Final Project on "Found Objects"

Alyssa: “Sasha, what is the finest thing you’ve ever said or done? Why is this statement or action so significant?”

Sasha: “Um, I’d say that the “finest” thing I’ve ever done was starting to go to my therapy sessions with Coz. I know that this isn’t really significant to anyone else, but it’s really significant to me. And if you think about it, that’s all that really matters. I think that this is so significant because it was when I really realized that I wanted to change. I don’t think I was even ready to actually change when I first started therapy, and honestly, I’m not sure if I’m really ready to change at this point. But, at least I do realize that I want to change. Anyways, this is significant because I had realized that I didn’t really care about things that I used to care about. In my story, the author wrote, “She and Coz were collaborators, writing a story whose end had already been determined: she would get well. She would stop stealing from people and start caring about the things that had once guided her.” By this quote, you can see what I mean. When I started to realize that the things I used to care about were slipping farther and farther away from me was when I thought Oh shit, what am I doing? And honestly, that’s the worst realization that a person can have. I made a list of things that I eventually wanted to accomplish, and at the rate I was going, I would never be able to accomplish any of those. Being a “kleptomaniac”, as Coz tells me, would forever prevent me from accomplishing anything. My “condition” would forever be a terrible habit and burden if I didn’t get it under control. So, yes, I really do think that this was the finest thing I’ve ever done, even though people go to therapy all the time. I never saw a problem with me stealing, but that was the problem within itself. I didn’t have a grip on what I was actually doing to myself and my life. So, even though I feel like Coz thinks of me to be a huge idiot, I’m grateful that he’s here for me in this process. I’m especially grateful that he leads me to believe that one day I will get well, and I’ve come to understand my condition to great depths. If I hadn’t made this decision, I could be stealing money or things that actually matter to people. So, deciding to see Coz was a huge decision that I needed to make, so I did.”

Alyssa: “Sasha, which poem from the syllabus (by poets such as Emily Dickinson, Adrienne Rich, Natasha Trethewey, etc.) best reflects your own beliefs and ideas, or which poem’s ideas do you disagree with most strongly?”

Sasha: “If I had to choose a poem from the syllabus that best reflects my own beliefs and ideas, I would choose “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. If you’ve never closely analyzed this poem, then you probably have the totally wrong idea about this choice. But I, on the other hand, completely understand the meaning of this poem, and I can closely relate it to my own life and beliefs. I’ll explain: Basically, the quick summary of the poem is that in life you’ll constantly be coming to different roads that you can take (not literally, but figuratively) and you’re going to have to choose one and follow it. And after you choose that first road, you’ll come to other roads and you’ll have to keep making decisions on which road to take, even though you don’t know where it will take you. And, once you’ve chosen a road and followed it, you can’t go back and try again with the other road if you don’t like the outcome. You’ll be a different person, and you’ll have to make things work with what you’ve decided to do. I can closely relate to this, and I mean closely, because at some point I made the decision to take something from someone. And once I did that, I allowed myself to create a habit of it and so forth. Then one day I came to two roads and one was to keep doing what I was doing, and the other was to try to get better. I don’t know how the road I’m on will be, but this is the road I’ve taken and I’ll have to live with the decision I’ve made. In my story, there’s quite a few examples of roads that I could’ve taken and roads that I did take. One decision that I had to make was whether or not to take the plumbers screwdriver. In my story the author writes, “Opening her eyes, she saw the plumber’s tool belt lying on the floor at her feet. It had a beautiful screwdriver in it, the orange translucent handle gleaming like a lollipop in its worn leather loop, the silvery shaft sculpted, sparkling. Sasha felt herself contract around the object in a single yawn of appetite: she needed to hold the screwdriver, just for a minute.” When I was in therapy later talking to Coz about it, he asked me how I felt about taking it, and I replied by saying, “Bad… O.K.? I felt bad.” So, the two roads I could’ve taken were to either take the plumber’s screwdriver, or to obviously not take it. And obviously, I took the screwdriver, and my consequence down the road was that I feel bad about it. But, I can’t go back and not take the screwdriver, so I have to deal with my consequence. And I have to continue through life and use it as a learning experience. There’s a lot of reasons why I relate to that poem, and that’s just one of them.”

Alyssa: “Which character from Harriet Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl do you find most compelling, either because you sympathize with them or because you dislike them?”

Sasha: “The character that I find most compelling from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl would definitely have to be Harriet Jacobs herself, or Linda as she referred to herself in the story. I would say that I find her most compelling definitely because I sympathize with her, and not because I dislike her. I actually really wish that I got to meet her. The reason that I find her most compelling is because I see a lot of myself in her, or vice versa. I see this connection because Harriet Jacobs never wanted to give in to being a slave and to be a part of this life style she was living in. This is shown in Chapter 4 when she writes, “I had not lived fourteen years in slavery for nothing. I had felt, seen, and heard enough, to read the characters, and question the motives, of those around me. The war of my life had begun; and though one of God’s most powerless creatures, I resolved never to be conquered.” This quote shows that Linda has been in this lifestyle of slavery for a very long time, and she now knows enough about it to know that it’s not a lifestyle that she belongs in. I can connect this to myself because, in my life, I am a slave to this problem that I have with taking items that don’t belong to me; I, also, will not let this problem conquer me, because I’m stronger than that. That’s the reason that I’m in therapy. Even though it can be annoying to me, I know that it will help me win this war. Also in Chapter 4, Jacobs wrote, “We all concluded by saying, ‘He that is willing to be a slave, let him be a slave.’” This quote shows that Linda doesn’t feel bad for people that aren’t willing to change their slave lifestyle. He’s fighting to escape, and if people don’t want to follow her, she doesn’t care, because if they don’t have the drive to be free, then they never will be. I really like this quote because, again, Linda is showing her stubbornness towards being a slave forever, just like how I refuse to be a thief forever.”

Alyssa: “What are your thoughts about the “Declaration of Sentiments” or the “Cult of Domesticity”?”

Sasha: “Hmmm… I definitely respect the “Declaration of Sentiments”. First of all, I’m a single woman, and I’m doing with my life whatever I please. I can’t even imagine being anything of a man’s “property”. That would never fly with me. The “Declaration of Sentiments” is very eye opening to me. It states, “The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her.” This quote shows that women have been controlled by men throughout all of history, and women have been treated as property to men and not as actual people. This quote really shocks me that things used to be this way. So with that, I highly respect the “Cult of Domesticity” for coming together to create this document. Also, I really respect this document because, like everything else I’ve discussed with you in this interview, these women wanted a change. They didn’t want to be in this possessive lifestyle forever. I respect anyone that wants to make a change in their lives, because I too, am trying to make a change. I know it’s probably annoying that I keep relating everything to me wanting to make a change in my life, but it’s very important to me. I really wanted to be a different and better me, so I decided to start therapy and make a change. Just like how Harriett Jacobs wanted to make a change, so she decided to try to escape slavery, and how these women wanted to make a change so they had this conference and made this document. The Cult of Domesticity really gives me courage that I will be a better me one day, because look at what these women started! These women were oppressed and had no rights, and today, there’s women like me that can do whatever they want and they don’t even need a man in their lives! That’s true inspiration.”

Alyssa: “Who is the most important rebel, exile, or outcast from one of the other texts from the syllabus and why?  (Do not choose a character from the tale in which your character appears, one you have already written about, or from Jacobs’s narrative.)”

Sasha: “If I had to choose one rebel or exile from the syllabus that I think is the most important, I would probably choose Zits. I feel like him and I are basically on the same page with our lives. I say this because he had a messed up life and had to make a lot of decisions on his own, and that wound up leaving him to have a lot of problems. Relating back to “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, it’s impossible for him to go back and not run away from all of those foster homes and foster families, and he can’t go back and not get put in juvenile jail all that times that he did. But, I really like when Officer Dave told him, “You’re running out of chances… The chance to save your life.” And why I think this is so cool is because Zits actually does change his life. He went through a lot of experiences that made him realize that he wanted things to be different, and he wanted to be different, just like me! I felt bad every single time that I took something from someone, and I realized I waned to be different. In my story, I told Coz, “Shit, I’m bankrupting myself to pay for you – obviously I get that this isn’t a great way to live.” Although I was quite snotty when I said that to Coz, it’s really quite true. I didn’t want to be stealing things from people forever. I knew that one day I was going to get in trouble, like how I almost got busted for stealing that wallet from the woman in the bathroom, and I also knew that I was going to feel even worse about taking things as time went on. I realized I was better than I was portraying myself to be, just like Zits. Also, I feel that Zits is the most important rebel or exile to me because his life turns around in the end, and that is exactly what I wish will happen to me. Obviously I don’t think I’ll go through transformations like he did, and I don’t think I’ll be able to go back in time and un-steal the first thing I ever stole, but I do believe that I have the potential to change things around. I mean, if Zits was put in jail constantly and didn’t go through therapy and was still able to turn things around for himself, then I’m pretty damn positive that I’ll be able to too. So, yeah, I’d say that his experience is very important to me, in that I hope that Ill be able to change just like he did.” (Word Count: 2235)