Endless Faith

After reading Pauline Hopkins' "As the Lord Lives, He is One of Our Mother's Children" and Claude McKay's poems, I wonder how people of their time still managed to have faith in God despite all of the turmoil and hard times they faced. This shines through in Hopkins' story with Stone and Reverend Stevens.

Reverend Stevens was a kind, Godly man who found it in his heart to take in a desperate man, George Stone, when he was sick and at a dead end. He later finds out he was accused for the murder of a black man and there was a reward out for finding him and turning him in. While Reverend Stevens could have made $1,500, he found it in his heart to cover Stone's back and keep him safe in hiding, until all of the commotion blew over and he could safely escape. This display of kindness and care is expected of a reverend, but it also showed in a fugitive black man, who had no hope in life, George Stone.

After parting ways with Stevens and his beloved son Flip, Stone encounters them again years down the road in a tragedy situation. Stone discovers a huge tree on a train track, and hears God telling him what he has to do. He must remove the tree from the track so that the train can safely pass without crashing and killing the passengers on board, which consists of Reverend Stevens and his son Flip. After all Stevens did for Stone out of the love in his heart, Stone knew he had to save him and his son. Therefore, he works and works to get the tree off the track, with the love and support through prayers from God. In his final moments alive, Stone is one on one with God, praying for help and salvation. Stone then gets struck by the train, taking his life to save the lives of Stevens and Flip. Both men found it in their hearts to sacrifice their safety through God's faith and love to save the other.

One small example of having faith in God also shows up in one of Claude McKay's poems, "If We Must Die." Claude explains that in his times, many many black men were lynched and violently killed for one reason or another. This reflects him believing "If we must die, let it not be like hogs Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot, While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs, Making their mock at our accursed lot" (page 707 lines 1-4). He knows even if he must die, he needs to do in nobly, with faith in God that everything will end up alright and not fight what his fate holds.

The "Ah Hah" Moment

There is one literary element that makes all texts worth reading: suspense. Many people search for books and novels that are suspenseful because they like to have surprises and “Ah Hah!” moments when they get to the end, when everything comes together and makes sense.

Two texts in particular that create these moments are “Learning to Read” by Frances E.W. Harper and “The Wife of His Youth” by Charles Chesnutt. Both of these readings create an “Ah Hah” moment where the story comes to a surprising conclusion. Harper’s poem “Learning to Read” leads the reader to first believe that Frances Harper was a deprived slave who never received the privilege of learning to read by her recollection that “Our masters always tried to hide Book learning from our eyes; Knowledge didn’t agree with slavery - ‘Twould make us all too wise” explains how it was frowned upon and almost near impossible for slaves to be able to learn to read. Right when one believes she will never get the privilege she so longs for, the story takes a twisting turn. Harper speaks of her determination and how she “Got a pair of glasses, And Straight to work I went, And never stopped till I could read The hymns and Testament.” After reading this and concluding the story, I was surprised to find out that Frances Harper was finally able to learnt to read, and lived with her freedom and independence in her own cabin for the rest of eternity.

In “The Wife of His Youth” by Charles Chesnutt, the protagonist, Mr. Ryder, tells a story of his journey to the woman of his dreams. Chesnutt first leads the reader astray at the beginning by telling the story of how Mr. Ryder had met a woman named Mrs. Dixon and he had fallen completely in love with her and wished to marry her. This leads the reader to think he is going to end up with this woman he has just met. Mr. Ryder plans a ball, where he would propose to Mrs. Dixon. At this time, an older black woman walks through the gate and catches Mr. Ryder’s attention. She begins to speak to Mr. Ryder: “"'scuse me, suh, I's lookin' for my husban'. I heerd you wuz a big man an' had libbed heah a long time, an' I 'lowed you wouldn't min' ef I'd come roun' an' ax you ef you'd eber heerd of a merlatter man by de name er Sam Taylor 'quirin' roun' in de chu'ches ermongs' de people fer his wife 'Liza Jane?” Here, Liza explains she has been looking for her husband for 25 years since he has been freed from slavery, but she has yet to find him. Liza proceeds to show Mr. Ryder a picture of her long lost husband, to which “He looked long and intently at the portrait…..and it was easy to see what manner of man it had represented.” This gives the reader a hint of insight that he recognizes the man in the photo. He then proceeds to go upstairs and stare at himself in the mirror at his own reflection. Returning down to the ball, he speaks to his audience about what he should do in a time of crisis where a woman returned to seek her husband after 25 years. He wonders if she should be accepted or not. Chesnutt then throws the final curveball by ending the story, “Ladies and gentlemen…this is the woman, and I am the man, whose story I have told you. Permit me to introduce to you the wife of my youth.” This is such an amazing moment for a reader, after reading this long story, they finally come to the realization in the very last sentence that Mr. Ryder was the long lost husband Ms. Liza had been searching for. In just one final sentence, the whole story comes together in an instant and gives the reader lasting satisfaction.

Post-Civil War America

While reading the intro, pages 1-29, I noticed a big theme that stuck out to me that seems to still be a contemporary issue we still face today. It was very interesting to me to read about all of the immigration problems that erupted in America after the civil war, because we definitely still deal with immigration issues in our society today.

Back in post civil war times, American citizens were just getting used to the idea of immigrants coming into America and taking over territory and jobs. Our country had just received the Statue of Liberty from France, which was supposed to be our symbol of welcome and hope. But many citizens struggled with this, as many do today. The Chinese were excluded from our country may decades ago, which caused a huge uprising among their culture.

The text states that “Immigration and rapid industrialization also generated growing conflicts between labor and corporations, or trusts, controlled by a few wealthy men” (18). We still face this problem today with a wave of immigrants coming into our country from Mexico, crossing over the border to receive a chance at a new life, eager to work at very cheap wages, just like post civil war times when the Chinese were coming to America to perform cheap labor.

I think as long as we are as accepting of a country as we are, and aren’t very proactive to prevent immigration that is negative, we will always have our current threats of terrorism scares and bad intentions from foreigners. This didn’t seem to be as severe of a risk back in earlier times. I believe those times were full of immigrants coming to America with truly sincere intentions to settle new land and have a good life, as opposed to the negative intentions of many immigrants today, who strive to destroy America and the way we operate.