Sally Seton and the Danger of Symbols

 In Mrs. Dalloway, Sally Seton initially appears as a rejection of the social conventions which govern Clarissa and the people around her, but in the final act she takes on a whole different meaning for both Clarissa and the reader. In Clarissa’s memories of Bourton, Sally is described as loud, impulsive, politically radical, and seemingly unconcerned with the expectations placed upon women of her class. When she appears again at the party as Lady Rosseter, she is no longer the girl Clarissa once loved, “her eyes not aglow as they used to be” (177). By showing Sally’s life as not only parallel, but similar to Clarissa, Woolf breaks the illusion of the alternate, more meaningful life Clarissa imagined. Sally goes from representing an idealized symbol of rebellion and self-expression to just another person who succumbed to the restrictions of society.

This is perhaps why Clarissa’s relationship with Sally is remembered so intensely. Sally represents a version of Clarissa which could exist without the restrictions of marriage, class, and social expectation. Their relationship had an intimacy which Clarissa cannot easily reproduce in her adult life; one she longs for deeply. The kiss between them is not presented merely as an adolescent romantic moment, but as part of Clarissa’s memory of a time when relationships seemed capable of existing outside the social structures which later define them. That Sally that Clarissa knew, or at least the one she remembered, has been destroyed with adulthood. 

At the same time, I do not believe that Woolf intends Sally’s later life to invalidate the freedom she represented, instead she aims to show how Clarissa’s imagination of this freedom is deeply flawed. Sally Seton’s development into Lady Rosseter represents how rebellion, as long as it remains symbolic, will surrender to the accepted reality. She represents the futility of solely dreaming for change, exactly what we see Mrs. Dalloway do for the entire novel. Clarissa is so restricted by society that her only chance for escape, even in childhood, was her imagination. She views Sally not as a person, but as a symbol, and in her memory this symbol becomes distorted through her dissatisfaction with her own life. 

Is Baker’s Mezzanine Secretly a Critique of Materialism?

In The Mezzanine, Howie confronts the world based on the products which surround him. From the milk carton at the start of the story, to his ex-cursus on paper towels, and finally his analysis of the escalator which he rides every day, Howie reflects deeply on the objective reality of these objects and the social relations which surround them.  But is Nicholson Baker attempting to glorify these commodities or show how deeply rooted contemporary life is in our relationship with products of mass consumption? Howie’s reactions seem to suggest Baker himself admires the “human innovation” behind the modern world, but looking deeper, a critique of our over-reliance on goods, whether purposeful or not, starts to appear.

Let’s take for example, Howie’s interaction with his coworker Tina at the start of the book. While describing the complicated social cues and rules one should know as an office worker, he notes that Tina “knew the conventions well”. In doing so, Baker implies that these conventions, which form in the world of value production also known as labor, are not innate human nature and are instead man-made restrictions. To go as far as to say that Baker resents these restrictions would be to ignore the constant praise he gives to them, but I do not believe that Howie is the embodiment of a man at peace with the system. The sense of freedom Howie feels even living such a monotonous life does not come from the objects themselves, but instead the constant over-analysis and critique of these objects. The dialogue with Tina begins with her relating the story of how Ray, the office janitor, hurt his back on the job. Immediately, the sense of sympathy for a colleague is represented through the creation of a symbolic object, the signed card. The conversation is then interrupted by Tina receiving a phone call, reminding us of the current setting, work. While Howie waits, he reflects on the social requirements imposed upon him by the coworker relationship.

Another example of critique becomes clear when rereading his analysis of the escalators intended purpose, and the unintended use of the technology by the population. The escalator was intended as a walking assistant but ends up functioning under the same role as the elevator, as a replacement for walking. This observation points out a different relationship with objects, where an object’s role is not directly assigned by its creator, but instead by the consumer. All of what Howie describes as unintended benefits of this invention, such as the ease of cleaning, demonstrate how a products benefit is directly correlated to the population’s use of that object. Does the price of the escalator go up after it assimilates to ones needs? Not necessarily, but its demand and value almost certainly do.   

I do not believe that the book aims to condemn our relationship with objects, at least not directly. But I do believe that whether it is an intended or unintended consequence, the over-analysis of goods which the book promotes, results in the questioning of materialism. For this reason, Howie, and fundamentally the book itself, is neither materialist or anti-materialist, it represents the consciousness of the materialism, which governs our lives.

The Poetry of the Black Panther Party

    The Black Panther Party was a product of the Black Power movement of the 1950s and -60s, uniting ideas of proactive racial protest with Marxist ideas of class struggle. The “10-Point Program” outlined the fundamental demands of the party and sets the tone for the goals of many members of the black power movement. The uniting theme of the “10-Point Program” was the idea that economic and educational equality was required to support black communities and provide true freedom. In addition, the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth points called for measures to protect black people from the exploitative and racist system of the United States by exposing the biased judicial, police, and military system.

     These principles of the Black Panther Party are not often directly mentioned throughout the poetry of the Black Arts Movement but are instead represented in many poems through the assertive, proud tone of the black poetry of this period. In “For Black Poets Who Think of Suicide”, Etheridge Knight distances himself and black people from white people by confronting the topic of suicide. Knight says that, unlike the white boys, black poets should never commit suicide “For Black Poets belong to Black People”. The poem shows discontentment with solely integrating and instead tells black readers to go beyond the goals and methods of the Civil Rights Movement into the self-deterministic motto of the Black Panther Party. In the poem, every mention of black people or elements representing black people are capitalized, reenforcing the idea of Black Pride.

    One poem, in which the ideas of the “10-Pont Program” are more directly mentioned is “Black Art” by Amiri Baraka. In the line: “Another negroleader/ On the steps of the white house one/ Kneeling between the sheriff's thighs/ Negotiating coolly for his people.” Baraka calls out the same systemic issues the Black Panther Party sought out to resolve. The previous attempts of striking deals with the white government by black leaders are seen as taking on a position of inferiority to invoke sympathy. Both Baraka and the Black Panther Party see the economic, governmental, societal system as inherently unjust. Any attempts at improving the system will not truly fix the fundamental issue, that black people live life as inferiors to the ruling class of white people. The Black Pride Movement and the Black Arts
Movement, which accompanied it, fight for black people to become equal in every facet of life and gain their rightful place in society.

The Early Years of Black American Expression - Zora Neale Hurston's "Characteristics of Negro Expression"

 

In Zora Neale Hurston’s “Characteristics of Negro Expression” she defines the black language as one of action and physicality. She says that African American speech, being more primitive, relies on description even to express abstract ideas. This, she believes, takes the form of metaphors, similes, and a continuous ceremony of acting and performance. This characterization can clearly be seen in Zora Neale Husrton’s The Gilded Six Bits, where Missie May and Joe put on a performance of exaggerated love and affection both at the beginning and end of the story, filled with the metaphors and physicality Zora Neale Hurston classifies as distinctly black. In addition to the physicality of black speech that Hurston describes, she also defines it as original, angular, and asymmetrical. According to Hurston, these qualities characterize African American artforms during the Harlem Renaissance and are the sources of cultural expressions such as folklore and dialect. In works by Zora Neale Hurston herself, such as the aforementioned short story, The Gilded Six Bits, these elements are all present to varying degrees, but the real question is if these features were consistent throughout black art of the time.

            Black poetry during the Harlem Renaissance was characterized by various different forms, from jazz poetry to primitivism. Jazz poetry is characterized by its rhythmic, syncopated, musical tone, elements of collage, and themes pertaining to jazz itself. In poems like Jazzonia and The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes, we can see the physicality and asymmetry that Hurston describes. These features are staples of jazz music as Hurston herself mentions and clearly fit the style she describes. In other poems, such as Cabaret by Sterling Brown, it is interesting to note that the writing style utilizes almost solely physical descriptions, even to convey more abstract ideas.

            In primitivist poems by black authors of this time period, this same physicality can be observed. In the poem Heritage by Gwendolyn Bennet, she describes a yearning for Africa by describing physical characteristics that she herself has never seen. The final stanza: “I want to feel the surging/ Of my sad people’s soul/ Hidden by minstrel-smile.” Utilizes metaphors grounded in the tangible actions of “surging” and being “hidden”. Both black primitivism and jazz poetry are clearly based in physical description and metaphors, but what is even more interesting is the concept of their originality. Hurston explains how black art can be both inherently descriptive and at the same time original. Jazz poetry and jazz itself are the epitome of this idea, with repetition and common themes, but the unique element of improvisation. Through the physical communication of emotions, black art becomes original. It is not just describing what one sees, but infusing the visible world with thoughts and ideas.

            Zora Neale Hurston’s characterization of black language and art as “primitive” can seem reductive, but what it truly describes is the early stages of a journey that black artists were only just starting during the Harlem Renaissance. Rather than primitive, I would describe black art and language of this time period as unprecedented. Viewing the evolution of black American art in the present, it is easy to see how unique and novel it was. Jazz has become the predecessor to many modern day forms of music, which continue to heavily utilize the asymmetry, physicality, and angularity that characterized art during the Harlem Renaissance.

Black Vernacular: An Evolving Form of Black Identity

 

The tradition of expressing black American identity through vernacular is one that has evolved and changed significance with the passing of time. It is present in written form from before the Civil War, throughout Reconstruction and the Jim Crow era, to the Civil Rights movement. On the surface, this literary device solely attempts to replicate the speech of black Americans, but in actuality, it is used by authors to convey messages about characters and black people in general. This is why, when viewing it in modern contexts, the line between truth, stereotypes, and racism can become unclear, especially when the goals of an author are equally political as they are for entertainment.

An example of this can be seen in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Linda Brent. In the story, the use of vernacular is only present when Linda speaks with specific people, seeming to imply a greater significance. On page 83 Linda speaks to a trusted friend informing her of her plan, and she responds in a clearly characterized tone: “When dey finds you is gone, dey won’t want de plague ob de chillern. But where is you going to hide? Dey know ebery inch ob dis house.” On the other hand, when Linda herself speaks, or even her grandmother, this shift in language is not used. Knowing that this book was written for a white Northern audience, the use of vernacular could be to distinguish more educated black people, such as Linda, from the average southern black person, possibly giving her more credibility.

A similar but more carefully controlled use of vernacular appears in Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington. Unlike the characters in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Washington rarely writes in heavy dialect himself. Instead, he maintains a formal narrative voice while occasionally referencing the speech patterns of Southern Black communities. This choice reflects his awareness of his audience and his desire to appear credible to white readers while still representing Black experience. By limiting vernacular, Washington presents himself as educated and disciplined, reinforcing his argument that progress is achieved through respectability, education, and hard work.

Overall, the vernacular tradition in African American literature functions as more than a stylistic choice, it is a way to communicate identity, social position, and historical reality. From Brent’s selective use of dialect to Washington’s restrained approach, vernacular becomes a tool shaped by audience and purpose. This is why, especially in a time where African American authors had to deeply consider the reactions of their predominantly white audiences, vernacular can seem insensitive and uncomfortable. This tradition has evolved and continues to be present in modern African American literature, including in the work of Toni Morrison, whose use of vernacular reflects community, memory, and emotional truth. Together, these writers show that everyday language carries cultural meaning and has the power to tell stories that formal language alone cannot fully express.