American Literature- Context/ Wider Texts

Literary and Historical context on American literary canon

### *Rags to riches tales*

Who? When? What? Effect?

American Dream

* Horatio Alger
* 19th century
* hard-work & perseverance → wealth and greatness
* perpetuated myth of American Dream

### *Self-made man*

Who? When? What?

American Dream

* Henry Clay
* first coined term in 1842
* being ‘self made’- can achieve greatness from nothing
* success of an individual lies within themselves and not with outside conditions

### *How the Other Half Lives*

Who? When? What?

American Dream

* Jacob Riis
* 1890
* photojournalism depicting slum life in New York tenement houses
* exposing poverty and flaws behind the American dream

### *Declaration of Independence & Thomas Jefferson*

What did it say? Effect?

American Dream

*all men are created equal with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness*

* Thomas Jefferson- the *pursuit of happiness* 1776
* closely related to the American dream- as it belongs to the *inalienable rights* which cannot be denied
* every American has the right to realise his individual dreams without being stopped

### *Native Son*

Who? When? Plot? AP?

Race

* Richard Wright
* Published 1940

Plot

* Books divided into Fear, Flight, Fate
* ==each book has a climax- murder of Mary, discovery of Mary’s remains, Bigger’s trial and death sentence==
* Limited third person narrative- almost exclusively told from Bigger’s perspective exploring his emotions


* Bigger poor black man living in the 30s and his experience with racism and prejudice
* Rich white estate barons who keep black people renting in the South Side and not white neighbourhoods
* Commits murder and rape
* ==the fear, hatred, and anger that racism has impressed upon Bigger Thomas ravages his individuality so severely that his only means of self-expression is violence==. After killing Mary Dalton, Bigger must contend with the law, the hatred of society, and his own destructive inner feelings.

AP/ Analysis

* forces us to consider devastating effects of the environment he was raised in and how this informs his social condition
* asserts how Bigger is not born a violent criminal, he is a ‘native son’- a product of violence & racism that suffuse American culture
* forced to retain a cool and tough exterior in order to contain his feelings of shame and fear
* faced with feelings of shame and fear caused by the restrictions he cannot control and how when confronted with these overwhelming emotions it is often translated into violence
* ==failure of the American Dream==- Bigger is disillusioned as realises this dream is ultimately unattainable as his race and social status define his life and he is forced to operate under these restrictions put in place by American society
* ==complexity of race relations==- how the superiority of the white race places bigger in both a disadvantages race and social strata

**Links to Gatsby and Grapes of Wrath**

* disillusionment to American society
* Bigger failed by racist institutions that will forever put him at a disadvantage eg. justice system
* GoW- migrant farmers exploited by capitalist systems
* segregation- Bigger confined to living in south side of Chicago and tapped paying artificially high rents to white tenants as he is not allowed to live in other areas due to his race
* poor industrial workers confined to the ‘Valley of Ashes’ as they cannot afford to live in expensive areas such as West and East egg

### *Passing*

Who? When? Plot? AP?

Race

* Nella Larsen
* Published 1929

Plot

* Follows Irene and Clare who are both women who can ‘pass’
* Irene marries a dark skin man and enjoys vibrant social life during Harlem Renaissance and only passes occasionally
* Clare marries a wealthy white man living her life as a white woman- she however re-enters Irene’s life and desires inclusion in the vibrant African American society of the Harlem Renaissance
* Harlem Renaissance- development of NYC neighbourhood of Harlem as a black cultural epicentre in the early 20th century

AP

* self interest and loyalty
* Irene is loyal to her race and proud of her blackness whilst Clare is presented as putting her self-interest first as she abandons the Black community in favour of passing as white
* however at the end Larsen asserts that like Clare Irene will also put her self-interest first if her loyalty to her race put her security at risk
* performative nature of such American identities
* complicated race relations present in American society
* risks that come with passing
* Irene finds comfort in security and control and only passes when convenient
* whereas Clare is putting everything at risk leading life as a passing white woman
* how Clare increasingly infiltrates Irene’s circle and is able to immerse herself in Harlem whilst also experiencing the privilege of passing as white
* the role of identity and how experience shapes an individual
* identity also in turn shapes one’s experience

**Links to Gatsby**

* ^^John Bellew and Tom Buchanan^^- hold views of racial superiority
* ^^Clare and Mrytle^^ trying to climb the social ladder albeit in different ways
* both pay the price of trying to achieve social mobility
* Myrtle gets hits by car and Clare falls to her death

### *Uncle Tom’s Cabin*

Who? When? AP? Role of religion in race?

Race

* Harriet Beecher Stowe
* Published 1852

Uncle Tom- black uncle archetype; infantilised, simple-minded characters

Christianity- imbues morality and transcends race

* Uncle Tom is defined by his Christianity
* invoking humanity into Black people by presenting them as pious and religious
* depicts civilising and unifying effects of religion
* however, this meant without religion black characters had no separate identity

### *Slave Narratives*

What? Purpose? Effect?

Race

A literary movement where mostly slaves or former slaves would chronicle their lives and experiences

built on the emotional power of captivity narratives and used the authority of the Bible

* made it more digestible for a white audience
* political and social tool inspiring abolitionist movements
* literacy used as a form of power and resistance- illegal for slaves to have access to this knowledge

### *Frederick Douglas*

AP, methods, impact

Slave Narratives

Race

Alive 19th century (mid 1800s-late 1800s)

* uses I to give him equal footing with his white audience
* extols the virtues of the self-made man and sees himself as deserving the same rights as a white man- using familiar American concepts
* inspired abolitionist movement and his autobiography was testament to power of African American liberation

### ***Harriet Jacobs***

AP, methods, impact

Slave narratives

Race

* first to write about unspoken truth of black women in slavery
* power of personal experience carefully crafted to appeal to reader’s emotions
* uses techniques common in a *sentimental novel* (popular with white woman)
* succeeded in gaining sympathy of her white audience

### *My Antonia*

Who? When? Plot? AP/ Themes?

Immigration/Movement

(Migrant worker experience)

* Willa Cather
* Published 1918

**Plot**

* Memoir of Nebraska childhood from Jim Burden’s perspective mostly talking about his friend Antonia Shimerda
* Antonia faces much hardships following her father’s suicide- representing the migrant experience
* Jim and Antonia drift as she takes up a job to support her family whilst Jim is able to attend school and receive a higher education

**AP/ Main Themes**

* Humankind’s relationship to past
* Jim’s continual yearning and reminiscing of his time in Nebraska, his content and happiness being surrounded by nature and familiar land
* relationship to the land/ environment
* immigrant experience in American
* traditional nature of late 19th-century frontier values

**Link to Gatsby and Grapes of Wrath**

* @@Nick and Jim@@ similar in they both faced with the realities of society moving westward both end up in New York- however they both yearn/ move back to the Midwest
* Gatsby like Jim continually @@yearns for the past@@ trying to recreate his relationship with Daisy in the present like Jim does with Antonia
* both authors suggest the past is unrecoverable but whilst Jim is able to incporate his past in Nebraska with his present life, Gatsby is too wound up in his own illusion of life he suffers a terrible fate
* @@Importance of land and nature-@@ connection to land shapes your identity and psychology
* Grapes of Wrath state of the land directly influences migrant farmers mental states
* My Antonia Jim feels free in the pastoral setting of the Nebraska praries

### *Sister Carrie*

Who? When? Plot? AP/Themes?

Movement, Social Status

* Theodore Dreiser
* Published 1900

**Plot**

* Follow two characters
* Carrie- ordinary girl low paid wage earner → high paid actress
* George Hurstwood- member of upper middle class → falls from status to live on streets
* They have an affair → rushed marriage but after Hurstwood is unable to find steady work Carrie leaves him and becomes successful actress whilst Hurstwood living on the street ends up committing suicide

**Main Themes**

* Themes: urban life and decay, morality and instinct , wealth and social status
* neither character earns their fate through virtue or vice rather than through random circumstance
* Carrie even after achieving fame feels unfulfilled
* Ever changing identities reflecting the modern American experience due to the developing capitalist economy
* rural American → urban cities to find jobs and build new life
* deals with new consumer society in turn of the century

**Links to Gatsby and Grapes of Wrath**

* effects of poverty- Hurstwood commits suicide after he falls from status and is plummeted into a life of poverty on the streets
* Carrie and Gatsby moving from rural smaller city to big urban city to try achieve a better life
* unfulfilment of the rich- even after Carrie becomes a high paid actress she ultimately feels unsatisfied and lonely similar to Gatsby
* similarly to Joads who go to city to find work are met with disappointment with underpaid menial jobs

### *Rural → urban movement*

Links to wider texts

Historical context

Movement

* movement to find new jobs and opportunities in bustling urban cities
* opportunities especially seen during industrial revolution in the 19th century
* migrants also moved to urban spaces to find jobs in this new America
* Seen in Grapes of Wrath move from rural farms → California
* Sister Carrie moves to urban city to find new jobs
* Great Gatsby move from West → New York

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### *Lost Eden/ feminsation of land*

What? Links to wider texts

Nature/Land

Key motif in American writing characters long to reunite with their first home, go back to the fresh potential American land offered before industrialisation and the breakdown of morals

* the feminisation of American land often described as
* motherland
* breast of the new world (Gatsby)

### *The Yellow Wallpaper*

Who? When? Plot? AP?

Gender- Femininity

* Charlotte Perkins Gilman
* Published 1892

Plot

* short story following life of a woman who is confided to a room with yellow wallpaper due to her health condition
* mental state deteriorates and this is reflected through the changing nature of the wallpaper

AP

* rigid gender constructs → restricts women → keeps them ideal and confined → deteriorating mental health
* the yellow wallpaper- a symbol of patriarchal society; women trapped inside wallpaper represent women trapped in a wider patriarchal society
* critiques society of their treatment towards women and their mental health
* warns of dangerous consequences of both physical and intellectual restrictions on women

### *Realism*

When? Conventions?

Literary Movement

1861-1865

Realism- movement from mid 19c to early 20c

* accurate, detailed and unembellished depiction of human nature and contemporary life
* rejects imaginative idealisation- traditional forms of expression (romanticism)
* focuses on presenting reality as it is and exposing social truth and society through this

### *Naturalism*

When? Conventions?

Literary Movement

1890s-1930s

Naturalism- reaction against perceived limitation of realism; still very similar focusing on depicting of real world

* focusing on those at bottom rung of society/ condemnation of social inequalities
* depicts humans at whim of forces beyond control
* attacks society- more pessimistic, nihilistic outlook

### *Modernism*

When? Convention? Links to wider texts

Literary Movement

1914-1940s

Reaction against formulaic story-telling of 19c

* self-conscious break with traditional ways of writing
* wider rebelling against traditions of society through literature
* experimentation with form and expression

### Lost Generation Writers

What? Who?

Literary Context

* group of writers during post-war period who were disillusioned and felt their values had not place in this post-world society
* bleak, nihilistic outlook much of their literature exposing the social ills within American society
* Included Fitzgerald and Steinbeck

### Gilded Age

When? What?

Historical context

1865-1898 Mid to late 19th- century

* period of rapid industrialization in America → economic growth
* however, this prosperity was merely surface level
* under this gilded ‘golden age’ → suffering of workers, awful working conditions, poverty and corruption present in government and business
* Term coined by Mark Twain

### Roaring 20s

When? What

Historical Context

* 1920s
* period of ecnomic reocvery and prosperity
* rapid industrial growth, cultural prosperity as a result
* gave rise to consumerist and hedonistic culture

### Great Depression

When? What?

Historical Context

1929-1939

Following Wall Street Crash

* severe increase in unemployment and poverty
* decline of industry and economic hardship and stagnation

### Manifest Destiny/ Frontier

What?

Historical Context

19th Century belief

* permeates American consciousness
* cultural belief that American settlers were destined to expand across North America
* *Frontier*- encompassed geography, history and culture associated with American expansion in the West
* Frontier was a place that exists at the very edge of American civilisation
* goal was to expand this Frontier

### American Individualism

What? Links?

Historical Context

* the habit or principle of being independent or self-reliant
* a social theory favouring freedom of action for individuals over collective or state control
* Links to American Dream as every individual is given the chance for stimulation and development in America to achieve their goals