Genre: Poetry

The Lynching   

His spirit is smoke ascended to high heaven.

His father, by the cruelest way of pain,

Had bidden him to his bosom once again;

The awful sin remained still unforgiven.

All night a bright and solitary star

(Perchance the one that ever guided him,

Yet gave him up at last to Fate's wild whim)

Hung pitifully o'er the swinging char.

Day dawned, and soon the mixed crowds came to view

The ghastly body swaying in the sun:

The women thronged to look, but never a one

Showed sorrow in her eyes of steely blue;

And little lads, lynchers that were to be,

Danced round the dreadful thing in fiendish glee.

-Claude McKay

      This poem was written by Claude McKay in 1922, the height of lynchings in the United States, and can be found on page 927. It is clear that this poem, as with many if McKay's works, wishes to emphasize the horrors blacks faced in this era. He uses words like "sin," "ghastly," and "fiendish," to convey his tone of disgust and terror. The word choice for a poem of this caliber needs to be strong to convey the tone and selective to fit the rhyme scheme. This poem is a good example of the range of words one can, and should, use to make their writing clear and forceful.
      I take interest in word choice. I often use dictionaries and thesauruses to improve my diction for conversations and reading comprehension. I always find it important to be certain of the meaning of words I use and, if possible, use a more accurate word. In modern day it is far more simple to gain access to a dictionary and thesaurus because everyone has a phone. I adamantly believe it is always important to display one's message as accurately as possible, which is best done through using vocabulary which perfectly fits. I have never seen a lynching, but with accounts like these I can be absolutely certain I would be horrified and sickened.
      The Lynching is a good example of word choice being used to accurately convey a message. Not only does he paint a clear picture of the scene but he also ensures the audience takes the stance he wants them to. He wants it to be clear that lynching is an atrocity. With his word choice lynchings cannot possibly be interpreted as benevolent. McKay's other writings function the same way: unique and powerful words are used to describe the scene and actions exactly as he wants to.
      It is vital that the reader understand a vast majority of the words used in whatever they are reading. If the reader cannot comprehend the vocabulary used in what they read then they are merely wasting their time. The reader may misconstrue or learn nothing from the work. It is also invaluable a writer use a wide range of words to ensure their writing is interesting and interpreted properly.

Literary Context: Regionalism

      Literary Regionalism is just what it sounds like, but I find it strange that it only applies to the Southern and Northern States. As we read in A Streetcar Named Desire Louisiana is partly French. This is Regionalism. It explains their culture and names. On page 1136 Blanche tells Mitch that her last name, Dubois, is "a French name. It means woods and Blanche means white, so the two mean white woods." If she hadn't explained this then it would have been completely lost on me since I don't speak French, but I bet several Louisianans would understand it. Her name also enforces the notion of the setting being in Louisiana as you're not likely to find a name like that in Ohio because Ohio wasn't originally settled by the French.
      I find it interesting this style of writing was only popular briefly and long ago. I concluded this is because the North and South were so different at the time. They were so different they even tried to separate and become two different countries. Each side had different cultures based off the different landscapes and immigrants. These differences can include different names from different countries, different clothes for a different climate, and, at the time, strongly different views of different races.
       Writers used literary regionalism to show their culture to others outside their culture. Claude McKay, a black man living in the South from 1889 to 1948, wrote poems to challenge white authority and generate sympathy for blacks by detailing the horrors of lynchings and other abuse inflicted upon blacks. His poems, such as "The Lynching(927)" do not quite apply to the North where lynchings occurred less often but racism was still abundant. He, and many other authors, used regionalism to display a culture and immerse the audience in the environment of the story.

Works Cited
 
American Literature. Shorter Eighth ed., Norton, 2013.

"Claude McKay." Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/claude-mckay.
"Claude McKay - Poet." Academy of American Poets, www.poets.org/poetsorg/poems?gclid=Cj0KEQjw2LjGBRDYm9jj5JSxiJcBEiQAwKWACwb2CCAQQoisxxY_E0FzaaTjS6fOZ7vnIVQYw4kMUWEaAmiD8P8HAQ.

Genre: Drama

      I believe we're all familiar with the phrase, "actions speak louder than words." Drama makes plentiful use of this idea. A Streetcar Named Desire uses physical violence on page 1137 when "There is the sound of a blow. Stella cries out." On page 1167 Blanche "catches her breath and slams the mirror face down with such violence that the glass cracks" rather than overtly stating she is stressed. With just these two passages it becomes apparent that A Streetcar Named Desire is an intense drama filled with negativity and troubles.
      We've all been exposed to drama. We've read drama for school and we've all seen shows or movies. No drama is complete without physical action. I assume we've all seen people being slapped, throwing things in a fit of anger, or a couple passionately kissing. Rather than someone just stating how angry they are they will convert it to action, and thus a physical clap occurs. Standing motionless, yelling in anger, is strange and unrealistic. Someone who is truly angry will take action, breaking and throwing things as they yell. I'm sure we've all seen a scene like this. A romance scene may consist of a couple just talking about how much they enjoy each other's company, or they can prove it through physical actions, turning into the familiar making out scene which occurs in nearly every movie. I conclude that we are all familiar with drama and we can agree actions speak louder than words.
       With the theories proposed in paragraph 2 we are able to find the purposes of the actions cited in paragraph 1. Why would the Tennessee Williams, the author of A Streetcar Named Desire, include this act of violence? Most likely it was to embolden the strong discord between Stella and Stanley as well as create dramatic tension. If they continued to yell at each other it would hardly be noteworthy, but as soon as it becomes a physical action it is a central plot-point. The other mentioned action, with the smashed mirror, is important for another reason. Much like poetry drama does not announce emotions and tone. Emotion and tone are conveyed through actions and other subtle details. Rather than Blanche announcing to the room full of people, "I am stressed," she appears troubled and displays it through the act of destroying an object.
       Actions are central to good writing and creating a good picture of emotions and tone. It's very important that actions be interpreted correctly or they will otherwise skew the way the tone is portrayed. This could also be done through bad acting. If an actor/actress smiles at the wrong time it could greatly affect the audience's perception of the scene. Other times the actions may be wasted on an unperceptive audience. A child may not understand the implications of two adults alone together, but someone older will be able to recognize the underlying romantic tone. This also translates to actions in everyday life. With proper actions we can more effectively transmit are message and emotions than we otherwise would with words alone. It is something to remember and consider in the future.

Literary Analysis

      Anti-Uncle Tom's Cabin literature: showing that slavery is fun and oppression is necessary. Stowe goes against the common beliefs that slavery is necessary to control and guide blacks and the oppressed need and love to be oppressed. Stowe shows blacks as intelligent and fully capable of living without a master. Most criticisms against Stowe are how she showed slavemasters as not wholly benevolent, just mostly benevolent. I believe the slavemasters are sufficiently benevolent. Mr. Shelby even said, "I've trusted [Tom]... with everything I have," something I highly doubt most actual slave owners would say, showing Mr. Shelby as kind and on very good terms with his slaves. I suppose that Mr. Shelby may be overlooked by critics due to his short appearance in the beginning and absence from the next 300 pages of the book. Mrs. Shelby is the same; she fulfills the critics' assertion that slavemasters were more parental rather than master to their slaves. Likely this is to have the reader be content with the slave owner living up to the way they like to think of slave owners and progress to the harsh reality that slaves were beaten, whipped, and tortured, like the end of the book when Mr. Legree has Tom tortured to death. Tom forgives Legree, asking for Legree to be given mercy. Upstanding actions like these are what upset so many critics. The idea that a black man would be so saintly and how Stowe implies that abusing slaves is a sin which will be punished in hell. Strange how it's standard to use religion to justify slavery, but it's "self-righteous," as said by the critic James Baldwin, to use religion against slavery. Anti-Uncle Tom's Cabin literature hated the idea of slaves being good, intelligent, and civilized, preferring instead the idea that "Africans hate civilization and are never happier... than when allowed to live in abandonment, nakedness, and filth, their instincts crave," as said by Mrs. Schoolcraft. Which did critics hate more: civilized Africans because it goes against all their stereotypes they hold for blacks? Or are they more offended that the relationship between slaves and masters isn't as benevolent as they believed? Could the problem be that the protagonists are black and the antagonists are white? I think all three of these together created an overwhelmingly negative picture on the institution of slavery which some found to be a direct attack on themselves. Perhaps the south saw "attacks" like this as devious and malicious enough to be a justification to join the Confederate military and defend their way of life against misguided northern zealots. If this is the case then Uncle Tom's Cabin was a strong source of reason to go to war and, as is common knowledge, it truly was a strong influence in starting the American Civil War. Even Abraham Lincoln credited Stowe with being a strong influence in starting the Civil War.

Critical Commentary

      I read Baldwin's Criticism. He shares many of my criticisms in regard to the black characters being exceptional human beings. I strongly dislike Baldwin's attitude. Baldwin seems to have a strong, pre-existing dislike for Stowe, as if she was rude to him once and holds a grudge. He tears open every little imperfection he finds. I agree that the characters are displayed as paragons of virtue with only positive traits, but I disagree with his emphasis on the importance of... nearly everything he dives into. He says Stowe is indoctrinated by religion, the characters aren't black enough, and Stowe is intent on using fear to make readers against slavery. I would not at all be surprised if James Baldwin wrote anti-Uncle Tom's Cabin literature, or if he sent hate mail to Stowe on a regular basis. While he does have a point that the main characters are polished beyond reality, a thought I had not yet come to, I don't find any value in his other criticisms. "The aim of the protest novel becomes something very closely resembling the zeal of those alabaster missionaries to Africa to cover the nakedness of the natives, to hurry them into pallid arms of Jesus and thence into slavery." This is a stretch of reasoning with intent to make people believe that the book is too optimistic. This quote has me concerned that James Baldwin may be insane. The leap from Stowe providing baseless optimism to missionaries converting Africans to Christianity is irrational and I refuse to take Baldwin seriously.

Reader Respnses

      The general consensus of Uncle Tom's Cabin is that it is well written and exemplary in displaying slavery. The best example of someone commending Harriet Beecher Stowe is, "The characters depicted, were drawn from true life and experiences of the author and those known to her." I believe this to be true. It is likely that she, living in the North, had spoken to several escaped slaves. Stowe most likely interviewed several free slaves, listening to their stories and troubles, and incorporated elements of their lives into Uncle Tom's Cabin. I do, however, disagree with this review in relation to whites in her story. To me it is unrealistic that everyone who meets the main characters, who are slaves, undergo an epiphany, completely changing their lives after having met a slave. Tom's torturers become Christians, Mr. Wilson too quickly reverses his stance, supporting George's escape, even offering him money. It is unrealistic and unlike humans to change so quickly. As unrealistic as it is, I do see reason in why Stowe would have characters switch so rapidly: the book cannot be long enough to display a realistic progression over weeks or months and it encourages readers to change just as the characters did.

Textual Background and Context

      I am most interested in anti-Uncle Tom literature. It starts off saying, "in nearly all anti-Uncle Tom literature, the major figure is the benign and patriarchal slavemaster," despite previous pages displaying illustrations of torture devices for slaves. This section alludes to several writings against Uncle Tom's Cabin which display slavemasters as benevolent and benign, even giving them gifts and receiving gratitude from their slaves. These writings don't account the reason so many slaves fled to the north. Anti-Uncle Tom's Cabin literature relies heavily, massively even, on racial stereotypes which define blacks as inferior. These stereotypes display blacks as mentally inferior, physically adept to manual labor, and excellent at petty crimes. These stereotypes reach grotesque levels of contempt as Mrs. Henry B. Schoolcraft states, "Africans hate civilization... and are never happier... than when allowed to live in the abandonment, nakedness, and filth, their instincts crave." Uncle Tom's Cabin fights to disprove the baseless, harmful stereotypes. Stereotypes are addressed and argued against. Slaves are showed as articulate and capable of thought and civility. On page 100 of Uncle Tom's Cabin George and Mr. Wilson discuss George's intent to escape. George gives a heartfelt testimony of his hardships in a very articulate manner. George understands the risks, creates a plan, and is able to persuade a white man, disproving many bad stereotypes of blacks at the time. The information I learned on anti-Uncle Tom's Cabin literature gives context as to why George's testimony is so important and why slavery was acceptable at the time.