Emily B’s Reading Reflection: Conjure Women

        When we first began reading the Conjure Women I really did not care for it. I thought it was a long difficult read, and the story went off topic at various times. However once I was done reading it and we had broken down certain sections my opinion had changed. I think that John was just out of his normal area in life and refused to accept any other way or culture. Instead John only grows a tolerance of Julius and his stories, mainly for Annie’s sake. Annie I feel wanted something away from her everyday life that would free her in a way, and Julius’s stories were the perfect fit. I thought it was interesting that at one point in the book John was reading a book about philosophy and critical thinking. Yet he would be so closed minded to Julius stories that he wouldn’t believe that any of them could have a deeper meaning. Some of the stories such as the one involving the wolf can be looked at as a lesson of not being too arrogant and being careful who you trust. I think Julius made most of the stories up the day he told them, with a deeper meaning in mind then just having John and Annie believe the tale. However some of the tales were so powerful that it made Annie take down the kitchen that was built from a tree which was once a man. Julius never says that they had to believe, he would just give certain explanations or vote against certain decisions with a tale.  Overall my opinion on the story changed once we finished because there were several ideas and variations of why something was told in the story. The Conjure Women was about more than just the culture of the time, but how people thought and what they chose to believe as a lesson or a fantasy. I probably would have been more like John's character in the story however I wouldn’t just dismiss what Julius said, I would ask myself why he said what he did. Annie doesn’t really believe all the stories but she does like to hear them, as well as question them.