1. QUEEQUEG (Moby Dick)
Speaker: Alice
Quote: ÒThere was excellent blood in his
veins--royal stuff; though sadly vitiated, I fear, by the cannibal propensity
he nourished in his untutored youth.Ó
Reason voted off: tried to eat fellow survivors
after realizing there was a limited food supply
2. ELIZA (Uncle Tom's Cabin)
Speaker: Jill
Quote: "One soul was worth more than
the world; and this boy has a soul, and if I let him be carried off, who knows
what'll become of it?"
Reason voted off: spent all her time talking about
her son
3. MISS WATSON (The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn)
Speaker: Anna
Quote: "Take your hands away, Huckleberry;
what a mess you are always making!"
Reason voted off: tried to ÔsivilizeÕ the island;
caused erosion by sweeping away sand
4. PETER QUINT (Turn of the
Screw)
Speaker: Alice
Quote: ÒQuint was much too free.Ó
ÒToo free with my boy?Ó
ÒToo free with everyone.Ó
Reason voted off: spent a little too much time
trying to talk to Tom, Pearl, and Huck
5. SIMON LEGREE (Uncle Tom's
Cabin)
Speaker: Jill
Quote: "Now, mind yourself," he
said, with a stamp and a fierce glance of his gray eye, directed at Tom,
"I'm your church now! You
understand,--you've got to be as I say."
Reason voted off: tried to enslave Jim
6. REV. ARTHUR DIMMESDALE (The
Scarlet Letter)
Speaker: Amy
Quote: "...I must stand up on my
pulpit, and meet so many eyes turned upward to my face, as if the light of
heaven were beaming from it!- must see my flock hungry for the truth, and
listening to my words as if a tongue of Pentecost were speaking!- and then look
inward, and discern the black reality of what they idolize"
Reason voted off: by keeping a secret from the rest
of his tribe he cost them an immunity challenge
7. TOM SAWYER (The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn)
Speaker: Anna
Quote: "Oh, certainly. It's best. Some
authorities think different, but mostly it's considered best to kill them
Ðexcept some that you bring to the cave here, and keep them till they're
ransomed"
Reason voted off: attempted to perform tasks with completely
non-productive actions learned from adventure novels
8. ROGER CHILLINGWORTH (The
Scarlet Letter)
Speaker: Amy
Quote: "He had begun an
investigation, as he imagined, with the severe and equal integrity of a judge,
desirous only of truth, even as if the question involved no more than the
air-drawn lines and figures of a geometrical problem, instead of human
passions, and wrongs inflicted on himself. But, as he proceeded, a terrible
fascination, a kind of fierce, though still calm, necessity seized the old man
within his gripe, and never set him free again, until he had done all its
bidding."
Reason voted off: wasnÕt a team player
9. STARBUCK (Moby Dick)
Speaker: Alice
Quote: ÒFor, thought Starbuck, I am here
in this critical ocean to kill whales for my living, and not to be killed by
them for theirs..Ó
Reason voted off: started his own coffee chain
while still in competition
10. THE GOVERNESS (Turn of
the Screw)
Speaker: Alice
Quote: ÒI caught him, yes, I held him--it
may be imagined with what a passion...Ó
Reason voted off: hallucinating; tried to perform
an exorcism on Pearl
11. JIM (The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn)
Speaker: Anna
Quote: "Then Jim manned the oars [again!],
and we took out after our raft"
Reason voted off: always wanted to pilot the raft
12. PEARL (The Scarlet
Letter)
Speaker: Amy
Quote: "...Hester could not help
questioning... whether Pearl was a human child. She seemed rather an airy
sprite, which, after playing its fantastic sports for a little while upon the
cottage floor, would flit away with a mocking smile... An imp of evil, emblem
and product of sin, she had no right among christened infants."
Reason voted off: was simply useless, and kind of a
demon child
The Final Four
HESTER (The Scarlet Letter)
Speaker: Alice
Quote: ÒSuch helpfulness was found in
her- so much power to do and power to sympathize- that many people refused to
interpret the scarlet ÔAÕ by itÕs original signification. They said that it meant ÔAbleÕ; so
strong was Hester Prynne, with a womenÕs strength.Ó
Speech: This survivor was always around
to help out, and proved to be a real team player. Even pretty self-sacrificing
at times. When it came down to the wire, she wasnÕt stuck with conventional
rules.... or morality, either. SheÕs got enough sass not to hide when sheÕs
been defeated, but to keep trying.
CASSY (Uncle Tom's Cabin)
Speaker: Jill
Quote: "Cassy perceived that her
shaft had struck home; and, from that hour, with the most exquisite address,
she never ceased to continue the train of influences she had begun."
Speech: This fiery vixen proved more than
once to be a fierce leader, refusing to be cowed by the other tribe or members
of her own. She consistently
thwarted Simon LeGree's efforts to intimidate her and her tribe mates, and
thwarted his attempts at sabotage.
Her deep understanding of her own power allowed her to play off the
other tribe's insecurities, and combined with a sharp tongue and a mile wide
stubborn streak, it makes her a viable candidate for the title of 19th Century
Survivor.
HUCK (The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn)
Speaker: Anna
Quote: YOU don't know about me without
you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that
ain't no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth,
mainly.
Speech: In the words of this survivor
himself: "IÕm also real smartÑafter I faked my own death, Jim said Tom
Sawyer couldn't get up no better plan; IÕm quick but NOT sivilizedÉ accordinÕ
to Miss Watson and Aunt SallyÑwhoÕs going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I
can't stand it. I been there before."
MOBY DICK (Moby Dick)
Speaker: Amy
Quote: "Corkscrew!" cried Ahab, "aye, Queequeg, the harpoons lie all twisted and wrenched in him; aye, Daggoo, his spout is a big one, like a whole shock of wheat, and white as a pile of our Nantucket wool after the great annual sheep-shearing; aye, Tashtego, and he fan-tails like a split jib in a squall. Death and devils! men, it is Moby Dick ye have seen--Moby Dick--Moby Dick!... it was Moby Dick that dismasted me; Moby Dick that brought me to this dead stump I stand on now. Aye, aye... it was that accursed white whale that razeed me; made a poor pegging lubber of me for ever and a day!"
Speech: This survivor faced nearly
impossible odds to make the final four. The only contestant from a different
species, the Whale was able to not just survive on (well, around) the island,
but flourish. Through cunning, deceit, and a few well-timed swipes of his tail,
Moby Dick has been able to eliminate anyone in his path, and clearly, he is the
most worthy contender for the ultimate 19th Century American
Literature Survivor.