https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/06/lolas-story/524490/
React to this story. It is so poignant. What is the author's argument. What do others say about this piece? It is very controversial. Look up some stuff and tell us what you think.
This story is sincere. It is a confession. It is sad. There are many sad parts to this story. Lieutenant Tom killed himself, a slave was forced upon the author's mother, Lola was forced to be a slave, she took punishment for countless things that shouldn't have required punishment. Lola was kept from her family. The author's family couldn't afford to pay her, the author's family was poor and broken. There are so many sad parts to this story! And it is eye opening. It is completely real, and it was closer to us in history than we would like to believe. The author himself is sad to recall the treatment of Lola and he way his family lived.
ReplyDeleteI think the author tells this story in order to tell a story. He is confessing something to the world that hey did not know about him, which is what authors often do. Although, in confessions, I don't believe there is a conscious argument. When someone is confessing something, they are not trying to prove a point, they are getting something off heir chest. Alex Tizon is confessing his family's secret, he is confessing the existence of their personal slave, a Filipino woman whom they called Lola, who was only trying to support her family and escape an unwanted marriage. He is confessing his lack of compassion for this woman his whole life, his lack of understanding for what this woman was being put through. He is not arguing whether he and his family were right or wrong, he knows the answer to that. Alex Tizon is just telling the world the story that has burdened him for so long, and how he is trying to pay tribute to the woman who did so much Orr him.
This article is controversial because so many people didn't realize the gravity of the situation and the fact that this sort of stuff is still happening in the world. So many of the people who read this story are getting caught up in what Alex should have done and what he didn't do. Every comment I read on this article spoke about the wrong that Alex and his family did. How he should have turned his parents in for having a slave, how he couldn't have done that because he would have ruined his family, how this is an example of how bad America is at handling immigrants, how so many foreign women are misrepresented and abused. But, Alex did what he did, and he can't change it. There is nothing he can do at this point in time to change how he reacted and how his family treated this woman. He is trying to repay her after her death, even though he knows he will never be able to fully do that. You can feel the pain in this article. He didn't write it so people could tell him what he should have done, he wrote it to tell people what he did do, and to let the world know that there was a wonderful, amazing woman who was abused almost her whole life that nobody ever knew about or took the time to talk to. He is trying to pay tribute to the woman that so graciously raised him, took care of him, and selflessly loved him despite the situation she was in.
Reading that first paragraph of your blog was kind of morbid, but I suppose the whole article was as well, so. You are very matter of a fact with your writing, which is good especially with this topic. Very well done!
DeleteI agree with you that he is making his confession to the world and that it must be extremely hard to do tha especially because he knows that he was wrong. I also did not look at this piece as a tribute to Lola which was an interesting perspective.
DeleteI agree with Mandy, looking at the piece as a tribute is certainly not something I had considered. I was thinking more along the lines of a reminder or warning against the horrors of the world.
DeleteLola never thought that she was making a life long comment when she decided to take care of the author's mother. She needed a way out of an arranged marriage, and she could not turn down an offer of a place to stay and food to eat. Little did she know that she would be taken away from her family for the rest of her life. Little did she know that she would come to see these new people as her family. She was not only a slave to the author's mother, but also her care taker, the only mother figure she really had. When the Alex's siblings were born, Lola became the only mother figure in their life for a long time. She feed them, washed them, and listened to all they had to say. Although she was not biologically related to them in anyway, she raised them as if they were her own. This seemingly tragic story of abuse was how the author and his siblings were taken care of, without Lola, they may have been neglected and abused, just like Lola. I think that it is awful that Lola suffered under the hands of Alex's parents, but she played a crucial role in helping Alex and his brothers and sisters get the care they needed. I think that Alex was trying to argue that just because something is not your fault does not mean you can ignore it. It was not Alex who abused Lola, but he was the only who eventually took her in and and treated her right. He paid her and told her to relax. He also paid for her to go back home for however long she wanted, and brought her back when she was ready. Lola worked so hard all of her life, and Alex thought that the least he could do was left her do what she wanted for her last years. Many people thought that he should have done more to help free her earlier in his life, but I think that he did want was necessary to keep his family safe and together. He may not have had the best mom, but regardless, he wanted his siblings to stay together and Lola had a special place in his heart. He did not know what would happen if He tried to get Lola back to her hometown. Should she make it there alive? Would another family intercept her and treat her worse? All these things were factors in not helping Lola leave America. I think that he did his best to help Lola by standing up for her and being polite to her. Alex did not know that she was a slave until he was eleven and when he found out he was shocked and embarrassed by the realization. I think that in his decision to take Lola back to her home to be buried, he found peace and closure.
ReplyDeleteI like how you compared Lola to an actual mother, something she never had the chance of becoming. Good job with rationalizing what he had done into something logical. Great job!
DeleteI agree that It would have been very hard for Alex to help Lola earlier in life and did what he could more towards the end of life. I do believe he found closure as you say at the end, but I feel that he will never be able to forget about what they had done to Lola, but at least he found some peace.
DeleteExcellent comparison to Lola being mother, and I agree about how they might have been treated if she hadn't been around. You really made me think with this blog, nice work.
DeleteThe story is strong and too me it is even scary. Sometimes when you are rasied in a family that has certain beliefs or practices and those practices are wrong, then it is hard to tell the difference between good and evil. Lola was an extraordinary person and not only took care of the family but also took much of the blame and abuse for them. The author did not realize what was going on for most of their life and may not have realized the severity of it until they were much older. The author argues their family took part in wrongdoings but it was not necessarily their fault or intentional. This piece is very controversial because of how recently it occurred. People can say that anyone with common sense could have put an end to or prevented many of the things that occurred. Others may say that the family was in a difficult situation and that even though Lola was treated poorly many times that she was thought of as family and even though she was taken from her home that she was given a new family. I think that more actions could have been taken and it is scary to think that stuff like this still happens today and more severely than this situation all over the world and in America.
ReplyDeleteIt is very interesting that sometimes the way people are raised is not morally correct, but they don't really know it until they are older because it is normal to them. I think this is what happened to the author and it was a very good point in your blog.
DeleteYou did a good job of analyzing the argument and why people thought it was controversial
DeleteYou did a good job of realizing that there are two sides to things. As scary or unrealistic as different childhoods may seem - they do differ. Nice job!
DeleteReading through this article, thinking about what I could write about, I came to the conclusion that I could probably write a trilogy on it. There was so much inside that not so short, but still short story. Going into this whole blog, I had believed that this would be a nice and short one that I could do and be on with my day. I honestly thought that the whole thing was written by a girl until at least the second half. When he started talking about the family history of his late Lola, he was kind of confusing about the whole how they met and how this all came to be. This could have been because the way he wrote, because he did not go in chronological order, rather he would tell a story, then break it up with what was going on with him at the time. After I realized what was going on, I came to fully appreciate the writing ability of this writer. I have read a lot about slave life, usually the diaries that are then published, because I love learning about the differences between how we live and how other people have lived or still live. The way that Lola was treated was no different from other slaves, but there was definitely something different about this instance: it was happening in the twentieth century. While there is still slavery going on now, it’s almost like this is the kind that you would never hear about. They came from a different country where this would be normal and expected nothing less here. The kids had no idea what was going on, only that mom and dad were yelling at this poor old lady that makes my bed. The thing is, the parents were never around. In the middle of the article, you hear about the lives that the parents are living, with working hard and never being home, but when they were, they were irritable and angry. Towards the end of the article, he is reading the journals that his mother wrote, where she would go out with her girl friends, having a grand old time with them. If she had enough time to go out with her friends, why did she not spend more time with her children? She got so angry at Lola, because the kids would try to be nice to her and help, saying that the kids were acting more like her kids. If she was going to be so angry about this, then she really should have rethought her time schedule. Now, I’m not saying that she should have never gotten out and spent every waking moment with her kids. Just like any other family, if this would happen, someone will die. We all need our personal space, but I digress.
ReplyDeleteThe issue of her never being there for her kids could have stemmed from something that happened to her. Most of the time there is a reason behind why someone is acting the way they are. Some of the possibilities I had come up with to explain the reason that the mother was mean to Lola was the fact that her mother died early and was never there, and her father could have been a jackass. Humans need a good example to be able to base their own abilities off of. Other possibilities could have been because husband number one could have abused her and she was taking it out on Lola. I really think that whatever it was, Lola understood and was able to do what we are all called to do, which is to forgive and understand. When the author found his mother crying and Lola comforting her was really an example of this, but when his mother was dying but Lola was still there for her would probably be the best example of the selfless love she had. When she came to live with the author and his family, she still had that selfless love that kept her moving even on the worst of days. As I also have a grandmother who is dead set in her ways, I chuckled when reading the part about her weird little quirks that she would do, like saving garbage that really should be thrown out. When people have grown up in a way, it takes nuclear bombs to move them, trust me, I’ve tried. But that weird way has helped them live to as long as they have, so I guess I can’t complain much. When he finally got her ashes to Lola’s childhood home, they were in anguish and cried pathetically for a good ten minutes, then got on with their lives. They needed that, where they would all be dependent and vulnerable together. It was a way of healing. As someone who also just lost a loved one, I can relate to what they were doing. In conclusion to probably the longest blog I’ve had this year, Lola was a gift to the lives of many people, whether it being a person to make the bed, listen for a good cry, take a beating, or even to bring a smile to someone’s face even though it wasn’t what she wanted to do, it’s what she needed to do, and she took that and made it beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI think it was interesting that you went into detail analyzing the life of the author's mother, and why she treated Lola the way she did. I also think that it was good that you recognized that Lola understood how to forgive and understand.
DeleteThis is a tragic story of the pain and suffering that Lola had to endure. She was slave to the Tizon family. She was promised pay, but never received any and she was punished for many things that she did not deserve to be punished for. Issues with slavery are seen throughout our past with slavery and they still continue today in many parts of the world. The family looked upon Lola as a servant and nothing more. She was not a person with a family and friends, but a person who was suppose to serve the family without question. She was a gift from father to daughter and was treated quite awful. What upsets me the most in this article is that Lola lived her life away from her family. She missed out on all of the memories she could have made with them and just the opportunity to live happily and freely. She was not able to visit her family as she planned and was not even able to send money back to her family as she thought she could because she was denied pay. She agreed to work for this family, not become a slave to them. When she was finally able to return she did not have any close connections with her family which was truly heartbreaking. Although I have never been in this situation, I wonder why the children could not do more to help Lola or that the parents could not see what they were doing was wrong. In the end, they tried to give her a better life by getting her dentures and allowing her to live instead of constantly serving. The author of this piece explains his point of view and how bad he felt which I believe takes away from Lola because she was the one who took the beatings and the yelling. It almost seems like he is mostly blaming his parents although he does adit that he wished he could have done better by Lola.
ReplyDeleteThere are many controversial views of this piece ranging from love to hate. Many people believed that the author beautifully explained what had happened throughout his life as well as Lola's life. They see the author reflecting on his life and how he became to know Lola as his slave. On the other hand, many people believe that this glorifies the slave holders because they began to treat her a little better late in life and that it does not truly show how wrong the family was for keeping Lola as a slave. Some critics also believe that the author glosses over the fact that Lola asked for freedom and she was simply denied. I believe that Lola should have been paid and been able to connect with her family. She did not deserve to be treated the way she did and I do not think this article truly displayed the seriousness of slavery. On the other hand, the author is writing to tell the world that he and his family were slave owners which had been a secret kept for so long. I believe it would be extremely hard to admit to one person that they were a slave owner, let alone the entire world.
I like the way you talked about the good and the bad feelings towards this article while adding your own opinions. Good job.
DeleteIf I could use one word to describe this story, it would be "raw". I suppose "raw" comes to mind because it parallels the story in so many ways. When meat is raw, it is a number of things. Raw meat is part of an organism, it is food for predators, it can be unsanitary if consumed by humans. In other words, raw meat is more complex than the cooked or "finished" product. This story of the hideousness and oddity of slavery is more than just that - the meat of the account is bloody and exposed at the bone. Lola's story is gruesome in its own right - a woman being held captive because another human being said the author's parents could simply have her. What makes the story so multi-faceted is the fact that more than just emotions and actions of disgust, harshness, resentment, anger, sadness, or hatred are mixed in. Lola encompassed a great amalgam of human emotion, tragedy, and nature. She could have ran. She could have treated the author and his siblings coldly. She could have treated the author's mother awfully when his father left. Yet, she did none of those things. Whether she was bound out of fear, obligation, or even love couldn't quite be clearly deciphered. What I believe the author is trying to get any reader or listener to understand is that the situation was not simple. He did condemned himself for not speaking up at moments in his life, while simultaneously rationalizing about what his protecting Lola could have meant for his family. The author had to come to realize that slavery and existed and that it was a wretched occurrence in his own manner. This person seemed baffled by the fact that such an idea could still exist, especially within his own family. He believed people could have moments of good and bad. He learned what it meant to experience agathokakological individuals everyday of his life.
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