Monday, February 26, 2007
Kate Chopin
Katja
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 25, Chopin
26 February, 2007
"The rain was coming down in sheets obscuring the view of far-off cabins and enveloping the distant wood in a gray mist. The playing of the lightning was incessant." (Kate Chopin 631)
Taken from Kate Chopin’s The Storm, this quote is a not so subtle reference to the sexual tension between Alcée and Calixta.
Although scandalous for her day, Chopin’s thinly veiled sexual references strike me as Harlequin-esque in style. The increasing strength of the storm, the exotic and somewhat loose woman, the strong man commanding his horse, the isolated setting.... While we all appreciate some bodice-ripping, steamy sex every so often, Chopin’s message of infidelity bothers me. She is clearly stating that women of lower class (i.e. the lusty ones) cannot expect to find sexual contentment with their husbands and must seek it outside of marriage. Her husband is, of course, a dolt and cannot possibly hold a candle to the dashing, manipulative and higher-class Alcée. The class/sexuality/gender theme is quite disturbing in its Victorian-ness. It makes me sick!
Chopin gives her characters allowance to do what cannot be avoided in shelter of the storm. The convenient pocket of invisibility also seems to give them immunity from any potential accusations as to their encounter: it was stormy, she was frightened, they became possessed, they could not help themselves. While reading, I could not help but think that Calixta’s husband somehow knew to stay at the little store during the storm, following the notion of what he does not know cannot hurt him. After all, why should he be discontent? He has gotten what he wanted: Calixta and a family, while she has given up everything she wanted, which is Alcée to a certain extent, but even more so, freedom and choice.
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 25, Chopin
26 February, 2007
"The rain was coming down in sheets obscuring the view of far-off cabins and enveloping the distant wood in a gray mist. The playing of the lightning was incessant." (Kate Chopin 631)
Taken from Kate Chopin’s The Storm, this quote is a not so subtle reference to the sexual tension between Alcée and Calixta.
Although scandalous for her day, Chopin’s thinly veiled sexual references strike me as Harlequin-esque in style. The increasing strength of the storm, the exotic and somewhat loose woman, the strong man commanding his horse, the isolated setting.... While we all appreciate some bodice-ripping, steamy sex every so often, Chopin’s message of infidelity bothers me. She is clearly stating that women of lower class (i.e. the lusty ones) cannot expect to find sexual contentment with their husbands and must seek it outside of marriage. Her husband is, of course, a dolt and cannot possibly hold a candle to the dashing, manipulative and higher-class Alcée. The class/sexuality/gender theme is quite disturbing in its Victorian-ness. It makes me sick!
Chopin gives her characters allowance to do what cannot be avoided in shelter of the storm. The convenient pocket of invisibility also seems to give them immunity from any potential accusations as to their encounter: it was stormy, she was frightened, they became possessed, they could not help themselves. While reading, I could not help but think that Calixta’s husband somehow knew to stay at the little store during the storm, following the notion of what he does not know cannot hurt him. After all, why should he be discontent? He has gotten what he wanted: Calixta and a family, while she has given up everything she wanted, which is Alcée to a certain extent, but even more so, freedom and choice.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Stephen Crane III
Katja
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 24, Crane III
22 February, 2007
"But a scrutiny of the group would not have enabled an observer to pick the gambler from the men of more reputable pursuits." (Stephen Crane 944)
Taken from The Blue Hotel, the quote describes the scene in the saloon where, soon, the Swede will be stabbed to death.
I think the text well illustrates how Naturalism as a literary style does away with labels and identifying markers. Crane wants the reader to get the sense that in this bar, at this very moment, the customers are all equal. It hardly matters who you are or what you do when you are stuck in a saloon in Nebraska in a snowstorm. In fact, we do not know whether the Swede is really a Swede or some other (insignificant) variety of European. There is also the question of personal responsibility. In Hotel, the reader gets the definite sense that the Swede is infringing on the other customers by demanding they drink with him, which is what ultimately causes the room to erupt.
The lack of character development offers the reader a bleak perspective. The Blue Hotel carries a strong sense of alienation and isolation throughout. There is no "companionship" (945) and no significant bond between the men populating Crane’s story, leaving creative space in which Crane can indulge his fascination for gratuitous violence. If no real emotion is invested in the characters that get hurt or die, the narrative focus shifts to the characters that remain.
On the same token Crane creates Man as an empty signifier whose lack of traits can be more easily identified with by any audience. We can all relate to their bad luck, their deprived lives and their confusion at life. The introduction of characters who were not only of socially low status, but also dishonorable was a real coup for Crane, whose work embraces the pessimism and human responsibility that are crystallized in existentialist philosophy.
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 24, Crane III
22 February, 2007
"But a scrutiny of the group would not have enabled an observer to pick the gambler from the men of more reputable pursuits." (Stephen Crane 944)
Taken from The Blue Hotel, the quote describes the scene in the saloon where, soon, the Swede will be stabbed to death.
I think the text well illustrates how Naturalism as a literary style does away with labels and identifying markers. Crane wants the reader to get the sense that in this bar, at this very moment, the customers are all equal. It hardly matters who you are or what you do when you are stuck in a saloon in Nebraska in a snowstorm. In fact, we do not know whether the Swede is really a Swede or some other (insignificant) variety of European. There is also the question of personal responsibility. In Hotel, the reader gets the definite sense that the Swede is infringing on the other customers by demanding they drink with him, which is what ultimately causes the room to erupt.
The lack of character development offers the reader a bleak perspective. The Blue Hotel carries a strong sense of alienation and isolation throughout. There is no "companionship" (945) and no significant bond between the men populating Crane’s story, leaving creative space in which Crane can indulge his fascination for gratuitous violence. If no real emotion is invested in the characters that get hurt or die, the narrative focus shifts to the characters that remain.
On the same token Crane creates Man as an empty signifier whose lack of traits can be more easily identified with by any audience. We can all relate to their bad luck, their deprived lives and their confusion at life. The introduction of characters who were not only of socially low status, but also dishonorable was a real coup for Crane, whose work embraces the pessimism and human responsibility that are crystallized in existentialist philosophy.
Stephen Crane II
Katja
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 23, Crane II
22 February, 2007
"When it came night the white waves paced to and fro in the moonlight, and the wind brought the sound of the great sea’s voice to the men on the shore, and they felt that they could then be interpreters." (Stephen Crane 919)
This quote forms the conclusion to Crane’s The Open Boat. The men have been rescued and more have survived than perished.
I think this quote relates to Crane’s idea that Nature is "indifferent" (917). Here, Nature has had its go at toying with a few insignificant bits of humankind in a boat. The experience has been of no importance to the prevailing state of Nature, however it has left indelible marks on the four men.
The journey appears as a rite of passage, turning naive, simplistic males into knowing, intuitive men. Interestingly Crane treats the experience as a group event. Collectively, the four men share the adventure as well as its ramifications forever more, bound, as Crane writes, in "subtle brotherhood" (907). Their bond seems almost a secret; a ritual of male bonding that shall remain eternally private. What they experienced and can now interpret, does not appear allowable for common ears. The men appear not so much as Nature’s mouthpieces, but more guardians of its fickleness.
The restless ocean, "[pacing] to and fro" (919), has bargained with humanity and claimed its prize, the oiler, yet remains unappeased, the expected result of indifference. The one life cannot be enough, as no amount of sacrifice can ever be enough to break the tension between man and Nature. The spill of the three remaining lives on the shore is almost an afterthought, and the reader can only venture to guess the future destinies of the men.
The men’s new identities as "interpreters" (919) seem more significant than their old professional labels, and gives each character more depth and value, even if the reader does not get to know the men at all in this capacity. If there is a lesson here, it may be to embrace more fully a spectrum of experiences and invite them into one’s life to give it dimension beyond one’s superficial societal identity.
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 23, Crane II
22 February, 2007
"When it came night the white waves paced to and fro in the moonlight, and the wind brought the sound of the great sea’s voice to the men on the shore, and they felt that they could then be interpreters." (Stephen Crane 919)
This quote forms the conclusion to Crane’s The Open Boat. The men have been rescued and more have survived than perished.
I think this quote relates to Crane’s idea that Nature is "indifferent" (917). Here, Nature has had its go at toying with a few insignificant bits of humankind in a boat. The experience has been of no importance to the prevailing state of Nature, however it has left indelible marks on the four men.
The journey appears as a rite of passage, turning naive, simplistic males into knowing, intuitive men. Interestingly Crane treats the experience as a group event. Collectively, the four men share the adventure as well as its ramifications forever more, bound, as Crane writes, in "subtle brotherhood" (907). Their bond seems almost a secret; a ritual of male bonding that shall remain eternally private. What they experienced and can now interpret, does not appear allowable for common ears. The men appear not so much as Nature’s mouthpieces, but more guardians of its fickleness.
The restless ocean, "[pacing] to and fro" (919), has bargained with humanity and claimed its prize, the oiler, yet remains unappeased, the expected result of indifference. The one life cannot be enough, as no amount of sacrifice can ever be enough to break the tension between man and Nature. The spill of the three remaining lives on the shore is almost an afterthought, and the reader can only venture to guess the future destinies of the men.
The men’s new identities as "interpreters" (919) seem more significant than their old professional labels, and gives each character more depth and value, even if the reader does not get to know the men at all in this capacity. If there is a lesson here, it may be to embrace more fully a spectrum of experiences and invite them into one’s life to give it dimension beyond one’s superficial societal identity.
Stephen Crane
Katja
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 22, Crane
22 February, 2007
"and women with coffee pots and all the remedies sacred to their minds" (Stephen Crane 919, The Open Boat).
"It was instantly followed by an inrush of women. [...] Before they carried their prey off to the kitchen, there to be bathed and harangued with that mixture of sympathy and abuse which is a feat of their sex" (Stephen Crane 941, The Blue Hotel).
"When he reached home his sisters, his mother, his wife, sobbed for a long time at the sight of the flat sleeve." (Stephen Crane 949, An Episode of War).
These three quotes from three different Crane works illustrate Crane’s focus on all things male. These quotes are the only short mentions of women in either of the stories. Additionally, any reader will notice the sharp misogynistic tone of Crane’s words.
Neither story features any female figures until the very end. It would be too generous to call these figures characters, as they appear little more than shadows. One would have to assume that Crane considers women necessary evils, producing only insignificant contributions to the lives of men. Perhaps Crane’s long-time personal affiliation with working girls gave him licence to assume the only role of woman is one of servitude.
The brawny doings of Crane’s be-penised protagonists take up almost entirely all of his fiction, and is notably lacking the derogatory language or connotations Crane reserves for his mentions of women. Naturally, any feminist can see that Crane’s males are nothing but a bunch of card-carrying Yahoos, tooling around in search of the next endorphin release.
However, the lack of female influence serves a purpose. Look at what these men are able to accomplish on their own in a world devoid of women. They get shipwrecked, they get stabbed, they loose their arms for goodness’ sakes! In Crane’s work the human life form is reduced to its nuts and bolts—as it were—i.e. the males. There is little feeling or depth to these men until they come across almost insurmountable challenges, after which they get tut-tutted by their women. Perhaps Crane’s viewpoint is cynical and he is mirroring what he sees happening to women around him in his private life. This aside, I find little reason for him to castigate half of the human race.
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 22, Crane
22 February, 2007
"and women with coffee pots and all the remedies sacred to their minds" (Stephen Crane 919, The Open Boat).
"It was instantly followed by an inrush of women. [...] Before they carried their prey off to the kitchen, there to be bathed and harangued with that mixture of sympathy and abuse which is a feat of their sex" (Stephen Crane 941, The Blue Hotel).
"When he reached home his sisters, his mother, his wife, sobbed for a long time at the sight of the flat sleeve." (Stephen Crane 949, An Episode of War).
These three quotes from three different Crane works illustrate Crane’s focus on all things male. These quotes are the only short mentions of women in either of the stories. Additionally, any reader will notice the sharp misogynistic tone of Crane’s words.
Neither story features any female figures until the very end. It would be too generous to call these figures characters, as they appear little more than shadows. One would have to assume that Crane considers women necessary evils, producing only insignificant contributions to the lives of men. Perhaps Crane’s long-time personal affiliation with working girls gave him licence to assume the only role of woman is one of servitude.
The brawny doings of Crane’s be-penised protagonists take up almost entirely all of his fiction, and is notably lacking the derogatory language or connotations Crane reserves for his mentions of women. Naturally, any feminist can see that Crane’s males are nothing but a bunch of card-carrying Yahoos, tooling around in search of the next endorphin release.
However, the lack of female influence serves a purpose. Look at what these men are able to accomplish on their own in a world devoid of women. They get shipwrecked, they get stabbed, they loose their arms for goodness’ sakes! In Crane’s work the human life form is reduced to its nuts and bolts—as it were—i.e. the males. There is little feeling or depth to these men until they come across almost insurmountable challenges, after which they get tut-tutted by their women. Perhaps Crane’s viewpoint is cynical and he is mirroring what he sees happening to women around him in his private life. This aside, I find little reason for him to castigate half of the human race.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Midterm # 2, Dickinson
Katja
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 21, Dickinson
16 February, 2007
"’Faith’ is a fine invention When Gentlemen can see – / But Microscopes are prudent In an Emergency / " (Emily Dickinson 172)
"She rose to His Requirement—dropt The Playthings of Her Life / To take the honorable Work Of Woman, and of Wife— / " (Emily Dickinson 191)
The first quote above shows the poem # 185 in its entirety. Unlike Sarah Winnemucca, Emily Dickinson questioned her faith. Interested in science, an exploding field during the Victorian era, Dickinson became wary of the fundamentalist and misogynist views of religious doctrine. The observational and empirical techniques used in the sciences served as springboards for Dickinson’s extensive questioning and doubt into her own faith.
Dickinson points to faith as the brainchild of mankind, and a contrivance of convenience. Indirectly, Dickinson offers the idea that science, then, may be the innovation of womankind, an altogether more pragmatic approach to existence. The paradox of this notion is of course that Dickinson did not lead the life of the average American woman, she did not toil with endless chores and children from sun-up to sundown, but like the men she is ridiculing, spent her time ruminating the deeper contexts of life.
For Dickinson, faith and feminism formed a contentious relationship. Traditional female roles, promoted by the church, were completely ignored by Dickinson, and often criticized in her poetry. In poem # 732, the source of the second quote, she equates husband with God, and grieves the woman’s loss of her ‘Playthings" (191) in order to rise to the subservient "honorable Work" (191) expected of her. By not fulfilling these standards herself she stood out as a radical role model for her peers, a position she may have personally struggled with. Urging her readers to use their own "Microscopes" (172) to examine their situations was a controversial statement that questioned not only how women lived, but also why.
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 21, Dickinson
16 February, 2007
"’Faith’ is a fine invention When Gentlemen can see – / But Microscopes are prudent In an Emergency / " (Emily Dickinson 172)
"She rose to His Requirement—dropt The Playthings of Her Life / To take the honorable Work Of Woman, and of Wife— / " (Emily Dickinson 191)
The first quote above shows the poem # 185 in its entirety. Unlike Sarah Winnemucca, Emily Dickinson questioned her faith. Interested in science, an exploding field during the Victorian era, Dickinson became wary of the fundamentalist and misogynist views of religious doctrine. The observational and empirical techniques used in the sciences served as springboards for Dickinson’s extensive questioning and doubt into her own faith.
Dickinson points to faith as the brainchild of mankind, and a contrivance of convenience. Indirectly, Dickinson offers the idea that science, then, may be the innovation of womankind, an altogether more pragmatic approach to existence. The paradox of this notion is of course that Dickinson did not lead the life of the average American woman, she did not toil with endless chores and children from sun-up to sundown, but like the men she is ridiculing, spent her time ruminating the deeper contexts of life.
For Dickinson, faith and feminism formed a contentious relationship. Traditional female roles, promoted by the church, were completely ignored by Dickinson, and often criticized in her poetry. In poem # 732, the source of the second quote, she equates husband with God, and grieves the woman’s loss of her ‘Playthings" (191) in order to rise to the subservient "honorable Work" (191) expected of her. By not fulfilling these standards herself she stood out as a radical role model for her peers, a position she may have personally struggled with. Urging her readers to use their own "Microscopes" (172) to examine their situations was a controversial statement that questioned not only how women lived, but also why.
Midterm #2, Winnemucca
Katja
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 20, Winnemucca
16 February, 2007
"You who are educated by a Christian government in the art of war...Yes, you who call yourselves the great civilization; you who have knelt upon Plymouth Rock, convenanting with God to make this land the home of the free and the brave." (Sarah Winnemucca 16)
Sarah Winnemucca points out the paradox of Western government in North America, the foundation of which is cast in warfare and aggression, but (conveniently) veiled in Christian doctrine. She all but ridicules the image of the lowly pilgrims, trembling in the shadow of God as they bargain over access to these new lands. For Winnemucca, who was first brought up in her own culture and later educated in Christian white culture, it was easy to see the contradictions between the teachings of the Bible and the actions of a government supported by that book’s ideas.
Winnemucca wants her readers to understand that the New World was already "the home of the free and brave" (16) prior to the whites arriving, namely the hundreds of thousands of free and brave Native Americans "who [were] the owners of this land" (16). The (white) notion that the land was just sitting there begging for discovery is perhaps the most offensive aspect of "the great civilization" (16) settling in North America as it discounts and disregards thousands of years of cultural achievements and progress.
In a sense, Winnemucca brings her audience a new spin on governmental regulation under the auspices of Christianity. Her anecdotes of Native hardship ring true with average, god-fearing Americans who also feel abandoned by their government, but try to live their lives guided by their faith. By inviting others to identify, directly or indirectly, with aspects of the Native American cause, Winnemucca became a mouthpiece of sorts for all mistreated Americans. The common ground of faith offered a familiar place for people to relate to each other and surpassed any such efforts, if any, on the part of the American government.
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 20, Winnemucca
16 February, 2007
"You who are educated by a Christian government in the art of war...Yes, you who call yourselves the great civilization; you who have knelt upon Plymouth Rock, convenanting with God to make this land the home of the free and the brave." (Sarah Winnemucca 16)
Sarah Winnemucca points out the paradox of Western government in North America, the foundation of which is cast in warfare and aggression, but (conveniently) veiled in Christian doctrine. She all but ridicules the image of the lowly pilgrims, trembling in the shadow of God as they bargain over access to these new lands. For Winnemucca, who was first brought up in her own culture and later educated in Christian white culture, it was easy to see the contradictions between the teachings of the Bible and the actions of a government supported by that book’s ideas.
Winnemucca wants her readers to understand that the New World was already "the home of the free and brave" (16) prior to the whites arriving, namely the hundreds of thousands of free and brave Native Americans "who [were] the owners of this land" (16). The (white) notion that the land was just sitting there begging for discovery is perhaps the most offensive aspect of "the great civilization" (16) settling in North America as it discounts and disregards thousands of years of cultural achievements and progress.
In a sense, Winnemucca brings her audience a new spin on governmental regulation under the auspices of Christianity. Her anecdotes of Native hardship ring true with average, god-fearing Americans who also feel abandoned by their government, but try to live their lives guided by their faith. By inviting others to identify, directly or indirectly, with aspects of the Native American cause, Winnemucca became a mouthpiece of sorts for all mistreated Americans. The common ground of faith offered a familiar place for people to relate to each other and surpassed any such efforts, if any, on the part of the American government.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Midterm #2, Winnemucca and Dickinson III
Katja
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 19, Winnemucca & Dickinson III
13 February, 2007
"[...] the poor Indian ... who has lived for generations on the land which the good God has given to them [...] and you [...] drive us from our home." (Sarah Winnemucca 16)
"The Soul selects her own Society—then—shuts the Door— /to her divine Majority—present no more— / Unmoved—she notes the Chariots—pausing—at her low Gate— / Unmoved—an Emperor be kneeling upon her Mat /" (Emily Dickinson 177)
Sarah Winnemucca was driven from her home, first as a young girl wen she was sent to school by her grandfather and later as a victim of the forced government shifting of Native American tribes to make room for more settlers heading West. These events more or less forced Winnemucca to approach her activism socially on the lecture circuit, which eventually crystallized into her work Life among the Paiutes. The theme of permanent displacement was effectively used by Winnemucca to reach her audience.
Emily Dickinson’s approach to her audience was non-existent. Diametrically opposed to Sarah Winnemucca’s socially oriented activism, Dickinson preferred to stay at home. Whether such isolation was self-imposed, as it appears in the quote above from poem # 303, or not, this behavior certainly drew attention to her persona and life. Her life style offered little in terms of a traditional social life and friendships, at least in person, which makes Dickinson ever more fascinating. Her choice to remove herself from society may be seen as aloof or even arrogant by some, but the fact remains that Dickinson was able to maintain long-lasting and deep relationships vial mail over the years, while simultaneously maintaining a to her comfortable distance from society.
Both Winnemucca and Dickinson defied the social expectations of their era by refusing to fit the mold. Winnemucca proved that women, regardless of background, need not stay home, or even have a home to live a fulfilling and important life. She married five times, certainly not the order of the day for Victorian women. Dickinson showed just the opposite. Her life was full and productive even with the gaping void of social interactions and traditional life style. She was not married and had no children. Winnemucca’s and Dickinson’s ways of living decidedly went against the preconceived notions of their peers and they freely let their ideas show in their work.
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 19, Winnemucca & Dickinson III
13 February, 2007
"[...] the poor Indian ... who has lived for generations on the land which the good God has given to them [...] and you [...] drive us from our home." (Sarah Winnemucca 16)
"The Soul selects her own Society—then—shuts the Door— /to her divine Majority—present no more— / Unmoved—she notes the Chariots—pausing—at her low Gate— / Unmoved—an Emperor be kneeling upon her Mat /" (Emily Dickinson 177)
Sarah Winnemucca was driven from her home, first as a young girl wen she was sent to school by her grandfather and later as a victim of the forced government shifting of Native American tribes to make room for more settlers heading West. These events more or less forced Winnemucca to approach her activism socially on the lecture circuit, which eventually crystallized into her work Life among the Paiutes. The theme of permanent displacement was effectively used by Winnemucca to reach her audience.
Emily Dickinson’s approach to her audience was non-existent. Diametrically opposed to Sarah Winnemucca’s socially oriented activism, Dickinson preferred to stay at home. Whether such isolation was self-imposed, as it appears in the quote above from poem # 303, or not, this behavior certainly drew attention to her persona and life. Her life style offered little in terms of a traditional social life and friendships, at least in person, which makes Dickinson ever more fascinating. Her choice to remove herself from society may be seen as aloof or even arrogant by some, but the fact remains that Dickinson was able to maintain long-lasting and deep relationships vial mail over the years, while simultaneously maintaining a to her comfortable distance from society.
Both Winnemucca and Dickinson defied the social expectations of their era by refusing to fit the mold. Winnemucca proved that women, regardless of background, need not stay home, or even have a home to live a fulfilling and important life. She married five times, certainly not the order of the day for Victorian women. Dickinson showed just the opposite. Her life was full and productive even with the gaping void of social interactions and traditional life style. She was not married and had no children. Winnemucca’s and Dickinson’s ways of living decidedly went against the preconceived notions of their peers and they freely let their ideas show in their work.
Midterm #2, Winnemucca and Dickinson II
Katja
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 18, Winnemucca and Dickinson II
13 February, 2007
"Where can we poor Indians go if the government will not help us? If your people will help us, and you have good hearts and can if you will, I will promise to educate my people and make them law-abiding citizens of the United States. [...] We want you to try us for four years [...]" (Sarah Winnemucca 16)
In her book Life among the Paiutes, Sarah Winnemucca asks the white settlers in the West to take a chance on the Native American contingent of the population. Appealing to the idea of the marginally legal West, Winnemucca asks for help outside of the government system, creating a sense of outlaws in cahoots. She introduces the radical notion that Native Americans and whites can work together in absence of government regulation.
Winnemucca was educated and used this rare privilege to attract attention to her cause. Her credentials made white people take a second look at this tiny, well-spoken, Native American woman. What she offered her white counterparts was an extension of their accepted standards of education into her own community, notably not without benefit to the Native Americans as well.
Her appearances among white western audiences lent credibility to the politics of her tribe, and indeed her entire race due to many reasons. First, she was a female in a leadership position and she was educated and spoke English. Second, she comfortably bridged the gap between traditional Paiute life and white society, being at once a brave warrior and wife. Third, she was amenable to meet with people to convey her passion for the Native American cause and she was willing to bargain to get what she wanted.
Using techniques familiar to men in general and white men in particular, in her life as well as in her writing, helped affirm Winnemucca as one of the revolutionary writers of her day.
"Mine—by the Right of the White Election! / Mine—by the Royal Seal! / Mine—by the Sigh in the Scarlet Prison—Bars cannot conceal! /" (Emily Dickinson 187)
Whereas Winnemucca’s education may have been a surprise to some, no one would ever expect someone like Emily Dickinson to be uneducated. Her fate seemed sealed at birth; pretty white female, middle class East Coast family of middling to high ambitions and capabilities. A life of guaranteed success according to societal standards. However Dickinson’s poetry reveals other aspects of her personality that only become apparent on deeper reading.
One of Dickinson’s techniques to gain her reader’s attention was to create a whole new style of writing specific to her own needs. This bold venture into unknown syntactical territory speaks volumes of Dickinson’s character. Like Winnemucca, Dickinson was brave. She needed not think twice to fine-tune her poetry to suit her needs of expression. Her unusual dashes and lines mark what she must have perceived to be necessary breaks, pauses and borders of her poems positioned just so to garner the utmost attention.
Her poems, like the excerpt from poem # 528 above, hold passionate content as seen above. While many of Dickinson’s poems are hard to understand—the lines above being no exception—they often seem to demand something, or to offer some significant viewpoint on controversial issues or problems. In the quote here, Dickinson firmly claims hers no matter the means. Significantly, the Dickinson reader could insert any number of universally contentious issues into many of her poems.
Dickinson’s technique of using her advantageous background to promote topics close to her heart is not unlike Winnemucca’s and affords her a place among the radical writers of her time.
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 18, Winnemucca and Dickinson II
13 February, 2007
"Where can we poor Indians go if the government will not help us? If your people will help us, and you have good hearts and can if you will, I will promise to educate my people and make them law-abiding citizens of the United States. [...] We want you to try us for four years [...]" (Sarah Winnemucca 16)
In her book Life among the Paiutes, Sarah Winnemucca asks the white settlers in the West to take a chance on the Native American contingent of the population. Appealing to the idea of the marginally legal West, Winnemucca asks for help outside of the government system, creating a sense of outlaws in cahoots. She introduces the radical notion that Native Americans and whites can work together in absence of government regulation.
Winnemucca was educated and used this rare privilege to attract attention to her cause. Her credentials made white people take a second look at this tiny, well-spoken, Native American woman. What she offered her white counterparts was an extension of their accepted standards of education into her own community, notably not without benefit to the Native Americans as well.
Her appearances among white western audiences lent credibility to the politics of her tribe, and indeed her entire race due to many reasons. First, she was a female in a leadership position and she was educated and spoke English. Second, she comfortably bridged the gap between traditional Paiute life and white society, being at once a brave warrior and wife. Third, she was amenable to meet with people to convey her passion for the Native American cause and she was willing to bargain to get what she wanted.
Using techniques familiar to men in general and white men in particular, in her life as well as in her writing, helped affirm Winnemucca as one of the revolutionary writers of her day.
"Mine—by the Right of the White Election! / Mine—by the Royal Seal! / Mine—by the Sigh in the Scarlet Prison—Bars cannot conceal! /" (Emily Dickinson 187)
Whereas Winnemucca’s education may have been a surprise to some, no one would ever expect someone like Emily Dickinson to be uneducated. Her fate seemed sealed at birth; pretty white female, middle class East Coast family of middling to high ambitions and capabilities. A life of guaranteed success according to societal standards. However Dickinson’s poetry reveals other aspects of her personality that only become apparent on deeper reading.
One of Dickinson’s techniques to gain her reader’s attention was to create a whole new style of writing specific to her own needs. This bold venture into unknown syntactical territory speaks volumes of Dickinson’s character. Like Winnemucca, Dickinson was brave. She needed not think twice to fine-tune her poetry to suit her needs of expression. Her unusual dashes and lines mark what she must have perceived to be necessary breaks, pauses and borders of her poems positioned just so to garner the utmost attention.
Her poems, like the excerpt from poem # 528 above, hold passionate content as seen above. While many of Dickinson’s poems are hard to understand—the lines above being no exception—they often seem to demand something, or to offer some significant viewpoint on controversial issues or problems. In the quote here, Dickinson firmly claims hers no matter the means. Significantly, the Dickinson reader could insert any number of universally contentious issues into many of her poems.
Dickinson’s technique of using her advantageous background to promote topics close to her heart is not unlike Winnemucca’s and affords her a place among the radical writers of her time.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Midterm # 2, Winnemucca and Dickinson
Katja
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 17, Winnemucca & Dickinson
12 February, 2007
Informed by the religious doctrines that guided their schooling, both Winnemucca and Dickinson feature the opposing forces of good and evil or light and dark to shape the content of their literature.
One of Sarah Winnemucca’s techniques in Life among the Paiutes is to contrast the good deeds her people did for the whites with the evils the whites inflicted upon the Paiutes in return for their goodness.
On page 10 we see such an example. First, Winnemucca argues against the widely held notion that the Paiutes and other Native American tribes were violent by stating the true facts of the event: "You call my people blood-seeking. My people did not seek to kill them, nor did they steal their horses – no far from it. During the winter my people helped them. They gave them as much as they had to eat." (Sarah Winnemucca 10). Banking on that white audiences may have been misinformed, Winnemucca took the time to educate white people about how the contributions of her people led to the success of the whites in the West.
Second, she addresses the serious and seemingly unnecessary actions on the part of the settlers. "While we were in the mountains hiding, the people that my grandfather called our white brothers came along to where our winter supplies were. They set everything we had left on fire." (10). By refraining from addressing her tribe’s misfortunes at the hands of white settlers first, she lends moral weight and integrity to her argument, and also mitigates any potential controversy of affixing the good label to the Paiutes and the evil label to the whites.
Unlike Winnemucca, Emily Dickinson does not apply the good and evil labels to people, but rather lets the representative imagery of light and dark serve as a foil for something tempting, dangerous or uncouth. Harking back to standard Biblical imagery, Dickinson writes in poem # 593, "I think I was enchanted when first a sombre Girl — / I read that Foreign Lady — / The Dark — felt beautiful — /" (Emily Dickinson 188). By using an easily recognizable metaphor to illustrate her inappropriate love for the poetry of the somewhat scandalous British poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning "that Foreign Lady" (188), Dickinson becomes more approachable and human. She desires that which is decidedly off-limits to a pious American girl.
Even more contentiously, in poem # 249, Dickinson writes "Wild Nights — Wild Nights! / Were I with thee wild Nights should be Our luxury! /" (175), using the dark imagery to represent a perhaps illicit sexual encounter. What makes Dickinson’s light and dark, good and evil imagery so effective is the common knowledge that she personally preferred to wear a favorite virginal white dress, a stark contrast to Emily’s dark aspect in the only known photograph of her.
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 17, Winnemucca & Dickinson
12 February, 2007
Informed by the religious doctrines that guided their schooling, both Winnemucca and Dickinson feature the opposing forces of good and evil or light and dark to shape the content of their literature.
One of Sarah Winnemucca’s techniques in Life among the Paiutes is to contrast the good deeds her people did for the whites with the evils the whites inflicted upon the Paiutes in return for their goodness.
On page 10 we see such an example. First, Winnemucca argues against the widely held notion that the Paiutes and other Native American tribes were violent by stating the true facts of the event: "You call my people blood-seeking. My people did not seek to kill them, nor did they steal their horses – no far from it. During the winter my people helped them. They gave them as much as they had to eat." (Sarah Winnemucca 10). Banking on that white audiences may have been misinformed, Winnemucca took the time to educate white people about how the contributions of her people led to the success of the whites in the West.
Second, she addresses the serious and seemingly unnecessary actions on the part of the settlers. "While we were in the mountains hiding, the people that my grandfather called our white brothers came along to where our winter supplies were. They set everything we had left on fire." (10). By refraining from addressing her tribe’s misfortunes at the hands of white settlers first, she lends moral weight and integrity to her argument, and also mitigates any potential controversy of affixing the good label to the Paiutes and the evil label to the whites.
Unlike Winnemucca, Emily Dickinson does not apply the good and evil labels to people, but rather lets the representative imagery of light and dark serve as a foil for something tempting, dangerous or uncouth. Harking back to standard Biblical imagery, Dickinson writes in poem # 593, "I think I was enchanted when first a sombre Girl — / I read that Foreign Lady — / The Dark — felt beautiful — /" (Emily Dickinson 188). By using an easily recognizable metaphor to illustrate her inappropriate love for the poetry of the somewhat scandalous British poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning "that Foreign Lady" (188), Dickinson becomes more approachable and human. She desires that which is decidedly off-limits to a pious American girl.
Even more contentiously, in poem # 249, Dickinson writes "Wild Nights — Wild Nights! / Were I with thee wild Nights should be Our luxury! /" (175), using the dark imagery to represent a perhaps illicit sexual encounter. What makes Dickinson’s light and dark, good and evil imagery so effective is the common knowledge that she personally preferred to wear a favorite virginal white dress, a stark contrast to Emily’s dark aspect in the only known photograph of her.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
W.E.B. Du Bois II
Katja
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 16, Du Bois II
8 February, 2007
"Before each chapter, as now printed, stands a bar of the Sorrow Songs, some echo of haunting melody from the only American music which welled up from black souls in the dark past." (W.E.B. Du Bois 878)
The quote is from the preface of Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk and refers to his personal affection for the musical heritage of slaves: the Negro spirituals.
Du Bois’ Sorrow Songs excerpts stand like sentinels at the entry to each of his chapters, guarding the African heritage and American culture of black Americans. The music represents the spirit of survival of slaves and a rare source of joy for those oppressed. Du Bois’ word choice gives the impression that the slaves had little choice in terms of these songs, they "welled up’ (878) from deep within; unstoppable like the flood.
Additionally, one understands that the spirituals came from way back, from some deep level of cellular memory buried in the brain stem. The spirituals are Africa, even if they are, as Du Bois states, "American music" (878), they hark back to a time and place in the "dark past" (878). I think the musical heritage of slaves was important to Du Bois because it was a way for him to experience the emotional repercussions of slavery since he himself was born post-emancipation.
The evolving culture of African-Americans in the days of W.E.B. Du Bois is fascinating. Not only was there a huge generational shift between the ex-slaves and those born free, but there was also this vast gap in long-term cultural heritage. Surely, African customs must have been repressed on the slave ships and plantations in favor of Americanized European-ism and Christianity. The creation of Sorrow Songs seems to bridge the gap between things African and things American and sets the pace for the formation of new customs relevant to the future of African-American heritage.
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 16, Du Bois II
8 February, 2007
"Before each chapter, as now printed, stands a bar of the Sorrow Songs, some echo of haunting melody from the only American music which welled up from black souls in the dark past." (W.E.B. Du Bois 878)
The quote is from the preface of Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk and refers to his personal affection for the musical heritage of slaves: the Negro spirituals.
Du Bois’ Sorrow Songs excerpts stand like sentinels at the entry to each of his chapters, guarding the African heritage and American culture of black Americans. The music represents the spirit of survival of slaves and a rare source of joy for those oppressed. Du Bois’ word choice gives the impression that the slaves had little choice in terms of these songs, they "welled up’ (878) from deep within; unstoppable like the flood.
Additionally, one understands that the spirituals came from way back, from some deep level of cellular memory buried in the brain stem. The spirituals are Africa, even if they are, as Du Bois states, "American music" (878), they hark back to a time and place in the "dark past" (878). I think the musical heritage of slaves was important to Du Bois because it was a way for him to experience the emotional repercussions of slavery since he himself was born post-emancipation.
The evolving culture of African-Americans in the days of W.E.B. Du Bois is fascinating. Not only was there a huge generational shift between the ex-slaves and those born free, but there was also this vast gap in long-term cultural heritage. Surely, African customs must have been repressed on the slave ships and plantations in favor of Americanized European-ism and Christianity. The creation of Sorrow Songs seems to bridge the gap between things African and things American and sets the pace for the formation of new customs relevant to the future of African-American heritage.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
W.E.B. Du Bois
Katja
ENGL 48B
Journal # 15, Du Bois
7 February, 2007
"His [Booker T. Washington’s] doctrine has tended to make the whites, North and South, shift the burden of the Negro problem to the Negro’s shoulders and stand aside as critical and rather pessimistic spectators; when in fact the burden belongs to the nation, and the hands of none of us are clean if we bend not our energies to righting these great wrongs." (W.E.B. Du Bois 892)
W.E.B. Du Bois angrily criticizes Booker T. Washington’s "programme" (884) towards progress for African-Americans in the period after Restoration in The Souls of Black Folk.
The text shows the obvious differences between Du Bois and Washington. Du Bois, raised in the North in a wealthy family, was highly educated and had access to many privileges, while Washington, a former slave raised in poverty in the South, had to work incredibly hard to gain an education. I cannot help but feel that Du Bois misses the mark a little bit. He seems to rant a whole lot in rather hard to understand-language. His text is a good example of a true criticism, where one uses every conceivable piece of evidence present in someone else’s work to completely shoot their argument down.
I rather agree with Washinton’s idea that "the Negro problem" (892) was indeed their problem. Why not aim for confidence, self-sufficiency and slow but steady progress? It seems do-able, familiar and inspiring. That is not to say that other members of society should wash their hands of the issue. I do not agree with Du Bois’ notion that not shouldering the problem equals disregard. One could obviously argue for or against either side on this issue, however I think that Du Bois’ and Washington’s conflict may have detracted much needed energy away from actually solving the problem.
Du Bois is right in his argument that "the burden belongs to the nation" (892) which I do not equate with "the Negro problem" (892). The burden seems to envelop a disturbing moral legacy, whereas the problem suggests something more concrete like the day-to-day struggle for survival.
ENGL 48B
Journal # 15, Du Bois
7 February, 2007
"His [Booker T. Washington’s] doctrine has tended to make the whites, North and South, shift the burden of the Negro problem to the Negro’s shoulders and stand aside as critical and rather pessimistic spectators; when in fact the burden belongs to the nation, and the hands of none of us are clean if we bend not our energies to righting these great wrongs." (W.E.B. Du Bois 892)
W.E.B. Du Bois angrily criticizes Booker T. Washington’s "programme" (884) towards progress for African-Americans in the period after Restoration in The Souls of Black Folk.
The text shows the obvious differences between Du Bois and Washington. Du Bois, raised in the North in a wealthy family, was highly educated and had access to many privileges, while Washington, a former slave raised in poverty in the South, had to work incredibly hard to gain an education. I cannot help but feel that Du Bois misses the mark a little bit. He seems to rant a whole lot in rather hard to understand-language. His text is a good example of a true criticism, where one uses every conceivable piece of evidence present in someone else’s work to completely shoot their argument down.
I rather agree with Washinton’s idea that "the Negro problem" (892) was indeed their problem. Why not aim for confidence, self-sufficiency and slow but steady progress? It seems do-able, familiar and inspiring. That is not to say that other members of society should wash their hands of the issue. I do not agree with Du Bois’ notion that not shouldering the problem equals disregard. One could obviously argue for or against either side on this issue, however I think that Du Bois’ and Washington’s conflict may have detracted much needed energy away from actually solving the problem.
Du Bois is right in his argument that "the burden belongs to the nation" (892) which I do not equate with "the Negro problem" (892). The burden seems to envelop a disturbing moral legacy, whereas the problem suggests something more concrete like the day-to-day struggle for survival.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Booker T. Washington II
Katja
ENGL 48B
Journal # 14, Washington II
5 February, 2007
"This experience of a whole race beginning to go to school for the first time, presents one of the most interesting studies that has ever occurred in connection with the development of any race." (Booker T. Washington 756)
Washington indicates the importance of developing a formal educational culture among African-Americans.
The newly freed slaves faced many obstacles, one of the biggest and most imposing ones being the lack of formal education. The ramifications of insufficient schooling for generations can amount to nothing less than atrocious. Regardless of the numbers of slaves that did learn the three Rs, any attempts at establishing a culture of formal learning was repressed.
I find myself wondering about those very first slaves that were brought over from Africa a couple of hundred years before Booker T. Washington’s lifetime. Where did they come from and what was their educational culture like in their homelands? They may have been from extremely advanced communities in which numeracy and literacy were commonplace. I think of Aphra Behn’s 1688 text Ooronoko, or The Royal Slave where the novel idea of a noble, educated slave, Ooronoko, who "spoke French and English" (Aphra Behn 2174), was introduced to European audiences. It seems rather unfair that generations of people got thrown back into the Stone Age, culturally, just because of American greed.
I think Washington is right in noting that it is the very first educational opportunity afforded American slaves. Indeed, so much time had passed since the first slaves set foot on the North American continent and their race was no longer by any means the same as it once was what with all kinds of rape and horror going on between slaves and masters. Washington wants to get it right. He sees the importance of a fresh start and is not interested in the past. He want the former slaves to become Americans in their own right, honoring American values such as education.
Behn, Aphra. "Ooronoko, or The Royal Slave." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 7th ed. Ed. M.H. Abrams and Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2000. 2174.
ENGL 48B
Journal # 14, Washington II
5 February, 2007
"This experience of a whole race beginning to go to school for the first time, presents one of the most interesting studies that has ever occurred in connection with the development of any race." (Booker T. Washington 756)
Washington indicates the importance of developing a formal educational culture among African-Americans.
The newly freed slaves faced many obstacles, one of the biggest and most imposing ones being the lack of formal education. The ramifications of insufficient schooling for generations can amount to nothing less than atrocious. Regardless of the numbers of slaves that did learn the three Rs, any attempts at establishing a culture of formal learning was repressed.
I find myself wondering about those very first slaves that were brought over from Africa a couple of hundred years before Booker T. Washington’s lifetime. Where did they come from and what was their educational culture like in their homelands? They may have been from extremely advanced communities in which numeracy and literacy were commonplace. I think of Aphra Behn’s 1688 text Ooronoko, or The Royal Slave where the novel idea of a noble, educated slave, Ooronoko, who "spoke French and English" (Aphra Behn 2174), was introduced to European audiences. It seems rather unfair that generations of people got thrown back into the Stone Age, culturally, just because of American greed.
I think Washington is right in noting that it is the very first educational opportunity afforded American slaves. Indeed, so much time had passed since the first slaves set foot on the North American continent and their race was no longer by any means the same as it once was what with all kinds of rape and horror going on between slaves and masters. Washington wants to get it right. He sees the importance of a fresh start and is not interested in the past. He want the former slaves to become Americans in their own right, honoring American values such as education.
Behn, Aphra. "Ooronoko, or The Royal Slave." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 7th ed. Ed. M.H. Abrams and Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2000. 2174.
Booker T. Washington
Katja
ENGL 48B
Journal # 13, Washington
5 February, 2007
"As yet no free school had been started for coloured people in that section, hence each family agreed to pay a certain amount per month, with the understanding that the teacher was to "board ‘round"—that is, to spend a day with each family." (Booker T. Washington 756)
"[...] though expenses were reduced by the common practice of "boarding round," by which a teacher would spend a week or two living in the home of a student and then move on to another." (David S. Reynolds 58)
Washington’s Up from Slavery explains how the formation of schools for the newly freed slaves took place and how teachers were provided for. For comparison, I have included a passage form David S. Reynolds’ book Walt Whitman’s America: A Cultural Biography.
The two quotes show that the practice of the boarding teacher was common in both black and white communities and illustrates the importance of education to American families. Certainly, many families did not have much to share, but agreed to pay a fee and to share what little they did have in order to support the teacher, thus ensuring their children’s future.
The boarding system is fascinating because it certainly would make the teacher a part of the community in a very deep way. He (most often) would get to know not only his students but their families too, which I believe would make him more invested in his work. Today’s teachers struggle to get to know their students and have a comparatively shallow understanding of their family dynamics and capacities. While the arrangement that Washington and Whitman partook in may be somewhat too intimate for today’s standards it certainly puts into perspective how little we know about the people who spend several hours a day with our children.
Community-building aside, I can hardly imagine the mental energy it would take to have to socialize with a different family each day or week. The lack of having a place to call your own certainly seems like a drawback of the profession, as does living out of a knapsack, sharing meals with people you cannot stand and perhaps having to leave a rare comfortable situation to move on to the next unknown one.
Reynolds, David S. Walt Whitman’s America: A Cultural Biography. Alfred A. Knopf. NewYork, New York. 1995. 58.
ENGL 48B
Journal # 13, Washington
5 February, 2007
"As yet no free school had been started for coloured people in that section, hence each family agreed to pay a certain amount per month, with the understanding that the teacher was to "board ‘round"—that is, to spend a day with each family." (Booker T. Washington 756)
"[...] though expenses were reduced by the common practice of "boarding round," by which a teacher would spend a week or two living in the home of a student and then move on to another." (David S. Reynolds 58)
Washington’s Up from Slavery explains how the formation of schools for the newly freed slaves took place and how teachers were provided for. For comparison, I have included a passage form David S. Reynolds’ book Walt Whitman’s America: A Cultural Biography.
The two quotes show that the practice of the boarding teacher was common in both black and white communities and illustrates the importance of education to American families. Certainly, many families did not have much to share, but agreed to pay a fee and to share what little they did have in order to support the teacher, thus ensuring their children’s future.
The boarding system is fascinating because it certainly would make the teacher a part of the community in a very deep way. He (most often) would get to know not only his students but their families too, which I believe would make him more invested in his work. Today’s teachers struggle to get to know their students and have a comparatively shallow understanding of their family dynamics and capacities. While the arrangement that Washington and Whitman partook in may be somewhat too intimate for today’s standards it certainly puts into perspective how little we know about the people who spend several hours a day with our children.
Community-building aside, I can hardly imagine the mental energy it would take to have to socialize with a different family each day or week. The lack of having a place to call your own certainly seems like a drawback of the profession, as does living out of a knapsack, sharing meals with people you cannot stand and perhaps having to leave a rare comfortable situation to move on to the next unknown one.
Reynolds, David S. Walt Whitman’s America: A Cultural Biography. Alfred A. Knopf. NewYork, New York. 1995. 58.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Mark Twain III
Katja
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 12, Twain III
2 February, 2007
"It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger—but I done it, and I warn’t ever sorry for it afterwards, neither. I didn’t do him no more mean tricks, and I wouldn’t done that one if I’d a knowed it would make him feel that way." (Mark Twain 272)
Huck’s conscience gets the better of him after playing a trick on his friend Jim, and eventually he musters the courage to apologize.
Mark Twain’s novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn came to define a new abolitionist path for the United States. Twain not only portrays Jim as a very human figure (as opposed to an animal or property) with human experiences and emotions but more importantly he portrays Huck as an individual who is beginning to come around to a new way of thinking about slaves and slavery. Huck’s newfound stance towards Jim is not based on knowledge—Huck is not a highly educated child—but experience. Due to his upbringing Huck just simply does not know that slaves are people. He seems rather astonished at the fact that Jim has deep feelings for his family, and even for Huck himself. By spending time with Jim, Huck comes to realize his friend’s various dimensions and qualities, which essentially makes Huck understand that Jim is a person, not a piece of property. It is this transformation of a slave from a valuable commodity to an equally valuable three-dimensional individual that Mark Twain wants to highlight in Huck Finn. By illustrating the creation of an unlikely friendship Twain stewards the nation into new territory.
The quote above shows a role reversal. Traditionally, Jim would have to acquiesce to Huck even if Huck is just a child, and one of low status at that. Here, Huck understands that he must try to undo the damage he has done and go apologize to the runaway slave Jim; certainly an event fairly unheard of in those days. The humble slave is a stereotype Jim refuses to fit into.
The fact of the matter is that this scene could never have taken place had Huck not had the opportunity to learn about Jim as a person and to develop a mutually caring relationship with him. Huck is driven to apologize not only out of his care for Jim but also because he realizes that Jim loves him, and he owes him an emotional debt of sorts. The psychological and emotional growth taking place in Huck’s young mind and heart is astonishing. Twain has created a coming of age story on an individual level that could easily be read as a national coming of age story.
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 12, Twain III
2 February, 2007
"It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger—but I done it, and I warn’t ever sorry for it afterwards, neither. I didn’t do him no more mean tricks, and I wouldn’t done that one if I’d a knowed it would make him feel that way." (Mark Twain 272)
Huck’s conscience gets the better of him after playing a trick on his friend Jim, and eventually he musters the courage to apologize.
Mark Twain’s novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn came to define a new abolitionist path for the United States. Twain not only portrays Jim as a very human figure (as opposed to an animal or property) with human experiences and emotions but more importantly he portrays Huck as an individual who is beginning to come around to a new way of thinking about slaves and slavery. Huck’s newfound stance towards Jim is not based on knowledge—Huck is not a highly educated child—but experience. Due to his upbringing Huck just simply does not know that slaves are people. He seems rather astonished at the fact that Jim has deep feelings for his family, and even for Huck himself. By spending time with Jim, Huck comes to realize his friend’s various dimensions and qualities, which essentially makes Huck understand that Jim is a person, not a piece of property. It is this transformation of a slave from a valuable commodity to an equally valuable three-dimensional individual that Mark Twain wants to highlight in Huck Finn. By illustrating the creation of an unlikely friendship Twain stewards the nation into new territory.
The quote above shows a role reversal. Traditionally, Jim would have to acquiesce to Huck even if Huck is just a child, and one of low status at that. Here, Huck understands that he must try to undo the damage he has done and go apologize to the runaway slave Jim; certainly an event fairly unheard of in those days. The humble slave is a stereotype Jim refuses to fit into.
The fact of the matter is that this scene could never have taken place had Huck not had the opportunity to learn about Jim as a person and to develop a mutually caring relationship with him. Huck is driven to apologize not only out of his care for Jim but also because he realizes that Jim loves him, and he owes him an emotional debt of sorts. The psychological and emotional growth taking place in Huck’s young mind and heart is astonishing. Twain has created a coming of age story on an individual level that could easily be read as a national coming of age story.
