Please respond to one of the following questions about EXPERIMENT IN MISERY:
1) Why does Crane refer to the tramp as the "assassin"?
or
2) Identify an unusual or unexpected use of an adjective in a description of a person, place or thing. Why is it unusual? Why would Crane use such a trope?
Your response is due no later than midnight Tues, Jan. 28.
FYI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw0cX9g1O7M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv0-uWRuaxU
11 comments:
1.) I think Crane's character of the young man refers to the tramp as the "assassin" because he wants to assign the man some kind of identity whether or not it is accurate. Near the bottom of page 64 of The Art of Fact the narrator describes the homeless man's physical characteristics noting that he was wearing "strange garments" and had a "fuddle of bushy hair and whiskers." It also says how the man's eyes "peered with a guilty slant," and how his mouth was made of "cruel lines." This is an obvious clue in relation to why he may be called the 'assassin.' The final sentence of the paragraph, "He appeared like an assassin steeped in crimes performed awkwardly," caps off the explicit text reasoning for the nickname. I think assigning this person a 'character,' from the young man's point of view, helps him to conduct his social experiment. By creating some kind of backstory, he is able to perhaps justify or at least explain why the tramp is the way he is and how he came to be that way.
It is stated at the beginning of Stephen Crane’s writings that he chose to leave his characters nameless to create this separation from an ideal of a character rather than an actual person. It leaves this open-endedness “that presses up against the border separating journalism and fiction” (58). I found this very interesting while reading Crane’s two short stories, especially in An Experiment in Misery. Assassin when defined means, “a murderer of an important person in a surprise attack for political or religious reasons”, which I deemed a bit harsh to label someone as that without any background story at first. But the connotations that one would assume would be deemed to a typical assassin has similar characteristics as to the assassin referenced in Crane’s short story, such as “the seedy man” or “his eyes peered with a guilty slant” or “the cruel lines of a mouth” (64). Crane labeled the tramp with such a negative word, “he appeared like an assassin steeped in crimes” (64). The assassin served as a companion for the youth. At the end of the short story, the audience is learning about the assassin’s life before meeting the youth; how he had to deal with a father who kicked him out and made him feel useless. These men feel as though they are “outcasts” in this society. By placing this label onto the tramp, it seems that it makes it easier for the audience and the youth to align his feelings and emotions about him.
2.) In "An Experiment in Misery," Cane's character the assassin uses the word "white" as a positive adjective of a person. The assassin says, "b'gawd, I'd treat yeh white..." and "I'd say yeh was th' whitest lad I ever seen." The use of the adjective is both unusual and unexpected as it has a certain racist connotation to it. Crane makes a point to use the adjective twice in the story which leads me to believe that he did so with the purpose of fleshing out the character. Coupled with the assassin's story of black men taking jobs from whites shows a sorta of underlying racism in the character. The assassin may not necessarily be overtly prejudiced or hateful, but it shows that racism is so systemic during this period that even a vagabond with nothing to his name views being a black man as inherently negative and thus an undesirable trait. I don't believe Crane is making a judgement for or against racism, but simply using the trope as one tool to paint the larger picture of the time period.
The reading from Crane was in fact very different than Riis like you had said. I read other comments before doing this reading and dispute all critical review of their opinions I must agree. The author chose to refer to a character as assassin because he was not trying to identify the character. Riis wanted to tell an individual story with characters who were unique and named. He did this because the purpose of the story was that it was just one of millions. Crane wanted them nameless because the story was one that could be applied to all homeless and downtrodden people. Riis was telling the story through a micro lens while Crane was using a macro lens. The tip you gave about Charles being a sociologist was crucial to making the discernment.
Hi sorry I posted last night but then realized I made a stupid mistake so I'm posting again.
2. In “An Experiment in Misery” the youth watches the sun come up in the morning after staying the night at some cheap place to sleep. Crane writes that the “golden rays of the morning sun came in bravely and strong” through a musty window. In this sentence I thought the use of “bravely and strong” was interesting given the miserable circumstances all the people in the room find themselves in. It implies that even sunlight needs strength to penetrate the heavy darkness of the slums. He also stated the sun made the room looked more ordinary compared to the graveyard he saw in the room during the night. The sun often represents vitality and strength, conveying that all these men who live in the slums will need these traits to accept the crowded urban life they lead right now.
Question 1: I feel that Crane's referring to the tramp as an "assassin" holds a lot of significance. Assassins are ambiguous and aloof, often seeming void of emotion or compassion. Assassins are deviants of society, as are homeless people. The tramp is encompassed by well-dressed Americans who do not understand him. Thus, it is easier to label him as an outlander or "assassin." Moreover, assassins murder in surprise attacks. I do not believe the tramp is murdering the youth's innocence, however, as he refers to the tramp as a "friend." Rather, the tramp is demolishing or killing off preconceptions of judgement and hate. As mentioned in class, the youth is dressed as a homeless person, yet can go home, change out of his clothes, shower and escape the prejudice associated with the homeless. Assassins are viewed as manipulative, as the tramp has manipulated the boy in a way, to empathize with him and his way. This is evident in the text when Crane describes the assassin's voice as being "tuned to the coaxing key of an affectionate puppy." Assassins are often depicted as collected and calculated, however the tramp is described as awkward and uncertain. Crane does this purposefully, I feel, to unveil that he is an assassin only due to prejudice labels bestowed upon him by his surrounding Americans. It's important to note how all of the homeless men in the shelter were naked, as Crane is showing the reader that they are all human beings. When the men were naked, they were described as "massive," taking splendid poses. They were described as chiefs. Yet, when they throw on their torn, grungey clothing they are depicted as showing deficiencies and bumps. An "extraordinary change" takes place here. Nudity conveys the stripping down of people to create a universal connection. Tramps have the same biological makeup as the wealthy, and the way that they all communally live-dependent on each other demonstrates a sense of empathy and compassion that is often ignored in middle-class life. The guttural cries of the men sleeping kept the youth awake "carving biographies from his men by his meager experience," conveying the importance of their unified misery. The narrator also refers to the homeless men of a "class" of people. This further exemplifies peoples' innate nature of compartmentalizing people, grouping them together, and providing them with labels without bothering to know them on a level of compassion and understanding. Ultimately, the youth himself considers himself an outcast as he wears "the criminal expression that comes with certain convictions." This illuminates the youth expanding his mind and dismantling preconceived notions. The tramp lives in the present, paying no attention to the future. The youth finds this endearing as the tramp allows his empathy and understanding of all people to burgeon. The youth has built upon his own sense of awareness, as when he first encountered the tramps in the soup kitchen, they were described as salvage-like and primal, as they succumbed to the door's "smacking lips like a heathenish superstition." The youth now accepts the nature of the homeless, as he considers the tramp/ "assassin" his friend.
While the little yellow man slurps more soup, the youth follows a man with something Crane describes as “wondrous seediness.” The word ‘wondrous’ is positively connoted, usually describing something that is especially marvelous or delightful, usually large and impressive, while ‘seedy,’ even in its dated usage (meaning unwell or ill; now it describes something that is disreputable or unsavory) is largely negative. And this makes sense: there is something at once grand and deplorable about this dive.
The beer foam is “monumental” and “dark and portentous”; the lunch counter priest has a beard both “imposing” and “oily.” From the outside, Crane relegates the bar to a place of “heathenish superstition,” but from inside the walls of the joint, the man serving soup is compared to a “priest [presiding] behind an altar.”
The dichotomous word choice of Crane creates friction; as a reader, this butting of ideas makes us uncomfortable, uneasy. We don’t know who or what to trust, and we can’t distinguish what is charity and what is mirage. The effect is a mental dissonance that goes beyond description and works to give the reader a more complete understanding--and even feeling-- of the psychological state of the tramps: people trying to make sense of something charitable in an uncaring world.
2) In “An Experiment in Misery,” Crane has many unusual or unexpected adjective uses. One of the most unusual for me was “the man with benevolent spectacles.” Although benevolent is not that strange of a description for someone’s eyes, the situation makes it seem a little absurd. The two men get to the top of the sketchy, narrow staircase after going through a dark street and entering a dusty doorway. The man with “benevolent spectacles” greets them at the door. That man and the surrounding environment sound like totally opposites. When I think of the word benevolent, I think of kind, good, or something just generally positive or compassionate. The scene is described as dark, gloomy, and a little sketchy. As the story goes on, a rancid smell is added to the negative-aspects of the place that contrast the benevolent eyes of the man. It just doesn’t fit for a man who has welcoming eyes to be at the entrance of a not-so-welcoming room. On the other hand, maybe it is extremely fitting. It is possible that Crane believed that it is more fitting than unusual for a kind-looking person to change the original perception of the gloomy room/setting.
(1)Assassin has it's origins from two Arabic words, "hashishiyya" or ""hashishi as used by Muslim sources is used metaphorically in its abusive sense i.e. "irreligious social outcasts" or "low-class rabble."
I think Crane was aware of these origins because to give the name to a character who had a "fuddle of bushy hair",broke and wore strange garments ... screams of low-class social outcast. This criterion is hard to ignore, hence the name bestowed by Crane is fitting and apt!
I agree with Joe, the "benevolent spectacles" also stood out to me. Crane could have simply called the man benevolent, but he took it a step further and refered to his glasses as benevolent. He also uses this phrase more than once, which indicates that Crane meant for it to make an impact. This is just my speculation, but I believe his "benevolent spectacles" are a metaphor for his charitable perspective when it comes to the lowest members of society. Unlike the hecklers from the beginning of the story, this man provides shelter for the less fortunate, and looks past their unsavory characteristics. His compassionate vision is like a camera lens that allows him to see these people as human beings, not the dregs of society that they appear to be. This lens is represented by his spectacles, benevolent in that they give him a special sight when it comes to his boarders, allowing him to be a charitable, compassionate person.
Post a Comment