I love it when authors go to great lengths to create a reality, even if it is a remarkably unbleievable one.
I love it when those authors refer to their works in other works. In essence, they are constructing a reality. Contemporary authors like Steven King have taken this almost to an extreme. Many of his works reference his other stories. The events from many of his previous novels exist in the realities of the novels he writes.
For Mark Twain, the story of Huckleberry Finn exists in the same reality as Tom Sawyer. Similarily, The Tragedy of Puddin'head Wilson and Those Extraordinary Twins also share the same reality. However, this reality could be called an alternative reality. Like something from Star Trek. Essentially the characters in both stories are the same. The same events occur, with similar outcomes, save for a few things. In one story, the twins are separate. In the other, they are joined. Many of the events that we get but a glimpse of in Puddin'head Wilson we experience firsthand in Twins. One could easily place the chapters of Twins in their appropriate place in Puddin'head Wilson and the narrative would work (same for the whole joined at the waist thing).
In essence, though completely different in tone, the one story helps us to understand the other better. We even learn more about Wilson in the second novel. Stories can be told from any number of perspectives. One of these stories is a tall tale, well the other is a tragedy. Essentially the timeline is the same, but the stories have a different perspective.
In a way, this novel reminds me of a double album that I own. On the first album, the singer sings songs that tend to be more serious, more depressing in nature. In this album he explores the negatives of human nature, and the effect of hard times on good people. In the second album, the songs are much more redemptive, comical, and light-hearted. Well there is humor in both albums, the tone of the humor is much more tongue-in-cheek on the darker album.
Twain works in a similar way in these two stories. Same people, same experiences. Both have their humor, but one is definitely a tragedy and the other a comedy. That's also not to say their aren't tragic elements in the comedy.
Twain was clearly a genius. I think that fact is supported with this work. How many of us can create such monsters by just letting our minds wander?
WC: 421
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
The Existence of God
The life of one of the greatest writers in American History is also one of the saddest. No man should have to outlive his wife and two of his three children. And yet, Mark Twain did. Not only did he lose much of his family, the last years of his life was spent away from the family that he loved. Because of debt that he accrued, Twain had to spend many years giving a tour of lectures across the world. He lost his daughter during this time. He also spent much time away from his wife during these final years. During her last days, he was told he was bad for her health, and should only visit her a few minutes a day. Thus, the final days and hours he could have spent with his wife were stolen from him.
Quite often in our lives, when things do not go our way, it is our own fault. Oh, we may try to place the blame upon others, but if we truly are honest with ourselves we will see that the pain we have endured was caused by our selfishness and carelessness. Unfortunately, we also tend to place the responsibility for our actions upon others.
An easy person to blame for our own failures is God. The hardships that Twain faced near the end of his life caused him first to blame God, then question His existence entirely. True, he blamed himself in some aspects, but ultimately he blamed God.
Blaming God for the bad things that happen in life comes from an incorrect understanding of ourselves and the world in which we live. We think that God should be good to us all the time, that nothing bad should ever befall us. When evil happens in this world, it is not the fault of God; He wants always to do good things for His children. However, man has brought sin into this world. With sin comes its consequences. The early deaths of loved ones in our lives are consequences of a cursed and fallen world, a result of man's sin.
Twain's selfishness caused a lot of hurt in his life. It strained the relationship between himself and his family. Time that should have been spent in ease with his family was instead spent away from them, earning enough money to pay off debts. We make our own bed, and we must lie in it. We can not blame God for our greed.
WC: 412
Quite often in our lives, when things do not go our way, it is our own fault. Oh, we may try to place the blame upon others, but if we truly are honest with ourselves we will see that the pain we have endured was caused by our selfishness and carelessness. Unfortunately, we also tend to place the responsibility for our actions upon others.
An easy person to blame for our own failures is God. The hardships that Twain faced near the end of his life caused him first to blame God, then question His existence entirely. True, he blamed himself in some aspects, but ultimately he blamed God.
Blaming God for the bad things that happen in life comes from an incorrect understanding of ourselves and the world in which we live. We think that God should be good to us all the time, that nothing bad should ever befall us. When evil happens in this world, it is not the fault of God; He wants always to do good things for His children. However, man has brought sin into this world. With sin comes its consequences. The early deaths of loved ones in our lives are consequences of a cursed and fallen world, a result of man's sin.
Twain's selfishness caused a lot of hurt in his life. It strained the relationship between himself and his family. Time that should have been spent in ease with his family was instead spent away from them, earning enough money to pay off debts. We make our own bed, and we must lie in it. We can not blame God for our greed.
WC: 412
A lifetime of Personal Experiences
Write what you know. That's what every teacher of every creative writing class tells you. Every book on screenwriting or writing novels talks about this. We all have personal experiences. Sure, some of us have traveled more than others, had more interesting jobs, worked with interesting people. But everywhere a writer goes, they should be, at least mentally if not on paper, making notes about characters and settings. A good writer files away experiences in his mind for later use. Few have taken the advice "Write what you know" quite to the same degree as Samuel Clemens.
And what a lifetime of personal experiences Clemens had to draw from. Memories from his childhood are scattered about Tom Sawyer. In fact, it would be fair to say that he is Tom Sawyer. His boyhood home of Hannibal, Missouri makes the setting of that great novel. Becky Thatcher, Tom's girlfriend, is based on a real girl Clemens knew. Huck Finn also finds his roots in Hannibal; Clemens' main character from his masterpiece is based upon the son of the town drunk.
But Hannibal was not the only place that provided Clemens with inspiration. During his younger years, he spent a great deal of time out west as a prospector and news writer. Later, he spent several years as captain of a riverboat. During these years, Clemens met hosts of interesting people on the river and in the mountains. These people would provide the basis for many of the characters in his novels. In fact, Clemens' alter ego and pen name Mark Twain comes from his personal experience on a riverboat.
Personal Experience provides the framework for The Innocents Abroad and Life on the Mississippi. Clemens was a man whose writing truly flowed from himself. By reading his novels and his non-fiction, we really get a picture of both the life he led, and the people and places along the way.
WC: 318
And what a lifetime of personal experiences Clemens had to draw from. Memories from his childhood are scattered about Tom Sawyer. In fact, it would be fair to say that he is Tom Sawyer. His boyhood home of Hannibal, Missouri makes the setting of that great novel. Becky Thatcher, Tom's girlfriend, is based on a real girl Clemens knew. Huck Finn also finds his roots in Hannibal; Clemens' main character from his masterpiece is based upon the son of the town drunk.
But Hannibal was not the only place that provided Clemens with inspiration. During his younger years, he spent a great deal of time out west as a prospector and news writer. Later, he spent several years as captain of a riverboat. During these years, Clemens met hosts of interesting people on the river and in the mountains. These people would provide the basis for many of the characters in his novels. In fact, Clemens' alter ego and pen name Mark Twain comes from his personal experience on a riverboat.
Personal Experience provides the framework for The Innocents Abroad and Life on the Mississippi. Clemens was a man whose writing truly flowed from himself. By reading his novels and his non-fiction, we really get a picture of both the life he led, and the people and places along the way.
WC: 318
Friday, March 25, 2011
A lack of Realism in Realism
Let me first say, that overall, I loved Uncle Tom's Cabin. Tom's journey home to heaven was both heartbreaking and satisfying. We saw Eliza and her family make it to freedom in Canada. Everyone, in their own respectable way, was freed from their bondage. The book should have ended right... right there.
But it didn't.
Why, oh why, Harriet, must you insist on tying up every last loose end? In my opinion, this was an appalling ending to a nearly perfect book. The super happy ending does not match up with the tone of the rest of the story. Stowe's entire novel focuses upon how families are torn apart by slavery. Then, in the last few chapters of her novel, she makes it seem fairly easy for families to be reunited.
I couldn't stomach such an unrealistic ending to a book that tried very hard to be realistic. I think the novel would have had a much more powerful ending if all the reunions were left out. She should have cut off the last two chapters of her book. We had Eliza and her family safe and sound in Canada. Sure, bad things happened along the way, they were separated from their family members, but in the end, they had each other.
The reunions are far too random. It just so happens that these people are on the same boat as young Master George? It just so happens that they get placed near each other in the ship? It just so happens that they become acquaintances and just so happen to mention certain commonalities?
That's four too many just so happens. I can stomach one of them, perhaps, but the rest is far too unlikely. Reality can only be suspended so many times before people reject certain aspects of a narrative.
The ending was too much. I wish she would have left it alone.
WC: 314
But it didn't.
Why, oh why, Harriet, must you insist on tying up every last loose end? In my opinion, this was an appalling ending to a nearly perfect book. The super happy ending does not match up with the tone of the rest of the story. Stowe's entire novel focuses upon how families are torn apart by slavery. Then, in the last few chapters of her novel, she makes it seem fairly easy for families to be reunited.
I couldn't stomach such an unrealistic ending to a book that tried very hard to be realistic. I think the novel would have had a much more powerful ending if all the reunions were left out. She should have cut off the last two chapters of her book. We had Eliza and her family safe and sound in Canada. Sure, bad things happened along the way, they were separated from their family members, but in the end, they had each other.
The reunions are far too random. It just so happens that these people are on the same boat as young Master George? It just so happens that they get placed near each other in the ship? It just so happens that they become acquaintances and just so happen to mention certain commonalities?
That's four too many just so happens. I can stomach one of them, perhaps, but the rest is far too unlikely. Reality can only be suspended so many times before people reject certain aspects of a narrative.
The ending was too much. I wish she would have left it alone.
WC: 314
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
The Happy Slave
In the film The Song of the South, Walt Disney creates one of the most iconic slave characters in cinema. He seems more than eager to live life on the plantation; after all, things aren't so bad, "Mr. Bluebird's on my shoulder."
Victor Fleming's Gone With the Wind portrays a group of slaves on a southern plantation. All are more than happy to serve the white folk. Even after the sacrifices of war have made them free souls, they stick around the plantation. The deep South is a place of wonder and beauty, where the childlike black folk live happily as slaves.
In Uncle Tom's Cabin, we get a slightly different view of slavery. Certainly, and the author is the first to admit, there were good masters who treated their slaves with love and respect. However, though these slaves are thankful to have kind masters, something is missing in their lives. Stowe seeks to uncover a myth that has endured even until this day, the myth of the Happy Slave.
When Uncle Tom is bought by Augustine St. Clare, he begins a life of relative ease for a slave. St. Clare treats slaves like family. When his daughter dies, she asks her father one request, to free Uncle Tom.
When St. Clare tells Tom of his plans to free him, Tom is overjoyed. St. Clare can not help but feel hurt by his eagerness to leave. He asks Tom if he has not treated him more kindly than any master could. Tom replies with a thankful yes. St. Clare just can not understand why Tom would want to leave a life of relative ease and luxury. As St. Clare's slave he could have any earthly thing he desired. Fine food, clothing, a warm bed, and a beautiful abode are all things Augustine has given to Tom. And yet, that is not what Tom desires. He tells St. Clare that he would rather be poor and free then live with ease, yet under the burden of slavery.
This, to me, is a very telling part of Stowe's narrative. Access to material wealth is meaningless if you cannot possess yourself.
There is much truth to this, even in a contemporary sense. I would take a job I thoroughly enjoy than a job that pays millions. We don't want to be tied down to something we have no control over. As humans, we would rather have our freedom and own little, than all the world and lack destiny over our soul.
WC:418
Victor Fleming's Gone With the Wind portrays a group of slaves on a southern plantation. All are more than happy to serve the white folk. Even after the sacrifices of war have made them free souls, they stick around the plantation. The deep South is a place of wonder and beauty, where the childlike black folk live happily as slaves.
In Uncle Tom's Cabin, we get a slightly different view of slavery. Certainly, and the author is the first to admit, there were good masters who treated their slaves with love and respect. However, though these slaves are thankful to have kind masters, something is missing in their lives. Stowe seeks to uncover a myth that has endured even until this day, the myth of the Happy Slave.
When Uncle Tom is bought by Augustine St. Clare, he begins a life of relative ease for a slave. St. Clare treats slaves like family. When his daughter dies, she asks her father one request, to free Uncle Tom.
When St. Clare tells Tom of his plans to free him, Tom is overjoyed. St. Clare can not help but feel hurt by his eagerness to leave. He asks Tom if he has not treated him more kindly than any master could. Tom replies with a thankful yes. St. Clare just can not understand why Tom would want to leave a life of relative ease and luxury. As St. Clare's slave he could have any earthly thing he desired. Fine food, clothing, a warm bed, and a beautiful abode are all things Augustine has given to Tom. And yet, that is not what Tom desires. He tells St. Clare that he would rather be poor and free then live with ease, yet under the burden of slavery.
This, to me, is a very telling part of Stowe's narrative. Access to material wealth is meaningless if you cannot possess yourself.
There is much truth to this, even in a contemporary sense. I would take a job I thoroughly enjoy than a job that pays millions. We don't want to be tied down to something we have no control over. As humans, we would rather have our freedom and own little, than all the world and lack destiny over our soul.
WC:418
The Paths to Freedom
A criticism of Stowe's novel is that the two story lines seem to be disjointed. We have Harry, Eliza, and George making their way to freedom while poor Uncle Tom dies in the darkest plantation in all of the South.
Those who criticize Stowe in this way have been totally missing the point.
In Uncle Tom's Cabin, Stowe has created two paths to freedom. One path deals with the literal, though it symbolizes Canada as a sort of promised or Beulah land for the slave. Crossing Lake Erie into safety could also symbolize passing through the death of one life (slavery) and rebirth into a new life (freedom) on the other side.
Many parallels exist in Stowe's novel. The two paths to freedom are yet another parallel. Uncle Tom's path leads him away from literal freedom and further South into the chains of slavery. In Louisiana Tom finds himself in the lowest hell on earth. Yet while Tom has traveled opposite the way of physical freedom, God has ordered his path to spiritual freedom. His final months on Legree's plantation bring Tom closer to his dear Savior then ever before. He knows that his time on this earth is coming near to an end. When two of Legree's slaves go missing, the cruel master takes out all his anger by torturing Tom. Lying in a pit somewhere in Louisiana, seemingly lost in this world, Tom is all but lost in the eyes of Christ. As Tom breathes his last breath, his soul is released from the chains of his broken body. He has passed over the river, finding freedom on the other side.
We are not to weep for Tom. George, Eliza, and Harry have found freedom of a sort; Tom's freedom, however, is far greater, for he has reached a much better country.
WC:304
Those who criticize Stowe in this way have been totally missing the point.
In Uncle Tom's Cabin, Stowe has created two paths to freedom. One path deals with the literal, though it symbolizes Canada as a sort of promised or Beulah land for the slave. Crossing Lake Erie into safety could also symbolize passing through the death of one life (slavery) and rebirth into a new life (freedom) on the other side.
Many parallels exist in Stowe's novel. The two paths to freedom are yet another parallel. Uncle Tom's path leads him away from literal freedom and further South into the chains of slavery. In Louisiana Tom finds himself in the lowest hell on earth. Yet while Tom has traveled opposite the way of physical freedom, God has ordered his path to spiritual freedom. His final months on Legree's plantation bring Tom closer to his dear Savior then ever before. He knows that his time on this earth is coming near to an end. When two of Legree's slaves go missing, the cruel master takes out all his anger by torturing Tom. Lying in a pit somewhere in Louisiana, seemingly lost in this world, Tom is all but lost in the eyes of Christ. As Tom breathes his last breath, his soul is released from the chains of his broken body. He has passed over the river, finding freedom on the other side.
We are not to weep for Tom. George, Eliza, and Harry have found freedom of a sort; Tom's freedom, however, is far greater, for he has reached a much better country.
WC:304
Touchy Subjects
Growing up, we learned a great many things about slavery. Slaves worked horrible hours, lived in unfathomable poverty, and often were sustained to a point just above starvation. Punishment on the plantation was often extremely severe; if a slave did not do what his master liked, as property, the owner could do as he wished. He had the right to abuse his property to the point of extreme bodily damage, and in some cases, death.
However, many schools, including my own elementary and high school, seem to have sanitized certain less savory aspects of the slave trade (as if there were any savory aspects of the trade at all). I do not remember, until I took American Masterpieces in college, a teacher ever mentioning the sexual exploitation of female slaves. My teachers did not tell us about how the prettiest mulattoes and quadroons would be taken to the auction block clothed in their best dresses, their hair flowing and their bodies perfumed. They did not tell us about the monsters who would bid thousands of dollars to purchase these young women to become their sex slaves.
No, no, we were given a sanitized version of the slave trade. Sure, what we were told was horrid, yet in this one topic we seem to have been left in the dark. Did our teachers not believe that man could exploit fellow man in such a way? Or did they not believe we could handle the truth?
Stowe was far ahead of her time. As a woman, she was not afraid to stand up for the rights of fellow equals. Perhaps during her time, much as today, this aspect of slavery was glazed over. Perhaps the people of Stowe's time did not believe such atrocities could occur.
This woman did what few had done; she tackled the hard issues. By the time Stowe's book had been published, there were few who doubted the depravity of some slave owners in the South.
Are citizens today any less naive than the people of Stowe's time? I tend to think not.
WC:345
However, many schools, including my own elementary and high school, seem to have sanitized certain less savory aspects of the slave trade (as if there were any savory aspects of the trade at all). I do not remember, until I took American Masterpieces in college, a teacher ever mentioning the sexual exploitation of female slaves. My teachers did not tell us about how the prettiest mulattoes and quadroons would be taken to the auction block clothed in their best dresses, their hair flowing and their bodies perfumed. They did not tell us about the monsters who would bid thousands of dollars to purchase these young women to become their sex slaves.
No, no, we were given a sanitized version of the slave trade. Sure, what we were told was horrid, yet in this one topic we seem to have been left in the dark. Did our teachers not believe that man could exploit fellow man in such a way? Or did they not believe we could handle the truth?
Stowe was far ahead of her time. As a woman, she was not afraid to stand up for the rights of fellow equals. Perhaps during her time, much as today, this aspect of slavery was glazed over. Perhaps the people of Stowe's time did not believe such atrocities could occur.
This woman did what few had done; she tackled the hard issues. By the time Stowe's book had been published, there were few who doubted the depravity of some slave owners in the South.
Are citizens today any less naive than the people of Stowe's time? I tend to think not.
WC:345
Use of Art
Everyone (well, almost everyone) loves art in some form or another. We admire photographs, ponder paintings, watch films. And we read novels.
But what makes something art? Can art exist solely for art's sake? I tend to think so. However, one can't help but wonder... would it be more beneficial to take your art and apply it in some larger way? Usually we state our opinion multiple times a day. We have no problem verbalizing what we feel inside. Everyone has an opinion, especially when it comes to religion or politics.
So, if you happen to be an artist, is there harm in applying your skills to a cause greater than yourself? To a cause, dare I suggest it, greater than your art? Harriet Beecher Stowe seemed to think so.
When you read this woman's work, you see a great ability to move the emotions. Stowe possesses a special skill for hitting the soft point inside all our hearts. One can not help but wonder, however, if a great amount of her success is due to her choice of subject in the first place. While a skillful writer, Stowe finds events that actually happened and applies them to her work. These happenings are hard to digest, probably to a great extent because they are based on facts. Stowe takes the facts and weaves them together in one narrative to create a propaganda piece.
And yet, to call Uncle Tom's Cabin a propaganda piece does it a disservice. It contains a depth rarely reached in the novel. Somehow, Stowe found a way to both exploit an evil and create a beautiful piece of art.
So, to all you doubters out there, it can be done; political pieces can be beautiful.
WC:289
But what makes something art? Can art exist solely for art's sake? I tend to think so. However, one can't help but wonder... would it be more beneficial to take your art and apply it in some larger way? Usually we state our opinion multiple times a day. We have no problem verbalizing what we feel inside. Everyone has an opinion, especially when it comes to religion or politics.
So, if you happen to be an artist, is there harm in applying your skills to a cause greater than yourself? To a cause, dare I suggest it, greater than your art? Harriet Beecher Stowe seemed to think so.
When you read this woman's work, you see a great ability to move the emotions. Stowe possesses a special skill for hitting the soft point inside all our hearts. One can not help but wonder, however, if a great amount of her success is due to her choice of subject in the first place. While a skillful writer, Stowe finds events that actually happened and applies them to her work. These happenings are hard to digest, probably to a great extent because they are based on facts. Stowe takes the facts and weaves them together in one narrative to create a propaganda piece.
And yet, to call Uncle Tom's Cabin a propaganda piece does it a disservice. It contains a depth rarely reached in the novel. Somehow, Stowe found a way to both exploit an evil and create a beautiful piece of art.
So, to all you doubters out there, it can be done; political pieces can be beautiful.
WC:289
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