Violence has perhaps become commonplace to the modern generation. It seems to be the figurative salt and pepper of every television show, cartoon, novel and video game. Has this violent saturation of all things pop culture desensitized modern readers to the point of ignorance? This would be a most unfortunate conclusion considering the deliberation of violence found in Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor. His “nothing is as simple as it seems” approach to violence in literature leads a reader to conclude that the majority of novelic brutality carries a certain level of profoundness. Although this pensive approach to acts of violence may give one insight when binge watching CSI: Miami, its application is much more lucrative
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With this in mind, consider then Jesse’s flashback to his childhood. Here Baldwin attempts to surprise the reader, “He had a black friend, his age, eight, who lived nearby. His name was Otis. They wrestled together in the dirt.”(336). This confirmation of Jesse’s childhood innocence may startle an enthralled reader, but the end of this section answers the,“how did Jesse get to this point” question. In a lucid recollection of the day a black man was punished for raping a white woman, Jesse recognizes for himself the point at which his hatred was born. He recalls as he looked the hanging black man up and down, “He watched his mother’s face. Her eyes were very bright, her mouth was open: she was more beautiful than he had ever seen her, and more strange. He began to feel a joy he had never felt before.”(Baldwin 347). As the scenario plays out and the black man is beaten, sliced, and lit ablaze, Jesse completes his transformation, “Well, I told you”, said his father, ‘you wasn’t never going to forget this picnic.’ His father’s face was full of sweat, his eyes were very peaceful. At that moment Jesse loved his father more than he had ever loved him. he felt that his father had carried him through a mighty test, had revealed to him a great secret which would be the key to his life forever.”(Baldwin 349). The association of love, and the connection Jesse shares with his parents through the violence committed at the picnic that day strips him of his innocence. Yet, what does this all
With this in mind, consider then Jesse’s flashback to his childhood. Here Baldwin attempts to surprise the reader, “He had a black friend, his age, eight, who lived nearby. His name was Otis. They wrestled together in the dirt.”(336). This confirmation of Jesse’s childhood innocence may startle an enthralled reader, but the end of this section answers the,“how did Jesse get to this point” question. In a lucid recollection of the day a black man was punished for raping a white woman, Jesse recognizes for himself the point at which his hatred was born. He recalls as he looked the hanging black man up and down, “He watched his mother’s face. Her eyes were very bright, her mouth was open: she was more beautiful than he had ever seen her, and more strange. He began to feel a joy he had never felt before.”(Baldwin 347). As the scenario plays out and the black man is beaten, sliced, and lit ablaze, Jesse completes his transformation, “Well, I told you”, said his father, ‘you wasn’t never going to forget this picnic.’ His father’s face was full of sweat, his eyes were very peaceful. At that moment Jesse loved his father more than he had ever loved him. he felt that his father had carried him through a mighty test, had revealed to him a great secret which would be the key to his life forever.”(Baldwin 349). The association of love, and the connection Jesse shares with his parents through the violence committed at the picnic that day strips him of his innocence. Yet, what does this all