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Short Essay Both stories Repent Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman by Ralph Ellison and Two Kinds by Amy Tan describe the effects of person's alienation from the social machine, which strives to dominate peoples' lives on very personal level. It is only with the rising of post-industrial societies that we can talk of people with an outstanding personalities, finding themselves as being unwanted, because they can't conform to the realities of robotic existence. The concept of evil has been altered to a large degree lately in recent years. It is no more a villain with a bloody knife in his hand that represents the ultimate menace to us, but a faceless bureaucrat with a pen and suitcase, which has an immense power over peoples lives. In democratic societies there is a danger of governments being alienated from those who had elected them, over an increased anonymity of how decisions are made.
In a way, we talk of a social machine that we associate with ultimate evil in modern times. If even twenty years ago, the heroic character would inevitably prevail against the odds in the end, nowadays we see him to most likely end up in jail, although public sympathies would still be with him. We take money from rich people with my gun rich people take houses from poor with their pens said Clyde to Bonnie once. Ellison's story describes an anti-utopian society, where people cannot afford to waste time on activities that don't have anything to do with them being productive. In the way, we can think of individual, in Ellison's society, as we would envision the first people living at the edge of the glacier nothing depends on them. Their existence is accidental.
The irony here lies in fact that, as modern bureaucratic apparatus becomes more complex, it assumes the role of hostile environment. While having a malls to shop in, people find themselves in the same position as their pre-historic ancestors, which had to suppress their individuality, in order to survive: The purchasing needs of the system were therefore falling behind, and so measures were taken to accelerate the cycle for the rest of the day, but it got bogged down and speeded up and they sold too many float-valves and not nearly enough wigglers (Ellison). This passage is the parody of our present consumerist society. People's role in it can be compared to the role of engine's oil it cools it down, but it must be replaced on the continuous basis.
Amy Tan's story Two Kinds is more pleasurable to read, as author's writing style is not affected by the alcoholic intoxication. It is a biographic account of Chinese girl being forced by her mother to become somebody. Instead of wanting her daughter being able to fit into American society, her mother pushed Amy to become someone significant. We cannot really find much similarity in these two stories, because philosophical foundations, upon which they are built, are different. Harlequin's trouble begin when he openly opposes himself to the social policies, practiced in Ellison's imaginary world. Amy, on other hand, is beginning to feel frustrated with herself when she realizes that her genetic properties do not allow her to become successful in America: Waverly looked at me and shrugged her shoulders. "You aren't a genius like me, " she said matter-of-family.
And if I hadn't felt so bad, I would have pulled her braids and punched her stomach (Tan). The main difference between two stories is that Harlequin rationally decides not to succumb to the rules of conventional morality, while Amy tries hard to do it, yet she fails, because of the simple lack of artistic talent, on her part. She becomes rebellious after realizing that this is probably the only chance for her to leave mark in the history, since she lacks beauty, intelligence and health to do it in normal way. The essence of Harlequin's protest lies in the fact the he refused to be the part of mediocrity, while Amy thinks that her her mediocrity makes her unique', that's why she refuses to apply an effort to become a famous musician. Harlequin's social stance makes us to respect him, as he consciously accepts the risks of being caught and punished for yelling: Why let them order you about? Why let them tell you to hurry and scurry like ants or maggots?
Take your time! Saunter a while! Enjoy the sunshine, enjoy the breeze, let life carry you at your own pace! Don't be slaves of time, it's a helluva way to die, slowly, by degrees...
down with the Ticktockman!" . Tammy's protest exists only in her mind, inflamed by political-correctness. She just wants to be herself, but she cannot define the essence of herself, apart from the fact that she has a slanted eyes, being of Chinese origin. This is why, even though Ellison never mentions the racial background of Harlequin, we assume that he is White. He tries to change history, whatever hopeless his attempt might appear in the yeas of those who listened to his proclamation with cautious curiosity.
On the other hand, Amy uses the right words, sounds very logical yet she fails to gain a sympathy, on readers part, as we subconsciously think of her social protest as the whining of overindulged kid, who thinks that living in America automatically makes her unique. It is not by the accident the Amy mentions her mother saying: you could be anything you wanted to be in America. You could open a restaurant. You could work for the government and get good retirement.
You could buy a house with almost no money down. You could become rich. You could become instantly famous (Tan). Still, Amy associates her mother with an oppressive authority, even though she wanted to help her daughter to score in this life. In my opinion, we cannot really compare Repent Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman and Two Kinds, despite the fact the on the surface, they both strive to undermine an oppressive social authority.
The main reason for this is authors' different ethnic backgrounds. For thousands of years the royal dynasties ruled the China, without having to deal with the popular discontent of its subjects, while Europeans always revolted, when they thought that the government is treating them unfairly. Amy's position, regarding an oppressive authority can be thought of as such that represents the opinion of all Asians in this country. They observe visible social trends and adjust their act accordingly, so that they can be thought of as really sophisticated.
This partially explains the fact why China became the biggest producers of electronics in the world, without even slightly contributing to the technological progress in this field. Ellison's Harlequin is much more lively figure, even though he never existed. His protest against the authority can be paralleled to the leftist terrorism in seventies, which was pointless, bloody, but memorable. People who based their worldview on the Marxist materialist theory, were still able to think of their lives and deeds from spiritual point of view. That's why they were willing sacrifice. To conclude this, we need to state following: Ellison's and Tan's stories only appear to be having the same properties.
But their essence is fundamentally opposite. This is a result of authors' belonging to a different races, even though they both were being born in multicultural America. Harlequin's idealistic stance results from his inner desire to benefit the whole mankind, while Amy is only concerned of being herself in the society that still encourages people to develop their natural talents. If there is anything that we can relate these two stories to, is the lack of writing talent, on the part of both authors.
Repent Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman and the Two Kinds are incredibly boring. But if Ellison's story still posses a bit of artistic value, being inspired by George Orwell's 1984, Tan's autobiographical account can be only interesting to herself, because it does not captivate the reader with the dramatic. There are many more worthier tales out there then the story of lazy and stubborn girl, who tried to slack off from taking a piano lessons.
Still, the objective reality evaluates the literature pieces, according to its own grading system. Ellison's and Tam's masterpieces are only known to the small circle of critics and to the students, who are forced to study mediocrity.
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