The Purpose of Storytelling - The Evolution of a Viewpoint

The purpose of storytelling - The evolution of a viewpoint

            This class would not have been quite the same had there not been opposing forces of religion and evolution, religion and science and between all stories in general. It has centered on these opposing stories. Would there be evolution of stores if there was not conflict and leading to great discussion? It might not be important that we believe one story or discredit the other, but rather that we see the importance of all the variations in stories being told. It seems without variation and selection, there would be no evolution. Therefore, the telling of stories not only build communities and fosters the unity of people, it also causes divides between them. However negative or positive we see these divides, they are that which allows us to step back and look at issues being raised and whether a particular story stand up strong to questionings. In fact, the ability of the stories we construct to answer the questions of life can change over time.

With the interplay of other stories comes modification and challenges to others. Might some interpret the bible differently now than several hundred years before the advances in science we have made since? The stories of science have been created from evidence we collect to explain the world around us, and many open their minds to both the stories of science and religion. Is science comparable to religion? I’d definitely say it's fair to call science a story. Take chemistry, for example. Scientists, over the course of years, have come up with a generally accepted way of drawing little dots, letters, and lines on a piece of paper in order to explain something we cannot (and may never be able to) actually see. The explanation of the interactions of molecules is comparable to the explanation of history, for which we only have evidence in the form relics. Religion is an example and gives an explanation as to where we come from.

Though, science does seem more authoritative. Whereas individual variations in one's interpretation of the bible is (at least in the U.S.) supposed to be respected (even though it sometimes is not), it is expected that in chemistry all students are taught in a very standardized way and all have the same understanding of how molecules operate. Because, the whole point of this understanding is prediction. If one understands the different flavors of reactions and interactions of molecules, she can apply general themes to specific scenarios on paper. Learning the rules is synonymous with a game of chess - it takes a short time to learn how to play, it takes a lifetime to master the game.

Though, a lifetime from now, chemistry will look notably different from how it looks today. This is what makes it similar to all stories, its ability to change. I will dare to say that all stories probably change over time, to some degree. But what about novels? They’re usually written once, then that's the end of it, right? (Ok, excluding Whitman’s years of revisions). Well, consider this: a story might take on a slightly different meaning for me today than it did when it was written one hundred years ago. Along with the evolution of culture comes the evolution or extinction of our interpretations of stories. The bible has remained mostly the same for quite a while now. What we draw from that story emerges with great variation and complexity. This is particularly so when we try to analyze a modern-day scenario through the lens of the bible. Look at the issue of abortion, for example. There is great disagreement as to whether abortion is morally right according to god and the bible. Many say the bible forbids it. Nowhere in the text is abortion mentioned specifically that I am aware of, I don't think they had abortion when Jesus was around. Rather, it is under interpretation that issues such as this can be debated.

            The bible is a cannon, and the interpretations of the text have both evolved and diverged. But what makes any literary canon have the qualities to be defined as such? Well, we know that one aspect of the bible is that it can be viewed through the lens of today's modern world. Its themes are still applicable over a span of many centuries. Is timelessness what defines a canon? Maybe it's the ability of a piece to get to the heart of human feeling and emotion and touch upon those internal aspects of which we are not consciously aware. A text which we can use as a model of some sort might be in this definition. Whitman's Leaves of Grass has turned into something of a household name. Why was a book that was first published 154 years ago (Neary) still read in English classes throughout the country and the world?

According to Ed Folsom, professor of English at the University of Iowa, Whitman can be viewed as trying to create the voice of “what democracy was going to sound like.” Folsom, in an NPR interview further mentions that “[Whitman] began to see democracy as photography. Anything that the sun would shine on would create an impression. He was trying to absorb and contain every aspect of America’s and the world’s diversity (Neary).” Whitman avoided discrimination and the negative connotation that can sometimes come with it, depending upon how it’s used. He saw the voice of the future democracy as being one “which would not discriminate (Neary).” Another intriguing aspect of Whitman was that he spoke of death as something to be celebrated – as a continuation of the life cycle (Neary). We don’t just listen to Whitman’s work because it sounds nice. We listen to what he is saying and what it meant in the context of the time it was written. Furthermore, we listen to his words because they continue to reverberate 154 years later. Whitman ultimately did not see the height of his work’s popularity. The legacy of his poem will continue on as the voice of an American.

            Take a look at an excerpt from Whitman side-by-side with a song released April of 1990. The Highwaymen were the four country music legends Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson. In the song ‘American Remains’ the group sings of the resiliency and hardened determination of all those types of peoples who call themselves American. As each vocalist takes on a different American within the song, there is an air of pride and a determination to “ride again.” It is a similar sort of pride Whitman speaks of – a pride for the unifying characteristics of those from all corners of the country. We see here that there is a theme of the American Voice – a voice that takes many forms. This voice is the underlying focus and something which, I believe, made Whitman’s great work a canon, his ability to touch upon a theme that runs deep in American culture – that of taking pride in diversity and pride in our perseverance.

            The importance of stories being able to withstand time stands side-by-side with the importance of their ability to mould to the context of the time. The story of what it means to be an American, as portrayed by these two pieces, has certain undertones that remain, but specifics which have changed as America itself has changed. Different sorts of people contribute to diversity, but Freedom still remains held in high regard.

            So, it is also the endurance of stories which contribute to both community-building (“American” as a unifying factor) and their ability to be acknowledged enough by the general population to be influenced by and grow from it.

American Remains

I am a shotgun rider for the San Jacinto line,

The desert is my brother, my skin is cracked and dry.

I was riding on a folk coach and everything was fine,

'Til we took a shorter road to save some time.

The bandits only fired once, they shot me in the chest.

They may have wounded me but they'll never get the best,

Of better men:

'Cos I'll ride again.

I am a river gambler, I make a livin' dealin' cards.

My clothes are smooth and honest, my heart is cold and hard.

I was shufflin' for some delta boys on a boat for New Orleans,

I was the greatest shark they'd ever seen.

But the Captain bumped a sandbar, and an ace fell from my sleeve.

They threw me overboard as I swore I didn't cheat,

But I could swim:

And I'll ride again.

We are heroes of the homeland, American remains.

We live in many faces and answer many names.

We will not be forgotten, we won't be left behind.

Our memories live on in mortal minds.

And poets pens:

We'll ride again.

I am a mid-west farmer, I make a livin' off the land,

I ride a John Deere tractor, I'm a liberated man.

But the rain it hasn't fallen, since the middle of July,

And if it don't come soon my crops will die.

The bank man says he likes me, but there's nothin' he can do.

He tells me that he's comin' but the clouds are comin' too.

He ain't my friend:

And I'll ride again.

I am an American Indian, my tribe is Cherokee.

My forefathers loved this land they left it here for me.

But the white man came with boats and trains and dirty factories,

An' poisened my existence with his deeds.

Nature is our mother, we are sucklings at her breast.

And he who trys to beat her down will lose her to the rest.

They'll never win;

I'll ride again.

We are heroes of the homeland, American remains.

We live in many faces and answer many names.

We will not be forgotten, we won't be left behind.

Our memories live on in mortal minds.

And poets pens:

We'll ride again.

(The Highwaymen - American Remains Lyrics)

Leaves of Grass

16

I am of old and young, of the foolish as much as the wise,

Regardless of others, ever regardful of others,

Maternal as well as paternal, a child as well as a man,

Stuff'd with the stuff that is coarse and stuff'd with the stuff

that is fine,

One of the Nation of many nations, the smallest the same and the

largest the same,

A Southerner soon as a Northerner, a planter nonchalant and

hospitable down by the Oconee I live,

A Yankee bound my own way ready for trade, my joints the limberest

joints on earth and the sternest joints on earth,

A Kentuckian walking the vale of the Elkhorn in my deer-skin

leggings, a Louisianian or Georgian,

A boatman over lakes or bays or along coasts, a Hoosier, Badger, Buckeye;

At home on Kanadian snow-shoes or up in the bush, or with fishermen

off Newfoundland,

At home in the fleet of ice-boats, sailing with the rest and tacking,

At home on the hills of Vermont or in the woods of Maine, or the

Texan ranch,

Comrade of Californians, comrade of free North-Westerners, (loving

their big proportions,)

Comrade of raftsmen and coalmen, comrade of all who shake hands

and welcome to drink and meat,

A learner with the simplest, a teacher of the thoughtfullest,

A novice beginning yet experient of myriads of seasons,

Of every hue and caste am I, of every rank and religion,

A farmer, mechanic, artist, gentleman, sailor, quaker,

Prisoner, fancy-man, rowdy, lawyer, physician, priest.

I resist any thing better than my own diversity,

Breathe the air but leave plenty after me,

And am not stuck up, and am in my place.

(The moth and the fish-eggs are in their place,

The bright suns I see and the dark suns I cannot see are in their place,

The palpable is in its place and the impalpable is in its place. (Whitman)