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Brewnerians: Read a story from Welcome to the Monkey House and respond. I'll try to start with a question, but feel free to begin if I haven't arrived there yet. Choose three (or more?) of the stories to respond to. Maybe you can write about confusions, or guesses, or comparisons, or the language, or characters, or the White Rock Girl or....whatever catches your attention.
me
About Me
- kbrewner
- Notice: the full moon (in eclipse) is over my right shoulder.
The White Rock Girl
Psyche
21 comments:
D.P. means Displaced Persons. Joe seems to be in about the worst situtation that anoyone could be in. He has no family and he's black, not to mention he's in Germany soon after WWII. Some might even say that hes in worse shape because he is in an orphanage run by nuns. Basically he has two paths to chose from. He could either let his terrible situtation control him and make him depressed which might lead to a life of crime, or he could be the next rags to riches miracle.
D.P stands for Dreams Persist. Joe is in a very bad situation at the moment, living in an orphange run by nuns and also being a black child in Germany after WWII. But Joe looks on the bright side and feels that he can find his father and spend the rest of his life with him. He thinks one of the soldiers is his father and even though that man has never seen Joe and doesn't want Joe to think he is his father, Joe believes this is true and he feels much better upon returning to the orphanage. Joe believes that he has found his father and his life is much better because of that dream, even though he may never find his father.
I have to agree with Ken on his definition of D.P. as displaced persons. Joe is just a little black boy in post war Germany with no one around like him, with everyone seemingly puzzled by his situation, and Joe even feels like he does not belong. At the beginning of the story I think that Joe is much like the sparrow with the broken leg, only able to hobble along. But as the story progresses and Joe meets the black American soldiers Joe realizes that there is some hope for him in the world and although he might be a displaced person now, he will find a place for himself in the future.
I agree with Patrick that DP stands for Dreams Persist. There's evidence of Joe holding onto his hopes against all odds throughout the whole story. The nun calls Joe a dreamer in the beginning of the story numberous times. Even up until the end, Joe has faith that his father will come back to get him, "And he promised to take me back home across the water as fast as he could."
I also think that D.P. stands for displaced persons. Joe, as you have read in the other comments, is an orphan trying to find his father. Joe doesn't fit in and believes that he will if he could just find his father, hence the displaced persons. I think Joe represents the displaced person in all of us. We all feel a little out of place at times and we search for that glimmer of hope, a sign that we will fit in in the world. Joe sees his father as his way to be accepted and when he believes he has found him, he holds on to him for dear life, desperately trying to acheive his goal. I think we also hold on to things. Maybe we listen to certain music or dress a certain way or play a sport because we feel better when we do these things. We feel that maybe if we just hold on , we will not only feel good, we will feel accepted.
I agree with what both Ken and Patrick have to say. Both sides of this idea of "D.P." were evident in the story. First of all seeing how Joe was misplaced amongst a family which didn't seem like his own. But at the same time how through all of his circumstances he hoped and believed that he would be reunited with his family. No one can really say if his father was amongst the soldiers that were nearby the town, but one can make their own conclusions, which I think many people did. Seeing how this story left you guessing on if he really did meet his father or not, makes you wonder what's real and what's fake.
I also agree that D.P. stands for Displaced Persons. Joe is practically the only little black boy in Germany after World War II. He doesn't fit in in Germany or for that matter even in the orphanage. He is singled out of the crowd of children by the towns people because he is different and does not belong there. When Joe finally finds the American military, a group in which he could fit in, he is still blocked by a language barrier. Joe is different from both groups and has no place to fit in.
Like other people, I think D.P. stands for displaced person.
Joe's situation is one of the sadest I've ever known. It seems he will never feel at home; certainly not with the Germans who look at him as a zoo animal. Maybe when he grows up he will go to America and try to find a home, but there he will only be more foreign. His real home would be the orphanage and the nuns, but sadly he can't see it that way thanks to the gawking villagers.
Like other people, I think D.P. stands for displaced person.
Joe's situation is one of the sadest I've ever known. It seems he will never feel at home; certainly not with the Germans who look at him as a zoo animal. Maybe when he grows up he will go to America and try to find a home, but there he will only be more foreign. His real home would be the orphanage and the nuns, but sadly he can't see it that way thanks to the gawking villagers.
(sorry i forgot to type my name in before)
I also agree that D.P. stands for Displaced Persons. Joe is practically the only little black boy in Germany after World War II. He doesn't fit in in Germany or for that matter even in the orphanage. He is singled out of the crowd of children by the towns people because he is different and does not belong there. WHen Joe finally finds the American military, a group in which he coulod fit in, he is still blocked by a language barrier. Joe is different from both groups and has no place to fit in. I think this shows that one is never going to totally fit in one group or another, but will have different things in common with different groups. (P.S. i know that the blog above says the exact same thing, but that's because i wrote that but I am stupid and don't like technology and don't know how to work it.)
I agree with those that say that D.P. stands for Displaced Persons. Joe obviously does not stand in a shown by the color of his skin in post war Germany at an orphanage run by nuns. Joe resembles that of the wounded sparrow, but he eventually finds himself linked with the black soldiers, but cannot communicate with his "papa" because of his akward German upbringing. I feel Joe will find a home across the "river" in America and try to identify with his people and establish himself into a group, instead of always being on the outside.
Like many bloggers before me, I think that D.P. stands for displaced persons. Joe is a black orphan in Germany (which has become so obviously apparent now) and because he is different he is singled out by people all the time. When a batch of American soldiers arrive, everyone jokes that they are "Joe's people." Joe thinks that if he could just meet these men and discover that one of them is his father, he will finally be able to feel like he fits in. The other kids in the orphanage, along with townspeople, cause him to feel like somewhat of an outcast, which is where his sense of displacement comes into play. Joe believes if he can meet and hang on to his father he will be accepted.
Everyone has felt like a loner at one point or another and because of that feeling they search for ways to fit in. To Joe, this man, although not his father because he claims never to have seen Joe in his life, is his ticket to long awaited acceptance and self-reassurance.
Displaced persons really does fit. I feel bad for him and this story was very heart breaking. He is such a dreamer and really does believe that this soldier is going to come back for him. I have felt out of place before in my life, but i can't imagine what it's like for him to grow up in a town where he is the only black person. he seems to be randomly placed in this town and since he is young and doesn't know better, it would be easy for him to think that the first other black man he saw is his father. i was also really sad that he let go of his "father."
I also think DP stands for displaced persons. Jim is really just in a horrible situation with no family and noone like him around. I liked this story and like others, it showed what one simple thing can do to change the life of someone else. I agree with Sam. At the moment Joe is having a hard time finding a place to fit in, but eventually he will find his place.
Well, I wasn't sure what D.P. meant. And then I clicked on leave your comment, and now I see that it most obviously means Displaced Persons. I think that it could also be Dislocated Parade, in reference to the nuns marching the children around the town, and the children all hailing from different backgrounds. None of them really belong in that town, but due to events that none of them could help, they have become Germans. Unfortunately for Joe, he will never be a German, most obviously because of his skin color. My only real question is how did Joe even end up in Germany? I personally would like to believe that his parents were both involved in the war and died valiantly trying to keep Joe alive, but I'm sure that the real story is far less romantic. This story made me sad, and made me wish that there was some way for Joe to fit in. But there is no way for Joe to find people like himself in Germany because there are none. Poor Joe.
D.P. literally stands for displaced person; that phrase seems to have special meaning for "Joe," a young little black boy with big dreamy thoughts but no place to belong. Here again Vonnegut explores the unusual: I never even fathomed that there could be someone in a situation like "Joe." Joe's encounter with the soldiers is both saddening and hopeful. His unshakable hold on to his "father" indicates that this sighting of his "people" means everything to Joe: that determination not to let go shows how desperately Joe wants to fit in, but can't. Joe's situation at the end is especially moving: he happily lets go, loaded with chocolate and the belief that he found his "papa". Even though it's false that the soldier is actually his father, the encounter with the soldier is a true hope for Joe that he can belong someday. Overall though, looking in from above as a reader, Joe's situation is just very sad: chances are he won't see a "father" again and will not feel accepted anywhere.
I also think that D.P. stands for displaced persons, but the fact that the title is written as initials, D.P. becomes a lable just like the germans who labeled Karl Heinz as "Joe Louis" because he was black. I felt very sad for Joe because his mind is so open to the rest of the world--open so that the rest of the world (especially peter) can make such deep impressions and mold his ignorant thoughts. I think that Joe, like many people, just wants to fit in but can't. I feel like Joe really did fit in with the soldiers because they accepted him, and i am also very glad that he now knows that there is someone out there who wants to help him. The soldiers gave him more than chocolate, watches, and knives--they gave hime hope and a sense of belonging so that he can feel a little less displaced.
I have to believe that the sergeant is going to come back for Joe.
I read D.P. in high school in the 60's. My brother had been assigned to read Welcome to the Monkey House for his English class, and had left his copy on the table in our bedroom. I was touched, and decided that later, if I could, I would give children a home so they didn't feel as lost and alone as Joe did.
I had forgotten all about D.P. until recently when I had found a copy of Welcome to the Monkey House in a used book store. I read it again, remembered my decision, and burst into tears. I have 11 children now, 8 of them adopted, of almost all colors.
Thank you, Mr. Kurt.
I think it stands for D-bar Papa
what could it be a good thesis statement to start my essay about this short story?
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