American Literature

The play was set in a house located in an isolated area which makes it uninviting and lonesome thus creating a gloomy atmosphere. The weather at that time was cold creating a feeling of dampness. and Tthe house, being in disarray, creates a feeling of unease.  The atmosphere was also tense because everybody was wary and uncomfortable being in a house where murder was just committed.

As a whole, the men in the play were patriarchal, believing that they concern themselves with important things whereas theand that women only care about the trifles. Mr. Hale in particular can be considered insecure since he answers the County Attorneys questions timidly. He is also easily distracted because he easily gets off topic. Mr. Peters on the other hand, despite being in command all the time, is easily intimidated by Mr. Henderson. This was made explicit by the way he assumed an official business stance when he asked Mr. Hale to explain what he witnessed  but. However, he was easily cut off by Mr. Henderson when he was defensively explaining why he was not able to insure a guard for the house the night before. Mr. Henderson is the type of person who considers himself important.  and He is always sure about what he thinks and believes. He does not hesitate to voice out his opinions since he thinks he is a man of great intelligence.

Including the story of Mrs. Peters cat is important since it shows us that people under extreme emotions are capable of hurting others. Extreme emotions can be triggered by events concerning loved ones. In the case of Mrs. Peters, it was her cat and for Mrs. Wright, it was her bird. It can be interpreted as a suggestionsuggests that everybody has an evil side and that Mrs. Wright, despite her good-natured background, is capable of murder.

The womens concern over the trifles points out that the little things people that concern themselvespeople, tell more about their emotional, psychological or financial state. It can actually hold abe of bigger greater importance if you want to know more about a certain person. The last line signifies how Mrs. Wright strangled her husband. It can be interpreted as a confirmation that Mrs. Wright did commit murder. It is ironic because the knitting patternknotting it was the most important clue of all and the men thought it was insignificant. The County Attorneys mocking statement about learning the knitting patternabout it, at the very least, added to the humor.

Minnie Foster was a timid type of person. She was quiet and sweet. Mrs. Hales testament to her good nature attests to her kindness. She loves music and she loves to sing. This was made obvious when Mrs. Hale said she was a choir member and a good singer. Minnie Fosters special affection towards the bird, however, signifies her loneliness. Her husband was a hard man, someone who keeps to himself. His need for isolation restricted made Minnies connection to society restricted. Her rRestrictinged social activities alienated her from her friends and made her feel alone. Having no kids and the lack of compassion from her husband drove her to the edge.

At the beginning of the play, it was already obvious that the women have stronger personalities than the men, making them capable of doing something out of character. Based on the same reason it came as no surprise when Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters hid the dead bird. However hiding the bird will only make them accomplices of a crime since they would be tampering with the evidence. Other than that, it will not correct the situation of Minnie Fosters unhappy life. Exposing the bird might shed light to M.innies Fosters  emotional state and could serve as a warning to other women. It could also break the social stigma that womens concerns are mere trifles and unimportant. For that, I believe what they did was wrong.

In As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner is concerned with the distance between what is said and what actually is, what is true and what can be expressed in language.  He captures this distance through the juxtaposition of curt, grammatically incorrect dialogue with the characters rich and brilliant inner lives, showing that, while the characters appear to be uneducated, they are actually deeply educated as to the trials, paradoxes and truths of life, truths which go deeper than the language they speak on the surface.  Faulkner demonstrates the characters education in life, and the incapacity of language to capture its depth, through several thematic reversals.  In the novel, the creation and living of life are shown to be actual death, while death is a channel for the articulation of life.  Likewise, intimacy is shown to be violence, and words denote silence or emptiness while silence is a vehicle for speaking profound words.  Faulkner uses these three thematic reversalsbirthdeath, intimacyviolence and wordssilence to express the irreconcilably paradoxical character of life, which cannot be captured in direct language.

Life and death are reversed in several ways.  First, death is not just a physical event but a mental condition that takes place within life.  Second, childbearing is a kind of personal death and pregnancy provokes a hostile, even homicidal reaction.  Third, death is conceived as the reason for living and a release from the mental death that is life.  As he watches his mother dying, Darl contemplates the meaning and nature of death.

When we enter, she turns her head and looks at us. She has been dead these ten days.  I suppose its having been a part of Anse for so long that she cannot even make that change, if change it be. I can remember how when I was young I believed death to be a phenomenon of the body now I know it to be merely a function of the mind--and that of the minds of the ones who suffer the bereavement. The nihilists say it is the end the fundamentalists, the beginning when in reality it is no more than a single tenant or family moving out of a tenement or a town. (Faulkner 368)

While he is presumably uneducated in an official sense, Darl understands the array of religious and philosophical positions on death, and feels intellectually capable enough to casually reject them.  Death is neither a beginning nor an end, but is as banal as a change of location.  The simplicity of Darls declaration reveals that his education in life goes deeper than that of the nihilists or the fundamentalists.  He can easily see the paradoxical fact that his mother has not died, yet she has been dead these ten days he perceives her death by looking into her eyes.  The death described by Darl here has two aspects it is an occurrence within the mind of the bereaved, suggesting that the true difference between a persons life and her death exists primarily in the minds and souls of people who care for her and it is a state of living death.  His confrontation with these two types of mental death leads Darl to the profound philosophical question of whether death is actually a change from life at all.  This question is stimulated by Addies relationship with Anse, who embodies a state of mental death when Addie recounts Anses blind desire for more children, she comments, he did not know that he was dead, then (464).  The man from whom she created life upon life always seemed dead to her, and his death left her spiritually dead as well.

It is only in death that Addie finds the voice with which to articulate her life.  There is nothing warm or redemptive in the recovery of this voice, however she uses it to recount her own living death.  Childbearing is the main source of this death, even leading her to homicidal impulses.  Then I found that I had Darl.  At first I would not believe it. Then I believed that I would kill Anse (464).  Anse, tricking her into pregnancy with love, has actually brought her hate and death, just as, in the old words of the Fall, Eve was tricked into dying by the promise of life.  The connection Addie draws between her own life and the Fall shows that she is, at least, biblically educated.  She continues her narration by recounting the thoughts of death heralded by Darls birth when Darl was born I asked Anse to promise to take me back to Jefferson when I died, because I knew that father had been right (464).  What her father had been right about was that the reason for living was to get ready to stay dead (461).  When she realizes that death via child-rearing is all that life has to offer, Addie hates her father for having ever planted me (461).  The creation of life makes her long for non-existence.

Addies daughter Dewey Dell also experiences the reversal of life and death through pregnancy, which kills her selfhood.  Her pregnancy is symbolized by dead walking in which she rushes upon the darkness, coming apart both physically and emotionally.  I feel my body, my bones and flesh beginning to part and open upon the alone, and the process of coming unalone is terrible (382).  Pregnancy, or the process of coming unalone, is like the process of dying.  Dewey Dell, like Addie, dies to herself when she finds that she is no longer an independent being.  She envisions the lives of people taking place within a womb of time (422), which dismembers them.  Here, Dewey Dell expands the deathlife reversal to include all of human existence to live is to be torn apart in a cruel womb.  Dewey Dell is portrayed throughout the novel, and especially here, as a kind of philosopher-poet, whose encounter with childbearing has given her privileged insight into the human condition.  While the words she speaks in dialogue reveal her lack of formal education, she, like Darl, understands lifes paradoxes.  Dewey Dells philosophical expansion of the lifedeath reversal is also evident in Darls living death.  What a shame Darl couldnt be to enjoy it too. But it is better so for him. This world is not his world this life his life (532).  Darls family experiences him as essentially dead, even though he is still alive.  His insanity means that he lives in a state of mental death, and so, ironically, his complex understanding of death as a function of the mind eventually comes to bear on his own existential crisis.

Just as death and life are reversed in As I Lay Dying, so are intimacy and violence, or love and hate.  Anses love for Addie leads her to hate him.  Moreover, it leads her to hate her children, which she expresses physically by beating them.  Her children are normally strangers to her, but when she beats them, she approaches intimacy with them.

I would look forward to the times when they faulted, so I could whip them. When the switch fell I could feel it upon my flesh when it welted and ridged it was my blood that ran, and I would think with each blow of the switch Now you are aware of me Now I am something in your secret and selfish life. (462)

Addies children are only hers when the violence she exercises against them causes my blood and their blood to flow as one stream (463).  When she beats them, there occurs a kind of transcendental identification wherein she feels what they are feeling and their blood becomes her blood.  Violence is a way for Addie to see her children as individuals and become an individual before them.  At the same time, it is the only way she can enact the fusion, the unaloneness, that she supposes ought to characterize the relationship between mother and child.  Addie is entirely aware of the complex dynamics of this situation, demonstrating that she, like her children, can describe and experience paradoxes with which a philosopher or academic might struggle.  Addie knows that, with her violence, she punishes her children for causing her loss of selfhood while simultaneously trying to achieve intimacy with them.  The tragedy of the novel is that she has this capacity for self-understanding, but cannot escape from her existential despair.

The only one of Addies children who seeks intimacy with her is Darl.  Cora suggests that, while Addie appeared to favor Jewel, it is really Darl who shares some degree of understanding with her.  It was Darl.  He come to the door and stood there, looking at his dying mother. I saw that with Jewel she had just been pretending, but that it was between her and Darl that the understanding and the true love was. He said nothing, just looking at her (354).  This is the only instance of true love in the novel, but even it is tempered by the living death brought on by Darls birth.  It is Darls silence that strikes Cora here.  The fact that he said nothing, just looking at her leads Cora to perceive the authenticity of his feelings.  He just stood and looked at his dying mother, his heart too full for words (355).  Here, the thematic reversal of intimacy and violence collapses intimacy becomes gentle, and Darls quiet, loving attitude stands in opposition to the violence of Addies death.  At the same time, in a general sense, the reversal is maintained, since throughout Darls childhood she met his attempts at intimacyfrom her misery at his presence in her womb to her pleasure in physically beating himwith violence and contempt.  Darls silent vigil shows that the deepest and truest things in life are beyond words, beyond education and philosophy the truth of his feelings, expressed in silence, is higher than any truth expressed in language.  In this scene, Faulkner suggests that the truest word that can be spoken is silence.  Moreover, it is here, as Darl silently reaches out to Addie, that the question of intimacy and violence converges with the reversal of silence and speech.

Words, according to Addie,
Dont ever fit even what they are trying to say at.  When Cash was born I knew that motherhood was invented by someone who had to have a word for it because the ones that had the children didnt care whether there was a word for it or not. I knew that fear was invented by someone that had never had the fear pride, who never had the pride. (463)

Words, with which education is primarily concerned, are poor and unstable representations of the deepest experiences in life. Addies experience reveals that motherhood is an irreconcilable paradox of intimacy and violence, of life and death, for which the term motherhood is, at best, an empty place-holder.  Words are necessary, she suggests, because the drive to express painful paradoxes is strong.  At the same time, people who believe that words actually represent reality are simply inexperienced, deluded.  For example, fear is a word the fear is an experience that words cannot capture.  It is the same with terms like sin and salvation. Cora prayed for me because she believed I was blind to sin, wanting me to kneel and pray too, because people to whom sin is just a matter of words, to them salvation is just words too (468).  Here, the relationship between words and experiences is much like the relationship between religious rituals and true faith only those who lack the latter can be fulfilled by the former.  The only truly fulfilling word in the novel is silence.  It is in silence that a connection with truth, other people, and the universe at large can be achieved.  When the philosopher-poet Dewey Dell runs into the darkness to escape the agony of coming unalone (382), her pain is assuaged not by words, but by the silence that surrounds her.

The themes of life and death, intimacy and violence, and words and silence are all reversed in As I Lay Dying, and through this reversal Faulkner tries to express those painful existential truths for which mere, direct words are inadequate.  On a broader level, he reveals the inadequacy of education or of socio-economic standards to measure the truth and depth of a persons understanding.  By reversing life and death, he shows how death occurs within life, and how the articulation of life can sometimes occur only in death.  The reversal of intimacy and violence, in which Addie becomes connected to her children by beating them, reveals the paradox of motherhood in a way that direct description never could.  These paradoxes are facts of life about which the characters have had their own kind of education, and which they understand well enough to know that language cannot truly capture them.  Part of the strength of Faulkners method is its effect upon the reader watching Addie get close to her children by beating them forces us to face the horrific side of motherhood, which is rarely discussed by educated people precisely because it is too difficult, too painful, to be spoken.  The reversal of words and silence, then, comprehends the other two reversals and shows why they are necessary.  

INTRODUCTION
Jack London wrote To Build a Fire in 1908. It was the story of an unnamed man who struggles against the snow in the Klondike in winter and eventually meets his tragic freezing end. It is a story that emphasizes mans helplessness against the wrath of nature. Dickinsons poem A Narrow Fellow in the Grass, on the other hand, was written early on in 1865. In this short poem about a certain creature believed to be a snake, Dickinson also shows mans fear of nature. However, Walt Whitmans poem Song of Myself 6, which he wrote much earlier on in 1855, is about the narrators communion with God, nature, and other people in the form of the grass. The first two works are similar in that the characters have experienced natures indifference towards them, and so their similarities will be discussed in the preceding sections. The third work, however, is clearly different from the first two in that there is no hostility that the narrator experiences as he basks in the beauty of and deep meaning in the grass, and so the differences of the poem from the first two will also be underlined.

SIMILARITIES OF LONDONS TO BUILD A FIRE AND DICKINSONS A NARROW FELLOW IN THE GRASS

Naturalism. Jack Londons To Build a Fire and Emily Dickinsons A Narrow Fellow in the Grass both speak of naturalism, or the idea that nature seems indifferent or even hostile to man despite his faith in it.

Several instances of naturalism are found in To Build a Fire, where the extremely freezing cold is seemingly indifferent to the man, or the unnamed narrator, and seeks to thwart his plans of getting to his friends. This otherwise cold hostility of nature is shown in the sinister sheets of ice in the creek and of which he knew their danger (London) and where the sheets of ice hid pools of water under the three-foot-deep snow (London). At the last part of the story, the unnamed narrator is somehow resigned as he mentions that the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers (London) and that he was definitely losing in his battle with the frost (London). In the end, nature triumphs over man as he drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known (London) for finally he was dead.

Naturalism in Dickinsons A Narrow Fellow in the Grass is not as harsh compared to that in Londons To Build a Fire. The agitation that the narrator experiences and the tighter breathing, (Dickinson) or a tightening of the chest, shows such separation between the narrator and this fellow which she meets.

Separation of Man and Nature. Aside from the elements of naturalism, the separation of man and nature is also one of the themes in Londons To Build a Fire. Through the years man has always proclaimed his deep and natural connection with nature but there is absolutely none of such connection in To Build a Fire. In the story, nature is pure antagonist and has the role of disrupting the mans painful attempts to build a fire just to keep himself alive. Nature shows no cooperation and no mercy but just pure ruthlessness. With his numb and completely frozen hands, he tried to painfully separate one match from the others and the whole bunch fell in the snow (London), and as if an omen of his death, the match fell into the snow and went out.

In Dickinsons A Narrow Fellow in the Grass, the narrators feeling zero at the bone (Dickinson) or a stone-cold fear is a sign that she is separate from the fellow that she describes in the poem. Furthermore, this feeling of zero at the bone is the thing he feels when he is attended or alone. (Dickinson)

DIFFERENCES WITH WHITMANS SONG OF MYSELF 6
Walt Whitmans Song of Myself 6 is different from To Build a Fire and A Narrow Fellow in the Grass. Whitmans poem is a celebration of natural communion.

Union with Nature. Unlike in the two other works where the efforts of the characters are thwarted by nature, Song of Myself 6 shows union with nature especially in the 5th stanza when grass is shown to live among the people as it sprouts alike in both broad zones and narrow zones and that it grows among black foes and among white. (Whitman)

Another instance of union with nature is in the 7th stanza where the grass seems to be the source of comfort of all sorts of people from young men, and old people to offspring, and that the grass itself is the mothers laps. (Whitman)

Continuity of Life. Unlike in Londons To Build a Fire where the unnamed narrator dies at the end of the story and in Dickinsons A Narrow Fellow in the Grass where the narrator is threatened by the snake, Whitmans poem tells of the continuity of life as shown in the lines of the 12th stanza They are alive and well somewhere and that the smallest sprout of grass shows there is really no death. It also says that the grass does not wait at the end to arrest it, and ceasd the moment life appeard. (Whitman)

The grass in Whitmans Song of Myself 6 is a living symbol of hope as in a hopeful green stuff (Whitman). It was also closely connected with God and nature as it is the handkerchief of the Lord (Whitman), and it is a source of great comfort as it is the mothers laps (Whitman).

CONCLUSION
Jack Londons To Build a Fire and Emily Dickinsons A Narrow Fellow in the Grass are two literary masterpieces that both speak of natures indifference towards man and his self-proclaimed greatness. The narrator in the first work dies and the second is threatened for his life. However, there are no such elements in Walt Whitmans Song of Myself 6. Whitmans poem shows not naturalism but union with nature, and not separation and death but continuity of life.

In Hemmingways The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Harry is the portrayal of the remorseful artist struggling with his art, a complacent and yet sensitive writer who has failed to translate his knowledge into the written word. He scrutinizes his past in contrast with the alarming reality of his present situation and contemplates the reasons for his artistic failure.

As a writer, Harrys memory is a rich tapestry of people, recollections, incidents, and geographies, waiting to be liberated from his scrapbook of remembering into the reality of pen and ink. Whether it was the purity of the Austrian Alps or the horrors of World War I, he never came around to write about any of it. His remorse is not only of an artist but of any man who have had experiences but the tyranny of time never allowed him to share them with others.

In a sense, Harry has bedded his muse  Helen. His wifes wealth has sent him on the path of steady artistic decline. His attitude oscillates between contempt and grudging affection towards her. This aspect echoes all artists writers, musicians, actors, who are misogynists, bearing a lovers grudge with their lives, choices, and muses.

Animal symbolism sheds further light into the kind of artist Harry is. The scavenging hyena is the artistic self that holds back the preserved leopard is the self that aspires and achieves. The leopard is Harrys artistic aspiration agility, grace, courage, diligence, pursuit, dignity however, he sadly realizes that he is the smelly hyena, looking for easy prey and feeding on leftovers.

Is he a failed artist, as perceived by Macdonald (1974), or a struggling one Harry might have traded his art for security and comfort, but those very things allowed him to experience life to the fullest. He is a man before he is an artist and living and not merely existing is also a form of homage to art, to life itself. Literature doesnt offer consolations, just a validation of the unpleasant realities i.e., life is both beautiful and horrible and time is never enough. Towards the end, Harry tells his wife in delirium that he has been writing, although he was recollecting and reliving his life in retrospect. These wax and ebb, sinking and recoveries are the trial flights of the soul before it trusts itself afar. Perhaps this ability gives Harry the transcendence in death. After all, Descartes declared I think therefore, I am.

Washingtons Irvings famous short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is an interesting study of male character in the ante-bellum America. The two main male characters in the story are Ichabod Crane and Brom Bones. The two characters are exact opposites in every sense, especially in their masculinity. While Brom is the epitome of a young, male bashfulness, Ichabod comes across as a mature man who carefully chooses his battles. These contrasts become stark when we consider the two mens masculinity in this short story. Irvings characterization of these two men is directly influenced by the times in which he lived and hence the characters must be interpreted in the context of the America of 1819. This paper will analyze the characters of these two main characters, especially their masculinity and discuss the impact of their comparative masculinity on the The Legend of The Sleepy Hollow.

Ichabod is characterized as gentle school teacher who likes to spend his time with the women of Sleepy
Hollow. Daigrepont points out that Ichabod was considered a a man of lettersonly in the eyes of his female admirers (para 8). Besides being a school teacher, his other activities included having tea among the female circle, looking after children, gossiping and exchanging ghost stories with Dutch wives. All these activities are clearly feminine in nature. Ichabod was better read than most of the other inhabitants of the village who the considered the cost of schooling a grievous burden. In the twenty first century, his gentle behavior would be seen the result of his learning which tends to make people more sober. But in the early nineteenth century, such a behavior for men was not acceptable.

Although it is not expressly mentioned in the story, but within the village, Ichabod may have been subject of much ridicule. The various practical jokes played by Brom on Ichabod are said to be Broms way of settling the rivalry over Katrina. However, it is also possible, that being a young and idle youth, and being full of mischief, Brom and his friends played practical jokes on Ichabod because he was seen as an oddity in the small village. Because of his feminine interests, he would have been the butt of jokes among the men of the village and especially the young men who tend to be much less forgiving. It is unlikely that Brom saw Ichabod as a real rival as far as his interest in Katrina was concerned. Ichabod was a poor school teacher with a lanky frame which may even be seen as ugly by some. As such, even if Brom was aware of Ichabods dreams of marrying Katrina, it would have been dismissed as the stupid dreams of a feminine man. The practical jokes played by Brom on Ichabod were mainly because Ichabods strange, feminine behavior made him a soft target.

Another issue with Ichabod was his habit of punishing the students who did not obey him. In using his authority as a school master to inflict punishment on the more obstinate of his pupils, he seemed to compensate for his feminine nature in other manners. Most men of his times would have preferred to settle an outstanding issue with another man in a face to face fight. But Ichabod was too much of a coward to challenge Brom, or any other men, directly. This frustration is likely to have built up and led to him punishing the school kids in a kind of misdirected anger. Punishing his pupils may have been the only way he could express his masculinity. Ichabods non-confrontational nature may be seen by the people of the nineteenth century as feminine.

While the men in Sleepy HollowHHhhjkljdflwshl   Hollow told each stories of War which they would dress up to make themselves the hero of every exploit, the women exchanged tales of ghosts and goblins, and haunted fields, and haunted brooks, and haunted bridges, and haunted houses. Even when the men did exchange ghost stories, as they did at Van Tassels farm, they embellished these stories so that they were seen as the hero who dared the challenge the ghosts. Listening to these stories, it is obvious that the man did not really believe in the resident ghosts of Sleepy Hollow such as the headless horsemen. For the men, these ghost stories were nothing more than a source of pleasurable past time. On the other hand, the feminine in Ichabod is his unmanly, superstitious, trembling, and gullible side (Plummer and Nelson, 175). He actually believed in the ghost stories, enough to be scared to death. It is safe to assume that the headless rider that Ichabod encounters was Brom. Obviously, he did not believe in the ghost stories about the headless rider and even if he did, he was not scared of it. This allowed him to pose as the headless rider to scare the gullible Ichabod. As seen in his telling the story of his encounter with the Headless Rider, for Brom, these ghost stories was nothing more than a source of amusement. But Ichabod, who actually believed in them, it actually resulted either in his death or in his decision to flee Sleepy Hollow. Besides, the school teachers interest in witchcraft may also be seen as another proof of his feminine nature since witchcraft was often associated with women. Even his profession of a school teacher may be considered somewhat feminine since as pointed out by Daigrepont, this was one of the few positions that in his time could be filled by a woman as well as a man (para 6). So in his occupation, his favored past times, his interests and his gullibility, Ichabod comes across as an extremely feminine person.

Although set in 1790, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was written in 1819, a time when America was going through financial crisis as a result of the introduction of paper money. According to David Anthony, this was a time when a persons sense of masculinity was increasingly shifting from a belief in interior for of self-possession and inner being (115) to an external and elusive form called reputation. In these times, to become insolvent could be considered comparable to becoming unmanned or feminized. If we accept this argument than Ichabod is clearly feminized having barely any possessions and all his worldly effects can be tied up in a cotton handkerchief. Ichabod was essentially living on the villagers charity. In Irvings times, this fact in itself would be enough to strip him of his masculinity and render him feminine.

We must note that although he comes across as an extremely feminine person, his thoughts continue to have some degree of masculinity about them. His desire to marry the heiress of rich farmer and then sell of his estate and go on to discover new lands and colonize them, is distinctly a masculine aspiration. On the other hand, marrying for money would have made him subservient to a woman, which would have meant further stripping of his masculinity. If Ichabod had indeed succeeded in courting Katrina, it is highly unlikely to he would have straightaway inherited Van Tassels farm. Since he did not have any possessions of his own, he would have been forced to live in his father-in-laws home. Such a situation would have been considered extremely derogatory for a man in the nineteenth century and only someone who was not in conflict with his masculinity could have accepted the arrangement. Despite Ichabods grand masculine plans to liquidate Katrinas property post marriage, in practical terms this would not have been possible. Although the narrator does not mention it, Ichabod had to be aware of the dangers of marrying for money. Yet his lack of concerns about having to live in his father-in-laws house until he inherited the estate shows that he did not really care about how he was perceived by others. It can be argued here that at a time when a persons masculinity was judged by external factors and how he was judged by other men, Ichabods relative ease with feminine matter and his willingness to be subservient to a woman means that internally he was in no conflict with his masculinity and did not perceive his penury or his spending time with women and children as in any conflict with his masculinity. This argument, however, does not hold ground since Ichabods preference for female company was clearly a result of his not being accepted among the men who saw him as a feminine person. There is no doubt Ichabod was extremely feminine and by being harsh on his students and in his dreams of marrying Katrina, he was only deluding himself of his manliness.

Katrinas refusal to marry Ichabod would have been the final blow to his masculinity. As mentioned, Ichabod was only deluding himself when he thought that he could actually win Katrina. Once he had made his feelings known, it would have been but a matter of time before the whole village learned about incident. While Ichabod could accept being made fun of over his feminine past times, once he was beaten in the one area where he internally perceived himself as man, spending any more time Sleepy Hollow was not possible. Although the story suggests that Brom was responsible for frightening Ichabod away from Sleepy Hollow or even murdering him, it is entirely possible that Ichabod left the village of his own accord. According to David Graven, Ichabod was done in by his infatuation for Katrina, who turned him down. Graven believes that the occult references to ghosts, goblins, and witches situate Woman as an uncanny intrusion in the otherwise routine, untroubled existence of men (87). It is possible that after being rejected Katrina, Ichabod felt that he had failed because of his in-ability to perform successfully in the game of heterosexual conquest and male rivalry and may have fled in recognition of his own male lack (Graven, 90).

If Ichabod is clearly feminine, Brom comes across as the epitome of manly health and exuberance. He was Broad-shouldered and double-jointed with Herculean frame and great powers of limb and was famed for great knowledge and skill in horsemanship. He spent his time in races and cock fights, predominantly manly pursuits. In addition, he also had a substantial fan following with three or four boon companions, who regarded him as their model. He was also the self-appointed umpire in all disputes Besides, as a young man with no responsibilities, he spends his time having fun, sometimes at other peoples expense. He also has absolutely no trouble in winning Katrina. There can be absolutely no question about his masculinity. However, Graven suggests that in frightening away Ichabod as the headless rider, he may be acting on Katrinas behest. If we assume this to be true, it may cast some doubt on Broms masculinity as the masculine standards in early nineteenth century did not allow men to act on a womans command. However, when we realize that Ichabod was trying to win Katrina, he may have decided to get rid Ichabod to impress Katrina and come across as a heroic suitor for her. In this sense, even if Brom was acting on Katrinas behest, it was not an act of subservience but a manly deed to protect his lady love from an unworthy person.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is not a ghostly tale but a humorous one. The stark contrast in the masculinity of the lead male characters serves to make the story an interesting study in human nature, especially male nature in the early nineteenth century America. Katrinas rejection of the feminine Ichabod while easy acceptance of the heroic and masculine Brom Bones shows the prevailing acceptable standards for men at the time. Although a man of letter, he does not find any favor with Katrina even though he impresses other housewives. It is obvious that Ichabods easy acceptance among the housewives is not because of his education but because if his willingness to carry out feminine duties, thus lending the much overworked housewives a helping hand. While such a man would be acceptable as an occasional visitor, a young, rich and beautiful girl like Katrina was unlikely to take any notice of him, accept in order to ridicule him. In the end, it was the fear of this ridicule once his rejected proposal became better known that prompted him to leave the town. As Arnold David points out, in the 1999 movie version of the story, Ichabod instead of Brom Bones, who comes across as a hyper-masculine and shallow person, finds favor with Katrina. In The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod may have had better luck with Katrina if he were a little more masculine. His feminine nature and credulity, in the end, did him in, while Brom Bones succeeded because his hyper-masculinity was the accepted norm in the sleepy village of the nineteenth century America.

The Awakening is Kate Chopins novel that becomes controversial because it contains unorthodox views on feminine roles that contradict with the prevailing society at the time of its publication. The story centers on Edna Pontellier, who experiences gradual transformation following her self-discovery. Although many people and events in the novel cause her to discover her self-worth, the two most influential characters in Ednas awakening are Adele Ratignolle and Robert Lebrun.

Life must have been complete and comfortable for Edna, because she has everything, but she feels something is lacking. Her existence is mundane, what with an unexciting husband, who views her as a mere possession whose sole role is to obey his every command. Above all, the passion has long been gone between them. Edna has been a passionate person, even as a young girl, often giggling at the presence of good-looking and chivalric male personalities. Now, her husband can no longer fulfil her fantasies. She finds the realization of her yearning in Grand Isle, which transforms her into a daring and careless individual.  There, she meets in the island the two persons that contribute greatly to her awakening and demise.

Edna is an obedient housewife who is not aware of her sexual potentialities, but when she starts spending time with Adele, she begins to feel changes in herself. Something in her is stirring that wants to get out. She wants freedom from her mundane existence with her boring husband, and she feels this on her frequent interaction with Adele. Along with this, her sexual desire awakens. There may have been influences working in their several ways to induce her to do this but the most obvious was the influence of Adele Ratignolle (Kate Chopin, The Awakening 35).  The feeling is sort of new to Edna, because it has been a many years ago since the last time she felt that way with her husband. Adele, on her part, does not intend to influence Edna. In fact, she knows nothing about the sensation that is building up within her friends soul. She is also unaware that her mere presence and her touch can rouse excitement from Edna. The action was at first a little confusing to Edna, but she soon lent herself readily to the Creoles gentle caress (Ib 43). Perhaps Edna is just misinterpreting the whole thing. She may not see that it is nothing more than a mere adoration for Adeles enchanting beauty. The excessive physical charm of the Creole had first attracted her (Ib 35).  All the same, intentionally or not, Adele has aroused Ednas carnal desire, and this is sustained by Robert.

Compared to Adele, Robert Lebrun has the greatest influence on Edna because he does not only intensify her lust, but he also captures the heart of the woman. The intimacy that develops between them is not planned as it starts from friendly and innocent socialization. However, their constant closeness takes its toll on Edna as she begins to be drawn by Roberts charm. She discovers how her yearning for him can command her to do things that she does not usually do. She had never seemed to want him before. She did not appear conscious that she had done anything unusual in commanding his presence (Ib 83). With Robert, she finds this act normal, without any fear of being reprimanded. The influence of Robert goes deeper, as Edna falls in love with her. In fact, she is intensely in love that she begins to neglect her husband and her children she allows her world to revolve around Robert. Eventually, this proves fatal as Edna is not able to recover when Robert went away, leaving her confused and heartbroken. Despondency had come upon her, and had never lifted. There was no human being whom she wanted near her except Robert (Ib 300).
Adele and Robert are the two characters that influence most Edna in her awakening. Although the self-realization leads her to her death, it reveals her importance as a female human being. More importantly, she finds out that there is more for her than a mere housewife.

The characters in Melvilles Bartleby The Scrivener A Tale of Wall Street Gogols The Overcoat and Thurbers The Catbird Seat all reflect characteristics and caricatures of the times when they were written. The main characters in each reflect the common, ordinary man of the period. This is demonstrated in that each  Bartleby, Akakiy Akakievitch Bashmatchkin and Erwin Martin possess similar characteristics  they are industrious, diligent, mild mannered, follow precise routines and working plebian, mundane capacities - both Bartleby and Akakiy are copiers Martin heads the filing department. None of these three characters is social with their colleagues, nor do they garner much respect.  But, its not just the main characters, its all of them  their employers, co-workers and supporting cast are also indicative of the times  in the way they go about their business, relate to and antagonize the protagonists, and even in their own shortcomings. Indeed, the characters, styles and plots of these stories reveal more about the authors sense of the times, rather than perhaps the times themselves.

For instance, Gogols tragicomedy, The Overcoat also referred to as The Cloak published in 1842, and taking place in St. Petersburg, during the 1830s. In this story, Gogol takes an almost satirical look at corrupt, bureaucratic, pre revolutionary, 19th Century czarist Russia. The main character, Akakiy Akakievitch Bashmatchkin, whose name either means shit, son of shit, or harmless or lacking evil, and shoe depending on the translation, (Johnson, 1986 1746 ) is a lowly copy clerk in some office of an unnamed bureaucratic department. As Gogol begins the story, In the department of  but it is better not to mention the departmentin order to avoid all unpleasantness, it will be better to describe the department in question only as a certain department.

Described as about fifty years old and of short of stature, somewhat pocked marked, red-haired and shortsighted with a bald forehead, wrinkled cheeks and a sanguine complexion his  official status being a perpetual titular councillor. One whom none could remember when and how he entered the department, and who appointed him. He was always seen in the same place, with the same attitude, the same occupation. Shown no respect, he was laughed at and made fun of and was treated by his superiors in a coolly despotic fashion.  In addition, he often he had the misfortune of walking under windows when trash was being thrown out so that he always bore on his hat scraps of melon rinds and other such articles.

An industrious and faithful worker, he lived entirely for his duties, laboring with love. He did not socialize with his colleagues, nor did he engage in any social activities after work, instead he went home and did even more copying. For, outside copying,  it appeared that nothing existed for him. A peaceful man, content with his lot in life, he desired nothing else., even when a kindly superior offered to give him something more important than copying, he declined, and after that, he was left him to copy on forever. In these ways, he represents the commonordinary man, working in the bureaucratic order of 19th Century Russia.

To afford a new coat, a necessity in winter in Northern Russia, he resolves to give up his candles and evening tea, to walk lightly to not wear his heels down and wear only his dressing gown at home to save on his laundry bills. In doing so, with the anticipation of having a brand new cloak, gives his life a new sense of hope. He became livelier, his character grew firmerfrom his face, gait and indecision, all hesitating and wavering traits disappeared. Fire even gleamed in his eyes. He is excited for the first time as he plans his new cloak with the one eyed, often drunken tailor, Petrovitch. So much so, that he is troubled that the time would come when the cloak would be made, ending the fun. However, when he does get his new cloak, it is the most glorious day of his life. .

When a sub-chief at work, offers to hold a party to christen the new coat, Akakiy, unaccustomed to social gatherings, and socializing in general, find himself bewildered, overwhelmed, feels awkward and doesnt know what to do, nor where to stand, what to say . At long last, he slips out and walks home late, only to be accosted by thieves who steal his new and treasured coat. Upon telling the sentry of his plight, he is told to visit the police in the morning. Akakiys housekeeper suggests he visit the district chief of police and when he does finally get the chance to meet with him, it is only to be grilled, as if he was the guilty party, questioning him as to why he was out so late, and if  the cloak was truly his in the first place. Then, a colleague tells him to apply to a certain prominent personage.

What he doesnt know is that this certain prominent personage, has only just recently achieved his position and though generally a very good and kind person, strove to make himself appear important by adhering to a sense of importance and hierarchy, and be condescending to his inferiors. Thus, when Akakiy sets to meet with him, it is disastrous and deadly. For, the Prominent Personage uses Akakiy to represent his own power to his friend, making Akakiy wait an unreasonably long time, and when he does meet with him, treats him in such a harsh manner that Akakiy is rendered insensible and has to be carried out. It is as he stumbles home from this insulting debacle that he gets the fatal quinsy.

Soon after his death, a ghost is sighted who steals cloaks from passersby, including that of the prominent personage, whom the ghost declares, Ah, here you are at lastI need your cloak you took no trouble about mine, but reprimanded me so now give up on your own. Then, the ghost disappeared never to be seen again. Cloakless, the prominent personage returns home and changes his ways, accusing his under officials, only after he heard their full story.

While Akakiy can be seen as the common, perhaps forgotten man of 19th Century czarist Russia, his supporting cast, his co-workers, employers, police and the prominent personage, represent society, who neglects, if not outright ignores the common man. They make fun of him, dismiss him, ignore him and refuse to help him.

One theme of The Overcoat is Mans inhumanity against his fellow man, as well as the inhumanity of the organized bureaucracy, which pays no heed to the hard worker, or their needs, such as a warm cloak in the colder parts of Russia. It is not until he dies and becomes a ghost that Akakiy gains any real power. Because of the circumstances of modern life in czarist, corrupt, bureaucratic culture, this theme of inhumanity is a common one in 19th Century Russian literature. Much of which was inspired by Gogol, who writing during Czar Nicholas corrupt reign, often satirized Russian bureaucracy, and was eventually exiled for it. As Johnson writes, In the character of Akakiy Akakievitch, Gogol gave the world its first modern common man, a man who is overwhelmed by the complex bureaucracy of which he is part (1747).

Melvilles Bartleby the Scrivener A Story of Wall Street, first published anonymously in 1853, also tells of mans inhumanity, as well as isolation, in the modern world. In this tale, the narrator, an elderly lawyer, who is a prudent, methodical, seldom loses his temper, an eminently safe man of peace who believes the easiest way of life is best, describes his time with Bartleby, the strangest scrivener he ever saw or heard of.

The story begins in the lawyers office, as he explains who he is, and what he does. Here, we get an image of a man who does quite well but is content leaving things as is, does not hold much ambition, nor does he want to change anything. This is apparent as he describes his employees, and their eccentricities, which frustrate him but he finds it easier to deal with them, rather than hire new and perhaps less temperamental and more responsible clerks.

The clerk, nicknamed Turkey, period slang for drunkenness (Bergmann, 161) is about 60 years old, short, of flighty temper who works fine in the mornings, the quickest, steadiest creature, accomplishing a great deal of work, but after lunch, after he imbibes a few is reckless, noisy and clumsy, given to making blots. .
The second clerk, Nippers, slang for thief, pickpocket and handcuffs (162) is whiskered ,sallow, piratical looking, victim of ambition and indigestion with a fiery temper who  knew no t what he wanted and was occasionally seen with seedy looking fellows, doing business at the Justices courts and on the steps of the Tombs. Though irritable and nervous in the morning in the afternoon, he was comparatively mild. With all his failings and annoyances, was very useful, wrote a neat, swift hand, was temperate and held a gentlemanly deportment. Ginger Nut, the 12-year-old lad, student at law, and errand boy helps around the office sweeping and cleaning and goes out to get apples and ginger nuts, spicy, small, flat, round ginger cakes, for the clerks.

It is into this rather chaotic, yet well-balanced world that the silent, mysterious, pallidly neat, pitiably respectable and incurably forlorn figure Bartleby enters. Needing another scrivener to attend to his increasing business, the lawyer hires him on the spot and makes a work area for him in his own office. We first find Bartleby to be though quiet, he diligently does an extraordinary quantity of writingsilently, palely and mechanically. However, when the lawyer requests he perform other work besides mere copying, Bartleby replies  I prefer not, which as we find out becomes in end all and be all catch phrase, so much so that he soon prefers not to do any work at all, and the rest of the office begin to use the phrase themselves.

In time, Bartleby decides not to do any work and just stands there, looking at the office wall, day after day. Yet, the lawyer, with his passive nature and avoidance of conflict, still cannot bring himself to fire Bartleby. Instead, he chooses to move himself and his office to another location, away from Bartleby, who remained in the building until the property owner sent him to prison for vagrancy. Upon his death, we find that Bartleby had previously lost his job as a sub-clerk in a dead letter office, which the lawyer believes could explain his strange behavior, leading him to exclaim, Ah Bartleby, ah the humanity

Within Bartleby the Scrivener, we find characters devoted to their existence, whether misery or indigestion or passivity, intent on the daily routine, not looking to change or improve their lot. As Bartleby himself states, At present, I would prefer not to make any change at all.  Actually, overall, he prefers not to do anything - not to proof, or even copy, or once in prison to eat. In fact, he prefers not to live, as he dies in a fetal position in the prison courtyard.  

Bartleby represents the isolation, hopelessness and inhumanity of the modern 19th Century world. He is described as a ghost, pale, pallid, wraith like, cadaverous. He does not eat except for a few ginger nuts, barely speaks, does not socialize, does not go outside, and does not have any friends or family. In the end he does not work, and finally does not even live. He is seemingly not human, nor alive. He is just a worker bee of the office building, staying there until he is in an actual prison.

This sense of hopelessness or rather resignation to the system is seen in the narrator, and his employees, none who actively seek to change their situation, just suffer through it. While Nippers threatens to kick Bartleby out of the office and Turkey threatens to black him in the eye, neither man does, and just accept the fact their co-worker, hired to help with the workload sits and does nothing.  The narrator, not only puts up with Nippers and Turkeys eccentricities day after day, but also allows Bartleby to do nothing all day. Instead, he philosophically muses about his situation and accepts it as a mysterious purpose of an all wise Providence which was not for a mere mortal like me to fathom. Indeed, it is only Bartleby who decides his fate by preferring not to.

In these ways, Melville comments upon and satirizes his times. Attacking its smug morality, its pomposity, sentimental , patronizing, attitude toward individual citizens, its simplistic view of the complex and the ambiguous, persistent ignorance of its responsibilities (164). He could also be commenting upon the literary world of the time, and his own waning popularity.

Some say the Melville wrote Bartleby in response to the recent criticisms of his work, which in effect ruined his career, particularly that of Fitz James OBriens severe criticism of his most recent, Pierre (Bergmann 139). Bartleby may represent Melville himself, and the dead letters, the perception of his own writings.  In this way, Bartleby becomes about the isolation of an artist in a materialistic society which not only is indifferent to its writers, but also bent on their destruction (Adams, 163).

Some also posit that since Melville often wrote of his own experiences, that the characters were based on real life figures, from his literary life. Namely, Cornelius Mathews with his histrionic language and posturing as Turkey, Edgar Allen Poe with his testiness and frustrated ambition as Nippers, and Melvilles patron, mentor and friend, editor of The Literary World  Everet Duycknick as the narrator (Wells). Accordingly, as Duycknick and many other literary men of the time held law degrees prior to becoming critics, Melville may be telling us that one of the problems of the free-thinking artist in nineteenth-century America was to win acceptance by the narrow, legalistic minds of so many critics trained in law (Wells).

In Thurbers The Catbird Seat, published about a century later, in 1942, again we find the mild mannered, neat, quiet, polite, keeps to himself common man who lives his life with routine and not much socializing. He is described by his co workers as infallible, the most efficient worker, and praised for his temperate habits and exemplary manner. He is content with his life the way it is, orderly and methodical, and has worked at the same company for twenty-two years.

Martins challenge is not the organizational bureaucracy per se, but its downfall, at least to him, in the form of a blowsy, strong, flamboyant female, Mrs. Ulgine Barrows, who meets the President of the firm, Mr. Fitweiler at a party and persuaded him  with her monstrous magic to make her his special advisor. Coming aboard, two years prior, she changes up the place, disrupts systems and departments, and fires some employees, while others resign.

Overall, her personality, mannerisms and actions, described as quacking voice, braying laugh,  romping like a circus horse, asking silly questions, and her colorful, nonsensical , phrases inspired from baseball announcer Red Barber , such as  are you lifting the oxcart out of the ditch Are you tearing up the pea patch Hollering down the rain barrel Scraping around the bottom of the pickle barrel Are you sitting in the catbird seat and frustrate the sedate Martin and upset his world, driving him to distraction. He is certain that she with willful, blatant and persistent attempts is destroying the efficiency and system of his company. More so, as she had recently asked if his filing cabinets were necessary, and tells him he has  lot of fine scrap in here, he is convinced his department is the next to go, and thus she is threatening his very existence. So, for the sake of his own survival, he must, in clinical and bureaucratic terms, rub her out.

This being out of character for him, plotting a murder, shows an entirely different side of Martin that one would not expect  that of a cunning and imaginative spirit. For, when finding that there is no murder weapon in the house, he uses his own reputation as an exemplary, tee-totaller to achieve her demise. While visiting her, he drinks scotch and smokes, stating that he does so all the time, and declares that he uses heroin and is in the process of making a bomb to blow up Mr. Fitweiler. He also uses one of her phrases, saying that he is sitting in the catbird seat.  Shocked she tells him to go.

When she tells Mr. Fitweiler of Martins behavior, no one can believe it because it is so completely out of character, and thus she must be mad. Even the psychiatrist substantiates that she must be suffering from a severe breakdown, resulting in a persecution complex accompanied by distressing hallucinations. Thus, her usefulness at the company came to an end and she was forced out of the building.

Martin has achieved his goal by eliminating her and restoring order without the use of violence, but by his wits. As Canfield-Reisman writes,  The silent self-control which makes Martin a good file clerk ensures his victory for hes too disciplined to tell anyone what he has done, ever to reveal his secret self (338). Accordingly, in The Catbird Seat, it is the common man who is in control, and does so by the stability of his own reputation. Though faced with chaos and insecurity, it is not the bureaucratized social order that affects Martin it is women.

The Catbird Seat does however also involve the isolation of the modern world. This is demonstrated in that no one sees him when he buys cigarettes, even though it was the most crowded store on Broadway. No one notices him sharpening his pencils and polishing his glasses. He eats alone with the financial pages every night, and then takes a solitary walk through the city streets. Yet, it is this isolation and the invisibility of modern, city life that is Martins salvation, not his downfall, as it is for Bartleby and Akaiky. For, Martin knows that no one is looking closely at him or his actions, and thus he can carry out his plan, without being seen.

This theme of isolation is perhaps rendered more poignant as Thurber had written it just after a final, unsuccessful eye operation. This, with the realization that he would never really see, left him withdrawn and depressed - in isolation and practically blind (Bily, 2000). It is out of this experience that the quiet, mild mannered and perhaps lonely Martin was born.

In all three stories, we find the common man faced with a modern existence of systems, offices and bureaucracies. Moreover, we also find the inefficiency of these systems. For, in all, the employers, officials and the higher ups are completely ineffectual to solve any of the problems. In The Overcoat, the sentry guard, chief of police, the prominent personage or any of his bosses, or even the doctor offer to help Akakiy. In Bartleby, the lawyer is resolved to his chaotic and perhaps inefficient work environment, blaming it on his employees foibles, without any sense of his own responsibility. He has no authority over Bartleby, and lets him completely do his own thing, even to the point of not working and just staring at a wall all day. In The Catbird Seat, the head of the company, Mr. Fitweiler, lets Ulgine Barrows, who he has utmost faith in, do whatever she likes, though it did require his approval.

That these stories, though written by different authors, in different cultures and at different times, involve very similar themes and characters, demonstrates that the modern world is an entity, as is the human condition, known to all. However one may feel about bureaucracy, and the modern, material world, it can be said that systematic routines and isolation are not conducive to a vibrant life.  This is true, especially for an artistic personality, of which these authors possessed.