Please respond to the post below by 4 p.m., Sunday, March 4.
How does Walter Bernstein convey his feelings about Frankie's? Pick an image or phrase or device that you believe helps him get across to readers what he wants them to think about the bar. What is the dominant sense of the place Bernstein wants us to have? How does the technique or phrase (or whatever) you picked reflect that? Caveat: Each of you should pick something no one else has.
20 comments:
Frankie's is an interesting place. I had to reread Bernstein's piece of few times and I'm still not even sure if I understand the illegality a place like Frankie's holds.
But I think I know, if it comes in the form of the girls working at Frankie's also being prostitutes. While it is nodded to a few places in the writing, such as the time where an army officer and a girl leave for ten minutes and then return, the strongest sense of what Frankie's is, is the first line. And I could only come to this decision after reading it several times. The line reads, "The Principle Industry of the small town of Phenix City, Alabama, is sex, and its customer is the Army."
For me, this line reminded me of all the war movies and books I've read about how lonely servicemen get and what they do to fix that (Full Metal Jacket, Jarhead, etc...).
I think Bernstein wants to remind the audience that there are industries that profit from war, not only weapons companies, but also small-town prostitution rings. And even though society frowns upon this institution, it is left alone to thrive. The bar owner didn't even seem worried when the agents came into to check that it was not breaking laws, and the M.P's who called their division back clearly know what's going on but fail to intercept. Frankie's is a scapegoat. Where bad things can go on because society cannot appear utopian without the dystopian elements being swept under a carpet.
After reading Bernstein’s story, I got the impression that Frankie’s was a smoky, poorly lit bar where the army men go to have a little bit of fun and to escape. I think that one of the things Bernstein wanted the reader to pick up was that it seems like these girls are desperate for money and that they are overworked. He writes that some of these girls are only sixteen or seventeen, making it seem like they would do anything. When he asked one of the girls if she liked working at Frankie’s, on the bottom of page 107 and onto the top of 108, she said that she makes more money there and she is more on her feet than at the other place she used to work, but she seems to like it better at Frankie’s. The girl continues to say that she is considered a “food handler” from the outside. At the end of that paragraph Bernstein writes, “and when the lure of easy money and girls will bring thirty thousand paying customers to a town every night, the merchants who own the town are likely to consider health a peacetime luxury.” This shows that the owner of Frankie’s, and the owners of other places like it, will take advantage of the soldier’s loneliness and take advantage of the girls, both of whom seem to be desperate in different ways.
First, I loved all the descriptions Bernstein used throughout the piece. The specific details and imagery makes the reader feel as if they are seeing what the narrator is. I imagined Frankie's a run-down building, far away from the hustle and bustle of the town center up a winding dirt road. Soldiers relied on it as a place as a form of entertainment and release. On page 105, it reads "The one square room that comprised the cafe was ugly and low-ceilinged. Now it was packed with soldiers." I could picture the atmosphere in my head. I can imagine the soldiers piling up at each table, staring at the girls that passed by. "They were usually gone about ten minutes, and then they would return, the solider grinning or shame-faced or defiant; and the girl would continue to walk around or perhaps sit at a table and have a Coca-Cola." This passage in the essay was so casually written, showing how casual an act like that was. Its sad to think about how young the girls are--merely seventeen years old. Frankie's seems to have an unspoken set of rules that everyone follows because it's all they're used to, whether it is right or wrong.
Bernstein makes great use of imagery through his piece, enabling the reader to feel as if they were at Frankie’s.
To begin, Bernstein tells the reader how to get to the distant, hole-in-the-wall type bar. He develops each character that the soldiers talk to as well. However, the image that describes the bar the best is towards the end -- the scene where State Liquor Control comes in to the bar.
This scene describes the feelings Bernstein has towards the bar the best for a myriad of reasons. Throughout the story he described Frankie’s as a small, town bar that is in no way high class. Having the state take away a bar’s liquor because they do not have a liquor license emphasizes that Frankie’s is not a well-to-do bar. In addition, Bernstein writes, “except for the absence of beer nothing seemed changed.” This also depicts the bar perfectly -- throughout the piece Bernstein described the good time that people were having. The fact that they could still have a good time at the bar without beer stresses that point as well.
I think the description of Frankie (top of page 109) really conveys the overall pathetic sense that the bar has. It says, “Her mouth opened and closed in a short smile, showing bad teeth. She had a huge matronly front and her close bitten nails were painted blood-red. She looked like a suburban mah jong player who played for keeps.” She just reminds me of a “mama” archetype to a brigade of baby prostitutes in a backwoods whorehouse who sells beer to the horny soldiers. It seems like the point Bernstein’s trying to make is that Frankie’s is the place that high standards and expectations go to die. She may be trying to be matronly (or something along those lines) but can’t quite get there. The soldiers may be trying to be honorable and upstanding, except for the ten minutes they slip away with the girls who work the bar. The whole mental image I get is a cross between hillbilly college bar, back alley and church basement AA meeting: dismal and exhausting all wrapped up together for a not-so-fun outing. If that is in fact what Bernstein was trying to convey, I’d say he did a spot on job.
I feel that the author conveys his feelings of Frankie's as a dirty, old,dive bar. A lot of his details and descriptions of this place gives the reader an image of dirty atmosphere and environment with disgusting surroundings. Bernstein mentions the bouncer Hancock as a very fat man in civilian clothes who wore an old windbreaker, dirty pair of pants, and a slouch hat. The author explains the structure of the bar by saying "The one square room that comprised the cafe was ugly and low-ceilinged. Now it was packed with soldiers." He also describes some of the soldiers playing dirty in their dice games. The soldiers are described as playing with crooked dice and cheating to win as much money as they can. Frankie's is also portrayed as an illegal establishment without a beer serving license. When the "State Liquor Control boys" come they get rid of the beer as soon as possible to avoid confrontation and violations. Towards the end of this piece he says "the air was getting more and more foul." Bernstein's vivid description and details of Frankie's structure,ethics, policies, crowd,and staff all convey an image of a dirty worn out bar.
It’s interesting to note the back story of Walter Bernstein who was 22 and a recent college graduate when he wrote this piece. That’s exactly where I’m going to be in May, and it’s relevant and ideal to read about someone like this to see where their writing abilities stand. Bernstein’s style of writing changed because of the war, and I think today, writing is undergoing another transformation to relate to an increasingly online and plugged in world.
The whole story, Bernstein seemed lost. He was searching for things to do, like wandering over to the slots or sparking a conversation with the bouncer. The image that stuck was “I searched for someone I knew, but all the faces were strange in the familiar way most soldiers have to one another.” Nobody really knew anyone, as if this place were a funhouse full of smoke and trick mirrors; the smoke being referenced several times, as heavy as lead. Bernstein had to pry into the lives of Mary the prostitute and Hancock the bouncer, but even after that I didn’t really get a sense of who they were except the details of who they represent at Frankie’s. I don’t think it’s appropriate to even try and build familiarity at a whorehouse when most people just go there for one purpose.
Bernstein then talks about this stench towards the end of the passage. It grows fouler at the same time he shakes his head ‘no’ to a prostitute. Since Bernstein came there for a purpose other than sex, this smell was pushing him out. Whorehouses are specialized, and this smoky atmosphere adds to the mystery of these army men, the women who work there and the others known simply as civilians.
The second to last paragraph on page 107 in particular depicts Bernstein's feelings of Frankie's. It starts by saying, "We stood for a while without talking. The room was still packed tight. Frankie's red head shone through the smoke. The girls still walked around, bored and weary, and the juke box still screamed 'You Are My Sunshine.'" This excerpt stuck out to me because of the cinematic quality. As we have been discussing in previous classes, the first few sentences are short, yet descriptive. Every clause is a new sight, as if with every blink or turn of his head, Bernstein notices something new and writes it as its own idea. I could picture a camera panning the room, slowing as it got to Frankie, and hearing "You Are My Sunshine" on repeat as the smoke clouded the viewer's vision.
This short paragraph really portrays the overall essence and vibe of Frankie's. It reminded me of a run-down bar in my hometown, always filled with old locals looking to relax, converse, and escape reality, even if it is only temporary. These thousands of soldiers faced dramatic and overwhelming scenes on a daily basis while at war, yet when they arrive at Frankie's, there is no sense of that. Instead, they are clearly enjoying the simplicites of life with cold beer and gambling tables. Bernstein often takes note of the raunchy smell and clouded air filled with smoke, yet none of the other people in the place seem to care. Rather, "the soldiers stood in little knots or sat back at the tables, eyeing the girls," as it states in the rest of the paragraph.
Bernstein regards Frankie's as a place with little to no rules, where grown men can hit on young girls, beer is dished out illegally, and an old limping man has earned enough respect to keep the place under control. The atmosphere and crowd of the place outweighs the numerous illegal activities and poor aspects of Frankie's.
Towards the end of the story, and subsequently towards the end of the night, Bernstein moves from making visual observations in an objective, removed, matter-of-fact way to being subjectively submerged in the scene, unavailable to escape the sound and smells of an unsavory establishment. When you first arrive someplace you have never been before, your feelings are going to be different than by the time you leave, so I felt that Bernstein’s opinion of the place, (that it was a seedy, sleazy, legal enigma) was really solidified until he had been there for a while.
The repetition of a clause about sound and smell towards the last few pages of Juke Joint to me best represents the author’s feelings about Frankie’s because the title is referring to the jukebox, which was being used symbolically to project underlying messages through the song titles. When Bernstein first arrived, he would describe something he saw, followed by the song title, which was pleasant at first:
(bottom paragraph, pg. 105) “They were drinking rye from a bottle and watching the girls. The juke box was playing “You Are My Sunshine.”
The song titles eventually changed to projecting a sad truth about the fact that many soldiers wouldn’t be returning. By saying the air quality was diminishing, I think he was saying the place kept being seedier.
(bottom paragraph, pg. 109) “Hancock went off in response to another girl’s call and I walked around trying to find some fresh air. The juke box was playing “Good-by, Dear, I’ll be back in a Year” and some soldiers stood around the machine giving each lyric a Bronx cheer.”
(middle paragraph, pg. 110) “A girl came up, but I shook my head and she continued on around the room. There was a bad smell in this part of the room, so I moved away. The juke box was shrieking, We’ll Have to Slap the Dirty Jap.”
(bottom paragraph, pg. 110) “The air was getting more and more foul…As I left the room a soldier was being sick in a corner. The juke box was screaming “Good-by, Mama, I’m off to Yokohama.”
Bernstein uses certain images and phrases to convey his feelings about Frankie's, the bar/cathouse. He mentions a couple times that the bar is smoke-filled and hot. The way he describes the setting with smoke, "there were no windows in the little room and the smoke made the air like lead..(107)." One can imagine the musty smell of cigarettes and how it can contribute to the dinginess of a setting. The little details of imagery he uses really conveys the setting. "Dirty tables dotting, the young girls in cheap housedresses," Bernstein details a couple times the mentioning of tired feet, boots and shoes, the soldiers who frequent the bar often wear boots, the girls who work there are tired on their feet and the bouncer who wore slippers and had bandages on his foot. These details show that the bar is a place where there is both work, and those trying to relax. What stood out to me the most was when Bernstein was searching for a familiar face. Here he was wandering around this smoke-filled bar, trying to strike conversation ex. the bouncer, and Mary, one of the girls. Instead this place, where people come specifically for the girls, is an odd place to find familiarity, but humans are always searching for something that is of a familiar sense. Towards the end of the story he again mentions the stink of cigarette smoke and how the stench in there got stronger and unbearable.
I think the feeling that Bernstein wanted to draw from the reader about Frankie's is one that's supposed to be uncomfortably comfortable.
The only way I can explain this is from description of where Frankie's was located. Bernstein first describes the bar as a place off the beaten track. It's not a place well advertised but it's near main street somewhere. He then further compares the bar to "the other sagging houses that line the back streets of Phenix City" (105).
He contradicts this description of Frankie's by adding in his opening sentence as mentioned in the earlier posts. This place was common for the soldiers to go when duty wasn't calling. This theme runs throughout the piece while running alongside the decrepit descriptions that Bernstein adds.
It's the comfortable feeling sitting inside a cramped, sweaty, and run down bar that Bernstein I would argue calls somewhat a home. Each moment that he describes usually brings in another character. This adds further to the sense that this place is a home to many people.
While reading, I got the impression that Frankies was like the bar described in Billy Joel's Piano Man. A different array of people show up escape from reality, but instead of a piano, a jukebox is playing in the background. I love how Berstein puts of different song to describe the reactions of the soldiers and girls at Frankies. For example on pg 108, the song was "I'm Walking the Floor Over You", and the song causes a fight between Mary, one of the girls at Frankies and a soldier. On page 110, the volume of the jukebox is a direct reflection of how packed or how quiet the bar is. It said that when the jukebox grew louder it got so packed and the customers were pushing and shoving. When everything was back to normal, there is no mention of the Jukebox. It is known that it is still playing, but not as implied. My favorite scene is in the end, when the soldiers are leaving, the song is " Good-by, Mama, I'm Off to Yokohama." The vibe I got from this scene was that Berstein wrote everything in slow motion. You can tell that the solidiers were a bit reluctant to leave. They leave the bar not knowing where they will end up.
I think it's plainly obvious after reading the descriptions of Frankie's that the place is certainly a bar pf broken dreams. Old, dirty, dimly lit and filled with people with stories one might hear in Billy Joel's “Piano Man.” Maybe a little more run-down than that, even.
The beginning’s of the descriptions paint a pretty vivid picture of what Bernstein is trying to convey. The sentence “they sat on and around the dirty tables that dotted the rest of the room and spilled into the cubicle that had once been the kitchen, but ow held three slot machines and a dice table,” followed by the conclusion that underage girls were littered throughout the room and were “walking away” with soldiers, makes a pretty clear image of a run-down and under-the-table kind of bar.
I think that the constant descriptions of shady practices and environment is pretty obviously intended to give us the impression of the bar. However, the constant mention of Frankie's red features also gave her the aura of being a dominant figure, such as a devil-like figure, leading her four-walled hellish bar of debauchery.
Ha! Bianca and I seemed to have similar views on the "Piano Man" vibe!
I think the last scene, the aftermath of when the soldiers are called out, encapsulates Berstein’s feelings about Frankie’s. He is more of an observer than a partaker. Throughout the story he is meandering about the café watching scenes that starred others. This last scene is especially illustrative of his feelings, I think, because of how he interacts with the girl as well as what details from the scene he chooses to describe. As for his interaction with the girl, there is none. She approaches him and he sends her away. To me this shows how he feels removed from the scene and that, although he does not find the situation to be below him, it is not his typical weekend evening. Then he describes how, after the M.P.’s leave and he is on his way out, he sees a soldier being sick in a corner. This shows how Berstein feels that Frankie’s is a crude distraction for men who are being sent to war and, presumably, their deaths. At the very least, he sees it as a screaming diversion for men who are away from their homes and loved ones.
I see Frankie's as a sweaty, dusty, run down place that smells how a room with minimal air flowing through it would smell occupied with drunk people and sex.
On page 107, Bernstein writes "the crowd surged back against the bar as soon as they left and the girls served up Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper." This was after the State Liquor Control boys had removed the cases of beer from Frankie's. This showed that at a place like Frankie's people were still going to enjoy themselves.
It's interesting, but not surprising to know that Walter Bernstein became a successful Hollywood screenwriter. Bernstein's piece "Juke Joint" reminds me of all the movies I've watched with people in Juke Joints or bars, like the "Color Purple" or "Men of Honor" --particularly "Men of Honor" because the men in that movie were navy divers and the men in Bernstein's piece are in the army.
Bernstein does tell what he sees with sentences like "there were about fifteen girls in the room," or "they were drinking rye from a bottle and watching the girls," but Bernstein's use of imagery is what makes this story.
The feeling I got from reading this piece was of the typical scenery of places like Frankie's, where army men get to have fun by indulging in alcohol and sex. It's normal that army men would spend time in places like that. The only difference I got from this piece was that there seemed to be this constant fear that something would go wrong. At first I was thinking that it was because of the under age girls, but we came to find out that Frankie was selling beer without a license.
Bernstein does a phenomenal job of characterizing Frankie's throughout Juke Joint. For instance, how a girl will casually sit down and have a coke after presumeably prostituting herself truly shows how intertwined sex is with the establishment, and further instills the statement that the "principle industry" is indeed sex.
The descriptions of the girls also heavily impacts the tone of the piece. A line that struck me in particular was that "They were all dressed very carefully, with their insignia shining, but most of them looked as if they had gotten into the wrong place." This line evoked images of lost little girls playing dress up. I think it did a lot to portray the grim situation that the girls were living in.
The fact that no one is phased by the alcohol being taken away truly cements the intentions of everyone in Frankie's. It is obvious that no one has come to this place for any reason other than sex, and I found the lack of reaction to be perhaps the most disturbing part of all.
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