Socialization Narratives

The narratives by Rosa Starke and that of John and Laney Van Hook offer a good platform to analyze different aspects of socialization.  The two narratives have different aspects that are in conflict while still there are several others that are in agreement.  To start with, the two narratives are in agreement of the different social classes that exist in any social set up. From the narrative by Rosa Starke, it is evident of the different classes in a social set up. For example, the narrative by Starke there is different classes of the white people. There are the whites and the blacks who have different social ranking in their different societies.  Also, there are also social differences that exist amongst the whites as well as in the blacks.

From the narrative, it is evident that the slave owners are considered as being in a higher social ranking as compared to the white poor folks.  On the other hand, the slaves are also in different social classes. For instance, the house servants, maids, drivers, blacksmiths are in different social classes despite the fact that they are all slaves. It is said that these classes of slaves are entitled to good houses and are not subject to torture and hard work.  Nevertheless, the narrative asserts that there is the lowest class of slaves, mostly referred to as field niggers. The preferential treatment of the different slaves is a clear indication of the different social classes.  Slavery issues are also evident in the second narrative where there is the mention of Dillard Love as a slave master. Different classes can also be expressed by the different kind of houses that are described in the house. For example, the narrative by John and Laney talks of a house that is unpainted and crudely plastered with newspapers.  This is a clear indication of social classes existing in the society.

Nevertheless, there are also some instances that show conflicting social aspects. To start with, the issue of marriage is a good example of conflicting aspects in the society. According to Starke, marriage is only for convenience purposes.  For instance, Starke divorced with her first man and got in another marriage just to help her raise her children. This is however in contrast with the narrative according to John and Laney. In this narrative, marriage was seen as a very solemn activity and it was hard to experience separations.  O the same note, the narrative confirms that there were weddings even amongst the teens and it was normal to find 15 or 16 year olds in weddings.  The weddings were also recognized as important ceremonies where several activities were carried out to lighten up the ceremony. In the narrative, it is evident wine and dances were commonly used in wedding ceremonies to make it as colorful as possible.

There are different economic activities that are carried out in different social settings. For example, farm work, hoeing and picking cotton are common economic activities in the two narratives. Although john acknowledges that he is not conversant with picking cotton, he also asserts that he was brought up in a region where cotton farming was an important activity. Furthermore, the economic activities vary from one society to another. According to narrative by John, fishing was another important economic activity in the society.  He talks of catching salmon, jackfish and duck bills in the mountain streams.

The two narratives also confirm that leisure activities are equally important in any social set up.  In the john’s narrative, dancing and singing are some of the notable leisure activities in the society. John also narrates that his father always found it difficult to wake up in the morning after night frolicking.  The narrative also asserts that one would make millstones from the soft soap stones as part of their leisure.  Making of toy pistols and toy riffles were also important social activities for leisure time. In addition, religious matters and worshipping are also mentioned as some important aspects of socialization. To sum it up, it is evident from the narratives that different societies have different norms and cultures. Some may be similar in a way while others may vary from one community to another.

 
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