Blog # 5 "Alive" and "Westbury Court"

When I was reading the story "Alive" by Lauri Lynn Drummond, I stopped over the section that said, "If I were still a cop, this wouldn't make my knee tremble. But I am simply a civilian. A female civilian." At this point, I realized that we had a disconnect. She was completely wrong with her theory and the real reason to feel secure and safe shouldn't be because of a position that makes you fit a certain part. She was a cop who wore a uniform and now that she was out of that position, she felt different? She felt she was once again just a civilian. And she emphasized that she is a "female civilian" which concludes that she saw being female as a weaker status along with common people such as civilians. People who stereotype that cops are in some way inhuman or prone to danger, who know certain tactics- people who are different from us, aren't acknowledging the fact that they are human beings. Basically this shielded, masked image saved her from being afraid. Now that she was in this frightening circumstance that she had little control over, she felt really scared. It wasn't until she was heading home towards Texas that she saw the sign for where the third victim was found. At this moment, a realization came over her that she felt vulnerable all along because she's alive. And leading up to this point was very suspenseful and the meaning could very well relate to everyone- giving us a truthful taste of life and actuality. At the end, this disconnect I once felt disappeared into an agreeable and understandable view I can easily identify with.

I also liked the story "Westbury Court" by Edwidge Danticat and I was able to connect with this as well because I feel that certain experiences in life do shape our awareness and understanding- whether it changes us dramatically or a certain aspect of us, but if the experience is significant, it will have a profound impact on our lives. In this story, Danticat tells about his life growing up in brooklyn in his six-story brick apartment building. As children, many of us love where we live and consider it a secure, and comfortable place where no harm can come to us. Even though it may not be perfect, it's home. And a feeling of being invincible may come into play. He watched the show General Hospital everyday, and in this fictitious world, no harm ever really happened. However, this feeling vanished after a fire that occurred in the next apartment across the hall. Danticat and his brothers were the last to be evacuated- not knowing of the fire until two firemen knocked on their door. Two boys that started the fire had died and after that moment, an awareness of death seemed to overwhelm him. He recalled many other deaths that occurred after that horrific time in the same building. When his parents let him and his brothers come home alone to the apartment after school, he said "I would always listen carefully for our new tenants, so I'd be the first to know if anything went awry." This was a huge difference from what he felt and did before. This experience has truly changed his perspective on what he once thought. This fire began his awareness of invulnerability and death.