Nightjohn: Week of 11/10/14

Pages: 1-92 (Finished)
Prompt: Analyze the impact word choice has on the meaning or tone of the text. Analyze how dialogue or specific incidents reveal information about characters. Make sure to include textual evidence.

*WARNING* This is a very long blog, because I had so much to say! 

     This week, for Social Studies class, we were required to read the book Nightjohn. Nightjohn is Historical Fiction, written by Gary Paulson. It's about a young girl's (Sarny) experience with Slavery. She comes in counter with a new Slave, John, which is why the title is Nightjohn. The book gives very vivid descriptions of Slave life on a plantation, and shows the extreme brutality Slaves faced.

     Word choice, has a huge impact on Nightjohn. I mean, Gary Paulson, really had no other choice. If he didn't choose to include strong, descriptive words, for how the Slaves were treated, or how the Slaves looked, then we wouldn't be able to see the full picture. The harsh ways the Slaves were treated, wouldn't be portrayed as well. Some of the words he uses aren't very complex either. They just have a very powerful affect with the context they are written in. For example, when a new Slave comes to the Plantation (John) his physical state is described when Sarny says, “His back was all over scars from old whippings. The skin across his shoulders and down was raised in ripples, thick as my hand, up and down his back and onto his rear end and down his legs some more." When Sarny describes John's back as having ripples from all of the whipping, you can visualize it so much better. You can picture it, and almost feel it. I know that when I read this part of the novel, my skin rose, and I could practically feel what had happened to John! Paulson uses better word choice, to help evoke the sorrowful and harsh tone of the book. Though, this quote can be used to help evoke the tone as well. Through this, we can see that Gary is showing how terribly the Slaves were treated, and you could tell, just based on how they looked. Because Paulson does not not hold back on the descriptions of the Slaves, we can really feel that unpleasant tone in the atmosphere. 

     Another place in the story where word choice has an impact on the novel is when Mammy is talking to Sarny about learning. It was technically against the law for Slaves to learn to read or write, or to learn any letters or numbers. If they were caught doing one of these things, they could face extreme punishment. In the story, Mammy says, "Don’t. They catch you doing that and they’ll think you’re learning to read. You learn to read, and they’ll whip you till your skin hangs.” This description, of someone's skin hanging off, is absolutely disgusting. Slaves were given punishments this unbelievable, and Paulson is really able to show that, through how he describes what happens to the Slaves if they break even the stupidest of rules! The two examples I gave, were not the only in the story used to describe the abominable "wounds" of the Slaves. Gary Paulson did an excellent job showing us how gruesomely Slaves were treated through every single one of his descriptions. This quote, again, shows the unpleasant tone, because Gary is describing a terrible consequence Slave's faced. It is disgusting, and leaves that harsh feeling in the room as we hear that the Slave's skin could literally hang off of their bodies! It also gives the novel a more stern tone, as Mammy is very serious about not wanting Sarny to read. It becomes more serious, as Sarny has to realize that her actions could have major consequences.

This isn't exactly word choice, more of the way Gary Paulson wrote the book. So, if you want to skip this paragraph it would be okay, because it does not exactly fit with the prompt. Though, Gary Paulson wrote the book where he made all of the Slave's dialogue a certain way. He used incorrect grammar, to actually show us how Slave's spoke, because they weren't educated. As you saw in the last paragraph, if they were caught learning, they could face punishments that would really hurt their bodies! It's decently subtle, but extremely obvious at the same time! He's able to only take out one word in sentence that sounds like it should be there, or write a instead of an in places. For example, in the story when Sarny is speaking, she says, "A big hand grabbed the back of my shirtdress and dragged me up off my feet so I be hanging there." We would most likely say this statement as, "A big had grabbed the back of my shirtdress, and dragged me up off of my feet so that I was hanging there." We know it's incorrect, but most Slave's did not because they did not receive proper education, if even the slightest education at all! I just think that this is important to bring up because, if Gary Paulson didn't have the Slave's talk this certain way, then the story wouldn't be the same. The Slaves wouldn't be as easily distinguished from the other people, and it wouldn't really set the tone and mood as well. It also wouldn't be as accurate, because I'm sure one of the goals in writing this book, was to make it as realistic as possible.

Now, there's one specific event that I feel reveals a lot about two certain characters. This is shown by both the word choice, and the actions the characters make. We are really able to see their true colors! I'm going to include an excerpt from the Novel to show what I mean.

"What are you doing?"
A big hand grabbed the back of my shirtdress and dragged me up off my feet so that I be hanging there.
"Tell me what you're doing." He was ugly. Pale white maggot ugly and I could smell his ugliness on him-white ugly. Stink of bad sweat and whiskey and smoke and fat food. I didn't say nothing.
     He shook me like a dog shaking a rat.
     
     ....
     
     "Don't know nothing about writing."
     He hit me then. Be holding me with both hands, one on each shoulder so I'm facing him, and he quick drops one hand and hits me with his fist alongside the head as I fall.
     I saw lights. Exploding colors.
     "Don't lie to me. You tell me the the truth of it and I'll let you off. Where did you learn to write?"
     "Don't know nothing about writing," I said again. I had dropped all the way down and was sitting in the dirt looking up at him but it put me in a bad place.

As you can see, there's a lot going on in this excerpt! We can surely see a lot about the characters Sarny (the Slave who is denying learning to write) and Clel Waller (the Slave owner who is beating Sarny). What we learn about Sarny, is that first, she is very brave. She continually denies learning to write, even though she continues to get beaten every time she lies. From the word choice of Paulson, we can see that what Waller is doing, is pretty disgusting and terrible! Sarny was hit so hard, that she saw colors! She was also being shaken like (as said in the story) a dog shaking a rat! This is alluding to the fact that Slaves are treated like animals! Though Sarny perseveres through all of the pain! The things that Clel Waller is doing to Sarny, really show us that he is a monstrous! He is really a sickening man! A large man, beating a small child is just outrageous! Though, because Sarny continues to receive the beatings and keeps her mouth shut, we can see that she values friendship. This may not be obvious by looking just at this excerpt from the story, but it does make sense. Sarny learned to write from John. As she is being shaken or hit, she could just easily let Clel Waller know that John taught her to write. All of her misery could simply end. Though, she takes the pain, to save the pain of her friend, John. She does it to protect him, showing that she values their friendship. One last thing we can see about Sarny from this excerpt, is that she thinks of her Owner as a very nasty person. She is not blind to the fact that what he is doing is unjust. We get to see what she personally thinks of Clel. Gary Paulson's word choice helps us to really see what Sarny thinks, as well. She describes Waller as ugly (we can assume not only on the outside, but on the inside), and like a maggot, and stinks of disgusting cigarettes and whisky. We don't always get to know exactly how Slaves would describe their owners, and how Sarny describes Waller, shows that she clearly dislikes him very much!