I have always been fascinated by the many ways that literature influences our lives, but, as a literary scholar, I also know that influence is a very hard thing to prove. That’s why I find censorship to be interesting. When people censor a book, they do so because they assume that it can have an […]
Tag Archives: racism
Twain Was No Racist (Not Even Close)
“I hope that like Mark Twain, 100 years from now people will see my work and think, ‘Wow. That is actually pretty racist.’” –Tina Fey accepting the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor Thanks to a visiting lecturer in our Mark Twain series, I have a new understanding of Huckleberry Finn that is exciting me […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Heart of Darkness, Huckleberry Finn, Joseph Conrad, Mark Twain, segregation Comments closed
Is There a Price for Doing Evil?
In a dinner conversation with academic colleagues and novelist Rachel Kranz, we grappled with the question of whether those who commit atrocities pay a price for doing so. I came to the conclusion that it is a question that novelists and poets are sometimes better at answering than academics.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Mask of Evil", Bertolt Brecht, Evil, Nazis, Rachel Kranz, Suffering Comments closed
Defending Miss Watson
Many readers of Huckleberry Finn enjoy laughing at Miss Watson’s approach to teaching Huck. She tries to use the Bible to scare him into good behavior, insists that he sit still, and prohibits him from smoking and drinking. Romantics that we are, we make fun of her educational philosophy and find her a hypocrite, especially […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Class, Education, Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain, slavery Comments closed
Mockingbird, Powerful but Problematic
Harper Lee National Public Radio reminded me yesterday that this summer is the 50th anniversary of the publication of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. I have written a couple of times about the book, once talking about its importance to me growing up in the segregated south and once examining Malcolm Gladwell’s critique of […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Harper Lee, Malcolm Gladwell, Race, To Kill a Mockingbird Comments closed
Uncomfortable Books that Help Us Grow
Streep and Kline in Sophie’s Choice A recent survey of the Tea Party movement has revealed that the movement is overwhelmingly white, educated, middle class and conservative, and people are now studying what it all means. I love this post Ta-Tehisi Coates, a senior editor for The Atlantic. As occurs in the world of the […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Aruhdhati Roy, Diversity, Emily Bronte, God of Small Things, Human Stain, Native Son, Philip Roth, politics, Richard Wright, Sophie's Choice, Tea Party, William Styron, Wuthering Heights Comments closed
Satirizing the Intolerant
Daniel Defoe My daughter-in-law sent me a wonderful poem by Daniel Defoe, “A True Born Englishman,” posted by Andrew Sullivan in response to a Patrick Buchanan editorial. Buchanan’s column was one of those hateful “they’re taking our country away from us” pieces, and Sullivan rightly asks who this “us” is. As Sullivan’s translates it, Buchanan is […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "True Born Englishman", Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, Nationalism, Tom Jones Comments closed
A Slave Novel about Race Today
Harriet Tubman, inspiration for the heroine About our “One Maryland One Book” discussion at Leonardtown Library on Thursday, I’m sorry to report that (as expected) we didn’t pull in anyone other than our book group regulars. The good news is that that group appears as solid as ever and we had a very good conversation […]
Lifting Ev’ry Voice in Church
Let me end this series of posts concerning racism in America on an up note. This past Sunday I was singing in the Trinity Episcopal Church choir (in St. Mary’s City, Maryland) and we concluded the service with a rousing rendition of hymn 599, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also known as the black […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Episcopalian Church, James Weldon Johnson, Lift Every Voice and Sing, segregation Comments closed
