A Whisper in the Dark

Insanity and insane people in A Whisper in the Dark travels away from what we know so far about children’s literature. It is, as we said in class, a part of the gothic genre of literature, and by no means innocent in nature. This is the first time we see insanity in literature. Insanity is not an easy topic, so it makes this not an actual children’s literature example, but an example of children in literature. In A Whisper in the Dark we see Sybil battle the stress of being put in an insane asylum. At first we are unaware of where she is, since the story is written in first person. She eventually finds out that her uncle has put her there and claimed that she was insane. The problem is that whenever Sybil tries to defend herself, get out, or even just throws a tantrum she is just ignored thinking that she is crazy. When Sybil pleads to go see Madame we see, “my uncle did not answer me, but covered up his face with a despairing gesture, and hurried away from the room; the lawyer followed, muttering pitifully, ‘Poor thing! Poor thing!’” (236) Sybil is completely ignored because she is “insane.” Once Sybil is in the insane asylum the book completely changes pace, and gets the eerie “things aren’t what they seem” mood. We see Sybil start to turn mad. “Carpet worn like mine, the windows barred like mine” (237) we see Sybil as she has started to lose her mind, and she ahs begun pacing like the person above her does. With the story still in the first person, we do not fully believe Sybil but still feel the sense of hopelessness for her.

The mother daughter relationship we see in the previous novels is changed in Sybil and her mother. We do not see the normal relationship built on love, but a relationship that starts when Sybil’s mother has already gone insane. “My mother had been melancholy mad since that unhappy rumor of my father’s death; this affliction had been well concealed from me.” (240) If we were to put this kind of story around Ellen and her mother’s relationship, I do not think that anything could happen to her mother without Ellen not knowing. Sybil’s mother still helps get her child out of the trouble she is in by her “unerring instinct of a mother’s heart” (240). Her mother still loves her, but we find this out later since the story was written in first person. We have to rely on Sybil to tell us the whole truth throughout the whole story, even when she is mad. We eventually find out that we knew the truth all along, but this story was different to read since of the point of view it was written in.

Uncle Tom's Cabin: Complication on what we already know

Uncle Tom’s Cabin completely is different from what we view as “classic” children’s literature. First off we see that the selection we read is not really written for a child to comprehend, and does not have a child as the main character. For example the first sentence of the selection has very intricate words the average child would not understand like, “It is impossible to conceive of a human creature more wholly desolate and forlorn than Eliza, when she turned her footsteps from Uncle Tom’s cabin.” (243) While the first sentence from The Lamplighter is, “It was growing dark in the city.” (79) Stowe’s book is obviously not written to the lower vocabulary level that Cummins’ book is. I find it interesting also that Stowe has primarily adult characters. I feel that Stowe did this for a reason. I bet that Uncle Tom’s Cabin was used to impact the adults and get them to teach what they think about the book to their children.
I know that we talked about how slavery was a topic that would be talked about, but I feel that Stowe is aiming for the older audience to impact the younger audience. I feel that slavery is an important enough of a subject it cannot safely be translated down to the children and still have the same effect. I think that slavery also shows that no matter if you are good or bad, things for the slaves always end up badly. “’Lucy,’ said the trader, ‘your child’s gone; you may as well know it first as last.’” (327) Lucy had been a very good person, obeyed her masters, went with the strangers, and was a good Christian, yet her child get’s stolen. Personally I do not feel that as a good incentive to be a good, obedient Christian. I think that there is a disconnect between Stowe and the other selections we have read because of the point Stowe was trying to make, and the fact that the main lesson wanted to be obtained was a very serious event, and there is no way to make slavery an easy to accept or listen to thing. Stowe obviously did a great job with her writing, but I do not feel that it is necessarily “children’s literature”.

Description and Who Decides the Best?

At the beginning of this course we talked about what the basics of children’s literature were, and what to look for. I found it interesting that this story broke a major one of the rules that we really focused on. We talked about how details and description were basically left out on purpose in children’s literature. We talked about how they did this so that the children would focus on the correct information of the story. In The Hidden Hand we are literally hit with details and description from the first page of our selection. “Hurricane Hall is a large old family mansion, built of dark-red sandstone…surrounded on three sides by a range of steep, gray rocks, spiked with clumps of dark evergreens, and called from its horseshoe form, the Devil’s Hoof,” (151) is the first paragraph we read. Why would E.D.E.N Southworth go against the grain to such a blatant extent? I think that Southworth was hoping to really prove a point and use the details provided to affect the effect of what was taught by helping the reader visualize it. Later on in the text we read a brief description of Marah Rocke’s little house. “You enter by the little wooden gate, pass up the moldering paved walk, between the old, leafless lilac bushes, and pass through the front door right into a large, clean but poor-looking sitting-room and kitchen,” (189) is used before we know the past of Marah Rocke and Old Hurricane. Could the author use these sad details to almost make us feel sorry for Miss Rocke? I think that Southworth wants us to feel sorry for Rocke especially after we find out what the minimal information we are given about her past with Old Hurricane.

I find it interesting that during the time period we are studying there are not many American novels included. I personally have really enjoyed all of the books we have read so far and I think that they are of merit. I would be curious and interested to find out what really makes certain books become part of the list. I see that the ones they choose for the most part have been one’s to cause a change. I think that a major American novel should be based on how it is perceived by society. If we took it more off of what people really think, I bet there would be more novels added to the list.

Balance for the Girls

From the 1800’s to the current time in the 2000’s there have been many changes in regards to girls. Some things have stayed the same in what we expect from all little girls. In today’s society girls are expected to grow up into great women. We expect the girls to be well behaved, have a balanced life, and be happy. The video shows us how the girls in our society today are working to deal with maintaining the balance they need to in their life. Girls today will tend to balance school, sports, social life, relationships, and much more.

In Cummins’s The Lamplighter we see how Gerty would like to have the proper balance in life. Back in this time girls were expected to balance a different set of things. Gerty is expected to be well dressed, act properly, and etc. “’Mrs. Sullivan dressed me all up, and brushed my hair,’” (Page 105) shows how important it was after she got to go home with True to be shown how to be an actual woman since Nan Grant didn’t do it. Gerty had a much rougher upbringing than what one would guess Anna in the video had. Basically our views on girls are basically the same it is just the things they are dealing with are a little different.

If Gerty were on the show I think they would have talked about how she lived with Nan Grant and how terrible the woman was for keeping her around because “she did not care to excited inquiries by trying to dispose of her elsewhere" (Page 81). I think that they would talk about how rough it was especially when Nan Grant basically fried her only friend. Instead of talking to her like she was on the same level and more mature I bet that Amy Pholer would talk down to Gerty just simply because of all that she had gone through. I think that Amy Pholer would not be asking for advice or help, but to help her by giving her any help she thinks she needs. I think that she would again help show that the girls are expected to do the similar things as many years ago, just have different obstacles to handle.