Mental Insanity in A Whisper in the Dark

I was very surprised when insanity was thrown into the second part of A Whisper in the Dark because it so greatly differed from the first part. Sybil appears to be a very mentally sane girl, who acted much as a young teenage girl would, even if she is vain and giddy. She showed off her social competency through her ability to play men off one another. By inserting this girl who has the wealth and the whole world at her fingertips into an insane asylum the text changes from a romantic fiction into a horror story. The concept of insanity is scary and the descriptions of Sybil’s desolate setting are unpleasant as she describes the “hours of unspeakable suffering, which aged [her] more than years” (Alcott 235). We see the beauty Sybil was so proud of and used as a means of manipulation turn into an ugly “melancholy wreck of [her] former self” (Alcott 236). We pity Sybil and her misfortune but mental health was not well understood in that day and it held many negative connotations, as it does now to some extent as well. The general belief seemed to be “death of the body was far more preferable than that of the mind” (Alcott 236). Sybil was ashamed that she may be going crazy and the readers were as well uneasy about it.

The concept of insanity seems to put the readers on our guard and gives the entire novel a suspicious and scary feel. Especially since the work is written in first person, it makes us distrustful of the narrator of the story and with that makes us question what is really going on. I realized she might really be going crazy when she saw her mother dead (although she did not know that was her mother at the time) and she says, “An awesome fancy that is was myself assailed me… I recalled legends of spirits returning to behold the bodies they had left” (Alcott 237). I knew that this was an extremely strange thought and that the only way this could be true was if this story was a sci-fi, which it clearly isn’t. The fantastical story she made in her mind convinced me that she was not all completely there and therefore made me doubt the truth to the rest of the narration.

As far as the mother/daughter relationship goes, it is crazy how similar Sybil was to her mom. She looked the same, had the same hair, and was placed in a mental ward where she acted the same by pacing back and forth. It really takes the concept of “like mother like daughter” to a whole new level. Perhaps it sheds light on the concept of mental illnesses and how they can be passed down from mother to daughter through genes, or how a mother wants her offspring to not have the same problems as herself. Although Sybil’s mom did not know it was her daughter she was helping escape at the time, she still sacrificed herself to help her so Sybil would not have to live a life as desolate as herself, which shows a mother’s love.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Uncle Tom’s Cabin goes against many of the theories we’ve learned about Children’s literature. Children in children’s literature are usually seen as the hope for a better future. The books read to children are meaning to raise them with morals and values in order to better the country’s future. Slavery complicated this idea, however, because in depicting black children there is no hope in their future. When talking about an African American child in Uncle Tom’s Cabin it is always out of pity for the hardships and risk of being sold away from loved ones that the children will most likely have to endure. Aunt Chloe tells the baby playing on Uncle Tom’s knee, “Ay, crow away, poor creature!... ye’ll live to see yer husband sold or mebbe be sold yerself” (Stowe 293-294). While stuck in a hopeless situation, the new generation is just a reminder of the system of slavery they and their offspring and stuck in.

Stowe is clearly meaning to evoke sympathy and pity for the African Americans of that time and discourage the support for the slavery system. She does this through depicting a world that is not “good” in any way but in need of many changes in order to uphold the good Christian standing of the time. In The Wide, Wide World and The Lamplighter "good" is depicted through the hope in the future of the individual as well as the country. Ellen was taken care of by her mom and given what she needed to survive and Gerty was taken in by Uncle True and was able to change her life around from a desolate girl out on the streets to eventually a well-raised lady. The only hope Eliza has in saving her boy is getting him to Canada. Stowe is showing the problems in our society and country when America is no longer a place of hope for a better future. Our country was seemingly unfixable, and hence the only way to have a good life was to flee to another country that would uphold good Christian values in their laws. The people depicted as "good" are the one's who disregard the nation's laws for God's laws. Mary says, "I don't know anything about politics, but I can read my Bible... and that Bible I mean to follow" (Stowe 275). In the 19th century literature we've read anything Christian is considered good, and by making the Christian characters against slavery Stowe is attempting to swing the public opinion to think this way.

Crazy Coincidences in The Hidden Hand

One of the things that struck me while reading The Hidden Hand was the crazy coincidences and chance meetings that take place. Old Hurricane just happened to be called to the deathbed of Granny Grewell, who in her past just happened to end up taking care of Capitola, who just happened to be good friends with Herbert Graceson, who just happened to be Old Hurricane's nephew. And Herbert Graceson just happen to refer to a "poor widow" who took care of him who just happened to be Old Hurricane's abandoned wife, Marah Rocke. I promise I'm going to stop saying the words "just happened to" but I could go on and on about the how intricately all the relationships are interrelated. It makes you wonder why Southworth would want to interrelate the characters so much. To a point it makes the story interesting and keeps readers attention, but the coincidences almost reach a ridiculous level.

The plot involves many coincidences as well that move the story along. It’s very odd that out of all the little children in New York it was Capitola dressed as a boy that helped Old Hurricane with his bag. Then it is very strange that Old Hurricane goes to the police station “to set the police upon the search” (173) for Capitola the same day at the same time that Capitola was picked up for wearing boy’s clothing. The coincidence just seemed to expedite the process of finding the girl and moving the story forward. When Herbert Graceson just happens to come back from being out to see and ends up running into Old Hurricane and Capitola at the same restaurant Herbert expresses his surprise when he says, “I am determined not to be surprised at anything that happens, being perfectly clear in my own mind that this is all nothing but a dream” (184). By this point I wasn’t terribly surprised at the crazy coincidence because I had accepted that the story is not very realistic.

Since the work was written for periodicals and was published by chapter perhaps the situational coincidences and unrealistic connections make for an interested audience who are eager to learn where the story will go. I think past a certain point it makes the story seem generic and unrealistic, but the story is a mystery and perhaps meant to be strange and improbable in order to add to its charm.

The Lamplighter: Anna, the modern girl VS. Gerty

One of the main differences I found between Anna and Gerty was that Anna is encouraged to better herself for her own personal reasons while Gerty was encouraged to change to be accepted in society. Girls today are now encouraged to be themselves and be original. Anna’s advice is “Don’t really think about like what you have to do for people to like you …You probably want people to like you for who you are.” In our society, if someone doesn’t like you it is their problem. In contrast, in the 19th century girls were encouraged to be good and behave a certain way in order to be loved, as is demonstrated when Emily says to Gerty, “But you can be good… and then everybody will love you” (Cummins 141).

Girls are depicted as seeking balance in life both today and in the 19th century. Anna sought balance through yoga and freeing her mind from her troubles. Gerty tried to repress her angry and aggressive ways in her attempt at balance. Her methods of coping with stress were fairly different though. While Anna makes a funny face while doing the lion’s pose in yoga, Gerty throws rocks at windows and relieves herself “free to cry as loud as she pleased” (Cummins 147). Gerty does not release herself in a socially acceptable way and in both today and the 19th century it is encouraged for girls to be calm and well mannered even during stressful times.

I can laugh at the thought of Gerty on Amy Poehler’s show demonstrating her technique for balance by screaming though the streets. Gerty tells Emily “I do hate ‘em” (Cummins 148) as she talks through her life and the anger she holds within her, so I could see Girty talking to Amy Poehler on the show all about how she hates Nan Grant, but maybe how she is trying to be good and follow God’s example of forgiveness in order for her to be good to get to go to heaven. In response to the question “what advice would you give to girls” I could see Gerty answering something along the lines of “Be a good girl and do what you are told and people will love you, even if you are as ugly as me.”

The meaning I see behind the modern girl compared with Gerty is that growing up was and will always be a battle with finding oneself. It is a process of bettering oneself through experience and learning restraint. Growing up is about fixing personal weaknesses and overcoming negative aspects of life in order to become the woman all young girls look up to like Emily.