Summary
Brown leaves town to go to a meeting. He travels through a dark forest. An unnamed figure meets him and walks with him to the meeting. Brown rests several times, saying to his companion that he is going to turn back. The man goads Brown to keep his path. The mysterious man is revealed to be the devil. Brown experiences several hallucinations before he arrives at the meeting. There is a scene of fire accompanied by the heathens and the holy. Brown recognizes a majority of the crowd gathered. The devil speaks briefly before this entire episode is revealed to be a dream. The next day in town Goodman looks at people he has known for a very long time in a different manner. He is paranoid. The story flashes forward to several generations beyond his death. This "dream" altered his destiny.
Comment
The wording of this story made it difficult to get the nuances, while the general plot remained fairly clear. Young Goodman Brown is exactly what his name implies. He keeps the "Faith" until he is literally possesed by the Dark. Even after this change, He is hesitant to fully embrace the change in thought. This vision is life changing and simply too overwhelming for Brown. He can not take it for what it is; a dream. His changed understanding of the world inhibits his ability to act as he did before the vision. His struggle was for his sanity, and he lost.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
The Facts Concerning the Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut
Summary
The story begins with the narrator getting a letter from Aunt Mary. She is a role model of his, and he has a great deal of respect for her. Then a miniature version of the narrator enters and begins to smoke and mock the narrator. The mini-narrator reminds the narrator of various misdeeds he has done in the past. The smaller man reveals that he is the narrator's conscience manifested in physical form, and the taller man tries to kill the midget. This does not work. The narrator then has a civil conversation about the nature of conscience. The occupation of a conscience is to make a man repent his sins. The appearance of a conscience directly reflects the person it represents. This conversation goes on until Aunt Mary arrives. She scolds the narrator for not taking care of certain things he had promised. The narrator stalks and kills his conscience in her presence. He then screams at his aunt and she leaves. Free of his conscience, the narrator performs all types of depravity, and the story ends with an advert for human merchandise.
Comment
I would assume that most people struggle with their conscience on a daily basis. It is the driving force behind most actions. The main question here is, would anyone be better off without? Morality is a difficult issue to tackle, and I have spent a great deal of time in my own life posing the same questions as Twain. I identify with a modest conscience. I feel no need to beat myself for small trespasses, and I try to learn as I age. This story is difficult to read, as the language is a bit dated. I suppose that is like saying Shakespeare had poor grammar.
The story begins with the narrator getting a letter from Aunt Mary. She is a role model of his, and he has a great deal of respect for her. Then a miniature version of the narrator enters and begins to smoke and mock the narrator. The mini-narrator reminds the narrator of various misdeeds he has done in the past. The smaller man reveals that he is the narrator's conscience manifested in physical form, and the taller man tries to kill the midget. This does not work. The narrator then has a civil conversation about the nature of conscience. The occupation of a conscience is to make a man repent his sins. The appearance of a conscience directly reflects the person it represents. This conversation goes on until Aunt Mary arrives. She scolds the narrator for not taking care of certain things he had promised. The narrator stalks and kills his conscience in her presence. He then screams at his aunt and she leaves. Free of his conscience, the narrator performs all types of depravity, and the story ends with an advert for human merchandise.
Comment
I would assume that most people struggle with their conscience on a daily basis. It is the driving force behind most actions. The main question here is, would anyone be better off without? Morality is a difficult issue to tackle, and I have spent a great deal of time in my own life posing the same questions as Twain. I identify with a modest conscience. I feel no need to beat myself for small trespasses, and I try to learn as I age. This story is difficult to read, as the language is a bit dated. I suppose that is like saying Shakespeare had poor grammar.
Shades
Summary
The author begins with a long metaphor comparing the night (or darkness) with an army. A lamplighter emerges as a character. The narrator struggles with the identity of the lamplighter, as he is under the radar of even his landlord. The narrator tries to discover some details about the lamplighter to make him seem more human (and less like a ghost). This does not work because the lamplighter does not have a family to speak of – or even any furniture. The narrator returns to find out that the lamplighter has died, and he asks questions of the landlord so he can, maybe, learn the man’s name. This does not work because the narrator did not have enough details to tell the gravedigger to reveal the lamplighter’s true identity. The lamplighter’s name remains a mystery.
Comment
I thought that the metaphor comparing night to an army was unnecessarily long. The narrator wants to know more about the lamplighter, but the narrator simply does not have the resources to do so. It is a common desire to wish to know simple details about a stranger’s life. The narrator’s curiosity is never quenched. I think the general theme of this story is anonymity, and how certain people who play a very important role in certain communities remain anonymous.
The author begins with a long metaphor comparing the night (or darkness) with an army. A lamplighter emerges as a character. The narrator struggles with the identity of the lamplighter, as he is under the radar of even his landlord. The narrator tries to discover some details about the lamplighter to make him seem more human (and less like a ghost). This does not work because the lamplighter does not have a family to speak of – or even any furniture. The narrator returns to find out that the lamplighter has died, and he asks questions of the landlord so he can, maybe, learn the man’s name. This does not work because the narrator did not have enough details to tell the gravedigger to reveal the lamplighter’s true identity. The lamplighter’s name remains a mystery.
Comment
I thought that the metaphor comparing night to an army was unnecessarily long. The narrator wants to know more about the lamplighter, but the narrator simply does not have the resources to do so. It is a common desire to wish to know simple details about a stranger’s life. The narrator’s curiosity is never quenched. I think the general theme of this story is anonymity, and how certain people who play a very important role in certain communities remain anonymous.
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