A Whisper In The Dark

After Sybil is sent away it took me awhile to figure out she was in an insane asylum because she does not actually know it right away either and we only get the story from her point of view. The concept of insanity is really creepy when you think about it because if someone says you are crazy all you objections are just considered part of your craziness. Some of Sybil out breaks of anger would usually just be considered a tantrum were looked at as the rantings of a crazy girl. For example when she hears her mothers voice she frantically “beat upon [her] door in a paroxysm of impatience…” (pg 237) She also picks up the habit of pacing back and forth in her room like the stranger above her. She does this so much that the carpet was “worn to shreds by [her] weary march…” (pg 236). Knowing all these things made did not make me trust the narrator any less because I felt like I got to know her so well in the beginning that I knew she was normal and not crazy. It just made me feel really bad for her. I could almost feel her helplessness! Although the mother daughter relationship was approached very differently in this text than in the others we have read I can still tell that both of them cared deeply for one another even in their absence. Sybil even says, when she sees the picture of her mother, that “[she] know[s] so little, and often long[s] for her so much” (pg221). This just shows they have an unseen connection despite the fact that they are not around each other. When Sybil gets the letters from her mom off the dog, the tone in the letter is even full of some amounts of love. Her mother, even not knowing it was her daughter, was full of concern for this young girl and saved her from her suicide. I think that if Sybil had grown up with her mother their relationship would have been a lot like the relationship between Ellen and her mother in the Wide Wide World. Both girls were brought up similarly when it comes to working and winning a man, so I believe they would have shared the same bond with their mothers.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

In Uncle Tom’s Cabin we see most of the theories we created flipped upside down. Although this is the first story we have read about a little boy, it is hard to see very many similarities in this text and the others we have read. One main thing that sticks out however, is a mothers love for her son. In Uncle Tom’s Cabin Eliza risks everything to run away and save her son from being taken by the slave trader. Eliza shows so much affection toward her son. They are running to save his life and she still feels bad for making him walk! We can see this when Eliza says “Poor fellow! He isn’t used to walking, and I’ve hurried him on so” to the woman who offers her food and shelter for the night (pg 247). Also along their journey Eliza gives all the food to her son and takes none for herself. This relationship reminds me a lot of the relationship between Willie, from The Lamplighter, and his mother.

In addition to this, one of the conclusions we drew from reading the Sanchez and MacLeod texts was that touchy issues of the time were often ignored in books. In this book however, the entire story line is filled with one of the most difficult subjects in all of American history. Slavery is what the very story is built on. One thing is clear, Uncle Tom’s Cabin was definitely written to inspire some sort of social change. To help with this social change Stowe put a lot of religion in the text, much like all the other readings we have done. Eliza prays when she is running in the middle of the night to save her child. Mrs. Bird, the senator’s wife, clearly states that “passing a law forbidding people to give meat and drink to those poor colored folks that come along…is something downright cruel and unchristian” (pg 274). Later in the book the senator, who voted to pass this law, decides to break it and help Eliza and Harry seek some shelter. I think for people reading this back in the 19th century the fact that someone as high up as a senator would help a runaway slave would have been shocking and possibly very controversial. The remarks about how “unchristian” slavery is would definitely be a way to change people perceptions of slavery, and while reading this text we almost get to know Eliza and some people can identify with the fear of loosing a child, which would alter peoples minds! When Uncle Tom is on the boat to New Orleans to be sold, a women and her baby are purchased and put on the boat too. Then a man buys the baby, and the mother is forced to part with her child. This parting is enough for the women to through herself overboard that very night. Things like this were heart breaking to read for me so I can only imagine how hard it was for people to read back then!

The Hidden Hand

The most drastic difference I can see from the theories we previously made and the story of The Hidden Hand is the overwhelming presence of a setting. Much of the beginning of the novel is dedicated to describing the setting which, from out lead responded discussion, we established that it almost becomes its own character in the story. The mansion where Old Hurricane lives is described as “one of the loneliest and wildest of the mountain regions of Virginia…surrounded on three sides by a range of steep, gray rocks, spiked with clumps of dark evergreens, and called…the Devil’s Hoof” (pg 151). Right from the start we get a creepy feeling about the place. Later we learn that it is Halloween, which definitely does not make it feel any less scary at this place! Almost every aspect of the land is named “Devil” something! Old Hurricane does his best to keep out the weather and metaphorically maybe the devil, with “heavy curtains that kept out every draft or air…”(pg 152). The landscape and the house relates to Old Hurricane in that it is a metaphor for his personality. One the outside he is rough, intimidating, and scary, but on the inside he is warm and a little mysterious. Even though in the beginning we only see his rough side we eventually see his softer side, especially when he so readily runs off to New York.

Also after looking at the time line provided by PBS just reiterates the fact that the best novels are not always the novels which were most relatable or accessible. I enjoyed reading the Lamplighter so much I can not believe that it would not be a major American novel. If we would start considering the most popular novels the major novels the reading in High school would go by much easier! I think they chose most of the novels they did because they were the best examples of the political happenings of that time. For example, Uncle Tom’s Cabin is on the list and that book brought about a lot of change in our society and evoked some very serious emotions. Also The Jungle had an impact on industrialization in American. Or maybe it could be that people decided those novels were the best written. In addition to the books that made the list for the time period we are studying, I was surprised to see what books made the list for the more modern times. I try to read most of the best seller books and most of them were not on this list at all! For example, the Harry Potter series swept the nation pretty powerfully! It didn’t make any changes to our society but it is extremely popular, yet it is not on the list.

The Lamplighter

After watching the video of Anna and reading the excerpt from The Lamplighter about Gerty I can see many similarities between the two. Anna strives for balance in her life in much the same way Gerty strives for a way to be useful to True. This is quite the challenge for Gerty since she “never did anything, and don’t know anything…” (pg 115). Still Gerty tries her best to help True out around the house and make toast and tea. We can see how attached she is to the idea of being helpful because on her first encounter with Willie she forgot to make the toast and tea. After seeing that True had done it “tears came into Gerty’s eyes [and] she looked very much disappointed…” (pg 115). She is desperately trying to help True obtain balance in his life, which brings me to Anna. In the video, Anna tells Amy the main way she tries to bring balance into her own life is through yoga. Anna encourages others to try yoga and have balance much the say way Gerty tries to bring this balance in True’s life. Also some of the yoga poses that Anna shows us reminded me so much of Gerty. For example the child pose with her covered is a lot like Gerty covering her face, and the warrior pose made me think of Gerty hitting Nan Grant!

I think if Gerty were featured on this show she would have told everyone that screaming helps to relieve stress, and that if screaming did not help then they should pray to God. Although she does not learn about God until later she does use him to relieve some of her worries and stresses. She turns to God and “pray[s] to Heaven that night for strength to keep her resolve and aid…” (pg 150). She would probably tell people that helping others should be their main priority or at least helping those that you love and the satisfaction of this helps make stresses disappear. When she cleans the room “the pleasure [True] manifested made the day a memorable one in Gerty’s life, one to be marked in her memory as long as she lived, as being the first in which she had known that happiness, perhaps the highest earth affords, of feelings that she had been instrumental in giving joy to another” (pg 109). So as you can see, even though these girls lived 150 years apart from one another some of the things they struggle with are very similar and they both try and help other people, Anna with yoga and Gerty with cleaning. They both have to find ways to cope with stress even though it comes from very different places.