Symbolic Moral
Dilemmas
Symbolic Moral Dilemmas
Journal Staff
Editor in Chief - Brian Welch
Basic Literary Analysis Editor - Jenny Chio
Theory-based Analysis Editor - Cristy Corry
Research Essay Editor - Andrew Bell
Editing Assistant - Heather Beaman
Mission Statement
Symbolic Moral Dilemmas' Mission is to seek connections between shorts stories and the timelessness of those stories. These short stories are not only relatable to the times when they are
written but to our generation as well. Symbolism is often an important factor in short stories.
Our mission is to publish works that discuss the use of symbolism in short stories from the
19th and 20th centuries.
Symbolic Moral Dilemmas will publish articles that will inspire healthy debates about short stories and their ties to the human condition. We thrive on a diverse set of opinions and beliefs.
We strive to connect with our readers, to help them to question, ponder, and decide upon
their own opinions. We hope that the selection of articles in this edition of our journal will
allow readers many diverse views to consider.
Table of Contents
Fulfilling Parental Responsibility, A 21st Century Dilemma
4
Jeff Barton
The Ribbons of Faith
8
Michelle Christiansen
The Human Race is “The Most Dangerous Game”
10
Rachel Cope
The Oppression of Eva in “Tell Me a Riddle”
11
Susan Kelley
“A Pair of Silk Stockings”
:A Psychoanalytic analysis of Chopin’s Feminist Struggle
14
Kelsey McMurtrey
“Really Something”: Shedding the Filters that Blind Us
17
Megan Mena
Deception and Disillusionment
19
Amy Miller
The Dilemma of Heritage
21
Whitney Moss
The American Short Story, Symbolism and Social Relevance
23
Joseph Nehila
Self-Inducing Insanity
29
Amanda Peterson
The Portrayals of Women
Lindsay Walker
31
4 Symbolic Moral Dilemmas
Fulfilling Parental
Responsibility: A 21st
Century Dilemma
Jeff Barton
No era of the human race has known a life
without mothers. No matter how long or short,
belonging to a mother is part of the human experience. Given the universal nature of this experience,
what would the effect of motherless homes be on
the development of children? Out of necessity or
personal choice, 21st century mothers have left the
home in droves in order to enter the work force. In
turn, the normal development patterns of children
have been disrupted. Society is attempting to step
in and fill the gap, but is fundamentally unable to
replace the void left by the intuition of paternal
care. In the short story “I Stand Here Ironing”
author Tillie Olson engages readers in the moral
dilemma of family erosion in the 21st century. She
outlines both the short and long term effects of
disengaged parents in relation to the development
of their children. Through the use of a stream-of
consciousness point of view and extensive interior
monologue, Olson creates gaps in the telling of her
story. These gaps allow readers to bring their own
experiencers into completing the narrative and
“provide a kind of reality check” for the audience
(Bressler 78). This reality check allows each individual to evaluate their own personal fulfillment of
parental responsibility. Through this honest evaluation of one’s self, it becomes clear that personal
involvement and engagement are absolutely necessary in the development of children.
Based upon the inherent need of children for
parental involvement, it is morally wrong to deprive them of their parents for extended periods of
their life. This concept unfolds as the story of an
unnamed mother is related to the reader in “I
Stand Here Ironing.” As is implied from the title,
the reader is introduced to the mother while she is
ironing and talking with a counselor about her
daughter Emily. However most of what the reader
learns about this mother and her daughter take
place as the thoughts of her consciousness unfold,
and her recollections of memories showcase regret
for what could have been. At a young age this
mother was forced back into work due to abandon-
ment from her husband because he could “no longer
endure sharing want with us” (Olsen 2). The mother
indicates of her daughter that “she was a miracle to
me, but when she was eight months old I had to
leave her daytimes with the woman downstairs to
whom she was no miracle at all, for I worked” (2).
This new relationship for Emily is very representative many children’s situation. They are forced out
of the home at a young age to be with caretakers
that do not properly connect with the child in quite
the same way as their parents. Current research has
shown “that frequent and consistent playing with
one’s child statistically significantly promote[s] social competence. The frequency of parental engagement in play activities with their children was identified as a critical indicator for physical and cognitive development, as well as an indicator of parental
responsiveness” (Tong et al. 2073). Olsen masterfully allows her readers an opportunity to evaluate
what kind of a mother they are when she has the
narrator state that “I was a young mother, I was a
distracted mother” (Olsen 7). The natural question
to answer when reading this is, am I the same way?
As such “the reader is no longer a passive receiver of
knowledge but an active participant” (Bressler 78).
Any child will tell you that it is not enough to
simply be present, or even passively involved. Children have an innate need to be loved by parents.
The intrinsic value of parental love is difficult to duplicate outside the walls of the home. There is a tangible void filled with behavioral issues later in life
when that love is not iterated to the child. Within “I
Stand Here Ironing” the daughter Emily, develops
special needs based upon the lack of her mother’s
expressed love. The mother is prompted by others
to show more love even if it is by simply smiling
more at her. She unfortunately fails to do so. Later it
is revealed that “[Emily] does not smile easily…her
face is closed and somber, but when she wants, how
fluid” (Olsen 3). This did not happen overnight.
Children, like anything, are conditioned. University
of Pittsburgh researchers indicate “increases in parents’ involvement over time were related to concomitant increases in children’s social skills and declines
in problem behaviors” (Nokali 1001). Through a series of abandonment Emily was conditioned to not
be happy, but rather disappointed. Her mother
would leave and she would cry for her, even experience episodes of delusion. Again Olsen is allowing
readers insight to what may happen for children
who are currently being conditioned, where the result is yet to be seen. As such Emily is unable to
regulate herself, in both school and home. The read-
5
er learns that Emily was always seeking reasons to
be home instead of at school in order to try and fill
this void. This validates research done on child development where it is stated that “when parents are
more cognitively stimulating and sensitive with
their children, growth in self- regulation is promoted” (Ayoub et al. 596).
Not only do children need involvement and love
to simply develop emotionally, but it is critical for
grasping essential vocabulary, motor, and social
skills. It is spoken of regularly that Emily had a hard
time for words. This is a natural result of a lack of
parental influence due to her Mother being out of
the home. In describing Emily the mother states
that she was so unsure of herself that there was a
“constant caring” for the words she spoke before she
would ever speak. (Olsen 5). This correlates well
with current research which suggests that “4-yearold children with employed mothers are more likely
to have low vocabulary skills than their counterparts
with homemaker mothers” (Tong et al. 2068). This
is a new phenomenon. It was not until World War
II that “women were called to take [men’s] place on
the production line” (National Archives 1). This
transition placed children in care centers and research began on their development rates. In many
instances a child who is not receiving the one on one
attention for reading, singing, and playing with a
parental figure will be developmentally behind a
child receiving that attention. Again the mother’s
reflection on her lack of involvement with her own
child, and their eventual effects on her development
allow the reader to evaluate the level of involvement
with their own children and how this may affect the
child’s outcome.
Since the time of World War II childcare has
seen steady increases in enrollment and in turn child
development rates are beginning to reflect that
growth. Most of the regret that the mother in “I
Stand Here Ironing” experiences is the extensive
time that Emily spent in childcare. It is stated early
on that “She was two… and I did not know then
what I did now – the fatigue of the long day, and the
lacerations of group life in the kinds of nurseries
that are only parking places for children” (Olsen 2).
Researchers on childcare have stated “more time periods of center care continued to relate to children’s
development in both positive and negative ways, being associated with better memory, but also with
more conflicted relationships with teachers and
mothers” (Belsky et al. 683). This is clearly evident
in the life of Emily. We learn that she felt her teach-
ers were not just unpleasant, but evil. The mother
relates that, “I knew the teacher that was evil because all these years it has curdled into my
memory…Emily hated it” (Olsen 2). This dissatisfaction towards a parent figure that replaces an actual parent is a natural result of years spent with
them from a very young age. Catching glimpses into
the feelings of this tender character allows readers
to learn what may be going on in the life of their
own children. Olsen allows
“involvement… readers to make their own inferences by floating in and out
is critical for
of the consciousness of her
narrator. Research on the topgrasping esic is summarized in stating
“The increased working
sential vocabu- that
time of employed mothers results in a decline in care qualilary, motor ,
ty for children, because of the
extended use of non-parent
and social
care and irregular interaction
skills.”
with children” (Tong et al.
2068).
One of Emily’s key traits is health failure, the
Mother attributes this directly on her own failures
to be present in her life “Mostly Emily had asthma,
and her breathing, harsh and labored, would fill the
house with a curiously tranquil sound” (Olsen 4). As
children cope with the loss of interaction with their
parent’s health related issues have been shown to
arise. Studies on the topic have shown that
“Cumulative risk is believed to increase with the
number of transitions, such that it becomes more
difficult to adjust in the face of continual or chronic
instability” (Bzostek and Beck 284). Children develop both physically and emotionally. The role of the
parent is to allow them something to grow against,
like a stake in a garden. In the absence of such security a floundering in both aspects can occur. For
Emily it was evidenced in severe asthma and weight
loss. The mother relates that “She did not get well.
She stayed skeleton thin, not wanting to eat, and
night after night she had nightmares” (Olsen 3). It is
a reality that children can experience health declines
as a result of extended separation from their parents.
Emily was faced with not only a lack of parental influence, but chronic changes to her setting. She was
sent to nurseries, convalescences, and schools. Each
of these contributed to her chronic illnesses. Studies
show the impact on health from these transitions
“Children faced with chronic instability in their family structures are likely at a particularly high risk for
negative outcomes, since chronic instability may be
6 Symbolic Moral Dilemmas
associated with less consistent parenting, less consistent routines and schedules, and perhaps even
more instability in the economic and social resources” (Bzostek and Beck 284). The mother has
come to accept these failures in health as part of
Emily’s life. They were not a part of her at birth, but
became such as a result of her situation.
The mother, like many others, is easily persuaded in
her efforts by the collective
intellect of society. It is easy
to discern, however, that in
retrospect she regrets heeding society’s advice. In
speaking about her early
experiences with breast
feeding the mother states
that, “I did like the books
then said. Through her
cries battered me to trembling and my breasts ached
with swollenness. I waited
till the clock decreed” (Olsen
2). This is the first instance
where we learn that the mother despite her better
judgment heeded the advice of society’s wisdom.
With years gone by, she now recognizes how unfounded much of that advice was, and she regrets
her actions. As time progresses she is likewise convinced to send her Emily to a convalescent home.
She recalls that she was told that Emily “can have
the kind of food and care you can't manage for her,
and you'll be free to concentrate on the new baby,”
to which she bitterly replies that “They still send
children to that place” (3). Society in an attempt to
know what is best often tries to isolate the family
from one another. In this case they convinced the
mother to send Emily away. Doing so ended up being the absolute worst thing for her. Her health continued to decline. Eventually the mother convinces
the social workers to allow her home. She states that
“I used to try to hold and love her after she came
back, but her body would stay stiff, and after a while
she'd push away. She ate little. Food sickened her,
and I think much of life too” (4). The problem is that
no child is the same. When society which is generic
tries to apply generic procedures to individual children it is bound for failure. There is no substitute for
intuition. The author makes her position on the subject clear. In speaking of the convalescent home she
states that “the children shriek down to be heard,
and between them the invisible wall: ‘Not to Be Contaminated by Parental Germs or Physical Affec-
tion’” (4). It is only too late once her window has
passed that the author recognizes that utmost need
for her to give Emily actual physical affection. She
recognizes that society stripped her of that opportunity and she is bitter and regretful because of it.
Unfortunately the split between parents and
society did not end there for this daughter and
mother. It continued into Emily’s education. Due
to Emily’s health problems and needs for an engaged parent she was not confident and struggled
in school. Because Emily lacked certain qualities
associated with intellect, her teachers thought of
her as slow in learning. The mother recalls that,
“School was a worry to her. She was not glib or
quick in a world where glibness and quickness
were easily confused with ability to learn” (4). The
unfortunate flaw in the mother’s thought process
is that despite the flaws of society, they can largely
be made up for by a loving and involved parent.
Her failure to do so was not a matter of circumstance, but a matter of choice. Often the thought
process is that if I cannot spend enough quality
time with my child, what is the point at all? Encouragingly, the work of the National Institute of
Child Health and Human Development found that
the “quality, not quantity, of maternal care giving
was the strongest factor in preventing childhood
behavioral problems, encouraging pro-social behavior and improving children’s language
skills” (Tong et al. 2069). What happens outside of
our control is of little importance when associated
with the shortcomings of our own circumstance.
What this mother, and each reader needs to realize
is that, yes, there will be times when we are unable
to give our children all of the time and attention
they deserve. However this is no excuse to simply
pass them off to the wills of society. When that
happens it is clear that long term behavior and developmental and even actual physical health problems ensue.
The long term effects on a child from living in
conditions without present parents are most obvious in the beginning stages of life. Researchers
have found that “children with more experience in
center settings continued to manifest somewhat
more problem behaviors through sixth
grade” (Belsky et al. 697). While this is a relatively
short amount of time when compared with the human lifecycle these are the memories that will be
with an individual for the longest amount of time.
No false sense of security should be taken in that
research because it goes onto discuss that
7
“Moreover, developmental theorists have posited
that important transitions, such as beginning a new
school, entering puberty, or dealing with adolescence, more generally can create challenges in which
‘‘old’’ issues are resurrected” (698). This is not a radical idea or concept. It is only after many walls of
security and trust are built up that one can overcome such difficult conditioning. When those walls
are removed through major life changes they can
recur again, regardless of age.
The 21st century dilemma of parentless children
is unique because it has been brought on by both
necessity and choice. With planning and care a
working mother can also provide the necessary keys
to development that only they can give to their children. Unfortunately this burden is being shifted to
society, and they are unable to adequately fulfill the
need. Is it any wonder that modern society breeds
violence, immorality, and crudeness? In conjunction
with other factors it is a manifestation of the generation that began to grow up without the influence of
mothers. The mother in “I Stand Here Ironing” laments the fact that her child will be exposed to the
same threats posed to other children in her situation.
She implores the hope at the end of the narrative
that “she is more than this dress on the ironing
board, helpless before the iron” (Olsen 7). In this
statement we see the mother’s tragic flaw. Even at
this point she is unwilling to get involved with her
daughter’s life stating only lines before that “My
wisdom came too late…let her be” (7). Even after
recognizing her failures in helping to mold and
shape the life of her daughter, she continues to submit to society, and any influence but her own with
only the idle hope that somehow those forces will
not extinguish the already fragile life of her daughter. In this the great message of this story comes full
circle. Parents will one day recognize how well they
have or have not influenced the life of their children.
It is clear that there are windows of opportunity for
parents to have the greatest influence, but there is
never an excuse to simply check-out for good. Parents need to understand the real and actual consequences of their aloofness towards the rearing of
their own children. When possible they need to engage in their lives, and their well-being. Not doing
so can lead to very real behavioral, emotional, physical, and educational complications. The child is not
at fault for these but is simply the recipient of their
unfortunate circumstances. Where choice is available parents need to strongly evaluate the short and
long term consequences of where their time is going
to be spent. Otherwise, this sad story of a desolate
daughter, and a regretful mother could become their
own.
Works Cited
Bressler, Charles E. Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. Upper Saddle
River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.
Catherine Ayoub, Ann M. Mastergeorge, Claire D.
Vallotton. "Developmental Pathways to Integrated Social Skills: The Roles of Parenting
and Early Intervention." Child Development
(2011): 583-600. Print.
Jay Belsky, Margaret Burchinal, Kathleen McCartney, Deborah Lowe Vandell, K. Alison
Clarke-Stewart, Margaret Tresch Owen. "Are
There Long-Term Effects of Early Child
Care?" Child Development (2007): 681-701.
Print.
Lian Tong, Ryoji Shinohara, Yuka Sugisawa, Emiko
Tanaka, Akiko Maruyama, Yuko Sawada,
Yukiko Ishi, Tokie Anme. "Relationship of
working mothers’ parenting style and consistency to early childhood development: a
longitudinal investigation." JOURNAL OF
ADVANCED NURSING (2009): 2067-2076.
Print.
National Archives. http://www.archives.gov. n.d.
March 30 2012.
Nermeen E. El Nokali, Heather J. Bachman, and
Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal. "Parent Involvement and Children’s Academic and Social
Development in Elementary School." Child
Development (2010): 988-1005. Print.
Olsen, Tillie. "Tell Me a Riddle." Olsen, Tillie. Tell
Me a Riddle. New York: Rutgers University
Press, 1956. 1-12. Print.
Sharon H. Bzostek, Audrey N. Beck. "Familial instability and young children’s physical health."
Social Science & Medicine (2011): 282-292.
Print.
8 Symbolic Moral Dilemmas
The Ribbons of Faith
Michelle Christiansen
The story of “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne opens on Faith asking her husband to put off his journey until sunrise. She is described as having pink ribbons in her hair: Goodman
Brown “look(s) back and [sees] the head of Faith
still peeping after him with a melancholy air, in spite
of her pink ribbons” (Hawthorne 357). The pink ribbons that Faith, Goodman Brown’s wife, wears in
her hair are an important symbol throughout
“Young Goodman Brown.” Leo Levy agrees with
this when he states that “Those celebrated pink ribbons on Faith's cap are vital to an understanding of
her metamorphosis and of Brown's desperate efforts
to recover his faith” (375–376). They represent different characters’ levels of faith, as well as characteristics of the principle of faith, in general. The ribbons act as a catalyst in the story, and the color pink
symbolizes how perfect faith can come as long as
you forgive yourself.
Right away we can see that these pink ribbons
are an important symbol because Hawthorne directly points them out. In one sense, the color pink characterizes Faith as being an innocent and a cheerful
wife. Only four paragraphs in, Hawthorne writes,
“’Then God bless you!’ said Faith, with the pink ribbons; ‘and may you find all well when you come
back’” (Hawthorne 357, emphasis added). This establishes her as God-fearing. It also shows that she
has faith in Goodman Brown. Goodman Brown recognizes this because he promises that after he finishes his journey he will “cling to [Faith’s] skirts and
follow her to heaven” (Hawthorne 357).
However, seen through Goodman Brown’s eyes
later in the story, following their meeting in the forest, these pink ribbons can also represent impurity.
“The ribbons are an explicit link between two conceptions of Faith, connecting sweet little Faith of the
village with the woman who stands at the Devil's
baptismal font” (Levy 384). Though the physical appearance of the ribbons does not change throughout
the story, the way Goodman Brown perceives them
does. In the beginning, he sees them as a symbol of
innocence. But following the night in the forest, he
views them as an indication that she does not look
up to heaven. We see this at the end of the book
when Goodman Brown sees his wife turn the corner
“with the pink ribbons . . . she skipped along the
street and almost kissed her husband before the
whole village. But Goodman Brown looked sternly
and sadly into her face, and passed on without a
greeting” (Hawthorne365). This shows that Goodman Brown sees her ribbons as a negative item, not
necessarily a symbol of a sweet wife. He sees them
this way because his faith (spiritually) is not pure.
However, the meaning of the ribbons includes much
more than Faith’s characteristics.
As the story goes on, we can see that the ribbons
become a symbol of Goodman Brown’s characteristics. When the young man is chided by the stranger
for his tardiness in keeping their appointment,
Goodman Brown replies, “Faith kept me back a
while” (Hawthorne 358). However, “faith was not, of
course, strong enough to prevent his journey” (Hurley 413). Even though he is relying on his
faith to make it to heaven, it is still not strong
enough to keep him away from temptation. This is
the reason the ribbons are pink for him at the beginning; his faith is insufficient. Another example of
how his faith is imperfect is when Goodman Brown
states that he intends to get to heaven by “‘clinging
to the ‘skirts’ of faith rather than by virtue of his
own character or actions” (Hurley 412). Although
Goodman Brown has the intention to make it to
heaven, we can see that he still lacks faith; he is still
relying on someone else to make it to heaven.
Faith’s ribbons are pink because they symbolize
how, even before Goodman Brown’s journey, his
faith was still weak and impure.
While in the woods, Goodman Brown contemplates continuing on the journey. He hears a scream
that sounds just like his wife. As he runs toward the
noise, “something fluttered lightly down through
the air and caught on the branch of a tree. The
young man seized it, and beheld a pink ribbon” (Hawthorne 362). A catalyst is formed because
Goodman Brown has seized one of Faith’s ribbons in
his hand; it is still pink, making it imperfect. Brown
feels like he has lost both his wife, Faith, and his
spiritual faith completely. Goodman Brown cries
“My Faith is gone! There
“Brown feels like
is no good on earth; and
sin is but a name. Come
he has lost both
devil; for to thee is the
world given” (Hawthorne his wife, Faith,
362). Goodman Brown no
longer relies on Faith to be and his spiritual
his guide to heaven because she is no longer with faith”
9
him, or so he assumes from seeing the fluttering
pink ribbons. Goodman Brown believes that his
Faith has given in to the devil and so he finally lets
darkness overcome him. Goodman feels that because
there is no good on Earth, repentance is no longer
possible and evil is all that is left. Faith has
“fluttered lightly down” into the arms of Goodman
Brown who Hawthorne describes, “In truth, all
through the haunted forest there could be nothing
more frightful than the figure of Goodman
Brown” (362). It is as if Goodman Brown has become the devil himself. He sees no point of living
for faith anymore and turns to pure darkness with
no hope left in him.
In addition to acting as a symbol of the characteristics of the protagonists, the ribbons also serve
to comment on the general principle of faith. Notice
that the ribbons are pink and not white. Richard
Fogle expresses his interpretation about this thus:
“These ribbons, as we have seen, are an important
factor in the plot; and as an emblem of heavenly
Faith their color gradually deepens into the liquid
flame or blood of the baptism into sin” (456). The
pink ribbons symbolize the faith of Goodman Brown
and how it is imperfect and incomplete. Goodman
Brown lives the rest of his life trusting no one. Although he started his journey seeing the pink ribbons
as a symbol of goodness, they will forever remain
this color or maybe fall into a deep red because
Brown is unable to forgive anyone, including himself. Because of the event in the forest, “he is fated to
a dubious battle with shadows, to struggle with limited feet toward a redemption which must forever
elude him, since he has lost the vision of Good while
rejecting the proffered opportunity to embrace Evil
fully” (Fogle 454). It is as if Goodman Brown—like
the color pink—is stuck in the middle. He cannot
forgive himself, or anyone else, because of what he
saw in the forest, and at the same time he wants to
find that forgiveness. The ribbons will forever be
pink in Faith’s hair because the only way they can
become white, or pure, in Goodman Brown’s eyes is
if he can forgive himself for what he did and saw,
causing him to slowly gain pure faith.
At the end of the story, the reader does not know
if Goodman Brown had a dream or if the night in the
forest really happened. Prior to waking, Goodman
Brown cried to Faith to “look up to heaven, and resist the wicked one. Whether Faith obeyed he knew
not” (Hawthorne 365). Nonetheless, he passes Faith,
still wearing the pink ribbons, in town without a
greeting when she runs to meet him (Hawthorne
365). Paul Hurley expresses his thoughts toward
this saying, “His own distrust and suspicion have
assured him that she is sinful, even though, as Hawthorne is careful to note, she is wearing the pink ribbons which Goodman Brown thought he had
grasped from the air” (Hurley 418). Faith is wearing
her pink ribbons again, which should prove to
Goodman Brown that she is still the same Faith—
innocent and steadfast. However, “Brown has exhibited a compulsive denial of his compact with the
Devil; but when his efforts to recover his former relationship with Faith collapse, he has no recourse
except despair. No effort of the conscious will can
save him” (Levy 378). Goodman Brown is too distraught about what he has seen in the forest that he
cannot forgive his own wife. Dream or not, Brown
will not deny what he saw: his innocent Faith in the
forest with the devil. He does not know if she turned
away from the devil and looked up to heaven. Because of his denial, his faith will never be pure, and
the ribbons in Faith’s hair will forever be pink.
Faith’s pink ribbons are in fact, an important
symbol throughout the story of “Young Goodman
Brown.” In the opening paragraphs, Hawthorne establishes the ribbons as an important and recurring
element. Without the pink ribbons, the story would
lack a unifying link connecting Faith, Goodman
Brown, and idea of faith. The fluttering of the pink
ribbons after the disappearance of Faith causes
Goodman Brown to give up and turn toward the
Devil, thinking there is no good in the world without his wife, Faith. The color pink symbolizes the
lack of forgiveness of oneself. Goodman Brown was
never the same after what he saw and became in the
forest. The author recognizes that our waking life
and the life of dreams are bound up together; that
“life is like a dream in its revelation of terrifying
truths. [Hawthorne’s] point is that the truth conveyed in the dream—that faith may betray us—is
also a truth of waking experience” (Levy 376).
Works Cited
Fogle, Richard. “Ambiguity and Clarity in Hawthorne’s ‘Young Goodman Brown.’” The New
England Quarterly 18.4 (1945): 448-465.
JSTOR. Web. 20 January 2012.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Young Goodman Brown.”
The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to
Short Fiction. Ed. Stephen A. Scipione. New
York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. 357–
10 Symbolic Moral Dilemmas
366.Print.
Hurley, Paul. “Young Goodman Brown’s ‘Heart of
Darkness.’”American Literature. 37.4 (1966):
410–419. JSTOR. Web. 20 January 2012.
Levy, Leo. “The Problem of Faith in ‘Young Goodman Brown.’” The Journal of English and
Germanic Philology 74.3 (1975): 375-387.
JSTOR. Web. 20 January 2012.
The Human Race is “The
Most Dangerous Game”
Rachel Cope
How is a story written almost an entire century
ago still relevant today? What gives the story the
ability to live from generation to generation? Literary devices have the ability to relate to readers and
societies of any time period. The Most Dangerous
Game by Richard Connell is a short story that was
written in 1924 but it is still read everywhere from
the homes of students finishing school work to the
personal libraries of retired politicians. By paralleling the imaginary “society” on Ship Trap Island to
any actual society, Richard Connell has succeeded in
writing a story that will defeat the test of time. The
Most Dangerous Game uses symbolism to prove that
animalism is no match for civilized world, that humans can overcome the natural man or woman.
Connell uses symbolism of the senses to develop
the theme of humility versus pride. The ability to
see and hear in this case symbolizes humility, a characteristic of someone who has overcome the natural
man. Rainsforth, the main character of The Most
Dangerous Game, suffers from blindness as he travels
on his luxury yacht to hunt jaguars. “‘Can’t see it,’”
he says, referring to a not so distant island. “‘Nor
four yards… it’s like moist black velvet’” (Connell
175). But his temporary lack of sight does not stop
him from using his ears. He realizes his loss and
makes up for it with his others senses. He remembers vaguely what direction the island is by the
sounds he heard coming from it. This ability to rely
on his other senses saves him while he could have
drowned. Here, Rainsforth’s humility to use all his
senses contrasts with the blindness and pride of societies that are destined for failure. These societies
are blind to the looming danger of their ways. They
are also deaf to the voices of warning found in scripture and other literature. Failing societies are filled
with natural men who see and hear what they want
to but are too proud to open their minds up to warning signs. Animalism does not stand a chance
against a civilized world if natural men are too
proud to use all their senses to see and hear the
right things.
Rainsworth, the symbol of a decent human being, continues learning to use all his senses to defeat
the symbol of the inner animal, General Zaroff.
While being hunted, Rainsforth finds refuge in a
tree and relies on his ears as well as on his eyes.
“The silence of a dead world was on the jungle… the
cry of some startled bird focused Rainsforth’s attention in that direction… he watched” (Connell 187188 emphasis added). As Rainsforth feels his impeding danger, he listens and looks for his enemy. The
use of these symbols shows that Rainsforth has
overcome the natural man in himself and now he can
overcome Zaroff. In the middle of a jungle- animal
society- he is able to use his senses to run from his
enemy rather than kill him. Zaroff, on the other
hand, seems to focus only on what he can see as an
advantage. “Nothing escaped those searching black
eyes, no crushed blade of grass, no bent twig, no
mark, no matter how faint, in the moss” (Connell
189). As humans learn to develop into greater beings than the natural man, they will learn to use
their senses. These symbols written almost a hundred years ago are still relevant today because the
same disease of blindness that killed societies thousands of years ago still rob today’s world of goodness.
Light is another symbol proves that man can
overcome the inner animal. Connell uses it differently than most other authors; here it symbolizes deception and the danger connected to lies. For experienced sailors and casual boaters alike, a light
“indicate[s] a channel,” but as Zaroff tells us,
“there’s none; giant rocks with razor edges crouch
like a sea monster with wide-open jaws” (Connell
183-184). These lights that would otherwise mean
safety instead lead to danger. The use of this symbol
in this ways creates a sort of irony that leads to the
question, Why does Zaroff use his advantage to lead
others to danger? Zaroff, like natural men throughout history, finds himself in a position of power and
the natural man takes over. While he is in control of
the light and the ability to deceive, he holds the
power to lead his followers to peril. He receives the
vulnerable victim into his arms of safety just to feed
off the victim’s faithful adherence. The deterioration
of so many societies begins like this when the leader
takes advantage of the light they hold and leads
11
their followers to the jagged rocks. Rainsforth falls
into this same trap. He sees the lights on the island
from his secluded beach and assumes it is a village.
He soon sees that it is a large building. “Where
there are men, there is food,” he correctly assumes
(Connell 178). But the lights on the house lead only
to danger. On this island, there is no safety while
there is light. Because Rainsforth is meek and trusting, he follows the light. He falls prey to the Zaroff’s
deception but finds his way out by taking advantage
of his safety net, darkness.
As the symbol of light signifies the natural man
being overcome, darkness does the same thing.
Where the absence of light usually conveys the necessity for heed, in this story darkness actually functions as a symbol of truth and safety. “It’s so dark
that I could sleep without closing my
eyes; the night would be my eyelids,”
says Rainsforth (Connell 176). He is
surrounded by complete darkness as
he enjoys his last moment of peace
and safety aboard the yacht. The
next time he experiences this complete darkness is after the yacht disappears from view. While treading
water, “the lights of the yacht
[become] faint and ever-vanishing fireflies; then
they [are] blotted out entirely by the
night” (Connell 176). Though very relative, safety is
again represented by darkness, just a colder, much
less comfortable safety. Darkness often connotes ignorance and, in society, ignorance is bliss. Today
many people live by the motto “what they don’t
know won’t hurt them.” They live in the illusion
that just because someone is ignorant to their surroundings, they are safe and happy. Sadly, this
seems to be true now and in societies throughout the
ages. Natural men wish not to know. They want to
believe that they can use their ignorance as an excuse for their wrong behavior. Connell’s perceives
this safety in darkness and parallels Rainsforth’s
safety to the safety of society. As Rainsforth is safe
only in the dark but never can defeat Zaroff, the natural man, without the light, society will never grow
in ignorance. This usage of darkness and light to
confirm that the natural man can be overcome by
leaving their zones of safety and ignorance.
Using the symbols of light and dark as opposite
of their normal meanings enhances the idea that a
person can overcome the natural man and become a
saint. The irony caused by this switch forces the
reader to see why it’s done. This symbolism is sar-
casm that proves that light in the world is actually
good. As Latter-Day Saints, we know that
“Whatsoever is light, is good” (Alma 32:35), “that
which is of God is light” (D&C 50:24), and “the Spirit giveth light to every man” (D&C 84:46). In order
for any man to completely overcome the natural
man, he must have light. Connell hides the real
meaning of the light symbol under a layer of irony
to show that the natural man can be overcome
through a little work on each person’s part.
General Zaroff is living as an enemy to God and
to all that cross his path. He lives as the foil character of Rainsforth. These two characters represent
the natural man and the penitent man. When Rainsforth wins the game, Connell shows that all people
can overcome the natural man and become a saint.
Richard Connell’s story transcends times by its ability to reach all audiences, teaching that the saint in
each person can overcome the natural man.
Works Cited
Connell, Richard. "The Most Dangerous Game."
Calitri, Charles
J. Stories. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World,
Inc., 1957. 175-191.
Various. Book of Mormon. n.d.
The Oppression of Eva
in “Tell Me a Riddle”
Susan Kelley
Betty Friedan, former president of the National
Organization of Women and author of The Feminine
Mystique, once said: “A woman has got to be able to
say, and not feel guilty, ‘Who am I, and What do I
want out of life?’ She mustn’t feel selfish or neurotic if
she wants goals of her own, outside of husband and
children” (qtd. in Bressler 174). Eva is faced with
how to answer this question for herself in Tillie
Olsen’s “Tell Me a Riddle,” which was written in a
time when society expected women to find fulfillment solely in homemaking and motherhood (Olson
313). “Tell Me a Riddle” chronicles Eva’s journey to
not only discover these answers, but to finally find
solitude and to “never again…be forced to move to
the rhythms of others” (Olsen 68). Throughout her
12 Symbolic Moral Dilemmas
marriage, Eva has “become the Other, an object
whose existence is defined and interpreted by the
dominant male,” who in Eva’s case is her husband,
David (Bressler 173). In “Tell Me a Riddle,” this
dominance, shown through David’s oppression of
Eva, is symbolized through David and Eva’s disagreement over moving to the Haven, coupled with
the titles David uses to refer to Eva.
“Tell Me a Riddle” begins with a vivid description that sets the stage for the conflict that becomes
a symbol of David’s forty-seven year oppression of
Eva:
where she is comfortable and enjoy what time she
has left; she does not want David dictating where
she spends this time. She has finished the period of
her life when the house and her family felt like an
“enemy,” as she was always cleaning up the
“tracking, smudging, littering, dirtying,…in [an]…
endless defeating battle…” (68). Eva now sees this
part of her obligation to her family fulfilled and
seeks to nurture herself, in her own home, not at the
Haven. What David views as a haven is not a haven
for Eva.
David’s next argument for moving reinforces his
desire
to be taken care of by others and comes into
For forty-seven years they had been married.
play as Eva is doing her household chores, which
How deep back the stubborn, gnarled roots
she previously viewed as her “enemy.” “At the Haof the quarrel reached, no one could say—but
ven,” he says, “They come in with their own maonly now, when tending to the needs of othchines to clean your room…. For once in your life,
ers no longer shackled them together, the
to be free, to have everything done for you, like a
roots swelled up visible, split the earth bequeen…. No dishes, no garbage, no towel to sop, no
tween them, and the tearing shook even to
worry what to buy, what to eat” (Olsen 65). Eva’s
the children, long since grown. (Olsen 63)
retort is, “I never liked queens…. And what else
David, who is semi-retired, wants to sell the family
would I do with my empty hands? Better to eat at
home and move to the Haven, an all-inclusive retiremy own table when I want, and to cook and eat how
ment community. David will not “turn
I want” (65). When David reminds her
away from this desire: to have the trou- “...did you stay at that she used to complain about her
bling of responsibility, the fretting with
her reply is very telling: “How
home with them chores,
money, over and done with; to be free,
cleverly you hid that you heard. I said it
to be carefree…” (64). Eva, however,
once so I could go? then because eighteen hours a day I ran.
wants nothing to do with this plan; she
And you never scraped a carrot or knew
wants to remain in their home.
Even once? You a dish towel sops” (65-66). David’s total
David’s oppression of Eva is shown trained me well. I lack of help in maintaining their home
and raising their children causes Eva to
through the arguments he makes for
moving to the Haven, and these argu- do not need other to feel ostracized from the outside world.
Although she has always loved and valments become a symbol of this oppresenjoy. Others!” ued her home and family, she now desion. David’s idea of a haven is to have
sires to nurture herself, in her own
everything done for him by others, and
home, not at David’s haven.
in his haven he will rely on others to
— Eva
make him happy. Eva’s idea of a haven
Still not willing to give up on his desire
is to do things for herself, on her timetable, and to
to find his haven, David feels he will win this battle
take care of her needs for the first time in many
with his next argument: “Look! In their bulletin. A
years. She wants to find her happiness within herreading circle. Twice a week it meets…. Cultured
self. David’s arguments for moving to the Haven are
people at the Haven that you would enjoy” (Olsen
well thought out, as he tends to focus on what he
66). David knows of Eva’s deep love of reading, and
believes will encourage Eva to agree to the move.
is using this ploy to convince her to move. However,
The first argument David uses is that they do not
her reply is a prime example of the oppression she
need all the rooms and furniture that cause Eva so
has felt from David: “Enjoy! Now, when it pleases
much work. When David asks Eva, “What do we
you, you find a reading circle for me. And forty
need all this for?” Eva responds, “Because I’m
years ago when the children were morsels and there
use’t” (Olsen 64). She goes on to argue that “…soon
was a Circle, did you stay home with them once so I
enough we’ll need only a little closet, no windows,
could go? Even once? You trained me well. I do not
no furniture, nothing to make work, but for worms.
need others to enjoy. Others!” (66). Eva then remiBecause now I want room…” (65). Eva wants to stay
nisces of times when she would steal any possible
13
moments to read while nursing babies because this
was her only time to do so, and David would come
in and coax her to “put the book away, don’t read,
don’t read” (67). Now she can only remember memorized passages from the few books she owns and
must read through a “magnifying glass superimposed over her heavy eyeglasses” (68). David has not
only oppressed Eva by leaving her, alone, to care for
the home and children, but he has also taken from
her the things she loved that were hers and hers
alone, including her love of reading. Now that she
has time to read, it is physically very difficult for her
to do so. Due to David’s oppression, this part of
Eva’s idea of a haven—reading whatever and whenever she desires—is now forever nearly out of her
reach.
David’s concluding argument for moving to the
Haven, which again reinforces his idea of what a haven is for him, deals with money, which has been
scarce during their marriage. He points out that at
the Haven everything is taken care of; there will be
no unknown money issues to deal with. David simply wants to have all aspects of his life managed by
others and to do as little as possible for himself. Eva,
of course, has a very different idea on this subject.
As David continues to press her on this subject, she
replies with, “Let me alone about money…. Seven
little ones—for every penny I had to ask—and
sometimes, remember, there was nothing. But always I had to manage” (Olsen 67). This response
evokes painful memories for Eva of very difficult
times:
…old humiliations and terrors rose up, lived
again, and forced her to relive them. The
children’s needings; that grocer’s face or this
merchant’s wife she had had to
beg
credit from when credit was a disgrace;…the
desperate going over the old to see what
could yet be remade; the soups of meat bones
begged “for the dog” one winter…(67)
David added to Eva’s oppression through the absolute control he exercised over the family’s small
amount of money, and through forcing her to ask
him for every penny she needed to take care of their
family. This had also greatly affected Eva’s ability to
adequately take care of their children’s basic physical
needs, and this oppression had caused Eva to feel
embarrassed and degraded in front of others.
At the conclusion of David’s arguments for moving to his haven, Eva remains firm in her desire to
stay in her home, her haven. After forty-seven years
of oppression, she is finally trying to “live within,
and not move to the rhythms of others…And in
[this] she had won to a reconciled peace” (Olsen 6869). She has finally decided to take care of her
needs, and can finally set aside the many years of allconsuming motherhood to once again find herself.
David, however, will have the last word and
“violates” Eva’s peace and resolve: “I will sell the
house anyway…There will be a way to make you
sign” (69). David is determined that his desire to live
in his haven will be fulfilled, regardless of what
Eva’s definition of a haven may be.
While David’s oppression of Eva is symbolized
through his arguments for moving to the Haven, his
oppression is also symbolized through the titles he
uses when addressing Eva, titles which he uses instead of calling her by name. Although these titles
sometimes sound positive, more often than not their
meanings are in direct opposition to their denotations, and are of an oppressive nature. The first title
David uses when addressing Eva is “Mrs. Word Miser,” which is in response to her briefly stated reason
for wanting to remain in her home, “Because I’m
use’t” (Olsen 64). David’s callous reply is yet another symbol of oppression: “Used to can get unused!” (64). David wants what he wants, and Eva’s
desires are not important.
David’s next use of oppressive titles is in response to Eva’s annoyance with their extremely
loud television and David’s continual argument in
favor of the social aspects of the Haven, both of
which are extremely important to him, but not to
her. “Mrs. Enlightened! Mrs. Cultured!...Mrs. Unpleasant,” he calls her, “You could lock yourself up
to smell your unpleasantness in a room by yourself—for who would want to come near
you?” (Olsen 70). Eva only wants to be alone in her
house, away from the outside world, as she has been
forced by David to become quite skilled at this over
the years. David’s total disregard for this need is
confirmed one night when Eva asks him to stay
home with her instead of going to a meeting at the
Haven, as she is feeling the effects of her undiagnosed cancer. His answer to her request, in which he
employs yet another title, is very unsympathetic:
“Hah, Mrs. Live Alone And Like It wants company
all of a sudden…Yes, I am going out,…and think
how you keep us both from where if you want people, you do not need to be alone.” “Go, go. All your
life you have gone without me” is Eva’s sad response
(74). David still does not fully understand how his
oppression, this last being in the form of loneliness,
14 Symbolic Moral Dilemmas
has affected her life, and now he berates Eva for this
learned loneliness.
David also uses a series of oppressive titles to
address Eva during her last visit with her children; a
journey David forces Eva to make in the midst of
her battle with cancer. David does not understand
how badly Eva is feeling, and calls her “Mrs. Invalid” one morning when she refuses to leave her bed
and join him on the porch (Olsen 93). He calls her
“Mrs. Orator-without-Breath” one day when she is
feeling ill and has an anxiety attack that triggers
unpleasant memories which cause her to speak in
shortened, run-on sentences (98). As Eva grows
closer to dying, she somewhat unconsciously begins
to talk about the difficult work she did and the
atrocities she saw while a prisoner in Russia. To these ramblings David says, “Aah, Mrs. Miserable, all
your life working, now in bed you lie, servants to
tend,…and still you work. Such hard work it is to
die?” (109). Lastly, as Eva is very near death, and
David is frustrated with the reality that his time
with her is very limited, he calls her “Mrs. Cadaver” (111). This is David’s final title for Eva. She remains unnamed until the last pages of the story
when she is at death’s door, and he finally whispers
her name, “Eva!” (113). These titles symbolize David’s oppression of Eva, even while she is sick and
dying, and all of David’s titles for Eva show how he
never quite understood, or cared about, the deeply
yearned for needs of his wife.
Throughout the story “Tell Me a Riddle,” David
oppresses Eva by “reducing her existence to a gender-defined position in society, to her function as
wife, mother, and grandmother” (Maierhofer 133).
This oppression is symbolized through his arguments for moving to the Haven and through the numerous titles he uses when addressing his wife. Eva
has come to a point in her life when these symbols of
her oppression, which she is finally able to
acknowledge after forty-seven years, now serve as a
catalyst for change. Eva now recognizes that
“Women…must define for themselves what it means
to be a woman. Women themselves must take the
lead and articulate who they are and what role they
will play in society…” (Bressler 171). Unfortunately,
Eva passes away before her desires are fully realized
and her sought after peace is found. The only haven
she finds is death.
Works Cited
Bressler, Charles E. Literary Criticism: An Introduc-
tion to Theory and Practice. 4th
ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.
Maierhofer, Roberta. "Desperately Seeking The Self:
Gender, Age, and Identity in Tillie Olsen's Tell
Me a Riddle and Michelle Herman's Missing."
Educational
Gerontology 25.2 (1999): 129141. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Feb. 2012.
Olsen, Tillie. “Tell Me a Riddle.” Tell Me a Riddle.
New York: Dell, 1961. 63-116. Print.
Olson, James S. "Women." Historical Dictionary of the
1950s. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2000. 313314. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 11 Feb.
2012.
Pearlman, Mickey. “Tillie Olsen.” Twayne's United
States Authors Series 581. Boston: Twayne,
1991. 92-111.Web. 4 Feb. 2012.
“A Pair of Silk
Stockings”:
A Psychoanalytic
analysis of Chopin’s
Feminist Struggle
Kelsey McMurtrey
In the 1800’s, some interesting ideas and
movements regarding the roles of women began to
emerge in American society. Movements such as
the True Woman Movement and the New Woman
Movement began to come forth, and they were explored, supported, and rejected in various pieces of
American literature. Kate Chopin is a noted author
during this time period, and bits of her own personal
struggles with the feminist movement come forward
in her works. One of her short stories entitled “A
Pair of Silk Stockings” contains aspects of the True
Woman and New Woman movements, but it is debated as to which one (if either) it supports. As we
examine the character of Mrs. Sommers in “A Pair
of Silk Stockings,” we can view her transformation
(from her reliance on her id, to her ego, and then to
her superego), and we can understand how this shift
15
represents the author’s personal struggle of remaining a True Woman or joining the New Woman Movement in Chopin’s own life.
The struggles that Kate Chopin faced in her own
life can give us great insight into her main character,
Mrs. Sommers, in “A Pair of Silk Stockings.”
Chopin had difficulties early on in her
life, including the unexpected loss of
her husband that left her with six
young children to care for (Seyerstead
43). When he died, he left her with a
debt of $250, 000, and no way to pay it
off (Seyerstead 43). She had no choice
but to frugally tend to her home and
children; she had no “escape” from her
situation. Around this same time period, The New Woman Movement was beginning to emerge. The New Woman
Movement was a “highly feminist ideal
that came about to push the limits that
were created by a very male-dominated
society” in America (Patterson 12).
Advocates for The New Woman Movement argued
that women shouldn’t be forced to stay at home in
their domestic roles, but that they should be allowed
to express their individuality and be viewed as
equals to the men in the workplace. It could be said
that Chopin’s main character Mrs. Sommers’s temporary radical behavior exemplifies Chopin’s support
and interest in being a part of the New Woman
Movement so that she could start fresh, and abandon
her bad situation. The New Woman Movement offered hope and a feeling of importance to the working women that joined it, while the True Woman
Movement encouraged the stay at home mothers that
they were doing what was right.
The True Woman Movement emerged during the
same time frame as The New Woman Movement, but
it supported very different ideas. Supporters of the
True Woman Movement believed that “Women were
put in the center of the domestic sphere and were
expected to fulfill the roles of a calm and nurturing
mother, a loving and faithful wife, and a passive, delicate, and virtuous creature” (Lindley 56). This
drastic difference between movements could obviously create conflict between one’s id and ego. Because her difficult situation gave her great cause to
want to run away and think of her own welfare, it
could be said that Chopin longed to join the New
Woman Movement. However, I argue that both Mrs.
Sommers and Kate Chopin are True Women, but they
have brief struggles with their difficult situations in
life. Because of this, Chopin allows Mrs. Sommers to
briefly rely on her id to escape for a moment from
the harsh realities of the world. Rather than use her
ego and rationally make decisions, Mrs. Sommers’ id
propels her forward to make several dramatic choices that she wouldn’t make in her regular, everyday
life, such as spending money on frivolous items throughout the day. We
can see this ‘taking over of the id’
when Mrs. Sommers ventures into the
city on a shopping trip.
Mrs. Sommers’s uses her id to wildly
grasp at independence, if only for an
afternoon, when she travels into the
city to get new clothes for her children; this can be contrasted with the
beginning of the story when her ego is
clearly in control. Normally, Mrs.
Sommers is very rational and lets her
ego control her decisions. However,
her sudden expression of independence
and autonomy takes place because she is not able to
easily express these traits under the pressures of
poverty, where, like Chopin, she usually resides. As
a True Woman herself, Chopin is able to effectively
portray the reality of her own struggles onto Mrs.
Sommers. We can see that the independent and
carefree attitude that Mrs. Sommers expresses in
the department store is not in her normal nature as
we look into her thought process after she first receives a sum of money. A telling passage states,
“She did not wish to act hastily, to do anything she
might afterward regret” (Chopin 152). She clearly
did not intend for the wasting of the money, because
she knew full well that it could purchase items to
better the lives of her children. This desire to be a
good mother, to listen to her ego and to put the
needs of her family before her own, exemplifies her
role as a True Woman. Her thoughts initially turned
to the needs of her family, realizing that they had
very little, so she knew this sum of money could do
a great deal to lift their spirits and lighten their circumstance with new items of clothing which they
needed. At this point in the story, her deep consideration of this matter shows us that her ego is still
in control.
It could be said that though she has good intentions initially, and her ego was at one time in control, her id and desire to support the New Woman
Movement through her display of independence and
16 Symbolic Moral Dilemmas
carelessness eventually takes over. This claim is
supported in the passage after she impulsively purchases several pairs of silk stockings for herself, rather than buying clothes for her children. It states
that, “She felt like lying back in the cushioned chair
and reveling for a while in the luxury of it. She did
for a little while” (Chopin 154). This passage could
be interpreted as Mrs. Sommers’s ultimate expression of independence and careless attitude towards
the responsibilities of her True Woman life in order
to support the independent ideals of the New Woman
Movement. I disagree with this interpretation; this
passage simply solidifies the point that Mrs. Sommers is escaping from the pressures of poverty in a
moment of allowing her id take control, which is
something that she rarely does because of her loyalty as a True Woman. It is a moment in which she
expresses her autonomy, but not for the sake of the
New Woman Movement. Just as she portrays in Mrs.
Sommers’s character, Chopin does not want to abandon her role as a mother and True Woman completely; she merely desires to take a breath from the
stresses and rigors of her normal life of meagerness
and frugality. She uses Mrs. Sommers not only to
make a statement about these feminist movements,
but to portray pieces of her own life as well.
Chopin was completely devoted to her six children, and she would sacrifice anything for them.
She transfers this same devotion onto Mrs. Sommers
with her children in the story in order to further
prove her devotion as a True Woman. We can see a
clear example of this devotion that she has from the
text which states, “Between getting the children fed
and the place righted…she had actually forgotten to
eat any luncheon at all” (Chopin 153). Mrs. Sommers was so consumed with the well-being of her
children that she had forgotten to take care of the
basic necessity of eating. This example is a simple
model of how the normal disregard for herself and
focus on her children depicts both Chopin and Mrs.
Sommers as True Women with healthy psychiatric
balances for the majority of the time. Her ego is
normally in control, which causes her actions to be
propelled by rational thought. This rational decision making is distorted, though, when Mrs. Sommer’s id takes over and causes her to indulge for an
afternoon.
It may be argued that when she begins indulging
in her id’s desires and spending the money, her behavior illustrates her longing to join the New Woman Movement to gain her freedom from the financial
stresses of being a True Woman. It could be seen
that the behavior she exhibits when she is trying on
shoes in the department store portrays someone
who only cares for herself (and not for her family),
which is supported in the quote which states, “She
was fastidious… she was not too easily pleased…
She wanted an excellent fit… and she did not mind
the difference of a dollar or two in the price so long
as she got what she desired” (Chopin 154). This
supports the idea that if she was truly worried about
her family, and if she was really a True Woman, she
would be searching for bargains and searching for
items that her children needed to make the most of
her money, not spending money on herself so carelessly. I again point out that she is not supporting
the idea of joining the New Woman Movement to gain
her everlasting freedom; she is simply lapsing into a
momentary judgment of her id.
Not only does Mrs. Sommers purchase silk
stockings, she also goes onto purchase fitted gloves,
expensive magazines, elaborate food, and lastly,
even a ticket to a matinee show. Those arguing that
she is undoubtedly progressing towards the role of a
New Woman might argue that if she was a True
Woman, she would feel some remorse at some point
for her actions, and stop her lavish spending. Conversely, Mrs. Sommers knows what her limits are as
a True Woman, and her id has taken over. The id
has no conscious, and will indulge in whatever it
pleases. Chopin uses the id again and again as an
outlet for Mrs. Sommers in this story. She recognizes that this day will be over quickly, and so she
indulges in every part of her ‘frivolous’ spending. A
quote that exemplifies this point is apparent as we
examine her experience at the matinee: “It is safe to
say there was no one present who bore quite the attitude which Mrs. Sommers did to her surroundings.
She gathered in the whole… and enjoyed it” (Chopin
155). Mrs. Sommers knew that this brief experience
of careless expenditure would be a fleeting moment,
and she would need to return to her regular life of
frugality, and let her superego again take over, when
the day was ended. This is why she feels like “a
dream [had] ended” when the matinee was over,
because she knows that her id must go back beneath
the surface of her well-mannered personality once
again (Chopin 156). She understands that when she
goes back to her home, she will immediately resume
her role as a True Woman. This return to normalcy
will cause her id to return to its hidden place in her
mind, and she will slip back into a state where her
superego controls her decisions.
17
As we look at the closing paragraph, we get a
sense of Mrs. Sommers’s longing to continue the
‘borrowed’ reality that she has lived in for an afternoon, just as Chopin desires to continue her
‘borrowed’ reality through the character of Mrs.
Sommers. Mrs. Sommers’s longing to continue following her id’s impulses is made apparent in the final passage, which states, “In truth, [the man next
to her in the cable car] saw nothing –unless he were
wizard enough to detect a poignant wish, a powerful
longing that the cable car would never stop anywhere, but go on with her forever” (Chopin 156).
Though we can see from this quote that she wishes
that she could keep riding the car and get out of her
difficult financial situation, she does not run away.
She lets her superego guide her back to her home
and children that need her. Chopin did not “run
away” from her difficult situation either, but instead
used her writing as her escape—“as her source of
therapeutic healing” (Seyerstead 45). Chopin wanted Mrs. Sommers to be committed to her family as a
True Woman, just as she wanted to go home to fulfill
her role. It could be inferred that this concluding
paragraph solidifies Chopin’s desire to leave her
place in the world of the True Woman and run away
to the New Woman Movement, but I strongly disagree. It is merely illustrating that Mrs. Sommers
and Chopin do indeed have difficult lives, (which
may have caused a moment where the id took over
for Mrs. Sommers) but ultimately they will go back
to the role that they have chosen as True Women.
As several components of the short story “A Pair
of Silk Stockings” are combined, readers can see how
Chopin is illustrating that although there may be
difficulties and struggles in being a True Woman, it
is ultimately the individual woman’s choice to maintain this role. There may be moments in a True
Woman’s life where she struggles with the trials of
domesticity, and her id briefly takes over. However,
Chopin portrays a confidence with the ending of her
story that illustrates that ultimately, these women
can handle their trials. Chopin’s grandson said this
of Kate: "Kate was neither a feminist nor a suffragist,
she said so. She was nonetheless a woman who took
women extremely seriously. She never doubted
women's ability to be strong" (Chopin).
Chopin believed that even though being a True
Woman was difficult, it was necessary for her, and
the right thing to do. True Women of this time period had the choice to leave, give in to the demands of
the id, join the New Woman Movement, and abandon
their roles to possibly obtain independence or financial freedom, but many chose to stay. They may
have expressed a moment of indulgence to their id’s
desires like Mrs. Sommers, but in the end, many
chose to go back to their roles in the home because
they felt that is where they belonged and were valued as mothers. Though Chopin may have had
struggles in her personal life, she makes it apparent
through the character of Mrs. Sommers that the superego holds a great deal of importance in the role
of a True Woman.
Works Cited
Chopin, David. Kate Chopin: A Re-Awakening. Interview. 14 Mar 2008.
Chopin, Kate. "A Pair of Silk Stockings." Great
American Short Stories. Ed. Paul Negri. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc., 2002.
Print.
Lindley, Susan Hill. ""The Ideal American Woman"." You have stept out of your place: a History
of Women and Religion in America. (1996): 56.
Web. 23 Feb. 2012.
Patterson, Martha H. Beyond the Gibson Girl:
Reimagining the American New Woman, 18951915. University of Illinois Press, 2005. 12.
Print
Seyerstead, Per. Kate Chopin: A Critical Biography.
Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State UP, 1985.
Print.
“Really Something”:
Shedding the Filters
that Blind Us
Meagan Mena
Raymond Carver’s work has been called “dirty
fiction:” a minimalistic approach that deals with profound themes by exploring the very base of the human condition and drawing upon its rawness. In his
short story “Cathedral,” Carver uses the symbols of
tapes, television, movies, coins, and even a deceased
wife to illustrate disconnections in the narrator’s
relationships, illuminating social misconceptions and
18 Symbolic Moral Dilemmas
demonstrating how his emotional “blindness” is
more crippling than Robert’s physical blindness.
Carver uses tapes, television, and movies—
staples of modern day technology—as substitutions
for the real thing. Although they are powerful substitutes, these objects act
as filters, standing be“...these objects act
tween an observer and the
object they are observing. as filters, standThis kind of detachment
from the real and replac- ing between an
ing it with copies of the
observer and the
tangible creates the disconnection we see the nar- object they are obrator suffering from. The
central tension of the story serving.”
is a lack of understanding
and compassion the narrator has for those around
him. There is also an absence of introspectiveness
that would allow him to see his own faults rather
than concentrate solely on the faults of others
(Brown 130).
This “blindness” the narrator is plagued with is
foiled by Robert, who recognizes his blindness but
uses other tools in order to “see.” The reader sees a
profound difference between the narrator and Robert from the start of the story, when Robert recognizes that being there physically with someone “sure
beats tapes” (Carver 264). This contrast sets the
reader up for a case of binary opposition, where two
characters have more differences than similarities,
creating the tension for the rest of the story. Where
the narrator is comfortable with the different mediums of filters that get in the way of him feeling or
seeing the real thing, Robert prefers personal and
intimate contact with other people.
Emotional blindness is another filter the narrator must look through, but it is warped and twisted
from his own prejudices and pride. The narrator is
uncomfortable with the idea of Robert coming to
visit. He is self-conscious when his wife visits with
Robert and he is not receiving as much attention. He
admits that his “idea of blindness came from the
movies;” another filter in the narrator’s life that distorts the truth by replacing the real thing with a
substitute (Carver 356). This makes the narrator
even less reliable, especially since the reader is told
through the narrator’s perspective what he thinks of
blind people even though he has “never met, or personally known anyone who was blind” (Carver 262).
He is allowing his fears of the unknown get in the
way of him developing any kind of intimate relationship, blinding him from the potential he has in bonding with others if he shed the filters and allowed
people to influence him in a positive way.
Robert, however, is much more personable. Since
he is physically blind, he uses his other senses, like
touch, to see. Something as intimate as touch makes
the narrator squirm, especially when his wife recounts an experience where she let Robert touch
“his fingers to every part of her face—even her
neck” (Carver 258). Carver blurs the line between
tactile and visual imagery since, for Robert, there is
little difference. Whatever he feels, he sees. When
the narrator admits that he cannot understand how
Robert ever “married, lived and worked” with his
late wife without “his having ever seen what the
goddamn woman looked like,” shows his shortsightedness and defines his blindness even further
(Carver 360) . He cannot understand because to him,
his relationships are as superficial as what he can
base his first-glance judgments on.
Carver purposefully made both the narrator and
Robert inflicted with different handicaps, whereas
Robert is physically blind, the narrator shows an
inability to articulate his frustrations into words,
causing his “social, moral, and spiritual paralysis” (Brown 129). He is paralyzed, locked in this destructive way of living and seeing the world that he
cannot communicate. Instead, he uses these filters as
a way to not see everything so close. He is distant
and disengaged, and Robert’s role is to take him out
of his usual comfort zone and show him how to truly
see the world.
For a man who can see, the narrator in
"Cathedral" says little about what he sees. In the
story, there are few physical descriptions, few lasting images. The narrator never describes in detail
his house or his wife. He mostly talks about action in
short, direct sentences. In describing his wife's relationship to Robert, he uses the repeating structure,
"She [verb]." This lack of description signifies shallowness in the narrator’s perspective. He is only able
to take things at face value, just like he did when he
found out Beulah’s name (Carver 360).
His only attempt to describe the physical features of something comes at the end of the story
when he describes a cathedral to Robert, but he is
unable to do so with any feeling or vividness. The
19
television is acting as another filter; something he is
placing between himself and the real thing that disconnects him from everything else. When Robert
prompts him to close his eyes and draw the cathedral with him, the narrator sheds all the filters that
have constantly been between his perception and
truth and is able to “see” without the superficiality
sight introduces (Brown 133).
Without visual images to help the blind man
connect, he surpasses the judgments that sometimes
distorts perception and undercuts appreciation for
relationships. The various uses of technology
plague the narrator with habits of detachment and
apathy for cultivating meaningful relationship.
Through the metaphor of the cathedral, the narrator
broke away from the filters he became so accustomed to looking through and transcends the literal
definition of sight by closing his eyes and truly
“seeing” for the first time in his life.
Works Cited
Brown, Arthur A. “Raymond Carver and Postmodern Humanism.” Critique: Studies in Modern
Fiction 31.2 (1990): 125-136. JSTOR. Web.
21 Jan. 2012.
Carver, Raymond. “Cathedral.” Where I’m Coming
From. New York: Vintage, 1984. 356-375.
Print.
Deception and
Disillusionment
Amy Miller
There is nothing so universal, around the globe
and throughout the ages, as religion is to the soul.
People of all races and in every decade come together, or communally worship alone, but as a whole,
human beings thrive in religious beliefs. Those beliefs are fiercely personal and unique, with an array
of practice and expression, one of which is through
literature. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic writing is
an example of literary pieces bringing together a
timeless theme of religion: A religious foundation
based on the perception of others’ beliefs is weak,
and subject to deception and disillusionment. This
theme is illustrated through strong symbolism and
clear irony throughout Hawthorne’s short story
“Young Goodman Brown.”
Hawthorne purposefully gives the main characters clear symbolic names: Goodman Brown, and
Faith. This necessary symbolism prepares the readers for deeper meaning, and introduces the irony of
religious beliefs being subject to deception and disillusionment. Goodman Brown is just that: a good
man, recently married, who wants the best for his
wife. Both religiously minded, Hawthorne gives
obvious symbolism to Faith as “aptly named” (1).
Faith, in character and in trait, is the primary motivator for Brown throughout the story, but it is
Brown’s character that opens up to a symbol of all
“good” and religious-minded people. “Amen!” and
“Say thy prayers” Goodman declares comfortably to
his wife, with years of religious up-bringing and
others’ examples to back up his conviction (5). But
as these beliefs are challenged throughout the story,
Brown is left deceived and disillusioned.
Goodman Brown’s character begins his trek into
the forest, symbolizing the unknown, and the introduction to a theme of disillusionment unfolds.
Brown’s direction and purpose for his errand in the
forest remains firm at first, and his devilcompanion’s enticements to stray are gentle to
begin. Brown knows that he needs to return to
Faith, but more insightful into his character is his
explanation of why he shouldn’t be persuaded to go
to this sinful place: “My father never went into the
woods on such an errand, nor his father before him.
We have been a race of honest men and good Christians, since the days of the martyrs. And shall I be
the first of the name of Brown, that ever took this
path” (17). The good man reveals that the purpose
of his actions are founded upon “carrying on the tradition,” and not letting his family down. If the actions of his family members prove different than he
believes, his character is open to deception and disillusionment. Brown remains a good man, though,
and true to what he knows of his father and grandfather even as the Tempter lists in shocking detail
that he knew well the elder Brown men, and that
they, too, followed him to the forbidden place in the
forest. It is when his forebears and other faithful
members of the community are put into question
that Goodman Brown’s foundation of faith, based on
others’ actions, begins to crumble.
Goodman Brown begins to falter with the mere
mention of dignitaries, statesmen and religious leaders in his community who may be joining the sinful
meeting in the forest. “Were I to go on with
20 Symbolic Moral Dilemmas
thee…” is how Goodman Brown begins his next
statements in contemplation of joining with the
group (21). Brown is very conscious of what others
think of him, and wants to make sure that his “good
man” status is not tainted, as illustrated when he
“heard the tramp of horses along the road, and
deemed it advisable to conceal himself within the
verge of the forest, conscious of the guilty purpose
that had brought him thither” (41). The irony of
such clear symbolic names is illustrated here also, as
his beliefs are revealed to be based on what others
have done, or what others may think of him, rather
than a foundation of the religion itself.
Faith’s name, also, though her character is more
illustrated by the thoughts and observations of
Goodman Brown, is filled with symbolism and irony.
Her name represents Brown’s faith more than it
would represent her own. After Brown humors
himself with the thought of joining with the symbolic devil to join the mass meeting, he is suddenly
brought back to a reason why he should not: "’Well,
then, to end the matter at once,’ said Goodman
Brown, considerably nettled, ‘there is my wife, Faith.
It would break her dear little heart; and I'd rather
break my own’" (24). That faith shatters after
Brown hears her voice as one who is joining the sinning group in the forest: "My Faith is gone! There is
no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil!
for to thee is this world given" (50). It seems that
the very foundation that he has built his own faith
upon has just crumbled around him, thus the irony
of her name: Faith.
The “elder traveler,” is symbolic to the devil figure, or anything that is contrary to the
“good man” or “faithful” entity of the two main characters. He is a necessary antagonist, representing
physically what Goodman Brown battles within
himself. It is no accident that Hawthorne left this
figure without a specific name, especially considering that the other characters have such straightforward symbolism in their names. The reader is
left to identify this person of sin as whatever or
whoever he or she thinks of evil to be. Hawthorne
masterfully allows each reader to “name” his or her
evil, thus making it applicable to every person in
every age.
The devil symbolism is made clear throughout
the story even though “dark figure” or “elder traveler” is his reference throughout. This devil figure’s
appearance bore “a considerable resemblance” to
Brown’s own, though somewhat mysterious in his
apparent social status or comfort level (15). He was
a man we may call “street smart” in today’s terms,
with a fiendish knack at gently attacking the core of
one’s weaknesses. He carries with him a staff, the
likeness of a black snake, which itself parallels the
devil symbolism. He suggests a parting to sinful
company, allowing Goodman to dwell on the suggestion and be tempted. But the greatest effect of
this character is to plant the thought, and then disappear “as if he had vanished into the deepening
gloom” leaving Brown to battle within himself the
“good man” that he is, or the misguided fellow who
may as well succumb to the group’s pullings (41).
Brown’s beliefs are challenged, and Hawthorne continues his masterful use of symbolism to show how
this good man’s faith begins to crumble.
Goodman Brown’s faith is greatly tested by
watching people who he knows and has respected
attend the sinful meeting in the forest. Goody
Cloyse is another symbolic character in Goodman’s
life, representing all that is good and respectable in
a person, through clear religious terms. So Brown’s
foundation of religion weakens as he stands in shock
at her joining the company: “That old woman
taught me my catechism!’ said the young man; and
there was a world of meaning in this simple comment’” (37). Other characters, too, follow this same
pattern: the minister and Deacon Gookin, who each
contribute to the generalized symbolism of a “good
person,” but who aid to Goodman Brown’s disillusionment as they are just as much part of the sinful
meeting as those whose evil appearance gives them
away as such.
Martha Carrier, another symbolic character of
darkness, speaks with authority to the whole group
in the forest, ironically giving a sort of “fortune” to
Goodman and Faith. She predicts “by the sympathy
of your human hearts for sin, ye shall scent out all
the places--whether in church, bed-chamber, street,
field, or forest--where crime has been committed,
and shall exult to behold the whole earth one stain
of guilt, one mighty blood-spot” (63). The outcome
proves truthful, whether by her dark power, or by a
self-fulfilling prophecy, and the ironic conclusion
begins to take shape.
The central irony to this short story is the tragic
effect of this partial evening in a forest for young
Goodman Brown. His whole life up to that point
was built upon his forebears, his religious up-
21
bringing, his stalwart examples of all that is proper,
along with a faithful wife who encompassed all that
was good. And then just a small amount of time in a
dark forest, whether dream or reality we as readers
are not left to know for certain, alters his very being.
“A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if
not a desperate man, did he become, from the night
of that fearful dream” it is said of Goodman after this
night (72). Even his blessed Faith represented no
such trait thereafter, but was left with only a name
of desperate irony for him to refer to on his lips.
Goodman Brown based his religious foundation
on the belief of others, so after their actions failed to
live up to his perception (whether real or imagined),
his own religious beliefs—even his own very essence—was left disillusioned and deceived. Hawthorne masterfully crafts this story in pure symbolism and irony so that each reader in every age can so
compare and apply this theme of potential deception
and disillusionment. As for the destiny of the good
man Brown, every meeting of a person who created
him as the “Goodman,” was more than a shallow reunion, but full of deception and left him a sad and
bitter man whose “dying hour was gloom” (72).
Works Cited
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Young Goodman Brown.”
The Literature Network. n.p. n.d. Web. 23 Jan.
2012.
three rooms and rough holes for windows. Dee’s attitude about the house shows that she misunderstands the struggles and efforts of her family and
hates the unglamorous side of her heritage. The narrator tells us that the house is “just like the one that
burned, except the roof is tin” (Pearson 74) and that
Dee hated the old house enough that she could have
danced around with joy when it burned (73). In fact,
the mother says “no doubt when Dee sees [the current house] she will want to tear it down” (74). The
house was still a sour point with them after Dee
moved out; she said would come and see them, “but
she will never bring her friends” (74). Dee hates the
house and views it as something that only belongs
in history, something to show off as old-fashioned,
but certainly not something that she would deign to
live in. When she arrives, she includes the house in
every picture of her mother and sister as if mocking
them or claiming trophies to be able to laud over
and show off when she returns to the city (75).
When Dee had to live in the house, she saw it as an
insulting, embarrassing prison. Now that she has
moved out, she is not above using it to show off her
supposed heritage. This shows the hypocrisy of
Dee’s views of heritage. She acts as though her
mother chose to live in this house simply to be pathetic, instead of realizing that this house is the best
her mother could do and seeing the simple joys it
offers.
The Dilemma of
Heritage
Whitney Moss
The narrator in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”
faces a dilemma revolving around the idea of heritage. The narrator’s daughters, Maggie and Dee,
want to use Grandma Dee’s quilts for different purposes. They represent two different ways of treasuring one’s heritage. The symbolism of the house,
Dee’s names, and the quilts help to show that although Dee seems to care more about her heritage,
Maggie is the one who truly understands their heritage.
The different views of the two sisters can be seen
in the way they interact with their mother’s house.
The only settings in “Everyday Use” are the hard
clay yard and the narrator’s house. It is has only
Maggie, on the other hand, has only ever lived in
this house and the old one with her mother. She has
never known what it is like to live somewhere else.
To her, the house is her way of life. Maggie helps
her mother sweep the yard and together they sit
comfortably on it, simply enjoying the peace. Perhaps Maggie’s greatest connections to the house are
the scars she has from the fire that destroyed the old
one. The burning of the first house was like the destruction of a hated enemy for Dee, but for Maggie
22 Symbolic Moral Dilemmas
it was like the destruction of a piece of herself. Ever
since the first house burned, Maggie has shuffled
fearfully around, the way “a lame animal . . . [sidles]
up to someone who is ignorant enough to be kind to
him” (73). When she is frightened, and she scares
easily, she tries to use the house to help her hide.
Preparing for Dee to arrive, she asks her mother
how she looks, but she shows “just enough . . . for
[her mother] to know she’s there, almost hidden by
the door” (73). Her mother has to coax her out into
the yard, and then when Dee does drive up, “Maggie
attempts to make a dash for the house” (74). Maggie
views the tiny, poor house as a shelter from an intimidating world, as well as the only way of life she’s
ever known.
Another symbol of their heritage is Dee’s name.
Dee was named after her aunt Dicie (or “Big Dee”),
who was named after Grandma Dee, who was named
after her mother, and so on, all the way “back beyond the Civil War through the branches” (76). This
is a name that has characterized members of their
family for centuries. However, Dee sees her name as
a lie foisted onto her real heritage: that of the African traditions. She believes that being named Dee
was being “named after the people who oppress
[her].” Consequently she renames herself Wangero
Leewanika Kemanjo. Her new name is a “phonetic
approximation of an African greeting” (75). Dee’s
choice of name shows her interest in the African nature of her heritage, even though her family has had
nothing to do with that culture for generations.. Unfortunately, her interest in this distant heritage has
come at the cost of the actual heritage of the only
family she ever knew. She rejects her real heritage
for one that she wants instead.
While Dee rejected the heritage of her namesakes, Maggie treasures their memories. Maggie,
learned how to quilt from Big Dee and Grandma
Dee and carries on that tradition. It is noteworthy
that when the narrator makes her decision to take
the quilts out of Dee’s hands and give them to Maggie at the end, it is the only time she refers to Dee as
simply “Miss Wangero” (79). To the narrator, the
rejection of her old name symbolized the rejection of
the heritage her mother tried to give her. Dee is trying to show her appreciation for her heritage
(specifically her fashionable African roots) by changing her name, but it also shows her lack of understanding for her African-American ancestors. She
sees the name “Dee” as a foreign and strange name,
but in reality it has become a true part of her heritage as countless ancestors have held and used that
name.
The two quilts hand-stitched by Grandma Dee
are the center of the narrator’s moral dilemma as
well as symbols of the girls’ heritage. The narrator
tells us:
The quilts had been pieced by Grandma Dee
and then Big Dee and me had hung them on
the quilt frames on the front porch and quilted them. . . . In both of them were scraps of
dresses Grandma Dee had worn fifty and
more years ago. Bits and pieces of Granpa
Jarrell’s Paisley shirts. And one teeny faded
blue piece, about the size of a penny matchbox, that was from Great Grandpa’ Ezra’s
uniform that he wore in the Civil War.
The quilts are priceless heirlooms and saturated
with symbols of their family’s heritage and history.
They are literally made out of clothes worn by their
ancestors and pieced together using an art form that
was handed down for generations. These quilts are
indeed treasures in terms of history and heritage.
Both the girls want the quilts, although for slightly
different reasons and for very different uses.
Dee treasures the historical value of the quilts.
She insists on taking these two specific quilts because they are stitched by hand and made out of
pieces of antique clothes. When her mother offers
some other quilts for her to take, she responds that
“the point is these quilts, these quilts” because they
are “priceless” (78). It is not the fact that they are
quilts that give them worth, it is their status as heirlooms. When her mother had previously offered her
a quilt to take to college, Dee declined because they
were “old-fashioned, out of style” (78). Dee wants
these quilts to preserve as trophies of her heritage
that can continue to be admired. She plans on hanging them, “as if that was the only thing you could do
with quilts” (78). Dee’s desire of the quilts shows
how she wishes to take the impressive aspects of her
heritage and preserve them in order to make her
heritage appear more fashionable. She sees her heritage as a way to make herself look better. By choosing to retain only the most impressive aspects of her
heritage she misses out on learning from the actual
lives of those who provided for her. She fails to see
the beauty in all of the mundane, humble actions of
her family through the generations. Since she only
looks at her heritage in terms of how other people
will see it, she is blind to the sacrifices, effort, and
love that each of the heirlooms represent.
Maggie also treasures those two quilts specifi-
23
cally. Not only were they made by the aunt and
grandma that taught her how to quilt, but her mother promised to give them to her when she gets married. For Maggie, the value of the quilts is sentimental and based on her memories of her grandma
and aunt. She plans to use the quilts on her bed because she can make new ones if they fall apart, just
like her grandma did. The quilts may not last as
long this way, but she would continue the tradition
of quilting. The quilts are priceless heirlooms to
Maggie not because of their historical value or position as antiques, but because of her treasured memories. To Maggie, heritage is all about family members.
Because the quilts are symbols of their heritage,
when the narrator chooses to give them to Maggie
she is also choosing the way she wants her heritage
to be remembered. Her daughters’ views of the
house, their names, and the quilts show the narrator
how they view their heritage. Dee hates the house,
rejects her old name, and wants to use the quilts in
order to look more impressive. Maggie does not
worry about what her heritage is, because she lives
it. Her lifestyle is nearly the same as her grandmother’s, whether for the better or the worse. She is
not concerned with commemorating her heritage
because it is still living inside of her. When the narrator gives the quilts to Maggie instead of Dee, she
is also deciding to support the idea of heritage as
Maggie sees it. Before she leaves, Dee tells her
mother that she “just [doesn’t] understand” her heritage (79), but her mother has evidently decided that
it is actually Dee who fails to see the truth.
Works Cited
Introduction to Literature Pearson Custom Library:
Folklore and Literature. Boston: Pearson Learning
Solutions, 2010. 72-79
The American Short
Story, Symbolism and
Social Relevance
Joseph Nehila
In developing a historiography of the short story
in American literature it is evident that many stories
developed along a distinct chronological path that
paralleled the cultural and social growth of the
United States. In many ways the development of an
American literary identity is the story of the creation of original approaches to answer the unfamiliar,
a new country free of boundaries. Mark Twain famously said “A round man cannot be expected to fit
in a square hole right away. He must have time to
modify his shape” (Twain). This statement in many
ways is reflective towards the development of American literature. American literary progress, looking
to find a voice in an established literary world dominated by European tastes and style, sought to develop a unique American relationship between race,
gender, equality and social justice. The creation of
an American literary identity mirrored the mutual
development of the American political and social
democratic republic. In reaction to this voice America created new social customs that guaranteed numerous freedoms here to fore not available in the
established countries of the world. America quickly
found a voice providing an amalgamation of freedoms of thought and speech. Freedom of speech afforded authors an access to an independence of
thought and expression that shaped social commentary and activism. From thousands of social-political
short stories, pamphlets, novellas and other texts
American literature created a social gospel narrative
that addressed the perceived inequities that plagued
a new political and cultural system. Rich in symbolism the American social gospel provided a narrative
of the American condition. Whether offering solutions to the ills that plagued society, critiquing
American institution, or commenting on the inequalities of race and gender American authors relied
heavily on the use of the literary devise of symbolism to provide a voice that profoundly addressed the
shifting demographics of America social values.
Early Nineteenth Century America and
the Social Gospel
What would become known as The American
social gospel developed from the continuing exploration and the assessment of religion, morality, ethics, equality, and community thru the written word?
American writers initially provided the first generation of Americans a rich symbolic tapestry of literary evangelism through literature. These same
writers, faced with a rapidly changing social structure during the first half of the nineteenth century,
24 Symbolic Moral Dilemmas
advanced social commentary as it pertained to curof tolerance and personal liberties. Future American
rent social concerns. “Whenever the people are well
authors followed Paine’s call for change and offered
informed, they can be trusted with their own govsolutions within a secular but often evangelic collecernment; that whenever things get so far wrong as
tion of stories and thought. America, they felt,
to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set
should develop toward a new social doctrine and
them to rights” (Jefferson). In these first years of the
distance itself from the prescribed rituals of formal
nineteenth century America was dominated by
religious doctrine that dominated early colonial
Protestant religious values. One doctrine, predestiAmerica. This foreshadowing of new moral thought
nation, dominated the social structure of America.
offered by Paine would be further developed in the
Egalitarianism or the array of social principles that
writings and social symbolism of Nathanael Hawrequired a segregated social class in Colonial Amerithorne
ca required some form of rectification. These religious and social philosophies created a segregated
Nathanial Hawthorne’s writings conveyed a
social class and thus presented an environment for
deep commitment, through symbolic representation,
commentary and correction. As noted by literary
of his vision to address the topics of the day. His stocritic Erin Smith, “Appropriate use of
ries often altered the way in which
books invariably moves readers to
“Hawthorne’s writ- individuals’ perceived social and culsocial action. That is, one reads not in
tural inadequacies. Hawthorne wrote
order to contemplate abstract ideas or ings conveyed a deep a story that addressed his perception
to improve oneself, but in order to
of the failings of Calvinist convention.
change the world” (Smith). American commitment, through In the Minister's Black Veil Hawthorne
writers, very early on recognized
presented a dark critique of his view
their potential to effect social change, symbolic representa- of the dysfunctional social structure
and self-consciously sought to transin many a small New England
tion, of his vision to found
form social institutions.
community. In this story Hawthorne
address the topics of creates a story that revolves around a
It is said that no man did more
typical Calvinist minister by the name
for the creation of freedom of speech
of the Reverend Hooper. Hooper initithe day.”
enjoyed by generations of American
ates a sensation by one day appearing
writers in The United States than
to his congregation wearing a black
Thomas Paine. Though born in England, Paine is
veil covering his face. The veil itself takes on symconsidered the first great “American” writer. Conbolic importance to Hooper and his congregation as
sidered primarily a political philosopher, Paine was
a whole. In analyzing the symbol of the veil contemthe first widely popular writer to call for social
porary literary critics postulate that “the black veil
change in American social custom. According to
could represent the Puritan obsession with sin and
Historian Eric Foner “Paine disavowed the inherent
sinfulness” (Carlson, 172). Moreover the veil is said
belief in a conflict of man’s natural rights and those
symbolize the “puritanical reminder of guilt and sin
of an enlightened society” (Foner 88). In a pamphlet,
that congregants felt. The veil offering no opporThe Liberty Tree, Paine use metaphor and simile to
tunity for repentance” (Carlson, 174). Hawthorne’s
develop an endearing symbol for freedom. The liberstory was seen as a commentary on Calvinist docty tree was an old elm that stood on commons areas
trine of predestination and his opinion of such docin Boston. Paine’s choice of the old and stately tree
trine. This doctrine did not fit well with the new
became a symbolic example “for the new temple that
American theories of freedom. “It was not by acciwould be the American Republic” (Foner, 93). Paine
dent or coincidence that the rights to freedom in
hoped his writings would create a new American
speech and press were coupled in a single guaranty
philosophy that of one based in liberty and personal
with the rights of the people” (Rutledge). Americans
rights predicated on the needs of the people. Paine
should be judged on their merits and as such Hawwritings focused on a new philosophy “whose relithorne presented symbolic reference to the hypocrigion is to do good” (Paine). Paine suggested the old
sy of such thought as original sin and the presumpcultural standards that created and dominated social
tion of guilt and not innocence. According to Hawcustom in American society needed to change. Paine
thorne salvation and social freedom was available to
was successful in developing a new American coneveryone in a free America. Hawthorne’s advanced
science developed around the social gospel principles
the cause of the social gospel by pointing out the
25
need for people to see others as equals in God’s and
each other’s eyes. The symbolism of the veil was not
lost on readers. His words became a powerful force
within American literary, social and cultural debate.
“Following generations of writers continued to add
a fresh narrative. Traversing the writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne through John Steinbeck the
American social conscience was assaulted from every
imaginable social context (O'Loughlin). Hawthorne use of symbolism provided a new generation
of writers an introduction into using literature as a
vehicle to produce social action within the established practices of his time.
The Social Gospel in Mid Passage
No one story in the nineteenth century provided a vision for dramatic social change than Uncle
Tom’s Cabin. Originally published in a forty week
serial or short story format in the magazine National Era, Uncle Tom’s Cabin dramatically altered the
existing dialog over the issue of slavery. Because of
the popularity and social reach of the serialized form
of the story the following year the serial was produced into a novel. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a blockbuster in terms of sales. The popularity of Uncle
Tom's Cabin is not to be measured merely by book
sales, but by the influence of Uncle Tom's Cabin on
American culture. American historians often quote
Abraham Lincoln as famously saying upon meeting
the story’s author Harriet Beecher Stowe, “so you
are the little lady who started this big
war” (Wlkiquote). The importance of Uncle Tom's
Cabin on the American social gospel was twofold.
The story galvanized the abolitionist movement, and
was part of an effective call for change to the slavery
question in the United States. “Stowe wanted to convince people that slavery was wrong, to engage their
emotions. Her overheated style accomplishes that,
perhaps better than more controlled writing would
have been able to (Barrons). The second response
was the overwhelming negative reaction it had on
the pro-slavery and the slave holding population in
the South. Stowe’s use of symbolism to convey the
unrighteous application of enslavement proved a
powerful tool in her appeal for change using a demand for compassion which would become a core
doctrinal tenant of the American Social Gospel.
Stowe herself was very clear in her reasons for
writing this book as well as her choices for her portrayals of the characters in her story. As Stowe historian Ton Bennett stated, “Once Stowe's novel
went into widespread public circulation, characterization through symbol was taken up and represented in a variety of forms and reading formation: with a set of intersecting discourses that
productively activate a given body of texts and the
relations between them in a specific way." (Bennett)
In other word the characters became the symbolic
representation of the abomination of slavery but also
for other immoral social dilemmas facing Americans.
The character of Topsy was just one of the symbols
devised by Stowe to represent the harmful effect of
slavery specifically and the negative conditions of
poverty and women in general. As Stowe commented in A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin “that the problem of
Topsy was not specific to slavery…she refers to the
English working class and New York City prostitutes for whom educational and reform efforts were
designed to "encourage self-respect, and hope, and
sense of character"(Key 581). As indicated above
Stowe with intent and purpose used Topsy as a symbol for redress of the many shortcomings she perceived in American society. Stowe’s vision of an
America free of slavery and one of human rights advocacy was not shared by all in the United States.
Stowe’s call for action to rid the country of slavery
was met in many quarters with unpleasant rhetoric
and negative ad homonym attacks.
As one might imagine Stowe’s book was not
universally welcomed, nor was it considered a positive addition to the American social gospel in Southern America. Just as Stowe’s book was acclaimed in
the Northern United States and around the world
for its depiction of social injustice, there were those
in slave holding America that called for Stowe’s imprisonment, a ban on sales of the book and arrest for
its possession. While all most every American unanimously agreed with the central tenants of the social
gospel of liberty, freedom and doing good toward
your fellow man they did not all agree to the “who”
these values applied toward. Westward expansion
subjugated Native Americans while the south enjoyed the fruits of the labors of the oppressed. As a
southerner Richard Colfax stated,
The total abolitionists appear to consider the
political expediency of liberating the slaves
as a secondary or minor consideration, and
contend principally for the abstract justice
of such a measure. We are willing to concede to them that all of GOD’S creatures
have a natural right to liberty, and that the
natural inferiority of the negro which we
26 Symbolic Moral Dilemmas
expect to prove, (but what our opponents do
not admit,) does not justify the white man in
an assumption of unjust power. (Colfax)
Colfax statement provided support for the view of
many slaveholders that the African slave is inhuman
and that it is the divinely appointed duty of the
white man to protect the institution of slavery.
While Uncle Tom’s Cabin portrayed the inhumanity
of slavery Southern ideology extending the belief
that slavery was human because all “Negros” were
like a children incapable of taking care of themselves. .
To contend with and provide rebuttal for Uncle
Tom’s Cabin the South proffered numerous proslavery and anti-Tom books. Aunt Phillis’s Cabin was
the first successful commercial, in terms of book
sales, rebuttal to the symbol of freedom offered in
Stowe’s story. Aunt Phillis’s Cabin, by Mary Henderson Eastman, was the most widely read of the antiTom books published to refute the sympathetic effects that Uncle Tom’s Cabin elicited in the North for
the plight of the slave. In contrast to Stowe’s Uncle
Tom’s Cabin the book Aunt Phillis’s Cabin central
characters “are slaves who are meant to symbolize
the benign nature of slavery and kindly slave holders who were God’s instrument in protecting the
less fortunate” (Railton). In developing her characters as helpless children in need of a strong hand
Aunt Phillis’s Cabin provided refutation of Stowe’s
belief that slaves should be freed. Additionally in
characters such as the planter Mr. Kent, a northern
abolitionist who converts to a slave holder Mr. Kent
symbolizes the need for white America as the defender of the rights of slavery offered in Deuteronomy. Kent believes that slavery is ordained of God.
Contrasting the evil slave holders of Uncle Tom’s
Cabin Southern men like Kent are noble and forthright. Aunt Phillis’s Cabin is just one example of the
differences in social values that affected Pre-Civil
War America. These differences in social values precipitated a civil war and the eventual reconstruction
of a divided country providing American authors
much to write about.
Entering the Gilded Age of PostCivil War America
The end of the American Civil War had a profound effect on the social conscience and literary
sensibilities of the people in the United States. Mil-
lions of men went to war and returned home with an
outlook tempered by the realities of battle. Hundreds of thousands of immigrant’s stepped ashore in
America looking for a new start. With the need to
remove the scourge of slavery from the country
abated, literary commentary moved to combat new
social causes. In the period following the Civil war
social and moral principles especially poverty, gender inequality, and the abuse of liquor, became the
next topic for debate and rebuttal. Following the
civil war America was moving toward becoming a
literate nation. To meet the continuous demand for
social, cultural, political, religious and popular opinion the American magazine took shape. To name
just a few The Atlantic Monthly, Harpers Weekly,
The Century Magazine and Vogue boasted of circulation of well over one million homes collectively.
Local and specialized magazines found a niche in
American homes. These magazines provided access
to the average American to premier authors, and
writers of short stories. “The genius of democracies
is seen not only in the great number of new words
introduced but even more in the new ideas they express ” (De Tocqueville). No other American woman
author, during this time period, added to the social
commentary than Kate Chopin. Her works, often
featured in the preeminent American Magazines of
her day, provided as her biographer has noted about
her efforts. “Kate Chopin was an artist, a writer of
fiction, and like many artists--in the nineteenth century and today--she considered that her primary responsibility to people was showing them the truth
about life as she understood it.” (Staff). The millions
of men who bought the magazines of their day allowed their wives access and introduction to early
feminist literature.
Kate Chopin understood one of the objects towards forwarding the agenda of a new social gospel
was to address conformity within social norms.
Chopin’s short stories, such as Story of an Hour, provide commentary on the repressive aspects of social
convention facing America women of the late nineteenth century. In a literary analysis of the story Nicole Smith wrote, “While the mere use of certain
words is indicative of this inner-world of detail and
life, there are also several instances of ironic or playful uses of certain phrases or images to convey
Louise’s happiness in “The Story of an Hour” and
the ultimate message that marriage is constraining.” . In symbolically linking the weakened heart of
the main character Mrs. Mallard to “the strain and
crippling “disease” of marriage Chopin explored the
27
lack of alternatives suffered by women in loveless
and emotionally abusive marriages” (Smith). Feminist author Susan Cahill provided this commentary
regarding the story:
one of feminism's sacred texts," and many
readers have since concluded that Kate
Chopin's sensitivity to what it sometimes
feels like to be a woman is on prominent display in this work—as it is in The Awakening. Chopin's often-celebrated yearning for
freedom is also on display here—as is her
sense of ambiguity and her complex way of
seeing life. It's typical of her to note that it is
both "men and women" who "believe they
have a right to impose a private will upon a
fellow-creature. (Cahill)
This story originally written for Vogue Magazine
and reprinted in other forms was very radical for its
time. Chopin was constrained within the bounds of
excepted propriety while attempting to persuade
readers of the perilous nature of women suffering. In
offering this story Chopin was required nevertheless, as Emily Toth says in her 1999 book Unveiling
Kate Chopin, "Kate Chopin had to disguise reality.
She had to have her heroine die. “A story, in which
an unhappy wife is suddenly widowed, becomes rich,
and lives happily ever after . . . would have been
much too radical, far too threatening in the 1890s.
There were limits to what editors would publish,
and what audiences would accept"(Toth). Even social commentary and commercial appeal had its limits, and writers understood and often amended their
stories to fit within the boundaries set in order to
get their message heard.
The Commercialization of the American
Short Story and Finding Social Truths
The influence of Dime Novels on eighteenth century America was profound. Dime Novels were journals of stories that were “first and foremost big business…as no literary genre had ever since held a
larger share of gross national product” (Blieber vii).
According to the United States Library of Congress,
“In 1860 a publishing phenomenon appeared that
would provide Americans a wealth of popular fiction
in a regular series at a fixed, inexpensive price…
were patriotic, often nationalistic tales of encounters
between Indians and backwoods settlers” (Library).
As a whole, the quality of the fiction was derided by
higher brow critics and “the term 'dime novel' quickly came to represent any form of cheap, sensational
fiction, rather than the specific format” (Nelson). Between 1861 and 1865 publisher Beadle and Adams
sold more than four million copies of their Dime
Novels. In Michal
Demming’s 1987 critique of Dime novels he
wrote, “there are two
ways to approach the
dime novel from a view
of literature and society
embroiled in social conscious… and what can
be learnt from them as
symbolic actions” (Denning 10).
Symbolism in the Dime
Novel was the philosophy of the age writ
large.
By force of personality Ned Buntline became a
star of the Dime Novel genre. Buntline’s symbolic
portrayal of the American West created as Helen
Nelson stated, “The stereotypical characters and formalistic plots… and readers who became conceived
agents of cultural formation” (Nelson). Buntline, the
author of dozens of stories of Buffalo Bill Cody and
other American heroes, created a man bigger than
life in Bill Cody. Buntlines Cody symbolized the
” ideas of international manhood and projected an
image of ideal American manliness” (Rogers). Buntlines sensational stories of the American West provided millions of readers their first experience with
Native Americans and created the stereotype of the
symbolic Native American as villain and the American cowboy as hero. Buntline understood that at the
heart of the American ideology was the construction
of heroes. Buntline also understood that American
imperialism did not extend overseas but was concentrated in Western expansion. As Michal Denning
noted, “Buntline’s conjunction of class, nativism,
white manhood and imperialism” may have never
put him in line with the social gospel, however “his
advocacy of the working class provided a strong
counter point that revolved around a double axis” (Denning 73). In the eyes of twenty first century
social activism Buntline’s characterizations of nonwhites may seem at odds with the social gospel of
the his day. However, Ned Buntline understood capitalism and that “the stories that sold the most were
those of killing Native Americans” (Nelson). He also
28 Symbolic Moral Dilemmas
er of the social gospel in action. Symbolic of
understood that his mass appeal allowed him the
leverage to lobby for the publication of less popular
The Power of Symbolism
social positions. Buntline was the one of the first of a
next generation of writers who would use their fame
One does not often think of children’s literature
to leverage their celebrity to secure publication of
as profound social commentary. Yet the works of
unprofitable social discourse.
Dr. Seuss offer readers, in most case this means the
adults reading to their children, an opportunity to
The Age of the New Deal
discover the rich texture of social analysis found in
his many stories. According to interview given by
By the mid-1930s America had fallen into the
Richard Short author of The Parables of Doctor Seuss,
Great Depression yet this time period is often con“Dr. Seuss never did say, 'I'm going to do this, I'm
sidered the Golden age of American Literature. This going to incorporate my Christian faith into my stois the era of Ernest Hemmingway, F. Scott Fitzger- ries,"' Short said. "And I think it's fine that he didn't
ald, William Faulkner and John Steinbeck. In John do that because it's up to us to draw the conclusion
Steinbeck America found an author who offered a
whether it's actually there or not." (Jones) In drawnew round of social commentary centered on a dying his conclusions Shorts book compares Horton as
namic social gospel. Steinbeck used fiction to exam- symbolic of Jesus’s saving the world, “So when Horine the lives of societies most exploited. While not a ton's world of Who-ville was "saved by the Smallest
short story, The Grapes of Wrath uses symbolism to of All," Robert Short stated he saw Horton the savdevelop “a primary symbolic structure, as well as
ior of the Whos as a symbol for the Savior of all peomeaning, that is naturalistic and humanistic, not
ple” (Jones) Short also added that there was addiChristian; (Carlson, 172). The social gospel accord- tional symbolism in a number of other books by reing to Steinbeck “is developed from Steinbeck's inte- lating this analysis. “No one has ever doubted the
gration of "three great skeins of American thought" layers of meaning in the stories of Dr. Seuss. The
Emersonianism, Whitman's democratic religion, and Lorax has obvious lessons about the environment.
pragmatism” (Carlson, 174).Accordingly Steinbeck
The Butter Battle Book took direct aim at the Cold
scholars have debated the moral equivalency of
War arms race. Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please
Steinbeck’s pragmatism in terms of conventional
Go Now! was one way to demand the resignation of
religious thought. In an expression symbolism with President Nixon.” (Jones) Many authors, as disstipulation to standardized religion the actions of
cussed above, have a specific agendas, political viewRose of Sharon at the end of the story “truly 'rounds points or wrongs to be righted in their quest to afoff' the book, completing a broad and living thing
fect change in the rhetoric of the social gospel. The
(Carlson, 175).
question is did Dr Seuss intend for his stories to be
analyzed in this way? A follow up question would
Throughout the story the Rose of Sharon char- be what if the unintended consequences of a story’s
acter, as Steinbeck developed her, is often portrayed message are that the words you write are not seen as
as self-centered, petulant and naive. However it is in you intended and become something more. Dr Seuss
the final chapters of the book that Steinbeck,
has profoundly affected, in a very positive way, genthrough the use of symbols primarily derived from
erations of readers with his stories. Does it matter
biblical texts, elevates Rose of Sharon by completing what the writer thinks?
her transformation. The peevish young girl becomes
a symbol of the motherly love. Steinbeck words are
The Associated Press article quoted above ofdesigned “to cram a stark, primal symbol into the
fered a counterpoint to Short’s analysis in providing
mold of orthodox Christian symbolism and doctrine this rebuttal, “However, a biography on the Dr.
(Carlson, 176). With Rose of Sharon giving her
Seuss Enterprises official website notes the followbreast milk to save the life of the starving old man
ing: "Like most works of merit, the works of Dr.
her “ symbolic actions are in line with Communion
Seuss have been overanalyzed; many scholars have
or Mass and with the "resurrected aspect of
found devices where there are truly none to be
Christ"(Carlson, 177) The transformation of Rose
found. For the most part, Ted enjoyed writing enof Sharon character ultimately shows “her maternal tertaining books that encouraged children to
love to a love of all people." (Carlson, 176) this
read." (Jones) Ted was Theodore Geisel or Dr Seuss.
transformation of character is consistent with the
His his work the Lorax is said to have been in repower of Steinbeck’s story and his belief in the pow-
29
sponse to the overdevelopment around his California
home. (Giesel) In answering the many questions
about his work Seuss often reverted to selfdeprecating humor. At the height of his popularity
his works were selling millions of copies, in multiple
languages a year. Yet, Dr Seuss avoided the limelight his fame offered. His stories offered people
messages of hope, love, commitment, friendship
while quietly altering the thoughts and opinions of
millions of people around the world. “Dr Seuss considered his greatest achievement to be killing off the
Dick and Jane books, which he said weren’t challenging enough for children, and were boring. Dr. Seuss’
books became the new standard in children’s publishing by expanding the imagination through brilliant illustration, social issues, and clever rhymes
and vocabulary” (Giesel) so what make us analyze
report, dissect and consider the words of Dr Seuss in
the same light as Thomas Paine or Steinbeck
So that what this paper is all about. It is about
relevance. Each of the sections of this argument is
about the relevance of a social gospel and the writers
who attempted to affect change. Great writing is
always relevant regardless of the topic. Short story
is a very powerful tool by providing a vehicle to offer readers a variety of opinions and stories. While it
may have been one of the main sources of communication for a very long time the printed word has
great power to influence and cultivate opinion. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said: “All things are symbols” That is so true. The social gospel symbolizes
everything that is good and moral in America.
American writers have spent the past hundred plus
years trying to facilitate generations of a understanding of a social gospel of higher social and moral
principles. This understanding, through the varied
use of symbolism has shaped and defined American
exceptionalism in literature.
Works Cited
Barrons. Wikiquote. 1 Januarary 2012. 31 March
2012
Blieber, E. F. Eight Dime Novels. New York: Dover
Press, 1974.
Denning, Michael. Mecanic Accents:Dime Novels
and Working Class Culture in America. New
York: Verso, 1987.
Giesel, Audrey. Dr Seuss. 1 Janurary 2012. 31
March 2012.
Jones, Brent. "Christrine Doctrine Desquised in
Doctor Seuss Stories?" USA Today Online 9
May 2008: online.
Nelson, Helen. "The American Dime Novel ." Masters Thesis Defended. 1999.
O'Loughlin, James. Muse. 3 March 2008. 22 March
2012.
Railton, Stephen. Uncle Toms Cabin and American
Culture. 1 Janurary 1998. 29 March 2012.
Rogers, Brent. Buffalo Bill and The Rough Riders. 1
January 2010. 28 March 2012.
Rutledge, Wiley B. Wikiquote. 1 Janurary 2012. 27
March 2012.
Smith, Nicole. Literay Analysis Story of an Hour by
Kate Chopin: . 6 Dec 2011. 28 March 2012.
Staff. Kate Chopin. 1 Jan 2012. 27 march 2012.
Toth, Emilt. Unvailing Kate Chopin. Oxford: University of Mississippi Press, 1999.
Twain, Mark. Wikiquote. 1 Jan 2007. 22 March
1012.
United States Library of Congress American Treasures March 29, 2012.
Self-Inducing
Insanity
Amanda Peterson
“The Yellow Wall-Paper” is written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and it was, “an exaggerated
account of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s personal experiences. In 1887, shortly after the birth of her
daughter, Gilman began to suffer from serious depression and fatigue” ("The Yellow Wallpaper"). In
this tragic story of self-induced insanity, we see the
conflicting views of this woman’s mental state vs.
her loved ones that surround her differ then coincide
throughout the story. In the end we see a symbolic
image, of a woman trapped behind wallpaper-which
ultimately leads to her mental demise.
The loved ones, around this character, have various views about her that are very different from her
own. John, the main characters’ husband, is a physician and believes that the country and “taking it
easy” will help his wife feel better; however, being a
physician, he believes that his wife is not as sick as
she says, “You see, he does not believe I am
sick!” (Gilman 1). Her brother also believes the
same, “My brother is also a physician, and also of
high standing, and he says the same thing” (Gilman
1). She; however, believes quite the contrary of these
30 Symbolic Moral Dilemmas
two men, “Personally, I believe that congenial work,
with excitement and change, would do me
good” (Gilman 1). No one can ever tell in situations
like that, who is right, or who is wrong. Would it be
best if they would heed her word and do something
more exciting? There is a quote that says, “An idle
mind is the devil's workshop” ("ThinkExist.com").
With that in mind, we can see how the author of this
story and the main character relate, because they
both feel victim of having a weak mind, which becomes more apparent, as we dive deeper into her
psychosis.
As her husband and brother stick her in a room
to rest, she begins to see an image of a woman moving throughout the wallpaper like a snake in the
grass. The dreaded wallpaper is staring at this woman and getting inside of her head, “And it is like a
woman stooping down and creeping about behind
that pattern. I don't like it a bit. I wonder—I begin
to think—I wish John would take me away from
here!” (Gilman 4). The mentality of this woman is
clearly unstable, as if that wallpaper is in fact seeping into her mind and settling there, dwelling upon
every thought, and beginning to think more deeply
into it, does not help her mental stability in the
slightest. This wallpaper seems to be eating at her,
to the point where she truly believes that she is getting healthier again, and fools people into believing
it:
John is so pleased to see me improve! He
laughed a little the other day, and said I
seemed to be flourishing in spite of my wallpaper. I turned it off with a laugh. I had no
intention of telling him it was because of the
wall-paper—he would make fun of me. He
might even want to take me away (Gilman
7).
She has become dependent on the wallpaper. She has
fooled herself into thinking that she is very dependent and indebted to the wallpaper. She has sunk herself into a frenzied state, and it fits into the category
of schizophrenia, “Symptoms may include confused
or jumbled thoughts, hearing voices and seeing and
believing things that other people don’t
share” ("Mind"). No one else can see this trapped
woman; perhaps, there is more meaning within her
(not only the main character but the author), in connection to the wallpaper.
As this character sits in the room watching the
wallpaper ‘move’ and sincerely believes that there is
a woman trapped inside; she believes that the only
way to satisfy herself and the woman in the wallpaper is to release her: the woman trapped behind the
wallpaper . The symbolism of this is she herself is
the woman in the paper, “I've got out at last," said I,
"in spite of you and Jane. And I've pulled off most of
the paper, so you can't put me back!" (Gilman 11).
She is feeling trapped, and she has self-induced her
insanity, by seeing herself through the wallpaper,
and remaining stagnant, which is ironic, because
that is what her peers believed to be the best cure
for her. At the beginning of this analysis of “The
Yellow Wallpaper” we saw that Charlotte Perkins
Gilman had a bout of depression before writing this
short story. She wanted to convey her personal
struggle through her writing. What brought on this
bought of depression in Gilman? Perhaps it was like
our main character, “There's one comfort, the baby
is well and happy, and does not have to occupy this
nursery with the horrid wall-paper” (Gilman 4). Our
heroine had just had a baby (just like the author
had), and was suffering post-partum psychosis,
“Postpartum psychosis is a rare, but extremely serious disorder that can develop after childbirth. It is
characterized by loss of contact with reality” ("HelpGuide.org").
Reverting back to the previous mentioned quote,
of the idle mind being the devils workshop, we can
see that her mental state of mind has become very
unstable. She is no longer “all there”, and because of
her being made to be still and have rest, she has
slipped into a further depression and psychosis. She
was already depressed before she came to that awful
house with the wallpaper, and we have recognized
that it was because of post-partum behavior. Sometimes, as human beings, we become frail, and we
succumb to earthly woes of life. Maybe our suffering
has hidden meaning that we never knew. When we
go through tough times, do we like the author and
the main character of the story, self-induce ourselves
within the situation? With all that being said, because both the author and the main character suffered these ailments, they felt trapped, and Gilman
conveyed this message, through the character, how
she felt trapped and that was seen through the woman in the wallpaper.
In “The Yellow Wall-Paper” a woman who, in
the beginning, is mentally stable, after she is coaxed
into staying in a home, where this dreadful wallpaper entices her mental insanity even further, and
31
sends her to her ultimate demise. We see multiple
examples of how the character was sent into a deeper psychosis, because of her idleness, and perhaps
pre-existing conditions, that sprung a full spread
mental instability. Ties between the author and the
character become very apparent, and we see both of
them trying to be released through their mental
prison; unfortunately, for the heroine of our storythis all led to her ultimate demise.
Works Cited
"English Proverbs." ThinkExist.com. N.p., 2012.
Web. 25 Feb 2012.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow WallPaper." WikiSource. Creative Commons
Attribution/Share-Alike License, 22 10 2010. Web.
15 Feb 2012. "Postpartum Depression and
the Baby Blues." HelpGuide.org. N.p., January 2012. Web. 25 Feb 2012.
"The Yellow Wallpaper Study Guide & Essays."
1999-2011. n. pag. Grade Saver. Web. 15 Feb
2012.
"Understanding Mental Health Problems." Mind.
FRSB, n.d. Web. 25 Feb 2012.
The Portrayals of
Women
Lindsay Walker
Stereotypes are common. They are unavoidable.
And everyone can think of an instance when a stereotype was used towards them; all Asians are smart
and skilled at music, Mormons don’t drink caffeine,
African Americans are fast and gifted at sports, and
all men are meatheads, obsessed with sports. Stereotypes are usually untrue, and can be hurtful because
they categorize people and put labels on someone
before you even get a chance to know them. On the
other hand, sometimes it is those women who live
up to these hurtful stereotypes that make them stick.
For women, often times they are stereotyped as dependent on others, especially on men, and as the
weaker gender. Other times, they are stereotyped as
the opposite; overbearing, powerful, and heartless.
In the Grimm’s Fairy Tales, “Hansel and Gretel,”
through the characters actions, interactions with
others, and diction, we see women portrayed and
stereotyped on two opposite ends of the spectrum;
dependent and weak on one end, and powerful, selfish, controlling, manipulative, and deceitful on the
other.
Most stereotypes we seem to find in this story
are negatives. Hansel and Gretel’s stepmother is the
perfect example of the evil stepmother that society
has portrayed for centuries and continues to portray
today. She portrays the evil and cruel side that is so
often portrayed in women; the stereotype that women are powerful and heartless. From the very beginning she is willing to do whatever it takes to save
herself quite literally, and to throw Hansel and
Gretel under the bus. From the very beginning she
forcefully suggests getting rid of the children, and
ditching them in the woods. “They will not find the
way home again, and we shall be rid of
them” (Grimm 1). She says she is doing this so that,
quite selfishly, so she can have enough food for only
her and her husband to survive (Grimm 1). Through
her selfish actions she is a perfect candidate to fall
into the stereotype of a selfish, heartless woman.
Her action with wanting to sacrifice others for her
own survival is strong evidence of this.
The evil stepmother continues to live up to her
stereotype and becomes overbearing and controlling. She runs the show and debates with her husband about ditching Hansel and Gretel in the woods.
Throughout the story she is the one who calls the
shots, has the final say, and makes sure they are carried out. Hansel and Gretel’s father tried putting his
foot down, pleading, “I will not do that; how can I
bear to leave my children alone in the forest?” (Grimm 1) However, just as fast as he contested, he was put back into his place when his step wife
bluntly said, “O, you fool! Then we must all four die
of hunger” (Grimm 1). He succumbs to her demands
and lets the woman run the show. She also will not
rest until her husband accepts her plan. This is evident when we are told; “She left him no peace until
he consented” (Grimm 1). It allows the stepmother
once again to live up to a stereotype of women, overbearing and controlling. This now gives her the one
up when it comes to her husband because she knows
she can push him around and that eventually he will
grant her all of her wishes.
Through the stepmother’s interaction with others, the way she addresses them, and the language
she uses to talk to them, we see that the stepmother
represents the woman who belittles others and exer-
32 Symbolic Moral Dilemmas
cises her power over them. Even when she wakes
the children up, she refers to them as “Sluggards”
telling them to wake up now, and spares them barely anything for their dinner later on that day
(Grimm 1). She shows us that she cares more about
her well being over everyone else’s. This proves her
to be belittling because she feels as though she is
more important than everyone else, and that everyone should listen to her. The stepmother also shows
her inability to fend for herself and her weakness of
depending on others by being stingy with Hansel
and Gretel in their food. But despite her heartlessness she still cannot provide for herself and shows
us that she does not have the confidence in herself to
find another way to provide for her needs. When the
children are sad about leaving,
she does not put up with it forcing their goodbye to go quicker
and even mocks Hansel trying to
say goodbye to his favorite cat
yelling at him, “Fool, that is not
your little cat, that is the morning
sun which is shining on the chimney” (Grimm 1). By belittling and
by having to be in control of every little situation, she proves her
need to be in control and on top
of things, a stereotype that is still
common in today’s society when it comes to women.
Through the stepmother we see that women
were portrayed as ones who scheme and do not like
to take blame for their actions. In simpler terms they
are seen as manipulative. In “Hansel and Gretel” the
stepmother does the dirty work for both her and her
husband. Her mind is the whole mastermind behind
the scheme to leave innocent Hansel and Gretel in
the woods, and she is the one who has the last say in
the matter and the last say when leaving them there.
She directly lies to finish out carrying her plan saying, “"Now, children, lay yourselves down by the fire
and rest, we will go into the forest and cut some
wood. When we have done, we will come back and
fetch you away” (Grimm 1) and when the children
rejoin the family, she is nothing but mad blaming it
on them, turning things on them, calling them
“naughty” for staying away so long (Grimm 1).
While she was the one who left them to struggle
and fend for themselves in the woods, she can’t handle taking the blame. The stepmother places the
blame on the children. This gives satisfaction to society’s stereotype of women, still prominent today.
It proves that women are always right and can never
be wrong. Oftentimes, society involve men like in
“Hansel and Gretel” to show how everyone seems to
treat women like they are always right, even if they
are not. This is played into when the father gives
into the stepmother throughout the entire story
even when he disagrees.
On the opposite ends of the spectrum of stereotypes, Gretel fits in perfectly with a woman, or girl,
who gives up easily at the first sign of any hardship;
a girl who is dependent. Even overhearing her evil
stepmother’s plan, she “wept bitter tears” and shared
her remorse, behaving dramatically, with her brother Hansel letting him know this was the end of their
existence (Grimm 1). Hansel, her brother, is the one
who has to calm her down and let
her know that everything will be
okay. Oftentimes in today’s society we still see this. We see the
portrayal of women through the
media that women are the weaker
sex. They are the ones who always have to be reminded that
everything will work out and the
ones who are easily overwhelmed.
The sex who always has to have
everyone else solve their problems for them and don’t like to
own up to their personal accountability. Gretel and
her sad lack to get out of sticky situations shows us
her incapability to fend for herself and get out of
hardships by herself always dependent on others to
take care of her.
Gretel does a fine job of portraying the helpless
woman that society has often deemed upon this gender. Gretel continues to show her weak and dependable side by relying on Hansel, complaining and crying about everything that comes her way rather
than being strong and sticking through everything.
At Gretel’s real first hardship, being left in the
woods for the day, she complains and wonders how
they will ever get out of the forest (Grimm 1). Hansel has to show the initiative and lead Gretel out of
the woods back home. If it hadn’t been for Hansel
saving Gretel, she would have been lost and alone.
Gretel always gave up and had no idea how to make
it out of the old woman’s home or even to survive in
the woods without Hansel. Hansel was always the
one that reminded her and showed her that there
was always a way out (Grimm 1). This plays into
society’s vision of women as it fulfills the stereotype
for damsel in distress being saved by a man. Many
33
times she cries in the story, and every time Hansel
must reassure her that “we will soon find the
way” (Grimm 1). However, in the end of the story,
Gretel puts a better name to women in general because of her heroic act of pushing the old woman
into the oven and ending her evil existence and
scheming (Grimm 1). In the end, through her newfound self and brave actions of killing the witch,
Gretel breaks the stereotypes of women being helpless, weak, and dependable. She snapped out of the
labels put on her as dependent and helpless in order
to save her and her brother. She falls into the powerful stereotype because of her heroic actions, but her
power is not selfish like her stepmothers.
Women are often seen as having “two faces” like
the old woman in “Hansel and Gretel.” So many
times women are portrayed at first impression of
being sweet, innocent, and loving, but then it is
found out that is just a charade and that the woman
is actually the opposite of what she appears to be.
They actually seem to create an illusion, something
they pretend to be but are not, and this is what happens with the old woman in “Hansel and Gretel.”
When we meet the old woman, she appears to be
just that; a sweet old woman. However, she is not.
She is powerful in an evil way like the stepmother,
and very manipulative to the children by enticing
them with a home to stay in and food to eat (Grimm
1). But indeed she is not what she appears to be and
surprisingly, “The old woman had only pretended to
be so kind; she was in reality a wicked witch, who
lay in wait for children, and had only built the little
house of bread in order to entice them
there” (Grimm 1). Clearly, the witch had a double
life, or was “two faced.” In the end, the old woman,
who on first impression appeared to be the kindest,
appeared to be the most evil of them all. Her intentions were to kill both Hansel and Gretel and eat
them for her personal satisfaction. She definitely fit
into the powerful stereotype, but not in a positive
light, just like the stepmother. Her power, like the
stepmother’s, was for her gain and her gain only.
She was also manipulative and deceitful pretending
to be someone she wasn’t, to get what she wanted.
Society has deemed many stereotypes on women.
Some are negative, and some positive. Usually stereotypes are negative, just like the ones found in the
famous short story “Hansel and Gretel.” Through
the actions and interactions of the women in “Hansel
and Gretel,” we can see many stereotypes of women
that still exist in today’s society. The way the char-
acters of the stepmother, the old woman, and Gretel
were written all fall directly into negative women
stereotypes. Gretel is the only woman in this story,
who in the end, becomes heroic or does something
to help save the name of women, and turn her stereotype into a positive.
Works Cited
Grimm, Wilhelm, and Jacob Grimm. "Grimm's
Fairy Tales - Hansel & Gretel." Mordent Design. Web. 18 Feb. 2012.