The Modern-Day Relevance of Historic Literature

Some consider English literature important to study because it strengthens one’s reading and writing skills, which are imperative in school and work, and are needed to keep one’s brain sharp and functioning. Others note how it enhances our understanding of the world through the perspectives presented in novels, short stories, poems, and the novellas. The studying of historic compositions allows us to acquire a stronger sense of the similarities and differences in human nature seen in our past and our present. A good example of this is found in the book Animal Farm, by George Orwell. Based on the Russian Revolution, the character Napoleon, a power-hungry pig, is trying to take over a farm of animals. He clashes with another pig, named Snowball, who is also a potential candidate for a leadership position. When Napoleon seizes control of the farm, he frequently blames his leadership failures on Snowball, even though they are obviously not Snowball’s fault. This perpetual “blame game” is a phenomenon I have seen frequently in our present time, particularly in exchanges among political divisions and by our most recent President. The book does a great job of demonstrating how history can repeat itself.

While studying historic pieces of American literature, I noticed three that embody characteristics and themes evident in modern-day society: The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain, The First Dandelion by Walt Whitman, and The Open Boat by Stephen Crane. These works are also examples of important genres of literature that have had lasting effects, realism, poetry, and naturalism.

Realism is defined as portraying things as they are without miracles or happy endings. Mark Twain is my favorite realist author. His short story, The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, is a perfect example of realism, and presents themes appearing in our modern society as well as societies of the past. In the story, Jim Smiley, a man who loves gambling and is always betting on everything, bets $40 that his frog, Dan’l Webster, is a better jumper than another frog. However, he loses this bet and, therefore, the $40. After pointing out that Dan’l looks “mighty baggy," he later finds out that he was cheated as a stranger sabotaged him by pouring an alcoholic drink down Dan’l’s mouth. This story serves as a strong example of realism as it presents an unfortunate and unromanticized fate. Smiley would likely learn from this experience that gambling, though it can be lucrative, is not a dependable way to gain revenue due to its high risk and lack of consistency. Even though the stranger cheated, he got away with it because life is not fair, and there was nobody there to supervise or moderate their deal. We see this type of occurrence today as well. A good parallel is bitcoin investments. Bitcoin investing is very similar to gambling in that it entices people with the possibility of quickly gaining income and can result in very devastating financial consequences. Bitcoin is known for being very risky, even though it has proven to be very lucrative if you time it right. Bitcoin is more relevant now than ever. As many people know, Robinhood, the investing app, was involved in a scandal that involved the unscrupulous collection of hedge funds. People in charge of the app became billionaires because of it. This caused a national outrage and those people are now facing lawsuits. Similar to Jim Smiley, those people thought they had a foolproof technique of garnering revenue that turned out to be ineffective, and had to pay in the end.

Poetry is a very well-known form of literary expression. Involving the usage of unique styles and wording, it can be a very thought provoking expression of language. Considered to be one of the most influential poets of all time, Walt Whitman has many insightful poems with many literary devices and symbols. I like Whitman’s poem, The First Dandelion very much as I see it as an outline of the process of going from being a younger, innocent child to being a mature grownup. The “sunny nook of shelter’d grass” is the safe, comfortable environment that a kid grows up in, not like being an adult who understands how the world works and knows how to survive. “As if no artifice of fashion, business, politics, had ever been,” illustrates how innocent children know nothing about making money, how politics work, etc. Most kids don’t understand things like political partisanship or the economic system. At the end, the dandelion’s “trustful face,” is a symbol for how trusting children are. Kids who don’t know any better have a tendency to be gullible and naive; this can make things very dangerous for them, particularly when they are outside alone. As someone who is now in college, I believe I have completed this process, albeit not too long ago. I remember back when I was around 7 years old and how I used to think that the world was nothing more than a fun, intriguing mystery filled with different treasures to find and places to explore. I had no idea that there was a war between our country and Afghanistan. I had no idea about the systemic racism towards African citizens and those of other races. And I had no idea that our country was going through a financial crisis at the time. Nowadays, I, like most other grownups, now follow the news regularly to see what the politicians will do next. I care about topics like the climate, or the heavy amount of debt our country is in. Also with an acquired knowledge of business, I have now learned that most things are just for money. All of the toys that I had from movies I loved, I now only see as assets used by companies to make money by appealing to children. I used to think my dad would go to work 5 days a week as he enjoyed it as a hobby, but I now know it is just to make money and keep his family alive. If there is anything that has not changed about human psychology, it is how coming of age, in every time period, is a dreadful, yet important time of our life.

Naturalism demonstrates the understanding and ability to coexist with natural forces rather than relying on supernatural ones. An example is a story of a man who has to financially support his family. It is a burden, but he has no choice. There is no God or any other kind of omnipresence to rescue him, and he has to persist on his own and hope that everything will work out. The Open Boat, by Stephen Crane, has many naturalistic ideals. In this short story, a group of men are lost at sea, and there they realize that their existence means nothing to the universe: “When it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important, and that she feels she would not maim the universe by disposing of him, he at first wishes to throw bricks at the temple, and he hates deeply the fact that there are no bricks and no temples. Any visible expression of nature would surely be pelleted with his jeers.” It is easy to note how upset and irritable the men become when they realize that nature does not care for them. I would compare this to the way people have responded these days to the coronavirus pandemic. Knowing how dangerous it is and how unsparing this virus is, it is evident that it would be safer to stay indoors rather than go outside and risk yourself. But the misery of the safety precautions have now generated many mental health issues for people. Depression and anxiety have gone up significantly because of it. Because of coronavirus, many people have realized just how difficult and unpredictable the world can be. As explained in The Open Boat, nature is not fair; and we have now learned that empirically.

It is a shame that many people these days don’t consider the importance of classic literature. We should never forget great writers like Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, and Stephen Crane. Knowing the time we are in, and how unhappy people are these days, nuanced reading of the classics may help to make more sense out of the world.

Resources

Whitman, Walt. The First Dandelion. 1888.

Crane, Stephen. The Open Boat. 1897.

Twain, Mark. The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. 1865.