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Douglass’s Barbells and Irish Prejudice

Douglass’s barbells in Transatlantic are clearly a representation of the emotional weight of slavery that he takes with him wherever he travels. But, I think the secrecy of the barbells to the outside world is representative of McCann’s belief that Douglass is prejudiced against the Irish and unwilling to fully unify behind their cause. Douglass is known for stressing self-reliance above many other virtues, so it is not surprising that McCann portrays him as hesitant when Webb and the driver offer to help carry his luggage containing the barbells. This shows that the history of slavery is something Douglass is unwilling to share with any other people, and furthers his sentiment that there is no analogy between the Irish and black systems of oppression.  But McCann’s depiction not only claims Douglass’s inability to connect with the Irish is due to a difference in political systems, but also Douglass’s own prejudices towards the Irish.

When the driver offers to load Douglass’s luggage onto the carriage, Douglass describes him as a “small man, sparely built, with the emaciated face of a serious drinker.” While Douglass’s statement does contain a touch of sympathy for the plight of Irish hunger, it also clearly contains prejudice for the Irish stereotype of drunkenness. I believe that Douglass thought the lack of connection between the Irish and black populations was mainly due to a difference in the social and political systems of their respective countries, but one cannot ignore that Douglass was an advocate for temperance and clearly looked down upon people who drink exorbitant amounts. The way McCann portrays Douglass implies that he believes Douglass thinks the sharing of the barbells with the Irish would taint their symbolism of slavery due to his skewed image of the Irish as a drunken people who brought themselves down to an oppressed state.

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When Language Fails, What Are We Left With?

The idea of language failing to effectively communicate one’s feelings and experiences is something that fascinates me. As an English major, the idea that words can fail should seem unfathomable. Yet, being unable to articulate a feeling or traumatic experience is something that is a reality to those such as the Irish, who struggle with how to explain their sense of self. This week, in relation to both the Douglass and McCann pieces, we talked a lot about the referencing of the “other” group when trying to explain one’s own experience. 

Specifically, I want to address the way in which the word “slave” or “slavery” is used in connection to the experiences of both the Blacks and the Irish. The Irish and Blacks are two groups of people being told, “You are this.”  In the quest for liberty from these labels, they must ask, “If I’m not what they have been saying I am, who am I?” In the case of the Irish, as we discussed earlier in the semester, the Irish were referred to as white n******. This connection to the Blacks was ingrained into the ways that they viewed themselves. Perhaps this is where the Irish’s feelings and metaphors of being a “wage” slave or like a slave stems from. 

In Douglass’s My Bondage and My Freedom, he writes about how the Irish’s use of “slave” is an unfair comparison that shouldn’t be drawn (Douglass). McCann’s TransAtlantic, however, is not as outright in his condemnation. One gets the sense that McCann’s Douglass is uneasy with the shared use of the terms, but he is not as confrontational about it as the real Douglass was in his piece. Both the Irish and Blacks underwent awful oppression but their circumstances were far from the same. The Irish are poor and hungry, but they are free and can grow food. The Irish Americans were also not oppressed in the same manner as the Blacks and are given chances to be the oppressor in America. The Blacks, however, were always the oppressed and never the oppressor. 

While perhaps not accurate, I do not think that this adoption or comparison is ill-intentioned. I do not think that the language itself is malicious, but the mindset behind it can become problematic. Phrases such as the “Black O’Connell” take away from Douglass’ own merits and individual identity. He can’t just be Douglass because of his race, even in Ireland. All of this is a very important discussion, as Prof. Kinyon pointed out, remains a very relevant topic even in today’s political sphere, where it unfortunately remains a problem. This raises even further questions: If words fail people, such as the Irish, who just want their experiences and flights to be recognized, what do we do? Do we forgive their missteps in language? What can we do to correct them? Certainly, there are no clear cut answers to these questions, but they are ones that individuals and society must consider as we move forward in history.

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Prejudice and Atlantic Antagonism

I found the most striking aspect of Colum Mccann’s Transatlantic to be the difficult and occasionally tense interactions between Douglass and the Irish, despite the perceived similarities of each marginalized group’s struggles.  Despite Douglass’s desire to go to Ireland to spread his message  with the  Irish, who are similarly oppressed by the English, he quickly notices the horrors of Ireland, with streets full of beggars and filth, and his first reaction is “The Irish had little or no order about themselves” (44).  This shows that despite Douglass’s attempt to interact with the Irish, especially Daniel O’Connell, he still feels a certain unease with his time in Ireland, showing that a great deal still separates the two peoples.  Struck by the shantiness of the people and reckless nature of the children he passes in the street, he recognizes the failures of his visions of “rotundas, colonnades, [and] quiet chapels on the street corners,” illustrating that even Douglass feels a sense of otherness in the Irish, creating issues of prejudice for the transatlantic world which they try to occupy and interact within (46).  Although the episode with the dead baby shows that Douglass displays sympathy for the poor and starving Irish, he is still somewhat repulsed by their living conditions, showing his distance from the Irish and trouble with comprehending the issues the Irish are dealing with.  Despite the pleasantries exchanged between Douglass and the Irish people he encounters, their tensions and views show that the geographic separation of the two peoples allow each to view the other as a sort of “other,” despite their shared oppression and endured prejudices.

Several of the Irish people whom Douglass encounters also shows this same sort of prejudice, as McCann suggests that perhaps these groups truly are as far apart as the Atlantic is wide.  When the small children in the streets start to play with Douglass’s hair and ask if he is from Africa, they hold him up as a sort of entertainment, not paying any attention to his status.  Even when the local papers try to celebrate Douglass and his accomplishments, his race is constantly brought up, showing their difficulty with a black man showing such displays of intelligence and power.  Called “leonine… feral, an elegant panther… [and] the Dark Dandy,” Douglass mostly receives praise which passes through a racial lens, as if his race is the only reason for his success (59).  When they introduce him as the “black O’Connell,” the Irish clearly show his lower status in their own eyes; crying out against the injustice of all slavery, Douglass still experiences pushback from the crowd for not explicitly mentioning the tyranny of the British (64).  Webb is the worst culprit of this prejudice, consistently making subtle jabs at Douglass on account of his race and “otherness” and looking down upon him during his visit.  Webb intentionally calling Douglass “Old boy” regularly clearly shows both his lack of respect for Douglass and his prejudices, echoing deeper  negative sentiments which Douglass experiences throughout the text.  In spite of the shared experiences of the two groups, Transatlantic shows the potential for putting these two groups together and how they may not always coincide, regardless of their oppressions and hard experiences.

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Fredrick “The Black O’Connell” Douglass

The question of whether it is insulting to call Fredrick Douglas the Black O’Connell is an interesting one. The issue of race is clearly present, even though Ireland’s economic problems aren’t necessarily racially driven. However most, if not all, of America’s issues are driven by some sense of racial superiority (Civil War, Mexican-American War, etc.), so it makes sense why Douglass could never overcome the biases towards him. We’ve discussed how race is a “made up” social construct that we as humans use to differentiate and identify ourselves, and in the McCann & Jenkins articles we see how even internationally race precedes other social issues. 

Nevertheless, Fredrick Douglass was not the first black man to visit Ireland, nor was he the only black person they had ever seen. Yet the color of his skin seems to belittle his intelligence. Despite his scholarly advantage over the people of Ireland, even the poor see him as “other”. With that being said, there is no doubt that the Irish people recognized him as a highly intelligent, well versed individual, and to even mention him with O’Connell is an honor, however, I see calling him the Black O’Connell as a backhanded compliment at best.  There is obviously a level of respect and admiration intended behind the comment, and there is even a sense of the Irish trying to relate to black Americans. But the fact that he had to be the “Black” O’Connell and not the “Next” O’Connell (or something along those lines), supports the idea of racial inequality. 

Jason Williams (basketball player)  would be a great modern day example of this sort of backhanded compliment. Williams, being white, was nicknamed “White Chocolate” because he was so good at playing the sport that he could be mistaken for a black basketball player. There was a large amount of respect intended behind the name, but it disregards his skill as a basketball player first. He was identified by his skin color before he was identified as a good basketball player. The same could be said about Douglass. 

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Identity, Place and Home

TransAtlantic is a particularly haunting version of Douglass’ time in Ireland, building on academic texts of his time there and Douglass’ own reflections. There is something of the rainy, foggy mythos of Ireland that permeates the text, like the weight and presence of your clothes when they get damp.  Though Douglass feels free there, not chased by people who would place him back in bondage (or very likely worse), he is still heavy — the memory of his burdens, both his own past and his visions for the future of his people, dowsing and permeating his being like the cold of Dublin, the “huddled city.” (McCann, 49)  The juxtapositions of Douglass’ moments of freedom and moments of weight are striking within the text and interact well with one another to create a sense of Douglass’ inbetweenness, as we talked about in class. He cannot be just Douglass. He is not a man for himself. Rather he becomes an emblem for his people and the Irish people, both a hero and a specimen.  In McCann’s text Douglass wonders to himself if he is “just a curio” (McCann, 55) to the Irish, some strange other to be stared at behind glass. In class we talked about how this otherness may have more to do with his Americanness than his race, but even putting someone on a pedestal places them apart, and the Douglass of McCann’s text very clearly feels put on show — or at least that he must tread very, very carefully and always be his best self.  This edge he walks, the line of inside outsider, is key to the placelessness he develops in Ireland and also seems to be the calling card of participation in the Circum-Atlantic. The question of identity, place, and home and how they relate are central to this conception of the Atlantic and it will be interesting to see how other literary figures attempt to find their place in the crossing of that water.

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Increments of Gray

“Dawn unlocked the morning with increments of gray”

This week’s piece, Transatlantic, focuses on the in-between state of Douglass in Ireland. Douglass escaped slavery in America and experiences a sense of freedom in Ireland. In Dublin, he is waited upon by a footman, eats fancy meals, and tours the country giving speeches. Yet, he still feels like a captive – he is constantly watched by Webb and paraded around Ireland like a show-horse. McCann writes about Douglass’ self-reflection of this gray area: “He knew now what had brought him here – the chance to explore what it felt like to be free and captive at the same time” (85). This position gave Douglass power and authority in speaking against slavery because he knows what it is like to be both free and captive. He relates what the Irish cannot –  “To be in total bondage to everything,” Douglass says, “even the idea of one’s own peace” (85). But, this in-between state also creates a lack of control for Douglass over his life, and a lack of trust and uncertainty. How can you be truly free if you are wanted for capture? How can you be truly free when your family is still in bondage?

In my American Lit class we are reading The Sound and the Fury. This novel also deals with the deterioration of identity in an in-between state. Specifically, the character of Quinten relates the loss of power while being trapped in gray area. Quinten’s narrative in the story begins to fall apart when he feels a lack of control in his relationship with his sister, Caddy. Quinten narrates, “I seemed to be lying neither asleep nor awake looking down a long corridor or gray halflight where all stable things had become shadowy” (170). Douglass and Quinten are examples of the uncertainty and restlessness that come with a half-way state. Quinten, like Douglass, feels a lack of stability in his life and relates it through the use of the color gray. This builds upon one of the central ideas in class of transforming identity and belonging. In transitional states, where can we find a home?

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The Awareness of Blackness

In the excerpt from TransAtlantic, I was struck by Douglass’ consistent knowledge of his own blackness. We see a reference to this in the opening paragraphs: “Douglass carried his own leather trunk to the waiting carriage: he was not yet used to being waited upon (40).” Thinking about carrying this weight and his later descriptions of the barbells, Douglass understands that he carries the weight of enslavement and the causes of black slaves on his back. It results in a nervousness. For example, the narrator notes at one point that “if [Douglas] showed a chink, they would shine a light through, stun him, maybe even blind him. He could not allow for a single mistake (52).” Additionally, the narrator asserts, “So much was expected of him. Every turn. Every gesture (50).” These passages show the pressure Douglass feels from the audience to represent his entire race in an authentic way. Earlier this week, we discussed whether Douglass was a “spectacle” or “novelty” in Ireland. These passages would seem to give this notion credibility. But I would also argue that it is part of Douglass’ appeal. He brings attention to the cause and his concerns may not be about whether he is treated as a spectacle or not but whether he is presenting an authentic truth about slavery that will resonate with the Irish people. Viewing him as only a spectacle makes some sense, but also assigns the Irish a superiority that I am not convinced they felt. We must remember that Irish-Americans (and not the Irish) were treated as white; thus, we may be ascribing our own views of white and black on the Irish depicted here. McCann’s Douglass was certainly aware of his own blackness, but the extent that the Irish were is not apparent.

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The Perfect World

In part IV we get a look inside the Houyhnhnms society. We begin to see Gulliver is no longer hesitant, rather he longs to be a part of their society. Of course, the Houyhnhnms see him as a yahoo (a rude, noisy, or violent person), and they insist that Gulliver leaves them. This suggests that the Houyhnhnms are innately complete opposites of Gulliver. Aside from physical characteristics, even after Gulliver tries to adopt their ideals and practices, the Houyhnhnms never accept him as one of their own and always view him as a yahoo. This implies that something “innate” about the Houyhnhnms is decent, calm and controlled. Either that or they just simply hate Gulliver. This concept helps speak towards the Irish and their transition into “whiteness”.  White European Americans viewed White Irish Americans as lesser, even though physically there was no difference, which means that internally they believed that something about them was different. However, this idea works better with the story of Gulliver because we are discussing societies that are actually different species (Lilliputians, Houyhnhms, Europeans), and not just because of the social hierarchy of race. 

In class we discussed how Gulliver saw the society of these “magical horses” as perfect, and challenged whether an utopian society could exist without any action towards it. The Houyhnhnms were very intelligent and sat around all day and discussed, but didn’t actually do anything, yet their society was “perfect”. I would argue that the idea of a Utopia worked for the Houyhnhnms because they all shared a common desire and understanding. And although there were different animals a part of the society, they still fit within the structure of the society. If the society is already perfect, then I think it can remain perfect without any physical contribution. I think Gulliver is forced to leave because he threatened their society as an outsider who brought, not only a physical difference, but different views, beliefs and ideals. They always saw Gulliver negatively, therefore, he could not be apart of their society. Ironically, them kicking Gulliver out is a step in them taking action and maintaining their perfection.

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Gulliver as Both Oppressor and Oppressed

Swift clearly shows Gulliver as a symbol of the oppressed, who is held captive, ordered around, and threatened with severe punishment, despite his gargantuan size compared with the small Lilliputians; yet, I believe his writing of the events in the book signify a sort of egocentrism seen in both imperialism and the role of oppressors upon foreign lands.  The use of shifting perspective, with Gulliver’s perception by others of a giant, a miniature person, and even a savage Yahoo, illustrates this varying of roles, as Gulliver is able to see reflections of his own English society is different aspects of each culture he encounters.   Gulliver’s varying states of subjugation, held as a giant captive in the land of Lilliput and enduring judgment as a Yahoo from the Houyhnhnms, illustrate him as a victim of the imperialist practices which his native England enacts upon other nations, such as Ireland.  These episodes display Gulliver clearly as a racialized “other,” most notably by the Houyhnhnms, as he, first believing his own ways of life the most proper and according to logic, must become indoctrinated by each culture’s traditions.  Despite feeding him and trying to educate him, the Lilliputians’ militarization of Gulliver show a clear parallel to oppressive imperialist practices, as he is used by the small people because of his size to destroy the military of the Blefuscudians, despite his confessing to them that he will not be merely a utility to enslave another people.  Likewise, the Houyhnhnms also first judge him to be no more than a Yahoo, so they also begin to educate Gulliver into their culture, which he quickly adapts to and becomes obsessed with, despite his exile from their land because of his race.  This sort of prejudiced expulsion, despite his clear passion for reason and logic, echoes the British and their genocidal tactics against native peoples, including forced removal from their homeland.

On the other hand, Gulliver’s reluctance to believe each of his new environments echoes the views of a travelling conqueror, contrasting his own customs and practices which he sees to be the universal norm with the apparently strange and otherworldly ways of the Lilliputians and Houyhnhnms, despite his eventual acceptance and obsession with the latter.  His encounter with the Yahoos specifically shows this darker side of the narrator, criticizing their savage nature and culture, especially when compared with his own love of reason and the Houyhnhnms’ entire civilization built towards the end of fully using their own reason and intellect to create a sort of perfect society.  Gulliver’s attraction to the ways of the Houyhnhnms show this imperialist mindset, as he convenes with the Houyhnhnms to discuss how to solve the apparent problem of the Yahoo’s existence.  Even his writing of the book implies a superiority of the author, compelling the reader to listen to him and follow his example because he has done these things and written about them.  Instead of muddying the metaphor of the text, the variability of Gulliver’s significance to the foreign lands illustrates each side of the English oppression of Ireland, with Gulliver both enacting harsh tactics and prejudices upon others, as well as being  a victim to the same types of treatments from his hosts.

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Gulliver’s Feelings on His Body

Gulliver, throughout his adventures in the land of the Lilliputians and in the land of the Houyhnhnms, has over and over again returned to a topic one wouldn’t necessarily find to be important to this documentation of his travels. Gulliver always seems to make reference back to the state of his own body, and the dissatisfaction he feels when he remembers how he looks. For example, in the country of the Lilliputians, he feels ashamed of his need to pass excrement (even though this is a natural occurrence). He makes a big deal out of describing how he only did this out of complete necessity, and how thereafter he always made sure to do it in a more cleanly way. In the country of the Houyhnhnms, Gulliver became disgusted with his body because he associated it with the bodies of the Yahoos. It got to the point where Gulliver even began to act like a horse – he would hold himself as a horse, “trot” like a horse, and even imitate their speech. Gulliver’s discomfort with his own body always came as a result of examining the majority beings’ bodies. Gulliver felt out of place in his own skin. This phenomenon reminded me of the way that black bodies were treated. When black Africans were uprooted from Africa and brought to the Americas, the justifications given for this were that black bodies were inferior to white bodies. As time went on, this idea was drilled into the minds of Africana people, to the point where very few of them could feel comfortable in their own skin. Gulliver’s examination of his own body could perhaps be taken as a gesturing to these experiences, as the slave trade had been going on for centuries at that time.