Looking for Belonging in a Hopeless Place
A Literary Analysis of “The Boy Died In My Alley” and “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks
Gwendolyn Brooks’s poems, “We Real Cool” and “The Boy Died In My Alley” both relate to the themes of rebellion, community, and mortality, as the first focuses on the rebellious lives of a few boys seen in the speaker’s neighborhood while the second focuses on the abundance of premature deaths experienced by boys like them, boys who have been forgotten by the system and have not had adequate support from their communities. “We Real Cool” focuses on the rebellious community formed by the boys who have banded together while “The Boy Died In My Alley” focuses more on the guilt experienced after death and shows why the boys’ behavior gets reinforced by the community around them, as there seems to be little chance of anyone speaking up for them. Additionally, the ways that Brooks chooses to draw her audience’s attention to certain lines are very similar in both poems, as both use alliteration throughout, while “The Boy Died In My Alley” also utilizes capitalization of certain words to add emphasis and meaning. Both of these poems describe a neighborhood in which the young boys feel isolated and forgotten by the systems that are meant to support them; Brooks uses various kinds of figurative language to draw her audience’s attention to the regularity of crime in her community and the systems that have failed the boys.
Brooks’s “The Boy Died In My Alley” focuses on themes of guilt and mortality as it tells the story of someone who finds out a young boy has died behind their home. It opens with the speaker (in this case, Brooks herself) answering their door to the police telling them that a boy has been shot to death in her alley and asking if she heard anything. She answers by saying “Shots I hear and Shots I hear. I never see the Dead” (Brooks ll. 7-8). The capitalization of ‘Shots’ and ‘Dead’ emphasize the regularity of shootings and the number of people who have died as a result of them. The speaker goes on to tell the audience that she “[has] known this boy before” (Brooks l. 17) though she has “never [seen] his face at all… [has] never [seen] his futurefall” (ll. 19-20), she says she knows this boy because he’s not the only one. She’s always heard about this happening; she’s just never seen it (Brooks ll. 6-7) for herself. This idea of the boy as a larger symbol for other boys like him is also supported by the capitalization of ‘Boy’ throughout the poem because capitalizing it is a way to give names to the forgotten boys who have suffered the same fate.
“We Real Cool” is written from the perspective of Chicago boys skipping school to go to a pool hall together. One of its central themes is community, as the speaker always uses the inclusive pronoun ‘we,’ to show that the boys are a unit of sorts. Almost every line ends with this word before describing the action in the next line, and this draws the audience’s attention to the sense of togetherness and belonging that can be found in this created community, especially if other institutions (such as schools) have not made them feel the same way. Additionally, because each line ends with ‘we,’ it triggers a pause before the next line, and the reader may be reminded of the nursery rhyme “This Little Piggy,” as that piggy went “wee wee wee all the way home.” Nursery rhymes are usually associated with cheeriness, but this poem has a much more solemn tone, as it ends with saying they know they’ll die young. The end ‘we’ that feels so reminiscent of the nursery rhyme may be to communicate a similar narrative, as the boys are going to live their lives looking for pleasure in the current moment, enjoying the ride of life all the way home, or in this case, the afterlife.
Although there is a sense of community in “We Real Cool,” the sense of rebellion around the boys’ behavior is prevalent in the poem as they seem to be boldly bragging about breaking the rules of society. They talk about not going to school, drinking cheap gin (Brooks ll. 2-6), “[lurking] late” (l. 6), as well as “[striking] straight” (l. 4), which could be interpreted in a couple of ways. The speaker could be talking about the game of pool, but striking means to hit in general. Therefore, it could also serve as a way of saying they get into fights with people. The next line says they “sing sin” (Brooks l. 5), which emphasizes that they are living rebellious lives and want people to hear and know this about them because they see these things as cool, even if in reality, these things are only increasing their chances at having early deaths. The name of the pool hall they are in even reflects this idea; Brooks calls it the ‘Golden Shovel.’ This tool that is traditionally used to dig a grave is now painted gold: shiny, alluring, prosperous gold, but it is still digging a grave, much like the lives these boys are living. The last line acknowledges this reality as the speaker says they’ll “die soon” (Brooks l. 8). The boys have adopted this kind of rebellious and dangerous lifestyle because they figure they will die young anyway and would rather live their lives carefree and in the moment than restricted, fearing death.
Looking back on “The Boy Died In My Alley,” one is reminded of the regularity that is depicted while telling of the fatal shooting of a young boy in Brooks’s neighborhood. By knowing that “We Real Cool” is based on an observation she had in her community (“Gwendolyn Brooks Reads…”), one can only assume that the boys from this poem are familiar with this kind of violent reality as well. They are likely desensitized to it, so although rebelling may not be the smartest way towards progress, these poems help the audience understand and empathize with those in marginalized communities who may not always make the best decisions for their long-term benefit because it is very hard to better oneself in circumstances that only reinforce the bad behavior. When reading “The Boy Died In My Alley” first, it paints a picture of a community that deals with such frequent death that few people hardly stop to think about it, and the boys in “We Real Cool” can be seen as products of this kind of desensitized society as they live for the moment, assuming death will be upon them soon because they see no merit in trying to avoid it. However, when switching the order, one may interpret that the boys’ behavior in “We Real Cool” perpetuates violence against young boys because they are not trying to stay out of trouble. There is no simple cause and effect though because it is much more complex than that, as the oppression of BIPOC communities is and has historically been systemic.
Brooks was not shy in bringing up these systems in her work, and one good example from these poems is in “The Boy Died In My Alley” which opens with her talking to a police officer. The word ‘Policeman’ is capitalized throughout to draw attention to the police as a system, or a unit, as I referred to the boys earlier. It’s a way of communicating that even if there is only one police officer at her door, he is part of a larger collective. One interesting thing about the way the officer approaches her is that he says not once but twice that “A Boy was dying in your alley. A Boy is dead, and in your alley” (Brooks ll. 14-15), and this progression from ‘dying’ to ‘dead’ seems to put the blame on the speaker, as if she could have stopped his death, had she only called before he died. Even though the speaker lives on an alley (presumably a street with other houses), she is now taking on the guilt for having killed this boy because she didn’t say anything. It seems that Brooks wants readers to start asking questions. Why is it the residents’ responsibility to police their neighborhoods if everyone knows that they have high crime rates? Couldn’t they send patrol cars to those areas if they wanted to prevent more people from dying? The fact that these systems were put in place to protect people, yet these people are not being helped, sends a message that they don’t matter; therefore, attempts to follow the rules of the system or reach out to that system for help may seem futile.
Another similarity that can be found in these two poems is the way that they choose to emphasize certain lines with alliteration. “We Real Cool” uses it in four of the eight lines, the first of which is “lurk late” (Brooks l. 3), followed by “strike straight” (l. 4), then “sing sin” (l. 5), and lastly, “jazz June” (l. 7). The first three have been discussed at length on the third page, so this paragraph will mainly focus on line 7. There have been different interpretations of this line throughout time, some speculating that ‘jazz’ was meant as a euphemism for having sex while June was the name of a girl; however, Brooks herself denied this interpretation, saying she was talking about music. She also says that she was using ‘June’ to represent the establishment, but this poem was banned due to the interpretation described above. (“Gwendolyn Brooks Reads…”). With the knowledge that she was using ‘jazz’ to refer to the musical movement and ‘June’ to refer to the establishment, a new interpretation can be found. It is widely known that the jazz movement was associated with rebellion during the prohibition era, as jazz musicians would often perform at speakeasies where people would drink and generally behave inappropriately, at least according to the norms of that time period (“The Rise of Jazz…”). Therefore, this word usage directed towards the establishment tells the audience that not only are these boys breaking rules, they are breaking them with the distinct purpose of rebellion against “the man.”
The first two alliterations in “The Boy Died In My Alley” relate to the establishment as well, using “Policeman pounded” and “‘POLICE!’ Policeman yelled” (Brooks ll. 11-12). The first intensifies the moment they bang on her door because of the percussive nature of the p-sound alliteration, and while one may easily skip over the second upon first reading, the lack of an article before ‘Policeman’ is purposeful. Not only does this serve the purpose of highlighting the police as an entity, but it also creates alliteration, further drawing the reader’s attention to this line. The next alliteration, which she reuses multiple times throughout the poem, comes when she is asked if she’s known the “Boy before” (Brooks l. 15). This alliteration shows up three times, continuing to highlight the commonality of shootings in the speaker’s neighborhood, which is likely why the poem is dedicated to Running Boy.
There’s a fear displayed in “The Boy Died In My Alley” that is missing in “We Real Cool” because the boys at the pool hall have grown up seeing the crime around them and have chosen to live their lives without fear, which for them means rebelliously, as they “sing sin” (Brooks l. 5) together, knowing that their lives won’t last very long. Although the boys in this poem are clearly together, “The Boy Died In My Alley” says that the boy died ‘Alone,’ with the word capitalized to emphasize this point, even though it can’t technically be true if he was shot. Often, the boys staying out late together in these rough areas either fell into gangs or were affected by gang violence, and clearly, a gang is not a singular person. Although it may be likely, the audience can’t possibly know if the shooting was a result of gang violence based on the poem alone, but one can definitely argue that the boy wasn’t alone when he was killed because someone had to do the killing. However, Brooks uses this capitalization of ‘Alone’ to express the feelings of isolation that come with living in a world where safety is uncertain. The boys in “We Real Cool” know that they could end up in the crossfire by accident, even if they do follow the rules the system has laid out for them because their communities aren’t safe. Therefore, finding a group that can make you feel safe becomes a higher priority than going to school, and it’s easier to reject any feelings of fear by becoming the people who will “strike straight” (Brooks l. 4) to protect themselves and members of their group.
It becomes apparent by reading these poems more closely that there are many themes and patterns that they have in common, such as community, rebellion, the social issues they call attention to, the systems they subtly critique, and the kinds of emphasization used to bring more attention to these topics. They show how these communities are burdened by high crime rates and how the failure to address these problems results in the reinforcement of the problems going forward, as boys affected by them lose hope in the systems that are meant to help them and turn toward rebellious lifestyles for a sense of community and safety that can’t be found within the established systems. Upon the first read of both poems, one may conclude that it is either the fault of the community for not taking care of the boys or the fault of the boys for not behaving according to society’s rules, but by analyzing the areas of emphasis, it becomes clearer that Brooks wants her readers to question the systems’ role in creating and sustaining the problem, rather than the residents of the community. These poems do not directly call out the establishment, rather, they present viewpoints that are more black and white, placing blame on members of the community, which forces the audience to question why they should be to blame. They show why poetry is such an important tool for discussing social and political issues because the subtlety Brooks uses to discuss these issues makes them easier for those with different viewpoints to digest, helping her audience to empathize and understand each other better moving forward.
Works Cited
Brooks, Gwendolyn. “The Boy Died In My Alley.” Contemporary American Poetry: Volume 2 Second Edition
Brooks, Gwendolyn. “We Real Cool.” Contemporary American Poetry: Volume 2 Second Edition
“Gwendolyn Brooks Reads We Real Cool.” YouTube, 1 Nov. 2013, https://youtu.be/oaVfLwZ6jes.
“The Rise of Jazz and Jukeboxes Scroll to Read More.” Prohibition, https://prohibition.themobmuseum.org/the-history/how-prohibition-changed-american-culture/jazz-and-jukeboxes/.
Literary Analysis of “Good Country People” by Flannery O’Connor
Gothicism and the Grotesque in “Good Country People”
Gothicism is an art form that was originally from Europe, but Southern writers adopted it to focus on the darker aspects of human nature and to expose the moral decay and depravity of society through the use of the grotesque, which is usually seen through physical deformities and mental illness. These themes can be seen throughout Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People,” as characters such as Mrs. Freeman and Manley Pointer are obsessed with deformity, and Mrs. Hopewell is obsessed with her daughter’s presentation because she so desperately wants the people around to see her in a positive light. “Good Country People” uses Gothicism to create a social commentary on the state of the South, poking fun at people for judging others based solely on presentation, knowing they are hiding behind facades of their own. She also uses the characters’ moral failings and grotesque obsessions to emphasize their depraved nature, further contributing to the themes of Gothicism in the story.
Although Mrs. Hopewell’s character may not seem like a clear example of depravity at first glance, she certainly paints a perfect picture of the typical Southern woman; she is hyper-concerned about how she comes off to others, and she projects this responsibility to maintain a good appearance onto her daughter, who couldn’t care less. One of the first things the audience learns about Mrs. Hopewell is that while “she had no bad qualities of her own” (O’Connor 2), she was able to help others put their flaws to use, and she saw this quality in herself as the primary reason for her having kept the Freemans as the help for so long, after another family had complained about Mrs. Freeman’s nosiness. The audience can also examine this same constructive attitude towards her daughter, Joy/Hulga, however, she approaches her daughter with harsher judgment, as she resents her choice to pursue multiple degrees because most respectable women only went to college for one; “there was no more excuse for her to go to school again” (O’Connor 5), and even though her mother knew that academics were her only passion, she never expressed pride for her daughter’s hard work and dedication, only resentment because she didn’t follow the path she felt young women were meant to take. She knows that this path is not her daughter’s though, yet she continues to judge her daughter’s decision to take another one, even though that path seems to make her happy, and this is what makes Mrs. Hopewell’s character depraved. Without taking the time to examine Mrs. Hopewell’s behavior towards her daughter, it’s very hard to indicate where her character’s depravity lies, but when we take a closer look at she interacts with her daughter, it’s clear that while she can certainly see the flaws in others, she seems to have a blind spot for her own, which allows her character to represent the larger collective attitude of the South.
In addition to her resentment of her daughter’s choices, she also judged her appearance heavily throughout the story, further displaying her character’s depravity. At one point, Mrs. Hopewell says she could imagine Joy/Hulga teaching in a classroom “looking like a scarecrow and lecturing to more of the same” (O’Connor 5), which surely doesn’t sound like something one would say about another as a compliment. However, in many cases, she appears less blunt as she tries to pass off her harsh projections as constructive criticism, in an attempt to hide her depravity from those around her. One example of this can be found as she watches Joy/Hulga and thinks to herself that “if she would only keep herself up a little, she wouldn’t be so bad looking” (O’Connor 4). Her obsession with optics is evident throughout, and another character that highlights this is Manley Pointer, as he arrives and is described as “not bad looking … though he had on … yellow socks that were not pulled up far enough” (O’Connor 6), which sounds vastly similar to the critical statement made about Joy/Hulga. However, her demeanor towards him quickly changes after he makes her feel personally convicted by pointing out the lack of a Bible in her parlor and insinuating that she was prejudiced against him because he was poor, so naturally, she needs to prove that this is untrue by taking on the role of host and inviting him in to stay for dinner. After having a long conversation with him that she did not enjoy, she goes so far as to tell him “she [will] always be happy to see him” (O’Connor 9), lying to maintain her sweet, but fake demeanor. Her constant obsession with how others perceive her is very characteristic of the American South, and her character serves to represent this society’s depraved thinking, which gives them a constant bend toward believing those who present themselves as good Christian people and make fun of them for their hypocrisy as they judge their neighbors and still feel the need to lie, to hide their flaws from them.
This obsession with image and presentation can be seen throughout, and Mrs. Hopewell’s character is not alone in her struggle to maintain her facade, as Manley Pointer routinely uses his good country demeanor to trick people into thinking he’s a Bible salesman, before letting him in so that he can steal from them, which clearly illustrates depravity and moral decay because of his lies/sinful nature and use of the Bible to scam people. He creates a detailed backstory about his father who died a gruesome death and his mother who did everything she could for her kids and made sure “that her children went to Sunday School and that they read the Bible every evening” (O’Connor 8), and this lie works for him here, as it always has. Then, after a dinner of ignoring his obvious interest, Joy/Hulga decides to give him the time of day for long enough to make plans to meet up with him the following evening, and she ends up spending a lot of time fantasizing about how she could seduce him when they see each other again. This is why while his character brings in more of the same depravity found in Mrs. Hopewell’s, he also serves to contribute to the exposition of moral decay, as he and Joy/Hulga share a lack of Christian faith, and they begin interacting inappropriately before the more grotesque aspect of the story comes into play.
Manley Pointer’s character is obsessed with stealing the fake body parts of the disabled, which not only communicates his depravity but also his obsession with the grotesque. After meeting Joy/Hulga the night after making plans, he kisses her on the walk over to the barn and helps her up to the second story loft of the barn where they begin to kiss more passionately, and he begs for her to say that she loves him and to prove it by showing where her wooden leg attached because “it’s what makes [her] different” (16). This line about wanting to see what what makes her different further proves his obsession with disability, making his contribution to the grotesque in the story more obvious to the audience. Joy/Hulga eventually decides to trust him, shows him where it’s attached, and he convinces her to remove it, acting as if it’s something he will be able to do for her in the future. However, this was all just a scam to attain her wooden leg for his disturbing collection, which also featured a glass eyeball he acquired in the same way. The act of stealing represents his character’s depravity, but what he is stealing is the key to making his character a good example of how the gothic manifests itself through the grotesque, which in this case can be examined through his fetishization of the fake body parts of the disabled in the story.
Just as Manley Pointer has his issues with obsession in regard to the grotesque, Mrs. Freeman has her own as well, and although she doesn’t have the same propensity for stealing, her attitude towards the grotesque shows her character’s depravity, as she finds pleasure in hearing about others’ injuries or other physical struggles. O’Connor writes that Mrs. Freeman “[has] a special fondness for the details of secret infections, hidden deformities, assaults upon children” (4) and even goes so far as to say that “she [prefers] lingering or incurable” (4) diseases, and she could listen to Mrs. Hopewell recount the gory details of the hunting accident that “blasted off” (4) Joy/Hulga’s leg any time. This area not only highlights the details of Joy/Hulga’s physical deformity but also draws attention to the potential concern for mental illness in both Mrs. Freeman and Manley Pointer, as they both have a fascination with the grotesque that goes far beyond normal, and Mrs. Freeman’s eagerness to listen to gory details also helps to display her character’s depravity.
Just as these characters’ obsessions with the grotesque help to emphasize the themes of Gothicism in the story, much of the humor sprinkled throughout the story serves to satirize the behaviors of Southern society for the greater purpose of communicating the sense of moral decay and depravity. One of the first ways O’Connor adds humor into the story is by having Joy change her name to Hulga, purely because it was an ugly name, and she knew her mother would hate it. Her mother, indeed, hates the name and never calls her by it, but this doesn’t stop Hulga from doing things to upset her mother, purposefully from Mrs. Hopewell’s perspective. O’Connor goes on to write that “she could walk without making the awful noise but she made it… because it was ugly-sounding” (4). She resents her daughter’s disability so much so that she doesn’t have any remorse left for her; she just thinks everything she does is to act out in ugliness, which may be true to some extent, however, considering how she’s been raised, it would make sense. Mrs. Hopewell’s constant blind spot when it comes to her own depravity is satirized often through the judgment towards her daughter and others in the story, but the end of the story brings an extra added layer of irony to add to the overall humor as she sees Manley Pointer walking off into the distance and says how she “[guesses] the world would be better off if” (O’Connor 19) there were more simple people in the world, like him. This irony at the end of the story adds to the overall critique of Southern society, by showing that their constant favoritism towards those who kept up appearances only makes them more vulnerable to the antics of more knowledgable conmen.
O’Connor uses Gothicism to draw attention to Southern society’s moral decay by creating characters that illustrate depravity, either through the judgment of others, or through the obsession with the grotesque. By using Mrs. Hopewell to illustrate the obsession with presentation and using Manley Pointer and Mrs. Freeman to illustrate the obsession with the grotesque, O’Connor is able to critique and draw attention to the depravity/moral decay of Southern society at the time. Although there are many obvious aspects of Gothicism to be found and discussed in Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People,” it is in the more subtle actions and behaviors of the characters that some of the most interesting social commentary occurs.
Work Cited
O’Connor, Flannery. “Good Country People.” O’Connor: Collected Works. Edited by Sally Fitzgerald, The Library of America, 1988.
How the “Second-Coming” of the KKK solidified Christian Nationalist Ideals
The KKK was one of the most prominent and well-known groups who were able to abuse religion in order to spread hate and oppression throughout the US. Although the Ku Klux Klan focused its efforts on the discrimination and continued oppression of African-Americans, in the 1920s, the KKK was more focused on gaining as many natural-born Protestant Christians to their order as possible. They were able to achieve the massive growth they were seeking by using Christian symbols and verbiage, giving money to churches who promoted their ideals, and using the growing fear of inferiority to encourage Protestants to embrace white Christian nationalism.
Perhaps, the most effective tactic the Klan utilized was using Christian verbiage and symbolism, which was critical to helping them appear less threatening, simply through subliminal messaging. The Klan used words such as sanctity, chastity, virtue, and purity when discussing their goals for the nation, using them to justify discrimination against those who they felt threatened the nation’s purity (Bringhurst 2000), which meant Protestant whiteness according to the KKK. In addition to the appealing diction they chose, they also chose symbols to help gain the respect (if not admiration) of Protestants as well, one of these symbols being the notorious white robe and hood that was the uniform of the Klan (Baker 2011, p. 317). Ministers often wore white robes, which were historically meant to symbolize innocence and purity, so it’s no coincidence that a hate group looking to gain new Protestant followers would choose such attire. They even wore crosses on their breast, and as Baker observes, “the color of the robes displayed the requirements for membership: Caucasian, Protestant, and "native-born" American” (Baker 2011, p. 322). However, the symbolism found in the uniforms were far less blatant than the burning crosses, which were a huge spectacle of Klan gatherings, meant to serve “as a constant reminder that Christ [was their] criterion of character” (Baker 2011, p. 333).
Another way the Klan recruited members of the Protestant church was by abusing their fear of settlers from Europe, specifically Jewish and Catholic ones. ‘The Hooded Order,’ as they were called, promoted themselves as a Christian group, and they claimed that other racial/religious groups had secret orders, and therefore, white Protestants were entitled to a secret order of their own. This attracted all of kinds of Protestants to the KKK because they seemed to be the only group that was fighting against the threats to Christian supremacy at the time (Bringhurst 2000). They also argued that they were “for better schools, better churches, better homes, and for a higher standard in both everyday life and political representation” (Bringhurst 2000, p. 374), and this statement helps show that they had a strategy to keep the Protestants in power, by using their power in the education system and political system alike. Because many white Protestants were feeling threatened by the new immigrants’ beliefs and cultures, the Klan was able to campaign itself as a protector of the Protestants, which was instrumental in gaining the many Christians that were drawn in by their promises to keep them in power.
One of the ways they were able to push this narrative in front of the Protestant population was by “donating” large sums of money to many churches throughout the country, in order to persuade pastors to promote the Klan’s ideology in the church (“Tolerance and Bigotry…” p. 167). This is where the Christian nationalist ideas were promoted heavily, as pastors such as Rev. I.E. Williams called on Protestant men “to embrace the “red-blooded Americanism” and true Christianity of the KKK” (“Tolerance and Bigotry…” p. 160). He also advocated for new immigrants to be required to pledge allegiance to the Christian church before acquiring citizenship, further enforcing the ideals of Christian nationalism.
He was not an outlier though, as reverends from other states, such as Rev. Booth of Michigan, used similar language, calling “every red-blooded American” and “all interested in the general welfare are urged to be present” (Fox 2011, p. 161) at a sermon in which the Klan’s message was being preached. He spoke highly of the KKK, stating that they were helping to better the community through charity and service projects, as well as by maintaining order through “running down bootleggers and rum runners” (Fox 2011, p. 163). He publicly praised them for being the “crusading Knights of Protestant Christianity” (Fox 2011, p. 163) and concluded his sermon by stating that “the finest thing about the Klan… is that the Bible is the basis for their constitution” (Fox 2011, p. 163), which was sure to grab the attention of the congregation. Even though the KKK was clearly not promoting the good Christian morals that many of these members probably did genuinely subscribe to, the use of church leaders by the Klan was largely successful in creating a nationalist perspective in the church, similarly to how political parties court church leaders to drive nationalist sentiment today.
Baker said it best in her analysis of the Klan’s artifacts when she stated that “commitment to religion and nation can transform into exclusion and intolerance of the supposed enemies of the nation” (Baker 2011, p. 315). This becomes especially true when people feel threatened, as many in the Protestant church did by increased immigration, so the Klan took their opportunity and chose a time in history when Protestants in the states were beginning to worry about what losing their superior status would mean for them in society. The “robes, crosses, and other Klan objects make not only for good storytelling but allow for a clearer picture of the relationship between white Protestantism and nationalism” (Baker 2011, 317). The use of these items paired with the promotion within the church were essential to the KKK’s recruitment of more Protestants, and by choosing the 20s as their time to strike, they took advantage of the growing fear of Christians’ lack of power.
The KKK was able to recruit a massive following in the 1920s by using Christian symbols and verbiage, donating money to churches who spread their ideology, and by utilizing the growing fear of inferiority to persuade Protestants to embrace white Christian nationalist perspectives. Subliminal messaging was crucial to their growth, however, this would not have been possible without the use of monetary power in the church to gain support from ministers. Even though this was about a century ago at this point, the ways in which the Klan affected the Protestant church were much more permanent than is to be desired, so hopefully, as society continues to learn and grow, the church is able to address these concerns as an institution, to ensure that a new group doesn’t fool and take advantage of their fear in the future.
Bibliography
Baker, Kelly J. 2011. “Robes, Fiery Crosses, and the American Flag: The Materiality of the 1920s’ Klan’s Christianity, Patriotism, and Intolerance.” Material Religion 7 (3): 312–43. doi:10.2752/175183411X13172844495894.
Bringhurst, Newell G. 2000. “The Ku Klux Klan in a Central California Community: Tulare County During the 1920s and 1930s.” Southern California Quarterly 82 (4): 365–96. doi:10.2307/41172036.
Craig Fox. 2011. Everyday Klansfolk : White Protestant Life and the KKK in 1920s Michigan. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press.
“Tolerance and Bigotry in Southwest Louisiana: The Ku Klux Klan, 1921-23.” 2006. Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association 47 (2): 153–68. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.4234179&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Literary Analysis of Ray Bradbury’s “August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains”
American Nightmare and Personification with Bradbury
In Bradbury’s “August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains,” Bradbury perfectly exemplifies the theme of the American Nightmare by telling his readers of an empty personified home that carries on daily activities as if the family which once occupied it still lived there. The McClellan house’s technology is very advanced as it includes much of the smart home technology many are familiar with today yet also has the ability to cook and clean, which serve as key aspects to the personification of this house while also adding more emphasis to the theme.
Bradbury’s use of personification in this story is crucial in developing the theme of the American Dream/Nightmare, and readers can spot this connection in the first line of the story when Bradbury tells the readers that “the voice-clock sang,” (20) both personifying the house and providing the first piece of information to reveal the house’s advanced technology. Bradbury later introduces quite possibly the most amazing smart kitchen technology ever dreamt of when he describes how “the stove [gives] a hissing sigh” (20) before laying out a full breakfast feast for its former family, even with no family in sight. Readers can be in even more awe of this technology while the kitchen cleans up the mess left behind from the breakfast that was never touched, “an aluminum wedge [scrapes the food] into the sink, where the hot water [whirls it] down a metal throat which [digests] and [flushes]” (Bradbury 20) the food away. This line in the seventh paragraph is one of the most specific uses of personification throughout this story because Bradbury anthropomorphizes the house through the use of very human-centric verbs. Words such as “digestion”, “sigh”, and “sang” are very animalistic actions, making the house itself the main character of the narrative in the absence of any humans. Bradbury characterizes the house as a living thing through his careful selection of diction, which allows the reader to further empathize with it during its eventual demise.
Towards the end of the first page, Bradbury begins to paint the scene outside the house for his readers as he describes “a city of rubble and ashes… a ruined city” (20), which gives off “a radioactive glow” (20) at night. This helps the readers understand that Bradbury’s story “[addresses] the central fear of its time—nuclear holocaust” (Everman), while simultaneously displaying the Nightmare theme particularly well because it shows readers the connection between the advanced technology that made the smart house possible and the advanced technology that makes nuclear warfare possible (Everman). Even in this destroyed city, with no humans in sight, the technology that undoubtedly contributed to their fall lives on; “among the ruins, one wall stood alone” (Bradbury 23) as the voice continued, “today is August 5th, 2026” (Bradbury 23) over and over again; it’s hard to imagine a more haunting scene than the one Bradbury illustrates for his audience here.
Towards the end of this story “the house [begins] to die” (Bradbury 22) as a tree falls through the window, causing cleaning solvent to spill over the stove, creating a huge fire in the house. Bradbury also personifies this fire as it begins “licking, eating, under the kitchen door” (22) before the house begins trying to save itself and “wind [blows] and [sucks] upon the fire” (22). The fire did not quit though, as it flew up the stairs, “[feeding] upon Picassos and Matisses in the upper halls, like delicacies, baking off the oily flesh” (Bradbury 23). When the fire had made its way into the nursery, the animals on the wall were personified as well; “blue lions roared, purple giraffes bounded off. The panthers ran in circles, changing color, and ten million animals, running before the fire, vanished off toward a distant, steaming river” (Bradbury 23). This part is very engaging for the reader because he has used the most outrageous personification in every area of the home, so much so, that it would now be unfair to refer to the house as a singular character when there are so many moving parts that work together to give the house all of the different functions that the readers become familiar with in Bradbury’s story.
Bradbury has a unique way of painting a picture for his audience, and this can be seen throughout this story because of the way he is able to personify the house while also adding depth to the theme of the American Dream/Nightmare and giving his readers a clear image of the house and its surroundings. The personification of the house is in direct correlation to the fear of the technology that makes nuclear warfare possible, and the story reveals that humans are the reason any of this nightmare became a possibility in the first place because they created the technology that ultimately led to their fall.
Works Cited
Bradbury, Ray. “There Will Come Soft Rains.” Read, vol. 61, no. 3, Oct. 2011, pp. 20–23. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=mih&AN=67066413&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Everman, Welch, D. “August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains: Overview.” Reference Guide to Short Fiction. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=edsglr&AN=edsglr.1420000985&site=eds-live&scope=site. Accessed 1 May 2021.
Literary Analysis of “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Highlighting the Effects of Misogyny in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is written from the perspective of a woman struggling with mental illness in the late 1800s. Her symptoms, today, would likely result in a diagnosis of postpartum depression and/or psychosis, since she had just had a baby. However, her husband, John, who is also her doctor, sees this illness as a “temporary nervous depression - a slight hysterical tendency” (Gilman 10). She is forced to spend time resting alone, forbidden to do any kind of work (Gilman 12), so she becomes obsessed with the wallpaper in her room and begins to see herself trapped inside its pattern (Gilman 249). As the audience follows the narrator, her condition worsens, however her husband seems to think that she is improving; this is largely due to the societal perception of women at the time. This kind of perception contributes to the demise of the narrator’s mental state as the treatment in which she is prescribed only serves to make her feel more trapped than ever before.
The narrator was prescribed a “rest cure” which was standard for treating neurasthenia (depression, insomnia, anxiety, etc.) in women, however, the same doctor who recommended this kind of treatment for women prescribed nervous men a completely opposite regimen. He prescribed men a “West cure” in which men were sent “out West to engage in prolonged periods of cattle roping, hunting, roughriding and male bonding” (Stiles 2). This is, of course, in stark contrast to the “rest cure” that the narrator had to endure even though she thought that “congenial work, with excitement and change” (Gilman 14), like what was prescribed to men, would be beneficial to her mental state. However, men and women were prescribed treatments that would “reinforce “proper” sexual behavior” (Stiles 12), pushing women into domestic lifestyles while encouraging men to get out and challenge themselves physically. In addition to these treatments being designed to reinforce traditional gender roles, the “West cure” proved to be very effective, transformative, and even refreshing for men, while the “rest cure” was not regarded as a “pleasant experience” (Stiles 6), only further representing the unequal treatment of men and women. Gilman’s narrator expresses that the only thing that brings her solace is writing her feelings out as she experiences them (62), but this is forbidden because it goes against the treatment plan’s goal of domesticating women since this could potentially encourage her to pursue more intellectual endeavors.
John’s sister, Jennie’s character, serves to show that even women during this time were brainwashed into believing that this domestic role was best for them. Gilman’s narrator says that Jennie is very careful to watch her and make sure she is properly following the treatment protocols (76). She goes so far to say that she thinks Jennie blames her mental illness on writing itself (77), probably due to the fact that women were strongly discouraged from pursuing any kind of intellectual endeavors. The narrator becomes brainwashed in the story, herself, now wary of leaving the room with the yellow wallpaper because “outside you have to creep on the ground and everything is green instead of yellow” (Gilman 252). This line illustrates the fear that was instilled into women surrounding intellectual or financial pursuits of their own, since they quickly became accustomed to living domestic lives, forbidden from having any other dreams.
Gilman’s narrator, herself, believes the treatment she is receiving is only making her condition worse, but when she expresses concern to her husband, he simply laughs at her and dismisses her at every turn (5). However, the narrator is not surprised by this because “one expects that in marriage” (Gilman 5), showing that even if she weren’t experiencing any mental challenges, she would still be seen as inferior to her husband, undeserving of his respect. She tells the audience that her husband, John, “does not believe that [she is] sick” (Gilman 8), despite all of the concerns she has expressed to him because he can’t find a reason for it (Gilman 45). He is constantly belittling the narrator by telling her to trust him because he is a doctor and knows that the treatment plan is working just fine, regardless of what the narrator says (Gilman 136). He gaslights her any time she expresses doubt surrounding the effectiveness of the “rest cure.” For instance, she tells him that she doesn’t feel as if she is improving and he says “bless her little heart… she shall be sick as she pleases” (Gilman 138), insinuating that she doesn’t know any better because she is nothing but a silly “little girl” (Gilman 133) in his mind.
The wallpaper, itself, represents the female condition at this time due to the misogynistic ideas that loomed over women, keeping them locked into a domestic role. The narrator mentions the ugly pattern on the wallpaper several times throughout the story, but she later notices another pattern on top of the back pattern (Gilman 80). These patterns later become identified as a woman trapped behind bars (153), as the narrator begins to project her own mental state onto the wallpaper. She expresses concern, for there may be more women stuck inside “trying to climb through. But nobody could climb through that pattern - it strangles so” (Gilman 190-193). The top pattern, or the bars, can be interpreted as the patriarchal ideas that have influenced the treatment of women in every aspect of their lives. This is why the narrator laments about how many women have found themselves trapped in that wallpaper & how impossible it is to escape.
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman highlights the treatment of women in the 19th century, as its narrator struggles with her mental health during her postpartum period, and her husband, who is a doctor, only serves to make her condition worse due to the misogynistic influence on the medical field. Although the narrator has her own ideas concerning her treatment plan, her husband’s belief about her mental state is held in much higher value than her own, as traditional gender roles would dictate. This story was monumental in terms of changing the way that mental illness is addressed for women, and it helped to combat the medical misogyny that Gilman, herself, faced after being prescribed a “rest cure” that only worsened her condition (Stiles 1).
Works Cited
Gilman, Charlotte. “The Yellow Wallpaper” Compact Anthology of World Literature: The 17th and 18th Centuries (Part 4), edited by Anita Turlington, Matthew Horton, Karen Dodson, Laura Getty, Kyounghye Kwon, Laura Ng, University of North Georgia Press, 2018.
Stiles, Anne. “Go Rest, Young Man.” Monitor on Psychology, American Psychological Association, https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/01/go-rest.