I found another site for John Henry that talks about the different versions of the story. One that originated in Alabama and one that originated in West Virginia. (This site even has a John Henry comic strip.)

John Henry Site

I think that this could be just a tall tale, however the message that it was meant to convey is true.

I also think that this story is meant to talk about technology and race. It refers to technology based on the fact that machines were growing and beginning to take over the working man's jobs which left them without much else. I also think that this refers to race because the owner of the railroad does not have any trouble replacing the hardworking men of his crew with a machine that will save him money. This could be seen in terms of race just because the owner could be looking at the workers as nothing that could not easily be replaced. On the other hand it could be argued that it would not have mattered if the workers were black or white, the owner still would have done whatever would save him money.

Finally, the lyrics that were on the web site really helped to convey the message of the story. Regardless of whether or not this was a tall tale or a true story, the lyrics really helped to send the message of the song.

"Uncle Remus Initiates the Little Boy"
This had to be one of the hardest works to read. I really did have to read the whole thing out loud to get the main focus of the story. From this section, all I know is that all the characters are being introduced, and the narrator can be many people at this time.

"The Wonderful Tar Baby Story"
These stories really remind me of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because of the kinds of adventures they take part in. I thought that this story was funny, probably mostly because of the language that was used in writing the book. For this section, I chose the line, "You look sorter stuck up dis mawnin," because I thought that the language he uses and the way that he talks really helps to make the story funny.

"Why the Negro is Black"
From this section I chose the line, "...dey wuz a time we'n all de w'ite folks 'uz black -- blacker than me." I thought that this poem really took an odd way of looking at the idea of race. Although racism is wrong, I wonder if whites can even be mad about what was written in the book about them all being black at one time. This goes along with the theory that everyone was born white and we still ended up with different color skin tone. This seems a little racist for an African American's point of view, because this is what black people say that white people thought about the evolution of race.

One line that I thought was very interesting was on page 48. The quote was from a member of the Concord Library Committee. It said, "The whole book is of a class that is more profitable for the slums than it is for respectable people, and it is trash of the veriest sort." Obviously they thought that this book was not good enough for their community. This may seem far-fetched but that quote sounds pretty racist to me. This book was not good enough for their community it belongs in the slums? That sounds as though it should be given to the lower class people, even if it should be censored in other places. Like the lower class people still deserve to read it.

First of all, I thought that this was an interesting choice of text to read because almost everything that we have been talking about in class had to do with the book, and the fact that it was not written with a racist intention. Two lines that really caught my attention were in the first two paragraphs. The author refers to the story as "Twain's 'glaring lapse of moral imagination'" and that "Twain evaded dealing with the very touchy issues his own story raised." I thought that this was a very harsh way of looking at the book. I don't think that most people see this book as being racist. I thought that in the end of the book when Jim helps Tom, rather than save himself it showed a very good side of Jim. This article is saying that Tom seems to make the ending racist by subjecting Huck and Jim to "inhumane treatment." I'm not sure that I agree with this article.

I liked that in chapter 42 they talked about Jim and the fact that he was "worth a thousand dollars - and kind treatment too." He stayed to help Tom Sawyer when he was wounded. Basically what the book is saying is that if he was as bad as black people were made out to be at that time, he would not have given his time to help. I think that this is just another example in the book that shows that the motive behind this book was not racism, but a way of showing the good side of black people in that time period because that was not done very often.

While I was reading the introduction on pages 324-325 it talked about Jim and how he was freed from slavery. On her deathbed Miss Watson said that he was free. Also it says that Jim gives up his chance to freedom when he stays with Tom who is wounded. I think that these are both examples of how Jim's purpose in the story was for more than an african american man in slavery. Jim is doing what it right by staying with Tom. On page 325 it says "Mark Twain consummates Jim's dignity by giving him an opportunity to make a heroic sacrifice of himself." This is not in line with the historical ideas of slavery, Mark Twain is showing that Jim is a good person.

I just retyped this because I'm an idiot and typed my blog in the comment section of the page.

"Those who brand the book racist generally do so wihtout having considered the specific form of racial discourse to which the novel responds."

I chose this line because of what we talked about in class and whether this would be controversial in a classroom. In this book i think that the character of Jim is at times treated badly, but he is never beaten or hurt like a slave. I think that if the book were using the character of Jim in a racist way, the relationship between Huck and Jim would have been very different. Instead, Huck treats Jim as one of his friends (most of the time).