M. Twain, MIDWESTERN LITERATURE REGIONALISM - Essay Example

Task: Midwestern Literature Regionalism The role of literature in expressing diverse concepts in the society is plausible. Regionalism is among the societal concerns evident in a number of literatures of the United States. There are masterpiece literature works from a number of regions, the south, north and west. Twain has highly celebrated literature from the west. Midwest identity is among the concepts addressed in various literatures of the United States. Twains work, Life on the Mississippi, remains a masterpiece literature in the Midwest given the impact it creates on the readers about Midwest identity.

The literature fully explores the vast nature of the land otherwise known with utmost skeptics. In as much as the various readers may have prior, and at times negative, notion on the Midwest, Twain’s work has a significant message on the Midwest identity. The literature creates a sense of likeness for the landscape that is, otherwise, known to be void of any enjoyable and admirable character. The message that Twain passes of the land is unquestionably effective for its information of its beauty.

This impacts the readers’ enthusiasm and fondness, positively, and leaves them eager to see the land. It creates a remarkable change in the readers’ perception of the landscape. The beauty of the landscape and the storms, as described in the literature, highly initiates the readers’ desire to visit the physical location of the described regions. The readers’ perception and knowledge of the Midwest identity receives a boost from the credited description given by Twain, in the story. The information on the people of the area is clear from the description.

It offers a change in the perception that readers may have on the people of the land prior to reading the literature. The people, from the description, make enterprising population. The innovativeness evokes attraction from readers and the desire to associate with them. Their people’s toil (Twain 261) such as on the sides of the Upper River is plausible and encouraging . This leaves the readers with the desire to interact with the people described in the story. The depiction also reverses the traditional view that depicted the people as having a lifestyle that is not jovial.

A detailed analysis of Twain’s work depicts the notion of regionalism to deep extent. The story runs through a considerable area of the country. The setting of the story starts from New Orleans to the area of Hannibal. It is along a considerable area of the Mississippi. Despite this, there is little challenge that the literature, Life on the Mississippi, creates in regards to the idea of regionalism. Regionalism in the literature of the United States connotes the controversy that emanates from the writers’ origin, notable the north, south and west.

Because of the difference, there exists a rift in the styles employed by the writers that provide a reflection of their regions. Poe is a notable writer from the north, McCarthy from the south and Twain from the west. The literature pays tribute to the west compared to other regions. The setting of the plot, having a substantial base on the region surrounding the Mississippi river, is a considerable part of the west. Besides, the literature provides a clear difference between the cultures of the Midwestern people and the Southerners including their customary practices.

The fact that the two groups of people use a common resource, the river, does not provide any challenge to regionalism. Instead, the literature by Twain is a repetition of the depictions of regionalization that exists in a number of works in the United States. There is a possibility of identifying the aspects of regionalism. The difference in cultures, for instance, is a notable depiction of the elements of regionalism. This forms part of the significant differences that exist is the writing styles adopted by writers from diverse regions.

Twain displays the western literature style in his work. Stern, on the contrary, challenges the notion of regionalism. In the opinion, a mere judgment of any literature piece based on the area is misleading and should not exist. Such challenge is useful. In his view, the notion of classification based on regions is an imaginary notion (Anderson 14) The article by Storey depicts some elements that are useful in forming a reasonable focus on the rural Midwest. In view of storey, there exists a difference in the literature works in the rural and urban literature.

This discrimination creates a tendency, in which readers give preference to urban fiction (Storey 193). In rural literature, time seems to get little consideration in comparison to the setting in urban literature. Time, in urban literature, affects on the setting of the literature. The observance of time in the transport by rail is synonymous to the occurrences in urban literature. This creates a focus on the rural Midwest. The aspect of time observance depicts an unusual trend in the normal organization of the rural literature and depiction of the way of life in such settings.

The organization evident in the operation of people is more related to the urban center than the normal organization known to exist in the rural center setup. It ultimately creates focus on the rural Midwest. Works Cited Anderson, David. Exploring the Midwestern Literary Imagination. New York, NY: The Whitston Publishing Company, 1993. Print. Storey, Mark. Country Matters: Rural Fiction, Urban Modernity, and the Problem of American Regionalism. Nineteenth-Century Literature, 65 (20): 192-213. 2010. Print.

Twain,Mark. Life on the Mississippi. Boston, MA: MobileReference, 2009. Print.