Wind in the Willows

While reading this book there was one question that really interested me. It is cheesy and totally over done, but I couldn't help but wonder "which character are you?" I have to say that I am a Mr. Toad. I am by no means a wealthy person and I don't spend my money on passing crazes, but what I relate to in Mr. Toad is the incredible, undeniable desire to go somewhere, to be on the move, and to go fast! I have always loved cars and ever since I got my driving permit I would just jump in the car and go on random joyrides. When ever I feel the need I hit the highway and drive until I feel like turning around. I would like to think that I am a better driver than poor Mr. Toad, but in actuality I am probably not. When I get behind the wheel I become Queen of the Road, and a few choice words will be flung at anyone who gets in my way. I am not reckless, just fast and commanding(I don't know how else to describe it). Also, anyone who knows me well would probably describe me as intelligent and witty, yet lacking in common sense at times. I was one of those kids who walked into a glass door and then backed up and did it harder. It takes a few bumps on the head before I learn my lesson, just as it did for Mr. Toad. There is one major difference between me and Mr. Toad, but even that can be compared to me. I am far from conceited, in fact I am down right self-conscious most of the time. When I am around people I know and in my comfort zone, however, I tend to get loud, obnoxious, and long winded. I sometimes think that I am the funniest person I know, and I tell some of the worst stories imaginable. None of these star me as a heroine, though. It is amazing how much of myself I see in Mr. Toad.

Galant Knight 

September 29, 2004

I was read fairy tales as a child and I would have to agree that they do ingrain a certain fantasy about being rescued by a galant knight on a white horse, but so has everything else I have ever experienced. Every movie I have watched, every other book I have read, even classes I have taken have helped to put that fantasy in my head. It is a common theme of our society. I don't argue at all with the fact that fairy tales are subversive in this way towards females. Luckily my upbringing has taught me an even stronger lesson. Both my parents basically taught me that "anything you can do, I can do better." Regardless of the fact that I am a female, I know that I can do anything I set my mind to and I can take care of myself without any assistance from a man, and I have done quite well over the past few years. Even when a man did come into my life, I would not allow him to rescue me. I do my best to rescue him, to be his knight in shining armor. There is still a desire in the back of my mind to be taken care of and rescued, put there by the subversive fairy tales I have read and been read along with other things, but there is an even stronger desire to be a self-dependant woman which is what I learned and saw in every other aspect of my life.

September 23, 2004

Perhaps I am the only one but I know I wasn't given the traditional upbringing, at least in the way we have been talking about. I was not brought up in a religious family so I wasn't taught all about Adam and Eve or any of the other Biblical stories that have been mentioned in class as common knowledge that all children learn. I still don't know most of them. Also, it has been said almost every day in class that these stories aren't for children. I heard the Brothers Grimm versions of these fairy tales when I was very little girl. It hasn't seemed to damage me too badly. In fact it was rather tame to the other things I was exposed to in my childhood. I watched movies like "IT" and "Candyman" when they first came out. I was seven when I watched "IT". I think that is a lot more violent than the fairy tales we are reading. I guess I just don't quite see the major distinction that "these stories aren't for kids" that everyone else does.