There is no denying that history and literature are interconnected in many ways. Undoubtedly, the majority of artists resort to history as a source of inspiration. Extremely sensitive to contemporary and historical events, writers tend to raise the most controversial, vital, and burning questions in their works creating a resonance in public. In a contemporary society with vague moral norms, obsession with individualism and affluence, military and multicultural conflicts, terrorism, and minor groups’ oppression it is hard to stay indifferent and close the minds against the problems.
In this paper I am going to focus on three writings from Worlds of Fiction, namely, I Stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olsen, The Guest by Albert Camus, and Bernard Malamud’s The Jewbird. Besides, I will dwell upon two chapters from The Heritage of World Civilizations.
As far as I Stand Here Ironing is concerned, the dominant theme in this writing concentrates on a middle-aged poop middle-class woman, the mother of five-year-old Olsen, whose main objective and difficulty in life is to find the abilities and powers to combine her job and parenting skills. Telling a story of one single woman Tillie Olsen raises the broader problem of all single women who, being left by their husbands, have to carry a heavy burden of motherhood and earn for their families living on their own. It is noteworthy that the story appeared in 1961 alongside the new movement of women anxious and worried about their inability to devote all their time and attention to their children due to various circumstances.
The extended metaphor of a mother, who ironing her daughter’s dress tries to smooth out her relations with her daughter, sets the mood of the story. The first-person narration presents a very important detail as it provides a first-hand perception of the problem that the author brings up. Moreover, the monologue of the pivotal figure is not interrupted by any commentaries or additional remarks: the stylistic device of the stream-of-consciousness narration allows the reader to understand fully the tragedy of a woman who drove by poverty finds out that her connection with her daughter weakens and she loses the power over Olsen: “You think because I am her mother I have a key, or that in some way you could use me as a key?” (Rubenstein and Larson, 2002, p. 548).
In terms of historical meaning, I Stand Here Ironing makes a great contribution to the understanding of the relations between history and literature. Taking into account that this story is partly biographical in some ways and the author’s active participation in women’s movements it can be deduced that I Stand Here Ironing highlights the major concern of the society of those times. Though the story not explicitly touches on political issues of the time but it gives an invaluable insight into the economic conditions of the country where women instead of enjoying their motherhood suffered from it. Olsen expresses her idea that every decision should be weighed from all possible perspectives including the circumstances that are not subjected to human’s will.
The themes of freedom, the value of human life, the difficulty to take responsibility for some moral choices are highlighted in Camus’s story The Guest that concerns itself with a French Algerian schoolmaster Daru who holds a teaching post in Algerian desert and has to make a tough moral choice when encountered with an Arab prisoner. This writing was published in the course of the Algerian War and is closely connected to the events that took place at the time. Camus, anxious about the tensions between French and Arab Algerians, carefully reasons the ambiguities and motivations of the characters in the story.
In the book, Daru has to deliver an Arab prisoner to the jail against his will that leads him to choose between violating government orders or listening to his own consciousness. The point is that Daru realizes that the case of this Arab is not the issue of the French colonial courts that the Arab prisoner who killed a cousin in a long-lasting family quarrel serves the purpose of intimidation of other Arabs in the colonies. Camus, through the character of Daru, only touches on some political issues and identifies choices but he never makes his choice. This fact is influenced by real difficult relations between colonial French and Arabs and the author’s intention not to worsen them (Craig, Graham and Kagan, 2003, p. 268).
Tackling the issue of anti-Semitism that is brought up in The Jewbird by Bernard Malamud it should be stressed that the relations between history and literature are very vivid in this story. The history of the anti-Semitism movement comprises decades of Jews’ struggling for a peaceful life, their pursuit to find a real home. During the whole history, Jews have turned away from many countries that they considered to be their home, even Palestine left no chance for them to live there. In this respect, Bernard Malamud tells a story of a Jewish family and a bird that accidentally flies in their apartment in an attempt to hide from the anti-Semites. Bitter arguments start between the father of the family, Harry, and a Jewbird Schwartz. First, the bird is accused of awful smell: “For Christ sake, why don’t you wash yourself sometimes? Why must you always stink like a dead fish?”, and treated badly: “All in all you are a goddamn pest and free loader” (Rubenstein and Larson, 2002, p. 365). Despite the fact that the bird lived on the balcony for a long time and was very polite, Harry Cohen was against it all the time. After receiving a notification of his son’s poor results in school and his mother’s death, the man throws the bird out. At the end of the story, Harry’s wife remarks that it was anti-Semites who killed Schwartz. The story deals with the theme of Jewish self-hatred. Here Harry, a Jew himself, appears to be anti-Semite towards the Jewbird who sought safe heaven in his home.
Concluding, it should be mentioned that history and literature being two separate notions have a great influence over one another and a lot of historic events covered in the literary works serve as invaluable sources that provide insights into social, political, economic, and philosophical issues.
References
Rubenstein, R., and Larson, C.R. (2002). Worlds of fiction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Craig, A. M., Graham, W. A., and Kagan, D. M. (2003). The heritage of world civilizations Volume 2. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.