Life in the Iron-Mills.
Wow.
I love this story; it's filled with passion. I started reading this and I knew I would like it, even though it is dark and morbid for 95% of the story. I love the way Davis wrote this. She spoke to the reader like she could read their thoughts. The way she inquired of her readers was chilling, in a way, and I kept wanting to deny any judgement she assumed upon her audience. The way she wrote this made me appalled to think someone might even try to judge these mill workers for being dirty and stuck in a rut. That's what life was like back then; if you weren't somebody you were nobody.
After reading the first page or so, it struck me who I could compare Davis to. In a way, her dark and depressing story just screams Hawthorne.
I also found myself thinking of the novel North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. I just recently started reading this book and haven't gotten very far, but the same friend who insisted I read the book also insisted I watch the movie with her. Therefore, I have a bit of North and South discourse in the back of my mind. While reading Life in the Iron-Mills, I kept imagining the fluffy pollution of the cotton mills (the very atmosphere is filled with particles of cotton that could easily be breathed in). It was easy to imagine what the iron mills would look like. Also, in North and South one of the main characters, Mr. Thornton, is a mill owner. He's the classic Jane Austen hero--tall, dark, and handsome--but he appears to care none at all for his workers. When he catches a worker smoking his pipe in the cotton mill, he beats him bloody and proceeds to fire him from his job. Throughout the story, Mr. Thornton is found discussing business with his fellow mill owners. The very same thing happens in Life in the Iron-Mills. I felt like I was watching another episode of North and South the entire time I read this story.
Another aspect about Davis' piece is that she heavily used Biblical allusions all throughout the story. Just a handful of these include p. 2600- "busy making straight paths"; p. 2602- "Man cannot live by work alone.."; p. 2608- "...a great gulf never to be passed"; p. 2610- "What shall we do to be saved?"; p. 2611- paragraphs 2 and 4; and p. 2616- "...mote in brother's eye..."
Davis uses these scriptures well. She must know her Bible, much like her character Mitchell.
Well, having said all of this, I just thoroughly loved reading this piece. I couldn't figure out what it was that Deb was horrified that Hugh would do until we got to the scene where he kills himself with the blade that he had been sharpening on the jail bars. But I think what I liked most about this piece was that at the end, Davis wrote with a hopeful light rather than sticking with morbid tones all throughout. I really think it was the perfect piece of literature to end the semester with.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Elizabeth Drew Stoddard is the Bee's Knees
When I sat down to write this blog, I couldn't quite decide who to compare Stoddard to. But then I flipped through my notes on Stoddard's "Lemorne vs. Huell" and found my sidenote on how she uses wit throughout her story, particularly while talking to Uxbridge. I'm a big fan of the witty banter, so I really loved reading Elizabeth Drew Stoddard. Every time she gave Uxbridge a good tete a tete I just about laughed my face off.
Emily Dickinson uses wit very frequently in her poetry. I love how far we've come from Puritan sermons; I really think Emily portrays just where we're at during this time period. She's brazen and individualistic, not afraid to write about things that other people wouldn't normally write about.
So having said that, what I really love about Elizabeth Drew Stoddard's "Lemorne vs. Huell" is that it is the complete opposite of what you think it is going to be. As we read this story about 24 year old Miss Huell, all signs point to another Jane Austen ending, where the girl marries for love in the end and everything ends up more or less a happy ending. But THEN...
Page 2538 of the 2nd Norton Anthology text.
"That night I dreamed of the scene in the hotel at Newport. I heard Aunt Eliza saying, "If I gain, Margaret will be rich." And I heard also the clock strike two. As it struck I said, "My husband is a scoundrel," and woke with a start."
Okay...that's totally NOT what I expected.
(we knew it was there, we just thought she'd be all girly and clueless for the rest of her life)
Emily Dickinson uses wit very frequently in her poetry. I love how far we've come from Puritan sermons; I really think Emily portrays just where we're at during this time period. She's brazen and individualistic, not afraid to write about things that other people wouldn't normally write about.
So having said that, what I really love about Elizabeth Drew Stoddard's "Lemorne vs. Huell" is that it is the complete opposite of what you think it is going to be. As we read this story about 24 year old Miss Huell, all signs point to another Jane Austen ending, where the girl marries for love in the end and everything ends up more or less a happy ending. But THEN...
Page 2538 of the 2nd Norton Anthology text.
"That night I dreamed of the scene in the hotel at Newport. I heard Aunt Eliza saying, "If I gain, Margaret will be rich." And I heard also the clock strike two. As it struck I said, "My husband is a scoundrel," and woke with a start."
Okay...that's totally NOT what I expected.
(we knew it was there, we just thought she'd be all girly and clueless for the rest of her life)
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Hawthorne's a weirdy.
Nathaniel Hawthorne is just one of those guys. You really don't know what to do with him; he's awkward and hard to read sometimes, filled with passion but a different duck nonetheless. At least the Birthmark was easy to read--I'm just thanking my lucky stars on that one.
The Birthmark is definitely an interesting piece. It's dark, but it still sheds hope for Georgiana throughout the story. You think she's gonna make it and they'll live happily ever after, but actually she dies and it's all his fault.
Hawthorne tries to portray science side by side with evil, or better yet bad consequences. I feel like he reminds me of the old Puritan authors whose only works were like sermons or judgement poetry, not because he preaches per se but because he condemns things practically. This guy really thought scientific anything was for the birds, and he let people know all about it. I have more to say about all that, but I'm saving it for this research paper that I have the pure joy of writing. ;)
Moral of the story is, kids, you've gotta be pretty low to think your own wife is repulsive just because of a birthmark that she definitely had when you married her. Someone needs an attitude check if he finds the woman he loves to suddenly be disgusting to him--talk about potential heart shattering feelings. I know it's about more than that, but seriously. What is this guy thinking? Better yet, what is Hawthorne trying to portray through Aylmer here? This is a man who loves nothing more than his science. If he had to choose between the lovliest lady in all the land or science, he would pick science and, OH LOOK, HE DID!
I mean, this story is filled to the brim with passion. I read that this was written shortly after he had become a newlywed himself. Now what does that tell me...I see a lot of romance in this story, but it's all of a grotesque kind. Maybe he had some secret disgust in regards to his own bride that he needed to vent about. That would be sad. I'll leave you with that, since it's pretty interesting and all.
The Birthmark is definitely an interesting piece. It's dark, but it still sheds hope for Georgiana throughout the story. You think she's gonna make it and they'll live happily ever after, but actually she dies and it's all his fault.
Hawthorne tries to portray science side by side with evil, or better yet bad consequences. I feel like he reminds me of the old Puritan authors whose only works were like sermons or judgement poetry, not because he preaches per se but because he condemns things practically. This guy really thought scientific anything was for the birds, and he let people know all about it. I have more to say about all that, but I'm saving it for this research paper that I have the pure joy of writing. ;)
Moral of the story is, kids, you've gotta be pretty low to think your own wife is repulsive just because of a birthmark that she definitely had when you married her. Someone needs an attitude check if he finds the woman he loves to suddenly be disgusting to him--talk about potential heart shattering feelings. I know it's about more than that, but seriously. What is this guy thinking? Better yet, what is Hawthorne trying to portray through Aylmer here? This is a man who loves nothing more than his science. If he had to choose between the lovliest lady in all the land or science, he would pick science and, OH LOOK, HE DID!
I mean, this story is filled to the brim with passion. I read that this was written shortly after he had become a newlywed himself. Now what does that tell me...I see a lot of romance in this story, but it's all of a grotesque kind. Maybe he had some secret disgust in regards to his own bride that he needed to vent about. That would be sad. I'll leave you with that, since it's pretty interesting and all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)