The Yellow Wallpaper

In Perkin Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper, main character is a woman who stays confined in an odd nursery and she begins to believe that the wallpaper is coming to life. The woman’s husband is a doctor and believes that it is best for her to stay in the room and rest. Her husband truly loves her, “He said I was his darling and his comfort and all he had, and that I must take care of myself for his sake, and keep well” (360). Even though he cares deeply for her, he makes a wrong decision by locking her in the nursery and it leads to her delusions. I feel that Gilman is trying to change the view of marriage and that by having a husband who is there and treating his wife with respect for her humanity, it will lead to a healthy life. The ill woman feels a sense of comfort and feels better when her husband is around, “and my appetite may be better in the evening when you are here, but it is worse in the morning when you are away!” (306). The absence of her husband and people cause her to create imaginary “women” that live beneath the wallpaper. A person cannot live without the presence and compassion of people. The best cure for the woman would have been to have her husband stay with her constantly and care after her. Her isolation caused her go crazy.

Adventures of Tom Sawyer

In Mark Twain’s Adventures of Tom Sawyer, we see a different side to the childhood and parenting themes. In this passage, childhood is viewed and portrayed differently; Tom is loved by the reader even when he gets into mischief. This troublesome character is looked highly upon and is admired.

Even though Tom gets into mischief and lies during church, the audience related with this character and understands his troubles. I think Twain portrays this depiction of childhood in this manner in order to bring the reader back to their childhood. The stories of mischief influence the reader to fantasize about what they wanted childhood to be like. Tom’s Aunt, even is amused by his slyness, “He ‘pears to know just how long he can torment me before I get my dander up, and he knows if he can make out to put me off for a minute of make me laugh, it’s all down again and I can’t hit him a lick” (315). By letting to figure of authority brush off Tom’s tricks, it is letting the reader take Tom’s side and agree with him getting out of trouble.

In other stories dealing with boys, we see the theme of boys having fun and getting into mischief. This theme is carried on in Twain’s Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Usually hard work is regarded in high importance but with Tom Sawyer, we see him using his wit and cleverness to get out of doing his work, “Tom gave up the brush with reluctance in his face, and alacrity in his heart” (329). Again, Tom is going against the moral norms but we still admire this cleverness. Twain illuminates our childhood fantasy by creating a well liked character that has fun by getting into mischief.

As Twain brings us back to our childhood, he is also getting us to loosen up on societies rules. I think every now and then a person needs to go back to their youth and get out of the day to day rituals. By forgetting the rules, you can use your inner slyness like Tom and have a little fun.

The Yares of the Black Mountain

In Davis’s The Yares of the Black Mountain, there is a definite battle between the thoughts of slavery and a battle between the Union and the Confederates. Mrs. Cook is from the north and thinks the south is terrible and immoral while the widow, Denby, thinks the south is a place of healing and comfort. Davis published this short story soon after the Civil War and she presents this conflict for a reason.

Mrs. Cook resembles the northerner who has prejudice views of the south. She comes down to find facts for her books and she lets her previous emotions effect how interprets the culture. Davis uses Mrs. Cook’s character to show the faults of the south. She says that they are poor and insults their profession, “I heard that these people were miserably poor! Don’t look so shocked. If you earned your bread by your brains as I do, you’d want as much bread for a penny as possible” (244). She thinks that the southerners only want to take advantage of people, “They think you have money. These Southerners are impoverished by the war, and they have an idea that every Northern traveler is overloaded with wealth, and is fair game” (249). The character of Mrs. Cook develops into someone that the reader isn’t favorable with. Mrs. Cook becomes rude and critical of everything in the south. Davis could be presenting this character in such a manner to persuade the reader in a certain political direction. The reader starts to dislike the anti-south Mrs. Cook and start to agree with the distressed widow.

Denby is a widow in search for health and comfort for her newborn. When she comes down to the south, she immediately falls in love with it. She loves the people’s friendliness, the climate, and the whole overall comfort of the south. Davis uses the emotion of a widow to sway the reader’s views. The south to her is home, “The baby was ill at Linville, and the train was stopped for an hour, and the ladies of the village came to help me. And now these people. It is just as though I were coming among old friends” (249). Unlike Mrs. Cook, Denby does not complain about anything in the south, including slavery. She seems to just accept slavery and not question it. Maybe Davis is trying to convince the reader that slavery should be accepted.

As Davis creates characters and political sides, the reader falls into the beliefs of the characters. If Davis could create a character well enough liked, she could use that character to change the beliefs of the audience. This type of rhetorical tool is used by most major American writers; they just do it so well the reader doesn’t notice that they are being influenced.

The Hidden Hand

In this week’s posting, I will focus on Southworth’s The Hidden Hand and how she writes about a different kind of childhood and the transformation of lifestyles. When Major Warfield discovers Capitola, she is a 13 year old girl dressing as a boy trying to survive on her own. Old Hurricane is a selfish war vet who is softened by Capitola and he helps a poor widow and her son.

Capitola was forced out on the street by poverty. She lived on her own for several years and defended for herself as she struggled to feed herself on little or no money, “But by and by Mr. Simmons got out of work, and the family fell into want, and they wished to go out and beg for them. I just couldn’t do that, and so they told me I should look out for myself” (181). Capitola was homeless and had to live on the streets, “I lived on my half-dime, spending a penny a day for a muffin, until the last penny was gone, and sleeping at night wherever I could-sometimes behind a pile of boxes on the sidewalk” (183). This life of hardship taught her life lessons that help her be a strong woman. Capitola’s life dramatically changed when Major Warfield came to New York to find her. He takes her off of the streets and exposes her to luxuries that she has never seen. Major Warfield takes her back to his home and gives her everything she needs. Capitola’s life went from almost ending in tragedy but a good man saved her. Southworth gives the reader confidence that even if times get tough, there is a possibility of making it out poverty. Traverse and his mother are also in danger of losing everything they have. Traverse lost his job and they think they might lose the house, “The rent had fallen fearfully behindhand, and the landlord threatened, unless the money could be raised to pay him, to seize their furniture and eject them from the premises” (197). Just as times seemed like there was no hope to survive, Herbert comes in with great news. Again, these impoverished times and turned around by Major Warfield who changes their fortune. Southworth gives hope and delight in the characters success. She gives hope to the readers who have similar situations where they cannot get out of poverty.

The realistic, hard lifestyle of this time period has turned into a time of hope and new beginnings. All of the characters life changed due to one man’s generosity, the generosity of a prideful, stubborn man.

The Lamplighter

Society’s depiction of young girls has changed dramatically. In this posting, we will compare and contrast the struggles of Gerty’s poor miserable life in Maria S. Cummings The Lamplighter and the life of the yoga loving Anna in Amy Pholer’s video series. Each girl live very different lifestyles yet still struggle with the same types of things.

Gerty struggles with a lot of serious problems. The “mother” figure in her life despises her, she is the ugliest girl anybody has ever seen, and she has no education or it seems, no purpose. “As it was, however, the poor little thing was told, a dozen times a day, that she was the worst-looking child in the world, and, what was more, the worst behaved. No one loved her, and she loves no one; no one treated her kindly; no one tried to make her happy, or cared whether she were so. She was but eight years old, and all alone in the world” (80). Aunt Nan never let Gerty do anything in the house nor did she ever go to school. She had no special skills. It was not uncommon for girls to have no education in the time of this novel but having no knowledge of anything was below society’s standards. Woman usually took care of all the housekeeping, including daughters. Gerty struggles to find use in her life. This compares to the Girl Time video with Anna who also is expected to be useful and be active. She goes to 3rd grade and loves the balance of the difficulty. Like Gerty, the expectation is that girls should be smart and be useful in life. The theme of the show is that “Smart girls have more fun” so there is obviously pressure on the girls like Ana to be the smartest and best girl she can be. This is very similar to Gerty’s struggle to also be useful and not just get in the way. Both girls need to be smarter and more useful to be accepted in life.

Being a civilized little girl who never shows fault or anger is a common expectation in both of these girls’s world. Gerty shows her anger through tantrums and vulgar language. Because of her temper, everyone looks down upon her, “But he had been well brought up by his gentle mother, was conscious that Gerty was exhibiting a very hot temper, and began to understand what made everybody think her so bad” (118). It is the same way in the video where it is good to be balanced and have everything under control. Ana does not have as bad of a temper as Gerty but there are still expectations on her to be self-controlled. Ana does yoga to balance herself out. If not a polite little girl who stays under control, then society will look down upon you.
One of the main differences between the societies is that today, girls are just supposed to have fun, while in The Lamplighter, that is not the case. Girls like Gerty are supposed to help around the house and be well rounded individuals. Girls in today’s society have to be strong individuals who have equal rights and supposed to have as much fun as possible through being successful. If Gerty were to come on Amy Pholer’s show, she would be clueless. When asked about having balance and about school, she would have neither of them. She probably would not even be allowed on the show because she is so ugly and today’s society focuses greatly on appearance and looks.

These eight year old girls grew up in different generations but they still struggled with the same types of issues. Trying to fit in and become part of society is the most common theme between the both. They both have to become normal, civilized citizens.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

In Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the chains of slavery are igniting people to go to drastic measures to protect every belief they have. The mothers in this story will not let anything get between them and their baby. Children become symbols of disaster and loneliness rather than hope.

When Eliza hears of Shelly potentially selling her child, she decides that her only choice is to run away. Her child, the light of her life, is going to be taken from her and sold into slavery apart from her. Because of Eliza’s love for her baby, she realizes what she has to do, “But stronger than all was maternal love, wrought into a paroxysm of frenzy by the near approach of a fearful danger” (105). As most children’s literature encourages morality and is a symbol of hope, Uncle Tom’s Cabin uses children as a cause of suffering. Stowe went straight to the point; she described a lifestyle of realism. She even attacked the issue of race. Eliza was a very light skinned slave who could pass as white. A white mother, slave or not, will be treated with more respect based solely on the color of her skin. The fact that she had a child was also an important factor for her sympathy. Miss Bird was taken aback by Eliza’s story of her passion for her child, “never slept a night without him; he was all I had. He was my comfort and pride, day and night; and, ma'am, they were going to take him away from me, -- to sell him, -- sell him down south, ma'am, to go all alone, -- a baby that had never been away from his mother in his life!” (150).

Slavery is the cause for all this mayhem. If it were not for the indulgencies of the white man and their lack of humanity, this event would have not happened. Children are in the middle of the conflicts in this novel. Like Eliza’s escape for her child, the mother on the ship took extreme measures because of Haley taking her child. The woman jumped off the boat in the middle of the night; she would rather die than live with the fact that her child was stolen from her. Tom awoke to the woman’s splash, “At midnight, Tom waked, with a sudden start. Something black passed quickly by him to the side of the boat, and he heard a splash in the water” (211). As Haley questioned Tom about where she was, he soon finds out about her jumping off. He decides to take it as a loss and move on.

Slavery ruined the idea of a family and the role of children. A mother’s will is stronger than a man’s desire. Children no longer symbolized hope; they were a symbol of confinement.

The Wide, Wide World

In Warner’s The Wide, Wide World, Ellen, the main character, has to deal with a dying mother and a father who has never been present in her life. Ellen’s mother is diagnosed to move across the world and leave her only child behind. Ellen copes with this situation like an adult even when her only friend is leaving her forever.

Ellen never really has true parents in this novel because her father is always away doing work and her mother is barely hanging on for her life. For the parent to be absent in the child’s life is portrayed as normal. Ellen is used to her father being gone, “Well, mamma, that is bad; but he has been away a great deal before, and I am sure we were always very happy” (23). Having already been disappointed by her father, Ellen is now let down by her mother. Her father left them then she asks, “Not and leave me, mother?” (23). Parents are portrayed by disappointment and not being there for their children. By having Ellen as the protagonist, the reader gets the image of the parents as the antagonist. This type of style presents a different point of view that the readers are not used to.

The role of the father and mother is very different in The Wide, Wide World. The father is not looked upon negatively even though he is always gone, but when the mother has to leave, Ellen is crushed. The mother has a more important role of being the nurturer for the family while the father is the supplier. Because the father is away making money it is acceptable for him to be gone. Ellen’s mother is needed in her daughter’s life but she would rather listen to the doctor than consider her daughter’s life. When Ellen is sobbing over the bad news, her mother stops her and tells her not to rebel. She deeply wants her daughter to trust in God, “Remember, dear Ellen, God sends no trouble upon his children but in love; and though we cannot see how, he will no doubt make all this work for our good” (24). The father really has no role in Ellen’s life. She is used to having no father, “The breakfast-table was still standing, and her father gone” (29).

Even though Ellen’s parents are not present in her life, she still loves her parents with all her heart. Her father is not present but I feel that she still cares about him and doesn’t have any hard feelings towards him. Ellen’s mother wants God to be her father, “He will, my dear daughter,--he will, if you will only put your trust in him, Ellen” (30). Ellen truly loves her mother and is going to miss her when she leaves. Even though her mother might be “betraying” her she still loves her dearly. Ellen will miss all of the great times they shared together, “But she began to think, too, as she watched it, how few more times she would be able to do so—how soon her pleasant tea-making would be over—and the desolate feeling of separation began to come upon her before the time” (26). Ellen understands that parents need to leave sometimes and she copes with their absence. She understands that her parents know best.

Ellen’s parents are hardly present in her life and that is a common thing for her. She loves her parents with all her heart even though they are not a strong part of her life anymore. She will never forget the times they did have and their absence was the normality of the time period.