The Art Remains

As I sat down to write this post, I was torn between whether or not Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness can actually be considered a racist work of literature. It was not until reading Chinua Achebe’s article “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness” that I even considered the subject. Initially, I viewed Marlow’s comments about and descriptions of the natives as the mere observations of a sheltered European man. My reasoning for this comes from my understanding that the Europeans during that particular time period viewed Africans in a collective (and negative) way, thus causing Marlow to be a mere product of his society and their morals. Marlow’s descriptions of the native Africans as savage, his interpretation of their speech, and his use of derogatory terms are all what I perceived to be the result of Marlow’s upbringing in a sheltered and opinionated European culture. While reading, I presumed that Marlow’s thoughts and actions regarding the native Africans were innocent observations and not the result of harsh feelings toward another race. Achebe argues in his speech that Conrad portrays the native African culture resembling a frenzy and uses this passage to support his claim: “...a burst of yells, a whirl of black limbs, a mass of hands clapping, of feet stamping, of bodies swaying, of eyes rolling under the droop of heavy and motionless foliage. The steamer toiled along slowly on the edge of a black and incomprehensible frenzy.” As I have mentioned several times, this seemed to me to be a sheer observation of an uninformed European rather than a statement meant to insult because their is no direct attack upon the Africans or their culture.

However, I can definitely recognize and understand Chinua Achebe’s belief that Conrad’s Heart of Darkness takes on an aura of racism throughout. One particular section of the novella that Achebe mentions that jumped out to me as being seemingly racist is as follows: “A black figure stood up, strode on long black legs, waving black arms...” After pointing out this quotation, Achebe the goes on to say, “...as though we might expect a black figure striding along on black legs to wave white arms!” It does seem quite excessive of Marlow/Conrad to repeatedly mention the color of this person’s skin. This obsessive need to comment on skin color is what made me question whether or not this was a simple statement of truth or a way to distinguish the difference between the native Africans and the imperialist Europeans. If it was a manner of distinguishing the two races, then I believe that I can consider Heart of Darkness to be a work of racism.

Yet, I am still very unsure of Conrad’s specific intentions when describing the natives of the Congo river region. I feel as though it is a bit unfair to pinpoint Conrad - or anyone, for that matter - as a racist without completely knowing his motives for writing the novella and understanding his own personal experiences when traveling the Congo river. Before I conclude, I would like to touch upon Achebe’s belief that Heart of Darkness is not a work of art; “And the question is whether a novel which celebrates this dehumanization, which depersonalizes a portion of the human race, can be called a great work of art. My answer is: No, it cannot.” Achebe makes it extremely clear that he is offended by Conrad’s novella, but I do not believe that it is correct to judge this piece of literature as not being worthy to be named a work of art. There is a multitude of works of art that have been considered to have the effect of dehumanization, but the quality of art and freedom of expression is still present. Art is art, no matter if it is offensive.

Overall, I have yet to come to a conclusion on the question of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness as being a racist work of literature, but I am quite positive that it remains a work of art.

It’s A Love Story, Baby, Just Say “Yes!”

Yeah that's right, I'm back with the Taylor Swift connections! As I'm sure you already know, Taylor Swift writes a lot of love songs that advocate the importance of true love. Like Taylor, Emily Brontë emphasizes the importance of achieving true love once it is found in her gothic novel, Wuthering Heights. I strongly believe that this brilliant piece of gothic literature conveys a message that everyone should come to understand: once true love is established, it must be achieved.

Let's think like a Swiftie here, shall we?

Love Story: Thinking back to the novel, Catherine and Heathcliff were introduced to each other at a young age (“We were both young when I first saw you...” Anyone?). This relationship was obviously not one of love at first sight, but as time progressed they grew closer and closer. Later on in the song Taylor sings “This love is difficult, but it's real.” I feel as though no other Taylor Swift song lyric could best describe the love between Catherine and Heathcliff in this novel. They are pressured both socially and economically, but their love is so true that it exists even after death.

You Belong With Me: Social class plays a major role in the novel, which tends to prevail over love itself. Often, characters tend to choose high social status and wealth over the pursuit of true love. For instance, Catherine chose to be with Edgar, who was wealthy and of high social status, over her one true love Heathcliff. I'd assume that once Catherine made her choice, Heathcliff was dancing around his room and singing to himself, “If you can see I'm the one who understands you / Been here all along so why can't you see / You belong with me!” Along with the lyrics of the song, the distance between Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange compared to Taylor’s house and the house of her love interest are quite similarly placed.  

This is a picture of the two houses used in Taylor

Swift's music video for "You Belong With Me".

Dear John: We all know that Heathcliff is a pretty evil dude, but how he treated his wife Isabella was absolutely terrible. Which reminds me of Taylor Swift’s relationship with John Mayer. If you're unfamiliar with the situation, here's a few lyrics from the song she wrote about him: “Dear John, I see it all now that you're gone / Don't you think I was too young to be messed with? / The girl in the dress, cried the whole way home, I should've known.” Yes, Isabella, you should've known. Looking at the lyrics from “Dear John” and the novel Wuthering Heights, you will find similarities between Taylor’s crying all the way home in a dress to Isabella’s running in the snow from Wuthering Heights and Heathcliff to her real home at Thrushcross Grange. Both instances reveal the importance of ending abusive relationships (whether emotionally or physically) and searching for that one true love.

Bad Blood: From the very beginning, Heathcliff and Hindley didn't exactly get along. Hindley constantly found ways of picking on Heathcliff, causing Heathcliff to lash back at him every so often. Heathcliff became pretty fed up with all of Hindley’s antics and declared that he would somehow seek revenge on Hindley. I guess you could say there was a little bad blood between the two? Picture this: Heathcliff creates a music video with flames in the background and Kendrick Lamar rapping while Heathcliff sings: “Now we got problems / And I don't think we can solve them / You made a really deep cut / And, baby, now we got bad blood / Hey! / Did you think we'd be fine? / Still got scars on my back from your knife / So don't think it's in the past, / these kinda wounds they last and they last.” Sorry, there's no true friendship here.

Mary’s Song (Oh My My My): “I was seven and you were nine / I looked at you like the stars that shined / In the sky, the pretty lights.” Of course, I had to fit my personal favorite Taylor Swift song (trust me, it was really hard to pick one) in here somewhere. Luckily, it connects to the novel perfectly! This song depicts a young girl and a young boy who had essentially grown up together as friends and after much teasing from one another as children, they fell in love.  Like the two children in the song, Catherine and Heathcliff would constantly tease each other and play games. Their childhood (unlike that of the children in the Taylor Swift song) was essentially when their relationship started to fall apart. However, the end of the novel reveals that true love can conquer even death.

Begin Again: I thought that Cathy and Hareton's blooming relationship was quite a nice way to end the story. If you look closely at the text, you'll discover that their relationship is a reflection of Catherine and Heathcliff’s relationship at the beginning of the novel. Thus, the end is the beginning all over again. Taylor Swift got it right with her song “Begin Again”, as the lyrics are: “I’ve been spending the last 8 months thinking all love ever does / Is break and burn and end / But on a Wednesday in a Café I watched it begin again.” In a way, we as readers are like Taylor in this song. While reading, we believed that true love did not exist in this novel, until the end when it all began again.

The Truth About WWI Through Imagery

 

After reading and analyzing the poem “Base Details” by Siegfried Sassoon, it became quite clear that Sassoon used imagery as a dominant poetic device to convey that the speaker’s attitude was that of disgust towards the way in which World War I soldiers behaved. Ironically, the speaker is also included in the subject of this poem because he is, in fact, talking about himself. Imagery is dominant because every single line of the poem contains picturesque prose that causes the reader to feel as though they are sharing the same moment with the speaker. Disgust is quite apparent as the speaker’s attitude due to the gory and unsettling pictures that are painted with extremely vivid imagery.

One line of the poem that I would like to focus on particularly is the very opening line because it immediately reveals the speaker’s attitude: “If I were fierce, and bald, and short of breath. . .” Though this is only the first line of the poem, it jumped out at me specifically due to its vivid imagery and its brutally honest take on the soldiers of World War I. Generally, society likes to think of soldiers as young, handsome, strong, and determined men, but Sassoon has proved just the opposite with his use of imagery and tone of disgust. Let’s break down the poem’s first line even further, shall we? The term fierce can be thought of as a word relating to passion and strength, but other synonyms include: brutal, angry, murderous, dangerous, and savage - thus, creating negative connotations through imagery. The term bald usually refers to a person who has little to no hair on their head, but in this case it could also be referring to the fact that this poem is exposing the true nature of World War I. Lastly, “short of breath” is generally used to describe someone who is out of shape or has trouble breathing, thus proving that not all soldiers are fit. Each of these terms/phrases are elements of imagery that emphasize speaker’s disgust towards the overall way in which World War I was carried out.

Let’s analyze a few other lines from Siegfried Sassoon’s poem “Base Details” in terms of imagery and how they reveal the speaker’s disgust. Lines four through five paint a shocking picture that reveals the true behavior of the soldiers of World War I; “You’d see me with my puffy petulant face, / Guzzling and gulping in the best hotel.” Continuing the idea that society generally views soldiers as handsome and proud men, the speaker eradicates these views with line four by describing himself as having a face of a soldier who is unfit and also quite grumpy. The next line goes on to say that he is drinking sloppily in a fancy hotel, painting the picture that soldiers during the time were not exactly ideal gentlemen who practiced proper etiquette.

Overall, the poem “Base Details” by Siegfried Sassoon reveals the speaker’s disgust towards himself and his fellow soldiers during World War I through vibrant and unsettling imagery.

Sailing the River of Satire

Satire is defined as the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. So you’re probably thinking, “How could such a fun book as the Adventures of Huckleberry  Finn actually be so serious?” All of the chaos and ridiculousness of the great American novel by Mark Twain is satirizing American society. Twain uses satire to explore the civilization (or shall I say “sivilization”?) of American society in the 1800s. I am quite sad to say that there will be no Taylor Swift connection in this post. Please forgive me!

Alright, let’s take another look at the definition of satire: the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. I’m pretty sure we should just delete the “or” before the word “ridicule” because Twain is a real overachiever and uses them ALL in Huck Finn. Yup, that’s right.

I continue: There is uncanny humor throughout the course of the novel and, as I stated in my previous post, there were countless times where I actually laughed out loud. I think that’s proof enough for you, right? No? Okay. So here’s a quotation (no, not “quote”) that might result in a LOL or two: “What's the use you learning to do right, when it's troublesome to do right and ain't no trouble to do wrong, and the wages is just the same?” (Chapter 16) HAHAHA *slaps knee* Twain uses humor here to show that American civilization has taken a wrong turn because many individuals know it is sometimes easier to do the wrong thing and not the moral thing.

Moving on to the next part of the satire definition: irony. Now we all know from Shakespeare’s Othello that there can be three kinds of irony: dramatic, situational, and verbal. Twain is a bit of an overachiever, again, because he uses all three. For now, I’m going to focus on how Twain uses verbal irony to satirize American society in the 1800s. During Huck’s trek with Jim, they come across a man by the name of Jake Packard who explains his ideals on killing: “‘See? He'll be drownded, and won't have nobody to blame for it but his own self. I reckon that's a considerable sight better'n killin' of him. I'm unfavorable to killin' a man as long as you can git aroun' it; it ain't good sense, it ain't good morals. Ain't I right?’” (Chapter 12) Basically ‘ole Jake is saying that it’s better to let a man drown than to blatantly kill him. What a great guy, huh? This use of verbal irony helps Twain satirize the fact that American civilization has ultimately become idiotic and cruel, with the hopes that this can be reformed.

Next up: exaggeration. Exaggeration is the act of magnifying something beyond the limits of truth, which Twain does quite often in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. For example, Twain often exaggerates Jim’s character through the use of caricature. Jim is made out to seem like an extremely unintelligent runaway slave, considering that all of his dialogue is spelled improperly within the actual text. In chapter 40 Jim says, “Well, den, dis is de way it look to me, Huck. Ef it wuz HIM dat 'uz bein' sot free, en one er de boys wuz to git shot, would he say, 'Go on en save me, nemmine 'bout a doctor f'r to save dis one?' Is dat like Mars Tom Sawyer? Would he say dat? You BET he wouldn't! WELL, den, is JIM gywne to say it? No, sah—I doan' budge a step out'n dis place 'dout a DOCTOR, not if it's forty year.” It took me quite a while to translate exactly what Jim was saying and what he meant every time he spoke in the novel. The very notion that Jim’s speech is exaggerated, reveals its use as a satirical element in order to express that most white Americans were extremely prejudice of African American slaves in the American south during the 1800s.

Alright, let’s talk about the ridicule aspect of satire. This explanation should be quick because it’s plain and simple. Woohoo! This aspect is more of an undertone because Twain’s actual subject of ridicule in this novel is the 1800s American civilization. Twain does so by using all of the other parts of the satire definition. If you forgot, I’ll refresh your memory: humor, irony, and exaggeration. Additionally, ridicule is used when portraying Jim’s character and is often used when the introducing the Duke and the King. If you pay attention and look closely, ridicule is pretty much everywhere throughout Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Until next time, my fellow literature lovers!

Long Live Huck Finn

“Long live the walls we crashed through

All the kingdom lights shined just for me and you

I was screaming, ‘long live all the magic we made’

And bring on all the pretenders

I'm not afraid”

- Long Live, Taylor Swift

Mark Twain’s satirical novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, radiates with the excitement of adventure while eliciting feelings of nostalgia from its audience. Whether it's climbing a tree, pretending to be thieves on the hunt, or sailing down a river, Huck and his companions really know how to keep the magic of childhood alive while facing abundant challenges. Guess what connection I’ll be making in this post! Yeah, that’s right: Taylor Swift.

Right off the bat, Huck, Tom, and the gang sneak out of their houses in the dead of night to engage in some extreme adventure. Their first adventure is taking a journey to a cave somewhere in their hometown and starting their business of thievery. Which, of course, reminds me of Taylor Swift’s song, Long Live, where she sings, “For a moment a band of thieves in ripped up jeans got to rule the world.” In all honesty, I don’t think I could’ve inserted a more perfect song lyric to relate to Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Don’t laugh. . .I’m serious! Make fun of me all you want but, when you think about it, Huck Finn is a poor boy who wears rags for clothes (hence the “ripped up jeans”). He goes on magnificent adventures with his crew, during which they pretend they are quite dominant over the rest of the world (hence the “rule the world” aspect). Who knew Taylor Swift lyrics would be perfectly relatable to a satirical novel that is well over one hundred years old?

I continue. . .Huck’s adventures suggest that even the youngest and poorest of individuals can be completely independent and intelligent. Huck and his friends are exaggerated versions of the stereotypical wild and adventures children. For example, there is a point in the book where Huck is living completely on his own in the woods, hunting for each of his meals and building his own form of shelter. I’m quite sure this is not a realistic interpretation of a child surviving on his own in the wilderness because most children wouldn’t know even the most basic of survival skills. However, these exaggerations express that courage and imagination can take you just about anywhere.

If you’re ever looking for a bit of nostalgia for your childhood and some literary entertainment, then you should definitely give Huck Finn a try. I highly recommend it! It’s very upbeat and fun with historical and cultural undertones of the American West. So far, there have been countless times while reading that I have actually laughed out loud because of the absurdity of the events and logic of the book. There was this one time when. . .well, I won’t ruin it for you. You’re just going to have to read it for yourself! But definitely keep in mind those Taylor Swift lyrics while you’re reading.

I Knew You Were Trouble (Remix)

“I knew you were trouble when you walked in

So shame on me now

Flew me to places I'd never been

Now I'm lying on the cold hard ground

Oh, oh, trouble, trouble, trouble”

The above lyrics are from the Taylor Swift song that Othello was most likely singing in his head when he found out that Iago was really a lying, deceitful snake. Well, either that song or possibly Bad Blood. Considering that Othello was made out to be such a humble character, it seems fair to say that he had, for the most part, blamed himself for the murder of Desdemona. However, I see things a bit differently . . .

Although Othello is definitely partially to blame for the horrific conundrum of Desdemona’s murder, Iago holds a greater deal of the blame. After all, without Iago’s beguiling character there would be no ghastly murder. I guess there would also be no play then, either, huh?

First off, Iago uses jealousy as a rational excuse to plot revenge against Othello. Iago is green with envy because Othello chose Michael Cassio, an arithmetician, over Iago to become Othello’s lieutenant. Additionally, Iago informs the audience that there is a rumor that Othello slept with his wife, Emilia. He goes on to say that he does not have to investigate this situation further, for the fact that it is merely a rumor is proof enough for him. Is it me or does Iago seem a bit vengeful? Here’s where Iago gets really evil: He deliberately tells Othello that Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair, knowing that this is false information and that it will cause Othello immense pain. To further his evil scheme and making him even more to blame for the murder of Desdemona, Iago gets possession of Desdemona’s handkerchief and strategically places it inside of Cassio’s chamber. This is not just any handkerchief though! This handkerchief was Othello’s mother’s and it is said to have been made with magic by a two-hundred-year-old witch. Pretty creepy stuff. This handkerchief was given to Desdemona by Othello as a symbol of their love, and if it is lost Othello will magically fall out of love with Desdemona. Nice going, Iago. But wait, there’s more: Iago makes Othello hide as he and Cassio discuss Cassio’s relationship with Bianca. However, Othello believes that Iago and Cassio are discussing Cassio’s relationship with Desdemona and Othello becomes extremely angered by all of Cassio’s laughing and passionate talk. Poor Othello.

I know what you’re all thinking: “But Othello was the one who did the killing!” You’re right and I do not disregard this fact. Let’s think about this differently, shall we? Say, a man starts a fire so that it might burn down a whole house. Who is to blame then? The fire itself or the man who set the fire? The man who intentionally set the fire, of course! In terms of Shakespeare’s play, Othello, the man is Iago, the fire is Othello, and the house is Desdemona. Ultimately, without the man to set the fire there would be no burnt-down house.

Uniforms For Diversity Encouragement

In my humble opinion, assimilation is when one conforms to the ideals and values of society, though they may or may not agree with these ideals and values. In more accurate terms, Dictionary.com says that assimilation is “the process of adapting or adjusting to the culture of a group or nation, or the state of being so adapted.” Dictionary.com is even kind enough to share with us its meaning in terms of sociology: “the merging of cultural traits from previously distinct cultural groups, not involving biological amalgamation.” What is amalgamation, you ask? In simpler terms, it means merging. Therefore, assimilation is basically the act of adapting and merging to meet the standards of a culture. Glad we cleared things up, huh? Me too.

Here I go again with my humble opinion . . .

Assimilation can be a positive thing or a negative thing, depending upon the morals of the person or group of people who are taking part in assimilation. If the person or group of people have the same, or similar, ideals and values as the society they are assimilating to, then they’re making a smart move. However, if the person or group of people are particularly against the ideals and values of the culture they are assimilating to and conform regardless, you could say they’re in for some trouble.

Conforming inwardly while questioning outwardly is not very healthy to partake in, yet it is quite a common theme in novels of literary merit. In relation to this form of assimilation, Ralph Ellison’s nameless protagonist in his bildungsroman, Invisible Man, is surely a member of this conforming-inwardly-while-questioning-outwardly community. Deep in his heart, the protagonist wants his voice to be heard, but every time he tries he is rejected and scorned for acting upon this desire. Would you like an example? Yes? Okay! For example, the protagonist conforms to the rules and standards of the Brotherhood, while silently questioning whether or not their morals are just. He gives speeches under the guidelines of Brother Jack and Brother Hambro, forcing him to deliver their beliefs as if they were his own. The protagonist feels as though his own personal speeches would be much more influential than the scripted ones. However, he keeps this to himself for fear of being dismissed from the Brotherhood. In regards to a place in society, the Brotherhood is all the protagonist has at this point which causes him to unwillingly assimilate to their way of life. You probably picked up on this already, but the protagonist isn’t very comfortable with this way of life. Unfortunately, the protagonist decides to give up on society altogether and become a recluse, proclaiming himself to be invisible. Yes, an “invisible man”. And that, folks, is an example of the negative effects of assimilation.

I was hoping you would like to hear the bad news before the good news, so here’s something a bit more uplifting . . .

Assimilation can be both positive and negative simultaneously! Not exactly what you might have hoped for, I know, but I’m being optimistic. Previously, we had only focused on the negative effects of conforming inwardly and questioning outwardly on a single character: the protagonist. But what if we thought about its effects on both the protagonist and the rest of society? For the protagonist, the effects of this form of assimilation are undoubtedly negative, as mentioned before. For the rest of society, however, these effects could be positive because not everyone has the same values and beliefs as the protagonist, and the fact that he begins to keep them to himself is most likely a relief to those who do not agree with these beliefs. The protagonist’s choice to assimilate rather than go against the majority of society is one of the many traits that separates him from Ras the Exhorter, who is definitely an extremist and is unafraid to speak his mind. So if you look at it from the majority of society’s perspective, it might be a good thing that there isn’t another Ras (personality-wise only, of course) running around the streets of Harlem.