The Flying Dutchman in American Literature and British Scifi: The Myth Across the Atlantic By: Adam

White

Dr. Julieann Ulin American Literature 11/18/2010

White 1 Sometime two stories separated by decades, continents, and cultures share a number of common traits that seem to suggest the stories are related. Amiri Baraka s Dutchman and the Doctor Who episode Midnight are vastly different, but have common traits and myths that link them. Dutchman is a story about racial violence set in a New York subway car, while Midnight tells of an alien traveler on a diamond planet far away from Earth. One story is part of the American Literature canon, at least as set by the Norton anthology, while the other is a British sci-fi episode, part of popular entertainment. Within this paper, I will analyze and explain how a common myth, in this case, that of the Flying Dutchman, can link two stories by common tropes, even across two shores. Additionally, I will suggest that certain tropes may appear simply because they are common to human nature, and provide an avenue for an audience to study humanity in detail, from a safe vantage point, while coming to the realization that they may not be as safe as they initially feel. Both stories employ the myth of the Flying Dutchman, a legend written about by authors such as John Leyden, who described it as a spectre-ship denominated the Flying Dutchman which appears in the dead of night as a luminous form of a ship (176). Baraka s play updates the myth of the flying Dutchman to take place in the flying underbelly of the city, a subway heaped in modern myth (Baraka 2745). The use of a subway not only provides a vehicle to parallel the mythical ship, but also provides a claustrophobic location for the story, the outside world being nothing but flashes by the windows (2745). The Doctor Who episode midnight employs a similar setting to evoke a similar sense of claustrophobia. Rather than a modern city, the story takes place in a science fiction setting, a tram car, similar in appearance to a small airliner cabin or even a modern subway car, about seven rows of four seats, separated into pairs in the middle by a single aisle, with windows shielded from the outside world (Midnight). These settings not only provide a sense of claustrophobia, but an insulated space from the outside world. The hostess in midnight apologizes that the view is shielded , and Professor Hobbes, a researcher of the planet Midnight states, We look upon this world through glass, safe inside our metal box [...] crossing Midnight but never touching it (Midnight, 8:09). These insulated settings allow the characters only a false sense of security and serve a useful purpose for the narrative. The audience is always isolated in some way from the dangers on stage, either viewing the world through glass on a television screen, or sitting behind the proverbial fourth wall, comfortable in their theater seats. They are given the same sense of security as the characters begin with, but will be quickly reminded of how dangerous the world outside their living room or theater is. The isolated setting allows the dangers outside the vehicle to be shown with greater clarity. By using only a handful of characters, their flaws can bring clearer focus to the flaws of society as a whole. The trams serve as a microcosm for humankind. By eliminating all other elements except for the victim of the act and those complicit in it, the story directs the audiences focus to evils that normally go unnoticed in the sea of people that makes up society. This shatters not only the character s senses of security, but that of those watching as well. The viewer is separate from the performance, but must eventually leave the theatre or living room and face the outside world where these evils exist. Each person must also examine themselves to see if they possess such evil. The idea of an evil or a sin is another important element of the Flying Dutchman myth. Leydan writes that the crew of this vessel are supposed to have been guilty of some dreadful crime, in the infancy of navigation, and are ordained to traverse the ocean on which they perished, till the period of their penance expire (Leydan, 176). The crew of the flying Dutchman is forced to wander due to their sin, exiled from every place they might find some rest. The Doctor is such a wanderer. In the 1963 pilot episode of Doctor Who, The Doctor is traveling with his granddaughter and explains to his first two human companions, [w]e are not of this race. We are not of this earth. We are wanderers in the fourth dimensions of space and time cut off from our own planet and our own people (An Unearthly Child).

White 2 His initial sin is that of interfering in the lives of less advanced people, a violation of the laws of his reclusive people. Later, when the show returns from cancellation as a new series in 2005, the doctor will be given a new reason for wandering the universe. Baraka s character list dictates that the passengers on the subway car should be white and black (Baraka 2745). This choice leaves no room for anyone white or black to blame another race for what transpires within the story. The passengers who allow the crime to transpire, and then help to throw Clay s body off the train could represent a large number of people. White and black is specified, but these characters could represent any member of the audience. Similarly, the Doctor Who episode Midnight employs a wide range of ordinary characters who, despite the futuristic setting, are dressed in a contemporary and plain style. The unnamed hostess is a black woman in a uniform similar to a flight attendant s. She is a by the book worker with a forced polite smile. When The Doctor explains that his exclamation of allons-y is French for let s go she simply smiles, and gives a curt fascinating before moving on (Midnight, 2:07). She represents those who make themselves slaves to protocol and rules, telling the Doctor and others to get back to your seat when things begin to go wrong (13:50). She is the first to suggest murder after the first passenger is possessed, saying we should throw her out , as she feels a responsibility to protect the tram and its passengers from any danger (26:00). Despite this, she is the one who sacrifices her own life to save The Doctor (39:30). Biff, Val, and Jethro are members of the same family on vacation, and could represent many middle class families. Biff is the father of the familly and dresses like one might imagine the typical vacationing dad, wearing a maroon polo shirt, khaki s, goatee, and an analog wristwatch. Biff is a bit of an overbearing father who complains that his son is ashamed of us but doesn t mind us paying (3:00). Val is the typical image of a tourist mother, focused on the complimentary trinkets such as paper slippers provided for the travelers. When disaster begins, she allows her fear to influence her, claiming that whatever creature possesses Sky Sylvestri, the went from her to him , The Doctor (36:50). Her fear causes her to see things, and she forces others to try and see the same things. She asks her son Jethro, a rebellious teenager who wears black clothes and would rather sit at least one seat from his family while listening to music, if he saw the same thing. When he says I don t know , she tells him Oh, don t be stupid, Jethro! Of course you did , and convinces her son that he saw the same thing (37:10). She also uses the same manipulation on her husband, convincing him to throw The Doctor out of the car by playing on his insecurity, saying do it, you re useless , questioning his adequacy as a husband and father (37:30). Deedee, a young black college student traveling with Professor Hobbes on research, aptly concludes that Val is just making it up , demonstrating a stronger insight but also calling for the murder of Sky with everyone else to protect herself saying I wanna go home. I m sorry. I want to be safe (27:51). Hobbes is an older professor, bald, wearing a cardigan, knit tie, and glasses. Hobbes appears very non-threatening, but he feels overly secure in his own scientific expertise. When the entity begins knocking on the tram he explains that the light out there is extonic and would destroy any living thing in a split second , believing that it is impossible for someone to be outside (13:38). As the entity s existence becomes more apparent, he continues to fall back on his limited knowledge, trying to overcome his fear by relying on his own intellect. Sky Sylvestri, the passenger who becomes possessed, wears a business suit and is traveling alone, reading a novel and keeping to herself when the story begins. Her initial interest in her novel over the other passengers Is similar to the passengers in Dutchman who go back to newspapers or stare out of windows while Clay and Lula are arguing (Baraka 2755). She is targeted because she is the most afraid. She calls out It s coming for me while backing against a wall before the entity takes control of her body and she begins repeating the words of the others in the car (Midnight 10:10). Dutchman paints a broader stroke by simply specifying that the passengers be both white and black, but gives little other information. Midnight episode gives passengers specific qualities, but presents such a wide variety of distinct personalities that the audience may identify with at least one of them. The

White 3 insecurities they hold as fathers, mothers, business people, intellectuals, and their natural fear for their own safety and sanity motivates them. Lula suggests Clay knows someone named Warren Enright[,] a tall skinny black boy with a phony English accent (Baraka 2751). She is implying that Clay is putting on an act, being someone he is not, and keeping company that is just as phony. Baraka seems to take a similar attitude towards him, even though he is the protagonist, and arguably the hero of the story. Lula asks Clay why he is wearing a jacket and tie like that , and says that his narrow-shoulder clothes come from a tradition you ought to feel oppressed by , his three-button suit and striped tie a product of European fashion sense brought over to the United States by people who were most likely slave holders (2750). Amiri Baraka changed his name from Leroi Jones by taking a Bantuized Muslim name (Norton 2743). Both Clay s name and his style of dress may be under judgment not just by Lula, but by the playwright himself. Baraka changed his name to separate himself from the white European tradition, while his character Clay embraces this tradition, telling her that he thought he was Baudelaire in college (Baraka 2750). He is similar to The Doctor in this respect. The Doctor is alien but throughout all his incarnations he has spoken English with a UK accent. The tenth Doctor in particular who is in the story Midnight speaks with a mainstream London accent. He sometimes gives away that he is alien however. Jethro observes however that the doctor called us [the passengers] humans, like you re not one of us (Midnight, 29:00). He also dresses as a human might, wearing a brown suit with purple pinstripes, and a matching purple dress shirt underneath with a tie. The only hint that something is alien about his dress sense is the fact that he wears converse sneakers with a suit, but even so, his dress style is alien to his culture and allows him to blend in. For the Doctor, this is simply a fashion choice and a way to blend in. He also makes concessions with language, simplifying and using other people s terminology for explaining complex things. Ordinarily, he travels in his own time/space traveling vehicle known as the TARDIS, rather than a tram. It appears and disappears much like the luminous Flying Dutchman, fading in and out as a light on top slowly pulses. Though it does not appear in the Midnight episode, it is similar in this respect to the myth, as well as Baraka s stage directions for [d]im lights and darkness (2745). In the pilot episode, he must explain its function as a traveling machine to a pair of school teachers in 1963 in a manner which they will understand. He calls it a ship , explaining to them, I use your own outdated terminology for any craft which does not roll along on wheels (An Unearthly Child). The vernacular is not his own, but it allows him to fit in and be understood and accepted by those around him. This concession to the people he interacts with makes him similar to Clay, though it does not cause him the same condemnation. The word ship also links his machine more closely with the Flying Dutchman myth that connects both stories. Clay wears his suit, as he says to keep himself from cutting all your throats , referring to Lula and the other passengers, though possibly focusing on the white passengers (2756). He is putting on an act to fit in. Baraka does not seem to view these violent urges as negative or a sin, but suggests through Clay that Charlie Parker. Bird would ve played not a note of music if he just [...] killed the first ten white people he saw (2756). Attributing these violent tendencies to a great musician who is respected by both races gives them legitimacy within the story. The reader also sees him acting violently toward Lula prior to the revelation about how dangerous she is. He [s]laps her as hard as he can, across the mouth attempting to shut her up, and does so violently that her head bangs against the back of the seat (2755). Assuming that Baraka is not condemning this violence, having attributed similar urges to famous musicians, Clay s sin, the transgression that relates him to the Flying Dutchman myth is his choice of name, dress, his English friends, and his general adoption of European descended traditions.

White 4 The Doctor is a heroic figure, but has potentially violent tendencies as Clay does. A young boy at a military academy on the verge of World War 1 describes The Doctor as being like fire, and ice, and rage , expressing how dangerous he is, but finishing by saying that The Doctor is also wonderful (The Family of Blood, 24:50). His qualities are heroic, but he is somewhat of a tragic flawed hero. In the new series, The Doctor reveals that not only is he separated from his people, but they died by his actions as he protected the rest of the universe. He finds what he believes to be the last remaining member of an enemy race, the Daleks, and gloats your race is dead, you all burned all of you, ten-million ships on fire, the entire Dalek race wiped out in one second , emphasizing I watched it happen, I made it happen (Dalek, 8:30). He also reveals that his race The Time Lords also burned with the Daleks, and laments that had no choice but to end the war with a near double genocide to keep the rest of the universe from being destroyed (8:50). The Doctor has become the sole survivor of his race by his own actions, and so he must wander the proverbial seas of the universe without a home port to land his luminous ship. Clay has violent urges, but his sin is not violence, but trying to be someone he is not, Baudelaire or any other figure, though the myth applies more to the subway car and its passengers in general than to Clay only. Clay is violent, but justifiably so in the eyes of the playwright, while the Doctor is punished for his violent tendencies. The Doctor however wears the clothes and adopts the language of another culture without any judgment against him, while these tendencies in Clay allow him to be targeted and killed more easily. They both have violent tendencies, and make concessions to fit in. Though they are not condemned for the same reason, the theme of condemnation for a sin connects them by a common myth, as does being alien like the Dutchman, unable to find a friendly home port. The curse is on the ship as well. The Doctor s TARDIS travels with him, and events after Clay s murder suggest that his death may not be the only one. When Clay first appears, he is holding a magazine , while Lula is carrying a net bag full of paper books (2745). At the end of the story, we see a YOUNG NEGRO who comes into the coach, with a couple of books under his arm before becoming the new subject of Lula s interest as she gives him a long slow look (2758). Lula is targeting another educated young black man, and the subway train continues like the Flying Dutchman ship. The cycle of racial violence is about to continue, as if the subway car is forever traveling in this sea of trouble. The net bag full of books that Lula carries may likely be trophies from previous young black men that she has killed. Even if she changes subway cars, wherever she goes the curse will continue. The antagonists in each story make the protagonist repeat them before taking control. Lula initially gets Clay to give up his voice by a simple direct command for him to repeat her. She order him stating, Now you say to me, Lula, Lula why don t you go to this party with me tonight? It s your turn and let those be your lines (2749). He adds a Huh to the end of her statement and uses her name only once, but she quickly corrects him so that he repeats her request verbatim, telling him to [s]ay her name twice with no huh s (2749). The Doctor is also made to repeat by the entity inhabiting Mrs. Silvestre. She begins repeating what The Doctor says, picking him because she needs his voice in particular[,] the cleverest voice in the room (Midnight 32:23). The Doctor is being targeted for his intelligence as Clay and the young black man after him have been. She mimics everything he says, coming into closer and closer sync with him until she speaks first, still inhabiting the body of Mrs. Sylvestri, but physically disabling The Doctor while forcing him to repeat her words. Professor Hobbes observes that she spoke before he did , and Jethro comes to the conclusion that he s copying her (33:10). The entity can now speak on its own, answering when someone asks if Mrs. Sylvestri has returned saying Yes, it s me (33:50). Jethro concludes that it s passed into The Doctor (34:00), and the entity confirms their suspicions by saying that it s inside his head while smiling and maintaining a gentle tone to gain everyone s sympathy (35:59). Lula uses similar methods, saying I lie a lot. It helps me control the world

White 5 (Baraka 2747). Like Lula, the entity lies, but allows people to form their own conclusions first repeating The Doctor and then paralyzing him , forcing him to repeat so that they conclude that he is the entity because that s what the thing does, it repeats (36:40). The Doctor lives, but his condition during this period is similar to Clay after Lula stabs him. Clay slumps across her knees, his mouth working stupidly , his voice stolen as The Doctor s was, and his body is unable to move save for what mute motions he can make with his mouth. After stealing The Doctor s voice, making him repeat her, the creature controlling Sky is still unable to fully control her body and calls in a docile, helpless tone Help me Professor, get me away from him, please , an order which Professor Hobbes quickly obeys (Midnight, 34:30). Similarly, Lula exercises similar control over the passengers on the subway car after she has killed Clay. She calls out to them, Get this man off me! Hurry, now , having committed the murder herself, she recruits the passengers of the train to help her clean up the evidence. The circumstances from each story are slightly different, but follow similar patterns. The entity asks to be pulled away from The Doctor, while Lula asks them to take hold of Clay instead, but both manipulate others to put distance between themselves and the one they have attacked. After the passengers pull Clay s body off, she tells them to [o]pen the door and throw his body out (Baraka 2757). The entity in midnight manipulates people into trying to do the same thing with The Doctor, though by using people s insecurities to put the thought into their head. The Hostess was the first to suggest throwing Mrs. Sylvestri out (26:00) when she began repeating, and so the entity waits until people s tempers flare up and lies, explaining [t]hat s how he does it. He makes you fight, creeps into your head, and whispers before commanding people to listen. Just listen (37:40). She is more indirect than Lula, but just as effective, planting mental suggestions with words alone so that people convince themselves that they can hear the entity. Biff is the first to suggest let s throw him out (38:01). Val puts her fingers to her temples, beginning to believe she is hearing voices, saying get him out of my head before telling Biff Don t just talk about it [ ] you re useless , making him feel inadequate and spurring him on (38:00). Whereas Lula directly commands, the entity uses people s own insecurities and fears to get them to do her will. The indirect manipulation of people s insecurities seems more realistic and believable than Lula simply commanding everyone to do her bidding. The audience is able to see what motivates each person to commit terrible acts, and learns that they have, as Clay said very rational explanations (Baraka, 2757) for what they are doing. Biff for example, has his adequacy as a husband and a man is called into question, and he decides his course of action. He only needs prompting when having trouble working up the nerve to actually commit murder. He hesitates, his hands shaking as he contemplates murdering The Doctor though, the entity becomes as direct as Lula, calling Yes! Throw him out! Get rid of him! Now! (37:33). Though being targeted for his intellect as Clay was, The Doctor manages to use his intelligence to save his life. Although he can only repeat the entity, he gets the entity to say Molto Bene and Allons-y (38:59), two phrases that the hostess would remember he had spoken at the beginning of the trip. The hostess exclaims she s taken his voice (39:26) and sacrifices herself. Looking at her actions in relation to the Flying Dutchman myth, this act of self sacrifice serves as her penance for being the first to suggest murder. No such penance is displayed in Dutchman however, only the sin and its grim results. Mrs. Sylvestri is killed and The Doctor released from her control parallels closely with Clay s threats to Lula. The Doctor is only released when the hostess sacrifices herself, pulling Mrs. Sylvestri and the entity possessing her outside (Midnight 39:40). The light outside is called extonic , and the driver of the tram states that it s one hundred percent extonic out there, we d be vaporized (10:00). Mrs. Sylvestri is

White 6 dragged outside into this light and dies in a way that very closely resembles Clays threats against Lula. He threatens that the blues people and half-white trusties will drag you out to the edge of your cities so the flesh can fall away from your bones, in sanitary isolation (Baraka 2757). Midnight is certainly a planet of sanitary isolation, a diamond planet with no humans on the surface save for a small resort and those protected in the tram cars. No life is present on the surface, save for the entity in the story as any flesh in the light is vaporized. The scene of Mrs. Sylvestri s death also mirrors Clay s statement to Lula that the only thing that would cure the neurosis would be your murder (2756). The Doctor continues to repeat everything the entity says until it is either killed, or flees when Mrs. Sylvestri dies, at which point he tells the other passengers It s gone after being released from its controlling madness (Midnight 39:48). Perhaps murder is what Baraka believed was the only penance that would end the curse of his Dutchman. The passengers get off the train, but the proverbial ship continues sailing with a new educated black man on board with Lula. Baraka s work is more about race, and helping his race escape this cycle of violence while Midnight is more universal, showing the ugly side of all humans, regardless of color. Both stories are connected by the common myth of the Flying Dutchman, and by the need for the viewers to analyze themselves as well as the world around them and to be aware of such dangers.

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Works Cited Baraka, Amiri. "Dutchman." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Seventh ed. Vol. E. New York: W.W. Norton, 2007. 2745-758. Print. Baym, Nina. "AMIRI BARAKA (LEROI JONES)." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Seventh ed. Vol. E. New York: W.W. Norton, 2007. 2743-744. Print. Coburn, Anthony. "An Unearthly Child." Doctor Who. British Broadcasting Corporation. London, United Kingdom, 23 Nov. 1963. Youtube. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYEW6Px33wo>. Cornell, Paul. "The Family of Blood." Doctor Who. British Broadcasting Corporation. Cardiff, United Kingdom, 30 Apr. 2 Jun. 2007. Netflix. BBC America. Web. 17 Nov. 2010. Davies, Russel. "Midnight." Doctor Who. British Broadcasting Corporation. Cardiff, United Kingdom, 30 Apr. 2005. Netflix. BBC America. Web. 4 Nov. 2010. Dicks, Terrence & Hulke, Malcolm. "The War Games." Doctor Who. British Broadcasting Corporation. London, United Kingdom, 19 Apr. 1969. DVD. Leyden, John. Scenes of Infancy; Descriptive of Teviotdale. Edinburgh: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1811. Google Books. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. <http://books.google.com/books?id=mcAwAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP11#v=onepage&q&f=false>. Shearman, Robert. "Dalek." Doctor Who. British Broadcasting Corporation. Cardiff, United Kingdom, 30 Apr. 2005. Netflix. BBC America. Web. 10 Nov. 2010.