Thursday, October 10, 2013

“All the Live Long Day” or Night: Lydia Maria Child’s Hobomok


After reading Hobomok, I read Carolyn Karcher’s exquisitely thorough and informative introduction.  (On a side note, I decided to read Hobomok first since it has been my experience that the introduction frequently gives away a lot of spoilers.)  I especially appreciated Karcher's point about how both Hobomok and Charles Brown “provide a means of defying patriarchal authority, as vested not only in Mary’s father but in the society for which it stands” (xxix).  Although I was extremely impressed with Karcher’s introduction, I’d kind of like to go in a different direction in order to make a similar connection. 

As I was reading, I was (for some reason I’m unsure of) extremely tuned into Child’s word choices and the phrases she was using, and two in particular stood out to me.  The first instance is in chapter one when the narrator is discussing his trip to America and says, “All the livelong day we watched the sails as they fluttered loosely round the mast, and listened to the hoarse creaking of the shrouds.  Evening at length came on in her softened beauty; and I shall never forget the crowd of sensations which it brought upon my mind.  I was in a new world, whose almost unlimited extent lay in the darkness of ignorance and desolation” (7, my italics).    The narrator seems to use the phrase “all the livelong day” as a way of emphasizing his impatience to arrive to America.  However, it is evening before he actually sees this “new world” but its potential seems to be covered in darkness and ignorance.  I wonder if this cloud of darkness covering America could be symbolic of the patriarchal society encompassing and stifling the intellectual and cultural growth of minority groups, such as women and Indians (to name a few).


The second instance that grabbed my attention was when Hobomok is looking out for Mary since he is aware that she has been targeted by some of the Indians: “Mr. Conant returned to his family, and Mary, inured to such occurrences, slept peacefully within their humble dwelling, unconscious that Hobomok watched it the livelong night, with eyes that knew no slumber” (41, my italics).  In this passage, the night is depicted as being long and tedious for Hobomok whose “eyes that knew no slumber,” but for Mr. Conant and especially Mary it is a peaceful night since they live unconscious of their potential danger and also unconscious of their protector.  Living in a dark, desolate place, Hobomok is the one character whose “eyes are open” and is conscious of surroundings and potential threats.  Suddenly, in this passage, Hobomok seems to be the enlightened character while the others are encompassed in darkness and ignorance.  I like how these two passages seem to use the same imagery and how they seem to support Karcher’s argument about Child’s concern with the white male supremacy that she saw dominating her contemporary society.     

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