Race and the American Novel Project Part 4 of 4

Reader Response:

I started with Barnes and Nobel reviews of the novel Beloved. Responses rate from "A masterwork" to "Shattering emotional power and impact." Readers of the novel find this to be a very powerful and beautifully-written novel that will last forever. I can't say that I was emotionally impacted by this novel, however there were some moments that struck me as powerful. One response states "I can't imagine American literature without it". I'm not so sure I agree, coming from a student that hasn't read a lot of American Lit. books. I don't get emotionally attached to books. Some may pull on my heart strings but it's not excessive. This novel has obviously struck many readers of American Lit. as one of the greatest novels ever published, and I don't disagree. This novel is very powerful and is a great read. It's not something younger generations would read, however. That's just my opinion. 

Next I took a look at Goodreads. The reviews were similar to the Barnes and Nobel ones, from "One of the best books I have ever read in the course in my short life" to "Sorry Stephen King: evil clowns and alcoholic would-be writers are pretty creepy, but they just got nothing on the terrifying specter of American slavery!" However, I read more hate-responses on this one than the last. One review response absolutely hated this novel. He stated "I found Beloved incomprehensible to the point of absurdity." Well it is true that the book can be a little incomprehensible and confusing, but that's how Toni Morrison writes and you have to respect that. I guess it's not for everyone. To each his own. 

Lastly, I looked at Amazon. Many of the reviews comment on the confusing narrative of the novel and the chronological order of the noevel, but they also comment on how powerful it is. An English teacher writes that teaching it is difficult an to " Expect to be disoriented at the beginning, but the plot clears up as you go and then you can go back and re-read the opening chapters." I don't doubt that this novel is difficult to teach. Students need to be able to fully understand what the author's intentions were and that the novel is supposed to be complex. Being able to talk about the confusing parts as well as the more in-depth parts of the novel are really helpful when reading it. Whereas reading it for pleasure for the first time rather in a classroom might take more time to understand. Like I stated before, the book isn't for everyone. I like the supernatural genre as much as the next person but this kind of supernatural didn't spark interest. I do agree that this is a very powerful, complex, and intriguing read. 

Race and the American Novel Project: Part 3 of 4

Synthesis: 

One major theme I've chosen to represent Beloved and Uncle Tom's Cabin is FAMILY. I chose this theme because family is a valuable asset in both novels. The characters in both novels are willing to do anything to protect their families, even if that means kill one of their own, such as Sethe in Beloved. Family creates power and there is power in numbers. Sethe choosing to kill one of her children gave her power over the slave owners. In Uncle Tom's Cabin, mothers also killed their children. Family differed in the novel, though. One family was willing to help the slaves, one would have turned in the slaves, and another had a neutral feeling towards the slaves. In this sense, family also gave the characters power - power over the slaves. Complete opposites when comparing the novels together. The characters also find family in others. They are willing to fight for one another. 

However, family is also torn apart. For example, in Beloved Sethe, Paul D., and Denver cannot stay together for some reason. It seems as though Beloved tore the family apart. In Uncle Tom's Cabin, families are also torn apart. The slaves' families are separated from beginning to end. Children are taken away from their mothers, wives taken from husbands...and even when they escape, some don't make it, and some have to learn to survive for themselves. The killing of children because of slavery happens in both novels. It's horrible to think of ever killing someone you love. I don't think I could do it. 

Race and the American Novel Project: Part 2 of 4

Contemporary Connections:

I chose to use the Ferguson, Missouri riots after the shooting of Michael Brown as an example of racial issues that exist in America in 2015 (even though it was in 2014, it's pretty relevant). 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30190224

In connection to Beloved, I see the history of slavery/racism between white Americans and African-Americans impacting the reactions of events like the shooting of an African-American by a white police officer. But in this case, and similar cases, African-Americans fight back. Whereas, in the time of Beloved, African-Americans couldn't or didn't choose to fight back. 

Currently in 2015, racism still exists. And it's too excessive nowadays. Everyone is blaming actions of others on race. Like the Ferguson shooting, no one can tell the story of what really happened, and one isn't going to believe the other because of the race issue. Nobody really takes the time to think that the police officer did what he had to do because it's part of his job. It's not racist, it's the fact that someone was hostile and the instinct was to shoot. I'm in no way defending the killing of someone, nor am I saying the kid deserved to die. It could've ended differently on both sides of the argument. Racism is taken to the extremes nowadays, whereas in the times of Beloved, racism was...not accepted but it was normal. People were used to it. The people in 2015 should be used to it as well. But the race-card is played too many times. 

Race and the American Novel Project: Part 1 of 4

Critical Commentary:

Using the UW-Manitowoc library database "JSTOR", I came across an article titled "Remodeling the Model Home in Uncle Tom's Cabin and Beloved" written by Lori Askeland. The article compares both Uncle Tom's Cabin and Beloved in terms of setting and the structural aspects of the homes in both novels. It states that "Beloved is set in part in the same place and during the same period as Uncle Tom's Cabin" (Askeland 787), it's near Cincinnati in 1873, and that both novelists "use and remodel traces of slave history to create narratives that will also remodel the ideologies that dominate the country's power structure. Yet both novels remain haunted by the figures that represent power" (787-788). The author of this article suggests that the remodeling of the houses in both novels symbolize power. 

In response to this article, I was amazed at what Lori Askeland had written. She states that both houses are "ultimately owned and haunted by a patriarchal figure who cannot be easily overcome" (791). It makes a lot of sense. Beloved is the figure that cannot be easily overcome. She ultimately holds all of the power over every character in the novel. I would've thought that slave history and masculinity held the power, given what we know about slavery...but instead it's a figure. 


Askeland, Lori. "Remodeling the Model Home in Uncle Tom's Cabin and Beloved." N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2015.

Blog #5: Diving into the Wreck

I chose to write this blog about Adrienne Rich's "Diving into the Wreck" on pages 1386-1388. I found this poem really confusing and intriguing at the same time. I specifically want to discuss the part that really intrigued me, lines 62 through 77. 

Starting on line 62, where Rich writes "the thing I came for: the wreck and not the story of the wreck/the thing itself and not the myth" (Rich 1387). Rich wants to point out that there's a lot more to her journey than a shipwreck. To others like Jacques Cousteau, they dive to discover something beautiful and unique; Rich has discovered that there's nothing beautiful and unique about a shipwreck. Looking at the wreck is just sad. The "drowned face always staring/toward the sun" (1387) Rich describes turns out to be one of those mermaids you see on old ships. Everything about this wreck is depressing to look at, but it tells a story. Which is why at the end of her poem, Rich writes in the last stanza that we all have to write our own stories; otherwise we'll be lost like the "half-destroyed instruments" (1388). 

Another part that got my attention was the line that says "And I am here, the mermaid whose dark hair/streams black, the merman in his armored body...I am she: I am he" (1387). These lines intrigued me because one, I love mermaids, and two because she writes them without boundaries between the two sexes. The use of "we" signifies unity and given that Rich participated in the Second Wave of Feminism, it makes sense. I'm not saying that the whole poem revolves around Feminism, but this part definitely does. 

Tennessee Williams: "A Streetcar Named Desire"

Earlier in today's class, we discussed who we felt more sympathy for: Blanche or Stanley? In this post, I'm going to focus on Blanche's character and specifically why I have more sympathy for Blanche and not Stanley. 

Stanley's actions cannot be justified. He is a controlling, abusive, anger-filled "man" who doesn't deserve to be treated as well as Stella does or by any woman. Just because he was in the war or because he didn't grow up in a stable or wealthy family like Blanche and Stella doesn't give him the freedom to control or hit his wife. Saying that Stanley's abusive actions toward Stella and Blanche is justified because he's filled with anger due to his past is just like saying the serial killers you see today are let go because they're "unstable" because they were abused or neglected as a child. Any justification for his actions is invalid. We don't feel sorry for those serial killers, but some feel sorry for Stanley? Stanley had the choice of bettering his life when he was old enough. He had the choice of growing as a person and not being an abusive ass. (I'm not targeting anyone in the class, just making a point.) I mean, did he really have to throw the entire radio out the WINDOW? For real? He simply could have walked in the room and asked the girls to turn it down. But no. He had to go psycho-bitch on them and throw it out the window. There are other ways of handling your anger. "Stanley feels really bad about the radio so he's fixing it." He shouldn't have thrown it out in the first place! Just saying. 

Blanche may have been a little unstable and bitchy herself, but like I mentioned in class I know what it's like to lose your best friend because of a guy and unhealthy relationship. It's one of the worst, most heart-breaking experiences someone could ever go through. And I've been through it four times, and counting. Blanche tried to tell Stella that she needed to get out of her marriage with Stanley because he's bad news. But Stella denied that anything was wrong with her marriage and chose Stanley over her sister. And doing what Blanche does best, she pushed Stanley's buttons to get Stella to see what kind of man Stanley was: a controlling, anger-filled, testosterone-raging caveman. Women don't have to get physical with someone to make a point. Words have a way of cutting deep like a knife. 

I watched two of my best friends be controlled for months until one day they dropped me like a hot potato. Now I know it wasn't their faults, obviously it was the relationship. I tried to tell them, and unfortunately I lost them. My best friend is currently getting back into the relationship that made her lose me in the first place, and I have to bite my tongue because I know the more I push her and tell her that he's bad news, she'll get angry and chose him over me. She's done it twice. I'm giving her the time she wants with him because she's believed that he's "grown" in the four months they've been apart. But like Blanche, I can see through his nice-guy act. But I'm not one to get between their relationship and prove that he's a bad guy. 

Before the movie clip we watched in class, I had already created my perception of Stanley and his relationship with Stella. So anything in that movie or the rest of the play couldn't redeem him. 

Literary Movement: Imagism

I'm going to focus mainly on the Imagism movement in this post. 

Imagism rose in the early twentieth-century, specifically in 1912, and it was created by Ezra Pound. According to poets.org, Imagism "included English and American poets in the early twentieth-century who wrote free verse..." Imagism was a reaction to "flabby abstract language and careless thinking of Georgian romanticism." According to poetryfoundation.org, it relied on resonance of concrete images drawn in precise, colloquial language, rather than traditional poetic diction. Examples of Imagist poets include William Carlos Williams, Amy Lowell, and Hilda Doolittle (H.D.). 

I've found two scholarly sources: the first is titled "The Screenplay, Imagism, and Modern Aesthetics", and the second is titled "Pound's Imagism and the Surreal". I'm going to focus mainly on the second scholarly article that I've found, since that one explains Imagism a little better. 

According to the article written by William Skaff, Ezra Pound worked with a Japanese poet named Yone Noguchi played a huge role in Imagism. Pound implies that principles of Imagism relate to those of Surrealism. The article then goes on to explain how Pound relates his reasoning to the psychology of Bertrand Hart. Pound believed that Imagism and Surrealism both used metaphors in the same way, and that both are used to unlock some form of the unconscious. 

The use of metaphors in Imagism relate to the unconscious. Images are based on intellectual and emotional complexes, according to Pound. I can understand that, but others might not. Many critics suggest that they don't see the possibility of images representing "a complex through the content of sensory experience" (Skaff 198). 

"A Brief Guide to Imagism." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.

"Glossary Terms." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2015.

Skaff, William. Journal of Modern Literature. 12:2. July 1985. (UW-Manitowoc Library resources) Web.             15 Mar. 2015. 

Race and the American Novel Project: Part 1

Personal Synthesis

One of the prominent theme in Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe is oppression. Both slaves and women are oppressed throughout the novel. 

Women and slaves share common characteristics in this novel. For example, both depend on religion to help them in their struggles. During this time period, one of the duties of women was to keep up with the religiousness of the household. We discussed in class the different spheres: public and private, in which religion fell into the private sphere. Both women and slaves could fall into this sphere as well. Women were not to be heard and neither were slaves. Both groups mended to the housework while the men made most of the decisions. 

Slaves were oppressed just as much as women were and were given religion as like a toy. I think Stowe implies a parallel between the oppression of women and slaves, because one influences the other. For example, by using religion as a tool women could manipulate their husbands which impacted the slaves. On page 4, the trader Mr. Haley suggests that Mr. Shelby make a fortune on the woman slave. In which Mr. Shelby replies "Mr. Haley, she is not to be sold. My wife would not part with her for her weight in gold" (Stowe 4). As you can see, by using religion against her husband, Mrs. Shelby was able to influence the slave's life. However, it didn't work all of the time but most. 

I just find it fascinating how much of a pull women have on men whether they're shushed or not. Even in the part between the couple arguing about the fugitive slaves. The woman (I can't remember the page # or couple's names) used religion against her husband to change his mind about turning fugitive slaves in. It worked for the most part, however she was shushed in the process. 

So in a way, I guess oppression and religion go together. But like I mentioned before, the oppression of one influenced the other. Women and most of the pull on their husbands when it came to the slaves' lives and even though they couldn't stop slavery, they could at least make sure the slaves had a better life. 

Race and the American Novel Project: Part 1 (con't)

Critical Commentary (pages 532-595)

I chose to summarize the article written by Sophia Cantave titled “Who Gets to Create the Lasting Images? The Problem of Black Representation in Uncle Tom’s Cabin”.

Sophia Cantave writes about the usefulness of teaching Uncle Tom’s Cabin in the twenty-first century and the types of issues that the novel raises. Cantave writes that while Stowe succeeded in writing the novel, she did not accurately depict the “slave experience” because it is “trapped in multiple hegemonic constructions of power and nation as well as by self-imposed restrictions on language” (Cantave 584). The use of vulgar terms in the novel are shunned by African American middle class and offends many African American students. The use of these words raise the issue of racism and according to Cantave, it could “produce yet again another silencing in the present age” (590). Stowe’s images of Topsy and Sambo and Quimbo are looked down upon because it raises a lot more issues. Cantave also raises the point of humorous situations throughout the novel and how humor shouldn't be mixed with tragic. Without being able to fully understand slavery and the slave experience, teaching this novel in the twenty-first century raises more issues than it does in trying to make the audience understand.

In response to this article, I both agree and disagree with what Sophia Cantave is saying. I agree that this novel is a little hard to teach in the twenty-first century and not every generation will know what slavery is, but by high school/college every student should somewhat understand how hard it must’ve been for slaves in this time. I disagree that by teaching this novel it will raise the issue of racism because the novel is reviewed by scholars, taught to college students, and maybe taught in high school, okay. By this age, most, if not all students should be mature enough to know that the word ni**er is the most racist term ever created. By high school, hell, even middle school students know it’s wrong to say that. I don’t think this book will strike a racist side in students. In response to the understanding of the novel, the article raises a good point about the depiction of the slave life. However, the article raised several good points about Stowe’s writing and the amount criticism she’s gotten because of this novel.  Stowe put a lot of effort in this novel and I think Cantave would agree. 

Race and the American Novel Project: Part 1

Textual Background and Context (pages 410-531)

I chose to summarize the picture on page 415 titled “68 Long Cotton Field Negroes”.

This is a picture of a slave sale that happened in Charleston on February 2^nd, 1860, specifically at 11:00. The slaves ranged from 2 months old to 88 years old. According to the picture, boys/men, ages 18 to 20, were sold for $1,000+ dollars. 8 year old girls were sold for about $720-750. The prices varied between age and skill (such as nurse, coachman, seamstress, or driver), also if the slave was crippled or not.

In response to this picture, I was surprised that slaves only a few months old were being auctioned. I mean, 2 months old? What could the boy possibly do? (His name was Binah). Weren't the slaves supposed to be taking care of the owners? Not the other way around. You would think taking care of children would be of less interest. I know back in the 1860’s when it came to slaves people were greedy and needed as many as possible but a 2 month year old child cannot do anything. I don’t understand why the babies were of value. Unless they were sold along with the mother? But then after they’d be sold the child would be taken away anyway. In response to the understanding of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, slaves were very valuable. I don’t think the novel really discussed any selling of babies…unless the babies were sold along with the mothers.

I also chose to summarize Ethiop’s review of Uncle Tom’s Cabin on pages 502-503.

This review written by Ethiop is short, simple, and straight to the point. The tone of this review is casual, fast-paced, it has a lot of coma usage, and the author uses peculiar language to describe the book and get his point across. Ethiop writes about how Harriet Beecher Stowe has “deserved well of her country, in thus bringing Uncle Tom’s Cabin” (502). The author clearly liked the book and had a lot to say about it.

In response to this review written by Ethiop, I really liked how this was written because there wasn't a lot of breaks between sentences (ie: periods) so I read it as Ethiop had a lot to say about the novel and felt very strongly about it, too. One part that struck me was “…if they do not mend their ways, and change their teaching, in its giant-strength, eject them from society, and consign them to their proper place—Oblivion” (503). I thought this part was very…eye-opening, only because I interpreted the sentence as: if “politicians, demagogues, and robed priests” don’t change their teachings, oblivion will happen. Yikes. In response to how the review helps us understand the novel, I don’t know how to answer that. I mean, Ethiop talks about religious teachings, so maybe the Southern God he writes about isn't what Christianity is about? That there’s a different God in the South than there is in the North? 

The Yellow Wallpaper

I intend to focus on the theme of Self Expression throughout the story of "The Yellow Wallpaper" during the course of this blog post. We discussed this theme during class but I would like to point out some things that I came up with. 

I've found that expressing myself is really hard to do. Growing up many people have a hard time identifying who they are. It's especially hard to identify oneself during the transition from middle to high school. I express myself through my friends, others through clubs. However in "The Yellow Wallpaper", the main character is expressing herself through the wallpaper. I guess self expression depends on the situation. 

The main character finds herself locked up in what seems to be a room for those who need to be put in an asylum. Not only is she trapped in a room, physically, but she's also mentally trapped in herself. One of the ways I look at the scene on page 492, where it says "There is one marked peculiarity about this paper, a thing nobody seems to notice but myself, and that is that it changes as the light changes", the ugliness represents the qualities within herself which is why she's able to figure out this pattern. Later in the story, when she tears the wallpaper down on page 495, she's becoming a new woman. She recognizes these ugly qualities on the wallpaper as qualities within herself and decides to change. 

On the other hand, I've also looked at the scene as she's breaking free from her husband and is no longer going to be held against her will. It was mentioned in class that the author got a divorce from her husband, which helped me come up with the theory that she's breaking away from her prison. Which would also explain why the man fainted. We didn't really discuss why John fainted, however I've come up with the idea that by tearing down the wallpaper and saying "I've got out at last...in spite of you and Jane! And I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back!" (497). The paper hit the floor and so did John. 

So far while reading Uncle Tom's Cabin, I've been thinking about the public versus private spheres and the roles of men and women. We've had a brief discussion in class about the spheres so in this blog post I'll be focusing mainly on the spheres. 

I don't know much about what it was like living back in the 19th century or about the life of slaves, but I do know that women were often silenced. Last week I mentioned in class that religion was given to women like a toy is given to a child. The main purpose of the toy is to keep the child quiet and busy. Little do we know that the toy can also be used as a tool for manipulation. A woman is given religion because it's their "duty" as a housewife, along with other "duties" like house work, taking care of the children, and cooking and cleaning. As we see in Uncle Tom's Cabin, the main characters that are women always refer back to an event in the Bible. Unfortunately, their opinions don't seem to matter to their husbands. 

On the bottom of page 72 and the top of 73, where John and Mary are arguing about how fugitive slaves should be treated, Mary makes a point using religion as a weapon. "Obeying God never brings on public evils" (73). Throughout the course of the argument, Mary is told to keep her opinions to herself because they won't be helpful against the law (the fugitive slave law). Mary makes very good points about the public and private spheres during the argument with John. 

Mary's private opinion is considered nonsense when it involves the law and anything to do with the public. Ultimately, in this time, it is the men's job to make the final decision. In class we've discussed the topic of these spheres and how they impact the lifestyles of not just the slave owners, but also the traders, the women, and the slaves themselves.