Social Change

I feel that the most important aspect of American Literature is how it reflects the social changes in America since its discovery.  These changes include how religion, blacks, and women have been viewed throughout the years.  Many of these social changes came about due to political changes in the United States.

First, I will cover the ever-changing views on religion throughout American History. Most of the first Americans were the pilgrims.  Pilgrims came to this country to escape religious persecution. Shortly after their arrival in America, history shows that there was the Great Awakening.  This is when many changes in religion began.  Some of our earliest literature comes from preachers such as Johnathan Edwards.  Through his sermons, he tried to help people as he saw their wrongs. Samson Occom also included wrongs such as drinking and cursing in his sermons.  However, unlike Edwards, Occom did not use scripture in his sermons.

The Great Awakening also found many deists and Unitarians.  Benjamin Franklin must have fallen under the deist category because in his writing, I found that he felt that all religious observances should be represented in this new country.  Franklin was one of the few published people of his time that did not believe that religion was more important than the sciences.

During the Romantic Period of literature, people began to focus more on transcendentalism.  Many of the writers in this time, such as Longfellow, Thoreau, and Emerson, believed that you could not depend on God and government to help you. They believed that you had to help yourself.  They also believed that creativity did not come from God, but it came from an inner light.

Later, writers began using psychological realism. They believed that what truly motivated people was not God, but was the psyche. This is also when writers first heard of Darwinism, which is a belief that man evolved from ape and did not come from God. Between the wars writers such as Willa Cather believed that good old values were gone to some people. Because of the political unrest in the world, a lot of people quit believing in God and started trying to be God. As the years progressed, there were less sermons and pieces of literature that had to do with God.

Also as the years progressed, the world began to see more changes for Black Americans. When America was first discovered, slavery was prevalent throughout the world. Most slave trade accounts are based on Olauduah Equiano’s story. Around the same time that he was published, Phillis Wheatley, a black female poet, wrote religious and faith related poetry as well as political poetry. During the Romantic Period, Harriet Jacobs wrote one of the most detailed collections of narratives written by any slave. Another celebrated author of this period is Harriet Beecher Stowe. She wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Though it was badly written, it was successful in making a strong political statement against slavery. Because the book was published in twenty different languages, it brought light, throughout the world, how inhumanely slaves were treated during this time.

Also from the Romantic Period, Fredrick Douglass figured out as a child that what he was denied was what he needed the most, such as an education.  After obtaining this education, Douglass ran an abolitionist newspaper and pushed for black rights.

After the civil war, there was a great deal of talented authors that were published.  One of which is Charles W. Chestnutt, who wrote by using linguistic realism.  His stories often told of the psychological difficulties of people from interracial relationships. This can also be found in Kate Chopin’s “Desiree’s Baby.”

During the same time period, Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois had the most impact on Civil Rights after the Civil War. Washington believed that blacks should learn to work within the system.  He felt they should be non-violent, educated, and economically independent to get political power. However, Du Bois wanted to take down the system and supported the Black Zionists Movement. He felt that blacks should fight for what they should already have, Civil Rights.

Between the wars is when the Harlem Renaissance began. Claude McKay was accredited for beginning this literary movement of art, literature, music, and dance. In his poem “America” he states, “I love this cultured hell that tests my youth!” In-other-words, McKay is saying that he loves America, but racial discrimination is ruining this country.

Zora Neale Hurston also wrote about discrimination in “How It Feels to be Colored Me.” Unfortunately, a lot of other black authors thought that Hurston was not fighting for black rights. One author of this time that was not accused of such a thing was Langston Hughes.  He wrote both prose and poetry about the oppression of blacks. “I Too” was Hughes’ answer to Whitman’s “I Sing America.” Hughes is basically stating, you may be American, but black men are too.

Unlike other Harlem Renaissance authors, Countee Cullen was a rarity of his time. He wanted to be a black person and be considered a poet without having to buy into any political movement. These positive social changes for blacks continued to develop throughout recent history and continue to develop today.

Along with the social changes for blacks due to the Civil Rights Movement, social changes for women have been an important aspect in American Literature. Ann Bradstreet was one of the first female American writers. She was more educated than most women of her time. Bradstreet was a poet that found comfort from the world around her, not from God.

Between the 1700 and 1820, Annis Boudinot Stockton was a key figure in changes that were to come for American women. She published most of her poetry under the names Mrs. A. S. or Mrs. S.  Stockton probably did so because it was not popular for a woman during this time to be educated. She had radical ideas for her time. In “A Sarcasm against the ladies in a newspaper; An impromptu answer” in layman’s terms she says, you may not understand women. You may want to change women, but you cannot. You need us the way we are, because you need us to fulfill your pleasures and needs. This was the general mindset for the purpose of women in Stockton’s time.  It was believed, though women may think, they are only able to do so in order to fulfill their husbands. Women are only put on this earth for men and procreation.

This reasoning began to change during the Romantic Period. This period shows a significant increase in female authors, which means a significant increase in educated women. This could perhaps also relate to the fact that the Romantic Era of Literature was known for emotion over reason and women tend to be more emotional. Many men did feel that women should be kept uneducated. However, they felt this way so that women would not be exposed to the type of literature written. Because a woman’s mind is so feeble, they will be more apt to be tempted by Satan if they read such things.

Fannie Fern was the most popular columnist of her time and chose very political subjects to write on. She was known for being a very sarcastic author. Another important female author is Margaret Fuller, who was thought to be well before her time. Fuller wanted and wrote about equal rights for women. Because of her radical ideas, most of her writings were suppressed up until recently.

Again, Kate Chopin can be accredited for aiding the Women’s Rights Movement. She wrote about the social inequalities of women compared to men, especially in the South. Chopin was raised by very strong women and wrote about very strong women. The women in her stories recognized that they had physical needs; therefore, she had a lot of sexual innuendo in these stories as well.

Like many female authors, Constance Fenimore Woolson had difficulty getting her readers to take her seriously.  Literature between the great wars was when a lot of changes came about for women. Because women were given the right to vote and allowed to work in factories while men were overseas, women pretty much ran the country during this time. Had it not been for them, the economy surely would have failed.

Edna S. Vincent Millay wrote many political speeches and became the national symbol of the modern woman. “Her poems are more founded in the failure of love than in the joy of sex” (2109). Like Millay, Katherine Anne Porter did not live her life in a traditional way. She was not a political writer and did not try to build any connections between herself and any political movements.

However, because of how she lived her life, Porter was an important figure in women’s rights as well. In Susan Glasspell’s stories, what it is like to be a woman in her time period can be found. The waves that all of these women caused still ripple throughout American society today.

These many pieces of American Literature reflect all of the social changes in America throughout the ages. Whether it is from women or blacks being able to climb the social ladder or from how Americans view God, these changes are the most important aspects found in American Literature.

Standing Bear & Sitting Bull

In 1877, Standing Bear declared Indians are persons. He stated,

"my hand is not the color of yours, but if I pierce it, I shall feel pain. If you pierce your hand, you also feel pain. The blood that will flow from mine will be the same color as yours. I am a man. The same God made us both."

Judge Dundy ruled,

"the question cannot be open to serious doubt. Webster describes a person as 'an individual of the human race.' This is comprehensive enough, it would seem to include even an Indian." And so it was at this time that Indians were finally considered "people."

Sitting Bull replied,

"God has made me an Indian, but not a reservation Indian."

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

I feel the theme of the novel is one of a yearning for freedom for all men.

Miss Watson was harder on Huck and more judgmental than her sister.

His mother is dead, and his dad is a drunk. He is beaten and mistreated. It causes the reader to feel compassion for Huck, and realize that he acts the way he does because he has never had a good family life. It is understandable why a person like Huck would not want to be part of a family.

The basic difference between Huck and Tom is that Tom doesn’t mind being settled or tied-down to a family. (They are both orphans, other than that, they are opposites.)

The book is full of satire. The Grangerfords and the Sheperdsons were supposed to be a couple of up-standing, noble families. However, they were in a feud that neither side could remember how it began. In chapter twenty-five the king mistakenly says orgies for obsequies. When he realizes his mistake, he explains that orgies is the word they use in England. Even the most educated towns person does not question it. When the king and duke get tarred and feathered, Huck speaks of how cruel the civilized townspeople were to the men. In the beginning of the book, Tom tells Huck that they are going to form a band of robbers. However, Huck must go back to the widow’s so that he can be respectable.

Three yarns Huck spins are as follows. Huck told Jim that Jim must have dreamed the separation of the two in the fog. It showed how much Jim trusted Huck and how bad it hurt Jim’s feelings that Huck would lie to him. He tells the sister with the hair lip, Joanna, that William IV goes to church with Huck. She does not buy it to start with, which shows that the younger people are not as gullible as their elders. It is not until the elder sister tells her that he must be telling the truth that the girl with the hair lip quiets down. He tells the woman that he is a girl so that he get some information. She quickly catches on that he is a boy. This shows that women ten to be more observant than men and cannot be fooled as easily as men.

Huck observes violence in several places in the book. Huck personally observes violence when his father continually beats him after getting him back home. The two men in the sinking steamboat with the other man is a time when Huck observes violence. Grangerford feud is a time that Huck observes violence. When Colonel Sherburn shoots Boggs is a time that Huck observes violence. Huck observes violence when the towns people tar and feather the king and duke.

I did not find any sexual overtones to the book. However, I decided to research it and found that a lot of people think that Huck’s love for Jim is a homosexual love instead of a brotherly love. I do not see it because they based this on Jim calling Huck “honey” or “chile.” Being from the south, it just sounded like normal language to me. Is it possible that his crush on the older sister, Mary Jane, could have something to do with sexual overtones?

Three scenes/speeches that satirized religious distortions. In Chapter 3 Huck tells us, “Sometimes the widow would take me one side and talk about Providence in a way to make a body's mouth water; but maybe next day Miss Watson would take hold and knock it all down again. I judged I could see that there was two Providences, and a poor chap would stand considerable show with the widow's Providence, but if Miss Watson's got him there warn't no help for him any more.”

We read in Chapter 14, “"Well, but he WAS the wisest man, anyway; because the widow she told me so, her own self."

"I doan k'yer what de widder say, he WARN'T no wise man nuther. He had some er de dad-fetchedes' ways I ever see. Does you know 'bout dat chile dat he 'uz gwyne to chop in two?"

"Yes, the widow told me all about it."

"WELL, den! Warn' dat de beatenes' notion in de worl'? You jes' take en look at it a minute. Dah's de stump, dah -- dat's one er de women; heah's you -- dat's de yuther one; I's Sollermun; en dish yer dollar bill's de chile. Bofe un you claims it. What does I do? Does I shin aroun' mongs' de neighbors en fine out which un you de bill DO b'long to, en han' it over to de right one, all safe en soun', de way dat anybody dat had any gumption would? No; I take en whack de bill in TWO, en give half un it to you, en de yuther half to de yuther woman. Dat's de way Sollermun was gwyne to do wid de chile. Now I want to ast you: what's de use er dat half a bill? -- can't buy noth'n wid it. En what use is a half a chile? I wouldn' give a dern for a million un um."”

Furthermore Chapter 18 states, “Next Sunday we all went to church, about three mile, everybody a-horseback. The men took their guns along, so did Buck, and kept them between their knees or stood them handy against the wall. The Shepherdsons done the same. It was pretty ornery preaching -- all about brotherly love, and such-like tiresomeness; but everybody said it was a good sermon, and they all talked it over going home, and had such a powerful lot to say about faith and good works and free grace and preforeordestination, and I don't know what all, that it did seem to me to be one of the roughest Sundays I had run across yet.”

According to environmental determinism, the people decended from Greco-Roman ancestary are supposed to be the superior race. Therefore, Huck was raised believing that the white man had the God given right to rule over other races. In chapter thirty-one, Huck decided that since it was Miss Watson’s God given right to own Jim, it was Huck’s responsibility to let Miss Watson have her property back. However, when he decided not to send the letter to Miss Watson, he believed that he would be going to hell.

Huck is an existentialist because he struggles with right and wrong. He knows that he is supposed to support slavery, but he sees problems with supporting slavery. He decided that being a Christian was not right for him because he did not agree with what he thought Christianity was.

Though the language suggests, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a racist novel, this does not seem to be true. Though Jim spoke different, he had a more intellectual view on the world than a lot of the white characters. The story is a satire against slavery. Though Huck is told that slavery is okay, he cannot reconcile that viewpoint. The scene with the separation of the slave family in chapter twenty-seven critiques the cruel act of separating husbands from wives and children from parents, which was common practice during the time the novel was set.

Phelps’ plantation events are be considered a weakness for various reasons. It is hard to believe that Aunt Sally did not know her own nephew. It is also a tiring and boring part of the novel to read. It does not have much substance or meaning, and Tom seems to take over. Also, the fact that Tom knew Jim was free, but did not say anything until after he got himself shot was a pretty cruel notion.

The river symbolizes freedom from the constrictions of society.