Beecroft, 1

Travis Beecroft

English 526

Professor Jiménez

May 11, 2012

Final Exam Identifications

1. “Because I could not stop for Death,” Emily Dickinson, written 1863, posthumously published in Poems: Series 1, 1890.

“Because I could not stop for Death” is a poem that calmly reflects upon Dickinson’s

acceptance of death and the mortality that it brings to everyone. The poem begins with

Dickinson essentially stating that she is too busy living her life to let Death stop her. In other

words, she lived without the worry of Death meeting her at too early an age and has accepted its

inevitability with welcome arms. Eventually, as with everyone, Death arrives to her with a

carriage to take them away. The second stanza of the poem is about the pace at which Death and

Dickinson will be traveling as they move from one location to the other, reflecting on the

concept of time at each location. The 3rd and 4th stanzas, the stanzas chosen for the response,

involve Death and Dickinson driving past the school, the “fields of gazing grain,” and the

“setting sun” (Dickinson 3154). She arrives to her “house,” or grave, in the last stanza and upon

its arrival she’s at peace and gladly walks with death (3154-3155). Dickinson writes these lines

to show her acceptance of her death. She has lived her life and done all the things she had

wanted to do. By the time death had caught up to her she was willing to acquiesce to his touch

of mortality.

In general, the image that I get from this poem is as if Dickinson is being ushered around by

the Ghosts of Christmas, as seen in A Christmas Carol. However in this case, it is the

personification of Death that is bringing her from place to place, not spirited manifestations

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trying to make Scrooge a better person. In regards to Dickinson, stanzas three and four can be

seen as a reflection on her life. Lines 9 and 10 feature Dickinson returning to childhood and the

school where she grew up, recalling how she used to play at recess: “We passed the School,

where Children strove/at Recess—in the Ring—.” Line 11 reflects upon her maturity, in

reference to “Gazing Gain,” as the grain can be seen as a level of maturity, starting off as a

seedling before it matures into strands of grain. Line 12 references the “Setting Sun,” which can

be interpreted as the end of her life, as it comes to a close at the hand of eternal night, giving way

to the sunrise and rebirth of someone else. Lines 12 and 13 are connected as she mentions the

passing of the sun, only to correct herself and say the sun passed her. In doing this, Dickinson is

making note of the notion that nature, the sun, will not stop for anyone, as it rises and falls every

day. By having the sun pass them, it shows that nature is going to continue running its course, as

it has for millennia, regardless of who it may be leaving in its wake. As she continues, the

clothes she is wearing at the end of the fourth stanza suggest a wedding perhaps, as she is

wearing a gown with very fine fabric and having a scarf of thin silk netting. This perhaps is a

reflection on the idea that with Death comes a new beginning, as does marriage, not to say there

is a connection between the two.

Dickinson uses a variety of figures of speech in composing these stanzas. To begin with, the

poem in its entirety alternates between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimester. Additionally,

Dickinson uses alliteration, repetition, and personification in composing the poem, especially in

the third and fourth stanzas. Alliteration is present in lines nine and ten with the words “passed,”

“school,” and “strove,” “recess,” and “ring.” Additionally it can be found in the phrases “Gazing

Grain,” line 11, “Setting Sun,” line 12, “Dews drew,” line 14, and with the words “Gossamer”

and “Gown,” and “Tippet” and Tulle,” in lines 15 and 16 respectively. Repetition can be found

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in these stanzas in lines 9, 11, and 12, with the words “we passed,” each time referring to the

passage of time that transpired on each occasion. Dickinson passed the school, her childhood,

she passed the fields of grain, her maturity and adulthood, and she passed the setting sun, her

descent towards death. The repetition in this case is used to show the progression of time, as

Dickinson and her new pal death retrace the moments of her life, beginning from childhood and

ending with her impending death. Personification is used in line 13 when referring to the

“Setting Sun” passing them by, giving life to sun as it is the sun in this instance that is bringing

life to an end for Dickinson. Moreover, it is also used to give life to the act of Death, as it is

Death that picks her up and guides her through memories. By the end of the poem, Dickinson is

not afraid of Death, she is willing to follow Death towards whatever the next stage of the journey

will be. The figures of speech used create the sense of comfort Dickinson has with Death, as she

is no longer afraid of what it represents, and is ready for whatever happens next.

Dickinson, Emily. “Because I could not stop for Death.” The Heath Anthology of American

Literature. 6th ed, Vol. B. Ed. Paul Lauter. United States of America: Wadsworth

Cengage Learning, 2009. 3154-3155. Print.

2. Sab, Getrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, published in 1841.

Sab is a sentimental novel featuring a mulatto slave who is romantically in love with a light

skinned woman of wealth who lives on the land he works. The story revolves around the

romanticized love Sab feels for the woman, Carlota, and the love triangle that exists between the

two of them and Carlota’s future husband Enrique. While Carlota loves Enrique, Enrique only

wants to marry Carlota for her wealth. On the other hand, Sab is a slave of love for Carlota and

wants nothing more than to be her knight in shining armor. At the point in the story in which the

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selected passage occurs, Sab has already had the chance to let Enrique die at the hands of a storm

deciding to save him instead. Sab did not want Carlota to remember Enrique as an honorable

person who died tragically, he wants her to see him for his shallowness after only wanting to

marry Carlota because of the wealth attached to her name. Sab had also came up with a plan that

would result, he hoped, in Enrique falling for another woman, Teresa, believing she had a

winning lottery ticket. Knowing that Enrique was obsessed with money, Sab was sure that

Enrique would go for Teresa after realizing she had more wealth than Carlota, therefore allowing

Sab to swoop in and woo Carlota in a chivalrous manner.

The chosen quote comes after these incidents and involves Teresa and Sab as they are in

discussion with one another about the sadness and trouble Sab was dealing with at the time.

Immediately before the quote, Teresa states “Oh, Sab, poor Sab, how much you have suffered!

How worthy of a better fate is a heart that has known how to love as yours has” (de Avellaneda

99). To this, Sab responded by saying “but you do not know everything: you don’t know that

there have been moments when desperation has almost made me criminal” (99). This could be

in reference to Sab’s plan to trick Enrique into marrying Teresa because of a winning lottery

ticket, or to thoughts he may have had about letting Enrique die at the hands of the storm. All

the same, Sab is acknowledging that he may not be as pure a person as Teresa thinks he is. He is

aware of the thoughts and motives that creep through his head on occasion, and although he is a

true romantic in the way that he expresses his love for Carlota, he agrees that sometimes he may

take it too far. Moreover, in continuing with Sab’s response to Teresa, he also states that “you

have no idea what guilty desires I have thought of, what dreams of cruel happiness have sprung

from my feverish head…to snatch Carlota from her father’s arms, to tear her away from this

society which comes between the two of us, to flee into the wild bearing in my arms that angel of

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innocence and love…” (99). By saying this, Sab is acknowledging the desire he has to run away

with Carlota, leaving the society that frowns upon their involvement with one another.

Additionally, Sab states “I have also thought of arming the chained hands of their victims against

our oppressors, to fling the terrifying cry of freedom and vengeance into their midst” (99). Here,

Sab is clearly stating that he at one point has thought about providing slaves with the means and

inspiration to conduct a rebellion against their oppressors.

This passage reveals a number of different themes, most notably forbidden love and the

restraints society can put on the two people involved, and the theme of those who are oppressed

rising up against their oppressors. In stating “to tear her away from this society that comes

between us two…” Sab is saying that he wants to run away from the restraints of society, to live

with Carlota in a place where their love for one another will not be forbidden. He is tired of not

being able to love Carlota the way that he wants to. He knows society will frown upon any kind

of relationship he has with Carlota, other than the master, slave relationship, and he wants to

leave so he does not have to deal with those prejudices anymore. Additionally, by suggesting

that he thought about inspiring a slave rebellion, Sab is speaking out against anyone who

oppresses others. Although he didn’t inspire a rebellion at the time of him thinking it, this draws

similarities to the successful Haitian rebellion as Sab is playing the role of a revolutionary, as he

tries to inspire people to better themselves and their future, and to fight for freedom that

everyone should experience as a right. On the whole, this passage is a reflection on how society

can prohibit certain types of love, how people want to avoid those restraints, and how people

should fight for their freedoms and independence.

De Avellaneda, Gertrudis Gómez. Sab and Autobiography. Texas: University of Texas Press,

1993. Print.

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3. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs, published under pseudonym Linda Brent, 1861.

This passage in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is centered around two people, Mrs. Flint

and Nancy, Jacobs’ great-aunt, her foster-sister and house servant with whom the Flints have

developed a friendly relationship. Mrs. Flint is the wife of a slaveholder, Dr. Flint and until the

selected passage, Nancy had been well respected and beloved by Mrs. Flint, who despite that,

still treated her as though she were a slave. However, Nancy passed away shortly before the

selected passage and Mrs. Flint is having an uncharacteristically emotional reaction to the event,

beginning to wonder about the relationship she had with her foster-sister and favorite servant.

The passage begins with Jacobs writing “Mrs. Flint had rendered her poor foster-sister childless,

apparently without any compunction” (Jacobs 301). Earlier in the chapter entitled “Aunt

Nancy,” Jacobs introduces the reader to her great-aunt, mentioning that she was never able to

successfully raise a child of her own. Aunt Nancy was forced to become a wet nurse for the

children of Mrs. Flint, and every time Nancy got pregnant, she had premature births resulting in

the death of all her children. The first line of the passage shows that Mrs. Flint did not seem to

care that had been the case and that she was not remorseful about it, reflecting on the notion that

slaves and their own children are only viewed as property, and that the premature deaths of some

were nothing of importance other than the monetary value they would be worth later.

The following line of the passage is a reflection of the way in which the concept of slavery

worked. Of Nancy and the treatment she received being a slave to the Flint estate, Jacobs writes

that “cruel selfishness had ruined her health by years or incessant, unrequited toil, and broken

rest” (301). Here is a commentary on Jacobs’ perception of slavery, as she views the drive

behind the implementation and enforcement of slavery as “cruel selfishness” and behalf of the

slaveholders. Jacobs is bringing to light what slaveholders might have overlooked, the concept

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of breaking someone down physically and mentally for so many years is bound to deteriorate

even the strongest people. The “incessant, unrequited toil, and broken rest” are what slaves had

to deal with on a daily basis. They were constantly Muled, worked and worked with little rest

and hardly any sleep for years on end until their expected death, as was the case with Aunt

Nancy.

The next lines show a much more emotional side to Mrs. Flint, as she becomes “very

sentimental” about the relationship she had with Nancy (301). The question had arisen after this

passage of where to bury the body of Nancy. Aunt Martha, Nancy’s foster-mother, wanted

Nancy to be buried with members of her own family, not with her slave owner. However,

feeling sentimental, Mrs. Flint “thought it would be a beautiful illustration of the attachment

existing between slaveholder and slave, if the body of her old worn-out servant was buried at her

feet” (301). What Mrs. Flint is too oblivious to realize is that by burying a slave with the slave

owner, it still identifies the slave as belonging to the slave owner, much in the way some of the

Pharaohs of ancient Egypt buried many of their servants with them. If the slave were to be

buried at the feet of their slave owner, not only will it perpetuate the above notion, but it will also

imply that the slave, or African Americans in general, are naturally subservient to whites, as if

they belong at the feet of the white race, eternally inferior. This was a notion that Aunt Martha

was not willing to accept, as she had the final say on where the body of Nancy would be buried,

after it came as a shock to Mrs. Flint that slaves could have any feelings about the matter, or at

all in fact.

This chosen passage features sentimental rhetoric used by Jacobs. Given that she was

speaking to a predominately Northern, white female audience, Jacobs was trying to get the reader

to feel some sort of sentiment towards African American women living in the south by showing

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what their female brethren were forced to deal with. Jacobs accomplishes this by using the word

“compunction” to describe the way Mrs. Flint felt after essentially ruining Nancy’s chance of

having children, and the words “cruel selfishness” to describe the motive behind slavery. Each

adjective used by Jacobs illustrates the indecencies African American slaves were accustomed to

in their daily lives. The white women in the North could not comprehend what their dark-

skinned-sisters were facing just to survive, and Jacobs uses sentimental language that paints

whites, or at least Mrs. Flint in this instance, as a cold, emotionless woman who wants nothing

more than to have her favorite slave buried at her feet, where she will remain inferior to her long

after their societal roles played their part.

Jacobs, Harriet. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave & Incidents in

the Life of a Slave Girl. New York: Modern Library Classics, 2004. Print.

4. “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry,” Walt Whitman, published 1856.

“Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” is a poem about a man who is trying to establish his place within

nature, society, time, and space. The poem starts off with a man on a ferry on the way to

Brooklyn as he takes notices of all the people around him. He begins to reflect on the idea that

everyone is an individual in this world, but as a whole, we are collectively one, and continually

compares himself with everyone that he sees. Of the nine sections of the poem listed in the

anthology, the selected passage comes from the third one. In the first line of the passage on line

22 Whitman writes “Just as you feel when you look on the river and sky, so I felt,” and in saying

this, Whitman is establishing a relationship between he and the reader and their place within

nature (Whitman 3069). He references nature once again in line 24 when he states “Just as you

are refresh’d by the gladness of the river and the bright flow, I was refresh’d” (3069). As with

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the previous line mentioned, Whitman is placing himself in the same context as everyone around

him. While he considers himself to be an individual on a boat with all the other passengers, he

still recognizes the fact that each person individually is a part of the collective whole that is

humanity. He believes that he experiences the same things about nature that everyone else does,

and because of that, he is no different than anyone else in the grand scheme of things, a very

transcendental thought.

Continuing to speak to the reader, as is the case throughout the poem, Whitman writes “Just

as any of you is one of a living crowd, I was one of the crowd,” and “Just as you stand and lean

on the rail, yet hurry with the swift current, I stood yet and hurried,/Just as you look on the

numberless masts of ships and the thick-stemm’d pipes of steamboats, I look’d” (3069 23, 25-

26). Here Whitman is once again establishing a relationship between him and the people on the

boat with him. He compares himself to others as being a member of the crowd that is humanity

as they stand within themselves amongst the swift current that is life. In consummating these

lines of the poem Whitman uses repetition to accentuate the fact that he is talking directly to the

reader/the passengers of the ship, stating that he is just like them and that they are just like

everyone else who came before and will come after them. Whitman also alternates between

references to nature and to man. While the first and third and fourth lines of the selected section

of the poem refer to the river, its current, and the sky, the second and fifth lines of the section

speak to human elements such as a “living crowd,” the “masts of ships,” and the “pipes of

steamboats.” In composing the lines in this manner, Whitman is stressing the idea that man and

nature are essentially intertwined with one another. While nature is the supreme ruler here on

Earth, man constantly tries to find his place within nature and to use it to his benefit. Whitman is

acknowledging the fact that man and nature work harmoniously with one another, although

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nature is continuous in its presence and mankind is cyclical by nature, in that while people will

die, others will take their place.

Whitman, Walt. “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.” The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 6th

ed, Vol. B. Ed. Paul Lauter. United States of America: Wadsworth Cengage Learning,

2009. 3068-3073. Print.

5. The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne, published 1850.

This is a passage from The Scarlet Letter that discusses the ramifications of Hester’s

presumed act of adultery and how she was viewed in society. Prior to this passage, Hester was

condemned by society as being an adulterer and was forced to wear a letter “A” on her chest.

Since then, Hester has been a model citizen in the town, as she continuously helped people

whenever there was need and she slowly began to rehabilitate her image. Imagery is used in this

passage to describe how far she had wandered from society as a result of her supposed crime in

the form of a simile. Hawthorne writes “she had wandered, without rule or guidance, in a moral

wilderness; as vast, as intricate and shadowy, as the untamed forest,” and in doing so, creates the

idea that her act brought her so far away from the moral norm that she was stranded in the

wilderness (Hawthorne 128). Another simile is used to describe her intellect and her heart,

stating that they “had their home, as it were, in desert places, where she roamed as freely as the

wild Indian in his woods” (128). Once again, the simile uses the theme of nature in expressing

the freedom that can be had while in nature, without having to deal with the people and societal

pressures that would determine her fate.

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This passage also shows how Hawthorne viewed society, as he states that Hester “had looked

from this estranged point of view at human institutions, and whatever priests or legislators had

established; criticizing all with hardly more reverence than the Indian would feel for the clerical

band, the judicial robe, the pillory, the gallows, the fireside, or the church” (128). In writing this,

Hawthorne is expressing that the point of view in which Hester sees things about human

institutions as being “estranged” from what society views itself as. One of the main aspects of

the book that Hawthorne emphasizes a lot is his belief in there being something wrong with the

way society labels people and looks down upon them. From this view, Hester is being compared

to the Native Americans in the sense that they both despise they way in which society is run.

You wouldn’t necessary expect the Native Americans to be happy with the way society was,

given their history with law in the United States, and Hawthorne is just as disgusted with society

as the Indians were. This allusion connects two oppressed types of people at the time, Native

Americans and woman, as neither had the same freedoms and liberties that white males had

during the years before and after the time period in which the story takes place.

Hawthorne wrote this passage to show how far Hester had wandered from the patriarchal

society in which she lived by simply acting as an individual and living life in her own way.

Hawthorne is criticizing the way the society was run because he did not believe it should have

been run that way. In using Hester as an example of a strong-willed independent woman who

does something society does not agree with, Hawthorne is showing what can happen as a result.

Hester’s fate was put in the hands of the townspeople much in the same way someone’s fate

today can be judged by the way in which people view them in society. Hawthorne is pointing

out the indecency about that notion by comparing the way Hester feels about society with the

way the Native Americans felt about having to adapt to new customs, laws that were unfair to

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them, and the poor treatment they were receiving on behalf of their oppressors. This passage is

significant because it reflects upon the stigma and labels that society can place on people. Just

because society may or may not agree with what someone did, it does not automatically make it

immoral. Moreover, the fact Hester was punished for being an individual is a point that

Hawthorne expresses throughout the book. He uses Hester as an example of what can happen if

you do something wrong in the eyes of society, and what also can happen when you persevere

through adversity and rehabilitate the image that society wrongfully placed on you. This passage

shows that although she had wandered away from the morals that the patriarchal society wanted

her to follow, in the end “her fate and fortunes had been to set her free,” as her persistence in

overcoming adversity granted her rehabilitated status in the town that shunned her. It was fate

and fortune that brought her to that rehabilitated state, as it was fate that determined she was

going to get into trouble by the townspeople in the first place.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Ed. Leland S. Person. New York: W.W. Norton &

Company, Inc., 2005. Print.

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Final Exam Essay

“The genius of the United States is not best or most in its executives or legislatures, nor in its ambassadors or authors or colleges of churches or parlors, nor even in its newspapers or

inventors…but always most in the common people…their deathless attachment to freedom—their aversion to anything indecorous or soft or mean—the practical

acknowledgment of the citizens of one state by the citizens of all other states…their self-

esteem and wonderful sympathy [and] the sure symptom of manly tenderness and native elegance of soul…” (“Leaves of Grass” 2996).

Trying to define exactly what is American is a difficult thing to do. For many people,

being an American can simply mean that you were born and reside in the United States of

America. However, that is too superficial an answer. Being an American cannot simply be as a

result of living in the United States, there has to be more to it. One cannot assume they are

American for knowing what the American flag looks like, or knowing what the words are in

“The Star Spangled Banner,” or “The Pledge of Allegiance.” Nor can you ingenuously travel to

New York to have a thin-crusted pizza pie, or to Philadelphia to obtain a hemorrhage eating a

Philly Cheese Steak, or to San Francisco for Dungeness crab with sourdough bread and

Ghirardelli chocolate, or to Texas to gorge oneself on an oversized beer can with a 72oz steak

and a surplus of coma-inducing gravy and taters to really understand what it means to be an

American. Being an American comes as a result of understanding how and why the country of

the United States of America came into existence, acknowledging the history and the people that

paved our societal foundations, and by paying the due respects to minority groups that have been

oppressed in this country since before its foundation upon independence. Being an American

also involves openness and receptiveness to new and ideas, respecting people of all walks of life,

understanding your place within nature and society, and honoring the men and women that have

fought and died to make this country what it is today, arguably the most powerful nation on

Earth, and the country that people look to for examples of freedom, liberty, and perseverance

through adversity.

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The most important aspect of being an American comes with the awareness and

acknowledgment of knowing how and why America and Americans have become the country

and people we are today. It is a personal belief of mine that in order for us to understand how

we’ve been shaped as individuals, we must first understand and respect the preceding history that

continually writes itself as we live in its midst. This cognizance of our individual history forms

for you and I, the witnesses of prior events, what can be collectively ascribed as an American

identity. America was defined during its infancy as being an enduring emblem of Republican

resolution, overcoming oppression in the name of liberty and independence. Upon its

achievement, independence began to take shape for many of the colonial inhabitants—except,

that is, for everyone who was not a white, landowning male. Independence for all? No. Life,

liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? No. Being white and owning property lead to your

independence—your individual autonomous sovereignty, and without said hue and property, you

were susceptible to poverty and/or slavery.

Given that the acceptance and implementation of slavery during the 19th century was, and

still is, a dark stain on the country’s chronicled tapestry, possessing the wherewithal to

objectively and cognitively recognize the significance of our history’s past abominable

transgressions is paramount in understanding what defines us as American. To better understand

the atrocities of the age of slavery in the United States during the 19 th century, all one has to do is

take excerpts from Harriet Jacobs’ slave-narrative entitled Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.

In doing so, one can see how slavery and racial subordination was viewed by someone who

went through the unmitigated and unyielding travesties that presented themselves daily to slave

laborers on behalf of their “respective” slave owners. In one instance Jacobs writes, “my

mistress had taught me the precepts of God’s Word: ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’

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‘Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them.’ But I was her

slave, and I suppose she did not recognize me as her neighbor” (Jacobs 134). This quote, in its

biblical reference, emphatically illuminates the discrepancies that existed between the treatment

of whites and blacks, and in doing so, vociferously pleads for humanity to see African-American

slaves for what they really are, one of the many ethnicities of a darker hue than the small handful

that comprise my personal Caucasian brethren. It speaks volumes that the Bible, as fundamental

and widely read and studied as it continues to be, and with all the moral and social weight that

tends to be placed upon it, often had one of its most important lines over looked by its followers

during the 19th century. Loving thy neighbor, or humanity in general, is something that should

be inherent in all Americans here in the 21st century, and the rhetoric used by Jacobs appeals to

the sentimental compassion that was not only present in her target audience of 19 th century

Northern White woman, but present in the intellectually and sophistically objective minds of

what I call Americans.

Furthermore, Jacobs uses another event in her life to further explain what it means to be

American. After Dr. Flint, her slave owner, planned to build a house especially for Jacobs,

therefore solidifying an eternal bond between Jacobs, the plantation she labored over, and the

slave owners themselves. Rather than allowing herself to step inside the house, given what it

represents, Jacobs states “I had rather toil on the plantation from dawn till dark; I had rather live

and die in jail, than drag on, from day to day, through such a living death. I was determined that

that master, whom I so hated and loathed […] should not […] succeed at last in trampling his

victim under his feet” (Jacobs 190-191). Jacobs refuses to chain herself to the new house, the

land, and to the slave owners, as often happened with many slaves. Instead, she became

passionate about preventing the oppression and brutality of her people, while eliciting a response

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of prideful action that would serve later generations of African Americans and other minority

groups. This will to overcome adversity took roots in America before the Revolution, and took a

new form afterwards during the institution of slavery in the 19th century. That will, however, and

the due respect paid to oppressed slaves can act as but two of the many feathers an American

can place in his cap that defines him as American.

The respect and understanding of the feminist movement during the 19th century can give

us an understanding of the oppressed as well, therefore continuing to define who we are as

Americans. Being another minority group, women were often the subject of oppression in its

various forms as well. Elizabeth Stanton writes in her “Declaration of Sentiments” that “this

history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward

woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her” (Stanton

2270). Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of the novel The Scarlet Letter, reflects on this notion of the

negative treatment of women at the hands of men. The main character in his novel, Hester, is

labeled and shunned by society because of her independent spirit and refusal to adhere to the

restrictions a patriarchal society had placed upon her. Personifying this relationship between a

feminist woman and a patriarchal society shows the pressures and expectations can place upon a

woman. Hawthorne uses Hester to show how a strong woman of the 19th century feminist

movement is juxtaposed on a period in time that preferred a woman to stay in her societal place.

Hawthorne’s reflection on the long held unwritten rule that women were supposed to obey every

wish and command of a man makes an appearance in the way that he describes Hester’s

relationship with the men within society. Hawthorne writes that Hester “was quick to

acknowledge her sisterhood with the race of man, whenever benefits were to be conferred”

(Hawthorne 105). This “sisterhood” or equality with men, was something that was stressed by

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feminists of the 19th century, most notably Sarah Margaret Fuller who believed that if both men

and women worked together there would be “crystallizations more pure and of more various

beauty” (Fuller 1829). The inexhaustible efforts by the 19th century feminists helped create a

society in which women could make decisions and decide what is best for themselves

individually. In acknowledging and honoring the oppressed women and African Americans that

fought for their civil liberties and equalities, we as Americans can better understand the

circumstances that created and developed the American identity. Collectively, we as Americans

owe who we are to those who have been oppressed. If it were not for the forms of oppression

that many faced during the 19th century, the respective civil rights movements may not have

taken place in the manner they did. If that were the case, a significant portion of who we are as

Americans would have been lost, and the melting pot of races and ethnicities that we call

America may not have prospered as fruitfully as it has. The acceptance of different cultures and

their ways of life over time contributes to the definition of what it means to be an American, and

one of the most important aspects of being an American is the honor, respect, and understanding

of the sacrifices that had to be made by oppressed minorities that comes prior to their acceptance.

This honor, respect, and understanding, is paramount in determining what is American.

Understanding ones place within society and nature is also a critical factor in determining

what it means to be American. Much of the literature composed in the United States after the

successful revolution was transcendental in theme, with authors such as Henry David Thoreau,

Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Walt Whitman, among others, blazing the trail for their followers.

In essence, the United States formed their first national literature as Americans with views of

transcendentalism at the forefront of their minds and the tips of their quills. Given this to be the

case, how can we overlook those views and not include them in what is considered to be

Beecroft, 18

American? By understanding our individual place and role in nature, we can live harmoniously

with its majesty, and work with it to achieve all that is necessary in this world. Of the

relationship between man and nature, Walt Whitman writes “his spirit responds to his country’s

spirit…he incarnates geography and natural life and rivers and lakes,” and that “when the long

Atlantic Coast stretches longer and the Pacific coast stretches longer, he easily stretches with

them north or south. He spans between them also from east to west and reflects what is between

them” (“Leaves of Grass” 2997). Whitman continues, stating “on him rise solid growths that

offset the growths of pine and cedar and hemlock and liveoak […] To him enter the essences of

the real things and past and present events—of the enormous diversity of temperature and

agriculture and mines…” (2997). These passages show the immersion of mankind, or an

American poet in Whitman’s own words, with nature and all that owe Her their being. By

writing that the man’s spirit is essentially tied to his county’s spirit, Whitman is making an

obvious spiritual connection between man and the natural world, which was something

transcendentalists stressed the importance of. Moreover, by describing natural growths forming

on man, Whitman is relaying the notion that we all come from nature in the beginning of our

existence, and that our bodies will eventually be given back to nature. The organic material that

forms the growth on trees is extremely similar to the organic material that can be found in our

bodies. This being the case, man and nature are connected in natural, elemental, and organic

ways, and realizing and accepting this notion is critical in establishing what it means to be an

American.

Recognizing one’s role in society is another aspect of what it means to be American. In

saying that social recognition is an integral part of the American identity I do not mean that

people have to know what level of the social ladder they are supposed to be on. Instead, I mean

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that for a person to really know who they are, as they stand amongst others who wonder the same

question, they must first accept and be at peace with themselves. As alluded to earlier, the only

proper way to do this is to understand where you came from, and to recognize the impact history

has on defining who you are today. Once you have attained peace within yourself, the

connection is available for you to find your place in society with others who are at peace with

who they are and where they come from. In a “Song for Myself,” by Walt Whitman, Whitman

states that once this happens, “all the men ever born are also my brothers…and the women my

sisters and lovers” (“Song for Myself” 3013 85-86). The transcendental notion of finding your

place within nature helps one attain peace within themselves, and therefore peace within society

as a whole. These newly defined social recognition is also expressed in another poem by Walt

Whitman entitled “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry,” in which Whitman speaks directly to the reader,

and to those who have ridden the ferry and those who one day ride it as well. Whitman is aware

of his role within society, as he sees himself both as an individual and the collective within it.

Whitman writes “I am with you, you men and women of a generation, or ever so many

generations hence […] just as any of your is one of a living crowd, I was one of a crowd”

(“Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” 3069 21, 23). Here, he is establishing similarities between himself

and all those who came before and will come after him. He recognizes that he is an individual in

his own right, but that he also acknowledges that he is part of the collective social construct that

inhabits the time and space in which he lives. He is aware of the people that came before him,

and he considers himself a representative of all those who will come after. This connection

between himself and society is what Whitman prides himself in, and it is this connection between

mankind and society that is important not to overlook when determining what it means to be

American.

Beecroft, 20

The similarities and differences between an American in 19th century antebellum United

States and an American of the 21st century can both fill extensive lists. One thing that is similar

between both antebellum United States and 21st century United States is that there is a wide

variety of people all trying to coexist in this country with one another, and although the United

States has become more ethnically diverse over the years due to immigration, the same societal

issues facing those in the 19th century are present for us today. Not only are people constantly

trying to figure out who they are as individuals, they are also trying to find where they fit in the

world. This search will lead them to investigating their own personal histories as they attempt to

define who they are and where they came from. From here, acceptance and inclusion into

society is a relatively easy thing to do, providing that everyone is receptive to new cultures and

ideas, something that was not entirely welcomed during the 19th century. Another similarity

between the two time periods involves political and social activism. While in the 19 th century

there were feminist and civil rights movements, they also made an appearance during the 20 th

century. In the 21st century, people are still fighting for political and social equality, and we see

this to be the case as same-sex couples are looking for the right to marry one another. Although

the players may be different, the stage is still the same, there will always be a need for social

equality, and until everyone on the planet gets along with one another, minority groups will

continue to fight for their rights, hoping to attain the liberties that most other Americans are

privileged to. The obvious differences between the two time periods is the institution of slavery

and oppression of woman that was rampant during the 19th century. Although African

Americans and women must continue to fight for equality at times, whether its equal opportunity

employment or eliminated existing social stigmas, each group has come a long way since the

oppression they faced in the 19th century.

Beecroft, 21

In conclusion, being an American means that you are aware of and capable of

understanding past historical events and how they shape who we are as Americans today. Not

only do you need to respect history and the people that came before you, but you also need to be

accepting to new ideas and cultures. America has become a vast collection of people from

different ethnicities and walks of life. In order for us as the United States of America to continue

to progress towards proper enforcement of the ideals, values, and liberties that were presented to

us by our founding fathers, we must continue to understand ourselves and one another. We also

need to throw away any existing prejudices that people may have and work together towards the

common good of the people. Furthermore, “America does not repel the past or what it has

produced under its forms or amid other politics or the idea of castes or the old religions,” instead,

it “accepts the lesson with calmness,” understanding that where we came from defines how we

are as people, and as a society, and without that connection to our past, we are unable to define

who we are, or where we are going (“Leaves of Grass” 2996). From here on, it’s up to us to

make a society we are proud of, it’s up to us to fight discrimination and prejudices, and it’s up to

us to redefine what it means to be an American on a daily basis, in the way that we live our own

lives, and the way that we treat others. After all, loving thy neighbor is the best way to ensure

equality for everyone. If you don’t believe me, ask God, he’s the one that said it.

Beecroft, 22

Essay Works Cited

Fuller, Sarah Margaret. “Woman in the Nineteenth Century.” The Heath Anthology of American

Literature. 6th ed, Vol. B. Ed. Paul Lauter. United States of America: Wadsworth

Cengage Learning, 2009. 1821-1843. Print.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Ed. Leland S. Person. New York: W.W. Norton &

Company, Inc., 2005. Print.

Jacobs, Harriet. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave & Incidents in

the Life of a Slave Girl. New York: Modern Library Classics, 2004. Print.

Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. “Declaration of Sentiments.” The Heath Anthology of American

Literature. 6th ed, Vol. B. Ed. Paul Lauter. United States of America: Wadsworth

Cengage Learning, 2009. 2270-2271. Print.

Whitman, Walt. “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.” The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 6th

ed, Vol. B. Ed. Paul Lauter. United States of America: Wadsworth Cengage Learning,

2009. 3068-3073. Print.

Whitman, Walt. “Preface to the 1855 Edition of Leaves of Grass.” The Heath Anthology of

American Literature. 6th ed, Vol. B. Ed. Paul Lauter. United States of America:

Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2009. 2996-3009. Print.

Whitman, Walt. “Song of Myself.” The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 6th ed, Vol.

B. Ed. Paul Lauter. United States of America: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2009.

3010-3054. Print.