Anthology of Ideas

“Flatland” by Edwin Abbot was written near the end of the romantic period and the beginning of the realism period, it combines elements from both and adds a healthy dose of satire, social injustice and science to create a masterpiece of short fiction that has been beloved by each succeeding generation. Although the book is not very long (less than 100 pages) and written in 1884 Abbot introduced some geometric and mathematical ideas that were far ahead of their time and also are still (for the most part) valid today. Abbot also takes a huge swipe at the the Victorian England class system and its thoughts of women in society.

Abbot describes a word of two dimensions through the eyes of “a square”, as the book progresses the square describes the world he lives in, a world of triangles, squares, pentagons and many other polygons.

Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why The Cage Bird Sings” is a wonderful look into the mind of a girl in her battles with racism, sexism and coming to terms with herself. Her story begins at the age of three on the way Momma’s store after her mother put her on a train and ends years later after the birth of her son. Through out this time Maya must learn to live with others perception of her and even more difficultly herself.

Maya’s rape set the stage for the rest of her life. It starts off for Maya as just searching for affection and she begins to look at Mr. Freeman as a father figure, however Freeman takes advantage of this and after two smaller incidents rapes her. Freeman not only rapes her but rather than being a so-called crime of passion plans it specifically.

One of the most important literary lessons one can learn from “Gulliver’s Travels” is the separation of protagonist, narrator and author. Although some times these three personalities blend into one many times they are two or three separate personalities. For example Shelly’s “Frankenstein” separates the author from the narrator and protagonist, although the protagonist is the narrator he does not know what is going to happen, just what has. Atwood’s “Happy Endings” is narrated by the author with the protagonists (although it is a stretch to call them that) are powerless. By contrast Alcott’s “I Know Why A Caged Bird Sings” combines the narrator, protagonist and the author into one single personality. An even more important part of this is how much of the author pervades the narrator and protagonist?

For “Gulliver’s Travels” it is hard to say this or that is the authors feeling or this is definitely the way the author thinks because Swift allows Gulliver to act insane and say some quite…er insane things.

Swift was often criticized of misanthropy based on his satirical writings in “Gulliver’s Travels” and his other works. However Swift uses the his book Gulliver’s Travels as a way to make a mockery of what western society (particularly England) had become and to warn against excess of any one form of thought not to show a personal hatred of mankind. He uses allegory, satire and exaggeration to figuratively beat his point into his readers; humans in his mind were nowhere near what he thought they could be yet this does not mean he was misanthropic. The fourth section of “Gulliver’s Travels” deals with the risks of becoming too reasonable, that is to spend all ones effort to logical and reasonable pursuits. Swift was specifically warning that the “Age of Reason” in which he lived could be taken too far, and that would be as detrimental to mankind as if they were to return to primitive states.

Throughout history people have wanted to say something profound, controversial, rebellious, to express themselves when the mainstream culture forbids it, or to just entertain the world. These people had one medium through all of it: plays, books, and stories are more than a way to pass on a good yarn; but a way to teach, to learn, to defend, or to rebel. Words can be stopped, people silenced, but as hard as they try it is impossible to keep the printed word from spreading in the face of adversity.

A story is the perfect way to handle controversial issues. In the U.S.S.R., stories set in the time of the Czars were hailed as great examples of why communism was better, but what the communist leaders didn’t realize was these great Russian writers were using their stories to poke holes in communism itself — a story about modern times and issues but set in the past is one of the best ways to get controversial ideas out into the open.

The short story characteristically focuses on a single incident, a bit of action that is usually dramatic and ends in some sort of revelation”a flash of irony, comprehension, or insight. What happens is crucial and pivotal to the story. Because of its length if the story is to make a strong impression on us, it will do so not merely through the intensity of its concentrated action but through the implications the event suggests. This idea is expertly portrayed by three different authors in the short stories “Samuel”, “Battle Royal” and “The Use of Force”.

Samuel by Grace Paley is the story of a boy who was accidentally killed while playing on a train. The accident was caused when one rider pulled the brake cord of the train causing it to jerk to a stop, throwing Samuel from the rear of the train. This one person may or may not have purposefully intended to cause the injury.