February 7, 2013

The aspect of the writings that we've read in the past couple weeks that stands out to me the most is the obvious stereotypes of the western frontier and America in the late 19th Century -- which I've known about for so long, yet have always underestimated them as actualities. Stereotypes that we read about in the works of Kate Chopin, Booker T. Washington, and Stephen Crane, and the taboo social topics that come with them such as violence, racism, and the women's movement -- which were often spoken of in euphemisms at the time -- are blatantly brought to light in all three of the authors' works, which makes me realize why the works are so timeless.
In Kate Chopin's short stories, "Desiree's Baby" and "The Story of an Hour," focus on the destructiveness of racism and female independence, both in different ways. In "Desiree's Baby," Desiree drowns herself and her baby because her husband (who we later find out actually has African American blood in him) accuses her of being the one responsible for their mixed baby. In "The Story of an Hour," Mrs. Mallard dies of a heart attack because she is detrimentally upset about the return of her husband, who she thought had died, giving her freedom as a widow. Mrs. Mallard is so ecstatic about her release from a stagnant marriage that she can't stand knowing that her husband's death was only a false alarm.
In Booker T. Washington's book "Up From Slavery," he encourages his fellow African Americans to learn a valuable and needed skill and use it to serve not only the white people, but the country as well, instead of attempting to gain social, political, and economical equality. Some people disagreed with his approach at the time, and many still disagree with it today. In the same way, many still agree(d). It's simply fascinating, though, how determined Washington was in his endeavors for advancing the African American community.
Stephen Crane's short story, "The Blue Hotel," focuses on five main characters; one of which is a Swede who professes that he will be killed the night the story takes place. His primary reason for saying so is that the new western frontier is a wild, dangerous, and violent place. He is, in a way, right about his assumption, because he dies in a separate bar after leaving the hotel. However, it was his fault he died because he provoked a gambler at the bar by grabbing his neck.
Many of these widely accepted stereotypes and legends about the Gilded Age aren't taken as seriously as they should be. The problems the people faced in the late nineteenth century became very obvious after Dr. Vince Brewton spoke of the horrific and grim occurrences that took place during this time, involving families, African Americans, and the American economy.