The Red Badge of Courage, A Psychological Perspective
By Matthew Cox
The Red Badge of Courage is Stephen Crane’s famous war classic. The protagonist is Henry Fleming, a young private in the Union’s 304th Regiment. After seeing his first battle, Fleming flees because he is scared. Later on, he feels guilty about abandoning his comrades. Henry later meets a dying soldier who is proud of the wounds that he gets. The trooper dies and this leaves Henry feeling guilty. Later on, Fleming witnesses his regiment retreating while fighting Confederate soldiers. He gets a head wound and recovers. This makes him braver and he fights
courageously. Later on, Henry becomes the flag bearer and leads the Union forces in battle. Stephen Crane writes the book as a psychological realist tale. He uses visual imagery and impressionist writing for emotional effect. The writer also probes the character’s feelings as the change in the book. The Red Badge of Courage shows how a young soldier goes from being a coward to a brave fighter.
Stephen Crane’s classic novel, the Red Badge of Courage, is set during the Civil War (Sparknotes). A Northern regiment rests along a riverbank for weeks. Jim Conklin, a soldier, tells a rumor that the troops will move soon. New recruit Henry Fleming in the 204 Regiment worries about his bravery. His fear is running from battle. Crane writes that young Fleming joins the army because he is fascinated by armed conflict. However, the recruit is disappointed because the army is waiting to engage the enemy.
When the Union army is ordered to march, they walk for several tiring days. Soon, they come to a battle field and hear the sound of battle. The Confederate forces fire from a strategic position. Henry caught in with his comrades and could not run even if he wants to. The Northern soldiers fire mechanically, like parts of a machine. Union troops defeat the Confederates. However, they become overconfident and camp on the battlefield. Henry lazily takes a nap. However, the Grays take the Blues by surprise with a counter attack. Henry panics and runs from the battle line. While escaping, Fleming tells himself that he does the right thing and that his regiment will not win. His fellow troops are fools for staying in a no-win situation. The private later overhears a general say that the Northern forces hold back the Confederate soldiers. He rationalizes that he is right to save himself. While walking through the forest, he sees a decaying soldier corpse. This scares him as he walks away.
Although the Northern troops are weakened, they push back the Southern soldiers. After a while, Henry joins a group of wounded soldiers walking down the road. The young private becomes jealous and believes that a wound like this is “a red badge of courage (Sparknotes).” Visible wounds are signs of bravery. He meets a man in ragged clothes who is shot twice and speaks highly of the way that his regiment did not retreat. This soldier asks Henry several times where he is shot. Fleming gets upset and goes to another part of the marching column. Soon, Henry meets a wounded soldier with a pained expression on his face. It is Jim Conklin. Henry agrees to nurse him back to health. However, the wounded man runs into the bushes where Fleming and the ragged man see him die.
Both men walk through the forest. Henry hears the loud noise of fighting in the background. As the ragged man’s health worsens, he keeps asking where Fleming is wounded. The solider gets tired of this and leaves the dying solder in the woods to die. Henry wanders and comes to the battle field. He watches Union and Confederate troops fight each other. The young soldier tries to stop the fleeing troops to find out what happened. However, one of the men hits Henry in the head with a gun, opening a wound. Another combatant helps Fleming back to the regiment’s camp. Henry is reunited with his friends. A comrade named Wilson takes care of Fleming, thinking he is shot.
The Northern Regiment goes back to the battlefield the nest day. Henry fights with all of his courage while thinking of Jim Conklin. This lets him vent his rage against Confederate troops. The commanding lieutenant is impressed and says that the North could win the war in a week with ten-thousand Henry Flemings. Both Fleming and Wilson overhear an officer say that the regiment fights “like mule drivers (Sparknotes).” This insults the two soldiers who want to prove the officer wrong. The 304th Regiment charges the enemy and the color bearer falls. Henry takes the flag and runs courageously at the opposing side. However, the surge fails and the lieutenant tells the colonel that his men fight like “mud diggers (Sparknotes).” This makes Henry angrier. Another soldier tells Fleming and Wilson that the superior officers consider them to be the best fighters in the regiment.
As the Union army is sent into other battles, Henry is made the flag carrier. In one battle, the regiment charges confederate troops hidden behind a fence. After a heated battle, the Blues defeat the Grays. Wilson picks up the flag and captures four prisoners. When he and fellow soldiers go back to their position, Henry thinks back on the way he changes with the war. Although he feels satisfied about helping the regiment win, Fleming is ashamed about fleeing from the earlier battles. The ragged man that he left in the woods also haunts him. This passes as the young soldier puts his bad feelings aside. Henry realizes that he made it through the “red sickness” of battle (Sparknotes). This lets him move forward to a peaceful feeling as his pasts the test of manhood.
Scholars and critics recognize Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage as his most popular book (enotes). Crane did not witness the war because he is born after it. Most of his influences come from war stories written by Leo Tolstoy and accounts from Civil War veterans. Despite Crane’s interest in the war he writes the story to protest the horrors of battle. Literary experts note how psychologically accurate the book is in depicting the characters’ response to conflict. It blends naturalism, impressionism, and symbolism. Crane brakes from other conventions of realistic writing by treating humans as amoral in an opportunistic society.
When the book is published in 1895 many people did not like his writing style. Crane uses the common vernacular and slang of people and soldiers in the 1860’s. The story uses impressionistic writing by telling one small part at a time. Mixing psychology and realism changes the way novels are written. For example, when Henry sees fighting for the first time, he feels courage anxiety, self confidence, fear, and zeal at the same time. These emotions seem very sophisticated in someone who does not have much real world experience. Although Henry has a low rank, his views help readers connect to the experiences of the average soldier in the war. The individual does not matter because people on both sides of the conflict fought as if they are parts of two giant war machines. Stephen uses colorful images to show the events in the book. For example, he describes a battle as sounding like a “crimson roar” or war as a “red animal (enotes).” Crane uses other colors including “fairy blue” to describe the sky (enotes). The work is lost for twenty years. Poets and novelists including Amy Lowell and Sherwood Anderson see his innovation of new ideas, subject matter, and literary forms.
The Red Badge of Courage shows how a young soldier goes from being a coward to a brave fighter. Henry Fleming, the protagonist, is a young soldier in the Union’s 304th Regiment. The private runs away during his first battle with Confederate forces. He later feels bad about leaving his fellow soldiers. Fleming learns from a wounded and dying soldier the meaning of bravery. Henry later sees his battalion escaping from Southern reinforcements. While catching up with the Northern soldiers, he gets a head wound. A friend helps him to recover. This strengthens Fleming’s courage who fights harder. Soon, Henry becomes the flag carrier and leads the troops into battle. The author writes the tale with psychological realism. Crane uses realistic images and impressionist literary techniques to appeal to the reader’s emotions. He also reveals how Fleming changes in the book.
Works Cited
“The Red Badge of Courage.” Enotes. 2008 21 March 2008
http://www.enotes.com/red-badge
“The Red Badge of Courage.” Sparknotes. 2006. 21 March 2008.
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/redbadge/summary.html
Friday, March 21, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
The Themes of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
By Matthew Cox
The writer Mark Twain uses his own experiences on the Mississippi River to create works of literature. Perhaps his most famous work is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It is a story about a young boy who helps, Jim, a runaway slave escape to freedom. During their travels, they have many adventures. For example, they meet two con artists known as the Duke and the King. They are dishonest and sell Jim to a farmer. Twain shows the injustice of slavery through this work. Many people in the 1800’s think that slavery is good because African Americans are inferior. Mark also breaks from traditional forms of writing by using the local dialect and not formal language. This helps readers connect to the characters, particularly the protagonist. He vividly describes people, places, and events that happen in the story. The book also has a lot of symbolism. For example, the Mississippi River represents freedom. It is also a device that connects the adventures that Huck encounters. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn shows the injustices of slavery.
Mark Twain, the author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is the pen name of Samuel Clemens. He is born in Florida, Missouri in 1835. At the age of four, Clemens moves with his family to Hannibal, Missouri. The town becomes the setting for Twain’s books. Samuel’s father dies when the boy is 12. Shortly after that, he becomes an apprentice to a printer. Years later, Clemens works as a printer in St. Louis and New York. Later on, he becomes a freelance reporter who earns money by selling articles to newspapers. Clemens moves from town to town. Samuel plans to go to South America in 1857 to make his fortune. However, the writer gets interested with the steamboat and pays the captain $500 to teach him how to pilot the boat. After working as a riverboat pilot for a few years, Clemens heads west with his brother during the Civil War.
During this time, he establishes himself as writer. Most of his stories are funny and about his experiences. This helps him to get a job as a newspaper reporter in 1862. Beginning in the next year, Samuel signs his work as mark Twain. It is a river boat term meaning two fathoms deep. In the late 1860’s, he wrote as a travel correspondent while living in Hawaii. Twain also wrote Innocent Abroad while traveling in Europe in 1867. The writer completes and publishes The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in 1876. It is very successful and inspires Twain to write a sequel. Twain prints The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1883. This story is more complex and deals with moral issues including slavery.
In 1889, the writer goes bankrupt by investing his money in inventions and bad financial plans. He goes on a worldwide lecture tour and pays off his debts in 1896. While Clemens is on tour, one of his daughters dies. His wife passes away in 1904. Another daughter gets killed in 1909. Mark Twain dies the following year very unhappy.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is 43 chapters long and is told in the first person narrative from Huck’s perspective. In the first part, Huck lives with the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson. He gets kidnapped by his father, an abusive drunk, who wants Finn’s share of Injun Joe’s treasure. Huck escapes, fakes his death, and runs away to Jackson island. There, he meet’s Jim, Miss Watson’s runaway slave. The protagonist travels down the river with Jim during the second section. Huck runs from civilization and Jim flees from slavery. Several different small stories with their own rising action, climax, and conclusion make up the plot of the book. One example of this is Huck staying on Jackson Island. The rising action is meeting Jim. The slave thinking Huck is a ghost is the climax. Jim realizing the Finn is still alive is the conclusion. Both characters decide to float down Mississippi River and cross over to the Ohio River. From there, they will go into free territory. However, they miss the Ohio River’s mouth in a fog and drift too far south. During Jim’s and Huck’s adventures, they encounter the feud between the Grangerford and Shephersons. Later in the story, both characters meet two con artists known as the King and The Duke. After several adventures, the crooks lose their money. They capture and sell Jim to Silas and Sally Phelps. The couple owns a farm and is Tom Sawyer’s relatives. This part ends when the protagonist ends up on the Phelps farm. Huck returns to civilization in the third section. Sally mistakes Huck for Tom, her nephew. Both boys reunite and help Jim escape. Huck pretends to be Tom. Mr. Sawyer pretends to be his brother, Sid. He and Tom free Jim. However, Tom gets shot during the escape.
Huckleberry Finn is both the narrator and protagonist. He tells the story in the past tense as a recent perspective. Twain often times uses Finn’s perspective to relate his own views. For example, he criticizes organized religion at the beginning by describing a raid on the church’s picnic. He shows the injustices of slavery by elevating Jim as a moral and righteous character. Twain also expresses his views on royalty by naming the two con men the King and the Duke. He also denounces the justice system by showing how a judge awards pap custody of Huck.
The writer creates complex characters that are believable. Readers experience their feelings and what they perceive. However, there are times when Twain takes away their character and uses them to convey his views. For example, Huck is literal minded, shrewd, and just. He goes through many character changes. He dresses nicely, goes to church, and learns while living with the Widow Douglas. However, Finn goes back to his uncivilized ways while travelling down the river. The main character shows compassion towards the other characters. For example, he helps Jim escape and rescues the two con men from an angry crowd.
Both Jim and Tom Sawyer are important characters in the plot. He is a generous, middle-aged slave who looks after Huck like a father. His appearance is not good because he does not own a lot of good clothes. Jim helps the protagonist grow and see slaves a real people. Tom is about Huck’s age and is very playful. However, he is not very realistic and does things for the sake of fun. Sawyer is not practical and acts irresponsibly. He tells lies and gets into trouble. Tom serves as an unrealistic counterbalance to Huck’s practical sense during Jim’s rescue at the Phelps farm. However, Sawyer lives in society and does not want to leave. Finn is an outcast
Mark Twain sets the story on the Mississippi River. Besides working as a setting, the river serves as both a timeline and organizing element. The writer knows the area well and sets the mood of freedom with outdoor locations. Civilized places including the Widow Douglas’s house, St. Louis, and the Phelps farm give a cramped feel. This represents Huck’s longing for freedom. The setting for the river also emphasizes various themes in the adventure. For example, it is an escape from the organized society; it separates Huck and Jim from civilization. As the story progresses, Finn grows and matures. He is naïve about right or wrong because Pap shows him how to steal at the beginning. However, such an innocent outlook helps him to realize the evils of involuntary servitude. Twain uses this perspective to make his point that society’s attitude about slavery is wrong. Huck does many things that go against society in the 1800’s. This includes helping a slave to escape. Finn also realizes that African Americans are people too.
The setting also creates images as the reader gleans through the passages. For example, readers get a sense of the Mississippi flowing wild and free. This signifies the life Huck wants to live. Also, it is tranquil and calm. Underneath the images are symbols. Besides symbolizing freedom or the desire to escape, the river also shows changing time. Jim represents all the slaves in the South. Readers see the injustices of slavery and racism through him. Also, we can view the inaccuracy of Southern attitudes towards race and social class; skin color is a way of discriminating. The Widow Douglas and Miss Watson symbolize civilization and organized society. Although they were kind to Huck, he disapproves of their “proper” ways and escapes.
Clemens’s writing style is basic and tells the story with a boyish feel. This s ironic, because the simple writing mode tells complicated observations on society through an adolescent’s experiences. The diction is typical for a Southern boy in the 1800’s. It is very informal and makes vivid descriptions seem funny. Generally, the writer does not follow the rules of grammar in telling the story. He uses broken sentences and fragments to write the lines. Sometimes, the characters string phrases together and ramble. However, this is how many people in real life speak. Twain does not use flowery or formal language. He pays attention to regional accents and ways that different people speak. Twain uses both informal language and irony to give the story a humorous and laid back mood. Besides using innovative ways of writing, Clemmons also uses irony to make the story seem funny. Much of it comes from Huck’s youth and inexperience. For example, the main character says with verbal irony that Tom starts a “gang of robbers” that Huck could join if he goes back to the widow and becomes respectable. With dramatic irony, Huck thinks that a drunk horseman at the circus in an acrobat; readers know that the rider is drunk, but Huck thinks it is part of the show.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn shows the injustices of slavery. Author Mark Twain uses his own familiarity of the Mississippi River to write stories. Literary critics say that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is his best work, if not the greatest American novel. The story revolves around a young boy and Jim an escaped slave. They have various adventures while making it to freedom. For example, they meet two con artists who later betray Huck and Jim. They kidnap and sell him to a farm owner. Twain uses the story to show how wrong slavery is. Many people in the 1800’s believe that African Americans are inferior and need to be slaves. The book is revolutionary because Mark breaks from the traditional style of formal language. He uses the local vernacular instead. This help readers identify with the main characters, including Huck Finn. Twain uses colorful description of the setting and characters to develop the plot. He also uses symbolism to make his point. For example the Mississippi River shows freedom and escape.
Works Cited
“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” Summary Central. 2008. 20 March 2008. http://summarycentral.tripod.com/theadventuresofhuckleberryfinn.htm
By Matthew Cox
The writer Mark Twain uses his own experiences on the Mississippi River to create works of literature. Perhaps his most famous work is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It is a story about a young boy who helps, Jim, a runaway slave escape to freedom. During their travels, they have many adventures. For example, they meet two con artists known as the Duke and the King. They are dishonest and sell Jim to a farmer. Twain shows the injustice of slavery through this work. Many people in the 1800’s think that slavery is good because African Americans are inferior. Mark also breaks from traditional forms of writing by using the local dialect and not formal language. This helps readers connect to the characters, particularly the protagonist. He vividly describes people, places, and events that happen in the story. The book also has a lot of symbolism. For example, the Mississippi River represents freedom. It is also a device that connects the adventures that Huck encounters. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn shows the injustices of slavery.
Mark Twain, the author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is the pen name of Samuel Clemens. He is born in Florida, Missouri in 1835. At the age of four, Clemens moves with his family to Hannibal, Missouri. The town becomes the setting for Twain’s books. Samuel’s father dies when the boy is 12. Shortly after that, he becomes an apprentice to a printer. Years later, Clemens works as a printer in St. Louis and New York. Later on, he becomes a freelance reporter who earns money by selling articles to newspapers. Clemens moves from town to town. Samuel plans to go to South America in 1857 to make his fortune. However, the writer gets interested with the steamboat and pays the captain $500 to teach him how to pilot the boat. After working as a riverboat pilot for a few years, Clemens heads west with his brother during the Civil War.
During this time, he establishes himself as writer. Most of his stories are funny and about his experiences. This helps him to get a job as a newspaper reporter in 1862. Beginning in the next year, Samuel signs his work as mark Twain. It is a river boat term meaning two fathoms deep. In the late 1860’s, he wrote as a travel correspondent while living in Hawaii. Twain also wrote Innocent Abroad while traveling in Europe in 1867. The writer completes and publishes The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in 1876. It is very successful and inspires Twain to write a sequel. Twain prints The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1883. This story is more complex and deals with moral issues including slavery.
In 1889, the writer goes bankrupt by investing his money in inventions and bad financial plans. He goes on a worldwide lecture tour and pays off his debts in 1896. While Clemens is on tour, one of his daughters dies. His wife passes away in 1904. Another daughter gets killed in 1909. Mark Twain dies the following year very unhappy.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is 43 chapters long and is told in the first person narrative from Huck’s perspective. In the first part, Huck lives with the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson. He gets kidnapped by his father, an abusive drunk, who wants Finn’s share of Injun Joe’s treasure. Huck escapes, fakes his death, and runs away to Jackson island. There, he meet’s Jim, Miss Watson’s runaway slave. The protagonist travels down the river with Jim during the second section. Huck runs from civilization and Jim flees from slavery. Several different small stories with their own rising action, climax, and conclusion make up the plot of the book. One example of this is Huck staying on Jackson Island. The rising action is meeting Jim. The slave thinking Huck is a ghost is the climax. Jim realizing the Finn is still alive is the conclusion. Both characters decide to float down Mississippi River and cross over to the Ohio River. From there, they will go into free territory. However, they miss the Ohio River’s mouth in a fog and drift too far south. During Jim’s and Huck’s adventures, they encounter the feud between the Grangerford and Shephersons. Later in the story, both characters meet two con artists known as the King and The Duke. After several adventures, the crooks lose their money. They capture and sell Jim to Silas and Sally Phelps. The couple owns a farm and is Tom Sawyer’s relatives. This part ends when the protagonist ends up on the Phelps farm. Huck returns to civilization in the third section. Sally mistakes Huck for Tom, her nephew. Both boys reunite and help Jim escape. Huck pretends to be Tom. Mr. Sawyer pretends to be his brother, Sid. He and Tom free Jim. However, Tom gets shot during the escape.
Huckleberry Finn is both the narrator and protagonist. He tells the story in the past tense as a recent perspective. Twain often times uses Finn’s perspective to relate his own views. For example, he criticizes organized religion at the beginning by describing a raid on the church’s picnic. He shows the injustices of slavery by elevating Jim as a moral and righteous character. Twain also expresses his views on royalty by naming the two con men the King and the Duke. He also denounces the justice system by showing how a judge awards pap custody of Huck.
The writer creates complex characters that are believable. Readers experience their feelings and what they perceive. However, there are times when Twain takes away their character and uses them to convey his views. For example, Huck is literal minded, shrewd, and just. He goes through many character changes. He dresses nicely, goes to church, and learns while living with the Widow Douglas. However, Finn goes back to his uncivilized ways while travelling down the river. The main character shows compassion towards the other characters. For example, he helps Jim escape and rescues the two con men from an angry crowd.
Both Jim and Tom Sawyer are important characters in the plot. He is a generous, middle-aged slave who looks after Huck like a father. His appearance is not good because he does not own a lot of good clothes. Jim helps the protagonist grow and see slaves a real people. Tom is about Huck’s age and is very playful. However, he is not very realistic and does things for the sake of fun. Sawyer is not practical and acts irresponsibly. He tells lies and gets into trouble. Tom serves as an unrealistic counterbalance to Huck’s practical sense during Jim’s rescue at the Phelps farm. However, Sawyer lives in society and does not want to leave. Finn is an outcast
Mark Twain sets the story on the Mississippi River. Besides working as a setting, the river serves as both a timeline and organizing element. The writer knows the area well and sets the mood of freedom with outdoor locations. Civilized places including the Widow Douglas’s house, St. Louis, and the Phelps farm give a cramped feel. This represents Huck’s longing for freedom. The setting for the river also emphasizes various themes in the adventure. For example, it is an escape from the organized society; it separates Huck and Jim from civilization. As the story progresses, Finn grows and matures. He is naïve about right or wrong because Pap shows him how to steal at the beginning. However, such an innocent outlook helps him to realize the evils of involuntary servitude. Twain uses this perspective to make his point that society’s attitude about slavery is wrong. Huck does many things that go against society in the 1800’s. This includes helping a slave to escape. Finn also realizes that African Americans are people too.
The setting also creates images as the reader gleans through the passages. For example, readers get a sense of the Mississippi flowing wild and free. This signifies the life Huck wants to live. Also, it is tranquil and calm. Underneath the images are symbols. Besides symbolizing freedom or the desire to escape, the river also shows changing time. Jim represents all the slaves in the South. Readers see the injustices of slavery and racism through him. Also, we can view the inaccuracy of Southern attitudes towards race and social class; skin color is a way of discriminating. The Widow Douglas and Miss Watson symbolize civilization and organized society. Although they were kind to Huck, he disapproves of their “proper” ways and escapes.
Clemens’s writing style is basic and tells the story with a boyish feel. This s ironic, because the simple writing mode tells complicated observations on society through an adolescent’s experiences. The diction is typical for a Southern boy in the 1800’s. It is very informal and makes vivid descriptions seem funny. Generally, the writer does not follow the rules of grammar in telling the story. He uses broken sentences and fragments to write the lines. Sometimes, the characters string phrases together and ramble. However, this is how many people in real life speak. Twain does not use flowery or formal language. He pays attention to regional accents and ways that different people speak. Twain uses both informal language and irony to give the story a humorous and laid back mood. Besides using innovative ways of writing, Clemmons also uses irony to make the story seem funny. Much of it comes from Huck’s youth and inexperience. For example, the main character says with verbal irony that Tom starts a “gang of robbers” that Huck could join if he goes back to the widow and becomes respectable. With dramatic irony, Huck thinks that a drunk horseman at the circus in an acrobat; readers know that the rider is drunk, but Huck thinks it is part of the show.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn shows the injustices of slavery. Author Mark Twain uses his own familiarity of the Mississippi River to write stories. Literary critics say that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is his best work, if not the greatest American novel. The story revolves around a young boy and Jim an escaped slave. They have various adventures while making it to freedom. For example, they meet two con artists who later betray Huck and Jim. They kidnap and sell him to a farm owner. Twain uses the story to show how wrong slavery is. Many people in the 1800’s believe that African Americans are inferior and need to be slaves. The book is revolutionary because Mark breaks from the traditional style of formal language. He uses the local vernacular instead. This help readers identify with the main characters, including Huck Finn. Twain uses colorful description of the setting and characters to develop the plot. He also uses symbolism to make his point. For example the Mississippi River shows freedom and escape.
Works Cited
“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” Summary Central. 2008. 20 March 2008. http://summarycentral.tripod.com/theadventuresofhuckleberryfinn.htm
The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas, a Retelling
By Matthew Cox
Fredrick Douglas is born a slave in either 1718 or 1818, but is not sure of the accurate year (Sparknotes). Many historians believe that his father is the Captain Anthony, the owner of his mother, Harriet Bailey. Douglas is sold shortly after he is born. Captain Anthony is a clerk of a rich plantation owner called Col. Lloyd. He manages a huge farm called the “Great House Farm.” It has hundreds of slaves who are overworked, exhausted, and underfed. Also, they do not get adequate housing or clothing. Slave drivers often times beat or whip slaves, even ones who are loyal and obey the rules. The two cruelest overseers on the plantation are Mr. Severe and Mr. Austin Davis. Douglas serves as a house slave a young child and not in the fields. At the age of seven, Fredrick gets sold to Hugh Auld. He is Capt. Anthony’s son-in-law’s brother who lives in Baltimore. There, Douglas lives in luxury and away from the brutality that plantation slaves face. City slave-owners do not treat their servants harshly because they want look humane and respectable.
Sophia, Hugh’s wife never has managed slaves before. She is very kind to Douglas and teaches him how to read. Hugh tells het to stop sating that education makes slaves hard to control. Over time, both Hugh and Sophia become more abusive. However, Douglas likes Baltimore and continues to teach himself how to read. As he becomes more educated, Fredrick learns about the evils of slavery. The slave also finds out about the abolitionists who are anti-slavery. Douglas plans to escape to the North. However, Capt. Anthony and his heirs die, Fredrick moves in with Thomas Auld, Anthony’s son-in-law. He is cruel and hides his meanness with religious teachings. The owner says that Douglas is hard to manage and sends him to work for Edward Covey. This man is known for “breaking” slaves by being harsh. Covey breaks Fredrick’s will in six months by working and whipping him.
Douglas is more concerned about recovering from his injuries than educating himself. He fights Covey for two hours and wins. The slave owner never touches Fredrick again.
Next, Auld rents Douglas out to William Freeland for two years. He is gentler than Covey. However, the slave is bent on escaping. Fredrick teaches slaves in their homes so they can read and write. Although the African-Americans get threatened, they still learn from Fredrick. While working at Freeland’s, the slave plans to escape with three others. However, somebody exposes their plan and have the involuntary-servants sent to jail. Thomas sends Douglas back to Hugh. He teaches the slave how to caulk boats.
Unfortunately, the slave runs against racial tension while working in the ship yards. White workers fear that the increasing number of African-Americans who start jobs in ship-building. The whites want to keep their jobs and harass the apprentice Douglas. After getting threats of violence, he switches boat companies. After time, he learns caulking and earns the highest wages in his workplace. However, he must give his money to Hugh. Douglas hires himself out in his spare time and earns enough cash. This allows him to have money during his escape to New York. Fredrick does not tell anyone else about his background so he will not get sent back to his master. He changes his name from Bailey to Douglas. Fredrick meets Anna Murray who marries him. Both of them move north to Massachusetts. They become involved with the abolitionist movement. Because Fredrick is a brilliant orator and writer, he is often times hired as a speaker for the anti-slavery movement.
Work Cited
“Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas.” Sparknotes 2006. 20 March 2008
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/narrative/summary.html
By Matthew Cox
Fredrick Douglas is born a slave in either 1718 or 1818, but is not sure of the accurate year (Sparknotes). Many historians believe that his father is the Captain Anthony, the owner of his mother, Harriet Bailey. Douglas is sold shortly after he is born. Captain Anthony is a clerk of a rich plantation owner called Col. Lloyd. He manages a huge farm called the “Great House Farm.” It has hundreds of slaves who are overworked, exhausted, and underfed. Also, they do not get adequate housing or clothing. Slave drivers often times beat or whip slaves, even ones who are loyal and obey the rules. The two cruelest overseers on the plantation are Mr. Severe and Mr. Austin Davis. Douglas serves as a house slave a young child and not in the fields. At the age of seven, Fredrick gets sold to Hugh Auld. He is Capt. Anthony’s son-in-law’s brother who lives in Baltimore. There, Douglas lives in luxury and away from the brutality that plantation slaves face. City slave-owners do not treat their servants harshly because they want look humane and respectable.
Sophia, Hugh’s wife never has managed slaves before. She is very kind to Douglas and teaches him how to read. Hugh tells het to stop sating that education makes slaves hard to control. Over time, both Hugh and Sophia become more abusive. However, Douglas likes Baltimore and continues to teach himself how to read. As he becomes more educated, Fredrick learns about the evils of slavery. The slave also finds out about the abolitionists who are anti-slavery. Douglas plans to escape to the North. However, Capt. Anthony and his heirs die, Fredrick moves in with Thomas Auld, Anthony’s son-in-law. He is cruel and hides his meanness with religious teachings. The owner says that Douglas is hard to manage and sends him to work for Edward Covey. This man is known for “breaking” slaves by being harsh. Covey breaks Fredrick’s will in six months by working and whipping him.
Douglas is more concerned about recovering from his injuries than educating himself. He fights Covey for two hours and wins. The slave owner never touches Fredrick again.
Next, Auld rents Douglas out to William Freeland for two years. He is gentler than Covey. However, the slave is bent on escaping. Fredrick teaches slaves in their homes so they can read and write. Although the African-Americans get threatened, they still learn from Fredrick. While working at Freeland’s, the slave plans to escape with three others. However, somebody exposes their plan and have the involuntary-servants sent to jail. Thomas sends Douglas back to Hugh. He teaches the slave how to caulk boats.
Unfortunately, the slave runs against racial tension while working in the ship yards. White workers fear that the increasing number of African-Americans who start jobs in ship-building. The whites want to keep their jobs and harass the apprentice Douglas. After getting threats of violence, he switches boat companies. After time, he learns caulking and earns the highest wages in his workplace. However, he must give his money to Hugh. Douglas hires himself out in his spare time and earns enough cash. This allows him to have money during his escape to New York. Fredrick does not tell anyone else about his background so he will not get sent back to his master. He changes his name from Bailey to Douglas. Fredrick meets Anna Murray who marries him. Both of them move north to Massachusetts. They become involved with the abolitionist movement. Because Fredrick is a brilliant orator and writer, he is often times hired as a speaker for the anti-slavery movement.
Work Cited
“Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas.” Sparknotes 2006. 20 March 2008
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/narrative/summary.html
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a Critique of Slavery
By Matthew Cox
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s influential book Uncle Tom’s Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly is a Christian-themed criticism of slavery in the 1850’s. The main character, Uncle Tom is a kindly slave who gets sold to Simon Legree, a mean slave-owner. The servant enrages his master by acting kindly and helping other slaves escape. This makes Legree so angry that he beats Tom to his death. Other important characters include runaway slaves including Cassy, Emmaline, Charles, and Eliza. Kind slave-owners including Mr. St. Clare, Mr. Shelby, and Little Eva change their ways and free their slaves. Literary experts see different kinds of importance in the plot and characters of the story. For example, Nathaniel Hawthorne describes it a passionate and romantic book. Modern critics including James Baldwin, Jane Tompkins, and Anne Douglas find different themes in the book. For example, Baldwin sees how African-Americans are divided by slavery in the plot. Tompkins and Douglas observe feminist concepts in the book. Most experts agree that the work help to turn public opinion against slavery in the 1800’s. Uncle Tom’s Cabin helps to change people’s views on slave owning in the 1800’s.
Uncle Tom, the title character, lives on a the Shelby plantation (Uncle Tom's Cabin Book Notes Summary). He is widely admired by both his owners and fellow slaves. The slave happily lives with his wife and children in their cabin. Mr. Shelby gets into debt with Mr. Haley, a slave trader. He sells Tom and Harry, the son of Eliza, his wife’s servant. The former is very upset and agrees not to runaway. He believes that this will put Mr. Shelby more into debt and force him to sell every slave. Mrs. Shelby vows to buy Tom back once they get the money. After the slave is sold Mr. Haley, he gets sold again to a kind master called Mr. St. Clare. Tom becomes friends with his new owner and Eva, the young daughter. As a strong Christian, she detests slavery and gets sick over it. Eva accepts her death saying that such cruelty does not exist in Heaven. Mr. St. Clare sees the evils of slavery and promises to sign the forms freeing Tom. However, the slave will only get his freedom after the master dies.
Eliza does not want to be separated from Harry and runs away the evening before he is taken away. She finds her way to an anti-slavery family in a Quaker community who take her in. They reunite her with George, her husband. He escapes from a cruel master on a nearby plantation. The family spend the night with the Quakers who before going to the Underground Railroad.
However, Tom gets sold again to Simon Legree, a cruel plantation owner. The slave meets two other African Americans named, Emmiline and Cassy. The former is a young bi-racial woman who arrives at the same time as Tom. She tries to make friends with Cassy who is bitter from years of abuse at the hands of Legree. The older slave’s children are sold over the years. Cassy is also so unhappy at being poor that she does not listen to Tom encouraging her to put her faith in God. Legree tries to turn Tom into an abusive overseer. However, the kind slave refuses. Simon is angry and beats the older involuntary servant. This discourages Tom until he sees a vision of heaven while going to sleep one night. He regains his energy and helps the other slaves. For example, he fills their cotton baskets, gives them food and water, and read his Bible to them. These acts of kindness only make Legree angrier. He also gets upset when Emmiline and Cassy escape. Tom refuses to tell his master where they are. Legree beats Tom so harshly, the slave dies.
Both Cassy and Emmiline make it to a northern-bound ferry that Mr. Shelby is on. He rooms next to a woman named Madame de Thoux. Cassy discovers through a conversation that Eliza Harris is her daughter. Madam de Thoux is George Harris’ brother. Cassy and Madame De Thoux escape into Canada. They meet up with their family. De Thoux says that her husband left their family a huge inheritance. The whole family moves to France. George attends school to receive an education. The Harrises later migrates to Africa. They are reunited with Cassy’s long-lost son who is found. He goes to New England with a woman named Miss Ophelia. Both get married and work in Africa as missionaries. Mr. Shelby frees his slaves, tells them to be Christian, and remember Tom.
Literary Scholars agree that Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or Life Among the Lowly is one of the most influential books in American history (Metcalf). Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author, is deeply religious. Her husband Calvin Stowe, is a theology professor. The writer lives in Kentucky, Ohio, and Maine, while her husband takes different teaching jobs. Harriet publishes the book in 1852 as a response towards the Fugitive Slave Act. The law bans people from harboring escaping slaves and requires citizens to help capture them. The book in highly controversial in the 1800’s because it depicts slave owners as cruel and slavery as immoral. Southerners resent the anti-slavery message and Northerners are shocked at the way slaves are treated. President Lincoln once invited Stowe to the White House and said to her "So this is the little lady whose book started the Civil War (Metcalf)."
The main charachers are Simon Legree, Sambo, Little Eva, and Uncle Tom, the title character. Like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the book is widely banned in schools because it uses the “N” word a lot. However, that is how many people in the 1800’s talked that way. The anti-slavery point is clear. Abolitionists including Fredrick Douglas and W.E.B. DuBois respect Stowe a great deal for writing it. She depicts both Northerners and Southerners as slave-owners. The book echoes with Christian sentiment as shown in the last paragraph:
“day of grace is yet held out to us. Both North and South have been guilty before God; and the Christian church has a heavy account to answer. Not by combining together, to protect injustice and cruelty, and making a common capital of sin, is this Union to be saved,—but by repentance, justice and mercy; for, not surer is the eternal law by which the millstone sinks in the ocean, than that stronger law, by which injustice shall bring on nations the wrath of Almighty God! (Metcalf)”
Although Stowe’s writing style is direct, it still reflects deep thinking about the nature of human identity and responsibility. Nathaniel Hawthorne describes the book as a “passionate effervescence of romantic passion (Metcalf).” The sentiment expressed in the work shows how people can change their ways even though 19th Century Southern society is steeped in slavery. The best way to destroy it is to get rid of the ideas that legitimize slave-owning. First, the book shows that involuntary servitude is abhorrent to Christian teachings. Secondly, slavery is goes against a free society.
Harriet makes her point by centering her narrative around two characters. The first one is George Harris, a fugitive slave who escapes to Canada and presumably his freedom. Harris is proud, intelligent, and proves his leadership ability at a local factory. Stowe points this out with “If God made George Harris, He also made him intelligent; how is Harris' claim on his own fullest potential not a natural right, one that no society should compromise? We stand here as free, under God's sky, as you are (Metcalf).” The writer also points out that liberty is a God-given gift with “by the great God that made us, we'll fight for our liberty till we die (Metcalf)."
Uncle Tom is the other slave. Instead of fleeing to independence, he goes further into the South and into bondage. Although this character is humble and accepts his position in life, he is essential to the moral issues in the book. Stowe got the idea for the story from a picture of a farm owner beating his slave to death. This becomes the book’s climax. She expresses Tom’s Christ-like behavior with "inviolable sphere of peace encompassed in the lowly heart of the oppressed one (Metcalf)." However, the term "Uncle Tom" becomes a word that African-Americans use to describe members of their race who “increasingly connoted a cringing acquiescence, or worse, an outright betrayal of one's own” kind (Metcalf).
Harriet shows how slavery robs African-Americans of their natural talents and the right for them to live as free people. Such a system robs Harris of both a proper education and job advancement. For example, he does not want “40 arcs and mule” but wants to keep his job at the factory where he “invented a machine for the cleaning of the hemp (Metcalf).” Also, the character wants to get a fair wage for his work at the plant. Tom on the other hand, gets beaten to death by Simon Legree. Stowe wants to show readers that death at the hands of an enemy shows redemption or salvation. Such action symbolizes the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. This is far more important than emancipation from bondage in the material world; what happens in the next life is more important than this one.
Writer James Baldwin writes an essay in the Partisan Review in 1949 critiquing Uncle Tom’s Cabin. He claims that the attention that Tom gets over Harris is not pious or innocent. Both men are depicted as a “race apart (Metcalf).” Harris is considered to be more white than other African-Americans as a “Spanish gentleman, attracting no attention beyond admiration (Metcalf).” Tom is the only true “black man” as he sticks to traditional ways of living and acting like a slave (Metcalf).
Many pieces of literature fade into the past. Uncle Tom’s Cabin survives for more than one hundred years because it influences history. Feminist literary scholar Jane Tompkins writes and essay for the magazine “Glyph” in 1978. She states that Stowe breaks the mold for women writers. Most writers and critics until the 20th Century are male. They only let their views be heard at the expense of women and minorities. Both Tompkins and fellow critic Ann Douglas make three points of the way that Stowe is successful. Firstly, Harriet is sets the example for women writers by taking on the controversy of slavery in a daring way. Secondly, she challenges the sexist attitudes of her time by creating a work that is as aesthically appealing as works by Hawthorne or Melville. Thirdly, interpreting literature is subjective and depends on the values of the reader. Stowe challenges the values of her time by criticizing not only slavery, but chauvinistic attitudes towards females.
Several feminist literary critics focus on Little Eva, the daughter of New Orleans slave owner. She dies of tuberculosis that was apparently created by her own bad feelings over slavery. Ann Douglas writes about the impact of this on American public opinion over views of women of the time in her work The Feminization of American Culture. Harris sums up his views on feminism with I was a little fellow, and laid awake whole nights and cried, it wasn't the hunger, it wasn't the whipping I cried for. No sir; it was for my mother and my sisters…(Metcalf).”
Writer and critic Jane Smiley writes an essay in 1996 for “Harper’s” magazine saying that Uncle Tom’s Cabin should replace The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as the greatest work of American literature. She asserts that it has more ethical grounds against slavery than Mark Twain’s masterpiece. Although Huckleberry Finn helps Jim escape, it does not show the injustices of African Americans being treated harshly by slave owners. Also, Uncle Tom’s Cabin helped to turn around public opinion of slavery in the 1880’s. Bringing the issues of involuntary servitude to the forefront during a time when it divides American is a bold move. It genuinely reflects how people in a free society can make a difference.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin helps to change people’s views on slave owning in the 1800’s. Writer Harriet Beecher Stowe shows the injustices of involuntary servitude by depicting different ways that slaves are treated by their masters. She uses a Christian viewpoint to show that slavery is abhorrent to Bible teachings. For example, kind slave-owners give up possessing African Americans. The mean Simon Legree abuses his slaves and kills Uncle Tom. Other servants Cassy, Emmaline, Charles, and Eliza escape to freedom. Literature experts including Nathaniel Hawthorne, James Baldwin, Jane Tompkins, and Anne Douglas offer different views of the story. For example, Hawthorne comments on its romantic passion. Baldwin sees divisions with African-Americans in the 1800’s. Tompkins and Douglas reveal feminist themes in the plot.
Works Cited
“Uncle Tom's Cabin Book Notes Summary” Retrieved 19 March 2008 from
http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-uncletomscabin
Metcalf, Stephen. “Uncle Tom's Children, Why Has Uncle Tom’s Cabin Survived-and
Thrived?” Retrieved 19 March 2008 from http://www.slate.com/id/2118927
By Matthew Cox
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s influential book Uncle Tom’s Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly is a Christian-themed criticism of slavery in the 1850’s. The main character, Uncle Tom is a kindly slave who gets sold to Simon Legree, a mean slave-owner. The servant enrages his master by acting kindly and helping other slaves escape. This makes Legree so angry that he beats Tom to his death. Other important characters include runaway slaves including Cassy, Emmaline, Charles, and Eliza. Kind slave-owners including Mr. St. Clare, Mr. Shelby, and Little Eva change their ways and free their slaves. Literary experts see different kinds of importance in the plot and characters of the story. For example, Nathaniel Hawthorne describes it a passionate and romantic book. Modern critics including James Baldwin, Jane Tompkins, and Anne Douglas find different themes in the book. For example, Baldwin sees how African-Americans are divided by slavery in the plot. Tompkins and Douglas observe feminist concepts in the book. Most experts agree that the work help to turn public opinion against slavery in the 1800’s. Uncle Tom’s Cabin helps to change people’s views on slave owning in the 1800’s.
Uncle Tom, the title character, lives on a the Shelby plantation (Uncle Tom's Cabin Book Notes Summary). He is widely admired by both his owners and fellow slaves. The slave happily lives with his wife and children in their cabin. Mr. Shelby gets into debt with Mr. Haley, a slave trader. He sells Tom and Harry, the son of Eliza, his wife’s servant. The former is very upset and agrees not to runaway. He believes that this will put Mr. Shelby more into debt and force him to sell every slave. Mrs. Shelby vows to buy Tom back once they get the money. After the slave is sold Mr. Haley, he gets sold again to a kind master called Mr. St. Clare. Tom becomes friends with his new owner and Eva, the young daughter. As a strong Christian, she detests slavery and gets sick over it. Eva accepts her death saying that such cruelty does not exist in Heaven. Mr. St. Clare sees the evils of slavery and promises to sign the forms freeing Tom. However, the slave will only get his freedom after the master dies.
Eliza does not want to be separated from Harry and runs away the evening before he is taken away. She finds her way to an anti-slavery family in a Quaker community who take her in. They reunite her with George, her husband. He escapes from a cruel master on a nearby plantation. The family spend the night with the Quakers who before going to the Underground Railroad.
However, Tom gets sold again to Simon Legree, a cruel plantation owner. The slave meets two other African Americans named, Emmiline and Cassy. The former is a young bi-racial woman who arrives at the same time as Tom. She tries to make friends with Cassy who is bitter from years of abuse at the hands of Legree. The older slave’s children are sold over the years. Cassy is also so unhappy at being poor that she does not listen to Tom encouraging her to put her faith in God. Legree tries to turn Tom into an abusive overseer. However, the kind slave refuses. Simon is angry and beats the older involuntary servant. This discourages Tom until he sees a vision of heaven while going to sleep one night. He regains his energy and helps the other slaves. For example, he fills their cotton baskets, gives them food and water, and read his Bible to them. These acts of kindness only make Legree angrier. He also gets upset when Emmiline and Cassy escape. Tom refuses to tell his master where they are. Legree beats Tom so harshly, the slave dies.
Both Cassy and Emmiline make it to a northern-bound ferry that Mr. Shelby is on. He rooms next to a woman named Madame de Thoux. Cassy discovers through a conversation that Eliza Harris is her daughter. Madam de Thoux is George Harris’ brother. Cassy and Madame De Thoux escape into Canada. They meet up with their family. De Thoux says that her husband left their family a huge inheritance. The whole family moves to France. George attends school to receive an education. The Harrises later migrates to Africa. They are reunited with Cassy’s long-lost son who is found. He goes to New England with a woman named Miss Ophelia. Both get married and work in Africa as missionaries. Mr. Shelby frees his slaves, tells them to be Christian, and remember Tom.
Literary Scholars agree that Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or Life Among the Lowly is one of the most influential books in American history (Metcalf). Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author, is deeply religious. Her husband Calvin Stowe, is a theology professor. The writer lives in Kentucky, Ohio, and Maine, while her husband takes different teaching jobs. Harriet publishes the book in 1852 as a response towards the Fugitive Slave Act. The law bans people from harboring escaping slaves and requires citizens to help capture them. The book in highly controversial in the 1800’s because it depicts slave owners as cruel and slavery as immoral. Southerners resent the anti-slavery message and Northerners are shocked at the way slaves are treated. President Lincoln once invited Stowe to the White House and said to her "So this is the little lady whose book started the Civil War (Metcalf)."
The main charachers are Simon Legree, Sambo, Little Eva, and Uncle Tom, the title character. Like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the book is widely banned in schools because it uses the “N” word a lot. However, that is how many people in the 1800’s talked that way. The anti-slavery point is clear. Abolitionists including Fredrick Douglas and W.E.B. DuBois respect Stowe a great deal for writing it. She depicts both Northerners and Southerners as slave-owners. The book echoes with Christian sentiment as shown in the last paragraph:
“day of grace is yet held out to us. Both North and South have been guilty before God; and the Christian church has a heavy account to answer. Not by combining together, to protect injustice and cruelty, and making a common capital of sin, is this Union to be saved,—but by repentance, justice and mercy; for, not surer is the eternal law by which the millstone sinks in the ocean, than that stronger law, by which injustice shall bring on nations the wrath of Almighty God! (Metcalf)”
Although Stowe’s writing style is direct, it still reflects deep thinking about the nature of human identity and responsibility. Nathaniel Hawthorne describes the book as a “passionate effervescence of romantic passion (Metcalf).” The sentiment expressed in the work shows how people can change their ways even though 19th Century Southern society is steeped in slavery. The best way to destroy it is to get rid of the ideas that legitimize slave-owning. First, the book shows that involuntary servitude is abhorrent to Christian teachings. Secondly, slavery is goes against a free society.
Harriet makes her point by centering her narrative around two characters. The first one is George Harris, a fugitive slave who escapes to Canada and presumably his freedom. Harris is proud, intelligent, and proves his leadership ability at a local factory. Stowe points this out with “If God made George Harris, He also made him intelligent; how is Harris' claim on his own fullest potential not a natural right, one that no society should compromise? We stand here as free, under God's sky, as you are (Metcalf).” The writer also points out that liberty is a God-given gift with “by the great God that made us, we'll fight for our liberty till we die (Metcalf)."
Uncle Tom is the other slave. Instead of fleeing to independence, he goes further into the South and into bondage. Although this character is humble and accepts his position in life, he is essential to the moral issues in the book. Stowe got the idea for the story from a picture of a farm owner beating his slave to death. This becomes the book’s climax. She expresses Tom’s Christ-like behavior with "inviolable sphere of peace encompassed in the lowly heart of the oppressed one (Metcalf)." However, the term "Uncle Tom" becomes a word that African-Americans use to describe members of their race who “increasingly connoted a cringing acquiescence, or worse, an outright betrayal of one's own” kind (Metcalf).
Harriet shows how slavery robs African-Americans of their natural talents and the right for them to live as free people. Such a system robs Harris of both a proper education and job advancement. For example, he does not want “40 arcs and mule” but wants to keep his job at the factory where he “invented a machine for the cleaning of the hemp (Metcalf).” Also, the character wants to get a fair wage for his work at the plant. Tom on the other hand, gets beaten to death by Simon Legree. Stowe wants to show readers that death at the hands of an enemy shows redemption or salvation. Such action symbolizes the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. This is far more important than emancipation from bondage in the material world; what happens in the next life is more important than this one.
Writer James Baldwin writes an essay in the Partisan Review in 1949 critiquing Uncle Tom’s Cabin. He claims that the attention that Tom gets over Harris is not pious or innocent. Both men are depicted as a “race apart (Metcalf).” Harris is considered to be more white than other African-Americans as a “Spanish gentleman, attracting no attention beyond admiration (Metcalf).” Tom is the only true “black man” as he sticks to traditional ways of living and acting like a slave (Metcalf).
Many pieces of literature fade into the past. Uncle Tom’s Cabin survives for more than one hundred years because it influences history. Feminist literary scholar Jane Tompkins writes and essay for the magazine “Glyph” in 1978. She states that Stowe breaks the mold for women writers. Most writers and critics until the 20th Century are male. They only let their views be heard at the expense of women and minorities. Both Tompkins and fellow critic Ann Douglas make three points of the way that Stowe is successful. Firstly, Harriet is sets the example for women writers by taking on the controversy of slavery in a daring way. Secondly, she challenges the sexist attitudes of her time by creating a work that is as aesthically appealing as works by Hawthorne or Melville. Thirdly, interpreting literature is subjective and depends on the values of the reader. Stowe challenges the values of her time by criticizing not only slavery, but chauvinistic attitudes towards females.
Several feminist literary critics focus on Little Eva, the daughter of New Orleans slave owner. She dies of tuberculosis that was apparently created by her own bad feelings over slavery. Ann Douglas writes about the impact of this on American public opinion over views of women of the time in her work The Feminization of American Culture. Harris sums up his views on feminism with I was a little fellow, and laid awake whole nights and cried, it wasn't the hunger, it wasn't the whipping I cried for. No sir; it was for my mother and my sisters…(Metcalf).”
Writer and critic Jane Smiley writes an essay in 1996 for “Harper’s” magazine saying that Uncle Tom’s Cabin should replace The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as the greatest work of American literature. She asserts that it has more ethical grounds against slavery than Mark Twain’s masterpiece. Although Huckleberry Finn helps Jim escape, it does not show the injustices of African Americans being treated harshly by slave owners. Also, Uncle Tom’s Cabin helped to turn around public opinion of slavery in the 1880’s. Bringing the issues of involuntary servitude to the forefront during a time when it divides American is a bold move. It genuinely reflects how people in a free society can make a difference.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin helps to change people’s views on slave owning in the 1800’s. Writer Harriet Beecher Stowe shows the injustices of involuntary servitude by depicting different ways that slaves are treated by their masters. She uses a Christian viewpoint to show that slavery is abhorrent to Bible teachings. For example, kind slave-owners give up possessing African Americans. The mean Simon Legree abuses his slaves and kills Uncle Tom. Other servants Cassy, Emmaline, Charles, and Eliza escape to freedom. Literature experts including Nathaniel Hawthorne, James Baldwin, Jane Tompkins, and Anne Douglas offer different views of the story. For example, Hawthorne comments on its romantic passion. Baldwin sees divisions with African-Americans in the 1800’s. Tompkins and Douglas reveal feminist themes in the plot.
Works Cited
“Uncle Tom's Cabin Book Notes Summary” Retrieved 19 March 2008 from
http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-uncletomscabin
Metcalf, Stephen. “Uncle Tom's Children, Why Has Uncle Tom’s Cabin Survived-and
Thrived?” Retrieved 19 March 2008 from http://www.slate.com/id/2118927
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Emily Dickinson, An Innovator in Poetry
By Matthew Cox
Emily Dickinson is an innovator of style and verse in American poetry. She is born in Amherst, Massachusetts on December 10, 830 (Edison). Her father, Edward Dickinson, is a respected lawyer and trustee of Amherst College. The poet is educated in Amherst Academy. She attended Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary (now Mt. Holyoke College) by dropped out after a year. In 1850, Emily withdraws from her family and friends. By 1861, the poet completely withdraws from society and writes poetry in private. She only contacts people with letters and poems. Dickinson’s official excuse is that she is heartbroken. Her one and only love, Rev. Charles Wadsworth, does not love her. Although Dickinson is one of America’s greatest poets, she only publishes a few poems during her lifetime. She writes them on scraps of paper that she keeps locked away. The works are published after death on May 15, 1886.
Literary experts say both Transcendentalism and Puritanism influence Dinkinson’s poetry. Puritanism keeps her rooted in traditional theology. Transcendentalism lets the poet reach beyond narrow ideas of human nature and see herself with identity. During the 1820’s and 1830’s, the Second Great Awakening sweeps across America. It reconnects unchurched people with traditional Protestant denominations through church revivals. Puritanism teaches that human nature is essentially good as God exists in all of us. However, it also states that people are also capable of great evil. There are two concentrations of the Second Great Awakening: 1). the relationship between God and people; and 2) how individuals and the community interact. Religious conservatives at this time believe in a strict code of ethics that border on intolerance. Puritans also accept that the world is divinely ordered and people are placed on it to worship God. Such ideas of morality cover every aspect of Christian life. Good and evil come from ideas of moral goodness. Calvinism teaches that God chooses who does or does not enter Heaven. Also, free will does not exist as the Creator controls everything that happens.
Transcendentalism lets Dickinson to see beyond the scope of het strict Protestant upbringing. This allows her to see what her feeling and artistic inspiration tells her. On one had, Emily felt God speaking to her. With the other, the poet follows her own instincts while being emotionally honest. Being both a Puritan and Transcendentalist created an inner conflict in the writer. This makes her one of the greatest and highly regarded poets in the country. Dickinson’s early work is influenced by her strong Christian upbringing. The writer does not think that she can depart from her family traditions because they are so ingrained into her. However, she gradually accepts other philosophies including Transcendentalism. Her view of nature as a whole stems from an appreciation of the environment and human nature. To resolve the conflict, she combines the beliefs of both Puritanism and Transcendentalism. Emily’s other alternative includes finding a happy medium between the two. The Danish theologian and philosopher Soren Kierkegaard teacher a similar concept. He believes that people can appreciate God’s powers through our five senses. Kierkegaard also claims that we should understand God’s teachings through reason.
After Dickinson’s death in 1886, her sister Lavinia edited three volumes of the writer’s poetry from 1891 to 1896 (Emily Dickinson (1830-1886). In the early 1990’s, Emily’s niece Martha Dickinson Bianchi published several works in three volumes. Publisher Thomas H. Johnson produced and edited the most comprehensive edition of Dickinson’s writings. His assistant Theodora Ward assembled a volume of letters that the poet wrote to her grandparents. Conrad Aiken edited the Selected Poems compilation in 1924. This book established Dickinson as an important writer.
Emily has a considerable influence on poetry. Her style includes frequent dashes, sporadic capitalizations of nouns, off-rhymes, broken meter, and unconventional use of metaphors. This unconventional style paves the way for other female writers including Sylvia Plath. Many scholars say that Dickinson’s writings led to modern feminist poetry. Many psychologists and psychiatrists say that her poetry gives comfort to people with mental problems.
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
Many feminist literary experts assert that Emily’s reputation as an eccentric reclusive was exaggerated. Such people claim that she is an intelligent person struggling with both passive and aggressive feelings. Her writing is full of images including volcanoes, shipwrecks, funerals, violent images, and other themes relating to pain. Scholars admire Dickinson’s relationship with her sister Sue Gilbert. They claim that it is strong and helped the poet get through the bad times. Also, literary experts say that the writer Helen Hunt Jackson remains a friend to the reclusive Dickinson. Jackson’s poems influence the latter.
Works Cited
Edison, Jennifer. “Religious Influences on Emily Dickinson: Puritanism and
Transcendentalism in Her Poetry.” December 1996. American Literature
Research and Analysis Web Site.
4 March 2008 http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/edidwell.htm
“Emily Dickinson (1830-1886).” Books and Writers. 2002. 4 March 2008
http:/www.kirjasto.sci.fi/emilydic.htm
By Matthew Cox
Emily Dickinson is an innovator of style and verse in American poetry. She is born in Amherst, Massachusetts on December 10, 830 (Edison). Her father, Edward Dickinson, is a respected lawyer and trustee of Amherst College. The poet is educated in Amherst Academy. She attended Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary (now Mt. Holyoke College) by dropped out after a year. In 1850, Emily withdraws from her family and friends. By 1861, the poet completely withdraws from society and writes poetry in private. She only contacts people with letters and poems. Dickinson’s official excuse is that she is heartbroken. Her one and only love, Rev. Charles Wadsworth, does not love her. Although Dickinson is one of America’s greatest poets, she only publishes a few poems during her lifetime. She writes them on scraps of paper that she keeps locked away. The works are published after death on May 15, 1886.
Literary experts say both Transcendentalism and Puritanism influence Dinkinson’s poetry. Puritanism keeps her rooted in traditional theology. Transcendentalism lets the poet reach beyond narrow ideas of human nature and see herself with identity. During the 1820’s and 1830’s, the Second Great Awakening sweeps across America. It reconnects unchurched people with traditional Protestant denominations through church revivals. Puritanism teaches that human nature is essentially good as God exists in all of us. However, it also states that people are also capable of great evil. There are two concentrations of the Second Great Awakening: 1). the relationship between God and people; and 2) how individuals and the community interact. Religious conservatives at this time believe in a strict code of ethics that border on intolerance. Puritans also accept that the world is divinely ordered and people are placed on it to worship God. Such ideas of morality cover every aspect of Christian life. Good and evil come from ideas of moral goodness. Calvinism teaches that God chooses who does or does not enter Heaven. Also, free will does not exist as the Creator controls everything that happens.
Transcendentalism lets Dickinson to see beyond the scope of het strict Protestant upbringing. This allows her to see what her feeling and artistic inspiration tells her. On one had, Emily felt God speaking to her. With the other, the poet follows her own instincts while being emotionally honest. Being both a Puritan and Transcendentalist created an inner conflict in the writer. This makes her one of the greatest and highly regarded poets in the country. Dickinson’s early work is influenced by her strong Christian upbringing. The writer does not think that she can depart from her family traditions because they are so ingrained into her. However, she gradually accepts other philosophies including Transcendentalism. Her view of nature as a whole stems from an appreciation of the environment and human nature. To resolve the conflict, she combines the beliefs of both Puritanism and Transcendentalism. Emily’s other alternative includes finding a happy medium between the two. The Danish theologian and philosopher Soren Kierkegaard teacher a similar concept. He believes that people can appreciate God’s powers through our five senses. Kierkegaard also claims that we should understand God’s teachings through reason.
After Dickinson’s death in 1886, her sister Lavinia edited three volumes of the writer’s poetry from 1891 to 1896 (Emily Dickinson (1830-1886). In the early 1990’s, Emily’s niece Martha Dickinson Bianchi published several works in three volumes. Publisher Thomas H. Johnson produced and edited the most comprehensive edition of Dickinson’s writings. His assistant Theodora Ward assembled a volume of letters that the poet wrote to her grandparents. Conrad Aiken edited the Selected Poems compilation in 1924. This book established Dickinson as an important writer.
Emily has a considerable influence on poetry. Her style includes frequent dashes, sporadic capitalizations of nouns, off-rhymes, broken meter, and unconventional use of metaphors. This unconventional style paves the way for other female writers including Sylvia Plath. Many scholars say that Dickinson’s writings led to modern feminist poetry. Many psychologists and psychiatrists say that her poetry gives comfort to people with mental problems.
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
Many feminist literary experts assert that Emily’s reputation as an eccentric reclusive was exaggerated. Such people claim that she is an intelligent person struggling with both passive and aggressive feelings. Her writing is full of images including volcanoes, shipwrecks, funerals, violent images, and other themes relating to pain. Scholars admire Dickinson’s relationship with her sister Sue Gilbert. They claim that it is strong and helped the poet get through the bad times. Also, literary experts say that the writer Helen Hunt Jackson remains a friend to the reclusive Dickinson. Jackson’s poems influence the latter.
Works Cited
Edison, Jennifer. “Religious Influences on Emily Dickinson: Puritanism and
Transcendentalism in Her Poetry.” December 1996. American Literature
Research and Analysis Web Site.
4 March 2008 http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/edidwell.htm
“Emily Dickinson (1830-1886).” Books and Writers. 2002. 4 March 2008
http:/www.kirjasto.sci.fi/emilydic.htm
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself,” and Expansive Persona
By Matthew Cox
Walt Whitman is one of the most famous poets in America during the 1800’s. He is known for his poetry collection known as the Leaves of Grass. The author spent his entire life perfecting this work by reediting and adding to it throughout his life. One of the most famous poems from the book is called “ Song of Myself.” It is a metaphor about who Walt Whitman is. It engages readers by Whitman exaggerating who he wants to be with expansive persona. The work does not sound arrogant or boastful. Rather, it entertains the reader with vivid descriptions of how the poet wants to portray himself. Whitman uses elements of Transcendentalism and Romanticism for artistic effect. Also, he predicts realism in writing in America after the Civil War. “Song of Myself” is an exaggerated metaphor of Walt Whitman’s personality.
Walt Whitman’s poem “Song of Myself” is a famous piece from his collection, Leaves of Grass published in 1855 (Wikipedia). It first appears as an unnamed writing. In the 1856 edition, of the Leaves of Grass, Whitman called the poem “Poem of Walt Whitman, an American.” He renamed it to “Song of Myself” in the 1860 version of the collection. The poet divided it into 52 numbered sections in the 1867 edition. Walt Whitman borrows Transcendentalist ideas for this work. Ralph Waldo Emerson supports this notion. He even writes a letter to Whitman praising his first edition of the Leaves of Grass. Additionally, Whitman uses many Romantic ideas in his poems including an appreciation of nature, nationalist slant, and an introspective approach to writing. He shows this the gritty details of life in the 1800’s.
The lunatic is carried at last to the asylum a confirmed case,
He will never sleep any more as he did it in the cot in his mother's bedroom;
The jour printer with gray head and gaunt jaws works at his case,
He turns his quid of tobacco, his eyes get blurred with the manuscript;
The malformed limbs are tied to the anatomist's table,
What is removed drops horribly in a pail;
The quadroon girl is sold at the stand . . . . the drunkard nods by the barroom stove ... (section 15)
Many literary critics say that Whitman was ahead of his time. Realistic writing styles such as this come after the Civil War and not before it.
The poem is a self portrait of who Walt Whitman is. For example, the word “self” identifies the speaker, or “I” in the poem. “Song of Myself” shows the reader who Whitman wants to be or might be, and not the real-life writer. This is called an expansive persona. Writers who use this method write about who they want to be and not who they are. People who use expansive persona exaggerate or give unrealistic details about their personalities and experiences. For example, "I pass death with the dying, and birth with the new-washed babe .... and am not contained between my hat and boots" (section 7) uses hyperbole to describe the passage of time for Whitman’s life (Wikipedia). The writer’s tone does not appear to be selfish with “in all people I see myself, none more and not one a barleycorn less/and the good or bad I say of myself I say of them” (Section 20). Instead, he seems to use the writing as a way of reaching out to people. Other quotes from the passage show that he is telling readers about different aspects of his personality.
“it is you talking just as much as myself…I act as the tongue of you” (Section 47)
“I am large…I contain multitudes.” (Section 51)
“For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.” (Section 1)
Literary analyst Alice L. Cook writes that the concept of “self” is an important element in the poem. Everyone has their own personality and expresses it in individual ways. Therefore, “self” is a universal concept. Critic John B. Mason asserts that the poem starts out as individual expression. It moves into cosmic proportions as Whitman exaggerates and adds hyperbole to his work. The “self” is much like what people find in epic poetry. The writer in such writing takes a hero and gives him superhuman powers. Whitman does the same thing to himself and not with a made up person.
“Song of Myself” is an exaggerated metaphor of Walt Whitman’s personality. He is one of the most original and influential writers in the Mid-1880’s. Whitman spent his whole life adding to and revising his poetry called the Leaves of Grass. “Song of Myself” is one of his most popular poems. The work reveals hidden aspects of Whitman’s personality through hyperbole. This piece entertains readers with vivid descriptions of who the writer wants to be through expansive persona. It does not portray the poet as arrogant or haughty. Rather is delights readers by stretching the truth. Whitman borrows ideas from other forms of writing including Transcendentalism and Romanticism. However, his literary style is realistic an ahead of its time.
Works Cited
“Song of Myself.” Wikipedia. 16 February 2008. 2 March 2008.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_Myself
By Matthew Cox
Walt Whitman is one of the most famous poets in America during the 1800’s. He is known for his poetry collection known as the Leaves of Grass. The author spent his entire life perfecting this work by reediting and adding to it throughout his life. One of the most famous poems from the book is called “ Song of Myself.” It is a metaphor about who Walt Whitman is. It engages readers by Whitman exaggerating who he wants to be with expansive persona. The work does not sound arrogant or boastful. Rather, it entertains the reader with vivid descriptions of how the poet wants to portray himself. Whitman uses elements of Transcendentalism and Romanticism for artistic effect. Also, he predicts realism in writing in America after the Civil War. “Song of Myself” is an exaggerated metaphor of Walt Whitman’s personality.
Walt Whitman’s poem “Song of Myself” is a famous piece from his collection, Leaves of Grass published in 1855 (Wikipedia). It first appears as an unnamed writing. In the 1856 edition, of the Leaves of Grass, Whitman called the poem “Poem of Walt Whitman, an American.” He renamed it to “Song of Myself” in the 1860 version of the collection. The poet divided it into 52 numbered sections in the 1867 edition. Walt Whitman borrows Transcendentalist ideas for this work. Ralph Waldo Emerson supports this notion. He even writes a letter to Whitman praising his first edition of the Leaves of Grass. Additionally, Whitman uses many Romantic ideas in his poems including an appreciation of nature, nationalist slant, and an introspective approach to writing. He shows this the gritty details of life in the 1800’s.
The lunatic is carried at last to the asylum a confirmed case,
He will never sleep any more as he did it in the cot in his mother's bedroom;
The jour printer with gray head and gaunt jaws works at his case,
He turns his quid of tobacco, his eyes get blurred with the manuscript;
The malformed limbs are tied to the anatomist's table,
What is removed drops horribly in a pail;
The quadroon girl is sold at the stand . . . . the drunkard nods by the barroom stove ... (section 15)
Many literary critics say that Whitman was ahead of his time. Realistic writing styles such as this come after the Civil War and not before it.
The poem is a self portrait of who Walt Whitman is. For example, the word “self” identifies the speaker, or “I” in the poem. “Song of Myself” shows the reader who Whitman wants to be or might be, and not the real-life writer. This is called an expansive persona. Writers who use this method write about who they want to be and not who they are. People who use expansive persona exaggerate or give unrealistic details about their personalities and experiences. For example, "I pass death with the dying, and birth with the new-washed babe .... and am not contained between my hat and boots" (section 7) uses hyperbole to describe the passage of time for Whitman’s life (Wikipedia). The writer’s tone does not appear to be selfish with “in all people I see myself, none more and not one a barleycorn less/and the good or bad I say of myself I say of them” (Section 20). Instead, he seems to use the writing as a way of reaching out to people. Other quotes from the passage show that he is telling readers about different aspects of his personality.
“it is you talking just as much as myself…I act as the tongue of you” (Section 47)
“I am large…I contain multitudes.” (Section 51)
“For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.” (Section 1)
Literary analyst Alice L. Cook writes that the concept of “self” is an important element in the poem. Everyone has their own personality and expresses it in individual ways. Therefore, “self” is a universal concept. Critic John B. Mason asserts that the poem starts out as individual expression. It moves into cosmic proportions as Whitman exaggerates and adds hyperbole to his work. The “self” is much like what people find in epic poetry. The writer in such writing takes a hero and gives him superhuman powers. Whitman does the same thing to himself and not with a made up person.
“Song of Myself” is an exaggerated metaphor of Walt Whitman’s personality. He is one of the most original and influential writers in the Mid-1880’s. Whitman spent his whole life adding to and revising his poetry called the Leaves of Grass. “Song of Myself” is one of his most popular poems. The work reveals hidden aspects of Whitman’s personality through hyperbole. This piece entertains readers with vivid descriptions of who the writer wants to be through expansive persona. It does not portray the poet as arrogant or haughty. Rather is delights readers by stretching the truth. Whitman borrows ideas from other forms of writing including Transcendentalism and Romanticism. However, his literary style is realistic an ahead of its time.
Works Cited
“Song of Myself.” Wikipedia. 16 February 2008. 2 March 2008.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_Myself
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Herman Melville, A Writer of Contrasts
By Matthew Cox
Herman Melville is one of America’s best known writers. He covers many generas including essays, novels, and short stories. Perhaps his best-known work in Moby-Dick. It tells the story of Captain Ahab’s obsession of killing a white whale. The narrator, Ishmael, tells the tale in a clear way. He uses vivid descriptions of whales, Ahab, the sea, and the like. This story ends ironically. When Captain Ahab harpoons Moby Dick, he gets trapped in the rope and is pulled out to sea; the whale kills Ahab and not vice versa. Bartleby the Scrivener is different in both writing style and theme. It is a short story about a young man who works at a lawyer’s office. Bartleby is quiet and gives up on his work. He does not leave the law firm, even after it moves to a different location. Although the lawyer is kind to the scrivener, the writer dies by starving himself in jail. Herman Melville uses many writing styles and themes for his stories.
Herman Melville’s timeless tale, Moby Dick, written in 1851, is one of the English language’s most recognizable stories (Elliff). The plot centers on Captain Ahab, a whaler who is driven insane by a white whale who bit off his leg. The tale is told in the first person narrative by “Ishmael.” He knows a lot about whips, whales, and sailing. Also, readers get a first-hand view of what takes place. Every chapter provides insight into human nature.
Melville sets the tone of the story by including details about the setting and information about whales. He also states how other writers including Shakespeare and Hawthorne describe whales. Herman even writes about Biblical references to the sea-mammal. Melville uses such descriptions to illustrate how Ishmael talks about being bored with the land. The main character longs for adventures at sea. On his way to the ocean, he meets Queequeg. The native of the South seas is large, animated, and carries a small statue of his god, Yojo. Both friends travel together to the whaling port of Nantucket. They join the crew of Capt. Ahab aboard his ship, the Peaquod.
The obsessed and charismatic Captain anoints the White Whale “Moby-Dick.” He energizes the crew by promising a Spanish sixteen-dollar piece to the first crewman who spots the whale. During the voyage, the Peaquod captures several whales. Ishmael tells the reader everything he knows about these creatures. Later, the crew hears reports from others ships about their encounters with the White Whale. Ahab uses this information to pinpoint the exact location of the creature. He orders his crew to sail through a dangerous storm to meet Moby-Dick. However, the superstitious sailors view the gale as an omen. After the tempest passes, Ahab sees the whale and orders his ship to chase it. The Peaqod pursues Moby-Dick for three days. On the third day, the obsessed skipper orders his men to take small boats and harpoon the creature. However, the creature destroys the small vessels. Moby-Dick is enraged and smashes into the starboard bow. Ahab is horrified and throws a harpoon into the whale’s side. The rope gets caught around his neck. He gets pulled into the sea after the whale. The crew is demoralized by this and the sinking ship. It creates a whirlpool which sends debris from the Peaquod in every direction. Ishmael becomes the sole survivor because the coffin of Queequeg, who dies earlier in the book, floats to the surface.
Many critics and scholars find different meanings and significance in Moby-Dick (The Significance of the Narrator in Moby-Dick). Perhaps one of the most prominent features in the book is the first-person narration in the tale. Many literary experts feel that Ishmael links Ahab, the text, and the natural setting together. The narrator is mostly objective as he carefully explains the plot, setting, characters, and action. However, there are times that he becomes subjective and an unreliable narrator. For example, during the storm, he becomes scared like other people in the crew. He loses rational thought and believes that the storm is a bad omen for disaster. Some experts believe that this foreshadows the crew’s fate with Moby-Dick. Other critics say that Melville tried to desubjectify Ishmael by not providing enough background details. He is simply connects the reader to the story. The emotional impact of the book is not the whale hunt. It is really the narrator struggling to remain objective as he, the crew, and Ahab become increasingly caught up in their own feelings. Melville creates suspense by revealing small parts of the whale at a time. Not only does this keep readers guessing about the whale, but lets them question Ahab’s sanity as well.
Literary critics compare and contrast both Ishmael and Ahab. Both men are similar in many ways. For example, they have experience with boats and sailing. Also, such individuals love the sea. Also, Melville does not reveal a lot about their pasts Ishmael and Ahab; both men are a mystery to the reader. Their main differences include objectives. Ishmael sails because he likes the thrill of adventure. Ahab is bent on killing the whale that ate his leg. The narrator is level-headed and literal minded. The captain is losing his mind and does not act rationally. Eventually, he pays the price for his obsession by being carried out to sea by the whale. One may argue that the idea of the story is man verses nature. This is true because the Peagod’s crew face natural forces at sea. Also, the antagonist is a creature and not a person.
In contrast to Moby-Dick, “Bartleby the Scrivener,” published in 1853, does not deal with people dealing with outside forces (Bath). Instead, it involves a person confronting their own issues in life. The nameless narrator is a lawyer and businessman who helps wealthy people with mortgages, bonds, and deeds. His three scriveners are Bartleby, Nippers, and Turkey. The latter is drunk, but works well in the mornings when he is clearheaded. Nippers suffers from an eating disorder and has a bad temper. He only does a good job in the afternoon. Despite their shortcomings, both workers are a good balance and do their work. The lawyer hires Bartleby hoping that his quiet personality will help calm Turkey and Nippers down.
Although the new scrivener does his work well at first, he gets to be sloppy. For example, the lawyer asks him to proofread a document. Bartleby only answers “ I would prefer not to.” This goes on as he does less and less work. The young writer always says “I would prefer not to” when his boss asks him to do work. After a while, the lawyer discovers that Bartleby is living in the office. Nobody can explain his strange behavior. However, the narrator cannot get rid of him. Apparently, the young man manipulates his boss who feels sorry for him. The lawyer moves his office to a new location. However, the new tenants of the office cannot get rid of Bartleby. He is quiet, but hangs around the building. They get the lawyer to talk with Bartleby who does not listen. After a few days, the young scrivener get arrested. His health deteriorates from starvation. When his former boss checks on him, he refuses the narrator’s kindness. Later, the lawyer tries to make sure that Bartleby is getting enough to eat. However, the scrivener dies. We find out that the scrivener worked in the Dead letter Office before working for the law firm. The lawyer realizes that working there could have forced Bartleby over the edge. Also, the narrator sees that someone who isolates themselves from society is better off dead.
Although the short story appears to be simple, it opens up many complicated questions (Examining Three Different Literary Analyses of “Bartleby, the Scrivener” by Herman Melville). In order understand the issues in the tale, we can look at it from the perspectives of a formalist critic, a historical contextual critic, and a psychological critic. The expert in formalism ,Walter Anderson, suggests that Bartleby is a Christ-like figure who suffers for the redemption of humankind. Other characters represent various concepts from the Bible. For example, the lawyer symbolizes kindness and Christian love. The faults of Nipper and Turkey show how sinful people quarrel with each other. Writer Barbara Foley implies that the story represents the class struggle between rich and poor in the 1840’s. Melville depicts the lawyer’s kindness as hypocritical. Instead of helping Bartleby to improve himself, he only neglects the young scrivener’s needs. The narrator also pays his workers very little money and keeps most of it for himself. Literary Scholar Dennis R. Perry looks at the story from a psychological point of view. Bartleby suffers from a Compulsion Disorder. For example, he refuses to work, does not leave, the lawyer’s office, and refuses food in jail. Such behaviors are not typical because they are self-destructive. Only someone who is bent on such abnormal actions act like that.
Herman Melville uses many writing styles and themes for his stories. He covers a wide variety of subjects in his essays, novels, and short stories. Moby-Dick is one of Melville’s most popular stories. The plot involves Captain Ahab’s revenge against a whale that bit off his leg. The narrator is an experienced sailor named Ishmael. He colorfully describes the setting, characters, and action in the book. Ahab meets an ironic fate when he gets pulled to his death by the whale as he tried to harpoon it. “Bartleby the Scrivener” is a short story with a different idea and style of writing. This tales regards a law office worker who is very quiet. He starts out doing good work. As time goes on, he refuses to work and does not leave the law firm. He dies by starving himself in jail.
Works Cited
Bath, Felicia. “Bartleby, the Scrivener” planetpapers.com 2006. 29 February 2008.
http://www.planetpapers.com/Assets/5748.php
Elliff, Benjamin. “A Critical Review of Herman Melville's Moby Dick.”
Ccwonline. 2001
29 February 2008 http://www.ccwonline.org/fineprint/moby.html
“Examining Three Different Literary Analyses of ‘Bartleby, the Scrivener’ by Herman
Melville.” 2008. 29 February 2008.
www.students.stedwards.edu/jpayne/academic/Bartleby.pdf
“The Significance of the Narrator in Moby-Dick.” thepequod.org. 2005.
29 February 2008.
http://www.thepequod.org.uk/essays/litcrit/mobydick.htm
By Matthew Cox
Herman Melville is one of America’s best known writers. He covers many generas including essays, novels, and short stories. Perhaps his best-known work in Moby-Dick. It tells the story of Captain Ahab’s obsession of killing a white whale. The narrator, Ishmael, tells the tale in a clear way. He uses vivid descriptions of whales, Ahab, the sea, and the like. This story ends ironically. When Captain Ahab harpoons Moby Dick, he gets trapped in the rope and is pulled out to sea; the whale kills Ahab and not vice versa. Bartleby the Scrivener is different in both writing style and theme. It is a short story about a young man who works at a lawyer’s office. Bartleby is quiet and gives up on his work. He does not leave the law firm, even after it moves to a different location. Although the lawyer is kind to the scrivener, the writer dies by starving himself in jail. Herman Melville uses many writing styles and themes for his stories.
Herman Melville’s timeless tale, Moby Dick, written in 1851, is one of the English language’s most recognizable stories (Elliff). The plot centers on Captain Ahab, a whaler who is driven insane by a white whale who bit off his leg. The tale is told in the first person narrative by “Ishmael.” He knows a lot about whips, whales, and sailing. Also, readers get a first-hand view of what takes place. Every chapter provides insight into human nature.
Melville sets the tone of the story by including details about the setting and information about whales. He also states how other writers including Shakespeare and Hawthorne describe whales. Herman even writes about Biblical references to the sea-mammal. Melville uses such descriptions to illustrate how Ishmael talks about being bored with the land. The main character longs for adventures at sea. On his way to the ocean, he meets Queequeg. The native of the South seas is large, animated, and carries a small statue of his god, Yojo. Both friends travel together to the whaling port of Nantucket. They join the crew of Capt. Ahab aboard his ship, the Peaquod.
The obsessed and charismatic Captain anoints the White Whale “Moby-Dick.” He energizes the crew by promising a Spanish sixteen-dollar piece to the first crewman who spots the whale. During the voyage, the Peaquod captures several whales. Ishmael tells the reader everything he knows about these creatures. Later, the crew hears reports from others ships about their encounters with the White Whale. Ahab uses this information to pinpoint the exact location of the creature. He orders his crew to sail through a dangerous storm to meet Moby-Dick. However, the superstitious sailors view the gale as an omen. After the tempest passes, Ahab sees the whale and orders his ship to chase it. The Peaqod pursues Moby-Dick for three days. On the third day, the obsessed skipper orders his men to take small boats and harpoon the creature. However, the creature destroys the small vessels. Moby-Dick is enraged and smashes into the starboard bow. Ahab is horrified and throws a harpoon into the whale’s side. The rope gets caught around his neck. He gets pulled into the sea after the whale. The crew is demoralized by this and the sinking ship. It creates a whirlpool which sends debris from the Peaquod in every direction. Ishmael becomes the sole survivor because the coffin of Queequeg, who dies earlier in the book, floats to the surface.
Many critics and scholars find different meanings and significance in Moby-Dick (The Significance of the Narrator in Moby-Dick). Perhaps one of the most prominent features in the book is the first-person narration in the tale. Many literary experts feel that Ishmael links Ahab, the text, and the natural setting together. The narrator is mostly objective as he carefully explains the plot, setting, characters, and action. However, there are times that he becomes subjective and an unreliable narrator. For example, during the storm, he becomes scared like other people in the crew. He loses rational thought and believes that the storm is a bad omen for disaster. Some experts believe that this foreshadows the crew’s fate with Moby-Dick. Other critics say that Melville tried to desubjectify Ishmael by not providing enough background details. He is simply connects the reader to the story. The emotional impact of the book is not the whale hunt. It is really the narrator struggling to remain objective as he, the crew, and Ahab become increasingly caught up in their own feelings. Melville creates suspense by revealing small parts of the whale at a time. Not only does this keep readers guessing about the whale, but lets them question Ahab’s sanity as well.
Literary critics compare and contrast both Ishmael and Ahab. Both men are similar in many ways. For example, they have experience with boats and sailing. Also, such individuals love the sea. Also, Melville does not reveal a lot about their pasts Ishmael and Ahab; both men are a mystery to the reader. Their main differences include objectives. Ishmael sails because he likes the thrill of adventure. Ahab is bent on killing the whale that ate his leg. The narrator is level-headed and literal minded. The captain is losing his mind and does not act rationally. Eventually, he pays the price for his obsession by being carried out to sea by the whale. One may argue that the idea of the story is man verses nature. This is true because the Peagod’s crew face natural forces at sea. Also, the antagonist is a creature and not a person.
In contrast to Moby-Dick, “Bartleby the Scrivener,” published in 1853, does not deal with people dealing with outside forces (Bath). Instead, it involves a person confronting their own issues in life. The nameless narrator is a lawyer and businessman who helps wealthy people with mortgages, bonds, and deeds. His three scriveners are Bartleby, Nippers, and Turkey. The latter is drunk, but works well in the mornings when he is clearheaded. Nippers suffers from an eating disorder and has a bad temper. He only does a good job in the afternoon. Despite their shortcomings, both workers are a good balance and do their work. The lawyer hires Bartleby hoping that his quiet personality will help calm Turkey and Nippers down.
Although the new scrivener does his work well at first, he gets to be sloppy. For example, the lawyer asks him to proofread a document. Bartleby only answers “ I would prefer not to.” This goes on as he does less and less work. The young writer always says “I would prefer not to” when his boss asks him to do work. After a while, the lawyer discovers that Bartleby is living in the office. Nobody can explain his strange behavior. However, the narrator cannot get rid of him. Apparently, the young man manipulates his boss who feels sorry for him. The lawyer moves his office to a new location. However, the new tenants of the office cannot get rid of Bartleby. He is quiet, but hangs around the building. They get the lawyer to talk with Bartleby who does not listen. After a few days, the young scrivener get arrested. His health deteriorates from starvation. When his former boss checks on him, he refuses the narrator’s kindness. Later, the lawyer tries to make sure that Bartleby is getting enough to eat. However, the scrivener dies. We find out that the scrivener worked in the Dead letter Office before working for the law firm. The lawyer realizes that working there could have forced Bartleby over the edge. Also, the narrator sees that someone who isolates themselves from society is better off dead.
Although the short story appears to be simple, it opens up many complicated questions (Examining Three Different Literary Analyses of “Bartleby, the Scrivener” by Herman Melville). In order understand the issues in the tale, we can look at it from the perspectives of a formalist critic, a historical contextual critic, and a psychological critic. The expert in formalism ,Walter Anderson, suggests that Bartleby is a Christ-like figure who suffers for the redemption of humankind. Other characters represent various concepts from the Bible. For example, the lawyer symbolizes kindness and Christian love. The faults of Nipper and Turkey show how sinful people quarrel with each other. Writer Barbara Foley implies that the story represents the class struggle between rich and poor in the 1840’s. Melville depicts the lawyer’s kindness as hypocritical. Instead of helping Bartleby to improve himself, he only neglects the young scrivener’s needs. The narrator also pays his workers very little money and keeps most of it for himself. Literary Scholar Dennis R. Perry looks at the story from a psychological point of view. Bartleby suffers from a Compulsion Disorder. For example, he refuses to work, does not leave, the lawyer’s office, and refuses food in jail. Such behaviors are not typical because they are self-destructive. Only someone who is bent on such abnormal actions act like that.
Herman Melville uses many writing styles and themes for his stories. He covers a wide variety of subjects in his essays, novels, and short stories. Moby-Dick is one of Melville’s most popular stories. The plot involves Captain Ahab’s revenge against a whale that bit off his leg. The narrator is an experienced sailor named Ishmael. He colorfully describes the setting, characters, and action in the book. Ahab meets an ironic fate when he gets pulled to his death by the whale as he tried to harpoon it. “Bartleby the Scrivener” is a short story with a different idea and style of writing. This tales regards a law office worker who is very quiet. He starts out doing good work. As time goes on, he refuses to work and does not leave the law firm. He dies by starving himself in jail.
Works Cited
Bath, Felicia. “Bartleby, the Scrivener” planetpapers.com 2006. 29 February 2008.
http://www.planetpapers.com/Assets/5748.php
Elliff, Benjamin. “A Critical Review of Herman Melville's Moby Dick.”
Ccwonline. 2001
29 February 2008 http://www.ccwonline.org/fineprint/moby.html
“Examining Three Different Literary Analyses of ‘Bartleby, the Scrivener’ by Herman
Melville.” 2008. 29 February 2008.
www.students.stedwards.edu/jpayne/academic/Bartleby.pdf
“The Significance of the Narrator in Moby-Dick.” thepequod.org. 2005.
29 February 2008.
http://www.thepequod.org.uk/essays/litcrit/mobydick.htm
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)