page 194: Corinthians knew she was ashamed of him, that she would have to add him to the other secret, the nature of her work, that he could never set foot in her house. And she hated him a lot for the shame she felt. Hated him sometimes right in the middle of his obvious adoration of her . . . But those swift feelings of contempt never lasted long enough for her to refuse those drive-in move sessions where she was the sole object of someone's hunger and satisfaction.
Questions:1) Is Corinthians 'using' Mr. Porter? Is her behaviour equivalent to the way Milkman and Guitar use their female friends for sex?
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• Corinthians is not necessarily using Mr. Porter. Her shame is driven by her father rather than herself. When Mr. Porter accuses her of being ashamed of him after asking her to his room, she denies and says the problem is her father. She implies he wouldn’t like him because of his class. She decided to talk to Mr. Porter because she doesn’t have many friends and she hasn’t been flirted with in a long time. That might sound a bit like using but she develops feelings for him. The real problem is that the shame she feels is concealing the sentiment she actually has for him. After having a heated fit over being a woman and a lady she finally goes home with Mr. Porter. She enjoys her time with him, but once again she has to cover up the truth by lying to her family.
Her behavior is not equivalent to Milkman and Guitar. They simply hook up with numerous women and, as the reader knows, Corinthians hasn’t had a relationship in a very long time and she is spending much more time with Mr. Porter than Guitar or Milkman would with a woman. As the reader learns in the end of the novel, Corinthians’ relationship is indeed intimate because she moves in with Mr. Porter in Southside. Through that statement we learn that her shame has disappeared and that she was not using him.
I do not think Corinthians is using Mr. Porter, because it is obvious that she has feelings for him. She would not have picked up the envelope in the beginning nor we she have dug it out of the trash can if she didn't have feelings for him. Morrison writes that she "couldn't resist scooping it(the envelope) up." Morrison also writes that "it was hard for Corinthians not to speak or acknowledge his presence." That quote shows that she is holding back her feelings. She is having to fight the urge to speak to him. However, despite her feelings for him, she is still ashamed of him, but this shame is completely based off her father. She knows her father would not approve of this boy, but she does not let that keep her from seeing him.
Corinthian's behavior is not equivalent to Milkman and Guitar. They see girls simply to fill their sexual desires. Corinthians has an intimate relationship with Mr. Porter. They don't have each other only for sex. They have deep feelings for each other.
No, Corinthians is not using Mr. Porter. I believe that Corinthians does have feelings for Mr. Porter, she just knows that it will never work out between them. Her father has a picturesque image of her future life and she knows that Mr. Porter is not exactly Macon's idea of a husband for Corinthians. If the two were to get married Macon would more than likely have nothing to do with either of them. She enjoys Mr. Porter's company and is happy that someone actually cares about her. She milks what she can out of their time together because she knows it will not last.
No, Corinthians behavior is not equivalent to Milkman and Guitar. Milkman and Guitar find women that fill their desires at the moment. They never stay with a woman, they just keep on looking for the next lady that will fill their wishes. When Corinthians finds a man she usually stays with a man until they can no longer be together.
It seems to me, that Corinthians is not using Mr. Porter because she really does like him and have feelings for him. At first I don't think that Corinthians was emotionally attached to Mr. Porter but her feelings grew as they flirted more and spent more time together. Even though Porter believes she is ashamed of him by having to lie to her parents about him, Corinthians actually is just trying to make her parents happy but is actually ashamed of herself for being dishonest.
Corinthian's relationship with Mr. Porter is not equivalent to how Milkman and Guitar handle their relationships. Milkman and Guitar both have sexual desires and fulfill them with loose women. They are selfish and once they have done stuff with one girl they move on. Neither Milkman or Guitar have any strong feelings for the women they have sex with. On the other hand Corinthians truly does have feelings for Mr. Porter and is not using him in a selfish way to her advantage.
I agree with Meredith. Corinthians wouldn't have done the things she did if she didn't feel anything between them. She is ashamed of her father's opinion of this boy.
Milkman and Gutiar use women just for sex nothing else. Corinthians obviously has feelings for Porter, but she isn't going to go all the way because of her father disapproval.
Some time ago, Corinthians had quite a few propositions for relationships with other men. Seeing as she is now in her forties, single, and still living under her father's eye and roof, she believes it is time to abandon her fear of him. She is definitely not using Mr. Porter, for she would not have taken a second glance at the envelope if her feelings for him were empty. She tells him the problem is her father, when the real problem is that she is ashamed of loving him. She is of high class, he is of low. Her hobbies include making red velvet rose petals, his are of peeing drunkenly onto civilians. To make her his honey depends on a drastic decision to be made by Corinthians, one that would prove her true love to him: disobeying her father's wishes. She ends up sleeping with him, and afterwards doesn't even bother to comb her hair because she likes the unfamiliar feeling of it. She ends up making that decision, and that proves she is not using him.
Her behavior towards Mr. Porter is far from that of Milkman and Guitar towards their lady friends. Corinthians is an empty soul, waiting to be filled with honest love and faithful compassion. She longs for a husband. Milkman and Guitar are involved in promiscuous behavior as a temporary cure for incessant sexual desires. They do not feel love towards the women they sleep with, while Corinthians is ablaze with hidden affection, yearning for a man to give it to and to stay with him for the rest of her entity. Milkman and Guitar wish anything but to be married. Their behaviors are completely contradictory.
Corinthians is not using Mr. Porter. In the beginning of their relationship, Corinthians is lonely from not having any suitors for many years. During that time period, one could see Mr. Porter being used. However, as their relationship progresses, she moves in with him and I can see a future in their relationship. The shame Corinthians feels is found in many relationships from other stories that include a wealthy person who has fallen for a poor person. This story is not a special case. Shame is present but their love will conquer her humiliation.
This cannot be compared to any relationship Guitar or Milkman may have with another woman. The difference is Guitar and Milkman will forget their women in a heartbeat and drop them like flies. They are in it for one thing and do not actually care enough or are mature enough to stick with one woman.
Pride Snow
1) Corinthians is certainly using Mr. Porter. However, every single person in the world uses the people around them, whether they know it or not. It’s an inescapable part of human nature. We’re flawed. Corinthians uses someone who makes her feel special and important. More than that, he makes her feel wanted and appreciated, instead of someone’s rag doll. Just because she develops feelings for the man doesn’t mean she doesn’t unconsciously use him. We all use one another, whether we know it or not. People do what they can to get by, to do avoid the suffering and pain of the world on a day to day basis. People need to feel special and loved and appreciated in a world that has never cared to give us that satisfaction itself. She is a woman driven by circumstance and confusion and childish adoration; her o affection for Mr. Porter doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that she still uses him, although the word “use” is associated with such a negative connotation, despite the fact that it’s simply a part of human nature.
2) Milkman and Guitar’s behavior is different, but also very similar. Like Corinthians, they are driven by an innate need to feel good about themselves; to feel wanted and appreciated. However, mostly due to their genders, they desire this in very opposite ways. While Milkman and Guitar feel important and masculine by being with woman whom as soon as their job is done, they abandon, Corinthians is the opposite. The fact that Mr. Porter is a stable figure is all the more flattering to her. They both use people to feel that self worth, that longing and need. But in one case it is expressed through their own selves, and in another it’s through the words of someone so different from their self.
I do not believe that Corinthians is using Mr.porter in the same way guitar and Milkman use female friends for sex. She has feelings for Mr.porter that guitar and milkman do not share for their female friends. She has feelings for him but feels that she is using him for sex because she will not acknowledge them or at least let other people know about him because she feels ashamed of him. This shame that she feels is derived from her father's opinion and view of his daughter. She feels that Mr. Porter isn't good enough for her father's standards and feels ashamed that she still goes behind her father's back even though she has feelings for him.
I think that in a way Corinthians is using Mr. Porter, but I don’t think that her behavior is equivalent to that of Milkman and Guitar. When Corinthians noticed Mr. Porter staring at her on the bus, she didn’t think very much of him, and that that he “was a complete nuisance and his flirtation was an insult”, but she still pursued a relationship with him. She wasn’t really adored by anyone else, and hadn’t gotten male attention in a long time. I think that she kept coming back to Mr. Porter, not because she was so madly in love with him, but because she needed to feel wanted, and to feel young again. Corinthians believes that if she loses Mr. Porter, she’ll having nothing left but those rose petals, which, to her, symbolize death. I think that by not returning the same level of admiration that Mr. Porter gives her, Corinthians is using him emotionally. I do believe that Corinthians is a little ashamed of Mr. Porter, because she thinks that he reflects badly upon her. She failed to get a wonderful and respectable job, and she failed to marry a rich and esteemed man, and now she’s running around with a yard worker. If anything, Corinthians is more ashamed of herself.
I think that Corinthian’s behavior isn’t equivalent to that of Milkman and Guitar. Unlike the Milkman and Guitar, Corinthians actually enjoys Mr. Porter’s company, and develops feelings for him as a person, whereas Milkman and Guitar treat women as disposable objects. Also, I think the communication in Corinthians and Mr. Porter’s relationship is a lot better than that in Milkman and Hagar’s. Milkman didn’t even have enough courtesy to ever tell Hagar that their relationship was casual, which resulted in Hagar stalking him and trying to kill him after he ended things with a “thank you”. Overall I think that Corinthians has more respect for her partner than the boys do for theirs.
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