"Dead Certainties"

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how Simon Schama, in "Dead Certainties", tells a fascinating story that combines two deaths. The paper examines how the story is reminiscent of historical mysteries, like "The Plague Tales" and "An Instance of the Fingerpost". The paper further analyzes how Schama has imparted a literary dimension to the bare facts of history, revisiting the story of Wolfe, the British hero of the 1700s on the 'Heights of Abraham'.

From the Paper:

"The novel can be read as a story of death. Schama has a serious point to make by writing in this accessible style. The historical events are often highly ambiguous; that the records are often contradictory, and that writing history requires historians to provide the continuity by interpreting the past subject. The second half deals with the case of Parkman's mercurial Uncle George--exacting landlord, physician, authority on insane asylums--whose dismembered body parts were found at Harvard Medical College one week after he disappeared on Thanksgiving Day, 1849. Although a genial, expansive Harvard chemistry professor was hanged for the crime, the conflicting testimony presented here casts doubt on the verdict. Schama ( Citizens ) blends fact, speculation and fictitious dialogue in a chronicle as gripping as a good detective novel."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Schama, Simon. Dead Certainties. New York: Knopf, 1991.

More papers on "Dead Certainties":

• Analytical Essay # 20647 : "Simon Schama's "Dead Certainties"
• Article Review # 105215 : "Cultural Tourism and the Day of the Dead"
• Analytical Essay # 136314 : "The First Seven Minutes of "Dead Man"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: