139 Matching Annotations
  1. Dec 2021
    1. He gave me a mind and He took it away when He saw how I used it wrongly, and gave it to me again just as He pleased. He allowed me to repent my sins and afterwards to be aware of his divinity, to do His bidding and to improve my sinful way of life. [407-413] Glory and honour and thanks be to you, Lord God, who are a medicine for all misfortune! Thank you for my well-being and for my adversity. Thank you for my growing older and my sickness. And thanks be to your infinite goodness for all your gifts and benefits, and to your mercy and your grace I call out.

      The idea that Hoccleve went through everything so that he would be a "good religious boy" is incredibly upsetting. With this mindset, someone would be stuck in terrible situations because they believed they somehow deserved it. Hoccleve's Complaint shows us how victim blaming can create a toxic mindset for the victim.

    2. Goodbye to my sorrow, I throw it to the birds! With patience, I think to unpick the lock of such melancholic disease and sorrow from now on, and let out those things which have made me sick. Our Lord God may, if it please Him, make all my former friendships return in the future, and I will comfort myself with the hope of that.

      This is reiterating what I mentioned earlier about Hoccleve putting his entire being into God.

    3. ‘Rather you should think in your heart like this and say, “To you, Lord God, I have done wrong: I must suffer so painfully for my offences. Just as I deserve, I am destroyed, unless you will grant your mercy to me. I am very sure you cannot deny it to me. Lord, I repent and I beg mercy from you.”’

      This line of thinking is incredibly toxic. Even when one did nothing wrong, they feel as though they must have done something wrong to deserve their horrible situation. This kind of thinking also keeps people in abusive situations.

    4. ‘Wrestle,’ said Reason, ‘against the oppressions of the world, troubles, suffering and hardships. [344-350] ‘Look how many people suffer disease, as much as you and often more seriously, and though it pains them sharply and seizes them, yet they suffer and bear it patiently.

      This can be inspiring to some, but it mostly feels incredibly condescending. A physical illness such as a cold is much easier to overcome than something chronic like depression.

    5. The other day I saw in a book a lamentation by a sorrowful man*, to whom Reason gave words of consolation, speaking helpfully, and my heart was very eased by it, for when I had read for a while in that book, I was well nourished by the speech of Reason.

      Just as someone might read Hoccleve's Complaint, and find comfort in it, Hoccleve found comfort in another writer's work.

    6. And they told them every part of the truth, but they considered their words nothing but lies. They might as well have kept quiet.

      The people only want to hear what they want to. This also takes more autonomy away from Hoccleve - people don't even trust Hoccleve himself to tell them how he is.

    7. I blamed them for only one fault. They could not believe that I was healthy, and yet day by day they saw me pass by them in hot weather and cold, and neither when speaking or silent did they find me acting suspectly. A dark cloud obscured their sight within and without, and because of all that they were in such an uncertainty.

      People base things off the past and refuse to believe people can change. Hoccleve (rightfully) resents this form of thinking. How can humanity evolve if we don't accept change?

    8. And as quickly afterwards I thought like this: ‘If I despair in this fashion, it is a way of obtaining yet more adversity. What need is there to harm my feeble wit since God — blessed is he — has made my health return home? And whatever people think or speak, I plan to endure it and I won’t take revenge on myself.’

      God has truly gone from someone Hoccleve spites to someone Hoccleve turns to for comfort in day to day life. Finding something to latch onto in order to live is a very human reaction, no matter what said thing is. If Hoccleve can put all of his being into God, then he can potentially live a somewhat decent life. This line of thinking makes sense.

    9. 260-266] Since my good fortune has changed her mind, it’s high time for me to creep into my grave. What am I doing here, living without joy? I’m able to find no gladness in my heart. I can say little without people deciding that I’m raving. Since I can grasp nothing other than sorrow, I’m now ready for my tomb.

      I wonder if Hoccleve's Complaint reached the kind of people who would have ridiculed him. Perhaps this story would help them see the damage that out-casting can do to a person. If there was someone who had compassion toward Hoccleve, he wouldn't feel this way.

    10. 225-231] If someone falls into drunkenness once, will they remain in that state for ever more? No, even though someone drinks to excess, so much that he cannot speak or walk, and his wits are almost taken from him and buried in the bottom of the cup, afterwards he comes to himself again — otherwise things would be difficult. [232-238] Just so, though my mind has been a pilgrim and travelled far from here, he returned again. God emptied me of this harmful poison which had infected and maddened my brain. See how the most excellent and merciful doctor gives medicine to the sick at their time of need and relieves them of their pain.

      Hoccleve makes an amazing point that people shouldn't be obliterated for one action they took in life.

    11. Thus the best test is by conversation.

      Exactly what I said earlier.

    12. By tasting a fruit you can truly know and identify what it is, there is no other proof: everyone knows that well as far as I can see. Just so for those that think that my mind has left me. Still to this day there are many people who think I am not well: may they, as I pass by them, taste and assay if that be true or not.

      I feel as though what Hoccleve is trying to say is that one can't judge someone truly until they get to know them.

    13. But then I thought on the other side of things: ‘If I’m not seen among the crowds, people will think that I hide my head and am worse than I am, that’s the truth.’ O Lord, my spirit was so restless, I sought rest and I did not find it, yet trouble was always ready at hand.

      Hoccleve literally can not win in this situation. No matter what he does, people are going to dislike him for his differences.

    14. I am a great fool to beat these streets like this every day and to work doggedly and sweat indoors and outdoors, in order to earn nothing but restlessness and misery, since I am fallen out of all good fortune and grace

      "Why try when I'll just be ridiculed for it?"

    15. Since I have recovered, I have very often had cause to be angry and impatient, at times where I have born it gently and patiently, suffering wrong and offence to be done to me but not answering back and keeping quiet, in case that people would judge me and say, ‘See how this man has become afflicted once more.’

      The violence mentioned in the beginning was simply Hoccleve getting angry when people still don't accept him despite him acting the same as them. My former notes that mention DID were completely off base. Hoccleve doesn't seem to have anything "wrong" with him unless one counts being neurodivergent as such.

    16. If I knew how, I would willingly do the right thin

      Hoccleve mentions several times that if he knew how to "fix" himself then he gladly would. This makes me feel incredibly sad.

    17. I often leapt up to get this mirror, thinking, ‘If I look in company in the same way as I look now, no fault of a suspect look may appear in my face. I’m sure that if I go on adopting this expression and this behaviour, there will be nothing to object to, at least for those who have reasonable ideas in their heads.

      He tries so hard to be accepted by people only to be out-casted. No wonder he has such a bleak outlook on life.

    18. struggled anxiously to fake my expression, behaviour and look, because people spoke about me with such amazement and I shook for very shame and fear

      This heavily reminds me of how people stim or twitch and are ridiculed for it.

    19. 141-147] And I considered this carefully, and also understood well that whatever I might answer or reply, they would not have considered it worth anything. Because of that, as if I had lost my tongue’s key, I kept myself hidden away and went on my way, drooping and dejected, and completely overcome with woe. It seemed to me that I had little reason to be happy

      Rather than creating a space that's accepting of people who are different, Hoccleve was ridiculed for "socially unacceptable" behaviors. The harassments created from his mannerisms lead him to a depression. This seems like a logical course of events.

    20. it’s wise to dread a coming fall.

      "Nothing good lasts forever." Hoccleve seems to insist that everything will fall to despair one way or another. He seemingly puts all of his faith in God and insists that his illness has been cured, but his depressed state of mind says otherwise. Perhaps Hoccleve is deluding himself in order to cope with the remains of his illness.

    21. but in the end He smites.

      Similar to the beginning of the story, Hoccleve's despair (potentially due to the mental illness despite it being "cured?") extends to every being - even one he praised several paragraphs ago.

    22. that madness

      The mental illness.

    23. Thanks be to God that it did not happen as they predicted.

      Hoccleve has turned from resenting God to praising him for the help he seemingly gave Hoccleve. Hoccleve has no other ideas what could have helped him, so he let's all of the reasons/ problems be explained by a higher power.

    24. Lots of people spoke like this and said about me, ‘Although his violent sickness has receded and passed from him for the time being, it will return, especially at the age he is now’ and then my face began to burn for hurt and fear. Those words reached my ear without them realising.

      This definitely sounds like DID to me. Hoccleve is upset that people think this way of him and he seems to barely recall acting violent. Prior to this he doesn't mention being violent, only depressed and despaired.

    25. I heard many a person living near me blame me and find fault with me.

      The idea that people let their mental or chronic illnesses overtake them is still prevalent today. Many people face this same discrimination now in 2021.

    26. I saw the faces of those who used to invite me into their company fall and grow pale. They turned their heads away when I met them, as if they did not see me.

      This feels as though those people knew what they did was wrong and they can't bare to look at him or apologize.

    27. [64-70] For even though my mind had come home again, people would not understand or accept it. They disdained to deal with me: I was thought to be a disorderly person and thus ignored. All my old friendships were shaken off: no one wanted to make conversation with me.

      Everyone thought he was faking his illness instead of actually having it. That or people associated him so much with his illness that, even though he was better, they still thought of him as that other person.

    28. But although the main part of my memory took a break for a while, yet the Lord of Virtue, the King of Glory, through His high power and merciful grace, made it return to the place from where it came, which happened exactly five years ago on All Saints’ Day*, neither more nor less.

      This sounds vaguely like someone who disassociated for five years - signs of DID before it was a diagnosable thing? Or perhaps he experienced trauma during this time and reverted back to the time before hand? I have so many questions.

    29. They promised pilgrimages for my health and undertook them themselves, some on horseback and some on foot — may God reward them for it — to get me my cure.

      His friends care about him! They go to find help for him.

    30. which threw and hurled me out of my own self.

      Disassociation or a change of character?

    31. As it pleases His goodness, Almighty God afflicts folks every day, as you can see, with loss of possessions and physical sickness, and He did not forget me among the others.

      "God is an unforgiving being that cares not for people" is what it sounds like he's saying. Very bitter - As someone with my own chronic illnesses, I understand that well.

    32. Grief so swelled around my heart and constantly bulged so painfully, more and more, that I absolutely had to come out with it. I thought I couldn’t keep it hidden any more nor block it up within me while I grow old and grey. And in order to prove that I was born of a woman, I burst out in the morning and thus began. Here my prologue ends and my complaint follows.

      This is incredibly sad. The depression overwhelms him so much that he can no longer take it alone, but obviously from the last annotated line, bad things happen when Hoccleve seeks help.

    33. The sun lost its strength and the dark shower poured right down on me and made me wallow in depression, so that my spirit had no desire to live, nor no delight.

      The way he says this indicates that his depression/ mental illness is something that was forced on him by an unknown being.

    34. the melancholic disease so troubled me.

      "Disease" = "Disability?" Melancholic: Boring, sadness without a cause

    35. however rich they are now, strong, vibrant, fresh or lively

      The quick repetition of these ideas of "wealth" and "livelihood" make it seem as though he's talking about something that happened to himself.

    36. However wealthy or lucky in life someone is, it will not last — they will lose it. Death will trample them down under foot: that will be everyone’s ending

      Everyone is equal in a morbid, depressing way. Nihilism?

    37. which had once been green and of vivid brightness, and had dyed them the colour of yellowness and thrown them down under foot, that change sank down to the very bottom of my heart.

      The leaves sound like they could be a metaphor for Hoccleve himself. He's also noticing the yellowing of the leaves in particular, which notes something negative rather than positive.

  2. Sep 2021
    1. how full of pleasure was our home.

      Was it actually full of pleasure? Was it sarcastic? Or did it only get bad after the fact?

    2. The young should always keep their heart in check, their inner kindlings cool, likewise they must keep their faces frosty, also the bubbling in their breast, though crowded with swarming sorrows.

      Love only brings bad things if it's dived into, therefore people need to be careful

    3. So it goes — never can I, in no wise, catch a break from my cracking cares, nor this unfolding tear that grasps me in this my entire life

      we can't be apart of our emotions, its something that makes us human

    4. I wander the ways all alone,

      wandering alone again, similar to the other reading

    5. can a home be devoid of joy?

      yes

    6. how many gut-wretched nights ground over me once I was a full-grown woman

      alluding to sexism?

    7. a map of miseries

      a lot of misfortunes

    1. Here the cash was a loan. Your friends were a loan. Anyone at all, a loan. Your family only ever a loan— And this whole foundation of the earth wastes away!” (106-1

      a society built upon wants and no regard for others crumbles

    2. Then one wisely regards this wall-stead, deliberates a darkened existence, aged in spirit, often remembering from afar many war-slaughterings, and speaks these word

      a new person is speaking

    3. War ravaged a bunch ferried along the forth-way, others a raptor ravished over lofty seas, this one the hoary wolf broke in its banes, the last a brother graveled in the ground, tears as war-mask.

      No one is left in this place, they've all gone to "greater things"

    4. “Therefore I cannot wonder across this world why my mind does not muster in the murk when I ponder pervading all the lives of humans, how suddenly they abandon their halls, proud princes and young. Right here in the middle it fumbles and falls every day

      Humans not feeling a connection to one another? The "hall" being the home of the princes and younguns

    5. Gulls ghost-call — I don’t know their tongue too well, much of their comfort weird

      finding some comfort in another living being

    6. a frigid fastness, hardly any fruits of the fold.

      wandering with no real purpose

    7. n some mead-hall, w

      is this a reference to norse religion where you get sent to valhalla? I might be dead wrong here, but it's just what I think of

    8. I shrouded my giver in dark earth and wended away worrisome,

      burying their parent?? "my giver" could be like life giver, in which case I think of a parent. Or!! It could be religious as the "giver" could be a god of some sort, thus they are pulling away from religion

    9. coffer

      "a strongbox or small chest for holding valuables" In this case it's metaphorical

    10. “Can a weary mind weather the shitstorm?

      I love this line for some reason. I don't want to say it feels "raw" but it feels something

    11. There’s now no one living to whom I dare mumble my mind’s understanding.

      This infers that they could have other people around them who don't understand them. That or the "whom I dar mumble my mind's understanding" is talking about things like sea animals and birds and such.

    12. bewail

      "express great regret or disappointment over something, to be bitter" similar to bemoan I suppose

    13. the lone-dweller anticipates some sign

      Humans need communication with someone or something, so when we are alone we look for it in places where there may be nothing

  3. Jan 2021
    1. No­­kept it to destroy us with. Mary, he has exposed us to some already. I know it­­I know it well. I saw it in a dozen faces after church. Ah, he wouldn't answer our nod of recognition­­he knew what he had been doing!"

      paranoia?

    2. "We­­we couldn't help it, Mary. It­­well it was ordered. ALL things are."

      I feel like he just cant think for himself like he's programmed or somethign

    3. es, he saw my deuces­­AND with a straight flush, and by rights the pot is his. And it shall be a jack­pot, too, if I can manage it. He disappointed me, but let that pass.'

      so he dissapointed you because he's more honest???

    4. But the Symbols are here, you bet!" and finishing up with cheers and a tiger for "Hadleyburg purity and our eighteen immortal representatives of it." Then Wingate, the saddler, got up and proposed cheers "for the cleanest man in town, the one solitary important citizen in it who didn't try to steal that money­­Edward Richards." They were given with great and moving heartiness; then somebod

      I'm honestly so confused right now

    5. Incorruptible

      wow

    6. to me; he was an honourable man, and he would be above that. If you will allow me to say it, I think his extra word 'VERY' stands explained: it is attributable to a defect of memory. I was the only man in the world who could furnish here any detail of the test­mark­­by HONOURABLE means. I have finished." There is nothing in the world like a persuasive speech to fuddle the mental apparatus and upset the convictions and debauch the emotions of

      why doesnt he just tell the truth? Like whats his reasoning for not telling it?

    7. o wear the belt as being the first dishonest blatherskite ever bred in this tow

      ironic because theyre all dishonest

    8. They obeyed, shaking their heads and grumbling angrily. The house was profoundly puzzled; it did not know what to do with this curious emergency.

      most people dont know what to do when caught in a lie

    9. In some cases light­headed people did not stop with planning to spend, they really spent­­on credit.

      I'm assuming this was part of the plan all along. This is why you dont count on your chickens before they hatch, you can only hypothesize

    10. d while they were at this work, which was difficult, their wives put in the night spending the money, which was easy.

      Go fuck yourself mark twain you sexist piece of shit

    11. That same Saturday evening the postman had delivered a letter to each of the other principal citizens­­nineteen letters in all. No two of the envelopes were alike, and no two of the superscriptions were in the same hand, but the letters inside were just like each other in every detail but one. They were exact copies of the letter received by Richards­­ handwriting and all­­and were all signed by Stephenson, but in place of Richards's name each receiver's own name appeared.

      I fucking knew it

    12. Meantime Mary had spent six thousand dollars on a new house for herself and a pair of slippers for her pastor, and then had fallen peacefully to res

      I'm assuming this is figurative. Also this sounds vaguely sexist? Like as if the woman is the one who's going to have frivoulous wants and stuff while the husband is a "good natured" person. On the other hand it seems the oppostie with all the other mysterious couples.

    13. it; that he thus saved Goodson from marrying the tainted girl;

      Wow that's kinda fucked up. When was this written? Was mark twain always this racist or is this another way for him to show that these people aren't actually good?

    14. Thereafter, during a stretch of two exhausting hours, he was busy saving Goodson's life. He saved it in all kinds of difficult and perilous ways. In every case he got it saved satisfactorily up to a certain point; then, just as he was beginning to get well persuaded that it had really happened, a troublesome detail would turn up which made the whole thing impossible. As in the matter of drowning, for instance. In that case he had swum out and tugged Goodson ashore in an unconscious state with a great crowd looking on and applauding, but when he had got it all thought out and was just beginning to remember all about it, a whole swarm of disqualifying details arrived on the ground: the town would have known of the circumstance, Mary would have known of it, it would glare like a limelight in his own memory instead of being an inconspicuous service which he had possibly rendered "without knowing its full value." And at this point he remembered that he couldn't swim anyway

      I bet what it actually is is that Goodson thought Edward would clear his name after death or that he wants Edward to clear his name. He has a choice: clear his kind of friend's name and take the money, being shunned by everyone in the kinda terrible place, or stay silent about it and let the place fester more and more.

    15. How did it happen that RICHARDS'S name remained in Stephenson's mind as indicating the right man, and not some other man's name? That looked good. Yes, that looked very good.

      Feels like he's convincing himself of his own lie at this point.

    16. The couple lay awake the most of the night, Mary happy and busy, Edward busy, but not so happy. Mary was planning what she would do with the money. Edward was trying to recall that service. At first his conscience was sore on account of the lie he had told Mary­­if it was a lie. After much reflection­­suppose it WAS a lie? What then? Was it such a great matter

      Is he having bad memory? Convincing himself that he did do the man a service when he didn't? I think this is supposed to be a mystery but I am confused.

    17. Two or three hours later his wife got wearily up and was going away to bed without a good­night­­custom now­­

      Why the fuck is their marriage going that poorly over this one thing?

    18. "Oh, DON'T! What horrible thing are you mulling in your mind? Put it away from you, for God's sake!" But that question was wrung from those men again the next night­­and got the same retort. But weaker

      greed overtaking people? The thought that they all know the person who should have had the money was dead therefore they know nothing will happen to that money. What if they just use the money for the town? Would that be such a problem?

    19. "You were thinking, if a body could only guess out WHAT THE REMARK WAS that Goodson made to the stranger."

      I think this was the plan all along. but again, why is he so fucking hellbent on ruining their artificial honesty?

    20. It is a mean town, a hard, stingy town, and hasn't a virtue in the world but this honesty it is so celebrated for and so conceited about;

      How do you teach actual honesty? Does it have to do with the pride tied into it

    21. ainst every possible temptation, and so it's ARTIFICIAL honesty, and weak as water when temptation comes, as we have seen this night. G

      thought so

    22. Oh, certainly, I know all that; but if you had only stopped to think, you would have seen that you COULDN'T find the right man, because he is in his grave, and hasn't left chick nor child nor relation behind him; and as long as the money went to somebody that awfully needed it, and nobody would be hurt by it, and­­and­­"

      ah now the characters get to play the blame game

    23. Meantime Coxh

      different people now

    24. d us not into t . . . but­­but­­we are so poor, so poor! . . . Lead us not into . . . Ah, who would be hurt by it?­­and no one would ever know . . . Lead us . . . " The voice died out in mumblings. After a little she glanced up and muttered in a half­ frightened, half­glad way­­ "He is gone! But, oh dear, he may be too late­­too late . . . Maybe not­­maybe there is still time." She rose and stood thinking, nervously clasping and unclasping her hands. A slight shudder shook her frame, and she said, out ofa dry throat, "God forgive me­­it's awful to think such things­­but . . . Lord, how we are made­­how strangely we are made

      human greed is an interesting yet somehow a boring topic to me now because its always painted in a terrible light. Are they really in the wrong for wanting to keep that money?

    25. somnambulist

      sleepwalker

    26. ecause everybody thinks it was Goodson.

      I wonder if everyone thinks it was him

    27. I can explain it. It's another confession. When the thing was new and hot, and the town made a plan to ride him on a rail, my conscience hurt me so that I couldn't stand it, and I went privately and gave him notice, and he got out of the town and stayed out till it was safe to come back." "Edward! If the town had found it out­­" "DON'T! It scares me yet, to think of it. I repented of it the minute it was done; and I was even afraid to tell you lest your face might betray it to somebody. I didn't sleep any that night, for worrying. But after a few days I saw that no one was going to suspect me, and after that I got to feeling glad I

      So the town isn't really a good town - it's similar to a utopia. It seems good on the outside but on the inside it's crawling with rumors and cliquey people who aren't kind to each other. Honesty =/= kindness. And from this passage we can see that Edward isn't the most "honest" person either because he didn't help his friend. Ah, I kind of understand that to a lesser extent.

    28. self once more­­honest, narrow, self­righteous, and stingy."

      are these always synonymous with each other?

    29. Yes, Mary, and that is everything. Don't mind my talk­­it's just a moment's irritation and doesn't mean anything. Kiss me­­there, it's all gone now, and I am not complaining any more. What have you been getting? What's in the sack?"

      this part feels so rushed. It oversimplifies things a lot

    30. an honest town, an incorruptible town

      repeated lines from before: foreshadow or irony?

    31. ; and to one of her citizens­­a citizen of Hadleyburg­­I am especially grateful for a great kindness done me a year or two ago.

      Lies? Why be grateful if he's actually vengeful

    32. "Mercy on us, and the door not locked!"

      it seems to be a stylistic choiice- only focusing on one person's speech?

    33. No, he was gone to Brixton, and might not return before morning.

      I find it interesting that th woman doesn't have a voice in this scene, it's just the narrorator talking. Why is that? Sexism? Stylistic? Does it appear throughout the rest of the text with other genders?

    34. Still, it would have been well to make an exception in this one's case, for he was a bitter man, and revengeful. All through his wanderings during a whole year he kept his injury in mind, and gave all his leisure moments to trying to invent a compensating satisfaction for it. He contrived many plans, and all of them were good, but none of them was quite sweeping enough: the poorest of them would hurt a great many individuals, but what he wanted was a plan which would comprehend the entire town, and not let so much as one person escape unhurt. At last he had a fortunate idea, and when it fell into his brain it lit up his whole head with an evil joy. He began to form a plan at once, saying to himself "That is the thing to do­­I will corrupt the town."

      do we get to find out this ass's reasoning or what? Why is he so bitter and vengeful? Was he called unhonest or something?

    35. Hadleyburg

      Oh so it's a town

    Annotators

  4. Feb 2020
    1. At fifteen, appearances were mending; she began to curl her hair and long for balls; h

      gross. "appearances were mending" Why does it matter?

    2. Her situation in life, the character of her father and mother, her own person and disposition, were all equally against her.

      Why tho

  5. Nov 2019
    1. but I struggle to discern what D’Arcy tried to do with it.

      SAME. I'm more confused about what his intent was.

    2. In undeath, Mrs. Dubois gets reunited with her long-death husband, while Gibbons gets assaulted for his similar conversion.

      racism

    3. plays out like cheesy romance story.

      thank you for pointing this out, it is so so important

    4. “altitude” constructs Gibbons as a large, formidable figure despite being a little boy in actuality

      good catch

    5. responds by using physical force to overpower and demean Gibbons.

      Ah, yes, the frail toxic masculinity is strong with this one.

    6. further belittles Gibbons and distinguishes him as “other” and lesser than his white aggressors.

      YES

    7. This imagery reminds me of halos—as seen above Christian religious figures—yet it seems to increase Mr. Personne’s unrest.

      I find it interesting that it reminds you of halos and I wonder if that was the author's intent.

    8. When Mr. Personne decides that Anthony Gibbons is useless to him, he tries, repeatedly, to drown the young African captive in the ocean.

      From my understanding, Anthony Gibbons isn't who the young child is, but rather someone else who comes up later in the story.

    9. Black immortality, such as the strange survival of Anthony Gibbons in the beginning of the story, is depicted as frightening, while the immortality of white people is seen as significantly more benevolent.

      I find it interesting that you point out the divide here. It's an extremely good point.

  6. Oct 2019
    1. arguably more important than them to the American story.

      I disagree. There are a lot of things you're overlooking here. I can't even argue that it's more important in a historical point. there's a lot of shit in lgbt+ history that gets swept under the rug because people like you don't think it's important. "Song of Myself" helped to solidify, at the very least, that not everyone is straight.

    2. is canonized not because of its symbolism, elegance or style, but because of its sheer impact on a society.

      This... is true and I never realized it

    3. First off, let me use this platform to argue my case for Captain Underpants worthy place in the canon of American Literature. JUST KIDDING.

      Well, the canon is a bunch of bs anyway so why not?

    4. Yes, all that self-important pandering could be reduced to seven crude words- sorry Emerson.

      I mean, in a way, you aren't wrong.

    1. he vows to try and buy him from the trade to free him again.

      I actually took that as him just saying that to certain people. He did say he was looking at one of them, but that has a few different inferences. We also have to take into consideration that he gave Madison the files with the intent he would break free using them.

    2. inevitable acrobatics,

      But why is it inevitable? Because of the time period? Because of the suspense? I could argue with you heavily on why it isn't inevitable.

    3. Convoluted, twisted, mysterious.

      Twisted and mysterious, yes, but is it truly convoluted?

    4. I’m going to be honest, I don’t really understand this blog post, but like everything I do in life, let’s take a ride down confusion lane, shall we?

      Lowkey sounds like someone I know.

  7. Sep 2019
    1. All the story does is reiterate the societal bounds that women and minority groups have been trying to break.

      I really want to disagree with this because for part of the story, Unca Eliza seems to make decisions based on her own will, but in the end she falls victim to male wants and becomes the perfect submissive doll that women are expected to be.

    2. every action they both take is motivated by the pursuit of a man.

      I am so happy someone else noticed this.

    3. reads like a male colonialist’s wet dream.

      I love this description. Only in a male colonialist's wet dream would a native american princess flip her beliefs on a dime for you.

    4. examined through a feminist lens, it becomes clear that there is nothing remotely feminist about it.

      I noticed that when I thought about it! At first it felt like it was a feminist story but after getting to the middle of it, I truly was dismayed to find how unfeminist it was.

    1. They mourned (with their black faces) for their own losses, yet triumphed and rejoiced in their inhumane, and many times devilish cruelty to the English.

      The english did the same thing to the native americans

    1. Then I took it of the child, and eat it myself, and savory it was to my taste.

      Just because the child isn't savoring it doesn't mean you have the right to take it from them.

    1. yelping

      yelping instead of yelling

    2. But I knew that He laid upon me less than I deserved

      Doubts toward her god. Also, I feel like her egotisticalness is peaking through.

    3. which was that I desired

      Why bring this up? Let's pretend for a moment that you aren't a "prisoner" as you've made yourself out to be but part of their tribe. They wouldn't just go off on a detour that would take time and food that didn't need to be wasted.

    4. papoose

      This means child

    1. through the good providence of God, I had a comfortable lodging that night.

      This person makes me so irritated. If god wanted you to have a good nights sleep and rest easy, wouldn't he have made it so you could sleep in the first person's tent? You're sleeping well because these people you call savages are actually being nice to you.

    2. because their insolency grew worse

      I find it interesting she uses the word "insolence" here because that insinuates she's on a higher level or equal level to her. This isn't the case. She's their captive, so wouldn't she be the one being insolent?

    1. Being very faint I asked my mistress to give me one spoonful of the meal, but she would not give me a taste.

      I thought the person who "owned" her was male before? Did she switch hands?

    2. Jehu

      Biblical figure that brought down the king of Israel for leading the people to sin. (according to wikipedia)

    1. pagans (now merciless enemies)

      Were they not enemies prior? What makes them enemies now.

    2. with my poor sick babe in my lap.

      She keeps mentioning her "poor sick babe." Does she repeatedly say this because she wants to drive home how she's being treated? Is it a way for her to make them look more horrible?

    1. but God was with me in a wonderful manner, carrying me along, and bearing up my spirit, that it did not quite fail.

      How is God with you if you're in this situation? Is God simply a symbol for your hope?

    1. By doing so, we have whittled early American literature down to make our own, new anthology that is meant to be a free resource for all.

      How did you decide what to put in it? How do you whittle down something so vast that it doesn't have a container? What pieces of American Literature did you whittle down, because surely there is only a lake you could have chosen from rather than the oceans of work that there actually is.

    2. We hope that future PSU English students will feel inspired to contribute to, annotate, and continue this project, constantly refining, remixing, and reworking it going forward.

      What a world we live in now, where we can constantly edit one book online.

    3. it moves beyond the voices of old white men talking about even older white men.

      Good. But I must raise a question: this anthology moves beyond the voices of old white men, but the majority of people who worked on this anthology are still white themselves, no?

    4. Who determines what counts as American literature?

      At the moment, it's elitist old white men, but it doesn't have to be that way and it really shouldn't be.

    1. it should come as no surprise that Mohawks steadfastly remained Mohawks, that Aleuts did not become Chickasaws, that Hopis persisted as Hopis, and that all regarded the suggestion that they do otherwise as a lunacy to be politely ignored.

      Good. Europeans suck anyway cause they refuse to acknowledge differences.

    2. ce. On the other hand, there is no such thing as "Native American litera- ture," though it may yet, someday, come into b

      Well, in that case, there is no such thing as American Literature either It's all a figment of our imaginations.

  8. Aug 2019
    1. the Indians, who should have been great, have become a little people.

      Why such a huge punishment for being curious? Don't humans progress by being curious? Why are deities always portrayed to be cruel or fed up with simple things humans do? People make mistakes and you have to forgive them.

    2. fain

      With pleasure, gladly

    3. through that boy his mother and every one had food and to spare.

      Are they making him do all the work? Does he not tire at all?

    4. ere

      before, in the sense of time

    5. nd she arose and went her way into the woods and up the mountain, and was seen on earth no more.

      Did she... take the kid with her? Did he die? What happened to the little one?