$500 Essay
Very Proud to be a Republican
As each generation ages, the responsibility of preserving the morals and freedoms our founding fathers established is placed upon the preceding generation. This responsibility includes obtaining an education, becoming a contributing member to society, but most importantly formulating a set of political and social principles for which our nation’s founding fathers dedicated their lives. One of the most important decisions for young adults in the United States is to become actively involved in the Republican Party. Involvement is important because the Republican Party maintains a set of principles that make this country unique from any other in the world.
First, the Republican Party believes that the strength of the nation lies with the individual and that each person’s dignity, freedom, ability and responsibility must be honored (Strongsville Republican Club). This is important because young adults often take for granted the freedom upon which they are bestowed. Involvement in the Republican Party demonstrates how important it is to honor and respect personal freedom and the freedom of others. This is a core belief of the Republican Party and a main principle that makes the United States so great.
Secondly, the Republican Party believes in equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all. This is regardless of race, creed, sex, age, or disability. The Republican Party believes in freedom in its entirety and it is important for young adults to be involved with such beliefs because honoring and respecting one another goes beyond being a political belief. Because the Republican Party supports “One Nation Under God,” their principles align with those of the Bible. Involvement in the Republican Party teaches young adults how to live a life under God.
Finally, as Thomas Paine said, “That government is best which governs least,” the Republican Party believes in the importance of a small and limited government. History explains that a larger government does not provide best for the people it is supposed to represent. Young adults holding this belief understand this founding philosophy and involvement in the Republican Party supports this belief. Without this belief, the government most notably strays away from the Constitution, the framework of our government.
Ronald Reagan said, “Each generation goes further than the generation preceding it because it stands on the shoulders of that generation. You will have opportunities beyond anything we've ever known.” Young adults being involved in the Republican Party is essential for the future of our nation. This party supports the ideals that make this country the most opportune and capitalistic nation in the world. The Republican Party believes itself to be the best vehicle for translating these ideals into positive and successful principles of government (Strongsville Republican Club). Never before in history has involvement in the Republican Party by young adults been so important to the future of the nation. With these freedoms at risk under a Democrat Party majority, it is the responsibility of young adults to support their freedom and preserve what America stands for.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Portfolio Piece: Reflective Writing: Senior Year High School
Throughout my childhood and teenage years, I have not been an avid reader. When I was younger I was continually encouraged to read but the most significant reading was the twenty Boxcar Children books I read during early elementary years. Despite this, I never gained a passion for further reading. My father did his best to encourage me to read. For example, he would not let me go outside and play with my friends if I did not read ten or fifteen pages of a book. I simply could not gain interest to spend an afternoon with my nose in a book.
It was in high school when I began to read novels. I remember reading novels such as the Glass Menagerie and the Scarlet Letter. With much regret, I admit that I did not read either of these books from cover to cover. I believe this was due to two reasons: we didn’t have to read the novels and I simply wasn’t interested in reading them. Through class discussions and guided questions, I was able to get good grades and know the material.
What I did read was textbooks, articles, and the news. As simple as this may be, I spent many evenings reading from these sources. Almost daily, I would seek additional research on a topic I had studied in class. I would also go online and read articles on local, national, and worldwide news stations. I can see my reading as both beneficial and disadvantageous in respect to my writing. In my opinion, it is because of this that I write in a “cut and dry” and “to the point” style. Textbooks and news, in particular, display information in a way that shows ‘this is what happened and this is how it is.’ My writing reflects this style because while growing up, I continue to read more historical articles and current news than I do the classic novels my father recommends I read.
In addition, my senior year made me grow as a writer more than any other year in school. Many reading and writing experiences in my English class supported my writing abilities but it was preparation for the I.B. oral commentary that, I believe, benefited me the most. As a class, we read works from William Shakespeare, James Baldwin, Edgar Allan Poe, Sylvia Plath, and Ted Hughes. Exposure to such a broad range of literary works introduced me to many varieties and styles of writing. Preparation for the commentary included in-depth analysis of works including Everybody’s Protest Novel, Daddy, King Lear, The Fall of the House of Usher, and several other works. These works provided a basis for further education in college. Preparation for the commentary gave me the ability to critically analyze a broad range of works. I believe this ability will support not only English courses in college but other classes as well.
My strengths as a writer are the result of my past and current reading and writing experiences. It has been said that a writing strength I hold is the ability to write a good research paper. For example, I was successful in completing a Psychology Internal Assessment scoring a perfect score on the I.B. scale. When I turned in my first rough draft I had to make very few edits. Another strength I believe I hold as a writer is the ability to determine the meaning of a word based upon its root. I give credit to my fourth grade teacher Mrs. Wintersheimer for this. I remember she would give our class worksheets with Latin roots and we would have to write the definition of that word.
My weaknesses as a reader and writer are also the result of my past and current reading and writing experiences. For example, I don’t read works from a variety of styles and genres. I limit reading to works for school and my personal favorites of news articles and textbook style essays. From personal experience, the students who write well in the senior class are avid readers. They contain a large vocabulary and are capable of using more academic words in their writing and speaking. As I said before, this is why I write in a ‘cut and dry’ style.
Growth as a writer has not been determined by one grade or school, but mainly by certain experiences I have had, most notably preparation for the oral commentary. Overall, the I.B. Program has contributed to my growth as a writer but I cannot mention this growth without giving credit to Ms. Davidson. She provided the support and instruction to analyze works, pick them apart to understand their meaning, and many other techniques I would otherwise never have learned. This was accomplished throughout the both years I have had I.B. English but, for me, the oral commentary benefited me the most. My growth as a writer cannot be mentioned without having explained my goals in reading and writing. My future goals for literacy are to begin reading classics that my parents read when they were my age. I would like to read novels including Where the Red Fern Grows and The Grapes of Wrath. I have read very few novels that my parents once read so I feel this is an important and realistic goal to accomplish.
In conclusion, it is difficult to choose one specific event or ‘aha!’ moment that benefited my reading and writing. The passing of time and exposure to different literary works has influenced the way I read and write. My future goals for literacy are the most important aspect of this paper and without these goals, I cannot grow as a reader and writer. Throughout my educational career I have set goals and whether or not I achieved all of them, I still advanced as a reader and writer. Although I’m not the best reader and writer, I understand the importance and significance it has had and will have in my life.
It was in high school when I began to read novels. I remember reading novels such as the Glass Menagerie and the Scarlet Letter. With much regret, I admit that I did not read either of these books from cover to cover. I believe this was due to two reasons: we didn’t have to read the novels and I simply wasn’t interested in reading them. Through class discussions and guided questions, I was able to get good grades and know the material.
What I did read was textbooks, articles, and the news. As simple as this may be, I spent many evenings reading from these sources. Almost daily, I would seek additional research on a topic I had studied in class. I would also go online and read articles on local, national, and worldwide news stations. I can see my reading as both beneficial and disadvantageous in respect to my writing. In my opinion, it is because of this that I write in a “cut and dry” and “to the point” style. Textbooks and news, in particular, display information in a way that shows ‘this is what happened and this is how it is.’ My writing reflects this style because while growing up, I continue to read more historical articles and current news than I do the classic novels my father recommends I read.
In addition, my senior year made me grow as a writer more than any other year in school. Many reading and writing experiences in my English class supported my writing abilities but it was preparation for the I.B. oral commentary that, I believe, benefited me the most. As a class, we read works from William Shakespeare, James Baldwin, Edgar Allan Poe, Sylvia Plath, and Ted Hughes. Exposure to such a broad range of literary works introduced me to many varieties and styles of writing. Preparation for the commentary included in-depth analysis of works including Everybody’s Protest Novel, Daddy, King Lear, The Fall of the House of Usher, and several other works. These works provided a basis for further education in college. Preparation for the commentary gave me the ability to critically analyze a broad range of works. I believe this ability will support not only English courses in college but other classes as well.
My strengths as a writer are the result of my past and current reading and writing experiences. It has been said that a writing strength I hold is the ability to write a good research paper. For example, I was successful in completing a Psychology Internal Assessment scoring a perfect score on the I.B. scale. When I turned in my first rough draft I had to make very few edits. Another strength I believe I hold as a writer is the ability to determine the meaning of a word based upon its root. I give credit to my fourth grade teacher Mrs. Wintersheimer for this. I remember she would give our class worksheets with Latin roots and we would have to write the definition of that word.
My weaknesses as a reader and writer are also the result of my past and current reading and writing experiences. For example, I don’t read works from a variety of styles and genres. I limit reading to works for school and my personal favorites of news articles and textbook style essays. From personal experience, the students who write well in the senior class are avid readers. They contain a large vocabulary and are capable of using more academic words in their writing and speaking. As I said before, this is why I write in a ‘cut and dry’ style.
Growth as a writer has not been determined by one grade or school, but mainly by certain experiences I have had, most notably preparation for the oral commentary. Overall, the I.B. Program has contributed to my growth as a writer but I cannot mention this growth without giving credit to Ms. Davidson. She provided the support and instruction to analyze works, pick them apart to understand their meaning, and many other techniques I would otherwise never have learned. This was accomplished throughout the both years I have had I.B. English but, for me, the oral commentary benefited me the most. My growth as a writer cannot be mentioned without having explained my goals in reading and writing. My future goals for literacy are to begin reading classics that my parents read when they were my age. I would like to read novels including Where the Red Fern Grows and The Grapes of Wrath. I have read very few novels that my parents once read so I feel this is an important and realistic goal to accomplish.
In conclusion, it is difficult to choose one specific event or ‘aha!’ moment that benefited my reading and writing. The passing of time and exposure to different literary works has influenced the way I read and write. My future goals for literacy are the most important aspect of this paper and without these goals, I cannot grow as a reader and writer. Throughout my educational career I have set goals and whether or not I achieved all of them, I still advanced as a reader and writer. Although I’m not the best reader and writer, I understand the importance and significance it has had and will have in my life.
Portfolio Piece: Personal Expressive-Literary Writing: Senior Year High School
25 March 2010
Where I’m From
I am from a divorced family,
from Mom’s and Dad’s.
A house in Latonia -yard work, a dog, it is my only home
An apartment in Florence
first floor, last building
where most of my memories lie as if they had just occurred
I’m from many schools,
Latonia Elementary, to Holy Cross, to Covington Latin, to Holmes,
the Catholics
and the Public,
Religion class and Evolution in Biology
“Hail Mary full of grace”
to not saying “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance
I am from chickens and hermit crabs,
emus and a pig.
animals in the backyard and in the house,
always a mess around.
I am from a junior class,
friends and foes.
long nights of homework and stress,
nights of procrastination and laziness,
never hurts to wait until morning.
In my mind are my childhood memories
full of life and experience,
people long gone
always to be remembered.
I am from those times in life
where bad is followed by something good.
Where I’m From
I am from a divorced family,
from Mom’s and Dad’s.
A house in Latonia -yard work, a dog, it is my only home
An apartment in Florence
first floor, last building
where most of my memories lie as if they had just occurred
I’m from many schools,
Latonia Elementary, to Holy Cross, to Covington Latin, to Holmes,
the Catholics
and the Public,
Religion class and Evolution in Biology
“Hail Mary full of grace”
to not saying “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance
I am from chickens and hermit crabs,
emus and a pig.
animals in the backyard and in the house,
always a mess around.
I am from a junior class,
friends and foes.
long nights of homework and stress,
nights of procrastination and laziness,
never hurts to wait until morning.
In my mind are my childhood memories
full of life and experience,
people long gone
always to be remembered.
I am from those times in life
where bad is followed by something good.
A.C.T. Editorial for Holmespun: Senior Year High School
American College Testing (A.C.T.)
21 October 2009
If you are a junior, the ACT is the largest test you will take all year. I don’t mean large as in quantity but large because it is what will get you in to college. If you are a senior, you should be familiar with the ACT. Some seniors, such as myself, are very familiar with the test because we have taken it two, three, or even four times and have yet to reach our desired score. If you are a freshman or sophomore, do not spend time worrying about this test. Enjoy school and make good grades because time flies and before you know it you will be a nervous junior the morning of your first ACT.
From my experience so far, the ACT is just as important, if not more important than your GPA. Every college I have looked in to requires you to send your ACT scores to them as part of the admission requirement. The ACT company sends your scores to three colleges of your choice every time you take the test. If you plan on sending it to more than three it will cost a good amount of money. Colleges won’t accept you if you do not meet their minimum ACT requirements. For example, Eastern Kentucky University requires you to have a minimum ACT score of an 18.
Studying for the ACT is not simple. After I got my first ACT score my dad bought me a Peterson’s ACT Guide. The book was HUGE. I read some of it but soon grew tired of reading a book that I honestly knew I would not finish. I did a few practice problems but didn’t open the book again until a few months later. I’m not sure if I can give the book credit but my ACT score did increase three points. Ms. Davidson, Mrs. Brummett, and Ms. Kennison do a great job preparing you for the test. I have had Ms. Davidson since my junior year and she repeatedly gave us practice ACT questions before the big day in March. Every Tuesday and Thursday before and after school these three teachers offer ACT preparation tutoring in the library. The tutoring fits your needs and will help address your ACT weak points.
If you have taken the ACT once but are unsure how or when to take it here is my advice. Take it as soon as possible. I have taken the ACT in March, June, and September of 2009. I am already registered to take it again on October 24. There are two ways to register: online and a huge packet. If your parents have a credit card I highly encourage you to register online. The advantages to registering online are that you have first choice at your testing location and there are minimal things to fill out. The ACT company also keeps record of your scores and test dates online by creating a free account. You can do this at http://www.actstudent.org/index.html. This website lists ACT dates and registration deadlines as well. If you decide to register using the packet you can pick one up from the counselor’s office. The cost to register is $31.
The ACT is an important test. It is not something that you should blow-off or prepare for at the last minute. The test should be taken seriously and be given full effort. I, along with many others, did not score high enough the first time and as a result continue to stress about our score and how it will affect our future college career. Some worry if they can get in to college with their score and others worry about getting scholarships with their score. I cannot recommend any perfect solution so my advice is to take any opportunity you have to prepare yourself for your big day in March.
21 October 2009
If you are a junior, the ACT is the largest test you will take all year. I don’t mean large as in quantity but large because it is what will get you in to college. If you are a senior, you should be familiar with the ACT. Some seniors, such as myself, are very familiar with the test because we have taken it two, three, or even four times and have yet to reach our desired score. If you are a freshman or sophomore, do not spend time worrying about this test. Enjoy school and make good grades because time flies and before you know it you will be a nervous junior the morning of your first ACT.
From my experience so far, the ACT is just as important, if not more important than your GPA. Every college I have looked in to requires you to send your ACT scores to them as part of the admission requirement. The ACT company sends your scores to three colleges of your choice every time you take the test. If you plan on sending it to more than three it will cost a good amount of money. Colleges won’t accept you if you do not meet their minimum ACT requirements. For example, Eastern Kentucky University requires you to have a minimum ACT score of an 18.
Studying for the ACT is not simple. After I got my first ACT score my dad bought me a Peterson’s ACT Guide. The book was HUGE. I read some of it but soon grew tired of reading a book that I honestly knew I would not finish. I did a few practice problems but didn’t open the book again until a few months later. I’m not sure if I can give the book credit but my ACT score did increase three points. Ms. Davidson, Mrs. Brummett, and Ms. Kennison do a great job preparing you for the test. I have had Ms. Davidson since my junior year and she repeatedly gave us practice ACT questions before the big day in March. Every Tuesday and Thursday before and after school these three teachers offer ACT preparation tutoring in the library. The tutoring fits your needs and will help address your ACT weak points.
If you have taken the ACT once but are unsure how or when to take it here is my advice. Take it as soon as possible. I have taken the ACT in March, June, and September of 2009. I am already registered to take it again on October 24. There are two ways to register: online and a huge packet. If your parents have a credit card I highly encourage you to register online. The advantages to registering online are that you have first choice at your testing location and there are minimal things to fill out. The ACT company also keeps record of your scores and test dates online by creating a free account. You can do this at http://www.actstudent.org/index.html. This website lists ACT dates and registration deadlines as well. If you decide to register using the packet you can pick one up from the counselor’s office. The cost to register is $31.
The ACT is an important test. It is not something that you should blow-off or prepare for at the last minute. The test should be taken seriously and be given full effort. I, along with many others, did not score high enough the first time and as a result continue to stress about our score and how it will affect our future college career. Some worry if they can get in to college with their score and others worry about getting scholarships with their score. I cannot recommend any perfect solution so my advice is to take any opportunity you have to prepare yourself for your big day in March.
C.A.S. Activity/Project Self-Evaluation Example: Senior Year High School
C.A.S. Activity/Project Self-Evaluation
Railway Museum of _______________
Approximate Hours: 70
The __________________is a local railway preservation initiative in _____, ____ located on ______’s old L&N DeCoursey Avenue Railroad Yard. The museum is non-profit and operated by a small group of tri-state area volunteers. Approximately 30 railcars, 5 locomotives, and countless railroad antiques are property of the museum and more than half of the collection is currently being renovated. I worked at the museum all of last summer.
In this project I performed many different tasks with many different people. The museum is operated by five dedicated volunteers. Nearly all of them were there on every weekend and Wednesday when the museum was open. The volunteers included one middle aged man and the other four were senior citizens. I worked closely with the middle-aged man and he is who I learned most from. Other people would volunteer but were not regulars. I also interacted with visitors in the museum. I often gave tours and was a guide on the annual open house day.
There are too many tasks for me to reflect upon so I will only include three major ones. First, my initial experience at the museum was restoring a Pennsylvania R.P.O. (Railroad Post Office). The museum had purchased mail bins and was installing them in the ceiling. I worked alongside two other guys in installing the 100 pound bins and aided in drilling holes in the sheet metal of the ceiling and fixing the bins to it. This was a long and heavy process. Because it was summer time and old railroad cars don’t have air conditioning, this was more than a sweat breaker. I learned a lot from this task though. We used many different tools of which I learned the names of and I also learned how to work with drilling through metal. This was not something I had to opportunity to learn at home.
The second task at the museum was preparing the axles and wheels to be painted. Since the museum hadn’t had any young volunteers for several years, the low and hard to reach projects were left up to me. Many of the axle sets to the railcars were rusting and the paint was chipping away. My job was to take a metal scraper (brush and scraper) and clean up the axle sets to be spray painted. In this task I was on my hands and knees wearing a dusk mask nearly turning black by the end of the day. Although this sounds like something a teenager shouldn’t be doing, I learned a lot. After I had cleaned up the axles, I was shown how to properly assemble, operate, and clean a spray painter. Since the museum is non-profit, much of the equipment is older and more complicated to use than newer tools. In the end, my labor paid off and the axles to the cars looked fresh out of the shop. This not only made me proud, it made the museum proud.
Lastly, I aided in the restoration of a Brookville Pusher. I’m unsure of the age but I believe it is over 50 years old. It is the size of a small car and, to my surprise, still operates. The museum hadn’t done much with it in the past few years they had it so since they had an extra hand (me) they saw it as a good opportunity to take on the task. First, I helped strip the roof of a canvas/tar coating that was slowly tearing away. This was a messy and tedious process. After that, I helped removed the overhead floodlights from the roof to help bring it back to its original look. The roof was then polished smooth after all of the tar was removed. Next, I helped prime the outer body of the locomotive to be painted. I learned how to do this as well as all other preparations for it to be painted. After spray painting the large portions of the body, I worked with a paintbrush to paint the more detailed parts including the hand railings and trim. During the entire restoration process of the locomotive I took photographs to show the progress being made. The results were incredible. In the end, the locomotive looked brand new and was now an impressive piece of railroad history for the museum to display.
Another experience at the museum that was less labor intensive but more educational was helping to prepare for the night time photo shoot open to the public. This involved meeting at the museum on a Wednesday evening and laying out a plan of what cars to move and on which track. This was the most exciting and dangerous experience at the museum because I learned how to work as a brakeman/conductor for the locomotive. The first order that evening was to pull the Pennsylvania E8 locomotive east approximately 50 feet. This involved firing up the GE Twin Engine Switcher, pulling north, operating a switch, and shoving back to make the connection. Many other incredible railroad experiences occurred that night but what is more important to me is what I learned. As I said before, the museum is non-profit and doesn’t have the funds to purchase new tools so during the night time switching, we signaled each other through historic railroad lanterns. I learned what movements of the lantern signal the engineer to do different things and how to properly carry and operate a lantern (there is more to it than one thinks). I also learned how to properly throw a switch and how to connect and disconnect the knuckles of two pieces of railroad equipment. I cannot fully explain everything I learned at the museum but in a brief statement, it was overall a life-changing experience.
My goal through my volunteer service at the museum was to help a local community organization through something I enjoyed. When committing to volunteering I had no idea what tasks were ahead of me and all I knew was that I wanted to help my community and through this benefit myself. I feel I was very successful in this because I learned many different trades from welding to carpentry and this is something I would never have learned at home. Through this education I was able to benefit the museum which in turn benefits the community.
There were many difficulties volunteering at the museum. There were many days I was too tired to go or would think to myself that my services there are a lost cause. I overcame this difficulty by, despite my thoughts, going to the museum and thoroughly enjoying myself. Although I had second thoughts on going, something kept drawing me back. Secondly, working every weekend and every Wednesday in the hot sun was not necessarily enjoyable. I overcame this difficulty by taking breaks and remaining hydrated. There were many days I went home early because it was just too hot.
In conclusion, most of my experiences at the museum involved learning something new in each task. This would not have been possible without the advisory and patience of Tim, the main volunteer. I am not perfect and would make mistakes but he always found the patience to help me through and make sure I learned from everything I did. I can apply what I learned to other life situations by someday using the same skills of patience and advisory as well as the trades I learned from them in home improvement or other tasks related to these projects. For example, if someone is drilling through several layers of sheet metal and aren’t sure which size drill bit to use or how to properly operate the drill, I have the experience and knowledge to know how to do so. Overall, my time and energy placed into my volunteer services at the museum were well worth it because I know I made a difference in my community by making things look a little nicer.
Railway Museum of _______________
Approximate Hours: 70
The __________________is a local railway preservation initiative in _____, ____ located on ______’s old L&N DeCoursey Avenue Railroad Yard. The museum is non-profit and operated by a small group of tri-state area volunteers. Approximately 30 railcars, 5 locomotives, and countless railroad antiques are property of the museum and more than half of the collection is currently being renovated. I worked at the museum all of last summer.
In this project I performed many different tasks with many different people. The museum is operated by five dedicated volunteers. Nearly all of them were there on every weekend and Wednesday when the museum was open. The volunteers included one middle aged man and the other four were senior citizens. I worked closely with the middle-aged man and he is who I learned most from. Other people would volunteer but were not regulars. I also interacted with visitors in the museum. I often gave tours and was a guide on the annual open house day.
There are too many tasks for me to reflect upon so I will only include three major ones. First, my initial experience at the museum was restoring a Pennsylvania R.P.O. (Railroad Post Office). The museum had purchased mail bins and was installing them in the ceiling. I worked alongside two other guys in installing the 100 pound bins and aided in drilling holes in the sheet metal of the ceiling and fixing the bins to it. This was a long and heavy process. Because it was summer time and old railroad cars don’t have air conditioning, this was more than a sweat breaker. I learned a lot from this task though. We used many different tools of which I learned the names of and I also learned how to work with drilling through metal. This was not something I had to opportunity to learn at home.
The second task at the museum was preparing the axles and wheels to be painted. Since the museum hadn’t had any young volunteers for several years, the low and hard to reach projects were left up to me. Many of the axle sets to the railcars were rusting and the paint was chipping away. My job was to take a metal scraper (brush and scraper) and clean up the axle sets to be spray painted. In this task I was on my hands and knees wearing a dusk mask nearly turning black by the end of the day. Although this sounds like something a teenager shouldn’t be doing, I learned a lot. After I had cleaned up the axles, I was shown how to properly assemble, operate, and clean a spray painter. Since the museum is non-profit, much of the equipment is older and more complicated to use than newer tools. In the end, my labor paid off and the axles to the cars looked fresh out of the shop. This not only made me proud, it made the museum proud.
Lastly, I aided in the restoration of a Brookville Pusher. I’m unsure of the age but I believe it is over 50 years old. It is the size of a small car and, to my surprise, still operates. The museum hadn’t done much with it in the past few years they had it so since they had an extra hand (me) they saw it as a good opportunity to take on the task. First, I helped strip the roof of a canvas/tar coating that was slowly tearing away. This was a messy and tedious process. After that, I helped removed the overhead floodlights from the roof to help bring it back to its original look. The roof was then polished smooth after all of the tar was removed. Next, I helped prime the outer body of the locomotive to be painted. I learned how to do this as well as all other preparations for it to be painted. After spray painting the large portions of the body, I worked with a paintbrush to paint the more detailed parts including the hand railings and trim. During the entire restoration process of the locomotive I took photographs to show the progress being made. The results were incredible. In the end, the locomotive looked brand new and was now an impressive piece of railroad history for the museum to display.
Another experience at the museum that was less labor intensive but more educational was helping to prepare for the night time photo shoot open to the public. This involved meeting at the museum on a Wednesday evening and laying out a plan of what cars to move and on which track. This was the most exciting and dangerous experience at the museum because I learned how to work as a brakeman/conductor for the locomotive. The first order that evening was to pull the Pennsylvania E8 locomotive east approximately 50 feet. This involved firing up the GE Twin Engine Switcher, pulling north, operating a switch, and shoving back to make the connection. Many other incredible railroad experiences occurred that night but what is more important to me is what I learned. As I said before, the museum is non-profit and doesn’t have the funds to purchase new tools so during the night time switching, we signaled each other through historic railroad lanterns. I learned what movements of the lantern signal the engineer to do different things and how to properly carry and operate a lantern (there is more to it than one thinks). I also learned how to properly throw a switch and how to connect and disconnect the knuckles of two pieces of railroad equipment. I cannot fully explain everything I learned at the museum but in a brief statement, it was overall a life-changing experience.
My goal through my volunteer service at the museum was to help a local community organization through something I enjoyed. When committing to volunteering I had no idea what tasks were ahead of me and all I knew was that I wanted to help my community and through this benefit myself. I feel I was very successful in this because I learned many different trades from welding to carpentry and this is something I would never have learned at home. Through this education I was able to benefit the museum which in turn benefits the community.
There were many difficulties volunteering at the museum. There were many days I was too tired to go or would think to myself that my services there are a lost cause. I overcame this difficulty by, despite my thoughts, going to the museum and thoroughly enjoying myself. Although I had second thoughts on going, something kept drawing me back. Secondly, working every weekend and every Wednesday in the hot sun was not necessarily enjoyable. I overcame this difficulty by taking breaks and remaining hydrated. There were many days I went home early because it was just too hot.
In conclusion, most of my experiences at the museum involved learning something new in each task. This would not have been possible without the advisory and patience of Tim, the main volunteer. I am not perfect and would make mistakes but he always found the patience to help me through and make sure I learned from everything I did. I can apply what I learned to other life situations by someday using the same skills of patience and advisory as well as the trades I learned from them in home improvement or other tasks related to these projects. For example, if someone is drilling through several layers of sheet metal and aren’t sure which size drill bit to use or how to properly operate the drill, I have the experience and knowledge to know how to do so. Overall, my time and energy placed into my volunteer services at the museum were well worth it because I know I made a difference in my community by making things look a little nicer.
I.B. Extended Essay - English: Senior Year High School
26 February 2010
I.B. Extended Essay
English
Is Invisible Man A Racist Novel?
Abstract
The aim of this investigation is to determine if Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man has a racist intent. According to some readers, the novel displays a protagonist attempting to gain social equality while other readers believe it is based on a struggle of hypocrisy and moral idealism. This investigation was undertaken by selecting key events in the novel and analyzing underlying meanings and symbols that are interpreted by readers. The conclusion to this essay asserts that Invisible Man is a racist novel but with a meaningful intent. Ralph Ellison uses forms of racism to further portray the cynical tone of the novel. Stereotypes enhance the meaning Ellison portrays through his work.
Essay
Racism was a philosophy and instrument of affliction that impacted the lives of many Americans during the mid-twentieth century. Ralph Ellison, a world renowned author, published his novel Invisible Man in 1952 at the height of racial unrest in America. This novel was immediately given the title of an American literary classic and has since won Ellison favorable reviews in leading magazines, newspapers, the National Book Award, remained on the best-seller list for sixteen weeks, and is found around the world written in as many as fifteen languages (Sundquist 1). Although Invisible Man has been given positive acclaim as one of the greatest works of modern fiction, the source of its greatness has remained a subject of debate since its publication. Some feel it displays an African- American character attempting to gain social equality while others believe it is based on the struggle of hypocrisy and moral idealism (Sundquist 2). The way Ellison depicts characters in this novel is controversial as well because common stereotypes are portrayed that lead to a greater question: is Invisible Man a racist novel?
The narrator of this novel, never given a name, encounters many people that take him from one societal extreme to another. Characters he confronts range from fanatical African-Americans to racist American Caucasians during the mid 20th century. Actions these characters are involved in are, in a sense, stereotypical to their economic class and race. The contrast of stereotypes attempts to portray life as it was for the narrator during his lifetime in America. The intent of Ellison’s use of characters is viewed as offensive to some which creates debate of whether this novel is racist in nature. Portrayal of race is important to the life of the narrator, the protagonist created by Ellison.
Invisible Man is introduced with the Battle Royal. The protagonist is praised by his community and invited to give a speech at a gathering of the town’s leading Caucasian citizens. When he arrives at the ballroom where he is to give his speech, he is suggested to participate in the battle royal along with his other classmates from school. The narrator and others participating in the battle are pushed into a room with a nude blonde-haired girl before the battle begins. According to the narrator, “There was dead silence. I felt a blast of cold air chill me. I tried to back away, but they were behind and all around me. Some of the boys stood with lowered heads, trembling. I felt a wave of irrational guilt and fear. My teeth chattered, my skin turned to goose flesh, my knees knocked” (Ellison 19).
This pre-battle spectacle is important to the tone of Ellison’s entire scene. This “magnificent blonde” is a young and attractive Caucasian female. During this era in American history, Caucasian females were taboo to an African-American male. The protagonist says, “Yet I was strongly attracted and looked in spite of myself. Had the price of looking been blindness, I would have looked” (Ellison 19). The girl begins to dance and one of the boys faints. “And now a man grabbed a silver pitcher from a table and stepped close as he dashed ice water upon him and stood him up and forced two of us to support him as his head hung and moans issued from his thick bluish lips” (Ellison 20). This scenario illustrates that those who are supposed to be supporting the protagonist and his peers taunt and abuse them with a sexual lure. This representation is brutal to the young African-Americans both physically and mentally. The Caucasian men intentionally taunt the young men in an attempt to create a mental state of desire and subjection which enhances the experience of the battle royal for them; thus explaining the psychology of this interaction. The Caucasian men go beyond physical abuse to forms of sexual and mental abuse; something which can be more detrimental to the characters than physical abuse alone. Unlike physical abuse, emotional abuse takes longer to heal and can cause a completely different outlook on life and the surrounding world.
Consequently, once the battle royal concludes, the ‘boys’ are called to receive their prize. Another abusive encounter is depicted by those in the crowd. A ‘blond’ man calls him ‘Sambo,’ an African- American racial slur, and winks at him to go after the money (Ellison 27). This is portrayed to convince the protagonist he can trust the man and listen to his advice. Incidentally, the blond man is deceitful and leads the narrator into a trap. As described by the protagonist, the rug is electrified and the crowd goes wild watching the African-American men be electrocuted as they fight for their winnings. Mental, sexual, and physical abuse are represented by Caucasians in this confrontation. This delves deeper than simply portraying racism by depicting a scene where the drunken Caucasian men manipulate the young African-Americans. The use of racial epithets characterizes the Caucasian men as “white devils,” a rendition that produces pain and suffering among the African-American men who are only participating in the abuse to earn basics for survival. It is significant to the protagonist because he is there to receive something greater: a scholarship to the all African-American university where he encounters yet another milestone in his journey through life.
While attending the strictly African-American university, the protagonist is a limousine driver for Mr. Norton, one of the school’s highly respected founders. While working this job, the narrator gives Mr. Norton a tour of the grounds surrounding the university. During their trip, the narrator drives by Trueblood’s house where he is seen in the yard. Mr. Norton questions the narrator about Trueblood and the narrator tells him of the problem within the family. The story of Trueblood is mentally devastating to Mr. Norton as shown by his repetition of the questions, “Is it true…I mean did you?” and “You have survived…..But is it true” (Ellison 51)? Mr. Norton becomes emotionally distraught by the story Trueblood gives because his own daughter had passed away due to an illness on a trip to Italy. The story of Trueblood and Mr. Norton’s reaction is important to the contrast between Caucasians vs. African-Americans. Trueblood is characterized as a ‘backward’ and impoverished man that made a life mistake while Mr. Norton is highly respected as a founder of the university. This contrast between race and economic status creates distinct characters with no commonality. Throughout the excursion, Mr. Norton continually reminds the narrator that he is “involved in [Mr. Norton’s] life quite intimately, even though you’ve never seen me before. You are bound to a great dream and to a beautiful monument” (Ellison 43). A connection is created between the protagonist and Mr. Norton but the speaker fails to create one between Mr. Norton and Trueblood. Therefore, this is depicted to show that animosity occurs in an American Caucasian despite what non-prejudice acts he has achieved.
Later in his journey, the narrator moves to New York looking for work and learns about a possible position at Liberty Paints. On his way the company, he crosses a bridge into Long Island and witnesses a massive electrical sign that reads “KEEP AMERICA PURE WITH LIBERTY PAINTS.” When he enters the facility he learns that this company does most of its business with the government. While the narrator follows a boy down an aisle during the tour of the plant he notices “endless cans, buckets and drums labeled with the company’s trademark, a screaming eagle” (Ellison 198). The screaming eagle is an important symbol to racism in America. The eagle is interpreted as screaming because it is proud and strong or it could represent the cry of under-represented classes of Americans ‘screaming’ for freedom. He is given the job of adding droplets to cans of paint. When the protagonist is being trained to add the drops he carefully observes his actions, “Slowly, I measured the glistening black drops, seeing them settle upon the surface and become blacker still, spreading suddenly out to the edges” (Ellison 200). The protagonist replies to a remark stated by Kimbro and is responded by, “White! It’s the purest white that can be found. Nobody makes a paint any whiter. This batch right here is heading for a national monument” (Ellison 202)!
Consequently, contrast between the colors of black and white appears again. These colors are symbolic to the narrator and those he is working with at Liberty Paints. The electric sign reading Liberty Paints’ slogan is important to the characterization of the protagonist’s job at the company. The slogan foreshadows the experiences the protagonist has while working there including the error he makes when adding droplets to paint cans and the labor union incident. This slogan is also a reference to the narrator’s past life. After being kicked out of the university by Mr. Bledsoe and failing to live by his grandfather’s deathbed advice of overcoming Caucasians with yeses, the protagonist references that he has somewhat failed. He is the ‘impurity’ in America as shown by his failure which is enhanced by the color of his skin. This ultimately represents something larger: They’re trying to paint America white by trying to get rid of blackness.
Afterwards, the narrator walks down the sidewalk and observes junk being piled alongside the curb. He stops and joins a group of people forming to watch the scene where several Caucasian men are carrying possessions out of an elderly African-American couples’ home. The narrator hears, “Marshals, hell,” another man said. “Those guys doing all the toting ain’t nothing but trusties. Soon as they get through they’ll lock ‘em up again.” “I don’t care who they are, they got no business putting these old folks out on the sidewalk” (Ellison 269). The Caucasian men are characterized as criminals because they are committing a ‘criminal’ act against the elderly couple and the possibility that they are unlawful criminals.
As the couple’s possessions are being carried to the sidewalk, the elderly woman notices her Bible being carried in a stack of books. She responds by saying, “Take your hands off my Bible!” The man who was carrying her Bible replies, “Look, lady, I don’t want to do this, I have to do it. They sent me up here to do it. If it was left to me, you could stay here till hell freezes over....” (Ellison 269,270). The woman asked to go inside and pray but was adamantly denied. After stating that she was going to enter the building a Caucasian man pushed her back and would not allow her to enter. A member of the crowd responds by saying, “Get that paddie sonofabitch! He struck her!” a West Indian woman screamed into the narrator’s ear. “The filthy brute, he struck her!” As the crowd grows closer to storming the building, the narrator thinks to himself,
“I saw them start up the steps and felt suddenly as though my head would split. I knew that they were about to attack the man and I was both afraid and angry, repelled and fascinated. I both wanted it and feared the consequences, was out-raged and angered at what I saw and yet surged with fear; not for the man or of the consequences of an attack, but of what the sight of violence might release in me” (Ellison 275).
Without thinking, the protagonist responds to the moment by saying “No, no, Black men! Brothers! Black Brothers! That’s not the way. We’re law-abiding. We’re a law-abiding people and a slow-to-anger people” (Ellison 275). The protagonist is characterized as someone who finally takes a stand for what he believes. This is important because, as the protagonist thinks to himself, he is standing for the African-America race and not completely the fact that the elderly couple was being evicted. The crowd of angry African-Americans becomes violent when a Caucasian man pushed the elderly woman away from her home. The Caucasian men were simply doing what they were told to do and following the orders of someone else. This quarrel shows that the protagonist is not concerned about the well-being of the elderly couple but moreover the well-being of the African-American race. This is not an incident involving racial prejudices or any form of racism. The situation is given a racist tone through the narrator’s speech when he addresses the crowd as “Black Brothers” and “Law-abiding people.” This speech creates further agitation between the crowd and the Caucasian men which concludes in a physical conflict. A non-racial incident is created into a ‘hate crime.’
After giving his speech to the crowd, the protagonist joins the Brotherhood where he gives another speech to a crowd of predominantly African-Americans. This speech is similar to the previous which was given to a crowd of rowdy Caucasian men after the battle royal earlier in his journey. The rising action to his speech and the crowd’s response are important to the portrayal of race in the novel because the crowd displays hope of becoming visible and noticed by mainstream America. During the time prior to giving his speech, the protagonist walks around the arena to pass the time and gather his thoughts. He notices a child staring at a huge black and white dog chained to an apple tree. The protagonist recalls, “It was Master, the bulldog; and I was the child who was afraid to touch him, although, panting with heat, he seemed to grin back at me like a fat good-natured man, the saliva roping silvery from his jowls” (Ellison 338). As the crowd began to clap the narrator thought of the dog’s low hoarse growl. He had “barked the same note when angry or when being brought his dinner, when lazily snapping flies, or when tearing and intruder to shreds” (Ellison 338).
The dog is named “Master” because it is symbolic to a slave master. Master was “chained to an apple tree” which is important because, stereotypically, a slave should be ‘chained.’ When the crowd begins to sing and chant, Master growls and becomes angry. These symbols portray race because the African-Americans are no longer ‘chained’ and being held back by American Caucasian society. The “three white men and three black horses” (Ellison 337) are the police and are present to protect the rally instead of ending it. Through this description, African-Americans are being compared to animals and savages.
The protagonist encounters symbolic incidences while giving his speech. He recalls that he was “suddenly blinded and felt myself crash into the man ahead of me” (Ellison 338). As he proceeds toward the microphone remembers it as, “It was as though a semi-transparent curtain had dropped between us, but through which they could see me-for they were applauding-without themselves being seen” (Ellison 341). Ellison depicts the narrator as ‘blind’ before giving his speech because he was unsure of how the crowd would respond to what he was going to say. He was ‘blind’ to what he was going to say and, as he began to give his speech, could not remember what he studied and gave an extemporaneous speech. Ellison creates a connection between the narrator, his father, and a photograph on the wall of the stage by observing a “man so dark and battered that he might have been of any nationality” (Ellison 334). The narrator recalls his father’s story of how he had been “beaten blind in a crooked fight, of the scandal that had been suppressed, and how the fighter had died in a home for the blind” (Ellison 334). Ellison uses ‘blindness’ as a symbol because the narrator is ‘blind’ to his invisibility to society as a black man until, in his speech, he says, “Let’s reclaim our sight; let’s combine and spread our vision. Peep around the corner, there’s a storm coming. Look down the avenue, there’s only one enemy. Can’t you see his face” (Ellison 344)? The narrator’s speech serves as a turning point in his life.
Invisible Man concludes with the Harlem race riot in which the entire city of Harlem is competing in a struggle to end white oppression and gain African-American rights. As the narrator is running through the streets, he encounters “the body hung, white, naked, and horribly feminine from a lamppost…as I steadied long enough to notice the unnatural stiffness of those hanging above me. They were mannequins-“Dummies!’” (Ellison 556). As the narrator stands there Ras the Exhorter sees the narrator and accuses him of being a traitor. Despite the narrator’s pleas, Ras shouts, “Ignore his lying tongue, hang him up to teach the black people a lesson, and theer be no more traitors. No more Uncle Toms. Hang him up theer with them blahsted dummies” (Ellison 557)! Ellison is depicting black on black hostility of those who have a common goal. Until this point in the novel, racial hostilities have not become as violent as to major leaders of equal rights groups becoming violent with one another when the end result would not be remotely similar to their common goal. This depicts that during a time of heated racism, there is also a struggle for power.
If Ras would hang the protagonist, he would not be brought to visibility. The narrator recalls “I was invisible, and hanging would not bring me to visibility, even to their eyes, since they wanted my death not for myself alone but for the chase I’d been on all my life; because of the way I’d run, been run, chased, operated, purged-although to a great extent I could have done nothing else given their blindness and my invisibility” (Ellison 559). The narrator uses the statement “their eyes” to describe that even if he would be hanged, his symbolic death would not show the underlying cause to the problem of racial tensions and prejudices present in society. This means that a black man’s death would not demonstrate the path to racial harmony despite the symbolic nature of the hanging. The narrator goes on to say, “And that I, a little black man with an assumed name, should die because a big black man in his hatred and confusion over the nature of a reality that seemed controlled solely by white men whom I knew to be as blind as he, he was just too much, too outrageously absurd. And I knew that it was better to live out one’s own absurdity than to die for that of others…” (Ellison 559). The narrator sees that this hanging as absurd because he notes that Ras the Exhorter and his followers are as blind as a white man. They simply do not understand true invisibility as the narrator experiences it.
The Harlem riot begins to be viewed as possibly not being a failure. He thinks to himself, “If only I could turn around and drop my arms and say “Look, men, give me a break, we’re all black folks together… Nobody cares.’ Though now I knew we cared, they at last cared enough to act-so I thought. If only I could say, “Look, they’ve played a trick on us, the same old trick with new variations – let’s stop running and respect and love one another…” (Ellison 560). The protagonist experiences the Harlem riot as a breakthrough in the Caucasian acknowledgement of African-American strife. The riot shows this because African-Americans are taking a form of action, even if it isn’t the right path.
The protagonist’s journey is concluded by falling into a manhole full of coal. Invisibility is portrayed in this scene when the two men who were questioning the narrator’s contents of his briefcase, look down into the manhole and say, “Maybe. He sure is in the dark though. You can’t even see his eyes” (Ellison 565). Despite this statement showing the narrator’s invisibility, it also depicts a racial slur. A common stereotype of African Americans is that you can only ‘see their eyes in the dark.’ Ellison uses this statement to show that the narrator is still unseen and invisible to American Caucasians, using the two men as examples. The narrator says, “Come on down, Ha! Ha! I’ve had you in my brief case all the time and you didn’t know me then and can’t see me now” (Ellison 566). The novel concludes with, “The end was in the beginning” (Ellison 571). This scene and last line depicts that, despite the racial progress the protagonist has tried to accomplish in his life, he was unsuccessful. Unlike many novels, the ending can be inferred, but is debatable, whether the narrator had not accomplished racial harmony, and, can also be debated that he had more of a devastating impact in Harlem than beneficial. The Harlem race riots were not what he knew to be the correct way of accomplishing visibility. This final episode depicts many stereotypes, most of which are reversed. For example, white mannequins hanging from the poles are symbolic to African American lynchings.
The argument between those who feel Invisible Man is based on the struggle of hypocrisy and moral idealism, as well as those who believe it conveys an African-American character attempting to gain social equality are equally correct in their theories. The fact is that Ellison utilizes stereotypes with the intention of being racist. The intentional racism in this novel instills the harsh reality of race relations in the mid-twentieth century. The use of racial slurs and stereotypical portrayals augment to create the life of the protagonist and how his journey through life is focused around these realities. Invisible Man, in some aspects, portrays race in a deleterious manner but is constructive in the portrayal of life as it was for a more-than-ordinary African-American in mid 20th century.
Works Cited
Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. New York: Random House, Inc., 1980.
Sundquist, Eric J. Cultural Contexts for Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. Boston: Bedford Books,1995.
I.B. Extended Essay
English
Is Invisible Man A Racist Novel?
Abstract
The aim of this investigation is to determine if Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man has a racist intent. According to some readers, the novel displays a protagonist attempting to gain social equality while other readers believe it is based on a struggle of hypocrisy and moral idealism. This investigation was undertaken by selecting key events in the novel and analyzing underlying meanings and symbols that are interpreted by readers. The conclusion to this essay asserts that Invisible Man is a racist novel but with a meaningful intent. Ralph Ellison uses forms of racism to further portray the cynical tone of the novel. Stereotypes enhance the meaning Ellison portrays through his work.
Essay
Racism was a philosophy and instrument of affliction that impacted the lives of many Americans during the mid-twentieth century. Ralph Ellison, a world renowned author, published his novel Invisible Man in 1952 at the height of racial unrest in America. This novel was immediately given the title of an American literary classic and has since won Ellison favorable reviews in leading magazines, newspapers, the National Book Award, remained on the best-seller list for sixteen weeks, and is found around the world written in as many as fifteen languages (Sundquist 1). Although Invisible Man has been given positive acclaim as one of the greatest works of modern fiction, the source of its greatness has remained a subject of debate since its publication. Some feel it displays an African- American character attempting to gain social equality while others believe it is based on the struggle of hypocrisy and moral idealism (Sundquist 2). The way Ellison depicts characters in this novel is controversial as well because common stereotypes are portrayed that lead to a greater question: is Invisible Man a racist novel?
The narrator of this novel, never given a name, encounters many people that take him from one societal extreme to another. Characters he confronts range from fanatical African-Americans to racist American Caucasians during the mid 20th century. Actions these characters are involved in are, in a sense, stereotypical to their economic class and race. The contrast of stereotypes attempts to portray life as it was for the narrator during his lifetime in America. The intent of Ellison’s use of characters is viewed as offensive to some which creates debate of whether this novel is racist in nature. Portrayal of race is important to the life of the narrator, the protagonist created by Ellison.
Invisible Man is introduced with the Battle Royal. The protagonist is praised by his community and invited to give a speech at a gathering of the town’s leading Caucasian citizens. When he arrives at the ballroom where he is to give his speech, he is suggested to participate in the battle royal along with his other classmates from school. The narrator and others participating in the battle are pushed into a room with a nude blonde-haired girl before the battle begins. According to the narrator, “There was dead silence. I felt a blast of cold air chill me. I tried to back away, but they were behind and all around me. Some of the boys stood with lowered heads, trembling. I felt a wave of irrational guilt and fear. My teeth chattered, my skin turned to goose flesh, my knees knocked” (Ellison 19).
This pre-battle spectacle is important to the tone of Ellison’s entire scene. This “magnificent blonde” is a young and attractive Caucasian female. During this era in American history, Caucasian females were taboo to an African-American male. The protagonist says, “Yet I was strongly attracted and looked in spite of myself. Had the price of looking been blindness, I would have looked” (Ellison 19). The girl begins to dance and one of the boys faints. “And now a man grabbed a silver pitcher from a table and stepped close as he dashed ice water upon him and stood him up and forced two of us to support him as his head hung and moans issued from his thick bluish lips” (Ellison 20). This scenario illustrates that those who are supposed to be supporting the protagonist and his peers taunt and abuse them with a sexual lure. This representation is brutal to the young African-Americans both physically and mentally. The Caucasian men intentionally taunt the young men in an attempt to create a mental state of desire and subjection which enhances the experience of the battle royal for them; thus explaining the psychology of this interaction. The Caucasian men go beyond physical abuse to forms of sexual and mental abuse; something which can be more detrimental to the characters than physical abuse alone. Unlike physical abuse, emotional abuse takes longer to heal and can cause a completely different outlook on life and the surrounding world.
Consequently, once the battle royal concludes, the ‘boys’ are called to receive their prize. Another abusive encounter is depicted by those in the crowd. A ‘blond’ man calls him ‘Sambo,’ an African- American racial slur, and winks at him to go after the money (Ellison 27). This is portrayed to convince the protagonist he can trust the man and listen to his advice. Incidentally, the blond man is deceitful and leads the narrator into a trap. As described by the protagonist, the rug is electrified and the crowd goes wild watching the African-American men be electrocuted as they fight for their winnings. Mental, sexual, and physical abuse are represented by Caucasians in this confrontation. This delves deeper than simply portraying racism by depicting a scene where the drunken Caucasian men manipulate the young African-Americans. The use of racial epithets characterizes the Caucasian men as “white devils,” a rendition that produces pain and suffering among the African-American men who are only participating in the abuse to earn basics for survival. It is significant to the protagonist because he is there to receive something greater: a scholarship to the all African-American university where he encounters yet another milestone in his journey through life.
While attending the strictly African-American university, the protagonist is a limousine driver for Mr. Norton, one of the school’s highly respected founders. While working this job, the narrator gives Mr. Norton a tour of the grounds surrounding the university. During their trip, the narrator drives by Trueblood’s house where he is seen in the yard. Mr. Norton questions the narrator about Trueblood and the narrator tells him of the problem within the family. The story of Trueblood is mentally devastating to Mr. Norton as shown by his repetition of the questions, “Is it true…I mean did you?” and “You have survived…..But is it true” (Ellison 51)? Mr. Norton becomes emotionally distraught by the story Trueblood gives because his own daughter had passed away due to an illness on a trip to Italy. The story of Trueblood and Mr. Norton’s reaction is important to the contrast between Caucasians vs. African-Americans. Trueblood is characterized as a ‘backward’ and impoverished man that made a life mistake while Mr. Norton is highly respected as a founder of the university. This contrast between race and economic status creates distinct characters with no commonality. Throughout the excursion, Mr. Norton continually reminds the narrator that he is “involved in [Mr. Norton’s] life quite intimately, even though you’ve never seen me before. You are bound to a great dream and to a beautiful monument” (Ellison 43). A connection is created between the protagonist and Mr. Norton but the speaker fails to create one between Mr. Norton and Trueblood. Therefore, this is depicted to show that animosity occurs in an American Caucasian despite what non-prejudice acts he has achieved.
Later in his journey, the narrator moves to New York looking for work and learns about a possible position at Liberty Paints. On his way the company, he crosses a bridge into Long Island and witnesses a massive electrical sign that reads “KEEP AMERICA PURE WITH LIBERTY PAINTS.” When he enters the facility he learns that this company does most of its business with the government. While the narrator follows a boy down an aisle during the tour of the plant he notices “endless cans, buckets and drums labeled with the company’s trademark, a screaming eagle” (Ellison 198). The screaming eagle is an important symbol to racism in America. The eagle is interpreted as screaming because it is proud and strong or it could represent the cry of under-represented classes of Americans ‘screaming’ for freedom. He is given the job of adding droplets to cans of paint. When the protagonist is being trained to add the drops he carefully observes his actions, “Slowly, I measured the glistening black drops, seeing them settle upon the surface and become blacker still, spreading suddenly out to the edges” (Ellison 200). The protagonist replies to a remark stated by Kimbro and is responded by, “White! It’s the purest white that can be found. Nobody makes a paint any whiter. This batch right here is heading for a national monument” (Ellison 202)!
Consequently, contrast between the colors of black and white appears again. These colors are symbolic to the narrator and those he is working with at Liberty Paints. The electric sign reading Liberty Paints’ slogan is important to the characterization of the protagonist’s job at the company. The slogan foreshadows the experiences the protagonist has while working there including the error he makes when adding droplets to paint cans and the labor union incident. This slogan is also a reference to the narrator’s past life. After being kicked out of the university by Mr. Bledsoe and failing to live by his grandfather’s deathbed advice of overcoming Caucasians with yeses, the protagonist references that he has somewhat failed. He is the ‘impurity’ in America as shown by his failure which is enhanced by the color of his skin. This ultimately represents something larger: They’re trying to paint America white by trying to get rid of blackness.
Afterwards, the narrator walks down the sidewalk and observes junk being piled alongside the curb. He stops and joins a group of people forming to watch the scene where several Caucasian men are carrying possessions out of an elderly African-American couples’ home. The narrator hears, “Marshals, hell,” another man said. “Those guys doing all the toting ain’t nothing but trusties. Soon as they get through they’ll lock ‘em up again.” “I don’t care who they are, they got no business putting these old folks out on the sidewalk” (Ellison 269). The Caucasian men are characterized as criminals because they are committing a ‘criminal’ act against the elderly couple and the possibility that they are unlawful criminals.
As the couple’s possessions are being carried to the sidewalk, the elderly woman notices her Bible being carried in a stack of books. She responds by saying, “Take your hands off my Bible!” The man who was carrying her Bible replies, “Look, lady, I don’t want to do this, I have to do it. They sent me up here to do it. If it was left to me, you could stay here till hell freezes over....” (Ellison 269,270). The woman asked to go inside and pray but was adamantly denied. After stating that she was going to enter the building a Caucasian man pushed her back and would not allow her to enter. A member of the crowd responds by saying, “Get that paddie sonofabitch! He struck her!” a West Indian woman screamed into the narrator’s ear. “The filthy brute, he struck her!” As the crowd grows closer to storming the building, the narrator thinks to himself,
“I saw them start up the steps and felt suddenly as though my head would split. I knew that they were about to attack the man and I was both afraid and angry, repelled and fascinated. I both wanted it and feared the consequences, was out-raged and angered at what I saw and yet surged with fear; not for the man or of the consequences of an attack, but of what the sight of violence might release in me” (Ellison 275).
Without thinking, the protagonist responds to the moment by saying “No, no, Black men! Brothers! Black Brothers! That’s not the way. We’re law-abiding. We’re a law-abiding people and a slow-to-anger people” (Ellison 275). The protagonist is characterized as someone who finally takes a stand for what he believes. This is important because, as the protagonist thinks to himself, he is standing for the African-America race and not completely the fact that the elderly couple was being evicted. The crowd of angry African-Americans becomes violent when a Caucasian man pushed the elderly woman away from her home. The Caucasian men were simply doing what they were told to do and following the orders of someone else. This quarrel shows that the protagonist is not concerned about the well-being of the elderly couple but moreover the well-being of the African-American race. This is not an incident involving racial prejudices or any form of racism. The situation is given a racist tone through the narrator’s speech when he addresses the crowd as “Black Brothers” and “Law-abiding people.” This speech creates further agitation between the crowd and the Caucasian men which concludes in a physical conflict. A non-racial incident is created into a ‘hate crime.’
After giving his speech to the crowd, the protagonist joins the Brotherhood where he gives another speech to a crowd of predominantly African-Americans. This speech is similar to the previous which was given to a crowd of rowdy Caucasian men after the battle royal earlier in his journey. The rising action to his speech and the crowd’s response are important to the portrayal of race in the novel because the crowd displays hope of becoming visible and noticed by mainstream America. During the time prior to giving his speech, the protagonist walks around the arena to pass the time and gather his thoughts. He notices a child staring at a huge black and white dog chained to an apple tree. The protagonist recalls, “It was Master, the bulldog; and I was the child who was afraid to touch him, although, panting with heat, he seemed to grin back at me like a fat good-natured man, the saliva roping silvery from his jowls” (Ellison 338). As the crowd began to clap the narrator thought of the dog’s low hoarse growl. He had “barked the same note when angry or when being brought his dinner, when lazily snapping flies, or when tearing and intruder to shreds” (Ellison 338).
The dog is named “Master” because it is symbolic to a slave master. Master was “chained to an apple tree” which is important because, stereotypically, a slave should be ‘chained.’ When the crowd begins to sing and chant, Master growls and becomes angry. These symbols portray race because the African-Americans are no longer ‘chained’ and being held back by American Caucasian society. The “three white men and three black horses” (Ellison 337) are the police and are present to protect the rally instead of ending it. Through this description, African-Americans are being compared to animals and savages.
The protagonist encounters symbolic incidences while giving his speech. He recalls that he was “suddenly blinded and felt myself crash into the man ahead of me” (Ellison 338). As he proceeds toward the microphone remembers it as, “It was as though a semi-transparent curtain had dropped between us, but through which they could see me-for they were applauding-without themselves being seen” (Ellison 341). Ellison depicts the narrator as ‘blind’ before giving his speech because he was unsure of how the crowd would respond to what he was going to say. He was ‘blind’ to what he was going to say and, as he began to give his speech, could not remember what he studied and gave an extemporaneous speech. Ellison creates a connection between the narrator, his father, and a photograph on the wall of the stage by observing a “man so dark and battered that he might have been of any nationality” (Ellison 334). The narrator recalls his father’s story of how he had been “beaten blind in a crooked fight, of the scandal that had been suppressed, and how the fighter had died in a home for the blind” (Ellison 334). Ellison uses ‘blindness’ as a symbol because the narrator is ‘blind’ to his invisibility to society as a black man until, in his speech, he says, “Let’s reclaim our sight; let’s combine and spread our vision. Peep around the corner, there’s a storm coming. Look down the avenue, there’s only one enemy. Can’t you see his face” (Ellison 344)? The narrator’s speech serves as a turning point in his life.
Invisible Man concludes with the Harlem race riot in which the entire city of Harlem is competing in a struggle to end white oppression and gain African-American rights. As the narrator is running through the streets, he encounters “the body hung, white, naked, and horribly feminine from a lamppost…as I steadied long enough to notice the unnatural stiffness of those hanging above me. They were mannequins-“Dummies!’” (Ellison 556). As the narrator stands there Ras the Exhorter sees the narrator and accuses him of being a traitor. Despite the narrator’s pleas, Ras shouts, “Ignore his lying tongue, hang him up to teach the black people a lesson, and theer be no more traitors. No more Uncle Toms. Hang him up theer with them blahsted dummies” (Ellison 557)! Ellison is depicting black on black hostility of those who have a common goal. Until this point in the novel, racial hostilities have not become as violent as to major leaders of equal rights groups becoming violent with one another when the end result would not be remotely similar to their common goal. This depicts that during a time of heated racism, there is also a struggle for power.
If Ras would hang the protagonist, he would not be brought to visibility. The narrator recalls “I was invisible, and hanging would not bring me to visibility, even to their eyes, since they wanted my death not for myself alone but for the chase I’d been on all my life; because of the way I’d run, been run, chased, operated, purged-although to a great extent I could have done nothing else given their blindness and my invisibility” (Ellison 559). The narrator uses the statement “their eyes” to describe that even if he would be hanged, his symbolic death would not show the underlying cause to the problem of racial tensions and prejudices present in society. This means that a black man’s death would not demonstrate the path to racial harmony despite the symbolic nature of the hanging. The narrator goes on to say, “And that I, a little black man with an assumed name, should die because a big black man in his hatred and confusion over the nature of a reality that seemed controlled solely by white men whom I knew to be as blind as he, he was just too much, too outrageously absurd. And I knew that it was better to live out one’s own absurdity than to die for that of others…” (Ellison 559). The narrator sees that this hanging as absurd because he notes that Ras the Exhorter and his followers are as blind as a white man. They simply do not understand true invisibility as the narrator experiences it.
The Harlem riot begins to be viewed as possibly not being a failure. He thinks to himself, “If only I could turn around and drop my arms and say “Look, men, give me a break, we’re all black folks together… Nobody cares.’ Though now I knew we cared, they at last cared enough to act-so I thought. If only I could say, “Look, they’ve played a trick on us, the same old trick with new variations – let’s stop running and respect and love one another…” (Ellison 560). The protagonist experiences the Harlem riot as a breakthrough in the Caucasian acknowledgement of African-American strife. The riot shows this because African-Americans are taking a form of action, even if it isn’t the right path.
The protagonist’s journey is concluded by falling into a manhole full of coal. Invisibility is portrayed in this scene when the two men who were questioning the narrator’s contents of his briefcase, look down into the manhole and say, “Maybe. He sure is in the dark though. You can’t even see his eyes” (Ellison 565). Despite this statement showing the narrator’s invisibility, it also depicts a racial slur. A common stereotype of African Americans is that you can only ‘see their eyes in the dark.’ Ellison uses this statement to show that the narrator is still unseen and invisible to American Caucasians, using the two men as examples. The narrator says, “Come on down, Ha! Ha! I’ve had you in my brief case all the time and you didn’t know me then and can’t see me now” (Ellison 566). The novel concludes with, “The end was in the beginning” (Ellison 571). This scene and last line depicts that, despite the racial progress the protagonist has tried to accomplish in his life, he was unsuccessful. Unlike many novels, the ending can be inferred, but is debatable, whether the narrator had not accomplished racial harmony, and, can also be debated that he had more of a devastating impact in Harlem than beneficial. The Harlem race riots were not what he knew to be the correct way of accomplishing visibility. This final episode depicts many stereotypes, most of which are reversed. For example, white mannequins hanging from the poles are symbolic to African American lynchings.
The argument between those who feel Invisible Man is based on the struggle of hypocrisy and moral idealism, as well as those who believe it conveys an African-American character attempting to gain social equality are equally correct in their theories. The fact is that Ellison utilizes stereotypes with the intention of being racist. The intentional racism in this novel instills the harsh reality of race relations in the mid-twentieth century. The use of racial slurs and stereotypical portrayals augment to create the life of the protagonist and how his journey through life is focused around these realities. Invisible Man, in some aspects, portrays race in a deleterious manner but is constructive in the portrayal of life as it was for a more-than-ordinary African-American in mid 20th century.
Works Cited
Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. New York: Random House, Inc., 1980.
Sundquist, Eric J. Cultural Contexts for Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. Boston: Bedford Books,1995.
I.B. History Internal Assessment: Senior Year High School
Why did Franklin Roosevelt make excessive concessions to Joseph Stalin at the 1945 Yalta Conference?
Criterion A: Plan of Investigation
The aim of this investigation is to understand why President Franklin Roosevelt made excessive concessions to communist Joseph Stalin at the Yalta Conference. I will be researching numerous examinations of Roosevelt’s concessions and also if decreasing health contributed to his international attitude at the conference. Besides works strictly devoted to Franklin Roosevelt, I will research the results of the concessions and if they could have influenced Roosevelt’s decisions at Yalta. I plan on researching sources that explain the extent of his mental capabilities at the Yalta Conference through examination of the connection between his concessions to Joseph Stalin and most importantly the reasoning behind them.
Criterion B: Summary of Evidence
President Franklin Roosevelt’s Aims at the Yalta Conference for Soviet Entrance Into the War Against Japan
“Roosevelt believed that, because the USSR would play a powerful role in postwar European affairs, Soviet-American cooperation would be essential to world peace” (Buhite 1986).
“Roosevelt believed that the United States should repudiate its isolationist tradition and play a more active global role. Furthermore, he thought that a by-product of greater involvement should be a brand of internationalism, which he gave a quasi-Wilsonian, quasi-Lodgeian definition” (Buhite 1986).
“Apparently willing to accept a measure of Soviet influence in Eastern Europe, he also wanted U.S. access to the region and a settlement there that would accommodate American principles and satisfy U.S. public opinion. Thus he proved unwilling to spell out exactly what Soviet actions he would tolerate or what steps would articulate with American politics” (Buhite 1986).
“Conventional wisdom suggests that the Yalta Far Eastern Accord was rooted in realism, and that President Franklin Roosevelt’s granting of extensive concessions to the Soviet Union in Northeast Asia, in return for Soviet entrance into the war against Japan, represented an eminently sensible arrangement in view of the then problematic nature of the atomic bomb and the need to save America lives. Moreover, this deal reflected the considered positions of the president’s political and military advisers and resulted from the spirited negotiations with Soviet leadership, whose cooperation in the Pacific War it was necessary to secure” (Buhite 1986).
“The argument that Yalta bought moderation from the Soviets, who could have gone on in the absence of an agreement to take more, is specious. But there is some merit in Roosevelt’s efforts to put together a package deal that he hoped would satisfy Soviet aspirations, while at the same time procure something in return” (Buhite 1986).
Claims that President Franklin Roosevelt was Mentally Ill
“Was Roosevelt too sick to be effective at the Conference? Most observers thought him unwell but in basic control of the public business before him. “He was lethargic, but when important movements arose, he was mentally sharp,” recalled Bohlen. “Our leader was ill at Yalta, the most important of wartime conferences, but he was effective” (Meacham 2003).
“That Roosevelt’s physical condition had some effect on his mental capacity at Yalta seems obvious. His health had been declining since 1939, and by the time he reached age sixty his heart was dangerously enlarged. His arteries had hardened like those like those of a man thirty years his senior. During the final year of the war he slept twelve to fourteen hours per day. Sometimes, as at Quebec in September 1944, he dropped off in the middle of important conversations” (Buhite 1986).
“A slightly different but related charge has been that Roosevelt was mentally deficient and thus incapable of adequately performing his duties as a negotiator. He surrendered too much to Stalin because he could not comprehend the issues” (Buhite 1986).
“Robert Hopkins felt that the president was very lively, interested, and completely in command of his facilities. Hopkins felt that the president’s appearance was in general rather good at the Yalta Conference, although a few of the photographs would show otherwise” (Evans 2002).
“As might be expected, those who idolized Roosevelt generally saw him as healthy. Those with major differences in policy objectives felt he was incapacitated” (Evans 2002).
“Others present at Yalta, including Churchill’s physician Lord Moran, expressed the belief that Roosevelt’s health adversely affected his performance in the Yalta discussions” (Evans 2002).
“Three days later he [Lord Moran] again set out a medical and political diagnosis: To a doctor’s eye, the President appears a very sick man. He has all the symptoms of hardening of the arteries of the brain in an advanced stage, so that I give him only a few months to live” (Ferrell 1998).
Criterion C: Evaluation of Sources
Scholarly Resources Inc. in Wilmington Delaware published Russel Buhite’s Decisions at Yalta: An Appraisal of Summit Diplomacy in 1986. The author is a professor of History and chairman of the History Department at the University of Oklahoma. He has previously published works including The Dynamics of World Power: A Documentary History of U.S. Foreign Policy and Soviet-American Relations in Asia. This book is designed for students in American History courses or a reader who is interested in Roosevelt’s participation in the Yalta Conference.
This is a valuable source because Buhite has extensive knowledge of United States foreign relations and Soviet-American relations throughout the world. As a professor of History, he is a credible source. Decisions at Yalta: An Appraisal of Summit Diplomacy is located in the Library of Congress and is published both in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Limitations to this book include that Buhite has a biased view that Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill made excessive concessions to Joseph Stalin at Yalta. This book uses significantly more information supporting this assertion than it does to show the opposite side.
Published by M. E. Sharpe, Inc. in 2002, The Hidden Campaign: FDR’s Health and the 1944 Election was written by Hugh E. Evans. Evans is a medical doctor who lived during Roosevelt’s presidency. The purpose of this book is to inform the reader of Franklin Roosevelt’s health history around 1944. It also includes details of his health until his death one year later. This time span covers major events including the Yalta Conference.
This book is useful in assessing the claim that Roosevelt was mentally ill at Yalta in February of 1945. Extensive health records along with analysis offers a credible source for research. Evans’ lived with Roosevelt as President until the age of ten when Roosevelt suffered a major brain hemorrhage and passed away. As a primary source for knowledge of Roosevelt and a secondary source for his health, Evans is a perfect source for Roosevelt’s health analysis because he has extensive knowledge in the medical field and practices as a medical doctor.
Evans’ book is not without bias. He tends to take the side that Roosevelt was mentally and physically ill at the Yalta Conference but this is only theory. Much factual information surrounding this theory is presented without equal representation that Roosevelt was not both physically and mentally impaired.
Criterion D: Analysis
As World War II was drawing to a close, the Allied victors met at Yalta to decide the fate of the world. Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, and Franklin Roosevelt met at Yalta to see that their nation would benefit in the post-war world. Each nation had personal interests as well as common world interests. Peace was not the subject of the conference but rather what was specifically to be done with Germany and Japan. The United States held certain beliefs that were viewed as beneficial to the national interests of the country. As President of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt made decisions at Yalta that are seen as both beneficial and irresponsible.
The United States had ended war in Europe on May 8, 1945 but war continued in the Pacific against the Empire of Japan. As a result, Roosevelt believed Soviet entrance into the war on Japan was sensible and conventional (Buhite 1986). Granting excessive concessions to the Soviet Union in Northeast Asia was necessary to secure cooperation in the Pacific. Roosevelt put together a ‘package deal’ that had intentions to procure this essential cooperation (Buhite 1986).
Roosevelt would not elaborate on what Soviet actions he would tolerate. He wished to accept Soviet influence in Eastern Europe but also wanted U.S. access to the region which would satisfy U.S. public opinion (Buhite 1986). Many sources agree that the Yalta Conference was realistic and because the Soviet Union would be a powerful postwar nation, Soviet-American cooperation would be essential to the coalition of future international affairs (Buhite 1986).
Irresponsibility is most notably attached to Franklin Roosevelt’s illness. It is undeniable that the President suffered an increasing heart condition that led to abnormally high blood pressure but there is a strengthened claim that these conditions led to mental deficiencies and inability to perform as an effective leader. A common explanation is that those who idolized and highly respected Roosevelt saw him as healthy while those with political differences saw him as unhealthy and unfit for office (Evans 2002). Some historians believe his illness affected his mental abilities while others believe he was physically ill but that it did not affect his mental functioning.
Concessions made at Yalta were seen as irresponsible based on the theory that Roosevelt was mentally deficient and incapable of serving as a negotiator among Stalin and Churchill. Some historians believe he surrendered too much to the Soviets when gaining their participation in the war against Japan which would have required little to no concessions (Buhite 1986). This theory is supported by reliable persons who knew Roosevelt well. Lord Moran, Churchill’s personal physician, stated that “To a doctor’s eye, the President appears a very sick man. He has all the symptoms of hardening of the arteries of the brain in an advanced stage, so that I give him only a few months to live” (Ferrell 1998).
Despite being noticeably ill beginning in 1939 and sleeping on average twelve to fourteen hours per day (Buhite 1986), several people close to Roosevelt saw a different man than previously described. According to Bohlen, “He was lethargic, but when important movements arose, he was mentally sharp. Our leader was ill at Yalta, the most important of wartime conferences, but he was effective” (Meacham 2003). Another source was Robert Hopkins who felt Roosevelt was lively, interested, and in command of his facilities. He felt the President’s appearance was rather good at the Conference, although, he notes that a few photographs would show otherwise (Evans 2002).
Criterion E: Conclusion
In support of extensive research and conclusions formulated by historians on the topic of Franklin Roosevelt’s health during the Yalta Conference, it is acceptable to consider the claim that Roosevelt was mentally unprepared and made excessive concessions to the Soviet Union in return for participation in the war against Japan. Soviet participation was essential but Roosevelt appeased Joseph Stalin to the point that critics then and now consider the claim that his illness affected his mental abilities. Ruling out the claim that Roosevelt was mentally capable would not be untrue but, by judging evidence presented by leading historians with some of whom having medical knowledge, the theory that he was mentally impaired is reinforced significantly.
Criterion F: List of Sources
Buhite, Russel. Decisions at Yalta: An Appraisal of Summit Diplomacy. Scholarly Resources, Inc. Washington, Delaware 1986
Evans, Hughes E. The Hidden Campaign: FDR’s Health and the 1944 Election. M.E. Sharpe, Inc. Armonk, New York 2002
Ferrell, Robert H. The Dying President. University of Missouri Press, Columbia, Missouri. 1998
Meacham, Jon. Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship. Random House: New York, New York 2003
Criterion A: Plan of Investigation
The aim of this investigation is to understand why President Franklin Roosevelt made excessive concessions to communist Joseph Stalin at the Yalta Conference. I will be researching numerous examinations of Roosevelt’s concessions and also if decreasing health contributed to his international attitude at the conference. Besides works strictly devoted to Franklin Roosevelt, I will research the results of the concessions and if they could have influenced Roosevelt’s decisions at Yalta. I plan on researching sources that explain the extent of his mental capabilities at the Yalta Conference through examination of the connection between his concessions to Joseph Stalin and most importantly the reasoning behind them.
Criterion B: Summary of Evidence
President Franklin Roosevelt’s Aims at the Yalta Conference for Soviet Entrance Into the War Against Japan
“Roosevelt believed that, because the USSR would play a powerful role in postwar European affairs, Soviet-American cooperation would be essential to world peace” (Buhite 1986).
“Roosevelt believed that the United States should repudiate its isolationist tradition and play a more active global role. Furthermore, he thought that a by-product of greater involvement should be a brand of internationalism, which he gave a quasi-Wilsonian, quasi-Lodgeian definition” (Buhite 1986).
“Apparently willing to accept a measure of Soviet influence in Eastern Europe, he also wanted U.S. access to the region and a settlement there that would accommodate American principles and satisfy U.S. public opinion. Thus he proved unwilling to spell out exactly what Soviet actions he would tolerate or what steps would articulate with American politics” (Buhite 1986).
“Conventional wisdom suggests that the Yalta Far Eastern Accord was rooted in realism, and that President Franklin Roosevelt’s granting of extensive concessions to the Soviet Union in Northeast Asia, in return for Soviet entrance into the war against Japan, represented an eminently sensible arrangement in view of the then problematic nature of the atomic bomb and the need to save America lives. Moreover, this deal reflected the considered positions of the president’s political and military advisers and resulted from the spirited negotiations with Soviet leadership, whose cooperation in the Pacific War it was necessary to secure” (Buhite 1986).
“The argument that Yalta bought moderation from the Soviets, who could have gone on in the absence of an agreement to take more, is specious. But there is some merit in Roosevelt’s efforts to put together a package deal that he hoped would satisfy Soviet aspirations, while at the same time procure something in return” (Buhite 1986).
Claims that President Franklin Roosevelt was Mentally Ill
“Was Roosevelt too sick to be effective at the Conference? Most observers thought him unwell but in basic control of the public business before him. “He was lethargic, but when important movements arose, he was mentally sharp,” recalled Bohlen. “Our leader was ill at Yalta, the most important of wartime conferences, but he was effective” (Meacham 2003).
“That Roosevelt’s physical condition had some effect on his mental capacity at Yalta seems obvious. His health had been declining since 1939, and by the time he reached age sixty his heart was dangerously enlarged. His arteries had hardened like those like those of a man thirty years his senior. During the final year of the war he slept twelve to fourteen hours per day. Sometimes, as at Quebec in September 1944, he dropped off in the middle of important conversations” (Buhite 1986).
“A slightly different but related charge has been that Roosevelt was mentally deficient and thus incapable of adequately performing his duties as a negotiator. He surrendered too much to Stalin because he could not comprehend the issues” (Buhite 1986).
“Robert Hopkins felt that the president was very lively, interested, and completely in command of his facilities. Hopkins felt that the president’s appearance was in general rather good at the Yalta Conference, although a few of the photographs would show otherwise” (Evans 2002).
“As might be expected, those who idolized Roosevelt generally saw him as healthy. Those with major differences in policy objectives felt he was incapacitated” (Evans 2002).
“Others present at Yalta, including Churchill’s physician Lord Moran, expressed the belief that Roosevelt’s health adversely affected his performance in the Yalta discussions” (Evans 2002).
“Three days later he [Lord Moran] again set out a medical and political diagnosis: To a doctor’s eye, the President appears a very sick man. He has all the symptoms of hardening of the arteries of the brain in an advanced stage, so that I give him only a few months to live” (Ferrell 1998).
Criterion C: Evaluation of Sources
Scholarly Resources Inc. in Wilmington Delaware published Russel Buhite’s Decisions at Yalta: An Appraisal of Summit Diplomacy in 1986. The author is a professor of History and chairman of the History Department at the University of Oklahoma. He has previously published works including The Dynamics of World Power: A Documentary History of U.S. Foreign Policy and Soviet-American Relations in Asia. This book is designed for students in American History courses or a reader who is interested in Roosevelt’s participation in the Yalta Conference.
This is a valuable source because Buhite has extensive knowledge of United States foreign relations and Soviet-American relations throughout the world. As a professor of History, he is a credible source. Decisions at Yalta: An Appraisal of Summit Diplomacy is located in the Library of Congress and is published both in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Limitations to this book include that Buhite has a biased view that Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill made excessive concessions to Joseph Stalin at Yalta. This book uses significantly more information supporting this assertion than it does to show the opposite side.
Published by M. E. Sharpe, Inc. in 2002, The Hidden Campaign: FDR’s Health and the 1944 Election was written by Hugh E. Evans. Evans is a medical doctor who lived during Roosevelt’s presidency. The purpose of this book is to inform the reader of Franklin Roosevelt’s health history around 1944. It also includes details of his health until his death one year later. This time span covers major events including the Yalta Conference.
This book is useful in assessing the claim that Roosevelt was mentally ill at Yalta in February of 1945. Extensive health records along with analysis offers a credible source for research. Evans’ lived with Roosevelt as President until the age of ten when Roosevelt suffered a major brain hemorrhage and passed away. As a primary source for knowledge of Roosevelt and a secondary source for his health, Evans is a perfect source for Roosevelt’s health analysis because he has extensive knowledge in the medical field and practices as a medical doctor.
Evans’ book is not without bias. He tends to take the side that Roosevelt was mentally and physically ill at the Yalta Conference but this is only theory. Much factual information surrounding this theory is presented without equal representation that Roosevelt was not both physically and mentally impaired.
Criterion D: Analysis
As World War II was drawing to a close, the Allied victors met at Yalta to decide the fate of the world. Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, and Franklin Roosevelt met at Yalta to see that their nation would benefit in the post-war world. Each nation had personal interests as well as common world interests. Peace was not the subject of the conference but rather what was specifically to be done with Germany and Japan. The United States held certain beliefs that were viewed as beneficial to the national interests of the country. As President of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt made decisions at Yalta that are seen as both beneficial and irresponsible.
The United States had ended war in Europe on May 8, 1945 but war continued in the Pacific against the Empire of Japan. As a result, Roosevelt believed Soviet entrance into the war on Japan was sensible and conventional (Buhite 1986). Granting excessive concessions to the Soviet Union in Northeast Asia was necessary to secure cooperation in the Pacific. Roosevelt put together a ‘package deal’ that had intentions to procure this essential cooperation (Buhite 1986).
Roosevelt would not elaborate on what Soviet actions he would tolerate. He wished to accept Soviet influence in Eastern Europe but also wanted U.S. access to the region which would satisfy U.S. public opinion (Buhite 1986). Many sources agree that the Yalta Conference was realistic and because the Soviet Union would be a powerful postwar nation, Soviet-American cooperation would be essential to the coalition of future international affairs (Buhite 1986).
Irresponsibility is most notably attached to Franklin Roosevelt’s illness. It is undeniable that the President suffered an increasing heart condition that led to abnormally high blood pressure but there is a strengthened claim that these conditions led to mental deficiencies and inability to perform as an effective leader. A common explanation is that those who idolized and highly respected Roosevelt saw him as healthy while those with political differences saw him as unhealthy and unfit for office (Evans 2002). Some historians believe his illness affected his mental abilities while others believe he was physically ill but that it did not affect his mental functioning.
Concessions made at Yalta were seen as irresponsible based on the theory that Roosevelt was mentally deficient and incapable of serving as a negotiator among Stalin and Churchill. Some historians believe he surrendered too much to the Soviets when gaining their participation in the war against Japan which would have required little to no concessions (Buhite 1986). This theory is supported by reliable persons who knew Roosevelt well. Lord Moran, Churchill’s personal physician, stated that “To a doctor’s eye, the President appears a very sick man. He has all the symptoms of hardening of the arteries of the brain in an advanced stage, so that I give him only a few months to live” (Ferrell 1998).
Despite being noticeably ill beginning in 1939 and sleeping on average twelve to fourteen hours per day (Buhite 1986), several people close to Roosevelt saw a different man than previously described. According to Bohlen, “He was lethargic, but when important movements arose, he was mentally sharp. Our leader was ill at Yalta, the most important of wartime conferences, but he was effective” (Meacham 2003). Another source was Robert Hopkins who felt Roosevelt was lively, interested, and in command of his facilities. He felt the President’s appearance was rather good at the Conference, although, he notes that a few photographs would show otherwise (Evans 2002).
Criterion E: Conclusion
In support of extensive research and conclusions formulated by historians on the topic of Franklin Roosevelt’s health during the Yalta Conference, it is acceptable to consider the claim that Roosevelt was mentally unprepared and made excessive concessions to the Soviet Union in return for participation in the war against Japan. Soviet participation was essential but Roosevelt appeased Joseph Stalin to the point that critics then and now consider the claim that his illness affected his mental abilities. Ruling out the claim that Roosevelt was mentally capable would not be untrue but, by judging evidence presented by leading historians with some of whom having medical knowledge, the theory that he was mentally impaired is reinforced significantly.
Criterion F: List of Sources
Buhite, Russel. Decisions at Yalta: An Appraisal of Summit Diplomacy. Scholarly Resources, Inc. Washington, Delaware 1986
Evans, Hughes E. The Hidden Campaign: FDR’s Health and the 1944 Election. M.E. Sharpe, Inc. Armonk, New York 2002
Ferrell, Robert H. The Dying President. University of Missouri Press, Columbia, Missouri. 1998
Meacham, Jon. Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship. Random House: New York, New York 2003
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