First of all, to hear people's comments/opinions was really helpful to know what goes on in a person's mind while reading this kind of literature. I found myself relating with many of them. So, in order to organize what I've read, I've organized it by piece of literature.
1) Huck
The main theme that was highly discussed was slavery. Yes this novel is controversial in its use of the word "nigger." This was also mentioned as the reason why this novel was banned. But the theme of slavery was thought of as a glimpse of the background of which this book came from: the history. Back then, slaves were seen as property: uneducated and treated poorly. Also, Huck's mentality on slavery throughout this novel changes. At first, Huck sees Jim as a slave and that's all. Eventually, he sees Jim as a friend, a companion, someone to lean on. Their relationship strengthens due to the fact that they are both running away from their past lives and from society. For example, Huck protects Jim from being caught. Huck's view on right vs wrong, society vs morality was also discussed. Huck was an intelligent young man in that he could fake is own death but he lacked education. However, Huck soon realizes society's view on slavery and such, and eventually settles on what is right.
Another theme discussed that I found interesting was the feud between the Grangerfords and Sheperdsons. How ironic that they die but the lovers live. Sound familiar? Ah yes. The bloggers compared it to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The feud in Shakespeare's play was between the Montagues and the Capulets. In the end, the two leading lovers die, but the families live. Interesting that Mark Twain would have that as part of his novel about a young boy, but it in fact has a realistic view that the bloggers mentioned: life is hard, and that's just the way it is.
Lastly, bloggers highly emphasized the themes of realism and romanticism that this book portrayed mainly by the characters Huck, the follower, and Tom, the annoying one. Most bloggers found Tom annoying, which I completely agree. However, some did mention that because Tom is young, younger than Huck, and his knowledge was mostly based on books,adventure books, who could blame him? Tom is a romantic who creates these wild, random, and even cruel ideas. He is selfish and only wishes for an adventure. Knowing all along that Jim was a freed slave, he still made up this plan to free him only to end up getting shot and being happy about it. This kid is insane! Switching to Huck, bloggers saw him as more realistic. He was simple minded boy who observed rather than be observed. Who followed rather than be followed. He had arguments with himself about what was right and wrong which seems to portray a true human characteristic. The ending as well was also seen as romanticized. Because of the slavery theme, Jim being freed was seen as unlikely, however, he was freed. Huck's father died and was then adopted, so even Huck had a romanticized ending as well.
2) Washington and DuBois
Although there was a lot to say on these two men, the themes were the same. Washington believed that African Americans would rise, but his approach on equal rights was seen as subtle and time-consuming. During this time, taking action was the key strategy--Du Bois' strategy--but who would solve the issue of inequality, racism, and such in a heartbeat? It's basically impossible. This is why the bloggers thought Du Bois disagreed on. Du Bois' approach was aggressive but during that time period, it would have been seen as necessary. He believed that African Americans should not submit, but the whites should assist them to rise. Pretty much all the bloggers agreed that both approaches were greatly important, but their fight was for the same cause.
3) Dreiser, Crane, & London
Ah, the naturalism. This was the main theme discussed among these three pieces. There were two views on Sister Carrie: one was positive and one was negative. Positively, Carrie was seen as an innocent stranger in an unknown city. She was relatable in that she couldn't find a job which can compare to this century's female struggles. Negatively, she was a victim of her own environment--naturalistic view. Because she was inexperienced and naive, some bloggers were annoyed by that and others were depressed. One blogger found her inadequate. Basically, what was her purpose?
Crane's "The Open Boat" still had the same essence. Instead of the city being Carrie's "enemy," nature was the dominant power. Nature, the sea, pretty much controlled the story and the characters' fate. The unlikely character to survive ended up surviving while the others died. How ironic. Despite this, out of all the stories, this one mentioned teamwork or brotherhood as we discussed in class.
Finally, London's "To Build a Fire" highly expressed naturalism. The main character was also a victim of his environment: he died in the hands of winter's curse. Many thought he was stupid for not being more prepared and thought the animal was a lot more intelligent. Because of the man's overconfidence, his death was predictable. However, some brought up the idea of human intelligence vs animal instinct. Human intelligence lacked common sense, while animal instinct was ignored until the end when the animal went back to the camp after his master died. Nature sure is the enemy in this story. Like one blogger put it, his death was inevitable.
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