LITR 4232 American Renaissance 2010 final exam—Answers to Question B3

Melissa King

The Raw Footage of a Person’s Soul

          History has never been my forte. I have read about historical events in history books and sat through lecture after lecture while teachers and professors have listed facts and dates, all of which meant nothing to me. I have never experienced a history lesson where I was motivated to feel for the figures involved in the tragic situations. Not to say that I did not feel anything at all, yes there were times when I would be shocked at the amount of deaths in a war or the extent of the torture that certain people would go through in events such as the holocaust or slavery, but I was never placed in a situation where I could see the thoughts of the people or hear their own interpretation of how events took place. The literature we have read in American Renaissance has opened by eyes and made history more real than ever before through its imagery and magnifying view into the lives and thoughts of the characters.

          My least favorite topic when dealing with history of any sort is politics. I thoroughly believe that politics and the government are important and crucial to everyday life, but hearing about the different ways that laws are passed or the different branches of government seems redundant in most cases and not exactly mind-blowing to me. However, reading about the political issues in American Renaissance allowed me to see a bit of a different view into politics through transcendental thought. I know people have stood up to the government and tried to push their own views many times, but Henry David Thoreau stood his grounds in a beautiful and completely captivating manner. His Resistance to Civil Government was inspirational due to the passive fighting and his views on the government’s aid. His writing made the idea of fighting the government come out clear and real to me. By reading his thoughts I was able to picture what it must have been like during his time and the extent to which people would sacrifice themselves to make a point.

Henry David Thoreau’s writing in The Resistance to Civil Government is raw and realistic. One raw and completely fascinating idea of Thoreau’s to me was the limits he would push to resist the government. He did not simply write his ideas down on paper and pass them out, he actually acted. He did not pay his taxes and was thrown into jail because of it. He begins to view jail as a place where real change can occur; a place where men and women can stand up for what they believe in. He states that “if ten honest men only—ay, if one honest man, in this State of Massachusetts, ceasing to hold slaves, were actually to withdraw from this co-partnership, and be locked up in the county jail therefor, it would be the abolition of slavery in America. For it matters not how small the beginning may seem to be: what is once well done is done forever.” He makes real the idea that one man, no matter how small or insignificant, can make a change on the world through his own, individual actions. Thoreau took an idea that I knew existed, the idea of resisting the government, but from actually hearing his ideas from him and not from a text book, I saw just how inspirational he is. He drove home the idea that one man can make a difference to the world.

Like Thoreau opened my eyes to the real occurrences of his time, so did Sojourner Truth through her inspirational speeches. There are so many portrayals of slaves and African American strife as they seek to rise above their stereotypes and make a true place for themselves in the world. As a person of white ethnicity, I cannot truly understand the trials that African American men and women underwent and still to some extent go through today. However, through writings from such powerful women as Sojourner Truth, I can get a view into how life was for her and how she transcended above her troubles. In her speech “Ain’t I A Women?” Truth describes her feelings about being looked at as if she was not of the normal female sex just because of her skin color. She discusses how men see it fit to help a women into a carriage or get them across mud puddles so as not to ruin their clothing, yet “Nobody ever helps [her] into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives [her] any best place! And ain't[she] a woman? Look at [her]! Look at [her] arm! [She has] ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head [her]! And ain't [she] a woman?” Hearing Sojourner Truth express her own emotions, coming from the midst of oppression in a time where black women could not have the rights of a man, much less a white woman, truly lays forth the reality of equality for me. I did not hear the facts of oppression in a text book, where dates were laid forth and opinions are discussed of those looking back on the events who may not have even been involved. I heard it from Truth, someone who even her name speaks all. She is so inspirational to even women of today’s times who might face oppression at their workplace or within their family unit. Such a strong woman can change the face of history just by speaking publically for an audience about her struggles.

Slavery is such a terrorizing term. Just the mention of it can create uncomfortable feelings, especially in a setting mixed with White and African American races. Many people of today’s society who did not undergo the painful endeavors of slavery simply dismiss the events and say “Well that was a long time ago. It does not matter now.” The truth is that it does matter now and just because it may not be occurring as commonly today as it was years ago, there is still documents and literature that points out the importance of such a topic. Slavery is typically presented as a horrible occurrence that was abolished, but raw instances and stories are not commonly shared. I grew up knowing and entered this class knowing that slavery was a very serious topic, not to be treaded on lightly, but was never exposed to as dramatic of tales about slavery as I have been exposed to in American Renaissance literature, and hearing stories directly from those involved in the events has truly opened my eyes and shown me that slavery is a subject that should never been looked past. It is a subject that I believe people should keep in their hearts forever to remind us that we should never fall into old ways again.

Frederick Douglass, an actual slave survivor, lays the events of his life out so beautifully and opens all who read his writings to his tragic journey through slavery. In his autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas an American Slave Douglass paints brutal and crude images of the beatings that occurred, of the separation that tore families apart, and of the excruciating journey toward freedom. One passage in particular that  brought tears to my eyes in a way that I have never had them brought before over slavery was when he writes:

Before he commenced whipping Aunt Hester, he took her into the kitchen, and stripped her from neck to waist, leaving her neck, shoulders, and back, entirely naked. He then told her to cross her hands, calling her at the same time a d——d b—-h. After crossing her hands, he tied them with a strong rope, and led her to a stool under a large hook in the joist, put in for the purpose. He made her get upon the stool, and tied her hands to the hook. She now stood fair for his infernal purpose. Her arms were stretched up at their full length, so that she stood upon the ends of her toes. He then said to her, "Now, you d——d b—-h, I'll learn you how to disobey my orders!" and after rolling up his sleeves, he commenced to lay on the heavy cowskin, and soon the warm, red blood (amid heart-rending shrieks from her, and horrid oaths from him) came dripping to the floor.

Each and every word of this passage is completely raw and unedited. The ending, were a little boy is exposed to his aunts blood “dripping to the floor” is hard to read. You can only read and try to imagine, though with no way of success, what Douglass could have been feeling at this moment. Reading about his experiences first hand from him shows the reader a view into slavery that they could get nowhere else. Reading a textbook in school that simply states that slaves were beaten when they disobeyed their master’s orders or that they sang somber slave songs in the fields as they worked create a simple image of slavery. Douglass’s words in his narrative create a tragedy unlike any other, a way in which those of us who can never understand what slavery was like to become a small part of it; to be able to view what he viewed through slightly rose colored glasses yet still get a devastating effect.

          There is nothing comparable to reading about history through literature. Literature creates a portal into the characters’ minds and lets the reader in on their lives. Reading about such topics as fighting the government, the oppression of African Americans, and slavery through someone’s opinion of what happened or through stories that have been passed down to someone who is completely estranged from the slavery world that once existed does not create a raw image. Reading real life trials and tribulations by such writers as Thoreau, Truth, and Douglas leave a scar in your heart, an image in your mind that cannot be erased no matter how painful it is to view it.