Cordeiro Anne 5/4/09 Jason Berger HIST 1503 Applying the Past: Can We Learn From Our Mistakes? We all have a personal history, origins, roots that can be traced back farther than we can imagine. At some point many decide to explore these beginnings; curious about where we came from, why we are who we are today, and how the past can shape our future. However when we take a step back and begin to acclimate ourselves with the past how much does it really affect us? Does this retrospective at all change our current outlook on life? Or do we inevitably go back to what we already know; never applying what the past has taught us? Various American writers have explored this very notion; when we decide to remove ourselves from current society to explore our ancestry, do we ever utilize what we find out or return exactly to what we know? Through the works of Herman Melville, Henry Thoreau, and Gloria Anzaldua we see examples of people probing the past, yet returning to life treating the knowledge they gained as only a memory. Herman Melvilles Typee tells the story of a sailor, Tommo, who escapes his whaling ship and begins to live in a Peloponnesian valley amongst the Typee people. The Typee are a native people, who happily take Tommo in and treat him well, despite their reputation for cannibalistic practices. Despite this Tommo begins to learn and love the ways of the Typee lifestyle. Tommo did not exactly remove himself to explore his bloodline or heritage, yet left modern European society to investigate and adapt to ancient civilization. Tommo is exploring the lifestyle that can be linked back to the beginnings of civilizations. As time passes Tommo begins to thoroughly enjoy the Typee existence, questioning the nature of modern European
2 society. The Typee are seen as savages, yet Tommo begins to question whether it is actually the Typee who are more civilized than Europeans. For a good time it appears that Tommo has completely adapted to Typee society and will never return to contemporary society; he has been shown a new way of life, making it seemingly difficult for him to return to modern culture. Yet despite this newfound perspective and appreciation, Tommo is able to confirm the cannibalistic behavior of the Typee and immediately ignores all the knowledge he has gained; his only thoughts are those of escape. Inevitably Tommo is able to escape, leaving the island and his new perspective behind. Granted the threat of cannibalism would force most humans to remove themselves from this situation, however it is the nature in which Tommo leaves that is interesting. After living and absorbing the Typee culture up for months, a switch flips inside of him and he no longer wishes to associate with what he grew to love. As Tommo is reaching the boat to take him from the island he exclaims, Oh glorious sight and sound of ocean! with what rapture did I hail you as familiar friends! By this time the shouts of the crowd upon the beach were distinctly audible, and in the blended confusion of sounds I almos' fancied I could distinguish the voices of my own countrymen. (Melville, 283) Tommo is not only rejecting the Typee lifestyle, but embracing the familiar. Tommos case provides evidence that regardless of the outlook Tommo received while living with the Typee, Tommo was not able to apply this knowledge to his modern life and returned to contemporary society without looking back. Similar to Melvilles Typee, Henry Thoreau had a similar experience when he too removed himself from contemporary society to explore how mankind survived in the past. Yet unlike Tommo, Thoreau willingly chose to investigate the past treating his hiatus as more of an
3 experiment. Thoreau moved to the shores of Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts for a little over two years before returning to civilized life. Thoreau lives with no luxuries other than what he defines as the necessities. He writes, The necessaries of life for man in this climate may, accurately enough, be distributed under the several heads of Food, Shelter, Clothing, and Fuel. (Thoreau, 11). It is evident that Thoreau did indeed remove himself from society and thoroughly examines the survival of man in the past. Like Tommo, it appears that Thoreau gains a lot of knowledge along with an altered perspective than he previously had. However, does this original vision ultimately affect his life once he returns to modern society? Thoreau writes about how during his time at Walden Pond he was able to escape the constraints of material items, and was free truly living on only the necessities he defined. Nevertheless, was he able to apply this to his modern life? Through the writing it can be seen that Thoreau greatly values what he gained while at Walden Pond, and although he reflects upon admirably he still treats it like a memory, as did Tommo when he escaped the Typee valley. Both Thoreau are able to appreciate what happened to them when they investigated the past, yet as they reflect there is no evidence that their experiences genuinely affected their day-to-day upon returning to contemporary society. Gloria Anzaldua writes about exploring her ancestry, specifically that of a Chicana or border artist. Women artists who live by the US-Mexico border are greatly influenced by two powerful cultures, which are in turn reflected in their work. Anzaldua reflects on her visit to the Denver Museum of National History to view the exhibit: Aztec: The World of Moctezuma. Anzaldua, a Chicana herself, was not only there to browse the many impressive artifacts, but also searching for some identity, she writes, What does in mean to me esta jotita, this queer Chicana, the mexicatejana to enter a museum and look at indigenous objects that were once used by my ancestors? Will I find my historical Indian identity here at this museum among the
4 ancient artifacts and their mestisaje. (Anzaldua, 1). Anzaldua reflects on the many inspiring pieces she sees during the exhibit, and is truly touched by the connection she can feel to her ancestors, yet is able to make an interesting observation. Anzaldua notes that even experiences like this, as powerful as they may be, are not guaranteed to affect how we live our current lives. She writes, The past is hanging behind glass. We, the viewers in the present, walk around and around the glass-boxed past. I wonder who I used to be, I wonder who I am. (Anzaldua, 6). She claims that like the exhibit we take the past and preserve it, because we recognize the importance. Yet as we maintain it we dont touch it, keep it behind the glass, therefore posing the question: does it ever get applied? Through these works we can see that exploring the past is essential and that we must embrace this given the chance to. Even if our history isnt completely relevant to us, we should jump at the chance to explore it. Like in Typee and Walden, the authors experiences were not their actual ancestry, but rather the ancestry of mankind. Scholars Myron A. Marty and David E. Kyvig assert this notion in their book, Nearby History, they write, The experience of other social groups, particularly anonymous people who formed the mass of society, needed to examined (Kyvig, 8-9). We who now form the mass of society must take advantage of this concept. It is evident that our history is essential, but we must allow exploring our past affect our future. The past isnt something to keep locked in a glass case to only view from a distance. With todays technology we have overwhelming access to our history; now we must take the time to not only recognize this but to use it. Writers like Melville and Thoreau absolutely realized how essential connecting with our origins are, however provided no evidence that it truly helped them shape their future. Due to scholarly analysis and the works of Melville, Thoreau, and Anzaldua we see that
5 it is absolutely essential that we expand our horizons are research the past. Although through these works we dont exactly see how this exploration can affect us; or rather should it affect us? Since it is fundamental for us to investigate where our current society came from, it is just as important to apply this knowledge. We should not treat our knowledge like a museum exhibit, but rather as an integral part of our lives. Our history is not behind us, but rather a fundamental of what we are, who we are, and where we are going.
6 Works Cited
Anzaldua, Gloria. "Chicana artisits: exploring nepantla, el lugar de la frontera." NACLA Report on the Americas 27 (1993): 37.
Kyvig, David E. Nearby History Exploring the Past Around You. Second ed. Rowman & Littlefield, 2000. Google Books. <http://books.google.com/books? id=GXqkV1hFfXAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=exploring+personal+past&lr=&source=gbs_s ummary_r&cad
Melville, Herman. Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1876. Google Books. May 2009 <http://books.google.com/books? pg=PP1&dq=typee&id=chFbAAAAMAAJ#PPP9,M1>. Thoreau, Henry D. Walden. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1854.