Portraits of America

    While reading Crevecoeur, I was struck by the way much of the picture of America as a country and many of the stereotypes presented in his writing continue to be present in America today. Aspects of his Letters reminded me of John Smith a bit, especially the focus on America as the land of opportunity and the ability to be a self-made person. Crevecoeur seemed to be a little less idealistic than Smith though; he presented some of the problems of America, such as the lack of civility in areas most recently settled and the evils of building an economy on the inhumane institution of slavery.
   Crevecoeur's Letters presents America as a country of individualism and blended culture. In America, a person can be whoever he or she wishes to be; all are welcome into the "broad lap of our great Dear Mother" (which I thought was a great word-picture). America is written to be the most welcoming country, partially because of it's blend of many peoples; a visitor will find his language and customs along with great opportunity, a new class of people to be part of, and a pure, beautiful land. "This is every person's country." The blending of culture along with Crevecoeur's sense of religious plurality are present in America today. Immigrants carry their religion into America with them and, through lack of like-minded believers and living near those of other religions, their grip on their traditions lessen, their children marry those of other denominations, and religion becomes more general. He doesn't seem to hold lack of religion entirely as a good thing though; this is a reason he offers for the uncivilized nature of the people of the lesser settled areas of America. Personally, this section reminded me of the stereotype of the "Wild West", where people handle problems with guns and bar-fights and "backwoods hicks" who eat road-kill or whatever.
   I was impressed that Crevecoeur spoke out against slavery and pointed out the evils of using the torture of other human beings as a base of economy. He seems to be disgusted that the church won't speak out against slavery and asks where Nature (not God?) is to intervene for his fellow-children. It was interesting to have him consider the slaves as fellow-humans; many of this time didn't see them as equally human. The story he told of encountering a slave left strung up in a cage to die was horrifying. I wonder if his writing effectively stirred people up against slavery and how his opinions were received.

Benjamin Franklin: a man of the Enlightenment

   For some reason (probably some cartoon), Benjamin Franklin has always been a cute old man with a kite in my imagination. In actuality, he was a thinker/arguer, clever businessman, individualist, loosely 'religious', somewhat vain man, and rescuer of drunken Dutchmen. Furthermore, he was a vegetarian before it was trendy. I find it fascinating that his approach to business and religion/morality still show up in American culture today. I was not, however, amused by the random capitalization. Yes, I understand that the grammar rules were different and not as developed; it was just super distracting.
   His childhood seemed kind of stinky, but maybe this was typical for people of this time. His father wanted to "tithe" Ben to the church. Between this, the proud, headstrong nature he seems to possess and the philosophy of the day, it doesn't really surprise me that Franklin avoids religion later in life. Franklin as tithe doesn't work out and he ends up apprenticing for his abusive brother and then takes off on his own at 17 (with a pretty great tale of explanation). 
   Within the context of his apprenticeship, Franklin begins to display his insight into people. He accurately evaluates the situation (he didn't have enough respect from his brother and company for the publication of his essays under his name) and finds a way around it to get what he wants. This reproduces throughout his business and philosophical life. In order to gain respect as a businessman, he realizes he needs to be hardworking in the public eye and avoid broadcasting his intelligence. To succeed in argument, he adapts the Socratic method of approaching debate as a questioning student, instead of beating people over the head with opinion. To gain support for his ideas, he realizes it is in his interest to set vanity aside and present the idea as a communal effort. Franklin seems to have an impressive grasp of how people "tick", which probably assisted him in his climb from poverty into self-made success.
   Bits of my Intro to Philosophy class kept showing up in Franklin's writing. He is certainly a man of the Enlightenment in his focus on human improvement through reason and morality based on human empathy. His entire "self-help program" is reasoned out and is centered on being a controlled, thinking person. His concern with living a life of morals and thought is certainly within the tradition of early philosophers as well. One of his problems with "organized religion" is that religion seems to want to make people into [insert denomination here] as opposed to good citizens in general (pg 283). Unfortunately, there is truth in this statement, even today. I don't think morality can be based on human empathy ( "That it was, therefore, every one's interest to be irtuous, who wish'd to be happy even in this world." pg. 291, 2nd paragraph). What happens when doing the "right" thing isn't actually best for you?  However, I think Franklin's concern is valid; true faith in Christ results in a changed lifestyle benefiting our fellow mankind.  

"I am this Crumb of Dust..."

     Edward Taylor used poetry as worship and preparation for corporate worship, and I think this is incredibly beautiful, especially in a time where we do rush into worship and seek to consume for ourselves. This kind of preparation is convicting (especially when "on time" to church really means "less than 10 minutes late" for me, leaving no room for any kind of heart-prep). His heart and obvious adoration of the Lord comes through in his writing. His poetry is very passionate, honest, and tender.
     For the most part, I loved the use of extended metaphor in Edward Taylor's writing. I'll admit that "Meditation 150" ended up being pretty weird, but I'll blame some differing Song of Solomon interpretation for that. Some of the fullness of his writing and meaning behind the writing was probably lost due to the language of the time period and my lack of weaving knowledge. My favorite poem was "Prologue", which lays out the core of the rest of Taylor's writing: desire to displaying the glory of God to the best of his ability ("To Prove Thou art, and that Thou art the best).
    Taylor refers to himself as a crumb of dust throughout, acknowledging that, without God, he is nothing, showing humility and dependence. I don't know of many people who would refer to themselves as dust so willingly and adamantly. He dedicates his writing to the Lord ("I am this Crumb of Dust which is designed To make my Pen unto Thy Praise alone") and asks that the Lord would bring life to this crumb of dust  in the fourth stanza by allowing him to bring glory to God, perhaps somewhat in the fashion of Adam: "then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature."- Gen. 2:7 Stanza five starts out with this same language of "breathing dust". The extended metaphor brings some mental imagery that is almost goofy (dirt that can breathe and write), but as goofy as it is, I found the language really touching and relatable.  

Captivity and Restoration

The captivity narrative was fascinating and horrifying at the same time. I do admire Rowlandson for remaining mentally stable throughout the death and hardship surrounding her and for her seemingly unshakable faith in the Lord. The narrative was obviously one-sided, but understandingly so. It would be difficult to see things from the eyes of the natives after witnessing deaths of loved ones, destruction of your life, and being forced into captivity at their hands. I did find it unnerving that Bradstreet, being a Christian, viewed the natives as more animals or almost demons than fellow humans; in her eyes, they were used only to purify "God's people"-the Puritans. Her attitude toward the natives and the situation was insight into the attitude of the settlers of the time. Her comparison of the Christian settlers to the Israelites and the natives to the heathen peoples of the Old Testament and her application of the Old Testament to the situation of the settlers strongly displays the idea that the Puritans were the "New Israel" and the New World was the "New Promised Land", as we experienced with Winthrop.
It was interesting to read Bradstreet and Rowlandson back-to-back, especially comparing "...Upon the Burning of Our House" to the captivity narrative. Personally, I thought Bradstreet was a little more accessible. Bradstreet's writing walked us through her thought process, showing emotional and spiritual struggle before she turned back to her faith as her foundation.  She touches her audience with her humanity. Granted, Rowlandson wasn't writing this narrative within the situation, but she doesn't show much of an internal struggle. For the number of times she compares herself to Job, she doesn't follow his process of honesty, questioning, or grieving. Everything is very logical and almost stoic. It was hard for me to read her without feeling like a little bit of a bad person; I doubt I would have accepted the situation and trusted God's work in it as easily as she presents herself as doing.

Bradstreet

"The Prologue" demonstrates the attitude toward roles of women in Bradstreet's time and seems to reflect somewhat of a struggle with these roles. First, I thought it was interesting that she, as a woman and a Puritan, shows such a knowledge and use of Greek mythology in her poetry (this shows up in "Contemplations" too). Being only vaguely familiar with Greek mythology, some of the poem's meaning was probably lost to me. Second, she obviously lacked confidence in her ability as a poet, which carries through this poem and is displayed more strongly in "The Author to Her Book". Some of the things said in this poem may be due to this lack of confidence, but I wonder how much has to do with her staying in her 'place as a woman'. For example, "A weak or wounded brain admits no cure" (line 24) and "A Bartas can do what a Bartas will, But simple I according to my skill" (line 12). Also, I took line 18 as refering to her gender (but I could be wrong). According to lines 25-27, she's been essentially told to drop writing and do something more appropriate to women. She acknowleges that, even if she's considered talented at all, her talent will be passed over as almost a mistake. By the end of the poem, she seems to kind of sigh and resign herself to society as is (lines 38-40), but I can't decide if this is actual resignation, or sarcasm, or bitterness. I would really like to know what was going through her mind. In spite of what she's been told, she's still writing this, which means she hasn't traded her pen for a knitting needle as recommended. Curiouser and curiouser.

Instead of drawing from mythology, "To My Dear and Loving Husband" takes from the Bible, largely from Song of Songs (having covered Song of Songs, including a look at the book as poetry, in a class, the similarities pretty much jumped out and bit me). Two becoming one flesh is a piece of Genesis imagery. Lines 5-7 strongly resemble Song of Songs 8:7 "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised." Bradstreet feels almost indebted to her husband for his love and speaks of him in glowing terms, as do the lovers about each other in Song of Songs, the man gushing about the woman and the woman praising the man.The last line shows this very romantic (idealistic, not cheesy, though it's kind of cheesy too) idea that, if they love to the fullest in live, their love with outlive their deaths.("...for love is as strong as death..." Songs 8:6) Surprisingly, I really appreciated this poem. It's a beautiful, honest, and sincere mini love story about marriage that hasn't lost its romance or devotion or whatever, which is admirable. Far better than, say, a Justin Bieber love song.

The Amazing Captain John Smith

   The section from The General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles reads a bit like an epic tale of heroism, especially when he's pitted one against 200 or 300 natives (who was counting anyway?), shot full of arrows, and using his guide as a shield. It makes it all a little hard to swallow as full truth. Apparently, Smith stepped in and saved the day every time the colony was on the brink of destruction, all out of duty and with humility. Example: "himself always bearing the greatest task for his own share, so that in short time he provided most of them lodgings, neglecting any for himself." (pg. 46) Furthermore, every time Smith leaves the colony to its own devices, he seems to return to utter chaos. "...they were all in combustion, the strongest preparing once more to run away...Smith forced now the third time to stay or sink." (pg 53). Darn colonists. You can't get captured by natives and let them out of your sight even for a minute.One would think Captain Smith single-handedly saved New England.
    I found the random references to God interesting. The seem almost obligatory, and are generally connected to the natives acting in kindness, as if there is no explanation for their mercy other than divine interference. The text oscillates between describing natives as being child-like (pacified by toys and trinkets and in awe of Smith) and creatures of hell (using words like devil, hellish, barbarous, fiends etc.). The natives are painted as nearly worshipping Smith, seeking him for healing and feeding him all he could want, and then they apparantly try to "beat out his brains", but Pocahontas comes to the rescue out of adoration for Smith (at least Disney got something right).There was a definite lack of cross-cultural understanding.
   While I found the John Smith worship comical at best, I thought the writing was well-worded, expressive, and persuasive. I particularly appreciate the line "If we were free from all sins as gluttony and drunkenness we might have been canonized for saints..." (pg. 45). The selection from The Fourth Book has fantastic language. It paints the life of one who stays in England as dull, lazy, and lacking all opportunity while, in contrast, one would have to be comotose to not make a profit in the Americas. It certainly uses a tone of adventure and freedom to persuade colonization.