Biography of James Jim Bowie, American Frontiersman

Biography of James 'Jim' Bowie, American Frontiersman James Jim Bowie (c. 1796–March 6, 1836) was an American frontiersman, slave trader, smuggler, Indian fighter, and soldier in the Texas Revolution. He was among the defenders at the Battle of the Alamo in 1836, where he perished along with all of his comrades. Bowie was known as a legendary fighter; the large Bowie knife is named after him. Fast Facts: James Bowie Known For: American frontiersman, military leader during the Texas Revolution, and defender of the AlamoAs Known As: Jim BowieBorn: 1796 in KentuckyParents: Reason and Elve Ap-Catesby Jones BowieDied: March 6, 1836 in San Antonio, Mexican TexasSpouse: Maria Ursula de Veramendi (m. 1831-1833)Children: Marie Elve, James Veramendi Early Life James Bowie was born in Kentucky in 1796 and was raised in present-day Missouri and Louisiana. He enlisted to fight in the War of 1812  but joined too late to see any action. Soon he was back in Louisiana selling timber, and with the proceeds he bought some slaves and expanded his operation. Bowie later became acquainted with Jean Lafitte, the legendary Gulf Coast pirate who was involved in illegal slave smuggling. Bowie and his brothers bought smuggled slaves, declared that they had found them, and kept the money when the slaves were sold at auction. Later, Bowie came up with a scheme for acquiring free land. He falsified French and Spanish documents that said he had purchased the land in Louisiana. The Sandbar Fight On September 19, 1827, Bowie was involved in the legendary â€Å"Sandbar Fight† in Louisiana. Two men- Samuel Levi Wells III and Dr. Thomas Harris Maddox- had agreed to fight a duel, and each man had brought along several supporters. Bowie was there on behalf of Wells. The duel ended after both men shot and missed twice, and they had decided to let the matter drop, but a brawl soon broke out among the other men. Bowie fought viciously in spite of being shot at least three times and stabbed with a sword-cane. The wounded Bowie killed one of his opponents with a massive knife, which later became famous as the â€Å"Bowie knife.† Move to Texas Like many frontiersmen of the time, Bowie eventually became intrigued by the idea of Texas. He went there and found plenty to keep him busy, including another land speculation scheme and the charms of Ursula Veramendi, the well-connected daughter of the mayor of San Antonio. By 1830 Bowie had moved to Texas, staying one step ahead of his creditors back in Louisiana. After fighting off a vicious Tawakoni Indian attack while searching for a silver mine, Bowie won even more fame as a tough frontiersman. He married Veramendi in 1831 and took up residence in San Antonio. She would soon die tragically of cholera, along with her parents. Action in Nacogdoches After disgruntled Texans attacked Nacogdoches in August of 1832 (they were protesting a Mexican order to give up their arms), Stephen F. Austin asked Bowie to intervene. Bowie arrived in time to capture some fleeing Mexican soldiers. This made Bowie a hero to those Texans who favored independence, although it is not necessarily what Bowie intended, as he had a Mexican wife and a lot of money in land in Mexican Texas. In 1835, war broke out between rebellious Texans and the Mexican army. Bowie went to Nacogdoches, where he and Sam Houston were elected leaders of the local militia. He acted quickly, arming the men with weapons seized from the local Mexican armory. Assault on San Antonio Bowie and other volunteers from Nacogdoches caught up with a rag-tag army led by Stephen F. Austin and James Fannin. The troops were marching on San Antonio, hoping to defeat Mexican General Martà ­n Perfecto de Cos and end the conflict quickly. In late October 1835, they laid siege to San Antonio, where Bowies contacts among the population proved extremely beneficial. Many residents of San Antonio joined the rebels, bringing valuable intelligence with them. Bowie and Fannin and some 90 men dug in on the grounds of Concepcià ³n Mission just outside the city, and General Cos, spotting them there, attacked. The Battle of Concepcià ³n and the Capture of San Antonio Bowie told his men to keep their heads and stay low. When the Mexican infantry advanced, the Texans devastated their ranks with fire from their long rifles. The Texan sharpshooters also picked off artillerymen who were shooting the Mexican cannons. Disheartened, the Mexicans fled back to San Antonio. Bowie was once again hailed a hero. He was not there when Texan rebels stormed the city in the early days of December 1835, but he returned shortly after. General Sam Houston ordered him to demolish the Alamo, a fortress-like old mission in San Antonio, and a retreat from the city. Bowie, once again, disobeyed orders. Instead, he mounted a defense and fortified the Alamo. Bowie, Travis, and Crockett In early February, William Travis arrived in San Antonio. He would take over nominal command of the forces there when the ranking officer left. Many of the men there were not enlisted- they were volunteers, which meant that they answered to no one. Bowie was the unofficial leader of these volunteers and he did not care for Travis, which made things tense at the fort. Soon, however, famous frontiersman Davy Crockett arrived. A skilled politician, Crockett was able to defuse the tension between Travis and Bowie. The Mexican Army, commanded by Mexican General Santa Anna, showed up in late February. The arrival of this common enemy also united the defenders of the Alamo. Battle of the Alamo and Death Bowie became very ill sometime in late February 1836. Historians disagree about what illness he suffered from. It may have been pneumonia or tuberculosis. In any case, it was a debilitating illness, and Bowie was confined, delirious, to his bed. According to legend, Travis drew a line in the sand and told the men to cross it if they would stay and fight. Bowie, too weak to walk, asked to be carried over the line. After two weeks of siege, the Mexicans attacked the morning of March 6. The Alamo was overrun in less than two hours, and all of the defenders were captured or killed, including Bowie, who reportedly died in his bed, still feverish. Legacy Bowie was an interesting man in his time, a renowned hothead, brawler, and troublemaker who went to Texas to escape his creditors in the United States. He became famous due to his fights and his legendary knife, and once fighting broke out in Texas, he soon became known as a solid leader of men who could keep a cool head under fire. His lasting fame, however, came about as a result of his presence at the fateful Battle of the Alamo. In life, he was a con man and slave trader. In death, he became a great hero, and today he is widely revered in Texas, even more so than his brothers-in-arms Travis and Crockett. The city of Bowie and Bowie County, both in Texas, are named after him, as are countless schools, businesses, and parks. Sources Brands, H.W. Lone Star Nation: The Epic Story of the Battle for Texas Independence. New York: Anchor Books, 2004.Henderson, Timothy J. A Glorious Defeat: Mexico and its War with the United States. New York: Hill and Wang, 2007.

Writing for Hobby and Leisure Activity Magazines

Writing for Hob When I began my freelance writing career in 2007, I would never have believed Id end up writing dozens of articles for hob My Ive found hob Leisure activity magazines exist in a mind-boggling plethora of topics; trains, quilting, motorcycles, automobiles, cats and dogs, dolls, scale modeling, yachting, cycling, running (and nearly every other sport imaginable), camping, hiking, video games, arts crafts, astronomy, military history, stamp collecting, coin collecting, rock gem collecting, antique collecting, and every other pastime imaginable. Next time youre at your local Barnes Noble or bookstore, thumb through the special interest and hob Where to Pitch Your Hob Leisure activities represent a huge market in first world countries. So, make sure you pitch your stories to magazines published in developed countries that have wealth and where the people have leisure time for pursuing hobbies such as North America, the U.K, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa. You Dont Have to Be an Expert Writers do not need to be experts about their hob Ive consulted or quoted experts in some hob My article in Garden Answers Magazine, about the Elandan Bonsai Gardens in Port Orchard, Washington, was a profile piece about Daniel Robinson, a bonsai expert who created this magical garden. How Do You Pitch Your Story Ideas to Hob Hob Create Pitch Lists Ive created extensive magazine distribution lists for every leisure activity genre that Ive written in. Once youve developed your magazine distribution lists, youve got them forever, so you dont need to reinvent the wheel every time you want to query a hob Writing for hob

Haagen-Dazs's E-Business Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Haagen-Dazs's E-Business Analysis - Essay Example HÃ ¤agen-Dazs is a very old brand of ice cream that was first introduced in 1961 by the Polish immigrants Rose Mattus and Reuben. In the beginning, the business had only offered three flavors of ice cream. These flavors included chocolate, vanilla, and coffee. Additionally, the first business shop was established in the Brooklyn, New York in 1976. After that, this business evolved to a huge extent and became a huge corporation. Presently this United States based business is having its franchises all through the United States and over 54 nations all through the world. Moreover, HÃ ¤agen-Dazs also manufacture ice cream, cakes, bars, frozen yogurt, and sorbet. This business was launched by Reuben Mattus who was a young industrialist and having a fervor for excellence and a dream for offering the best ice-cream ever at that time. The establishment of business was aimed to offer quality ice cream to the community. Additionally, the business was initiated as a small business setup and then it turned into a huge business setup. In addition, the ice cream products of the HÃ ¤agen-Dazs brand rapidly developed a loyal customer market. HÃ ¤agen-Dazs initial achievements were attained through idle talk as well as great honor. Moreover, without taking the advantage of any advertisement technique the business of HÃ ¤agen-Dazs grown rapidly. Initially, the ice cream was simply available at gourmet shops located in New York afterward its delivery extended all through the United States. ... Initially, the ice cream was simply available at gourmet shops located in New York afterward its delivery extended all through the United States (HDIP, Inc., 2011). Presently this business is one of the main and biggest ice cream businesses in US and this business is offering a variety of ice cream products. This aspect enabled the business to attain higher customer satisfaction, confidence along with market share. Figure 1Main page of Haagen-dazs, Source: http://www.haagen-dazs.com/ 3- Branding This section discusses some of the main aspects about products branding available at Haagen-Dazs business. In this scenario I will outline different approaches and policies to assess the overall branding tactic and policy of the business: 3.1- Branding Basic Theme Haagen-Dazs has established the business brand on the basis of its high quality ice cream flavors. In this scenario this business offers a variety of quality based and luxury ice cream brands for mature people. In the start Haagen-D azs introduced the ice cream product which was approximately for all time inexpensively available ice cream at the marketplace. Initially the business has tried to pay great attention towards the household, men, women and children marketplace. However in current years Haagen-Dazs has proficiently introduced a latest idea of ice cream product that ice cream could be of high-status, special, tasteful and good looking. Through this type of business and product marketing the Haagen-Dazsturn became one of the bestselling brands among the fantastic-quality brands of this category (Adbrands.net., 2011) and (ICMR, 2011). 3.2- High Quality Haagen-Dazs has established the basic theme ‘no compromise on ice cream quality’ for its business. Haagen-Dazs recognized that

Walt Whitman's Idea of Women Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Walt Whitman's Idea of Women - Essay Example A look into his works, that are, at times, vivid with sexuality, proves that his works are a mixture of transcendentalism and realism, where he found females equal to males, and in fact, more important than males. However, he himself seems highly influenced by the social and religious norms that surrounded him in the 19th century that he could not see any other role for women other than household works, procreation of healthy offspring for the state, and keeping themselves healthy and willing to overtly express their sexual desires. Moreover, in his attempt to show the importance of females, he ends up giving them more importance than males because of their higher role in reproduction. In my opinion, Whitman is one among the many sex radicals of the 19th century, and though he proposed revolutionary ideologies on free expression of female sexuality, they are clouded by his own expression of male dominance in his works. This makes his position as a feminist a matter of controversy. Tr aditional roles of women in Whitman’s works Killingsworth admits the fact that for many scholars, Whitman’s females are nothing more than ‘functional creatures’ with just muscles and wombs (1). In addition, there comes the allegation that their only functions are sex and birth. This allegation seems substantiated in many of his writings. In ‘A woman waits for me’, he points out â€Å"yet all were lacking†¦if the moisture of the right man were lacking† (A woman waits for me). Here, instead of the desire to reform female covert expression of sex, the main intention seems to be the desire to make them cope with the unquenched sexual desires of the male-dominated society. As one moves ahead, there is the evident expression of what a chauvinist prefers to see in the females with whom he wants to have sex. â€Å"They are tann’d in the face by shining suns and blowing winds/ Their flesh has the old divine suppleness and strength/ They know how to swim, row, ride, wrestle, shoot, run, strike, retreat, advance, resist, defend themselves.† However, for a woman who possesses all these qualities, the duty Whitman gives is â€Å"I shall demand perfect men and women out of my love spendings.† Thus, it becomes very evident that though he seems careful about the health and wellbeing of females, the two responsibilities they are supposed to do, according to him, are healthy procreation and healthy sex. However, this conception about his intentions is, to a great extent, removed when one looks into his Prose Writings (II, 37 2n). He points out that the sole way to a reconstructed society depends on â€Å"new birth, elevation, expansion, invigoration of women, affording, for races to come†¦ a perfect motherhood† (qtd. Killingsworth, 3). Here, though his outlook is justified remarkably, it seems that his intention to elevate females is based on the need to ensure proper motherhood; not for female s’ sake. However, a look into the Prose Works of 1892 reveals that his intention was not only to make females willing to procreate healthy generation, but the kind of women he envisioned would be â€Å"robust equals, workers, and even practical and political deciders with men† (Whitman, Prose Works). Thus, in the opinion of people

Image of Filipino Women Essay Example for Free

Image of Filipino Women Essay Like in Estrella Alfon’s Magnificence; she illustrated that Filipino women are tough when it is for her children; while Lumnay was very weak and couldn’t accept her husband’s marriage to another woman. . Filipino women could stand and hold firm on her virtues and ideals. No matter what the consequences are, they stand for what is right. Sometimes they are mocked and insulted because of their ideals. But these women, like Miss Noel stood determined to continue what she has started and what she was fighting for. Esperanza is also a woman of virtue. She despises sleeping with a man to whom you’re not married. Some Filipino women are very innocent when it comes to hardships, emotions or other things surrounding them. Majority of these women were born or they belonged to middle class family. They haven’t experienced difficulties while growing up. While some women are oblivious to difficulties and hardships, some are introduced to it a very young age. They sacrificed their happiness for the sake of their family and loved ones. They think of everything as they’re responsibility and it affects their way of thinking, their social life and even their marital life. Filipino women are generous and very caring. They support their family through thick and thin. They will never let their family down especially when it comes to children. They are also very sweet and understanding, Filipinas are also very jealous, they are very possessive not only on the material things but also with their loved ones, especially the mothers. There are also this conservative God-fearing Filipinas. They have principles and won’t go against it. There are many more character traits a Filipina could have, but whatever the point is, Filipinas are raised differently and you could see it by the way they talk or move. Filipino women may look independent and wise but still, they need to feel deserve to be respected and cared for. They need to be loved and feel loved.

Gun Control Essay -- Constituton Bill Rights Right To Bear Arms

The people of the United States of America are given special rights that are guaranteed in the Constitution - The Supreme Law of the Land. The Second Amendment of the Constitution declares, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of the free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." People may have this right, however advocates of gun control believe guns are too risky. Opponents of gun control claim guns have protected them in a self-defense situation. Gun control is defined as government limitaion of the purchase and ownership of firearms by the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Opponents of gun control argue that the right to bear arms is guaranteed to all citizens by the Second Amendment. Owners of handguns and other firearms debate that weapons have protected them and their loved ones from the harm of criminals. Moreover, the National Rifle Association (NRA) argues that although owning a gun requires a license, criminals are still able to get their hands on firearms. In other words, just because a great number of people own guns legally for private use, this does not stop criminals from obtaining guns. Second, the proponents of gun gun control say self defense is not a good enough reason for not regulating firearms. Studies on gun control have shown that family members were more likely to be wounded or even killed by other family members than b y a potential attacker or intruder. In addition, gun control advocates point out the fact that the firearms owned by licensed people are more likely to cause them harm than protection. The two sides have found themselves in a heated debate over this issue. However, public opinion tends to lean strongly towards gun control. Acco... ...uld live with. Related Links The National Rifle Association Handgun Control, Inc. and The Center to Prevent Handgun Violence The Brady Bill The Gun Control Act of 1968 Firearms Policy Journal References Adams, Kenneth. Guns and Gun Control. A National Public Opinion Survey, pp 109-124. (Sociofile) "After Brady." The New Yorker." December 13, 1993, volume 69. P 4+. Broylis,Hiram. "Gun Control or Media Control ?" Chicago Defender. March 25, 2996 p.2 "SMS Reference Library." Version 3.0. CD ROM. Mindscape, Inc., 1995. Sugarman, Josh. NRA: Money, Firepower, and Fear. Washington DC: National Press Books, 1992. Weiland, Bob. " Choice of Weapon" . Gun Goofs in Entertainment Media. July 21,1997 Intron Publication, Netscape p.1 Weir, William. A Well Regulated Militia: The Battle Over Gun Control. North Haven, CT: Archon Books, 1997.

Toni Morrison’s Beloved: The Modern Gothic Novel

The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept that Toni Morrison’s Beloved is a modern Gothic novel. It can be argued that Morrison uses many techniques derived from the Gothic period to master her story of Sethe, a former slave haunted by the ghost of her murdered daughter, Beloved. It is the many interwoven techniques of storytelling that make this novel a challenge to analyze but also so integral to the telling of America’s collective past. The novel encompasses trauma, making the reader uncomfortable with its subject matter.Morrison tells a story not told before while weaving the spectacular into a very real situation. This novel makes the reader question, not only the content but how it is being conveyed, while masterfully, also complex in nature. Part of what makes Beloved and other modern Gothic novels so enthralling is its ability to convey mystery, darkness; the unknown as a realism to the reader. It parts its characters in situations that seem completely interesting, gives them a past that is tragic, maybe somewhat scandalous and puts the characters in a limbo of an unfamiliar place, where mystical events happen.The modern Gothic novel builds from a varied thematic past where such techniques in conveying story seemed romantic in flavor but also horrific and fantastic. Prime examples of the Gothic novel come from the Bronte sisters. Both of them take a faraway location usually shrouded fog and create a mysterious romantic leading man whose behavior borders on villainous. They make the female overcome with lust for this anti-hero, painting the picture of a female character in distress, needing the strength of their man and his love. In this respect, the Gothic novel creates an atmosphere of suspense as strange events happen to the main character.This notion of Magical Realism is not a new storytelling technique, but a forgotten one in need of evolution. The paragraph below examines in greater detail Gothic novel themes as a means of comparison for the modern Gothic novel, the Magical Realism used more and more today. Gothic Elements When many readers think of the Gothic novel, they think of horror, fantasy stories but what they do not think of is the beauty, the humanity conveyed in earlier works by the Bronte sisters. When considering the Gothic tradition, modern readers think of Anne Rice’s Vampire series and classic horror like Shelley’s Frankenstein, Bram Stroker’s Dracula.Not many think of the tradition has its roots in Wuthering Heights. The paragraphs below will touch on this foundation and discuss how modern authors like Morrison, Rice and even the King of Horror Stephen King find their writer’s wisdom in the true Gothic style. It is interesting to see how many such as King deviate from the style at times to write a more gory tale while Morrison relies on more thematic techniques of storytelling which require exploration of the character’s psyche. Another good example of realism incorporating suspense with a fantastic element is Henry James’ Turn of the Screw:I stopped short on emerging from one of the plantation and coming into view of the house. What arrested me on the spot—and with shock much greater than any vision had allowed for—was the sense that my imagination had, in a flash, turned real. (25-6) The Gothic tradition is based in extremes. Traditionalists from the cannon like Stephen Dailly claim the Gothic novel â€Å"get its names from the barbarous Goths that invaded England during the medieval period† (1). Still many Gothic elements are founded in the mysterious and exotic (Dailly 1).Characteristics are founded in the following elements: (1) morbid setting, (2) extreme characters: woman in distress and a villainess romantic hero, (3) mystical themes bordering on horror such as ghosts and strange visions or dreams, and (4) death and rampant dysfunctional sexuality. Not all elements are present but the majorit y is in novels like Beloved, Wuthering Heights and Interview with a Vampire. These elements make such reading, while uncomfortable, delicious in breaking some set rules. Gothic novels create a taboo, the reader recognizes as a guilty pleasure.The first unsettling effect Gothic displays is the dark disturbing setting of a foreign place sometimes a castle. This is meant to dull the senses, throw the situation off guard (Berenbaum 23). Part of what makes the setting so eerie is the pretense that the main character usually female is not supposed to be there but is put into the situation because of a family member’s sudden death and her loss of social status. She is often painted as the innocent victim; pure and angelic (Devendra 19) but generally conflicted by her past tragedy or lustful thoughts for her foil; the romantic anti-hero.While this may shock the reader, while the anti-hero like Heathcliff or Lestat should be generally hated because of his past indiscretions; she canno t help but see his humanity and beauty. It is the societal struggle that makes him interesting and creates the romantic dream for the female in distress. It gives her something to hold on to during the tough times she faces. This is also creates great conflict for both the reader and characters which is the ultimate element of Gothic â€Å"cannot exist without pain† and here in lies the paradox â€Å"that pleasure is found in pain† (Berenbaum 30).While the argument can be made that Beloved displays many modern traits like Magical Realism, one can also argue that these were stolen from the Gothic tradition. The entire novel is shrouded in mystery, in gloom based from trauma. It is this trauma born out of post-Reconstructionism and the former slave experience that becomes the taboo. It is the guilty pleasure for many readers as they strive to understand the novel’s true meaning. Much of the mystery or confusion is created by Morrison’s storytelling techniqu e of flashback.What makes the novel uncomfortable is Morrison’s structure for a non-linear storyline. At times the reader does not know they are in the middle of a flashback and this adds to the building of emotion. Valerie Smith argues this flashback technique or method of telling the story in circles makes waves as it feeds off itself over and over while remaining unconvoluted; it still â€Å"limits hegemonic authoritarian systems of knowledge† (346). Much of what we believe about the story is based on what Morrison is educating the reader about.This explains not only the setting of the story but the historical context and Sethe’s inability to assimilate into her own present time to tell her account. The flashbacks continue in circles acting as symbolic technique to explain how life works. It is the historical taboo of post-slavery that influences the reader’s reasoning because there is nothing that can be done to intervene. There is nothing that the re ader can do to make Sethe’s present condition better except continue reading but this acts as a motivation to keep the reader glued (Spargo 118).This can be seen in other post-traumatic accounts found in modern literature such as Sophie’s Choice. This type of historical influence creates taboo, the shock but it is not applicable to just the African American experience but to the human experience. Gothic Setting and the Far Away Location Much of the novel happens in the setting of memory, the continued revisiting of one moment in time and how the decision for a mother to murder her own child impacts her present.The setting of Beloved uses flashback to create gloominess but it is the feeling of Sethe and other residents of the house traveling not only in physical distance but also the passage of time that creates a haunting quality. While she is stuck in the past, she is also stuck in her new home in Ohio on 124 Bluestone Road. Part of what makes the setting gloomy is no t just the historical context of recovering from human bondage but it is the collective notion and ideology of the passage of time. Not even time can heal the wounds.The Underground Railroad while found in many undisclosed physical locations is really a state of mind but so is that period of history called Reconstructionism. For the novel, setting is more about time and characterization but as Margaret Atwood discusses â€Å"the setting is similarly divided: the countryside near Cincinnati, where the central characters have ended up, and a slave-hold plantation in Kentucky† (par 2). But the setting is also defined by people who believe in magic, folklore but also influenced by a broken society where they are themselves ghosts; shells of people.While there is the memory of physical removal from Africa, there is also the notion of that: Slaves are motherless, fatherless, deprived of their mates, their children, their kin. It is a world in which people suddenly vanish and are ne ver seen again†¦as a matter of everyday legal policy† (Atwood par 7). Sethe: Female in Distress, Exploring the Unknown, and Horror/Terror Elements Sethe is the female in distress but not in the traditionalist view of Gothic female character. She is a feminist. She is defined by her past, conflicted by her past decisions and not blinded by lust for an anti-hero.Much of her is defined by her sexuality as a powerful tool. While her decision to murder her daughter made her powerful as she gave her child freedom in death that she still cannot attain in life; it takes on a shocking quality for the reader and can be seen in sexual symbolism later in the novel. In a time when slaves are seen as property, worth less than a cow or a dog to the white man, she pulls above this lack of humanity and uses her sexuality as a tool to facilitate her survival. This does not make her actions right on moral grounds but makes her a strong female role model in literature.Throughout the canon, t he female sex is seen as taboo, symbolic in fruit and nature. Beloved has sexual overtones because of Sethe’s ability to bear fruit. This is a common symbol found in literature; motherhood; the bearing of fruit and nourishing the child with milk. What makes Beloved different in expressing these overtones is when they happen. These sexual symbols present themselves as Beloved’s ghost materializes. Sethe begins to lactate when Beloved appears, â€Å"Just like the day she arrived at 124—sure enough, she had milk enough for all† (106). Is the ghost manifesting in Sethe or is this past of post-trauma?Or is it Sethe’s decent into insanity? Later she continues to use this tool as a means of acquiring proper burial for her daughter. While many readers would be appalled by such an action, others would see how because of slavery, Sethe does not see herself of any value. Rape is not something brutal to her but the notion of not giving her offspring a proper b urial is. She believes that without this burial the soul cannot return home to God, but how does this explain Beloved showing up later. Because Sethe is still struggling with the past, so does the ghost?It is from the setting and the past that the horror element; the impending doom that the flashbacks carry emotionally; the unknown is born out of her being trapped in the house and her belief in the supernatural. It could be the ghost is just a figment of her imagination as a post-trauma sufferer. Atwood writes, â€Å"the day had gone blue without its sun, but she could still make out the black silhouettes of trees in the meadow beyond† (par 16). The past is constantly impacting her present. The doom and gloom of the past is surrounding her, trapping her in that house.This only intensifies the haunting that the ghost represents. It is the element of the ghost that furthers the notion of the unknown for the reader and allows one to analyze Sethe’s character. It is the ha unting that brings her story to the forefront of attention, acting as a catalyst for her to grow and deal with the circumstances of the past. Before she can make a better life for herself, she must descend into madness. It is the pure physicality of the haunting that remains true to the Gothic tradition and not necessarily the horror. Today’s reader associates horror with gore thanks to the blood and guts of Hollywood.True Gothic does not rely on blood but the suspense built from the unknown. It is the fear of the unknown, the life without love that makes the story so compelling. â€Å"And, for some reason she could not immediately account for, the moment she got close enough to see the face, Sethe’s bladder filled to capacity† (Morrison 54). While the house is physically haunted by Beloved’s ghost, it is also haunted by the collective experience of all its residents. The story is told not only in flashback but also from different points of view. This add s to the suspense but building eeriness.While the ghost is grown up, it has the mentality of a toddler while her sister Denver’s attitude is that typical of a boy crazy teenager. As it seems the trauma acts as a haunting embodied by the ghost, as the trauma becomes more real; it comes to the surface of Sethe’s reality; the more terror-ridden Beloved can be felt to Sethe and the others. As Sethe starts to deal with the past, Beloved starts to slip away. â€Å"She feels her thickness thinning, dissolving into nothing† (Morrison 129). Still by using varying points of view allows for differing tones of morality.While no one can blame Sethe for her actions, in a way not only does Paul D lack compassion for her situation because her inability to share her story, while this fact distresses her a lot, she is punishing herself by allowing the trauma to continue. It is in her need to identify herself by a man that weakens her ability to learn from the ghost. It builds the suspense of the unknown further. By allowing the unknown to takeover, she is riddled with fear of Paul D leaving, and taking her esteem with him. She is afraid of anything changing and possibly surrendering to her guilt.Morrison works to create the doubt that Beloved’s ghost is even real. Is she just a by product of Sethe’s trauma? A real ghost, a lost soul trying to get to Heaven? Is she a coping mechanism created by the folklore of post-slavery life? Is she a combination of things, a means for explaining the unexplainable? Or just a literary device? Maybe she is just part of the journey into the unknown that Sethe must take in order to heal from her experiences. In many ways, the ghost leaving is part of Sethe’s growth process and redemption.By making the ghost a real person, physical to everyone, it is allowing Sethe to acknowledge Beloved’s existence. This in itself has a powerful cleansing influence upon her character. She starts acting differently, stronger and less defined by her setting and the people around her. First of all, she leaves the house to go to a picnic in which Sethe stands up to the white man. In this way, she now defined by her self-esteem and her own humanity and not the past. No longer is she a shell of a woman but someone who can function in reality.The scene in which the ghost leaves is a pivotal moment for Sethe but also the other women of her new community. By unloading the baggage of Beloved’s death, she is about to have a future. The picnic acts a coming together of strong women with knowledge of who they are. While they are defined by their collective past, they are also looking to the future for the first time. It is only in the realization that Sethe is not alone that she rediscovers her strength as a person (272). She allows herself a taste of humanity. This story works to capture the essence of slavery’s aftermath for its characters.It tells a truth created in flashback and ghost st ory. It aims to create mysticism only memory can illustrate. â€Å"The novel is meant to give grief a body, to make it palpable† (Gates 29). The characters are trapped in the present because they are imprisoned by the horrors of slavery. They are literally held hostage in their home, isolated from the outside world. In many ways Beloved represents a geographically realistic neo-slave narrative by presenting in flashback the experiences of Sethe. This story also has the fantastic element of a ghost who later becomes flesh and bone.The paragraphs below explore the characters memories and the magical realism of a ghost. Memory affects the character of Sethe in a way that illustrates the pain and grief of her past enslavement. Sethe is living with the memory of killing her two old year daughter to save her from the horror of slavery while she herself was struggling to attain freedom. As a result of this action, she is unable to forgive herself and lives trapped in this memory. As much as this is a very private pain, it dominates her and comes to life in her house.The memory affects the other occupants of the house and even drives her sons to leave. Sethe believes that nothing can destroy a memory, not even destroying the physical evidence. The following quote exhibits this idea: It's so hard for me to believe in [time]. Some things go. Pass on. Some things just stay. I used to think it was my rememory. . . . But it's not. Places, places are still there. If a house burns down, it's gone, but the place-the picture of it-stays, and not just in my rememory, but out there, in the world. (Morrison 36)In essence, this means that the soul takes every experience with it. I believe her relationship with this memory only deepens over time and does not change for the better. Even the attempt to leave her happy with her new marriage leaves the reader feeling that she is still coping. Morrison writes, â€Å"the future was a matter of keeping the past at bay. The ‘ better life' she believed she and Denver were living was simply not that other one† (42). This signifies that her memories leave her static in the present. It is almost as if nothing new can happen to her until she lets the past go.Still this is likely as Morrison writes â€Å"but her brain was not interested in the future. Loaded with the past and hungry for more, it left her no room to imagine, let alone plan for, the next day† (70). It is through the flashback images the reader learns of slavery and Sethe’s experience escaping but it also through Morrison’s description of the present that reader begins to understand the environment of Reconstruction. These are people still being defined by their enslavement. â€Å"The future was sunset; the past something to leave behind.And if it didn't stay behind, well, you might have to stomp it out. Slave life; freed life-every day was a test and a trial. Nothing could be counted on in a world where even when you were a solution you were a problem† (256). This theme is never so evident than with Morrison’s use of magical realism in the form of Beloved the ghost. â€Å"This awkward spirit shakes the furniture, puts tiny handprints on the cakes, shatters mirrors, Sethe and Denver live stolidly in the chaos, emotionally frozen† (Gates 28). The physical ghost acts as an embodiment of Sethe’s sorrow and guilt.The consequence of Beloved’s actions only feed Sethe’s inability to function in the present. Whether or not the ghost is an embodiment of Sethe’s guilt, insanity, folklore, an actual real ghost, the symbolic representation of the house’s negative feelings due to historical context, or the collective sadness and unknown of the residents’ terror; remains to be seen. This is an unknown; a mystery Morrison leaves for the reader to decide. Conclusion In conclusion, Beloved connected with the reader on many levels. In times of war and t ragedy, such themes are not uncommon.One is reminded of Sophie’s Choice where the heroine had to make a similar yet devastating decision about her children. Still Morrison used a ghost to exhibit just how much the past has followed Sethe. Such technique can be found in other modern novels by Isabelle Allende and Gabriel Garcia-Marquez where the fantastic take on realistic qualities. The purpose of this paper was to explore the concept that Toni Morrison’s Beloved is a modern Gothic novel. It can be argued that Morrison used many techniques derived from the Gothic period to master her story of Sethe, a former slave haunted by the ghost of her murdered daughter, Beloved.The novel has many interwoven techniques of storytelling that make reading a challenge to analyze but also so integral to the telling of America’s collective past. As a collective, our history has pain that can be found beautiful. The novel encompassed trauma, making the reader uncomfortable with i ts subject matter, mainly Sethe’s sexuality as a powerful, feministic tool. Morrison tells a story not told before while weaving the spectacular into a very real situation and therefore created a much different storytelling style furthering the evolution of the modern novel.This novel made the reader question, not only the content but how it was being conveyed, while masterfully, also complex in nature. While it is considered a modern novel, it redefined many Gothic elements. Part of what made Beloved and other modern Gothic novels so enthralling was its ability to convey mystery, darkness; the unknown as a realism to the reader. It put its characters in situations that seemed completely interesting, gave them a past that was tragic, maybe somewhat scandalous and put the characters in a limbo of an unfamiliar place, where mystical events happened.Works Cited Atwood, Margaret. â€Å"Jaunted By Their Nightmares. † New York Times 13 Sept. 1987, natl. ed. : Arts and Entert ainment section. Atwood explains Morrison’s story of grief and death of Sethe’s little girl touching on Slavery’s influence on modern society. She looks at Gothic techniques used to tell a modern story while discussing Sethe’s insanity and humanity. Berenbaum, Linda. The Gothic Imagination. East Brunswick, New Jersey: Associated University Press, Ltd. , 1948. This author analyzes Wuthering Heights from the thematic view point of Gothic novel stylings.She looks to Bronte’s writing as a means of justifying the non-horror of Gothic novels but the humanity involved. In doing this, she paints the novel as being very Gothic and also scary. In this respect, the argument backfires but also legitimizes the Gothic novel as a genre. Dailly, Stephen. â€Å"The Gothic Novel. † Online. Internet. Available FTP: http://www. btinternet. com/Stephen. dailly/writing/resources/gothic. htm Devendra, Varma, The Gothic Flame. London: Arthur Baker Ltd. , and Morris on and Gibb Ltd. , 1957.Author looks to traditional thematic elements of Gothic novel to argue that Gothic novels display two worlds. He also looks to history to back up this point. Gates, Henry Louis and Appiah, K. A. , ed. Toni Morrison: Critical Perspectives Past and Present. New York: Amistad Press, Inc. , 1993. Editors analyze Toni Morrison’s writing, specifically Beloved in order to argue that the novel does not reflect the negative victimism of slavery but uses storytelling as a means to entertain such a serious subject. They argue that Beloved can also be seen as ghost story.James, Henry. Turn of the Screw. New York: Pocket Books, 1941 James’ tale of suspense and woman haunting the man who done her wrong and is one of the first times in literature a ghost seems realistic. Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Penguin Books, 1987. Morrison’s groundbreaking story of one woman’s life after slavery and ghosts that remain in the present. This story by usi ng flashbacks tells the story of a woman murdering her baby daughter so that that daughter does not have to live in slavery. This novel displays how one’s action’s continues to live on inside of them and later materialize as a ghost.It also conveys how even in American modern society, the collective history still remains in shadows and needs to be addressed, no matter how uncomfortable. Smith, Valerie. â€Å"Circling the Subject: History and Narrative in Beloved. † Toni Morrison: Critical Perspectives Past and Present. Ed. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and K. A. Appiah. New York: Amistad, 1993. 342-55. Smith analyzes Morrison’s use of flashback as a cyclical technique not used before in literature. Spargo, R. Clifton. â€Å"Trauma and the spectres of enslavement in Morrison’s Beloved. † Mosaic 35. 1 (2002): 113-130. Spargo discusses history as a grounds for telling fictional stories.