Johnson's ideas and their applications in integrated analysis

Human Commonalities in Literature

In the preface to his edition of Shakespeare's works, the 18th century scholar and author Samuel Johnson asked why Shakespeare's plays were still popular among common people so long after his death. He then answered his own question by asserting that Shakespeare was "the poet that holds his readers a faithful mirrour of manners and life." (Johnson) He was popular hundreds of years after his death because his characters were "the genuine progeny of common humanity," they had characteristics that every human being shared and could relate to. (Johnson, 8) Shakespeare's characters and stories may have been set in specific places and times, but they contained universal themes and emotions which made them timeless. More than two centuries have past since Johnson made his assertions and it is necessary to ask if they as true in the 21st century as they were in the 18th. Two short stories which contrast Johnson's ideas are Ernest Hemingway's the Old Man and the Sea and Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut. While Hemingway's story contains universal themes which all humanity can relate to, Vonnegut's is strange and not representative of the common human experience. However, despite these differences, both stories effectively present the reader with an experience that can be related to by the common person.

The Old Man and the Sea is a tale that is set in the modern world and even contains references to 1950's American baseball players, but this tale of a Cuban fisherman is representative of the common human experience. The story begins with the "old man" on his eighty-fourth day without catching a fish. He is having a spot of bad luck, or a losing streak as they say in baseball terminology; something that every person has experienced. The other fishermen feel as though he cannot do his job, but the old man knows that he still has what it takes to catch the big ones. He has the drive and determination to continue and not give up. Eventually the old man takes his skiff out further than any of the other fishermen and his determination is rewarded when he lines "the biggest fish that he had ever seen and bigger than he had ever heard of…" (Hemmingway, 22)

But the old man is far from finished in his struggle to catch the fish as it drags him out into the open ocean and he does not come back to shore until two days after he initially left. During this time the old man struggles to maintain his focus and determination, to keep going when he is exhausted, to have faith that he will make it. These are all themes and concepts that each human being must face in their daily lives; a just representation of general human nature. The readers may not be Cuban fishermen, but everyone has had times in their lives when they are faced with the decision to give up or go on, to take the easy way out or give it their all and accomplish the task. In the end the old man does not give up, but his catch is all but eaten on the way back to shore. As he drags the fish's enormous carcass on to shore his victory is pyrrhic, he has proven himself a great fisherman to the others but he really has nothing for all his hard work. It can also be said that something common to humanity is the pursuit of a hollow victory; everyone can associate with that.

In stark contrast to Hemmingway's Old Man and the Sea is Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron which is not only set in the future, but a bleak, tyrannical, almost farcical future. 2081 is not a year in which any sane person would hope to see if Vonnegut's future comes true; it is a dystopian future where everyone if forced to be equal, no matter how ridiculous the attempt to do so. The Bergeron's, George, Hazel, and their son Harrison live in a world where intelligent people have buzzers in their heads to keep them from being too smart, while beautiful people must wear masks to cover their faces so other, less attractive people don't feel bad. As Vonnegut himself stated "Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else." (Vonnegut) Every natural advantage is handicapped by the government to make everyone exactly equal. And everyone seems content to live in a place where everyone is made as stupid as the stupidest person and as weak as the weakest.

While many people could not imagine actually living in a world like that, they can relate to the characters and their situation. Everyone knows the feeling of being stifled, of not being allowed to express oneself, or of being suppressed. The Bergerons are common people being forced to do things against their will, something that every common person who has ever felt helpless against a government has experienced. When Harrison attempts to break out of his government enforced equality, he is killed. Despite this, there is not a single person in the world who does not, at some time, dream of being able to break free and fly away from life's problems, the way Harrison broke free of his handicaps and he and the ballerina floated to the ceiling. Society can sometimes have a tranquilizing effect on people, causing them to feel as if they are stifled and oppressed, Vonnegut's story taps into this common human feeling. And because he taps into common human feelings, Vonnegut's strange science fiction story still has the ability to connect with the most common person.