Pinkheaven95
New Member
hey, i have written this text and i would apreciate it if some of you could read through it, correct my mistakes
(english isn't my first language..) and give me a short feedback.
i know that i'm wrong in this forum but i couldn't find a better one. if some of you can recommend me one that would be great.
Thanks in advance.
“Saturday Afternoon” and “ The Lynching of Jube Benson” are both short stories which are about lynching in the USA in the beginning of the 20th century. This text is a comparison between these stories concerning style, content and effect.
The short story “Saturday Afternoon” by Erskine Caldwell was published in 1936. It is about the lynching of a black citizen called Will Maxie and takes place in the American South. The story is told in selective third-person narrator by Tom Denny, a white butcher. The action begins in Tom's very disgusting butcher-shop, where he sleeps on his meat block. Suddenly his friend appears and tells him about the approaching lynching. Nothing keeps Tom back from killing a black man so he and his friend are following the mob who is hunting the Negro. In Tom's opinion Will deserves the death because he talked to a white girl. But in fact Tom and his friends are jealous of Will because of his successful way of growing cotton. Finally, after Will got hanged, shot and burnt, they are returning to their usual Saturday life as if nothing exciting happened.
“The Lynching of Jube Benson” is a short story, which was written by Paul Lawrence Dunbar in 1904. The story is about a young physician (the narrator) who starts to work in a little Southern town. There he meets a young girl, Annie Daly.
The doctor as well develops an intense relationship with a black servant. This black man, who is called Jube Benson, helps to keep the relationship between Annie and the doctor a life, while the doctor has to work a lot.
Suddenly the whole familiarity of the town is disturbed by a tragical incident. Annie got abused and the last words she is saying are: “That black-”. Everybody was sure now, that Jube Benson could be the only offender. Therefore all men of the town are searching for him to conduct a lynching. Even the doctor is sure that Jube is the offender, although Jube claims to be innocent. When Jube Benson is hanged, his brother approaches to the mob. He found the true murderer, who blackened his face. Now the doctor feels very guilty, so that he will never forget what he did to his formerly good friend.
First of all, I want to mention the different ways in which the short stories are written. “Saturday Afternoon” (SA) is told by a selective third-person narrator, whereas “The Lynching of Jube Benson” (JB) is mostly told by a first-person narrator. Therefore JB includes more thoughts and feeling than SA. This has a different affect on the reader.
Furthermore SA is written in a more poetic way. Although the stories are equally long, JB has a more complex story. This is because of the poetic description in SA. Some phrases are repeated a lot, for example the coca-cola-part, and the butcher-shop is described very detailed. This helps to create a certain atmosphere. JB on the contrary is written without any information which could be unnecessary for the proceedings.
However, both stories share nearly the same type of people. The setting of each story is a Southern town in the early 20th century. The people who live there aren't well educated and don't understand the sense of equality. Often they don't know what to do. Therefore it is a change for them to hunt Negros and the best thing about it is, that they have a scapegoat for there problems, may they be socially or mentally. Especially in JB it becomes very clear, that it is easier to charge a Negro than to think about problems and about their background.
Another difference between both stories is, that the lynching in each story is presented totally different. This relates to the fact, that SA is told in selective third-person narrator by the butcher. He has participated at other lynchings, so the lynching on that Saturday afternoon is nothing unusual for him. The butcher enjoys the lynching because it is a great way to escape out of his usual life. He hunts Negros like other people hunt animals.
When it comes to the doctor from JB, things are different. He has never participated at a lynching. At first he couldn't stop himself and followed the others, but this was because he was very angry and wanted to kill the offender. But when Jube was dead and they had found the real offender, the doctor felt very guilty. The butcher, contrary to the doctor, would never feel guilty after killing a Negro. But he would never have a friendship with a Negro as well. Nevertheless it is evident, that, in contrast to the butcher, it is a particular and unknown occurrence for the doctor.
Finally, both stories have a different effect on the reader. SA is throughout very disgusting. This disgusting atmosphere begins with the description of the butcher-shop and continues throughout the whole story. This atmosphere has a very shocking effect on the reader. The reader has primary to deal with the butcher and his brutal and disgusting lifestyle. He wants to figure out why people can be so cruel. Evidently Caldwell wanted to denounce the lynching but most of all he wanted to denounce the ignorant and inhuman population of the South.
Because JB is written in the view of someone who regrets what he did after warts, the story has a different affect on the reader as SA. The reader is rather sad than shocked, because he feels with the doctor. The story is heart touching because of the sad ending. Evidently the reader is shocked about the fact that they were lynching, but he can understand the anger which lead the doctor to kill the Negro. Moreover JB denounces, besides the lynching, the inequality between black and white people. This happens, when the real murderer does not get killed, although it is proven that he is the real murderer. About this little aspect the reader gets angry because those injustices aren't common today.
All in all both short stories, SA and JB, criticize the lynching and the population who tolerates this, even though every author had his own way to express his denouncement.
(english isn't my first language..) and give me a short feedback.
i know that i'm wrong in this forum but i couldn't find a better one. if some of you can recommend me one that would be great.
Thanks in advance.
“Saturday Afternoon” and “ The Lynching of Jube Benson” are both short stories which are about lynching in the USA in the beginning of the 20th century. This text is a comparison between these stories concerning style, content and effect.
The short story “Saturday Afternoon” by Erskine Caldwell was published in 1936. It is about the lynching of a black citizen called Will Maxie and takes place in the American South. The story is told in selective third-person narrator by Tom Denny, a white butcher. The action begins in Tom's very disgusting butcher-shop, where he sleeps on his meat block. Suddenly his friend appears and tells him about the approaching lynching. Nothing keeps Tom back from killing a black man so he and his friend are following the mob who is hunting the Negro. In Tom's opinion Will deserves the death because he talked to a white girl. But in fact Tom and his friends are jealous of Will because of his successful way of growing cotton. Finally, after Will got hanged, shot and burnt, they are returning to their usual Saturday life as if nothing exciting happened.
“The Lynching of Jube Benson” is a short story, which was written by Paul Lawrence Dunbar in 1904. The story is about a young physician (the narrator) who starts to work in a little Southern town. There he meets a young girl, Annie Daly.
The doctor as well develops an intense relationship with a black servant. This black man, who is called Jube Benson, helps to keep the relationship between Annie and the doctor a life, while the doctor has to work a lot.
Suddenly the whole familiarity of the town is disturbed by a tragical incident. Annie got abused and the last words she is saying are: “That black-”. Everybody was sure now, that Jube Benson could be the only offender. Therefore all men of the town are searching for him to conduct a lynching. Even the doctor is sure that Jube is the offender, although Jube claims to be innocent. When Jube Benson is hanged, his brother approaches to the mob. He found the true murderer, who blackened his face. Now the doctor feels very guilty, so that he will never forget what he did to his formerly good friend.
First of all, I want to mention the different ways in which the short stories are written. “Saturday Afternoon” (SA) is told by a selective third-person narrator, whereas “The Lynching of Jube Benson” (JB) is mostly told by a first-person narrator. Therefore JB includes more thoughts and feeling than SA. This has a different affect on the reader.
Furthermore SA is written in a more poetic way. Although the stories are equally long, JB has a more complex story. This is because of the poetic description in SA. Some phrases are repeated a lot, for example the coca-cola-part, and the butcher-shop is described very detailed. This helps to create a certain atmosphere. JB on the contrary is written without any information which could be unnecessary for the proceedings.
However, both stories share nearly the same type of people. The setting of each story is a Southern town in the early 20th century. The people who live there aren't well educated and don't understand the sense of equality. Often they don't know what to do. Therefore it is a change for them to hunt Negros and the best thing about it is, that they have a scapegoat for there problems, may they be socially or mentally. Especially in JB it becomes very clear, that it is easier to charge a Negro than to think about problems and about their background.
Another difference between both stories is, that the lynching in each story is presented totally different. This relates to the fact, that SA is told in selective third-person narrator by the butcher. He has participated at other lynchings, so the lynching on that Saturday afternoon is nothing unusual for him. The butcher enjoys the lynching because it is a great way to escape out of his usual life. He hunts Negros like other people hunt animals.
When it comes to the doctor from JB, things are different. He has never participated at a lynching. At first he couldn't stop himself and followed the others, but this was because he was very angry and wanted to kill the offender. But when Jube was dead and they had found the real offender, the doctor felt very guilty. The butcher, contrary to the doctor, would never feel guilty after killing a Negro. But he would never have a friendship with a Negro as well. Nevertheless it is evident, that, in contrast to the butcher, it is a particular and unknown occurrence for the doctor.
Finally, both stories have a different effect on the reader. SA is throughout very disgusting. This disgusting atmosphere begins with the description of the butcher-shop and continues throughout the whole story. This atmosphere has a very shocking effect on the reader. The reader has primary to deal with the butcher and his brutal and disgusting lifestyle. He wants to figure out why people can be so cruel. Evidently Caldwell wanted to denounce the lynching but most of all he wanted to denounce the ignorant and inhuman population of the South.
Because JB is written in the view of someone who regrets what he did after warts, the story has a different affect on the reader as SA. The reader is rather sad than shocked, because he feels with the doctor. The story is heart touching because of the sad ending. Evidently the reader is shocked about the fact that they were lynching, but he can understand the anger which lead the doctor to kill the Negro. Moreover JB denounces, besides the lynching, the inequality between black and white people. This happens, when the real murderer does not get killed, although it is proven that he is the real murderer. About this little aspect the reader gets angry because those injustices aren't common today.
All in all both short stories, SA and JB, criticize the lynching and the population who tolerates this, even though every author had his own way to express his denouncement.
