William Chesnutt's Literary Analysis

While Jim’s role in the ending is considerable smaller, giving him the identity of more of a sidekick rather than a key character, and some parts were unnecessary for the central themes of race in society, the novel still sends a powerful message about race. Mark Twain’s message is subtle; he dismisses racism and slavery not always through direct statements, but by highlighting Southern attitude and marking the irrationality and irony of those very beliefs. The use of the n-word may make readers uncomfortable, but the language reflects the societal norms at the time, and the portrayal of Jim contradicts every stereotype of “the Negro,” making readers at that time period question their own beliefs. As the reader learns more about Jim and his courageous actions, while simultaneously reading about the cruelty towards African Americans in society, the reader will inevitably come to reject the racism and discrimination prevalent in 19th century American society. That is what makes this novel so effective, and just for that, it deserves its eminent position in American literature.

Accessed 18 Mar. 2018. “Langston Hughes” by Carl Brucker attempts to explain the accomplishments Langston Hughes has had and who inspired his famous poem, “Mother to Son.” Langston Hughes won an Opportunity poetry prize, leading him to the publications of his other writings. Brucker justifies Hughes as not only a successful writer, but he also “used grant money to establish African American theatrical groups in Harlem and Chicago that produced several of his plays.” (5) After overcoming much criticism by blacks and whites, Langston Hughes influenced several generations of African American authors, and that is widely acknowledged.

Then Ellison describes the narrator following those instructions as, “Slowly, I measured the glistening black drops, seeing them settle upon the surface and become blacker still, spreading suddenly out to the edges.” I believe that this paint company is a symbol of the necessity of the black influence to white America. Many people in Invisible Man think America is a white man's country, but America would not be America without the contributions and influence of black people. More important symbolisms are the coin bank and Tod Clifton’s dancing Sambo doll, although they are in separate chapters they have very similar meanings in the novel, they each represent degrading black stereotypes and the damaging power of prejudice. The coin bank looks like a grinning slave who eats coins, and symbolizes the idea of the good slave who grovels over white men for petty rewards.

Many people of the Harlem Renaissance and Black Arts movements, along with later movements, described Toomer’s work in Cane as an inspiration in their own works. “When the writers of the early Harlem Renaissance read Cane, they were pleasantly surprised. Jean Toomer mostly associated with progressive white writers of the late 1910s and 1920s. After writing Cane, he was proclaimed by the black writers as the most promising black writer of that time” (Whisenton 5). His work in Cane was applauded for its recognition of African American culture and struggles, along with its representation of sexual issues that are still overly present.

The Introduction of Tom Franklin The phrase Crooked-letter, Crooked-letter, which is also the name of a book written by famous author Tom Franklin, is a pneumonic device used to teach children (mostly Southern children) how to spell Mississippi. M, I, crooked-letter, crooked-letter, I, Crooked-Letter, Crooked-Letter, I, humpback, humpback, I. ("Q&A with Author Tom Franklin.") Crooked-letter, Crooked letter is similar to Tom Franklin’s life. In the novel, the character Larry and his father work in a car repair shop, and Larry likes to read books very much.

Louisiana in the 1800s was riddled with slavery, and it was necessary to push an image into popularity in order to hide the immorality of the slave owner’s actions. This is explored in Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin. In her story, she writes about Armand’s emotions toward Désirée, “Moreover he no longer loved her, because of the unconscious injury she had brought upon his home and his name” (Chopin, 3). As a social elite, the need to hold his status and keep his family in favor of others had Armand ostracizing his love for Désirée. As was expected of the time, plantation owner’s had to broadcast certain opinions about people of color.

This can be noticed throughout the book and in the three scenes talked about before because the white characters in the book often times make irrational comments about slaves that relate to what they are doing themselves. Twain’s use of irony the scene about Huck being upset with the fact that Jim would steal his family back if he had too, shows that Huck did not think Jim should be able to and was not deserving enough to have his own family. This shows the greater truth of slavery because even though Huck likes Jim, he did not agree with Jim’s want to have a free family. The scene where the Duke, the King, and Huck are categorizing slaves as thieves, when they themselves are thieves shows the greater truth of slavery that slaves were categorized into certain types of people, even though it was not true of all slaves. The scene were Tom says that he would hang a slave if they were ungrateful and ranaway shows the greater truth of slavery that if a slave disobeyed, they deserved death.

The exhibit of the facade Dunbar included in his work, lead to Howell to praise his work for the audience of those that were White and it lead to national attention. Dunbar by no means was able to escape the stereotype for his dialect poetry. As a result, it limited his influence towards the African American community. The final poem to be addressed is Dunbar’s most highly praised dialect poems, “When Malindy Sings.” Keeling suggests that Dunbar’s use of dialect should be defined, “We must show how Dunbar’s mask of dialect can be a powerful active force rather than a self-defeating retreat into a fantasy world”(29).

The way that Mark Twain tells us whether or not he likes the region and people he is writing about is how harshly he talks about it. Twain Mark doesn't say any of it lightly, it is very dark but at the same time he does use humor to describe some of the darkest things so that it doesn't seem so depressing the reader but yet they can still get how hard that time period was. An example of this is how even though he makes a point that slaves were treated very harshly, in this case he made it so that the slaves were more house slaves than plantation slaves making it a little less intense and gruesome during the novel.

Instead, Stephen Crane describes not only the unnecessary ruthlessness and cruelty of many white Americans towards former African American slaves but also the silent acceptance of this hatred and the feeling of powerlessness of the freed slaves in the United States during this Reconstructive Era. Stephen Crane preferred to write short stories and novels that had actual historical meaning and references; he used different elements like the selections of a particular audience, point of view, and tone to accomplish writing these kinds of literary works. In “A Dark Brown Dog” he chose to write about the hardships of freed slaves during the Jim Crow South in a third person point of view. This is because while reading a story in a third person point of view, the reader is more likely to be able to analyze and understand the

Tom’s last owner, Simon Legree,

In this situation is it surprising that slaves, when mildly treated, should prefer even the misery of slavery to such a mockery of freedom?” (Equiano O. , 2014). As a reader you would believe that Equiano buying himself out of slavery is awesome, did he would slaves that time was impossible. Equiano release from slavery was the most substantial moment in his story.

Some masters were evil foxes who sent people to inquire their slaves how the master was. As long as the slave’s master heard any slaves hated him, he would send people to punish slaves who told the truth. Due to this, most slaves universally said their master was kind and they were contented instead of telling the truth. The frequency of inquiring caused slaves began to trust their master was nice, and finally those slaves enslaved themselves. Moreover, giving the heavy work to slaves did not only help the master getting more money, but also destroyed slaves’ will.

Looking inside from the most basic and primitive lense, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, is a tale about human nature and all its subsidiaries. Douglass delves into the most essential foundation of the humanistic persona -empathy- and moreover: the corruption of it through slavery. Throughout the novel, Frederick Douglass uses zoomorphism to demonstrate just how corrupting the system of slavery is, corrupting the slave and the slaveholder.

Thomas Jefferson is known for his famous line “all men are created equal”. However, his intentions do not exactly match up. Thomas Jefferson’s ideas and beliefs about slaves strike him as being a racist. In Notes on the State of Virginia, Jefferson compares slaves and dogs, and other horrible assumptions are made about slaves. He describes their death as “An animal whose body is at rest, and who does not reflect, must be disposed to sleep of course.”