The American 1850’s – September 21, 2006
I’m starting with a very important Robot here. When we read Uncle Tom’s Cabin in this course, I was a bit confused because I didn’t see the connection between the character named Uncle Tom and the racial/racist term. This became one of my positions that I defended throughout the reading of the novel in class, and there was a girl named Emily (yes, I’m using her real name) who was particularly irritated by my defense of this position. In general, I refused to criticize Uncle Tom on a personal level because I thought he was a generally noble and altruistic character.
Fast forward to our last day covering Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and we’re talking about (here’s the spoiler alert in case you don’t know the ending to this 150-year-old novel) how Tom refuses to fight back as he’s being lashed to death at the end of the story, even forgiving those who beat him during the process. Emily chimed in, remarking that it was “useless of him to turn the cheek like that” and that she felt that Uncle Tom was “pathetic.” I turned to Emily and said, “Yeah, that Jesus Christ, how pathetic.” While I was being serious in criticizing her comment, I was also trying to be funny. Moreover, since Uncle Tom is one of the most overt Christ figures in American literature, I figured she knew what she was in for when she started such blatant criticism of him. Nevertheless, Emily then turned back to me and said, “Wow, you’re a real asshole.” I was so happy I almost cried. True story.
As you might imagine, this was one of the greatest moments in my academic career.
American Literature Survey I – 
So in my US Lit Survey, which covered some of the same texts included in the American 1850’s course listed above (note: I am smart!), we spent the entire first month reading Hawthorne, and I got tired of it really damn quick. As you will eventually see, the little Robot drawings because an outlet for my passive aggressive tendencies, so instead of telling the teacher how I felt, I made a series of mostly unremarkable “cartoons” insulting Hawthorne and his writing. This one, however, stands out to me for rather clear reasons.
I encourage you to chime in and let me know what you think. Leave comments, e-mail me, call me, and then tell everyone you know.
I like them. I'd like to see more.
ReplyDeletePlus, on the whole "turning the other cheek" thing, I appreciate the comment. In J. Kameron Carter's "Black Intellectuals and Religion" course we talked about the underlying failure of Frederick Douglass to excite change because of his willingness to pick up the tools of his oppressors. In short, Douglass' quest for liberation was stymied by his willingness to continue to participate in a system when the roles were reversed (I'm thinking specifically of when he turns the whip on his abuser). So, I'd say you're in fairly good company in your reading.
Robot will be a somewhat regular feature, but I have to go through years of notebooks to find good ones, so it probably won't happen every day.
ReplyDeleteI like the discussion you mention from that course, and I wish I could have sat in on it. Douglass is a very fascinating figure, and the moment when he resists Covey is a very complicated one to properly understand and contextualize. The reading you bring up here is quite important.