American Lit II: Mark Twain has given us any number of memorable characters. One of my favorites is Roxana, who strikes me as by far the strongest personality in Puddn’head Wilson. She begins the book as a light-skinned slave woman (she is “1/16 black”) owned by Percy Northumberland Driscoll, who sets her free in 1845, just before he dies. After being freed Roxana leaves Dawson’s Landing to work as a chambermaid on a steamship, the Grand Mogul. While working on the steamboat she saves up $400, which she loses in a bank crash.
What do you think about Roxana so far? How do the details mentioned above (her working on a steamship and losing her life savings in a bank crash) shape our understanding of her? How else does Twain construct her as a character? (Ditto, if you wish, for the other characters.)
Friday, January 16
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8 comments:
Roxie is one of the more interesting characters in the book. She is described not only physically with her being one-sixteenth black, but also the emotional side of the character. When I read the scene where she wanted to drown herself and her baby, I knew exactly what she was feeling and why she was feeling it. That scene made me feel miserable and almost disgusted with the treatment of people back in that time.
She makes it sound like working on a steamship was the most glamorous job there was out there. But compared to slavery, it probably was. She is always a powerful thought in the book, even when she is not mentioned in the text.
So far, Roxana is a believable and sympathetical character who has had a bad life. Sweet in nature, Roxana can go to the extremes when necessary and she does. I think her character does a complete flip and changes in the reader's mind. Roxana is first presented as a hard working female slave who knows the hardships that it entails. After seeing and experiencing the abuse inflicted by her masters she decides to take steps to ensure her child doesn't end up like her. By switching the babies Roxana does a complete 180 and becomes almost unsympathetic. Though her actions are noble it still shows a woman who is willing to forsake her child so he can fit in with the cultural ideology. I find her character to be devious and cunning for the rest of the novel.
The details given paint a woman who is willing to sacrifice ( no matter the consequences) to do what she thinks is the right thing. We understand that she is worldly and intelligent from her shrewd switching of the children. She is willing to work any job and wants to become a better person from working on the steamship to working as a mammy. She almost sees losing her money as a blessing and understands she has to pick herself up. Roxana also has a dark side that is willing to blackmail to get what she wants and deserves. Also, she is a caring mother who allows her son to treat her like dirt.
The character of Tom is written as a selfish, pampered brat who has the rug pulled from underneath him. We learn he is deeply troubled and conflicted. The judge Driscoll is set in his ways and believes in old fashioned values. Puddnhead Wilson is misunderstood because of his eccentricites. Almost all the characters believe the world they live in is okay and doesn't need to change.
montoyajd
Roxana is definitely an interesting character. It has been mentioned that she does whatever is needed to get the job done(like saving her child by switching the babies at birth) and I agree. As far as some of the other characters, I feel that no other character is truly bad or evil. While Tom is an obvious jerk, all of his manneurisms are justified within himself as how his culture brought him up. I'm sure that Tom isn't the only character in Dawson's Landing that is malevolent in nature towards the slaves. Pudd'nhead still intrigues me as a character because even though he has the name Pudd'nhead, he doesn't try to shed the name. He continues to live his life the way he wants by fingerprinting and other fads.
Jonathan Andujar
Roxana is truly an interesting character. She seems so real. The part where she was thinking about killing her own son because she didn't want him to have to live a bad life. I am not a mother, but I could really understand what she was feeling. She seems to be so caring for everyone else except herself. I loved how in the same day she gave birth she was taking care of the entire family. She is so strong and independent. I felt so bad for her years after she switched Tom and Chambers, her own son treated her so badly. I really felt for her. I am always wondering what and how she will come back into each setting.
I think it takes real character to think about taking your son's life, so that he doesn't have to live the life that Roxana has lived. She worked so hard all her life. You have to give a little when it comes to her life and what she did with her son. I thinks its really sad that her son treates her like that. But I think she is the best part of the book. Very stong and you have to admire her indeed!
EMT
One reason that Roxy is such a strong character is that Twain has made her undergo many challenges. As an audience we sympathize with all of the hardships that Roxy has endured. Once she gets something good for herself it gets ripped away from her. We also feel for her because she is usually always doing good deeds and yet is never appreciated for the things that she has done.
Roxanna is definally a couragous character, which is defined in many ways throughout the novel. First when she switches babies at birth to make a better life for her child is couragous, when Roxanna saves up her money to make a better life for herself but lost it in the bank crash was couragous. It seems that she is a women who is willing to do whatever she can do make things better for her and the people she cares about.
I think that Roxana is a very strong female character. She is one of the strongest female characters that Twain developes. The details of her character provide the justification for her being a strong character. If she was NOT a strong character, she would not have been able to make the very difficult decision to help out one of her sons and to force the other into slavery. Also, the fact that she was able to be under her son's authority shows that she is very strong emotinally.
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