Tuesday, April 7, 2009

End of Bell Hooks

I really think that Hooks left Mack due to a mixture of fustration and for modes of empowerment. I think through knowing that Mack would not leave his job to follow her, even though that is what he had promised, that she felt that she had failed in trying to heal him-to make him better. At the same time, I think that empowerment plays a huge role because she knew that she had the hand of power in choosing to leave him, he could not have a dominate role over her anymore, because he had made himself vunerable just by saying that he would follow her. With that he handed over his power to his "little sister woman child". Hooks knew that even if he would not follow her that she could decide to leave. With her leaving Mack she confirmed that power. This is just me thinking out loud (well kinda). I'm interested in what everyone else thinks.

2 comments:

  1. I agree that hooks leaving Mack was a form of empowerment. But, I also wondered why she didn't do it sooner. The paragraph on page 254 explains this in greater detail, and it makes sense why she waited so long to leave. I think that before she got the job at Yale, she still thought that Mack loved her. But, after he had rejected her success, she realized that he actually hated who she had become, which in turn gave her the power and reason to leave.

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  2. I argee Kaelah, I wish she would have left sooner but I understand why she didn't. I think everyone tells themself they will or will not do certain things but then end up doing them. For instance, I imagine hooks never thought she would remain in a relationship in which someone hit her but its harder to leave when you are actually in the situation (211). Sometimes too, the advantages appear to the person to outwiegh the negatives (in this case, they finally didn't). I think hooks leaving was due to an opprunity presenting itself (in the form of a job at Yale) and empowerment by valuing herself.

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