ntozake\u2019s pieces we\u2019ve read so far, this one was my favorite. In particular, I loved the words of the character \u201cLady in Blue.\u201d The first of her monologues, on page 12 was incredibly powerful. The words Ntozake chose, \u201cpuddle,\u201d \u201cwaters,\u201d \u201ccirclin,\u201d \u201cbleed,\u201d all have a certain momentum to them that implies fluidity and movement. However, she also describes an encounter with someone who is verbally assaulting her on the street. This sort of interaction, one that is all too familiar for any woman that has walked the streets of New York at dark, is a powerful reminder of the constant pressure to submit. A daily call to behave a certain way and allow one\u2019s self to become subject to another\u2019s orders.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The idea of being trapped in the \u201csix blocks of cruelty\u201d that for this character is home was physically immobilizing. The \u201ctunnel closing,\u201d the closed doors, the sun not shining, all of these words that restrict space make readers feel as though they too are trapped within the mind of this character. The use of physically fluid language in the first monologue compared to the language in the second one are polar opposites. Ntozake goes from describing \u201ca tunnel with a train\u201d to a \u201ctunnel closing,\u201d a situation that includes mobility and one that does not. These two speeches by this character in proximity to each other produce an extra emphasis on the feelings of entrapment she describes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Towards the end of one of the last monologues by the Lady In Blue, Ntozake writes about the concept of sorry. \u201cI\u2019m not even sorry\/ bout you bein sorry you can carry all the guilt & grime ya wanna\/ just don’t give it to me\/ I can\u2019t use another sorry.\u201d This line was my favorite from this book. The burden on women to accept<\/em> an apology for something that someone else did is not only indicative of the gendered climate we live in today, but also demonstrative of the unpaid mental labor that women are asked to do everyday. To accept an apology, to move on, to stop letting one event affect you for the rest of your life, to do the work to make someone else feel better about themselves. \u00a0With all the media coverage around sexual assault and a growing acceptance for vocalizing past experiences, this idea of \u201csorry\u201d is prevalent. Along with the burden of reliving the trauma of sexual assault is the burden of accepting the \u201csorry\u201d of someone else. Sorry is a word that does nothing for the survivor but only serves to alleviate the guilt of the aggressor.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Of Ntozake\u2019s pieces we\u2019ve read so far, this one was my favorite. In particular, I loved the words of the character \u201cLady in Blue.\u201d The first of her monologues, on page 12 was incredibly powerful. The words Ntozake chose, \u201cpuddle,\u201d \u201cwaters,\u201d \u201ccirclin,\u201d \u201cbleed,\u201d all have a certain momentum to them that implies fluidity and movement. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[453,457,456],"class_list":["post-1891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogposts","tag-blogpost","tag-forcoloredgirls","tag-ladyinblue"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1891"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1892,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1891\/revisions\/1892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}