Race and the American Novel Part 2 Blog 4

            One issue brought up in Beloved is the dehumanization of African Americans. I think this happens in most novels about slavery including Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Stowe writes, “It’s commonly supposed that the property interest is a sufficient guard in these cases. If people decide to ruin their own possessions, I don’t know what’s to be done. It seems the poor creature was a thief” (201, Stowe). Here St. Clare refers to slaves as property and creatures. He thinks since they are property you can treat them however you wish.

               Also, in The Lynching Claude McKay portrays acts of dehumanization. McKay says, “The woman thronged to look, but never a one/ Showed sorrow in her eyes of steely blue” (927, McKay). This woman felt no compassion towards the innocent man being lynched. She instead took interest in the cruelty and saw it as entertainment. It makes me wonder what it would take for this woman to feel sympathy. How different would she feel if it was a white person being lynched? The act of lynching dehumanizes the victim into a display for others’ enjoyment.

               An interesting aspect of Beloved is that it is not only whites dehumanizing African Americans, but also African Americans dehumanizing one another. I usually think of dehumanization in the case of white slave owners dehumanizing their slaves so they can mentally accept slaves as property and justify their actions, which is what St. Clare does in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Yet, in Beloved Paul D. says, “You got two feet, Sethe, not four” (194, Morrison). Paul D. is implying that Sethe’s actions in killing her baby was animal like. I think Paul D. is completely wrong, Sethe did not want her children to go through what she has endured as a slave so she killed her baby out of love. It was awful that she killed her baby, but at the same time it shows her “Too-thick love” (194, Morrison) as Paul D. describes it and I don’t think Paul D. can fully understand Sethe’s feelings towards her children.

               It’s interesting how many ways dehumanization is brought about and in so many different texts that we have discussed in class. In the article How Toni Morrison’s ‘Beloved’ is Taught in Schools Anna Clark says, “Teaching Beloved provokes a reckoning with literary complexity and the deranged American relationship with race” (3, Clark). Beloved is so different compared to Uncle Tom’s Cabin because it shows, as Clark says, “Deranged American relationships with race”. Beloved includes dysfunctional relationships with and without race being included. Where, Uncle Tom’s Cabin has unrealistically perfect characters. So, when Paul D. makes dehumanizing remarks to Sethe it adds to these mixed up relationships and ideas about race, which is much more realistic.

Works Cited:

Clark, Anna. "How Toni Morrison's 'Beloved' Is Taught in Schools." The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 4 Oct. 2012. Web. 14 May 2015.

McKay, Claude. "The Lynching" 1919. 1865-present. Ed. Nina, Baym. 8th ed. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc. 2013, 1463-1473. Print. Vol. 2 of The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 2 vols. 

Morrison, Toni. Beloved: A Novel. New York: Knopf, 1987. Print.

Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Ed. Elizabeth Ammons. New York: W.W. Norton, 1994. Print.

Race and the American Novel Part 2 Blog 3

In the Barnes and Noble reader review section the first comments I looked at were the highest and lowest rated. I found that these reviewers were the most unhelpful. The ones with the lowest ranking did not usually leave an actual comment and if they did it was usually just one sentence that stated how they disliked the book. I found the most honest and useful comments to be those with two to four ranking out of five because these people for the most part gave their true opinion and put some effort and thought it. One of these comments was by theokester who said, “Overall I had a hard time with this book. (…) often taking itself in circles and leaving me confused. Still I found the story very interesting and thought provoking” (Barnes and Noble). She goes on to say, “Even the ‘good’ slave owners (of Sweet Home where Sethe ran from) were despicable and make me shrink in shame” (Barnes and Noble). I like how theokester put the word good in quotes because there is no such thing as a good slave owner. All slave owners are supporting slaver. I also thought theokester gave a true impression of the book because many times while reading Beloved I was also left feeling very confused, especially throughout the book when the point of view would shift or the setting would change without a clear warning.

On Goodreads I found it was interesting at how many more reviews they had compared to Barnes and Noble. The average rating was a 3.72 out of 5. So, I decided to focus on those that gave Beloved a 3 or 4. Most of them were very similar to one another, but I like what Terri commented saying, “The characters were very self-absorbed and disjointed, like ghostly memories without cohesiveness, which may have been the author’s intent” (Goodreads). When reading a book I never remember to consider what the author’s intent was when writing the novel. What did Morrison want readers to take away from reading Beloved? I think the disjointed characters was on purpose because it is more realistic, unlike some of the characters in Uncle Tom’s Cabin specifically Eva. These disjointed characters are more relatable unlike having perfect characters that don’t have flaws.

Finally, after reading a few recent reviews on Amazon the majority seemed to be either for or against the book without much evidence backing up what they had to say. One review that stuck out to me was from Alicia who said, “You have to read the whole book to understand what is going on…somewhat…it’s like Morrison was writing in riddles because at some points it wasn't clear as to who was talking and what they were talking about” (Amazon). I agree with Alicia that at the end of the book there are still many unanswered questions. This is kind of unsettling since you read the entire book trying to understand what is happening and who Beloved truly is and then after everything there are still no answers. I guess it leaves it up to the reader to decide what really did happen.

Works Cited

"Beloved." Amazon. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2015.

"Beloved." Barnes & Noble. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2015.

"Beloved." Goodreads. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2015

          Morrison, Toni. Beloved: A Novel. New York: Knopf, 1987. Print.

Race and the American Novel Part 2 Blog 2

In “The New Threat: ‘Racism without Racists” John Blake describes the type of society we live in today. He quotes what scholars and psychologists are saying, “Whites and racial minorities speak a different language when they talk about racism” (4, Blake). The main point Blake is trying to convey in this news article is that racism is not what it used to be, but is still a very prevalent issue. He uses a few different studies to show how racism has changed and is now more involved with your subconscious rather than your conscious actions.

One study he listed was about job applicants. A professor at the University of Chicago sent out 5000 fake resumes that were identical to one another except for the names of the individuals. Some had “white sounding names” while others had “Black sounding names”. In the end the applicants with “white sounding names” were fifty percent more likely to get a call for an interview compared to the applicants with “Black sounding names”. The article stated, “Racial biases can in some ways be more destructive than overt racism because they’re harder to spot and therefor harder to combat” (25, Blake).

I somewhat agree with this article. It is like racism that is programed into your mind at a young age. Blake says, “When babies are as young as 3 months old, research shows they start preferring to be around people of their own race” (13, Blake). You do not consciously know you are being racist. It is almost the exact opposite in Beloved. People are openly racist and they don’t care because it is accepted by society. When Amy Denver first sees Sethe she says, “Look there. A nigger. If that don’t beat all” (38, Morrison). Also when Sethe recalls being back at Sweet Home she remembers Sixo getting in trouble for killing a pig. Morrison says, “Schoolteacher beat him anyway to show him that definitions belonged to the definers- not the defined” (225, Morrison). This is implying that schoolteacher is the definer and therefore better than the defined, slaves. As the article states this is still happening today except not as blatantly. It occurs in your subconscious where you do not actively know you are being racially biased.

I think a good solution to this is to stop denying that it is happening. Instead try to continuously prevent this from happening. Think about decisions you personally have made and if they are racially biased. I also disagree with this news article because I don’t think that racial biases can be more destructive than overt racism. Just reading Beloved readers can understand some of what African American slaves went through, yet will never be able to fully comprehend what they endured.

Works Cited:

Blake, John. “The New Threat: ‘Racism without Racists’- CNN.com.” CNN. Cable News Network, 27 Nov. 2014. Web. 14 May 2015.

            Morrison, Toni. Beloved: A Novel. New Yourk: Knopf, 1987. Print

Race and the American Novel Part 2 Blog 1

In “Is ‘Hell a Pretty Place’? A White-Supremacist Eden in Toni Morrison’s Beloved” David Cosca brings up many controversial issues in Beloved. The main theme he focuses on is white supremacy. Cosca points out how people that are in somewhat similar situations have extremely different perceptions, specifically Sethe and Amy Denver. Both Amy and Sethe are escaping servitude positions that involve men who can be physically violent, both are alone and on the run. Cosca says, “We begin to understand through her interactions with Denver that no matter how well-intentioned a whitegirl Amy may be, her perspective of the world is deeply white-supremacist, and she insults Sethe to her face without even seeming to realize the cruelty of her statements” (6, Cosca).

I don’t think many people understand white privilege and how it is still relevant today. Morrison brings in Amy who is currently facing the same struggle as Sethe. Yet, at the same time Amy cannot possibly understand everything Sethe has gone through. Cosca comments on Amy and Sethe’s interaction saying, “Amy’s willingness to help Sethe (…) does not justify or excuse Amy’s ill treatment of Sethe, but it does reveal something important about Amy as a whiteperson: her sense of race-superiority is so deeply a part of her consciousness that it exudes from her even when her actions are intentionally benevolent” (7, Cosca). 

Amy shows this by not addressing Sethe’s serious needs when presented right in front of her. The only thing on Amy’s mind is velvet and at one point it even seems like she is going to leave Sethe lying on the ground. When she actually does help Sethe it is very minimal. Morrison says, “So she crawled and Amy walked alongside her” (41, Morrison). Amy would not even let Sethe lean on her so she could stand up and walk like a human being. By forcing a pregnant Sethe to crawl on the ground while she walks beside her shows just how little she cares about Sethe’s human dignity. Amy feels like she is doing a lot to help Sethe by just being there, but she does it with so much disdain that she reveals her feeling of superiority based on her skin color.

Works Cited:

     

     Cosca, David. “Is ‘Hell A Pretty Place’? A White-Supremacist Eden In Toni Morrison’s Beloved.” Interdisciplinary Humanities 30.2 (2013): 9-23. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 14 May 2015.

     Morrison, Toni. Beloved: A Novel. New York: Knopf, 1987. Print.

Literary Context Blog: Native American Renaissance

In the Native American Renaissance writers focused on the relationship between tradition and modernity in Native Americans lives along with setting and tribal identity. Everything is written from a Native American point of view and they construct their ancestor’s history in their writings. This is shown in The Way to Rainy Mountain, where N. Scott Momaday focuses heavily on setting.

In describing the setting and the changes in their location the colonization of Europeans were automatically included. Momaday says, “They never understood the grim, unrelenting advance of the U.S. Cavalry. When at last, divided and ill-provisioned, they were driven onto the Staked Plains in the cold rains of autumn, they fell into panic” (1465). The setting, where they lived, was extremely important to the Kiowa’s, it was their life and they needed the land to survive. At one point Momaday said, “They could find no buffalo, they had to hang an old hide from the sacred tree” (1467). This shows that as the colonization of Europeans encroached on the Kiowa people their lives were drastically changed.

I think one of the main points of the Native American Renaissance is to tell their side of the story. In school we never learn much about Native Americans or different tribes and their traditions. This writing period allowed for American Indians to share their history from their own point of view and not the skewed version we learn about in grade school. 

Works Cited

Kalaidjian, Walter B. The Cambridge Companion to Modern American Poetry. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

"N. Scott Momaday- Kiowa Poet and Novelist." N. Scott Momaday- Kiowa Poet and Novelist. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2015.

"N. Scott Momaday." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 1 May 2015.

Porter, Joy, and Kenneth M. Roemer. The Cambridge Companion to Native American Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2005. Print.

Westling, Louise Hutchings. The Cambridge Companion to Literature and the Environment. New York, NY: Cambridge U, 2014. Print.

Blog 6 The Woman Warrior

In The Woman Warrior, Maxine Kingston takes a family story and makes it into a story about Chinese history and culture. She does this by taking part of a story her mother told her and fills in the blanks using her cultural knowledge with different scenarios of how her family issue could have happened. By doing so she is carrying on her aunt’s legacy. She says, “My aunt haunts me- her ghost drawn to me because now, after fifty years of neglect, I alone devout pages of paper to her” (1515).

Everyone has at least one family secret that they know they should keep to themselves. I know my family has quite a few and they are slowly becoming common knowledge with each new generation. I think it is because as time passes we are faced with choices. Whether or not we think that these stories should be told. Kingston chose to tell her aunt’s story even though she knew her family never wanted anyone to know that the aunt even existed. Kingston also had to choose between her Chinese traditional values and new American values as she said, “If I made myself American-pretty so that the five or six Chinese boys in the class fell in love with me, everyone else- the Caucasian, Negro, and Japanese boys- would too. Sisterliness, dignified and honorable, made much more sense” (1513).

 

Kingston’s Chinese cultural tradition was to keep their family stories quiet which I think is a lot like grade schools in America. For example, we grow up being taught that the Colonists were great people and America is a great country that never does anything wrong. It’s not till high school or even college that this illusion is shattered and we learn about the Chinese Exclusion Act, Japanese Internment Camps, and how awful the Colonists treated Native Americans. This story sheds light on controversial history. 

Works Cited

Kingston, Maxine. "The Woman Warrior" 1976. 1865-present. Ed. Nina, Baym. 8th ed. New York:               W.W. Norton and Company, Inc. 2013, 1463-1473. Print. Vol. 2 of The Norton Anthology of             American Literature. 2 vols. 

Blog 5: Good Country People

   

     Reading Good Country People by Flannery O’Connor makes you think of and reflect on relationships you have with people. Do you really know who they are? Or are they putting up a good front just for show? Mrs. Hopewell and the bible salesman are very similar in that they act very differently towards strangers than they do to their family or those that they are close to. Towards the end Hulga says, “You’re a fine Christian! You’re just like them all- say one thing and do another” (1353).

     Hulga is a good example of how no matter how strong you act or appear there are always those that will push you down. As the reader we can sympathize with Hulge for many different reasons, including her fake leg. Even with this major setback Hulga acts independent and strong. She wants to show the world that she does not need any help. After discussing this story in class I can see how O’Connor relates this story to her own life. As a grown woman she was forced to go back and live with her mother, which must have had a huge toll on her life. I think the main point O’Connor was trying to portray is that there are struggles in life where you are on your own and people can be very deceitful.

O'Connor, Flannery. The Norton Anthology American Literature: Good Country People. 8th ed. Vol. 2, 2013. Print.

Blog 4: A Streetcar Named Desire

In A Streetcar Named Desire Blanche is so focused on appearing to have a perfect life. She never brings up how she is poor and needs help. Going to visit her sister is a cover up because she seems to have run out of options. Her sister, Stella, seems to have the perfect life with a baby on the way and a husband. Part of trying to appear that there is nothing wrong in her life Blanche hides the fact that she has a drinking problem.

By the end of the play, when Blanche is taken away by the doctor, it leaves the reader wondering if the only thing she was trying to hide was her drinking problem. It seemed like extreme circumstances the way the doctor and matron had come in and almost forcibly removed/restrained Blanche. At one point the matron asks, “Jacket, Doctor?” (1176) referring to a straight-jacket. Reading this I automatically think of a psych ward for the mentally insane. Which makes me wonder if Blanche was mentally ill or if this was just a common procedure back then, since Blanche did eventually leave voluntarily with the doctor.

After watching part of the film I thought there were also hints that Blanche could be mentally ill. In the film they chose to leave out the scene where Blanche calls her friend Shep. Could this mean that they left it out because they interpreted that scene to all be happening in Blanche’s mind? It would also be interesting to see if the film left out the other scene towards the end where Blanche again tries to call Mr. Shep. Although, they may have just left this scene out so that the film would not be too long or they could have decided the scenes were unimportant.  

Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire: A Play. New York: New Directions, 1947. Print.

Blog 3: To Build A Fire

In “To Build a Fire”, Jack London tells the story of a man trying to survive in the woods during winter. He tries to use, every precaution even forcing his dog ahead of him while walking on the frozen river so that if the ice was not strong enough it would break under the dog and not himself. He did not seem to understand that he could not beat nature no matter how hard he tried. It wasn’t till the end when the man finally accepted the inevitable. He says, “Well, he was bound to freeze anyway, and he might as well take it decently. With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness” (638 London).

The man was inevitably going to die. No matter how many times he tried to avoid death, nature will still always run its course. This is why the story is categorized as naturalism. In the end nature will win and we cannot control it. The dog represents one aspect of nature and the man does not realize how much better of he is with the dog as a companion rather than risking the dog’s life.

I don’t think it would have mattered if the man had paid more attention to his surroundings, he would have died anyways. Yes, I think there were many warning signs that the man should turn around or not travel in this weather or be traveling alone, but since it is a naturalism story which involves determinism I think it was already determined that the man would die from the beginning. 

London, Jack. "To Build a Fire." Norton Anthology American Literature. By Nina Baym. 8th ed. Vol. 2. N.p.: W.W. Norton, 2013. 628-39. Print.

Race and the American Novel Part 1 Blog 3

One prominent theme in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe, is the use of religion. Religion was valued by women and slaves, but not by white men. This is shown by the different spheres we discussed in class. There is the public sphere, which included men, and there was the private sphere, which included women and family. The private sphere was domestic where as we described in class, “women were powerless, naturally confined and had no desire to speak”. Religion was also included in the private sphere.

Religion was used as a tool to both justify slavery and oppose slavery. Marie St. Clare used religion to support and reinforce slavery. At one point Marie was describing the preachers sermon to St. Clare saying, “It was so appropriate, you now, and beautiful, that some should be high and some low, and that some were born to rule and some to serve (…) he proved distinctly that the Bible was on our side, and supported all our institutions so convincingly” (166 Stowe). I question if everyone who heard the same sermon felt the same way, especially Eva.

Others like Mrs. Bird use religion to oppose slavery. Mrs. Bird was arguing with her Mr. Bird about weather slavery was right or wrong and as Kayla said in her blog, “Mary makes a point using religion as a weapon”. Mary Bird says, “Obeying God never brings on public evils. I know it can’t. It’s always safest, all round, to do as He bids us” (73 Stowe). Mary Bird uses religion in a very different way compared to Marie St. Clare. Mrs. Bird feel that being Christian entails helping those around you that are in need, including the runaway slaves.  

I find it very confusing how Stowe uses one of the biggest themes of the story in this way, just as Michelle said in her blog, “How can religion explain two different sides of slavery? Why would Stowe use religion as a tool in each defense?” It would be interesting to see if all the white males in the story would still view slavery the same way if they were religious. One white male character, St. Clare, early on has an interesting opinion about religion. He says, “Is what you hear at church religion? Is hat which can bend and turn, and descend and ascend, to fit every crooked phase of selfish, worldly society, religion? (167 Stowe). I think St. Clare makes a great point, that what Marie St. Clare is trying to tell him is religion, he cannot possibly understand to be religion.

I think Stowe may have decided to use religion in this way so that all readers can understand different perspectives. Readers can get into the minds of other people who have different views of the same topic and try to understand one another.

Works Cited

Kayla’s Blog: http://blogswithfriendsatuwmanty.blogspot.com/

Michelle’s Blog: http://americanauthorsandtheirliterature.blogspot.com/2015_02_01_archive.html

Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Ed. Elizabeth Ammons. New York: W.W. Norton, 1994. Print.

Race and the American Novel Part 1 Blog 2

In Sophia Cantave’s article, Who Gets to Create the Lasting Images? The Problem of Black Representation in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, she points out how Stowe recognizes that Uncle Tom’s Cabin is not a good representation of slavery since slavery is too awful to be portrayed in art, specifically her writing. Stowe also goes on to say that if she had decided to portray slavery more accurately it could not be read and would not be a successful book. Instead she creates more pleasing characters and scenes. Cantave focused a lot on how Stowe uses comedy to make slavery readable. Cantave says, “By making the tragic and the laughable, Uncle Tom’s Cabin gives white people and black people a way to read slavery together” (585 Cantave). Yet, Cantave states that this also gives white people a way to “regulate black achievement, black national mobility and black cultural expression” (586 Cantave).

What happens if the irony is lost on the readers? Cantave argues that by “denying African Americans the opportunity to tell their story without comic interjections left whole things unsaid” (592 Cantave). African Americans were not able to create the “lasting images of the slave experience” since at that time they could not write about their own experiences.

This article helped me understand why Stowe used comedy and unrealistic characters when portraying slavery. A book that would portray slavery more realistically would not be popular or constantly used in classroom settings. Not many people would want to read it because of how gruesome and awful slavery truly was. Stowe’s book allows many people to read and learn about slavery. By including comedy more people want to read it.

I agree with Cantave, in that Stowe had to use comedy to make her novel readable, but when doing so African Americans were not able to tell their own story that would have eventually become the lasting image. This reminds me of Adiche’s Ted Talk, The Danger of a Single Story. Is Uncle Tom’s Cabin the single story about slavery that many of us know? I think in some ways it is and as Adiche says, “The single story creates stereotypes and the problem with stereotypes are not that they are untrue but that they are incomplete” (Adiche).  Cantave does make a good point that even thought this novel is not a true depiction of slavery it does create a start to discuss racial and literary topics. 

Works Cited

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. "The Danger of a Single Story." Ted Talks, July 2009. Web. 10 Mar.               2015.

Cantave, Sophia. "Who Gets to Create the Lasting Images? The Problem of Black Representation in Uncle Tom's Cabin." Approaches to Teaching Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (2000): 582-94. Print.

Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Ed. Elizabeth Ammons. New York: W.W. Norton, 1994. Print.

Race and the American Novel Part 1 Blog 1

Another Kidnapping 1844, by William Wells Brown, describes Brown’s encounter with an African American couple, Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson, as he travels through Georgetown on his way to Mount Pleasant Ohio. The Wilkinson’s tell Brown about the men who came into their home, beat them, and kidnapped their fifteen year old son. The kidnappers quickly traveled over the river to Virginia and Mr. Wilkinson knows his son is gone forever. Brown says, “One of the villains was recognized, but it was by a colored man, and the colored people have not thee right of their oath in this state. This villain will go unwhipped of Justice” (442 Brown).

Reading this added to my understanding the true conflict between the North and the South. The setting took place in the North where this African American family was free to live in a non-slave state. Yet, people from the South were able to kidnap those from the North and turn them into slaves. It seemed through Brown’s use of characterization and tone the family in the story had really given up hope only after a day and had come to realize that they would never see their son again, even though someone had identified one of the kidnappers. Miss. Ophelia’s character in Uncle Tom’s Cabin seemed to portray how against slavery Northerners were. Talking about slavery Miss. Ophelia says, “I wouldn’t have it, for a thousand worlds. You ought to educate your slaves, and treat them like reasonable creatures,- like immortal creatures that you’ve got to stand before the bar of God with”(161 Stowe). If this was true why wouldn’t they have laws in place that would help stop Southerners from kidnapping Northern African American’s and turning them into slaves, especially since there were laws like the Great Compromise and the Fugitive Slave Act which both supported slavery and were there for the South to benefit from.  

Yet, on the other hand whites from the North still disliked African American’s even if they did not support slavery. Miss. Ophelia portrayed this when she interacted with Topsy. Topsy describes how Miss. Ophelia feels about her saying, “No; she can’t bar me, ‘cause I’m a nigger!- she’d ‘s soon have a toad touch her” (258 Stowe). Miss. Ophelia seems hypocritical since she does not support slavery yet treats slaves worse than her cousin, who is a slave owner. 

Works Cited
Brown, William W. "Another Kidnapping 1844." (1969): 442. Print.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Ed. Elizabeth Ammons. New York: W.W. Norton, 1994. Print.

Blog 2 The Yellow Wallpaper

At the end of The Yellow Wallpaper I finally understood what was happening or at least my interpretation of what was happening. The woman says, “And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back!” (497) which leads me to believe that she has become the wallpaper. She is saying that she is the wallpaper and is not going to deal with this any longer

.

There are many more references to her being the wallpaper throughout the story. After she addresses the wallpaper as being a woman she then proceeds to see that woman outside her window. She says, “I can see her out of every one of my windows!” (494). I read this as it was her shadow that she continued to see out of her window. This could be the case with her seeing the woman at night in the wallpaper, which may have been her own shadow that she saw if a light was turned on where it would cast a shadow.She also describes the woman from the wallpaper "creeping around" and in the end of the story she describes herself as creeping around the room. Was there even another woman or was it just herself who was creeping around the entire time, the other woman could have just been in her mind or her own reflection.

In the end why did John faint? He must have seen the signs leading up to this, how could he have been that shocked? It almost seemed like he was so shocked that it was the first time he had seen his wife in a while and everything else was a figment of her imagination.

                                             

Blog 1: Women, Religion, and Slavery 

     In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe, the women are portrayed much differently than the men yet very similar to one another, in particular Mrs. Shelby and Mrs. Bird. Both of these women are described as sweet, innocent, domestic and loving wives/mothers. They both are very dedicated to Christianity and both oppose slavery in some way.

     They use religion as a weapon towards their husbands when discussing slavery. Mrs. Shelby said, “This is God’s curse on slavery!—a bitter, bitter, most accursed thing!—a curse to the master and a curse to the slave! I was a fool to think I could make anything good out of such a deadly evil. It is a sin to hold a slave under laws like ours, -- I always felt it was, -- I always thought so when I was a girl, -- I thought so still more after I joined the church; but I thought I could glide it over, -- I thought, by kindness, and care, and instruction, I could make the condition of mine better than freedom” (p.31). Similarly Mrs. Bird said to her husband, “Obeying God never brings on public evils. I know it can’t. It’s always safest all around to do as He bids us” (p.73). They both are trying to get their husbands to realize what they are saying or have done about slavery is wrong. Mrs. Shelby wants her husband to know how she feels about selling Tom and Eliza’s son to Haley. Mrs. Bird wants her husband to admit that slavery is wrong and their entire argument is about whether it is alright or not to help escaped slaves.

     Mrs. Shelby talks as though being her slave is better than being free when really there is no “good” slavery. Mrs. Bird has somewhat already realized this and feels the obligation to help escaped slaves. This connects to My Bondage and My Freedom, by Fredrick Douglas, which I read in high school. The theme the autobiography is about is a woman who tries to teach her young male slave to read. Her goal like Mrs. Shelby and Mrs. Bird is to be kind and have positive slavery. In the end Fredrick Douglas writes that it is impossible to have positive slavery because slavery as an institution is corrupt. There is no such thing as “good” slavery.