Raney Essay, Research Paper
Raney
In my opinion, I did not like this book. I do not like books, which involve racist notions. How could she be so narrow-minded? Her parents taught her everything when it came to treating people who were different as different, and she could not manage to ignore their advice. She was a very racist woman, which caused a conflict between her and her husband, whose best friend was a black man named Johnny Dobbs. Raney believed that if her mother could be racist that she could be too. This caused conflict with Charles because she believed she could eaves drop on Charles’s phone conservations through the heating vent in the bedroom.
Charles and Raney had very different beliefs and that is why they have trouble getting along with each other sometimes. Raney comes from a family who has strong family and religious ties. Charles is not a serious church attendant, and his family is very spread out across the nation, preventing him from seeing them on a regular basis. Charles is a highly educated man, whereas Raney has only a High School degree. The only things that they have in common are that they both have respect for each other and they both like music. This is not a very strong basis for a relationship between two people who are supposed to be in love.
In the beginning, Raney is a mama’s girl who wants to do everything that her mother did when she was young. On the honeymoon she was upset with Charles because he didn’t do exactly what he was supposed to do, which means that he did not do exactly what Raney’s father did on his honeymoon. On his honeymoon, he just stood there in his Fruit of a Loom underwear drinking champagne out of a plastic cup. She was probably told how the honeymoon went from her mother. One of the biggest conflicts the couple had was the fact that Raney was very racist and Charles best friend was black. Charles was upset because he did not agree with Raney’s feelings towards Mr. Dobbs. This is another thing that Raney was taught by her parents to be racist. At one point, it appears that Raney is getting over her racist views when Johnny Dobbs is named the godfather of her child. The only thing that keeps it the same way, racist, is that he still stays at the Ramada Inn.
In my opinion, the time in which Raney spent with the counselor did not help her progress through the story. She was still the same person, but more racist. This was evident by the statement she made “ I didn’t know we were sharing secrets”. There isn’t really a big change until they find out that Raney becomes pregnant. The child’s name came from names from both sides of the family. The child’s reception was held at the Episcopal Church and the reception was held at the Free Will Baptist church that Raney attended.
I think Raney’s main issue throughout the story was the way in which Raney was brought up. Although her sexual oppression went away when they were on the feedbag, I feel that was the turning point of her sexual oppression. Her racial tension did not change very much throughout the story, with the exception of the baby’s godfather, Dobbs. She did learn to compromise with Charles, which, in my opinion, is a big part of the relationship. It was needed if Charles and Raney were to have a chance at salvaging the marriage after the disagreements they have over moral values and racism.