LITR 4232 American Renaissance 2012 final exam—Answers to Question B3 "History as Literature, Literature as History" final exam assignment

Angela Sims

Finding Historical Truth through Fiction

          While literature certainly has the capability to entertain, many of the texts we studied this semester focused on informing the reader about the history of when they were written. Those texts have greatly influenced my improved understanding of the historical and political events that helped shaped our country, particularly the abolitionist movement that led to the Civil War. By implementing a variety of sources (and not relying solely on a history textbook), the true nature of our country’s scuffle can be assembled from the insightful works of Douglass, Stowe, and Lincoln.

          Slave narratives, such as Douglass’ A Narrative of the Life, highlight some of the struggles the African Americans endured during the pre-Civil War era in America. Douglass describes the mental and physical hardships that slaves suffered on a daily basis. The turning point in Douglass’ own struggle, nevertheless, was his education. This autobiography is romantic in the nature of the journey to freedom and his learning becomes the transcendence he needs to achieve freedom. Learning about slavery through the eyes and pen of a former slave strengthens the tone and content of the writing. “I have sometimes thought that the mere hearing of those songs would do more to impress some minds with the horrible character of slavery, than the reading of whole volumes of philosophy on the subject could do,” Douglass explains. Reading the words of Douglass puts into focus the “horrible character of slavery.” This contrasts slightly when the tale of slavery is written by the hand of a white, woman abolitionist. Using the ideas of intertextuality highlighted above, Douglass’ narrative shares a special connection when laid side-by-side with Stowe’s fictional slave account.

          Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin influenced readers with its strong views of anti-slavery. Although this work is completely fictional, this book acts as a mimesis, or representation of real life. She bases the slave perspective on the history and reality of the issue, reading from Douglass’ text and using accounts of runaway slaves as her foundation. Stowe has a unique ability to empathize for slaves and harness in on their perspective, using their colloquialisms and their language when describing their plight. “I've seen 'em as would pull a woman's child out of her arms, and set him up to sell, and she screechin' like mad all the time;—very bad policy—damages the article—makes 'em quite unfit for service sometimes.” The imagery that comes from her writing paints a nasty picture of the human condition. Abraham Lincoln dubbed Stowe as the “little lady who made this big war.” This furthers the importance literature had in its ability to not only entertain, but also to inform. In this aspect, Stowe was able to convey the harsh negativity of slavery through her narrative in a way in which left the reader polarized. This power reverberated through the North as her book became widely read. The popularity of Stowe’s Uncle Tom did not stop with the book; it developed into so much more as shown in the historical website featured in class.

          The web review on the Uncle Tom’s Cabin and American Culture multi-media archive website shocked me. Stowe’s book was massively exploited and commercialized by the “white man.” Stowe certainly did not intend on creating the book to elicit the character of Uncle Tom to be featured in song, children’s books, paper dolls, and minstrel shows. I felt that the way her work was misconstrued in various ways on the website lessened the serious nature of Stowe’s message. Uncle Tom transformed into a genial, babbling idiot and symbol of the African American man. While the misrepresentations of Stowe’s character plastered over the image section of the website, great articles and responses to Stowe’s work were also featured. This redeemed the website in my eyes as a significant contribution to the historical authority of Stowe’s text.   

While Douglass’ and Stowe’s books were hitting the shelves, a political uprising was starting to stir. The most surprising text I read through was the speeches of Abraham Lincoln. Throughout my history education in public school, my head has been filled with the idea that Lincoln was strictly anti-slavery and a pioneering champion for the African American people. His speeches and the essays that others wrote about him clearly disputes that claim. Hawthorne, Emerson, and Douglass all agree that Lincoln was a well-respected and well-liked man. Lincoln did not care either way about slave ownership, just that he wanted the country to be united. This is a huge distinction of his character. He only cared to connect the North and South, not parade his own personal agenda. His speeches showcase his passion for restoring the nation into one united front, “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other.” Lincoln’s platform takes powerful stance and speaks to the commonality of human beings.

Studying periods in literature assembles the building blocks of historical consciousness. While reading one historically relevant text may provide some insight to that period, reading many different types, concurrently, can offer a more complete perspective. When analyzing these texts simultaneously, divisions and connections can be readily made and applied in the framework of themes. This application can be made in the historical context, as well. The reemerging subject throughout each text is the disconnection between “sides” and differing ideologies. Once this distinction is discovered, how we reconcile our beliefs against the history that literature reveals becomes the issue.