Beyonce Up in the Club/Short Story Packet

During our discussion about the "Secret Woman," I mentioned Beyonce's new album because of its shared feminist ideas.  Many of these short stories remind me of Beyonce songs, so to illustrate the similarities, I am going to compare each story in our short story packet (with the exception of "Good Country People" because Beyonce makes a point of not writing songs about stealing people's prosthetic limbs) to a Beyonce song from the self-titled album she released last year.

The Swimmer: Drunk in Love

Throughout "The Swimmer," Neddy drinks alcohol to forget his problems.  Although Beyonce and Jay Z are not getting drunk for the same reason, they also forget what happened the night before.  Another connection is the use of water.  In "The Swimmer," Neddy swims through his neighbor's pools, and in "Drunk in Love," Beyonce and Jay Z are in their bathtub (and in the music video, they are filmed on the beach).  

Connection Level (out of 10): 3 

The Secret Woman: Blow

"The Secret Woman" and "Blow" are both feminist texts that encourage women to own their sexuality in a way that society is not used to.  The idea that women get as much pleasure from sex as men do (or, at least, are able to) was revolutionary at the time Colette wrote "The Secret Woman," and the idea that women want sex as much as men do was (still) revolutionary when Beyonce's surprise album dropped last year.

Connection Level: 8

Old Woman Magoun: Heaven

Both of these texts deal with losing a child dear to your heart (the popular consensus is that "Heaven" is about Beyonce's miscarriage) but knowing that it was for a reason (although in "Heaven" the reason may be more of a coping mechanism than a legitimate reason: "Heaven couldn't wait for you.").

Connection Level: 4

Barn Burning: Jealous

Although Faulkner never explicitly explains why Abner Snopes burns down barns, the reader can infer that part of the explanation is that he feels wronged by the world and his father.  To deal with this unhappiness, Abner acts violently and destructively. This is similar to the way Beyonce almost breaks a glass in the beginning of "Jealous" when Jay Z stands her up. 

Connection Level: 2 (I tried.)

The Language of Men: Pretty Hurts

"The Language of Men" is about the negative impact gender roles and stereotypes have on men.  "Pretty Hurts" is about the negative impact gender roles and beauty standards have on women.  These two themes are basically the same theme focusing on different genders.

Connection Level: 7

The Lesson: Haunted

"The Lesson" is about a woman teaching children about wealth disparity and asking them how it makes them feel which is reminiscent of the chorus of Beyonce's song "Haunted": "All these people on the plante working nine to five just to stay alive... How come?"

Connection Level: 6

In the end, I think what we can take away from this blog post is that good art is timeless and that Mr. Heidkamp was an un-credited collaborator on Beyonce's album.