Analysis of Paul Johnsons Biography Sam Patch, the Famous Jumper - Book Report/Review Example

Analysis of Paul Johnson’s Biography Sam Patch, the Famous Jumper Paul Johnson’s biography Sam Patch, the Famous Jumper is an account of the life of a man named Sam Patch who lived in the wake of the Revolutionary War. Patch gained notoriety for his skills as a waterfall jumper, yet the biography considers his life in terms of the cultural and artistic impacts it made in his interactions with his social milieu. This essay considers three critiques of this biography, considering the various perspectives the authors bring to the work. The first article under examination is Steven Bullock’s review of the text in the Organization of American histories. This scholarly article reviewed the Paul Johnson text in-depth and offered a variety of insightful perspectives on the qualitative and philosophical nature of the text. In Bullock’s examination, a parallel is drawn between the main focus of Johnson’s text – Sam Patch – and a man named Dan Rice. Bullock argues that the two men share a certain performative flair, despite existing at different times of history. It’s also argued that these men are utilized by their biographers to, “illuminate changing views of art, amusement, and decorum” (Bullock, pg. 616). The text then goes onto elucidate various narrative elements of the Johnson biography. In these regards, it begins by indicating Sam Patch’s place of birth as Pawtucket, Rhode Island and noting that he was a factory worker since childhood. It indicates that one of the unique aspects of his upbringing was that he was one of the first-native born mulespinners in the newly established republic. Still it indicates that despite this profession, it was the aspect of his pastime during time off around his factory job that gained him his most notoriety. In these regards, Sam Patch developed and gained notoriety for his skill as a waterfall jumper. At age twenty-eight, it’s indicated that Patch gained such notoriety for his skill that he realized he could make money for his jumps. The article indicates that Patch lived a transitory existence, moving around to new areas and experimenting with new types of jumps. After each jump his notoriety increased. Finally, he came to a monstrous jump in Rochester, New York that was deemed ‘Sam’s Last Jump’; it was a fateful title that would prove true as he conducted the jump while drunk and afterwards never surfaced. The Bullock article qualitatively evaluates the Johnson biography, indicating that it does not simply relay this fantastical narrative, but also goes considerably in-depth tracking down factual and anecdotal evidence. In these regards, Bullock reaches a number of conclusions. He argues that Sam Patch increasingly caused polarized reactions at his events, with just as many individuals enjoying their fantastical nature, as there were individuals who derided it as senselessly dangerous spectacle. Bullock argues that Johnson presents Patch as a sort of crass element that destructs the newly minted republic’s ideals of high class and refinement. In these regards, one can consider Patch’s waterfall jumping in terms of the modern day incarnation of the Jackass movie franchise. Individuals who believe they are of high class or refined taste will generally reject these films as being crass and simple. Still, it’s possible to interpret them as a deliberate challenge to this cultured status-quo just as Patch’s waterfall jumping irritated individuals during his time. The only criticism Bullock’s levies against the text is that Johnson at times may go too far in claiming that these social divides actually existed. He concludes by indicating the significant depth in which Sam Patch made into the national consciousness, being featured in the writing of Herman Melville, as well as article’s being found in Andrew Jackson’s library. Another review of Paul Johnson’s novel was written by Janet Davis, through an article titled ‘Proletarian Daredevil’. Similar to the review constructed by Bullocks, Davis review elucidated many of the narrative elements of Johnson’s biography. While both reviews focused on narrative elements of the biography it’s notable that Davis’ review chose to highlight certain elements that differed slightly from the other reviews. In considering Davis article, Patch’s background is elucidated to a greater and more artful degree. Davis demonstrates that Patch did not simply jump into the water, but developed an artful style that of jumping from his many days working around water mill towns. Davis analyzes the structural elements of Johnson’s biography in considerable depth. In these regards, she indicates that rather than being a traditional biography, the text is representative of a collage of material and anecdotal evidence. Davis argues that since the nature of Patch’s life is somewhat transitory and does not follow a linear narrative path, the corresponding biographical articulation of it will surely not have this linearity. It is no surprise then that Johnson’s biography took a sort of new-formed structure, with anecdotal evidence and unrelated stories constituting the main thrust of the text. Davis argues that while Johnson is able to capture the fantastical nature of Patch’s life and the spectacle of his existence, the biography is limited in a number of categories. One of the most pervasive of these limitations is its inability to articulate or capture the Sam Patch’s true character elements. Davis states, “Johnson’s account is peppered with speculation regarding Patch’s drunkenness, his moody behavior, and his apparent death wish” (Davis, pg. 177). As a result of not being able to capture the specific character elements, Davis argues that the Johnson biography instead focuses on largely sociological issues. One of the notable such issues is the exploration of the disparity in the socio-economic statuses of individuals working within the factories and those working on the outside. Similar to Bullock’s critique, Davis presents Johnson’s biography and subsequently Patch’s life as a sort of commentary on the division between high and low culture. Rather than simply being an extension of an individual with a unique skill, both individuals seek to present the biography as a sort of revolutionary critique of the nature of the high cultural object when confronted by supposed low-culture. In these regards, Sam Patch’s waterfall jumping makes for the perfect illustration of this cultural confrontation. The final review examined is Stephen Nissenbaum’s critique of Paul Johnson’s biography. This critique covers many of the same aspects of the biography as the previous two reviewers, but adds a fresh perspective to a number of elements. Similar to the two previous reviewers, Nissenbaum considers the means by which the biography goes beyond a simple narrative and deals with cultural and artistic issues. In these regards, Nissenbaum writes that the biography considers, “the early Jacksonian conflict between the patriarchal culture of working-class men and the domestic culture of middle-class reforming evangelicals” (Nissenbaum, pg. 147). While the two previous reviewers had indicated their understanding that the biography functioned just as much as a fantastical narrative as it did a commentary on conflicting socio-economic and cultural perspectives, Nissenbaum’s critique takes this interpretation a step farther. Rather, Nissenbaum articulates what he believes to be the specific instances of cultural divide as the working class and the middle class evangelicals. Rather than focusing on the fantastical nature of Patch’s waterfall jumping, Nissenbaum’s more intently considers the socio-cultural nature of this divide. Nissenbaum even references an element from the text that demonstrates Patch was aware of this cultural divide; in these regards, Patch had a sign at one of his events that read, “Some things may be done as well as others” (Nissenbaum, pg. 147). While the other reviewers have presented this as a divide between high and low culture, Nissenbaum is arguing that within Patch’s cultural milieu this is not so much an artistic divide, but instead has a more down to earth connection. For Nissenbaum, Patch’s waterfall jumping as a means of subsistence, was not so much artistically critiqued, but rather scorned upon by individuals who worked a more bourgeois existence. Nissenbaum also considers the Johnson biography in a qualitative context. In these regards, he argues that the narrative structure is brilliantly put together. This perspective is slightly at odds with Davis interpretation that argues that the biography’s narrative is necessarily disjointed because of the limited information available about Sam Patch’s life, and the transitory nature of his existence. In all instances, it’s clear that the reviewers agree that the biography is a qualitative success. They also agree that it is able to masterfully consider the nature of Patch’s life as challenging aspects of bourgeois existence with the fantastical nature of waterfall jumping. In conclusion, it’s clear that Paul Johnson’s biography on Sam Patch is multi-varied in its complexity. In considering the biography, the three reviewers contained herein have examined it from sometimes overlapping perspectives. If there have been dominant themes in these regards, they are in the means by which the text presents an engaging if sometimes disjointed narrative, as well as the socio-economic and socio-cultural challenges of the life of its main protagonist, Sam Patch. Ultimately, it’s clear that the text takes aspects of Patch’s life and implements it in a sometimes metaphorical way to demonstrate the power of alternate forms of life as compared to those of traditional bourgeoisie existence. References Bullock, Steven C. (2004) ‘Review: Sam Patch, the Famous Jumper by Paul E. Johnson.’ The Journal of American History, Vol. 91, No. 2 (Sep., 2004), pp. 616-617 Davis, Janet M. (2004) ‘Proletarian Daredevil.’ Reviews in American History, Volume 32, Number 2, June, pp. 176-183. Nissenbaum, Stephen. (2005) ‘Paul E. Johnson. Sam Patch, The Famous Jumper’ The American Historical Review, Vol. 110, No. 1, pp. 147-148. Read More