Charles W. Chestnutt's The Marrow of Tradition Essay

Much like America’s history, its literature has had an equally complex, dynamic, and developing trajectory. However, unlike how history is typically divided into centuries, literature finds itself separated into periods of genres. For example, there was the epoch of Native American tales, the Realism eon, and the span of the Harlem Renaissance. Furthermore, the borders between these periods are not always definite. The stylistic characteristics and themes from one, often may bleed into another. This is particularly visible between the Colonial Period, specifically Puritan literature, and the Romantic and Transcendental time. Specifically, the overlap of the Puritan and Transcendental styles is evident in the poem “Contemplations” by Anne Bradstreet. In order to fully understand how Bradstreet foreshadowed later themes in “Contemplations”, the context of the Colonial time must be examined, along with famed works from the Transcendental period.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, one of America's most renowned authors, demonstrates his extraordinary talents in two of his most famed novels, The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables. To compare these two books seems bizarre, as their plots are distinctly different. Though the books are quite seemingly different, the central themes and Hawthorne's style are closely related (Carey, p. 62). American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne is most famous for his books THE SCARLET LETTER and THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES, which are closely related in theme, the use of symbolism, characterization, and style.

In The Marrow of Tradition, Chesnutt uses the ideas of character doubles to represent the idea of race vs respect. By creating these doubles he creates a theme of duality throughout the book that reflects upon the racism during the time period the book is written about. Chesnutt insinuates the idea of race versus respect in a dualital manner that compliments each character's respective differences while still showing the reader exactly why each pair of character foils are two sides of the same coin through various examples throughout the book, such as Tom and Ellis, and Olivia and Janet. An example of race vs. respect given in the book was the relation of Tom Delamere and Lee Ellis. Both of these characters are white men, but the way they treat

Hollis Robbins wrote the second critique that I chose for Uncle Tom’s Cabin. “Uncle Tom’s Cabin is at heart a typical nineteenth-century melodrama of cruelty, suffering, religious devotion, broken homes, and improbable reunions” (Hollis Robbins). This critique is very harsh, and points the novel as “the best bad book of the age”. The most significant quote from the critic

The Marrow Tradition written by Charles Waddell Chestnut is novel that portrays the struggles that African- Americans face against white supremacist in the south. It introduces many different characters and how each deals with these issues. It also exposes the different ideas white people has against freed African Americans. There are several different instances they show their unchanging ideas that they are the superior race and they should be the ones to rule. The marrow Tradition explores the many different aspects that prevent the south from moving beyond slavery and racism into an era of equality and shared progress. On the other hand, it also depicts the many different opinions on how African Americans should resist white oppression and win equals rights. Chestnut expresses these opinions by introducing two major characters; Josh Green and Dr. Miller as a way to expose the different perspectives of the African American people against white supremacist.

pipe bowl is made of stone or clay, because the Earth and all things Earthen are

During the time in which The Marrow of Tradition occurs, blacks are expected to conform to the social rules and laws implemented by white men. The idea of not conforming to the ideals of the white man might further perpetuate tensions between races. The first outlook on conforming occurs when Dr. Miller and Dr. Burns travels by train from New York to Wellington. The conductor asks Dr. Miller and Dr. Burns to separate because Dr. Miller has to sit in the train car specifically for colored people only. Another instance of tradition

Native American Culture is a culture of respect to their ancestors, and to their gods such as the moon, sun, and animals. Believing in reincarnations, they give sacrifice of animals and dance around fire to be in their gods favor; for when they die they will return in some form of animal or human. Reasons for the expansion of Europe into the west were 1). They were in search of riches ex. Gold, oil, tobacco, land, crops est., they figured if they can find these resources they can trade them and make lots of money. 2) They wanted to conquer other lands with people in it, so that they can control them; meaning using them as slaves. As slaves you can sale them for profit, work them in your house hold to do your chores, and work them in your

The beautifully frightening thing about this book is its continued relevance. Since it’s release in 1953, the topic of censorship has been a continued issue. In 1885, a school in Massachusetts first banned The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, because they felt that it “[perpetuated] racism” (Banned Books Week). Moreover, there was one instance that felt like it was taken straight from Fahrenheit 451. That instance was the 1970 censorship of Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown. This book portrayed the advancement of Americans as the United States grew. Doing such from a Native American point of view. This made many standpoints about talking down about the advancement of colonizers, and a general criticizing of white people.

Kira Newell Honors American Studies P3 9/22/14 Prompt #2 The Forest Is Your Oyster Amidst the emotionally stagnant and vengeful atmosphere of 17th century Boston, society rarely acknowledges the raw and transparent passion of the nature around them. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter, the emotions characterized by the surrounding forest acts as an antithesis to the strict rules of puritanical society. The citizens associate sin and evil with the daunting unknown forest while others find it to be a sanctuary of solitude forgiveness.

Books give off morals, messages in a form to connect with the audience and give off its own energy for one can evolve. “What’s more, Huckleberry Finn is a decidedly anti-slavery novel. It’s entirely about a white boy trying to help a slave escape”( Timpf). The fact that it is about a white helping a slave gain freedom truly sends a message such as no matter the person's ethnic, ethics, religion or beliefs shall not be a matter of what is right and injustice,it can be morally or not. The past helps us understand what the future will be by guiding us to the right direction and apart from foolish acts. “Race is one of the most complex issues in the country. And we can’t talk about it,”(Chadwick) The information given from Peter Reuell, Christina Pazzanese, and Alvin Powell lends details about Chadwicks thought of the banning of the novel as well as if the word “nigger” should be replaced. Why shall one hide issues that involves the whole world not just one country, not one city but the whole

Despite its inherent value as an examination of its time, many people had a problem with the manner in which it was portrayed. One of these apparent issues was noted by a censor of the Concord public library, who called into question the use of the dialect and grammatical style of the book. To quote the New York Herald, who were reporting on the situation, “Another committeeman perused the volume with great care and discovered that it was ‘couched in the language of a rough, ignorant dialect’ and that ‘all through its pages there is a systematic use of bad grammar and an employment of inelegant expressions.’” These mannerisms, combined with other offenses, led to the book garnering a trashy reputation in the eyes of the censors, who quickly banned it from their library. however, to view these mannerisms as “trashy” and nothing more would be to misunderstand a large portion of the novel’s appeal.

Regarding Uncle Tom’s Cabin, I collected sources about the critical controversy about the novel. In my findings, there is Norton Critical Edition, A Routledge

New Historicism is a form of literary theory, which assumes that literary texts reflect history. By analyzing the text using new historicism, the reader can uncover the underlined meaning within the pages. For example, The Scarlett Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is about a young girl named Hester who becomes pregnant before she is marred. Since this “deed” is seen as a crime to her townsmen, they shame Hester by sentencing her to wear an “A” on her clothing for the rest of her life; however, as the novel progresses, the letter takes on a positive meaning and becomes a symbol of perseverance. Hawthorne published this novel in the 19th century and during this time, women were expected to abided by the rules of society. The text is meant to be a message to encourage girls to step out of the mold society has built for them. To relate new historicism to the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is narrated by a young boy who lives in pre Civil War Missouri. The author, Mark Twain, was also a boy during this era and might have been inspired to incorporated his observations into the novel. This essay will apply new historicism to the text, in order to uncover where Twain received his inspiration.

310). According to another critic, the novella requires and demands full attention from his readers (ibid. 312). A number of critics found the prose beautiful and the novella atmospheric but one critic thought the narrative was unconvincing and felt that it too often lost its spontaneity and became too rhetorical (ibid. 313). One critic mentions that there is no prejudice in the novella (ibid.