I'm pretty sure that we were supposed to post our own, unique blog too. If not, I apologize greatly for ruining everyone's wonderful flow over the controversy of "Booksellers". If so, well then I'm sorry you guys are going to have to read my thoughts anyway...
So overall one thing that I think we were debating in class over the Baldwin and Bourgess stories was the essential feeling of the "coming of age" in both of the essays. In one, a man has overcome his blindness and made his lifestyle adapt to what was once his downfall. In the other, there is a man still attempting to overcome the racial prejudice he faced and the death of his basically estranged father. For me, I sort of had the feeling of "ignorance is bliss" when reading both of these stories. But then again what is more prevalent is that both this stories in the end seem to defy this saying. In Blindness, I felt as though many people assume that seeing is believing, when in reality there is this man who cannot see and never will see again yet he is more sure of life than I, a perfectly capable "seer", am. In the other story, it seems as though the narrator's life took a turn for the wrost once he realized the hatred in the world. Yet, he realizes that one just must learn to cope and fight for what they believe in. And wouldn't that mean that you would be in a better place with your problems solved than where you were without addressing (or knowing) your problems at all? I feel like this may also tie into "Booksellers" as well. Although many people may harrass Seierstad for her brutally accurate depiction of the life of the family she lived with when reporting the war, her book tells the struggle of Afgani women, and serves as a type of advocate for them. Now, isn't that better than never addressing the issue at all?
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This is a short comment, but the idea of "ignorance is bliss" also seemed to be a big theme in the chapters we read by Frederick Douglass. When he finally acquired the knowledge he desired by learning to read, he openly recognized how he sometimes would think that he had been better off before he knew about the things he was reading. They only made him more miserable and hateful. However, at the same time, this knowledge is what got him to where he ended up, and escaping the institution of slavery.
*helped him escape
I see where you were reminded of the quote "ignorance is bliss" in all of these works. However, I think there is a much stronger tie to knowledge in all of them. In "Blindness", the protagonist seemed lost until he poured over the texts of masters -- using knowledge to propel him forward. In "Notes of a Native Son", Baldwin became much more apathetic towards his father and resolved to live a better life, or pass on the tools with which future generations could live a better life, using the knowledge he gained from experience. Knowledge in this case was used to counter rage. Also, knowledge was strongly referenced in the Douglas narratives.
I feel like knowledge will be used in "Bookseller of Kabul", as a way to become aware. I think that Seierestad is warning us against leading a blissfully ignorant life in the act of publishing her book. She opens the book with a description about the Talibans censure on books -- when she, ironically (?), is writing an extremely controversial (in the eyes of the Afghan culture) book that uncovers the injustices enforced upon Afghan women.
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