Whistlin' and Crowin' Response

When we first were assigned to read Whistlin' and Crowin' I thought that it was going to be very boring. As I began reading, it was interesting to learn about the culture in Appalachia. In my previous schooling I had never in depth studied or learned about Appalachia. Sohn's book was able to give me a different perspective on Appalachian life other than what is portrayed through the media. It was surprising to see how important education was in the lives of some people and not others. Also the different types of support that each of the three women received or didn't receive from people in their lives. If it weren't for the support that some of the women had I don't believe they would have pursued education as passionately as they did, as with Sarah and the support that she had from her mother. I thought that Sohn did a great job appealing to her readers emotions by showing the hardships and obstacles that the women had to deal with in order to better themselves by receiving a college education. I thought by her doing this it created a way for us as readers to connect with the lives of the women.
A stereotype of Appalachia that I have heard and seen in the media is that the people there do not value education and are illiterate. With many people in America not being correctly educated about the culture of Appalachia we are left to believe what we hear and see. One aspect that I picked up on in the book was how some of the men view education towards women and their view on how women should behave. Two of the husbands in particular believed that their wives should be at home with the children, cooking, and cleaning. They felt as if they should be the breadwinners of the family and if their wives became educated then they would outgrow and rise above their way of living. I found it interesting that the women, especially Lucy being abused physically and mentally, stayed with their dreams of finishing school even though they were being abused by their husbands. I agree with their choice of sticking with schooling throughout their hardships and fighting to better themselves for them and their families. I also liked the fact that each of the women greatly valued being a mother and never let their own schooling get in the way of helping their children succeed with their education. I value the strength and courage that Lucy, Jean, and Sarah had to follow their dream despite their overwhelming obstacles. Overall I thought that Sohn did a very nice job with her analysis and study of the education and culture in Appalachia.