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"The Vanishing Half", by Brit Bennett is about two twins who one day disappeared after Mallard's Founder's Day dance at the age of sixteen. The twins leave their mother and after a while of being all alone, Stella (one of the twins), leaves Desiree (the other twin). Right now, in the book, fourteen years has passed since the two Vignes twins had disappeared. Suddenly, Desiree, returns back to Mallard with her daughter, Jude.

My evaluation on the story so far is that it is getting interesting. With Desiree returning back to her hometown with her unexpected daughter Jude, the twins' mother assume that Desiree ran away because she was rebellious. But this also makes me wonder what happened to Stella? Where was she during all this and why did Stella abandon Desiree all these years?

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In the novel "The Vanishing Half" what looks like two identical twins growing up in a small town called Mallard, have grown to hate their home town and eventually abandon their mother in her most desperate time of need, out of selfishness. Stella and Desiree escape Mallard to forge a new life of their own. To Desiree's dismay Stella had other plans in getting away from their child hood and took on a path to be a white woman. After this Desiree was left to create a life of her own and took on the action of doing so by marrying a "Dark man" which was disgraceful to her home town.

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In the novel The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett she talks about two 16 year old twin sisters named Stella and Desiree growing up in a small southern black community until one day they run away. Years later they are both living very different lives and they have different identities but their daughters meet and their story lines intersect. From what I've read so far the author is talking about Desiree and her daughter. My evaluation so far is that right now I'm getting to know the characters and it's going to get interesting soon.

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So far from what I've read, it's sharing both of the sisters' stories and why their disappearance was full of meaning. It's also talking about Desiree and how she liked a man from Mallard because of how different he was. The main conflict so far is that Stella left and nobody has heard from her since.

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Ethan Rosborough                  2/22/22

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Ethan Rosborough                  2/22/22

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It is often said that "Twins are different flowers from the same garden," but "The Vanishing Half", by Brit Bennett says otherwise. After Desiree was left behind by her twin sister,(Stella), Desiree leaves her abusive husband with her daughter (Jude) and starts new life in her home town Mallard. At first, her mother scoffed at her sudden appearance in mallard with a dark-skinned baby like Jude. In this sense, Desiree finally got a taste of what her mother had been warning her about. (Marrying a Dark man) Nevertheless, Adele Vignes (Desiree's mother) accepts her Daughter and her grandchild to live with her. Later on in the plot, Desiree reunites with her childhood friend to whom she has taken a liking, and eventually, they embark on an intimate relationship that rebukes marriage but welcomes the love Early,(the childhood mystery boy)has to offer her. Together, Early and Desiree raise Jude the best they can, although times were hard for Jude because of her dark skin color, Jude grows up to get accepted into UCLA as a track star recruit. At UCLA Jude finds a sense of bliss in meeting a tanned man at a costume party. Reese soon becomes the centerpiece of happiness for Jude as they've had many intimate experiences, drama moments, and overall caring moments for one another. Reese helps Jude feel better about her skin color in which he replaces the word Black or dark with beautiful, and Stella comforts Reese in his tragic backstory and works a job to afford surgery for Reese's chest.

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From what I've read so far, Desiree returns to Mallard with her daughter Jude and they live a peaceful and quiet life in the town. Then Jude would grow up and head off to UCLA as a track star recruit and meet Reese in the process. The main conflict would be Stella's unknown whereabouts and how nobody still doesn't know where she is.

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In Brit Bennett's "The Vanishing Half", Jude meets Reese at a costume party. She and him start to develop an intimate relationship. The two grow close and once learning about Reese's needed money for his surgery, Jude, wanting to help, goes and works a job to help with the money. Stella is then introduced as she's seen living a completely different life compared to Desiree's. Stella had married a white man and had a daughter named Kennedy. Stella had turned a new life, living now as a white woman and completely embracing her new life. The Walker family was a new family that had recently moved into the neighborhood as Stella makes friends with Loretta.

A time where Stella can be seen contradicting herself when she is seen talking to Loretta and becoming friends with the woman. She felt as if she and Loretta were close due to their similarities. However, this takes a turn when Stella decided not to invite Loretta to a Christmas party. Yet when called out by Cathy as to why Stella didn't invite her best friend Loretta, Stella denies that she and Loretta had such a relationship, despite Stella enjoying talking and having fun with Loretta when they are alone.

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Stella Vignes as well as her twin (Desiree Vignes)grows up in a very small town called Mallard. Although their upbringing was in some way a good childhood she could never shake the thought of her Dad being murdered by a white man. As time passes and they are at the age of 17 Stella and her twin sister were called to drop out of high school and work alongside their mother who couldn't pay for their education anymore. With a sense of obligation but also a disappointment, Stella and her sister work alongside their mother to earn more money. This alone caused the twins to plot a plan to get away from their situation, they didn't like their current lifestyle and wanted to start a new life of their own. Unfortunately, this is where everything changes for Desiree and Stella. While they did find a new job to work in the city, Stella ended up abandoning her sister leaving her nothing but a note to read saying "sorry I've got to go my own way."  This event wounded Desiree and she eventually marries an abusive "Dark man," who essentially gave her no choice but to go back to her mom in Mallard with her daughter. On the other hand, Stella chooses to pursue the life of a white woman and finds a job as a secretary at a department store "Maison Blanche." Later on in the story, Stella makes another appearance, and this time she is married to a white man named blake and has a daughter called Kennedy. Stella is found in a community meeting addressing the problem of a Black man moving into her neighborhood and Stella (who is undoubtedly black but light enough to pass as a white woman) says "You must stop them, Percy... . If you don't there'll be more and then what? Enough is Enough!" Then the book describes her demeanor after saying those words as "Trembling." This is because she knows that she is black standing before whites in a meeting she's not even supposed to be at. On top of this fact, she pursues the nature in which she demeans a black person to fit in with white people. This action, unfortunately, works out in her favor and her neighbors agree with her statement. It's obvious that Stella only wants a comfortable life, and if that means abandoning her identity and her family then she would do it.

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The plot chronicles the lives of two twins named Stella and Desiree in Brit Bennett's novel "The Vanishing Half," and the author also introduces their children as their storylines unfold. We are shown each character's life from their point of view throughout the novel. We learn early on that Desiree was in an abusive relationship and that she intends to flee with her kid to her old neighborhood, which she had fled from previously. We finally get a glimpse of Stella and her daughter Kennedy's lives later in the novel. Stella has been passing herself off as white, even living in a white area and marrying a white man to have a white child.

Stella contradicts herself several times during the novel. One example is when Loretta is mentioned during a neighborhood gathering, and Stella denies all of the questions about Loretta, despite the fact that Loretta was her friend and the only one who was there for her when she needed it. Because she is concerned about what her neighbors will think of her, Stella decides to keep her friendship with Loretta hidden.

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In chapter 2 when Desiree was talking about meeting Early on her last summer in Mallard and how her mother didn't approve of Desiree choosing a boy from Mallard she describes how she started catching feelings for Early because of all the nice gestures he would do for her and how different he made her feel. He would bring her fruit and they would eat it together on her porch until one day her mom caught them and Desiree found out he had moved on to another farm. The song that I chose relates to this scene because it's a sad moment when Early left out of nowhere without telling Desiree and she was heartbroken because she didn't get to apologize to him for what her mother said. "Why do you leave me with watercolor eyes? Young love don't always last forever, wild horses can't keep us together. So what if you taste just like heaven." This lyric relates to this scene because when Early left Desiree she was really sad and they were very young and it showed how their love was young but it didn't last for various reasons. When the song says "Wild horses can't keep us together" it shows how they both had hope for their relationship but it wasn't able to last.

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Lana Del Rey - Watercolor Eyes, from “Euphoria” an HBO Original Series (Lyric Video)

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So far in Stella's lifestyle as a white woman, her days as a "stay-home mom" have been somewhat a fruitful experience as she gets to kick back with Loretta and take care of Kennedy(along with the other obligations of a stay home mom). Later on in this part of the story, Stella and Blake start to throw a Christmas party and made sure to exclude Loretta and her family from coming due to the neighborhood's opinion of blacks. At the party, Cath,(a neighbor) asks why Stella did not invite Loretta and her family over and Stella proclaimed that she and Stella were not close, nor friends. This action lead to the despising of the Walker family and they were soon driven out of the neighborhood. It is now established that Stella is heartless and indulges in whatever gives her the best benefits her. The story now shifts over to Jude who messes up in her catering job and gets fired on the spot. Having pursued a variety of jobs along with Reese, Barry invites Reese and Jude to a musical comedy where Jude runs into Kennedy while instantly recognizing her from the Beverly Hills party she worked.

-In Chapter Ten, Stella's mental state while watching the Walkers move out the neighborhood:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIYgsqhwXzM&list=RDexiyXAV-aVQ&index=4

-In this scene Stella essentially watches the Walkers move out as she imagines a scenario where she actually tells Loretta her secret.

-(A Horse with no name by America)
This song would be about the effect "the dessert" has on you and how the dessert has messed up your mind.

-Now that you've immersed yourself in the lifestyle regarding "The desert" the things you perceive as right and wrong all mush together forever confusing your identity.  A new sense of reality is born from dwelling in the desert with a different environment around you that will consume you if you don't adapt to its standards of living(Stella has to blend in with the White society or they will condemn Stella for being a fake white if they find out she is black). Loretta was essentially Stella's living water bed(or her escape from the dessert) but now that it is dead,(or Loretta is leaving) it feels good that Stella is out of this situation that would expose her true identity, now Stella can work on progressively adapting to the dessert (white Society).

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In "The Vanishing Half," by Brit Bennett, after the Christmas party, on Christmas morning Stella finds Kennedy and Cindy both crying out on the front lawn with Loretta in between them. Stella goes out and goes to tell Kennedy that she should share her toys with Cindy, however Loretta cuts Stella off by saying that Kennedy had said a slur to Cindy and that she should stay away from her. Three days later someone would throw a brick through the Walkers' window, however days later the Walkers' house would be hit twice more times and in March the Walkers move. Despite this, Stella does imagine to herself if she and Loretta were to truly talk, she'd believe that Loretta would tell her different things from what Stella would wish to hear. Things about how Stella chose that path and that it's her life.

LYRICS/SONG:
- In this scene of the Loretta telling Stella to never speak to her again, and for days later the Walkers would move out due to the dangerous things that would happen to their house. Stella would be seen imagining how things would have ended up if she were to tell Loretta everything about her.

- The song is about how Adele misses her mother, her friends, and how people would react to her differently now that she's famous.

- In Adele's "Million Years Ago," she says, "I know I'm not the only one, who regrets the things they've done." This connects to the novel as Stella can be seen regretting telling Kennedy that slur and for Loretta to cut ties with her. Then the song goes, "Sometimes I just feel it's only me who can't stand the reflection that they see." In here, Stella is seen imagining what Loretta would tell Stella if she were to explain everything to her. However, Loretta tells Stella that, that path that she chose was her choice. Stella would then contemplate on who she truly is as a person.