Questions about Strange Places

After reading the last line of Claude McKay's poem "If We Must Die," I experienced a moment of confusion rather than clarity. This moment could have been considered a sudden aha! moment, which I discussed in my last blog, and I felt persuaded to ask a question about the text. The poem is about a young prostitute, or a dancer, who is "proudly-swaying...and hanging loose about her form" for men and even women in a dance club during the Harlem Renaissance. Yet the speaker that is watching her performance startles the reader by saying," I knew her self was not in that strange place." What did McKay mean by that sentence? Did she mean that the dancer was forced to dance during those times for money? Was she putting on a show for the audience, while deep down she was unhappy? Looking into context, the descriptions of the dancer and the people admiring her in the poem paint the picture of a confident woman with beautiful features and the confidence to flaunt her assets. Plus, looking further into historical instances, the Harlem Renaissance was a time when the African American community developed into a new black identity. My guess for this last line is that this woman is overwhelmed by the developments of history and culture. As the African Americans were gaining more momentum culturally, the prostitution and dance scene probably gained speed as well. Therefore, I assume she became a dancer for money; an innocent young woman who was forced to put herself out there to succeed in the rising times of the Harlem Renaissance. While people were passionately eyeing her body, she may have felt uncomfortable. The one man that looked through her "falsely-smiling face" could have been the only person in the crowd that didn't look at her in sexual envy.

The Aha! Moment

The aha! moment may not be defined conclusively, but it can be described as the moment a reader throws down a book and finally "gets it." In other words, it is advanced state of understanding when a reader finally comprehends the meaning of a book. Both "The Wife of His Youth" and "Learning to Read" are written with the intention to shock readers with deliberate moment of clarity. In "Wife of his Youth," Charles Chesnutt places his moment at the last sentence of his piece, in order to leave readers thinking about what they just read. His last sentence, "Permit me to introduce to you the wife of my youth," completely alters everything the readers had previously expected of the story. When reading the story, I would have never expected that the husband that Liza Jane had been looking for all along was the main protagonist, Mr. Ryder. In retrospect, when Liza approached Mr. Ryder's gate telling the story of her long lost husband and explained her dedication for the past 25 years in looking for her husband, she handed him a picture of her husband, which ended up being a picture of Mr. Ryder. Looking back further, we realize at the point when Mr. Ryder "went upstairs to his bedroom, and stood for a long time before the mirror of his dressing-case, gazing thoughtfully at the reflection of his own face." He planned a grand ball and I assumed he would propose to Miss Dixon, when all the sudden the previous foreshadowing comes into play and we realize he is actually professing his deep affections for the wife of his youth, Liza. In "Learning to Read" by Frances E. W. Harper, the first few stanzas are written to influence the readers to believe that the old slave woman never learned to read or had access to education. She tells stories of a man "who greased the pages of his book, and hid it in his hat." She also mentions that "knowledge didn't agree with slavery - 'twould make us all too wise." Based on these first few examples, we know that slaves were not given the opportunity to learn to read and write and that very few slaves took the necessary steps to learn that ability. As a turning point in the story, the last few stanzas suddenly direct readers in a different direction in which she says she "never stopped till I could read, vthe hymns and the testament," from the Bible. From that point on, the reader knows she went to great lengths to learn to read and that her descriptions of slaves at the forefront of the play did not describe her passion for learning. 

Contemporary Connection

Between 1865 and 1914, the United States needed to make post-Civil War decisions that would develop the country into a world power, like how to unite the North and the South, how to handle racist segregation, and how to industrialize the economy. During the Gilded Age, developments in technology transformed every aspect of life in the United States. A host of new inventions were introduced between 1865 and 1914, like the typewriter, radio, motion picture, and publishing. With these new methods of technology, the United States emerged as a world power. In comparison with the 21st century, the development of technology correlates directly with the whirlwind emergence of Apple. The company came out of the clouds and introduced products that have taken over the world. Steve Jobs first introduced the iPod and developed from there the iPhone, iMac, and iPad, each of which are updated every few months to even more technological advancements. The legacy of Steve Jobs brought the United States into a world market, as citizens of countries all over the world started ordering iPhones and iMacs, bringing others together to celebrate an advancement more powerful than any seen during the Gilded Age. As Thomas Edison was hailed as the "English Wonder of the World" during the Gilded Age, Steve Jobs deserves to be coined the newest "Wonder of the World." Yet, during the Gilded Age, the advancements in technology, one of the more popular early American literary device, poetry, didn't exactly benefit from industrialization. Many poets that had been popular before saw a diminishing role in magazines and newspapers. Similarly, because of the advancements in technology in the 21st century, newspapers and magazines are seeing a less important role in culture. By using the iPhone or iMac, digital newspapers and magazines or newspapers on iPhone applications have attracted audiences all over the world. Instead of waiting daily for a magazine which is a hassle to read, audiences can press a few buttons on their technological devices and find news at any time, anywhere. In the end, technological advancements in the Gilded Age helped the United States become the world power it is today.

An Agreement for Change

When Lincoln delivered his Second Inaugural Address, he sought out to "articulate the meaning of the war and to lay the groundwork for peace, reconstruction, and reunification" after the Civil War was drawing to a close. Likewise, when Henry Garnet was invited by President Lincoln to deliver a sermon at the House of Representatives, he could possibly have been in agreement and conversation with Lincoln. Garnet was "urging legislators to go even further, erasing all distinctions based on race from the laws and Constitution of the United States." Besides the fact that the two were conversational in reality, their views on "the next step" for the United States after the close of the Civil War were identical. Garnet is pushing legislators to understand that demands by abolitionists and reformers will dwindle once "the unjust and heavy burdens shall be removed from every man in the land." The Emancipation Proclamation may have been issued, but slaves in areas not controlled by the federal government continued to be burdened by slavery. Therefore, Garnet is speaking for the eternal justice of every African American in the United States "to make his own way in the social walks of life." Both Lincoln's Inaugural Address and Garnet's Discourse to the House of Representatives took place in 1865, when Lincoln wanted the United States to achieve "malice toward none...to do all which may achieve peace and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves and with all nations." The two leaders were in agreement at this thought. The American Dream for both is for peace and unification as one country, where people of any color can pave their own paths and determine their own destiny. The war was drawing to a close, and it was time to reconstruct the way of life in the North and South. Although Lincoln's powerful position in politics may have added to his persuasive tone, both verbal announcements of sentiments were powerful claims received by many - a claim that pressures the United States to reunify and reconstruct to regain peace.

A Call to Action

Compelling, vivid, and rather violent images of despair and mistreatment were the calls to action that abolitionist authors like John Whittier and Frances Harper incorporated in their poems during the antislavery crusade. Most memorable were the images in "The Slave Mother" by Harper, in which the author portrayed the separation of mother in a tormenting fashion: "He is not hers, although she bore for him a mother's pains; He is not hers, although her blood is coursing through his veins" (17-20). In modern days and in the past, it is assumed that the relationship between mother and child quintessential to development - a relationship that should not be tampered with. Yet, when a slave master is described as standing in the way of that bond, the reader must feel immense sympathy for the situation and is therefore called to action to improve standards in the racially divided United States. Likewise, in her other poem entitled "Ethiopia," the image of laughing children to startle readers. The only difference, though, is that the image of children in "Ethiopia" is a more positive one, as "'Neath sheltering vines and stately palms shall laughing children play, and aged sires with joyous psalms shall gladden every day" represents the fact that, although slave children are stuck in an oppressive state, the redress of God will bring light to the lives of the children (17-20). Although this perspective may not startle readers because it does not physically torment, it shows that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and with the work of crusaders, that redress of God will show through sooner. Lastly, in "The Farewell of a Virginia Slave Mother to Her Daughters" by Whittier, daughters are "sold and gone" to dark, lonesome, gloomy homes where "There no mother's eye is near them, there no mother's ear can hear them; Never, when the torturing lash seams their back with many a gash, shall their mother's kindness bless them, or a mother's arms caress them" (15-20). Not only does the whipping images startle a reader, but the fact that these children in despair are left suffering without the loving touch of a mother is the one image a reader needs to realize that the antislavery crusade is something that everyone should join, and, fortunately for the success of the United States, that abolition crusade finally worked many years later.

"It's Not What You Say, But How You Say It"

Growing up, my mom always pressed the concept of saying things the way they are meant to mean. For the longest time, I didn't understand what she meant, but looking back on the past, Harriet Jacobs wrote "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" with that motto in mind. Jacobs' intent wasn't to scream at the women reading her novel or even the white men and women soaking in her words. Her intent was to tell a story and hope that her readers would respond to her experience and try to make a change. Jacobs summed up her intent in her preface, where she mentioned "I have not written my experiences in order to attract attention to myself; on the contrary, it would have been more pleasant for me to have been silent about my own history. Neither do I care to excite sympathy for my own sufferings." Instead of reading a book, you are almost talking to the woman herself. She speaks to her audience directly, and in my personal opinion, she reached out to her audience more directly that way. Firstly, Jacobs decided to directly address white women or African American women not involved in slavery directly, "But, O, ye happy women, whose purity has been sheltered from childhood, who have been free to choose the objects of your affection...If slavery had been abolished, I, also, could have married the man of my choice; I could have had a home shielded by the laws, and I should have been spared the painful task of confessing what I am now about to relate." Jacobs is not flirting with big words or hiding her main intent: she is putting into comprehensible words her view on the world, and hoping that her experience and view on slavery will light the fire in free and enslaved women to fight for freedom from oppression. "But I do earnestly desire to arouse the women of the North to a realizing sense of the condition of two millions of women at the South, still in bondage, suffering what I suffered, and most of them far worse." In sum, Jacobs wasn't claiming superiority by saying her situation represented the entire population and that she was screaming for a change. Jacobs' easy-going, relatable language choices and diction add a conversational touch to "Incidents" that make it a truly meaningful read. (EXTRA CREDIT)

A Plight for Freedom

During a time of immense struggle for independence and abolition, women of the 1860’s like Linda, the main character in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, employed the power of voice and reason to spread the message of slavery across the Free States and Slave States alike. Although Linda was thrown into slavery at a young age, she chose to speak up to her master regardless of the beatings that ensued, and also chose to run away and fight for her freedom regardless of the search parties her master was gathering. “When separations come by the hand of death, the pious soul can bow in resignation...but when the ruthless hand of man strikes the blow, regardless of the misery he causes, it is hard to be submissive” (Jacobs, Pg. 772). Because Linda is an African American woman whose mother was also a slave, she is forced be sold into slavery and from then on she battled several social contexts. Starting with race and culture, her mixed racial skin tone, known as “mulatto,” contributed to the lack of prospects for her to “lead a better life.” The entire problem of slavery came about in the 1860’s because of the culture clash between African Americans and the social hierarchy and class structure of the White folks. For example, when Linda fell in love with a free black man, she mentioned she could never marry him or leave her slave because “the husband of a slave has no power to protect her.” Therefore, African American men were still considered lower in gender roles to the White man, and the African American slave woman was the lowest in social classes. Although society says that African American woman must be the housekeepers, the slaves, the cleaners, Linda resists those roles completely - which is why the reader connects so strongly to her plight for freedom. When her master hits her for the first time, Linda speaks her mind and says, “You have tried to kill me, and I wish you had; but you have no right to do as you like with me.” African American slave women speaking up in such a way at that time was nonexistent, which is one of the reasons why Jacobs was trying to teach women in her situation to escape. Also, Linda is willing to speak up about her race and her love with her husband, as her master calls them puppies and she responds, “If he is a puppy, I am a puppy, for we are both of the negro race. It is right and honorable for us to love each other. The man you call a puppy never insulted me, sir; and he would not love me if he did not believe me to be a virtuous woman” (Jacobs, Pg. 774). The painful memories of Linda’s past makes my heart ache in sadness for the hardships African American woman had to endure because of the color of their skin, yet it inspires me that we have a culture today that, for the most part, provides equal treatment and happiness for all.