3/21/11

3/21/11 Final Cordelia “ Cordelia the Crude” was different from anything I have ever read. Cordelia, 16 at the time, left her home in South Carolina to Harlem, NY against her wishes. Cordelia was not happy living in Harlem. She spent her days watching the tenants’ children that lived with them. One night when Cordelia went to the theatre a man come by and started to make a pass at her. One night while watching a show at the theatre, a guy starts to make a pass at her. She quickly realizes that this was normal around there. She soon became a regular see movies practically every night. When Cordelia brought a guy home she explained that she lived on the top floor of a 6 story complex. They stopped to kiss every so often on the way up. They almost reached the top when the guy stopped her and kissed her quickly handing her two one dollar bills and darting off. The story is presented through the eyes of the man Cordelia brought home that one night. In the beginning the reader believes that it is Cordelia is telling the story. By the man telling the story as the reader you do not know what Cordelia really thinks about all of this. As the reader you do not know what she is thinking. The man never realizes what he had done until six months later when he meets up with her at a party 6 months later. The irony of the story is that Cordelia was assumed to be a prostitute until she was offered money for her affections. Cordelia soon realized that she could earn money by engaging in sexual favors. Since the guy started this trend with Cordelia he never realized that his assumptions about her were wrong until he overheard telling the girls she was with at the party that he was the first guy to give her, her first two bucks. The man who gave Cordelia the idea had no idea. His assumptions were wrong from the very beginning but it was not his fault. Cordelia gave him the clues that he was used to. In the end Cordelia is assumed to be someone she is not until the end when she turns out to be exactly who the guy thought she was.