American Literature

In the era of multiculturalism, it is very hard to define the real American identity. Every person in the United States may have been called American yet differences in races still matter. Since the birth of this nation, it has long sought for an identity. Who are the Americans? Is it the white people who speak English? Are Blacks, Hispanics and Indians considered Americans? These are the questions that so long hunted for an answer yet were only resolved at the dawn of the twenty first century after harsh riots and civil rights movement. It may be correct that all citizens sing the Star Spangled Banner, pledge allegiance to the Constitution yet not everyone has been granted equal rights. Sometimes equity and equality need to be fought for. These may be are the reasons why representatives of these oppressed cultures have written literature to express their sentiments.

Ralph Ellison may argue that his novel, “The Invisible Man”, had universal characters, wherein anyone who suffers the same oppression could relate himself to the protagonist; however, the case that it has been written by an African-American could lead to the conclusion that the novel articulated the sentiments of the Black people. The novel has been about the narrator’s quest for freedom, identity and selfhood.  Though the narrator has accomplished his goals in the end of the novel, the identity that he has taken on is that of an invisible man. Invisibility is a major theme of the novel. In fact, there are three types of invisibility that has been discussed. The first is partial invisibility that people would not see a person fully yet only limited to what the people ought to see. The second is invisibility by denial, people would see you as another person; and the last is full invisibility, which is resignation from the community. Thus, the novel stressed the worse consequences of prejudice due to race difference. Though the novel has been nihilistic and individualistic, the novel has inspired freedom movements and has produced leaders like Malcolm X.

Nevertheless, Philip Roth’s impasse in “Defender of the Faith” is of no less different from the predicament of Ellison. It is not of grave importance if Grossbart has been serious or not about his grievances. His machinations and mischief were not enough to hide the pressing quest for attention by the Jews in the army. Even Sgt. Marx has been persuaded by Grossbart to give special consideration to the Jews. Yet in the end Marx has turned the table and was able to exercise fairness for all, which earned him the title: defender of the faith.

Though N. Scott Momaday was not writing accurate history in his book: “The Way to Rainy Mountain,” however, it has well described the conception and the growth of the Kiowa people, their journeys and their stories. Momaday wanted to look at his heritage at as “many angles” as he could. He wanted to show the world that his ancestry had civilizations and did not belong to what some early white men called as “noble savage.”

Thus, all of these novels are stories about seeking identity. The similarities are marginalized and oppressed people in the society have written all of these stories. Their goal is to seek a space in the American culture where their identity would be accommodated. The demand may be as small as Momaday’s request for respect and recognition for his people to freedom from harassment and equity and equality. However in these modern times, we have now realized and understood the doctrines of our founding fathers. The American identity is an ever-expanding context wherein the future people would have a hard time identifying which is American.

“Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.” Atticus Finch in To kill a Mockingbird

To kill a mockingbird is a novel that depicts many human errors as seen and understood by Scout, a child of 6 years.  At an early age she is exposed to her town’s hypocrisy, prejudice, racial discrimination and judgmentalism, common human characteristics where the story is built on, and in her activeness as a child, she and her brother had become entwined with the mockingbirds of their society. These two mockingbirds are offered as sacrifices in the story to drive the story’s point and expose the conflicts of the story, of man against man and man against society.  These two conflicts brought out the worst characteristics of the people in Maycomb but it was also an instrument in revealing that there are mockingbirds that are wrongly judged by other people but are in reality harmless and good.  These are in fact people who seek to do good without audience, who does not do good to be recognized but because they want to show goodness to others who are in need of it. This very exposure of Jem and Scout to the mockingbirds of their town helped shape their moral values, they found a new hope that their town is not as bad as it seems, despite of a number of people who sees bad in everything but themselves, there are still good people who had, although fallen into the pit of prejudice and discrimination, still opt to show kindness.    

Mockingbird is a collective name for certain passerines or songbirds that are uniquely able to mimic or imitate with unusual exactness the sound or song of other birds and even certain reptiles and amphibians.   Some of these birds developed the ability to incorporate their own songs into the calls of the birds that they mimic.  They are common in the North, Central, and South America, from southern Canada to Chile and Argentina.  These birds mainly feed on insects, seeds and fruits but are not classified as pests, thus the notion of being harmless.  Mockingbirds are very helpful in keeping insects in check, they are also important in the transporting and scattering of seeds to far off places where they can germinate and grow.  Aside from its ecological and agricultural importance, mockingbirds are also a source of aesthetic appreciation, its mimicry of other’s calls can be soothing and enjoyable, and their vivacity and playfulness is contagious. In the story Atticus Finch told Jem and Scout that it is bad to kill a mockingbird because it intends you no harm, in fact all it want is to sing to everyone, thus killing a harmless and innocent creature that only sought to make everyone happy is bad.

The first mockingbird to be introduced in the story is Arthur “Boo” Radley.  From the beginning of the story he is portrayed as a strange and mysterious character, living in seclusion, locked up in his parent’s house.  Nobody has seen him set foot outside or even peek at their window for fifteen years, and within that span of time many vicious tales were weaved around him, all of them depicting him as a vicious and scary character these tales rooting from his youthful mishaps and had grown to extremely negative notion of him and from then on had not left his name until in the end of the story.  In his younger days he got into a gang whose mischievousness brought the attention of the law on them and sentenced them in a correctional facility, however Boo’s father spoke with the judge to keep his son at home and be the one to look after his behavior wherein the judge agreed.  From then on Boo was never seen outside their house and no news of him after, even his mother and father avoided public eyes retreating to the security of their house even during Sundays where it is customary to expect visitors and socialize.  This strangeness in the family plus Boo’s mysterious presence in the house, although they did no one harm, their peculiarity is seen as reason enough for raised eyebrows and wagging of tongues.  Boo Radley in fact has grown to be a very shy man who shuns attention and keeps to himself.  Although mischievous in his younger days, which is common to growing up kids, he had grown to maturity but the condemnatory eyes of the people in town would rather dwell on his youth’s mishaps.  Extremely shy of human contact he showed fondness and affection for the two children by stashing small gifts on the hollowed trunk of a tree outside their gate where Jem and Scout pass by after school, small gifts such as gums, soap carving in the image of Jem and Scout, and a pocket watch, also by secretly putting a blanket around Scout during the fire that burned Miss Maudie’s house.  And in the end by saving Jem and Scout from the vengeful Ewell who tried to harm both of them in revenge for Atticus’ defense of Tom Robinson and for exposing what is really happening within the Ewell family.    Like the mockingbird, Boo Radley is a victim of prejudice, of being judged basing on insufficient information.  Having done that one mischief during his youth, he was forever tagged as violent and not in the right mind, with stories being told about him in various degrees of fictional narratives but always picturing him as a menacing phantom especially in the imagination of children.  In the story Boo had already been killed by the town’s people a long time ago, by making up stories about him to scare the children from becoming like him they had killed his persona and did not allow him to become a new person in their eyes.  

Tom Robinson is a gentle and respectable man who is unfortunate enough to be colored and so had to endure discrimination and racial judgment from the people around him.  Having been set apart from society and knowing the feeling of being alone and an outcast not so much because of his character or personality but because of his color which is out of his control, he had learned to live quietly and accept the conditions life had given him.  Yet, despite of his situation he has compassion for his fellows and easily sympathizes with those he deems that share his predicament impervious of race and color.  With these qualities he had the misfortune of being gullible enough to other people’s wicked intent, thus becoming entangled with the life of the Ewells.  Tom Robinson, having passed the house of the Ewells daily to and from work has acquainted himself with Mayelle Ewell with the best intentions to befriend her and empathize with her situation hoping to ease her sadness.  Having seen her loneliness and the hardships that she goes through keeping house, tending her siblings and looking after her father, he resolved to help her in every way he could specially with the manly chores such as “chopping up the chifforobe”.  He also treated her well and politely by calling her “miss” and treating her as such.  Unfortunately his kindly actions were used to pave the way for his disgrace and in the end his untimely death.       In this novel, he is one of the mockingbirds as illustrated by the author.  He was good in his intentions and seeks nothing in payment for his goodwill; he had led a quiet life and fed his family through honest labor and hard work, yet because of his color he is racially judged and discriminated, prejudicing him as outright guilty of raping Mayella Ewell where in the end, with Atticus Finch defending him, he was pronounced innocent and free from the charges that the Ewells brought against him.  However t, a black man against a white man then is like itself a verdict, although he was not sentenced in court he was sentenced by the white people to die.  

Atticus Finch has taught his children to respect people and life itself, he has taught them not to harm  unless you are harmed or only in defense of one’s self, but refrain from harming people and creatures alike for as long as can be.  He likened his teachings to a mockingbird who deems no one harm, it goes about its business singing giving pleasure to those who hears its songs, but because it mimics other birds’ calls sometimes people mistakes it for some other bird that must have done them wrong.  Like in the story, Boo Radley had been likened to a mockingbird who, because of his past and his strange lifestyle was turned into a topic for gossip and tall tales, in a way killing him and preventing him from living a normal life outside their house.  Tom Robinson, also a mockingbird by his race and color, although respectable in his ways and kindly the town’s people automatically judged him  as a rapist and even though he was innocent they had exacted revenge on him.  Boo and Tom are examples of a mockingbird, they are just a representation of all the mockingbirds that are scattered and like them isolated from human by lifestyle, color, belief, and even educational attainment.  There are many like them then and now in every place, people who are scrutinized by their physical peculiarities hence forgetting that there is more to the skin that meets the eyes.