In class we discussed the changes that happened in the late 19th century as a result of social Darwinism and a growing interest in finding the true essence of humans and with the ordinary life. This time period was moving away from the individual and the idea that we are in control of our own lives and actions. Instead there was the idea that we are simply controlled by our instincts and desires. All humans could be reduced to a type.
In Stephen Crane's and Edgar Allan Poe's stories they both focus on this kind of human reductionism in two different ways. Crane focuses on the basic stereotypes that all people can seemingly be based off of. In Poe's case he lakes this reduction literally to portray much the same thing.
In Crane's story we see a number of stereotypes listed, almost purposely it seems, in each story. The one that struck me the most was "When a Man Falls a Crowd Gathers" where is begins almost immediately with an Italian stereotype that still persists today. The man and boy are described making "quick egotistical gestures" as they speak (Crane 201). As discussed in class there is also a sense of automated movement and action as if you programmed a robot to be Italian in the simplest of terms. The Italian doesn't speak words but rather "syllables" as if it is just a jumble of sounds strung together that resembles language. Crane continues using specific ethnicities throughout the rest of the stories including Mexicans, Cubans, and Irish.
Something interesting to note about these characters is that they are very rarely, if ever, given a name. They are the "Mexicans" or "Cuban" as if that is all that is needed to described them. This is done other ways too by simply calling characters "Kid" or "general" throughout the text. What do you think is the purpose of this is? How does this reflect the views becoming dominant in the 19th century?
In Poe's story we get something a little more surreal than Crane's realist narrative about a general that has literally been whittled down into parts. Something I found interesting however was the narrators attempts at finding the essence behind General John A.B.C. Smith. He attempts to talk to five different people about this mysterious man and they literally all reply with the exact same thing. "Smith? Why not General John A.B.C.?" they all say and then continue talking with variations of what was said at five other times. It is almost automatic. Like they are programmed to say the same things.Can you connect this scenario to things you have observed about others? Why might they have all said roughly the same thing? Why do you think Poe decided to include this repetition?
I think that Crane wrote his story in such a way in order to reflect the attitude toward the growing number of cultures that had emigrated to the U.S. in the early twentieth century. Because of this explosion of cultures, people wanted to ground themselves in stereotypes for said cultures because it seemed to be easier than calling everyone "American." As human-beings, I think we all seek to distinguish differences between people in order to compare ourselves to others.
ReplyDeleteAlso, those scenes in Poe's story in which the different people said the same thing about General John A.B.C. Smith is, I believe, an attempt by Poe to make the people seem less human and more machinic. In fact, I believe that the narrator is made to be the only normal person in the story and not just an element that exists to help another element shine.