Friday, July 21, 2017

The Importance of Gothic Literature and Self-Examination


       In the musical Hamilton, when Aaron Burr is asked by Alexander Hamilton to write essays defending the U.S. Constitution, Burr replies, “The Constitution’s a mess. . . It’s full of contradictions” (Hamilton).  This statement sums up American pretty well.  Since the beginning, America has vacillated between what it wants to be and what it actually is.  The Puritans first came here because they wanted to practice their own religion without persecution, and then promptly persecuted anyone who didn’t follow their religious beliefs.  The Founding Fathers espoused the importance of equality and freedom, yet at the same time, they personally enslaved hundreds of people.  During the Civil War, Northerners and abolitionists fought to end slavery, yet were typically not welcoming  to freed slaves who lived in their cities.  The Statue of Liberty states, “Give me your "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,  The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,” (Lazarus)  yet throughout the 20th and 21st century, America has made would-be immigrants pass stringent tests in order to gain admittance into the country.  
        A huge part of the problem with American history is that America doesn’t want to examine itself too closely, because if we do, we might have to confront these contradictions.  Rather than confront them head on and understand them for what they are, it’s much easier - it’s much more American - to simply avoid them in our quest to show America’s greatness.  “We’re awesome,” Americans want to say.  “Pay no attention to those ugly parts.  That’s not really who we are!”  Toni Morrison addresses this in her book Playing In The Dark. Rather than confront the ugliness of racism, many white writers simply ignore the topic altogether. 
       This is where American Gothic literature comes into play.  Rather than skimming over the unpleasantries and focusing on the uplifting and optimistic, Gothic literature peels back the layers to show the dark underbelly of American society.  It forces readers to take a good, hard look at themselves and squirm uncomfortably at the truths they see reflected there.   Stories like Erdich’s “Saint Marie” force readers to deal with the truths of how Native Americans were treated, as well as how religion can be used to punish and corrupt.  These are not comfortable truths, but they are truths that must be dealt with.  
       In order to move forward and fulfill the promise that America was founded on, Americans have to be willing to be truthful about the past.  It is not good enough to skim over the uncomfortable bits, or to apologetically wring our hands about the way things used to be.  We have to be willing to examine why they used to be this way, as well as how they affect us in the present.  Gothic literature is one way to make this self-examination happen. 




Works Cited
Erdrich, Louise. "Saint Marie." Atlantic Mar. 1984: n. pag. Web.
Hamilton: An American Musical. By Lin Manuel Miranda. Broadway, New York City. 2016.       
       Performance.
Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl. Dover Thrift Edition ed. Mineola, New York: 
       Dover Publications, 2001. Nook E-Book.
Lazarus, Emma. The New Colossus. N.d. The Statue of Liberty, New York City. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. 
       pag. Print.

Morrison, Toni. Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination. New York: Vintage , a 
       Division of Random House, 2015. Print.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Which Is Better - Freedom Or Purpose?

Last week,  we looked at Haze’s search for a place to call home in Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood.   This week, we looked at a character fr...