In the documentary Moving Midway, Godfrey Chesire pieces together some of the story of the Midway plantation and the moving of its buildings to save as much of it as possible from the industrialized world closing in on it. There are several conflicts that appear in this documentary, but I plan to delve into the relationship between the newer industrial society and the older agrarian society. I plan to look at the beginning where the house can be seen in its original location and the development moving in around it. Then I want to analyze the moving of the plantation buildings. Finally, I’ll analyze the part of the movie where Godfrey speaks on how the northern myth won the war but the southern myth won the peace. In doing this, I plan to show …show more content…
It first becomes evident when the camera shows the midway house from the median of the four-lane highway in front of it. The proximity of the highway to the house and the number of cars that drive on it each day appear as a threat to the old plantation. Charlie confirms this threat when he speaks of the fifty-five thousand cars that drive by each day, causing a noisy environment that is causing a form of displacement for the plantation that belongs to a quieter time of horse drawn transportation. This is merely one piece of the industrial society we live in that has moved in on the Midway plantation as the camera also shows images of the shopping mall across the street and of the construction of the new interstate intersection being built nearby. Taken from different angles, some look up slightly while others give a level angle or even look down, giving a mixed feeling to the audience. A feeling of uncertainty, the newer developments seeming threatening but not threatening at the same time. I interpret it as a threat to the physical existence of Midway, but less of a threat to its legacy and what it represents. This threat, has caused Charlie to reach the notion that the buildings of Midway should be moved in order to protect as much of it as possible. All together this part of the moving leads me to the conclusion that industrial society and the antebellum …show more content…
During the civil war era the south had its myth of the plantation and the industrial north had a different myth for the plantation. Godfrey and Robert speak on this starting with the south. They say that the south’s myth was that the plantation was a realm with kind masters and happy devoted slaves. Robert even goes on to say that the myth was necessary to keep the system going. The images that go across the camera are important too as they depict images with slaves that are smiling and seem happy and content in their lives. The northern counter myth was depicted in uncle tom’s cabin, and is seen in the images from the movie with a kind white master failing to live up to image the south is trying to portray. Of course, the north won the war, but the interesting and noteworthy part is that according to Godfrey the southern myth survived and won the peace. Godfrey depicts this in the movie by showing multiple images of movies and art that are post-civil war and primarily made by the north. The slaves are depicted and smiling, happy and even singing, while the plantations are large and beautiful in a glorified manner. Despite the fact that this was a false sense of happiness, this depiction of the plantation gave Americans the pastoral past they were looking for in a rapidly industrializing world and thus the southern myth lived on. This part of
The author uses tone and images throughout to compare and contrast the concepts of “black wealth” and a “hard life”. The author combines the use of images with blunt word combinations to make her point; for example, “you always remember things like living in Woodlawn with no inside toilet”. This image evokes the warmth of remembering a special community with the negative, have to use outdoor facilities. Another example of this combination of tone and imagery is “how good the water felt when you got your bath from one of those big tubs that folk in Chicago barbecue in”. Again the author’s positive memory is of feeling fresh after her bath combined with a negative, the fact that it was a barbecue drum.
During the 1930’s depression, there was a great divide between black and white America. There were many communities and groups who had been exposed to the same treatment and persecution as the Negroes in To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee has used a small town setting, such as that in To Kill a Mockingbird, to illustrate America’s views on white supremacy and the inferiority of the black race. The author has illustrated view that are expressed world-wide through her characters in Maycomb county.
William Robbins’s plantation. “The boy Luke was happy. When Shavis Merle, a white man with three slaves to this name, sought to hire Luke during the harvest...for $2 a week. Merle believed in feeding his workers plenty of food, but they gave it all back in the field, from sunup to sundown, and no one that year gave up more than Luke did. After Luke died in the field, merle protested up and down about paying compensation, but Willy Robbins got him to pay Henry $100 for the boy. ‘Fair business is fair business,’ Robbins had to keep telling Merle. Moffett was early to the boy’s funeral, which Merle attended, and Moffett said some words at the gravesite, but no one said more than Elias and at the last his new wife had to put her arms around him to bring an end to all the words.” (Jones 103). Personally, this was the point in the novel where I began to get attached to Jones’s characters. This is an example of Jones’s use of imagery which is used not only show the meaning of the work, but as well as to leave an impact on the reader at the end of the chapter, which personally is why I really enjoyed this novel. Another example of imagery that Jones’s uses that leaves an impact on the reader is when when Sheriff John Skiffington shoots Mildred, Augustus’s wife, for hiding Moses, Henry’s first slave which ran
This literary device is being used when he states, "I see a young Negro boy. He is sitting on a stoop... The stench of garbage is in the halls. The drunks... jobless... junkies are shadow figures of his everyday world". The use of imagery throughout his passage is to evoke emotions like empathy, from his audience. It allows his audience to be able to establish a connection with the images he portrays, and for the audience too also be able to understand how desperately social change is needed in the United States. Another example of imagery would be where he states," black people, brought to this land in slave ships and in chain, had drained the swamps, built the homes... to lift this nation from colonial obscurity to commanding influence...". He uses imagery to put the audience into the Black community's hoes, so that they are able to comprehend that the way Americans are treating them is not right and needs to be changed because they also made the nation great. He is further persuading his audience for social
“To Kill a Mockingbird”, written by Harper Lee and “Mississippi Burning” directed Alan Parker can be compared and contrasted with each other. Both texts share many themes especially the theme of prejudice where one group of people had bigoted views against another. It is shown in the form of racism throughout the two stories where whites discriminate the blacks. In the town of Maycomb and Mississippi, there is bias, discrimination and injustice between the blacks and whites. Both Harper Lee and Alan Parker explore this theme of prejudice through what their characters stand for, the events that took place during both text and the context behind both stories.
During the story when The Misfit encounters the family seeking the old familiar plantation, he becomes like a Christ figure to the old southern woman. The grandmother is scared for her life but she still believes there is some good in the man. During this event, the
It represents a majority of ills that afflicted 18th, 19th, and early 20th century America. Through this photograph, one can appreciate how far America has come as a nation in terms of having the capacity to resolve the issues that plagued American society. Further, through this photograph, one can tell how the suffering faced by migrants who came in as slaves played a huge role in creating a better American society.
In contrast to D’Ortega, Lina, a captured Native American, values courage and commitment to the community. To Lina, Vaark’s sumptuous plantation represents everything negative the European
Blassingame, John W. The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South. New York: Oxford University Press, 1972.
Furthermore, Richard’s preface reveals yet another goal of his for writing this book. For the scholar, this book is aimed to vividly connect ideologies separated by literally thousands of years, but Richard believes that the stories he illustrates are essential for all to know; fundamental history that, he believes, is not shown clearly enough through modern education. “Its purpose is not to extend the frontiers of knowledge but rather to reintroduce Americans to a lost part of their heritage in a way that I hope will be both informative and entertaining,” (Richard x).
Crash! Boom! Terrified screams and rifle shots filled the air as Margaret snatched up her baby sister into her arms as she ran around frantically in search of shelter. Finally finding a safe hiding spot behind a large rock, Margaret and her little sister watched in desperation as their small shack was ransacked by John Brown and his raiders. As the sky grew black with smoke, angry tears began streaming down Margaret’s face. Why can’t the anti-slavery settlers just leave us alone? Why are they being so violent? What have we done to them? All we want is land to settle on! Margaret wondered in disheartenment. For settlers who had rushed to claim land in Kansas and Nebraska in the stormy 1850’s, facing violent clashes had become a daily
Roark looks at slavery during the war from a solely White Southerner perspective. He paints a picture of what Southern planters promulgated concerning slavery before and during the Civil War, but he never discusses the day to day lives of slaves from any other perspective. He acknowledges that Northerners believed Negros in the North had better lives than those in the South, but he never discusses how slaves themselves felt about slavery, or what Northern Negros thought of their socioeconomic status. Furthermore, Roark’s writing shows that White “affection” toward slaves only lasted if slave loyalty and behavior continued in a positive manner. The shock Southern plantation owners received when their slaves deserted or misbehaved
On p.120 ll.38-41 and p. 121 ll. 1-2 Golden writes; “once they take the capital, they can force upon the supreme court the decisions that will restore the old plantations, the crinolines, the dueling pistols, the house on the hill with smoke coming out the chimney at twilight and little Sambo rolling in laughter under the magnolia, Ah what a dream” first of all, this is sort of provocative written, that the slaves whom he refers to as “Sambo” (which is a bad world for slaves) that they would lay under the magnolia tree laughing like they were free. Because that is how many Southerners might think, the slave’s felted like and that they are enjoying their lives like if they were a free person. He writes this to make the Northern realize how the Southerners might think of the slaves, and the make them realize that the Southerners want to go back to the “good” old days, where it was legal to owning your own slave.
Hughes’s descriptive writing prompts the reader to visualize strong images of oppression in America. The speaker provides an image of an extremely suppressed group of people in the statement: “I am the red man driven from the land” (Hughes 21). This simple phrase creates a picture of the Native Americans being driven from their lands and forced to live on undesirable land, and, as a result, this invites the reader to acknowledge their severe oppression. Similarly, the speaker mentions the people who were “torn from Black Africa’s strand” (Hughes 50). This generates an image of boats packed with a depressing amount of broken people, waiting to be sold into slavery. These visual examples portray the severity of the situation that many Americans found themselves in. These
To start, Frederick Douglass uses heavy and raw imagery to paint a surreal picture to the white ladies of the antislavery society to show what is truly going on. One of Frederick Douglass’s ominous images comes in paragraph 15 when describing an old man. “There, see the old man, with locks thinned and gray.” Short and simple but very powerful we see a withered old man, hair thin and possibly falling off and very fragile. This old man and many others in his situation are forced to walk to New Orleans to be sold off to other people. To the audience, shocked, we can begin to see the unfair and unjust lives lived in the slave trade. An even more potent part of the speech comes when Frederick Douglass says “Heat and sorrow have nearly consumed their strength; suddenly you hear a quick snap, like the discharge of a rifle; the fetters clank, and the chain rattles simultaneously; your ears are saluted with a scream, that