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... the Downtown area surrounded by the historical sites, as Walker Percy says "if it does not conform, if the colors are somber, he will not be able to see it directly; he will only be conscious of the disparity between what it is and what it is supposed to be. He will say later that he was unlucky in not being there at the right time. The highest 'point, the term of the sightseer's satisfaction, is not the sovereign discovery of the thing before him; it is rather the measuring up of the thing to the criterion of the preformed symbolic complex. " (589) Taking my English writing instructors advice, one day during my lunch break from work; I went on a short trip to Faneuil Hall. This historical building blends in with other red brick buildings in Boston. Therefore, you might pass it by, if it were not for the painted red line representing the Freedom Trail and a statue of Samuel Adams in the middle of the plaza.
Before entering the building, one might compare this moment with, as Walker Percy says "Seeing the canyon is made even more difficult by what the sight- seer does when the moment arrives, when sovereign knower confronts the thing to be known. Instead of looking at it, he photographs it. There is no confrontation at all. " (589). This may also explain my expectations of Faneuil Hall, picturing how my friends had described it to me. As Waker Percy would say the privileged knower, the preformed complex. As the pamphlet describes: FANEUIL HALL TODAY Into the 20 th Century, Faneuil Hall has remained an active and important place for Bostonian's.
In the early 19 th Century the three granite structures of the Quincy Market were built to the east of the Hall. These, along with Faneuil Halls market stalls, continued to be Bostons wholesale food distribution center until the 1960 s. During the 1970 s the entire Faneuil Hall area underwent a major renewal, and today the stalls purvey food to the thousands of visitors each day. Entering the building, I was expecting to see a museum of some sort, but instead I encountered commercialism everywhere. They were selling things from tee shirts of Larry Bird (a famous basketball player), to Babe Ruth (a famous baseball player). It was disappointing to say the least.
Does this have some significance to any sightseers who are expecting to see a historical site? It is a place where one should be inspired by what they are expected to find. Again I am inspired to what, as Walker Percy says Will this as Walker Percy says the sightseer measures his satisfaction by the degree to which the canyon conforms to the preformed complex. I then went to the information desk and took a pamphlet, which described Faneuil Hall. I decided to return the following day. Upon further reading the pamphlet, I overlooked the fact that the place had more to offer.
The pamphlet describes a meeting room on the second floor and a museum on the third floor. On the second day during my lunch break from work, I went back into Faneuil Hall. However, this time to find the meeting room and the museum. Once more entering Faneuil Hall I looked for the stairs leading to the meeting room. I looked for a sign with direction to the museum, but could not find it. Out of frustration, I went to the information desk and asked the museum guide to show me the direction to the floor, which had the meeting room.
The guide told me to find the stairs to the meeting room one had to go outside and around the back using the middle doors, as Walker Percy says It may be recovered by leaving the beaten track. The tourist leaves the tour, camps in the back country. He arises before dawn and approaches the South Rim through a wild terrain where there are no trails and no railed-in lookout points. In other words, he sees the Canyon by avoiding all the facilities for seeing the canyon. (590) As I climbed the stairs, I would look up and was surprised to see large murals of famous people in the large meeting room. Then I thought, is this as Walker Percy says the preformed symbolic complex?
Upon entering the meeting room, I saw a mural of John Adams, the 2 nd president of the United States. A short quote at the bottom of the murals frame says The Cradle of Liberty. Looking around to see if any other sightseers would see and appreciate the meaning of this meeting room? Walker Percy "Instead of looking at it, he photographs it. There is no confrontation at all. " (589) Yes, this is true, perhaps for some sightseers taking pictures of the meeting room and not confronting its meaning.
VISITING FANEUIL HALL The ground floor of Faneuil Hall contains shops and eating establishments. The second floor meeting room is staffed by Park Rangers of the National Park Service. The third floor contains the museum and armory of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts. The Company, founded in 1638 for the defense of the colony, has occupied space in Faneuil Hall since 1746.
The Hall is open throughout the year and is accessible to persons who are disabled. I went up to the third floor where the Museum of Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, this society still existing even today. Many of the museum artifacts were of different war periods. I saw memorabilia, which included a piece of the Berlin wall, a picture of President Bush Sr. , rifles, and many more historical military artifacts. Here again is a room full of historical meaning.
As its more meaningful from one sightseer to the next as they gaze and wonder who these people were as we call them today Patriots. As the pamphlet describes Boston National Historical Park pamphlet MUSEUM OF THE ANCIENT AND HONORABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY The company was chartered I 1638 by the Great and General Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony. Its Headquarters and Armory Have been there in Faneuil Hal since 1746. You the reader have experienced Walker Percy's discovery of surprise and symbolic complex in my description of the museum at Faneuil Hall. I hope my description of discoveries at Faneuil Hall regains your sense of patriotism because, as Walker Percy says, "I do not refer only to the special relation of layman to theorist. I refer to the general situation in which sovereignty is surrendered to a class of privileged knower's, whether these be theorists or artists.
A reader may surrender sovereignty over that which has been written about, just as a consumer may surrender sovereignty over a thing which has been theorized about. The consumer is content to receive an experience just as it has been presented to him by theorists and planners. " (594). With this knowledge of Faneuil Halls importance to U. S. history -- you too are now what Walker Percy says, the privileged knower.
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