Morrison talks about the women who move from Southern cities, saying, “[T]hese girls soak up the juice of their home towns, and it never leaves them.” What do you suppose she means? Do you agree? Do you think that you’re someone who “soaked up the juice” of your home town?
I think if we live in a place for any length of time that we soak up the juice of the hometown. People know right away that I’m from the Pittsburgh, PA area. If they can’t pinpoint Pittsburgh, they at least recognize that I’m from Southwest PA. Our phrases, sound, views are all tied into the area we grew up in.
I think it means our environment – particularly if it is long -term or impacts us at a formative age – sets the tome and tenor of our lives. It presents us with a set of values and norms which we, as beings who want to be part of a community, allow to govern our lives, particularly our relationships with other.
I think this might have been more true during the time period in which The Bluest Eye was set. At the time people still grew up in communities divided by ethnicity - my relatives, for example, grew up in the Hungarian neighborhood of Cleveland - so I think subtle cultural influences were more likely to follow someone when they moved. My feeling is that with all our modern communication, we’ve lost some of those cultural influences and they’re less likely to follow younger people.
I agree with Cheryl… my generation did not stray far from my hometown. We followed traditions. Stayed close as a family. Kept to one occupation…for most of us. My daughter’s generation left hometowns. Maybe lived in many different cities and states. Sampling different occupations.When you are not immersed in your hometown culture, the longer you are away, some of the traditions become less frequent and you make your own traditions. That’s not a bad thing.
I think Toni Morrison means that when you live in a certain environment for an extended period of time, it is hard to shake the effects, good or bad, of that environment. I don’t think this applies to just Southern people; I think it applies no matter where you come from. To shed the influence of your early experiences and upbringing is not easy, but it can be done. I have largely done so, mostly for differing opinion reasons, and I think I am better off because of it.
Toni Morrison was referring to the Black dispora to the north or west, to escape the harsh realities of the South; lynching, sun-down laws, racism and discrimination being denied work in higher-paying jobs and would be severely restricted through Jim Crow laws.
When they moved north or west, they took along with them their culture, traditions, and values, good or bad. They took all their experiences (juices) as a guide to making a new life. They may have connections or other people to help them travel or initially establish themselves. They were looking for a better life. They felt this was their country and deserve the same rights as whites.
I think Morrison is referring to how their origins shape them and never leave them - their culture, their race and the social dynamics of the South. I totally agree that people are shaped by where they come from - their speech, values, their sense of self-worth. My hometown left an imprint on me - how I interact, how I see success, even the foods I like.
It really depends on the age you left your community. I essentially never left my community, just moved to a different section. Initially my community culture remained the same. Over the years it has drastically changed. That’s the good part. You don’t lose your “identity “ you broaden it.
In the novel, the characters took parts of their culture in moving North. Patterns of speech, foods, interests…some of these are hard to disguise…even if you try.
Yes leaving the south and moving north, Cholly and Pauline wanted a better life, a better opportunity. But with that movement they took their southern way of life. Racism was racism, no matter where you lived.
I think this means that where they come from is part of who they are and this is something that stays with you for life. I do think there is truth to this, both in the areas we grow up in but also the families we grow up in as well. Culturally different cities and towns can be quite different and this can shape how you view and react to the world. Whether you value education, material things, religion, etc. can depend on where you came from and if the people around you valued those things. I do feel that my own home town had an influence on me and this is likely true for most people who spent most of their childhood in the same place.
“You can take the boy/girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy/girl” is a saying for a reason. We are all shaped as children by our environments; home and community, in both positive and negative ways. Neighborliness, work ethic, community spirit are positives that come to mind, while intolerance in all its ugly forms and isolation are easily recognized negatives. Both can exist at the same time in a person. To me, the key is to retain the positives of your original community and overcome the negatives regardless of where you end up.