Alexey Yevdokimov Dr. Henthorne Literature 211D 9 July 2006 What the Four Novels Tell Us about Being an American This semester we have read four literary works by four different writers. We read “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston, “The Crying of Lot 49” by Thomas Pynchon, “Carrie” by Stephen King and Octavia Butler’s “Wild Seed.” All four books were based in America and all four involved a female character that went through a life changing experience. The four works we read this semester tell us much about being an American, the lifestyle in America and the things we can learn from literary texts not usually found in American history books. I read books because they give me something to imagine that is beyond my understanding. Sometimes I read a book and know exactly what the character might be feeling and going through. We can not reflect on specific moment in our history without going back to literary works written at the time. It is very fascinating that a writer has the freedom to write about anything. This can be seen in how people resent some books and love the others. That means that our artists, the literature masterminds, took many different ways in their works and reflect their art in many various ways, rather than just one. It is as though a literary work is sort of a hidden picture behind the written history. We started off by reading Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” This book took place after slavery in America was abolished and focused on life of a free black woman. This book told us that in America a woman can be free to choose her
own destiny. This can be observed when Janie leaves Logan Killucks, old and angry husband, for Joe Starks, an energetic young man with big dreams. (TEWWG-51) Joe has an opportunity to become rich by working on start up capital and investing it to amplify his wealth. That shows that in America, a man can make an honest living and if the man has enough wit, he will become rich. In Their Eyes Were Watching God we saw that a black woman in America brought up in post-slavery times has the right to stand up to her beliefs. We can see it when she makes her dying husband finally listen to her feelings and thoughts. (TEWWG-132) We also learn much about Americans in this particular novel. As we saw, before the hurricane, Tea Cake and Janie had numerous warnings of an impeding danger, but they were both flying high and happy. They thought that the money they are making and the grand lives they were living at the time were enough to stop even the mother-nature from disrupting their lives. When their friend comes riding by on a truck and invited both of them to leave the glades Tea Cake says: “Dat ain’t nothin’. You ain’t seen the bossman go up, is yuh? Well all right now. Man, de money’s too good on the muck. It’s liable tuh fair off by tuhmorrer. Ah wouldn’t leave if Ah wuz you.” (TEWWG-230) But of course there are problems in America as well. After the hurricane and in chaos, the white men with their rifles were making the African-Americans do the dirty job and bury the dead – although the slavery was already abolished. Our main characters spirit was always free and could not be confined to the traditions of the time, where the woman was to obey her husband at all time. We also find first hand about the culture of black communities living after being freed. The history books could not have written about all that – only Zora Neale Hurston was able to take a snapshot of such communities and a single woman’s free spirit in her book.
“The Crying of Lot 49” by Thomas Pynchon tells about a woman whose deceased husband made her the executor of his estate. Through the book she learns of all the investments her late husband was into and in the process stumbles upon a secret. From this book we find out that although young, America has its own secrets and conspiracies that have European roots. We get a glimpse of the American Wild-West when we find out about Indians dressed all in black attacking the settlers. The book also tells us about people in the 1970’s. Oedipa seems confused and does not know where she belongs. We witness how people want to get away from the main stream, for example, the private mail delivery system set up in Yoyodyne Plant for their employees. (TCoL49-52) It shows that the individuals were looking for different, underground, methods of sending their mail among other things. This is an example of literature recording aspect of American past. Our third book is by Stephen King called “Carrie” – a story of a shy teenage girl who get bullied by others, including her mother, throughout her life. The story reveals something very interesting about American life: expectations. “I’ll probably end up working at my dad’s cat lot. I’ll spend my Friday and Saturday night down at Uncle Billy’s or out at The Cavalier drinking beer and talking about the Saturday afternoon I got that fat pitch from Saunders and we upset Dorchester. Get married to some nagging broad and always own last year’s model, vote Democrat-“(Carrie-50) This was said by Tommy, a teenager portrayed as a popular boy in school whose life, at least to him, seems already determined by what has happened to his brothers and previous generations of his family. The story of Carrie tells us that American society is not as tolerable as the founding fathers wished it to be. Carrie was an outcast because she was always treated
like one. She would always get tripped and laughed at. From pre-school all the way through high school, kids would always tease her and play tricks on her. Carrie really wanted to fit in, but because of her looks and non-traditional lifestyle she would not be admitted into any circle of friendships within her town. There are other things that are not as tolerated in America that our history books might not tell. We are given freedom of speech and maybe in some other country, like India with caste system, where a higher class person can treat another with complete disregard can be tolerated. In America people are told they can respond, they are protected by law and everyone has the right to exist. This is exactly why I think Carrie reacted the way she did, because she could. It was her right to retaliate to her molesters, at least that is exactly what she saw as justice. “Wild Seed” by Octavia Butler tells a story of an immortal woman living in a body that does not age. Doro is another immortal human being able to transfer from body to body through murder. This book takes place in Africa in the beginning, but for the most part of the book the story unfolds in America. It can be seen that the south and the north of the country have different views on slavery. In the north part of United States, there are few slave plantations and the attitudes toward African-American are more or less tolerating. While the south of United States the slave plantations are widespread and racism is imbedded into people’s minds. We also witness how people form communities, like the one Doro has upstate in order to keep his people together. This can also be seen in real life, people with similar cultural backgrounds form the same neighborhoods. China town and little Italy are just two examples. Now we can see that all four books we read this semester tell us about being an American, the lifestyle in America and the things we can learn from literary texts not
usually found in history books. We read books because they enhance our imagination about the world beyond our understanding. It was very fascinating that these writers had the freedom to write about anything. The fact that they chose to write stories based in America and incorporating American culture into them should tell us that we live in a great country that is sometimes misunderstood. Thus our culture can better be understood by studying American literary works because they are the hidden picture behind the story.