Classic 19th Century Stories Relived Through Movies

  

Lately, I have been watching many movies: I noticed that many of the movies are adaptations of 19th century stories. After noticing this, I asked the question "What makes these old stories--that we have already heard countless times--interesting enough to spend tons of money to make a movie?" Then I remember that those novels are 'classics.' But what makes a novel a classic? I will briefly explain what is 'classic' and then give a list of a couple of classic stories relived through movies.

1) The story has to have some sort of artistic quality that expresses either nature, life, beauty and truth/hope.
2) It needs a motif, theme, plot or characters that are universal. It must be able to be read by anyone: anyone should also be able to read it and get something mindful out of it. A couple examples are love and hate; life and death; faith; hope; any other emotion or phenomenon that any person in society can possibly connect with or simply understand.
3)  It has to teach something: a moral, a thought, a movement, etc.
4) Finally, the story must stand the test of time: no matter how old the story is, it can never be erased from our minds nor can it ever lose it's meaning.

Now these may vary from scholar to scholar but these are some of the more general guidelines that can be applied to most, if not all. Plus, directors and producer, and the whole movie business, just wants to make money on something already created so they don't have to do the work. Since they're classics, the public wants to see how good or how bad that director did on the movie.

Here are a couple of stories turned into movies . . .

A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens
Published 1843
     


Alice In Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll
Published 1865
 

Les Miserables
by Victor Hugo
Published 1862

  


Other times 19th century stories are parodied into movies, cartoons, songs, etc. One movie that incorporate several stories is "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen."

 
Mr. Hyde from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Published 1886
 
 
Dorian Gray from The Picture of Dorian Gray
by Oscar Wilde
Published 1890 



Tom Swayer from The Adventures of Tom Swayer
by Mark Twain
Published 1876


Ishmael from Moby Dick
by Herman Melville
Published 1851
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Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
by Jules Verne
Published 1870


Rodney Skinner/Invisible Man from The Invisible Man's Griffin
by H.G. Wells
Published 1897
 

Allan Quatermain from King Solomon's Mines
by H. Rider Haggard
Published 1885


Mina Harker from Dracula
by Bram Stoker
Published 1897


There's tons out there. Do some reading of the 19th century genre and see where you can see more adaptations!

The Picture of Dorian Gray

          The discussion in class was very interesting. In The Picture of Dorian Gray, there are many themes such as good vs. evil, youth, appearances, art and culture, etc. In class, we discussed the question: Is Dorian Gray an evil person or was he influenced into performing bad acts and therefore King Henry is the evil person? In my opinion, I believe that Dorian Gray is evil because he performed cruel acts and he knew what his motives were for those acts. The question that can arise from this is how do we know that Dorian Gray was conscious when he performed these cruel acts? In response to this question, I know that he was conscious of what he was doing because after he yelled at Sybil, he was wanted to apologize to her because he knew what he did was wrong.

          When I read the first couple of chapters in the book, I thought that Basil was in love with Dorian. I thought that the plot was going to be about his love for another man. My predictions changed once Dorian revealed that he loved an actress—Sybil. One of the major themes in the book is first impressions and appearance. Basil fell in love with how Dorian looks rather than his personality. The same thing can be said about Dorian and his love for Sybil. He fell in love with Sybil’s beauty and acting. When I was reading these parts of the book, I was relating it to the phrase “inner beauty is better than outer beauty.” In my opinion, the best relationships that last long are the ones that are focused on feelings and the inner self rather than if a guy or a girl is “hot or cute.” This can be said about the relationship of Dorian and Sybil. Dorian fell in love with Sybil’s talent and Sybil fell in love with Dorian’s appearance which she stereotyped as him being wealthy. The thing that shocked me the most was when I found out that Dorian and Sybil were engaged. I told myself…”WTF, they haven’t even talked and now they are getting married.” I believe that their relationship would have never worked out because their motives for getting married are bad motives.  

            All in all, I believe that Dorian is to blame for his actions because he knew what he was doing. He is a narcissistic person and this leads to his death. I believe that he turned crazy and was obsessed with his appearance. A great example of this is when people are obsessed with becoming skinny they ultimately develop an eating disorder which leads to death. The same thing can be seen in Dorian’s obsession with his appearance. He was so focused on looking young that it led to death. Overall, the book was interesting!

Free Will: The Awakening

          While thinking about what I should write for this post, I came across an article about free will. In class, we were talking about Edna being free and having a privileged life that allowed her to neglect her children because there would be someone to be the mother figure of her children. Anyway, the article stated a claim: “free will is an illusion.” The article also stated that “researchers have found patterns of brain activity that predict people’s decisions up to 10 seconds before they’re aware they've made a choice…The result was hard for some to stomach because it suggested that the unconscious brain calls the shots, making free will an illusory afterthought.” Taking this into consideration, I think that some of Edna’s actions could have been impulsive. For example, when she decides to cheat on her husband it could have been because she wasn't aware about her decision—like the article mentions. Free will is defined as the ability to choose one’s actions or determine what reasons are acceptable motivations for actions. According to the article, free will is an illusion and I believe this is true in the actions of Edna because the life that she is living with her husband and children has taken a toll on finding herself which makes her act on impulse rather than free will. 

Another example of Edna acting on impulse is when she decides to buy the “pigeon place.” She has the idea and she immediately goes and buys it. This is the result of impulse not free will. This article about free will as an illusion is very interesting and it can be a claim for the actions of Edna. I think that Edna doesn't have those intentions (adultery, neglecting her children, etc.) but other factors contribute to her impulsive actions. This book reminds me a lot about the Mexican culture. From what I have witnessed, I see women taking the role of a housewife. They do not have a choice in either getting a job or being at home. The man in the family decides that they will work to provide for the family and the woman should take care of the house and the children. I know a family that depends on these roles to be able to function as a family. What I mean is that if the woman doesn't care for the children and the household chores, then the house is out of order. I could say a lot about this aspect of the book and the Mexican culture but I would be writing a book. The thing that surprised me the most was the suicide issue. This book has so many issues that I think aren't appropriate to teach in a high school class and it just comes to show that Huck Finn should be acceptable in a high school setting.    

Imperialism, Colonialism and Research Science

Colonialism and imperialism are two dominating characteristics associated to the 19^th Century Europeans and American colonists. In order to establish power internationally, Europeans used various methods that were decided solely by rich folk who funded the research. Most, if not all, of it was biased in order to keep a hierarchy where Europeans were at the top.

I want to come back to what we read in a class handout. The sheet included a few excerpts from Edward Said’s Culture and Imperialism. Here’s the excerpt I want to focus on: ‘Empire is a relationship, formal or informal, in which one state controls the effective political sovereignty of another political society. It can be achieved by force, by political collaboration, by economic, social, or cultural dependence. Imperialism is simply the process or policy of establishing or maintaining an empire. In our time, direct colonialism has largely ended; imperialism, as we shall see, lingers where it has always been, in a kind of general cultural sphere as well as in specific political, ideological, economic, and social practices.”[1]

This quote is fairly straight forward in that you understand that European colonialists, in other countries, tend to want to gain power through any means possible. Many times, in order to support their intentions of imperialism and colonialism, using science is the best way of establishing a hierarchy where Europeans are at the top. I came across a text that also deals with the matters Said deals with in his book; instead of Oriental countries, Native Americans are discussed.

In the case of the Native American’s and Africans, it is quite similar in comparison to the treatment of the Orientals: “The word itself, ‘research’, is probably one of the dirtiest words in the indigenous world’s vocabulary. When mentioned in many indigenous contexts, it stirs up silence, it conjures up bad memories, [and] it raises a smile that is knowing and distrustful. It is so powerful that indigenous people even write poetry about research. The ways in which scientific research is implicated in the worst excesses of colonialism remains a powerful remembered history for many of the world’s colonized peoples. It is a history for many of the world’s colonized peoples. It is a history that still offends the deepest sense of our humanity. Just knowing that someone measured our ‘faculties’ by filling the skulls of our ancestors with millet seeds and compared the amount of millet seed to the capacity foe mental thought offends our sense of who and what we are. It galls us that Western researchers and intellectuals can assume to know all that it is possible to know of us, on the basis of their brief encounters with some of us. It appalls us that the West can desire, extract and claim ownership of our ways of knowing, our imagery, the things we create and produce, and then simultaneously reject the people who created and developed those ideas and seek to deny them further opportunities to be creators of their own culture and own nations.”[2]

This excerpt from Smith’s book, not only reiterates what Said said, but it explains that racist research is what kept imperialism and colonialism thriving. From this research, hierarchies were made; obviously the Europeans were at the top, with Native Americans and Africans at the bottom. The main focus is that the imperialism and colonialism relies heavily on biased science and research. European and American colonialism power relied greatly on racist science.

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[1] Said, Edward. Culture and Imperialism. New York: Vintage Books, 1993. Print.

[2] Smith, Linda T. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. London: Zed Books, 1999. Print.

How to teach The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in the classrooms?

           The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a classic novel that deals with issues such as racism, violence, slavery, intellectual education, moral education, etc. The question that has started a debate with this book is “Should The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn be taught in classrooms?” As a future English teacher, I believe that this novel should be taught in the classroom because it allows students to learn about things such as slavery in the perspective of a teenager rather than some history book.

            If I were to teach this book in my classroom, I would start my lesson plan with a lesson on African-American/slavery history because this will give students a background on slavery and the word “nigger.” Student will learn the ins and outs of slavery and how the word “nigger” came into existence. I think that giving students a brief introduction on slavery and African-America history can help them understand the reason why Mark Twain uses the language he uses. 

Throughout the novel, I would allow my students to express their opinions on issues such as slavery, racism, etc. This would allow students to share what they have to say about the book. I would incorporate an assignment where students get to become a slave and argue why they should be freed. I would allow my students to write another letter role playing as Huck Finn and writing about similar experiences from that of the student’s life and the novel. I think that incorporating these writing assignments give students a voice about major issues and helps them learn how to deal with them and also learn about the issues. The issue of slavery can be incorporated into the bigger lesson plan of teaching students about race. Most teachers and students don’t feel comfortable talking about race and it has become a taboo subject. This book can help students learn about racism.    

            After reading the entire novel, I would break my students into two groups. One group would argue why The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be taught in the classroom and the other group would argue against teaching this book in the classroom. I would use this debate as a way to give my students a voice and it could—in a way—undermine the big controversy. In my opinion, this book is not a “bad” book. I think people (especially adults) think the book is inappropriate because it uses the word “nigger” multiple times but students would catch this but not think that it is something bad. I just think that this issue shouldn’t be an issue especially in this century where were supposedly over racism! 

A Brief Summary of Native American Conflict

In the early 1800’s, the United States was rapidly growing. They quickly took ownership of land they found and grew crop to further develop their economy. Although land was abundant, the settlers encountered a problem; the land was home to five Indian Nations: the Cherokee, Seminole, Choctaw, Creek and Chicasaw. The need to grow crop and expand their country, made settlers pressure the government to take the Indian territories. Andrew Jackson commanded the US military in 1814 and wiped out a colony of Creek Nation Indians; winning millions of acres in Georgia and Alabama. This continued with other Indian colonies resulting in the acquirement of millions more acres of land by 1818.

Andrew Jackson then negotiated nine treaties between 1814 and 1824. The treaties promised they will not be harmed if they agreed to settle in a designated piece of land and surrender their remaining land to the United States. The US now owned land in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky and North Carolina. This continued for years and when the Indians rebelled, they were massacred. With their homes being taken and their people being killed and threatened, the Native Americans continued to fight back. They tried both peaceful and violent means of fighting back, but in 1827 the Cherokee took advantage of a constitution declaring them to be a sovereign nation. This allowed them to cede their land. The Indians of course found themselves having problems with the settlers who did not want to abide by their constitution, which resulted in a tougher situation.    

Through out this entire time the Native Americans were never recognized as American citizens well up into the mid twentieth century. It wasn’t until two years after World War II that Native Americans in the United State were finally granted citizenship. The fact that Native Americans only recently gained the rights to be American Citizens makes what we read in class to be far more relevant. Although the old west is not as it was dozens of years ago, the conflict between the Non-Native Americans and the Native Americans still exist.  

Hard Time's Schooling

Hard Times by Charles Dickens is truly a classic novel. There will also be turmoil between the rich and the poor: one aspect in society that has been affected by this turmoil is education. Funding for education is facing budget cuts affecting programs, teachers, and especially the students who attend schools and participate in those programs. Schooling then differs between the schools with more funding and schools with less. In Hard Times, readers are exposed to a school where nothing but fact is taught. In the school there is no room for imaginations, creativity or anything of the sort to run freely through children’s minds. It becomes quite clear that only the wealthier families are able to send their children to school, while the poor don’t have any means to pay for it. 

To a degree, this stands true in America today. One particular part of the novel developed this thought. When Sissy is given the opportunity to go to school—if she agrees to entirely rid herself of her past life—she is left to feel subordinate to the other students in class. She comes home one day and tells Louisa about her learning difficulties.  Sissy then explains what Mr. M’Choakumchild asked her: “‘National Prosperity. Now this classroom is a nation. And in this nation, there are fifty millions of money. Isn’t this a prosperous nation, and a’n’t you in a thriving state?” “I said I didn’t know. I thought I couldn’t know whether it was a prosperous nation or not, and whether I was in a thriving state or not, unless I knew who had got the money, and whether any of it was mine. But that had nothing to do with it. It was not in the figure at all” (Dickens 66). Sissy’s thoughts are similar to those of today. 

Another aspect of the school in Hard Times is that school is strict, lifeless and relies solely on information that can be explained through science, math, etc. Although it seems farfetched, it is happening today in subtle forms. Recess is being cut in grade school, art and music programs are being cut in colleges and secondary schools and books that open the mind are being banned. I recently watched an episode of “Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Headband”. In this episode Aang, the Avatar, is attending a Fire Nation school as someone else. Aang is a free spirit and realizes that the students in the school are rigid and lack spontaneity. Aang realizes this is an issue to his adolescent peers and decides to help them. The schooling in Hard Times is seen and feared in today’s society as well.