Clotel - The President's Daughter: Post #2

From reading the first five chapters of Clotel, I am strongly aware of William Wells Brown's recurrent descriptions from everything ranging from the collective list of the thoughts of the characters in the book, especially Currer and her daughters. Combined with many disturbing descriptions of scenes, such as describing the negro dogs to "attack a negro at their master's bidding and cling to him as the bull-dog will cling to a beast," (96) and "then he sent forth cries of agony painful to the ear, begging some one to blow his brains out; at the same time surging with almost superhuman strength, until the staple with which the chain was fastened to the tree drew out," (98). The author takes his time to unveil instances of the inequalities that all African Americans had faced during this period in order to emotionally move his readers. This is an element of the Romanticism writing style.

Another attribute that I observed is how the writer includes a poem before every chapter, and this emphasizes how the writers of Romanticism believed that poetry was a way of expressing their imagination, which is why they valued poetry so much. Also, Brown tends to shift the mood back and forth throughout the first chapters of the book. There are constant successions of happiness and despair. For example, Chapter III tends to demonstrate brutality as it returns to the "inhumanity and barbarity of the inhabitants of Natchez," however, in Chapter IV, Brown dramatically shifts towards a very peaceful and romantic atmosphere to describe how innocent Clotel and Horatio (a white man's) relationship. The expressions of "rural beauty," "majestic magnolia," "in loving amity," "fragrance of flowers," "harmonious disorder of nature," (100) all combine together to depict a very untroubled, serene environment and nature that the couple lives in. However, although the chapter is very sweet and soft, the very next chapter begins with the slave auction in New Orleans.

Clotel - The President's Daughter: Post #1

Written and set in the Romanticism period (1800-1860), William Wells Brown's purpose of "Clotel or, The President's Daughter" is to call attention to the disturbing fact that the Founding Fathers, who supported the American concepts of freedom, equality, and the inalienable rights of the human race, were, at the time, slaveholders themselves. Brown saw the contradiction of Thomas Jefferson's actions especially among the Founding Fathers who held slaves, such as George Washington and James Madison who both had important roles in configuring the constitutional compromises of the newly formed nation of America. Jefferson, who was notable for vocalizing his chief support of the Declaration of Independence which had been written during the Rationalism period, inspired William Wells Brown to write the story about three mulattos, people with mixed white and black ancestry, who all share relations with Thomas Jefferson.

From reading the Introduction and the first chapter alone, I am now able to support my proposal of the definition of "American literature" from the demonstration of the novel. Even though "Clotel or, The President's Daughter" was written and published in London, the setting of the book is set in the United States and presents the issue of slavery within the nation before the outbreak of the Civil War of 1860, in turn, validating my impression of American literature: "the literature classified by literary text, compositions, or publications of any genre, which corroborates with the distinctive elements of American writing within the region of what is now the United States. This would entail the collective literature written and published in any region of the world, written by authors who may or may have not been born in America, but have firsthand knowledge or relations with the country..."

I have observed from the first chapter that the narrator of the novel is very outspoken. Brown first educates his readers about the attempts taken by the legislature (Henry Clay and John Randolph) to modify the laws regarding slavery. He voices his opinion about the wrongs of the institution of slavery without directly announcing it. Including much background about slavery, he also informs his readers about how slave families were oftentimes separated and the "many signals pointing to heaven, and whose ministers preach that slavery is a God-ordained institution!" (88.) Slaveholders, especially those in the South, had justified slavery by claiming the Scriptures verified its integrity. Under the Romantic style of writing, unlike Puritan and Rational writing, the writing typically used intuition, valued feelings, and believed in their inner experiences and the power of imagination. Although "Clotel" contains different names for the characters in the story as opposed to the actual names, the real Sally Hemmings is represented by  Currer, a slavewoman who is the mother of Jefferson's two children, Clotel and Althesa. I think that Brown was not far off from the actual story, whether the accusations of Sally Hemmings were accurate at all, and his use of his imagination and his rationale is clear from the first chapter where he says, "Thus closed a negro sale, at which two daughters of Thomas Jefferson, the writer of the Declaration of American Independence, and one of the presidents of the great republic, were disposed of to the highest bidder!" (88). His mode of expression clearly voices his opinionated views and provokes his readers in a tender way, which are attributes to the writing of the Romanticism period. I don't understand why Brown uses this technique, but it is a possibility of representing the ideal concept that people are mandated to seek paths to perfection and unspoiled nature; I believe that this illustrates how the path to perfection may be full of twists and turns.

Puritanism in the Scarlet Letter #4

Among the Puritans, Indians were considered to be much too undomesticated and as "savages." Although, in the beginning, there was a middle ground between them, where both civilizations were very unbiased towards each other. This impression shifted as a result of the Puritans' innumerable attempts of converting the natives to Christianity, forcing them to succumb to the Puritans, and also the Puritans' view that they had ownership of Indian land. From reading chapter eighteen, I made a connection to Pearl and the wilderness. "She had wandered, without rule or guidance, into a moral wilderness... where she roamed as freely as the wild Indian in his woods." The natives were associated with wilderness as they ordinarily sustained themselves in forests and darkness. The wildness seen in Pearl ties into the uncivilized Natives. The town refuses to accept Pearl, isolating her from the rest of society, despite Pearl's inclination of becoming accepted. It was not only Pearl who had been seen by the town as wild and corrupt but also the Native Americans and Hester Prynne, whom had been fenced off from the entire society for nearly all of the remainder of her life. 

In the last chapter, King's Chapel is mentioned as well as the writing engraved on Hester Prynne's tombstone. The King's Chapel is an actual Puritan church which had been built in 1749 and is also located where the story takes place. I am not entirely sure if the tombstone is of great significance at all, but I remember studying Puritan tombstones in my history class. What I got out of it is that the tombstones of a person expressed the person's (in this case, a woman's) modesty and integrity as an individual. However, the writing engraved on Hester Prynne at the end of the story is a device to show that punishment would follow her even after she died: "ON A FIELD, SABLE, THE LETTER A, GULES," (243). This further reinforces the belief of the scarlet letter's purpose and the Puritan concept of predestination, that they would not be able to save themselves since God had already determined their destiny.

Puritanism in the Scarlet Letter #3

Page 189 makes a connection with Martin Luther: "Luther, according to the scandal of his monkish enemies, was a brat of that hellish breed; nor was Pearl the only child to whom this inauspicious origin was assigned among the New England Puritans." Puritan beliefs grew out of the Reformation, principally from the teachings of Martin Luther and John Calvin. The Puritans believed in predestination, that humans are inevitably determined by God at birth whether they would enter heaven or be condemned. The society's judgement of Hester Prynne is that she is unfit of the society, further isolating her from the realms of the world around her. Another association I found within the Scarlet Letter connects with indentured servants. "Hester Prynne gave a summons, which was answered by one of the Governor's bond servant - a free-born Englishman, but now a seven years' slave," (201.) Indentured servants were especially common in colonial America. A man from America would pay for an English man's journey from England to America if the Englishman gave his approval to work for the American man for seven years. 

Another Puritan concept is traced in chapter thirteen: "It is to the credit of human nature, that, except where its selfishness is brought into play, it loves more readily than it hates." The Puritans believed that every person was brought about in the company of original sin, that every person is born sinful. They believed that every person was a sinner as a result of Adam and Eve committing the first sins. The Puritans had been consistently assessing themselves whether or not they may enter salvation or be condemned, as how a person live indicated the means of a person being predestined to go to heaven or the depths of hell. Upon finishing The Scarlet Letter, I have realized that Hawthorne portrays Hester Prynne as contradiction to the Puritan beliefs. Due to the society acknowledging her sin of adultery with Dimmesdale, of course the people were inclined to think that she would be condemned in her after life. However, I think she had skillfully redeemed herself as a moral woman - maybe even the most virtuous woman of the colony. This inward analysis of Hester Prynne reveals the altered beliefs during Hawthorne's time in comparison with the ideologies among the Puritan time period.

Puritanism in The Scarlet Letter #2

I have suddenly realized from reading that this story takes place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in New England, which was also where the Puritans had first settled. Furthermore, in chapter three, the narrator introduces the audience to Dimmesdale, a man who obtained much respect as a Puritan minister of the colony. This in turn provides him much of his authority in proclaiming her punishment to the entire town - declaring that instead of facing death, she must "wear a mark of shame upon her bosom" which is a scarlet letter for committing adultery, (72). This scene reflects the Puritan principles. Dimmesdale is regarded as a highly virtuous man only due to him being a minister, just like the rest of men with authority during this period. The scene also shows how vulnerable women were during the Puritan era, comparatively to men.

Another connection I have made pertains to the scarlet letter. The narrator explains that the symbol on Hester's chest "derives its scarlet hue from the flames of the internal pit, (79). As soon as I read this line, I immediately thought of Jonathan Edwards' A Model of Christian Charity, which uses robust imagery God's wrath in order to get more people to convert to Christianity, which also had taken place during the Puritan period. In chapter four, the letter also is described as scorching Hester's breast, "as if it had been red hot, (89.) I believe that the guilt from committing adultery will never be fully forgotten in Hester's daily life, especially since she lives in a society where every person alienates her, treating her as a pariah. The Puritan people truly felt the need to reprimand those who did not demonstrate a godly life, who, in this situation, is Hester Prynne.

Associations With Puritanism in The Scarlet Letter #1

The history of "The Scarlet Letter" displays Hawthorne's fascination with the Puritanism period, as his forefathers had been especially involved with the law courts as judges and speakers. Due to this, the book is set in the Puritan time period, although Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote it when he was living in the Romantic Period in American Literature. This is crucial to understand. No matter what period we are living, there are similar ethical issues that continue to be confronted, as well as the harsh criticism coming from society, particularly coming from the mass media in our generation.

From the introduction of The Scarlet Letter up to chapter two, I've found a variety of connections to Puritanism. The Puritans were intolerant of other types of religions. "It might be that an Antinomian, a Quaker, or other heterodox religionist was to be scourged out of the town, or an idle and vagrant Indian, whom the white man's firewater had made so riotous about the streets..." (57). Puritan society in Massachusetts believed, besides for Puritanism being the "purest"and the most supreme religion, that other types of people (in this case, Indians) were threatening simply because they practiced different religions and principles. They were either mandated to leave or forced to join the Puritan church. Puritans also had an incredibly strong work ethic;  a person who displayed idleness was believed to be "one of the damned" but a person who was hard-working showed evidence that he was one of God's chosen ones to acquire salvation. 

Among the Puritan society were conspiracies against witches. The Salem Witch Trials took place in 1692 during the Puritan era, which definitely caused much unrest and prejudice against witches, although there was no radical evidence of witches, but there were numerous severe accusations against them. Chapter two referred to Mistress Hibbins, "that a witch, like old Mistess Hibbins, the bitter-tempered widow of the magistrate, was to die upon the gallows," (58). At this point in history, Puritans believed widows and social outcasts were witches and alienated them from the rest of society. The controversy against witches were that they defied God with their supernatural powers. Hester Prynne, the shamed woman in this chapter, is ridiculed in front of the entire town. This shows the natural behavior of their society, purposefully mocking and degrading her just like our society does today.

Symbols and You Final

Christine Phan

Mr. McElveen

English II - Block 4

29 August 2013

Symbols and You

            The result of who I am today comes with the countless lessons and experiences I have tackled with living through the first fifteen years of my life. Before this assignment, I never once contemplated on how fragments of my life contain such significant items in them that represent my complete character. Although my life is considerably made up more than just the items in it, just as Aristotle said, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” these substances represent many overpowering aspects of my life that have truly shaped me into the person that I am.

            Hanging on the wall of the living room is the first significant symbol of my life: my very own non-la. This typical cone shaped hat is commonly known for being worn by Asians that were designed to shield the head from sunlight and rain. My mother and father, both having been raised in South Vietnam, were remarkably impacted by the bitter conditions of working in the fields. They sacrificed their ability to receive an education in order to provide money, though a small amount, for their families. Particularly due to my mother being the oldest child in her family, and my father being the oldest male in his family, they both dedicated their youth by farming in the rice paddies and selling their farm-grown crops in the city markets, even though they lived far in the rural districts. Although my parents lacked any luxuries in the beginning, they were able to successfully find a route to America that would reshape their entire lives. They were able to support their families with what they had gained through persistence and hard work in America.

            There are two reasons why the non-la symbolizes so much to me. I am able to look at it and remember how fortunate I am to be able to acquire my education without any impediments. Not only that, I possess so much more given to me in my life than both of my parents ever had when they were my age. They inspire me to take advantage of what I have now and make the best out of my life, because they did not have the same opportunity to do so.

The other reason why the non-la means a great deal to me is that it conveys such a substantial cultural aspect of my life. Being an American-born Vietnamese, it is fascinating to think about how I experience components of two prominently different cultures every day. Although I am honored to be able to consider myself an American, preserving my culture means much more to me. My parents raised me emphasizing strongly on keeping the Vietnamese culture alive in order that my children and the future Vietnamese generations to come will not abandon their original identities, which would annihilate the Vietnamese culture forever. However, it has become apparent to me that the traditions and ways of my heritage are slowly vanishing, as western influences have reshaped the original Vietnamese customs. The non-la is much more than just a hat, it is a piece of my heritage that I can hold onto and pass onto my children to counteract with the disappearance of the Vietnamese culture in the years to come.

My next symbol is the color periwinkle. The color is oftentimes seen among many flowers, having a mix of a pastel blue with a tint of lavender. This color is also a color of awareness ribbons for eating disorders. Not very many people know of this, but I've struggled with my weight from the moment I was born. It's undeniable that Asians naturally have a small frame and are exceptionally tiny. Because I was born underweight, my parents were consistently force-feeding me, in hopes that I would not also be as underweight once I grew older. Although my parents had believed that I was too skinny, I finally got to the point where I was at a “normal weight,” the doctors had explained. However, my relatives thought different. They began to continuously pinch my arms, notifying me how big my wrists were. Compared to my school friends, I was considerably smaller and much more scrawny. I however did not come to this realization until very much later. My parents continuously mentioned how much larger I was than my 24 year-old aunt who weighed 85 pounds, while I was only eleven years old, weighing at 91 pounds. I was considered truly overweight from their perspectives. The capacity of how much agony I went through for several years is inexplicably difficult to describe.

I was not able to escape the voices in my brain evoking me to be thinner. I desperately wanted to be able to feel acceptance within my family. I started to exercise everyday. I developed a strict regime of running for hours everyday. I started to feel impeccably guilty if I went a day without exercising. I was able to lose a couple of pounds, but I then reached a point where I was not able to lose any more weight. I started to feel guilty about eating. I did have the willpower to resist any and all junk food, but I realized that I would not need to worry about the nutritional content if I threw everything up before I was able to digest it. For a few months, I suffered from bulimia. This was a very effective method; I lost more weight and was able to keep it hidden from my peers and my family. Each time after I threw up, I felt tears streaming down my face and kept telling myself that I've got to be skinny for my family. They expected me to make all A's and be pretty. And to them, pretty meant skinny. That was all I was missing. I just needed to be skinny. I became obsessed with it and transformed into a monster. I let that monster take over every single thought in my head and every action I executed.

My family saw that I had been rapidly losing weight, but they figured it was from me over-exercising, and they encouraged me to proceed with exercising. Little did they know, my bulimia was getting worse and worse. I then reached a horrifying period where I started to throw up blood. My esophagus remained sore for a few weeks, and I was no longer able to compel a particle of food no matter how many times I tried. It caused me to wince anytime I started to eat due to my throat being so irritated from my fingers digging against it for so long. I had no choice but to stop, being at 83 pounds. I truly feel remorse over allowing myself to get to such a ghastly stage. Periwinkle is a color that reminds me of the consequences of damaging not only my body, but also my conscience. It allows me to remember that no extent of harming myself is worthy of a number on a scale. It also reminds me to continue to be a strong person. I am proud for learning how to embrace myself even if other people constantly point out my flaws. I have assimilated a way for me to accept myself, and that God himself designed me to be exactly who I am on this Earth.

My final symbol is a cherry blossom, thousands of which are seen repeatedly on trees in many Japanese artworks and sceneries. The delicate cherry blossom flower, or sakura, is Japan’s national flower. Although there are several different varieties of the flower, the blooming phase of the flower is relatively short; a full bloom is typically reached in less than one week after the opening of the first blossoms of the flower, and the blossoms fall from the cherry blossom trees and are swept away by the wind. The Japanese traditionally celebrate the blooming season with cherry blossom viewing parties underneath these trees. It symbolizes the essence of the human life as the petals fall. It represents that all aspects of life are only temporary. Every situation, favorable or unfavorable, is bound to pass. Therefore, it is not necessary to be overly attached or miserable over a particular outcome, because everything passes in an instant. The cherry blossom exemplifies how I view every incident of my life. It is my reminder to be mindful of everything that arises in my life. Everything undeniably happens for a reason. With my father’s cancer, the recent deaths of my grandmother and uncle, both my mother and I persevering and hoping for the best, the significance of the cherry blossom immensely encourages me to press on during troubling times.

Every one of these symbols genuinely provides comfort, and they all critically inspire me to move forward with my life no matter what my situation may be. I certainly believe that my entire life is in God’s hands. I am who I currently am today because of Him, and that there is a meaning behind everything that manifests in my life. Not only do these symbols in my life remind me that I have been exceedingly strong in the past, and that I am able to carry out that strength again, but also, it explains who I am as a person and outlines what I have gone through in my life so far.