Reading Notes for Connecticut Yankee 16-26

Chapter 16

Twain invests considerable energy on the topic of how to tell a story, and in this chapter Hank's preferred methods collide with Sandy's traditional tale spinning. Sandy, or so Twain would have us believe, represents the Arthurian Romance tradition as it was being revived in the 19th Century by the poetry of Alfred Lord Tennyson and the fiction of Walter Scott, both of which highly romanticized English artistocratic traditions and Arthurian romance culture.

A few issues to look for as you read:

1. How do Hank and Sandy approach storytelling differently? Has Hank's
   response to Sandy evovled at all. If so, how and why?
2. The return of the Comanches. How does Hank employ this chapter's
   reference to Native Americans.
3. what are we to make of Hello Central?

Chapters 17

Killing the band, Torture, and The Man Factory

Hank’s visit to Morgan affords him the opportunity to lampoon a musical performance, comment on crime and torture, and give us a hint of the "educational" system he creates to counteract the ignorance he sees
during his journey with Sandy.

• How does Hank’s agreement to have the band executed strike you? What does it tell us about Hank and what does it tell us about Twain?
• The last paragraph of the chapter holds the key to the broader social commentary Hank attempts here. What do you make of that last paragraph?
• Does it mark any kind of evolution in Hank’s thinking?
   

Chapter 18

I find the picture in front of Chapter 18 one of the most striking in the text. It sums up Twain’s critique of the political system of Arthur’s England. Tellingly, this drawing and several others mark an intensification of the text’s interest in issues of class. While issues of colonialism frame the text and much of Hank’s perceptions of England and the English, the issues of class constitute the core of the book’s social criticism of not only Arthur’s England but also 19th century America and England. Of course, Hank will find that the rational set of economic expectations that underpin any class based analysis of a society will not hold up in Arthur’s England because of the non-economic and non-rational ideology characteristic of the era (enforced by Church and Aristocracy and enabled by illiteracy and inadequate communication systems).

Because of the sense of place and social order behind the system, Hank will frequently find himself stymied in his efforts to mobilize the p!eople. In these moments when he finds the people passive or unwilling to challenge the obvious injustices of the system, Hank dismisses them as "groping and grubbing autamota "when in fact their unwillingness to revolt reflects a different core set of values more than a lack of
thought. We might think of this core set of values, in which all members of the society have been indoctrinated, as an ideology. An ideology can often transcend and outlast rational argument.

Chapter 18 also continues Hank’s exploration of the "justice" system’s implication in the perpetuation of an unjust society. Trace the role of the judicial system of Arthur’s England as you read. Is it as different from America’s as Hank would like to think?

Chapters 19 and 20

Despite their continued commentary of medieval culture and society, these chapters interest me more for what they tell us about Sandy and Hank’s thoughts about / relationship with her. 19 features the language of business—Hank discusses speculation and knight-errantry as a "trade"—but at the end of the chapter this language collides with questions of representation of both woman and the colonized other. What do you make of this quote? "No, it’s not your head, Sandy. Your head’s all right, as far as it goes, but you don’t know business, that’s where the trouble is. It unfits you to argue about business, and you’re wrong to be always trying."  The woman, the other, represented as unfit for commerce (which, in turn, justifies commercial exploitation). And women, also restricted to a domestic or non-commercial sphere that Hank’s own reliance on Sandy for his survival calls into question. How would Hank have completed the "business" of his various exchanges on this journey without Sandy? And what should we make of the resolution of Sandy’s great adventure? Aside from a great opportunity for Hank to compare the nobility to pigs (the picture on 179 is a parody of Queen Victoria), it must tell us something about imagination, story-telling, gender, and power and lots of other issues in the novel. What do you make of it?

Chapters 21

Beginning with the picture of Henry VII on 188 with the caption below it, this chapter returns us to the question of ideology with a vengeance. Basically the chapter looks at three issues we should think
about:

1. The gap between Sandy and Hank’s understanding of reality dramatized by the pig story and caused, in Hank’s mind at least, by ideology: "Here she was, as sane a person as the kingdom could produce; and yet, from my point of view she was acting like a crazy woman. My land, the power of training! of influence! of education! It can bring a body up to believe anything. I had to put myself in Sandy’s place to realize she was not a lunatic" (190-191). Hank’s thought evolves from straightforward mockery and exploitation to a more subtle analysis of how ideology influences the way we perceive reality. The final sentence rings most helpful with its suggestion that Hank can empathize with Sandy and imagine the world from her perspective. This passage marks a high point in Hank’s thinking worth keeping in your mind as we read the rest of the novel.
2. The pilgrims and the story of the holy fountain sets up a binary between faith and science / technology that began with the eclipse and emerges as the dominant conflict in the novel
3. Our first sustained look at slavery. Consider this passage in the context of Huck Finn. Twain still has a passion for this issue and sees a benefit to placing it in an alternative cultural context to 19th century America. Why? What possibilities does this open up for him?

Chapters 22 and 23

These chapters introduce some of the most charged language and scenes of the text and will require some sustained attention in class (excellent email material in these chapters). A few items to look for:

• the sustained use of the language of business and commerce
• reflections on magic and magicians (what does this suggest about Hank)
• continued commentary on tradition and ideology
• evolving thoughts on and feelings about Sandy (an some interesting
  connections to notions of language)
• the scene with the ceaselessly bowing hermit
• and, finally, the carefully staged spectacle of the restoration of the
  fountain

Chapter 24 does not offer too much for our analysis except for what it says about how Hank has to negotiate various threats to his supremacy because of the fact that he is exploiting ignorance rather than addressing it. People who do not understand how he accomplishes what he accomplishes are just as likely to accept the next magician’s razzle-dazzle as they are Hank’s spectacles.

Chapter 25 raises an important issue: Hank’s representation of democracy and meritocracy. He offers an extensive critique of Arthur’s social system and justice, but you might find the chapter most
interesting if you look for the contradictions and problems in Hank’s unquestioning endorsement of American democracy and its links to capitalism.

Chapter 26 links the ideas of reading and writing to democracy as Hank celebrates the appearance of the first newspaper. Again, here, we should look for qualifications and contradictions that raise some questions about the role of newspapers in democracy and social progress. This extended discussion of journalism also fits in the broad pattern of commentary about language, storytelling, jokes, and writing throughout the novel.