Discussion Reply 2 Asia

100 words

Throughout Scenes One, Two and Three, Booth appears to be highly preoccupied with women and sex. He states: “I need constant sexual release. If I wasn’t out there taking care of myself I would be out there running around on thuh town which costs cash that I don’t have so I would be doing worse: I’d be out there doing who knows what, shooting people and shit” (1534). What are your thoughts on Booth’s explanation for masturbating to magazine photos? What does that passage say, if anything, about masculinity, male needs and male behavior with regards to toxic masculinity?

My thoughts on Booth’s explanation for masturbating to magazine photos is that Booth believes he needs sexual release to prevent himself from going out and “shooting people”. The way Booth behaves depicts his sexual frustration, this relates to male needs and male behavior with regards to toxic masculinity because Booth is insecure about his own male masculinity so here he associates it with violence, typically a behavior found in males.

2. In detail, explain your thoughts on the following passage and whether you agree or disagree with Lincoln’s observation on how people prefer to view history: “People like they historical shit in a certain way. They like it to unfold the way they folded it up. Not raggedy and bloody and screaming” (1536). Is history as neat as you may have once viewed it, if you ever viewed it in such a way? Explain your answer.

History is not as neat as it is viewed. No matter what history is always somehow repeated whether if it is good history or bad history. And as Lincoln said when history is repeated it is “raggedy and bloody” opposed to being neat. Lincoln is trying to teach Booth a lesson about facing and interacting with his past. Booth needs to understand that his past will not unfold neatly.

3. Lincoln states: “I am uh brother playing Lincoln. It’s uh stretch for anyones imagination. And it ain’t easy for me neither. Every day I put on that shit, I leave my own shit at the door and I put on that shit and I go out there and I make it work. I make it look easy but it’s hard. That shit is hard. But it works. Cause I work it” (1536). Why would it not be easy for Lincoln to play Abraham Lincoln? What else could Lincoln be saying about life, particularly life in this country, as a black male?

It wouldn’t be easy for Lincoln to play Abraham Lincoln because as an impersonator, Lincoln has to keep pretending to die over and over the job is very dehumanizing. Lincoln could also be saying the life as a black male in this country is not respected, unworthy, and cheap.

4. Scene Four is basically an entire monologue delivered by Lincoln. What does this monologue reveal about Lincoln’s character? What is he struggling with and what are your thoughts on all of this?

This monologue reveals that Lincoln’s character has matured as he examines his past life versus his present life. However, Lincoln is struggling with how his boss treats him at work and feels like he isn’t valued. My thoughts on this is that Lincoln is a motivated, determined man and he is willing to get it by any means he’d rather suffer than to quit and I respect him for that.

5. What line caught your attention or resonated with you most? Why?

The line that caught my attention the most is when Lincoln stated “I cant be worrying about the actions of miscellaneous strangers (Parks 1535).” Here Parks depicts how Lincoln and Booth are affected by how others perceive them. Lincoln doesn’t care about how others see him whereas Booth does. Lincoln is always expressing this to Booth so he can learn to stop caring about what other think of him. Lincoln is willing to do whatever it takes so that he can be financially stable.