Winter 2013

Editors and Staff

Executive EditorShay Rahm-Barnett

Production ChiefMichelle Waggoner

Editor-in-ChiefRegan R. Markley

Associate EditorNgoc Nguyen

Guest EditorCorey M. Hamilton

WebmasterWilliam Andrews

New Plains Review Publishing GroupUniversity of Central Oklahoma

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ScissorTale Review: Winter 2013ISBN: 978-1-300-87475-1

Printed in the United States of America.

ScissorTale Review is dedicated to student scholarship and writing. The journal is published twice yearly, sponsored bythe English Department, the College of Liberal Arts, and the University of Central Oklahoma.

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Foreword

Welcome to the re-launch of ScissorTale Review. Our Winter 2013 issue focuses on thewritings of student presenters at the 2012 Language & Linguists Student Conference. Thiscollection of critical essays demonstrates the high-level of student scholarship andparticipation at the conference, held annually at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Our re-launch could not have happened without the support and enthusiasm of theconference organizers. We would like to specifically thank Dr. Amy Carrell, Corey M.Hamilton, Meredith Seagraves, and Jennifer Bean.

On behalf of the staff of ScissorTale Review, we welcome you to our new format. Weknow you will enjoy it.

Best wishes,

Shay Rahm-BarnettExecutive Editor

Regan R. MarkleyEditor-in-Chief

Contents

ForewordContents

Dr. AmyCarrell

The Language and Linguistics Student Conference: Its Conception, Birth,and Growth as a Gem in the University of Central Oklahoma’sTransformative Learning Crown

MeredithSeagraves

Introduction

Sarah M.Brewer

In the Eye of the Male Gaze: How Habibi Affirms Feminist Theory and theGraphic Novel as Literature

ChristopherL. Van

The Hetero/Homosexual Binary, Queer Sexuality, and Modern Media

Margo R.Moore

Revenge and Therapy: The Making of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “TheYellow Wallpaper”

Jodi Ierien Poetic Voices of the First Word War: Rosenberg, Sassoon & KiplingCharles D.Carter, II

The Artistic Subjectivity of Jane Eyre

Elise J.Dean

A Comparison of “The Dream of the Rood” and Sir Gawain and the GreenKnight

LynnethMiller

Judith: The Old English Poem as Representative of the Religious Cultureof the Poet

Noelle Hurt Phillis Wheatley: Predecessor to the Black Folk SermonDaniel C.Saunders

Life’s Dark Themes: How the Classroom Can Bridge the Gap BetweenFearing and Understanding Rape in YA Literature

Lauren A.Vandever

The Captivity of Speak

MaggieMcGee

The Soundtrack of Books

AlexandraBohannon

Is a Philosopher a Sorcerer? Critical Analysis of the Differences in TextBetween the British and American English Editions of Harry Potter

ChristopherA. Goforth

The Role of Wizards in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth: Their Symbolism andImportance to Modern Society

Phillip W.Harvey

Sometimes Dead is Better: The Language of Pet Sematary

Hannah V.Bingham

Tristram o’Horseback

Justin T.McBride

“Real” Down-Home Southern English: Comparing an Oklahoman’s Realand Imitated Dialects

MoiraSaltzman

The Generation Gap: Diverging Approaches to Online Discourse

MichaelRifenburg

Offloading the Mind onto Sofa Cushions: Distributed Cognition andLearning College Football Plays

Priscilla N. Strategies for the Silent Period

WoodMeihua

GuoUniversal Grammar and Second Language Classroom Instructions: A BriefReview

ElisabethWeber

English as a Lingua Franca and Appropriate Teacher Competence

Language & Linguistics Student Conference

The Language and Linguistics Student Conference:Its Conception, Birth, and Growth as a Gem in the University of Central

Oklahoma’s Transformative Learning Crown

In early 2008, two undergraduate students at the University of Central Oklahomaapproached me about my willingness to help them start a new student organizationdevoted to the broader study of language as a human phenomenon rather than a narrowerapproach to aspects of a particular language and its literature, which was much more thepurview of the English Society, UCO’s oldest student organization that I co-advised withDr. Timothy Petete. Part of their prompting for this new organization resulted from theirfutile efforts to find an academic conference in the region devoted to or which would atleast consider both undergraduate and graduate submissions about language and/orlinguistics.

As these students talked with other students and faculty about this yet-unrecognizedorganization, they were joined by more students with similar interests and began theprocess of becoming officially recognized as a student organization that they had decidedto call the Language Society. They had also determined that the main event of thisorganization be a student conference for both undergraduate and graduate students andthat this conference be as broadly accessible as possible. Hence, the Language Society, co-advised by Dr. Siegfried Heit and me, was born and recognized as a student organizationthe same week budgets were allotted, and because the Language Society did not existwhen budgets were proposed, we had no money, just the drive to put on as professional aconference as possible for our students and other students within the region.

The new Language Society teamed with the English Society, which did have a budget, andraised funds, including an Opportunity Grant from the Oklahoma Humanities Counciland considerable assistance from UCO’s College of Liberal Arts, the Department ofEnglish, and the First-Year Composition Program. Thus, the first Language andLinguistics Student Conference (LLSC) was conceived.

From the very first conference, we have been guided by UCO’s College of Liberal Arts’motto, helping students learn. Students have been involved in each step of theconference, both in the planning and execution, depending on their interests. Prior to thedeadline for abstracts to be submitted for blind review, Dr. Petete conducts an abstractwriting workshop and then continues to mentor students with their abstracts through thesubmission process. Once abstracts are accepted, Dr. Petete conducts a presentationworkshop during which he discusses a variety of ways to present at a conference.

The inaugural conference included a keynote speaker, Dr. Victor Raskin from PurdueUniversity, and a round-table discussion by four UCO graduates on careers in language(s)and linguistics. It also included a number of presentations by students from other schoolsnot only in other states but in other countries!

Since that first conference, we have held four more annual conferences, each one larger

than its predecessor. We continue to attract students—and their faculty—from otherstates and different nations. Students’ abstracts are blind reviewed, and the abstracts ofpapers registered for presentation are published in the conference program. Originallyconceived as a small, regional conference, the LLSC has not only fulfilled its initialmission, it has surpassed it by continuing to provide an opportunity for bothundergraduate and graduate students from around the world to present their research ona variety of language-related topics.

Over the years, we have modified the LLSC as each conference is, in itself, a learningexperience, but we have always maintained our primary goal: helping students learn byproviding a quality transformative learning experience. We have also continued thetradition we established for keynote speakers (including Dr. Dennis Preston fromOklahoma State University, Drs. Alleen and Don Nilsen from Arizona State University,and two-time keynote speaker Dr. John Morreall from the College of William and Mary).We have had subsequent round-table discussions on the preservation of indigenouslanguages and on pedagogies of the Spanish language.

The LLSC also provides students with a unique opportunity to become involved in theplanning and execution stages of the conference—from reading and selecting abstracts tolaying out the schedule and the program to selecting and stuffing tote bags to greeting andregistering guests throughout the conference, and much, much more. Because all sessionsincluding the keynote (but excluding the luncheon) are free and open to the public,students have the opportunity to invite their family and friends to hear them speak. Thisaccessibility has remained a steadfast aspect of this conference and has fostered a widerange of networking opportunities that are integral to students’ professionaldevelopment, and in its fifth year, the LLSC hosted the Regional Meeting for theSouthwest Region of Sigma Tau Delta International English Honor Society, drawing anumber of exemplary student scholars and leaders from the region. Students are alsoencouraged to interact with attendees who represent an established legacy of academicmentorship, such as the keynote speaker(s) and other visitors, including UCOadministrators who have attended the LLSC over the years and have noted that theconference epitomizes transformative learning.

Now we have been presented with this very special opportunity to publish the best papersof each LLSC in the ScissorTale Review. We are thrilled to accept this offer and excited tosee where it takes us. We are extremely grateful to the Department of English, Dr. DavidMacey, and Ms. Shay Rahm-Barnett for this new adventure and continuing support of theLanguage and Linguistics Student Conference.

The Language Society and the English Society also very much appreciate the ongoingsupport of so many individuals and offices at UCO, support that comes in many forms, allof which contribute to the success of each conference.

Over the course of these five conferences, I have worked very closely with a substantialnumber of students, many of them officers of the Language Society and the English

Society and many with very different work styles. Yet from each I have learned much, andjudging by the success of each LLSC, so, too, have they. Some have even surprised me byreturning to help with “grunt work” on the day of the conference. I won’t say that theseconferences have been or are easy to put together, but they foster a wide variety ofopportunities for a substantial number of our students (and graduates), far exceeding thesimple “conference experience” of submitting to and presenting at a conference.

On a personal note, while there is not room enough to list and thank each person whocontributed to and/or participated in each LLSC, I would be utterly remiss not toacknowledge two people without whom some of these conferences would either havelacked the splendor and success they enjoyed or, possibly, not even have happened.Meredith Seagraves and Corey Hamilton, each of whom has served as President and VicePresident of the Language Society and the English Society, have given so much ofthemselves to the organizations and especially to the conferences. They and students likethem who are dedicated not only to their own educations but to serving others have madethese conferences the successes they are. Meredith and Corey are outstanding leaders aswell as exceptional team players. Never have I had cause to doubt them; never has eitherever let me down. From them I have learned so much, and to them I am eternallygrateful.

Finally, the sixth Language and Linguistic Student Conference is already in the planningstages and will be held Saturday, 16 November 2013, in the Nigh University Center.

Dr. Amy Carrell

Introduction

Five years have passed since the Language and Linguistic Student Conference (LLSC) wasfirst conceived, a conference that would encourage students of various disciplines toparticipate in academic discourse concerning what is perhaps the foremost aspectcommon to humankind—language. As a supportive, yet scholarly event, the LLSC wouldallow undergraduate and graduate students to present their own research on a platformthat many students assume is traditionally reserved for accomplished scholars. Guided byDr. Amy Carrell, a small group of students committed their time, efforts, and passions toseeing this vision through, and after months of intense planning and preparations, theLLSC made its debut on the UCO campus in March of 2009.

From its beginning, the LLSC has remained loyal to the UCO’s model of transformativelearning, for each conference not only fosters, but showcases, the importance of student-centered academics. Every aspect of the conference—the planning, execution, and content—involves students and seeks to accommodate our varying interests and needs. Serving asan LLSC conference organizer for the past five years, my own strengths have beendefined, tested, and refined. From editing abstracts, compiling conference programs, andsetting presentation schedules out to writing budgets, organizing banquets, and speakingbefore a crowd, I have developed valuable knowledge and experience from which many ofmy academic goals and successes have emerged.

As an undergraduate student majoring in English, I closely studied critical essays writtenby reliable experts. A large measure of my academic success, in fact, depended on myability to identify credibility and also to display my own. The LLSC provided me theopportunity to impart this integrity that I had worked so hard to develop. By deliveringmy own critical essay to peers and mentors who shared my enthusiasm for language andliterature, the LLSC affirmed the value of my scholarly efforts, and thereby roused myacademic self-confidence. This newfound confidence inspired me to present at nationalconferences, to pursue a graduate degree, and to secure a position as the teacher of recordfor first-year composition courses. Most importantly, however, my involvement with theLLSC made me realize how important it is for students of English studies to develop anintellectual purpose. So, too, it became clear that in order to nurture this academicprogress, professors and the wider academic community must acknowledge that students’ideas—as novice and unrealized as they might be—are indeed relevant. The LLSC is adeclaration of this support.

Meredith Seagraves

In the Eye of the Male Gaze:How Habibi Affirms Feminist Theory and the Graphic Novel as

Literature

By Sarah M. Brewer

Habibi is an epic encapsulated in a graphic novel by Craig Thompson that challengesrepresentations of the female body under the male gaze and invites discourse regardingthe relationship between the subject and object that coincides with the participationcomics require from readers. Dodola, the female protagonist, is a young Arab girl whoseparents sell into marriage. She is abducted and sold into slavery by thieves, and then soldinto a harem that exists in an imaginary Middle-Eastern kingdom. Thompson directs theperception of his female character by fashioning her from female storytellers, respondingto tropes in genres related to the graphic novel, and including pictorial allusions to otherfemale archetypes. His representation of the female protagonist and narratorsimultaneously subscribes to feminist and other literary theories and subverts the notionthat the graphic novel has not yet become its own full-fledged medium.

Because Dodola is both the female protagonist and the narrator of the graphic novel,critical analysis must concern her character and its existing precursors in other works ofliterature. Her character derives from Scheherazade of The One Thousand and OneNights; both the female protagonist of the graphic novel and the heroine in the collectionof folk tales rely on their storytelling ability for their survival (Lyons). Whereas Dodolalearns to read and write from her husband after she is sold into marriage to a calligrapher,Scheherazade peruses the works of poets and studies the arts and sciences from booksshe has access to as the daughter of the court vizier. Dodola weaves tales of prophets andmiracles from the Bible and the Qur’an into the stories she tells to comfort Zam, theorphan boy she adopts into her narrative, but Scheherazade schemes with her youngersister to captivate the King with her tales and save other women from persecution. Habibicontinues to borrow from The One Thousand and One Nights save for one frighteningexception: Dodola faces execution should she fail to sexually satisfy the Sultan for lessthan seventy consecutive nights and later uses her newly-gleaned knowledge to passanother test he imposes upon her (Hull). Habibi is not a contemporary derivative of TheOne Thousand and One Nights because the former is a self-contained work by one authorwhereas the latter is anthology of folk stories attributed to several authors.

Thompson continues to implement tropes associated with the desert romance genre inthe graphic novel that present women as passive, helpless female victims, but Dodolaactively responds to each situation she is thrust into. Twentieth-century English novelistEdith Hull insists in “The Sheik,” one work classified in the aforementioned genre, thatwomen occupied a precarious position in the desert because of an Arab man’s “pitiless…disregard of the woman’s subjugation” (Hull). The main female character of her work isLady Diana Mayo, an English woman, who is abducted, raped, and later falls in love withthe eponymous Sheik, Ahmed Ben Hassan. Dodola survives a series of trials Hullenumerates in her work, from the moment she is sold into marriage, including “kidnap,

whoring for desert nomads, breakneck escapes from a slave market and an executionsquad…a spell in a sultan’s harem, brutal torments in a dungeon,” but her body is neitherparaded or demeaned when she is violated by other male characters (Hull). Lady DianaMayo is subdued and tamed by her male captor, but Dodola resists and fights against themen who assault her. Dodola divulges her feelings about her body to the reader in a seriesof grotesque, albeit metaphorical panels when she gains weight during her pregnancy.Dodola supports the weight of a heavier and uglier version of herself on her back like afemale Atlas and confesses, “I’d always felt detached from my body—but duringpregnancy, I viewed my frame with disgust... I’d once used my body to my advantage, buteven then it didn’t belong to me, possessed, instead, by the lusts of men” (104- 107).Habibi offers a realistic deconstruction of tropes regarding the role of women and desertromance novels.

Dodola is portrayed as a victim forced into submission and servitude and whose body ispossessed by the lust of men, but she is a heroine for enduring these atrocities withstrength and gravitas evident through her voice and presence in the graphic novel. Dodolais raped as a child, by her first husband; as a child and teen, by men in the caravans; andby the sultan whose harem she thrived in. She does not, however, suffer for the pleasureof the other characters, nor does she solicit or revel in this attention. Theorist LauraMulvey develops the male gaze theory that for this phenomenon in her landmark 1975essay, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Her essay explains how the male gazeprojects its fantasy onto the female figure styled as objects of erotic spectacle that signifymale desire. Mulvey maintains that female characters displayed as sexual objects inmainstream films initiate erotic spectacle by holding the look, playing to and signifyingmale desire (2088). Her analysis concerns films; such objectification and misogynyresults in the way the viewer is made to watch the film. The spectacle also occurs incomics and graphic novels via reader participation. Dodola is a dormant figure drawn inink on paper; she can hardly be considered a spectacle because the active participation ofthe reader is necessary for the narrative to continue. Conversely, Mulvey suggests thatsexualized female characters create spectacle and can perform within the film withoutinfringing narrative verisimilitude, but an emphasis on fragmented body parts shattersthe illusion of depth that is demanded by the medium (2089). Fragmentation occurs inthe graphic novel when Zam reaches adolescence and awakens while Dodola bathes, andthis sequence is shown with a series of wordless panels that show her breasts andposterior. She is aware of his burgeoning sexuality, but she does not play to his desire.However, when Zam scours the desert in search of water, the slopes of nearby dunes andjagged cliffs appear to him as different parts of her anatomy and subsequently becomefragments (165-166). Much later, another example of fragmentation occurs when Dodolaleaves for a downtown shopping excursion (615-616). She loosens her hijab and exposesher hair like the westernized women she sees in the market, but quickly covers herselfwhen she passes men who make lewd gestures toward her. These occurrences offragmentation do not detract from or interrupt the narrative since fragmentation isinherent characteristic of comics; the narrative is told piece by-piece and panel-by-by-panel, but film projects in one continuous rush of time. Scott McCloud explains the

difference between these mediums in Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. Hewrites, “Film makes use of audiences’ imaginations for occasional effects, comics mustuse it far more often” (69). Readers cannot traverse some of the more traumatic sceneswithout empathizing with its female protagonist, but these passages demonstrate howsexual assault has little to do with sexuality and more to do with power and control asevidence in the situations depicted in the graphic narrative. Thompson comprehends theeffects of the male gaze in films while Dodola prompts the reader to participate withoutbecoming an object in the graphic novel.

Dodola is a sympathetic female protagonist character whose story reads like a post-modern fairytale and memoir. Thompson establishes Dodola by drawing the characterlike a kind of doe-eyed and dark-haired Disney princess; but the reader does not imprintupon this character easily. Dodola is as stylized as the backgrounds she occupies in eachpanel and remains removed from her, thus distancing the reader from the characterduring these traumatic scenes. In fact, she often appears surrounded by lush visualimagery that includes delicate Arabic filigree, designs that feature Islamic geometry, andcalligraphy. This artwork tends to distract the reader from the character, but the focusremains on Dodola and the narrative she authors throughout the graphic novel. HilaryChute analyzes the work of female authors who have offered powerful narrativescontributions to the medium in Graphic Women: Life Narrative and ContemporaryComics. According to Chute, several other female authors, including Marjane Satrapi and,more recently, Alison Bechdel, have offered powerful narratives that reveal the traumathey endured in their lives. Chute claims that the cross-discursive form of narrativeswithin graphic novels best expresses a spectrum of physical pain, emotional anguish, andpsychological trauma that is an essential innovation in the genre of life writing (2). Chutecontends that women authors whose autobiographical works deal with personal crisisstrive to erase an identity defined by trauma that may be yoked to their avatars as “theforce and value of graphic narrative’s intervention,” and their contributions to themedium have secured their work in contemporary discourse regarding trauma” (2). Hernarrative reads more like an autobiographical work and it resonates with readers.Thompson has managed to channel an authentic female voice in his work and hasprovided a potential outlet for catharsis.

Pictorial allusions to other female archetypes from other works of literature and artalso affect reader perception, and the work to deconstruction and psychoanalysisproposed for text alone. Thomson employs these illustrations as Dodola endures painfulstages of her life and begins with her childhood and the genesis of her life. She says, “Myparents would strip me and dress me up in plants and flowers... and then lead me throughthe village in a parade” (176-177). Like popular depictions of Eve, she is clad in leavesbefore she loses her innocence in the biblical book of Genesis. Dodola, pregnant with thesultan’s child, clutches a pomegranate to her chest before ingesting the fruit that willexpel the fetus from her womb (62). This illustration is an altered replica of a painting byDante Gabriel Rossetti that features a similarly-posed character from Greek mythology,Persephone (1879). The deity reigns as goddess of spring and later as queen of theunderworld when she ingests the seeds of the same fruit, but in this interpretation,

Dodola stands at the threshold of motherhood and holds the same fruit imbued with thepower to affect her fate. Moments after giving birth to a son, she dismisses the infant andfollows the serpentine path that flows like a river and twists into the hoses of a hookah,and exhales the tobacco on a frame-less, full-page panel (264-265). The fumes rise in acelestial design above Dodola in full-page panel that mirrors an oil painting entitled “AnOdalisque” (Bridgman). She lies on the chaise lounge like the chambermaid from the oilpainting, but gazes upward toward the heavens in phases of the moon; the paradoxicalpanel shows the passing of time, creates an image that lingers in the mind of the reader.Readers familiar with these female archetypes are compelled to trace their origins inother works and consider their relationships to the female protagonist in the graphicnovel. These archetypes are a reflection of the bias toward these characters in theirrespective works. French literary critic and theorist Roland Barthes advocates suchinterpretive work and describes texts as “a tissue of quotations drawn from theinnumerable centers of culture” in his essay, “The Death ofThe Author,” (1324). Eitherwith or without knowledge of the source material, readers recognize traits in each of theseaforementioned archetypes in one singular character: the innocence of Eve, the sorrow ofPersephone, and the sensuality of the Odalisque—like the trinity composed of the maiden,the mother, and the matron. Thompson calls upon the archetype to show how each existwithin his female archetype and to provoke thought that have long been associated witheach. According to Jacqueline Rose, the author of Sexuality in the Field of Vision, thisencounter between psychoanalysis and artistic practice draws strength from “repetition asinsistence, that is, as the constant pressure of something hidden but not forgotten—something that can only come into focus now by blurring the fields of representationwhere our normal forms of self-recognition take place” (228). Readers may relate to anyof the female archetypes referenced in the graphic novel and form an interpretation foreach, and may have forgotten how each merits a place in literary canon. Habibi, likeseveral other graphic novels, delves into the significance of each work these pictorialallusions cite and presents a female protagonist readers can identify with.

Thompson unites sacred texts within a medium that once considered profane in orderto emphasize how the life of the female body—experiences wrought by pain, aging, andsex—affect the female protagonist Dodola. She undergoes several transformationsthroughout the novel and responds to each as it transpires; the graphic novel similarlyimproves perceptions of the medium. Thompson has joined a class of male and femaleauthors alike who have presented their stories as both written and drawn documents ofreal events. Habibi measures the degree of love its characters are capable of and portraysthe many facets of the human condition.

Works Cited

Barthes, Roland. “The Death of the Author.” The Norton Anthology of Theory & Criticism.Ed. V. B. Leitch. New York, NY: Norton, 2010. 1324. Print.

Bridgman, Frederick Arthur Bridgman. An Odalisque.1878.Chute, Hillary L. Graphic Women: Life Narrative and Contemporary Comics. New York:

Columbia UP, 2010. Print

Hull, Edith M. The Sheik. 10th ed. 1919. Project Gutenberg. Web. 1 July 2012.Lyons, Malcolm C., Ursula Lyons, and Robert Irwin. The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001

Nights, Volume 1. New York, NY: Penguin, 2010. Print.McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York : HarperPerennial,

1994. Print.Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” The Norton Anthology of Theory

& Criticism. Ed. V. B. Leitch. New York, NY: Norton, 2010. 2088-2089. Print.Rose, Jacqueline. Sexuality in the Field of Vision. New York: Verso, 1986. 288. Print.Rossetti, Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Proserpine. 1874. Tate Britain, London. Print.Thompson, Craig. Habibi. New York: Pantheon, 2011. Print.

The Hetero/Homosexual Binary, Queer Sexuality, and ModernMedia

By Christopher L. Van

Gay and lesbian characters have become increasingly prevalent in contemporaryfictional media. These portrayals have helped to challenge stereotypical notions ofhomosexuality. With the increasing social acceptance of gays and lesbians both inacademia and the mainstream, questions have arisen about other sexual minorities andhow they operate within the socially dominant hetero/homosexual sexual binary. Thishas led to the conception of the queer. The term queer functions as a “complex andsomewhat ambiguous” term to analyze sexuality and gender performance outside of thetraditional hetero/homosexual binary framework (Sullivan vi). “Queer” serves as afunctional extension of the academic analysis of sexuality and gender studies and focuseson how sexuality is “discursively constructed” (1). This argumentation takes on importantsignificance when one considers how contemporary visual fictional media creates thehetero/homosexual binary structure which permeates society. The challenges presentedto the heteronormative structures by gay and lesbian media are further compoundedwhen one considers the complications to any type of sexual normativity that the conceptof the queer presents. Visual fictional narratives have helped to present their audienceswith an increased awareness of gays and lesbians for the past two decades. New types ofvisual fictional media are fulfilling the same function for the queer. To understand thedifferences between the gay male and the concept of the male queer, an analysis of twopredominant texts must be considered. This analysis must also take into considerationthe differences between the traditional visual media of the 20th century, television, andthe new visual media that is being used to describe the queer male, video games.

Hetero/Homosexual Binary and Genital Based Sexuality

When sexuality is discussed by most individuals in today’s society, it is discussed interms of a hetero/homosexual binary which sees all sexuality falling under one of thesetwo broad based categories (Sedgwick 1). This framework is mainly based on the notion ofgenital attraction. If an individual has sexual relations with an individual who hasdifferent genitalia than themselves, then they are heterosexual, while those who havesexual relations with an individual with the same genitalia are considered homosexual.This model falls short when one considers individuals who are interested in maintainingsexual relations with both members of their own and opposite sexes, or bisexuals.Bisexuality, which has been recognized as a legitimate sexuality by academics, is just nowreceiving non-academic credence and legitimacy (Vicari 2-3). The lack of societalacceptance of non hetero/homosexual sexualities is based on the notion that all malebisexuals are just “closeted” gay men and all female bisexuals are just women who areexperimenting or attempting to gain the attention of men. The acceptance of bisexualityas a legitimate sexuality creates a major complication of the hetero/homosexual binary. Ifan individual can violate the hetero/homosexual binary by engaging in sexual relations

with both female and male individuals, then the binary no longer functions as a descriptorwhich has any basis in biology.

The introduction of bisexual individuals is not the only factor which complicates theideas of a genitalia-driven hetero/homosexual binary. Intersexed individuals, who areborn with undifferentiated genitalia, present a biological refutation of the genital-basedhetero/homosexual binary. Undifferentiated genitalia automatically removes theseindividuals from participation in the genital driven hetero/homosexual binary becausetheir genitalia is indeterminate. While these individuals may prefer to have sex as either abiologically male or female individual, their participation in the genitalia based sexualityis always going to cause the binary to break down because it no longer serves as anappropriate descriptor for the sexual activities of intersexed individuals.

The final biological aspect which complicates the genitalia driven hetero/homosexualbinary is transgendered individuals. Transgendered individuals are those born with thewrong genitalia for their mental make-up. These individuals identify themselves as theopposite sex. The action of identifying one’s self as the opposite sex complicates agenitalia-based sexuality binary, if one considers the availability of sexual reassignmentsurgery. From a descriptive standpoint, the hetero/homosexual binary is complicated bythe fact that the binary does not take into consideration one’s birth sex versus the sexualcharacteristics that one currently has. The hetero/homosexual binary does not addresswhether a male-to-female transgendered individual who has sexual relations with afemale is heterosexual (based off her birth sex) or homosexual (based off the genitaliashe currently has). This complication makes the descriptive abilities of a genitalia basedhetero/homosexual binary limited.

Hetero/Homosexual Binary and Gender Based Sexuality

The problems with the hetero/homosexual binary are not just focused on genitalia.Issues also arise because gender and sexuality both are “discursively constructed”(Sullivan 1). The ideas of what one’s gender and sexuality are differ from individual toindividual and thus any attempt to study the sexuality or gender of an individual is boundto run into problems on a terminology level (Sedgwick 24-25). The construction of asuccessful binary is dependent on the social acceptance of the binary. However when thesociety cannot agree on the terminology of the binary, it fails to be an adequate descriptor.A major term that is not agreed upon is what actually includes a sexual activity. For someindividuals, only the act of vaginal or anal penetration represents sex, while othersconsider foreplay, oral sex, or manual manipulation as sexual acts (25). This confusionleads to questions of whether or not an individual has engaged in sexual activity whichstops the binary from functioning on a personal level. If an individual is unsure if theactivity in which they have engaged in is sex or not, he cannot adequately identify himselfusing this binary. This can also lead to confusion when someone attempts to label anindividual based on his own interpretation of sexual acts. The individual might not acceptthe label that is placed upon him, thus leading to the binary not being functional.

The hetero/homosexual binary interacts with gender in an important manner. Manyindividuals do not separate their sexuality and their gender, thus making their gender

expression an important part of the expression of their sexuality (Sedgwick 25-27).Gender expression in contemporary society is focused on a masculine/feminine binarywhich states that one member of a relationship must be masculine and the other must befeminine. The hetero/homosexual binaries reinforcement of the masculine/femininebinary can be seen in several examples across various cultures. The idea of the bear/twinkgay male, the femme/butch lesbian, the seme/uke of Japanese yaoi, and the idea of theAll-American couple, all capture the hetero/homosexual binary’s focus on appropriategender expressions (Tan 133).This focus encourages individuals to maintain what isdeemed socially appropriate gender normative behaviors. Television, film, and literaturehave served to both enhance this perception as well as challenge this perception, howeverit still remains a fundamental part of how society describes sexuality (Sedgwick 25-26 &Gross). This fundamental convergence of gender and sexuality often leads to questionsregarding an individual’s sexuality based on their gender performance. When individualsviolate the masculine/feminine binary within a relationship, the traditional bounds of thehetero/homosexual binary are violated as well. This violation changes the fundamentalnature of the hetero/homosexual binary by challenging the underlying genderassumptions of the binary.

Hetero/Homosexuality and the Hierarchy of Sexualities

The hetero/homosexual binary creates a societal belief in the superiority ofheterosexuality by offering it as the normative means of comparison. All individuals areassumed to be heterosexual unless they claim the homosexual label. The normativenature of heterosexuality in the binary suggests that all individuals who claimhomosexuality deviate from the norm. This places the homosexual in a precarious socialstanding because normative behavior is encouraged through various political, cultural,and religious institutions. The hetero/homosexual binary further prioritizes correctgender representations by viewing appropriate gender behavior as paramount. The top ofthe food chain under the hetero/homosexual binary is a heterosexual couple where themale is masculine and the female is feminine. Anything that deviates from this standardis considered abnormal. The ultimate violation of this standard, a homosexual couplewith two masculine females or two feminine males is seen as the least socially acceptabletype of the relationship types under the binary. By encouraging the ranking of sexualitiesand gender construction within society, the binary encourages the preferential treatmentof those relationships that are deemed as falling in line with normative beliefs. Thenormative behavior is considered healthy while the deviant behavior is consideredunhealthy or unclean (Tan 129). The hetero/homosexual binary normative behavior alsoserves to reinforce patriarchal assumptions about the roles of males and females insociety and seems to suggest the inherent superiority of the masculine male to all others(Jenkins 202-203). By holding the masculine male up as the referent for all otherindividuals, the position of both non-masculine males and all females is subjugated to thenormative influence of the masculine male. This position is not challenged under thehetero/homosexual binary because of the masculine males’ privileged position.

Queer as an Alternative to the Hetero/Homosexual Binary

Queer sexuality seeks to position itself as outside the hetero/homosexual binary bychallenging the basic assumptions of the binary. Queer sexuality’s reliance on discourseas a means of sexual identity construction puts queer sexuality in direct opposition to thegenitalia based hetero/homosexual binary (Sullivan 1 & Tan 130-131). Queer sexualityfocuses on the self-identification of an individual to determine the individual’s sexuality.This removes the labeling impetus from society and places it squarely as theresponsibility of the individual. By removing social consideration from the labeling ofsexuality, queer sexuality represents a liberated form of sexual identity which does notrely on traditional or stereotypical notions of genital attraction to determine one’smembership in the sexuality. Individuals who define themselves as queer might havesexual relationships with a person who has either genitalia, but the focus of these sexualrelationships is not on the individual’s genitalia, but on the individual themselves. Thisrejection of the genital based sexual binary assumes that personality serves a much moreimportant function as a sexual attractant than the biological apparatuses of the body.Queer sexuality sees individuals outside of their biological nature and is inclusive of thevariations of genitalia. Due to this rejection of the genitalia based hetero/homosexualbinary, intersexed and transgendered individuals are not left outside of queer sexuality,but are instead included in the discussion of sexuality based on personality traits asopposed to their genital biology.

Queer sexuality also rejects the gender normative aspects of the hetero/homosexualbinary by encouraging individuals to be an active participant in the creation of their owngender (Tan 130). By engaging in the active construction of one’s gender identity,normative behavior decreases as the individual discovers what actions they actually wantto perform versus what actions they performed because they were perceived as sociallyrequired. This active engagement in gender performativity also encourages various genderrole combinations within interpersonal relationships. Queer sexuality recognizes thatrelationships often do not fall under a simple masculine/feminine binary but insteadcover an entire spectrum.

Queer sexuality functions as an extension of the work of Alfred Kinsey by recognizingthe fluid nature of sexuality and attempts to challenge the medical model of humansexuality that sees sexuality as a matter of pathology. Queer sexuality sees the expressionof sexuality as a choice. One may not choose which biological sex they are most attractedto but one chooses the method in which they express their sexuality. Queer sexualityviews sexuality as a matter of taste, which is not a matter of choice. One does not chooseif they like chocolate, but one chooses not to eat chocolate if they do not like it. Byviewing sexuality in this manner, queer sexuality acts as a liberating force for theindividual because it functions to allow for individualization of sexuality instead of asocially driven imposition of the hetero/homosexual binary. This challenge to the binary’shierarchy of sexualities allows for the inclusion of individuals of all sexual expressionsand offers a more egalitarian approach to sexuality. Queer sexuality encourages the activeconstruction and engagement with one’s own sexuality as well as an increase in the

discussion of sexuality as one seeks to define themselves to others. This increase indiscussion would help to increase awareness of various different types of sexual andgender expressions.

Gay Reading Versus Queer Reading

The practice of gay and queer reading is not a new phenomenon as slash fiction in theUnited States and yaoi in Japan have been popular forms of fan participation for decades.Characters, in these forms of fiction, are read as being some sexuality other than the onethat is openly stated. These readings are usually encouraged through the use of codedsymbols that are meant to highlight a character’s alternative sexuality (Dyer 90-91). Thissymbolic exposing of a character’s sexuality was initially used as an attempt to get gay andlesbian characters beyond censors and was picked up by gay and lesbian audiences whowere desperate to see images of themselves on the screen (Sender 1999). While the use ofsymbolism has become less necessary as social beliefs have led to a decrease in thecensorship of gay and lesbian characters in visual fictional media, these codes are stillused because they provide the creators of television shows the ability to express acharacter’s sexuality before the character even speaks. By focusing on these signs, a gayreading of a text suggests a character exists within the hetero/homosexual binary as a gaycharacter. This usually positions the character in a position that is inferior to theheterosexual characters that are being portrayed. The character has to go through a“coming out” process in which they divulge their sexuality to other characters. This isdone in contemporary visual fictional media in an attempt to either explore the issuessurrounding the coming out of an individual or as a cynical marketing ploy in attempt toincrease ratings (Sender 2006). Gay readings of a text usually place the text within thecurrent social framework thus creating a realistic environment for the gay relationship totake place.

Queer readings of a work do not function the same way as gay readings. The queerreading of a text usually places two heterosexual characters in a homosexual relationshipthrough the active engagement of the audience (Tan 130). In most instances, queerreadings of text are not supported by the initial creators of a text, but instead operate as aform of collective authorship where the audience changes and extends certain narrativeelements to create a queer relationship between the characters (131). In these fan-writtenuniverses, the queer relationships exist in a utopian state where the relationship betweenthe characters is accepted without societal problems (132). With most slash fiction andyaoi being written for a female audience, the relationships between the characters arebased mainly on the emotional interaction between the characters as opposed to genitalsexual attraction (133-135). Queer readings usually do not have a major “coming out”narrative. Instead, the relationship once established is understood to be and there is littlecommentary about the relationship.

Television Versus Video Games as Sites of Gay and Queer Readings

Two of the most prominent visual fictional mediums in contemporary American culture

are television and video games. These two mediums function similarly in several aspects,but also have major differences that encourage a specific type of reading. The differentabilities of each medium cause them to have specific strengths and weaknesses in theportrayal of sexuality.

Television projects narratives into the homes or offices of the individuals who watch it.The variety of channels allows for individuals to select what types of shows that theywatch and allows for the audience to change the channel if they do not like a particularshow or how the narrative of a show is developing. During the showing of each episode,commercials appear at every five to eight minute intervals. The placement of specificcommercial advertisements in a given show can give the appearance of corporate sanctionfor the message that the show is attempting to send to its viewers. The audience does nothave control of how the narrative is constructed nor how the characters interact with oneanother. When a character on a television show is revealed to be gay through bothsymbols and through dialogue, the audience is given the impression that thehomosexuality of the individual character is not the choice of the character and has beenimposed in a top down manner by the creator of the character. This alludes to the ideathat homosexuality is a biologically determined feature and that individuals cannotchange their sexuality. This challenges assumptions by individuals who are opposed tohomosexuality. The open challenging of assumptions on television has a direct link topublic opinion regarding sexuality (Sender 2006). The inclusion of openly gay characterson television also serves to highlight the reality of individuals who are not heterosexual(Sender 1999, Sender 2006, & Gross). The inclusion of “coming out” narratives serves animportant function by highlighting the real life challenges of gay and lesbian individuals.While television does serve an important function in the portrayal of gays and lesbians,there are also some major drawbacks to how television functions. Network television hasto appeal to a mass audience, so they are unlikely to air shows which challenge thehetero/homosexual binary. This causes the binary to be reinforced among the viewingaudience, which reinforces the concept that individuals who fall outside of the binaryshould be viewed as abnormal. Another problem that is present on television is thespectacle of the gay and lesbian characters. Gay and lesbian characters and plot lines canbe created in an attempt to attract viewers during sweeps season or the characters can beconstructed in such a manner that they are caricatures of gays and lesbians and only serveto reinforce gender and sexual stereotypes (Sender 2006). When gay and lesbiancharacters are portrayed in this manner, it decreases the amount of legitimacy given tothese individuals and serves to reinforce negative stereotypes.

Video games, much like television, come in several different genres and modes.Western role-playing games or WRPG’s give the player unprecedented control over thenarrative and interactions between characters. This level of control often leads to highlyindividualized playthroughs of games which encourage both queer and “non-canonical”readings of games. The audience is encouraged to be an active participant in the creationof their character’s identity. This includes in some games the creation of the character’ssexuality. By allowing the player this level of control, the game encourages the player toplay as one’s self or how they would like to be perceived. This function allows for identity

experimentation, which can allow an individual to be a different gender, sex, or sexualitythan they are in reality. By allowing the player to assume any identity, games encouragethe player to relate to the avatar on the screen. This increases the likelihood that theplayer will feel empathy for individuals that they encounter in real life who inhabit thesame identity as their character. The major problem with video games’ portrayal ofsexuality is that sexuality is presented as solely the choice of the player. This lendscredibility to the idea that an individual can choose to change their sexuality if theywanted to. This assumption feeds into the idea that homosexuality is a deviant behavior.Furthermore, because of the time that must be spent on actual gameplay, narrative andplot development can be lacking in video games, which decreases the amount of affectionand empathy that an individual feels for non-avatar characters.

Glee’s Kurt as a Gay Artifact

The television show Gleeprovides an excellent artifact to conduct a gay reading. Theshow is a musical that is set in a high school with the main characters being part of a gleeclub. The character Kurt is introduced in the opening scene of the television show beingsurrounded by a group of jock characters. Kurt is instantly identifiable as the sissysidekick because of his well-groomed appearance in contrast to the males around him.His hair is parted and well taken care of while the hair of the males around him is eitherclosed cropped haircuts or in various phases of unkemptness. The first interaction thatKurt has with these characters is being bullied and thrown into a trashcan. Before he isthrown into the trashcan, Kurt asks for one of the characters to hold his coat claimingthat it is the latest fashion from an important designer (Murphy 2009). These actionsserve to place Kurt as a gay male character before any mention is made of Kurt’s otherpersonality characteristics. The choice of having Kurt embody the sissy sidekick characterreinforces the traditional hetero/homosexual binary by contrasting Kurt with the othermales in the series. Kurt’s sexuality is constantly brought up in comparison to the othercharacters by having him be the only gay character in the series’ first season (Murphy2009). This creates a situation where the hetero/homosexual binary is shown to have aninherent bias towards the heterosexual. Kurt functions to normalize this belief in the firstseason of Glee as several of the other characters form romantic relationships while Kurt isleft without a relationship. This changes during the second and third season of Glee, butby this time, the reinforcement of the negative stereotype has already occurred (Murphy2009-2012). Kurt is constantly the subject of ridicule by other students. This functions asa testament to the real life struggles that gay and lesbian teens face in their everyday life;however, it also serves to reinforce the perceived stereotype that those who are gay orlesbian lead unhappy lives. By reinforcing this negative stereotype, Glee functions as acontrol mechanism by normalizing negative beliefs of individuals while at the same timeallowing for the audience to feel as if they are more accepting of gays and lesbians thanthey actually are because they empathize with Kurt. This empathy does not necessarilytranslate into less homophobic behavior on the part of the audience because theinvestment in the character only last as long as the television show is on the air.Furthermore, Kurt’s stereotypical portrayal including having him dress in a skin-tight

leotard and perform Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” serves to reinforce the genderedexpectations of the hetero/homosexual binary. The only reason that Kurt is an acceptablecharacter is because he does not challenge the deeply held social stereotypes regardinggay males. He is effeminate and not good at sports. This is shown in the episode whereKurt tries out for the football team in an attempt to prove his masculinity to his father.Kurt receives a position as the place kicker (Murphy 2009). This is in direct contrast tothe heterosexual characters that take on the more masculine and aggressive roles ofquarterback, lineman, and linebacker. By suggesting that the only acceptable place for agay individual on a football team is as the place kicker, Glee reinforces the notion of gaymales as not aggressive and not capable of leadership. This functions as a persuasiveargument in favor of traditional stereotypes regarding gay males. This reinforcement isfurthered by the very type of character that Kurt is. As the sissy sidekick, Kurt embodies acharacter type that was created as a means of mocking homosexual males. The attempt toturn this type of character into an empowering figure for gay audience members onlyserves to remind both heterosexual and homosexual audiences of the negative societalperceptions of gay males.

The scene in which Kurt “comes out” to his father is an extremely well-acted scene andshows one of several potential outcomes of the “coming out” process; however, this scenereaffirms the preferential placement of heterosexuality in the hetero/homosexual binary.Coming out as a homosexual reinforces the idea that homosexuality is abnormal andmust be openly labeled. Heterosexuals do not openly declare their heterosexualitybecause under the binary an individual is considered heterosexual unless they activelyclaim the abnormal status of homosexual. The audience is encouraged to look favorablyon Kurt’s father because he is accepting of Kurt’s homosexuality. This stands in directopposition to any type of equality of the two sexuality types. The audience is meant to feelhappy at the acceptance of Kurt’s homosexuality because of the possibility of rejection.The possibility of rejection functions as a constant reminder of the abnormal andsubservient position of homosexuality in society. If homosexuality was just a simplematter of genital preference as is suggested under the hetero/homosexual binary, thenthere would be no reason for rejection. However, Glee reinforces the concept ofpreference for heterosexuals in society by having the “coming out” scene play such asignificant portion in the character arc of Kurt in the first season.

The reinforcement of the hetero/homosexual binary by Kurt stands in direct oppositionto what the creators of Glee were attempting to do. Instead of creating a character whichchallenged the audience’s perception of gay and lesbian individuals, Kurt serves as areinforcement of stereotypes regarding gay males. The constant comparison of Kurt to theother male and female characters in Glee during the first two seasons serves as areminder of the normative role that heterosexuality in the hetero/homosexual binary.

Mass Effect’s Commander Shepard as a Queer Artifact

Any discussion of sexuality within video games begins with the developer, Bioware,who has made its name creating WRPG’s where the player is encouraged to explorevarious different relationships between the playable character and non-playable

characters or NPCs. Bioware’s space opera series Mass Effect provides its most in-depthstorytelling endeavor to date as well as the most complex relationships between theplayable character and the NPCs. The player is first introduced to Commander Shepard inthe character creation screen (Mass Effect, 2007). In this screen, the player is allowed tochoose the sex and physical features of Commander Shepard. The ability for the player tochoose which sexual and gender characteristic and later the sexuality of their CommanderShepard is a very queering experience as the player is encouraged to pick hair styles,make-up, eye shape, nose shape, as well as various other feature of their Shepard. Theability of players to make Commander Shepard as a male or female has led to the creationof the term “manShep” to refer to Shepherd as a male and “femShep” to refer to Shepardas a female. Since this paper is interested in male sexuality, an analysis of femShep andher queering identity must be set aside for another paper. After the introduction wherethe player can give manShep any mixture of masculine and feminine features, the playersets about being introduced to several characters including Kaiden Alenko. Kaidenrepresents the first male romance opportunity for the player; however, this relationshipopportunity was limited to PC players of the games because it was a user createdmodification. User created modifications function in much the same way as fanfiction.Thus, those who wanted to create a queer identity for manShep and Kaiden were activeparticipants in the creation of this queer identity. This user created modification was latergiven Bioware acceptance into the possibilities of canon through the inclusion of Kaidenas a legitimate romance option in Mass Effect 3 as well as a bonus dialogue snippet if theplayer had used the modification to romance Kaiden in Mass Effect (Mass Effect 2007 &Mass Effect 3 2012). The user created romance between manShep and Kaiden representsthe active creation of sexuality within the framework of the game. The inclusion of aBioware sanctioned romance option between manShep and Kaiden encourages the playerto re-read the first two games through a queer light. Under this light, the actions ofmanShep stand in stark contrast to the stereotypes that are laid out under thehetero/homosexual binary. ManShep is the commander of a star ship, is the first humanSpecter (the Specters are a paramilitary organization), as well as the savior of the galacticgovernment. This challenge to traditional notions of how a gay male should act causes thehetero/homosexual binary to collapse because of the challenges to gender normativenotions. ManShep’s relationship with Kaiden occurs within a society that does not frownon relationships between any individuals as there is a species known as the Asari whichdo not have a gender or a sex, marriage between two people of the same sex as well asinterspecies marriage is a common practice, and non-bipedal alien life-forms are common(Mass Effect 2007, Mass Effect 2 2010, & Mass Effect 3 2012). The queer nature ofmanShep and Kaiden’s relationship becomes evident when compared to anotherrelationship option in Mass Effect 3. Cortez is a character introduced in Mass Effect 3 as aromance option for only manShep. Cortez’s back-story includes a marriage to anotherman who was killed as well as open admissions of his sexuality from the beginning of thegame (Mass Effect 3 2012). The openness with which Cortez expresses his sexuality isbased on the genital defined hetero/homosexual binary while in a dialogue scene Kaidenmentions that his attraction to manShep is based on the more queer notions of

personality as opposed to genitalia when he states “it just feels right” (Mass Effect 32012). The queer re-reading of Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 encourages the player toembody the queer identity as they determine the actions of their manShep.

The major problem that the queer relationship between manShep and Kaiden is therelationship is never identified as either homosexual or as queer. This creates a situationwhere the player is left to determine which category the relationship falls under.Furthermore, the lack of labeling of this relationship creates an issue for queerindividuals who are looking for expressed representations of them in a narrative. One ofthe potential reasons for the lack of open identification of manShep and Kaiden’srelationship as a queer relationship is the contested meaning of the word queer. Whilequeer can be defined as a shift away from genital and gender based hetero/homosexualnormativity, the word has also been used as a pejorative against homosexuals who arecurrently attempting to reclaim the word. The developer of the game might have felt thatintroducing such a contested word into the relationship dynamic would have created aconvoluted subject that did not need to be broached. Furthermore, the developers alsomight have believe that the players could have contrasted the gay Cortez to the queerKaiden and drawn their own conclusions.

Conclusion

The genitalia and gender based hetero/homosexual binary serves as the primary way inwhich society currently constructs sexuality. This binary creates a hierarchical state whereheterosexual couples that follow normative gender identities are preferred. Queersexuality presents a challenge to this view of sexuality. By looking at both a traditionalhetero/homosexual reading of a text as well as a queer reading of a text, the differencesbetween these two views have become apparent. Furthermore, an analysis of differentforms of media that present these narratives have shown that both video games andtelevision provide a powerful tool in combating heteronormative homophobic ideas. Thesuccess of television in producing realistic representations of gays and lesbians hasincreased awareness while video games have shown the ability to allow the player toinhabit a queer identity has pushed the boundaries of player empathy. Each of theseforms of media has played an important part in representing non-heterosexual sexualitiesand bring up issues related to these sexualities. Television and video games providecountless hours of entertainment for a large number of people; however, while beingentertained these people are being informed on a subject that touches the lives ofeveryone.

Works Cited

Dyer, Richard. The Matter of Images. 2nd. London: Routledge, 2000. Print.Gross, Larry. Up From Invisibility: Lesbians, Gay Men, and the Media in America. New

York: Columbia University Press, 2001. Print.Jenkins, Henry. Textual Poachers. New York: Routledge, 1992. Print.Mass Effect. Edmonton: Bioware, 2007.

Mass Effect 2. Edmonton: Bioware, 2010.Mass Effect 3. Edmonton: Bioware, 2012.Murphy, Ryan, writ. Glee. Fox: KOKH, OKC, 2009-2012. Television.Sedgwick, Eve. Epistemology of the Closet. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008.

Print.Sender, Katherine, dir. Further Off the Straight and Narrow. Media Education

Foundation, 2006. Film.Sender, Katherine, dir. Off the Straight and Narrow. Media Education Foundation, 1996.

Film.Sullivan, Nikki. A Critical Introduction to Queer Theory. New York: New York University

Press, 2007. Print.Tan, Bee Kee. “Rewriting Gender and Sexuality in English-Language Yaoi Fanfiction.”

Boys’ Love Manga: Essays on the Sexual Ambiguity and Cross-Culture Fandom of theGenre. Antonia Levi, Ed. Mack McHarry and Ed. Dru Pagliassotti. Jefferson, N.Carolina: McFarland and Co, 2010. 126-156. Print.

Vicari, Justin. Male Bisexuality in Current Cinema: Images of Growth, Rebellion, andSurvival. Jefferson, N. Carolina: McFarland & Co., 2011. Print.

Revenge and Therapy:The Making of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”

By Margo R. Moore

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s life was saturated with events and oppression that Gilmanresented. She struggled with the abandonment of her father, recurring depression,feelings of gender-related oppression, and little to no physical love from her mother whenshe was a child. As many people with bad childhoods have chosen as a lifestyle over theyears, she became a writer. As a writer, Gilman was free to speak her mind and release heranger and frustration by sharing them with the public. Her novels Herland and Womenand Economics, like most of her other writings, are predominately feminist texts.Herland depicts women as the superior gender, even theorizing to the point of saying thatif women could reproduce by themselves, men would be completely unneeded in society,and Women and Economics, in Bernice L. Hausman’s words, “examined the destructiveimplications of women’s economic dependency” (494). In “The Yellow Wallpaper,”Gilman retains the same sentiments on men and their effect on women—that men cripplewomen in many ways, leaving them helpless with the assistance of their malecounterpart. However, unlike the other two stories mentioned, “The Yellow Wallpaper”can be paralleled very closely with Gilman’s own life. Furthermore, Gilman used her shortstory, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” as revenge against the doctor that misdiagnosed herdepression and treated her badly, and projected herself into the story, thus coping withher feelings of insanity stemming from her oppression.

Through her whole life, Gilman suffered from intermittent depression. Then, she bore achild, which, as many people know, often worsens depression or causes it to appear forthe first time—in which case it is called postpartum depression. Because of this, she wentto a doctor, seeking a cure for her pain and discomfort. Unfortunately, in Gilman’s timeperiod—the late nineteenth century - doctors were uneducated about postpartumdepression, and in cases such as this, generally diagnosed women with what wasconsidered a very common female disease—hysteria. This diagnosis was very common,not because hysteria itself was common, but because whenever women acted out in anyway, they were considered an hysteric, whether or not they were actually sick. Diane PriceHerndl opines that, “Hysteria and the various treatments for it have come to represent thefrightening excesses of Victorian medical practices and the ways that feminine sexualityhas been repressed and manipulated in the oppression of women” (53). Instead ofaccepting that a woman could possess intelligence, doctors labeled her as a hysteric andassumed that she was mentally disturbed. Because of the belief that women were prone tohysterics, it was easy for Gilman’s doctor to diagnose her with something that wouldenable the men in her life to keep her from speaking out and acting in a way that wouldgain the attention of the public.

Gilman’s doctor, the then-famous S. Weir Mitchell, in response to her “hysterical”problems, ordered her to follow a special regimen crafted for women that were easilyupset—one that included bed rest for a few weeks and time away from all types of stress

and exertion. Included in this treatment that she was forced into by the men in her life,Gilman also received the order never to write again. In her own words, as Paula Treichlerquotes from Gilman’s journal, she was told to “Lie down an hour after every meal. Havebut two hours intellectual life a day. And never touch pen, brush or pencil as long as youlive” (68). By subjecting her to this treatment, Dr. Mitchell completely incapacitatedGilman during this time, prohibiting her from doing anything intellectual, the type ofactivity she thrived on. Gilman followed this extremely confining regimen for a fewmonths, but then she lost patience with it. She resumed all of her regular activities,including, and especially, writing. She was very unhappy with the effects of the “restcure,” claiming that she had reached the brink of insanity when she started doing normalthings again, against her doctor’s orders. As a result, she was irritated with the doctor andwhat he had told her about her medical condition.

Another component of Gilman’s life that significantly contributed to the writing of “TheYellow Wallpaper” was her staunch feminism. Her devotion to feminism was fueled byexperiences she had in her life and her many beliefs that related to these experiences.Early in her life, her father deserted her family, leaving her mother alone with Gilmanand her sister. Being deserted by one’s father would be enough for many children to turnagainst the male gender. However, in response to her father leaving, Gilman’s motherthen chose to keep her and her sister at a physical distance from herself, teaching themthat the physical assurance of anyone else in their lives was essential and attempting toshield them from future relationship pains. In her mother’s words, as Mary A. Hill quotes,“I used to put away your little hand from my cheek when you were a nursing baby…I didnot want you to suffer as I had suffered” (508). Both of these relationships with herparents quickly turned Gilman against men, teaching her independence and leading her tobelieve that a man was not crucial to happiness or to living a satisfactory life.

In her book, Women and Economics, Gilman postulated that men hold women down insociety by coddling them and paying for everything they need. By giving womeneverything they want, men are laying down the foundation of the woman’s completedependence on them for financial and economic needs. According to Mary A. Hill, shebelieved that in this family structure of the wife depending on the husband or thedaughter depending on the father, “it was the family itself, as a social and economicinstitution, which perpetuated female enslavement and denied women opportunity foreconomic independence” (515). Because of Gilman’s unhappiness in her own marriage,she lashed out by saying, as Maureen L. Egan explains, “That the institution of marriageconflates these essentially separate relations: women are obliged to obtain their besteconomic advantage by exchanging their sexual services for financial security throughmarriage” (110). Because of these negative experiences in her life, Gilman was apredominantly feminist writer who believed that women deserved more than mainstreamsociety granted them.

The plot of “The Yellow Wallpaper” reflects Gilman’s unsatisfying experience with herillness, how the doctor dealt with her problems, and her unhappy relationship with anoverly stifling (and neglectful) husband who prevented her from doing the things in lifethat she most enjoyed. The most obvious of the parallels between Gilman’s life and the

story is how the narrator’s husband, who is a physician, treats her (what modern readersrecognize as) postpartum depression. Similar to Gilman’s doctor, instead of recognizingher depression as a legitimate problem, the husband informs the narrator and convinceseveryone else that she is not actually sick, but is instead a little fatigued and hysterical.This diagnosis may be “socially constituted or merely individually expedient” and “unjust,inaccurate, or irrelevant, but the sentence is served anyway” (Treichler 70). No matterwhether or not it is a legitimate diagnosis, the narrator of the story must obey herhusband’s wishes in regards to her health. Although he does not believe her to be sick,saying that she is merely over-excited and hysterical, he treats her as if she is sick. Inresponse to her distress, he confines her to an upstairs bedroom in a summer home andinforms her that she is not allowed to write, leaving his sister with her to make sure shedoes not strain herself. Jonathan Crewe asks what “possesses John to separate his wifefrom society, abandon her to herself for long periods of time, virtually incarcerate her,subject her to the surveillance of his sister, and deny her any mental occupation” (277).This treatment is not logically sound, especially if he does not think his wife is sick. Onthe other hand, this does not seem logical even if her sickness is legitimate. Leavingsomeone alone when they are depressed is a good way to drive a person crazy, which iswhat this treatment eventually does in “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Also, along with thisother treatment, instead of staying with his wife, whom he appears to be worried about,his occupation as a physician obliges him to oftentimes leave her in the room alone, notonly for hours, but for days at a time. The sister is present, but she is not very involved inthe narrator’s life; instead, the sister leaves the narrator to her own devices.

Medically, confinement and isolation are not correct ways to treat a person withpostpartum depression. In modern medicines and techniques, as cited by the U.S.National Guideline Clearinghouse, precautions for postpartum depression are events suchas home visits and postnatal classes. Also, treatment of postpartum depression includesweekly interactions, peer support, and family involvement (Interventions 3). In all ofthese actions designed to fight the disease the narrator seemed to be suffering from,interaction with other people is essential. The woman is not left alone in any of theseactivities. Leaving a depressed person alone allows the depression to feed because no oneis there to help them recover. This also appears to be the case in the story—she is leftalone, and thus, she goes insane. Since Gilman thought that the way her doctor dealt withher neurosis started to cause her to go insane, Dr. S. Weir Mitchell’s “rest cure” and thenarrator’s physician husband’s orders of isolation and confinement to a certain place arevery comparable with each other.

The husband’s treatment of his wife, the protagonist of “The Yellow Wallpaper,”correlates very strongly with the oppression that Gilman believed she was receiving fromher husband. For example, Gilman’s husband made her promise not to read WaltWhitman’s Leaves of Grass, stopping her from finding her own happiness in the thingsshe enjoyed doing, like reading and writing (Hill 507). Similarly, the husband of Gilman’sshort story stops the narrator from doing the things that she wants to do. Writing is alsoanother thing that the husband forbids the narrator to do, under the pretense of being forher health. Not only is she told not to write, she is also put on surveillance to make sure

she is not sneaking around and writing. As Julie Bates Dock notes, “The narrator mustbreak off writing in her secret journal each time she hears her husband or sister-in-lawdraw near” (55). She has not only one person checking on her, but two making sure shedoes not disobey her husband. This frustrates the woman, especially when what shewants was something that women were expected to be in charge of around the house:décor. In the late 19th century, wallpaper was something marketed especially to women assomething that they could take charge of, unlike other things that were consideredmanual labor. According to Jan Jennings, “By inference, if a woman’s papered walls wererespectable, then she was too” (260). By telling his wife that she could not change theterrible and unrespectable wallpaper of her room, nor even opting to change it for her, hetakes away her self-respect and her independence, just as Gilman’s husband did when herestricted her actions.

At the end of the story, the narrator’s husband is obliged to listen to her telling him thelocation of the key to the door in order for him to enter the bedroom. The moment whenthe narrator finally makes herself heard to her husband marks the moment when shestops taking orders from him and is finished with him oppressing her. This is the sameending Gilman sought for herself when she separated from her husband, Walter Stetson.She escaped from the “constricting” nature of her relationship with her husband bydivorcing him (Hill 507). In the same way, the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” escapesfrom her husband’s stifling treatment by forcing him to listen to her, then causing him tofaint so that he has absolutely no power over her.

Two concrete things about Gilman’s actions and life after writing this story allude tothe fact that this piece of work was written as a parallel to her own life. First, according toPaula Treichler, after the story was published, she sent a copy of the text to the doctorthat she hated, Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, to have him read it, making it blatantly clear to himthat she was not following his “rest cure” regimen. Then she wrote in her journal that ifher story changed the way Dr. Mitchell treated future female patients in his care, then, inher own words, “I have not lived in vain” (68). “The Yellow Wallpaper” was an obviousattempt to make Gilman’s doctor realize the despair to which his treatment had almostdriven her. In fact, as Karen Ford suggests, “the most individual name in the story—WeirMitchell—points away from the narrator and toward the effects of his very specifictreatment on people like her” (309). By sending him a copy of the story, she also sent aclear sign to him that the story had been written, at least partially, to him as a parallel ofGilman and Mitchell’s interaction. With this action, she also told him in a very straight-forward manner that she greatly disagreed with the way he ran his medical business andstrongly recommended that he change his practices of working with cases of depression,especially in the case of women.

Secondly, soon after the short story was written, she separated from her first husband,the man who restricted her and made her feel pinned down, and started doing things thatmade her happy again, like exercising and writing (Hill 513). Gilman escaped from the lifethat she no longer wanted because, in it, she was unable to live her own life. F. Brett Coxdescribes “The Yellow Wallpaper” as a critique of “the often oppressive realities ofmarriage” (138). By ridding herself of the oppressive marriage that she both experienced

in her life and described in her short story, Gilman gained her life back instead ofsuccumbing to her psychological problems. She continued on in her life to marryHoughton Gilman, and have a fairly happy marriage. By writing this story, shesuccessfully projected her own pain, suffering, and rapidly declining sanity onto thenarrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper”, sidestepping insanity herself.

Like many writers before her, Charlotte Perkins Gilman escaped some of her troublesthrough the outlet of writing about them. Even though she succumbed to her depressionlater in life and ended up killing herself, “The Yellow Wallpaper” allowed her totemporarily focus on her own life and what made her happy rather than simply listeningto what the dominant men around her (her doctor and her husband) told her to do withher life. Through writing, she gained an independence that she would not have been ableto do otherwise. Not only did she liberated herself through her story, “The YellowWallpaper,” but she also became one of the most influential feminist writers of thecentury, fighting for the rights of dominated women that she had never met. CharlottePerkins Gilman turned a bad experience into a positive outcome for other people. One’snegative life experiences, even though they seem terrible when in progress, can definitelyaffect someone else in a positive way and help them through something that they may nothave been able to deal with otherwise.

Works Cited

Cox, F. Brett. “Review: A Monument of Feminist Horror.” Science Fiction Studies. 26.1(1999): 137-139. JSTOR. Web. 22 February 2011.

Crewe, Jonathan. “Queering The Yellow Wallpaper? Charlotte Perkins Gilman and thePolitics of Form.” Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature. 14.2 (1995): 273-293. JSTOR.Web. 22 February 2011.

Dock, Julie Bates, et al. “‘But One Expects That’: Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s ‘The YellowWallpaper’ and the Shifting Light of Scholarship.” PMLA. 111.1 (1996): 52-65. JSTOR.Web. 22 February 2011.

Egan, Maureen L. “Evolutionary Theory in the Social Philosophy of Charlotte PerkinsGilman.” Hypatia. 4.1 (1989): 102-119. JSTOR. Web. 22 February 2011.

Ford, Karen. “‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ and Women’s Discourse.” Tulsa Studies in Women’sLiterature. 4.2 (1985): 309-314. JSTOR. Web. 22 February 2011.

Hausman, Bernice L. “Sex before Gender: Charlotte Perkins Gilman and the EvolutionaryParadigm of Utopia.” Feminist Studies. 24.3 (1998): 488-510. JSTOR. Web. 22 February2011.

Herndl, Diane Price. “The Writing Cure: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Anna O., and‘Hysterical’ Writing.” NWSA Journal. 1.1 (1988): 52-74. JSTOR. Web. 22 February 2011.

Hill, Mary A. “Charlotte Perkins Gilman: A Feminist’s Struggle with Womanhood.” TheMassachusetts Review. 21.3 (1980): 503-526. JSTOR. Web. 22 February 2011.

“Interventions for Postpartum Depression: Complete Summary.” U.S. National GuidelineClearinghouse. (2005): 1-18. Nursing Reference Center.Web. 13 March 2011.

Jennings, Jan. “Controlling Passion: The Turn-of-the-Century Wallpaper Dilemma.”Winterthur Portfolio. 31.4 (1996): 243-264. JSTOR. Web. 22 February 2011.

Treichler, Paula A. “Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in ‘The YellowWallpaper.’” Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature. 3.1/2 (1984): 61-77. JSTOR. Web. 22February 2011.

Poetic Voices of the First Word War:Rosenberg, Sassoon & Kipling

By Jodi Ierien

If any question why we died…–Rudyard Kipling

World War I changed the face of Europe. It also changed the face of war poetry. Insteadof the noble heroes and glory invoked by Tennyson’s “The Charge of the Light Brigade,”twentieth-century poet Isaac Rosenberg introduced his readers to the common men in thetrenches, more focused on the everyday art of survival than on glory. His contemporarySiegfried Sassoon showed how the war changed men who fought in ways the civilianpopulation could never understand. Finally, Rudyard Kipling, as a grieving father, gavevoice to the men who never made it back.

Although Rosenberg was a British citizen, he shared the sentiments of the Jewishimmigrant community he had grown up in. When WWI began, he planned to stay out ofthe conflict. Rosenberg’s plans changed when he realized his mother could receive halfhis military pay as well as a separation stipend. Since the family was barely scraping by onwhat his father earned as an itinerant peddler combined with the money his mother madeselling her needlework, military pay proved an irresistible incentive to join the war effort.He enlisted in mid-October 1915 and shipped out to France, where he served twenty-twomonths. Rosenberg only had ten days of leave during his time in France, an indication ofhow bad things were for the British Army. On April 1, 1918, he shared the fate of nearly100,000 British officers and men who were listed as “missing, presumed killed.” In 1926,remains of eleven members of the King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment (KORL) wererecovered. While Rosenberg was not identifiable, he was known to be among them. Herests with his comrades in a cemetery near Arras (The First World War Poetry DigitalArchive). During his time at the front, Rosenberg sent poems to friends in England,chronicling life for the British “Tommy,” and providing a brutally honest account ofevents from an enlisted man’s point of view. His readers learned of a common pastime inthe trenches in “Louse Hunting.” Using words to paint a vivid picture, Rosenberg showshis audience “a shirt verminously busy” (5) burnt over a candle, while the soldier’strenchmates “…sprang up and stript/To hunt the vermin brood” (10-11). Rosenberg stripsaway the elevated language Tennyson would have used had he tried to draw the scene.Instead, Rosenberg tells of the “lurid glee” (2) of the men who join the hunt. The troopsare reduced to “gibbering shadows” (15) and “hooked fingers” (17). It is doubtful thatanyone would have recognized any of these creatures as men they once knew.

In “Break of Day in the Trenches,” Rosenberg introduces his readers to anothertrenchmate, “a queer sardonic rat”(4) of “cosmopolitan sympathies” (8). Rosenbergharbors no illusions of loyalty, but accepts that the rat will shortly leave the British line,cross the field between, and make his rounds of the German trenches. Rosenberg is notrepelled by the rat. Rather, the rat is recognized as a routine visitor. Rosenberg’s rat is aneutral observer, with Rosenberg wondering “What do you see in our eyes/At the

shrieking iron and flame/Hurled through still heavens?” (19-21).The rat is as much a partof the scene and life at the front as the troops themselves.

“Louse Hunting” and “Break of Day in the Trenches” speak of the living, but Rosenbergspeaks of the dead as well. “Dead Man’s Dump” presents some of the grimmest realitiesof war. His readers may shudder at the thought of “wheels lurch[ing] over sprawleddead…their bones crunched” (7-8) but not so Rosenberg and his fellow soldiers. There isno sentimentality to be found in “Dead Man’s Dump,” merely a factual presentation of thedeath of wounded soldier, shot through the head, his “brains splattered on/A stretcher-bearer’s face,” (48-9) left at the side of the road “with the older dead” (54). Even the finalindignity of being ground beneath the wheels has ceased to shock Rosenberg and hiscompatriots. Rosenberg’s readers are brought face to face with the same realities of lifeand death enlisted men faced on a daily basis.

Lice and rats may have abounded on the field of battle and in the camps of previouswars, but they never appeared in the verses celebrating the glory and honor to be gainedin the service of one’s country. Making no effort to sugarcoat the realities of war,Rosenberg brings his readers face to face with the dead, the dying, and the vermin theyfaced. Gone is the elevated language of the previous war poets. There is no mention of“King and Country” or “glory.” Such concepts do not belong in the world Rosenberg andthe rest of England’s youth now inhabit. Patriotism is the currency of the politicians.Enlisted men in the trenches deal in survival and Rosenberg’s readers cannot escape thatknowledge.

While enlisted men spent their days trying to stay alive, officers spent their time tryingto understand the changing face of war. At the start of World War I, the British OfficerCorps was ill-prepared for the new style of warfare. Most officers had purchased theirinitial commission. They were promoted based not on aptitude or skill, but rather onlongevity (Travers 525). No matter how inept an officer might be, he could expectpromotions at regular intervals. Junior officers serving at the front found themselvessending their men out on ill-conceived missions that were often doomed to failure fromthe start.

Siegfried Sassoon was one of those junior officers. From a background of wealth andprivilege, he joined the Sussex Yeomanry the day the war broke out, ultimately securinghis commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Welch Fusiliers (The First WorldWar Digital Poetry Archive). He caught up with his regiment in France just after theBattle of Loos. Sassoon transferred to a frontline placement in 1916. By 1917, he hadreceived the Military Cross for bravery and been wounded (Roby 25). As was the case withwounded officers, he returned to England to recover. During his time in England, Sassoonwas exposed to the politics of war. His poems reflect his time as an officer and his disgustat what he saw in England.

He wrote a declaration against the war and tried to resign his commission. FearingSassoon would be court-martialed for treason, a friend intervened, convincing authoritieshe was suffering from shellshock, and had Sassoon transferred to Craiglockhart Hospitalfor treatment (First World War Poetry Digital Archive). After three months atCraiglockhart, Sassoon was returned to the front. Wounded a second time, Sassoon was

invalided out of the service shortly before the war ended.Sassoon made no effort to hide the ineptitude of his fellow officers. “The General” gives

us a portrait of a man who blithely said “Good-morning, good-morning!” to the troops asthey pass by on their way to the front line (1). Two of the men marching by comment onhis cheeriness, drawing our attention to the incongruity of the General’s emotions in atime and place of war. A week later, most of the men he greeted are dead. The ones whosurvive are “cursing his staff for incompetent swine” (4). The General does not escapeopprobrium since “he did for them both by his plan of attack” (7).

Furthering his efforts to rid the civilian populace of their unrealistic view of war,Sassoon introduces us to men unmentioned by previous war poets. In “The Hero,” welearn that the hero in question exists only in a letter written by a colonel who does nothave the heart to tell a mother her son was, in fact, a coward. Even the officer who visits“that lonely woman with white hair” (18) does not have the fortitude to tell her that hercherished son “had panicked down the trench that night” (14) and “…how he’d tried/Toget sent home” (15-16). For the sake of the dead man’s mother, the two officersperpetuate the myth of the heroic soldier.

Many men who did not actively seek to get sent home might still find themselveshoping for a wound to allow escape. “Stand-to: Good Friday Morning” illustrates the pointwhen speaker, having splashed his way through a rain-filled trench to the front line,finishes with the prayer-like thought “O Jesus, send me a wound to-day/And I’ll believe inYour bread and wine” (11-12). Even a badly maimed man could be grateful for the injurythat got him invalided out of the Army. “The One Legged Man,” having made it back fromthe war, looks over his farm and reflects “How right it seemed that he should reach thespan/Of comfortable years allowed a man” (7-8) As appalling as the loss of a leg mightseem to most, the injured man considers himself “Safe with his wound” (10) and, as heenters his own front gate, offers up the thought “Thank God they had to amputate” (12).

The idea that men might actually be grateful for their wounds and might seek to escapewar is a foreign concept for the civilian population. As a result, returning servicemen aresomewhat alienated from a society that does not understand their experiences. Sassoonexplores these diametrically opposing viewpoints in “They.” A bishop exhorts hiscongregation from the pulpit, telling them “…When the boys come back/They will not bethe same….” (1-2). He goes on to tell us they “fought/In a just cause,” (2-3) against an“Anti-Christ” (4) and “have challenged Death and dared him face to face” (6). Servicemenwho hear the Bishop’s remarks try to tell of the real changes: one has lost his legs,another is blind, and a third has suffered a chest wound that will most likely kill him.Even a man who has not suffered a horrific injury is changed, for he has “gone syphilitic”(10). The servicemen try to point out that there is no one who has served “that hasn’tfound some change” (11). In the face of all their efforts to show the true changes, theBishop merely replies “The ways of God are strange” (12).

Sassoon does not grant quarter to women either. In “Glory of Women,” he takes womento task for “lov[ing] us when we’re heroes…/Or wounded in a mentionable place” (1-2).Sassoon blames women for “worship[ing] decorations” (3) and “believ[ing]/That chivalryredeems the war’s disgrace” (3-4) while “You can’t believe that British troops

‘retire’/When hell’s last horror breaks them and they run…” (9-10). In a final effort toshock us into understanding the truth of war, Sassoon speaks of a German mother, “…knitting socks to send your son/His face is trodden deeper in the mud” (13-4). Once again,the men called on to fight speak not of glory and honor, but instead of wounds that havemaimed them while at the same time, saving their lives. Sassoon and other servicemenare willing to admit that men break and run under the extreme conditions they encounterduring times of war. Only civilians still believe in the honor and glory of war.

Rosenberg and Sassoon give voice to the fighting men who are still in the thick of thefight or recently removed from it, as in the case of the one-legged man. Rudyard Kipling, awriter and grieving parent, speaks for those silenced by war. Kipling had been extremelyjingoistic at the beginning of the war. Like the rest of society, he believed in the concept of“For King and Country!” When his son, John “Jack” Kipling, could not get into themilitary due to his poor eyesight, Kipling used his influence and friendship with KingEdward VII to get Jack into the Army. Jack shipped out to France and was listed as“Missing” after the Battle of Loos in 1915. Kipling and his wife spent the rest of the warscouring prisoner lists and searching hospitals and convalescent facilities for Jack.

Kipling discovered the truth of war while searching for Jack. He turned to writing aseries of epitaphs. Some of the epitaphs address the social changes occasioned by the war,specifically the breakdown of the class system. Other epitaphs within the series arecritical of the men Kipling ultimately came to hold responsible for the war: politicians,industrialists, and men who told tales of glory in past wars. Kipling’s about face was notwell-received and his popularity declined after he began voicing opposition to the war.

The first epitaph, “Equality of Sacrifice,” focuses on the realization that, whatever aman’s social class may have been prior to the war (“A. I was a Have. B. I was a ‘have-not’”)(1), all sacrifices are equal during the war (“Together. What hast thou given which I gavenot?”) (2). In “A Servant,” a member of the upper class notes, “We were together since thewar began/He was my servant—and the better man” (1-2). No prior war had such aprofound impact on the caste system in Britain.

Kipling’s dead do not rely on the living to speak for them. At times, they take mattersinto their own hands. The speaker in “An Only Son” remarks “I have slain none except mymother. She/(Blessing her slayer) died of grief for me” (1-2). “The Sleepy Sentinel”laments that he was killed because he fell asleep on watch, telling us “I sleep because Iam slain. They slew me because I slept” (4). Even “The Coward” has a voice, saying “Icould not look on death, which being known/Men led me to him, blindfold and alone” (1-2). One of Kipling’s dead looks upon death with gratitude, telling the reader “Deathfavoured me from the first, well knowing I could not endure/To wait on him day by day”(“Favor,” 1-2). For this man, death was preferable to life at the front. We learn of theyouth of the men at war. “R.A.F. (Aged Eighteen),” tells the story of a young man, “hismilk-teeth still unshed…returned to play/Childlike, with childish things now put away”(1-4).

We are reminded that the dead came from throughout the British Empire. A HinduSepoy is lost in France (“Sepoy” 1-2). Kipling tells of “Two Canadian Memorials,” one ofwhich reminds us that the dead died without knowing the outcome, merely “…trust[ing]

that world we won for you to keep” (8). A “Native Water-Carrier” is among the dead,reminding us “The Gods are jealous—now, as then/Giving no quarter” (3-4). Theseepitaphs underscore the concept of the war as an event with a worldwide impact.

The dead for whom Kipling’s epitaphs were written are all ages and come from all walksof life. An “Ex-clerk,” freed from the drudgery of his pre-war post, finds “Strength of body,will, and mind” (“Ex-clerk” 4), perhaps one of the few such happy changes wrought by thewar. “The Refined Man” is killed when he “…step[s] aside for [his] needs/Disdaining thecommon office” (1-2). “The Bridegroom” asks his wife, in the first stanza, not to think himfalse “If, from thy scarce-known breast/So little time removed/In other arms I rest” (2-4).In stanza two, we learn the man has not thrown his wife over for another woman, but forthe war itself, which “Was constant at my side/Before I saw thy face” (7-8). In stanzathree, we discover that the marriage was often set and delayed, but “At last isconsummate/And cannot be unmade” (11-2). Stanza four finds the bridegroomacknowledging that his wife will almost surely forget him with time.

Some of Kipling’s dead issue indictments against those responsible for the carnage. Thedead of “Batteries Out of Ammunition” assign blame for their deaths in a simple rhymedcouplet: “If any mourn us in the workshop, say/We died because the shift kept holiday”(1-2). Although desperately short of ammunition at the front, the British government didnot suspend the holiday system for fear of harming morale and possibly inciting strikesand riots. Men who were fighting and dying because they believed the stories of glory tobe gained in war and trusted the men who told them the war would be over by Christmasbecame embittered, as noted in “Common Form,” a rhymed couplet which admonishesthe reader: “If any question why we died/Tell them, because our fathers lied” (1-2). Thesimplicity of the poetic form allows the focus to rest squarely on the accusation leveled bythe speakers.

Kipling held politicians and industrialists responsible for the war. “A Dead Statesman”first endeavors to explain his actions by saying “I could not dig/I dared not rob/ThereforeI lied to please the mob” (1-2) After trying to place the blame squarely on the mob andtheir expectations, he goes on to tell the reader “Now all my lies are proved untrue/And Imust face the men I slew” (3-4) As tempting as it is to believe he might finally takeresponsibility for his own actions, readers learn that is not the case when he goes on toponder “What tale shall serve me here among/Mine angry and defrauded young?” (5-6) Ifanyone deserves the truth, surely it is the men who died because of the lies. TheStatesman never considers telling the dead the truth. Rather, he just searches forwhatever “tale” will best serve his purpose.

Nearly 100,000 men from Great Britain were classified as missing by the end of WorldWar I. Those who returned were changed in ways no one could have imagined.Rosenberg, Sassoon, and Kipling gave the civilian populace three distinct views of the war.Rosenberg’s readers encountered rats and observed the queer spectacle of a louse huntwhile listening to dead men’s bones crunching under the wheels of wagons, ambulances,and gun carriages. Sassoon’s readers learned, among other things, that a leg is a smallprice to pay for safety and war is not a great and glorious pursuit. The voices of Kipling’sdead, save one, speak eloquently of the hardships they faced and the sorrows they knew.

The only one of Kipling’s dead to emerge unscathed is the Statesman, who finallyacknowledges his old lies while contemplating which new lie will best serve his purposewhen confronted by the men his lies destroyed.

Tennyson and poets of his generation spoke of glory, honor, and patriotism. Rosenberg,Sassoon, and Kipling stripped away those ideals and spoke of the nearly unrelentingmisery endured by the men at the front. They also reminded the public that the miserydid not end when the men came home or, in other cases, died. Never again would thecivilian population be able to claim ignorance of life at the front and the incredible pricepaid by British troops.

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The Artistic Subjectivity of Jane EyreBy Charles D. Carter, II

Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 novel, Jane Eyre, raises numerous questions about genderidentity and, more specifically, the role of the female artist. In addition to being a femalewriter, Brontë was also a female artist who received the “conventional art education”afforded to middle-class Victorian women, but Brontë’s perception of art grew from apurely aesthetic exercise into a powerful force for the representation of an “inner reality”(Alexander 17). Brontë’s recognition clearly translates into her heroine, since Jane Eyre’srecognition of meaningful art causes her to adopt art as her means of expression andworld evaluation. While Jane finds deep meaning in visual art, she contradicts Victorianstandards of feminine beauty and an art culture powerfully influenced by the objectifying“male gaze.” Additionally, most women artists of Jane’s time were only amateur copyistswho did not create original, meaningful pieces of art but rather attempted to master theskill of copying other art for the sake of accomplishment. Jane’s art, however, is not asimple pastime nor occupation nor mere exercise in skill; rather, Jane’s artistry is hersubjectivity. David Mikics defines subjectivity as “the realm of individual consciousness,feeling, and behavior that is affected and determined, at least in part, by social forces”(290). With visual art as her subjectivity, Jane views, interprets and represents the worldaround her as an authoritative artist. In Jane Eyre, the eponymous heroine overcomesoppressive Victorian attitudes towards women by constructing the subjectivity of adomesticated artist, not as a professional endeavor, but as a means of world evaluationand effective self-expression.

Scholars who examine Jane Eyre often discuss the novel’s concern with Victorianstandards of feminine beauty and what Jane’s “plainness” claims about these standards.Esther Godfrey elaborates on these cultural standards: “Gendered performances becomeacts…tied to material wealth…only the middle and upper classes can afford the costlyperformance of gender” (856). Godfrey highlights how Jane’s low status as a governesscoincides with her plainness; she is unable to afford tools to make her into a moretraditionally beautiful girl which forces her to define herself by a means other than a“performance” of gender, and, therefore, if Jane is able to establish a strong identity thenshe subverts the rigid definitions of gender and class identities. Not only does Brontëchallenge the economic aspect of Victorian femininity, but Jen Cadwallader also arguesthat Brontë intentionally portrays Jane as “plain” instead of beautiful to assert “a newmodel of femininity which blends the romanticism of the fairy-tale ideal with thepragmatism of an education in self-reliance” (244). Cadwallader suggests that Brontë’sportrayal of Jane as “plain” emphasizes a definition of feminine beauty and identityrooted in a reflection of character and personal ability rather than shallow culturalstandards of physical beauty. The novel challenges the “costly,” fairy-tale definitions offeminine beauty with the presentation of a “plain” but educated heroine.

Scholars consider the role Thomas Bewick’s The History of British Birds plays inestablishing Jane’s artistic education and subjectivity. John Hughes describes thissubjectivity: “The young mind of Jane circulates between the words she reads in Bewick’s

History of British Birds and the pictures she forms in her mind’s eye, and theillustrations on the pages” (25). As the novel is constructed as an autobiography, Hughesapplies Jane’s artistic consciousness to the writing of the novel as Jane, “intrudes into theconscious constructions of language as a manifestation of the unconscious imagination, afigure of the ineradicable childhood condition of art, of the innately expressive responsesmade by thought in its affective, embodied, encounters” (24). Hughes contends that theearly presentation of Jane immersed in Bewick’s book primes the reader to follow Jane asshe employs a visual way of thinking and describing. Christine Alexander notes theimpact that Bewick’s book had on Brontë’s personal understanding of the visual as his“ability to elicit an emotional and imaginative response” from his art and accompanyingwritings inspired Brontë to imitate such techniques in her art, both written and visual andinstill this spirit of imitation in Jane’s character (13). Alexander later notes that, “Jane’sexperience confirms the way pictures tell a story, not always of the physical world but ofthe psychological,” (28). According to Alexander, Bewick laid the foundation for Jane’spassion for art and the emotional, psychological significance she takes from it. JaneSellars explores a specific image from Bewick that impacts Jane: “in describing the littlegirl’s perusal of Bewick’s wood-engravings of the bleak haunts of the sea-fowl—the authorcreates a pictorial, topographical equivalent of Jane Eyre’s own loneliness and isolation”(61-62). As scholars have observed, the young Jane’s reaction to Bewick’s book lays thefoundations of the artistic subjectivity Jane will carry through the rest of the novel.

As discussions of beauty and art often lead to questions about the meaning of visuals,scholars comment on how the novel understands visuals as an effective way to obtain andascribe meaning. Judith Williams claims: “When Jane longs for a ‘power of vision’ she islonging for something more than passive receptivity to the pictorial and static forms thatpresent themselves to the physical eye: she is longing for an ability to see which is activeand energetic” (31). When Jane obtains and employs this “power of vision”, Williamsasserts Jane is able to understand things “beyond rational and verbal description” and“because so much that happens is on a nonrational level, Jane cannot describe it directly”(19). Therefore, Jane must turn to “indirect ways in which the truths apprehended on thedeepest level of her psyche can become manifest to her and to the reader” (20). Williamsasserts that the pieces of Jane’s visual art are these “indirect ways” and these visualsconvey a deep, psychological truth that could not be expressed otherwise. JeanneFahnestock emphasizes the novel’s use of physiognomy (especially the forehead inrelation to intelligence) to find meaning in the visual: “These judgments…are not madefrom natural animus or excessive self-assurance, but from a conviction of the fixedprinciples of correspondence between the face and character” (348-9). Fahnestocksuggests that Jane’s repeated use of physiognomy in both her visual art and writtendescriptions is rooted in a firm belief that her ability to “read” people’s faces andaccurately describe and analyze them is not mere conjecture but rather her art is objectiveand accurate. In Jane Eyre, visuals are not simple objects of beauty or mere naturaloccurrences; rather, visuals, both psychical and artistic, are accurate and powerfulrepresentations of psychological and emotional facts.

Not only do scholars discuss how visuals are an effective means of general

psychological understanding and description, but scholars also discuss the psychology ofVictorian gender relations, especially the role that male “gaze” plays in visual art. In herdiscussion of Alfred Hitchcock’s film Rear Window, Feminist theorist Laura Mulveyclaims: “The determining male gaze projects its phantasy on to the female figure which isstyled accordingly. In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneouslylooked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impactso that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness” (837). Mulvey uses Freud’sterm, “scopophilia”, to define this phenomenon: “taking other people as objects,subjecting them to a controlling and curious gaze” (835). Like Mulvey claims about film,Barbara Onslow claims that in Victorian portraiture, despite an increasing number ofwomen who were able to produce art, “women are portrayed largely through a man’sgaze,” as the male artists and patrons controlled the content of professional portraiture(450, 461). Beth Newman applies these ideas to the novel and argues that Jane’s art is “asuitable way of sublimating and satisfying her exhibitionist impulses…that in factrepresents itself in terms more consonant with the domestic feminine ideal” (156-157).Newman ultimately claims a complex subversion since Jane is not avoidingexhibitionist/gazing impulses but rather employs them as a visual object other than herphysical body to shift male/female domestic relations from a mere sexual exchange to aconversational exchange of ideas with an implicit sense of mutual respect. Jane Krommargues that the “production and reception” of art in the novel is linked to “‘scopic custom’;that is…the customary, gendered patterns of looking and being looked at” (369). BecauseJane subverts the “scopic custom,” Kromm argues her “goal is much higher than that ofreproductive copyist, for she sees herself acquiring the skills of a professional artist”(378). Jane knocks down social barriers by creating her own original, yet masterful, art.Jane subverts the male gaze’s domination of visual art by creating her own meaningful artthat rises above conventional notions of the female artist and ultimately forces the malegaze to focus on emotional and psychological subject matter rather than purely sexualizedwomen.

Beyond the scholars who discuss the relation between Jane’s art and male viewership,other scholars explore what Jane attempts to accomplish as a female artist. Juliette Wellsoutlines Jane’s artistic goals, claiming Jane does not wish to be a professional artist but“she is content instead to display her drawings to a domestic audience” (67). Wells alsohighlights the connection between Jane’s visual art and her writing: “Jane is anenthusiastic artist who undertakes portraits as well as visionary landscapes beforeapplying her visual imagination to the construction of a prose narrative” (67). Wellsargues that the same vision Jane uses to paint, Jane uses to write and by her repeatedacknowledgements of the reader, Jane also intends to display her writing to an audience.Jane Sellars elaborates on the presentation of her creative vision in her discussion of thescene in which Jane presents her portfolio to Rochester:

The Victorian woman who put the product of her artistic imagination on show, and puther name to it, as Jane Eyre does here, is perpetrating an unwomanly act. The idealfeminine nature was passive, submissive, and non-creative; the woman who exhibitedher own art to the world was also dangerously putting something of herself on

exhibition. (65)Despite the domestic setting in which Jane displays her art, Sellars argues Jane’s displayof creative, meaningful art is provocative because it affirms her intellectual and artisticabilities. The presentation of Jane’s art to an audience, even in a domestic setting,signifies an even further break with traditional roles as her meaningful art is not justpersonal but to be appreciated by others—including men.

Part of the reason Jane wishes to have her visual art appreciated is her awareness of her“plain” appearance which places her at odds with a visual culture that regards females asbeautiful art. Upon arriving at Thornfield, Jane dresses herself in simple clothes for, inher words, she is “obliged to be plain” (83). Jane then wishes she was “handsomer” with“rosy cheeks, a straight nose and small cherry mouth; I desired to be tall, stately, andfinely developed in figure” as opposed to being “so little, so pale, and [with] features soirregular and so marked” (84). Jane is anxious about her appearance since her small,“plain” stature does not fit with the traditional “fine” and “handsome” image of woman.Jane’s battle with this anxiety also appears when, on two separate occasions, she explicitlyrefers to herself as “plain” when speaking to Mr. Rochester (112, 220). Jane’s awarenessof her plainness serves as a defense mechanism while Jane wrestles with Rochester’saffections. Of course it is not just Jane who is aware of her “plainness.” When Mr.Rochester hosts a party at Thornfield, Lady Ingram claims to be “a judge of physiognomy”and uses her skill to assert that in Jane’s physiognomy she sees “all the faults of herclass” (151). In the aristocratic eyes of Lady Ingram, Jane’s plainness not only renders herunattractive, but Jane’s lack of visual appeal indicate inward disabilities that justify Jane’splacement in a lower class. In a discussion with Mr. Rochester, Jane fights against anegative characterization based on her appearance: “Do you think, because I am poor,obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!” (216). Janeprotests Rochester’s shallow characterization, asserting a view of herself as somethinggreater and deeper than her lowly physical appearance and she wishes to be viewedaccordingly. Despite the occasional wish to be more physically attractive and her generalanxiety about her appearance, Jane’s awareness of her plainness allows her to rise abovethe false notions ascribed to her because of her appearance and instead adopt a moremeaningful characterization.

Through her identification with Thomas Bewick’s illustrated book A History of BritishBirds, Jane finds this meaningful, personal characterization in art—an identification thatultimately becomes her subjectivity. The novel opens with Jane in an oppressive domesticsituation in which a book containing and commenting artistic representations of nature isa form of escape (6). While reading the book, Jane observes: “the words in theseintroductory pages connected themselves with the succeeding vignettes, and gavesignificance to the [picture]…each picture told a story” (6). The images in Bewick’s bookare not just “pretty pictures” to Jane, but meaningful stories that she identifies with.Jane’s relationship to the images in the book is not one of mere reception for Jane,prompted by the images seen in the book, “formed an idea of [her] own” (6). Bewick’sbook is the catalyst for Jane’s creative and intellectual activity. While Jane lives at theReed Estate, she does not creat any art but her artistic subjectivity is forming into a

means of retreating from a cultural that marginalizes her because of her class difference.Jane tells the reader: “with Bewick on my knee, I was then happy…I feared nothing butinterruption” (7). Discontent and frightened by her domestic situation, it is only throughBewick’s book and the meaning Jane finds therein, that she truly finds contentment.Almost immediately, the novel presents the reader with Jane’s refuge in andidentification with art through Bewick’s book and this presentation allows the reader towitness the early formation of Jane’s artistic subjectivity.

Jane’s use of physiognomy is a part of her artistic subjectivity, as she uses a visual touncover meaning. At one of her first meetings with Rochester, Jane explains:

I recognised his decisive nose, more remarkable for his character than beauty; his fullnostrils, denoting, I thought, choler; his grim mouth, chin, and jaw—yes, all three werevery grim, and no mistake. His shape, now divested of cloak, I perceived harmonizedwith squareness with his physiognomy: I suppose it was a good figure in the athleticsense of the term—broad chested and thin-flanked, though neither tall nor graceful.(102)

This initial description of Rochester immediately introduces the reader to thecontradictions within Rochester’s character. While Rochester certainly seems like ahandsome man, Jane still recognizes him as “grim” and “square” which taints his physicalattractiveness with a sense of eeriness. Later in the novel, Jane describes Rochester as a“fine-looking man, at first sight especially. On closer examination you detected somethingin his face that displeased…his features were regular, but too relaxed; his eye was largeand well cute, but the life looking out of it was a tame, vacant life,” (162). Jane’sdescription foreshadows a disturbance in Rochester that, of course, is later confirmed tobe quite true. Jane’s artistic vision picks up on clues early in the novel that are laterconfirmed which attests to the truth telling power of art and the accuracy of hersubjectivity. The accuracy of Jane’s vision renders her subjectivity powerful andinsightful. During a conversation between Rochester and Jane, Rochester makes apassing comment that he is aware Jane is evaluating his physiognomy (113). Thisacknowledgement indicates to the reader that, while we know of some instances in whichJane evaluates physiognomy in her narration, she is constantly evaluating thephysiognomy of characters. Jane’s constant physiological evaluation indicates to thereader that her subjectivity is always in a state of artistic vision that finds meaning in thevisual—not a shallow, oppressive meaning like the ones ascribed to her plainness, but aconstant evaluation of the psychological states and general identity of others. Jane usesphysiognomy neither to place others in a lower class nor reduce anyone’s value. Instead,Jane’s constant evaluation of physiognomy aids her understanding of the psychology ofothers in a powerful and helpful way. It is not a difficult assumption to make that moretraditional female artists in the Victorian period would have no problem setting asidetheir artistic vision for normal social interactions, but Jane’s artistic subjectivityencompasses her entire social outlook as she never stops evaluating.

Of course, Jane’s artistic subjectivity does not stop at an intellectual level but manifestsitself in artistic works. Numerous characters discover Jane’s art and all of them reactextremely positively to the art. Diana and Mary Rivers are “surprised and charmed” by

Jane’s drawing ability and later Rosamond Oliver claims she “was first transfixed withsurprise, and then electrified with delight” by Jane’s art (299, 314). When Jane returns tothe Reed Estate, Eliza and Georgiana Reed see Jane drawing and Jane notes they “bothseemed surprised at my skill” before they request Jane to sketch their portraits. In thescene in which she presents her portfolio to Rochester, Jane expresses that painting thosepictures “was to enjoy one of the keenest pleasures I have ever known,” (108). Thepleasure Jane receives through art is not achieved by a successful copy or throughanother’s appreciation of her art; rather, artistic activities for Jane are pleasurable in andof themselves. Jane’s artistic activities are not about perfection nor accuracy of skill butabout expressive action. Of course, Jane’s passion for her art also frustrates her: “I wastormented by the contrast between my idea and my handiwork: in each case I had imagedsomething which I was quite powerless to create” (108). The thoughts in Jane’s mind areoften difficult to express and Jane longs to be able to adequately bring them to fruitionthrough art. While Jane gets frustrated by the chasm between her ideas and the finalartistic product, the other characters in the novel are impressed by her work and Janeultimately finds great pleasure in creating art. The pleasure Jane experiences in thecreation of art results as a fulfillment of her artistic subjectivity.

Jane also creates a self-portrait and a portrait of Blanche Ingram in order to contrastthem and forge a psychological contentment about her “plain” appearance. The materialschosen by Jane to form these comparative portraits (chalk for her self-portrait and fine-ivory for Blanche) are intentionally chosen by Jane to ensure Blanche’s portrait is morebeautiful. While Jane intends for this self-sabotaging act to ground her in a sense ofRochester’s disinterest in Jane, what is important to this discussion is the fact that Janetakes to visual as a means of understanding. Of the portraits, Jane states: “it had kept myhead and hands employed, and had given force and fixedness to the new impressions Iwished to stamp indelibly on my heart” (137). She also declares the action successful: “Iwas able to meet subsequent occurrencesi with a decent calm” (137). Through theseportraits, Jane purges her feelings for Rochester in order to faithfully carry out her role asgoverness. While the self-sabotaging nature of these portraits hinders Jane’s confidencein her “plainness”, the act of creating art an effective, therapeutic fruition of her artisticsubjectivity.

In the conclusion of the novel, Jane describes the role she played as Rochester’s visionduring his blindness:

For I was then his vision, as I am still his right hand. Literally, I was (what he oftencalled me) the apple of his eye. He saw nature—he saw books through me; and neverdid I weary of gazing for his behalf, and of putting into words the effect of field, tree,town, river, cloud, sunbeam—of the landscape before us; of the weather longer stampon his eye. (384)

Jane’s oral description of the world does not simply describe what she sees to Rochesterbut she describes “the effect” of what she sees. Jane is an interpreter of the visual throughher words. The fact that Jane explains meaning to Rochester subverts the traditionalrelation of the gaze for in this situation, Jane gazes, observes and then expressesmeaning. Jane’s artistic subjectivity is not limited to expressing abstract ideas through a

visual means but Jane takes visual subjects and uses another method, the spoken word,and expresses her intellectual take on those visual subjects.

The scene in which Rochester takes interest in Jane’s art portfolio plays a pivotal roleas her art is appreciated as a means of self-expression in a domestic setting. WhileRochester critiques many aspects of Jane’s art, the reader sees that he is not simplyadmires the copywork of an amateur female artist, but he also recognizes that Jane hasdeliberately portrayed things in her art that are contrary to the way things are (108). Janetells the reader, “I saw them with my spiritual eye, before I attempted to embody them,they were striking; but my hand would not second my fancy, and in each case it hadwrought out but a pale portrait of the thing I had conceived,” (107). While Rochestercritiques elements of Jane’s paintings, Jane is not content with her art either. Thisstatement from Jane reveals that her art is not meant to copy an image of another artistor even an image she has seen but to convey something psychological. Jane’s art is anattempt to “embody” something “spiritual” that she perceived. While she has not yet beenable to perfect her art, Jane’s art is self-expressive and her art is appreciated as ameaningful work in a domestic setting.

Jane Eyre is a part of a visual culture that reduces women to a beautiful piece of art tobe looked at, but since Jane does not fit what the culture deems beautiful, she changeswhat it means to be beautiful. Jane’s artistic subjectivity takes the visual and uses it as away to understand and convey meaning, rather than the visual being something to simplyadmire. The artistic subjectivity of Jane Eyre is not limited to the creation of visual art butis also manifest in Jane’s outlook of the world, her writing and her verbal description ofthe world to Rochester. In Jane Eyre, the eponymous heroine overcomes oppressiveVictorian attitudes towards women by constructing the subjectivity of a domesticatedartist, not as a professional endeavor, but as a means of world evaluation and effectiveself-expression.

i Encounters with Rochester.

Works Cited

Alexander, Christine. “Educating ‘The Artist’s Eye’: Charlotte Brontë and the PictorialImage.” The Brontës in the World of the Arts. Ed. Sandra Hagan and Juliette Wells.Burlington: Ashgate, 2008. 11-30. Print.

Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Ed. Richard J. Dunn. New York: Norton, Inc., 2001. Print.Cadwallader, Jen. “’Formed For Labour, Not For Love’: Plain Jane And The Limits Of

Female Beauty.” Brontë Studies: The Journal Of The Brontë Society 34.3 (2009): 234-246. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 15 Jan. 2012.

Fahnestock, Jeanne. “The Heroine of Irregular Features: Physiognomy and Conventionsof Heroine Description.” Victorian Studies 24.3 (1981): 325-350. JSTOR. Web. 29 Feb.2012.

Godfrey, Esther. “Jane Eyre, From Governess To Girl Bride.” SEL: Studies In EnglishLiterature, 1500-1900 45.4 (2005): 853-871. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 15

Jan. 2012.Hughes, John. “Charlotte Brontë’s Art of Sensation.” Brontë Society Transactions 26.1

(2001): 19-26. Print.Kromm, Jane. “Visual Culture and Scopic Custom in Jane Eyre and Villette.” Victorian

Literature and Culture 26.2 (1998): 369-394. JSTOR. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.Mikics, David. A New Handbook of Literary Terms. New Haven: Yale UP, 2007. Print.Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Film Theory and Criticism:

Introductory Readings. Eds. Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen. New York: Oxford UP,1999: 833-44. Print.

Newman, Beth. “Excerpts from Subjects on Display.” Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre: ACasebook. Ed. Elsie B. Michie. New York: Oxford UP, 2006. 155-166. Print.

Onslow, Barbara. “Deceiving Images, Revealing Images: The Portrait in VictorianWomen’s Writing.” Victorian Poetry 33.4 (1995): 450-475. JSTOR. Web. 29 Feb. 2012.

Sellars, Jane. “Art and the Artist as Heroine in the Novels of Charlotte, Emily and AnneBrontë.” Brontë Society Transactions 20.2 (1990): 57-76. Print.

Shuttleworth, Sally. Charlotte Brontë and Victorian Psychology. Cambridge: CambridgeUP, 1996. Print.

Wells, Juliette. “‘Some of Your Accomplishments Are Not Ordinary’: The Limits ofArtistry in Jane Eyre.” The Brontës in the World of the Arts. Eds. Sandra Hagan,Juliette Wells. Hampshire: Ashgate, 2008. 67-80. Print.

Williams, Judith. Perception and Expression in the Novels of Charlotte Brontë. AnnArbor: UMI Research Press, 2008. Print.

A Comparison of “The Dream of the Rood” and Sir Gawainand the Green Knight

By Elise J. Dean

On the surface, the Anglo-Saxon “The Dream of the Rood” and the medieval Sir Gawainand the Green Knight appear to be vastly different. “The Dream of the Rood” is about aman who has a dream of a beautiful gold cross that comes to him. The cross begins tobleed and changes into the wooden cross that Jesus died on. It is at this point that thecross tells the dreamer its story and its admiration for Jesus as a hero. Sir Gawain andthe Green Knight is the tale of Gawain, a knight of the Round Table—and King Arthur’snephew that, at Arthur’s Christmas feast, accepts the challenge of a mystical GreenKnight to cut off his head. If the Green Knight lives, in just over a year’s time, the GreenKnight will return the favor. Gawain accepts this challenge because he feels it wrong thathis uncle, who the Green Knight originally intends to play this ‘game’ with, should be theone to participate. Of course, the fantastical Green Knight lives and Gawain then has towait for his death. Obviously the poems’ narratives sound nothing alike. Not only that,but the poems are separated by an entire change in the English language. “The Dream ofthe Rood” is in Old English and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is in Middle English;the Norman Conquest of 1066 marks this distinction. It is the year that an invasion of theAnglo-Saxons was led by William of Normandy (Damrosch 15). Yet, despite how differentthey sound and seem, they are actually similar. “The Dream of the Rood” and Sir Gawainand the Green Knight share a devotion to religion; an intention, or likely intention in thecase of Sir Gawain, for oral delivery; and most prominently a unique style and structuregiven the times they were written.

In the words of Howard Patch, the unknown author of “The Dream of the Rood,” was“deeply religious,” and by writing a poem with this story of the cross, the author was sodeeply invested with worship and the sermons in the church that “he could hardly rid hismind” of it all (Patch 233). Michael Swanton wrote a small book dedicated to “The Dreamof the Rood.” Instead of the author, Swanton focuses more on where the rood, or thecross, comes from because it is the driving force of the poem. He says that it became “anabstract devotional sign” and the cross was “found on almost every object of daily use”(43). This would explain why the narrator in “The Dream of the Rood” would have adream of the cross on which Jesus was crucified.

While “The Rood’s” devotion to religion is quite obvious throughout the poem, SirGawain’s is prominent yet subtle. Lawrence Besserman talks of theological concerns andthe subtlety with which they are written. He first mentions the entrance of the GreenKnight during King Arthur’s Christmas feast, and how his being beheaded and stayingalive is “an inversion of the Easter phase of Jesus’s ministry, a violent death andresurrection that threatens to bring death without hope of redemption or resurrection toGawain” (230). He goes on to say that Gawain’s invocations of Jesus and Mary and latercrossing himself three times are all religious motivations.

The Anglo-Saxon period was an oral period, but after a written language was developed,“The Dream of the Rood” was found written in three places, which is highly unusual, but

also shows how famous this poem actually was during its time (Damosch 148). Majorclues that a poem was either written in an oral period or was intended to be spoken comefrom common tools of easy delivery such as hints of wyrd, which means fate or doom,alliteration, and repetition of phrases (Spencer). “The Dream of the Rood” uses all ofthese.

One of the first hints of wyrd is after the cross initially changes. Starting on line twentyin the translated version by Kevin Crossley-Holland, “The Rood’s” narrator says:

...Then I was afflicted,frightened by the sight; I saw that sign often changeits clothing and hue, at times dewy with moisture,stained by flowing blood, at times adorned with treasure. (20-23)First, the ‘S’ sound in the second line, “frightened at this sight; I saw that sign often

change” is a great example of alliteration found throughout this poem, in both thetranslated and original Old English versions. Second, the fact that the cross keepschanging tells the reader, or the listener, that the cross has gone through somethingtragic. That tragedy of course, is being the tree fated to hold Jesus up until his mortalform died. A repeated phrase found that strikes emotion with the reader, or listener, is thephrase, “I dared not bow” (36, 44). The rood is telling its story. Both times, the cross says,“I dared not bow” because the Lord did not want it to. It says that it could have fallen andcrushed its enemies, but it stood strong because it was its fate, or its wyrd.

While it cannot be said for certain, it can be said, based on Joseph Turner, that SirGawain and the Green Knight “was likely intended for oral recitation, although it couldhave been intended for solitary reading” (375). The lack of knowing this poem’s trueintention is that Sir Gawain is dated back to the late-medieval period, almost therenaissance, which was not a distinctly oral culture like the Anglo-Saxon period. However,Sir Gawain uses many Anglo-Saxon underpinnings like the three mentioned before: Thehints of wyrd, alliteration, and repetition of phrases.

In the Brian Stone translation, which is kept as close to the original alliterative MiddleEnglish version as possible, Sir Gawain shows all of these elements come into play. Thevery last lines of the first part of Sir Gawain say this:

Now Gawain give a thought,Lest peril make you pauseIn seeking out the sportThat you have claimed as yours. (487-490)

This is one of the many hints towards Gawain’s doom, his wyrd. Again, the lines above allgive specific, punctuated, alliterative phrases: “Gawain give,” “peril make you pause”“seeking out the sport.”

An example of the repetition in this poem is the use of “Toulouse and Turkestantapestries” (Spencer). The first time it is used is on line 77 and the second time on line858. Both times it is used to describe a palace, the first for King Arthur and Guinevere andthe second for Lord and Lady Bertilak. This repetition was used to show that Lord andLady Bertilak were just as noble and upstanding and high class as King Arthur of theRound Table (Spencer).

In “The Dream of the Rood,” the words and the style and structure with which they arephrased are something to focus on. Michael Swanton takes the work’s style into accountrather effectively. He says, “...the Dream remains stylistically very distinctive... This poet’svocabulary is in general remarkable” (60). The examples he uses for the distinctivelanguage, possibly even original words are “ærgewin,” which means ‘formal struggle’ or‘strife’ and, “bealu-ware,” meaning ‘evil men’(136-137).

He continues with examples of common words used like, “gang,” meaning ‘flow;’ and“deorc,” meaning ‘dark’ (137-139). Swanton says that these words, “in unusual senses allbetray a highly individual mind” (60). This is because these words, as previously stated,were common, which is unlike the first two words listed. This author was in a sense, anenigma: common and uncommon, bland and creative.

Joseph Turner breaks down the words and focuses on the rhetoric of Sir Gawain andthe Green Knight. Turner says, “The Gawain-poet’s exposure to civic rhetoric would havebeen part of his rhetorical education” (377). As opposed to the language being original likein “The Dream of the Rood,” Sir Gawain’s language shows opposition to what the authorhad been taught; the author knows how people should act but he still has characters actout.

Turner uses the Green Knight as an example: “Without any sort of formal greeting, theGreen Knight addresses Arthur’s court as a “gyng,” or an assembly or band, instead ofusing any of the honorific descriptors deserving of a royal court (MED 1)” (381). Turneralso turns to the Knights of the Round Table and shows that the author does havecharacters abide by the social rules. Turner says that the knights do not act out becausethey are either afraid or because they are showing courtesy.

Here courtesy is allied with the rhetoric of the state: It is a set of behavioral ideals thatdictates who can and cannot speak in a public, courtly setting. Courtesy both describesand conditions appropriate chivalric speech and actions... (381)

So, it is through the characters’ behavior that the Gawain-poet made manyaccomplishments.

The author of “The Dream of the Rood” as well as the author of Sir Gawain thoughtahead of their time. One used original language in an oral time period; one usedcharacters after a written language was developed. One’s religious devotion was obvious;the other was subtle. Their works reflect this originality and are both distinctive in theseways.

Works Cited

Besserman, Lawrence. “The Idea of the Green Knight.” ELH 53.2 (1986): 219-39. JSTOR.Web. 12 Sept. 2012.

Crossley-Holland, Kevin, trans. “The Dream of the Rood.” The Longman Anthology ofBritlish Literature. Ed. David Damrosch. 4th ed. Vol. 1A. New York: Longman, 2010.148-52. Print.

Damrosch, David, ed. “The Dream of the Rood.” The Longman Anthology of BritlishLiterature. Ed. Kevin Dettmar. 4th ed. Vol. 1A. New York: Longman, 2010. 148. Print.

Damrosch, David, ed. “The Norman Conquest.” The Longman Anthology of Britlish

Literature. Ed. Kevin Dettmar. 4th ed. Vol. 1A. New York: Longman, 2010. 15-17. Print.Damrosch, David, ed. “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” The Longman Anthology of

Britlish Literature. Ed. Kevin Dettmar. 4th ed. Vol. 1A. New York: Longman, 2010. 219-22. Print.

“The Dream of the Rood.” N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.Patch, Howard. “Liturgical Influence in the Dream of the Rood.” PMLA 13.2 (1919): 233-

57. JSTOR. Web. 25 Sept. 2012.Spencer, Susan. ENG 2543 Lecture. 23 & 27 Aug. 2012. Lecture.Stone, Brian, trans. “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” The Longman Anthology of

Britlish Literature. Ed. David Damrosch. 4th ed. Vol. 1A. New York: Longman, 2010.222-77. Print.

Swanton, Michael. The Dream of the Rood. Manchester: UP, 1970. Print.Turner, Joseph. “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the History of Medieval Rhetoric.”

Rhetoric Review 31.4 (2012): 371-88. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Sept. 2012.

Judith:The Old English Poem as Representative of the Religious Culture of the

Poet

By Lynneth Miller

The Old English poem Judith, based on the apocryphal text “The Book of Judith”,provides unique insight into the religious culture of the poet, writing in the Old Englishperiod under the influence of Anglo-Saxon culture, around roughly 900 A.D. Rather thanpainstakingly translating the original apocryphal text in the poem, the poet alters thenarrative to reflect the Anglo-Saxon warrior culture, particularly in the role and portrayalof women, and the Christian faith of the audience. Judith most tellingly diverges from itssource in its depiction of the character and virtues of Judith. A warrior woman and awidow who intentionally seduces Holofernes to obtain the victory in the apocryphal text,in the Anglo-Saxon poem Judith becomes a chaste virgin, leading by example and virtueand acting as a channel for God’s work. Such an adaptation exposes the central role of theVirgin Mary in religion in the era of the poet. The author of the poem “Judith” attempts toavoid the potentially subversive elements of the Apocryphal text through his adaptationsof the story, adaptations intended to make Judith seem more like the Virgin Mary asportrayed by Anglo-Saxon culture.

Such an assertion regarding the enormous influence of culture on the poet and thepoem mirrors the focus of new historicist scholarship. Stephen Greenblatt, one of theforemost scholars of this methodology, contends in his essay “Towards a Poetics ofCulture” that “the work of art is the product of a negotiation between a creator or class ofcreators, equipped with a complex, communally shared repertoire of conventions, and theinstitutions and practices of society” (12). In his article “Resonance and Wonder”,Greenblatt further defines the relationship between literature and culture, arguing “theembeddedness of cultural objects in the contingencies of history” (1478). He uses theterm “resonance” to refer to the “power of the object displayed to reach out beyond itsformal boundaries to a larger world, to evoke in the viewer the complex, dynamic culturalforces from which it has emerged and for which as metaphor or more simply asmetonymy it may be taken by a viewer to stand” (1482).i Greenblatt, using “object” torefer to texts, clearly sees the culture at large as the most influential factor on the poet orauthor. Judith Lowder Newton, another new historicist scholar, agrees with Greenblatt’sview of the culture’s role in forming literature. She asserts that Greenblatt’s argumentsare especially relevant in interpreting the portrayal and role of women in literature. Sheexplores the “tensions between dominant values and the values of woman’s culture” andthe “multiplicity of women’s roles and identities and the intersections and contradictionsbetween the roles and identities imposed by race, sex, and class” (155). These explorationstie to the new historicist interpretation of Judith, giving the poem new meaning withinthe cultural framework.

Thru this new historicist lens, in which the culture plays a crucial role in the formationof the themes and images of the text, scholars examine specific aspects of Anglo-Saxon

culture which shaped different texts. Mary Dockray-Miller looks at the influence of theVirgin Mary, not in Judith but in the contemporary Old English Advent, asserting thatAnglo-Saxon culture “provides an early example of a type of female spirituality andMarian devotion focused (somewhat precariously) on the female body” (38). She arguesthat “passivity and objectification are integral parts of the overwhelming virtue of theVirgin Mary”, shown in most aspects of Anglo-Saxon culture as an inactive channel for thework of God and presented as the womanly ideal of virtue. However, Dockray-Miller alsoasserts that occasionally texts allow “a shift in the critical view of Mary as passive andhumble to one wherein she can be read as embodied and active” (39). While Dockray-Miller concentrates on the view of Mary within Anglo-Saxon culture and her portrayal inOld English literature, Haruko Momma focuses not on Mary but on Anglo-Saxon warriorculture, asserting “the cultural adaptation of the Judith story is rounded off by the Anglo-Saxon poet’s expansion of two scenes that must have been familiar to his audience: thefeast and the battle”(61); in keeping with Anglo-Saxon culture, Judith, as a woman, islargely excluded from the feast, even though she does not fulfill the cultural role forwomen, in peace-weaving or child-bearing. The Virgin Judith seems to more fit the role ofa warrior. However, Momma claims that Judith’s role within the poem is not primarilythat of a warrior but of “the savior’s woman servant”, stating that “In her capacity as aweaponed woman, Judith is less like a lord than a loyal follower who keeps fighting evenwhen no one else does” (69). This view of Judith, as a servant and not a warrior, creates areading of the poem in which Judith seems more parallel to Mary than originally appears.Marie Nelson continues to focus on Judith’s role as a woman servant of God, who shows,in a “series of appellations of direct address”, her “willing submission to the will of God.This submission satisfies two traditional expectations: a woman… must show respectwhen asking for help; and a Christian must respect the will of God” (90). Thus, Nelsonargues that Judith reflects not the warrior culture of her time, but the role of women,particularly the Virgin Mary, instead, in a religious dichotomy similar to that seen in theDream of the Rood. Dockray-Miller, Momma, and Nelson all see various aspects offemininity emphasized in Anglo-Saxon literature; many of the facets they examine mirrorthe Virgin Mary rather than a warrior or temptress.

While these scholars emphasize how the Anglo-Saxon culture shaped “Judith” so thatthe heroine reflected either woman’s role within warrior culture or her religious role,other scholars combine these two themes in their assertions about the text. HowellChickering claims that “the poet successfully combines heroic poetry and hagiography”(123), but in the process creates a Judith who “is much less complex than in the biblicalstory. There she is a rich widow, clever and devout” who “lies to Holofernes, even dressesup and vamps for him a bit, and her speeches are glinting with delightful ironies” (125).This description correlates with Carey A. Moore’s description of Judith in the introductionto the apocryphal text, which professes “Judith, like many heroes past and present, had agoodly share of desirable qualities: a very attractive physical appearance, intelligence,resourcefulness, and great physical courage” (62). Chickering’s summary of the Judith ofthe poem contrasts with both of these images: “Pious in prayer and vigorous inexhortation… she has only two basic character traits… she is gleaw (wise) and she has

trumne gleafan (firm faith)” (125). Chickering points out that these two traits fit bothwith the role of women in warrior culture and with the role of women within religion.Thus, the Anglo-Saxon poet attempts to negotiate these two cultural forces in the poem’sdepiction of its heroine, similar to the Beowulf poet’s careful treatment of Wealhtheow.

Other scholars narrow even further to focus specifically on Judith’s portrayal as a virginand chaste woman who mirrors the Virgin Mary. Heide Estes begins by looking at thecommentaries of Aldheld and Aelfric,ii on the Book of Judith, “often read as contexts forthe Old English poem” (326). She notes how “In accordance with Patristic example,Aldhelm places Judith in a list of women to be praised for virginity; nevertheless, he iscompelled also to comment critically upon the means she uses to save her people fromannihilation” (329). Estes further emphasizes the ambiguity that Judith’s role within thetexts forces, as the poem attempts “to contain Judith’s potential transgressions within amodel of idealized, Heroic Christian femininity” (330). The ambiguity noted by Estes isfurther probed by Peter J. Lucas, who continues to explore Judith’s ties to virginity and byassociation, to the Virgin Mary. Lucas states that one of the three interpretations ofJudith is that “she is a virgin beauty seen as a type of chastity overcoming Holoferne’slust” and this “victory over the devil of lust” made her “a particular favorite of the VirginMary” (18). Lucas critiques the portrayal of Judith as similar to the Virgin, arguing that“the Judith of the Old English poem conforms to none of these interpretations[seductress, virgin beauty, or figure of the church]” and that “the poet has exploited thestory to illustrate a theme, the power of faith” (19), but concurs with two similaritesbetween the Virgin and Judith. Lucas observes how “Judith is invested with moral ratherthan physical strength, and nearly all the references to her character indicate either hermoral purity or her wisdom and mental powers” (21) and also how “Judith isNergendes|peowen preymful, ‘glorious servant of the Savior’… In this respect sheresembles the Virgin Mary, the ancilla Domini of the Magnificat” (24). As ChristopherFee notes, “in the Old English Judith this role of hero is modified from an active one toone largely inspirational in nature: Judith’s own words are most telling in their shift fromthose of a wily leader imparted with a conspiratorial air, to those of a chaste virgin saint”(402); in addition, he notes Judith’s role “as a vessel of God’s might” (403), which clearlyparallels Mary’s role. Fee suggests “the Old English Judith was altered to conform withspecific cultural ideals and expectations” (406), an alteration made crucial because of thepotentially subversive role the Apocryphal Judith played as a temptress and deceiver.iii

The melding of scholarship which examines the historical context of the poem, theculture in which it was written, and particularly the religious beliefs of the time, leads to anew reading of the poem in which Judith functions not as a Hebrew warrior womansimilar to Deborah or a seductress for a good cause similar to Esther, but as a reflection ofthe Virgin Mary as idealized and typified in Anglo-Saxon culture.

The differences between the Apocryphal text and the Old English poem begin to appearat the very beginning of the story. While the apocryphal text begins by describing theinvasion of the Assyrians and their oppression of the Israelites, the poem Judith, or atleast the fragment surviving today, begins by describing Judith’s supplication to the Lordfor protection at the arrival of Holofernes and his men. The poem states “The illustrious

Father in the skies granted her request in this because she always had firm faith in theAlmighty” (Judith 143). Such a description of unwavering faith matches the apocryphalJudith, a widow renowned for her faith. In the apocryphal text, Judith does not appearfirst as a supplicant praying for protection, but as a widow plotting to overthrow theAssyrians. The Apocrypha describes Judith as a holy and devout woman, a widow who“fasted every day of her widowhood, except for Sabbath eve, the Sabbath itself, the eve ofthe new moon, the new moon itself, and the joyous feasts of the House of Israel. She wasalso shapely and beautiful… Yes there was no one who spoke ill of her, so devoutly did shefear God” (Apocrypha 14). While at first glance these descriptions seem almost identical,later descriptions of Judith in the Old English poem call her a “artful-minded virgin”(Judith 145), revealing both the fear of the potential transgressive power and sexualknowledge of widows and the poet’s alteration of the text to create parallels betweenJudith and the Virgin Mary. To help establish Judith as a type of Mary, The poet enhancedhis descriptions of Judith’s faith, virtue, and role in bringing salvation while changing herfrom a widow to a virgin.

The poet further alters the Apocryphal text in how he reveals Judith’s relationship toGod. The Virgin Mary as depicted in Anglo-Saxon culture would not have intentionallymanipulated and deceived to achieve God’s will, but would have prayed instead, whileawaiting his work. The Judith of the Old English poem does not follow this pattern, asJudith’s prayer at the beginning of the apocryphal text reveals. She prays:

Observe their arrogance and bring your fury on their heads: put into my hand- awidow’s- the strength I need. By the guile of my lips strike down the slave with theruler and the ruler with his servant. Break their pride by the hand of a female! For yourstrength does not depend upon numbers nor your might upon powerful men. Rather,you are the God of the humble; you are the ally of the insignificant, the champion ofthe weak, the protector of the despairing, the savior of those without hope. (Apocrypha17)

This prayer seems out of place with the Judith of the poem, who does not deceiveHolofernes or intentionally seduce him to protect her people, but who is instead forced toHolofernes’ tent. After this prayer, “Then she slipped sandals on her feet and put on heranklets and bracelets, her rings and earrings, and all her jewelry. (She had made herselfvery fetching so as to catch the attention of the men who would see her)” (Apocrypha 17).Once her beauty had gained the attention of Holofernes, Judith cleverly deceived himthrough convincing him that “God has sent me to accomplish with you things which willastonish the whole world whenever people hear about them. For your servant is devoutand serves the God of Heaven day and night” (Apocrypha 20). Judith speaks truly toHolofernes, but misleads him while doing so by using words that have a double meaning.The Judith who intentionally misleads the general and dresses herself to catch hisattention diametrically opposes the chaste and tellingly silent virgin of the poem, whoremains a mainly voiceless character speaking only in prayer or in inspiring her people.

The Judith of the poem does visit Holofernes of her own accord, as detailed in theapocryphal text. However, the poet again manipulates the text in the following scene.Within the Old English poem, Judith’s motive for this visit remains unclear, as she

neither speaks with Holofernes nor intentionally seduces him but is forced intoHolofernes’ tent. The poet makes Judith’s unwillingness to go along with Holofernes’corrupt ideas clear in the language used to describe Holofernes’ actions, writing that asthe feasting progressed, Holofernes, “being wickedly promiscuous, [he] commanded theblessed virgin, decked with bracelets and adorned with rings, to be fetched in a hurry tohis bed” (Judith 144). Holofernes “meant to defile the noble lady with filth and withpollution… then the shield-wielding warriors speedily conducted the noble virgin to thelofty pavilion where the great man always rested of a night, Holofernes, abhorrent to theSavior” (Judith 144). The passivity the poet attributes to Judith fits the type of theinactive and virtuous Virgin Mary, whereas the apocryphal text portrays Judith verydifferently:

Then she took what her servant had prepared, and ate and drank in his presence.Holofernes was so delighted with her that he drank a great deal of wine… It grew late,and his retinue hurried away… So Judith was left alone in the tent with Holofernessprawled on his bed, dead drunk (Apocrypha 22).

The Apocrypha depicts a woman who intentionally led Holofernes into thinking he couldhave sexual relations with her, actively setting a trap for the corrupt general. The poet’srevision of Judith’s role to make her a channel for action rather than a warrior figure fitsa portrayal most in line with the Virgin Mary.

While the actions of Judith within Holofernes’ tent do not change from the Apocryphato the poem, the manner in which she carried out her actions does. The Judith of thepoem matches much more closely the Anglo-Saxon Virgin Mary, who acted as a channelfor God’s power as He, not she, did the work to rescue humanity, just as in the poem, Godworked through Judith to save the Israelites. In the Apocrypha, Judith’s killing ofHolofernes is premeditated, with appeals to the God of Israel to give her strength to killher enemy. The Judith of the Apocrypha appears to be a warrior, reliant mainly on herown strength. In contrast, the Judith portrayed in the poem acts not as a traditionalwarrior, but more as a servant of the Lord, acting on His behalf in an opportunity Heprovides, not one she orchestrates:

Then the glorious handmaid of the Savior was sorely preoccupied as to how she mightmost easily deprive the monster of his life before the sordid fellow, full of corruption,awoke. Then the ringletted girl, the Maker’s maiden, grasped a sharp sword, hardy inthe storms of battle, and drew it from its sheath with her right hand (Judith 144).

The divine provision of a sword and a defenseless Holofernes within the poem reflectsJudith’s place as a servant of God rather than as a warrior actively creating plans thenacting upon them. Judith proceeds to maneuver Holofernes into a position where she cankill him, an action the Apocrypha depicts as a result of Judith’s manipulation andplanning, but the poem describes as the Lord acting through Judith. In the poem, theLord uses her as a channel for His power and an agent carrying out His will, as asubmissive and meek “hand-maid of the lord” (Judith 145), which seems out of place withthe militant and outspoken Judith of the Apocrypha. While not overtly referencing theVirgin Mary, the parallels created by the poet remain clear.

Additional parallels between the Apocryphal Judith and the Virgin Mary emerge in the

closing portions of the Apocryphal text, after her return to the Israelites following herescape from the Assyrians’ camp with the head of Holofernes. Once Judith reached thecamp and announced her victory to the people, the leaders addressed her:

Uzziah then said to her, “my daughter, more blessed are you by God Most High than allother women on earth! Blessed also is the Lord God, who created the heavens and theearth, who guided you in crushing the head of the leader of our enemies! People willnever forget to praise you when they remember the power of God. May God make youdeed redound to your everlasting honor, and grant you every blessing! (Apocrypha 23)

Uzziah’s language describing Judith reminds Christian translators of the Apocrypha aswell as readers with a Christian background of the language used by the angel whoappeared to Mary in the Annunciation, creating a strong parallel between the apocryphalJudith and the Virgin Mary. The Annunciation’s central role in liturgy and art of theperiod means that this parallel would be readily apparent to the reader. However, the poetof the Old English Judith enhances this already clear parallel at the end of his poem,concluding:

For all this Judith gave glory to the Lord of hosts who granted her esteem and renownin the realm of earth and likewise too a reward in heaven, the prize of victory in theglory of the sky because she always had true faith in the Almighty. Certainly at the endshe did not doubt the reward for which she long had yearned. (Judith 147)

The poet’s enhancement of the aspects of Judith reminiscent of the Virgin Maryappears in his emphasis on her eternal reward and renown, as the poem more clearlyspecifies Judith’s unwavering faith and eternal reward than does the Apocryphal text. Thepoet also emphasizes her renown and reward on earth, mirroring the Anglo-Saxon view ofMary. In the Anglo-Saxon religious tradition, due to her service, Mary was given a place ofhigh renown, with sinners appealing to her as a conduit to Christ and with a place ofhonor and glory in heaven. Judith, rewarded during her years on earth and forever given aspecial place in heaven, noticeably echoes Mary in this regard.

While the poet of the Old English Judith draws from the Apocryphal text for the storyand for many aspects of the poem, he also deviates frequently from the Apocrypha inways that reveal the culture of his era. The poet’s emphasis on Judith’s virginity,dependence on God to act through her, unwavering faith, purity, and piety helps to createa Judith reminiscent not of the Apocryphal Judith, the outspoken and often manipulativewidow, but of the Virgin Mary. In thus adapting the story and the text, the poet evokes aJudith who fits with his religious culture and places more importance on her similarity toMary than her warrior qualities. Such a change in emphasis makes Judith more sociallyacceptable to his audience and removes the complications and possibly culturallysubversive aspects of her role as a seductress and war chief. The ways in which the poetalters the text reveal the standards and stereotypes not of the original Apocryphal story orits time, but of his Christian, Anglo-Saxon culture.

i For more by Greenblatt on culture and literature, see “Racial Memory and Literary History” in RethinkingLiterary History, edited by Linda Hutcheon and Mario Valdes. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.

ii Contemporaries of the “Judith” poet who wrote theological essays and commentaries on the Bible andthe Apocrypha.

iii For more on Judith as a type of the Virgin Mary and as a potentially subversive figure, see MargaritaStocker’s Judith, Sexual Warrior: Women and Power in Western Culture. New Haven: Yale UniversityPress, 1998.

Works Cited

Chickering, Howell. “Poetic Exuberance in the Old English Judith.” Studies in Philology,106.2 (Spring 2009): 119-136. Print.

Dockray-Miller, Mary. “The Maternal Performance of the Virgin Mary in the Old English‘Advent’.” NWSA Journal, 14.2 (Summer 2002): 38-55. Print.

Estes, Heide. “Feasting With Holofernes: Digesting Judith In Anglo-Saxon England.”Exemplaria 15.2 (2003): 325-350. Print.

Fee, Christopher. “Judith and the Rhetoric of Heroism in Anglo-Saxon England.” EnglishStudies 78.5 (1997): 400-406. Print.

Greenblatt, Stephen. “Resonance and Wonder.” Critical Theory since Plato. Ed. HazardAdams and Leroy Searle. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2002. Print.

--- “Towards a Poetics of Culture.” The New Historicism. Ed. H. Aram Veeser. GreatBritain: Routledge, Chapman, and Hall, 1989. Print.

“Judith.” From the Longman Anthology of British Literature, Fourth Edition. Eds. DavidDamrosch, Kevin J.H. Dettermar, Christopher Baswell, and Anne Howland Schotter.New York: Longman, 2010. Print.

Lucas, Peter J. “’Judith’ and the Woman Hero.” The Yearbook of English Studies, 22Medieval Narrative Special Number (1992): 17-27. Print.

Momma, Haruko. “Epanalepsis: A Retelling of the Judith Story in the Anglo-Saxon PoeticLanguage.” Studies in the Literary Imagination 36.1 (2003): 59-73. Print.

Moore, Carey A., ed. Anchor Bible Judith: A New Translation with Introduction andCommentary. Garden City: Doubleday, 1985.

Nelson, Marie. “Judith, Juliana, And Elene: Three Fighting Saints, Or How I Learned ThatTranslators Need Courage Too.” Medieval Perspectives 9 (1994): 85-98. Print.

Newton, Judith Lowder. “History as Usual? Feminism and the ‘New Historicism’.” TheNew Historicism, edited by H. Aram Veeser. Great Britain: Routledge, Chapman, andHall, 1989. Print.

Phillis Wheatley:Predecessor to the Black Folk Sermon

By Noelle Hurt

“Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain, / May be refined, and join the angelictrain” (Wheatley 753). The previous lines were penned by Phillis Wheatley who was aslave, born in Africa and brought to America. Wheatley was fortunate in that she wastaught to read and write and came to know the Bible. Her writings question, or ratherchallenge, whether or not slavery is a Christian practice. Wheatley gained fame in 1770and toured England in hopes of stirring up support for her first book. Benjamin Franklinwas among those who acknowledged her “triumph of the human spirit over thecircumstances of the body” (752). This list also included the lord mayor of London, thegovernor of Massachusetts, John Wheatley—her owner—and John Hancock whoexamined Wheatley and thought her qualified to write her poems despite herdisadvantage of being a slave (751). In fact her book was published, but by this time, shehad returned home to sooth Mrs. Wheatley while she was on her deathbed. Sometimeafter her owner’s deaths, Wheatley married a freedman who led her into poverty whereshe died along with three children. A second volume to accompany her first book wasproposed; however, it never came to be, with few of her letters or poems to be found.

Phillis Wheatley’s letter, “To Rev. Samson Occom,” was written in 1774, just two yearsbefore America’s independence from Britain was gained which explains why she was “socompletely absorbed in the struggle for freedom” (Levernier 21). She also frequentlyattended churches whose ministers asserted their “authority to support the revolutionarycause” (24) and that left her trying to effectively convey the cause stirring within her ownpeople. Wheatley’s purpose for writing to Occom was to argue the natural rights ofNegroes, and in doing so, to hopefully persuade the sympathies of Occom, a member ofanother oppressed race, to align with her own and recognize the injustice of theChristians’ actions towards slaves. Many treat Wheatley’s works as abolitionist piecesaimed “not in opposition to her masters but to untrue Christians” (Adeeko 2). And Icannot disagree; furthermore, I view Wheatley’s works as precursors to the modern-dayBlack Folk Sermon due to her use of “imaginative retelling of the trials and triumphs ofthe Israelites in the Bible” (Andrews 648) which is repetitive of biblical metaphors andsymbolism. The repetition found in writings is often ethnically based with a somewhatnon-linear regressive form of argument. Wheatley, like African American preachers, doesnot get bogged down by the oppression and prejudice her people face, but she alwaysradiates “the promise of a future” (652) with an offer of hope and understanding. Herletters are not merely personal, although they do discuss her well-being, but tend torepresent black slaves as a whole “beyond the frame of their time-bound text” (652),another tenet of Black Sermons. From her logic, she can take abstract metaphors to createconcrete examples in the mind’s eye of her reader which is where their response is shapedby the text itself.

“Logic in the Black Folk Sermon: The Sermons of C.L. Franklin,” written by Gary Layne

Hatch, discusses the themes, structure, and appeal of Black Folk Sermons. “Narratives,examples, comparisons, and biblical references chosen by the preacher…establish a seriesof relationships that appeal to the intellect and imagination as well as to the emotions”(Hatch 203) of the audience. The tenets listed here can be found in Wheatley’s letter toSamson Occom, and that letter is only one example of her writing. She also relies heavilyon the use of metaphor and the experiences of her people which, if her letters weresermons, would appeal to African American slaves at the time. Two things differ from thepresentation of a Black Folk Sermon and Wheatley’s letter. She tends to use traditionalsyntax whereas Black Folk Sermons ignore this (205). A typical aspect of Black FolkSermons is for the audience to come together through “enthusiastic emotionaloutpouring” (205); however, Wheatley’s writings do not use dialect but are written inStandard English of the time and aimed at the educated, not the masses.

Moving through Wheatley’s letter from beginning to end, the first biblical reference theaudience reads “the divine Light is chasing away the thick Darkness which broods overthe land of Africa” (Wheatley 764) refers to the story in Exodus when Moses reached outto heaven, and Egypt was left in darkness for three days (764). This reference is alsoindicative of “the benefits of everlasting gift of salvation” (Adeeko 18) which outstrips“the suffering of bondage” (18). The chasing light can be equated with “moving fromignorance to knowledge and spiritual damnation to salvation” (18). Her next reference isto that of the Israelites “Freedom from Egyptian slavery” (Wheatley 764). This biblicalreference includes historical evidence to back her claim that people cannot enjoy civilfreedom without religious freedom and vice versa (764) which is why the struggle forfreedom is inherent in every human being. References like this from Wheatley cannot besaid to be purely biblical since she was constantly “surrounded by discussions of freedomand human rights” (Levernier 25) and would have heard “natural law endows all humanbeings with an innate right to freedom that cannot be abridged by any social contract”(25).

In addition to the biblical references made by Wheatley in her short one page letter, shealso incorporates two comparisons. Not only does she compare the slave owners, or“modern Egyptians” (Wheatley 764), to the Egyptians who enslave the Israelites, but shealso compares the patriotic “Cry for Liberty” (764) to the “exercise of oppressive powerover others” (764). The first comparison is made to provoke thoughts similar to the sayinghistory repeats itself. Wheatley seems to be saying, God’s people have been enslavedbefore and were freed, so what makes the Christian slave owners not realize that God’speople, the slaves, will be freed again. The second comparison reveals hypocrisy behindthe ideas supporting the Americans’ struggle for freedom from Britain. They cry frombeneath the rule of Britain, yet scoff at the slaves’ cry for their freedom. Slavery “becomesthe major metaphor through which the conflict between England and the colonies isdramatized” (Levernier 27). Wheatley sneaks in some satire to her work by stating, “Ihumbly think it does not require the Penetration of a philosopher to determine” (764) thedouble standards white Americans are using to defend their choices towards a possiblerevolution and slavery.

To sum up the relation between Black Folk Sermons and Wheatley’s writing, emphasis

must be placed on the non-linear digression apparent in both forms. Wheatley’s logiccould be demonstrated through a flow chart linking the thick Darkness which led to theIsraelites’ enslavement which was chased by the divine Light and turned into deliverance.To fully comprehend Wheatley’s argument, her audience also has to link the divine Lightchasing the modern Egyptians who cry out for Liberty yet oppress others. Contrasting herexamples based on the poetic logic of Black Folk Sermons make it obvious Wheatley isasserting that the divine Light will catch up to those who pursue freedom but neglect thefreedom of their slaves because “God grants Deliverance in his own Way and Time” (764)and his way and time have been proven throughout history which inspires hope in thelives of current slaves. Both of these arguments are made not through linear progressionbut through the use of numerous digressions including biblical references, examples, andcomparisons “that all relate in some way to the theme or subject set forth in thestatement” (Hatch 205). Through non-linear digression, Wheatley’s argument can beadvanced which leads us to the goal of Phillis Wheatley’s letter to Samson Occom.Wheatley uses the oppression of slaves by white Christians to try “to understand God’srelationship with his people” (208), the goal of Black Folk Sermons.

Although Wheatley is said to have “cultivated the letter as a literary form” (Silverman257), I view Wheatley’s letter to Samson Occom as a sermon, with obvious influences onBlack Folk Sermons yet to come. Wheatley did not write to inform Occom of theoppression her people were facing. She preached it to him on the basis that God, thedivine light, loved all people, and his spirit resided within all slaves which is evident whenshe mentions “the Love of Freedom” (Wheatley 764) which God placed in every humanbeing. This love of freedom is impatient and pants for delivery which is indicative offigurative language, also a tenet of Black Folk Sermons. With all this being said, Occomwas not receptive to Wheatley’s plea “concerning the innate right of all humans topersonal liberty” (Levernier 23) which could be due to the fact that it was a letter, more soin the style of Black Folk Sermons than in epistle form. She used biblical references thatshould have spoken to him because he was a reverend; however, he had never beenenslaved himself, so the examples and experiences she used were lost on him because hedid not have a personal connection with the text. Although Occom was not sympathetictoward the oppression of her people, he did see promise in her and “proposed that shebecome…’a Female Preacher to her kindred’” (Silverman 259).

In modern day America, her appeal falls on audiences who have grown up entrenchedin the beauty of mixed races, cultures, and social classes. Her audience now has more of aconnection to the text than Occom did, not because they have been enslaved, but becausethey know the outcome of the Revolutionary War and the Civil War and so on. Occom hadno idea slavery would one day be ended, but today that seems like common sense due tohistory lesson after history lesson that deals with the hardships and struggles AfricanAmericans endured throughout the times of slavery. In a day and time where slavery islooked upon with disgust and embarrassment, Wheatley makes her reader start to wonderhow people who called themselves Christians found it perfectly all right to subjugateothers to intense sorrow, pain, and loneliness which is where Wheatley found herself,living “under bondage in revolutionary, but slave holding New England” (Adeeko 3), at the

time she was writing this letter. That fact alone makes this piece stirring and shocking toher audiences now, so it is no surprise that her name was “synonymous with the mentalequality of blacks” (Silverman 261) in colonized America.

Works Cited

Adeeko, Adeleke. “Writing Africa Under The Shadow Of Slavery: Quaque, Wheatley, AndCrowther.” Research In African Literatures 40.4 (2009): 1-24. MLA InternationalBibliography. Web. 5 Apr. 2012.

Hatch, Gary Layne. “Logic in the Black Folk Sermon: The Sermons of C.L. Franklin.”Teaching Argument in the Composition Course. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002.202-15. Print.

Hubbard, Dolan. “Sermons and Preaching.” The Oxford Companion to African AmericanLiterature. William L. Andrews, Frances Smith Foster and Trudier Harris. 1st ed. NewYork: Oxford UP, 1997. 648-52. Print.

Levernier, James A. “Phyllis Wheatley And The New England Clergy.” Early AmericanLiterature 26.1 (1991): 21-38. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 5 Apr. 2012.

Silverman, Kenneth. “Four New Letters By Phillis Wheatley.” Early American Literature8.3 (1974): 257-271. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 5 Apr. 2012.

Wheatley, Phillis. “To Rev. Samson Occom.” The Norton Anthology of AmericanLiterature. 7th ed. Vol A. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: Norton, 2007. 806-904. Print.

Life’s Dark Themes:How the Classroom Can Bridge the Gap Between Fearing and

Understanding Rape in YA Literature

By Daniel C. Saunders

Why do we teach literature with universal themes of love, hate, and death? Is itenlightening for us to explore phenomena that occur outside general intellectualunderstanding? An exploration of things we can feel and understand but never fullyexplain? Readers are primarily asked for emotional interpretations, as they are invited tofall in love with a character or place or to succumb to hatred for an idea or enemy. Deathin literature can invite a reader to think deeply about issues of existentialism or eternity.Literature does not ask for a reader to be a scientist or a philosopher, merely a person thatcan feel and think. And these are the issues that teachers love: widely encompassingtopics that can be broken into one of a hundred sub-categories without breaking into therealm of taboo: Star-crossed lovers, the American dream, loss, gain, desire.

But what of rape, pedophilia, prostitution, or drug addiction? Mental, sexual, orphysical abuse of children? Kidnapping? Suicide, murder, and accidents resulting in thispreviously safe topic of death? How are we to treat topics that fall into the range of crimeand mental illness? Themes bloody and rife with victims? All of these are themes thatcritics and authors such as Sherman Alexie, Chris Crutcher, Meghan Cox, and KatieRoiphe regard as belonging to the subset of themes known categorically as “dark themes,”those our students are enthralled by yet cause parents no shortage of anxiety. Some, likeMeghan Gurdon Cox in her Wall Street Journal article, “Darkness Too Visible,” believethese are too much at too young an age (Gurdon). In her article, she says that YoungAdult literature (YA) is primarily given to these themes and does not have much literaryvalue for teens. She argues that the primary reason for this proliferation is to validateteens that have had bad experiences, but that instead, this literature normalizes thesethemes and behaviors in harmful ways. And I agree with her in part: fourteen is too youngan age to know about rape or murder, incest or suicide. Eight is too young to know aboutmental and physical abuse by a trusted or loved adult. But this does not change the worldwe live in. It cannot be ignored because it is unpleasant or inconvenient. Parents, like it ornot, cannot be involved twenty-four hours of the day with their children and they cannotlive in their children’s minds. If they could, many of these topics would be irrelevantbecause they would not occur. But narrowing the focus of these dark topics to rape, onethat according to Yello Dyno, an organization committed to educating young adults aboutsexual assault, finds 2/3 of rape victims in young adults will allow one of the mostheinous crimes that affects people physically as well as mentally to find its place in youngadult literature (“Statistics”).

When a person who is raped seeks comfort from someone that does not have thepatience or the willpower or the empathy to understand, you see responses such as thenotorious “legitimate rape” comment, or you see victim-blaming, or a reactionaryenforcement of laws or norms meant to punish deviant behavior rather than deter and

prevent it. But can YA literature on the topic, specifically the title Speak, breed empathyand empowerment in the reader in a way that dispassionate news reporting andpoliticization never can? And how can teachers in the secondary classroom use this noveland provide rationale for stakeholders to justify its discussion? Does merely teaching itnormalize rape for teens?

Teachers can have some of the greatest influence over a child’s life. Until they are in thesixth or seventh grade, students spend up to seven hours of a twenty-four hour day withthe same teacher. By the time secondary teachers have them for an hour or so a day,students have learned that teachers are authority figures with a measure of sway overtheir present lives. It is understandable why parents would be hesitant to trust a relativestranger to discuss certain topics of morality or topics they feel might be disturbing totheir children. These are things they would like to feel more comfortable discussing. Butthese very same parents often do not feel comfortable discussing this topic. For thatreason, educators must make parents feel that they are trustworthy enough to notdamage their children or traumatize them with horrific details and images; that thepurpose for this topic is not as a substitute for parental action, but as a supplement to it.

Parents would like to relate to their children, but generational differences can make anyrelativity difficult to say the least. Many of today’s students are born of “Generation X”parents that were born in the 60’s, 70’s, and early 80’s. These are people that came of agewhen pluralism was growing to become the norm. Many of these students were the firstin their family to attend integrated schools and work integrated jobs. Today’s “GenerationZ” students are the first to be born and fully immersed in a world that is truly connected,where they can play games online with people from South Korea or France and pass thetime prank calling people in Norway over Skype. The irony with “Generation Z’s”newfound connectedness in this that has never been seen and may be difficult for theirparents to understand is that it breeds disconnection with people they see day to day.Anthropologist Robin Dunbar began describing the problem this worldwide connectioncreates in a 1992 article where he postulated a limitation to human sociability dubbed“Dunbar’s Number.” This is the average number, based on primate neocortex size andextrapolated to humans with anthropological and biological research, with which peoplecould maintain stable and social relationships (NPR). This number was 148, but recentstudies trying to account for the use of Social Networking websites as a growingsubstitute for interpersonal interactions discount the use of social networks in thisnumber as they are not able to simulate real social relationships (Lax). Without humaninteraction to stimulate their minds, there must be other ways to build these connectionswith humanity.

So let us consider how art can be effective and affective in this. According to DeborahDague-Barr in her article, “The Power of Art in Society,” the aesthetic experience ofenjoying art can simulate various social experiences in ways that could, if treated withcare and transferred to an emotionally stimulating level, create empathy in students. Inliterature classes, this enjoyment might be found using a combination of Rosenblatt’sReader Response Theory and other critical literary lenses. With the dwindling number ofreal social interactions capable of creating empathy or empathetic reactions, our youth

run the risk of encountering life changing events without a fund of knowledge to drawfrom in order to deal with it. They will have yet to develop a sense of empathy with eventsthey have not encountered that happen to people they do not know. So as a rebuttal toMiss Cox’s assertion, this literature does not seek to normalize this kind of harmful act,but seeks to create empathy in readers. With this empathy, students can grow to beknowledgeable adults that understand the ramifications of their actions. And it can’t bepresented by talking heads on the television reporting statistics or crimes. They need toknow people affected by tragedy intimately without becoming intimately invested in theirentire lives. Students need to develop empathy in a way that parents can be on-boardwith. Used appropriately, YA literature can be such a tool. The widely taught novel Speakby Laurie Halse Anderson, presents a young girl named Melinda. She is thirteen tofourteen-years-old. A novice to life’s experiences, but she has been subjected to crueltyshe could never prepare to endure. The reader is asked to see the world from herperspective as things stop making sense, and she desperately craves the normality lifecontained before she was raped.

In this novel, we see a very real problem: people that do not understand how to copewith rape. The one friend she confides in turns against her and blames Melinda for herown rape, her parents ignore that she is suffering from a problem as they see her copingmechanisms as the mannerisms of a rebellious teen, and she feels that she is alone indealing with the scars left behind. Many parents are not going to be thrilled with theirchildren reading about this because, as mentioned before, they oftentimes do not trust ateacher to handle this sort matter with delicacy; that somehow, as Ms. Cox says, it willnormalize rape for teens, desensitize them to its trauma. But this is where more value canbe derived from this novel. It is non-confrontational, drawing the reader into Melinda’sworld as they see the various acts perpetuated against her from people that do notunderstand her problem. The act itself is never described in graphic detail, but the senseis given that it is a deep violation of self in a multitude of ways, that it occupies her lifecontinuously without relent, and the reader is thrown into the aftermath as her emotionsare assaulted on all sides. If an emotional reading is being encouraged, real investmentbeing sought after and performed and the YA reader can develop empathy for thecharacterization of Melinda and the events portrayed in the novel, even if she is not anactual person, then she can feel like a living breathing person for the reader and themagnitude of events can be understood. As Joseph Stalin, a man intimate with theperpetration of atrocities once said, “One death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic.” Andwhile the reader can become emotionally close to Melinda and her tragedy, it is thedistance that reading keeps between the subject and the observer that parents andadministrators will appreciate. Kids should not be thrown to the wolves with no base ofknowledge to draw upon if or when something like this happens to them or someone theyknow.

Many critical articles have had things to say about this novel and the effect it can haveon a reader, and it is in these that we can see further into how this novel can be taught inthe secondary classroom. Chris McGee wrote about how Melinda’s psychological need torepress her feelings and emotions in regards to her trauma is a very real “phenomenon of

going underground, documented by researchers, which, along with Melinda’s otherpsychological responses are consistent with the psychological accounts of adolescents” inhis article “Why Won’t Melinda Just Talk About What Happened.” Melinda’s account,while fictional, represents an all-too real world for many adolescents; adolescents who donot know to whom to turn or even if they should turn to anyone at all. Being able toidentify or empathize with a character engaging in this activity will make it more likelythat students will be able to identify or empathize with a peer.

Beyond the benefits already mentioned there are literary benefits of using this novel aswell that will provide further justification for its use. NCTE members and highereducation authors Susan Groenke and Lisa Scherff wrote in their textbook Teaching YALit through Differentiated Instruction that using YA novels such as Speak provideengagement for reluctant readers that might otherwise feel disenfranchised by the schoolroom curriculum. Kathleen Manzo wrote in Education Week about students becomingmore enthusiastic when YA novels with dark themes were introduced, even going so far asto remind the reader that canonical works often find their beginnings as controversialworks with dark themes. By teaching novels such as Speak, we can DE marginalize a largesegment of the literate population of students.

There are also many literary devices to be found in these novels. In Speak, symbolism isprevalent through the use of imagery and narrative devices. It can even be paired with thecanonical work it references heavily, The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne toexplore themes such as peer isolation and the individual vs. society, which has proven tobe a successful technique for introducing works from the canon to reluctant anddisengaged readers. Going further, there are several interesting ways to introduce literarycritical theory to adolescent readers with this novel. Obviously there is the ReaderResponse theory advocated by Louise Rosenblatt that will be most beneficial, but imaginecoupling that theory with psychological theory, gender theory, or even postcolonialtheory. The possibilities are limitless and will serve to add richness to lesson plans.

In conclusion, there has been much to say about dark themes and rape in media outletsand political sources, but with the right guidance, these can be integrated into theclassroom in such a way that parents and students both benefit in a profound manner.Reading to reach for emotional depth is not an easy approach to literature instruction totake, but then again, this is not an easy topic to teach. But using various methodologiesand theories already widely used, it can be achieved and students can be challenged togrow emotionally as they grow intellectually.

Works Cited

Anderson, Laurie. Speak. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1999. Print.Dague-Barr, Deborah. “The Power of Art in Society.” n.d. Lafterhall. Web. 15 October

2012.“Don’t Believe Facebook; You Only Have 150 Friends.” 5 June 2011. NPR. Web. 8 October

2012.Groenke, Susan and Lisa Scherff. Teaching YA Lit through Differentiated Instruction.

Urbana: National Council of Teachers of English, 2010. Print.

Gurdon, Meghan. “Darkness Too Visible.” 4 June 2011. Wall Street Journal.. Web. 19March 2012.

Lax, Rick. “Dunbar’s Number Kicked My Ass in Facebook Friends Experiment.” 3 March2012. Wired. Web. 10 October 2012.

Manzo, Kathleen. “Dark Themes in Books Get Students Reading.” 30 March 2007.Education Week. Web. 11 March 2012.

McGee, Chris. “Why Won’t Melinda Just Talk about What Happened? Speak and theConfessional Voice.” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly (2009): 172-187.Print.

“Statistics: Rape/Sexual Assault.” 2007. Yello Dyno. Web. 19 March 2012.

The Captivity of SpeakBy Lauren A. Vandever

She enters unfamiliar territory. She knows absolutely no one; complete isolation. Shehides in her corner attempting to draw no attention to herself for fear the Other willnotice her. She attempts to find comfort in the one thing she can still do in thiswilderness. Nowhere to turn, no one to listen, how will she ever escape? Sound familiar?Feeling a mixture of nostalgia and fear? These are the experiences of someone trapped inthe wilderness by Native Americans in early America, but they are also the experiencesmany teenagers have as they enter and make their way through the tangled High Schoolhalls all the way to graduation. In his article “Pedagogues and Demigods,” Jeff Spankecompares the books geared towards and created around the high school experience knownas Young Adult Literature (YAL) and the stories of women who were captured and heldhostage by “savages” in 17th century American known as Captivity Narratives (CN) (149-171).

Additionally, Spanke explores the ability of teachers to use YAL in the classroomeffectively. He argues that teaching YAL in the classroom could be dangerous becauseadolescents “view the world as a mirror” (157), and “teaching YAL may potentially bemore dangerous than teaching other texts because of its exposure of complicated issues toa naïve and untrained readership” (166). If the students see characters in the YALnovels, Spanke asserts, that are feeling isolated and captured, then young adults willcontinue to feel that way and never attempt to grow out of these feelings. Nor can theylearn to appreciate the overall discourse of civilization. Laurie Halse Anderson’s award-winning YAL novel, Speak, encapsulates Spanke’s relation between YAL and CN whilesetting the stage to explore the usefulness of YAL in the Secondary Classroom.

Using Speak and, for comparison, Mary Rowlandson’s “A Narrative of the Captivity andRestoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson,” Spanke states that CN and YAL each having sixmajor plot points:

1. Watershed Moment2. Unfriendly/Unfamiliar Surroundings3. External conflict with other characters4. Medium of connection5. Lesser savage6. Choice (163)Rowlandson’s watershed moment comes on the tenth of February in 1675 when the

Native Americans attack her village, Lancaster, and take her hostage (236). For Melinda,her watershed moment comes when It rapes her in the forest during a party (Anderson134-136). Both protagonists are left beaten, bruised, and nowhere to go except down theroad their captures have set for them. Subsequently, both protagonists struggle throughconfrontations with the foreigners around them whether they are savages with bows andarrows or savages with whistles and frizzy hair. Rowlandson finds herself travelingamongst the Natives, who laugh and jeer at her with every stumble, into the wilderness of

the Americas she has never dreamed about (238-239), while Melinda attempts to navigateher way through the twisted halls of Merryweather High School while former best friendswhisper words of hatred (Anderson 5). They are the enemy, the Other.

During her journey, each protagonist finds a way to escape the pain and torture throughtheir means of spirituality and expression. Mary Rowlandson uses the Bible as herconnection to the outer world and as a separation from her captors. Biblical scripturehelps Rowlandson find her “lesser savage”. The English-speaking “Praying Indian”quoting Scripture shocks Rowlandson and his ability to understand her faith causes thePraying Indian to become a kindred spirit and also the most dangerous character (Spanke153-154). However, for Melinda, the medium she uses to connect the outside world againis her art. Through her art, she, too, finds the “lesser savage” in her art teacher, Mr.Freeman. “His room is Cool Central. He keeps the radio on. We are allowed to eat as longas we work…It is too much fun to give up. The room is full of painters, sculptors, andsketchers during activity period, and some kids stay there until the late late buses areready to roll” (Anderson 77). Mr. Freeman speaks the language and understands theminds of his students. He becomes their safe haven, but he can also become their mostdangerous enemy, like the Praying Indian. Both have a connection to the captured, butthey have responsibilities to the ruling powers, and when it comes down to the end, aloyalty will have to be chosen.

Additionally, the heroines of both narratives have their own choices to make; they canassimilate into their new surroundings, reject it and find their way back to their formerworld, or die fighting against both sides. Rowlandson’s captors agree to let her returnhome, but before she goes, Rowlandson remembers things that have happenedthroughout her time in captivity. Her choice comes down to whether she is going to holdon or let them go and return to her civilization once and for all (261-263). Alternatively,Melinda has to choose whether to open up and start to let in the rest of high school andmove towards the adult world or continue to keep it all inside and allow it to destroy her.In the end, Mr. Freeman asks Melinda once again to open up to him, and she finallybreaks, “Let me tell you about it” (Anderson 198). Mary and Melinda both teach thereader about survival, overcoming, and learning to use their voice when it seems all hopehas been lost.

Obviously, this YAL novel can be used to help students understand a canonical workand bring the experiences of Mary Rowlandson into modern times, but YAL can also beused to help students understand the world as a whole and eliminate their isolation.Spanke’s first concern when teaching YAL in the classroom is that students will not havethe opportunity to move past their narcissistic beliefs that they are the center of a worldthat is constantly going to reflect their likes, dislikes, situations, and minute details oftheir lives back at them. As Spanke states, “today’s ‘narcissist” incessantly seeksvalidation of self-worth from others…[and] one’s identity is contingent solely on thesurrounding environment” (157). Similarly, YAL novels will leave teens feeling isolatedand never attempting to grow beyond the stage they are currently in.

YAL resists this inevitable process of aging by sensationalizing adolescence not as amoment in a logical procession of human development, but rather as a sort of social

construct: a mode of cognition and behavior that likes of which YAL, by its very nature,offers little incentive to overcome. (Spanke 150)Reiterating Spanke’s concern: what can be done to ensure students actually learn a

lesson about themselves and the world through YAL instead of simply validating theemotions they already feel? It is all about how the teacher approaches the text. UsingSpeak, the teacher can introduce the students to the concepts of loneliness, isolation,sexual disgrace, loss of a loved one or friend, self-expression—all abstract emotions thatteens can identify with. Setting up a classroom discussion will give students additionalinsights and thoughts from people who may feel or have experienced one or more of theseissues in a different way. Next, the teacher can introduce the same emotions throughother texts, for instance, The Scarlet Letter (another narrative that can be considered inthe CN model). Hester Prynne feels and experiences many of the same powerful momentsas Melinda, but in 17th Century Colonial America. Educators providing students with twotexts expressing the same emotions they have, but in two very different settings allow the“ideas related to teens [to become] no longer perceived as unique but universal, thusallowing the students to enter into the greater conversation of humanity and not feelisolated within the confines of adolescence” (Spanke 167). One YAL novel has the powerto bring the world to their level of understanding, but also bring them up to the level ofthe world. That connection is what teachers are looking for everyday with their students;it would be futile not to invest in that power.

Speak depicts the trapped, suffocating emotions of high school that can also be seen inmany canonical CN texts. By connecting Speak with texts of a higher status, an educatorcan guide students to begin to analyze the book on a higher level and still have the abilityto play into the world they live in every day. These ideas are far from revolutionary now,but are still some of the few questions every teacher should ask themselves: how do Imake students learn and expand using this book?

Works Cited

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. New York: Penguin Group, 2006. Print.Rowlandson, Mary. “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary

Rowlandson.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. 7thEdition. Vol. A. New York: Norton, 2007. 236-267. Print.

Spanke, Jeff. “Pedagogues and Demigods: Captivity, Pedagogy, and Young Adult Literaturein an Age of Dimished Expectations.” Young Adult Literature and Adolescent IdentityAcross Cultures and Classrooms: Context for the Literary Lives of Teens. Ed. JanetAlsup. New York: Routledge, 2010. 149-171. Print.

The Soundtrack of BooksBy Maggie McGee

Movies have had soundtracks since the days of silent films, when live music played toconvey the tone of each scene to the audience. Music continues to be used in movies andeven in television in order to underscore the emotional intensity of poignant scenes. So,why don’t books have a soundtrack? Why not use music to emphasize emotional scenesor the tone of a book? Young Adult authors have begun to do just that. Throughmultimedia, authors are now able to create playlists for their books, listing music thateither inspired scenes in their books or songs that the writer felt exemplified the meaningof particular parts of the story.

Gayle Forman does just that. On her website, she has compiled a list of songs thatencapsulate the emotion, conflict and poignant moments in her books. She states that,“music always inspires me when I write.” On the playlist for Where She Went, Formanlists “Wild Horses” by The Rolling Stones along with many other songs that underline hercharacters’ emotional journey and the poignant changes that transpire between them.“Wild Horses,” in particular, envelops the story’s entire message. I can envision Adam, thenarrator of the story, sitting on the sidewalk outside of Carnegie Hall playing this song onhis Les Paul Junior while Mia is performing her recital. It is Adam’s song to Mia when heis in her city, New York City. Examining The Rolling Stones’ rendition of “Wild Horses” inconjunction to Gayle Forman’s novel Where She Went, shows how the lyrics and melodycapture the tenor of this beautiful love story and expresses one boy’s inability to let go ofone girl.

The refrain of “Wild Horses” demonstrates Adam’s inability to move on with his lifeand let go of his for Mia. The lines, “Wild horses couldn’t drag me away/ Wild, wildhorses, couldn’t drag me away,” illustrates Adam obsessing over Mia after a reporterbrings her up in an interview. His mind keeps racing with thoughts of her and he beginsto see posters of her. Realizing that she is playing a concert, he becomes unknowinglydrawn to her, as if through muscle memory, he is “walking toward the box office,” notwanting to see her, but he has this inexplicable desire to “only…hear her” ( Where SheWent 37). His pull toward Mia is so strong that not even “wild horses” could “drag [him]away” from being in her presence. His head tells him, “I don’t want this. I don’t want anyof this,” but the rest of his being disagrees with his head, and he follows her through NewYork (68).

The refrain shifts at the end of the song, signifying a glimmer of hope; “Wild, wildhorses, we’ll ride them some day.” This hope is also apparent in Adam when walking withher, “Mia doesn’t hail a cab or…say good night [which] feels like a stay of execution,” forAdam (113). Deep down, Adam hopes that their relationship may be restored in some way.He is drawn to her by this hope because he needs her; his life without her has been amess. Adam and Mia’s “some day” comes when past bitterness is relinquished after Miaexplains why she cut ties with Adam. Mia heals the heartbreak she caused by Adam thathe still matters to her. The scene in which she gives Adam back his auctioned-off guitardemonstrates that she still loves him. This allows them to move forward, together; their

“some day.”The first verse of “Wild Horses” delineates the difficulty of letting go: “Childhood living

is easy to do/ The things you wanted I bought them for you/ Graceless lady you knowwho I am/ You I can let you slide through my hands.” The first line expresses the easinessof Adam and Mia’s relationship prior to the accident that killed her parents and brother.The relationship is free of complications and their only concern is for their future plansafter high school. “Childhood living is easy,” uncomplicated and free of the emotionalturmoil they both subsequently experience. Adam gives over his whole self over to Mia, sowhen she rejects him after leaving for Juilliard, “all that’s left is this vortex,” in whichAdam is “right on the edge of it,” (27). Mick Jagger croons, “Graceless lady you know whoI am,” which echoes Adam’s sense of Mia as the “graceless lady.” Adam falls from Mia’sgrace because “[he] made [her] stay” and she hates him for it (188). The last line of theverse delineates how Adam cannot let her go; he cannot let her slip away from him. Hehas spent over three years trying to move on, but he cannot get past “Mia’s ghost,” (90).

The second verse conveys the pain Adam and Mia experience, including his loss of herand her loss of her family, but it shows, no matter the amount of pain Mia causes him,Adam cannot hate her. The first line, “I watched you suffer a dull aching pain” expresseswhat Adam experiences with Mia, not only due to the deaths of her parents and brother,but also through her recovery. He watches her “blinking her eyes… [as] she shook herhead and quietly said ‘no, no, no,’ over and over again,” at the news she received of theloss of her family (40). He witnesses her struggle with the physical and emotionalrecovery after the accident. He stays with her through her rehabilitation and takes care ofher. He spends “every night at Mia’s “and slept “on a nearby couch,” not wanting to be farfrom her (49). When she leaves for Juilliard and cuts off all contact with Adam, Mia“decided to show [him] the same.” The pain is so tremendous for Adam that he is“doubled over” by it (58). The pain of Mia’s absence, once “the reek of [his] pathetic”began to disgust him, manifests itself in other way (60). First it was inspiration forwriting music, but then it becomes physical. Talking about her, even after over three yearsof her absence, causes him to lose his temper, gives him the shakes, and “sleep eludes”him (30). Yet, he still cannot hate her.

Although Mia cuts all ties with Adam, he cannot hate her. The last two lines of thesecond verse demonstrates this, “No sweeping exit or off stage line/ Could make me feelbitter or treat you unkind.” Even though Mia leaves and stops all communication, Adamnever stops loving her; however, he does feel bitterness toward her until he realizes thathe promised her, “I’ll let you go. If you stay” (200). This dissolves the bitterness, but notthe hurt. Adam’s love for Mia would not allow him to be unkind to her. Even in anger ashe interrogates her about why she “quit” him, he comforts her when she begins to cry andbecomes “wracked with shame because [he] brought her to” it (189).

The third verse of “Wild Horses” is more abstract, but upon closer inspection it sums upthe last three years of Adam’s life, especially the first three lines, “I know I have dreamedyou a sin and a lie/ I have my freedom but I don’t have much time/ Faith has beenbroken, tears must be cried,”. Adam has “imagined a lot of scenarios” of reuniting withMia (104). He has dreamed of being with her, musically and romantically, but the “sin and

a lie” stem from his belief that he is the only one who is unable to let go. Mia has alsoheld on to Adam, following his career, buying his guitar and saving it for him, buying hismusic, and keeping magazine articles about him. The line “I have my freedom” suggeststhat Adam has had the freedom to move on, although he truly has not done so. Even in arelationship with someone else, Adam is described as “withdrawn, evasive, cold,” and Miahas kept him from becoming completely involved with her (89-90). He also has had thefreedom to pursue his musical career, but he has lost the drive to engage with the musicand his band. Adam begins to lose his passion to make music and he does not “have muchtime” before all desire is gone. Time is also not on his side due to his rigorous touringwith three months ‘on the road’ and Mia will also begin to tour. They only have this onenight to resolve their past, as Mia shares her “farewell tour” of her New York City withAdam (116). Despite the three years of separation, Mia utilizes the minute amount of timetogether she has to reconnect with Adam.

The third line of this verse leads into the last line. Since “faith has been broken, tearsmust be cried,” Mia betrayed the faith Adam had in her by leaving him without anyexplanation and, in order to heal the wounds inflicted by Mia, he will need to purgehimself of the pain he has carried with him. This occurs on the Staten Island Ferry, whereMia enlightens Adam about her disappearance from his life and the healing begins asMia’s “calm façade cracks and… begins to cry” (188). The “tears [that] must be cried” forAdam to heal flow when Mia questions him about she could have known what he askedher while she was unconscious. He cannot answer because he is crying, “sniveling like ababy, the floodgates open,” cleansing himself of the pain he has lived with for too long(210). The grief that both Adam and Mia experience during their night together gives wayto the last line of the third verse, “Let’s do some living after we die,” as Adam realizes thathe had “to really let her go,” of what was before he could embrace what is (191). As aresult of letting go or the death of ‘them,’ Adam and Mia are able to begin to rebuild theirlives together, to start anew.

Music plays an important role in Gayle Forman’s novel Where She Went, indicating animpact that music can have in Young Adult literature. In many cases, young adults have adifficult time understanding their feelings or knowing why they feel a particular way.Music can help them to put those feelings into perspective. The combination of lyrics andmelody can draw emotions to the surface and place a name or label to them. Music addsgreater depth to novels, punctuating the emotions evoked by particular parts of a story orencapsulating the novels underlying meaning. Gayle Forman is not the only young adultauthor to use this technique. Young adult authors are beginning to understand that youngadult readers can gain a better understanding of a novel’s meaning through the use ofmusic. Through the use of “Wild Horses” by The Rolling Stones, Forman illuminatesAdam’s journey of coming to terms with the loss of Mia and the future they could havehad becomes clearer and more poignant, conveying his pain, death, and rebirth, andenabling him and Mia to build a new future together.

Works Cited

Forman, Gayle. “Playlist.” Where She Went. Gayle Forman. Web. 4 March 2012.

---. Where She Went. New York: Penguin Group, 2011. Print.Jagger, Mick and Keith Richards. “Wild Horses.” Perf. The Rolling Stones. Sticky Fingers.

Atlantic, 1971. MP3.

Is a Philosopher a Sorcerer?Critical Analysis of the Differences in Text Between the British and

American English Editions of Harry Potter

By Alexandra Bohannon

If she had it to do again, she wouldn’t change the name (“Differences”). That is, J.K.Rowling, author of the globally acclaimed Harry Potter series, would not allow her editorfor the American editions of Harry Potter to edit the name of the first book from HarryPotter and the Philosopher’s Stone to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Rowling, anative to Britain, wrote these books using the setting most familiar to her such asScotland, London, and other areas in the United Kingdom. Originally published byBloomsbury, the publisher taking over the printing of the books in the United States isthe ubiquitous Scholastic, a company known for its prominence in adolescent and youngadult literature. Because the target audience of these books consists of younger readers,Scholastic editor Arthur Levine felt that, for the sake of clarity, it was in the best interestof this population to “Americanize” these books. His goal was to translate Harry Potterfrom Standard British English into American English, replacing unfamiliar Britishcolloquialisms and expressions, changing syntax, and make plot clearer and more concise.Do editorial changes of this sort change the tone or compromise the integrity of Rowling’swork? Even though Levine, and even Rowling herself assert that the changes are indeedminor (except, of course, the alteration of the first book in the series), the broaderimplication of these changes implies that American youngsters cannot understand adeviation from their native American English. Despite the American editors at Scholasticdeeming this translation necessary, they were wrong to change the original text fromBritish Standard English to American Standard English. For those unfamiliar with theseries, these books follows the adventures of Harry Potter, a young wizard, as he tries todefeat the darkest wizard of all time, Lord Voldemort. Rowling, a native of Britain, wrotethese books using the settings most familiar to her, including Scotland, London, and otherareas in the United Kingdom. Therefore, she uses Standard British English spelling andgrammar, which can differ from Standard American English. This was the publisher’s firstreason for translating these books. Examples of changes of this type are almost toonumerous to mention, as they are stylistic differences between two dialects of the samelanguage. Some notable differences in spelling are differences in usage in “s” whereAmericans would use “z” and “c,” an example of this being the word “realize,” used onpage two of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Rowling), spelled “realise” in theBritish edition. There are other spellings that Standard British English has, such as “ou”in words such as “color,” where American has omitted the “u.” Major punctuation changesbetween the books include that “the American edition has quite a few more commas thanthe British. The British text follows UK style standards and uses single quotes (where theAmerican uses double) and does not have periods after Mr. and Mrs” (Jole). Stylistically,Standard American English still uses the serial comma, where Standard British Englishdoes not. The serial comma “is an extra comma you will often see placed before “and/or”

in US based English […] But as a general rule, the British do not use this extra comma inlists, yet many Americans do” (“British”). Compound words in both editions are alsofascinating, as there seems not to be a standardized way of spelling most compoundnouns—although, it appears that British Standard English spelling favors hyphens, whereAmerican Standard English more often separates compound nouns into their individualwords (Jole).

The American editors felt that these changes between editions of Harry Potter arenecessary because, although the British forms are correct in a Standard British Englishcontext, they could render themselves distracting for the American reader, who may beunfamiliar with these different forms of the language. As Noah Webster wrote in an essayin 1789: “The English would never copy our orthography for their own use […] Theinhabitants of the present generation would read English impressions; but posterity,being taught a different spelling, would prefer the American orthography” (Webster 391).However, contemplating this issue from a British point-of-view makes even this amountof translation ridiculous. Most countries with varying dialects of English are aware thatthere are differences in spelling and grammar between their countries and that a differentdialect’s rules are not wrong—just different. In Tina Blue’s web article entitled “Americanvs. British Usage, she writes:

People trained according to British usage seldom try to correct Americans for followingAmerican rules of usage. If the differences between the two systems even come up atall, they are likely to refer to such differences in terms of a question—something alongthe lines of, “Is that how it is done in America? […] But for some reason, manyAmericans are oblivious to the fact that such differences exist, and when they stumbleacross something written according to the British system of usage, their immediatereaction is that the writer has screwed up and needs to be corrected. (Blue)

Therefore, the American editors of Harry Potter felt as if Americans would be unable tounderstand the British version of the work because of differences in prescriptivegrammar, which could be easily looked over.

Besides spelling and grammatical changes, there were other issues to considerwhenever translating this series from Standard British English to Standard AmericanEnglish. Some elements of British life were clarified to give the American reader someadditional perspective on the situations at play. For example, whenever a muggle-born(meaning a magical child of non-magical parents) student attends his first Quidditchmatch and begins shouting about giving the player a “red card,” this is thoroughlyexplained in the American edition. This moment is given a few more lines than werepresent in the original British, in order to explain the purpose of a red card (Jole). Othernecessary editorial changes have been made when a word used in the original British hasa different meaning for Americans. Besides replacing football with soccer in the Americaneditions, other words with double meanings were changed for the American editions:“[Rowling’s] American editor pointed out that the word ‘jumper’ - British for pulloversweater - means a kind of dress in American. She had had no idea. He asked, ‘Can wechange it to sweater?’ which is just as British.’’ That was fine with Rowling” (Woods).These changes, since actually translating words for another dialect’s counterpart, are the

only aspects of translation justifiable for the American editors of this series.Beyond these editorial changes for spelling, grammar, and double meaning, the

American editors eliminated a significant number of British colloquialisms and idioms.Daniel Radash, in interviewing American Scholastic editor Arthur Levine, writes:

So, whereas British Harry checks a timetable for his wizarding classes, which he lovesso much that he dread going on holiday, American Harry consults a schedule and hatesvacation. British Harry loves pudding, including jelly. American Harry likes dessert,including jello. [...] There are some peculiar discrepancies. In the American editions,“wonky” becomes “crooked”; “bobbles” turn into “puff balls”: and “barking mad”translates to “complete lunatic.” “Git,” ‘ickle,” and “nutters,” however, are left as theyare. Why does Father Christmas become Santa Claus, and “bogey” become “booger,” but“budge up” not become “move over”? (Radash)

There are even more subtle examples than the ones Radash mentions. For instance,throughout all the books in the series the title “Minister for Magic” is changed in theAmerican editions to “Minister of Magic.” There is not a clear reason for this change, asthe equivalent of a ministerial position in British government is a Secretary in the UnitedStates (“Differences: Harry Potter books”), so this should have been simple for Americanreaders to understand. Overall, the worst part of removing these British idioms andcolloquialisms is that it changes the tone from something distinctly British one to anindistinct and wishy-washy hybrid dialect. In this kind of translation there is a “kind oftonal metamorphoses of truly English experiences or objects into something different,but distinctly American: crumpets to English muffins, for example,” according tocolumnist Peter Gleich. He continues to critique the changes in the books by saying that,“frankly, reading about Harry and Hermione eating crumpets during tea is far moreinteresting to an American than reading about them eating English muffins during ameal.” Gleich’s statement exemplifies what exactly is lost whenever translating mutuallyintelligible English words for different counterparts: style and tone.

If the editors wanted to keep the true tone of the piece they could have simply glossedBritish turns-of-phrase. Other British young adult authors have no problem including aglossary of uniquely British terms at the end of their books, as writer Louise Reinnison,author of the fictional diaries of Georgia Nicholson, does in a book series aimed at femaleteens (“What Does”). The meaning of most potentially confusing British phrases can befigured out using contextual clues. It is apparent that the British phrase “HappyChristmas” means “Merry Christmas,” and one can haphazard a guess that “bogeys” is thesame thing as “boogers” when someone is sticking a wand up the nose of a troll. J.K.Rowling was terrified whenever reading to an American audience for the first time, as sherelated to Woods:

‘The first time I did a reading to American children … I was terrified,’’ Rowling says.‘‘The passage I was reading I had read countless times before and I always knew wherethe first laugh came […] But the roar of laughter came … and it has been exactly thesame every other place,’’ she says. ‘‘It’s universal in children.’

Rowling trusts her young audience to overcome the boundaries of language to understandher works, without the removal of these distinctly British elements.

The final way these books were translated changed the very plot. The most obvious andoften cited difference between editions is that of the name change of the first book. Thetitle of the British edition, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, alludes to the“mythical substance that alchemists believed would transmute base metals into gold”which was changed “in the belief that American children would be confused by theapparent reference to philosophy” (Differences in the UK). The Philosopher’s Stone islegendary in Great Britain and Ireland and references to it date back to GeoffreyChaucer’s Canterbury Tales, if not earlier. Although American children typically wouldnot be familiar with the allusion, Rowling explains the Philosopher’s Stone in greatenough detail not to warrant the name change. As Hermione shows Harry and Ron fromher numerous books:

The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Sorcerer’s Stone, alegendary substance with astonishing powers. The Stone will transform any metal intopure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.There have been many reports of the Sorcerer’s Stone over the centuries, but the onlyStone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist andopera lover […] (Rowling)

Since this, and other parts from the first book explain the ideas surrounding this magicalartifact, it was not necessary to change the name. J.K. Rowling, through her editors atBloomsbury, already had these books edited whenever they arrived into Arthur Levine’shands. Why did they need a second round of editing? Are British children more likely tohave heard of the Philosopher’s Stone? Not only does the supplanting of Englishcolloquialisms with American counterparts subvert the tone of these books, the changingof this historical mythos changes the reader’s experience. As Gleich suggests in his article,children encountering such an unfamiliar concept as a philosopher in a book they areinterested might cause them to do their own historical digging, thus expanding theirworld view.

Underestimating the younger reader is not only just unique to the American edition ofHarry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, it happened to French version as well. The Frenchtranslator decided that it would be ideal to change the title of the first book from theBritish Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to Harry Potter à l’école des sorcier,which is “Harry Potter at the School for Wizards” (Feral 460), which is even lesschallenging than the American edition’s title. The similarity between the editingphilosophies on the title change highlights that “the publisher’s approach to the foreigntext… is primary commercial…an exploitation governed by an estimate of the market athome” and the title’s shift was “based on an assumption youngsters’ lack of knowledgeand interest in a word which differed from their immediate environment” (Feral 461).These both demonstrate what should not motivate editors, but so often does, whentranslating a work: marketing. The American editor of the series could not articulate agood reason for the translation. When Arthur Levine was asked in a Washington Postinterview why he felt it necessary to Americanize the books, he merely sidestepped thequestion by responding with “There are virtually no differences in the texts of the last fewbooks” (Levine). While over the course of the series the impact of the title change lessens,

the rest of the American editions refer to this alchemical substance as the Sorcerer’sStone, which remains divorced from the wealth of immersive history and mythologyavailable. The Harry Potter series’ translation from Standard British English intoStandard American may have helped more early readers to become engrossed in thisseries, but I have witnessed, as I have gotten older, a distaste for the Americanizedversions by people who did not grow up reading the books. As most know now that thecopies sold within American bookstores do not contain the text as it was originallypublished in Britain, people are more likely to disengage from these books. In an effort tomake these books desirable to a specific target audience, Scholastic alienated anotherpotential reader group that they did not count on: adults. Edits were necessary in thistranslation where meaning could be confused, but changing the feel of these booksthrough the removal of distinct Anglicisms and British syntax, therefore changingRowling’s content, was a gross overstepping of the boundaries of a publisher’s true duty.Through Americanizing this series, the publishers gained more profits, but the originalglimmer that started in a small Scottish cafe has dimmed, and so has the magic of theoriginal text.

Bibliography

Blue, Tina. “American vs. British Usage.” American vs. British Usage. Grammar andUsage for the Non Expert, 17 Jan. 2001. Web. 1 Nov. 2012.

“British vs American English: The Serial Comma.” The Writing Site. Wordpress, 27 June2011. Web. 1 Nov. 2012.>

“Differences: Harry Potter Books.” Harry Potter Lexicon. Harry Potter Lexicon, n.d. Web.18 Oct. 2012.

Differences in the UK and US Versions of Four Harry Potter Books. University ofTampere, Finland, 07 May 2010. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.

Feral, Anne-Lise. “The Translator’s ‘Magic’ Wand: Harry Potter’s Journey from Englishinto French.” Meta: journal des traducteurs. 51.3 (2006): 459-481. Web. 31 Oct. 2012.

Gleick, Peter. “Harry Potter Minus a Certain Flavour.” The New York Times. The NewYork Times., 10 July 2000. Web. 17 Oct. 2012.

Jole, Helena. “Harry Potter: British/American Text Comparison.” Helena Jole’sHomepage. Comcast, n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2012.

Levine, Arthur. “Bringing Harry Potter to America.” Anonymous interview. TheWashington Post. The Washington Post, 11 July 2007. Web. 18 Oct. 2012.

Radash, Daniel. “Why American Kids Don’t Consider Harry Potter an Insufferable Prig.”The New Yorker. The New Yorker., 20 Sept. 1999. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. New York: Scholastic, 1997. Print.Webster, Noah. “An Essay on the Necessity, Advantages, and Practicality of Reforming the

Mode of Spelling and of Rendering the Orthography of Words Correspondent toPronunciation.” Dissertations on the English Language: With Notes, Historical andCritical, to Which is Added, by Way of Appendix, an Essay on a Reformed Mode ofSpelling, with Dr. Franklin’s Arguments on That Subject. Boston, 1789. 393-98. Print.

Woods, Audrey. “Success Stuns Harry Potter Author.” Associated Press. The Associated

Press., 6 July 2000. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. “What does ‘snog’ mean?” BBC News. BBC, 17July, 2001. Web. 20 Oct. 2012.

The Role of Wizards in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth:Their Symbolism and Importance to Modern Society

By Christopher A. Goforth

Introduction

Middle-earth is a fictional setting by J.R.R Tolkien’s fantasy publication according toIron Crown Enterprises (para. 1). The game is composed of two to five players, with eachplayer required to choose one of the five wizards to represent them in the game. Midwayin the game, a turn is made consisting of players wandering around Middle-earth with theassistance of other well established characters of the Middle-earth attempting to gainpower and influence which would help them during the war against The Dark Lord. It canalso be seen in the process, one player trying to kill and harass his characters with specifichazard cards. In the meantime, the responsibilities of each player change clockwisearound the table where their turn comes. Moreover, the game rule provides that anyplayer can win by destroying and acquiring the One Ring after undergoing convoluted setof events.

The wizards in this fantastic piece play a major role as it can be seen that they were sentby Valar to help the residents of Middle-earth contest Sauron. The wizards include Maiar,Saruman (man of kill), Radagast (tender of beast), Alatar, and Gandalf (elf of the staff).They are also referred to as Istari. Each of these wizards is given color characteristics.Saruman, for instance, is white (the most powerful of the five); Radagast, brown; Gandalf,grey; and Pallando and Alatar sea-blue (also referred to as Blue Wizards) (Purtill 6). Theobjective of this paper is to explore the role of these Wizards, their symbolism andimportance in the modern society.

Saruman the White, as he is referred to in this fiction, is one of the principal antagonistWizards in this novel. He is also depicted as the leader of the Istari, sent by their masterValar, their godlike creature to go and challenge Sauron, who is the leading antagonist inthe novel. Nevertheless, his greed for power makes him leave his mission and insteadbegin pursuing power for himself. In this regard, he illustrates corrupt power due to hisquest for knowledge and order at the expense of helping the people of Middle-earth. Thisleads to his downfall even as he rejects the opportunity for redemption when given.According to Tolkien, Saruman serves as an example of technology and modernity beingreplaced by external forces more in tune with nature (12).

For instance, the first encounter made with Saruman is in The Fellowship of the Ring,where Frodo and Gandalf went to consult with him as their superior leader on whatneeded to be done to get the lost ring (Stanton 44). Here, Saruman manifests his greed forpower and influence by proposing that the wizards ally themselves with the increasingpower of Sauron so as to be able to control Sauron for their own benefit. He continues tosuggest that they could as well take the ring for themselves and confront Sauron.Nevertheless, when Gandalf turns down his suggestions, Saruman decides to incarceratehim in the Tower situated at Isengard, hoping that this would help him learn more fromGandalf where the lost ring is hidden (Tolkien 67). In fact, according to Gandalf,

Saruman’s greed for power and influence made him industrialize the green valley ofIsengard as well as establish his own army of Wolves and Orcs to challenge Sauron.

Saruman’s attempts to find the ring make him order his Orcs to search for the ring. Inthe process, the army confronts Frodo and his henchmen. The army then captures two ofFrodo’s closest friends Pippin and marries who later escape into Fangorn Forest. Despiteall these attempts, Saruman was later arrested and casted out of the White Council as wellas from the order of the wizards by Gandalf. He later makes his last appearance towardthe end of the novel, The Return of the King, after the defeat of Sauron according toTolkien (82). It is noted that after pleading in vain for his release by Ents from theOrthanc, he decides to trek to the north where he is reduced to begging together with hisservant Grima Wormtongue, whom he keeps beating and cursing.

Gandalf is another wizard of extreme power and wisdom in the novel. His roles mainlymanifests in The Fellowship of the Ring, where he teams up with others to assist inconquering Sauron. Gandalf is described by Tolkien as the last of the wizards to emerge inMiddle-earth. Tolkien notes that Gandalf was least and less taller than other wizards andlooked more old with grey-hair and clad, yet he possessed the greatest spirits and was alsothe wisest. He is also said to be one of the most focused of all the five Istaris sent toMiddle-earth. He plays a vital role in The Lords of the Rings. He is able to accomplish therole assigned to him (protecting and guiding the people of Middle-earth). This is evidentin the fact that despite being betrayed by Saruman, he is still able to organize hisfollowers to defeat Saruman as well as conquer Sauron. This earns him the title ofGandalf the White after the death of Saruman (Lord 1).

Tolkien argues that without his actions and guidance, probably Middle-earth wouldhave been lost to Sauron. In this regard, he is able to tame the horse Shadowfax and takehim for himself. Furthermore, before proceeding to Orodruin, he uses his magic andwisdom to carefully study the maps of Middle-earth and Gondor, where he learns of theOne Ring. In fact, his war with Balrog turned out to be mortal. Nevertheless, he sacrificedhimself by battling Balrog so that his friends can escape from captivity (Harvey 94).

Radagast as one of the Istaris in the tale was assigned the responsibility of acting as amessenger to the other Istaris. This role he accomplishes for a while as he is seendelivering messages from Saruman to Gandalf, in which case he is able to convinceGandalf to meet Saruman after their relation has gone sore. He also manages to give thebirds in his service to Saruman’s and Gandalf’s service. He mostly dwelt at Rhosgobelnear Mirkwood border during his mission. However, he is also one character whobecomes charmed by birds and beasts, something that later makes him fail to accomplishhis mission (Bates 93).

Pallando and Alatar, the Blue Wizards, are also very important Istaris in the novel. Theyare sent to the east by Valar to help conquer Middle-earth. Nevertheless, they do notfeature prominently in the novel. It is, however, thought that they might have failed intheir mission and got corrupted like Saruman. That is manifested through their fall,which gave rise to magical cults found in the east where they had been sent. Despite thisnotion, some argue that they possibly might have succeeded in their mission, stating thatthe victories witnessed in the west could not have been possible were it not for their

success in the east (Rutledge 36).

Modern society Symbolism in Wizard (Middle-earth)

J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy-novel, The Lord of the Rings, is one of the most importantbooks of the twentieth century. The readers are drawn to Tolkien because he is anescapist writer. The book enables readers to flee from the horrors of modern life to findrefuge in a mythical and unreal world. The modern age can be described as beingunspeakably terrible. More people are killed in the twentieth century through violentmeans than in all of the previous centuries. Currently, the ratio of civilian to militarydeaths has doubled. The modern culture can be described as being the culture of death(Wood 4).

The Lord of Rings symbolizes the world of unprecedented evil. The modern world ischaracterized by extermination ovens and concentration camps, of terrorist attacks andethnic rivalries, of epidemic diseases and mass starvation and deadly material self-indulgence. The book does not encourage human beings to turn away from such evilsaffecting the earth. Instead, Tolkien’s book encourages mankind to confront the problemsaffecting them. Rather than human beings grinding their faces in these horrors, the bookpresents the means in which human beings can cure the ills of their age. This importantbook teaches human beings how to escape into reality. Tolkien achieves this remarkableaccomplishment by embedding the gospel as the underlying symbolism of his book, itsdeep background and implicit hope (Wood 5).

The fact that Tolkien wrote a boy’s adventure story symbolizes male chauvinism in themodern society. The book excluded one-half of human races because of the inclusion offew women characters. In addition, the women in the book have been depicted in highlyidealized terms. In particular, Galadriel’s eleventh princess proves to be terrible in herbeauty. She is depicted as not being sweet as well as being falsely pure. Further, hercharacter is set to diminish once the ruling ring is destroyed (Rutledge 213).

The natural wilderness such as the forest of Fangorn is an admirable place and is asymbol of how the environment in the modern continues to be exploited. The sprawlingof cities has meant that there is no concern over the destruction of the countryside thatonce characterized the earth. The environmental degradation of the countryside broughtmuch grief to Tolkien that he stopped driving a car once he saw the ruin that cityhighways had caused. The city and the wild are meant to be symbolic, each being humbledand rejuvenated by the other.

The mythical world of the Middle-earth is made non-religious so that readers can seeChristianity reflected in it more clearly. Readers of The Silmarillion are not surprised tolearn that a full-fledged theology lies in the back of Tolkien’s Hobbit-books, and that itsilently forms the Lord of the Rings (Rutledge 214).

Middle-earth is also a symbol of warfare. In 2009, Henry Allingham died at the age of113 thereby becoming the world’s oldest man. Allingham was also one of the knownsurviving British veterans of World War I. Along with Allingham and millions of others,Tolkien symbolizes the horrors of trench warfare. In the modern world, trench warfare ischaracterized by artillery barrages, machine-gun fire, poison gas, and dreadful living

conditions. Allingham’s observations about war show that the postwar world is stillchallenged by genocide and combatants. Despite the consequences, war continues toaffect humanity. Accounting for the causes of war, along with other characteristics andconsequences, stands as a sustained priority across generations of scholarship (Chance315).

There is a strong sense of God’s revelation in Israel and Jesus. In real sense, thesedefinitive acts of divine self-disclosure cannot be repeated, not even literally. Gandalfdoes not die due to anyone’s sins and if he survives the end of all things, it will be becausehe is one of the Maiar, not because, like Christ, he has been resurrected to die no more. Inaddition, Gandalf does not possess Christ-like qualities. For Tolkien, every Christian ismeant to take on the form of Christ (Brennan 23).

The essence of fairy stories is that they satisfy our heart’s deepest desire: to know theworld other than our own, a world that has not been flattened and shrunk and emptied tomystery. To enter this world, the fairy tales resort to fantasy in the literal sense. The bookdeals with representations of things not generally believed to exist in our primary worldsuch as elves, hobbits, wizards, dwarves, ringwraiths, wargs, and orcs. Far from beingunreal or fantastic in the popular sense, these creatures embody the invisible qualities ofthe eternal world-love and death, courage and cowardice, terror and hope that alwaysaffect the visible universe (Brennan 23).

Two important world views can be learned from Tolkien’s artistic work. The worksymbolizes the evil and good races. In particular, the elves symbolize the good more thanother groups’ known as the Valar and the Maia, who have been symbolized as being evil.Consequently, it is pointless to try and convert the orcs with the aim of making themgood. The orcs are evil and deserve to be resolved from the face of the middle-earth. Thereis the held opinion that the good orcs have already died. This view of the people of theMiddle-earth has led to unending bloody wars (Tolkien Archive, para. 7).

Gandalf the Grey in this tale symbolizes bravery, kindness and honesty. From theonset, he is able to stick to the rules of his master, the Valar, who had sent him to go andhelp the people of Middle-earth by fighting Sauron. His bravery enabled him toaccomplish this mission as he was able to face off Saruman, their previous supremeleader of the order after betrayal. His bravery is also seen when he defeated Saurondespite the difficulties and risks involved. It was until after accomplishing his missionsthat he left Middle-earth together with his henchmen, Frodo, Bilbo and Galadriel. Hishonesty and kindness is manifested when he decline to punish Pippin after discoveringthat Palantir had been stolen and for communicating with Sauron. He argues that it isenough to look the eyes of the hobbit and observe if there is no lie (Lord 1).

Gandalf also appears as the dominant symbol of Christ as seen in The Lord of theRings. This can clearly be seen by looking at how Gandalf came to Middle-earth and thenconsidering how he handled himself throughout the tale. The first encounter we havewith him is when he was sent by Valar from the land of Valinor to go and liberate thepeople of Middle-earth from evil and protect them from Sauron. As the story proceeds, wethen encounter Gandalf in The Silmarillion, where he introduces himself as a spiritknown as Olorin, and only took the flesh of men for the people of Middle-earth to be able

to trust him and have faith in his mission. This is quite similar to what Christ did when hecame down from Heaven to Earth and took on bodily form to save humankind from Satanand evil (Lord 1).

In fact, when we first encounter Gandalf in The Fellowship of the Ring, he appears as awizened man, with bushy eyebrows, long grey beard, a flowing cloak and wearing woodenstaff. These appearances also resemble those of Christ. Moreover, like Jesus, Gandalfalways sought to help others, fight evil and restore hope everywhere he goes. It can alsobe seen how Gandalf travels extensively that the men of Gondor and Elves refer to him asMithradir, meaning the grey pilgrim. It is also evident that just like Jesus, Gandalf alsohad several different names with unique meanings. The names include Lathspell,Incanus, Mithrandir, Thanrkun and Olorin among others (Lord 1).

Gandalf’s symbolism of Christ also becomes most evident through his actions as aleader of the Fellowship, which had been appointed by the Council of Elrond in Rivendell.It can be seen here that when things got worse on the road, Gandalf and the wholeFellowship are forced into the Mines of Moria so as to try passing under the mistymountains. This journey appears to be very slow through the mountainous terrain until itcomes to a climax when the Fellowship is scared away by the demon of the ancient worldknown as Balrog. At this daring moment of grieve, surrounded by darkness, fire terrifiedscreams and whizzing arrows, Gandalf through his wisdom realizes that no one amongthem would be able to escape the Moria alive not unless he sacrificed his life for the sakeof the entire fellowship. This is similar to what Jesus did when he sacrificed his life sothat everyone on earth can be saved from sins. As Jesus once put it, “Greater love hath noman than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend according to John 15:13 (Purtill32).

The book also elaborates that as the Fellowship begins to cross the long, ragged bridgeof Khazad-dum, unfortunately the Balrog follows them from behind forcing Gandalf totake the rear guard and swiftly turns to take on the monstrous beast alone. Under highrisk of being killed by the monster on the bridge surrounded by darkness, he bravely takeson the beast, sacrificing his life for the sake of his friends. He happens to fall from thebridge, as tears can be seen flowing from Hobbit’s eyes since hope is ultimately lost(Stanton 29). This can also be seen from Aragorn, whose heart wavers for the loss of histrusted mentor. Nevertheless, he continues with the fight as he chases the great demonthrough darkness until he slays the Balrog. It is then that Gandalf dies for exertion ofpower. Tolkien notes that the Fellowship feels lost without Gandalf, but Valar decidesthat Gandalf’s mission is not yet accomplished and raises him from death more powerfuland glorious than before. After rising from the dead, he continues the fight where heended up destroying Sauron as well as Saruman and later became Gandalf the White. Thiscan also be compared to the story of Jesus Christ who rose from death on the third dayaccording to John 6: 15-28.

The transformation of Gandalf from Gandalf the Grey to Gandalf the White can also betaken to symbolize purification. This is based on the fact that he sacrificed his life in orderto save those of his Fellowship and refining his mission of aiding the free people ofMiddle Earth according to Harvey (48). It is then that he begins his new life as Gandalf

the White, from exactly the position where Saruman once began his. By contrast, Harveynotes that Saruman allowed his quest for knowledge over wisdom to denigrate hisoriginal caring and change him from white into many colors (48). This transformationmay also be taken to symbolize his wisdom and compassion he acquired out of greatexperience over time, the same way elder in the society with grey hair can be sources ofsuch understanding and caring.

In the novel, Tolkien also brings out the conflict between Eru Luvatar and Melkor. Thetwo symbolize God and Satan (Harvey 51). In addition, Tolkien used The Silmarillion, tosymbolize Genesis, the first book in the Bible. For instance, as we find that TheSilmarillion talks of the creation and fall of the Elves, just as the Genesis talks of thecreation and fall of man, as well. The use of the Silmarillion in the novel appears to allowroom for later Christian history. For instance, at some point in the novel, Tolkien usesFinrod, the dominant character in The Silmarillion in speculation of the need of Uru’s(God’s) final manifestation to save humankind.

In the book, it can be concluded that the Elves symbolize the chosen race. The chosenrace is immortal; they can never be affected by diseases and are immune to ageing anddisease. The elves have life after death guaranteed. The Ilvatar group symbolizes the non-chosen whose lifespan is shorter than those of human beings. This group is mostlyaffected by disease and ageing. The difference between the elves and the Ilvatar threatensto destroy the Middle-earth (Tolkien Archive, par 8).

Influences on culture

Tolkien motivated other artists to compose other works of art such as rock music. Themost evident of these influences of art is musical in nature. In particular, Tolkien gavepermission to composer Carey Blyton to compose a Hobbit overture. As a result, Tolkienwas happy to learn that he had inspired a musical composer with his book. The music ofthe youth which was known as rock and roll was also inspired by Tolkien’s works. Theyouth were among the people who were fascinated by The Lord of the Rings and TheHobbit in the 1960s. It makes sense to conclude that other rockers in the modern worldlearned from the works of rockers who worked in 1960s and in 70s. Tolkien’s influence onpopular culture symbolizes the depth that the book had affected popular culture. Rockand roll was the poetry of the day as well as symbolizing popular culture (Noel 27).

Another way in which Tolkien’s work influenced culture is witnessed in the genre ofrole playing games. After the publishing of the book by Tolkien, war gamers began puttingin orc, dwarf, and goblin armies. In order to achieve role playing in the games, the gamerwould first create a character which had skills of their choice. It is important to note thateach skill has a certain level attached to it. While playing the game, participants arerequired to use a skill by rolling dice and the number they roll in conjunction with theirskill level determines success of failure. The World of Dungeons and Dragons isinfluenced by many of the same races as Tolkien’s Middle-earth. Another game that wasinfluenced by Tolkien’s work is known as The Empire of the Petal Throne which wascreated by Professor M.A.R. Baker. Baker is relevant to this topic because he wasfascinated by languages and ventured in trying to create a detailed and real world. The

playing of role taking games was influenced by Tolkien’s artistic works; in addition, thewide knowledge and fame enjoyed by the games can be attributed to Tolkien (Brenican87).

The book also has a lot of theological themes reflected through narratives such as thetriumph of humanity over evil, battle of good against evil, and the activity of grace asreflected through Frodo’s sympathy to Gollum in The Lord of the Rings. This is not onlythe incidence where we find Tolkien bringing out religious influence in the novel. Rather,there are also instances of immortality and death, pity and mercy, salvation, resurrection,self -sacrifice, repentance, justice, fellowships, healing as well as authority. The religiousthemes are mainly brought out through Gandalf the Grey, whom we see resurrected fromdeath just the same way Jesus Christ did. This clearly brings out the issue of Christianityas a religion in the novel. Furthermore, the Lord’s Prayer, “And lead us not intotemptation but deliver us from evil” is said to have been in the mind of Tolkien as hedescribed the struggle Frodo underwent against the power of the One Ring. Definitely,Christian influence is the concept of the fall of man, which Tolkien argued to haveinfluenced the Kinslaying at Alqualonde, Ainulindale and the fall of Numenor as well(Harvey 59).

The actions of Gandalf in the tale as brought out by Tolkien can be discerned by a fifthgrader. Through Gandalf, Tolkien tries to show readers the power of Jesus Christ’ssacrifice on the Cross, resurrection, descent into darkness and glorification of his newbody. All these elements have impacted a great deal on the culture of people across theworld, especially Christianity as a religion. This is because it informs its redoes that JesusChrist was sent by God for a purpose, which is to save mankind from Satan and evil justthe same way Valar sent Gandalf to go and save the people of Middle-earth from Sauron.To date, this is the common belief among Christians all over the world that Tolkien istrying to fantasize through wizards (Brenican 13).

The question that one may ask about Middle-earth is what is the One Ring? The OneRing in this case symbolizes material possessions, more importantly, the power whichsuch possessions give one over the others. From the novel, we find that the Dark LordSauron created several rings of power which he gave to the many rulers of each race suchas the dwarves, elves and mortal men (Stanton 102). All these rulers were intrigued by thepower of the rings. They, however, betrayed, even though for Sauron made a morepowerful ring capable of controlling all those who possessed the others. It is seen that thering kept corrupting all those who are around it any time it is close. Moreover, even thosewho want to use it for good purposes eventually bring on evil once they have used it, asGandalf even feared it himself. This is very similar to what is happening in our worldtoday. It is noted that those who attempt to find power in the world slowly undergoestemptations to abuse and control others for their own good. Through the ring, we get tounderstand the role played by Boromir in the novel.

Boromir is depicted in the novel as the son of Denethor and a steward of Gondor. We seeBoromir being sent by his father to represent their people at the Council of Elrond so asto discuss with them the rising evils of Mordor, Sauron’s homeland. This happens to be a

very sensitive issue to Boromir, since his people have been engaged in a tug of war inorder to keep the evils of Mordor from overrunning the western and northern territories.It is also noted that his people have sacrificed their lives at the expense of protectingothers. Nevertheless, Boromir seems desperate for something to turn the tide of thecombat. Being desperate makes him falls to the temptation invoked by the One Ring.Later on, we find he gives into this temptation and makes all attempts to forcefully snatchthe ring from Frodo. Nevertheless, we find him regret his actions later after failing to getthe ring (Stanton 22).

Work Cited

Bates, Brian. The Real Middle-earth: Exploring the Magic and Mystery of the MiddleAges, J.R.R Tolkein, and he lord of the Kings. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.Print.

Brenican, Anthony. Tolkien Influence, From Led Zeppelin to Rush to Dungeons andDragons, He’s Everywhere. Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd., 2002. Print.

Chance, Jane. Tolkien And The Invention Of Myth: A Reader. UP of Kentucky, 2004.Print.Harvey, Greg. The Origins of Tolkein’s Middle-Earth for Dummies. Hoboken, NJ: John

Wiley & Sons, 2003. Print.“Gandalf the Grey.” Gandalf. Lord of the Rings Fantasy World, n.d. Web.

<http://www.lord-of-the-rings.org/books/gandalf.html>Brennan Janet. Tolkien and Shakespeare: Essays On Shared Themes And Language.

Mcfairland, 2007. Print.Purtill, Richard L. J.R.R. Tolkein: Myth, Morality, and Religion. San Francisco: Ignatius

Press, 2003. Print.Rutledge, Fleming. The Battle for Middle-Earth: Tolkein’s Divine Design in the Lord of

the Rings. Cambridge: Wm.B. Eardmans Publishing, 2004. Print.Siggins, Mike. “Middle-Earth: the Wizards.” The Game Cabinet Jan. 1996. N. pag. Iron

Crown Enterprise, n.d. Web. 23 Aug. 2012.Stanton, Michael N. Hobbits, Elves, and wizards: Exploring the Wonders and Worlds of

J.R.R. Tolkein’s the Lord of the Rings. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002. Print.Tolkien, J.R.R. The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings.

New York, NY: Haughton Miffin Harcourt, 2012. Print.“Tolkien’s middle earth-real world influences.” Tolkien-archives, n.d. Web. 23 August

2012. < http://www.tolkien-archives.com/library/essays/tolkiens-world-real-influences.html>

Noel, Ruth. The Languages of Tolkien’s Middle Earth. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1980.Print.

Wood, Ralph. The Gospel According To Tolkien: Visions of the Kingdom in Middle Earth.London: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003. Print.

Sometimes Dead is Better:The Language of Pet Sematary

By Phillip W. Harvey

The conceit of horror is contained in its transmission: the words we use to describehorrific things influence the way we perceive the story. Stephen King is a “master ofterror,” and generations of nightmares attest to the horror of stories such as The Shiningand Pet Sematary. The Creeds’ story is a modern horror classic because Pet Sematary doessomething that horror always strives to: it afflicts the reader with the author’s fear. Fearis a contagious disease in more ways than one—it stays with us. And, like every disease, ithas an origin.

According to Pet Sematary’s introduction, Stephen King returned to his alma mater in1978 as the writer in residence: “My wife (Tabitha King) and I rented a house inOrrington… It was a wonderful house in a wonderful rural Maine. The only problem wasthe road we lived on…” (x). King drew from his time on that road to create Pet Sematary.A neighbor told King that the road “uses up a lot of animals.” Louis Creed receives thesame warning from his neighbor, Jud Crandall (22). Both roads have pet cemeteries butonly one family buries the cat there after a tragic accident.

Finding Church dead across the road signals the beginning of the end for the Creeds,(155) Church’s demise prefigures that of Louis’ son, Gage, but the cat’s death beginsLouis’ spiral into madness. Louis goes mad because he can’t prevent the deaths of his sonand his wife. King infects his readers with his fear by placing them in the shoes of adoomed loving father. Louis’ devotion foreshadows his destruction. Pet Sematary is rifewith descriptive omens; King uses the pet cemetery’s deadfall, Pascow’s ineffectivewarnings, and “Oz the Gweat and Tewwible” lurking in the burying ground, to transmithis fear to his readers.

The first time that Louis Creed sets eyes on Ludlow’s pet cemetery, he noticessomething: “A jackstraw-jumble of fallen trees that looked both sinister and dangerous…”(41). This subtle foreshadowing can be easily missed because King removes it from thereader’s conscious memory by turning to blow-down. “It looked like the skeletal remainsof some long-dead monster, something slain by a parfait good and gentil knight… Adragon’s bones, left here in a giant cairn” (47). This is more direct foreshadowing. Kingevokes the “pagan” aspects of Ludlow’s pet cemetery, but kills the “long-dead monster” byinvoking knights slaying dragons. The word “cairn” conjures up stone mounds and linksto paganism and unhallowed burial rites. The blow-down becomes the “deadfall” withPascow, a barrier between “this world and the Gulf.” It is a door to “Oz the Gweat andTewwible,” and it is a door that Victor Pascow wishes to keep closed.

Victor Pascow is a jogger who is killed by a hit-and-run driver. King tells us that “[h]alfof his head was crushed. His neck had been broken,” (83) when he arrives at Louis’ feet,but he ekes out some choice words, “’the Pet Sematary,’ the young man croaked, and hebegan to grin… ‘It’s not the real cemetery…’” (87). His words ring of prophecy: his claimforces the reader to reinterpret the unease felt in the pet cemetery.

That night, Pascow visits Louis in a nightmare. He guides Louis back to the petcemetery ostensibly to warn him away from it. Pascow seems indifferent to Louis’ abjectterror: “There was a look on his face which Louis first mistook for compassion. It wasn’treally compassion at all; only a dreadful kind of patience,” (104). This descriptionemphasizes Louis’ powerlessness and Pascow’s indifference. Pascow is here because hemust be. “The deadfall… had become a heap of bones. The bones were moving… ‘Don’t gobeyond, no matter how much you feel you need to, Doctor. The barrier was not meant tobe broken… Your destruction and the destruction of all you love is very near, Doctor…’‘Doctor—remember’” (103-105). The deadfall reveals it’s true at night purpose throughlanguage as a barrier.

Pascow’s repetition of Louis’ title, “Doctor,” is significant because it reinforces the briefrelationship between Louis and the dying jogger. Pascow appeals to Louis’ rationality as ascientist. A scientist knows that death is natural and must be accepted. Pascow, by tryingto intervene, actually undermines Louis’ rationality twice: first, when Pascow speaksprophecy, “…[Louis] was a man with… no bent toward the superstitious or the occult. Hewas ill-prepared for this… whatever it was,” (87). The thought does not cross Louis’ mindthat Pascow is babbling crazily as he dies. Second, when Pascow comes to Louis in thenight, Louis desperately tries to rationalize it as a dream. The dream is too real though,and Pascow devastates Louis’ rational mind. These warnings actually make it easier forLouis to cross the barrier to the Micmac burying ground. Their climb over the deadfall isakin to overpowering death. “The flashlight’s beam centered brightly on the jumbled heapof (bones) fallen trees and old logs…” (161). The world on the other side of the deadfall isthe world of resurrections and “Oz the Gweat and Tewwible.”

“Oz the Gweat and Tewwible” is the name given to the entity in the Micmac buryingground. It is the entity that coerces Louis to resurrect his son: “Oz the Gweat andTewwible was at hand… beyond the Pet Sematary. The idea had a deadly attraction…You’re rationalizing, a voice whispered. [Church’s] not as good as ever. He’s spooky…”(469). The mispronunciation of “Oz, the Great and Terrible” reminds the reader of TheWonderful Wizard of Oz and emphasizes that the wizard is a fraud. The entity in theMicmac burying ground is not a benign liar; it is a pagan monster— “the God of deadthings left in the ground” (469). It will give Louis what he wants, but whatever he giveswill come back changed. The only way Louis can stomach resurrecting his son is to banishhis wife and daughter—symbolically removing rationality from his life. When Gage killsRachel, Louis loses his sanity because Rachel was his sanity. There is no fight when itcomes to burying Rachel. “I’m going to bury her,” Louis blatantly tells his friend SteveMasterson (555), and that is the end of Louis Creed. He is consumed by the madness thathe unintentionally created. That is King’s fear: that everything he does will ultimatelydestroy him and those he loves.

King employs his fear as an undercurrent until Pet Sematary’s conclusion, but thereader feels it because it is implanted in the language. The first foray into the petcemetery inspires unease because Louis notes, “There was something too convenientabout that blow-down and the way it stood between the pet cemetery and the depths ofwoods beyond… Its very randomness seemed too artful, too perfect for a work of

nature…” (47). Artifice that tries to seem natural promotes suspicion. King provokes thereader’s curiosity with the blow-down to advance his narrative. The idea that something isalready going on this early in the story excites the readers and draws them deeper into thenarrative.

The early allusion to the unnatural also throws the family dynamic of the story off-balance and never reorients it. King links the Creeds to the cemetery’s unease byintroducing Rachel’s phobia of familial betrayal while they are in the cemetery. “Evenhere she’s upset… probably because of her sister. Rachel’s sister had died very young…Her name had been Zelda…” (43). Zelda died from spinal meningitis, and Rachel still fearsher, describing her as a monster rather than a sibling, “[I] dreamed of monsters coming toeat me up… and all of the monsters looked like my sister Zelda,” (266). Rachel’sdescription of Zelda, who coined the title “Oz the Gweat and Tewwible,” turns her into amonster. The words that King used to create Zelda provide a glimpse into the future,when Louis becomes a very different type of monster. When readers think of Louis, andlearn what he becomes, it is very easy to see Zelda, a girl twisted into a monster by adisease, is not so different from Louis. Zelda’s introduction emphasizes the roles that fearand family will play in the story, placing them centrally in the reader’s mind in the contextof the cemetery itself. King first shows fear as something that has to be learned orexperienced before it can affect lives.

The impact of fear on the Creeds’ lives becomes apparent a few chapters later, whenRachel berates Louis for introducing Ellie to the idea of death. Rachel learned to feardeath because of her sister Zelda (266), and Ellie comes across the awful truth that, ifChurch can die, everyone she loves can die too (55). Fear does not come out of the ether.It is not the product of the supernatural, but “Oz the Gweat and Tewwible” uses this fearto tear the Creeds apart. The dissolution of families, particularly between a father andson, speaks of a recurrent theme in King’s work: the parents hurting their children.

Louis is a displacement of King in Pet Sematary. Like Louis, King is a father crippled bythe anxieties of fatherhood. How will he, King or Louis, be judged, if he does not doeverything to protect his family? Louis proves his devotion in the novel, but his methodsare disturbing. The reader sees the fulfillment of Louis’ and King’s fear in the concludingchapters of the novel. After Louis kills Gage with morphine, he sees the fruits of hischoices: “…Gage looked up at him and for a moment Louis saw his son—his real son—hisface unhappy and filled with pain. ‘Daddy!’ he cried, and then fell forward on his face”(547). Louis has done everything to keep his family safe, or, failing that, he tries to fix it.But he fails. When Gage cries out, “Daddy!” the readers realize that Gage knows he’s amonster. And, if Louis made monster-Gage, what does that make him?

King uses language to transmit to his reader the fear of destroying everything that heholds dear, but the majority of that contagious fear is spread through themes engenderedby Ludlow’s pet cemetery, the ineffective warnings of Victor Pascow, and the labeling ofthe Micmac burying ground’s death-defying powers with the fraudulent title “Oz theGweat and Tewwible.” Fear motivates this story and gives it its power, but what Kinghopes to teach the reader with this story is acceptance. He writes in his introduction,“‘Sometimes, Louis,’ Jud says, ‘dead is better.’ I hope with all my heart that this is not

true, and yet within the nightmarish context of Pet Sematary, it seems to be.” (qtd. inXIII, King).

Pet Sematary is crystallized in the phrase, “Sometimes dead is better.” “Dead” andeverything attached to it—funerals, wakes, grieving and loss—are terrifying, but they aremuch better than King’s alternative. The way an idea, like “dead,” is captured by wordsshapes our perception. “Dead” in Pet Sematary represents a survivable loss. But, the storywarns, the survivors must be willing to accept that. If not everything goes wrong. Doctorsresurrect their dead sons, and their dead sons kill their mothers only to be resurrected bytheir husbands… Thankfully, that doesn’t happen all the time. But, the analogy is stillsolid.

Works Cited

King, Stephen. Pet Sematary. New York: Doubleday, 1983. Print.

Tristram o’HorsebackBy Hannah V. Bingham

Throughout Tristram Shandy, Laurence Sterne combines social commentary andhumor in the exposure of personal hobby-horses, which each character and readerpossess. In the novel a hobby-horse, although typically a child’s toy, represents a person’spossibly strange and obsessive hobby, which propels their thoughts and discussion ineveryday life. Tristram’s father Walter has a hobby-horse of philosophy, which drives hisdaily interactions with others and especially with his brother Toby. In turn Toby can thinkof nothing but in relation to his hobby-horse of military fortifications. Sterne uses avariety of techniques to construct a multidimensional novel that humorously commentson the mental state of its characters and, through them, humankind. Books II and III ofthe nine-volume novel catalyze the novel as the story of Tristram’s birth is slowly butfinally told. Although the very beginning of book I starts as Tristram is being born, thetimeline goes back to his conception, and from there moves about in a distinctlynonlinear progression, until Tristram is finally born in chapter twenty-seven of book III(171). This indirect path of the narrative, along with incongruencies between the title andthe actual subject matter, conversational style, and discussion of hobby-horses all serve toillustrate the comedic inner madness of the Shandys, Tristram, and humanity. Along withthis discussion of the various hobby-horses of his family and acquaintance, Tristram’srambling style of writing and seemingly disorganized way of putting together his life storyimplicate Tristram’s own hobby-horse in the book itself. Tristram Shandy’s structuraldisorder, digression, and use of unusual forms illustrate Tristram’s book as a hobby-horse, which implicates Tristram as the butt of his own joke.

Scholars who discuss matters of organization and form in Tristram Shandy explore theways in which the unusual format of the novel affects its thematics. For example, J.M.Stedmond makes a case that “Sterne’s style is ‘conversational’ … the eighteenth centurywas the great age of letter writing… and Sterne carried the trend still further by makinghis novels into a running conversation between writer and reader” (244). In addition,Stedmond asserts that “Sterne’s writings are permeated with a sense of the relative natureof language; ambiguities have an endless fascination for him” (249). Thus, TristramShandy’s conversational structure forms the basis not only of the shape of the book butalso lends itself through indistinct exploration of language to its undertone as Tristram’sown hobby-horse as well. In addition, Max Nanny claims that “the title itself… establishesfrom the very beginning a conflicting contrast… ‘Life’ consisting in an empirical andconcrete, though disjointed, syntagm of chronology …‘Opinions,’ however, amounting tothe paradigmatic ‘digressions’ …is thrown into relief” (424). The title surprises and raisesan immediate juxtaposition for the reader, who might expect to read the life and times ofa character. Consequently, each scene in Tristram Shandy falls under the headings of‘Life’ or ‘Opinions,’ including the Shandy brothers’ behavior and language patterns, whichgive rise to the hobby-horsical theme of the novel. Melyvn New maintains that the out-of-order time narrative sequence of Tristram’s life function in a myriad of ways. Newcontends that “Sterne’s game with time in Tristram Shandy may well serve the satiric

purpose … (and) Sterne is as much commenting upon the limitations of man as upon thelimits of the novel” (“Microscope” 596). Sterne’s treatment of time exposes theconstraints of humanity, which thereby reveals the subtext to the main body of the novel,that of Tristram’s indirect implication of himself as a keeper of a hobby-horse. In lookingat these various uses of the composition of the novel, the importance of this arrangementis seen as it plays into the value of the novel as a whole and the undercurrents, whichmake the book more intriguing as a whole.

Beyond the structural level of the novel, many scholars agree that Tristram Shandyexploits John Locke’s theories of language and communication. In another article by New,he states that “Locke…(is a) particularly good key to Sterne’s mind” (“Dunce” 547). Otherscholars also note Sterne’s use of Locke, such as Peter M. Briggs, who discusses morethan one possible use of Locke’s “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding” in contextof language and communication in Tristram Shandy. “Locke supposed that man is ofnecessity the interpreter of his own existence…and, of course, it is Stern’s realization thatTristram is both free and compelled to interpret his own existence and to shape hisexistence through personal interpretation that forms the enabling premise for all ofTristram Shandy” (497). It is because of Locke’s claims that Sterne formulates Tristram’sexplanation of his life in the novel. Along with Lockean examination of life comesexamination of language. Chinmoy Banerjee contends that “Locke is dissolved by Sterne’simplicit redefinition of language and communication… Verbal language… is only a part ofa larger situational language and attains its meaning in the context of situation, gesture,tone and expression” (120). Sterne explores the Lockean limits of verbal language, andultimately overturns them through repeated use of nonverbal language to conveymeaning. Thus, Tristram Shandy explodes Locke’s assertions on the limits of languagethrough Sterne’s use of Locke himself: even as Walter Shandy is discussing Locke’s limitsof life and language he illustrates both outside of those limits.

It is through these various uses of language that scholars see and interpret the humorof Tristram Shandy, and the way in which it is used to support Tristram’s discussion ofhobby-horses. Edward A. and Lillian D. Bloom assert that “Sterne’s creative vision, whichmagnifies absurdity, is regulated by reason and attuned to social reality” (506). Sterneuses humor to make social and intellectual claims about his characters, especially theirhobby-horses. Robert Degraaff addresses one social reality in the use of innuendo inTristram Shandy: Sterne “delight(s) in the sexually risqué. Occasionally his treatment ofit is quite direct…more characteristically, he operates through suggestion and innuendo”(20). Through his use of sexual innuendo, Sterne establishes a level of humor that finds acontinual theme, which also allows Sterne to implicate his readers in reading in sexualinnuendo of their own. Richard A. Lanham contends that “Tristram Shandy’s essentialagon or game, (is) the struggle of the rhetorical and the philosophical views of man fordominance. We can see Sterne’s persistent attempts to (play)… the games of philosophy,rhetoric, and war… We can see him insisting that philosophical seriousness becomesrhetorical play” (45). Through hobby-horsical rhetorical and philosophical discussion andtreatment of serious topics such as philosophy and war, the favorite topics of Walter andToby Shandy, Tristram Shandy utilizes humor. The various utilizations of humor allow

Tristram Shandy to establish hobby-horses that tie the characters to the reader,effectively indicating the novel as a horse in itself.

Despite the many other manifestations of humor in Tristram Shandy, hobby-horsesoccupy the main source of comedy. Many scholars comment on rhetorical play andSterne’s use of hobby-horses in Tristram Shandy, especially those of Walter and Toby,and in turn Tristram’s own hobby-horse of the novel. Norman N. Holland explores the“dual” humor in the novel, and reasons that “the humor derives from the hobby-horse ofone character riding into the hobby-horse of another” (423). Thus the main source ofhumor in the novel comes from hobby-horses as identified and explained by Tristram,and the ways in which he shows characters clash due to their blindness to all perspectivesexcept their own. Joan Joffe Hall argues that “(in) the narrative sequence, … it isprogression by digression and the curious relationship the narrator enters into with thereader that define for us Tristram’s own hobbyhorse” (131). Through the novel and theway Tristram addresses the reader, language of hobby-horses, and humor of hobby-horsesin relationships we see that one of the final hobbyhorses belongs to Tristram. SusanStaves, who analyzes the influence of Cervantes’ Don Quixote in Eighteenth-CenturyEngland, maintains that “Walter, Toby, Yorick, Tristram, and even the reader himself areall ultimately revealed as victims of one private madness or another” (202). Staves thusshows the way in which Sterne universalizes hobby-horses, extending their effects even tothe reader: to be human is to have a hobby-horse, and to have a hobby-horse is to have aprivate madness. The idiosyncratic form of Tristram Shandy illustrates Sterne’s purposein writing the novel: to exemplify the peculiarities in his characters through hobby-horses, and through Tristram’s hobby-horse of writing, to extend those hobby-horses topertain to all of humanity.

Tristram’s discussion of the hobby-horses of his father and uncle in books II and IIIthrough direct and indirect references to the “horse” itself allows Tristram to claim themadness of his relatives. As Toby rides his horse, Walter does his own, and the twohobby-horses often come into conflict with one another. “My father knit his brows, and ashe knit them, all the blood in his body seemed to rush up into his face—my uncle Tobydismounted immediately./-----I did not apprehend your uncle Toby was o’horseback.-------” (127). This explicit discussion of their “horses” through Tristram’s narrative perspectiveallows the edifice of the hobby-horse to be established, as it is in other places in the novel.This establishment in turn allows Tristram to muse on their hobby-horses, and throughthis contemplation, to indicate himself as their fellow rider by similar characteristics.

Walter’s main hobby-horse is philosophy, although noses and names, among others,are also followed in a philosophical grain. This philosophy belongs to Walter alone, as“Mr. Shandy, my father, Sir, would see nothing in the light in which others placed it;—heplaced things in his own light;—he would weigh nothing in common sales;—no, he wastoo refined a researcher to lie open to so gross and imposition—” (115). Walter’s belief inphilosophy is such that his philosophy must be all his own, else it is not philosophy at all.This characterization of Walter’s hobby-horse implicitly illustrates the length to which ahobby-horse defines the actions of a person. The length to which this shows Walter gowith his philosophies is rather extreme, which characterizes it as his hobby-horse. Indeed,

these lengths extended to Tristram’s naming, or intended naming, as well as the humorfound in Dr. Slop’s accidental flattening of Tristram’s nose. Walter intended for his son tobe christened the strong and powerful name “Trismegistus,” but the maid forgot the nameand had him christened “Tristram” instead. Likewise, Dr. Slop accidentally flattenedTristram’s nose in his delivery, ending his chances, in Walter’s opinion, to have anexcellency “in a direct arithmetical proportion to the excellency of the wearer’s fancy”(184). Because Walter’s hobby-horses concerning the philosophies of names and noses,this episode led him to lose all hope for Tristram. Walter, therefore, is completely ruled byhis hobby-horses and allows this private madness to spread and affect his son.

The way in which Tristram discusses his father’s hobby-horse in many ways isindicative of Tristram’s own hobby-horse, especially in his illustration of the horse. “Hepicked up an opinion, Sir, as a man in a state of nature picks up an apple.—It becomes hisown—and if he is a man of spirit, he would lose his life rather than give it up” (177).Tristram ironically discusses his father’s philosophies in a philosophical way, andcharacterizes the horse as all-encompassing. In addition, although Tristram speaks highlyof his father, he does note that his many ideas are rather “strange notions” (176). Tristrambelieves that his father’s other beliefs are unusual at best, identifying him as a hobby-horse rider. As Tristram describes his “father in one of his best explanatory moods—ineager pursuit of a metaphysical point” (152), Tristram indicates another function ofhobby-horsery: the joy of the rider in progress. Tristram also falls into this category: “Ihave dropped the curtain over this scene for a minute,—to remind you of one thing,—andto inform you of another” (115). Tristram’s consciousness of writing and direct address tothe reader shows the way in which he relishes his writing, just as his father delights in hisphilosophizing. Thereby Tristram’s strange writing may be identified as a strange notionwhich rules his passions and brings him enjoyment, proving he is likewise a hobby-horserider.

Toby’s hobby-horse is the science of military fortifications, an ironic fixation for a manwho “had scarce a heart to retaliate upon a fly” (88). Each time Toby begins discussingmilitary defense, Walter ignores him or makes a jab against Toby’s horse. DespiteWalter’s disdain for Toby’s horse of choice, Toby rides it almost continually throughconversation: “I cannot see what kind of connection there can be betwixt Dr. Slop’ssudden coming, and a discourse upon fortifications;—yet I feared it” (86). Toby’s horseallows him to see connections between any situation and his hobby-horse which no otherperson would see, a sort of private madness. “When Trim came in and told my father, thatDr. Slop was in the kitchen, and busy making a bridge—my uncle Toby …—took itinstantly for granted that Dr. Slop was making a model of the Marquis d’Hospital’sbridge” (170). This obliviousness of Toby to understand comments in context, such as thecontext of Tristram’s birth and broken nose, typifies Toby’s hobby-horse. In addition,Toby’s ability to talk continually about the minutiae of military fortifications identifieshim as a hobby-horse rider: “The ravelin is not a ravelin;—it is a half-moon;—a half-moonis a half-moon, and no more… but was it to change place, and get before the curtin,—‘twould no longer be a half-moon; a half-moon, in that case, is not a half-moon;—‘tis nomore than a ravelin” (87). Toby’s circular and confusing monologue on ravelins and half-

moons illustrates the ability of hobby-horsicality to overcome the sense of a person, justas writing overcomes all else in the life of Tristram.

Tristram’s discussion of Toby’s horse indirectly identifies his own horse throughcharacterization and accidental connections. Tristram discusses his uncle’s hobby-horse,illustrating Toby’s insensibility to the foolishness he has fallen into: “Toby, who (honestman!) generally took everything as it happened;—and who, of all things in the world,troubled his brain the least with abstruse thinking” (150). Although Toby could find asimilarity between a military defense and a baby being born, Tristram distinguishes Tobyas a foolish victim of his horse. Tristram likewise is unaware of his horse except in hisdevotion to it: “I was just going, for example, to have given you the great outlines of myuncle Toby’s whimsical character;—when my aunt Dinah and the coachman came acrossus, and I led us a vagary some millions of miles into the very heart of the planetarysystem” (55). Tristram appears aware of his irregular patterns of writing, yet seemsunaware that he has fallen victim to the same madness of his father and uncle. “I couldnot give the reader this stroke in my uncle Toby’s picture, by the instrument with which Idrew the other parts of it,—that taking in no more than the mere Hobby-Horsicallikeness:—this is a part of his moral character” (89). As Tristram claims that hobby-horsesmake up a vital part of the depiction of his uncle Toby, he also ties himself unequivocallyto hobby-horsical madness.

The indirect path of the narrative and its sequential disarray is a ploy of Tristram toexpose his own hobby-horse. This disorganization is exemplified in the preface, whichrather than coming before book I is placed in book II (153-161). In addition, Tristrameludes to his birth in book I but is not born until book III (171). However, Tristram doesnot take 170 pages to be physically born; rather Tristram cannot tell one story withoutdigressing into many other stories. The same lines of a scene begin several chapters in arow, as well as their responses: “I wish, quoth my uncle Toby, you had seen whatprodigious armies we had in Flanders” (115,124). “What prodigious armies you had inFlanders!” (125,129). Tristram begins the scene, starts another scene, and comes back toToby’s original comment much later, leaving the original story again to fulfill his nexttangential topic (as is the case in his birth sequence). Tristram is not unaware of thishowever: “I ruin the story I’m upon;—and if I tell it here—I anticipate matters, and ruin itthere” (165). Despite this coherence, Tristram continues on to “ruin” his current story toturn away to another. Because Tristram consciously becomes sidetracked throughout thenovel, he implicates himself as another one of the madmen in his family who cannot talkof anything but his own pet topic.

Tristram’s conversational and unconventional style of telling his and his family’s talelends itself to hobby-horsicality as well. Throughout the book, along with narrativeanecdotes, Tristram writes about writing, thus comprising his Opinions: “Writing, whenproperly managed, (as you may be sure I think mine is) is but a different name forconversations” (82). Here his consciousness of the act of writing, as well as his pride in it,implicates the entity of the novel as his idée fixe. His use of—dashes—corroborateTristram’s conversational writing claims: “Trim insists upon being tried by a court-martial—the cow to be shot—Slop to be crucified—myself to be tristramed and at my very

baptism made a martyr of;—poor unhappy devils that we all are!—I want swaddling—”(185). In making a conscious to-do list for his narrative, Tristram exemplifies his hobby-horse of writing the novel. By discussing the writing of the novel within the novel,Tristram turns the novel into a hobby-horse, occupying his thoughts, time and allconversation.

In addition, Tristram includes conversation between characters within the text thesermon being read: “[The language is good, and I declare Trim reads very well, quoth myfather]” (98). This intratextual conversation demonstrates Tristram’s sense of obligationto conversation within his writing. Along with such in-text conversation, Tristramregularly addresses the reader, often as sir or madam, and attempts direct dialogue withthem. “Now, my dear Anti-Shandeans, and thrice able critics, and fellow-laborers…” (153-4). This broad address is characteristic of Tristram’s ongoing discussion with the reader,who becomes a participant in the story through Tristram’s attempts at a tête-à-tête.Tristram also accuses his reader of having a dirty mind: “For by the word Nose, throughall this long chapter of noses, and in every other part of my work, where the word Noseoccurs—I declare, by that word I mean a nose, and nothing more, or less” (174). Althoughthe word “nose” is indeed ironically used as a phallic symbol, Tristram declaims his ownuse of this symbolism, despite the obvious links between his family’s history of noses andmanhood. Other additions, such as Tristram’s use of asterisks, “***,” stand in forinappropriate content or words indicates the hobby-horsicality of the text. Tristramexpects the reader to know what the asterisks refer to yet scolds them for knowinginappropriate terms. This inclusion of the reader in the novel, which is Tristram’s hobby-horse, extends the results of hobby-horses to the reader as well: madness.

Hobby-horses great and small overcome Tristram Shandy, the greatest of which maybe the novel itself. As Tristram characterizes his family’s hobby-horses, he inadvertentlycharacterizes himself in the same way. Likewise, as he implicates himself as a hobby-horse rider, the reader is shown to be a fellow rider. In weaving hobby-horses throughoutthe narrative, Tristram establishes his family, himself, and the reader as fellow riders, allsubject to private madnesses that no one may control but oneself.

Works Cited

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Bloom, Edward A. and Lillian D. “Hostage to Fortune: Time, Chance, and LaurenceSterne.” Modern Philology 85.4 (1988): 499-513. Web.

Briggs, Peter M. “Locke’s Essay And The Tentativeness Of Tristram Shandy.” Studies InPhilology 82.4 (1985): 493-520. Humanities International Complete. Web. 11 Jan. 2012.

Degraaff, Robert. “Sterne’s Tristram Shandy.” Explicator 42.3 (1984): 20-22. HumanitiesInternational Complete. Web. 11 Jan. 2012.

Hall, Joan Joffe. “The Hobbyhorisical World of Tristram Shandy.” Modern LanguageQuarterly 24.2 (1963): 131-43. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Feb. 2012.

Holland, Norman N. “The Laughter of Laurence Sterne.” The Hudson Review 9.3 (1956):

422-30. Web.King, Ross. “Tristram Shandy and the Wound of Language.” Studies In Philology 92.3

(1995): 291-310. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Feb. 2012.Lanham, Richard A. Tristram Shandy: The Games of Pleasure. Berkeley, 1973. Print.Nanny, Max. “Similarity and Contiguity in Tristram Shandy.” English Studies 60.4 (1979):

422-35. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Feb. 2012.New, Melvyn. “The Dunce Revisited: Colley Cibber and Tristram Shandy.” South Atlantic

Quarterly 72 (1973): 547-59. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 11 Jan. 2012.---. Laurence Sterne and Henry Baker’s “The Microscope Made Easy.” Studies in English

Literature, 1500-1900. Rice University, 1970. Web.---. Laurence Sterne as Satirist: A Reading of “Tristram Shandy.” Gainesville: University

of Florida Press, 1969. Print.Staves, Susan. “Don Quixote In Eighteenth-Century England.” Comparative Literature

24.3 (1972): 193-215. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 11 Jan. 2012.Stedmond, J.M. “Style and Tristram Shandy.” Modern Language Quarterly 20.3 (1959):

243-51. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Feb. 2012.Sterne, Laurence. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. Mineola, NY:

Dover Publications, 2007. Print.Winton, Calhoun. “Recent Studies in the Eighteenth Century.” Studies in English

Literature, 1500-1900 Restoration and Eighteenth Century 14.3 (1974): 458-75. Print.

“Real” Down-Home Southern English:Comparing an Oklahoman’s Real and Imitated Dialects

By Justin T. McBride

The modern study of dialects frequently includes not only structural descriptions oflanguage varieties, but also the careful consideration of speaker perceptions of thosevarieties. Though outside of most individuals’ understanding of linguistics, perceptionsare in fact useful in revealing important attitudes about speech communities. Theseattitudes, or “evaluative orientation[s] to a social object [including] language…having adegree of stability that allows [them] to be identified” (Garrett, 2010, p. 20), affect howlanguage is produced and received, which in turn affects the realization of dialectalvariation. Of particular interest here are the notions of evaluation, be it positive ornegative, and stability, at either the individual or collective levels. In other words,attitudes are essentially value judgments as situated in a particular social context againstwhich stability can be assessed.

For example, consider the dialectal context of English in present-day Oklahoma. Thesituation is not well documented in the scholarly literature at present, though structuraldescriptions are more readily available than attitude-oriented studies. As it stands, thehandful of relevant research (e.g., Bailey, Wikle, Tillery, & Sand, 1993; Labov, Ash, &Boberg, 2006; Tillery & Bailey, 1998; Wikle & Bailey, 1997) demonstrates that the stateexhibits certain features—mostly phonological and lexical—of both the South andSouthern Midlands dialect regions. In terms of phonology, this includes the following:fronting of the GOOSE, FOOD, and GOAT vowelsi, a feature associated with both regions;occasional reversal of the DRESS/FACE onsets, a Southern but not Midlands feature; andmerger of LOT/THOUGHT vowels, a Midlands but not Southern feature. Yet the exactdetails of this dialectal mix, especially speaker attitudes about these and other features,are poorly known. For this reason, Dennis R. Preston, Regents Professor of English atOklahoma State University, founded the RODEO project (Research On Dialects of Englishin Oklahoma) to collect and analyze dialect and dialectal attitude data from across thestate. It is hoped that the RODEO project will help to clarify understanding of dialects andtheir speakers’ perceptions in Oklahoma.

One of the early subjects in the RODEO study is “Beth,” a then 46-year old singlefemale living and working as an artist and homeless shelter supervisor in Tulsa, OK. Bethis of Anglo ethnicity and has a baccalaureate degree. One of the things that makes Beth ofgreat interest is that her isolated, rural hometown of Watts, where she lived untilfinishing high school, is located along a theorized line of isoglosses that Labov, Ash, &Boberg (2006, p. 129) suspect divides the Southern Midlands dialect region from twoproper South dialect regions, the Inland South and the Texas South (see Figure 1). Shemay then be expected to exhibit specific behaviors and/or perceptions of either Southernor Midlands dialects that may differ from those who grew up farther from this proposedborder.

Another intriguing fact about Beth occurred during her sociolinguistic interview, which

a RODEO field linguist digitally recorded under unknown conditions at Beth’s Tulsahome in September of 2009. The interview included a brief reading passage that Beth readtwice. After first reading it through using her natural dialect, she then volunteered to readit through a second time in what she termed a “real down-home Southern Oklahoma”variety (see Appendix 1). Her decision to do this offers the unique opportunity to examinenot only the structure of both her real and imitated varieties, but potentially her attitudestowards a Southern perceptual prototype. Thus, by examining both of Beth’s readingpassage performances we can learn a great deal about how she situates herself withinOklahoma’s dialect context, both in terms of production and reception.

Figure 1. Watts and Dialect Borders in Oklahoma (adapted from Google Maps, 2012)The purpose of this study, then, is to investigate three problems involving Beth’s

reading passages. They are as follows:1. What exactly are the differences between the two performances?2. What do these differences tell us about Beth’s perceptions of “real down-home

Southern Oklahoma” English?3. What do those perceptions tell us about Beth’s attitudes about the English varieties

in her local environment?

Method

This study employed both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to present a fullerpicture of Beth’s dialects, real and imitated, and her perceptions.

Quantitative ProceduresThe quantitative component consisted of two parts, non-instrumental and instrumental

comparison of the two performances. The non-instrumental comparison was limited tophonological reduction and lexical substitution phenomena that could simply be detectedby carefully transcribing the performances and making note of differences. Of particularinterest in this phase was [ING] realization. The instrumental comparison involved theuse of PRAAT to analyze performance data. The original digital sound capture wasimported into the program, resampled at a sampling rate of 10,000 Hz, and then analyzedword-by-word in terms of the following primary variables: Word length (s), mean pitch(Hz), mean intensity (dB), and vowel quality, including F1 and F2 frequencies (Hz) andvarious monophthongization and diphthongization concerns. For the instrumentalcomparison, only words containing stressed vowels were of interest (N = 87). Two-tailedpaired sample t-tests were then used to determine the statistical significance of thedifferences between the two performances.

Qualitative ProceduresThe qualitative component consisted mostly of classical content analysis of the

interview (cf. Bauer, 2000). The purpose of this analysis was to identify themes asevidence of Beth’s attitudes toward either her real, local dialect variety or her imitated“real down-home Southern Oklahoma” variety. To accomplish this, the entire interview ofapproximately 33 minutes was transcribed (a close-vertical but not phonetic transcriptwas used for this purpose) and then analyzed with thematic categories emergingorganically from the process. Qualitative findings will be addressed in the Discussionsection below.

Results

Non-InstrumentalTable 1 represents the primary results of the non-instrumental comparison of the two

performances, styled ‘Real’ and ‘Imitated,’ for each of three variables, lexical orphonological reduction, lexical substitution, and [ING] realization as a special case ofphonological reduction. In the end, nine types were found to vary between performances,with one token per type. Clearly, the imitated variety exhibits more reduction andsubstation, and less realization of [ING]. Of special note is that at no time in the readingpassage that [ING] occurred did Beth realize it as -ing in her imitated variety. Be aware,too, that all of these phenomena are associated with informal registers of AmericanEnglish.

Table 1Non-Instrumental Performance Comparisons

Real Imitated

Phonological/lexical reduction them ‘em

remembered ‘membered

garage g’rage

that [relative pronoun] Ø

Lexical substitution (the) Wal-Mart Wally World

[ING] realization planning plannin’

shopping shoppin’

going (to) gonna

baking bakin’

InstrumentalFigures 2 through 4 represent the results of instrumental comparison of the stressed

words from the two performances. In each graph, the blue line represents Beth’s ‘Real’variety, and the red line represents her ‘Imitated’ variety. Figure 2 shows the comparisonof mean F0 across the stressed vowel in each word token, listed as W1 through W87.While there were scattered areas of difference between the two performances, the overalldifference was found to be insignificant (p = 0.117).

Figure 2. Mean F0 of Stressed Vowels (n.s.)Figure 3 shows the comparison between the lengths of stressed words in each

performance. Here, the visual impression of difference corresponds to a statisticallysignificant increase in Imitated word length (p = 0.002), perhaps mimicking the so-calledSouthern Drawl. On average, the Imitated words are around 3 ms longer (M =0.31649 s, SD = 0.13982, for Real compared to 0.3494 s, SD = 0.14822, for Imitated). Sogreat is the difference that the Imitated performance is approximately 2 s longer than theReal.

Figure 3. Word Length of Stressed Tokens (p < 0.01)Figure 4 shows the distribution of mean intensity of stressed vowel tokens. Note that

two tokens, W23 and W53, were not sufficiently stressed with respect to their externalenvironments to allow for the calculation of intensity. Again, Imitated tokens show avisually discernible and significant increase (p < 0.001). On average, the differencebetween individual pairs from each performance was nearly 4 dB more forceful in Beth’simitation (M = 71.89039, SD = 3.43189, for Real compared to M = 75.85693, SD =3.65389, for Imitated). Be aware, however, that the recording reveals Beth’s noticeableanimation before and during her Imitated performance presumably due to her excitementin offering an unsolicited interpretation of the “real down-home” variety.

Figure 3. Mean Intensity of Stressed Tokens (p < 0.001)As far as vowel quality is concerned, one of the most noteworthy aspects of both of

Beth’s performances was how similar they were. Indeed, most vowels showed nosignificant difference whatsoever, in either F1 or F2, from one performance to the next.Tables 2 and 3 show comparisons of mean monophthongal and mean diphthongal vowel

quality, respectively. The only significant monophthongal difference (Table 2) is areduction in F1 frequency for the THOUGHT vowel in the Imitated variety (p < 0.001),indicating raising from her normal variety.

Table 2Monophthongal Vowel Quality Means (F1 and F2 in Hz)

Real Imitated Differencesa

Vowel N F1 F2 F1 F2 F1 F2

TRAP 6 624 1863 645 2009 R < I R < I

LOT 10 649 1078 670 1090 R < I R < I

DRESS 13 570 1734 573 1801 R < I R < I

FLEECE 9 423 2408 449 2378 R < I I < R

KIT 14 531 1864 531 1863 I < R I < R

THOUGHT 4 713 1061 701 1056 I < Rb I < R

FOOT 3 561 1453 579 1400 R < I I < R

STRUT 8 663 1439 674 1457 R < I R < I

GOOSE 2 428 1645 406 1670 I < R R < I

NORTH 2 452 790 545 904 R < I R < I

Notesa Values in the differences columns are expressed in terms of proportions of Real (R)

versus Imitated (I)b Statistically significant (p < 0.001)

Table 3Diphthongal Vowel Quality Means (F1 and F2 in Hz)

Real Imitated Differencesa

Vowel N F1 F2 F1 F1 F1 F2

Onsets

PRICE 6 629 1218 707 1277 R < I R < I

MOUTH 3 617 1798 632 1825 R < I R < I

FACE 6 625 1831 1717 R < I I < Rb

GOAT 4 592 1262 1336 R < I R < I

Offglides

PRICE 5 573 1915 625 1715 R < I I < R

MOUTH 3 651 1230 666 1297 R < I R < I

FACE 6 483 2263 466 2308 I < R R < I

GOAT 4 488 1107 548 1151 R < I R < I

Notes:a Values in the differences columns are expressed in terms of proportions of Real (R)

versus Imitated (I)

b Differences are statistically significant (p < 0. 01)Likewise, the diphthongs (Table 3) show almost no change from one change to another.

Nevertheless, there is a difference with respect to the F2 of the FACE vowel onset (p <0.01) wherein the Imitated variety experiences a decrease, indicative of a centralization ofthis vowel with respect to her normal variety. Several other diphthongs, specifically, thePRICE onset and offglide and the GOAT offglide, approach significance (0.10 < p > 0.05)but do not reach the threshold. Perhaps a larger number of tokens in a longer readingpassage would have borne out this difference; the PRICE vowel, after all, is typicallyrealized as [ph ̥a s] in advanced Southern shift speech.

Figure 5 shows a combined, non-normalized plot of the vowel means from bothvarieties. It is curious to note that the significantly different vowels appear very close toone another whereas those that are statistically insignificant are in many cases quitedistinguished from one another. This is mostly a function of the low N number associatedwith each token. Perhaps in a larger sample of imitated speech, Beth would havedemonstrated consistently greater separation of vowels throughout the spectrum.

Figure 5. Combined Plot of All Vowel Means from Both PerformancesThere are several other things to note about the general plot of vowel means. For

starters, be aware of the general reversal of DRESS and FACE onset, indicative of the so-called Southern shift (Figure 6), which is further characterized by the reversal of KIT andFLEECE onset, raising of TRAP, and additional movement of both PRICE and LOT. WhileBeth’s TRAP vowel is noticeably raised (as is her non-significant Real PRICE, see above)and her DRESS and FACE onset have changed places, note that in neither performance dothe other Southern shift-participating vowels undergo characteristic movement. Thiswould indicate that Beth is only a partial participant in the greater Southern vowel shift.Other Southern features in her vowels include fronting of GOOSE, GOAT, and evenFOOT, but these have become widespread throughout the western U.S.