Self Reflection
Henry Eschricht
Meehan English 101
Spring 2012
Arriving
at Washington College I was a literary nomad. I was dazed and confused and my
writing was exemplary of just how lost I was; not without potential, but lost
none the less. I am consumed by writing with a conversational voice, which can
be some of the best writing, but not if harnessed correctly. It would be my
journey through the Washington College Freshman English experience that would
give me ground to walk on. My disorganized thoughts, choppy sentences and
pitiful grammar went thought a transformation and became a spark, not a flame,
of great writing. I say spark because there is obviously a lot of room to
improve. In terms of identifying myself as a writer however, I can say
confidently that I have done so.
In my fall GRW I went through Goodhearts
writing boot camp with an abundance of 15 page papers and daunting research. It
taught me how to organize my train of thought before I even started the paper.
My essays in this class however remained somewhat discombobulated. Then began
English 101. I learned to structure my physical writing, and have a
concentrated thought as I was writing the physical paper. It also opened doors
that would expand my thinking so I can produce more nuanced and interesting
papers. As I sit here and reflect on the distance I have come this year, I look
at my “Path Less Traveled” paper and know that it is physical evidence of the
holistic literary strides I have made this year.
With
the initial draft I wanted to discuss the abundant, yet subtly mentioned
similarities between Dante’s Inferno
and Frankenstein. Until I had learned
of Dante’s tale, I had absolutely no frame of reference for Frankenstein. It was still an incredible
book with a complicated and emotional message, in a simple plot that even
children could comprehend. The beauty of the novel however is the layers. To
the child it is a story of a monster, to an adult, an emotional and even
suspenseful drama. However what makes Shelly’s novel so brilliant is that it
borrows and relates to other works just like it. It’s a creation, just as the
monster was. To understand this creation, your field of vision is increased
exponentially if you are aware of the works that Shelly borrows from. I was not
at first, but once I familiarized myself with Dante’s Inferno Shelly’s work became a magnum opus. I wanted to
tell the tale of my discovery and that is why I chose to write the paper that I
did. I think it is exemplary of my found and more organized voice, structural
improvements, and decent grammar. In my edit, there were a few grammatical
errors, but what I really wanted to work on was explaining what the meaning
behind what I say. I have the problem of just assuming the reader will get what
I am saying even if I haven’t painted the whole picture. Maybe they will, but
in terms of writing, the lack of explanation detracts from the potential of the
essay.
The
remaining strides of my writing are not unattainable; I think that I can one
day be an enticing writer. What I lack as of now I think has in part to do with
reading. I don’t read a lot, so whatever writing techniques that people pick up
from writing I am missing out on. In terms of physically writing, my next big
step is to learn how to make my conversational writing, formal, for the times
that I need it. For now I am stuck at lunch with my friends, I need to be ready
for a job interview. Regardless of what I continue to lack in the word of
writing, the frustration that I have parted from this year is a milestone
within its self. I no longer cringe at an up and coming essay and my mind
doesn’t feel like a static TV when I’m trying to build structure. I also look forward
to familiarizing myself with the new forms of media that adopt writing into
their digital worlds. This class has been a relevant intervention on my writing
both in the old world and the new.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Washington Crossing the Delaware
Henry Eschricht
McColl Art
History
Spring 2012
Throughout
history we find ourselves, our society, our world, encompassed by art. While
languages present us with barriers and governments with borders, art has a
divine ability to disregard any constraints the world presents. In Darwinian
terms, art is a cockroach- suppressed, banned and attacked, it has survived the
ages. From catastrophic natural events, to world wars; people die, civilizations
vanish yet art remains. Aside from its tenacious efforts to survive, it
procures unfathomable power. Paintings have caused wars, brought people to
tears and enlivened populations. The influence of art is subjective, yes, but
in the course of time there are certain works that have had a universal affect
on human beings, and it is in those reactions that we find the most powerful
paintings. In 1851 Emmanuel Gottlieb Leutze was commissioned to paint a
painting.[1]
This however would not be a conventional work; it would be neither a portrait
of a duke, nor a landscape for an aristocrat. Emmanuel Leutze was asked by his
country, heart in hand, to invigorate his people. [2]
His Washington Crossing the Delaware
exhumes this unfathomable and inexplicable power that art carries on its
shoulders. Not only were his people inspired, but the painting’s spark of
inspiration, it’s flame, transcends through time with an everlasting and
universal profoundness. Reached by this profoundness, I find myself in a state
of inspirational drunkenness. My immediate infatuation with this painting has
become a discovered kinship as I find myself in each layer of Leutze’s magnum
opus.
June
15, 1775, a brave soul was chosen to lead the Colonial Army against King
Charles I and his ruthless military. More than a year later in the winter of
1776 the Colonial forces found themselves in their darkest hour. In the midst
of winter, Washington and his destitute forces were station on the banks of the
Delaware River. It was then that Washington would rouse his men to make a
valorous crossing. Britain’s General Howe and his elite Hessian forces sat at
Trenton huddled around fires with the premonition that the last hours of the
war were on the horizon. Dawn however would bring them a surprise that would
change the outcome of the war. In the wee hours of the morning on December 25th
1776, Washington and his 2,400 men made a heroic crossing of the Delaware
River. It was in the dead of night and in the midst of a violent snowstorm that
Washington and his farmers, fisherman, and sailors made this biblical
statement. After the crossing they went on to march 10 miles and awakened the
enemy in Trenton. The battle was won in two hours without the loss of a single
man. Along with prisoners and ammunition, the Colonial forces captured a
momentum that turned the tides of the war in their favor. Word of this spirited
victory rang throughout the undefined land, bringing in new recruits and
winning the hearts of people from New England to Europe. [3]
Originally
hailing from Germany, Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, spent his childhood in the
United States. He returned to his homeland to study painting at the Düsseldorf
School. The school was known for its emphasis on epic paintings with copious
detail and ravishing colors.[4]
Leutze was perhaps coincidentally, however very fittingly, deeply rooted in the
idea of liberal democracy.
In
1848 Europe faced the “Springtime of Nations”, a continental revolt inspired by
faith in self-government.[5]
Most revolutions were left with some hope, but the damage that had been done in
Germany seemed insurmountable. In Germany’s darkest hour, Leutze wanted to
awaken his people with a valiant statement, something that would give life to a
nation overwhelmed by death. It was only just that he chose Washington’s scene
at the Delaware River. While parted by time and location, Leutze and Washington
shared the same moral fortitude and strength of character.[6]
Aside
from all the glory this painting radiates, when looked at as a piece of art in
its purest form, it is indeed still brilliant. When Washington, and the German
revolution are taken away, we are left with nothing but oil paint on canvas.[7]
The
depth of field in this painting is impeccable, but you have to work for it. The
focal point, Washington’s boat, steals so much thunder that the vastness of the
work can remain in your subconscious. The Color of the painting is also
striking, the deep blues, the valiant reds and the somber tone of the icebergs;
all magnificent, but without being distracting. The colors are not bright, but
rather deep and strong. Leutze
works in the rule of thirds, however within these thirds lie a series of
triangulations; the slant of the flag and the direction of a beam of light, the
oars and Washington’s figure. Add this to the use of light and shadow and you
have a painting that leaves your mind struggling to avoid acceptance of three
dimensions. While it certainly adds to the equation, this exceptional artistic
craftsmanship is not what separates this painting from its peers.
Leutze’s
Washington Crossing the Delaware exhibits
numerous themes in its details, and while historical inaccuracies are frequent,
they are used to further the purpose of the painting. First there is a gradual
transition from dark to light, showing an escape from the dark days of the war
into its more glorious ones. The faded American Flag shows the weakened state
the Washington’s realm is in. To the rescue we see a bold and powerful red worn
by Washington’s Massachusetts Regiment.[8]
In this regiment, a Scotsmen, a black, a frontiersmen and other various types
of men. The inclusion of this assortment screams unity, and this is precisely
why they were included in the piece. America could be unified why couldn’t
Germany?
In
many ways this painting is unmistakably American, but with research and an
authentic experience of German people, I cannot say that I will ever be able to
give my entire being to its Americanism. It will for me remain very German.
Germans are brutes; persistent people who are not afraid to tell it like it is,
and will do anything to get you going. Maybe it is the inheritance of the
Prussian militaristic ancestors, but German people are like the Picadors in a
bullfight. To get you going they will pour salt in your wound, they jab you in
the side and even their language can make the most endearing diction sound
scornful. Maybe Leutze chose America’s history to honor Washington, however if
true, he still left subtle inklings that while he himself was somewhat
Americanized, his veins still ran red with German blood. The river in which
Washington is pictured crossing is in fact a depiction of the Rhine.[9]
Upon
going to see the physical work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I had heard
from numerous people that it was a must see. Thinking I would be moderately
impressed at this rather large (8’x7’, I imagined) work, I wrote it off as a
run of the mill-exciting piece of American history. Recently reframed, it sat
somewhere in the Met awaiting my arrival. I made my usual rounds in the Met, my
favorite blue room, the Temple of Dendur and the modern art section, planning
to make it the finale of my trip. I made it half way through the 20th
century paintings and I couldn’t wait any longer, I ditched my friend Kong and
B-lined for the American Wing. Inside I was growing more and more excited,
almost humming to myself a dramatic build up score of a film (I couldn’t think
of any). I found the floor, turned the corner and to my surprise it was not
there, nor at the next corner, nor the next, why would they have the keystone
of the gallery so hard to find? Just when I was beginning to doubt I was in the
right place I turned the last corner. Lo and behold, it was nothing short of
colossal, nothing short of extraordinary. I am a naturally excited person, and
encountering this painting, it was as if we spoke the same language. I paced
around the room; I sat down; I paced again. I took off my backpack and did it
again. The docent asked me if everything was ok. I interviewed an art teacher
from Singapore about the painting and asked him if it meant any less to him, a
foreigner, than it did to me. He said Singapore is in its infancy and that he
too was inspired by it. I asked him if it mattered if the painting was by a
German for Germans. He replied, “The Statue of Liberty is from French.” I
turned around and sat with my back to the painting watching other people turn
the same corner I did. Young and old, foreign and domestic; the art teacher
from Singapore and the kid wearing the “New Jersey” wife beater all had the
same reaction to the Leutze’s masterpiece.
Emmanuel
Gottlieb Leutze’s Washington Crossing the
Delaware is exemplary of the power of images. My anxious venture through
the sub floors of the American Wing that day were well worth it. This painting
exudes pride and glory and everything in between. It gifts you with a sense of
self, a visual, “To thine own self be true.” Leutze gifts us with footing to stand fearlessly and face
the future.
Works Cited
"Emanuel
Leutze's Symbolic Scene of Washington Crossing the Delaware | EDSITEment."
EDSITEment | The Best of the Humanities on the Web.
http://edsitement.neh.gov/emanuel-leutze%E2%80%99s-symbolic-scene-washington-crossing-delaware
(accessed April 19, 2012).
This
government sponsored website for the humanities explores the artistic elements
to Leutze's painting.
Graff,
Henry, and Allan Nevins. Britannica, Online ed., s.v. "George
Washington." Edinburgh : Encyclopedia Britannica, 2012.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/636381/George-Washington (accessed April 11, 2012).
Academically
prestigious encyclopedia discusses the historical facts of the story behind the
painting.
Hamerow,
Theodore S. "History and the German Revolution of 1848." The
American Historical Review 60, no. 1 (1954): 27-44.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1842744 (accessed April 18, 2012).
Academic
journal that provides historical facts on the German Civil War of 1848 that was
the inspiration for the creation of the painting
Works
Cited
Metropolitan
Museum of Art. "The Metropolitan Museum of Art - George Washington
Crossing the Delaware ." The
Metropolitan Museum of Art - Home
.
http://www.metmuseum.org/metmedia/interactives/art-trek/george-washington-crossing-the-delaware
(accessed April 19, 2012).
Interactive
website page sponsored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art that explores
different artistic and themed elements of the painting.
Unknown. Britannica
, Britannica Online ed., s.v. ""Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze."
Edinburgh: Encyclopedia Britannica, 2012.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/337776/Emanuel-Gottlieb-Leutze.
(accessed April 10, 2012).
Academically
prestigious encyclopedia discusses the artists character, style and artistic
background.
[1]
Unknown. Britannica ,
Britannica Online ed., s.v. ""Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze."
Edinburgh: Encyclopedia Britannica, 2012. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/337776/Emanuel-Gottlieb-Leutze.
(accessed April 10, 2012).
[2]
"Emanuel Leutze's
Symbolic Scene of Washington Crossing the Delaware | EDSITEment."
EDSITEment | The Best of the Humanities on the Web.
http://edsitement.neh.gov/emanuel-leutze%E2%80%99s-symbolic-scene-washington-crossing-delaware
(accessed April 19, 2012).
[3]
Graff, Henry, and Allan
Nevins. Britannica, Online ed., s.v. "George Washington."
Edinburgh : Encyclopedia Britannica, 2012.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/636381/George-Washington (accessed April 11, 2012).
[4]
Unknown. Britannica ,
Britannica Online ed., s.v. ""Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze."
[5]
Hamerow, Theodore S.
"History and the German Revolution of 1848." The American
Historical Review 60, no. 1 (1954): 27-44. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1842744
(accessed April 18, 2012).
[6]
Unknown. Britannica ,
Britannica Online ed., s.v. ""Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze."
[7]
Metropolitan Museum of Art.
"The Metropolitan Museum of Art - George Washington Crossing the
Delaware ." The Metropolitan
Museum of Art - Home .
http://www.metmuseum.org/metmedia/interactives/art-trek/george-washington-crossing-the-delaware
(accessed April 19, 2012).
[8]
"Emanuel Leutze's
Symbolic Scene of Washington Crossing the Delaware | EDSITEment."
[9]
"Emanuel Leutze's
Symbolic Scene of Washington Crossing the Delaware | EDSITEment."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“The
Path Less Traveled”
Henry
Eschricht
Meehan
English
Spring
2012
Upon
reading Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, one finds, at a glance, a
simple tragedy of a monster and his creator. However, if you further indulge in the novel,
numerous themes and emotions carry you far beyond the confinements of its
simple text. In exploring these greater ideas, we
realize that Shelly has given birth to her novel using parts of other great
stories. Just as Victor used numerous human beings to create his
monster, Shelly’s use of other stories breeds her Frankenstein to be
a bastion of great literary works. Among the works reflected in
Frankenstein, there lies a deep parallel to Dante’s Inferno. While
there is only one cited reference to the tale of Dante’s Inferno, its themes
and ideas are echoed throughout the novel. Dante’s journey through the different
circles of hell closely shadow the monsters first endeavors on earth. Both
characters start as naïve individuals and are stripped of their innocence as
they gain insight into the “barbarity of man.” (Shelly 103)
Before the great adventures that the two
characters embark upon, they are both blind to realism of the
human race. The monster, just having been created, did not
know how to function as a living being, let alone experience the wrath of human
emotion. “A strange multiplicity of sensations seized me, and I
saw,
felt,
heard,
and smelt, at the same time.” (Shelly 95) While the monster was born
with his innocence, Dante gained innocence by living life as a man and taking
for granted what human interactions he experienced. Both
the monster and Dante are incognizant of what they are about to experience; in
this lies their innocence. As Dante enters the gates of hell, he and
Virgil pass an inscription that states, “Abandon hope, you who
enter here” (Dante 7) Dante is on the verge of entering hell and the monster, while
on earth is also on the verge of entering his own subjective hell. In
entering hell each character goes through a process that eventually strips them
of their innocence. Because of the similar experiences that these characters
share,
Dante’s Inferno is proven to be an inherent part of Shelly’s novel.
Because
the monster in Frankenstein is of the purest
innocence when he is born, he essentially enters hell when he steps out into the world. He has not yet had
any interaction with human beings aside from meeting his creator. While experiencing
the elements and sensation of the natural world, the monster learns quickly of earth
and her natural state. “I
examined the materials of the fire,
and to my joy found it to be composed of wood. I
quickly collected some branches; but they were wet, and would not burn. I
was pained at this, and sat still watching the
operation of the fire. The wet wood which I had
placed near the heat dried, and itself became inflamed.” (Shelly 97) Earth’s natural state is the least of the monsters
worries, as he will soon stumble upon
his demise, not by mother earth herself, but by her inhabitants.
Through
the monsters interactions with people,
he in turn reflects back to both the reader and Victor the true barbarity of
man.
Just as Dante literally enters hell to experience the same side of
humanity; the monster enters hell when he interacts with human beings. Through these interactions his innocence as well as his eager
approach to explore mankind deteriorate.
Simply looking for food one day, he enters a hut in which a
man is preparing food. “He turned on hearing a
noise; and, perceiving me, shrieked loudly, and, quitting the hut, ran across the fields with a
speed of which his debilitated form hardly appeared capable.” (Shelly 98) As he tells the story to Victor he does not reflect
on the fact that instant, and continues to describe
his fascination with the hut. After other experiences it
is only then that he becomes keen to why mankind viewed him as a beast. He decides to test his theory with a blind man. “ I revolved many projects; but that on which I finally fixed was, to enter the dwelling when the blind old man should be alone. I had sagacity enough to discover that the unnatural hideousness
of my person was the chief object of horror with those who had formerly beheld
me. My voice,
although harsh, had nothing terrible in it.” (Shelly 93) The monster went to the old man because he too was
innocent in a sense. Blind literally and
figuratively, he would not be aware of
what the monster looked like, but meet him as a kind voice. Maybe then the man
could explain to everyone that monster is in fact not a threat. His experience with the man proved to the monster that he himself
was truly a kind soul. “I have good dispositions;
my life has been hitherto harmless and in some degree beneficial; but a fatal
prejudice clouds their eyes, and where they ought to see
a feeling and kind friend, they behold only a
detestable monster.” (Shelly) Thus,
the irony of a monster being more human than any man is solidified. How can something so innocent and honest on the inside be
despised by the very species that hold these characteristics to the highest
regard? Heaven is fro the innocent and honest and hell is for the judgmental, the shallow and the wicked.
The monsters experience on earth is simply hellish; each experience more
heartbreaking and sinful then the last.
The monster is innocent because he is blind to this hell, he is not aware of how to be judgmental, shallow or wicked. His true character comes out
because he does not know anything else,
and his true character ends up being exemplary of what mankind reveres. His experience with humans then sheds light on what treachery
exists on earth. Once the monster is no
longer innocent, it is reflected in his
actions throughout the rest of the novel.
He feels betrayed and is ultimately self-destructive because of this, why empathize for those who destroyed what he believed in. While the monster had lost all innocence and faith while
discovering hell on earth; Dante shadows his story by venturing through literal
hell.
The
monster in Frankenstein and Dante in Dante’s Inferno share a similar path in
their endeavors through eye opening places and loss of innocence in hell. Victor Hugo ironically references Dante’s Inferno in the creation of his monster, forever placing in our minds the inkling that the two share a
connection beyond being a character in a book. Upon creating the monster Victor states, “I had gazed on him while unfinished he was ugly then; but when
those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived.” (Shelly ch. 5) - Little did he know that
his monster was less demonic than those Dante-esque hellions. When Dante embarks on his pure journey to join his wife in
heaven; he ends up at the gates of hell frightened by the beast that protect
the gates. This would be the last time
he would look at only animals as beasts.
Travelling through the circles of hell Dante is,
like the monster, taxed on his misconception
of humans. In just the second ring of
hell, firestorms are cast upon those who lived lustfully, thus turning their memories of the past into a current
nightmare. He even meets a pope who
has once conspired against him. When entering the eighth
pouch of hell he meets Ulysses, who is the hero of Homer’s
epics. He has been given an
eternal place in hell alongside his fellow religious criminals. In this instance,
the great deviation between human heroism and true purity is best exemplified. Just as Victor asks himself how anyone (even Dante) could
fathom the bestiality of his monster,
Dante poses the same question, “Tante chi stipa nove
travaglie e pene? (Who thought this stuff up?)” This solidifies his new
reformed view on the impurity of man.
At first he was blind to the severity of sin in the world around him, but now he saw.
The
monster and Dante also have similar stories in their escape from hell. Both are not directly religious,
but the coincidences behind them are certainly biblical. While Dante is resurrected from hell on Easter morning, the monster creates his own resurrection from hell in leaving
to die. Both of these instances
are symbolic to escape from the unbearable scenes of hell. Because of the similarities between the monster and Dante, we are left without question why Shelly incorporated that
single quotation. Reading Frankenstein with
no frame of reference to Dante’s Inferno gives you a monochromatic experience. If you are however, aware of Dante’s trials and tribulations while reading Shelly’s
novel, her quote plants a seed
inside the reader’s mind that forces the reader to essentially picture these
two walking hand in hand through the gates of hell.
No comments:
Post a Comment