Danielle Williamson

 

Course: English 232

Instructor: Amy Accosta

Assignment: Short Story Analysis

 

There is no denying that our society is obsessed with perfection, whether it is our outward appearance, personality, or feelings. We tend to focus, however, not on our own shortcomings, but on those of others. This tendency is seen in the main character of James Wilcox’s “Camping Out.” But if one were to look further back in history, it would be seen that focusing on the imperfections of others is not a new trend. It is also illustrated in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s works, “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Birth-mark.” In each of these short stories the main character follows society’s tendency to focus on others’ imperfections, but it causes them to lose sight of their own.

Donna Lee in “Camping Out,” seems to believe that she can do no wrong. She drags her family out into the woods to try to get them to experience reality. She does not seem to realize, however, that the reality is she is putting all of them at risk by having them trespass on someone’s property where people are hunting nearby. Then she has the nerve to tell them, “I hate to sound preachy, but I do think we should all be more careful tomorrow…The main thing is you got to be aware,” (Wilcox 46). Donna Lee spends the entire story criticizing and looking down on everyone, but she is especially critical of her nephew, Ralph. She did not like it when he showed her what he was learning about making his first confession, and she was always talking about how he was too sensitive. Donna Lee’s obsession with changing her family into who she believes they should be probably cost her a better relationship with them.

The way she treated her family was nothing compared to Donna Lee’s attitude toward Mrs. Norris. She did not seem to care at all about the possibility of Mrs. Norris being evicted, but Donna Lee was always pretending to be her friend. At the end of the story Mrs. Norris tried to talk to her about her chances of staying in the apartment, and she just went outside. “Pettiness, Donna Lee thought. No matter where she went she would be surrounded by pettiness,” (Wilcox 49). The woman was facing the possibility of losing her home and Donna Lee thought of her as petty. She was concentrating so much on what she considered flaws in others that she neglected her own many imperfections.

Goodman Brown is another example of how people are unable to focus on their own mistakes. Brown saw all the people he once believed were righteous Christians communing with the devil. A very important detail he neglected, however, was how he knew they were with the devil in the woods that night: he was there too. The worst part is that he knew what he was doing was wrong, but he did it anyway. When he was leaving he thought, “What a wretch am I to leave her on such an errand,” (Hawthorne 2258-2259). He even spoke to the devil about having scruples and that he should not be there. Brown had several opportunities to go back home after he met the devil in the woods. He was left alone several times, yet he hesitated and then continued on his journey.

Brown developed a self-righteous attitude that only seemed to worsen the deeper he went into the woods. First he met the old woman who taught him his catechism, and she and the devil talked like they were old friends. After she was sent away by the devil’s staff, Brown told him, “Not another step will I budge on this errand. What if a wretched old woman do choose to go to the devil…Is that any reason why I should quit my dear Faith, and go after her?” (Hawthorne 2262). Then the devil left Brown and gave him his stick. Brown sat by the road “applauding himself greatly and thinking with how clear a conscience he could meet the minister on his morning walk,” (Hawthorne 2262). Instead of leaving, however, he continued into the woods and went to the devil’s communion. There he saw many other people whom he thought were good Christians. He never looked at people the same after that night. His lack of trust ate away at him for the rest of his life, and “his dying hour was gloom,” (Hawthorne 2267).

While the characters in “Camping Out” and “Young Goodman Brown” were focused on the mistakes or what they considered personality flaws in others, Aylmer in “The Birth-mark” was focused more on physical appearance. He just had to find a way to fix the one flaw he found with his wife, Georgiana, which came in the form of a big, ugly birthmark on her face. He told her, “you came so nearly perfect from the hand of nature that this slightest possible defect…shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection,” (Hawthorne 2276). This story is strikingly relevant today. People are constantly doing dangerous, painful, and expensive things to their bodies just to make themselves look better.

Aylmer was completely unsuccessful as a scientist yet he selfishly took his wife’s life into his hands to fix what did not bother her in the first place. Georgiana found a book that recorded all of Aylmer’s scientific failures. “It was the sad confession , and continual exemplification, of the short-comings of the composite man…” (Hawthorne 2283). In the end, his inadequacy at his profession and want of a perfect wife led to her death. Although Aylmer’s aim was slightly different from Donna Lee and Goodman Brown, he was like them in his inability to focus on his own flaws.

All of the aforementioned stories show that society has not changed much since Hawthorne was writing in the 1800s. The stories illustrate the negative outcomes of focusing too much on others’ imperfections. Goodman Brown grew lonely and bitter, Aylmer lost his wife, and Donna Lee gave up a good relationship with her family. People can be blinded to their own faults while focusing too closely on those of others.

                 

Works Cited

 

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Birth-mark.” The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter. Vol. 1, 4th ed. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. 2276-2287. Print.

 

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Young Goodman Brown.” The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter. Vol. 1, 4th ed. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. 2258-2267. Print.

 

Wilcox, James. “Camping Out.” The New Yorker 14 Dec. 1981: 41-49. Print.

               

Instructor Comments: What I particularly enjoy about Danielle’s essay is her inclusion of James Wilcox’s contemporary short story in comparison to the rote American Literature selections. Besides being a well-crafted essay, Danielle’s insight into the human psyche allows her to find common themes in literature separated by 150 years. She does a great job of maneuvering through each text to show these commonalities.