Thursday, October 18, 2012

Dismissing the "Other"


Pudd’nhead Wilson has left me with many things to think about, but for the purpose of this blog entry, I’d like to focus on the idea of “dismissing the other.” Since the book is titled after him, let’s just start with Pudd’nhead Wilson himself. When David Wilson moved to Dawson’s Landing, he saw it fit to tell a joke about this annoying dog that had been bothering him: “I wish I owned half of that dog…Because I would kill my half.” The townspeople did not understand his joke. Confused, they began to speculate. Did he mean he would keep one half of the dog alive? Why would he want half a dog? Which half would he keep alive? Instead of asking him for clarification, they assumed he was some kind of idiot. If they cannot understand what he means, then the problem is with him, not with them.

David was an other, or outsider. He is different. With the Us vs Them mentality, if you are not one of us, you must be one of them. Since we are good, that must mean you are bad. So David was labelled Pudd’nhead because they considered him to be a fool. The lawyer side of his business flopped hard, even though he was actually quite good at his job. At the end of the novel when he solved the crime, the people realized that maybe he was no longer such a Pudd’nhead. But that was two decades later. Two decades of not giving this poor guy a chance because he failed to assimilate upon first contact.
Roxy is also outright dismissed. Although her skin is quite white, she is considered black, and therefore a slave, because she is 1/16 black. Because she’s a slave, she is not entitled to an education, and thus is assumed to be ignorant or childish. 

In reality, she is one of the smartest characters in the novel. She knows that if she is sold in town, her child will eventually be sold down the river, so she devises a Prince and the Pauper scheme to ensure that her son not have to face that harsh life. (The fake “Chambers” was never sold down the river. While her prediction was wrong in that regard, she was justified in feeling that way as the real Chambers was eventually sold down the river upon the scheme being revealed). Later, she comes up with a blackmailing plan to get her ruined son to do anything kind for her.

After "Tom" sells her down river, she is abused for a while, then pulls off an impressive escape. She headed back up to Dawson's Landing and disguised herself as a man, knowing that nobody will recognize her that way. She then uses blackmail again as a way to get what she wanted out of "Tom".

I guess I'm so drawn to this idea because I've been the "other" who has been dismissed many times before in my life. One of the worst things, to me, is to be dismissed without letting me get the chance to prove myself. It's so easy to dismiss those you don't understand, but it's so much more worth it to take the time to understand these people.

1 comment:

  1. These are good points about the Other, Jeffery. Both of these characters are dismissed on the basis of a fleeting impression, as you say, and that affects their entire lives thereafter.

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