William Apess: Moving Forward

William Apess’ text, King Philip as pronounced at the Odeon, wasn’t really a eulogy. It did, near the end, declared King Philip to be, “the greatest man that was ever in America” (56), however the vast majority discussed the brutality of whites at the time. Though the title suggests that it will praise King Philip, he is not even mentioned until about 15 pages into the text. I don’t see it as a eulogy for King Philip, but rather a documentation of the suffering of Indians under the control of white America. In all of the situations mentioned Indians reached out a helping hand continually, while white Christian, following what they believed to be God’s orders, chopped them off.

I thought that Apess’ use of religion to turn the tables of what most whites at the time believed to be good and evil was smart. He argues that Christianity tells you to respect one another and that if God thought that Indian tribes needed to be rid of, then white did not and should not be killing Indian tribesmen. The tribes that were most brutally slaughtered were those that were trying desperately to assimilate. Many mentioned in the story had converted to Christianity, but were killed by fellow Christians. Apess’ text is interesting, in that rather than a eulogy of a single man, it seems to be a eulogy of a culture, wholehearted and welcoming, that was slaughtered. He reminds people of what our ancestors have done, but states that no one should be held accountable for the actions of those that came before. We are told to remember what has happened, but to forgive those around us and move on.

First Post

I chose to give my blog the extremely creative name Exploring Cultural Literature, because I wanted to keep it simple. I felt that I needed to go too deep with a blog name. I thought that simply saying what I am going to be doing with this blog made the most sense. While this first post is completely dull, I’m hoping that it will become more interesting as we delve into more compelling cultural works, rather than writing about blog names.

I find the Popol Vuh to be a very interesting piece of literature; lost for thousands of years and retranslated numerous times. Who knows if the translation we have read has preserved the original meaning, or if it has strayed. Those who converted it into english could have easily tarnished the creationism story by infusing their own interpretations of what could have meant, or grafting their own morals on top of the existing stories. Whether or not this is true, the Popol Vuh puts a great emphasis on the roles of insects and animals in general. The smallest animals mentioned in this story were the most underestimated, but powerful. They carried important knowledge and tended to be the most cunning. For example, the louse tricked the toad into believing the louse was being eaten, while the rat bargained for its life. They were the first living things created and are continually used to manipulate others. When not being messengers of the gods, they seem to be helping Hunaphu and Xbalanque deceive those around them. This might be taking the idea too far, but just as the brothers could control the animals in their realm, the sun and moon can also dictate the behaviors of animals. I also found it interesting that Hunaphu and Xbalanque lives had a cyclical pattern in the story, just as the sun and moon do now. The Popol Vuh contain many themes, but the most obvious to me seems to be its use of animals throughout the story.