Literature review
When we talk about the artists from the 19th century, readers have prejudices about them as the authors of sentimental novels whose protagonists are mostly young girls who seek justice for themselves. This is not the case with Emily Dickinson. In order to understand her poems, readers need to have an insight in the social circumstances of the time when he lived. In these days, you were not supposed to have a public opinion, your job as a female, was limited to the running of the household and that was all. Even though Emily Dickinson was a mild and condescending person, her poems were the only place when she could state her opinion loud.
Her poem Much Madness is Divinest Sense can be interpreted in more than one way and here I will state my interpretation. In my opinion, the implied claim on the subject of knowledge and the individual power is the first line of the poem “Much Madness is Divinest Sense”. With this line she introduces a strong critique of the society she had livened in. You are not supposed to state your opinion, you are supposed to blend into majority and think as everybody else. If you, as an individual and as a female, try to say or do anything different then you are characterized as an insane person. The evidences that support this claim can also be found throughout the poem. The last three lines express how a society reacts in cases when someone tries to rise from the majority.
Demur, -- you’re straightway dangerous,
And handled with a chain.
These three lines also reveal the ethos that leads the reader to understand the statement of the claim that is suggested above. The widespread belief and attitude of the society is that if you try to do something different you will be in labeled as a dangerous person and they will do anything to suppress and break your individuality. If case you accept the norms and behave according to the majority then you will be accepted and will become a part of the society.
In my opinion, this claim can also be applied in modern society, even though is differs in so many ways with the 19th century. The most obvious evidence for this can be seen among the teenagers. They tend to behave in a very brutal way towards everyone who is different and who stands out is some way-weather it is physical appearance or something else. If you want to be accepted by you nearest surrounding then you need to behave according to their rules and try not to stick out. In so many ways the topic of this poem is universal and it can be applied to every part of our modern social history.
The poem Theme for English B by Langston Hughs is at the same time so simple and so comprehensive. The historical background of this poem is a period when African-Americans began slowly to strive for a better life by educating themselves. In that way they started to differ from their parents, but also they had trouble blending into the society of the white people. This poem introduces us with the thought and contemplations of a young African-American. The implied claim that this poem has is the unity of the people and their dependence upon each other. America is the land where many different races live together and they have to turn to each other because that makes them complete.
You are white—
yet a part of me, as I am a part of you.
That’s American.
The evidence of this claim is noticed in these three lines, but at the same time, the writer of this poem tries to find his place in a society. He is deeply connected with his (black) community and he can not forget nor is trying to forget his origin, but he also loves the same things as white people do, for example to listen classical music (Bach). He is from Harlem, but he also hears the callings from the New York, the city of opportunities and temptation. The only question that remains is: if the city wants him and is able to accept him as a young intellectual regardless of the color of his skin? “(I hear New York, too.) Me—who?” The last claim that is implied in this poem is sad and it states the difference between races. Even though they are supposed to be same, they differ in one way: “I guess you learn from me—
although you’re older—and white—
and somewhat more free.”
His instructor, because he is white, endures more freedom that the young African-American author. The logos that move the reader to the acceptance of these statements can be noticed in the stated lines of the poem. Young people who were in pursuit for a better life had only a change for success through education. They saw it as a way to provide a better life than their parents had, but along the way they had to struggle with a lot of obstacles that were ahead. As a first obstacle they saw the white people, but at the same time they felt that they are moving from their origin and culture. This issue also remains to hover over this poem. He accepts the system in which the white people rule, but he also does not want to reject his origin.
The fact that amazes me is the dose of optimism that this poem offers. At the end he realizes that his work is the mixture of black and white, because it is written by a student who is of African-American origin, but is read by a white instructor. This leads us to the conclusion that we are directed and pointed to each other and it that way we, as a nation, are special and different from other nations. In that way, we have so much more opportunities to be better and innovative.
References:
1. Dickinson, Emily. Much Madness is divinest Sense
2. Hughs, Langston. Theme for English B
