Author Archives: David.R

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  1. I believe that the problems that Reverend Smith caused between the church and the clan, are meant to depict the issues with the European colonization. The scene in the novel that I felt showed this was when the egwugwu assembled to destroy the church in response to Enoch killing an ancestral spirit. During these events, Okwonko wished to respond to the church in an even more violent fashion. Rather than simply destroying the church, Okwonko wanted his clan to kill the Christians. Even though Okwonko wanted to kill the Christians, it was not mainly due to the disrespect that they showed to his culture. The main reason was to gain greater respect by the village. After his exile, Okwonko was looking for some way to redeem himself. I think that similarities can be drawn between Okwonko and European colonization. Both had ulterior motives for their actions. The reason for European colonization was not to simply spread Christianity. Some of the primary reasons for the colonization were economic and political. Just like Okwonko, the colonist justified their actions as something for the greater good even though their motives were most beneficial to themselves.

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A major connection that I see between The Island of Dr.Moreau and At the Mountains of Madness, is the perspective of the characters that are narrating the story. In The Island of Dr.Moreau, all the information is being given to the reader through the perspective of Prendick. By being told how Prendick feels about what is occurring in the novel such as the beast men and the interactions with Dr.Moreau, the reader receives a very biased perspective. However Prendick chooses to describe things is the way that we are forced to accept it. In At the mountains of Madness, the perspective is drastically different. Even though this is also a story that is being narrated in hindsight by the main character, we get a different experience than we did with Prendick. I believe the reason for this is the different characteristics of both Prendick and Dyer. In At the mountains of Madness, Dyer is a geologist and gives the reader a scientific perspective on what he has uncovered on his expedition. A lot of the information that is given by Dyer is not opinionated. By doing this, I think it leaves more things up to the perception of the reader.

The Dead Clue

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The snapshot I chose from “The Dead” was the speech that Gabriel gave after they had eaten dinner at the party. As Gabriel delivered the lengthy speech, the text stated “A hearty murmur of assent ran around the table. It shot through Gabriel’s mind that Miss Ivors was not there and that she had gone away discourteously: and he said with confidence in himself”. From the quote was see a newfound confidence that we had not seen from Gabriel up until this point. The question that I thought this moment helped to clarify was would the character Gabriel change during the story. It was clear from his very introduction of the story that Gabriel did not do very well in social settings. When his character entered the story, the first social interaction that he had with another character Lily was awkward and he invaded her personal space with questions about her love life which resulted in her being offended. Another poor social experience that he had at the party was with the character Miss Ivors. During his conversation with her, he was constantly defensive as she asked him questions about his culture and how he has a lack of interest in it. As she continues to interrogate him, he eventually loses is composure and tells her that he was sick of Ireland. From these two examples it was clear that there was a change in Gabriel’s character to the point where he was confident enough to deliver a speech to all the people who attended the party.

Evil in “Young Goodman Brown”

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In the short story “Young Goodman Brown”, the author Nathaniel Hawthorne frequently used the concept of evil to create suspense throughout the duration of the story. The most significant point in the story when Hawthorne does this is at the ceremony in the forest which appeared to be a witches Sabbath. At this point, with Goodman Brown and his wife Faith at the ceremony, the old man who I assume is the devil stated “Depending upon one another’s hearts, ye had still hoped that virtue were not all a dream! Now are ye undeceived! Evil is the nature of mankind. Evil must be your only happiness. Welcome again my children, to the communion of your race!”. The devil is basically saying that it is normal human nature to sin and find happiness in what you do without worrying about the repercussions of a higher power such as God. This point is emphasized by all the people that Goodman Brown knows at the ceremony such as Goody Cloyse, Deacon Gookin and his wife Faith. These people who he believed to be good Christians were embracing the devil in what he described as the communion of the human race.

I believe that the suspense that is created at this moment is whether or not Goodman Brown will turn towards the devil and evil, or keep his faith in his beliefs. With these people that he cared for and respected, at the ceremony, it became an easier choice for Goodman Brown to attend the ceremony. The thought of being with his wife was enough to make Goodman Brown betray his convictions. When his beliefs interfered with what he wanted, he chose to abandon them. In the beginning of his journey through the forest, Goodman Brown could not be persuaded by the devil to venture further into the depths of the forest. In the end, it was not the words of the devil that persuaded him, but rather the people around him that had succumbed to evil that changed his mind.