pudd'nhead wilson: chapter four

The new Tom (which was previously Chambers) turns out to be a spoiled baby. He never stops crying and gives Roxy troubles. One of his most prominent tiring acts is when he "holds his breath" and almost kills himself from suffocation. If I'm not mistaken, Dr. Adams once told us a story about how Mark Twain had a very strong memory and remembered one incident in his infancy when he (held his breath and) cried in order to get his parents attention. Well, I guess this life of infant Tom is taken from Mark Twain's own infancy.

How "Tom" finally becomes a very spoiled child and troubles his slave (who is actually his mother) and "Chambers" rises so many questions on my part. However, I will keep this question until a bit later, after I explore some more of this kid's naughtiness.

"Tom" becomes so very spoiled and troublesome for Roxy that Roxy one day kinda regrets why she has exchanged the babies. This fake master finally becomes her real master and troubles in his every single waking hour.

For "Chambers", "Tom" becomes a kind of threat that he can finally face lightheartedly. Once he tries to fight against "Tom" and put him down. However, his status as a slave-boy makes him face his master's ("Tom"'s ostensible father) beating on his butt. Later, he always succumbs to whatever things tom want. However, there's a blessing in disguise from this thing. He turns into a stronger boy due to a lot of practice--by practice I mean doing anything to save his little master from any danger, either from his enemies as well as from other things that endanger his life.

However, there are times when "Tom" cannot escape his enemies' bully because "Chambers" is away doing other things for him. Later, "Tom"'s dependence on "Chambers"'s help gives him a bad nickname, "niggerpappy's son". "Tom" hates "Chambers" even more, despite all the helps that "Chambers" has given him.

A twist of the plot occurs when Percy Driscoll, the big master, "Tom"'s ostensible father dies. He sets Roxy free from slavery. "Tom" wants his father to sell "Chambers" down the river, but his father refuses it. Being freed, Roxy decides to work as a chambermaid in a steamboat. However, there is one passing test that she has to go through--actually it's not a test at all, it's just Roxy sees it as something that can hinder her steps--that is, Pudd'nhead Wilson's fingerprint copying of hers and the two boys's. This time, Pudd'nhead Wilson senses a kind of fear on Roxy's part from Roxy's curious behavior, bringing a horseshoe everytime she goes to Wilson to have her boys' fingerprints taken.

pudd'nhead wilson: chapter three

Roxy feels a kind of fear that her son will be sold down the river by his master. She even thinks about killing her own son because she doesn't have the heart to see him sold down the river, and live the same fate as she does.

She sees her master's son, who actually isn't any more handsome than her own son but enjoys a totally different fate that her son. She also complains how her son, who has done no sins in his life but has to experience such a terrible life and faces the threat to be sold down the river any time.

It's a very good serious mourning about the fate of a slave. She actually questions the value in the world. She questions why white people can enjoy easy life while the black people have to experience such a difficult life and are prone to being sold down the river. However, she doesn't have any question about the origin of slalvery and so on--she just questions the present condition, without tracing to the origin of the slavery.

Later, she has the idea of exchanging the baby, and there she sees how actually her son is not any different from her master's son. And she believes that her master will not recognize because one time, when she was washing the babies, her master asked about which one his son was.

This scene shows how actually rich people do not really care about their children's detail, especially fathers. They are not balanced in their life. They might be too serious with their daily jobs, but they do not spend enough time giving love to their children, so that they can't even differentiate their children from other people's children.

Later, Roxy realizes how actually the idea doesn't come up from thin air. She previously listened to a sermon in the black people's church about a slave who changed her son with her queen's son. And since the one who told this story is preacher, she thinks it is not a sin. Therefore, she thinks about what she has done as something good and starts seeing it happily. Here, we can get the explanation of Roxy's "brilliant" idea, such brilliant an idea, although rather wicked, is actually infused by someone cleverer--and here, it could be Twain's other criticisim on religious stories, that is, giving bad examples, if not explained correctly (remember Mark Twain's letter to a librarian in Brooklyn library in response to the news about the ban of his book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the library saying that "The Adventures of Huck Finn" is an adult book and no children should read the book without their parents watching and explaining them before it can give bad impact just like what Bible did to him as a child).

What makes the situation very conducive for this baby change is the selling of the three slaves indicted of stealing money. The three slaves are the one who know the difference of the two babies (see, it shows how the slaves spend more time with the two babies and can differentiate one from another). This shows Mark Twain perfect planning on the logics of the story, despite the fact that Mark Twain is known to be someone who is very bad at plotting.

If there is one person whom Roxy is rather afraid of, it will be Pudd'nhead Wilson who has taken the two babies fingerprints. Roxy also knows that Pudd'nhead Wilson is not a "pudding head", he might even be the smartest person in the town. This might be Roxy's brilliance. Only brilliant people can see other people's brilliance. HOWEVER, this is the part that I guess needs explanation. Roxy seems to know the importance of a fingerprint, and she does seem to know that everybody has different fingerprint from other people. I'm not sure myself about it, but I wonder whether it was already a common knowledge in 1830s that people have different fingerprints.

pudd'nhead wilson: the second chapter

now we're on the second chapter of pudd'n head wilson. following points are the most vividly seen through a first swipe reading, :D. this list will enlarge with the course of time.

Wilson opens a law service as an attorney, but his unlucky remark keeps prospective clients away from him
--> he leaves the small office that he rents in the town, and decides to stay at his home and opens the same business here, but only gaining small-scale clients for trivial stuffs.

Wilson grows interest in palmistry
--> since it enlarges his

He sees hears Roxy and another Jasper quarrelling about something and threatening each other with harsh words
--> it shows that there's something serious between them, and here, Wilson's hobby in collecting fingerprints makes him take Roxy's and the two babies in her craddle's fingerprints.

In this scene, Roxy is introduced as a one-sixteenth black girl--although she's as fair as other white women, she speaks the way black people do.

Later in this chapter, Roxy's master shows a kind of anger because he senses a theft or two among his slaves
--> in this scene, we are introduced to one of the scariest things for black people, that is, being sold "DOWN THE RIVER".

pudd'nhead wilson: the first chapter

so sorry for being absent quite some time. so sorry too for not finishing my close reading on the portrait of a lady. it was awesome actually, but i could hardly catch up with the class, hehehe... so i decided to stop for a while and concentrate on what i had to do in the class.

and now, i'm starting another book by twain (actually after a portrait of the lady we discussed the adventures of huckleberry finn in the class, but i didn't have time to record the close reading here). hope this time i can do a bit better than the other day.

so, here comes the important points in the first chapter. actually i could've been a bit difficult for me to understand the texts, specially regarding the dense description in the first several chapters, due to the specific vocabulary used there... however, thanks to the online version that has illustrations, i could understand the text quite well:

The opening "Tell the truth--but get the trick"
--> tricky, it has the impression of telling us the truth but with a slightly different way, with a witty way? or with a misleading way?

The house description with the cat
--> very peaceful and nice house where people live in harmony with the nature, with honeysuckle and all, and the sight of the cat impresses leisure, because cat itself is known as a lazy animal...

A home without a cat [...] may be a perfect home, [...], but how can it prove title?
--> well-fed cat can prove someone's wealth?

Description of the main street
--> it's like a leisure area where rich people live, with tree trunks covered by a kind of wooden boxing.

Candy-striped pole
--> in Venice nobility here only barbershop.

tinpots-wreathed lofty pole
--> actually ugly, but funny.

About Dawson's Landing economy
--> in keeping with the leisurely sight, the town is a slow-growing one, it has a rich "slave-worked grain and pork country back of it"

York Leicester Driscoll
--> proud of his Virginian ancestry, hospitable and rather formal, keeping up his old tradition

Parade of character
--> the judge, his sister, Pembroke Howard

the judge and his sister are not happy
--> no child and "never" to be happy, told since first off

religion
--> judge free thinker, sister presbyterian, the lawyer Howard a devoted presbyterian, so they're scottish descendant

the half dog incident
--> so smart, but the locals, who are fools, think he is fool for the joke. A small joke but the locals discussed it foolishly exhaustively

Another Important Mosaic Piece in the Portrait of a Lady

Sure, I haven't finished reading The Portrait of a Lady. But I enjoy putting my in-progress analysis into writing. And now, in chapter 19, especially in the part where Isabel encounters Madame Merme, I do think I have to take a significant break. This is a very important chapter, because it is here that Isabel has a lot of input to build her personality. She even admits to find someone she really admires, and cares to imitate. By 'imitate' here I mean the Isabellian sense of the word (implied in the following paragraphs). Coming is the my humble explication of the part, with now and then discussion about my general interpretation of what Mr. James wants to do with this novel, in the light of my reading of the novel so far, :).

In this chapter Madame Merme appears all of a sudden as a graceful woman who plays the piano very beautifully. Her appearance on the screen shows a mystery. What is more mysterious that someone playing the piano very beautifully seen from behind? We even hears Mrs. Touchett saying that M. Merme likes to be mysterious.

One thing that really interests Isabel is the Madame's ability to use her reasons well without leaving her emotional touch. In a 20th century expression, we can probably say that the Madame was from Venus but has visited Mars so frequently that she masters Martian codes of conduct. Later in this part, we will see how she reasonably analyzes Mrs. Touchett's flaws as being too not spiritual (or too shallow?) in her virtues (p. 198-199) and how she puts an emotional touch in analyzing Ralph and his father escaping the fact that they are Americans.

Another thing that is of great importance for Isabel is the Madame's talents, aptitudes, and accomplishments without being to absorbed every time she exercises any of those qualities. She is good at various thing or, in Ralph's words, “she plays everything beautifully.” She plays the piano very well, and likes painting with water color, not to mention her ability to appreciate paintings, including her friend's, Mr. Osmond's, works. However, the noteworthy part is when Isabel says that “she [is] never preoccupied, she never force[s] too hard.” All those capabilities don't seem to alienate her. If Isabel does dream of having an ideal freedom, Madame Merme could be the best example of someone who has freedom without being occupied by the freedom, because being so absorbed in freedom means not free. 

We can also see how Madame Merme always tries to avoid staying in the melancholia of the past and shows great interest in new things. Isabel finds it difficult to make the Madame excitedly interested in what she tells her, because Madame Merme herself has been in those situations and when she tells Isabel about it, she doesn't use “the tone of triumph of of boastfulness” but tells them “like a grave confessions.” In stead of boring Isabel with her never-ending stories of her youth, she times and times again asks Isabel to tell about herself and about America. She is eager to know contemporaneity.  

All this quality is so delightful for Isabel, and she considers her imitate worthy. Up to this chapter, this is the first time that Isabel shows an open eagerness to be influenced by someone. With Madame Merme, Isabel thinks she “needn't be afraid of becoming too pliable”. This is so noteworthy because so far, she has tried to be very free. Even a prospect of marriage with someone who promises her freedom and adventures seems to her a confinement—well, all she wants is a first-hand experience. In her previous conversation with Miss Stackpole, Isabel states that her idea of happiness is “[a] swift carriage, of a dark night, rattling with four horses over roads that one can't see”—which, sorry, sounds too Nitzschean, so analogous to Nitzsche's imagery of freedom of thought and experiment as “sailing in the stormy sea” (I hope I can write a separate post on it :D). 

Mrs. Touchett, in a very inexplicit manner, reveals her motif of taking up Isabel with her: to educate her. She says that she has brought Isabel out of America and “wish[es] to do the best” for her, and make her acquainted with the Madame, “who has no faults”, is a very good way to educate her. She probably wants to “Mrs. Touchettize” Isabel, considering that she has the smartness and other qualities that the young Mrs. Touchett has. However, it apparently shows that Isabel is not that malleable. Isabel, at this point, is enlightened enough to choose what she thinks right and whom she lets herself to be influenced by. It might explain why Isabel always presents herself in some kind of alertness in every conversation with Mrs. Touchett, despite the fact that Mrs. Touchett is the one who has brought her to Europe and who, for most people, should have been seen with awe. Isabel shows an air of ungratefulness in those coversations with Mrs. Touchett. She even says, in regards with Madame Merme, that she “like[s] her better than ... [Mrs. Touchett's] desccription of her”. She persists on seeing things through her own perspectives. She is not at all in the shadows of Mrs. Touchett, who should have been her matron.

If there are things that Isabel found rather disagreeable in Madame Merme, they are her idea of identity and her being “not natural” in her behavior. To Madame Merme, one always has a “shell”. By “shell”, the Madame means “the whole envelope of circumstances”, which includes a nationality, appearance, a house, etc. To Isabel, who is in the euphoria of her freedom, this idea is somewhat unacceptable and she sees this shell as a limit. Here is the point where Isabel starts seeing her more like a “sparring partner” than an idol. Therefore, it is no wonder how the narrator sees the Madame's departure from the court optimistically as “the beginning of a friendship”. And Madame Merme's confession of her unrealized dreams, although doesn't seem very bad to Isabel, should be counted as something that is also of importance in Isabel's personality building. In addition to this, the Madame's being too cultivated and not natural in her behavior. To Isabel, the Madame's “nature [has] been too much overlaid by custom and her angles too much smoothed [...] too flexible, too supple; [...] too finished, too civilized”. All these don't seem to suit Isabel's idea of happiness which lies in uncertainty, adventure, instability (as the sentence I quoted two paragraphs ago says).

I see now how Isabel has gone through several stages of analysis and value search. At first, she finds the quality of Mrs. Touchett as someone independent but then she finds that she is too free and not loyal to the husband she has chosen. She has also observes how Ralph and Miss Stackpole are in different poles in terms of nationality and she herself doesn't openly subscribe to either Ralph's or Miss Stackpole's ideas of identity. In this chapter, Isabel learns a lot about freedom and behavior towards herself and others from Madame Merme. And the unconcluded discussion about identity between Isabel and Madame Merme seems to shed a light on the next journey that Isabel will experience, or on the next mosaic pieces that Mr. James put to create a portrait of this very lady.

equally promising, yet not delightful proposals

I would rather not separate chapter 12 and 13 because they seem to equally shows the initial sign of the upcoming crisis that Isabel has to face in most of her life, that related to spouse. In these two chapters, Isabel is proposed by two different people of promising financial status, each with pros and cons.

Lord Warburton visits Gardencourt to propose Isabel. Although Isabel has knows early on that he would propose her, she finds it also difficult to reject his proposal in person. To her, the Lord is someone with a fixed position and marrying him will only end her independence, which has just started. He has a stable position, while she has her own orbit.

Meanwhile for Lord Warburton, proposing Isabel also entails significant consequences. Among others, the reason is because Isabel is from a ‘queer’ country with its different culture and it will be difficult to make her accepted in his society, the society of English noblemen.

In the next chapter, Isabel consults her uncle about her problem. It is quite curious why she wants to discuss this with her uncle rather than her aunt. It is probably her uncle’s objectivity (he doesn’t have any interest behind Isabel’s choice), his surely more comprehension about the Lord, and the fact that her aunt tends to command or dictate which to choose that makes her choose to consult her uncle. So vague as to what this might imply, Isabel shows (or starts to show) her independence even from Mrs. Touchett, the woman who takes her up and, possibly, wishes to teach her about the real life. This might lead to a conflict between Isabel and her aunt. As for the result of her consulting the uncle itself, Isabel doesn’t seem to get any clearer idea of the cause of her rejection. Or, to put better, she actually finds the reason why she rejects the Lord herself, that is, she loves her independence too much to sacrifice it in replace of marriage.

There’s a small fact that might escape our attention, that is, Mr. Touchett himself doesn’t really know how to answer such a dilemma. It is the second time that he avoids to discuss further or avoids being in opposition with Isabel, the first time being previous discussion about whether or not the Lord is a real radical. Is it possible that this very tendency of Mr. Touchett that has made her wife so free from him?

Later on chapter 13, we will find the narrator’s description of Mr. Goodwood. He is a man from Albany who previously proposed to marry her but she rejected without giving a clear cut answer. Mr. Goodwood is a successful young man who comes also from a wealthy family. He is the kind of man that American women might dream. But to her, he is not satisfactory because she doesn’t see him as a delightful person. He is an adventurous man, a character that is very likely to delight Isabel, but he is too stiff (if it pleases anybody, I would gladly relate his name to his character as a stiff person; we all know that a good wood is a strong one, an uneasilybreakable, :D) and seems to get difficulties to adapt to different situations. The narrator also contrasts him to Lord Warburton who can easily adapt to different situation and also appears more delightful to Isabel. (I think I had to make a confession at this point: in the discussion today, I said that Mr. Goodwood and Lord Warburton are totally different from each other in the sense that the Lord has a strong characteristic while Mr. Goodwood has a weak character. Mr. Goodwood says in his letter that he will move anywhere as Isabel pleases, which to me shows his being weak in character. I really forgot about this comparison in chapter 13, although I had underlined this part. Excuse my forgetfulness, than :D).

The next scene in this chapter shows Miss Stackpole’s persuading Ralph to invite Mr. Goodwood to Gardencourt so that he has an opportunity to talk with Isabel while he is in England. This scene, at the least, besides asserting how, as implied in the previous chapters, Miss Stackpole doesn’t respect someone’s private business, shows how Mr. Goodwood is somewhat on the same wavelength with Miss Stackpole by rejecting Ralph’s offer without any strong reasons—we will find the explanation for this rejection later in chapter 16.

more stackpoleness

and now, in chapter 11, mrs. touchett starts to touch upon  henrietta. she doesn't show any interest in nor respect to henrietta--well, she surely doesn't need to. to her, henrietta is just a 'newspaper-woman'. i try to fathom which nature of newspaper that makes it seem trivial. is it the fact that newspaper just transfers information, as opposed to a book that gives analysis? she wonders how a smart girl like isabel selects her as a close friend. here, again, the character of henrietta as a person that goes with the public, a person without individuality, a person with 'boarding-house' view, exclaimed, this time through the mouth of mrs. touchett. i might have considered this a redundancy of characterization if i hadn't found that after saying this mrs. touchett pointed out isabel's being an absolutist, someone who doesn't synthesize ideas. to henrietta, her culture is either good or bad. there's nothing in the middle. she doesn't see things from different perspectives. to her, everything should be measured against america. 

in the second half of the chapter, we will find henrietta, in her conversation with isabel about mr. goodwood, indirectly approves mrs. touchett's judgement of henrietta being absolutist. in this conversation, henrietta accuses isabel as having been changed by the new things around her. by new things, henrientta means mrs. touchett and the gardencourt's people. while isabel is open to new things or ideas so that she 'can choose', henrietta things that she will open her eyes wide to see new things and receive new ideas but those new things should not 'interfere with the old ones'. 

in this chapter, james has put the characters of henrietta very clear. i'm suspicious whether this too 'strong' (in the negative sense, of course) a character of henrietta will remain intact for the rest of the book, unless something really serious happens and makes her change her mindset. so far, until the end of chapter 15 the character of henrietta doesn't seem to change. there are occasions when henrietta looks prominent, such as the scenes when lord warburton and his sister visits them in gardencourt, but her prominence in these scene seem to 'merely' assert her already clear characterization with more and more examples of her judging englishmen and english culture against american standards. if later she seems to succumb to the approach of mr. bantling, to me it's not because she has changed, but it's more because mr. bantling knows how to approach such a superior woman. therefore, from here until the end of chapter 15, i will not touch upon the matter of isabel too much.