I wanted to write my post off of what I read on Jasmines blog. I don't know how to respond to her post on sex trafficking. It's not right, it shouldn't be allowed, but it happens and it's a part of reality that most people don't want to face, so like many other difficult topics it gets swept under the rug.
I think that most people are unaware of sex trafficking and what really happens to these young individuals because hearing it and not being able to stop it or do anything is heart breaking. I remember my mom making a comment when I read her a passage in Douglass, she shuttered and told me to stop, and I thought wow your being a little ignorant. But that's what is so wrong with people! 99% of people probably aren't aware of what goes on around the world or even our countries own past.
The post reminded me a lot about most of the books we read in class. They all seemed to tie in and intertwine with one another. Douglass's narrative speaks on the slavery and what it was like to be a slave, Chesnutt reminds us that post war slavery was no different than before, even though it was illegal now, and Plath sheds light on the impact of memories and what they will do to a person.
Sex trafficking is a different form of slavery but it is still a way of dehumanizing people, treating them inhumanly and forcing them to do horrible things. These men make money by seducing these younger, impressionable children and forcing them into a life of slavery. Like entering the "blood-stain gates of hell".(Douglass 24) During the pre-war era slavery was an economic reality. It was a form of trading that gave people money. Post-war, these men, whom were former slaves, were forced to do the same things but got money and had the choice to do them.
It was like we read in Chesnutt's short stories. The post-war period was an allegory for the pre-war. They mirrored each other. You could even say that Priscilla went through the same thing. Her present mirrored her past, which she was trying to escape. She was promised a better life and left to get away from the beatings and abuse at home but entered into an even worse hell. Even when she was actually finally free she could never really get away. Sylvia Plath describes this feeling. The character's present and future are gone, all she knows is the past, because the memories were so deep and the experiences engraved in her that she would never forget it. A lot of the stories we have read so far connect to one another and connect to reality and life outside of our suburban lives.
Chesnutt's and Plath's stories are fiction. They aren't real. But what if these stories were meant to speak out about things like slavery and the experiences of a war or being ill treated? I think that the moral we can find in these stories is that this is life, these horrible experiences do happen to people, we need to open our eyes and be aware of them instead of sweeping it under the rug.
Jessica,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you that something like this should not be allowed, but the reality is that it is occurring all around us. Despite the laws and efforts being made to stop this illegal human trading, these individuals’ desire and greed for money motivate them to target innocent victims. I am still shocked by everything that I heard and saw in the documentary Cargo: lost innocence. I truly cannot even begin to think about what these women experience and about the fact that this is something that is currently occurring. Like you stated it is a difficult topic to talk about and I feel that it is something that sounds so unbelievable that this is why sometimes people choose to not believe it. They don’t have to face the realities of this industry so they choose not to acknowledge what is going on. A lot of people have this “oh, it can’t happen in our country” mentality that they become ignorant of what is happening around them. It is for this reason that it is so important that documentaries or information like this is made available to everyone; in the hopes that one day those people will become educated and aware of what is occurring. It is also for this reason that literature is so important because it gives someone the opportunity to tell their story like Frederick Douglass did. It gives people the opportunity to educate others and to give them their accounts of what has occurred to them.
I knew about slavery before coming into this course but Frederick Douglass’ narrative provided me with a completely different account of what it was like to be a slave. As you obviously have read his firsthand accounts of the treatment he and others endured was far from what I ever imagined. After reading his narrative I feel more educated regarding the issue of topic but I know that even now I can’t say I truly understand what he went through because it is something that I have never endured. So what do you think, do you think that literature written by first hand victims can help educate others who chose to “sweep difficult topics under the rug?” Or do you think that regardless of the information given to them they will still decide to not acknowledge it?