While reading In the Night Garden I was intrigued by all of the different stories. When it changed from story to story I wanted to keep reading in order to find out what happens next. It reminded me of a movie with multiple main characters. The challenge of following every story and how they related to each other really motivated me. At some points of the book it was hard to follow every tale. The most confusing part for me was when Knife's grandmother was telling Knife the story of the wolves. I was hoping to find out what happens with the girl in the garden telling the stories. I didn't read the whole book, so I wonder if the short stories come back and relate to the girl in the garden at the end of the novel.
Growing up you always hear of fairy tales where the man is the hero who saves the women in distress. I found it quite interesting how the roles were switched in this book. When the prince kills the goose (Knife's daughter) it was his duty to journey off and fix the situation. Also, from the Native American myths that I have heard it is always the men who see the magical visions. Comparing this to In the Night Garden, Knife's grandmother has the vision of the fox and the wolves. This is when she gains the power to transform Knife's daughter into the goose. It did not bother me that the roles were switched. I found it rather interesting to see it from a different perspective. I wonder why she felt the need to switch the roles around, when the common myth has the male as the hero.
After we discussed the pictures in class, I went back and took a second look at them. My imagination drew up a completely different image of the horse and the fox while reading the text. I was confused in this part of the story so the image helped me understand what was going on in the text. The reading described the women as a fragile and scared person when she encountered the massive horse. In the picture it was almost as if she was fasinated by such a beautiful creature, and it looked like she was fearless. The images were a small part of the book but in someway they helped me. Overall, I really enjoyed the reading.
I wonder if there exists a story with a protagonist who is neither female or male.
ReplyDeleteI agree with how you feel about reading the book: it was quite difficult to keep track sometimes. Regardless, I think there are many reasons why Valente would feel the need to switch up gender roles in her stories. I think in general, many women's rights advocators and activists prefer to portray women as strong in character and body to prove to the world that women can be equal to men.
ReplyDeleteI think that a protagonist such as what Peter described would be fascinating.
ReplyDeleteTATY SAID: I was sort of disappointed when Lisa told us the story about the girl in the garden does not really circle back. I really did want it to tie together in a more solid way.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Peter and Lauren. That would be interesting. Maybe the main character would have to be a plant... wait... there is a story like that. The Giving Tree? or was the tree portrayed as female?
ReplyDeleteWhy is the girl always the hero in her short stories ?? its the same thing over and over and over again
ReplyDeleteI guess I had a completely different mindset when I was reading. How confusing the stories were made me want to stop reading and I only kept reading because I knew I had to and not because I wanted to.
ReplyDeleteRe: Peter's first comment and those who commented on that. We'll be reading some stories with characters who are neither male or female.
ReplyDelete