DuBois-vs-Washington

In writing this, I hope I have not overlooked the broader picture of Washington's dream. Overall, I do not think that W.E.B. Du Bois questions Booker T. Washington's work (Up Fro Slavery: An Auto Biography) as being a heralded work of literature. There are certain things that stand out in DuBois's piece that show some disagreement towards Washington, however. For some reason, I believe that although Du Bois seems to look at Washington as a colleague, it seems like the overall theme of Du Bois's peice was about Washington's alienation of the common Southern Negro. This may not be the case, but I had this feeling during Du Bois's piece that the majority of what Washington said was adored by the higher-ups and looked down upon by the middle to lower class. Booker T. Washingon had all these offers from the wealthy to come help them, when conversely, the common people felt alienated by him.

The first major thing that Du Bois disagrees with is the notion that Negroes should stay clear from voting and politics. The other two are their civil rights and the higher education of the youth. Booker T. Washington did have a method to his madness, however, by forgoing these three freedoms in the persuit of the advancement of the South. Indeed, the advancement of the South, technologically, industially, and economically was a major issue needing to be accomplished, the overall issue was that according the Du Bois, Washington was willing to give up too much freedom for the advancement of the South. The ironic thing about Washington's speech was that if things were to go as followed, it would almost be certain that the South would end up being like it was before the Civil War. What good is having your freedom when you don't have the right to vote, civil rights, and the opprotunity for higher education. To me, as well as Du Bois, I think that although Washington had the right idea for the "big picture", his one track mind made the advancement of the South a more important issue that the advancement of the American Negro.

A very interesting topic I came across in Du Bois's work is the comparison of Booker T. Washington to Socrates. On page 885, Dubois questions what Socrates and Saint Francis of Assisi would say to Washington's speech. Socrates looked down upon the people ruling themselves. He saw the population as ignorant. What is eerie about this comparison is, it is almost as if Du Bois is accusing Washington of being against his own people.

Regionalism-"The Day Before Easter"

A peaceful serenity combated an otherwise bustling and chaotic neighborhood. Snow was falling with big flakes, the kind that was perfect for little children running around, heads up, and mouth open, catching them with their tongues. Anthony (“Antek” to his grandfather) strolled closely by his grandfather’s hip. Together, they strolled through Old Polonia, one of many selective neighborhoods throughout the city with a predominately polish population. Both were on their way to the Broadway Market to pick up supplies and groceries for an Easter celebration like none other Antek and his little brother of four had ever experienced. As they reached the innards of the Market, the smell of polish sausage, fresh chicken, fish, and sauerkraut overwhelmed the nostrils of little Antek.
As Antek and Grandpa Joe reached home, both were greeted by Grandma, Mom, Dad, Brian. Since Easter was tomorrow, no one really had the patience to do much cooking on account of what was to be done the next day. The consensus among the adults were to order a pizza and buffalo style chicken wings to the thorough enjoyment of Antek and Brian.
On the way to pick up the food, Antek and Brian, sitting in his booster seat, sat in the back seat admiring the passing sites on French Road including a Jubilee Super Market (which Grandpa Joe and Grandma went to all the time but was shunned to the strong, holiday tradition of going to the Broadway Market), the exact K-Mart that little Antek and Brian got all their toys, and a Mighty Taco which recently opened up. The shining, bright lights excited Antek, while the serenity of a car right put Brian right to sleep.
The smell of the pizzeria made Antek’s mouth water. With Grandpa Joe in the car with a slumbering Brian, Antek admired the pictures of Gilbert Perrault, Jim Kelly, Joe Ferguson, Danny Gare, and aerial shots of Pilot Field and Rich Stadium. Standing on his tip-toes with his hands on the counter with only from his eyes up exposed, Antek wondered what it was like to be in the hustle and bustle of the pizzeria.
As Antek laid with Brian in Grandpa Joe’s bed, while the adults hid the Easter Eggs, he was excited to think about what the Easter Bunny brought for him. He wondered if the Easter Bunny know Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. How did the Easter Bunny get from house to house? As the young ones drifted off to sleep, the elders sat quietly in the living room watching Irv Wienstien deliver the news, and Tom Jolls give the weather on WKBW, dreading the certain seven o’ clock wake up call they would get from little Antek and Brian.

Henry James/Edith Wharton

It was interesting to read Henry James's work "The Art of Fiction." It was a little difficult, but in any event, I took it as a nineteenth century how-to book on a subject which was largely frown upon for many years prior. It took a couple pages to realize that James was in fact, pro-fiction. For any person reading a manual about how to fix something (for argument's sake I will use a car), one would not use a manual for a '79 Ford to fix a 2004. Times change, text books change, but there are numerous things I pulled from "The Art of Fiction" that I whole heartedly agree with. Fiction should be looked at as an art form. Fiction writers should be in the same boat as painters are to painting, or musicians are to an orchestra. Fiction writing is without a shadow of a doubt, a work of art. Writers are always tinkering with their piece hardly ever, sometimes never satisfied with what they write. Fiction should also be about personal experience as well. Although fiction is a work that deals with things that have never happened in reality, fiction still needs a muse to become effective. Fictionalizing real events are what many of the world's greatest works are based upon. Finally, the quote that grabbed my attention the most was on page 556. "The 'ending' of a novel is, for many persons, like that of a good dinner, a course of dessert and ices..." This quote couldn't have rang truer. The ending of a work of fiction is what pulls every loose end together. Since the ending (dessert), is what the reader looks most forward to, a bad ending can ruin the whole story.

James's piece applies greatly to Emily Wharton's work, "Souls Belated". Wharton does a tremendous job using everyday occurances from the eyes of characters like Lydia and Gammet. Both have varying views on how the proper way to live life. There is certainly a romance between the two, but conflict definately arises. These varying views serve as a force that could potentially pull the two away from each other. This case happens every day in modern terms as it could have happened in Wharton's time. I must apologize for the approaching cliche, but the ending was typically the sweetest part of the story. We were lead on for roughly 90% of the story to believe that the relationship between Lydia and Gammet would never work. As we read on, even up until the fourth to last paragraph on the last page (865) it seemed as if the inevitable were to happen. When Gammet finally came to grips with having to be without Lydia, who was already on the wharf awaiting departure, had second thoughts and rushed off the boat to ultimately wed Gammet. This turn, in my eyes, is what makes "Souls Belated" such a powerful work, and ultimately, such an effective fictional story.