Race and Language

Do you think Susan treatment of Friday is similar to people's prejudices against language learners? As in they must be stupid, or people condescend to ELLs when they come from non-European backgrounds?

Finished Reading? Let's TALK!

I think everyone is finished reading, so let's talk about Friday and his symbolism. What symbols do we see in him or his actions?

The loss of his tongue, which means he can't communicate in his mother language or anything else. What else?

Halfway

Okay, I am halfway through the book.

When we look at Friday as a language learner, I think, what makes us think he doesn't have a whole lot of other issues going on? How do we know that he's not autistic? ID? He's not deaf. That's all I know.

We are supposed to look at Friday in terms of communicating, and in what ways he does so. Do you think Friday every knew his first language in this version of the tale? Could his inability to communicate be the result of the Critical Period Hypothesis? What is his choice in his silence?
I just don't know...

Friday

Well, I certainly am struggling through analyzing this book. I am not very good at this post modernist, who has the right to tell a story type of thing. I'm half way through, and of course, I'm thinking, maybe Friday wasn't all right in the head....