Reading Log Questions #1

Jessica Smith
Professor Young
English 1101
February 4, 2016

1.  What is the meaning of the good lord bird? What does it represent?  How does it connect to the title of the book?

The meaning behind the good lord bird is something immaculate. For instance, when Fred is talking about it on page 33, he says that when people look at it they say, “Good Lord.” With that being said, the bird is supposed to represent John Brown, because he is considered, “immaculate.” When people see John Brown they have a similar reaction in a sense of saying “Good Lord,” in shock. This connects to the book because the “Lord,” the Good Lord Bird, and John Brown all relate to religion. John Brown is very religious and references the Lord with almost everything. The Good Lord Bird relates to the Lord as well, making it tie into the idea of religion as well as the other two components, John Brown and the Lord.  

2.     What is Henry’s nickname?  How did he earn it?

Henry’s nickname is Onion. He gets this nickname because John Brown had an old onion in his pocket and took it out to give to Henry as a good luck charm. Henry then took a bite of it because that is what he thought he wanted him to do because Henry thought he was John Browns “prisoner.” (Page 23-24)

                        

3.    What was Henry’s rationale for continuing to live a lie?  Was it justifiable?

Henry is continuing to live a lie because he is scared John Brown and his “army” trust him too much. On page 35, Henry talks about how white folk normally tell their slaves more than they would tell each other because they had no one else to tell. Specifically Henry says, “Back in them days white folks told niggers more than they told each other, for they knowed Negeros couldn’t do nothing but say, “Uh-huh,” and “Ummmm,” and o on about their own troubled business.” In my opinion, his lie was justifiable because you can tell he lied out of fear. John Brown is an intimidating person and he doesn’t know what will happen to him if he confesses his actual gender.