The Luck of Roaring Camp

In The Luck of Roaring Camp by Bret Harte we see a completely different role of a child, like we discussed a little in class. I found this idea particularly interesting. In most of the stories we have read this semester the man or father figure is absent in the child’s life because his career is most important while the woman is the caretaker. The men of Roaring Camp definitely fit the stereotype of the American Boy. The men are independent, hard working, and “allowed imperfections”. “The term “roughs” applied to them was a distinction rather than a definition. Perhaps in the minor details of fingers, toes, ears, etc., the camp may have been deficient, but these slight omissions did not detract from their aggregate force” (Harte 526). I believe the absence of women in this camp enhanced the characteristics of a “typical man” who liked to gamble and did not care about hygiene.

When “Luck” is born the men are forced to be the motherly figure in his life because there are no women to take on this role. I thought it was funny that as soon as the baby came into their lives they felt the need to change their behavior. Girls we have read about, like Ellen and Gerty were taught the importance of religion and following God. We have not as much seen boys being taught a lot about religion. “A day was accordingly set apart for the christening” (Harte 534). This part in the story the men make it a huge deal to have a Church service, and they decide they must give up profanity, shouting and yelling. I thought this was interesting that men living so rough in strange male dominated society immediately change their ways for the little baby boy.

The Yellow Wallpaper

It is definitely a big transition to go from excerpts of long novels to short stories consisting of only a few pages. My initial thought as I began to read was that I did not need to pay much attention, just quickly read through it, especially since I have read The Yellow Wallpaper before. Though it is short, you almost have to pay more attention because there is so much detail in such little text. Our previous readings seemed to draw everything out, so that you could usually skim some parts and still know completely what is going on.

In the Yellow Wallpaper the narrator either goes outside or “sees the woman” go outside. “So I walk a little in the garden or down that lovely lane, sit on the porch under the roses, and lie down up here a good deal. I’m getting really fond of the room in spite of the wall-paper. Perhaps because of the wall-paper” (Gilman 509). I had to read this part a couple times and pay close attention to exactly what happens. In this story I think one reason you must pay close attention to detail, is not because of the length of the story, but because the woman’s insanity causes you to question her actions and whether everything is actually happening as she tells it. It is hard to know if you can trust her, somewhat like Sybil in A Whisper in the Dark when she is in the isolated house.

Another thing I noticed about short stories is that they immediately jump into the story. There is no big introduction or leading up to events, the author just throws the reader into the story. This happens in Desiree’s Baby. The only introduction to the story is “As the day was pleasant, Madame Valmonde drove over to L’Abri to see Desiree and the baby” (Chopin 517). After this one short sentence the story is a bit confusing as Chopin moves quickly from each character and situation.

Little Lord Fauntleroy

I think knowing if the author is male or female changes the way we read and understand the text. I believe that if you can’t tell whether the author is a male or female you can most likely figure it out from the way the author writes and the way the characters are portrayed in the stories. At first when I read Little Lord Fauntleroy and I thought Frances Hodges Burnett was male, I thought it was a little strange the way he portrayed Cedric’s character because it was not the “typical” boy that we saw previously in Ragged Dick or Tom Sawyer. It seems to me that male authors wanted to portray boys as rough and tough, rather than sensitive characters. Ragged Dick and Tom Sawyer were both very independent and did what they had to do to be successful, whatever that meant to them. They were not measured by their looks at all and there was no focus on being “good”, but it was important to make money and have ambition.

I thought Cedric was described more like a girl during the 19^th century than a boy. “In the first place, he was always well, and so he never gave any one trouble; in the second place, he had so sweet a temper and ways so charming that he was a pleasure to everyone; and in the third place, he was so beautiful to look at that he was quite a picture” (Burnett 444). From the beginning of Little Lord Fauntleroy Cedric is described over and over as being beautiful or pretty, not something that boys were usually valued for.

“And then they went into the carriage and Cedric sat very close to her, and as she looked back out of the window, he looked at her and stroked her hand and held it close” (Burnett 500). Cedric loved his mom so much and would do anything for her. He worried about her after his father’s death even though he did not completely understand. Cedric read to her and kept her company all the time. This reminds me of Ellen in a Wide Wide World because she would read to her mom, spend time with her, and comfort her because she cared about her so much.

Tom Sawyer

I would like to focus on the idea of “showing off” to others. We discussed this a little in class, but I would like to discuss it in greater detail. Mark Twain brings up “showing off” twice in this story.

When Tom sees the new girl in the garden at the Thatcher’s house, he reacts in a somewhat peculiar way, but for a boy his age his reaction was probably normal. “He worshiped this new angel with furtive eye, till he saw that she had discovered him; then he pretended he did not know she was present, and began to “show off” in all sorts of absurd boyish ways, in order to win her admiration. He kept up this grotesque foolishness for some time; but by and by, while he was in the midst of some dangerous gymnastic performances he glanced aside and saw that the little girl was wending her way toward the house” (Twain 419). I thought this was a really funny scene because little boys really do do strange things to try to get girls attention. After reading a couple stories about the American boy and their role in society I find it a little ironic that they are supposed to be the authoritative figure over women and make decisions in and out of the home, yet they can not express their emotions. Perhaps this goes back to the idea that men did not need as much “training” as women so they do not really know how to properly express themselves. When Tom looks to make sure no one is around when he picks up the flower, this I thought this showed that men do not like to show weakness, but rather they must be strong, independent individuals.

Later in the story when Tom is at church showing off is introduced again. There is a whole passage about how the different people in Sunday school show off for their visitor. “The young lady teachers “showed off”—bending sweetly over pupils that were lately being boxed, lifting pretty warning fingers at bad little boys and patting good ones lovingly. The young gentlemen teachers “showed off” with small scoldings and other little displays of authority and fine attention to discipline…”(Twain 434). I think this confirms, again, the role of men and women in society. Women are there to teach the children and love on them, while the men are above the women and have control of the classroom.

Ragged Dick

There were three things that I kept noticing as I was reading Ragged Dick. We somewhat discussed them in class, but I would like to expand on the ideas. I found that boys are more assertive and confident than we have seen in girls, can raise themselves without a strong parental figure, and boys seem to be able to improve more easily than girls.

Boys are definitely more assertive than girls in this story. Dick does not appear to be afraid of anyone. He exhibits confidence in all he does. He is a go-getter in his boot-blacking business. “I keep my eyes open, --that’s the way I get jobs. You’re lazy. that’s what’s the matter” (Alger 346). He is not afraid of being shut down, and stands for what he believes like in the incident of the counterfeit money.

Ragged Dick’s father is an alcoholic who does not play a big part in his life. He raises himself without much help of any authority figure. I believe that boys matured a lot quicker than girls in the sense that they could be independent. “It is not uncommon to see a little boy, too young to be out of his mother’s sight, smoking with all the apparent satisfaction of a veteran smoker” (Alger 341). No girl that we have read about would be out of any parent’s sight doing such a thing. Ellen could barely survive on her trip to the store when her mom could not go with her.

In the second half of the story Frank gives Dick new clothes to wear and lets him clean up, so he looks more presentable. “It reminds me of Cinderella,” said Dick, “when she was changed into a fairy princess” (Alger 365). Frank agrees that he looks so much better and is now able to be a “proper guide”. Just by looking clean he has completely changed. To Mr. Whitney, Frank’s uncle, Dick seems to be a respectable boy and only needed a little changing. I think this is different from girls because they needed so much training in everything to be a proper young lady, whether it be in their appearance, the way they acted, or their duty as a housewife.

There are obvious differences between the American boy and the American girl. I think this shows that men are the dominant figures in society. They are more independent and ambitious and they make decisions not only for themselves, but also their families and society.

A Whisper in the Dark

In A Whisper in the Dark the concept of insanity is very strange and sudden. This story definitely took a turn I was not expecting. First this manipulative girl is having inappropriate relations with her uncle, and then she is drugged and taken to an insane asylum. As we talked about in class about Gothic literature, Alcott portrays her story as dark and mysterious, mostly in the second part of A Whisper in the Dark.

“Sybil, I am forty-five, you not eighteen, yet you once said you could be very happy with me, if I were always kind to you. I can promise that I will be, for I love you. My darling, you reject the son, will you accept the father?” (Alcott 225). This is when Sybil refuses to marry Guy after she finds out the whole plan. Her Uncle then asks if she would like to be his wife instead. This character who is supposed to be a fatherly figure in Sybil’s life all of a sudden starts inappropriate relations with such a young girl.

The gothic tradition that “things are not what they seem” is really evident as Sybil becomes more and more “ill” in the insane asylum. Since the story is written from the first person point of view it is already a little difficult to decide if we should believe everything Sybil says, or if we need to take everything she says with a grain of salt. “Feeling like a hunted doe, I ran on, but before I had gained a dozen yards my shoeless foot struck a sharp stone, and I fell half stunned upon the wet grass of the wayside bank.” (Alcott 227). When Sybil is running away I just can not help but wonder if she is just being overly dramatic or if she is actually in a bad situation.

Then the concept of insanity becomes very clear when she stops sleeping, cries all the time, and truly starts to go a bit crazy. “My one hope died then, and I resolved to kill myself rather than endure this life another month; for now it grew clear to me that they believed me mad, and death of the body was far more preferable than that of the mind. I think I was a little mad…” (Alcott 236). When this happens I think it makes the message of what she is saying less intense, and I began to focus on the other characters in the story. I thought that their words and actions could perhaps be more truthful than the girl going insane.

Our previous ideas of mother/daughter relationships were changed after reading this story. Mothers were supposed to be the stable, mature figures in the child’s life, and teach them everything they needed to know. Mrs. Montgomery is a good example of this even though she was absent for a lot of Ellen’s life. She taught her as much as she could, while Sybil’s crazy mom is in an insane asylum and can not function at all on her own.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

As I was reading Uncle Tom’s Cabin I was a little shocked by all the subject matter relating to slavery because in all of our previous readings good always prevailed. This story had so many negative connotations and “evil” that I would not find to be popular for any children to read. Stowe goes against all the theories of 19^th century children’s literature that we have discussed like the fact that the stories teach good morals, good always prevails, children are our future, and just the fact that the stories have simple plotlines.

Towards the end of the story the woman named Lucy gets on the boat with her little 10-month-old son. “They won’t want the young ’un on a plantation…then there’s all the bother and expense of raisin’,” said the man (Stowe 325). When Haley and the man are talking about the boy they do not see him as a person, but only as an object, and they discuss whether he is worth the expense to keep him for his labor. This is a huge contrast to the other children, like Ellen who are seen as precious little people who are capable of learning so much.

Stowe portrays the children in Uncle Tom’s Cabin as weak, with no power. Aunt Hagar and her son Albert are about to be sold into slavery and the woman does not want to get separated from the only son she has left. “He an’t gwine to be sold widout me! said the old woman, with passionate eagerness; “he and I goes in a lot together” (Stowe 316). The woman is yelling about staying with her son, and through all this the boy doesn’t say a word. He is fourteen years old and I found it interesting that he couldn’t manage to voice his opinion at all. I think this shows that children truly do not have a say in anything, and adults do not view children as being important in society or there to help shape the future.

We do not get the chance to really see the lives of children outside the institution of slavery. The only glimpse we see is of the Bird family where Eliza goes to try to get help for her and her baby. I believe this is one of the only major times in the story that good somewhat prevails. In such a bad time when slavery is so prevalent, this family tried very hard to help runaway slaves. I think this could have shown children who read this that even when people do bad things, you can still stand for what you believe and do the right thing.