(4/25/14) Response #13 (Unit: Postcolonial Reconsiderations) "The Role of Ambiguity in Chocolat"
Our screening of Chocolat allowed us to look at colonialism from another perspective. I like the idea of viewing this issue through the eyes of a family. Even though Aimee, France, and her father are all foreign to Africa, their experiences can help us understand this complex issue. I believe that the ambiguity of the film was intentional. France went back to Africa to see her home again and, perhaps, to make sense of her childhood experiences. Just like she was trying to figure out the significance of what she saw and went through, the audience had to sit through a film that raises more questions than answers. The modern perspective of colonialism is that it was negative, but that does not take into consideration the intentions of everyone caught up in it.
Chocolat seemed very realistic to me. In real life, sometimes things happen that have no reason or are unexplained for whatever reason. Life does not come with a script or symbols or clear cut metaphors and interpretations. We can debate over what Protee's intentions were for burning his hand and leading France to do the same. We can try to figure out Luc's erratic behavior and attribute it to his past or intentions. We can try to figure out if Protee and Aimee ever did consummate their pseudo-affair. Just as in real life, we may never know definite answers to these questions and debates. We are not always afforded the luxury of knowledge. I think that Claire Denis pulled that off really well. She was able to make a film that depicted events without offering any kind of concrete commentary. Perhaps the point of Chocolat is that colonialism should be discussed as something that affects individuals. The film did not really talk about colonialism as an issue. We looked at how it came into play in the microcosm of the Dalens household.
(4/18/14) Response #12 (Unit: An African Response to Colonialism) "Anxieties About Masculinity in Things Fall Apart"
On Friday our small group discussed the theme of fear as a motivating factor to participate in the perpetuation of hyper-masculine ideals and roles. Davis' introduction to Things Fall Apart describes Okownkwo as a "noble and flawed" figure who is used as a tool to celebrate Ibo culture and also critique it. I believe that the anxieties surrounding masculinity and underlying problems with gender expectations in this story are part of Achebe's critique of Ibo culture.
On page 1609, an exchange between Okonkwo and one of his playmates about Okonkwo's father revealed that the Ibo people insulted men by using the term "agbala." It is interchangeable with "woman" and "man without property/title." This reveals that Ibo women are viewed as powerless in the eyes of the law and are considered possessions themselves. It also reveals a generally negative view of women. There is no greater insult than to be called a woman.
On page 1614, Okonkwo confronted a man who contradicted him and told him that the meeting was "for men." He was insinuating that the man was as good as a woman because he had no titles. The narrator comments that Okonkwo "knew how to kill a man's spirit."
The ability to express oneself is important in Ibo culture. Those who have mastered the art of oration are most respected in the community. Stories, legends, and proverbs are passed down through oral culture. Gender roles are reflected even in this oral culture. Okonkwo, on page 1626, tells his son that men only participate in storytelling that celebrates violence and bloodshed.
The casual attitude towards domestic abuse is the most obvious negative outcome of strict gender roles. Okonkwo uses violence against his wives impulsively and as a disciplinary tool.
Research project proposal:
I would like to write about the slave narratives of Olaudah Equiano, Harriet Jacobs, and Frederick Douglass. I will explore the use of narrative and literacy as tools used by people of color to empower themselves. White people also used them to disempower others. I will discuss the use of dialect in these texts and compare it to other depictions of African American dialect in popular literature of the same period.
Peter, this is a good topic for the paper. I like the idea of bringing in a text from 202. Did you remember that Equiano was Ibo? You might want to do some research on slave narratives, since these three texts are all the same genre and were written with the same purpose. - MH
(4/11/14) Response #11 (Unit: Modernism in the Arts) "Kaffeman and Social Commentary"
Today's trip to the Art Museum was a refreshing and fascinating deviation from our normal class activities. Because our honors course is supposed to be an "inquiry" into texts, ideas, and time periods, we have to take cultural artifacts like novels, essays, and paintings and try to figure out what the author/artist was trying to say and the greater implications of that statement on our own. The author/artist is, for the most part, silent. We have to try and speak for them because they are not in our classroom. The chance to see an artist in the flesh explaining the meaning and context of her work is invaluable.
My only regret is that I didn't really feel informed enough about the topic of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be comfortable with asking questions about Kaffeman's exhibit. She gave us some background about that issue, but I honestly felt a little overwhelmed by all of the new information I was receiving.
While it was not the most striking or potent image/idea in Kaffeman's exhibit, the juxtaposition of embroidery, quotes from poetry and media, and flame-worked glass reproductions of invasive species was the easiest for me to understand. As Kaffeman stated when Rachel asked about the significance of the appearance of invasive species in her work, it is commentary on demographics and who is allowed in certain spaces. Who was there first? Who really has true ownership of certain spaces?
The quote "I count to one and fall asleep," translated from the first piece on the left of the "Invasive Plants" series, is from Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. From what Kaffeman said, it would seem like there are some anxieties in Israel regarding his leadership because he came from Russia. Perhaps he is perceived as being disconnected from Israeli concerns and culture. He is foreign and threatening, like an invasive species. I could be wrong, however, as one internet source I found claims that he is widely considered to be an "ultra-nationalist." If I could go back, I would ask questions about the some of the implications of including that embroidered quote.
The anxieties about Lieberman's leadership have likely been intensified by unscrupulous actions on his part during his time in office. According to Wikipedia, he was charged with fraud and breach of trust, but was later acquitted and given back his title, has made comments considered by many to be racist against Arabs, suggested bombing in response to conflict with Egypt, and openly admitted that he would like to bomb Palestinian places of business. Kaffeman said she considers herself to be a pacifist, so Lieberman's actions and beliefs are in direct opposition with her ideals.
Here is an article I found about Lieberman and the history of discrimination and violence in Israel. It was the most clear of all the articles I sifted through. I would suggest it to anyone who wanted a little more background about the conflicts Kaffeman discussed in her presentation.
The first work Kaffeman discussed, her embroidery and glass piece about the young Palestinian whose suicide attack was thwarted (Mantis Religiosa series), features a recreation of cupressus sempervirens, or "Mediterranean Cyprus", according to the descriptive plaque. Cyprus was associated with death and mourning in the classical era and remains the principle cemetery tree in many parts of the world. Kaffeman said that she wanted this piece to be about bringing issues about violence to the forefront and represent them on what she called the "surface level." According to Kaffeman, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not something people like to talk about. It is something that goes on perpetually and intrudes upon daily life, but people are still silent about it.
She said that the people who helped make some of the embroideries of the quote "But I have come to detest life, although I loved a girl, who was a year younger than me, and my family planned to ask for her hand, one day before I set out for the operation. I loved her very much" later regretted participating in her project when they found out that the line was spoken by a Palestinian man. It is a very poetic statement before translation into English. This quote, alongside a praying mantis and plants associated with mourning, might be Kaffeman trying to say that even though the man who made the statement stood for violence and wished to harm others, we should be sympathetic to him because his hopes, aspirations, and ultimate human experience are very similar to everyone else's. We should mourn because these hopes, aspirations, and experiences are destroyed by the conflict and violence.
The thread and rice paper piece (Untitled: Moshe Silman) that Kaffeman discussed second seems to continue this theme of mourning. One of the plaques explaining her entire exhibit said that the piece "responds to the text of a suicide note left by a disenfranchised Israeli who felt betrayed by Israel's welfare system... Kaffeman depicted an untended gravestone adorned by glass wildflowers." I recall her talking briefly about the man who committed suicide by setting himself on fire, but if she mentioned that it included a gravestone I must have missed it. If I could go back I would like to have asked her if she meant for her work to have a theme of mourning as a uniting phenomenon amongst conflict, violence, and clashing cultures.
Kaffeman did her own embroidering for many of the pieces in her exhibit, with the exception of MantisReligiosa. She did not do this earlier in her career, in an attempt to remain neutral and not advocate one side over the other. Other people did the embroideries, which she added to her own work. If I could go back I would ask her why she made this strategic decision. Is it because she feels more comfortable with expressing her views now that she is further into her career? Have some of her political convictions changed? Does she now feel that expressing her views is more important than she once believed?
If I have misrepresented anything Kaffeman said in her presentation or you have interpretations that differ from mine, please feel free to edit my page to make a comment below!
(3/29/14) Response #10 (Unit: The Modern Self) "Reading Freud with Skepticism"
Like most others in our class, I learned a bit about Freud in some of my high school classes and in one of my university courses and was already familiar with some of his theories. Reading about them from his own perspective, however, was a completely new experience.
One thing that stood out to me was the negative reception of the idea that men could become hysterical. The idea that nervous conditions were innately female were used to justify medical injustices like the ones we saw in "The Yellow Wallpaper."
I wonder what modern doctors and researchers think of his hypnosis methods. Freud was convinced they worked. I have my doubts about hypnosis. I was thinking perhaps it worked like sugar pills work in clinical trials for new medications. The power of the mind, some people believe, can cure illness.
I also thought it was interesting that Freud researched the medical uses of cocaine, considering he struggled with addiction to opiates. This compels me to read his autobiography and theories with a grain of salt. We discussed in class how Freud had a lot of ideas but little evidence to back them up. I did a little research on Freud’s relationship with the drug and it turns out that his medical reputation was damaged by his advocacy of its usage. He proposed that it could be used for a great number of things and when it turned out that in most cases it only caused overdose or addiction, he was heavily criticized. He was reckless in his actions.
(3/21/14) Response #9 (Unit: A European Perspective on Colonialism) "The Cultural Context of Imperialism"
Conrad's Heart of Darkness features a narrator (there are two because it is a frame narrative) who has sympathy for the people populating the stretch of land dubbed "the Congo." He quickly becomes disillusioned with the white people around him and their mission as a whole. He notes that they worship ivory. It is something they "pray" to.
His descriptions of the Africans acknowledge the pain and suffering they have been subjected to. The text as a whole is considered to be a critique of colonialism. Despite Marlow's empathy for the African people and penetrative analysis of European institutions, he is still a product of his ethnocentric society and it shows in his writing.
In the second paragraph of Heart of Darkness the narrator (not Marlow) describes London as the ship makes its way down the Thames. He says that it is "the biggest, and the greatest, town on earth." Here the narrator is equating size and prestige with value and significance. He goes on to say that the Thames leads to "the ends of the earth." The river starts out at what he considers to be the source of civilization and order and leads to a vast expanse that is alien and simply "other." Racial slurs are inserted casually into the exposition, description, and dialogue. The Africans exist as an ominous they. They are "savage" by nature and exist as a unit without, as the Europeans would like to believe, culture or an identity of significance. It is clear that Conrad is a part of this ethnocentric worldview. At the same time, he is trying to break out of it and push the boundaries.
Rudyard Kipling's writing usually celebrated Indian culture. It is interesting that he wrote "The White Man's Burden," a text that describes colonial endeavors as thankless ones. It depicts white members of "civilization" as martyrs for sake of ungrateful savages. Even though this writer has the capacity to appreciate and delve into non-Western cultures, he still has the ingrained belief that they are inferior.
Conrad and Kipling seek to deconstruct, in some way, our negative views of other cultures. Despite this, they still unintentionally perpetuate them. That makes me wonder how enlightened our media and culture will seem to future generations.
(3/7/14) Response #8 (Unit: Realistic Heroines and Feminist Revisions) "Eve and the Deconstruction of Patriarchal Ideas"
I was familiar with all of the texts we read for this week, aside from “The Revolver,” before we working on our presentation. It was interesting to revisit them and look at how they connect to the larger social context they are a part of and to the other stories and essays we have read this semester. When we read them in high school, we only looked at the surface level and did not analyze them as in depth as we did in this unit
When I read the Yellow Wallpaper, I never really imagined what the narrator looked like as she underwent her mental break. I just thought about what she was seeing and how the other characters interacted with her. It was interesting to see a theatric interpretation of the story. The actress who played her was very unsettling.
I found Stanton’s interpretation of Genesis bold and insightful. She views Eve as ambitious. This is in direct opposition to the traditional interpretation of her character as foolish, gullible, and reckless. She wants the apple because it gives her knowledge. She points out this desire for knowledge and wisdom and discusses the exclusion of women in academia and politics, especially where it is justified through a literal interpretation of the Bible.
“In this prolonged interview, the unprejudiced reader must be impressed with the courage, the dignity, and the lofty ambition of the woman. The tempter evidently had a profound knowledge of human nature, and saw at a glance the high character of the person he met by change in his walks in the garden.”
In Stanton’s interpretation of this text, Eve’s ambition is lofty to an extent that would be considered solely masculine. She takes on the role that a man would usually take by displaying curiosity and desire.
I am not really sure how to read Machado de Assis’ story. It is clear he intends to turn the story of Genesis on its head. After establishing that, there is a lot of unpacking to do. Like Dr. Hartman said, it seems like he would like to push the view that the Bible can be read as allegory. The significance of a dualistic view of creation and the ascension of Adam and Eve into heaven, leaving Earth in the clutches of the evil serpent is open to interpretation. One thing that stuck out to me though, was that Eve was portrayed in a positive light.
“She went and entered the earthly paradise, slithered over to the Tree of Knowledge, coiled herself up, and waited. Eve appeared shortly afterward, walking gracefully and alone, with the confidence of a queen who knows no one will rob her of her crown.”
Eve then proceeds to reject the serpent’s offer. There is also the fact that even though Eve was created after Adam, he did not have an active role in her creation. She was created separately, as opposed to being taken from Adam’s breast.
(2/28/14) Response #7 (Unit: Realistic Heroines and the Situation of Women) "The Role of Epiphanies in Texts About the Middle Class"
Even though we have concluded our unit on the Bourgeoisie, I would like to pull some of the themes we discussed last week out and connect them to Ibsen's A Doll's House. Many 19th century writers focused on the social decay they saw in the middle and upper class and would critique institutions like marriage, the church, government, and others. Ivan Ilych is one of these texts. It sheds light on the social decay Tolstoy saw in the institutions I just mentioned. Ivan has an epiphany. This allows him to see some of the things that were wrong with his life and involvement with these institutions. Nora, in A Doll's House, has a similar kind of epiphany. She realizes she cannot be satisfied with herself or her marriage and leaves.
I think that the similarity of both main characters discovering their unhappiness late in life is the most significant thing we discussed on Friday in class. Both main characters had some kind of life-altering revelation that changed them forever. These revelations interrupted their nice middle class lives and questioned the social institutions we hold dear. Questioning institutions is a common theme in the texts we’ve been reading. The authors are asking:
Is marriage really sacred?
Is ambition a good thing?
Is our happiness an illusion?
If characters like Nora can’t be happy in their marriages and people like Ivan can’t be happy with all of the things we tell people they should have, like a good job and lots of money, what implications does that have for middle class life? Are our lives built on fault lines, just waiting for us to fall apart? Ivan and Nora were seemingly stable characters. If their lives fell apart, then yours could too. That is why these texts were so unsettling to their respective audiences.
(2/21/14) Response #6 (Unit: Materialism and the Bourgeoisie) "Tolstoy and Social Commentary"
A close reading of Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilych reveals commentary on urban luxury and living, the "social decay" of the 19th century, marriage, power, and the impersonal and ruthless nature of the social and political spheres in the upper class. Tolstoy was a vocal advocate of simplistic living. He did not like westernization, bureaucracy, and social injustice. These views are reflected in his portrayal of Ivan and the world he lives in.
It is clear that Ivan is a member of the bourgeoisie. He likes to furnish his home with nice things. He has servants. He was eager to sever old connections and abandon jobs for positions that held more power. He enjoyed these positions because he got a certain kind of pleasure from lording over other people. This hunger for power and authority is reflected in the other characters populating Tolstoy's story. Ivan's father held a position described by Tolstoy as "superfluous" that was created for tenured, useless, and incompetent men who wanted to sit around all day and feel important. After Ivan's death, his friends immediately discuss the possibilities of promotions and the re-organization of power structures in response to the event. They are indifferent to him. They play cards at his viewing/funeral and his best friend, Peter, even leaves early.
I think that Tolstoy paints this picture of a hierarchical "every man for himself" kind of society because he wants to make a point about ambition and its relationship to self worth and how people derive meaning from life. Ivan's epiphany is that everything he did to climb up the social ladder did nothing to make him happy or feel fulfilled. The way he lived his life was "wrong." How would Ivan's life have been different if he had lived for, say, his family? The character in the movie clip we viewed on Friday expressed a similar kind of regret. The slight religious underpinnings are revealed near the end when Ivan talks about an unnamed "He" the reader can assume to be God. Tolstoy advocated religious reform centered around the destruction of hierarchy and corruption in favor of a more simplistic, moral Christianity. Perhaps Tolstoy portrays 19th century society in such a negative light because he wants to reinforce his argument that religious reform is needed.
When I read Ivan Ilych I noticed that many characters were performing. Ivan performs his marriage so that his peers will approve of it. He does not care about the health of his relationship with his wife, only that it appears to be healthy. The doctors Ivan sees are clearly pompous frauds who enjoy the performance of what they do. They talk down to their patients and revel in the perception of themselves as authorities on the human mind and body. Their bizarre and contradicting diagnoses make it obvious that they are in the profession for its status, pay, and privilege. Ivan's life is one long, disastrous performance in and of itself. Everything he does is to impress his family (he was the favorite), and then later in life, his peers. He does what he ought to do, not what he wants to do. This idea of performance ties into Ivan's epiphany. All of the "joys" in his life were not joyful at all. They were what he presented as joyful, when in reality they had no meaning and brought him no pleasure. Ivan was performing society's idea of what a man should be, but to what end? He had his stuff, his marriage, and his dream job, but was still unhappy.
(2/7/14) Response #5 (Unit: Romantic Music, Poetry, and Art) "Analysis of Romantic Poetry: Whitman and Smith"
Of all the romantic poetry we read, "Hours Continuing Long" was my favorite. I was disappointed that we did not get to discuss it. It really hit home for me in many ways. My family used to live in the country and when I had trouble sleeping (which was often) I liked to "speed swiftly through the country roads" as Whitman mentioned. Walking at night is my favorite way to unwind and refresh myself mentally. Also, Whitman brings up what it feels like to let people go and to think about people who are not in your life anymore. I'm sure everyone can relate to that. As young adults in a university setting, we have all had to accept that some of our relationships will not be sustainable after we move away and begin our lives. Whitman describes this feeling as watching others content themselves without him. In this poem he is talking about a lover, however it can be applied to any close relationship. I am a very sentimental person, which is why I can relate to Whitman's description of "harboring" people, memories, and emotions.
"Does he too harbor his friendship silent and endless?
Harbor his anguish and passion?"
These two lines flawlessly capture the feeling of loss and regret after any kind of relationship comes to an end.
"The Sea View" comes as a close second. The poem, despite being short, is dramatic, memorable, and has a plot. The words "celestial," "radiance," "magnificent," and "tranquil" are all used to describe the contrast between the sea, land, and sky. A shepherd reclines and observes the beauty of the landscape. Until line 9, the tone of the poem is serene and ethereal. It takes a sudden turn when, with little transition, the narrator begins to describe ships weighted with war goods. Unlike the sea, sky, and land, these ships are insidious, destructive invaders that are not only an ugly blight that ruins the scene, but represent the violent and ruinous nature of man. The ships are compared to a demonic plague, death, fire, and blood.
This poem really got my attention and was the only one of all the assigned works that I felt compelled to read several times. The only significant changes that occurred in the other romantic poems we read were related to the narrator and some kind of revelation or shift in thought. Smith's poem is unique because of the way she draws her reader in with rich and sentimental descriptions before she completely changes direction and unleashes a sort of poetic diatribe against war and man-made things like war.
(1/31/14) Response #4 (Unit: Faust and the Romantic Hero) "Napoleon as a Global Figure"
The readings for Friday were my favorite because Napoleon has always been fascinating to me. In addition to being an interesting historical figure, he often pops up in literature. He seemed to ghost in and out of many of the books I read. He had an indirect role in one of my favorite pieces of literature, The Count of Monte Cristo. Even though he never appeared as a character, his actions had a drastic effect on the trajectory of the plot and many characters’ lives. It is clear that this influence was not limited to people in books. Manzoni’s poem does a good job of exemplifying the polarizing nature of Napoleon’s persona.
The first stanza establishes Napoleon as a global figure. “Mankind lies thunderstruck” at the news of his death. This widespread shock does not imply that he was universally loved. The narrator claims that he did not “blend [his] song with thousands of the throng” when he fell from power. Despite his humble beginnings, Napoleon still allowed his dabbling in the upper echelons of society get to his head. His rule became a contradiction and he quickly came to represent the image that many were trying to destroy.
This passage stood out to me as particularly “Faustian”:
Maybe by all this torment
His peaceless soul was driven,
Ah, to despair; but quickly
A valid hand from heaven
Lifted him, kind and fair,
To a more healthy air.
Here, the narrator suggests that Napoleon was unhappy and tormented. In this way, Napoleon is similar to Faust because his actions are driven by his desire to strive for something beyond his reach.
(1/24/14) Response #3 (Unit: Romanticism and the Quest for Freedom) "A Comparison of Faust to Other Literary Works"
I thought that the connection to the story of Job in this week’s readings was interesting. There are certainly parallels, however there are some significant differences between the narratives.
Faust finds himself in an unhappy place, which leads him to make a deal with Mephistopheles. In exchange for worldly pleasures and experiences, he sells his soul. Job, however, did not consent to his experiences. Satan had a conversation with God about Job’s plight, but Job did not take part.
Job and Faust have completely different worldviews. The conflict in the story of Job centers around loss. Job loses his material possessions and his family. Faust centers around his search for more. He is unhappy and sought meaning and experience. He is transformed by this search. Their motivations and backgrounds are complete opposites, however there are parallels between their stories.
The connection between Faust and Whitman’s “Song of Myself” is a little more obvious. Goethe and Whitman are both important writers in the Romantic movement. Nature is an important theme in both works. Faust looks to nature for answers. Nature is simply a part of his philosophical journey. Whitman writes about nature because he uses it as a vessel for exploring freedom and self-exploration. Whitman liked to observe nature and working peoples’ lives in order to connect with the human experience and how it related to the natural world. His varied occupations (nurse, teacher, editor, house builder, etc.) exposed him to many different kinds of people and made him a “poet of empathy.” I think that Whitman’s writing is more powerful because it concerns social justice.
(1/17/14) Response #2 (Unit: Freedom and Security) "Issues of Race, Sex, and Class in the Writing of Whitman and Jacobs"
The slave narrative of Harriet Jacobs reveals a lot about the nature of racism and sexism in her time. We watched her fight the forces keeping her down for years, only to be coerced into giving up parts of herself just to survive. She wished to keep her pride and sexual purity intact and risked her life in order to reach that goal. It would probably have been easier to give in to Mr. Flint’s sexual advances than to resist them. She did just resist, however, and risked physical violence and emotional trauma that could be easily and arbitrarily inflicted upon her by the Flint family.
Racism and sexism are such complex and multi-layered issues. Why does this kind of hatred exist? Why does it persist, even today? The Flint family hated Jacobs, however it seems like their hatred had less to do with her identity as a black woman and more to do with her resilience and defiance. They hated her because she refused to conform to how white people expected black women to behave. She refused to live by their expectations. It did not matter that these expectations were sometimes in conflict with one another. All women were expected to be pure. All slaves were supposed to be submissive to their owners, even if that meant engaging in extramarital sex.
By refusing Dr. Flint’s sexual advances, Jacobs emasculated him and challenged his authority as a white male.
Our selected readings from Walt Whitman’s poetry were my favorite of the “freedom” theme. I think he does a good job of capturing the spirit of American inclusiveness that we have come to pride ourselves in.
Whitman addresses race, gender, sexuality, class, and a plethora of other issues.
On page 851 line 10 he says, “growing among black folks as among white,” referencing grass, something that grows everywhere and is a uniting factor. Wherever Whitman mentions men, he also mentions women. On the same page he asks the reader, “What do you think has become of the young and old men? And what do you think has become of the women and children?” It is clear that Whitman values the human experience as told by anyone. This probably stems from his varied career. His different jobs exposed him to the opinions and stories of people from many places and backgrounds.
(1/10/14) Response #1 (Unit: Slave Narratives and Emancipation) "Frederick Douglass and the Power of Literacy"
The most obvious theme in Douglass’ narrative is the importance of literacy. His ability to read and write, above all else, was the key to freedom.
Douglass had a sort of revelation when Mr. Auld explained his reasoning behind his ban on reading. Mr. Auld claims that literacy spoils the slave because in order to be a “good” slave it is important to limit one’s knowledge to knowing how to obey. In this, Douglass discovered the source of white men’s power and saw the pathway to freedom. Without ignorance, the institution of slavery loses its potency and legitimacy.
Douglass realized the importance of literacy by observing the ways people of color were misunderstood. Proponents of slavery saw enslaved laborers singing and interpreted this act as an expression of contentedness rather than anguish. Memoirs of former slaves were dismissed as fabrications because they lacked the credibility of first-person narration. The only way this could be changed was by written testimony from someone who had a perspective from the other side of slavery. This reminds me of a quote by Zora Neale Hurston, an influential African American writer who emerged from the same era as Maya Angelou and captured the essence of racial conflict in her novels and short stories.
“If you are silent about your pain, they will kill you and say you enjoyed it.”
Douglass knew that if he did not tell his story, no real change was possible. Therein lies the importance of literacy in securing freedom and instituting change.
Douglass appealed to Mr. Thomas to allow him to hire his time to save money (p. 536), but was denied this opportunity. Mr. Thomas tells him that in order to be happy, he must be obedient, refrain from planning for the future, and, ultimately, remain silent. Had Douglass taken this advice, he would have lived his life, miserable and unable to do anything to change his condition. Because he disobeyed, he was able to not only change the trajectory of his own life, but the lives of others through the publication of his narrative and public speaking.
"The Role of Ambiguity in Chocolat"
Our screening of Chocolat allowed us to look at colonialism from another perspective. I like the idea of viewing this issue through the eyes of a family. Even though Aimee, France, and her father are all foreign to Africa, their experiences can help us understand this complex issue. I believe that the ambiguity of the film was intentional. France went back to Africa to see her home again and, perhaps, to make sense of her childhood experiences. Just like she was trying to figure out the significance of what she saw and went through, the audience had to sit through a film that raises more questions than answers. The modern perspective of colonialism is that it was negative, but that does not take into consideration the intentions of everyone caught up in it.
Chocolat seemed very realistic to me. In real life, sometimes things happen that have no reason or are unexplained for whatever reason. Life does not come with a script or symbols or clear cut metaphors and interpretations. We can debate over what Protee's intentions were for burning his hand and leading France to do the same. We can try to figure out Luc's erratic behavior and attribute it to his past or intentions. We can try to figure out if Protee and Aimee ever did consummate their pseudo-affair. Just as in real life, we may never know definite answers to these questions and debates. We are not always afforded the luxury of knowledge. I think that Claire Denis pulled that off really well. She was able to make a film that depicted events without offering any kind of concrete commentary. Perhaps the point of Chocolat is that colonialism should be discussed as something that affects individuals. The film did not really talk about colonialism as an issue. We looked at how it came into play in the microcosm of the Dalens household.
(4/18/14) Response #12 (Unit: An African Response to Colonialism)
"Anxieties About Masculinity in Things Fall Apart"
On Friday our small group discussed the theme of fear as a motivating factor to participate in the perpetuation of hyper-masculine ideals and roles. Davis' introduction to Things Fall Apart describes Okownkwo as a "noble and flawed" figure who is used as a tool to celebrate Ibo culture and also critique it. I believe that the anxieties surrounding masculinity and underlying problems with gender expectations in this story are part of Achebe's critique of Ibo culture.
On page 1609, an exchange between Okonkwo and one of his playmates about Okonkwo's father revealed that the Ibo people insulted men by using the term "agbala." It is interchangeable with "woman" and "man without property/title." This reveals that Ibo women are viewed as powerless in the eyes of the law and are considered possessions themselves. It also reveals a generally negative view of women. There is no greater insult than to be called a woman.
On page 1614, Okonkwo confronted a man who contradicted him and told him that the meeting was "for men." He was insinuating that the man was as good as a woman because he had no titles. The narrator comments that Okonkwo "knew how to kill a man's spirit."
The ability to express oneself is important in Ibo culture. Those who have mastered the art of oration are most respected in the community. Stories, legends, and proverbs are passed down through oral culture. Gender roles are reflected even in this oral culture. Okonkwo, on page 1626, tells his son that men only participate in storytelling that celebrates violence and bloodshed.
The casual attitude towards domestic abuse is the most obvious negative outcome of strict gender roles. Okonkwo uses violence against his wives impulsively and as a disciplinary tool.
Research project proposal:
I would like to write about the slave narratives of Olaudah Equiano, Harriet Jacobs, and Frederick Douglass. I will explore the use of narrative and literacy as tools used by people of color to empower themselves. White people also used them to disempower others. I will discuss the use of dialect in these texts and compare it to other depictions of African American dialect in popular literature of the same period.
Peter, this is a good topic for the paper. I like the idea of bringing in a text from 202. Did you remember that Equiano was Ibo? You might want to do some research on slave narratives, since these three texts are all the same genre and were written with the same purpose. - MH
(4/11/14) Response #11 (Unit: Modernism in the Arts)
"Kaffeman and Social Commentary"
Today's trip to the Art Museum was a refreshing and fascinating deviation from our normal class activities. Because our honors course is supposed to be an "inquiry" into texts, ideas, and time periods, we have to take cultural artifacts like novels, essays, and paintings and try to figure out what the author/artist was trying to say and the greater implications of that statement on our own. The author/artist is, for the most part, silent. We have to try and speak for them because they are not in our classroom. The chance to see an artist in the flesh explaining the meaning and context of her work is invaluable.
My only regret is that I didn't really feel informed enough about the topic of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be comfortable with asking questions about Kaffeman's exhibit. She gave us some background about that issue, but I honestly felt a little overwhelmed by all of the new information I was receiving.
While it was not the most striking or potent image/idea in Kaffeman's exhibit, the juxtaposition of embroidery, quotes from poetry and media, and flame-worked glass reproductions of invasive species was the easiest for me to understand. As Kaffeman stated when Rachel asked about the significance of the appearance of invasive species in her work, it is commentary on demographics and who is allowed in certain spaces. Who was there first? Who really has true ownership of certain spaces?
The quote "I count to one and fall asleep," translated from the first piece on the left of the "Invasive Plants" series, is from Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. From what Kaffeman said, it would seem like there are some anxieties in Israel regarding his leadership because he came from Russia. Perhaps he is perceived as being disconnected from Israeli concerns and culture. He is foreign and threatening, like an invasive species. I could be wrong, however, as one internet source I found claims that he is widely considered to be an "ultra-nationalist." If I could go back, I would ask questions about the some of the implications of including that embroidered quote.
The anxieties about Lieberman's leadership have likely been intensified by unscrupulous actions on his part during his time in office. According to Wikipedia, he was charged with fraud and breach of trust, but was later acquitted and given back his title, has made comments considered by many to be racist against Arabs, suggested bombing in response to conflict with Egypt, and openly admitted that he would like to bomb Palestinian places of business. Kaffeman said she considers herself to be a pacifist, so Lieberman's actions and beliefs are in direct opposition with her ideals.
Here is an article I found about Lieberman and the history of discrimination and violence in Israel. It was the most clear of all the articles I sifted through. I would suggest it to anyone who wanted a little more background about the conflicts Kaffeman discussed in her presentation.
The first work Kaffeman discussed, her embroidery and glass piece about the young Palestinian whose suicide attack was thwarted (Mantis Religiosa series), features a recreation of cupressus sempervirens, or "Mediterranean Cyprus", according to the descriptive plaque. Cyprus was associated with death and mourning in the classical era and remains the principle cemetery tree in many parts of the world. Kaffeman said that she wanted this piece to be about bringing issues about violence to the forefront and represent them on what she called the "surface level." According to Kaffeman, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not something people like to talk about. It is something that goes on perpetually and intrudes upon daily life, but people are still silent about it.
She said that the people who helped make some of the embroideries of the quote "But I have come to detest life, although I loved a girl, who was a year younger than me, and my family planned to ask for her hand, one day before I set out for the operation. I loved her very much" later regretted participating in her project when they found out that the line was spoken by a Palestinian man. It is a very poetic statement before translation into English. This quote, alongside a praying mantis and plants associated with mourning, might be Kaffeman trying to say that even though the man who made the statement stood for violence and wished to harm others, we should be sympathetic to him because his hopes, aspirations, and ultimate human experience are very similar to everyone else's. We should mourn because these hopes, aspirations, and experiences are destroyed by the conflict and violence.
The thread and rice paper piece (Untitled: Moshe Silman) that Kaffeman discussed second seems to continue this theme of mourning. One of the plaques explaining her entire exhibit said that the piece "responds to the text of a suicide note left by a disenfranchised Israeli who felt betrayed by Israel's welfare system... Kaffeman depicted an untended gravestone adorned by glass wildflowers." I recall her talking briefly about the man who committed suicide by setting himself on fire, but if she mentioned that it included a gravestone I must have missed it. If I could go back I would like to have asked her if she meant for her work to have a theme of mourning as a uniting phenomenon amongst conflict, violence, and clashing cultures.
Kaffeman did her own embroidering for many of the pieces in her exhibit, with the exception of Mantis Religiosa. She did not do this earlier in her career, in an attempt to remain neutral and not advocate one side over the other. Other people did the embroideries, which she added to her own work. If I could go back I would ask her why she made this strategic decision. Is it because she feels more comfortable with expressing her views now that she is further into her career? Have some of her political convictions changed? Does she now feel that expressing her views is more important than she once believed?
If I have misrepresented anything Kaffeman said in her presentation or you have interpretations that differ from mine, please feel free to edit my page to make a comment below!
(3/29/14) Response #10 (Unit: The Modern Self)
"Reading Freud with Skepticism"
Like most others in our class, I learned a bit about Freud in some of my high school classes and in one of my university courses and was already familiar with some of his theories. Reading about them from his own perspective, however, was a completely new experience.
One thing that stood out to me was the negative reception of the idea that men could become hysterical. The idea that nervous conditions were innately female were used to justify medical injustices like the ones we saw in "The Yellow Wallpaper."
I wonder what modern doctors and researchers think of his hypnosis methods. Freud was convinced they worked. I have my doubts about hypnosis. I was thinking perhaps it worked like sugar pills work in clinical trials for new medications. The power of the mind, some people believe, can cure illness.
I also thought it was interesting that Freud researched the medical uses of cocaine, considering he struggled with addiction to opiates. This compels me to read his autobiography and theories with a grain of salt. We discussed in class how Freud had a lot of ideas but little evidence to back them up. I did a little research on Freud’s relationship with the drug and it turns out that his medical reputation was damaged by his advocacy of its usage. He proposed that it could be used for a great number of things and when it turned out that in most cases it only caused overdose or addiction, he was heavily criticized. He was reckless in his actions.
(3/21/14) Response #9 (Unit: A European Perspective on Colonialism)
"The Cultural Context of Imperialism"
Conrad's Heart of Darkness features a narrator (there are two because it is a frame narrative) who has sympathy for the people populating the stretch of land dubbed "the Congo." He quickly becomes disillusioned with the white people around him and their mission as a whole. He notes that they worship ivory. It is something they "pray" to.
His descriptions of the Africans acknowledge the pain and suffering they have been subjected to. The text as a whole is considered to be a critique of colonialism. Despite Marlow's empathy for the African people and penetrative analysis of European institutions, he is still a product of his ethnocentric society and it shows in his writing.
In the second paragraph of Heart of Darkness the narrator (not Marlow) describes London as the ship makes its way down the Thames. He says that it is "the biggest, and the greatest, town on earth." Here the narrator is equating size and prestige with value and significance. He goes on to say that the Thames leads to "the ends of the earth." The river starts out at what he considers to be the source of civilization and order and leads to a vast expanse that is alien and simply "other." Racial slurs are inserted casually into the exposition, description, and dialogue. The Africans exist as an ominous they. They are "savage" by nature and exist as a unit without, as the Europeans would like to believe, culture or an identity of significance. It is clear that Conrad is a part of this ethnocentric worldview. At the same time, he is trying to break out of it and push the boundaries.
Rudyard Kipling's writing usually celebrated Indian culture. It is interesting that he wrote "The White Man's Burden," a text that describes colonial endeavors as thankless ones. It depicts white members of "civilization" as martyrs for sake of ungrateful savages. Even though this writer has the capacity to appreciate and delve into non-Western cultures, he still has the ingrained belief that they are inferior.
Conrad and Kipling seek to deconstruct, in some way, our negative views of other cultures. Despite this, they still unintentionally perpetuate them. That makes me wonder how enlightened our media and culture will seem to future generations.
(3/7/14) Response #8 (Unit: Realistic Heroines and Feminist Revisions)
"Eve and the Deconstruction of Patriarchal Ideas"
I was familiar with all of the texts we read for this week, aside from “The Revolver,” before we working on our presentation. It was interesting to revisit them and look at how they connect to the larger social context they are a part of and to the other stories and essays we have read this semester. When we read them in high school, we only looked at the surface level and did not analyze them as in depth as we did in this unit
When I read the Yellow Wallpaper, I never really imagined what the narrator looked like as she underwent her mental break. I just thought about what she was seeing and how the other characters interacted with her. It was interesting to see a theatric interpretation of the story. The actress who played her was very unsettling.
I found Stanton’s interpretation of Genesis bold and insightful. She views Eve as ambitious. This is in direct opposition to the traditional interpretation of her character as foolish, gullible, and reckless. She wants the apple because it gives her knowledge. She points out this desire for knowledge and wisdom and discusses the exclusion of women in academia and politics, especially where it is justified through a literal interpretation of the Bible.
“In this prolonged interview, the unprejudiced reader must be impressed with the courage, the dignity, and the lofty ambition of the woman. The tempter evidently had a profound knowledge of human nature, and saw at a glance the high character of the person he met by change in his walks in the garden.”
In Stanton’s interpretation of this text, Eve’s ambition is lofty to an extent that would be considered solely masculine. She takes on the role that a man would usually take by displaying curiosity and desire.
I am not really sure how to read Machado de Assis’ story. It is clear he intends to turn the story of Genesis on its head. After establishing that, there is a lot of unpacking to do. Like Dr. Hartman said, it seems like he would like to push the view that the Bible can be read as allegory. The significance of a dualistic view of creation and the ascension of Adam and Eve into heaven, leaving Earth in the clutches of the evil serpent is open to interpretation. One thing that stuck out to me though, was that Eve was portrayed in a positive light.
“She went and entered the earthly paradise, slithered over to the Tree of Knowledge, coiled herself up, and waited. Eve appeared shortly afterward, walking gracefully and alone, with the confidence of a queen who knows no one will rob her of her crown.”
Eve then proceeds to reject the serpent’s offer. There is also the fact that even though Eve was created after Adam, he did not have an active role in her creation. She was created separately, as opposed to being taken from Adam’s breast.
(2/28/14) Response #7 (Unit: Realistic Heroines and the Situation of Women)
"The Role of Epiphanies in Texts About the Middle Class"
Even though we have concluded our unit on the Bourgeoisie, I would like to pull some of the themes we discussed last week out and connect them to Ibsen's A Doll's House. Many 19th century writers focused on the social decay they saw in the middle and upper class and would critique institutions like marriage, the church, government, and others. Ivan Ilych is one of these texts. It sheds light on the social decay Tolstoy saw in the institutions I just mentioned. Ivan has an epiphany. This allows him to see some of the things that were wrong with his life and involvement with these institutions. Nora, in A Doll's House, has a similar kind of epiphany. She realizes she cannot be satisfied with herself or her marriage and leaves.
I think that the similarity of both main characters discovering their unhappiness late in life is the most significant thing we discussed on Friday in class. Both main characters had some kind of life-altering revelation that changed them forever. These revelations interrupted their nice middle class lives and questioned the social institutions we hold dear. Questioning institutions is a common theme in the texts we’ve been reading. The authors are asking:
Is marriage really sacred?
Is ambition a good thing?
Is our happiness an illusion?
If characters like Nora can’t be happy in their marriages and people like Ivan can’t be happy with all of the things we tell people they should have, like a good job and lots of money, what implications does that have for middle class life? Are our lives built on fault lines, just waiting for us to fall apart? Ivan and Nora were seemingly stable characters. If their lives fell apart, then yours could too. That is why these texts were so unsettling to their respective audiences.
(2/21/14) Response #6 (Unit: Materialism and the Bourgeoisie)
"Tolstoy and Social Commentary"
A close reading of Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilych reveals commentary on urban luxury and living, the "social decay" of the 19th century, marriage, power, and the impersonal and ruthless nature of the social and political spheres in the upper class. Tolstoy was a vocal advocate of simplistic living. He did not like westernization, bureaucracy, and social injustice. These views are reflected in his portrayal of Ivan and the world he lives in.
It is clear that Ivan is a member of the bourgeoisie. He likes to furnish his home with nice things. He has servants. He was eager to sever old connections and abandon jobs for positions that held more power. He enjoyed these positions because he got a certain kind of pleasure from lording over other people. This hunger for power and authority is reflected in the other characters populating Tolstoy's story. Ivan's father held a position described by Tolstoy as "superfluous" that was created for tenured, useless, and incompetent men who wanted to sit around all day and feel important. After Ivan's death, his friends immediately discuss the possibilities of promotions and the re-organization of power structures in response to the event. They are indifferent to him. They play cards at his viewing/funeral and his best friend, Peter, even leaves early.
I think that Tolstoy paints this picture of a hierarchical "every man for himself" kind of society because he wants to make a point about ambition and its relationship to self worth and how people derive meaning from life. Ivan's epiphany is that everything he did to climb up the social ladder did nothing to make him happy or feel fulfilled. The way he lived his life was "wrong." How would Ivan's life have been different if he had lived for, say, his family? The character in the movie clip we viewed on Friday expressed a similar kind of regret. The slight religious underpinnings are revealed near the end when Ivan talks about an unnamed "He" the reader can assume to be God. Tolstoy advocated religious reform centered around the destruction of hierarchy and corruption in favor of a more simplistic, moral Christianity. Perhaps Tolstoy portrays 19th century society in such a negative light because he wants to reinforce his argument that religious reform is needed.
When I read Ivan Ilych I noticed that many characters were performing. Ivan performs his marriage so that his peers will approve of it. He does not care about the health of his relationship with his wife, only that it appears to be healthy. The doctors Ivan sees are clearly pompous frauds who enjoy the performance of what they do. They talk down to their patients and revel in the perception of themselves as authorities on the human mind and body. Their bizarre and contradicting diagnoses make it obvious that they are in the profession for its status, pay, and privilege. Ivan's life is one long, disastrous performance in and of itself. Everything he does is to impress his family (he was the favorite), and then later in life, his peers. He does what he ought to do, not what he wants to do. This idea of performance ties into Ivan's epiphany. All of the "joys" in his life were not joyful at all. They were what he presented as joyful, when in reality they had no meaning and brought him no pleasure. Ivan was performing society's idea of what a man should be, but to what end? He had his stuff, his marriage, and his dream job, but was still unhappy.
(2/7/14) Response #5 (Unit: Romantic Music, Poetry, and Art)
"Analysis of Romantic Poetry: Whitman and Smith"
Of all the romantic poetry we read, "Hours Continuing Long" was my favorite. I was disappointed that we did not get to discuss it. It really hit home for me in many ways. My family used to live in the country and when I had trouble sleeping (which was often) I liked to "speed swiftly through the country roads" as Whitman mentioned. Walking at night is my favorite way to unwind and refresh myself mentally. Also, Whitman brings up what it feels like to let people go and to think about people who are not in your life anymore. I'm sure everyone can relate to that. As young adults in a university setting, we have all had to accept that some of our relationships will not be sustainable after we move away and begin our lives. Whitman describes this feeling as watching others content themselves without him. In this poem he is talking about a lover, however it can be applied to any close relationship. I am a very sentimental person, which is why I can relate to Whitman's description of "harboring" people, memories, and emotions.
"Does he too harbor his friendship silent and endless?
Harbor his anguish and passion?"
These two lines flawlessly capture the feeling of loss and regret after any kind of relationship comes to an end.
"The Sea View" comes as a close second. The poem, despite being short, is dramatic, memorable, and has a plot. The words "celestial," "radiance," "magnificent," and "tranquil" are all used to describe the contrast between the sea, land, and sky. A shepherd reclines and observes the beauty of the landscape. Until line 9, the tone of the poem is serene and ethereal. It takes a sudden turn when, with little transition, the narrator begins to describe ships weighted with war goods. Unlike the sea, sky, and land, these ships are insidious, destructive invaders that are not only an ugly blight that ruins the scene, but represent the violent and ruinous nature of man. The ships are compared to a demonic plague, death, fire, and blood.
This poem really got my attention and was the only one of all the assigned works that I felt compelled to read several times. The only significant changes that occurred in the other romantic poems we read were related to the narrator and some kind of revelation or shift in thought. Smith's poem is unique because of the way she draws her reader in with rich and sentimental descriptions before she completely changes direction and unleashes a sort of poetic diatribe against war and man-made things like war.
(1/31/14) Response #4 (Unit: Faust and the Romantic Hero)
"Napoleon as a Global Figure"
The readings for Friday were my favorite because Napoleon has always been fascinating to me. In addition to being an interesting historical figure, he often pops up in literature. He seemed to ghost in and out of many of the books I read. He had an indirect role in one of my favorite pieces of literature, The Count of Monte Cristo. Even though he never appeared as a character, his actions had a drastic effect on the trajectory of the plot and many characters’ lives. It is clear that this influence was not limited to people in books. Manzoni’s poem does a good job of exemplifying the polarizing nature of Napoleon’s persona.
The first stanza establishes Napoleon as a global figure. “Mankind lies thunderstruck” at the news of his death. This widespread shock does not imply that he was universally loved. The narrator claims that he did not “blend [his] song with thousands of the throng” when he fell from power. Despite his humble beginnings, Napoleon still allowed his dabbling in the upper echelons of society get to his head. His rule became a contradiction and he quickly came to represent the image that many were trying to destroy.
This passage stood out to me as particularly “Faustian”:
Maybe by all this torment
His peaceless soul was driven,
Ah, to despair; but quickly
A valid hand from heaven
Lifted him, kind and fair,
To a more healthy air.
Here, the narrator suggests that Napoleon was unhappy and tormented. In this way, Napoleon is similar to Faust because his actions are driven by his desire to strive for something beyond his reach.
(1/24/14) Response #3 (Unit: Romanticism and the Quest for Freedom)
"A Comparison of Faust to Other Literary Works"
I thought that the connection to the story of Job in this week’s readings was interesting. There are certainly parallels, however there are some significant differences between the narratives.
Faust finds himself in an unhappy place, which leads him to make a deal with Mephistopheles. In exchange for worldly pleasures and experiences, he sells his soul. Job, however, did not consent to his experiences. Satan had a conversation with God about Job’s plight, but Job did not take part.
Job and Faust have completely different worldviews. The conflict in the story of Job centers around loss. Job loses his material possessions and his family. Faust centers around his search for more. He is unhappy and sought meaning and experience. He is transformed by this search. Their motivations and backgrounds are complete opposites, however there are parallels between their stories.
The connection between Faust and Whitman’s “Song of Myself” is a little more obvious. Goethe and Whitman are both important writers in the Romantic movement. Nature is an important theme in both works. Faust looks to nature for answers. Nature is simply a part of his philosophical journey. Whitman writes about nature because he uses it as a vessel for exploring freedom and self-exploration. Whitman liked to observe nature and working peoples’ lives in order to connect with the human experience and how it related to the natural world. His varied occupations (nurse, teacher, editor, house builder, etc.) exposed him to many different kinds of people and made him a “poet of empathy.” I think that Whitman’s writing is more powerful because it concerns social justice.
(1/17/14) Response #2 (Unit: Freedom and Security)
"Issues of Race, Sex, and Class in the Writing of Whitman and Jacobs"
The slave narrative of Harriet Jacobs reveals a lot about the nature of racism and sexism in her time. We watched her fight the forces keeping her down for years, only to be coerced into giving up parts of herself just to survive. She wished to keep her pride and sexual purity intact and risked her life in order to reach that goal. It would probably have been easier to give in to Mr. Flint’s sexual advances than to resist them. She did just resist, however, and risked physical violence and emotional trauma that could be easily and arbitrarily inflicted upon her by the Flint family.
Racism and sexism are such complex and multi-layered issues. Why does this kind of hatred exist? Why does it persist, even today? The Flint family hated Jacobs, however it seems like their hatred had less to do with her identity as a black woman and more to do with her resilience and defiance. They hated her because she refused to conform to how white people expected black women to behave. She refused to live by their expectations. It did not matter that these expectations were sometimes in conflict with one another. All women were expected to be pure. All slaves were supposed to be submissive to their owners, even if that meant engaging in extramarital sex.
By refusing Dr. Flint’s sexual advances, Jacobs emasculated him and challenged his authority as a white male.
Our selected readings from Walt Whitman’s poetry were my favorite of the “freedom” theme. I think he does a good job of capturing the spirit of American inclusiveness that we have come to pride ourselves in.
Whitman addresses race, gender, sexuality, class, and a plethora of other issues.
On page 851 line 10 he says, “growing among black folks as among white,” referencing grass, something that grows everywhere and is a uniting factor. Wherever Whitman mentions men, he also mentions women. On the same page he asks the reader, “What do you think has become of the young and old men? And what do you think has become of the women and children?” It is clear that Whitman values the human experience as told by anyone. This probably stems from his varied career. His different jobs exposed him to the opinions and stories of people from many places and backgrounds.
(1/10/14) Response #1 (Unit: Slave Narratives and Emancipation)
"Frederick Douglass and the Power of Literacy"
The most obvious theme in Douglass’ narrative is the importance of literacy. His ability to read and write, above all else, was the key to freedom.
Douglass had a sort of revelation when Mr. Auld explained his reasoning behind his ban on reading. Mr. Auld claims that literacy spoils the slave because in order to be a “good” slave it is important to limit one’s knowledge to knowing how to obey. In this, Douglass discovered the source of white men’s power and saw the pathway to freedom. Without ignorance, the institution of slavery loses its potency and legitimacy.
Douglass realized the importance of literacy by observing the ways people of color were misunderstood. Proponents of slavery saw enslaved laborers singing and interpreted this act as an expression of contentedness rather than anguish. Memoirs of former slaves were dismissed as fabrications because they lacked the credibility of first-person narration. The only way this could be changed was by written testimony from someone who had a perspective from the other side of slavery. This reminds me of a quote by Zora Neale Hurston, an influential African American writer who emerged from the same era as Maya Angelou and captured the essence of racial conflict in her novels and short stories.
“If you are silent about your pain, they will kill you and say you enjoyed it.”
Douglass knew that if he did not tell his story, no real change was possible. Therein lies the importance of literacy in securing freedom and instituting change.
Douglass appealed to Mr. Thomas to allow him to hire his time to save money (p. 536), but was denied this opportunity. Mr. Thomas tells him that in order to be happy, he must be obedient, refrain from planning for the future, and, ultimately, remain silent. Had Douglass taken this advice, he would have lived his life, miserable and unable to do anything to change his condition. Because he disobeyed, he was able to not only change the trajectory of his own life, but the lives of others through the publication of his narrative and public speaking.
Click below to read my weekly responses from last semester.
202 Responses, Fall 2013