tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post1982409270284435704..comments2024-03-17T05:07:13.710-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: Machado de Assis, slavery, and slave-catching - not all of them liked being beatenAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-67616836729083612582011-12-07T12:55:25.853-06:002011-12-07T12:55:25.853-06:00Voltaire, definitely. There's a Machadian ref...Voltaire, definitely. There's a Machadian reference to Voltaire in today's missive.<br /><br />The ending of "Father versus Mother" is brutal, really, and rife with meaning. Very much worthy of Voltaire.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-31763312521105033822011-12-07T12:11:16.602-06:002011-12-07T12:11:16.602-06:00Machado de Assis read Voltaire, yes? Lines like &q...Machado de Assis read Voltaire, yes? Lines like "not all of them liked being beaten" strike me as being in the style of some of Voltaire's social commentary.<br /><br />~scott gf baileyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-12986480628546483312011-12-07T11:28:09.881-06:002011-12-07T11:28:09.881-06:00"Father versus Mother" had me thinking a..."Father versus Mother" had me thinking at first that the man was to fight with his wife. Then the pregnant slave appeared, and there's the story. I think slavery was put to "good use" in the story. But still the irony was biting, especially in the father's last words ("Not all babies have the luck to be born!"), which by extension could imply, "Not all men and women have the luck to be born free."Risehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17446964640160585194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-40979109393745230412011-12-06T22:35:33.570-06:002011-12-06T22:35:33.570-06:00there for a purpose - yeah, you're right. Eve...<i>there for a purpose</i> - yeah, you're right. Even if the novel's narrator is not so concerned with cruelty, Machado is.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-56022233254518267632011-12-06T22:16:36.411-06:002011-12-06T22:16:36.411-06:00I think you're right on target, saying that th...I think you're right on target, saying that the observation is more about human nature than about slavery. Bras Cubas can be an unpleasant person (Eugenia, the slave, several other casual examples) and so can other people. It's contagious, like smallpox, or like billiard balls that touch each other and transmit action. <br /><br />Still, I wouldn't discount the notion that the slavery is there for a purpose, the way the mild corruptions of the Catholic church are there in Dom Casmurro for a purpose.Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00251983804060081813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-16164107565867568352011-12-06T16:02:31.187-06:002011-12-06T16:02:31.187-06:00Not tangential. Right on target. I am just admit...Not tangential. Right on target. I am just admitting my literary conditioning (per your 4 steps), expecting any serious mention of slavery to be accompanied by a critique, as if every writer is Charles Chesnutt or Mark Twain, or every literary tradition is the same. Ridiculous!<br /><br /><i>The Awakening</i> is a perfect counter-example, and perhaps a rare one. The urban setting makes it a nice parallel with Machado - published in the same year as <i>Dom Casmurro</i>, too!<br /><br />By rare, I mean that not much Southern literature from the 19th century is still read at all, aside from Twain. I wonder what Lafcadio Hearn's New Orleans writing is like.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-44854712690061543692011-12-06T14:15:02.290-06:002011-12-06T14:15:02.290-06:00I think there are four (unless I've lost count...I think there are four (unless I've lost count) elements to this idea of readers and social criticism in novels:<br /><br />1. The narrator's/protagonist's position in re slavery,<br /><br />2. The author's position in re slavery,<br /><br />3. The reader's position in re slavery, and<br /><br />4. The reader's expectations of the author in re slavery.<br /><br />Maybe there are more angles. It's already too complex for me. Also, for "slavery," you can substitute any social evil you like. For example, I read Lawrence's <i>Women In Love</i> and toward the end of the book, a couple of men engage in an antisemitic conversation. I couldn't tell if only the characters were the antisemites or if Lawrence was also. My guess is that Lawrence was a casual antisemite. Last month I read Kate Chopin's <i>The Awakening</i>. Chopin lived in turn-of-the-century New Orleans and she was very aware of the racial status of every character. Anyone who was not white was identified as black, mulatto, quadroon or octoroon. Black children were referred to (by the narrator, not one of the characters) as "darkies." I found all of this discomfiting but I'm not sure how I want to react to it. Anyway, this is all tangential to your post, I think.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.com