Apuntes by Me - The American Literature Periods

Literatura Inglesa II
Prof. Verónica Castro Notes by Sabrina Romero
THE AMERICAN LITERATURE P ERIODS

American literature does not easily lend itself to classification by times period. Given the size of
the United States and it varied population, there are often several literary movements happening at the
same time. However, this hasn’t stopped literary scholars from making an attempt. Some of the most
commonly agreed periods of American literature came from the colonial period to the present.
NATIVE AMERICAN LITERATURE

Long before the arrival of Europeans in the Americans, the native people had their own rich
culture. The Native American literary tradition comprises oral traditions, folktales, creations stories and
other myths that survive in the traditions and stories told by modern-day Native Americans.
There was no written literature among the more than 500 different Indian languages and tribal
cultures that existed in North America before the first Europeans arrived. As a result, Native American
oral literature is quite diverse. Narratives from quasi-nomadic hunting cultures like the Navajo are
different form stories of settled agricultural tribes.
Tribes maintained their own religions, worshipping gods, animals, plants, or sacred persons.
Systems of government ranged from democracies to councils of elders to theocracies. These tribal
variations enter into the oral literature as well.
Indian stories glow with reverence for nature as a spiritual as well as physical mother. Nature is
alive and endowed with spiritual forces; main characters may be animals or plants, often totems
associated with a tribe, group, or individual. The closest to the Indian sense of holiness in later
American literature is Ralph Waldo Emerson’s transcendental “Over-Soul”, which pervades all of life.
Indian oral tradition and its relation to American literature as a whole is one of the richest and
least explored topics in American Studies. The Indian contribution to America is greater than is often
believed.
LITERATURE OF T HE COLONIAL PERIOD

American literature in the colonial period began with the works of English adventures and
colonists who wrote for the benefit of readers in the mother land; England. Many of the works were
written as reports of explorers and adventurers which were sent to England. Many of these reports
painted glorious pictures of the New World. The works were also to encourage migration to America.
Some of these early works included those by Captain Jon Smith and the historical narratives of William
Bradford and John Winthrop. The significant number of pilgrims and puritans who moved to the New
World form England made it that eh colonial period was dominated by Puritan beliefs.
Imaginative literature was uncommon during the colonial period in America. Due to the Puritan
sensibilities, creative works were considered immoral. The Bible was the most popular book for the
Puritans and Pilgrims. It was their chosen guide to the Promised Land. They considered the saving of
the soul as the most important task and the Bible took the central place in their reading.
Prior to the exodus of Puritans to America, the writings of the corps of sailors, adventurers, and
explorers who were among the first to establish settlements in the New World were reports. Their
writings were accounts of the voyages and descriptions of what they found in the New World.
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Later accounts by English explorers contain details of their exploration activities into the land
that was to become the United States of America. They are works that capture the efforts to
adventurers sent to establish colonies for England in the New world.
Such books written were descriptions of the country and narratives of the challenges of the new
settlements. These works were printed in England and the information was meant for the English public.
The earliest and most noteworthy among books of this kind were writings of Captain John Smith.
THE MATHER DYNASTY

For four generations, the Puritan dynasty of Richard, Increase, Cotton, and Samuel Mather and
their close relatives dominated the religious and intellectual life of colonial New England. The Mathers
collected what was by far the best private library in the American Colonies; they also preached and
published prolifically. In 1935 Tracy W. McGregor seized the opportunity to acquire the best collection
in private hands of books and manuscripts written by or relating to the Mathers. Formed by William
Gwinn Mather of Cleveland, Ohio, the collection numbered over 2,100 items—the largest and most
expensive library acquisition ever made by Tracy W. McGregor. Since its arrival in Charlottesville, Special
Collections curators have augmented the Mather portion of the McGregor Library until it is now one of
the best Mather collections extant.
The Mather family dynasty of New England Puritan ministers was founded by Richard Mather,
who arrived in Boston in 1635 and soon became a pillar of the religious community. This woodcut
portrait of Mather created after his death in 1669, is one of five extant examples. It is the earliest known
American woodcut and portrait print. Artist John Foster was a graduate of Harvard and Boston’s first
printer. A few examples are bound into copies of Increase Mather’s 1670 memoir of his father, though
Foster probably executed the print later.
In the late 1630s Richard Mather was one of several Puritan ministers who prepared the Bay
Psalm Book, a new translation of the Book of Psalms that, in 1640, became the first work printed in the
American Colonies. Of equal significance, and greater rarity, is the Platform of church-discipline, largely
authored by Mather. This foundation work of New England Congregationalism spelled out the new form
of church government developed by the Puritan settlers of Massachusetts. It also linked church and
state by empowering civil courts to enforce religious orthodoxy.
During the 17th century, three generations of Mathers—Richard, Increase, and Cotton Mather—
formed what was the largest and best library in the American Colonies. Numbering approximately 8,000
titles, the library included many works authored by the prolific Mathers. This volume contains Increase
Mather’s personal copies of fourteen of his earliest works, all printed in Boston or Cambridge, Mass.,
between 1670 and 1680. Mather commissioned this bookbinding of blind-tooled calfskin from Boston
binder John Ratcliff. One of the finest extant early American bindings, its simple but refined decoration
befitted both the owner and its contents.
Increase Mather and his son Cotton firmly believed in the supernatural. Through the careful
interpretation of such “Remarkable Providences” as “Tempests, Floods, Earthquakes, Thunders, … strange
Apparitions, … Witchcrafts, [and] Diabolical Possessions,” one might better understand God’s will. In
1684 Mather published in Boston an essay for the recording of illustrious providences, in which he
described supernatural phenomena recently witnessed in New England. The McGregor Library possesses
a copy of the book as well as the original manuscript for Chapter VII, shown here. The manuscript was
formerly in the collection of Sir Thomas Philipps, considered by many to be the world’s greatest
bibliomaniac.
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The Mather family papers and a large portion of its extraordinary library were inherited in 1785
by Hannah Mather Crocker, who ensured that these would be preserved in perpetuity. Crocker also
distinguished herself through her writings, which included the first American book to advocate for
women’s rights. Shrewdly countering criticism through modest argument, Crocker asserted the
intellectual equality of the sexes, and women’s right to the free exercise of their mental powers. Rather
than confine themselves to domestic duties, Crocker urged women to engage in the public sphere by
“form[in] societies for promoting religious, charitable and benevolent purposes.”
SUMMARY
Writings that can liberally be referred to as literature did emerge form Colonial America. The
works are traceable to the very early 17 th century when the first English explorers arrived at the New
World. The writings were more about documenting the migration and settlement efforts of the migrants
than creative works. Explorers’ accounts and Colonizers’ reports recorded efforts of the earliest arrivals
in North America. Settlers’ reports on the other hands documents that challenges of the groups of
settlers who migrated from England for diverse reasons. Derrieres and journals recorded the daily
activities of the people. Sermons were in large supply as they reflected the daily activities of the people.
Sermons were in large supply as the reflected the religious temperament of the Puritans. Political and
religious treaties also were in abundance. They reflected the religious and political views of the colonial
leaders who were also religious leaders of the time. Verses rather than poetry emerged during this
period. The form was used in furtherance of the Puritan life style which encouraged piety. The style of
versification resembled that of the metaphysical poet of England. This is one strong indication of the
influence of England on the writing tradition that emerged form America during the colonial period.
A significant number of writers emerged during the Colonial period in America. The works are
John Winthrop’s A Model of Christian Charity, Roger William’s and selection of verses from Anne
Bradstreet’s works. From these selections of colonial writings, the overarching influence for the Puritan
belief is visible. While Winthrop was concerned with the establishment of the Massachusetts Bay Colony,
William was concerned with separating the state from the church and condemning the appropriation of
Native Indian lands. Bradstreet, on the other hand, showed female concerns during this time. Her works
show prominently concerns about her life. Many focus on her experiences as a woman, mother, and
wife in a settler’s colony.
AMERICAN R ENAISSANCE : THE LITERATURE OF REASON AND R EVOLUTION

The 18th-century American Enlightenment was a movement marked by an emphasis on
rationality rather than tradition, scientific inquiry instead of unquestioning religious dogma, and
representative government in place of monarchy. Enlightenment thinkers and writers were devoted to
the ideals of justice, liberty, and equality as the natural rights of man.
1. Benjamin Franklin
Writer, printer, publisher, scientist, philanthropist, and diplomat, he was the most famous and
respected private figure of his time. He was the first great self-made man in America, a poor democrat
born in an aristocratic age that his fine example helped to liberalize.
In many ways Franklin’s life illustrates the impact of the Enlightenment on a gifted
individual. Self-educated, Franklin learned to break with tradition, in particular the old-fashioned Puritan
tradition, when it threatened to smother his ideals.
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Franklin tried to help other by sharing his insights and initiating a characteristically American
genre: “the self-help book”. Franklin’s Autobiography is, in part, another self-help book. Written to
advise his son, it covers only the early years. The most famous section describes his scientific scheme of
self-improvement.
He was an important figure at the 1787 convention at which the U.S. Constitution was drafted. In
his later years, he was president of an antislavery association. One of his last efforts was to promote
universal public education.
2. Thomas Paine
One of the greater nationalist writers was Thomas Paine. He was an Englishman who came to
America in 1774 and soon made himself an important codifier of colonial thought and feelings. He
published a pamphlet in 1776 titled Common Sense. It advocated complete political independence from
England. The pamphlet was the most popular from of political literature of the day. Many of his writings
contributed to the Declaration of Independence.
Sixteen of his works appeared during the progress of the struggle for liberty. These writings
inspired hope and enthusiasm in the colonists for the drive towards independence.
3. Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was another influential nationalist. His writings are so significant in number
and quantity that they have been gathered into volumes. The most significant is the Declaration of
Independence. It has become one of the most influential works in history. It continues to influence the
world and modify the opinions of nations. His influence would later culminate into his becoming the
third President of the United States.
The Age of reason brought great discoveries which changed the way many things were thought.
Science became a thing that would dominate the world for a long time. In literature, there was a shit to
classical knowledge and tradition. This influenced the way literature was written. Political treatises and
imaginative works surfaced. The most defining being Thomas Jefferson’s The Declaration of
Independence. It is a work that capture the essence of the American society. These are in the
fundamental areas of freedoms and humanity.
INTRODUCTION T O AMERICAN R OMANTICISM

Romanticism was a shift from faith and belief in science and reason to advocacy for
emotions, feelings and nature. Writers at that time were inspired by this new ways of thinking and
imagining. This was reflected in their literary works and novels. Eventually the themes of these literary
works changed and started to be purer and romantic by dealing with imaginary subjects such as terror,
horror an awe. The romantic period saw the emergence of new artistic, literary and intellectual wave in
literature and arts. It encouraged a rejection of many of the values of the Renaissance movement such
as the scientific revolution held as seminal. It was an escape form the strict rules of society in favor of a
spiritual world. Nature became the new object of love and emotions. Romanticism defined an artistic
and philosophical movement that influenced the fundamental ways in which people thought about
themselves and about the world. The era started as a reaction to the classical way of life that people
used to live. The respect for authority, the love of order and the following of rulers, were overturned in
favor of strangeness and novelty. It placed a new emphasis on emotions and beauty of the language.
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Romanticism was affirmative and appropriated for most American poets and creative
essayists. The Romantic spirits seemed particularly suited to American democracy: it stressed
individualism, affirmed the value of imagination for its aesthetic and ethical values. Certainly, the New
England Transcendentalists, Ralph Waldo Emerson, was inspired to a new optimistic affirmation by the
romantic movement. In New England, Romanticism fell upon fertile soil.
TRANSCENDENTALISM
Transcendentalism is a branch of the Romanticism movement. Transcendentalists
consider that individual as “the spiritual and moral center of the universe. In other words, there was a
certain relation between the individual and the universe. As feelings were the center of Romanticism,
intuition was the center of transcendentalism in which they believed that only through the intuitive
experiences the person can be able to know things.
In literature, the impact of transcendentalism can be seen in their way of dealing with
different themes such as: slavery, social classes and gender inequality.
1. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emerson is the undisputed founder of the Transcendental Movement. Transcendentalists

consider the individual as “the spiritual and moral center of the universe”. In other words, there was a
certain relation between the individual and the universe. As feelings were the center of Romanticism,
intuition was the center of transcendentalism in which they believed that only through the intuitive
experiences the person can be able to know things.
Natura, a short text published by Emerson, gave a birth to Transcendentalism. There, he

advocated the necessity for a new way of looking at the world. Emerson was remarkably consistent in
his call for a new national vision, the use of personal experience, the notion of the cosmic Over-Soul,
and the doctrine of compensation.
He also influenced a long line of American poets, including Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and
Edwin Robinson.
2. Henry David Thoreau
Like Emerson, he first worked as a teacher, but he decided to resign when the was forced to
administer corporal punishment on students. In his view, such punishment did not respect the basic
rights of the individual. He soon joined the Transcendentalism movement and Emerson became his
mentor and deeply influence.
In 1854, he published Walden, an autobiographical account of two years in the life of a man. It
also sounds as a philosophical account, or sociological essay. This book remains an extraordinary
testimony on solitude, as a document on an extreme experiment with the self and on the progressive
development of inner life. It is also a reflection on autobiography and on American nature. Definitely
influenced by Emerson’s theories, he never stopped considering nature as a powerful force, the only
one, indeed, that could offer man this necessary physical, intellectual and spiritual regeneration.
3. Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892) is one of American's most famous poets. He was considered a
humanist; believing that the value of human beings, individually and together, held primacy over
established practices, faiths and doctrines. Whitman embraced intuition and emotion over rationality,
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and became a great contributor to the genre of writing known as Transcendentalism, a philosophical
belief that the divine spirit resides within all of us, and in the inherent goodness of man and nature.
Whitman is perhaps America’s first democratic poet. The free verse he adopts in his work reflects
a newly naturalized and accessible poetic language. His overarching themes—the individual, the nation,
the body, the soul, and everyday life and work—mirror the primary values of America’s founding. Then
and now, his poetry is for everyone.
4. Margaret Fuller
The first professional woman journalist of note in America, Fuller wrote influential book reviews
and reports on social issues such as the treatment of women prisoners and the insane. Some of these
essays were published in her book Papers on Literature and Art , in 1846. A year earlier, she had her
most significant book. Woman in the Nineteenth Century. It originally had appeared in the
transcendentalist magazine, The Dial.
Fuller’s Woman in the Nineteenth Century is the earliest and most American exploration of
women’s role in society. Often applying democratic and transcendental principles, fuller thoughtfully
analyzes the numerous subtle causes and evil consequences of sexual discrimination and suggests
positive steps to be taken. Many of her ideas are strikingly modern. She stresses the importance of
“self-dependence,” which women lack because “they are taught to learn their rule from without, not to
unfold it from within.
Fuller is finally not a feminist so much as an activist and reformer dedicated to the cause of
creative human freedom and dignity for all.
5. Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson is a link between her era and the literary sensitivities of the turn of the century.
She loved nature and found deep inspiration in the birds, animals, plants and changing seasons of the
New England countryside.
Dickinson’s terse, frequently imagistic style is ever more modern and innovated than Whitman’s.
she never uses two words when one will do, and combines concrete things with abstract ideas in an
almost proverbial, compressed style. She sometimes shows a terrifying existential awareness. Like Poe,
she explores the dark and hidden part of the mind, dramatizing death and the grave. She had an
excellent sense of humor, and her range of subjects and treatment is amazingly wide.
Conclusion
Great achievements were recorded in the period of the Transcendental movement in America.
This was caused by the development of alternative thought about the concept of self and the discovery
of self. The focused drive to see the emergence of a distinct literary culture saw the birth of American
literature which was a clear separation from the earlier writings that emerged from the new country.
Genres and themes merged. Women writers were recognized and their influence continued to impact
writings till date. Radical thoughts such as gender equality and the abolition of slavery took rot and
influenced polities in America. All these culminated in the laying of a foundation for a literary culture
that would blossom in the centuries that followed.
Summary
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The development of American literature, especially the novel and the short fiction coincided with
westward expansion. The growth of a nationalist spirit and the rapid spread of cities reinforced the
idealization of frontier life. Many European had and image of the American as an unsophisticated and
uncivilized location. This began to change when American, through the Transcendentalist mind set,
forged a renaissance in their literary endeavors. With the development of a movement that was wholly
American and genres that showed the American in his/her true form, the place of America was
established in the literary world.
THE ROMANTIC P ERIOD, 1820-1860: F ICTION

In this period, romances were not love stories, but serious novels that used special techniques to
communicate complex and subtle meanings.
Hawthorne, Melville, and Poe shaped heroic figures larger than life, burning with mythic
significance. The typical protagonists of the American Romance are haunted, alienated individuals.
The romance form is dark and forbidding, indicating how difficult it is to create and identity
without a stable society. Most of the Romantic heroes die in the end: All the sailors except Ishmael are
drowned in Moby-Dick, and the sensitive but sinful minister Arthur Dimmesdale dies at the end of The
Scarlet Letter. The self-divided, tragic note in American literature becomes dominant in the novels, even
before the Civil war of the 1860s manifested the greater social tragedy of a society at war with itself.
THE GOTHIC AMERICAN LITERATURE

During the 18th century, American literature witnessed yet another wave. Gothic literature or anti-
transcendentalist movement concentrated on subjectivity and imagination. The literary output was
prompted by the historical and social conditions of that time. Works of this genre focused on the dark,
the scary, the gloomy and the mysterious. It was a reaction to the ideology of enlightenment that
extolled the virtues of rationality and human reason. Gothic literature creates feelings of mystery, fear,
gloom and suspense. It generally deals with a variety of themes related to fiction and supernatural
world and creatures. In most cases, this genre is filled with death, mystery and terror. It shows the dark
side of humans and nature. Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein and Edgar Allan Poe’s
“The Haunted Palace” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” are examples.
1. Nathaniel Hawthorne
Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts, and one of his ancestors had been a judge in an
early century, during trials in Salem of women accused of being witches. Hawthorne used the idea of a
curse on the family of an evil judge in his novel the House of the Seven Gables.
Many of Hawthorne’s stories are set in Puritan New England, and his greatest novel, The Scarlet
Letter has become the classic portrayal of Puritan America. The novel highlights the Calvinistic obsession
with morality, sexual repression, guilt and confession, a spiritual salvation.
For its time, The Scarlet Letter was a daring and even subversive book. Hawthorne’s gentle style,
remote historical setting, and ambiguity softened his grim themes and contented the general public.
Hawthorne’s characteristic setting in Puritan Colonial New England, are trademarks of many of
his best-known shorter stories, such as “My Kinsman, Major Molineux”. In this story, the casts light on
one of the most striking elements in Hawthorne’s fiction: the lack of functioning families in his works.
His stories and novels repeatedly shown broken, cursed, or artificial families and the sufferings of the
isolated individual.
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2. Herman Melville
Herman Melville’ interest in sailors’ lives grew naturally out of his own experiences, and most of
his early novels grew out his voyages. In these we see they young Melville’s wide, democratic
experience and hatred of tyranny and injustice.
Moby-Dick is the epic story of whaling ship Pequod and its “ungodly, god-like man”, Captain
Ahab, whose obsessive quest for the white whale contains a series of meditations on the human
condition. Whaling, throughout the book, is a grand metaphor for the pursuit of knowledge. Realistic
catalogues and descriptions of whales and the whaling industry punctuated the book, but these carry
symbolic connotations.
Although Melville’s novel is philosophical, it is also tragic. Moby-Dick, the great white whale, is
an inscrutable, cosmic existence that dominate the novel. The novel is modern in its tendency to be
self-referential, or reflexive. In other words, the novel often is about itself.
Moby-Dick has been called a “natural epic”, a magnificent dramatization of the human spirit set
in primitive nature, because of its hunter myth, tis initiation theme, its Edenic island symbolism, its
positive treatment of pre-technological peoples, and its quest for rebirth.
3. Edgar Allan Poe
Poe share with Melville a darkly metaphysical vision mixed with elements of realism, parody, and
burlesque. He refined the short story genre and invented detective fiction. Many of his stories prefigure
the genres of science fiction, horror, and fantasy so popular today.
Themes of death-in-life, especially being buried alive or returning like a vampire from the grave,
appear in many of his works. Poe’s twilight realm between life and death and his gaudy, Gothic settings
are not merely decorative. They reflect the over civilized yet deathly interior of his characters disturbed
psyches. They are symbolic expressions of the unconscious, and thus are central to his art.
Poe’s verse was musical and strictly metrical. His best known poem, in his own lifetime and
today, is The Raven. In this eerie poem, the haunted, sleepless narrator, who has been reading and
mourning the death of his “lost Lenore” at midnight, is visited by a raven (a symbol of death) who
perches above his door and ominously repeats the poem’s famous refrain, “nevermore”.
Poe’s stories have been described as tales of horror. In every genre, Poe explores the psyche.
Profound psychological insights glint throughout the stories. Poe’s combination of decadence reflects
devaluation of symbols that occurred in the 19 th century, the tendency to mix art objects promiscuously
form nay eras and places, in the process stripping them of their identity and reducing them to merely
decorative items in a collection.
THE RISE OF R EALISM : THE AMERICAN C IVIL WAR LITERATURE

One of the defining historical developments in America during the latter part of the 19 th
century was the Civil War. The war took place between 1861 and 1865 between the north and south of
the new country. America began to emerge as a more unified nation as it moved into the Industrial
Age.
The war produced considerable historical writing but no great fictional works. The Civil
War was the largest crisis the nation had faced. It marked the fracturing of its unity. Yet none of the
major writers of its generation participated actively. No great works emerged. What was produced was
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another kind of literary expression. Speeches, sermons, reportage, soldiers’ songs and popular battle
hymns and verses. Some of the best prose written about the war was produced immediately following
upon the war in the form of realist prose fiction.
American writers began to consider contemporary society and social issues for their
writing material. They sought to create a new American literature that reflected American life and value
they strove for a literary tradition which did not mimic British literary customs. They reacted against the
Romantic style of writing which favored the ideal over the real representation of life in fiction. William
Dean Howells, Mark twain, and Henry James wrote prolifically about the Realistic method, where writers
created character and plot based on average people experiencing the common concerns of everyday
life, and they also produced their own literary masterpieces using this style. All writers in the Realistic
mode shared a commitment to referential narrative. Their readers expected to meet characters that
resembled ordinary people, often to the middle class. They depicted characters living in ordinary
circumstances. Their characters experienced real-life struggles and, as in life, were unable to find
resolution to their conflicts.
Realistic developed these characters by using ordinary speech that was commensurate to
the character´s social class. The character often drove the plot of the story. Characters in realistic fiction
were three-dimensional, and their inner lives were often revealed through an objective, omniscient
narrator. Realists set their fiction in places that actually existed. They were interested in recent or
contemporary life, not in history or legend. Realistic believed in the accuracy of detail, and for them,
accuracy helped build the “truth” conveyed in the work. Realistic writers believed that the function of
the author is to show and not simply tell. The three most prominent theorist and practitioners of
American Literary Realism are Mark Twain, William Dean Howells, and Henry James.
1. Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
Twain’s style, based on vigorous, realistic, colloquial American speech, gave American writers a
new appreciation of their national voice. Twain was the first major author to come from the interior of
the country, and he captured its distinctive, humorous slang and iconoclasm.
For Twain and other American writers of the late 19 th century, realism was not merely a literary
technique: it was a way of speaking truth and exploding worn-out conventions. Thus it was profoundly
liberating and potentially at odds with society. The most well-known example is Huck Finn, a poor boy
who decides to follow the voice of his conscience and help a Negro slave escape to freedom, even
though Huck thinks this means that he will be damned to hell for breaking the law.
Twain’s moral sense as a writer echoes his pilot’s responsibility to steer the ship to safety.
Samuel Clemens’s pen name, “Mark Twain”, is the phrase Mississippi boatmen used to signify two
fathoms of water, the depth needed for a boat’s safe passage. Twain’s serious purpose, combined with
a rare genius for humor and style, keep his writing fresh and appealing.
2. Henry James
Henry James was, a prolific writer and wrote novels, short stories, travel sketches, literary
criticism, etc. His work in the shade of fiction falls in the three groups. ln the first group are included
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Roderick Hudson, The American, The Europeans and The Portrait of a Lady. In these works, James was
mainly concerned with study of American life vis-a-vis European life and older European culture. In the
second group are placed three novels dealing with English life and English character. These novels are
The Tragic Muse, The Spoils of Poynton and The Awkward Age. The third group includes his American
studies and novels of maturity The Wings of Dove, The Ambassadors, The Golden Bowl, The Bostonians
and The Princess Casamassima. According to Walter Allen, these are "novels of a classical perfection
never consummately matched." The themes of his novels generally relate to the impact of one type of
society upon the product of another in the study of the process of adjustment and their effect on the
development of the individual character.
The most important contribution of Henry James is to the development of the technique of
the novel. He is, as a matter of fact, the father of the modern novel and paved the way for such
technique as the stream of consciousness. He developed the technique of psychological analysis and
dramatic presentation of the impressions of his characters, He evolved the technique of presenting his
story through the consciousness of a single character, discarding the ubiquity and Omniscience of the
traditional novelist. He evolved the single point of view Technique in the presentation of the impression.
3. William Dean Howells
American writer and editor, was an influential critic and an important novelist of the late 19th
century. His career spanned a period of radical change from European influenced conventions in
American literature to Realism; as novelist, critic, and editor, he contributed greatly to those changes.
Realistic writers of the 19th century grapple with a method of writing that purported to
be both new and more truthful than previous modes of literary representation. This is a paradoxical
classification because it assumes there are degrees of realness o truthfulness. These are categories that
should be absolute. Realist writings are assumed to be superior literature which comes closest to
representing the tangible world. Closely connected to the belief in the relative superiority of realist
literature is the aesthetic implication that literature has a transformative capacity in relation to social
behavior and ethical practices. Realistic assert such literary authority by suggesting that the writer
functions as a social scientist looking for truisms in culture. In other words, realist writers began to base
their literary authority on the assumption that what they produced was more real, more truthful, and
more authoritative than he works of their predecessors, and they tried to develop literary paradigms
that reinforced this ideology.
NATURALISM IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Naturalism is a literary movement that took place from 1865 to 1900. It used an advance
form of realism to discuss how social conditions, heredity and environment shape human character.
Writers of the naturalist mode are influenced by Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. They also believe
that heredity and social environment influenced the actions of people. Naturalism was introduced to
America by American novelist Frank Norris. It is a more extreme form of realism. It is a theory in
literature that emphasizes scientific observation of life without idealism or the avoidance of the ugly.
American literature naturalists dismissed comforting moral truths. They attempted to achieve extreme
objectivity and frankness. They presented characters of low social and economic classes who were
dominated by their environment and heredity.
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Naturalist fiction is an innovation in fiction-writing. it brought the creation of characters and
plots based on the scientific method. Birthed at the end of the 19 th century by Emile Zola, naturalism
saw the emergence of a generation of writers in America whose ideas of the workings of the universe
and the perception of society’s disorders led them to naturalism. Naturalism as a new and harsher
realism that took form from Skinnerian principles of learning through conditioning and the Darwinian
hierarchy of the survival of the fittest as underlying themes involved in shaping the human character.
1. Jack London: The Call of the Wild
Jack London was one of the most popular American writers of his time and regarded as
one of the greatest naturalist novelist of America. He has been in forefront of the move toward
naturalistic fiction and realism in America. He shows his philosophy of naturalism completely in
The Call of the Wild, a novel that is concerned about a previously domesticated and somewhat
pampered dog name Buck, whose primordial instincts return after a series of events. The novel
shows how the environment controls one’s life. Jack London has a deep understanding about
environment.
2. Theodore Dreiser: Sister Carrie
Theodore Dreiser was one of the outstanding American writers of naturalism. He was the leading
figure in a national literary movement that replaced Victorian notion of propriety with the unflinching
presentation of real-life subject matter. Among other themes, his novels explore the new social
problems that had arisen in a rapidly industrializing America. Dreiser’s great first novel, Sister Carrie,
came to housebound and airless America like a great free Western wind, and to our stuffy domesticity
gave us the first fresh air since Mark twain and Whitman.
3. Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway was one of the outstanding American writers with naturalistic tendency. His works
have sometimes been read as an essentially negative commentary on a modern world filled with
sterility, inevitable failure and death, which is just the view of naturalism. Hemingway’s stature as a
writer was confirmed with the publication of A farewell to Arms, which portrayed a farewell both toward
and to love. The inside of Hemingway’s books, is the spirit of the whole nation.
From almost the beginning of his writing career, Hemingway’s distinctive style occasioned a
great deal of comment and controversy. Basically, his style is simple, direct, and unadorned, probably as
a result of his early newspaper training. He avoids the adjective whenever possible, but because he is a
master at transmitting emotion without the flowery prose of his Victorian novelist’s predecessors, the
effect is far more telling. He has also been described as a master of dialogue.
MODERN AMERICAN LITERATURE

The social and cultural implications of World War I and World War II inspired ground
breaking developments in American literature generally. The novel in the formal sense began at the end
of the 18th century. By this century, American novelists focused on the material of familiar life. There was
a transition from an idealistic to a realistic presentation of life. Characters drawn from the humbler walks
of life began to take their place as central figures. The tragedies of economic oppression were
portrayed. At the same time, there was still the interest in romance and fantasy. This form often made
use of realistic methods but its distinguishing quality lay in the unusual pots, powerful imagination and
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fantasy and the greatest name in the early fiction of fantasy. Writing about The Great American Novel,
Edith Wharton said that the scene may be lain in an American small town or in a European capital. It
could deal with the present or the past, with great events or trivial happenings and it could be related
to something greater.
The year 1900 is an important year for the American modern novel. This was the year in
which many change happened and a sew world was born. Great technological advancement changed
the attitude of the people and transformed the whole society. Americans felt that the 20 th century was
the American century and therefore they felt a responsibility for it. The early years of the century
experienced naturalism as the dominant form while some hints of expressionism were also traceable.
The second decade of the 20th experienced radical changes. World War I made many people and writers
believe in decline of civilization. The American mind was under the influence of cultural disorientation
and disorder.
Advances in science and technology in Western countries rapidly intensified at the start of the
20th century and brought about a sense of unprecedented progress. The devastation of World War I
and the Great Depression also caused widespread suffering in Europe and the United States. These
contradictory impulses can be found swirling within modernism, a movement in the arts defined first
and foremost as a radical break from the past. But this break was often an act of destruction, and it
caused a loss of faith in traditional structures and beliefs. Despite, or perhaps because of, these
contradictory impulses, the modernist period proved to be one of the richest and most productive in
American literature.
A sense of disillusionment and loss pervades much American modernist fiction. That sense may
be centered on specific individuals, or it may be directed toward American society or toward civilization
generally. It may generate a nihilistic, destructive impulse, or it may express hope at the prospect of
change.
1. Earnest Hemingway
Hemingway is one of the many American writers who lived during World War I. he wrote a
number of well-known war novels and the most famous of them is the war novel titled A Farewell to
Arms which he wrote in 1929. It focuses on the effects of the war as a blow to human civilization. It
calls to question the civilization human kind claims. The novel is based on the themes of war and love.
He engaged irony to show contrast between the ideal and the real of the world of war. The war
severely affected Hemingway and he became disillusioned and depressed.
This novel remarkably reflects his attitudes towards war as the novel shows how he saw the war
with all its ugliness, violence, insanity, and irrationality. Hemingway gives an insightful description of the
psychology of the soldiers. Tire with war and its irrationality, the soldiers begin to search for peace.
Through the plight of Henry, Hemingway has tries to convey that an escape is not always
possible in life. Peace can’t be achieved in isolation from others. Hemingway advocates for endurance
because he feels that life is essentially tragic. The theme of war in this novel is woven with the theme of
love. War contrasts sharply with noble emotion of love. In fact, the novel can be called a tragic love
story of Henry and Catherine set the First World War.
2. William Dean Howells
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Howells was to occupy a positon at the center of literary life in America. Howells had pieces
published in various national magazines. With his first major novel, A Modern Instance, Howells moved
beyond explorations of manners to detailed and serious consideration of wider social issues. The novel
is structured around the twin themes of divorce and journalism. Howells was the first novelist to focus
on journalism, and developed the theme of divorce after attending a performance of a Greek tragedy. It
is a book on what would happen to a couple whose marriage gradually deteriorates. What is
remarkable about it is the way that, in a strategy characteristic of literary realism, it links the personal
and the political, the emotional and the social.
3. Emily Dickinson
As one of the greatest poets, Emily Dickinson is also the most original one. Among all the
greater writers of the 19th century, she had the least influence on her age. Emily Dickinson did not write
for publication, and perhaps this helped her truthfulness. He wrote for herself so she did not have to
adopt a conventional way of writing to meet the editors’ satisfaction. As a result, she wrote with
freshness and unconventionality. Dickinson’s poetry is remarkable for its emotional and intellectual
energy. Many modernistic can be found in it. Dickinson’s poems have established her as the most world
widely recognized woman and has been regarded as an inspiration to modern writers.
MODERN AMERICAN POETRY

The experience of World War I helped to bridge the gap between American and
European cultures. It prepared the ground for an international modernism in which Americans would
play a crucial part. The war was traumatic not only for the soldiers in the trenches but also for artists
and writers whose sensitivity to the effects of warfare was affected. Traditional systems of belief and
established social structures had been radically altered. The changes understanding of human society
and human nature brought about the war contributed to the large-scale literary and artistic movement
known as “modernism”.
Poetry as a conventional and an effective vehicle for people to express their feelings, had been
occupying a dominant position in literature. With the advent of the 20 th century, poetic innovation and
development entered into a new stage. Many poets protested against the traditions of the preceding
poetry and try to launch poetic reforms to express the temper of the age. Abandoning tradition became
a fashion. The imagists, led by Ezra Pound, challenged the conventional poetic aesthetics and managed
to find a new way for English poetry by shedding away the shackles of metrical from. Pound initiated
the Imagist Movement and brought forward three main formulas for poetry composition. These are in
the aspects of poetic language, poetic forms and thematic expressions; for instance, the rendering of
images as the core of a poem
American pests of the 20th century pushed the limits of poetic composition hitherto restricted by
other literary and social concerns. They began to ask fundamental questions about what poetry was and
how it should be written. The start of the 20 th century saw the overshadowing of poetry by the novel.
During the period from the endo of the Civil War until world War I, the United States experienced
explosive population growth and a powerfully expanding economy. The nation was focused on matters
that absorbed its immediate attention. It thus had little energy to devote to the cultivation of poetry,
which was often relegated to the status of a “genteel” pastime with little relevance to modern-day life.
The first generation of American poet to respond to this modern trend included Robert Frost,
Wallace Stevens, Ezra Pound, among others, all of whom published their first book between 1908 and
1923. That artistic achievement of American poetic writing was clearly established.
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1. The Poetry of Ezra Pound
Pound’s commitments to poetry was total: to poetry as a craft, as a moral and spiritual resource,
and eventually as a means of salvaging culture, redeeming history. Pound advocated that any linguistic
form that may distract the reader from the image was unnecessary. As such, he did way with artificial
poetic diction, superfluous verbiage, rhetoric, and transitional fillers. He called for the language in
composition a poem to use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation. Any
unnecessary word represented a loss of precision and a moral and artistic defect. The precise word
should be used to convey the exact meaning.
This showed that poetry should be clear, the language should be of economy, precision,
concision, and be characterized by absence of pretension, abstraction or didacticism. This should be of
the right word in the right place and at a minimum of rhetoric.
2. The poetry of Robert Frost
Frost kept himself away from the innovation going round at the time. He was very much
influence by the romantic predecessors. Frost’s work is characterized by plain and colloquial words.
Robert Frost was drawn towards traditional forms. He wrote in free verse and the traditional meters
were a necessary discipline. For instance, in his well-known poem “The Road No Taken”, Frost used a
philosophical them with the spoken words running through the whole poem.
3. Wallace Stevens
Stevens’s poetry dwells upon themes of the imagination, the necessity for aesthetic form, and
the belief that the order of art corresponds with an order in nature. His vocabulary is rich and various:
he paints lush tropical scenes but also manage dry, humorous, and ironic vignettes. Some of Stevens’s
poems draw upon popular culture, while other poke fun at sophisticated society or soar into an
intellectual heaven.
MODERN AMERICAN DRAMA

The term Modern American Drama is a title used to define some of American’s most
influential dramatic work throughout the 20 th century. The sweeping economic, political, social and
cultural changes that occurred in America, began during this era of writing and influenced authors such
as Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee and Eugene O’Neill to write some of the most
influential plays that are still widely known today. These plays have distinct “features” such as language,
themes, style, characters and structure of similarity to each other, that allow them to be placed under
the title of Modern American Drama. Modern American Drama could be seen as works that comments
on the authors view of the ever changing country and “American Dream” using particular trends.
Modern American Drama can be described as a period in which America’s writers began
to flourish in their work, producing new and modern dramatic pieces. However, in exploring this period,
it is observable that it is a compilation of experimentations in such forms as expressionism and realism.
It also explores themes such as Reality versus Illusion, language that reflects the society of which they
were writing of, and an exploration of social and cultural changes. One can state also, that the aim of
Modern American Drama was to speak to a world in which the individual had been increasingly cut
loose from the traditional anchors of religion, social/poetical alignments, family relationships, a defined
self-image. Modern American drama was a Cannon of extremely emotional and compelling work which
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paved the way for generation to come. It is a crucial part of literary study into a world that was
beginning to change and its collection of drama’s help us to establish this.
1. Arthur Miller
Many voices emerged in the cannon of American dramatists in the first half of the 20 th century.
They had several common goals; they all pushed to change American drama into forum of serious
purpose. Each sought innovative ways to externalize the emotional and psychological context of human
consciousness, to capture the internal turmoil of “ordinary” individuals struggling to come with thwarted
dreams and life’s tribulations. Miller was one of these voices and he rang loud and clear.
In 1956, a victim of the McCarthy “Witch hunts”, Miller was subpoenaed by the House Un-
American Activities Committee to testify about his involvement with the Communist party. When he
refused to name names of those whom he knew had been associated with the party, he was convicted
of contempt of congress, a charge overturned by the United States Court of Appeals in 1958.
It was this experience that inspired him to write “The Crucible”, a story based on the Salem witch
trials. The Crucible paralleled the what was happening to him and others at the time.
DIVERSITY P ERIOD
1. Native-American Poetry
Native Americans have written fine poetry, most likely because the tradition of shamanistic song
plays a vital role in their cultural heritage. Their work has excelled in vivid, living evocations of the
natural world, which become almost mystical at times. Indian poets have also voices a tragic sense of
irrevocable loss of their rich heritage.
2. African-American Poetry
Black Americans have produced many poems of great beauty with a considerable range of
themes and tones. African-American literature is the most developed ethnic writing in America and is
extremely diverse. Amiri Baraka, the best-known African-American poet, has also written plays and taken
an active role in politics.
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ANEXO
Periods of American Literature:
 1607-1776: Colonial Period

 1765-1790: The Revolutionary Age
 1775-1828: The Early National Period
 1828-1865: The Romantic Period (Also known as: The American Renaissance or
The Age of Transcendentalism)
 1865-1900: The Realistic Period
 1900-1914: The Naturalistic Period
 1914-1939: American Modernist Period
 1920s: Jazz Age, Harlem Renaissance
o 1920s, 1930s: The "Lost Generation"
o 1939-present: The Contemporary Period
o 1950s: Beat Writers
o 1960s, 1970s: Counterculture
 In addition, American Literature recognizes works of:
o African-American Writers
o Native American Writers
o Asian-American Writers
The Colonial Period
The Colonial Period of American Literature spans the time between the founding of the first
settlement at Jamestown to the outbreak of the Revolution. The writings of this time centered on
religious, practical, or historical themes. The most influential writers of the Colonial Period include John
Winthrop, Cotton Mather, Benjamin Franklin, and Anne Bradstreet.
The Revolutionary Age
During the Revolutionary Age, 1765-1790, some of the greatest documents of American history
were authored. In 1776, Thomas Paine authored Common Sense and Thomas Jefferson wrote The
Declaration of Independence. In 1781, The Articles of Confederation were ratified. Between 1787 and
1788, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay wrote The Federalist Papers. Finally, in 1787,
The Constitution of the United States was drafted and in 1789 it was ratified.
The Early National Period
The Early National Period of American Literature saw the beginnings of literature that could be
truly identified as "American". The writers of this new American literature wrote in the English style, but
the settings, themes, and characters were authentically American. In addition, poets of this time wrote
poetry that was relatively independent of English precursors. Three of the most recognized writers of
this time are Washington Irving, James Fennimore Cooper, and Edgar Allan Poe.
The Romantic Period
The period 1828-1865 in American Literature is commonly identified as the Romantic Period in
America, but may also be referred to as the American Renaissance or the Age of Transcendentalism. The
writers of this period produced works of originality and excellence that helped shape the ideas, ideals,
and literary aims of many American writers. Writers of the American Romantic Period include Ralph
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Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Harriet
Beecher Stowe, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Emily Dickinson, and Walt Whitman.
The Realistic Period
Following the Civil War, American Literature entered into the Realistic Period. The major form of
literature produced in this era was realistic fiction. Unlike romantic fiction, realistic fiction aims to
represent life as it really is and make the reader believe that the characters actually might exist and the
situations might actually happen. In order to have this effect on the reader, realistic fiction focuses on
the ordinary and commonplace. The major writers of the Realistic Period include Mark Twain, Henry
James, Bret Harte, and Kate Chopin.
The Naturalistic Period
The years 1900-1914-mark American Literature's Naturalistic Period. Naturalism claims to give an
even more accurate depiction of life than realism. In accordance with a post-Darwinian thesis,
naturalistic writers hold that the characters of their works are merely higher-order animals whose
character and behavior is entirely based upon heredity and environment. Naturalistic writings try to
present subjects with scientific objectivity. These writings are often frank, crude, and tragic. Stephen
Crane, Jack London, and Theodore Dreiser are the most studied American Naturalists.
The Beginnings of Modern Literature
Between 1914 and 1939, American Literature entered into a phase which is still referred to as
"The Beginnings of Modern Literature". Like their British counterparts, the American Modernists
experimented with subject matter, form, and style and produced achievements in all literary genres.
Some well-known American Modernist Poets include Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, Edna St.
Vincent Millay, and E.E. Cummings. Included among American Modernist Prose Writers are Edith
Wharton, Sinclair Lewis, and Willa Cather.
The American Modernist Period
The American Modernist Period also produced many other writers that are considered to be
writers of Modernist Period Subclasses. For example, F. Scott Fitzgerald is considered a writer of The
Jazz Age, Langston Hughes and W.E.B. DuBois writers of The Harlem Renaissance, and Gertrude Stein,
T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, and Ernest Hemingway writers of The Lost Generation.
The Great Depression marked the end of the American Modernist Period, and writers such as
William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and Eugene O'Neill dealt with the social and political issues of the
time in their literary works.
The Contemporary Period of American Literature
1939 marked the beginning of the Contemporary Period of American Literature. This period
includes an abundance of important American literary figures spanning from World War II into the New
Millennium. These writers include, but are not limited to, Eudora Welty, John Updike, Kurt Vonnegut,
Sylvia Plath, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Ralph Ellison, Gwendolyn Brooks, Zora Neal Hurston,
Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou.
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During the 1950s, a vigorous anti-establishment, and anti-traditional literary movement
emerged. The main writers of this movement, Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, are called Beat Writers.
Much writing of the 1960s and 1970s, referred to as Counterculture Writing, continued the literary ideals
of the Beat Movement, but in a more extreme and fevered manner.
Currently, the contemporary American literary scene is crowded and varied. With the passage of
time the Contemporary Period may be reorganized and/or expanded. In the future will writers such as
Anne Rice, John Grisham, or Amy Tan be included in the canon of American Literature? We will just
have to wait and see.
Realism vs Romanticism
 In art and literature, realism expresses a message that depicts situations

realistically, whereas romanticism illustrates messages by using fiction. Romanticism focuses on
plot, hyperbole, metaphor and feeling. In contrast, realism focuses on characters, details,
objectivity and separation of author and narrator.
 Romanticism rebels against prior forms of writing and art by picking into feeling,
belief, imagination and fantasy. It is a style that takes advantage of personal freedom and
spontaneity, breaking the fourth wall between the reader and the author so that the author is
free to comment on events within the story and play with the reader a little. Unusual, often
supernatural, characters and forces act in romantic stories.
 Realism is on the opposite end of the spectrum, focusing on details in an attempt
to replicate the real world in text form. The author is separate from the world of the story and
acts as an objective transcriptionist. The characters are normal, everyday people and the events
of the plot are typically normal and have a distinct lack of supernatural or fantastical elements.
Realism is a common choice for writers of literary fiction, because it focuses on characters and
characterization. In realism, even time and place are meant to enforce the characterization and
normalcy of the characters and events.
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NOVELS
THE CRUCIBLE
Summary
The Crucible , Arthur Miller’s 1953 realist play, is based on the historical events of the 1692
Salem witch hunts. Although partially fictionalized, it depicts the very real consequences of false
accusations based on blind religious faith, as Miller displays the dangers of such baseless rumors.
However, the play was written during another type of witch hunt: McCarthyism in 1950s America. This
was a political movement in which Senator Joseph McCarthy attempted to control the spread of
Communism by placing any Communist sympathizers on a blacklist. This resulted in a widespread fear
of Communist influences, and a political hunt similar to the Salem witch trials began, as civilians
attempted to escape their own charges by accusing other innocent individuals of treason. Thus, given
the historical context of the time, Miller uses The Crucible as an allegorical warning for the audience
against the dangers of McCarthyism in 1950s America.
These concepts will be fully unpacked later, but it is important to keep these key notions
of hysteria, accusation and blind faith in mind as you study the text. These are the fundamental ideas
that the play is based upon, and also the elements which make The Crucible hugely relevant in our
society today. One could even say that the development of technology has made it easier for false
allegations and social rumors to spread - leading to drastic consequences specific to the 21st century,
such as the leaking of critical government information and cyberbullying. Not to mention, the
anonymity of technology has enabled individuals to start modern-day witch hunts as a nameless,
faceless user behind the comfort and security of their screens!
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
In varying degrees, every work of literature reflects its historical context, or the social and
political conditions that shaped its time period. The Crucible is a four-act play, which presents a
dramatized and partially fictionalized depiction of the 1692 Salem witch trials. It was also published in
1953, at the height of the Second Red Scare, or the heightened fear of Communist influences in
America. As such, the play is not merely a play based on historically accurate events, but also an
allegory of the disastrous consequences of McCarthyism.
CHARACTER ANALYSIS
J OHN P ROCTOR
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Proctor is a strong and hardworking farmer, respected by those in Salem for his power and
independence. Possessing a “sharp and biting way with hypocrites”, Proctor is the symbol of
autonomous leadership in the play, acting as another source of social authority to the theocratic
leaders of the Puritan Church. He is the protagonist of the play, but a flawed individual - while he has
great strength of character, he is also presented in The Crucible as an adulterous husband, who is
openly defiant of his church. As such, he is described by Miller as a kind of “sinner” - one who
experiences an internal moral conflict within himself. Proctor undergoes much personal growth during
the plot of the play, redeeming his name and obtaining “goodness” by choosing moral honesty over
freedom. This ultimate act of courage symbolizes the importance of integrity and honor, and
represents the “shred of goodness” in his character.
E LIZABETH P ROCTOR
Although described by Abigail as a “bitter woman”, Elizabeth is the quiet yet resilient wife of
Proctor. Her husband’s affair with Abigail renders her resentful towards the former and jealous of the
latter, resulting in a wounded and fragile marriage. Her humility is made evident as she blames herself
for Proctor’s infidelity, believing she erred in keeping a “cold house”. In tandem with this icy imagery,
Miller utilizes Elizabeth as a symbol of honesty and strict moral justice, despite it often being
mistaken as “coldness” by others - Proctor asserts that Elizabeth’s justice “would freeze beer”. Despite
this, Elizabeth proves herself to be a caring source of support for her persecuted husband, believing him
to be “a good man”, and ultimately breaking her characteristic honesty in the hopes of his freedom. Her
extreme courage is ultimately made evident by her willingness to lose Proctor to the hangman’s noose,
rather than for him to lose his moral virtue by signing his name to lies.
A BIGAIL W ILLIAMS
Described as “a wild thing”, Abigail is a beautiful, yet manipulative and deceptive adolescent
with “an endless capacity for dissembling”. Still in love with Proctor after their brief affair, she lies to the
court and condemns Elizabeth as a witch, in a desperate, jealous attempt to win him back and take
Elizabeth’s place as his wife. Abigail is the ringleader of the girls, and the progenitor of the false rumors
that spiral into the witch hunt. Thus, she embodies falsehood, in a stark contrast to Elizabeth, who is a
symbol of truth. Her violent nature is made evident in the play, as she threatens the girls with physical
violence and “smashes Betty across the face” in an effort to silence her. Despite this, Miller makes clear
that Abigail is a victim of psychological trauma, as she is revealed to have borne witness to the violent
death of her parents - partly explaining her disturbed and devious nature.
M ARY W ARREN
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Mary Warren is a sullen, sensitive and easily manipulated servant of the Proctor household. Her
volatile nature makes her an easy target for Abigail, who manipulates her into betraying the Proctors by
planting a poppet in Elizabeth’s room, which ultimately becomes the leading evidence in her sentencing.
Mary is a symbol of mass hysteria, as her easily exploitable nature and weakness in spirit represent
the irrationality of those who are quick to believe rumors, such as the persecutors of the Salem witch
hunts, as well as the accusers of the McCarthy era.
S USANNA W ALCOTT , M ERCY L EWIS , B ETTY P ARRIS
Referred to as “the girls” throughout the play, these young individuals are manipulated by
Abigail to falsely convict Elizabeth and numerous others as practices of witchcraft. All of these girls
possess a common fear of Abigail, and carry out her orders in an attempt to evade their own
punishment at her hands. Thus, Miller uses them to emphasize his allegory of the McCarthy trials, in
which numerous people accused others of Communism based on their own fear of being charged by
the Court.
THEMES
M ASS H YSTERIA
Mass hysteria is one of the most significant themes of the play, as Miller depicts the entire town
of Salem engulfed by the superstition of witchcraft and devil-worship. The community-wide fear of
consorting with the devil is shown to overwhelm any kind of rational thought. As one rumor created
by Abigail and the girls leads to dozens of incarcerations and executions in a matter of days, The
Crucible depicts the “perverse manifestation of panic” that can occur from unsubstantiated fear.
Miller uses this illustration of hysteria to show the effects of a strictly repressive Puritan society.
Although some residents of Salem manipulate the witch hunt for their own benefit, such as Abigail, the
majority of the townspeople are launched into the terror-fueled “fever” by their genuine belief that the
devil is running amok in Salem. The strict theocracy of the town thus exacerbates the crisis, as joining
the accusatory crowd becomes a religious necessity; a virtuous “plane of heavenly combat between
Lucifer and the Lord”. As such, the play demonstrates how uncontrolled religious fervor can lead to
the collective indoctrination of “black mischief”, where panic clouds all reason.
J UDGEMENT
Judgement in The Crucible encompasses three meanings; the legal, personal, and spiritual.
The legal judgement in the play is depicted as superficial - mainly illustrated through the characters
of Hawthorne and Danforth, the theoretical Salem court does not carry out real justice due to its
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dogmatic focus on its reputation. This is depicted by Danforth’s stubborn refusal to free the innocents
accused, due to his belief that it would lead to a tainted esteem of the court. Thus, Miller suggests that
the more important judgement is personal - exemplified by the character of Proctor. Believing himself
to be a “sinner” against his own “version of moral conduct”, Proctor throughout the play shows limitless
remorse and self-hatred for the hurt he has caused Elizabeth by his affair with Abigail. Miller shows
the importance of forgiveness through self-judgement, as Elizabeth assures Proctor that there is “no
higher judge under Heaven” than Proctor himself, and he ultimately is able to forgive himself and see
the “shred of goodness” within him by the end of the play. Furthermore, The Crucible depicts the
town of Salem overcome by the fear of God’s judgement, or what Proctor calls “God’s icy wind”.
The events of the play unfold due to the town’s collective fear of the higher power of an “Almighty
God”. As Hale proclaims, “Before the laws of God we are as swine!”, Miller showcases the extent of the
fearsome “power of theocracy” in circumstances of confusion and hysteria.
A CCUSATION
The events of the Salem witch trials detail various types of accusation. Although all are disguised
as the dispelling of witchcraft, the false allegations depicted in the play are carried out with a range
of different motives. For example, Abigail’s accusation of Elizabeth as a witch is described to derive
from a “whore’s vengeance” due to her passionate jealousy of Elizabeth’s position as Proctor’s wife, and
Abigail’s wish to take her place. Similarly, Rebecca Nurse’s charge of “murdering Goody Putnam’s
babies” is due to the Putnam’s’ resentment and jealousy of her numerous children, while they
themselves have lost babies “before they could be baptized”. In contrast to this, the accusation of
Martha Corey, Giles' wife, of witchcraft is motivated by Walcott’s desire for revenge, as he resents her
for the unhealthy “pig he bought from her five years ago”. Thus, his actions are calculative rather than
passionate - a cruel attempt to get “his money back”. In his employment of the play as a historical
allegory, this depiction of the blind following of rampant accusations depicted in The
Crucible represents the similarly irrational proceedings of the McCarthy trials, many of which were
carried out without substantial evidence.
H ONOR AND I NTEGRITY
Honor is one of the most prominent themes in the play, as the majority of the characters
strive to maintain their reputations in society. Miller depicts a community in which private and public
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characters are one and the same, and the consequences of the obsessive desire to uphold the esteem
of their name. For example, although Proctor has the chance to undermine the girls’ accusations by
revealing Abigail as a ‘whore’, he does not do so in order to protect his good name from being
tarnished. Likewise, Parris at the beginning of the play threatens Abigail and the girls due to his fear
that hints of witchcraft will threaten his already precarious reputation in the church and banish him from
the pulpit. Furthermore, the judges of Salem do not accept any evidence that could free the innocent
accused, as they uphold a false reputation to honor the Puritan church. Despite this, Miller shows
the importance of prioritizing personal honor over public reputation through the character of
Proctor. As he ultimately makes the valiant decision in Act IV to refrain from “signing lies” and thus
uphold his name, he is able to redeem himself from his previous sins and is able to die with
righteousness.
MOBY-DICK
SUMMARY
Moby-Dick takes place in the 19th century and follows the journey of the Pequod, a whaling
ship captained by the monomaniacal Ahab. Ahab is obsessed with his quest for vengeance against the
white whale Moby Dick, a sperm whale responsible for the loss of Ahab's leg.
The novel begins as Ishmael, the narrator, decides to sign on to a whaling ship. He travels from
Manhattan to New Bedford, where he makes an unlikely friend—Queue, a cannibal from a South Sea
island who works as a harpooner. They decide to ship out together. The odd pair travel to Nantucket,
where they are able to secure positions on the Pequod, owned by Captain Peleg and Captain Bildad. A
mysterious stranger named Elijah warns them about the captain of the Pequod—a man named Ahab,
whom they have yet to meet.
On Christmas Day, the Pequod sets out from Nantucket loaded with supplies for a three-year
voyage of whale hunting. Although Ahab remains in his cabin, Starbuck, Stubb, and Flask, the first,
second, and third mates, respectively, keep things running smoothly. Eventually, Ahab emerges and
Ishmael gets his first glimpse of the mysterious figure—a brooding man with one whalebone peg leg.
After some time, Ahab reveals his true mission: not to hunt sperm whales, but to hunt one in particular
—not for profit, but for revenge. Captain Ahab nails a gold coin to the mast of the ship and tells the
men that whoever finds Moby Dick will earn it as a reward. All of the men, save Starbuck,
enthusiastically agree to this quest for vengeance.
There are officially three mates on board, each of whom will be in charge of one of the smaller
whaleboats when they are lowered to engage in closer hunting of a whale. And each of these mates
has an assigned harpooner—Queequeg, Tashtego, and Daggoo. However, when a whale is actually
sighted, Ahab's own boat crew, led by the devilish Fedallah, is revealed. Ahab has prepared his own
whaleboat with accommodations for his peg leg.
The Pequod sails on, from time to time encountering sperm whales and killing them, and
occasionally seeing other whaling ships. Each time another ship is met, Ahab asks for news of the White
Whale. If the ship has no news, Ahab moves on without ceremony. If there is news, he listens to it
before leaving. Along the way Queequeg becomes ill and, thinking he is likely to die, has a coffin made
for himself. He recovers, and the coffin is converted into a life buoy. In addition, the tension between
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Ahab and Starbuck (who believes that Ahab's quest is blasphemous and foolish) intensifies, finally
leading to a confrontation between the two.
Eventually, they meet a ship that only recently had a run-in with Moby Dick, and shortly
thereafter Ahab sights the White Whale. The boats are lowered and the chase ensues. For three days
the crew of the Pequod tries to kill Moby Dick, who smashes the whaleboats and proves to be very
difficult to kill. On the final day of fighting, Moby Dick sinks the ship and kills Ahab. Ishmael survives by
floating on Queequeg's coffin. He is rescued, and he alone lives to tell the story.
CHARACTERS
I SHMAEL :
Ishmael is the narrator and protagonist of Moby Dick. He narrates the death of all others except
himself. He talks about other significant characters like Queequeg and Captain Ahab, keeping himself
behind them to save himself during the whale hunting expeditions. His desire for marine life shows him
the way to the seas where he boards the Pequod with the assistance of Queequeg, and then meets
Captain Ahab, who is obsessed with the idea of hunting Moby Dick despite receiving highly disturbing
and horrifying premonitions and news of accidents. He sees others dying and battling Moby Dick that
tears apart the lives of all the harpooners, hunters, and whale catchers, leaving him alone to tell the tale.
C APTAIN A HAB :
Captain Ahab, supervises the Pequod crew with his vast experience and grey hair, signifying his
superiority in age. With more than forty years of sailing experience and a family man, he holds an
obsession over Moby Dick, a terrifying whale. He vows to hunt it down, despite the fact that it had
disabled him during the earlier hunt. In one way, his portrait reflects impulsive human tendencies of
exacting revenge and retaliating even at the cost of one’s life, abandoning the rationality of surviving
against the odds. His claims of having godly powers become his final hubris, taking his life when
fighting against the same sperm whale he has vowed earlier to kill.
S TARBUCK :
A thin and gaunt fellow, Starbuck is chief of the ship, the Pequod. His gaunt physique also
demonstrates his penchant for trimmed suits and his behavior, having some tinge of condescension
toward the naïve or inexperienced sailors. His uncertainty between his rationality and idealist nature
forces him to come against Ahab, believing that his suicidal decision of chasing the deadly Moby Dick
would cost the entire crew dearly. Despite this, he remains loyal.
Q UEEQUEG :
Queequeg holds excellent skill of harpooning the whales and is natural in cultivating relations
with different people. When he sees Ishmael’s passion for whaling, he immediately takes him to the
relevant quarters and familiarizes him with the concerned professionals. His visit to the Spouter-Inn and
his journey to Nantucket shows his skillful career, yet he is somewhat ancient and savage in his nature
despite having a strong sense of mannerism. Queequeg’s dynamism stays with him until the end of the
novel.
S TUBB :
Stubb is a happy-go-lucky person, as he doesn’t care about the ravages of Moby Dick and urges
his mates to continue the course through his laughable quibbles. He tries to avoid wrath from his fellow
mates and makes them smile with his humor. Despite these easygoing mannerisms, his professionalism
in whaling is at a higher level as he harpoons the first whale when on the Pequod.
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Flask: Although Flask is quite ahead in the hierarchy of characters on the Pequod, his
unsaturated appetite for whale hunting makes him an excellent character to stay with the captain and
Ishmael.
Pippin: Young Pippin is useful, resourceful, and can-do attitude on the Pequod. He has some
close shaves during the whaling. Sadly, after a while, he becomes insane when others do not care much
about his death or life.
F EDALLAH :
Fedallah is an oriental mystery and has ghostly features that make him even more enigmatic on
the Pequod. His predictive abilities make him a much sought-after fellow, yet he becomes the victim of
his own wrong prophecies.
F ATHER M APPLE :
Father Mapple is known for his religious performance, sincerity, and holiness embedded in his
sermons. His sermons inspire Ishmael to start his whaling career.
P ELEG :
This retired sailor with enough marine service experience and Quaker background.
THEMES
B LASPHEMY :
Moby-Dick shows the theme of blasphemy during its narration while whale hunting. From the
very beginning, there is some sacredness or mysteriousness associated with Moby Dick, the whale, yet
Ahab insists on hunting it. He does not care about anything despite warnings from different people
such as Gabriel, who asks him to ponder over “blasphemer’s end” to which he turns a deaf ear. Peleg
also warns him, terming him an unholy individual to which he spurns with disdain. His defiance to these
warnings seems that he spurns superstitions yet it seems that God does not want them to hunt Moby
Dick, or that the whale is too intelligent to let them hook it. Although Fedallah and Starbuck are with
Ahab, they think of the whale as an enigma of the divine power with Ahab associated with the devilish
hunting party.
S YMBOLIC M EANINGS OF W HALE :

To Ishmael, Moby Dick is a sign of greatness. Ishmael’s obsession with whale hunting in the
beginning and his subsequent voyages with Ahab, the expert navigator, and sailor, demonstrate that
Moby Dick is also unique and does not let the sailors take a breath. He tests their mettle and takes the
lives of several skilled fishermen and whale hunters. It is perfectly in line with the human spirit of
playing with adventures when fishing, or hunting, and Moby Dick offers exactly the same symbolically.
M AN AND N ATURE :
Moby-Dick shows that there are some mysterious relationships and some symbolic connections
between Captain Ahab and Moby Dick, the whale. He is on his hunting expedition from the day when
Ishmael meets him and continues pursuing the whale despite facing discouraging reports and fatal
accidents during his voyage. It seems that their relationship is the relation between man and nature.
Humans are always in the awe of nature whether it is in the shape of an animal, natural vegetation, or
even sea storms. Even though several of Ahab’s comrades, colleagues, and experts get killed during this
hunt, he does not accept this argument, and goes after Moby Dick and dies during the hardest battle of
his life.
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E NIGMA OF W HALE :
Enigma of the whale as a creature looms large in the background of the story as another theme.
Melville has never defined it as a concrete thing, or object that the hunters are after it. He rather
presents it as a white creature displaying mysterious existence in the vastness of the sea where its
whiteness highlights the oceanic vastness. This whiteness could be holy or sacred as compared to the
evil plans of the whale hunters. Although Ishmael accepts various versions of the whale, he does not
budge from his position of hunting with Ahab. They also meet several persons who have not seen
Moby Dick. It has rather soaked in their mental conflict as an abstract idea and stays there until the end
of Ahab’s life.
A LLUREMENT OF S EAS :
Whale hunting is a perspective but it is the allurement of the seas and oceans that is displayed
through the story. Ishmael is more allured to the seas in search of something mysterious. It could have
been on the land, but the land has no comparable vastness as it does not pose serious challenges to
the human mind. On the other hand, Moby Dick, a hunted whale, also disappears in the sea’s vastness.
These seas also test human mental and physical capacities. Pippin becomes insane after he survives the
battle, while others lose their lives in the chase of a whale that plays hide and seek with them in the
sea.
S UPERSTITION :
The theme of superstition also emerges from different character experiences in Moby Dick.
Several people interpret the appearance and hunting of this whale differently with every story having a
mysterious accident. Superstition becomes dominant when Ahab learns about the deaths related to
Moby Dick’s hunting and its victims. It becomes reality when Ahab and Gabriel also lose their lives.
L IMITS OF K NOWLEDGE :
Moby Dick demonstrates the limit of human knowledge with limited thinking capacity or too
little space for taking action. Moby Dick, the whale, lays bare these limitations of human knowledge in
its appearance, its behavior, and its enigmatic nature. Ishmael learns that only death can provide
complete knowledge of such an existing mystery to human beings.
Q UESTION OF F REE W ILL :

Free will is displayed through Ishmael’s obsession with the idea of whale hunting and going
after Moby Dick. Its interesting aspect, however, is that he admits that fate is taking him in the direction
of the whale. His meeting with Queequeg as well as mysterious hints dropped by Elijah demonstrate
that he is free to go and abandon dangerous voyages. Ishmael was given free will
I NSANITY :
The significance of insanity or madness in the novel impacts each character differently. It impacts
Ahab into taking the voyage and going after Moby Dick against all pieces of advice given to him by
people he met. Pippin becomes mentally disabled which paralyzes him.
MY K INSMAN MAJOR MOLINEUX

SUMMARY
In the opening paragraph, the author provides context for the political climate in which
the story is set. He notes that the King of Great Britain appoints colonial governors. Among
Massachusetts Bay residents, there is much resentment directed toward the rulers. Over the past 40
years, King James II has appointed six governors; all of them were unpopular, and some were
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overthrown. Prior to commencing the story’s action, the author instructs the reader to disregard popular
accounts of colonial rule.
The protagonist, Robin, is a country-raised young man “of barely eighteen years” (2). He travels
to Boston, where he aims to make his start in the world by locating his kinsman, Major Molineux.
Robin’s family believes that Molineux is a well-respected governing official who can provide work and
connections.
At approximately nine o’clock in the evening, Robin arrives in Boston by ferry. The ferryman
observes that Robin is dressed in clothing that is well-worn, but also seemingly well-made. Robin has
“brown, curly hair, well-shaped features, and bright, cheerful eyes” (2). Though it is late, and he has
traveled a long way, Robin feels energized by his arrival in Boston.
He sets out on foot in search of Major Molineux. Along the way, he sees “small and mean
wooden buildings” (2). He cannot believe that his distinguished kinsman would live in such a dilapidated
area and decides he will ask strangers to point him in the right direction.
Robin continues his walk, and the city’s appearance improves. From behind, he approaches a
well-dressed old man. As they step in front of a barber shop, he grabs the skirt of the man’s coat. Robin
bows and formally greets the man. He then asks the man if he knows his kinsman’s whereabouts. The
barbers turn their attention to Robin. The old man angrily tells Robin to let go of his coat. During his
rebuke of Robin, the old man lets out “two sepulchral hems,” which have a “most singular effect, like a
thought of the cold grave obtruding among wrathful passions” (3). The old man tells Robin to show him
greater respect or “[his] feet shall be brought acquainted to with the stocks, by daylight, tomorrow
morning” (3).
Robin hears laughter from the men in the barber shop. He walks away, telling himself that the
old man’s status must not be high enough for him to know Major Molineux. He continues walking
through the city and arrives at its center, but he finds no one around. Eventually, he arrives at an inn,
from which he hears the cheerful sounds of many patrons. Upon smelling the food, he realizes he has
nothing to eat, nor money to buy provisions. He assumes that his relation to Molineux will bring him a
warm welcome.
Inside, there is much smoke and many of the patrons appear to be seamen. Robin does not feel
a sense of kinship toward them but does feel sympathy for the few “sheepish countrymen” who are
“supping on the bread of their own ovens, and the bacon cured in their own chimney-smoke” (4).
Robin’s attention becomes focused on a man whose “forehead bulge[s] out into a double
prominence, with a vale between” and a nose that comes “boldly forth in an irregular curve, and its
bridge […] more than a finger’s breadth; the eyebrows […] deep and shaggy; and the eyes glow[ing]
beneath them like fire in a cave” (4).
The innkeeper welcomes Robin and asks him if he wants to place a dinner order. Because the
innkeeper speaks to him in a respectful tone, Robin thinks that his relation to Major Molineux is
apparent. The patrons turn their attention to Robin, who, in a hushed tone, tells the innkeeper that he
has no money for dinner. The innkeeper refers to a wanted poster on the wall, noting that Robin bears
a resemblance to the person being sought. Robin feels an impulse to use his cudgel to attack the
innkeeper but composes himself. As Robin leaves, the horned man glares at him and the patrons laugh.
27
Robin thinks to himself that it is strange that they were unwilling to accommodate him despite his
relation to Molineux.
Robin walks through town, continuing his search. He crosses paths with “many gay and gallant
figures” (6). Still, there is no sign of his kinsman. He hears the old man who again is “uttering, at regular
intervals, two sepulchral hems” (6). He starts losing his patience and considers using his cudgel to force
someone to show him the way to his kinsman’s location.
Robin enters a more downtrodden part of town and comes across a half-opened door, where
“his keen glance detect[s] a woman’s garment within” (6). He approaches, and the door shuts partially
but remains ajar. Through the crack, Robin asks about the residence of his kinsman. A small, slender
woman opens the door and tells him that Major Molineux lives there.
Robin asks to deliver a message to Molineux, but the woman tells him that he is asleep after a
night of heavy drinking. She compliments Robin’s appearance and invites him inside. She takes him by
the hand, and Robin is able to “read in her eyes what he did not hear in her words” (7). She nearly gets
him inside, but then suddenly abandons him when a neighborhood watchman approaches. The
watchman tells Robin to go home. From an above window, a woman with a “saucy eye” waves at Robin
and tries to lure him inside, but he is “a good youth, as well as shrewd one; so he resist[s] temptation”
(8).
Although most homes now have their lights off, Robin continues his search. Holding up his
cudgel, he stops a passerby and demands that he divulges the whereabouts of Molineux. In return, the
man threatens Robin but relents and tells him to wait in that spot for one hour and his kinsman will
pass by. The man is now standing in the moonlight, and Robin sees that he is the horned man from the
inn. Now, the horned man’s face is painted half black and half red.
Robin decides to trust the horned man and sits down on the steps of a church door, waiting for
his kinsman to appear. He hears distant shouts, but no one is nearby. He climbs one of the church’s
window frames, hoping to get a look inside. In the pulpit, “one solitary ray had dared to rest upon the
opened page of the great Bible” (10). He feels increasingly lonely and worries that his kinsman could be
dead, and that he might encounter him as a ghost.
In an attempt to find comfort, Robin recalls his family’s home and routine. He pictures them
praying for him. His imagination is so vivid that he cries, “Am I here or there?” (11). His mind continues
to struggle to distinguish between reality and fantasy.
Robin calls out to a passerby and asks if he knows the whereabouts of Major Molineux. The
stranger approaches. He perceives that Robin is from the country and asks how he can help.
The stranger asks about the nature of Robin’s relationship with Molineux. Robin explains that his
father and Molineux “were brothers’ children” (12). Robin’s family is poor, but Molineux has inherited
great wealth. Robin has come to Boston to find Molineux, who will help him become established.
Robin explains that he has struggled to find anyone who will point him in the direction of his
kinsman. He tells the stranger that the horned man said that Molineux will soon pass by. The stranger
believes that the horned man is correct.
The distant yelling grows nearer. The stranger says that there must be rioters out on the town.
The sounds of a trumpet emerge. From the direction of the noise, people begin to appear. Robin
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assumes that “some prodigious merrymaking is going on” (13). Because he has had such a difficult
night, he looks forward to the celebration. Neighbors open their windows and ask each other what is
happening. A mass of people approaches. They are carrying torches and playing music. The group is led
by the horned man, who is riding a horse and brandishing a sword. As he passes, he stares directly at
Robin.
The horned man brings the procession to a stop. The torches illuminate a cart, inside which is
Major Molineux, who has been tarred and feathered. Major Molineux still appears:
large and majestic […] [but] [h]is face [is] pale as death, and far more ghastly; the broad
forehead […] contracted in his agony, so that his eyebrows form[] one grizzled line; his eyes […] red and
wild, and the foam […] white upon his quivering lip (15).
Robin’s eyes lock with his kinsman’s, and they recognize each other. At first, Robin feels a
mixture of “pity and terror” (15), but his feelings shift toward excitement. He is enthralled by:
the preceding adventures of the night, the unexpected appearance of the crowd, the torches,
the confused din, and the hush that followed, the specter of his kinsman reviled by the great multitude,
all this, and more than all, a perception of tremendous ridicule in the whole scene (15).
This all creates a feeling of “mental inebriety” (15).
Among the crowd, Robin sees townspeople he earlier encountered, including the prostitute, the
innkeeper, and the old man. Along with the crowd, Robin begins to laugh maniacally. His shouts
become the loudest. The horned man gives a signal and the procession continues, going onward “like
fiends that throng in mockery round some dead potentate, mighty no more, but majestic still in his
agony” (16).
The stranger, still at Robin’s side, asks him if he’s dreaming. Robin asks him to show him the
way back to the ferry. The stranger denies this request, suggesting Robin still try to make his way in the
city, “without the help of [his] kinsman, Major Molineux” (16).
CHARACTERS
ROBIN
Robin is the story’s protagonist. He is the country-bred son of a clergyman. At 18 years old, he
sets out for Boston, hoping to locate his kinsman, Major Molineux. He assumes that he will be able to
easily find his kinsman, who will help him get his start in life. Because of his relation to Molineux, Robin
is confident that the city-dwellers will provide a warm welcome and treat him respectfully. When he is
disregarded by the Bostonians he encounters, his naivete becomes apparent.
As the narrative progresses, Robin becomes dissociative and begins wondering who he is.
Following this purgatorial state, he is comforted by a stranger who ultimately encourages Robin to
makes his way in the city without the help of his kinsman.
Throughout the story, Robin’s encounters and observations place him between the city’s
sinfulness and his rural wholesomeness. His purity is maintained when he does not drink at the inn or
cave to the prostitute’s advances. However, upon bursting into maniacal laughter at the sight of his
tarred-and-feathered kinsman, Robin shows that he is capable of succumbing to the same barbarous
impulses as the Bostonians.
THEME
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N ATURAL I S S UPERIOR TO M ANMADE
Robin, the story's main character, who comes from a simple agrarian background, journeys to
the big city of Boston and is immediately confronted with strangeness and danger. The locals mock his
crude clothes and supplies, which were the best his family could provide. Since the reader identifies
with the story's protagonist, these sophisticated city-dwellers come across as rude and snobbish. They
carry swords, but Robin only needs a stout cudgel to defend himself. To emphasize how different, the
Bostonians are from Robin, Hawthorne uses a figure of speech called metonymy that replaces the thing
being described with a smaller part of it. Rather than refer to people, Hawthorne describes the
Bostonians this way: ''Embroidered garments, of showy colors, enormous periwigs, gold-laced hats, and
silver-hilted swords, glided past him, and dazzled his optics. Travelled youths, imitators of the European
fine gentlemen of the period, trod jauntily along, half-dancing to the fashionable tunes which they
hummed, and making poor Robin ashamed of his quiet and natural gait.'' By representing Bostonians
with an item such as a sword or fancy hat, Hawthorne reduces these people to mere possessions while
Robin, representative of nature, gets ample description and a developed character. Furthermore, later
we realize these ''civilized'' people in Boston are participating in a barbaric act, leaving the reader to
ponder whether the rural life might be more truly civilized.
I NDIVIDUAL F REEDOM
A major tenet of Romanticism is the belief in personal freedom. Hawthorne surrounds Robin
with social pressure but allows the teen to make his own way through Boston. He even presents Robin
with two dilemmas near the story's conclusion. Should Robin join in the laughter at the expense of his
disgraced kinsman, Major Molineux, or should he abstain and face the wrath of the mob? Shortly after
that Hawthorne presents a second major decision, only this time he lets the reader decide what he
thinks Robin would have chosen! Not only is Robin's fate left in his own hands, but the reader gets to
experience individual freedom by deciding how the story ends.
M ORALITY
Hawthorne explores morality in this story. Robin, obviously armed, young, and strong, is
confronted with rude, aggressive Bostonians. He makes the moral choice and restrains from lashing out
at them, either verbally or physically. Later, when he meets the woman in the scarlet petticoat, he
ultimately avoids her advances. Hawthorne presents the 'civilized' locals engaged in the terrible crime of
tarring and feathering their local governor, leaving the reader to question whether their rebellious
approach is a moral one. And if the reader might need some extra nudging by Hawthorne, he describes
the leader of the mob as having horn-like swellings on his forehead and a red and black complexion,
calling to mind the Devil. Even Robin's past is part of this theme. He has left his father, a clergyman, to
come to the city and test the morals he learned in his father's house.
THE R AVEN
SUMMARY
An unnamed speaker sits in his chamber on a dreary December night, reading old, esoteric
books. He dearly misses his love, Lenore, who presumably died recently, and he hopes that reading will
distract him from his loss. He has nearly fallen asleep when he suddenly hears someone—or something
—knocking on the door. He’s instantly uneasy but reassures himself that it’s probably just a visitor. He
calls out, apologizing for his delayed response. However, when he opens the door, no one is there. He
whispers, “Lenore,” to the darkness outside but hears only his words echo back at him. Ominously, the
knocking continues, this time from the window. The speaker assumes it is the wind but still feels uneasy.
He opens the window shutters, and a raven hops in, perching on a bust of the Greek goddess Pallas
30
Athena above the chamber door. The sight of the bird relieves the speaker momentarily. He jokingly
asks the bird’s name. To his utter shock, the raven cries out, “Nevermore.”
The speaker is stunned and unsure of the raven’s meaning. He regains his composure and
whispers that the bird will fly away soon. The raven responds again, “Nevermore!” Still trying to console
himself, the speaker theorizes that the bird must have an owner who taught it to say that one hopeless
word. Curious, the speaker moves his chair in front of the raven. He lounges in the chair, pondering the
raven for a few moments. He thinks about how Lenore will never again lounge upon this chair. He
admonishes himself—God has granted him this one respite from his guilt, and still he thinks of Lenore.
He tells himself to forget Lenore. As if in response, the raven says again, “Nevermore.” Now the speaker
addresses the bird, calling it “evil” and a “prophet.” He asks if he will ever find relief. The raven says,
“Nevermore.” He asks whether he will hold Lenore when he reaches Heaven. The raven replies,
“Nevermore.” Enraged, the speaker orders the raven to leave him alone in his chamber. He accuses the
raven of lying and shouts for it to get out. Without moving at all, the bird repeats its sole refrain
—"Nevermore.” The speaker concludes that the raven still sits upon the bust of Pallas Athena, casting a
shadow over his soul that will always linger.
W HAT I S "T HE R AVEN " A BOUT ?

"The Raven" is a poem about a man who is heartbroken over the recent death of his beloved
Lenore. As he passes a lonely December night in his room, a raven taps repeatedly on the door and
then the window. The man first thinks the noise is caused by a late night visitor come to disturb him,
and he is surprised to find the raven when he opens the window shutter. After being let in, the raven
flies to and lands on a bust of Pallas (an ancient Greek goddess of wisdom).
The man is amused by how serious the raven looks, and he begins talking to the raven;
however, the bird can only reply by croaking "nevermore."
The man reflects aloud that the bird will leave him soon as all the people he cared about have
left him. When the raven replies "nevermore," the man takes it as the bird agreeing with him, although
it's unclear if the raven actually understands what the man is saying or is just speaking the one word it
knows.
As the man continues to converse with the bird, he slowly loses his grip on reality. He moves his
chair directly in front of the raven and asks it despairing questions, including whether he and Lenore
will be reunited in heaven. Now, instead of being merely amused by the bird, he takes the raven's
repeated "nevermore" response as a sign that all his dark thoughts are true. He eventually grows angry
and shrieks at the raven, calling it a devil and a thing of evil.
The poem ends with the raven still sitting on the bust of Pallas and the narrator, seemingly
defeated by his grief and madness, declaring that his soul shall be lifted "nevermore."
CHARACTERS
T HE N ARRATOR
The narrator is a scholar, learned and reasonable, yet his logic and knowledge do not much help
him to recover from the impact of Lenore’s death or to escape his desperate hope to see her again. His
desperation leads him to emotional extremes, from depression to near euphoria and finally depression
one the Raven pronounce that he and Lenore will be apart forever.
L ENORE
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Critics consider Lenore, the narrator’s lost love, to be a representation of Poe’s own
deceased wife Virginia. While Lenore never actually appears in the poem and nothing is revealed about
her other than her status as the narrator’s beloved, her presence looms over the text, as the narrator
cannot prevent himself grieving her passing and wondering if he might be able to see her again.
T HE R AVEN
To everything that the narrator says, the Raven responds with just one word
“Nevermore”. The bird acts in no other way, neither attacking the narrator nor seeming to wish him
harm, but the narrator views it as at best supernatural and at worst demonic. Further, the narrator
interprets the Raven’s repeated “Nevermore” as a refusal of all his desires to be reunited with Lenore. At
the endo of the poem, the narrator observes that the Raven is still perched atop the bust of Pallas and
will likely remain there forever, and that he will spend the rest of his life living under tis evil influence.
THEMES
G RIEF
Grief is the overwhelming emotion in "The Raven," and the narrator is absolutely consumed
by his grief for his lost love, Lenore. At the beginning of the poem, he tries to distract himself from his
sadness by reading a "volume of forgotten lore", but when the raven arrives, he immediately begins
peppering it with questions about Lenore and becomes further lost in his grief at the raven's response
of "nevermore." By the end of the poem, the narrator is seemingly broken, stating that his soul will
never again be "lifted" due to his sadness.
Poe stated that the raven itself was a symbol of grief, specifically, that it represented
"mournful and never-ending remembrance." He purposely chose a raven over a parrot (a bird species
better known for its ability to speak) because he thought a raven suited the dark tone of the poem
better.
Edgar Allan Poe had experienced a great deal of grief by the time he wrote "The Raven," and he
had seen people close to him leave, fall gravely ill, or die. He would have been well aware of the
consuming power that grief can have and how it has the ability to blot everything else out.
D EVOTION
It's the narrator's deep love for Lenore that causes him such grief, and later rage and madness.
Even though Lenore has died, the narrator still loves her and appears unable to think of anything but
her. In the poem, he speaks of Lenore in superlatives, calling her "sainted" and "radiant." In his mind,
she is completely perfect, practically a saint. His love for this woman who is no longer here distracts him
from everything in his current life. With this theme, Poe is showing the power of love and how it can
continue to be powerful even after death.
R ATIONALITY VS I RRATIONALITY
At the beginning of the poem, the narrator is rational enough to understand that Lenore is dead
and he will not see her again. When the raven first begins repeating "nevermore," he realizes that the
answer is the bird's "only stock and store," and he won't get another response no matter what he asks.
He seems to even find the bird vaguely amusing.
However, as the poem continues, the narrator's irrationality increases as he asks the raven
questions it couldn't possibly know and takes its repeated response of "nevermore" to be a
truthful and logical answer. He then descends further into madness, cursing the bird as a "devil" and
"thing of evil" and thinking he feels angels surrounding him before sinking into his grief. He has clearly
come undone by the end of the poem.
32
In "The Raven," Poe wanted to show the fine line between rational thought and madness and
how strong emotions, such as grief, can push a person into irrationality, even during mundane
interactions like the one the narrator had with the raven.
THE T ELL-TALE HEART

“The Tell-Tale Heart” is one of Edgar Allan Poe’s best-known short stories, first published
in The Pioneer in January 1843. The work is written in the Gothic horror style from the second-person
point of view. It has been adapted multiple times for various media, starting with a 1928 movie of the
same name.
Originally, the story included an epigraph with a stanza from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s
1838 poem “A Psalm of Life,” subtitled “What the Heart of the Young Man Said to the Psalmist”:
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
The epigraph was removed from later editions due to Poe’s repeated accusations of plagiarism
against Longfellow.
The unnamed narrator begins by addressing an unknown interlocutor directly, confessing to the
murder of an old man in whose house the narrator used to live. The narrator’s age and gender, and
their relationship to the victim, are unclear. The confession is meant to convince the unknown
interlocutor of the criminal’s sanity, but it has the opposite effect. The narrator confesses to feeling
compelled to commit murder by the old man’s single “pale blue eye,” the eye of a “vulture” with a
white film over it (Paragraph 2). The murderer calls it an “Evil Eye” and is obsessed with getting rid of it
(Paragraph 4), despite claiming they loved the old man, who never mistreated them.
Before committing the murder, seven nights in a row, at midnight, the narrator cautiously and
slowly opens the door to the man’s bedroom and shines a single ray of light on his sleeping eye, which
remains closed each night. Since the narrator hates the eye, not the man, they keep postponing the
terrible deed.
On the eighth night, the narrator’s actions wake the old man up. The murderer does not
withdraw, as it is completely dark in the room and they remain invisible. The old man asks who is there,
but the narrator remains silent, enjoying a sense of power over the other man. The two men remain in a
stalemate for an hour, the narrator waiting and reveling in their knowledge, the old man trying but
failing to calm himself. Upon hearing a sound like a groan of fear, the narrator imagines with relish how
the old man experiences his fear.
Finally, the murderer opens the lantern so a very small ray of light illuminates the open evil eye.
The narrator believes that at this moment the old man’s heartbeat becomes audible, like the ticking of a
watch “enveloped in cotton” (Paragraph 11). The murderer continues waiting, shining the light onto the
eye, while the heartbeat grows progressively louder. Afraid that the neighbors might hear the noise, the
narrator suddenly opens the lantern all the way and jumps into the room. The old man shouts in terror.
The criminal drags him to the floor and covers him with the bed. The heart keeps beating erratically for
a while, but eventually stops, and the narrator uncovers the body. The old man is “stone dead,” and his
eye will no longer trouble the murderer (Paragraph 12).
33
The narrator recounts dismembering the body, cutting off the head and extremities first. They
hide the body parts under the floor planks. There is no evidence left, since all the blood has been
caught in the tub. At that moment, there is a knock on the door.
Three policemen have come to inquire about a shout a neighbor heard during the night. The
narrator is calm, as there is nothing to fear. They invite the policemen to come in and search the
premises, including the old man’s bedroom. The narrator even brings in chairs and bids the men to sit
and rest. The murderer places their own chair on top of the planks hiding the body parts. Seemingly
satisfied that everything is in order, the officers begin chatting. The narrator suddenly starts feeling
unwell, suffering a headache and ringing ears. The murderer starts talking, trying to get rid of the
unpleasant sensation, but the ringing continues. Eventually the narrator realizes it sounds like the ticking
of a watch covered in cotton.
The narrator tries to mask the noise by talking loudly and rapidly, getting up and gesticulating.
They pace, while raving, going as far as taking the chair and grating it over the floorboards. The
policemen continue smiling and talking. The narrator believes that they, too, hear the noise and know
about the crime, and are simply feigning ignorance. This leads to the murderer losing their cool and
confessing, telling the policemen to tear up the planks where the old man’s heart is still beating.
CHARACTERS
T HE NARRATOR
The unnamed, unreliable narrator kills the old man because he can't stand the old man's vulture
eye. He spends the entire story trying to persuade us that he is in fact completely sane.
T HE OLD MAN
The old man is murdered by the narrator because of his strange, vulture-like eye. He is then
chopped up and hidden under the floorboards, but the phantom beating of his heart causes the
narrator to go mad and reveal his crime to the police.
THEMES
M ADNESS
The narrator of “The Tell-Tale Heart” spends a great deal of time trying to convince his reader
that he is not, in fact, mad. The evidence that he relies on is mainly his calm, calculated approach to the
crime. He plans the event very carefully and patiently, to such an extreme that it seems to negate his
claim to sanity. He describes spending an entire hour each night opening the old man’s door, for
example—not to mention the irrationality of killing the man because of his eye.
Ultimately, the narrator’s madness, and his inability to identify that madness, causes him to
admit to his crime.
G UILT
Poe’s narrator does not appear to feel remorse for his crime. He suggests that all the fault for
his actions lies in the man’s eye. Because of this, the narrator had no choice but to kill him. He even
recounts his story with pride, explaining how cunningly he carried out the crime. However, his panic and
sudden confession at the end of the story could be interpreted as the appearance of the narrator’s
unconscious guilt. He cannot stand the pressure of knowing he killed the old man.
T IME
34
Throughout Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, the narrator is obsessed with time. He specifies exactly
how many days he spends planning to kill the old man, the hour at which he visits his room every
night, the amount of time he spends opening the door so as not to disturb the man, and the hour at
which the crime is concluded. There are also numerous references to clocks and watches, as well as the
sound of the beating heart, which could be viewed as another way to measure the passage of time.
THE BLACK CAT

SUMMARY
The nameless protagonist/narrator begins his story by letting the readers know that he was once
a nice, average man. He had a pleasant home, was married to a pleasant wife, and had an abiding love
for animals. All that was to change, however, when he fell under the influence of demon alcohol. The
first symptom of his descent into addiction and eventual madness manifests with his escalating
maltreatment of the family pets. The only creature to escape the man's initial wrath is a beloved black
cat named Pluto, but one night after a serious bout of heavy drinking, Pluto angers him for some minor
infraction, and in a drunken fury, the man seizes the cat, which promptly bites him. The narrator
retaliates by cutting out one of the Pluto's eyes.
While the cat's wound eventually heals, the relationship between the man and his pet has been
destroyed. Eventually, the narrator, filled with self-loathing, comes to detest the cat as a symbol of his
own weakness, and in a moment of further insanity, hangs the poor creature by the neck from a tree
beside the house where it's left to perish. Shortly thereafter, the house burns down. While the narrator,
his wife, and a servant escape, the only thing left standing is a single blackened interior wall—on which,
to his horror, the man sees the image of a cat hanging by a noose around its neck. Thinking to assuage
his guilt, the protagonist begins searching out a second black cat to replace Pluto. One night, in a
tavern, he eventually finds just such a cat, which accompanies him to the house he now shares with his
wife, albeit under greatly reduced circumstances.
Soon enough, the madness—abetted by gin—returns. The narrator begins not only to detest the
new cat—which is always underfoot—but to fear it. What remains of his reason keeps him from
harming the animal, until the day the man's wife asks him to accompany her on an errand to the cellar.
The cat runs ahead, nearly tripping his master on the stairs. The man becomes enraged. He picks up an
ax, meaning to murder the animal, but when his wife grabs the handle to stop him, he pivots, killing her
with a blow to the head.
Rather than break down with remorse, the man hastily hides his wife's body by walling it up with
bricks behind a false facade in the cellar. The cat that's been tormenting him seems to have
disappeared. Relieved, he begins to think he's gotten away with his crime and all will finally be well–
until the police eventually show up to search the house. They find nothing but as they're headed up the
cellar stairs preparing to leave, the narrator stops them, and with false bravado, he boasts how well the
house is built, tapping on the wall that's hiding the body of his dead wife. From within comes a sound
of unmistakable anguish. Upon hearing the cries, the authorities demolish the false wall, only to find the
wife's corpse, and on top of it, the missing cat. "I had walled the monster up within the tomb!" he wails
—not realizing that in fact, he and not the cat, is the actual villain of the story.
CHARACTERS
U NNAMED N ARRATOR
The narrator is another of Poe’s unnamed and unreliable men driven to madness. All we really
know about him—if his word can be trusted, that is—is that he has enjoyed a lifetime love of animals
35
and that the animals have reciprocated this love. The narrator does make clear what it is about animals
that inspires in him a higher level of love and respect: he particularly admires their loyalty and
perception. In other words, if an animal remains loyal to you, you must be a good person—which
should bring into question the character of any person whose pet begins to exhibit disloyal behavior.
T HE N ARRATOR ' S W IFE

Not much information is provided about the narrator’s wife other than that she shares his love
of animals. We do learn that she might be more superstitious than he is since she is fond of mentioning
the belief that cats and witches are inextricably linked. Of course, this information arrives courtesy of a
narrator that is not entirely trustworthy, and even he is careful to assert that just because she mentions
this superstition, doesn’t necessarily mean she believes it. Ultimately, it is the narrator that seems to
possess a deeper belief in supernatural explanations. One thing is for certain: the wife is willing to
intrude on behalf of animals when in danger, even if that danger is her husband.
P LUTO
Pluto is the black cat that joins the goldfish, rabbit, dog, birds, and monkey in the menagerie of
pets that the narrator and his wife invite into their home. The close bond between cat and owner (i.e.
the narrator) even manages to initially shield the cat from the abusive effects of the owner—effects that
were already affecting the man's relationship with his other pets and his wife. The passage of time and
the rise of addiction tolerance eventually takes their toll, however, resulting in Pluto first losing an eye
at the narrator’s hand before losing his life at the end of a noose.
T HE S ECOND B LACK C AT
Following rather quickly upon the death of Pluto and an unexplained fire that destroys the
narrator’s home, a second black cat enters the narrative. This cat remains nameless, like the narrator. It
is almost identical to Pluto, right down to having only one eye, but it has one distinguishing difference:
a patch of white fur covering almost its entire breast. The lack of an actual name indicates the
emotionless connection between it and the narrator that claims to be such an animal lover: despite a
seemingly strong desire by the cat for them to become best friends, the narrator is utterly repulsed by
the cat, to the eventual point of attempted murder.
T HE P OLICE
The police arrive to investigate the disappearance of the narrator's wife. They catalyze the mad
narrator's hubris, which leads him to inadvertently give away the murder he has continued.
THEMES
M AN ’ S DESCENT INTO INSANITY
In "The Black Cat," the narrator was aware that his thoughts and actions were transforming into
a downward spiral. He was aware of his increased irritability, his disregard of the feelings of others, and
the unreasonable violent actions he carried out towards his wife. He was even aware that his favorite
pet and playmate, Pluto, was falling victim to the ill-effects brought by alcoholism onto the narrator.
However, for reasons that remain inscrutable to the reader, he continues his descent into moral
degeneration. Is he affected with "perverseness"? Is it a result of the alcohol? Does he not know what
he is doing?
T HE ILL - EFFECTS OF ALCOHOLISM

In this story, the narrator describes to the readers the effects of the “Fiend Intemperance." It was
due to the increased intake of alcohol that the narrator experienced a radical alteration for the worse.
He became more irritable, cared little for the feelings of others, and often used intemperate language
36
with his wife—not to mention the violent acts he committed towards her. He abused the rabbits, the
dogs, the monkey, and even his favorite pet, Pluto. We do not know why he was driven to drink, and
being drunk did not explain all of his evil deeds—but alcohol certainly exacerbated his behavior and
helped him stray further from a unified self.
S UPERNATURAL BELIEFS
The theme of supernatural elements pervades this story. The title itself suggests supernatural
elements, for there are various superstitions regarding the bad luck that a black cat allegedly brings. In
this story, the narrator kills his pet—Pluto, a black cat—by hanging him from a tree branch. After the
murder of the black cat, bad luck followed the narrator. His house burned down, only one wall
remained, and that wall had an impression of the black cat with a rope about the animal’s neck. A few
days later, another black cat appeared in front of the narrator. This cat looked exactly like Pluto except
it had a patch of white fur at the bosom, which later represented the "gallows." The events that
followed the hanging of Pluto can be attributed to supernatural explanations, for it is a common belief
that a black cat brings bad luck.
G UILT
The narrator's guilt is what brought the black cat back to haunt him. The cat represents his guilt:
as the narrator became guiltier, the cat became more realistic. For example, the only time the cat was
heard was when the police were searching the narrator's house, at which point his guilt and fear finally
pushed him into full madness. The narrative shows that guilt is a key factor in man's descent into
madness—yet also a vital part of what keeps us human.
T HE D IVIDED S ELF
The narrator experiences a fragmented, divided self. This is apparent not only in the dichotomy
between the man telling the tale and the man committing the acts in the tale, but also in terms of
nearly all of his actions once his "perverseness" set in. He vacillated between sanity and insanity,
between fear and horror of the cat and the impulse to act. He had nightmares, drunken stupors, and
paroxysms of rage and despair. He killed his cat and then desired another one; he felt poorly for his
long-suffering wife but murdered her without a thought. The only bliss and peace he had were when he
completely lost himself after killing his wife and walling up the cat in the tomb.
A FAREWELL TO ARMS
SUMMARY
Lieutenant Frederic Henry, a young American ambulance driver with the Italian army during
World War I, takes a winter leave from the front. When he returns, he meets and quickly falls in love
with Catherine Barkley, an English nurse's aide in the town's British hospital. She mourns the death of
her fiancé from the war last year, and she eagerly enters the pleasurable diversion the game of love
offers with Henry. Henry, too, is revived by love after the horror he has seen of war.
Henry's knee is badly wounded during an artillery bombardment, and he is sent to a hospital in
Milan for an operation. Catherine transfers to his hospital and helps him recuperate from the surgery.
They spend all their free time together, and their love deepens as they gradually acknowledge that they
stand alone against the cruel world. Before Henry returns to the front, Catherine reveals she is pregnant.
They are both pleased with this, however, and cannot wait to see each other again.
Back at the front, the Germans and Austrians break through the Italian line, and the Italians are
forced to make a lengthy retreat. Henry travels with some other drivers, two Italian engineering
sergeants, and two Italian girls. When the sergeants abandon the drivers when their car gets stuck,
37
Henry shoots one of them, and another driver finishes him off. Later, the trigger-happy Italian rear
guard mistakenly shoots one of the Italian drivers. One of the drivers deserts the group, choosing to be
taken prisoner rather than face potential death. At a bridge over a flooded river, the corrupt Italian
military singles out Henry as a lieutenant and accuses him of treachery leading to the Italian defeat.
Knowing he will be executed, Henry jumps into the river and escapes with the current.
Henry manages to get out of the fast-moving river and jump a train to Milan. He thinks he has
made a "separate peace" and is no longer attached to the military. He finds Catherine in the town of
Stresa and, prior to Henry's arrest for desertion, the two make a daring nighttime escape by a borrowed
boat to Switzerland. They enjoy an idyllic, isolated life that winter in the Swiss town of Montreux,
spending time outdoors and preparing for the arrival of their baby; Henry is not completely without
guilt, however, for abandoning his friends at the front.
They move to the town of Lausanne in the spring to be close to its hospital, and Catherine soon
goes into labor. The pregnancy is lengthy and painful, and the baby, delivered through a Caesarean, is
stillborn. Catherine dies soon after of multiple hemorrhages with Henry by her side. He tries to say
goodbye to her, but it is like saying goodbye to a statue, and he walks back to his hotel room in the
rain.
CHARACTERS
L IEUTENANT F REDERIC H ENRY
The protagonist and fairly aloof narrator, Henry is a young American ambulance driver with the
Italian army. However, he does not feel strongly about the cause, and certainly is not out for glory. He
turns from the horrors of war to a passionate, escapist love affair with Catherine Barkley, and the all-
consuming love helps distract him from the brutality around him. Still, he is good at his job; a cool-
headed, unselfish man who exercises grace under pressure when he is injured and when he must shoot
a deserting engineering officer, Henry fulfills the code of the "Hemingway hero." He makes his "separate
peace" when he decides that he no longer has any obligation to the army and that his loyalty is to
Catherine.
C ATHERINE B ARKLEY
A British Voluntary Aid Detachment (a second-tier nurse), Catherine is in grief over her fiancé's
recent death at the start of the novel. Henry offers a tempting rebound, and she dives into this new
diverting love. She later admits that she was slightly "crazy" when she first met Henry, and her behavior
backs this up: she gives herself so readily to a near stranger, and her games of flirtation and teasing
border on the juvenile. However, she gains some measure of independence later on, as when she helps
Henry row the boat across the lake for their escape, but she is typically submissive and eager to please
with Henry (thought, to her credit, so is he with her). Like Henry, she believes the world is out to
destroy people's happiness.
L IEUTENANT R INALDI
Henry's Italian surgeon roommate, Rinaldi is an alcoholic womanizer who does not believe in
romance and love as Henry does. Instead, he proclaims himself in love with nearly every woman he
meets, then quickly discards the idea as he finds the next one. He appears to have something of a
crush on Henry, or at least engages in what literary criticism refers to as a "homosocial relationship," a
bond between men that borders on homoeroticism.
38
P RIEST
The unnamed priest in Henry's unit is the butt of all jokes by the others, but Henry, though he is
not religious, treats him kindly. They have several deep discussions, and the priest encourages Henry to
find love and be happy.
H ELEN F ERGUSON
A Scottish nurse, Helen is Catherine's best female friend in the war. She is also friends with
Henry at first, but later grows jealous of his and Catherine's relationship and fears Catherine will
abandon her.
B ONELLO
An Italian ambulance driver, Bonello happily kills off the engineering sergeant that Henry shoots.
Bonello, like his fellow drivers, does not believe in the cause of the war, and he leaves the group during
the Italian retreat to become a prisoner.
E TTORE M ORETTI
An Italian-American soldier in the Italian army, Ettore boasts of his medals and rank while
insulting others. In this regard, he is the opposite of Henry, who does not care at all about personal
glory.
D R . V ALENTINI
A brash, fast-talking doctor who successfully operates on Henry's knee, Dr. Valentini is a good
example of the masculine Hemingway hero, especially in comparison to the effete, incompetent doctors
who first diagnose Henry.
A YMO
An Italian ambulance driver who is shot and killed during the retreat.
R ALPH S IMMONS
An opera singer Henry knows, Simmons gives Henry food and civilian clothing after Henry
escapes from the army.
M ISS G AGE
A young, pretty nurse Henry befriends with while he recovers in the Milan hospital. She appears
to be attracted to Henry.
M ISS V AN C AMPEN
The shrewish superintendent of the Milan hospital, she takes an immediate disliking to Henry.
E MILIO
The bartender at the hotel in Stresa, Emilio warns Henry of his impending arrest and provides
him with his boat to escape.
C OUNT G REFFI
A rich elderly man Henry knows who plays billiards with Henry at the hotel in Stresa. Count
Greffi does not believe in the war, and Henry values his other mature opinions.
39
C APTAIN
The Captain of Henry's unit frequently mocks the priest.
M AJOR
The Major of Henry's unit frequently mocks the priest, as well.
THEMES
L OVE AS A RESPONSE TO THE HORRORS OF WAR AND THE WORLD
Hemingway repeatedly emphasizes the horrific devastation war has wrought on everyone
involved. From the opening account of cholera that kills "only" 7,000 men to the graphic description of
the artillery bombardment to the corrupt violence during the Italian retreat, A Farewell to Arms is
among the frankest anti-war novels.
But Hemingway does not merely condemn war. Rather, he indicts the world at large for its
atmosphere of destruction. Henry frequently reflects upon the world's insistence on breaking and killing
everyone; it is as if the world cannot bear to let anyone remain happy and safe.
Indeed, whenever Henry and Catherine are blissful, something comes along to interrupt it - be it
Henry's injury, his being sent back to the front, his impending arrest, or, finally, Catherine's death from
childbirth. With such misery confronting them at every turn, the two turn to each other. Catherine,
especially, plunges almost too easily into love when she first meets Henry. She admits she was "crazy"
at first, most likely over the fairly recent death of her fiancé, but Henry, too, succumbs to the
temptations of love. Love is a pleasurable diversion (see Games, below) that distracts lovers from the
outside world; the two often tell each other not to think about anything else, as it is too painful. Hidden
within the shelter of Catherine's beautiful hair, Henry and Catherine feel protected from the cruel
outside world.
The major problem with such escapist love is, as Henry and other characters point out several
times, one does not always know the "stakes" of love until it is over, or that one does not know about
something until one has lost it. Henry hardly allows himself to think of life without Catherine while he is
in love, and once he does lose her, it seems unlikely that he will recover.
G RACE UNDER PRESSURE AND THE H EMINGWAY HERO

Although less important in this novel than in his 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway
maps out what it means to be a hero. Chiefly, the "Hemingway hero," as literary criticism frequently tags
him, is a man of action who coolly exhibits "grace under pressure" while confronting death. Henry's
narration is certainly detached and action-oriented - only rarely does he let us into his most private
thoughts - and he displays remarkable cool when shooting the engineering sergeant. Characters in the
novel strive for this grace under pressure in an otherwise chaotic world. Even when the men eat
spaghetti (and especially when they eat macaroni in the dugout during the artillery bombardment), they
try to exercise mastery over a single skill to compensate for the uncontrollable chaos elsewhere. Dr.
Valentini is another example of a skillful, confident Hemingway hero.
The Hemingway hero also eschews glory for a more personal code of honor. Unlike the selfish
and boastful Ettore, Henry is not greedy for accolades, nor is he stupidly sacrificial. He judiciously
determines what is worth the sacrifice, and decides that the war is no longer worthwhile. Even after he
makes his "separate peace," however, he feels slightly guilty over letting his friends continue the battle
without him.
40
R AIN AND DESTRUCTION
From the first chapter to the last word, the novel is flooded with rain and other images of water.
The rain almost always heralds destruction and death; it impinges upon whatever momentary happiness
Henry and Catherine have and turns it into muddy misery. Ironically, rain often signifies fertility in
literature but here stands for sterility, as it does in much post-WWI literature.
However, water is positive in other ways. Henry receives symbolic baptisms when he bathes and,
more prominently, when he twice escapes from the authorities via a river and a lake. Frozen water is
kinder to him and to soldiers in general; snow usually prevents fighting, and Henry and Catherine are
happiest during their snowy winter in Switzerland.
D IVERSIONS
Nearly all the characters in the novel try to divert themselves with pleasurable activities from the
horror of war. The soldiers play card games, drink heavily, and carouse in brothels; Rinaldi is the poster-
boy for this hedonistic excess. Henry goes along somewhat, but his biggest diversion is love itself; he
and Catherine treat it like a game at first, flirting and teasing each other. Above all, ignorance is prized
during the war; if one does not think about the war, then one cannot be unhappy during the ongoing
pursuit of games and diversions.
A BANDONMENT
The novel deploys several instances of abandonment, intentional and forced, in the realms of
love and war. After the death of her fiancé, Catherine understandably fears abandonment by Henry, and
he makes every attempt when separated to reunite with her. Even Helen fears abandonment by
Catherine. In the war, we see several cases of abandonment: the engineering sergeants, who abandon
Henry and the other drivers; Bonello, who abandons the drivers to give himself up as a prisoner; the
Italian retreat, a large-scale abandonment; and Henry's escape from army. However, Henry's
abandonment is completely justified (he was going to be executed if he did not), and it is less a
desertion that what he calls a "separate peace." Ultimately, he decides that not abandoning Catherine is
far more important than not abandoning the war, though he does feel guilty over leaving behind
Rinaldi and the others at the front.
J OURNALISTIC STYLE OF OMISSION

As is typical in a Hemingway work, Henry's narration is spare, detached, and journalistic.
Contrary to what the reader might expect, the effect often heightens emotion. For example, Hemingway
ratchets up the connotations of death and violence by omitting explicit mention of blood when it drips
on Henry in the ambulance.
Hemingway shows his range when he occasionally uses a near "stream-of-consciousness"

narration for Henry. In these few cases, Henry's thoughts are ungrammatical, awkwardly worded, and
repetitive - much as the mind works, especially under such chaotic circumstances. A notable example is
the long second-person narrative passage in Chapter XXXII after Henry has divorced himself from the
army. By addressing himself as "you," Henry shows how he has separated from his former self through
his "separate peace."
41

Apuntes by Me - The American Literature Periods

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Apuntes by Me - The American Literature Periods

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Literatura Inglesa II

Prof. Verónica Castro Notes by Sabrina Romero

THE AMERICAN LITERATURE P ERIODS

NATIVE AMERICAN LITERATURE

LITERATURE OF T HE COLONIAL PERIOD

THE MATHER DYNASTY

AMERICAN R ENAISSANCE : THE LITERATURE OF REASON AND R EVOLUTION

INTRODUCTION T O AMERICAN R OMANTICISM

1. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Emerson is the undisputed founder of the Transcendental Movement. Transcendentalists

Natura, a short text published by Emerson, gave a birth to Transcendentalism. There, he

2. Henry David Thoreau

THE ROMANTIC P ERIOD, 1820-1860: F ICTION

THE GOTHIC AMERICAN LITERATURE

3. Edgar Allan Poe

THE RISE OF R EALISM : THE AMERICAN C IVIL WAR LITERATURE

1. Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

3. William Dean Howells

NATURALISM IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

1. Jack London: The Call of the Wild

2. Theodore Dreiser: Sister Carrie

MODERN AMERICAN LITERATURE

2. William Dean Howells

MODERN AMERICAN POETRY

2. The poetry of Robert Frost

MODERN AMERICAN DRAMA

 1607-1776: Colonial Period

The Colonial Period

The Revolutionary Age

The Early National Period

The Romantic Period

The Realistic Period

The Naturalistic Period

The Beginnings of Modern Literature

The American Modernist Period

The Contemporary Period of American Literature

 In art and literature, realism expresses a message that depicts situations

faceless user behind the comfort and security of their screens!

allegory of the disastrous consequences of McCarthyism.

represents the “shred of goodness” in his character.

Described as “a wild thing”, Abigail is a beautiful, yet manipulative and deceptive adolescent

hunts, as well as the accusers of the McCarthy era.

S USANNA W ALCOTT , M ERCY L EWIS , B ETTY P ARRIS

fearsome “power of theocracy” in circumstances of confusion and hysteria.

H ONOR AND I NTEGRITY

the importance of prioritizing personal honor over public reputation through the character of

S YMBOLIC M EANINGS OF W HALE :

Q UESTION OF F REE W ILL :

MY K INSMAN MAJOR MOLINEUX

This all creates a feeling of “mental inebriety” (15).

W HAT I S "T HE R AVEN " A BOUT ?

THE T ELL-TALE HEART

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

THE BLACK CAT

T HE N ARRATOR ' S W IFE

T HE ILL - EFFECTS OF ALCOHOLISM

G RACE UNDER PRESSURE AND THE H EMINGWAY HERO

J OURNALISTIC STYLE OF OMISSION

Hemingway shows his range when he occasionally uses a near "stream-of-consciousness"

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