William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation And Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn: A Comparative and Marxist Approach

Abstract

The literature of the American colonial period has supported the White Anglo Saxon Protestants’ view of America. The American literature grew out of the search for religious freedom from the shackles of the Roman Catholicism that smeared the Protestant churches all over Europe. The Mayflower ship and the Atlantic Ocean were the main carriers of the Western civilization to the New World. Even the wind contributed much to the accomplishment of that noble mission. It took the ship freely over the vast body of water. This was the beautiful image that we had in William Bradford’s masterpiece Of Plymouth Plantation. It depicted the pilgrims’ noble mission on the virgin soil of America. However, the thought that the moral and human values would last beyond the realm of time was completely shaken by the true intentions of the white settlers. They subjugated the indigenous people and took their lands. Bradford’s written record became a catalogue of Man’s new beginning of wickedness mentioned in the Bible. He left behind his spiritualism and took much delight in the constant search for the accumulation of wealth and the imposition of power. The American literature has also revealed the extent to which the fall of the moral values reached its paroxysm. Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was much expressive of The Christian religion based on corruption and hypocrisy. Twain revealed how the characters resorted to religion as a means to gain wealth and power. The influence of money was felt both in the endorsement of slavery and its abolition. Twain’s novel was also viewed as the micro society of the American south where the individuals were driven by the force of money and the insatiable appetite for power. Since the two novels were all about the influence of money, power, and class struggle, it would be necessary to bring them under the lens of the Marxist theory of which interest was to shed some light on the economic aspects as the base of any literary or cultural text.

Les sociétés pauvres ne peuvent raisonner come les sociétés riches. Il va sans dire qu’une société pauvre est organisée autour de ses besoins immédiat: nourrir ses membres, assurer la survie du groupe toujours menace par des périls comme mauvaises récoltes, arrivée d’henvahisseures et l’esclavage des vaincus. l’enrichissement dégage peu à peu un surplus. Celui-ci est contrôlé jalousement par les maitres du pouvoir. Mais, ces derniers, a fin d’assurer leur prestige, sont constaints d’en distribuer une partie. Ces conflits autour du surplus, autour des ressources toujours limitées exaspèrent les frustrations et les tensions. La littérature Américaine constitue une cassure historique dans la vision que les hommes ont d’eux-mêmes. L’homme qui se croyait une créature de dieu se révèle un vautour soumis aux mêmes lois que les autres rapaces et notamment a la lute sans fin pour la survie. Dire que les valeurs morales et humaines restent irréversibles au delà du royaume des temps est une chose qui reste difficile à admettre. Les violences déclenchées dans certaines régions du monde sont enracinées dans des conflits âpres autour des richesses.

المجتمعات الفقيرة لا تستطيع ان تفكر مثل المجتمعات الغنية. المجتمعات الفقيرة تكون دائما منظمة حول احتياجاتها الفورية التي تتمثل في تغذية اعضائها وضمان العيش للطبقات الاجتماعية المهددة بالاخطار مثل نزوح المستعمرين وعبودية المضطهدين. خيرات الارض يتحكم فيها فئة قليلة من المجتمع وهم اصحاب السلطة ولكن احيانا يكونوا مضطهدين لتوزيع كمية مما يكسبون للحفاظ على رفاهيتهم. هذه الصراعات حول الموارد الطبيعية تسرع من وتيرة التوترات. الادب الامريكي يمثل صدع تاريخي في الرؤية التي كان يحتفظ بها الانسان كمخلوق من الله تقي ونظيف. لكن هذا الانسان قد ترك قيمه الاخلاقية خلفه وأصبح يجري وراء غريزة حب البقاء او البقاء للاقوى. قول ان القيم الاخلاقية والانسانية تبقى ثابتة خارج مملكة الازمان يبقى شيء صعب تقبله. كل مظاهر العنف التي تنفجر في بعض المناطق في العالم منبعها الصراع والسباق حول الثروات.