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Issues of identity in the 19th century American Literature

In the 19th century American Literature, writers turn their attention to American history and
some episodes of the American past get a poetical meaning. Americans become national
characters because as George Santayana said, to be an American is a moral condition, an
education, a career. These characters are represented by a duplicitous nature: they have a
material side, but also an idealistic one.
There are two current: the transcendental current(idealistic) represented by Jonathan Edwards
and the practical current(factual, pragmatic) represented by Benjamin Franklin.
Among the transcendentalists' core beliefs was the inherent goodness of both man and nature.
Transcendentalists believed that society and its institutions - particularly organized religion and
political parties - ultimately corrupted the purity of the individual. They had faith that man is at
his best when truly "self-reliant" and independent. It is only from such real individuals that true
community could be formed. Individual happiness depends upon the reconciliation between two
tendencies: the self transcending tendency-to know and become one with the world and
contracting self asserting tendency-the desire to remain unique. Transcendental literature is
interested in here and now. There is a conection between transcendentalism and pragmatism.
Derived from the Greek word for practice or practical, American pragmatism deals with a
method of obtaining knowledge through real-world effects. Pragmatism represents a belief that
ideas are not merely to be contemplated but must be put into action, tested and refined through
experience. At the same time, the American pragmatists argued for an emphasis on human
community that would offset the deep-seated American bias in favor of individualism. Emerson
said it very interesting: A man in a God in ruins.
Far from being a relic of the past, pragmatism offers a dynamic and substantive approach to
questions of human conduct, social values, scientific inquiry, religious belief, and aesthetic
experience that lie at the center of contemporary life.

The 19th century American Literature is full of sentimentalism, tensions, hunted characters
who waiste their time. The dominant motives are: preocupation of transition, the idea of change
and nostalgia for things that are slowly disappearing.
In Nathaniel Hawthornes short story My Kinsman, Major Molineux one of the themes is
quest for identity. .In seeking independence, Robin, who answers to more than one name, is also
seeking to establish his own identity. At home, he was the son of a clergyman and farmer. When
he arrives in Boston, he is the kinsman of Major Molineux. When he sees Molineux in the cart
and laughs along with the crowd, he severs his ties with Molineux and stands alone as a distinct
individual. Whether he will accept his individuality or retreat to the security of the farm and his
old identity is a question left unanswered at the end of the story. Most likely is that this character
remains between the two worlds.
An issue of identity is also found in Bartleby, the Scrivener written by Herman Melville.
For decades, literary critics have argued over how to interpret the character of Bartleby.
At first glance, he seems to have little or no character to speak of: he arrives at the offices of the
Lawyer, is hired to do some copying, then begins to respond to any request made of him with "I
would prefer not to." This reply becomes a mantra, and the politely cold, yet firm way Bartleby
says it prevents the Lawyer from taking any real action against him. Time and again, the Lawyer
is stymied by Bartleby's simple phrase: "I would prefer not to." The term prefer begins to infect
the Lawyer's speech, even his mind.
But who is Bartleby? What does he represent? Baffled by the character's behavior, many critics
have bypassed interpreting Bartleby as a universal symbol in favor of looking at him in the
context of Melville's life. Some critics think Bartleby represents Melville himself: at this time of
his life, Melville's most recent works (including White Jacket (1850) and Moby Dick(1851)) had
failed miserably, despite the fact that they would achieve acclaim later on. At that time, his
readers wanted more adventure, like the adventure in his earlier works such as Typee. Some
critics think that, therefore, the Lawyer represents Melville's readers, asking Melville to write the
same old fiction he had been writing all along, and Bartleby is Melville himself, replying that he
would "prefer not to" and eventually withdrawing into himself and his misery.This is just one
interpretation, and it is a very simplified version of it. A more universally symbolic interpretation
is possible. We have one clue about Bartleby's past, given by the narrator at the end of the story:
Bartleby is said to have once worked in the Dead Letter office, and to have lost his job after an
administrative shake-up. The narrator (the Lawyer) wonders if such a miserable jobburning
letters that have been sent to people that have died in the meantime or who have vanishedwere
what caused Bartleby's ennui and his descent into seeming insanity.

In A white haron by Sarah Orne Jewett there is a strong conection between the main
character, Sylvia and nature. Although Sylvia is initially tempted by the money and the hunter's
jack-knife gift, she cannot be bought with his money. Her life with the birds and other creatures
of the woods is much more valuable to her. Sylvia is happy that she has left her life in the town,
and has no desire to go back.

The people around him reject the gray man, as he appears to create a sense of strange
foreboding. He has an accepted closeness to the natural environment, as he is able to tame wild
birds, which come to his call.
Polly Finch is able to harness and work with nature to make her family farm successful. She is
able to make the farm sustainable and productive. She receives some criticism for her decision to
take over the farming rather than pursue her teaching plans, but is admired by the wiser elements
of the community: Everything seemed to grow that she touched, and it was as if the strength of
her own nature was like a brook.
The story Marsh Rosemary compares Nancy Lane to the resilient and sturdy bush. She is
shown to have depth and heart, the gray primness of the plant is made up of a hundred colors if
you look close enough. The plant, like Nancy, stands in her own place and is to be warmed by
the same sun as her more beautiful counterparts.
The identity of the characters doesnt remain untouchable by time that brings with it changes.
The summer that Polly Finch dedicates to her family farm is to change her forever. She said
over and over again that she never should be happier than she had been that summer. She
becomes defined in the title of the story by her achievements during this time. Interestingly
though, the elderly Mrs. Wall tells Polly that her decision to run the farm is not a new one: she
explains that her cousin had done a similar thing years before They used to call her Farmer
Allen. It appears that such innovation in women was not new, just not recorded: a theme
prevalent in Jewetts own observations as a writer.
Ann Lloyd is conscious of time passing when she decides that she should accept Jerry Lanes
advances, emphasised by the symbol of the kitchen clock ticking faster than usual. She knows
he is shiftless and vacillating and her opinion is simply compounded over time and her
marriage is clearly a mistake. She chooses to be seen as a widow rather than destroy his new
life, and will manage, as before, alone.
The Dulham ladies revel in being called young ladies by the French shopkeeper, and they
respond with girlish actions. As they have remained single and inexperienced, their points of
reference are in the past and they rely on the codes and attitudes of a bygone age. Their
adherence to past fashions and their reliance on tales of their ancestors isolates them from
society, yet their inability to interact and engage realistically with those around them leads to
their fashion statement that has set the clock back forty years or more. They become a sad relic
of the past, accepted as they are by those who care for the innocent Christian babes.
Mary and Martha Deans are being left behind by society as they age and their hand sewing skills
are in less demand. As they live out of town, and times are hard, they have to think carefully
about their future, as they could not go out to work much longer. The promise of the sewing
machine from their cousin will bring them up to date in their industry.
An important theme that connects with the identity issues is innocence versus experience.
Sylvia is initially repulsed, then bewitched by the handsome stranger who offers money for the
location of the herons nest. She initially wants to please, but when communing with the birds in
the high pine tree she realises that she will keep their secret. She is so like them, in her gray

eyes and gentle understanding, that she will forego the adventure in to the world of womanly
desires to remain a child of nature.
The gray man is regarded as suspicious partly due to his wisdom in many areas. He is able to
offer guidance to the community on crop rotation, cattle disease, housekeeping, and child
rearing. His knowledge is part of what makes him a figure of mistrust, because his horizon was
wider than their own.
Miss Dobin and Miss Lucinda see themselves as sophisticated and educated ladies of the day,
whilst in reality they are outdated and blinkered in their outlook. They believe they are ladies,
treated with respect by the French hairpiece salesman who changes their lives, whereas those
around them see blessed innocents.
Mr. Craven is a partner in Mr. Chellis business and is actively involved in its success. He has
brought his skills and acumen to support his new associate but gains as much as he gets from the
union: It was surprising how his youthful zest and ambition seemed, for a time, to return. Mr.
Craven feels valued and useful for his skill and knowledge, rather than just revered for his name
and reputation.
In Hemingways works, there is a code for the characters named Hemingway code hero used to
describe a character who "offers up and exemplifies certain principles of honor, courage, and
endurance which in a life of tension and pain make a man a man."
Deviation is the consequence for those who dont understand the code.
Sometimes the "Hemingway code hero" simply represents an ideal that the "Hemingway hero"
tries to live up to, a code he tries to follow. An example of the "Hemingway code hero" (in
human form) would be white hunter Robert Wilson from "The Short Happy Life of Francis
Macomber." The Hemingways hero needs to confront death because in Hemingways world,
death is a normal condition. When Macomber finds the courage to face the charging buffalo he
forges the identity he wants: the courage to face wild animals; the courage to face his wife. The
loss of Macombers manhood in the encounter with the lion mirrors the blow he takes when
Margot blatantly cheats on him. This appears to be the last straw, pushing him over the edge.
Macomber translates his fury into the intensity of the hunt. He experiences rising confidence and
bravery during the hunt, as he seeks to take back the manhood he has lost, or perhaps never had.
The reward for Francis, after he succees to shoot, is death.
Bibliography

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1832, My Kinsman, Major Molineux, The Token and

Atlantic Souvenir.
Melville, Herman, 1853, Bartleby, the Scrivener, Putnam's Magazine.
Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1886, A white haron, Atlantic Monthly.