Harold Bloom and Maya Angelou Response PDF

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This essay was written for Critical Reading taught by Professor Phukan. It is a brief response written about an essay by Harold Bloom....

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Professor Phukan Atlantic Sounds ENGL 260 12 September 2019 Longing for the Past or Hoping for the Future In his article “The Western Canon” (1995), Harold Bloom discusses the effects of multiculturalism on the interpretation of the Canon. He laments over the contradiction in what society demands to be acceptable in comparison to the desire to read freely and without intrusive thoughts concerning political correctness. In the same way that Bloom wishes for a past when everyone was not a “‘feminist critic’” (406), Angelou also yearns for the days “before cynicism was a bloody sear across your brow/And when you still knew nothing” in her poem “On the Pulse of Morning.” She discusses the dawning hope of a new day amid recent events of war and greed. Furthermore, she encourages the fostering of dreams and pushes for people to step out of their shadows and into the light. After discussing how true art is unable to make readers better citizens because it stands away from the societal system in place, Bloom introduces Angelou’s poem as “overwhelming” because “it joins all the other instantly canonical achievements that flood our academics” (406). By including Angelou’s poem in his argument, Bloom is able to connect his frustrations with multiculturalism’s influence on literature with similar themes of criticism and darkness. The article and poem mirror each other in this way; both use similar imagery of shadows to discuss their ideas and crave for a distant past. However, as Bloom only laments a lost past and foresees a dim future, Angelou recognizes the hardships of the past and also encourages readers to “give birth again/To the dream” as she anticipates a bright future. This contrast reveals Bloom’s unease concerning the future compared to Angelou’s enthusiasm. Although he attempts to find a hopeful tomorrow, he struggles to find optimism as he sees the destruction of literature around him. He explains that he wants to live in the world that Angelou describes, but he is unable to because his reality is far different than her own. He illustrates how while her poem is sincere, in reality, scholars are scrutinized and attacked as racists and sexists, keeping them from enjoying literature. He states that the “shadows lengthen in our evening land, and we approach the second millennium expecting further shadowing” (406). By contradicting Angelou’s poem, he further emphasizes his fears for future generations. Overall, Bloom is troubled by the state of the canon and literature, especially as it begins to change with multiculturalism. He includes Angelou’s poem so that he can elaborate on the hopelessness for the future ahead. This reference instills deeper hopelessness in readers as they recognize the changes in how canonical literature is perceived....