Hidden Religion, Hidden Hand

After reading the excerpt from The Hidden Hand, I found it interesting that it lacked certain “norms” often seen in nineteenth century literature. We discussed earlier in the semester how religion was often a common idea seen in children’s literature at this time, but it does not seem as obviously present in The Hidden Hand as in other excerpts we have read. Though hard to find, I did see a few religious references (or at least what I saw as possible religious references) in the text.

The first mention of anything dealing with Christianity in The Hidden Hand happens on the first page of the first chapter. The author introduces Major Warfield as a character and describes him as “…equally loved and feared by his faithful…servants…” This explanation of Major Warfield compares to how many Christians view God. To me, God is one to be loved and feared because of His mighty power. So while Major Warfield may not be a direct representation of God, Southworth definitely included an interesting explanation of the character that could stand out to the reader as being a religious reference.

Another instance of religion being mentioned was when Nancy Grewell was talking to Old Hurricane on her death bed. At one point she says, “And the best way to prepare to meet the Divine Judge is to make all the reparation that you can by a full confession!” By putting this in the text, Southworth is opening up another way for the reader to connect with the character. The author probably recognized that religion can be used to bond her audience with the story.

Other texts that we have read have used religion as a teaching tool. The didactic style in which they were written often dealt with a character trying to better understand Christianity. In The Hidden Hand, religion was not used as a basis for any sort of teaching. It was more used as a way for readers to connect to the story.

Finding Balance

After watching the video and reading The Lamplighter, I have come to the decision that young girls in the nineteenth century share much of the same needs and desires as contemporary girls, and contrast each other in only a few ways. I think that some of the contrasts are rather obvious, so I plan to discuss the similarity and miniscule contrast that I have discovered.

In the video, eight year old Anna is struggling to find balance in her life, while in The Lamplighter, Gerty is also fighting to find a sense of stability. Anna resorts to yoga to bring her the peace and serenity she strives for. Gerty, on the other hand, goes to other people to find support to figure out how to balance out her life. She has deep conversations with Emily Graham about faith and her need to change from being bad to being good. On page 141, Gerty is trying to sort out who she wants to be by letting go of her “bad” ways to become a good little girl (or at least find a happy medium). Miss Graham tells her that she “can be good,” which affirms to Gerty that she has the power to settle down her anger and calm herself in stressful situations. Therefore the way each girl went about finding balance is different. Anna finds stress-relief by herself, through stretching and breathing. Gerty leans on others to give her the push she needs to seek balance. Both, though they took different approaches, are trying to find a way to deal with the stresses of their lives.

Anna and Gerty are much in the same. Both of these little girls are looking for balance in their life, even if their stresses are very different. The way the contemporary girl, Anna, approaches her stress-relief is unlike the way Gerty deals with hers, but their ultimate goal remains the same – seek out balance and stability in their changing lives.

Stowe Goes Against the Grain

In and out of class, we have been creating theories and ideas to help us understand the use of children in children’s literature. Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin somewhat breaks down many theories that we had deemed as “normal” in 19th century American literature.

One of those theories refers to what children represented within literature. In previous excerpts we have read, children have stood for creation, hope, and innocence. For example, in Rip Van Winkle, childhood was something considered to be carefree and content. In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, however, children symbolize much darker things like fear, brokenness, helplessness, and complexity. Instead of showing the close relationship between mother and child like in The Wide, Wide World, Stowe describes children being torn away from their mothers. Pages 185-186 in Uncle Tom’s Cabin are a prime example of this. George is recalling in graphic detail the time that his entire family was ripped apart and says, “I saw my mother put up at sheriff's sale, with her seven children. They were sold before her eyes, one by one, all to different masters; and I was the youngest. She came and kneeled down before old Mas'r, and begged him to buy her with me, that she might have at least one child with her; and he kicked her away with his heavy boot.” From what I have read so far this semester, this blatant suffering of a child is very unusual to read in 19th century’s literature. Stowe’s interpretation of slavery and torment goes against the current of what is expected out of this time period. I am sure she used such graphic detail of family separation to make her point, but to use the innocence of children along with it may have been a step too far in the wrong direction for her audience.

The horrors of slavery in Uncle Tom’s Cabin definitely go against the morally sound themes of usual literature from the 19th century. By using children as a tool to shock and awe, Stowe reaches directly to the heart of her audience and inserts her opinion against the breaking up of families in slavery.

Parental Roles

Warner’s The Wide, Wide World gave insight to the roles that parents played in the lives of their children during the nineteenth century. The author used dialogue, or lack thereof, to display the interaction and relationship between parent and child. In The Wide, Wide World, parental roles are demonstrated by analyzing the relationship between Ellen Montgomery and her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery.

By the second chapter, it is obvious that Mrs. Montgomery’s role is one of a teacher. She wishes to instill wisdom and morality in her daughter through discussing the need for faith in God and His word. Through this teacher/student relationship, one can tell how close the two really are. Ellen hangs on every word her mother says, and almost worships her mother like her mother worships God. I believe this is evident when Ellen says (in response to her mother informing her that she should love no one more than she loves Jesus Christ), “…how can I be one of his children? I do love you a great deal better: how can I help it, mamma?” By saying this, Ellen is arguing that her mother is the one she loves above everyone else, not God. Because of this, I believe Ellen expects too much of her mother. It is almost unhealthy how infatuated she is with her mother. This obsession and dependency set her up for a hard fall when she was ripped away from her mother and moved to the country. It is obvious that Ellen and Mrs. Montgomery have a very close relationship, but I think it may be too close and affecting Ellen’s growth process.

After reading the excerpt, I noticed that Mr. Montgomery is hardly ever in the picture; therefore the role he plays in Ellen’s life is very small. When he is, he has a very harsh and controlling attitude towards his daughter. The role Mr. Montgomery plays probably reflects the role that most fathers played in the nineteenth century. In The Wide, Wide World, Mr. Montgomery is usually absent from the home because he is working. From my understanding, men at this time were meant to go to work to bring home money while the women were left at home to raise and teach the children. The father role in The Wide, Wide World is no different. Because of this absence, Ellen and Mr. Montgomery do not have a close relationship. In fact, I think their relationship leans more on a severe and harsh side. In the text, when Ellen’s day to leave arrives, Mr. Montgomery seems to completely disregard her feelings. After Mrs. Montgomery suggests that they wake up Ellen to inform her of her early departure as to not shock and upset her, Mr. Montgomery says, “In the hurry and bustle of getting off, she will not have time to think about her feelings; and once on the way, she will do well enough; children always do.” By stating that she will do “well enough”, he is putting aside her feelings – probably because he does not want to deal with them. This hard attitude put a wall between the father and daughter. Due to this wall, I don’t think Ellen expected any sort of compassion from her father. She probably defined her father’s love as the way he took care of her and her mother by working and bringing home money, and knew not to rely on him to care about her feelings or teach her valuable life lessons.

By analyzing the relationship between Ellen Montgomery and her parents, one can see the roles parents played in the lives of their children during the nineteenth century. These roles probably varied slightly in different families, but the basis was all the same - the father was often absent and was in charge of keeping the family financially stable, while the mother stayed home with the children and taught lessons.

When reading children’s literature from the nineteenth century, you must consider the time period in which it was written. Authors based their stories and characters off of what they knew about being an American at that particular time. During the time in which they were writing, Americans had a huge sense of national pride and optimism on the surface, but also anxieties of living during such change. This was often reflected in the writing of children’s literature.

The national pride Americans had was strongly mirrored in their writings. According to Children’s Literature for a New Nation, the literature was used as a tool to sharpen the nationalism of children. By reading literature with strong nationalistic themes, children were indirectly instructed to be “what Americans wanted of and for their society.” So when reading literature from this time period, the reader must realize the nationalistic goals of the authors’ messages and make note of the importance they place on the future of their country.

According to Dependent States, during the nineteenth century, “children matter then not as selves, but as stages in the process of making an adult identity – as if childhood could only be meaningful in retrospect.” Even though I disagree with this statement, readers must realize that this thought process was common in literature during this time period. After reading both texts, however, there is somewhat of a contradiction. In Children’s Literature for a New Nation, it is observed that authors find great potential in the innocence and moldable minds of the youth for the future of the nation; while in Dependent State, authors are portrayed as seeing childhood as just a stage in the process of growing up in which they try to cram as much information into them as they can before they reach adulthood.

Two useful theories to know when reading children’s literature from the nineteenth century that go somewhat hand-in-hand come from Children’s Literature for a New Nation. One of which is the idea that stories were written to be didactic, or teach a moral. These types of stories were used as teaching devices to mold children and build their moral structure. Another theory is one that discusses how there is usually a good character versus bad character situation in each story. This is also used as a tool to develop morals in the youth. When a good versus bad situation occurs, there is often an obvious conclusion to be drawn to teach an important lesson. For example, some stories dealt with showing the negative aspects of being materialistic and selfish by making something horrible occur to the selfish person. This didactic style of writing is something to look for when reading children’s literature.

Also, when reading literature for children in this time period, the reader must look past the lack of detail in the setting of the story. Authors probably did this to allow for the stories to relate to everyone, no matter what part of America they were in. According to Children’s Literature for a New Nation, stories were meant to entertain, but also teach a moral lesson. In order to reach everyone, specific details of setting were left out.

Little did children know that when reading literature written for them in the nineteenth century they would be learning lessons about moral standards, social structure, and national pride. Authors disguised didactic writing styles as entertaining stories that would relate to children all over America. When reading nineteenth century children’s literature today, we must take into account the purpose behind the tale, instead of just the story itself.