America: God, Gold, and Golems Imagery

America: God, Gold, and Golems Imagery

Revival Imagery ("The Revival")

Most of the action in "The Revival" takes place at the Cane Ridge Revival in Kentucky in the year 1801. Accordingly, there are many scenes of ecstatic exultations of Christian themes, such as God's goodness and the miracles of the blood of Jesus. There is also imagery present of crippled children being healed, people speaking in tongues, and others barking like dogs in the spiritual heat of the moment, all of which combine to form a compelling image of a Protestant Revival at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

Exploitation Imagery ("Hundreds of Feet Below Daylight")

"Hundreds of Feet Below Daylight" opens with the scene of white men kicking the Chinese miners out of Solomon's Gulch, resorting to physical violence and abuse, even murder, to do so. There is much imagery regarding this exploitation, including a dead Chinese man hanging with a noose around his neck, several others fleeing, and the crack of rifles along with the laughing and jeering of the Americans.

Baseball Imagery ("The Golem's Mighty Swing")

"The Golem's Mighty Swing" is a story about a Jewish baseball team, and they play multiple games within the novel, so there is quite a bit of baseball imagery. The readers watch as the pitchers line up and throw, and the batters swing at the ball with varying success. Baseball imagery dominates the novel, as even when the team isn't playing baseball, they're usually talking about baseball.

Jewish Imagery ("The Golem's Mighty Swing")

The Stars of David are an exclusively Jewish baseball team, and the author makes no secret of this fact. People are always making remarks about the Jews, jeering at them, or actually assaulting them because of their race. The team's name, the "Stars of David," is clearly a bit of Jewish imagery, as is the incorporation of the Golem into their team as a costume for Hershl to wear (an exclusively Jewish mythical creature). Paige wants to exploit their Jewish heritage with exaggerated Jewish imagery, and he does so, but the results are disastrous.

Update this section!

You can help us out by revising, improving and updating this section.

Update this section

After you claim a section you’ll have 24 hours to send in a draft. An editor will review the submission and either publish your submission or provide feedback.