The Watergate Scandal was one of the most major political scandals that occurred in US history.  The evidence that came out during the trial shows that Nixon had his men perform various wire taps on his rivals, beginning the process of impeachment.  While impeachment never happened, Nixon did end up resigning from office.  The Watergate Scandal brings about many “he said, she said” accounts when evidence was presented.  This is something that Thomas Mallon does well in his book.

Watergate: A Novel by Thomas Mallon is a story that perfectly exemplifies the idea of mythistory that we discuss in class.  Mallon brings us along for the story of the Watergate scandal, giving us the details and much more.  Instead of just giving the straight facts of the entire scandal, Mallon tells a story giving us intimate details on the background of each character in the story.  Many of these details may not be completely true or even real at all, but they are put into the story so that the reader is hooked in and enjoys the story.  While the author tells the story, he also describes the blatant facts that actually occurred so that the reader learns the important things in history.  In this story, Mallon describes the Nixon presidency in a comical way, making the story far more intimate than historians usually are able to make it.  Telling the story through seven different characters perspectives, the readers get a wide range of details.

The novel Native Son, written by Richard Wright, takes the reader into the life of a twenty year old black man, Bigger Thomas, living in 1930’s Chicago.  Right from the beginning, we see the terrible conditions in which Bigger is forced to live in, where living in a cramped apartment and killing rats seems to be a normal thing that is faced every day.  A main aspect of the story is how fear drives Bigger’s actions in the story, getting him into a great deal of trouble.

We see fear seep into Bigger when his friends and him decide to rob a white owned store.  During the heist, Bigger feels he will be caught so he attacks a member of his gang in order to sabotage the robbery.  This is just one example of Bigger turning to violence when he is uncertain and feels pressure.  He, again, turns to violence and accidentally kills Mary after he is afraid that he will be caught by Mrs. Dalton as he is putting her to bed.  Bigger again turns to violence after he rapes Bessie, as he is afraid she will rat him out and get him caught for all of his crimes.  This turn to violence speaks to a greater aspect.  When Bigger feels fear or pressure he immediately turns to violence, which is a causality of white oppression over black people of the time of the 1930’s.  The fear of disrupting white people’s lives causes so much fear that violence is the immediate reaction for Bigger and others like him.

The Great Gatsby written by author F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel that somewhat depicts the life of people living in the 1920’s in America.  The novel follows Nick Caraway as his life is transformed when he meets Jay Gatsby.  The novel then goes into great deal on the topic of Gatsby’s love for Daisy Buchanan, but she is married to John Buchanan, a scumbag that constantly cheats on her as he makes his way into the city.

More important to the love Gatsby has for Daisy, is Gatsby’s movement up the socio-economic ranks.  He starts his life as a boy who has next to nothing.  He moves his way up the ladder by, allegedly, becoming a bootlegger and making his fortune illegally.  This move by F. Scott Fitzgerald is to show that in order to make your way up in America in the 1920’s, one was forced to do so through illegal actions.  The rich came from old money, only getting richer throughout the years.  Once Gatsby became rich, he was ridiculed for being from new money, and not reaching the happiness he believed he would get from becoming rich.  This speaks more about the American Dream.  One can reach the American Dream, but if you start at the bottom, getting to the top will cost you to do things that can come back to bite you.

Red Badge of Courage follows the story of a soldier on the Union side during the Civil War.  The novel focuses on the main character, Henry Fleming, and his constant strive to become a hero in the eyes of his fellow soldiers.  As we follow Henry throughout the story we learn that, initially, he is a coward.  He is always found running away from battle, letting various men die on his watch because he is unable to stand the trials of battle.  Again and again, he runs away from his problems, leaving the reader upset with the actions that Henry takes in the face of adversity, but eventually we see a change in Henry.  This occurs when Henry sees Jim Conklin die due to his wounds, causing him to feel a whirlwind of emotions.  It is at this moment where Henry sees how much of a coward he has been and, instead of running away, he decides to fight with a fury he has never seen in himself before.  He turns into the soldier and hero he had strived to be from the beginning, someone who fights without fear and protects his own men.

The novel is more of a coming of age story than anything else.  We see the child-like cowardice of Henry in the beginning of the story, where he is constantly running away from all the issues in his life, to the change into manhood.  He is pushed into manhood and begins to fight head 0n, becoming a leader for his fellow soldiers, as he sets the example of having no fear in the field of battle.  Henry turns into a real soldier who can make a change in the war.

The novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, takes the reader into the lives of slaves during the mid-19th century.  Overall, the story portrays the struggles that each slave is forced to go through, discovering the horrors that took place at this time in history.  It also gives us an insight into the various different types of slave owners.  We see the two extremes of slave owners, with Mr. St. Clare being fairly kind to his slaves by trying to befriend them, but we also see owners like Simon Legree who is on the opposite side of the spectrum, working his slaves to death then purchasing cheap ones again, creating a vicious cycle.

One of the themes that really stood out to me in the novel was the theme of uncertainty.  These slaves lived completely in the dark as to what was going to happen to them each day.  By following the story of Tom, the reader sees this theme right from the start.  Tom starts off in a fairly solid situation for a slave but he is forced to be sold because his owner needs the money.  He is then thrown into a great situation with the St. Clare family as he befriends Eva.  This friend is then taken away from him when Eva dies, throwing his life in a spiral as he was promised freedom but has this stripped away when Mr. St. Clare dies.  Then being sold to Simon Legree who eventually beats Tom to death.  These events show that life was very unpredictable for slaves and having no control over it was just another form a torture they were forced to go through.

The novel The Pioneers by author James Fenimore Cooper, takes the reader into the lives of those who are brave enough to begin lives in the vastly large frontier of America at that time.  The novel delves deep into the difficulties that occur in the day-to-day lives of everyone living around Templeton.  Each character has their own story and purpose, but what is clearly shown is the hard work each of them must put in so that they may provide for themselves and survive.

One of the things that jumped out to me most was the simplicity in the lives of those living in Templeton.  For example, when Elizabeth is being attacked by a mountain lion, she is saved by Leather Stocking as he kills the beast with two shots.  Previously, Leather Stocking had killed a deer as well, which is illegal as it was not hunting season yet.  Judge Marmaduke is at a crossroads because Leather Stocking saved his daughters life, but he did also break the law.  In modern times this could cause a different sentencing, but back then things were much simpler.  Leather Stocking committed the crime so he must take the punishment, and he has no issue with that.  Back then rules were rules, and if you broke them you were obligated to take on the punishment.  This sense of honor is something that you see throughout the characters in the story, and speaks greatly to the temperament of early pioneers in America.

The challenges Mary Rowlandson faces throughout the book are wildly traumatic.  She is ripped apart from everything that she knows and thrown into this chaotic life as someone being held captive.  She is forced to see her loved ones die due to the brutality of the Indians.  Rowlandson is able to stay somewhat strong throughout the process but she isn’t given many chances to see the kindness of the Indians, so she sees them as savages.  I’m sure it is very difficult to see the good in the people that took everything from you and separated you from your family.  The death of her brother-in-law and her youngest daughter definitely did not help that cause either.

Rowlandson faces many different types of savagery throughout the book.  She is barely given the necessities she needs to survive, while also being constantly ordered around and talked down to, but this is war and thats how it changes people.  After Mary and her family settle back in and build a house in Boston, she sees Indians that are now apart of the society there because they are now seen as friendly.  This shows that war changes people and having a hate for your enemy will be a vital part in the war if you want to win.  War brings savagery out in people and that is the reason Rowlandson views the Indians as savages, because she has only seen that side of them.

A question I pose is, do you think a Native American being held captive would have a similar story?