Hardship In American Literature

The American writers in the second half of the nineteenth century often focus on situations when individuals faced hardships. The time period proves to be a trying time for Americans, as everyone seems to be facing varying tribulations it only makes sense to illustrate these hardships through writing. One primary hardship many people in this society face is the struggle for liberty from many things, including but not limited to, liberty from others, oneself, and Mother Nature herself. First, post-Civil War society requires real people to face hardship in their lives. George Washington Cable writes of the hardship of freed African Americans in his essay “The Freedman’s Case in Equity” in which they are treated just as the subtitle says “perpetual aliens”. Cable beseeches in his writing for the implementation of freedom; society had not yet accepted the abolition of …show more content…
The rivers and oceans of the world can be seen as a symbol of freedom but they can also be treacherous and hold many trials. Mark Twain illustrates the hardships faced in “Life on the Mississippi”, in which he is being mentored to learn to control and pilot a steamboat. The mentor, Mr. Bixby, shows Twain just how difficult piloting a boat really is when he barely escapes wrecking the boat through murky waters. Stephen Crane shows the hardships in nature in his story “The Open Boat” when the remaining crew of a shipwreck battle rough waters in a tiny boat. The oiler, correspondent, cook, and injured captain battle rough waters, travel alongside a shark, and fight their anxieties at anger at the situation. The correspondent looks to a lighthouse in the distance and has an epiphany that nature is indifferent towards men; this new perspective shows him while nature has seemed cruel and treacherous it is in fact indifferent, even to the fact of causing the deaths of many people including, later, the