History Remembered

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, although historical facts are supposed to be objective, historical remembrances are based on emotion and are equivocal and biased due to the varying viewpoints and the prejudices of the time. The author reviews, from this perspective, (1) Edward Ball's "Slaves in the Family", an investigation of his family's history as slave owners in South Carolina, (2) Tim O'Brien's novel "The Things They Carried", a glimpse into the world of the Vietnam War and the "truths" of its vulgarity, and (3) Sherman Alexie's "The Case of Thomas Builds-the-Fire", about the 1858 murder trial of Builds-the-Fire, who is accused of killing Colonel Steptoe. The paper concludes that it is difficult to try to rationalize and analyze past wars and terrible events because they are bound by prejudices, cultural taboos, misconceptions and madness.

From the Paper:

"The Civil War was not so long ago, but its legacy still affects us; its stories are the notions of times gone, yet they are as true as the feeling they incite. A collection of interviews and document analysis is the basis for the factual book, "Slaves in the Family" by Edward Ball. Ball investigates his family's history as slave owners in South Carolina. South Carolina was the leader of inducing civil war when it seceded from the Union on December 20, 1860. Edward Ball is the great-grand son of Isaac, the Confederate ..., who obviously fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Alexie, Sherman. "The Trial of Thomas Builds-the-Fire." Barnet, Sylvan, et. al. An Introduction to Literature: Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 14th ed. New York: Pearson Longman, Inc, 2006. 291-296.
• Ball, Edward. Slaves in the Family. Ballantine Books: New York, 2001.
• McPherson, James. M. Ordeal by Fire. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001.
• O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Houghton Mifflin: Boston, 1990.

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