Initial Thoughts on Uncle Tom's Cabin

Within the first few pages of Uncle Tom's Cabin, I was experiencing some redhead anger; Harriet would probably be pleased that her writing was doing its job. Haley speaks of the slaves as if they were sub-human somehow. Evidently, they don't have feelings and don't develop attachment to their children; a trinket of some sort would be enough to replace a child. Even Shelby, who  is supposedly a much better man than the gaudy, rude Haley, treats Harry like a dog or a bit of amusement. I think the description of Harry as this beautiful, vibrant child is meant to tug at our hearts, show his humanity, and increase our disgust when he is used as entertainment and tossed bits of fruit like a rewarded dog. The entire dialogue dismissing the relationship between slaves and their children is quickly contradicted by the scene of a grief and terror-stricken Eliza pleading on behalf of her child and, later, doing everything in her power to bring him to safety. Such scenes of deep emotion and humanity seem to have the intent of building connection with and empathy for the slave characters of the book. Well played, Stowe.

Dimmesdale and I are not friends.

I would just like to rant for a minute. To begin with some pretence of fairness toward Dimmesdale, sin isn't something anyone wants to own up to, especially the sins that the church seems to look down on the most and talk about the least. As a man in a position of spiritual leadership, it would be incredible difficult to open up about that kind of sin; furthermore, he seems to dread what it would do to his congregation: understandable. The harsh side of me kind of wants to say "Maybe you should have thought of that first bucko." Regardless, sin happens and even ministers are people; I just really struggle with the deep hypocracy and weakness in his actions. He had ample chance to take his place beside Hester; to his credit, he defended her a few times. I don't think defending her was enough though. Not only did he abandon someone he apparently loved deeply, he abandoned his child as well. He chooses to punish himself secretly instead of freeing himself by admitting to sin. At one point in the forrest, he openly acknowledges that Hester is much stronger and begs her to make decisions for him. Running the risk of sounding heartless, his death was almost a cop-out (not that he actually had any control over it). He admitted his sin and died; even in his death, people tried desperately to preserve the reputation he gave up love and family to protect. End rant. 

Carnival Post

The time has come for me to settle in with my coffee cup and creep on some blogs. Hopefully, I can give ya'll a pretty good overview of who's-saying-what about Irving to Hawthorne.

Irving: The class blogs seem to either focus on Rip as a character or Irving's dreamy writing style. For a consideration of Rip's identity, check out Crista's blog. Andrew looks at Rip as the lovable "average Joe". Debbi gives a great overview of Irving's best snarky lines. Alyssa digs into the fairy-tale feel of Rip Van Winkle. Esther shows a little sympathy for the frustration Rip's wife probably felt.

Cooper: Apparently, we didn't like him very much; the Cooper blogging was skimpy. Hannah shows an appreciation for Cooper's portrayal of Native Americans.

Emerson: It seems that the class found Emerson to be a bit thick. Look to Esther and Julia for insight on "The American Scholar" and to Alyssa for a peek at "Nature". Debbi offers some great practical application  and insight to Emerson.

Thoreau: Thoreau seemed to be a little more readable and relatable. Nicole looks closer at Thoreau's idea of necessity. Julia and Tanisha explore living simply in Thoreau; Esther brings in faith connections. Andrew brings in zombies.

Hawthorne: Main discussion topics in Hawthorne include sin, the meaning of the letter, and dissection particular characters. Alyssa really digs into the character of Pearl and her amazing child-like insight. Hannah takes a look at feminism in The Scarlet Letter and questions the way the community dealth with Hester's sin. Tanisha comments on Pearl as well, looks at Hester's strength and offers an indepth discussion of sin. Julia takes a deeper look at the relationship between Chillingsworth and Dimmesdale. Crista and Esther look specifically at Dimmesdale, neither having much respect or sympathy for him. Lindsey looks at some places allowing for creative perception in the novel. Andrew throws out some possibilities for the meaning of the letter.

A: Alone?

In the forest converstation between Hester and Dimmesdale, the word "alone" gets tossed around quite a bit. This seems to be a pretty decent contender for a potential interpretation of A. First off, Hester is condemned alone in her sin; her partner does not step forward and share blame with her (even though we all know where babies come from). She is shunned to a little isolated cottage alone. She's an outcast in society and a child doesn't make a very substantial companion; Hester is essentially alone as far as any meaningful relationships are concerned. At the end of "Hester at Her Needle", there is a scene suggesting that the scarlet letter has allowed her to see the guilt of others, a hint that she may not be alone as a sinner. Yet, Hester fights this notion and seems to think that she deserves to be alone in her condemnation as one prone to sin. Instead of working to bring Hester to repentence and restore her into community, her punishment seems to have just pushed her into a painful isolation.

Thoreau on Education

   Thoreau speaks out against using education as a way to "study" life instead of "living" life. He doesn't seem to disrespect eduation but, instead, suggests that people put too much stock in book learning that they ignore life learning. Unless a student's education can be applied to life in a meaningful and productive way, it is merely a way of putting parents into debt. I appreciated his example of a chemistry students not learning how his own bread is made; it displays well that lack of application results in meaningless head knowledge. His call to students to try the "experiment of living" ties in with some of his thoughts earlier on in Walden. I think this is an interesting way of referring to life but a good reminder that we don't have all the answers to life. Education can help as long as we apply our learning, but it won't give us a roadmap to our lives. I think USF does well at considering both knowledge and life-learning. In my classes, we gain knowledge but also discuss ways to apply the knowledge to life. Emphesis on critical thinking and required internships for many majors forces us to move past simply letting facts float around our brains and into living out life.