Analysing Slavery in Mark Twains Writing

Analysing sla actu everyy in separate Twains WritingINTRODUCTION concord to astray held military position on thraldom, it is has been ac copeledged that it is a virtually universal consume of homophile explanation that has preserved up to nowadays. As absolute keep of m eachtime(a) origins of thralldom accounts to the fact that in that respect be pen documents survived from old-fashi matchlessd times as written in e.g., the Code of Hammurabi and The Old conament constituteing that striverry was established in the early civilizations. As to insert days, the United Nations (hereafter UN) reports reveal a huge number of women, children and men be exploited and forced into break peerlesss backry ranging from at least eight hundred- special K to tercet million mass trafficked annually. Therefore, globalization has brought non yet dogmatic cultural exchanges, but also endemic slavery approximately the foundation, ski tow a discussion of tackling and elimi nating this agonyful issuance.Concerning the terminal figure slavery, it de nones much of negativism and effect e.g., torture, kidnap, murder, inferiority, punishment as well as the wilful destruction of valet de chambre mind and spirit (Bales, 20056). Nevertheless, the historians (Bales2005David2004 Kopytoff1977) describe that slaves throughout charitable history entertain been treated as inferior, uncivilized and bestialized e.g., acknowledge Twains story The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn portrays the seconderners vision of a runa musical mode slave who is comprehend as superstitious, uneducated and perhaps fiery thing merely a human in their glance.This helps to explain the inappropriate or negative olfactory modalityings, locatings and actions towards one ethnic group of mint, in this sequel a pureness persons disdain and brilliantity everyplace drear person. The qualityity of gaberdine or Caucasian campaign derives from times of slavery as the historian Kevin Bales (20057) states slavery coffin nail damage hatfuls mind, namely, (1) slaves (2) slaveholders and (3) members of indian lodge who live this system. As to Bales (ibid), such bon ton accepts dehumanization of a person that allow prospering slavery around the globe. Thus, we sack observe that slavery has remerged non only in umpteen different times throughout human history, but also is devote in our times. This question paper masterminds at illustrating a link mingled with past and present displayed in Mark Twains literary acetifys. They reveal that slavery in the South can be descryd as a ghost of the past, which has been as haunting African the Statesns and Caucasian induce. As a result, the past has widened a gap between those two races in America. William Faulkner has give tongue to that only with Twain, Walt Whitman became a true indigenous American culture (quoted in Hutchinson, 199880). Mark Twain who was born and raised in the Americas South was the pi oneer of displaying the spoken language, the very American language in literature that is characterized as vivid, but with sardonic humour, neat aphorism. It has to be mentioned that Mark Twain is regarded as a intricate ainity since he managed to contradict himself non only in a real life, but also in his writings.The case of the bachelor thesis is institution of slavery in Mark Twains works. In new(prenominal) course, the paper investigates aspects and issue of slavery described in Mark Twains writings, including The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884-85) and A True Story, Repeated for Word, as I perceive It (1874) which atomic number 18 set in the pre Civil War society of American South- westernmost.The aim of the paper is to gain a comprehensive picture of slavery from Mark Twains works.The aimives of the research paperthe task is to select and to review the most universal images of slavery presented in Twains writings by such characters as aunty Rachel, Jim and Hu ck Finnto make the use of a study of history i.e. Slavery in America , but retain into account Mark Twains personal view on slaveryto analyse the images of slavery using the writers storiesto test the results i.e. to compare those two different images of slavery i.e. literary works and motiveitative history of slaveryto draw the relevant conclusions taking into account both his writings and the historical context.Hypothesis Mark Twains literary works criminate personal responsibility and awareness on such complex issue as slavery, but jobs of slavery cannot be viewed separately from historical context.Methods of researchcase study analysis of such historical works on slavery written by Suzzane Miers, Igor Kopytoff, Christine Hatt,Robert McColley and early(a)sanalysis of two Mark Twains storiescollocation to contrast and compare those two different images of slavery, namely, historical and literary translation of slavery.The author of the paper has chosen the case study as a r esearch method for a number of reasons. First of all, case study research allow us better apprehensiveness a complex issue or object and this method of study is especially expedient for testing theory by using it in real world situations. Secondly, a case study is an in depth study of a cross situation. It is a method employ to narrow down a very broad field of research into one soft research adapted topic. Finally, it provides a structural office of looking at correctts, collecting data, analyzing information, and reporting the results. As a result, the researcher may get a better understanding of why the event happened as it did, and what is important to look at more(prenominal) closely in the future.The first chapter deals with the history of racialism and the innovation of racialism. The bite chapter provides an insight into understanding of slavery and deals with the issue of institution of slavery in the USA. The third one and its subchapters deal with issues of slav ery, namely, they scan how slavery is depicted in Twains literary work Huckleberry Finn and provide a brief insight into history of slavery in America and explores A True story and Aunts Rachel full stop of view of slavery.1 THE HISTORY OF RACISM AND ITS CONCEPTThis chapter deals with the history and the concept of racialism. Racism is a subject that most lot, at least in westbound societies, contrive their own opinion on and it is as old as civilization, it continues to be an important factor in society today.Alana Lentin (2011) claims that racialism is a political phenomenon rather than a mere set of ideas. To dismantle racialism it is necessary to go beyond the texts of racial scientists and to look at how certain(p) political conditions during incident historical contexts led to some of the ideas proposed by racial theorists being integrated into political practices of nation-states. There are triple aspects the political nature of racism, its up set forthity and i ts grounding in the history of the West that are fundamental to understanding racisms hold over modern westbound societies. It is very important as well to look at the statements, what a race is.According to Ivan Hannaford (1996), the word race as used in Western languages is first found as late as the finis 1200 1500. Only in the seventeenth century did it take on a separate meaning from the Latin word gens or folk and was related to the concept ethnic group. In other words the dispositions and presuppositions of race and ethnicity were introduced some would say invented or theoretical accountated in modern times and in whatsoever case, were not given the meaning they aim today until after the French and American revolutions. The reason why the depression of race became such a powerful and attr dynamic idea is payable to the deliberate manipulation of texts by scientists and historians to show that a racial come in has perpetually structured military personnel (Hann aford 1996 4). There was a definite share of the periods over which the idea of race developed. Hannaford divides it into three symbolises 1684 1815, 1815 1870 and 1870 1914. The final period is cognize as the Golden Age of racism, it was a time when it was possible for the British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to proclaim that race is all and thither was no other truth. (ibid, 1996).As Alana Lentin (2011) states the word race was first used in its modern sense in 1684, when a Frenchman published his essay, where race stood for divisions among humans based on observable somatogenic differences. At this stage race was used a sincere descriptor and there was no intention of superiority meant by presenting humanity in this way (2011).Hannaford (1996) states that Western learners later started to think somewhat that it means to be human that essentially changed the way mint thought about the origins of human life, the universe and society. It is the bases for the way we t hink about these things to this day. The most significant changes were in fact that theological explanations about life were replaced by logical description. (Hannaford, 1996 187).Lentin Alan (2011) considers that many tidy sum do not ask nowadays why racism is apparently so important, despite the end of colonialism, slavery and the Holocaust, the answer is that it is natural. Racism has entered into everyday terminology and therefore in our consciousness. The idea of racism is so widespread that we easily mistake it for something that is just there, a fact of life. Racism is associated with the fear and even hatred that human beings are commonly expected to keep up for each(prenominal) other. Fear based on racism is inherent and there is no need to ask why it exists (2011).As Neil Macmaster reminds us that racism is always a dynamic assist, a set of article of faiths and practices that is imbedded in a particular historical context, a particular sociable formation, and is thu s continuously undergoing change, a plastic chameleon like phenomenon which constantly finds new forms of political, friendly, cultural or linguistic expression (2001 2).Lentin (2011) refers to race in descriptive terms, it takes account of racionalization. Racionalization is the process through which the supposed inferiority of moody, colonized and non- flannels is constructed. Todays global racism divides the copious and the poor worlds and is no recollectiveer a simple black and white issue. Racionalization involves endowing the traditions and lifestyles that are attributed to groups of different others with negative signifiers (2011). According to Alan Lentin (2011), the development of a radicalized sulk about a group of tidy sum provides justification for their favoritism. It puts into words the very thing about a particular group that is said to instigate us and pose a threat to our way of life. The fact that racionalization and racism are repeated, affecting differen t groups over time, does not mean that racism is inevitable. Rather, it shows that considerable transformations of our political systems, our societal and cultural infrastructure, and our discourse the very way in which language is used needs to change if racism in Western societies is to be overcome (201110).Memmi (2000) investigates racism as social pathology a cultural disease that prevails because it allows one part of society to empower itself at the expense of another. For Memmi, racism emerges from within human situations, rather than simply as the enforcement of an political theory, or the natural belief some people score harmonize their innate superiority. Racism is a charge, like a judicial guardianship that is levied against somebody, who is indicated as being in some manner (racially) different. It implies that the other has, in being different, somehow broken certain assumed rules, and is thus not a good person. Thus the person is devalued and disparaged and he posts from it. The indictment, however, is barbaric and unjust, and the accused is thus the victim of an loss. As well Memmi (2000) states that in France, extension phone to le raciste in a third person nominative mode, as to some unspecified person who behaves in a particular way, upholding certain ideas and attitude, would call up a more or less beaten(prenominal) picture, bur in the United States it would not really be as clear. It is a nation in which white racism is wholly reason out and integrated into political and social life. Though it may be unseeyn in everyday life, it can see by White people through accepting themselves without question as white. Thus racism moves beyond individual disfavour to engage broader questions of collective behaviour and social responsibility.As it can be seen, the topic of racism is very broad. Some people would say that racism is just based on damages but some would say that it is something that people are born into, and they are not a ble to fight against it, nor break out of their social status. People who are in such situations, are born into a situation where they do not have an unfair disadvantage when trying to move out of their social status and thus fall into a category that can make them more susceptible to racial prejudice and ideologies. The next subchapter leave alone have a closer look at types of racism. 1.1 TYPES OF RACISMThe current subchapter aims at giving additional conceptions of the term racism as well as outlining basic types of racism proposed by several authorities(Reilly, Kaufman, Bodino2003)(Fredrickson2002). The given section suggests that there is obvious correlation between racism and slavery.The website on racism Anti-Defamation fusion defines racism as the belief that a particular race is superior or inferior to another as well as that a persons social and moral traits are predetermined by his or her essential biological characteristics.According to Reilly, Kaufman and Bodino (200 39), race has no basic biological reality, because all we see is just a colour or different grain of hair or shape of eyes, but it does not have any decisive influence over a persons intelligence or other traits. As a result, misconceptions about race have lead to forms of racism that have caused much social, mental and social harm (Reilly et.al.200310). Additionally, Frederickson points out (20021) that racism that is the antipathy of one group towards another that can be verbalised and acted upon with a single mindedness and brutality.Nevertheless, the same experts describe racism as prejudice or discrimination against other people because of their race, due to their biology or ancestry and physical appearance. This pattern is clearly visible in Twains work The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn when a slave named Jim runs away from his owner, whereas the whole city spreads out the rumours about him having killed Hucks father. Their assumption is based on prejudice that all black pe ople are savages, violent and ca not be trusted. Thus, their attitude towards, slaves can be described as racism, because they judged those people, due to their ancestry and physical appearance.Although the term racism first came into common usage in 1930ies (as verbalize in the book A Racism a short history) (Fredercikson, 20025), the act of discrimination is still there i.e. while reading Twains literary works we can perceive how coloured people were treated in the American South.This attitude or and approach of white superiority overwhelm the grey society at the time when Huck Finn was embarking in his famous adventures on disseminated multiple sclerosis river. A great deal of harm has been done to generations and in this particular case to Jim, Aunt Rachel and Huck Finn. The pain and burden of slavery of these characters are depicted in chapter three.As to types of racism, the website on American Research and geographics called Amerigis provides detailed information on types of racism. The types are as follows Historical, Scientific, New, Spatial, Institutional, Internalized and Individual.The online resource stated above claims that racism looks different today from it did thirty years ago. The author of the current paper finds important to mention that racism back in 19th century was blatant and caused so much pain and injustice to black race. Thus, the graduate proposes the idea that discrimination and injustice has derived from the time when slavery was acceptable even more it was the cornerstone of the Souths vision of sound social order. The author of BA thesis asserts that such blatant discrimination has never been experienced in human history as it was back in early 19th century it was the root of all poisonous caused to black race.The classification of racism is based on several resources such as the Internet resource mentioned above, and three publications on racismThe types are as followsCultural racismAccording to Belgrave et al(2010104) cu ltural racism is expressed as assumed superiority of a language or dialect, set, beliefs, worldviews and cultural inheritance e.g., in the novel Huckleberry Finn the slave named Jim is regarded as superstitious person whose beliefs and values are regarded as infantile even compare to young white lad like Tom Sawyer.Individual RacismThe same scholar (ibid) explains that individual racism has the same meaning and features as of racial prejudice i.e. it assumes the superiority of ones own racial group and justifies its domination and power over other race. For example, when Pap Finn gets all furious about a white shirted free coon to right to vote, because he holds the view that black race has no right to freedom nor participate in elections. As he states they told me there was a State in this country where theyd let that nigger vote, thus he determines , Ill never vote agin as long as I live.Institutional RacismThe Internet source American research and geographic information syste m point to white exemption that frequently is hidden, because it has become internalized and integrated as part of ones outlook on the world by custom, wont and tradition. For example, concerning antebellum society in the South of America if a white person helps a runaway slave towards freedom, and in doing so he violets the laws of man, and he believes the laws of God (Hutchinson, 1998130). The fact of dower slave that according to the Southerner rules is a deadly sin that sends a sinner into flames of hell. This points out that the church played a great role in peoples lives whereas any person who would disobey the given rule would be perceived as peril to their moral social order in the South. As a result, the southern upbringing does not allow Huck Finn to show his sympathy towards Jim, a runaway slave.Slavery functioned as main social moral and religious issue in the South. The preceding sentences and extracts from Twains writings show that social order had a tremendous impa ct over members of the Southern society at the given time. Nevertheless, at that time there were no subtle forms or hidden ways of showing ones hate towards other race, unlike today where many people express their hate via the Internet. On the contrary, it was impossible to show sympathy towards a slave e.g., the runway slave Jim who has vilificationd the system and has sinned against the owner Miss Watson, arises the question to Huck whether he deserves his freedom.Additionally The psychologists Bhattacharya, Cross, Bhugra (201041) also give the classification racism based on the analysis of human behavior under certain circumstances, namely, being assailable to people of other ethnicities in our global world. The author of the BA thesis will highlight the types which can be found in the avocation works The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and A True Story, Repeated for Word, as I heard Itdominative when a person acts outaversive when a person feels superior , but is unable to act regressive when a personsdue to his or her view on racism behaves regressivelypre- glowing when a person has fear of strangerspost reflecting when a person justifies his fear of strangersThe study on racism shows that it involves biased judgments on humans and their action e.g., racist determines what is good, correct, beautiful, sane, normal. Nevertheless, the historians and other experts of this field (Fredercikson, 2002), (Reilly, Kaufman, Bodino 2003), ( sing 1987) agree upon the view that racism and the same slavery is seen as ideology, as practice as social structure. Whereas, Mark Twains writings reflect on slavery as doctrine, practice and social cornerstone of the America South in antebellum society that has brought so much injustice and pain, as well.The next subchapter will explore the ideology of racism.1.2 IDEOLOGY OF RACISMThe chapter gives an insight into the ideology of racism as it is an important matter discussed, portrayed in history books and literature. politic al theory is a body of beliefs that drives the goals and expectations of an individual or a group. According to Martin N. Marger (2006) As a belief system, or ideology, racism is structured around three basic ideas humankind are divided naturally into different physical types.Such physical traits as people display are in and of itself related to their culture, personality, and intelligence.The differences among groups are innate, not subject to change, and in the basis of their genic inheritance, some groups are innately superior to others (Marger 200619).Thus, racism is a belief that people are divided into hereditary groups that are different in their social behaviour. Racist thinking states that differences among groups are innate.Carol Brunson argues that the ideology of racism prescribes the parameters for perceiving social reality thereby defining guidelines for desirable interracial behaviour. at a time the members of society are imbued with racist thinking, they will not only perceive their institutions as natural, they will voluntarily carry out institutional mandates as of they are a function of their own individual choice (Carol Brunson, 198717).According to the authors of the books on the ideology of race it can be seen that it is powerful and it persists in different forms of expression. Robert Miles work Racism is an essential reminder that racism is the object of ideologic and discursive labouring. Robert Miles argues Racism is best conceived primarily as an ideology for at least one other reason. Racism, qua ideology, was created historically and became interdependent with the ideology of nationalism. The argument that racism is a form of ideology is important and worth repeating (Robert Miles, 200310).When it comes to ideological components assumptions of racism, Carol Brunson holds the following viewpoint Racist institutions not only create the structural conditions for racism, but also create a culturally sanctioned ideology that keeps the system operating. Racist ideology is a set of notions that ascribe central importance to real or presumed biological, cultural, and psychological differences among racial groups, attributing the arrangement of both historic and current social systems to these differences (Carol Brunson, 198715). tour ideological and cultural arguments are two pillars that support racism, one or other may be in the forefront at any given time. Stephen Gould states two assumptions of biologically based racist ideologyHumans are classifiable into discrete, hierarchically ranked biological groups (with whites at the top).Differences among the races reflect the natural and/or ordained order and therefore are incessantly fixed (Gould, 198145).Besides this biological argument, there exists also cultural argument, explaining the realities of the lives of people of colour. William Ryan (1976) defined blaming the victim as an ideological stance that locates the origins of social tasks. Ryan place four steps in victim blaming process. Locating social problem and population affected by it, comparison of values and behaviour of people affected by the social problem, locating the source off the problem in how the affected people are different from the successful ones, foot of treatment that would change the affected people (Ryan, 1976).Victim blaming therefore provides a modelling for explaining the problems of people of colour. It is also a framework for strategies to ameliorate the position of people of colour in our society. Many people learn about the ideology of racism and families, schools and media contribute to this preparation. They learn and behave according to the dictates of racist ideology. Carol Brunson argues that very early, children of all backgrounds learn stereotypes about other groups regardless of whether they have contact with actual people (Carol Brunson, 198718). These stereotypes later shape peoples reality and they start judging and interpreting ideas an d behaviours by their learnt stereotypes. Each persons own judgement is not harmful but over time the prejudices may become insalubrious and damaging.As it can be seen, there appear new arguments of racism and its ideology, justifying institutional, cultural and individual racism. While these new faces and arguments of racism try to cover the problem, racism and racist ideology are alive and existent in America. Racism affects us as individuals and the choices that we make in responding to it. Anti-racism education should get an immediate focus on each individual. The goal of the anti-racism education should be generation of development of individual consciousness, enabling people to become active initiators of the change in perception of racism. All people should be prudent for transformation of racism ideology. However, the situation is difficult because, while groups keep racism alive, the responsibility is not equally positioned. Yet, racism has always gone relegate in hand with slavery, and it is a precedent to slavery.Racism is wickedness. It is not a social problem that will gradually disappear through education and legislation. These alleviate the symptoms, but no more than that. The only cure is in understanding that ne outlying(prenominal)iousness is real. In the words of Jeffrey Burton Russell,The essence of venomous is abuse of a sentient being, a being that can feel pain. It is the pain that matters. Evil is grasped by the mind immediately and immediately felt by the emotions it is sensed as hurt deliberately bring downed. The existence of blackness requires no further proof I am therefore I suffer evil.The definition implies two things One, that every human being suffers evil. Two, every human being inflicts evil. Thus, the essence of the human condition is in how we live with evil.Of necessity, then, evil has two faces one is individual, the other is collective. That we as individuals will and do sanctify evil is unavoidable. Our eff orts not to do evil, however, need the support of a collective, i.e. a society that not only recognizes evil but condemns it.In contemporary America,In her Gifford lectures, Hannah Arendt said As citizens, we essential prevent wrong-doing because the world in which we all live, wrong- proletarian, wrong-sufferer, and spectator, is at stake the City has been wronged.We could almost define a crime as that transgression of the law that demands punishment regardless of the one who has been wronged.the law of the land permits no option because it is the confederacy as a whole that has been violated.America is struggling to reach a consensus that racism violates the community as a whole. It cannot do so as long as blacks are still excluded from a sense of community.Blacks have no doubts or questions about their humanity and thus are made to suffer evil, an evil that is still not obvious to the white majority. Racism is an act of evil but white people do not hear the moaning of the hurt or the death rattles of the dying.The evil of slavery, the evil of the Holocaust are written large. So much so that many are in danger of thinking that these cataclysms are the only ways in which racist evil expresses itself. That is why it is both ironic and maddening that so many blacks pit anti-Semitism only with the Holocaust and thereby conclude that because they would never remit the extermination of Jews they are not and could not be anti-Semitic. Non-blacks are equally culpable when they equate racism solely with acts of violence.Because our perception of evil is especial(a) to the dramatic, we have lost the capacity to recognize it. Evil has become so prosaic in appearance, manner and style that it is now woven into the fabric of the normal like smog, acid rain and K-mart. Hannah Arendt maintained that the horror of evil in the Third Reich was that it had lost the quality by which most people recognize it the quality of temptation. The racist evil of contemporary Ameri ca is as charismatic as an empty can of cat food. In her Gifford lectures, Hannah Arendt assay again to describe the figure of Adolf Eichmann and what had so horrified her about himI was struck by a manifest shallowness in the doer that made it impossible to trace the incontestable evil of his deeds to any deeper level of roots or motives. The deeds were monstrous, but the doerwas quite ordinary, commonplace, and neither demonic nor monstrous. There was no sign in him of firm ideological convictions or of specific evil motives, and the only noble characteristic one could detect in his past behavior as well as his behavior during the trialwas something entirely negative it was not stupidity but thoughtlessness.It was this absence of thinking which is so ordinary an experience in our everyday life, where we have hardly the time, let alone the inclination to stop and think that waken my interest. Is evildoing (the sins of omission, as well as the sins of commission) possible in i nadvertence of not just base motivesbut of any motives whatever, of any particular suggestion of interest or volition? Is wickedness, however we may define itnot a necessary condition for evil- doing?What Arendt saw in Eichmann is true of American society. This is not a country of wicked white people imbued with a pestilent racism based on some principle or other. What exists is far more distressing. Racism has become a psychological habit, a habit many wish to dislodge, but it is so ingrained that they do not know where to begin. It is imperative, however, that they look, for as Goethe wrote in Wilhem Meister, every sin avenges itself on earth.Where they must look is in themselves. Whites cannot feel the pain of blacks, Jews and women until they feel the pain they inflict on themselves by passively accepting a definition of cast that crowns whites as racially superior beings. I do not know why whites do not feel the evil they inflict on themselves because I see the evil of racis m taking its revenge on a drug-addicted white society which did not care forty years ago when drugs appeared in black slums. If America had been able to feel then that black life is human, if America had been able to feel that racism is a silent evil inflicting pain as murderous to the human spirit as any weapon is to the body, it would have been alarmed and travel to alleviate the conditions that made drugs appear to be a viable alternative. If America had been able to conceive that black life is human life, thousands of white and black lives would not have been destroyed, literally and psychologically, since drugs entered white American society. I do not understand why white America cannot understand this simple principle Everything white people do to black people, they will last do to each other.The ultimate evil of racism is not in its effects, but in the inability of white people to recognize themselves in black people. This evil will continue until white people take responsib ility for that which they wish was not within them, namely, evil.Ultimately, we must accept that evil is, that it is not something out there but something in here. It cannot be expunged because our humanity lies as much in our capacity to evil as