Leah Villari Post 3

I think that Gilda actually has feelings for Julius but she changes him for her own personal reasons. She had enough feelings to want to change him and add him to her “family”.  In doing so, Gilda is being selfish because Julius really didn’t have a choice in the matter. Just because Gilda could look into his soul and see that he was lonely, doesn’t mean he wanted to live forever and feed on blood to survive. It seems as if Gilda is continuously moving from place to place once she finds someone she has a connection with. This time though, Bird has an influence on Gilda since she comes back to visit. Gilda doesn’t like to kill or change innocent people for no reason and I feel that Bird had a lot to do with Julius’ changing into a vampire. I also think that Gilda had better connections with people she has met in past cities and that Julius necessarily isn’t the best fitting human to be turned into a vampire. This is due to the fact that he has much stronger feelings for Gilda then she has for him.

I feel if Julius had more time to think about if Gilda turning him was a good decision for him, his answer may have been different. I feel that Gilda does not make the right decision because she was doing it for her own reasons. Since Bird left her and she had no one else to accompany her in life, she decided it would be a good idea if she turned Julius. Giving Julius a new life doesn’t make up for the times she has killed. Her intentions seem to be put ahead of what might be the best for Julius. The decision to turn him seemed to happen so quickly that I feel Gilda uses her power as a vampire to her benefit and not for Julius’ best interests.

Adam Swift Post #3

We all have different views of what a family might be, typically a mom dad brother sister etc. but in The Gilda Stories Gomez uses vampires to create a different kind of family. Gilda is trying to fill the niche roles of a family by turning select humans into vampires. She is doing because she feels lonely after bird leaves. This idea of searching for a family leads to scene where Gilda enter Julius’s apartment. Gilda says to Julius “I want you to see the family I bring you into. It’s a family I’ve belonged to for more than one hundred years, yet I’ve been alone, too.”Gilda knows he is also alone and I think that this aspect is the good we see in her because she finds someone who is lonely and without a family.

When Gilda exchanges their blood he is turned in a vampire. The sharing of blood is the bond they now have. I think changing Julius was selfish because she did it mostly for herself and even though she explained to him what was going to happen, she was very persuasive and took advantage of him. Once you are changed you can’t go back to human. At the same time she had thought this through, like I said he too was alone and had no one and now they have each other. She may think that giving Julius new life was good. This new life does not justify the times she had killed.

Kaitlyn Dickey Post 3

After Friday's class, I have been thinking a lot about if it was selfish/okay for Gilda to change Julius to a vampire. I understand and agree in the sense that Julius was alone like Gilda, and she thought it would be a good idea because she is lonely and wants a family. However, bringing Julius into that world is a big change for him and I think the adjustment is going to be very tough. I think Gilda was being selfish because of this reason, and that this entire process and decision should have been more thought out.

On the other hand, I give Gilda credit because her intentions were good, wanting to give Julius a new life. This way each of them will have someone there and they can be a family. I believe if Gilda can stay with Julius and not leave once she's bored than this will end up being a good thing. I have not read the next chapter yet, but i predict that Julius will still be in Gilda's life.

Blog Post #3

As we progressed through The Gilda Stories, this is where, as they say, the plot thickens. Chapter 5 follows Gilda's time in 1950's Boston. It is here she is running a hair salon. This is likely so she could possibly meet someone to get close to and potentially turn into a vampire. However, she still longs for Bird, who left her a long time ago at this point in the story. At the salon, she learns about this young girl, Toya, who is being terrorized by her pimp, Fox. In the midst of all this, Bird comes back. Upon her return, the two share an intimate moment that is a symbol of them forming an eternal bond. Or, that at least seems to be the point of this particular sexual scene in which they exchange blood. Then, a fire at the salon sends Bird and Gilda to the scene, where Fox is as well. This is where Gilda realizes Fox is also a vampire. At the end of the chapter, Bird and Gilda wage an epic battle against Fox. When they finally get Fox in a vulnerable position, Gilda hesitates because she does not want to kill again. Even saying, "I'm sorry" before ripping out Fox's heart. The end of this chapter once again reveals that Gilda is more than a merciless killing machine. The audience is reminded again that she part human.

Chapter 6 finds Gilda living in New York City about 20 years later. She is working at a theater off Broadway. She has a new friend, his name is Julius. Julius and Gilda are very close, and both seem to have some sort of crush on each other. Gilda gets the idea that she wants to turn him into a vampire. This is once again a representation of that human element Gomez includes so the reader can relate to Gilda. When she commits to making Julius part of her new family, there is another very sexual scene between her and Julius. This once again implies that perhaps physical intimacy is important to the transformation of human to vampire and that it forms that eternal bond that Gilda and Bird share. So, chapters 5 and 6 continue that human element the Gomez instills into her main character . They also give the reader more insight about what the process of becoming a vampire is like, as well as the "alternate" family that Gilda has.

Post #3

When most people think of the term "family" they think of individuals such as a mother, father, and siblings. Gomez's definition of a family is slightly different than this common view. Although the relationships between the characters could technically be described as a mother to child, or bother to sister relationship, this is not how the relationships between them truly are. "Family" in The Gilda Stories is less of a traditional family and more of a kind of support group.

While Bird could technically be considered as Gilda's mother, since she is the one who gave Gilda her life as a vampire, her relationship is more like that of a lover, than of a mother. The scene between Gilda and Bird on page 140 was more intimate than one would expect from a mother/child relationship. Gomez's sense of "family" in this novel reaches a deeper meaning. Rather than following the 'rules' of the traditional sense of family, the characters in The Gilda Stories have no boundaries that they must heed. The "family" described in this novel is more like a group of individuals who are there for eachother when one needs help or companionship.

Chelsa Wlodarczyk. Post #3

Ashlyn Zgoda Post #3

In this past weeks readings we see Gilda searching for people who she can consider family. At first she still does not know where Bird is and is upset by this. With Aurelia Gilda sees the potential to start a new family. At one point she gets close to this but she realizes that Aurelia has her own future and goals to accomplish. She didn't want to take this from her and realized it would be a selfish move to do so because it would just be out of her need for companionship.

When Bird comes back Gilda is hesitant. She asks her is she still blames her for the first Gilda's death. Even though Bird says she does not anymore, there is still that haunting past behind them that makes their relationship not the same anymore. Gilda still needs companionship. So eventually she turns Julius. In class we discussed whether this was a selfish move. I believe that she was definitely making a selfish decision because her need for companionship has clouded her judgement. Yet there is no way to know if life as a vampire would actually be beneficial for Julius. He himself was also alone in life, so he does also gain companionship. Though we do not know what his future would have been if he had remained human. So with knowing this we cannot truly asses if Gilda's selfishness effected Julius in a negative or positive manner.

Bobby S. Post 3

During the past week we focused primarily on developing our close reading skills by choosing passages to interpret for deeper meaning. I felt that this was a great method to help the class better understand Gilda's character and the novel as a whole. For example, in the early chapters of the novel Gilda seems mysterious and misunderstood. In instances such as the passage on page 114 Gilda seems innocent; she simple defends herself from an inevitable attack which leads to the death of one man. As the novel progresses however, the readers attitude towards her may change.

One of the first signs of Gilda's "bad" side is seen when she kills one of the men who tried to attack her. The murder seemed very vicious and brutal when she could have killed him in a much more simple manner (although the adrenaline of the moment may have been the cause of this). Some of her selfishness is also seen once she decides to turn Julius into a vampire. There seemed to be no motive behind this, besides the fact that it's just what she wanted to do at the time. As each chapter progresses, it seems that we as readers see a different side of Gilda.

Laura Giunta Post 3

In chapter five, when Gilda decides to turn Julius into a vampire I believe that it was an act of selfishness. Yes, she does like him but that does not mean he should be turned into a vampire. It also is not fair that in the process of turning a human Gilda cannot ask them if they want to or not, they must decide after they realize what is going on. I find it creepy that she goes into Julius's apartment while he is sleeping. I know that is how vampires are, but its strange. Julius may like Gilda, but he might not like knowing she can come into his apartment unannounced at any time.

I feel as though Gilda thinks she can do whatever she wants. Her decision about Julius was too rushed. Even afterward she told Bird she has brought them a brother, which reinstates that fact that all Gilda wants is a family. Then she says how he won't leave her side unlike Bird, maybe she is trying to make a point that he will be a better lover to her. Also just because she has brought a new vampire into the world does not make up for the humans she has killed. If anything she has killed another, Julius is now neither dead nor living.

Jaime Wallace Post #3

This weeks passages we discussed in class were very interesting. In chapter three, one of the passages we discussed was on page 114. Just a quick recap, Gilda as forced to kill a human. She was very upset when she killed the human but on the other hand she was also forced to do so because she was being attacked. I believe that this was part of her vampire instinct. She was being attacked so because of her supernatural strengh she was a ble to kill the man without even thinking. After the fact she was upset because she didn't really want to kill him but to save herself she had to.

Another passage we talked about in class was in chapter four. I though the passage we read was very disturbing. It was mostly about relations between Gilda and Bird. I thought that the way Gomez described this part was very graphic and I personally did not like it very much. I know that Bird and Gilda were away from each other for a very long time but I did not see the point in this part. I feel as if Gilda and Bird are in love. The class discussed that the things they did in this part of the chapter were not what normal friends to with each other so there has to be something more between them.

Jaime Wallace, Post #3

Hannah Post #3

From the beginning we have seen Gilda grow and change from the Girl to the vampire Gilda. Thus far in the book we have seen Gilda acting in different ways. At times we saw her feeling guilty for taking blood from someone so she would in return help them. We also saw her kill a man through anger but, when looking at this aspect we see her refacing her slave master that she had to kill at the beginning of the novel. This makes us look at Gilda as a woman who is trying to live her life as a vampire without destroying others lives yet, she is confused and unable to figure out how to fulfill her blood cravings without killing people.

In chapter 5 Gilda is faced with making the choice of turning Julius into a vampire or not. She ends up deciding to turn him into a vampire and I think to an extent she is being selfish but I also think she is doing it because she cares for him. The selfish aspect of it is because we see a part of Gilda wanting someone to replace Bird in her life and Julius can be there for her like Bird was. I believe she made the right choice in turning Julius into a vampire because he is alone also and he wants a better life and by Gilda turning him into a vampire they can now happily be together. Gomez states, "They would be each other's family now." By giving Julius a new life does not make up for the times when Gilda has killed people because she has destroyed people's lives and just because she is trying to help one person be happy does not mean she can forget about all the bad that she has done.

Molly Rutter, Post #3

Family typically can be defined as a social unit of persons closely related by blood. In this respect, Gomez’s idea of a vampire family is the same. Being that Bird and the first Gilda were the ones to change her, they, along with the rest of the Sorel family, became the blood family of Gilda.

However, it is the family relationships in The Gilda Stories that make the idea of family much different. There are multiple moments where Gomez describes Bird and Gilda’s relationship as a mother to child one. However, when one would not normally think this nourishing relationship would go to the extent that it does. In chapter four, we see that Gilda and Bird share a much more sensual bond. Gomez writes, “To an outsider, the sight may have been one of horror” (140), because to us humans, this relationship goes beyond our common understanding of family. I feel that Gomez intentionally does this to force the viewer to think outside the norm, and to demonstrate how much more connected a vampire family is compared to a human one.

Nadia Post 3

I think the next two chapters weren't to disappointning this time. Now, I don't know if Gomez liked Anne Rice, however I think its a compliment to say that her book is starting to seem like a Rice novel. Different by far, yet the feel of an Anne Rice book. The whole scene with the blood sharing , as disttrubing as it was, when I had reflected on it, reminded me of an Anne Rice novel when it comes to the partner affectionate sense. It was something that made me realise that in a sense Gomez would need to have written a scene like that to make the book an authentic vampire novel without recreated a Dracula scene. In another feel, it was still distubring. Still looking back at that scene I feel like i violated a personal experiance. It might be a fiction novel seeing as vampires aren't real (or so we think jk!) yet its still something that if someone walked into a scene like that you feel distrubed, and yet you feel like your stealing someones private moment. And as distubing as it is, its hard to deal with reading something and not feeling that emotional pull within the chapter. It was interesting though that it was placed there, If I recall it correctly it is at least like a normal lifetime of spereation, yet it was that simple second of knowing Bird was back which made that scene more special within Gilda's life.
In Anne Rice the scenes of romnace are similar, it feels like an invasion but with Rice it is like someone feels as if they were invited. Not just running into a crazed scene. With Gomez, she sets the scene up as you are walking into this, there is no warning no heads up. Like yes, you walk into ut but at the same time the beignning of that scene was like welcoming. But, when we did that critcal reading it wasnt into that beignning scene it was a jump right in.. However, with Rice, within those scenes, I felt invited into the roamce of the scene. Like I  was invited and any part would be inviting. Yet its kind of unfair to compare the two authors because there "love" scenes are different. I guess.

In chapter 5 of The Gilda Stories, Gilda meets a new friend Julius who seems interested in her but at first she does not feel the same. Gilda then does seem to begin to have feelings for him in some way seeing as she ended up changing him into a vampire. I think that by Gilda doing this it was for selfish reasons, she did it so she could have someone to be with and bond with. If Bird had not left again would she have been as eager to change Julius into a vampire? I don't think so, she does not like to kill people, and although Julius is still around or "alive" it is not like a normal person. Also, when Gilda is explaining to Julius about what is going to happen, she seems to over-romanticize it and make it seem better than it is. She is giving a biased point of view in order to ensure Julius will want to be changed.

I think that Gilda made the wrong choice because it was a choice she made to benefit herself. Yes, Julius was alone and did not have family etc. but who says he wouldn't have found someone to love or found friends that turned into his family. Just like he met Gilda so easily he could have met someone else, but Gilda ruined that and made it so he could never have a real relationship with people outside the "vampire family." This is a selfish act. This in no way makes up for Gilda killing the others, to me it doesn't even relate.

Although Gilda does explain to Julius what he is getting into, I don't think the characters can fully understand what it is they are getting themselves into until it is too late. Just because Gilda wanted to be changed does not mean everyone else who may be lonely wants to.

Cassidy Weeks Post 3

Blog Prompts (The Gilda Stories)

A few prompts for this week:

1) How is "family" defined within The Gilda Stories? How do the types of families Gomez represents differ from traditional ideas of "family"? What is Gomez's purpose in showing us alternative forms of family via her vampire characters? Use specific examples from the chapters this week to support your opinion.

2) We know that Gilda is an outcast first because she is a vampire, and second because she is a black vampire--a rarity within the world of the novel and within vampire fiction in general. Do Gilda and her fellow vampires function as metaphors for individuals that can be viewed as outcasts in real life (women, people of color, gays and lesbians, the disabled, etc.)? If so, how? In asking her readers to consider the lives of her vampire characters is Gomez's purpose to make us more tolerant of those who are "different"? Use specific examples from the chapters this week to support your opinion.

3) Revisit our discussion of Gilda and Julius. Does she turn him into a vampire for selfish reasons or out of concern and love? Does she make the right choice in doing so? Does giving Julius a new life in some way make up for the times when Gilda has had to kill? Use specific examples from Chapter 5 to support your opinions.

Nasya Post 3

This week's readings have become increasingly strange. Although strange I feel the chapters are helping the reader develop more or better opinions on the characters and the events that occur. In chapter 3 when the men on horseback approached Gilda we read that Gilda killed one of the men and almost killed the other. In class the topic of whether Gilda acted on instinct or not was discussed. I believed that it was based on instinct 1. because she was human before she became a vampire and self defense was how she responded (since of of the men grabbed her by the hair) 2. because she's been in this predicament before and naturally she would respond as before. From this scene though we see that Gilda isn't what we could consider "bad" or "evil" because after the run-in with the men she was "sickened by her anger." She doesn't want killing to become something pleasurable or a common day thing as it had been with Eleanor. Although it could be argued that she knew she was stronger than the men because of her super human strength and took advantage of the situation; I believe that she doesn't abuse that power-- she's not out seeking humans to overpower.

In chapters 4 and 5 we've read some "racy" scenes which sparked discussion in class. In chapter 4 we read a scene between Gilda and Bird in which they drank each others blood. The scene however was described more as a sexual encounter which in class the idea was thrown out there that drinking blood from one another was their sex as opposed to "human sex." I agree with that idea because the vampires don't need each others blood to survive they drink the blood of humans therefore there isn't a necessity but it's rather just a desirable act. At the same time the scene is described as a mother-child encounter. For example, Gilda "felt the love almost as motherly affection, yet there was more" (pg 139). The encounter was also described as a birth, again as a mother and child would have. The scene also is viewed as a physical bond between Gilda and Bird. The two women were already bonded together emotionally but this physical interaction was "cementing their family bond" (pg 139). In chapter 5 when Gilda was going to make Julius into a vampire there's a "sexual" encounter between the two of them as well. She fulfills the dream he was having of Gilda she cuts him and drinks his blood. This isn't to be confused with the need for blood, in this case it was to make him into a vampire. Even so this blood drinking scene was described sensually as well. Then again, a mother-child reference was made: the way Gilda was standing over Julius "looking down at him" as a mother would do "it was easy to see what a child he was" (pg 178). Strange as it is I feel that what seems strange to us, as a reader, as a human is just because we're on the outside looking in to what would be considered a normal life for vampires.

Alex Post 2

The Gilda Stories is a very interesting novel. The first chapter helps set up the basis of the story and introduces the audience to the “old” Gilda and the “new” Gilda. The other purpose that the first chapter serves is to show the audience the difference between Gilda and the stereotypical image of a vampire. A human element is introduced to the vampire persona, or to Gilda’s persona at the very least. Gilda does not mindlessly kill her victims; rather she accesses their thoughts and tries to give them something back. For example, while she is taking blood from one man, she makes him have a wonderful dream so he is completely clueless at to what is going on. She also makes sure he is left enough blood to live. Gilda breaks the stereotype that vampires are mindless killing machines driven only by their blood lust.
The second chapter also explores the same idea that Gilda is not just a mindless monster. The second chapter actually sparked a pretty lively class debate about whether or not Gilda is “good” or “bad.” Some thought she can never be good because of what she has to do to survive. One cannot be good and do harm to others. Some other students thought that she is neither good nor bad. She tries to give back to her victims but because of her nature she can never be truly good unless she takes her own life to put an end to the blood sucking. I personally look at it as her handling her situation the best way she possibly can. It’s not her choice to be a vampire. She did not choose this life, it chose her. Therefore, she tries to give back when she takes a victim’s blood. That, I think, is the best she can do. So, technically speaking she is “good,” in a sense.

Alex Beilman; Blog post #2

Nadia Post 2

Within Gilda Stories, I have to admit, I was impressed with teh second chapter as I was with teh first. I believe that within te first chapter I was kliking the story. It was like I was reading an Anne Rice story , it was captivating, and was easy to follow as that chapter went on. Within the second chapter however, there was so much happening that it made the reading more challenging in the aspect that I had to try to actually read it to understand it. It was a werid thing. However, I think that visual within the reading the second chapter gave me more inspight to the lives of vampires.
I think that the second chapter gave us more of a meanig to the true Gilda stories while the first chapter was more to do with the intoduction of how things came to be. Who these characters that will be with us throughtout the story, throughtout the tale. I feel like as I keep reading the hazzy memories of the life she used to live will be there and I also think that as we keep reading, the story will start to sort itself out and become more like the first chapter.
The first chapter was like the opening that people will keep comparing the story back to.

Nadia Abdallah Post 2