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Slave narratives as the quintessential literary genre
Slave narratives as the quintessential literary genre
Slave narratives as the quintessential literary genre
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Comparing and Contrasting Bayard and Ringo Bayard and his black slave and sidekick, Ringo, are twelve years old when we are first introduced to them in William Faulkner's The Unvanquished. Ringo (Marengo) grandson of Joby, is born a slave on John Sartoris' plantation. He and Bayard nursed from the same slave's breast and become constant companions: "Ringo and I had been born in the same month," Bayard says, "and had both fed at the same breast and had slept together and eaten together for so long that Ringo called Granny 'Granny' just like I did, until maybe he wasn't a nigger anymore or maybe I wasn't a white boy anymore, the two of us neither, not even people any longer" (7). Ringer serves as Bayard's faithful companion. Certain narrative passages of The Unvanquished attempt to show Bayard and Ringo engaged in a competition as equals. Though Ringo never flaunts his superiority, he emanates it. Several times, Bayard, the narrator, mentions his feelings of inferiority: "Father was right; he (Ringo) was smarter than me"(142); "He (Ringo) had got taller during the summer; he was taller than me now, and had got to treating me like Granny did--like he and Granny were the same age instead of him and me." (143) Though both boys are always together (except in the last chapter) we sense that Bayard always seems to want to prove he is far superior to Ringo. And, Ringo quietly accepts that he--the slave-- is the smarter of the two. Even when the boys play war games together, Bayard makes the rules: "Ringo could be General Pemberton or he wouldn't play anymore." Deep down, Bayard senses Ringo is his slave and must do his bidding. Ringo realizes this too and allows Bayard to choose their games. Granny also senses Ringo's intelligence (... ... middle of paper ... ...He (Ringo) had outgrown me, had changed so much that summer while he and Granny traded mules with the Yankees that since then I had had to do most of the catching up with him." (248) Bayard seems to hold Ringo's intelligence against him, bears a grudge against him; and Ringo--silent and sullen--seems to resent something about Bayard. It is almost as if a whole chapter is missing somehow and the tale of the black boy and his white friend is deliberately omitted. On the ride home, they speak only once when Ringo suggests they buckwash Redmond like they had done Grumby: "But I reckon that wouldn't suit that white skin you walks around with." Here are definitely subtle undertones of an awakening in both men. Ringo has taken his rightful place beside Bayard--now The Sartoris--his nigger slave? Works Cited: Faulkner, W. The Unvanquished. New York: Vintage Books, 1966.
The Return of Martin Guerre, written by Natalie Zemon Davis, is the tale of a court case that takes place in sixteenth century France. Martin Guerre is a peasant who deserted his wife and family for many years. While Martin Guerre is gone, a man named Arnaud du Tilh arrives at Martin’s village and claims to be Martin Guerre. Bertrande, who is Guerre’s wife, Guerre’s sisters, and many of the villagers, accepts the imposter. After almost three years of being happily married, Bertrande takes the fraud to court under pressure of Pierre Guerre, her stepfather and Guerre’s brother. Arnaud du Tilh is almost declared innocent, but the real Martin Guerre appears in the courthouse. Throughout this tale, many factors of the peasant life are highlighted. The author gives a very effective and detailed insight to a peasant’s life during the time of Martin Guerre. Davis does a successful job of portraying the peasant lifestyle in sixteenth century France by accentuating the social, cultural, and judicial factors of everyday peasant life.
James Baldwin’s Sonny’s Blues tells the story of the narrator and his brother and the hardships that they must endure. As Kahlil Gibran States “Out of suffering have emerged the strangest souls, the most massive characters are seared with scars.” (Gibran). In that very quote the real light is shown as it informs the reader that with suffering comes growth and once the person whomever it may be emerges out of the darkness they may have scars but it has made them stronger. The theme of light and darkness as well as suffering play a vital part in this story. For both men there are times in which they have the blues and suffer in the darkness of their lives but music takes the suffering from them.
...ial bland, white, powerless male; nothing is present that distinguishes Mr. Williams from the rest of the seemingly dominant white society. Roman, on the other hand, despite the fact that he lives in poverty, possesses more liveliness and power than Mr. Williams could ever possess. For instance, Roman shows up to take the CAT wearing his “red, yellow, white, and blue grass-dance outfit” because Roman’s grandmother “told [him Mr. William’s] test was culturally biased and that [he] might need a little extra power to do [his] best.” Unlike Mr. Williams, Roman recognizes the power that color possesses, even after death, for Roman vividly remembers “the yellow headlights of the red truck that smashed head-on into his father’s blue Chevy,” his mother’s “red blood coughed into the folds of a white handkerchief,” and the fact that his mother “was buried in a purple dress.”
William Faulkner’s short story “Barn Burning” describes a typical relationship between wealthy people and poor people during the Civil War.
that Mr White is not as connected to the family as the mother and son.
Faulkner uses the two primary women of the story to represent the two options open to young Baynard—each is trying to pull him in an opposite direction. Drusilla, Baynard’s stepmother, and his Aunt Jenny represent the two conflicting views and solutions that Baynard must struggle with. Does he challenge Redmond to a duel? or merely walk away from the situation. Both women try to work on Baynard’s emotions and intellect in their attempt to sway him to their conflicting points of view. Either choice could have a lasting or fatal consequence for Baynard and his family.
The old man, Claude Robichaux, was brought before the police sergeant as well as the officer who brought him in. A black man named Jones made comments during the man’s “interrogation” and was repeatedly told to shut up by name, giving the idea that this wasn’t the first time Jones had been there.
... Nick makes a small funeral for Gatsby and Daisy does not attend it. He took the blame for her, and he is dead all because of her, he sacrificed for her. She and Tom decide to travel and take off. Also Nick breaks up with Jordan, and he moves back to Midwest because he has had enough of these people, and hates the people that were close to Gatsby and for bareness, emptiness, and cold heart they have of the life in the middle of the wealthy on the East Coast. Nick realizes, and reveals that Gatsby’s dream of Daisy was ruined by money and un-loyalty, dishonestly. Daisy all she cared about is wealth, she chased after the men that have a lot of money. Even though Gatsby has control, influence, and authority to change his dreams into making it into real life for him this is what Nicks says makes him a good man. Now both Gatsby’s dream and the American Dream are over.
War and Grief in Faulkner’s Shall Not Perish and The Unvanquished. It is inevitable when dealing regularly with a subject as brutal as war, that death will occur. Death brings grief for the victim’s loved ones, which William Faulkner depicts accurately and fairly in many of his works, including the short story “Shall Not Perish” and The Unvanquished.
Daisy Buchanan, this woman is crazy, uncaring, and many would argue cold hearted. She is married to Tom and yet, has an affair with Gatsby. Tom is her husband, a very well-off man that goes off and has affairs, and never attempts to hide the fact. Then there is Gatsby. Ah, Gatsby. The young man she was so in love with as a teenage girl. Tom and Gatsby have many similarities; from the fact that both Tom and Gatsby want Daisy all to themselves to the fact that they both love her. While they share many similarities they have far more numerable differences between them. The differences range from how they treat her to how rich they and what social class they are in, to the simple fact that Tom lives in “East Egg” and Gatsby in “West Egg.” Both the similarities and differences between these two men are what ultimately cause Daisy to believe that she is in love with Tom more than she is with Gatsby.
Fragonard was a product of the late Rococo period in the early eighteenth century a period that consisted of pastoral images of both men and women participating in games, having lunch together or a passionate scene between two people. Rococo created for the rich of France, consisted mainly of two types gallant and libertines. Fragonard’s paintings were mostly gallant which represented love as a playful game. This can be seen in his two paintings Blindmans Buff (fig. 1) and The Swing (fig. 2). These included interactions with figures in the paintings that suggested courtship; in this case it would be the pastel colors that he used which created a more playful look for the figures. In his 1775 version of The Swing (fig. 2) Fragonard presented a vision of nature and shows tremendous growth from his previous work painted during his second trip to Italy. This version is less erotic compared to his previous version of The Swing (fig. 3). The Swing (fig. 2) bares many similarities to some of his other works none more than Blindmans Buff (fig. 1) that was painted at the same time as The Swing. Both paintings shared various similarities and featured playful scenes of love.
“If you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him none. let him forget there is such a thing as war” (Beatie 61). Beatie thought he had a war going on against books but in truth the war was never there.Montag knew this but since Beatty was his captain he didn't tell his feelings. Beatty believes that you shouldn't give two sides of the story if one side is about war so the people won't be unhappy. Montag had learned at that moment, society always needs both sides of a story to choose what they
There were some ups and downs to Solomon’s bondage. Northup met many friends along the years, including Eliza and Patsey. Eliza had been with Solomon since nearly the beginning of his trip, and they shared somewhat similar stories. Unfortunately, Eliza passed away due to grief over her children at Ford’s plantation. William Ford had the kindest heart of any of Solomon’s owners, however, due to the dangers of Mr. John Tibeats, Solomon was sold to Master Edwin Epps. At Epps’ plantation, Solomon met Patsey, “queen of the fields.” Epps was a mean spirited man, however there was some happiness to his plantation: it was the last one Solomon would work at in his twelve years of slavery. Mr. Bass, a Canadian carpenter, helped Solomon out of bondage by writing to Northup’s family in the North. After twelve years of hard labor, scarce food, sleepless nights, and fierce punishments, Solomon Northup was once again a free man.
The character of the husband, John, in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is introduced as a respected physician and a caring husband who strives to improve the mental health of his wife, the narrator, who is diagnosed with temporary nervous condition. John tries throughout the story to apply professional treatment methods and medications in his approach to helping his wife gain strength. However, his patient, his wife, seems to disregard John’s professional opinions and act as if she is following his advices only during his awakening presence with her. The narrator seems to be in need of John’s positive opinion about the status of her mental condition in order to avoid the criticism even though she disagrees with his treatment methodology. John, without doubt, cares for his wife and her wellbeing, but he does not realize how his treatment method negatively impacts their relationship his wife’s progress towards gaining strength. Although John was portrayed as a caring and a loving physician and husband to the narrator through out most of the story, he was also suggested as being intrusive and directive to a provoking level in the mind of the narrator.
“Sonny’s Blues” revolves around the narrator as he learns who his drug-hooked, piano-playing baby brother, Sonny, really is. The author, James Baldwin, paints views on racism, misery and art and suffering in this story. His written canvas portrays a dark and continual scene pertaining to each topic. As the story unfolds, similarities in each generation can be observed. The two African American brothers share a life similar to that of their father and his brother. The father’s brother had a thirst for music, and they both travelled the treacherous road of night clubs, drinking and partying before his brother was hit and killed by a car full of white boys. Plagued, the father carried this pain of the loss of his brother and bitterness towards the whites to his grave. “Till the day he died he weren’t sure but that every white man he saw was the man that killed his brother.”(346) Watching the same problems transcend onto the narrator’s baby brother, Sonny, the reader feels his despair when he tries to relate the same scenarios his father had, to his brother. “All that hatred down there”, he said “all that hatred and misery and love. It’s a wonder it doesn’t blow the avenue apart.”(355) He’s trying to relate to his brother that even though some try to cover their misery with doing what others deem as “right,” others just cover it with a different mask. “But nobody just takes it.” Sonny cried, “That’s what I’m telling you! Everybody tries not to. You’re just hung up on the way some people try—it’s not your way!”(355) The narrator had dealt with his own miseries of knowing his father’s plight, his Brother Sonny’s imprisonment and the loss of his own child. Sonny tried to give an understanding of what music was for him throughout thei...