Wednesday, April 1, 2015

HF Critical Lens Close Reading- Race/Cultural Studies Lens

"Oh, yes, this is a wonderful govment, wonderful.  Why, looky here. There was a free n----- there from Ohio—a mulatter, most as white as a white man.  He had the whitest shirt on you ever see, too, and the shiniest hat; and there ain't a man in that town that's got as fine clothes as what he had; and he had a gold watch and chain, and a silver-headed cane—the awfulest old gray-headed nabob in the State.  And what do you think?  They said he was a p'fessor in a college, and could talk all kinds of languages, and knowed everything.  And that ain't the wust. They said he could vote when he was at home.  Well, that let me out. Thinks I, what is the country a-coming to?  It was 'lection day, and I was just about to go and vote myself if I warn't too drunk to get there; but when they told me there was a State in this country where they'd let that n----- vote, I drawed out.  I says I'll never vote agin.  Them's the very words I said; they all heard me; and the country may rot for all me—I'll never vote agin as long as I live.  And to see the cool way of that n-----—why, he wouldn't a give me the road if I hadn't shoved him out o' the way.  I says to the people, why ain't this n---- put up at auction and sold?—that's what I want to know.  And what do you reckon they said? Why, they said he couldn't be sold till he'd been in the State six months, and he hadn't been there that long yet.  There, now—that's a specimen.  They call that a govment that can't sell a free n----- till he's been in the State six months.  Here's a govment that calls itself a govment, and lets on to be a govment, and thinks it is a govment, and yet's got to set stock-still for six whole months before it can take a hold of a prowling, thieving, infernal, white-shirted free n-----, and—"


   There happens to be a specific race in which Mark Twain focuses to in which discriminate and that is African Americans. The author seems to be comfortable enough to say the “n” word in the book and just this word itself is discriminatory. Besides this, there seems to have been quite some opinions on what people believed about black people and they didn’t support the direction the State was heading towards. What I mean by direction is that the Country was making a move into letting black people vote and a lot of folks were not happy with this action being performed. One example of someone who was not happy by this in the book was Pap. He was angry at the government and one black men from Ohio that was able to vote. In chapter 6, page 24 Pap pours out his anger at a black male because there was a state that will allow this men to vote and Pap stated that due to this, “I’ll never vote again.” This shows what a huge impact black males having the right to vote cause Pap to take into action. He asks himself also, “What is the country a-coming to?” He seems to be also quite disappointed with the country while at the same time being furious about the decisions that are being made. I feel like a lot of other people of Paps generation may feel the same way towards black men voting back in the day. One reason why I say this it’s because if one person has an opinion or an idea, guaranteed that someone else has the same opinion. Another reason why other people may agree with Paps is that black people were not treated equally before so therefore were treated bad and did not support any kind of positive moment that will help black people. It also seems that Pap is pretty angry at the fact that the black men may be better than his ownself and has a type of jealousy. “There ain't a man in that town that's got as fine clothes as what he had; and he had a gold watch and chain, and a silver-headed cane,” said Pap. This black men seems to have better gear than that of Pap’s and seems furious to know this fact. In addition, there’s another statement that Pap said in which other people again may think similar. “I says to the people, why ain't this n---- put up at auction and sold?” he said , this may be what a lot of other people may also say by knowing what’s going on about this black men. In conclusion it just seems that Pap is racist that’s for sure and gets you thinking on the society that use to be like and what people’s reaction were being taken towards certain actions.

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