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Nathaniel Hawthorne's life influences his work
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Understanding History for Hawthorne and Brent
Knowing and understanding social, political, and cultural history is extremely important when reading many novels, especially Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Linda Brent and any short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Both of these authors had many extinuating circumstances surrounding their writings that should be noted before reading their works. Without knowing what was happening both in the outside world and in the respected author's life, one cannot truly grasp what the author is trying to say or what the author truly means by what he or she is saying. In this paper, I will show how important it is for the reader to understand the social, political, and cultural happenings in the writer's lives and in the world surrounding them during the times that their works were written.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is an incredible example for what I am trying to show. This book was written during a time of extreme racial segregation and the hatred and cruelty shown, in general, towards blacks from whites is extremely important to understand before reading the story. This book tells the story of the life of a young, black, female slave in the south and focuses on trying to explain the trials, tribulations, and emotional and physical suffering that she, and many others like her, endured while being involuntary members of the institution of slavery. Brent, like every other victim of the atrocity we call slavery, wished those in north would do more to put a stop to this destructive practice. As she stated, slavery is de-constructive to all who surround it. It tears apart families; not just families raised in slavery, but the master's family as well. How could the free men and women of the north remain silent while such a great atrocity is still in practice?
Brent confronts her reader one on one in order to reemphasize her point. She uses the family and sentiment to appeal to and challenge the 19th century white women reader in order to effectively gain their support in the movement for abolition. Understanding what was going on in our nation, in the southern states, and in the northern states is incredibly important when reading this story. Slaves were nothing more than property and, in many cases, were treated with less respect than the family dog.
This lecture provided an overview of development of slave narratives as a genre unique to the United States. It divided slave narratives as a genre into several distinct time periods that were characterized by different literary characteristics. The three temporal divisions of the genre include 1760-1810, the 1840’s, and the 1850’s and beyond.
The black women’s interaction with her oppressive environment during Revolutionary period or the antebellum America was the only way of her survival. Playing her role, and being part of her community that is not always pleasant takes a lot of courage, and optimism for better tomorrow. The autonomy of a slave women still existed even if most of her natural rights were taken. As opposed to her counterparts
Slavery is a term that can create a whirlwind of emotions for everyone. During the hardships faced by the African Americans, hundreds of accounts were documented. Harriet Jacobs, Charles Ball and Kate Drumgoold each shared their perspectives of being caught up in the world of slavery. There were reoccurring themes throughout the books as well as varying angles that each author either left out or never experienced. Taking two women’s views as well as a man’s, we can begin to delve deeper into what their everyday lives would have been like. Charles Ball’s Fifty Years in Chains and Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl were both published in the early 1860’s while Kate Drumgoold’s A Slave Girl’s Story came almost forty years later
In all, Tademy does a great job in transporting her readers back to the 1800s in rural Louisiana. This book is a profound alternative to just another slave narrative. Instead of history it offers ‘herstory’. This story offers insight to the issues of slavery through a women’s perspective, something that not so many books offer. Not only does it give readers just one account or perspective of slavery but it gives readers a take on slavery through generation after generation. From the early days of slavery through the Civil War, a narrative of familial strength, pride, and culture are captured in these lines.
One of the most horrifying lines in the story is given by Montresor after Fortunato says, “I will not die of a cough” (Baym ). Montresor says, “True— true....” (Baym ). It seems that Montresor 's murder plot became subconsciously manifest in those two words. Dramatic irony is irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation of a drama and is understood by the audience but not grasped by the characters in the story (“dramatic-irony”) and Poe uses this effectively in this story. For example, Montresor expresses concern about Fortunato and says, "Come, I said, with decision, we will go back; your health is
Slavery in the middle of the 19th century was well known by every American in the country, but despite the acknowledgment of slavery the average citizen did not realize the severity of the lifestyle of the slave before slave narratives began to arise. In Incidents in the life of a slave girl, Harriet Jacobs uses an explicit tone to argue the general life of slave compared to a free person, as well as the hardships one endured on one’s path to freedom. Jacobs fought hard in order to expand the abolitionist movement with her narrative. She was able to draw in the readers by elements of slave culture that helped the slaves endure the hardships like religion and leisure and the middle class ideals of the women being “submissive, past, domestic,
The issue of Slavery in the South was an unresolved issue in the United States during the seventeenth and eighteenth century. During these years, the south kept having slavery, even though most states had slavery abolished. Due to the fact that slaves were treated as inferior, they did not have the same rights and their chances of becoming an educated person were almost impossible. However, some information about slavery, from the slaves’ point of view, has been saved. In this essay, we are comparing two different books that show us what being a slave actually was. This will be seen with the help of two different characters: Linda Brent in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Frederick Douglass in The Narrative of the life of Frederick
To understand the desperation of wanting to obtain freedom at any cost, it is necessary to take a look into what the conditions and lives were like of slaves. It is no secret that African-American slaves received cruel and inhumane treatment. Although she wrote of the horrific afflictions experienced by slaves, Linda Brent said, “No pen can give adequate description of the all-pervading corruption produced by slavery." The life of a slave was never a satisfactory one, but it all depended on the plantation that one lived on and the mast...
Golding has a rather pessimistic view of humanity having selfishness, impulsiveness and violence within, shown in his dark yet allegorical novel Lord of the Flies. Throughout the novel, the boys show great self-concern, act rashly, and pummel beasts, boys and bacon. The delicate facade of society is easily toppled by man's true beastly nature.
William Golding explores the vulnerability of society in a way that can be read on many different levels. A less detailed look at the book, Lord of the Flies, is a simple fable about boys stranded on an island. Another way to comprehend the book is as a statement about mans inner savage and reverting to a primitive state without societies boundaries. By examining the Lord of the Flies further, it is revealed that many themes portray Golding’s views, including a religious persecution theme.
Irony is also used throughout this tale. The use of revenge in this story shows irony. Montressor avenges himself by fooling Fortunato into literally walking into his own grave. Fortunato pursues the "cask" which ends up being his own casket. Montressor even asks Fortunato repeatedly whether he would like to turn back.
In Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of the Amontillado”, Montresor has always been viewed as a sociopath. He is a man who lured his friend into his family 's catacombs by lying to him. He then got his friend, Fortunato, drunk enough that he did not know what was going on. Montresor then chained his friend to a wall and boxed him in with mortar, all as an act of revenge and justice in his eyes. Although Montresor trapping Fortunato in the catacombs can be viewed as a cold, evil, heartless act, it does not mean that Fortunato’s death was meaningless. Montresor viewed Fortunato’s death as poetic justice, but others can not help but think of the irony of the situation. Poetic justice is defined as a result or occurrence that seems proper because someone
Nathaniel Hawthorne, one of America's most renowned authors, demonstrates his extraordinary talents in two of his most famed novels, The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables. To compare these two books seems bizarre, as their plots are distinctly different. Though the books are quite seemingly different, the central themes and Hawthorne's style are closely related (Carey, p. 62). American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne is most famous for his books THE SCARLET LETTER and THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES, which are closely related in theme, the use of symbolism, characterization, and style.
... writer who includes many similar elements in his works. These elements of writing which can be found in so many of his stories come together to make a style which cannot and most likely will not ever be seen in the works of anyone besides Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne distinguishes himself through the use of descriptive sentences which include complex vocabulary and contain a formal tone, the incorporation of a dark/gothic tone, also using characters who fall under scrutiny and alienation, and also the use of autobiographical elements. These are just five of the many connections which can be made between the three stories which were discussed in this paper. Also, although there were only three stories which were analyzed it is more than likely that if one read any of the other stories which Hawthorne wrote in his day than the same findings would be made.
...survival with savagery. In man’s quest for survival, these primal desires gives rise to violence against the weak and oppressed. As a result, his rationality is questioned and a deep seeded, darker side of his nature begins to show.