The issue for a writer is how to close the gap, often yawning, between the writer's subject and the reader's experience. Give one example of how Richard Harding Davis creates reader admiration and/or sympathy for Rodriguez in his story. You should cite a specific image, description, etc., rather than make a general statement. Notice, too, how he leads us to feel quite the opposite about the Spaniards.
Or you can describe the function of the songs and song titles in Walter Bernstein's "Juke Joint." Cite a specific instance from the story to illustrate your point.
23 comments:
Almost every phrase that Davis writes about Rodriguez creates sympathy for the boy. You can read that Davis was an unwilling spectator. He describes Rodriguez in a special way, he almost writes about him as an hero. But this little image really gave me the feeling of sympathy, almost that he feels helpless while standing there and watching. I would feel helpless if I was there and watched it happen.
“The figure still lay on the grass untouched, and no one seemed to remember that it had walked there of itself, or noticed that the cigarette still burned, a tiny ring of living fire, at the place where the figure had first stood.”
Richard Harding Davis' story, "The Death of Rodriguez," is filled with sympathy and admiration for Rodriguez's character. I found that one of the most notable scenes that presents admiration in Rodriguez is when he is introduced in his walk to the execution site. Davis explains how in our country it is a short walk and even then, the courage and strength of the condemned falters. He expects on the long walk from the prison that Rodriguez will have a hard time getting there.
"...I expected to find the man, no matter what his strength at other times might be, stumbling and faltering on this cruel journey...they [the priests] were tripping on their gowns and stumbling over the hollows in their efforts to keep pace with him as he walked, erect and soldierly, at a quick step in advance of them" (73).
This scene shows that Rodriguez believes in the actions that he took and is willing to die for his cause. He was going to die with dignity even if the Spaniards wanted to take it away from him. Davis is very successful in giving Rodriguez a sense of admiration and also in creating sympathy for him.
I think that the reader feels sympathetic for Rodriguez throughout the whole story. Davis describes him in this way that makes it hard for the reader to not feel this way. Like Emmi said, Davis makes him out to be this sort of heroic character. It made me sad to read this story, I felt for Rodriguez. I also felt like Davis had some indirect emotional connection with Rodriguez, and he described him in such a way that made the reader feel sorry for him too. There was a lot of focus on Rodriguez and small details about him in comparison to the big scene that was occuring. The passage that really affected me the most was the last in the story, but more specifically the last sentence:
"But as I fell in at the rear of the procession and looked back the
figure of the young Cuban, who was no longer a part of the world of
Santa Clara, was asleep in the wet grass, with his motionless arms
still tightly bound behind him, with the scapula twisted awry across
his face and the blood from his breast sinking into the soil he had
tried to free."
We live in a society where it is understood that if someone has been executed, then it obviously meant they must have done something really terrible or against authority, but I so do not feel this way about this character! To me, Davis sets in motion early on for me as the reader, to feel admiration for the character by explaining how he presents himself in the wake of his death and then later in the story feel sympathy for the character, by explaining how immediately after the execution no one seemed to care that he was dead. One of the many examples of how Davis portrayed admiration is when he states, “It seems a petty thing to have been pleased with at such a time, but I confess to have felt a thrill of satisfaction when I saw he held a cigarette between his lips, not arrogantly nor with bravado but with the nonchalance of a man who meets his punishment fearlessly, and who lets his enemies see that they can kill but cannot frighten him.”(73) Here Davis made me feel in a way proud of this person, because most people knowing that they are about to be executed especially in the way he was, would have been terrified, but not this person. He is very poised showing that he stands by his beliefs with the expression on his face and not portraying any ounce of fear. Davis also describes him as statues, making me feel and sense pride in this person.
Towards the end of the story I begin to feel sympathy, and I believe Davis does a good job at portraying this and helping me to feel this simply by referring to the now deceased man as “It.” Davis describes how “it” lies motionless and everyone goes on with life not caring for the human life they had just taken. In this way he is showing and portraying sympathy for the deceased and showing how the Spaniards now could careless. “The figure still lay on the grass untouched, and no one seemed to remember that it had walked there of itself, or noticed that the cigarette still burned…”
It is often difficult to give the reader a unique experience while attempting to provide information and shed light on an important topic. I think especially in non-literary journalism the reader feels slightly detached from the subject because there is no personal element or anything that drives them deeper into the content of the piece. Richard Harding Davis hurdles this divide in nearly every sentence of "Death of Rodriguez" so it is difficult to choose ONE specific image or description. It's not a frequent occurrence that I find myself stopping as I read to think, "wow, the way he just wrote that is beautiful" but this was a constant thought as I read Davis' piece; so much so that I felt kind of "sick" enjoying a piece that was really about such a tragic event.
I thought the sentences on pg. 73 describing how the prisoner basically lead the group of Spaniards and priests as opposed to stumbling and faltering as one might think a prisoner of war would. This man was still strong and I felt like he deserved honor and respect. The second paragraph on pg. 73 is a simple description of his physical features but it makes him seem human and the sentence that reads, "He was shockingly young for such a sacrifice...you could imagine him sitting on the quay at Naples or Genoa lolling in the sun and showing his white teeth when he laughed." This gives the image of him being a regular, normal boy which is actually what he is. Before he became a soldier, before he became a prisoner marching to execution he was a young boy experiencing adolescence and this sequence of images brings this to light. The entire play-by-play of the execution is very descriptive and the sentences interjected that allude to how the boy must be FEELING at that moment makes the reader feel that way too. The build-up to the actual execution is so tense and finally once it happens it is as if the boy never existed and fades from the memory of the Spaniards and others in attendance. Until the paragraph about the two men who came slowly driving a cart with an unplaned coffin, cigarettes between their lips (which is one of the last images we get of the boy) to collect the body...those are the only people to whom the boy exists anymore. The line, "...and the blood from his breast sinking into the soil he had tried to free" is a great closing image that really brings the story full circle and solidifies the reader's pseudo-personal connection with this character.
Music plays a large part in modern movies. It sets the mood for the given scene; slower music arises much different emotions than fast. For example: Take a hypothetical scene of two gangs firing at each other in a dark street. The same scene can be successfully juxtaposed with either a fast pace song or a slow one, clearly resulting in a different mood.
I read Juke Joint with the same idea in mind. The first song that is mentioned is "You are my sunshine," an upbeat joyful song. It is juxtaposed with a scene in which a soldier packed bar is filled with beer, card games, young girls, and carefree conversations.
Unfortunately, I have never heard the next song mentioned, "I'm Walking the Floor Over You." Even so, I can see the change of mood in the story. The paragraph just before took attention away from the scene of the bar, and was brought to the fact that the FBI was under watch of places like Frankie's. "The Army is vehement in its demands hat these places be abolished."
The last song mentioned puts the story to an end. "Good-by, Mama, I'm Off to Yokohama." As this song is "screaming" out of the juke box, men of the 19th Engineers were called to their barracks. "We had all seen this happen too often before, the same words in the same public places, and the next day an outfit gone from the post."
Because the gap between my experience and the experience that Richard Harding Davis describes in “The Death of Rodriguez” is so wide I don’t think it can be closed. I was, however, able to understand and applaud a man whose situation I will probably never personally know because of Davis’ story.
Rodriguez’s courage is reinforced when compared to the rest of the crowd, who were “grimly silent” because “they knew whatever they might say would be twisted into a word of sympathy for the condemned man or a protest against the government.” Everyone was afraid but Rodriguez, who, it was obvious, had the courage of his convictions, which is also evidenced by his last act of kissing the cross. Even the officers spoke in whispers out of fear when Rodriguez, described as a “handsome,” “gentle face,” “shockingly young for such a sacrifice,” man walked without fear. Instead, as a hero would, he walked fearless and with “nonchalance.” Rodriguez’s immortality shines even brighter and sympathy grows stronger when he is compared to Nathan Hale, a peasant hero who also gave his life for his country but is at least rewarded with a statue.
Davis brings “us” into the story when he compares Rodriguez’s walk to his death to how a condemned man’s walk might feel in our world, a world where the walk is short and the prisoner is “shielded from sight.” These men, according to Davis, rarely have the strength or courage to make even this short walk, whereas Rodriguez was ahead of the crowd, not even the priests, assigned to console him, could kept his pace.
To the end Rodriguez stood alone and above the crowd. The people of the Santa Clara, even the writer, walked away as his body, with a Christ-like image, lay alone in the grass.
Richard Harding Davis creates reader admiration for Rodriguez by emphasizing the man's bravery in the story. One particular example of this was when Rodriguez was being led by the Spanish soldiers to the fields to be executed. Davis expected to see Rodriguez stumbling on the journey to the fields, which was over a half-mile long. He expected Rodriguez to stumble because prisoners usually falter on the walk to their execution. However, Davis was shocked to see that Rodriguez was walking ahead of the Spaniards on the journey and that the priests walking on each side of him were struggling to keep up with his pace. The priests also were tripping on their clothing and stumbling over the broken surface of the fields.
Davis enhances reader admiration for Rodriguez when he describes the man as walking erect and soldierly. The author's extensive descriptions of Rodriguez on the journey to his execution site show that Rodriguez is willing to face the consequences for what he did. Rodriguez does not complain about anything or appear upset or angry. This makes the reader admire Rodriguez's courage.
Davis shows his admiration for the Cuban's courage by describing how he walks toward his death with unexpected courage and conviction such as in the line:
"I saw that he led all the others, that the preists on either side of them were taking two steps to his one, and that they were tripping all over their gowns and stumbling over the hollows in their effort to keep pace with him as he walked, erect and soldierly, at a quick step in advance of them."
Davis says he could understand why a prisoner being brought to his death would stumble or falter, so he is impressed that Rodriquez is so steadfast and unflinching leading up to his execution.
When describing the soldiers, Davis portrays them as hollow and indifferent towards Rodriguez's death.
"The figure still lay on the grass untouched, and no one seemed to remember that it had walked there of itself, or noticed that the cigarette still burned, a tiny ring of living fire, at the place where the figure had first stood."
I felt that almost everything Davis wrote in "The Death of Rodriguez" created sympathy and admiration for Rodriguez. There were two sections that really stood out for me when I read them as creating much admiration and sympathy. The first is when Davis writes;
"As the officer gave the first command he straightened himself as far as the cords would allow, and held his head and fixed his eyes immovably on the morning light..."
I felt that this excerpt really showed the courage that Rodriguez had despite the fact that he knew he was about to be killed. The other excerpt that I thought created a great deal of sympathy for Rodriguez was when Davis writes about the execution needing to be postponed slightly. He writes:
"....He believed that in the next instant he would be in another world; he had heard the command given, had heard the click of the Mausers as the locks caught - and then, at that supreme moment, a human hand had been laid upon his shoulder and a voice spoke in his ear."
The whole next paragraph also depicts the strength of Rodriguez's character as well.
There are several ways that Davis creates reader admiration and sympathy in his story, and it mostly comes down to his description of Rodriquez. The third paragraph down on page 73 describes Rodriquez and “a man who meets his punishments fearlessly,” and the author states that he was “pleased” to see him as so. Davis admires Rodriquez’s courage, and this is what he is telling his reader. He further illustrates Rodriquez’s brave and sacrificing nature near the bottom of the same page when he says, “he straightened himself as far as the cords would allow.” He’s presenting a man who devotes himself entirely, a man who pushes himself to his limits. By comparing Rodriquez to a statue, he is stating that this is a man of worthiness and honor. On the next two pages, Davis describes Rodriquez’s strength and spirit. The final line justifies Rodriquez’s actions and paints him as a devoted freedom fighter, sacrificing himself for his country. The term “soil”, however seems to signify re-growth, maybe suggesting that Rodriquez’s fight will continue.
There are also several ways that Davis reveals disdain toward the Spaniards. I think it is most obvious in the contrasting paragraphs at the end of page 72 and at the beginning of page 73. He compares the Spaniards style of execution towards our own, stating that the Spaniards “made the prisoner walk for over a half-mile.” This makes them seem especially cruel. Also, by stating that the firing squad consisted of volunteers, Davis seems to be painting the Spaniards as blood-hungary and merciless. Although I prefer to believe that the “volunteers” probably didn’t have a choice, and that if they had not volunteered their silence might be “twisted into a word of sympathy… or protest against the government.”
Richard Harding Davis paints Rodriquez as a hero in "Death of Rodriquez. Davis depicts Rodriquez as a stoic,brave rebel ready to face his fate for the freedom of his people. He draws sympathy from the reader by making the Spaniards seem heartless and callous, such as when Davis describes the soldiers nonchalantly walking past Rodriquez's dead body after his execution: "Each soldier as he passed turned and looked down on it, some craning their necks curiously, others giving a careless glance, and some without any interest at all, as they would have looked at a house by the roadside, or a hole in the road." Davis's description of, in his eyes, an unfair death and the callousness of the soldiers not only work to obtain sympathy for Rodriguez, but also to make the reader view the Spaniards as monsters.
Davis has the ability to describe a scene in such detail that you can imagine the scene playing out like a movie in your head. The way Davis is able to portray Rodriguez as this "hero," through his words, creating a sense of sympathy towards him, is what makes you as the reader feel compassion towards the boy being executed.
"As an exhibition of self-control this should surely rank above feats of heroism performed in battle, where there are thousands of comrades to give inspiration. This man alone, in sight of the hills he knew, with only enemies about him, with no source to draw on for strength but that which lay within himself."
This was said during the scene where the soldiers are just about to fire their guns at Rodriguez, and then are told to delay for only long enough to shift his position, as to not kill anyone else. I feel like it would take a very strong person to look their death in the face, have it be stopped for a few seconds to then to just be killed. As a reader I feel great sympathy for Rodriguez and I feel as though the soldiers show no feelings, no sensitivity to him. It is in the way that Davis describes this scene that I feel forces the reader to have that sympathetic moment.
The un-attachment the soldiers feel to this whole execution is further seen in this line: "Each soldier as he passed turned and looked down on it, some craning their necks curiously, others giving a careless glance, and some without any interest at all, as they would have looked at a house by the roadside, or a hole in the road." The fact that Davis uses the word "it" to describe the dead body furthermore makes the soldiers seem inhuman, with no compassion, like starring at an animal in a zoo. It is through the use of his carefully chosen words that Davis can create such vivid images and capture different feelings for Rodriguez and the soldiers.
So, looking down and seeing that most people are writing about Davis' story, I'm going to go against the grain. I agree with what ruth16 said, that music essentially drives films. The music in a film sets the tone or emphasizes the scene or emotion of the scene. Bernstein's piece is very cinematic in nature, so his use of song titles really suits the story. It's almost as if he created a soundtrack for the piece, with songs that reflect the atmosphere of the room and scene at the time. Also, people recognize songs and almost anybody can relate to music. So, it does make sense to use popular songs (of that time) to emphasize the point of your story.
To start out, the jukebox is playing "You Are my Sunshine." It is supposed to represent the happiness and jovial nature of the room. There's women, beer, music and games...to many the definition of fun. So, the carefree happy song makes sense.
Next he moved to "I'm Walking the Floor Over You." To be honest, I had never heard this song before, so I searched it out and listened. It came off as slightly contradictory, a happy sounding song with sad lyrics. It was sung by a woman who lost her significant other and her heart is broken. At the point of the story this plays, the soldier is talking to Mary. It seems to me that, while the atmosphere is still fun and full of games, there is also a hint of sadness rising, knowing that the night will soon be coming to the end. Also, it seems to me that it may also reflect the fact that these soldiers can't really fall in love with these women; they cannot start a relationship even if they want to.
The next songs were pretty self explanatory. "Goodbye Dear I'll be Back in a Year" plays after the beer is taken, their "social happiness." Perhaps the loss of the liquor forces them to feel their real emotions and reflects their sadness, not knowing when, or even if they will ever come back alive. Then there is "Slap the Dirty Jap", which plays after the group of soldiers is called back, showing their impending fight. Lastly, "Goodbye Mama I'm off to Yokohama" plays as the soldier exits somberly, thinking about his fate of being shipped off to fight.
Richard Harding Davis creates reader admiration and sympathy for Rodriguez throughout the entire execution process. The way Davis describes Rodriguez’s posture, actions, and expressions create an image of strong, powerful, proud, brave man. When he first introduces Rodriguez he uses words such as “erect and soldierly.” He compares the way Rodriguez walked with the priests “at a quick step in advance of them.” With this introduction you already see Rodriguez as fearless man who is ready to meet his fate.
The third paragraph on page 73 where Davis describes his “satisfaction” when he saw Rodriguez made me fall in love with “the Cuban.”
“…with the nonchalance of man who meets his punishment fearlessly, and who let his enemies see that they can kill but cannot frighten him.” The way he describes how he held the cigarette and how he walked, allow you to picture a man who has come to accept his fate and is not frightened or upset about his situation.
On page 74 Davis even goes as far as to describe how he thinks another man would react to the change of events in the same sentence he quickly describes how brave Rodriguez was. “You would expect any man, snatched back to life in such a fashion would start and tremble at the reprieve, or would break down altogether, but this boy turned his head steadily, and followed with his shoulders squared, took up the new position, straightened his back, and once more held himself erect.” The words Davis uses to describe everything about Rodriguez it is almost impossible to not admire his courage.
I agree with Alyssa's comment that often times a reader feels detached from their subject when reading non-literary work. When we report, we're supposed to include detail, like numbers, facts, time, dates, etc, but when reading something like "The Death of Rodriguez," the details include the setting and character description. Those details make us feel emotion.
I particularly enjoyed the description of Rodriguez: "He had a handsome, gentle face of a peasant type, a light, pointed beard, great wistful eyes, and a mass of curly black hair. He was shockingly young for such a sacrifice, and looked more like a Neapolitan than a Cuban. You could imagine him sitting on the quay at Naples or Genoa lolling in the sun and showing his white teeth when he laughed. Around his neck, hanging outside his linen blouse, he wore a new scapular" (73).
This is a brilliant character description. I know what he's wearing, and I understand his character. He's human to me, not one dimensional, because there's some sort of depth. Also, the detail plays a part because at the end, the scapular is mentioned again: "...with the scapular twisted awry across his face" (75). I can imagine seeing Rodriguez's lifeless body with his scapular mangled around him. In a way, this short description is in contrast to the one when we first meet Rodriguez. I believe it furthers the story and heightens the reader's emotion.
Richard Harding Davis's "The Death of Rodriguez" has come to be my favorite pieces of work assigned to me in this class so far. He moved me and made me feel like I was actually at this horrible occurrence. I felt like I was one of the priests, so close to the man yet so far from being able to do anything to protect him. Throughout the story I began to characterize Rodriguez as, not a felon, but the ultimate sacrifice exemplified by a hero. Davis did an exceptional job of capturing the procedure that I could picture everything happening, as if I were not reading, but rather watching the scene on a movie screen. Page 73 pulled me in to feel like i knew Rodriguez on a more personal level, like he was fighting for my own country. The most appealing lines that Davis created that inspired me and gave me sympathy for Rodriguez was, "I expected to find the man stumbling and faltering on his cruel journey... I saw that he led others..as the Cuban passed me...[he] let his enemies see that they can kill but cannot frighten him." That is the definition of a courageous hero of his country. This is a man that cared more about pride then justice.
The part that moved me the most in Davis' "The Death of Rodriguez" occured when he described the soldiers getting their guns ready to kill Rodriguez. The image of them all lined up and preparing their weapons at the same time is surreal. The description of the clicks is even more chilling because another sense, aside from sight, is addressed. After suppilying the reader with such detail, he goes on to state that it is "one of the most cruelly refined, though unintentional, acts of torture that one can very well imagine" (74). While such words are strong enough to evoke sympathy on their own, the details that precede it confirm the notion. The following scene where the captain "[motions] to the men to lower their pieces" is also very powerful (74). The captain's placement of his hand on Rodriguez' shoulder plays upon the sense of touch which links to human comfort. This is a very significant movement that gives readers and Rodriguez a quick sense of hope that he may survive and people do care about him, but he is stripped of both even quicker than it occured.
The funstion of the songs and song titles in Bernstein's "Juke Joint" is to provide us another form of narration. The jukebox is almost chiming in with the unspoken feelings of the men and women in the bar.
At first, the juke box only play "You Are My Sunshine." Everyone is having fn. Guys are drinking, chasing girls; one is even winning a load of money at dice. "I'm Walking the Floor For You" kind of gives us some insight into the waitress' lives and after that song the mood in the room sor of turns sour. Someone gets mad that dicemight be crooked and they aren't allowed toserve beer at that particular establishment. "Good-by Dear, I'll See You In A Year" comes on and al the guys stand around the jukebox. They know that they must go out to war soon. The last line of the piece makes that painfully clear.
"The jukebox screamed 'Good-by Mama, I'm Off To Yokohama.'"
In Richard Harding Davis's story "The Death of Rodriguez," he continuously shows much imagery of Rodriguez's walk to his execution. I believe Davis shows sympathy throughout the whole story, constantly making remarks about his courage and nonchalant-like attitude as he walks swiftly to his death. One small example of this is the quote in which Davis clearly states that he is sympathetic to and is on the Cubans's side: "...but I confess to have felt a thrill of satisfaction when I saw, as the Cuban passed me, that he held a cigarette between his lips, not arrogantly nor with bravado, but with the nonchalance of a man who meets his punishment fearlessly, and who will let his enemies see that they can kill but cannot frighten him."
Davis makes the execution seem like all the people surrounding, watching and waiting for this man to die were just there for a show, but Davis, a spectator in the crowd, felt sorrowful for the Cuban. The last paragraph sums the whole story up and shows how Davis was moved by the Cuban's admiration and integrity; that he was not afraid of death and that he would lay in the grass in which he was killed upon with a sense of glory, even though he was dead.
"But as I fell at the rear of the procession and looked back, the figure of the young Cuban, who was no longer a part of the world of Santa Clara, was asleep in the wet grass, with his motionless arms still tightly bound behind him, witht he scapular twisted awry across his face, and the blood from his breast sinking into the soil he had tried to free."
Right from the introduction of Rodriguez, Davis portrays him as one who stands out in the crowd, thrusting him into the story by saying that "he led all others,that the priests on either side of him were taking two steps to his one, and that they were tripping over their gowns and stumbling over hollows in an effort to keep pace with him." From this imagery you see Rodriguez almost as a biblical figure, walking steadily on uneven ground as priests trip and stumble to be with him in his last hour. His walking symbolizes his conviction to his death and the cause he fought for to arrive there. This is contrasted with the Spaniards, one actually falling after Rodriguez is shot. Davis gives the impression that the very land itself is causing some to trip while the rebel seems to be able to navigate the land easy. The Spaniards are out of their element here, while Rodriguez seems comfortable with his fate, forcing the reader to examine how they might react in a similar situation, as Davis the narrator implies.
I agree with what Kristen and ruth16 both said, that music is a major driving point in films (which probably gave Bernstein an edge when he went on to become a famous screenwriter). I think the song titles work to emphasize the overall mood of the piece and how it can shift dramatically. "You Are My Sunshine" plays while everyone at the bar is having a good time, for example, but Bernstein describes it as "screaming" from the juke box. I think the use of the word screaming, which has a really shrill and almost negative connotation, adds an element of fear to everything. Most of the people at Frankie's are soldiers, and this is right after Pearl Harbor happened. They're all trying to have a good time, but they know that more and more people are getting shipped overseas.
By the end of the piece, after the beer has been taken away and the M.P.'s have come in to call away the men of the 19th Engineers, the juke box is playing "Good-by, Mama, I'm Off to Yokohama." The reference to Yokohama, a city in Japan, is a blatant parallel to where the soldiers are about to go. Additionally, the reference to "Mama" in the title shows that all of the soldiers are sons, who have mothers waiting for them at home.
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