Mount Shasta and Joaquin Murieta

When deciding what to write about for this post, I found I really wanted to talk about the poem that Yellowbird, or John Rollin Ridge, had written about Mt. Shasta in his book Joaquin Murieta. There is much significance surrounding this poem and how it connects to the story of Joaquin Murieta. There is reason to why it was felt fitting to be put alongside the story told of a murderer and a bandit and how it connected to his tragic story.
At first in the poem, Ridge talks about the beauty of the mountain. How it stands everlasting and unmoving. How it survives all tragedies that attack its peak and how it is a wonder that many people admire. It is used to guide travellers, being seen from a great distance. And no matter the lashing of weather and such upon its mass, it stays steadfast. Made by the very hand of God. It is beautiful, eternal, and mighty.
Ridge then talks about how if California were to thrive and become the most it could become and be successful, it needed to make the law more pure, and lift itself such as the mountain was lifted. "That human feeling, human passion, at its base/shall lie subdued... (25)" He is saying here, that if California wanted to be all it could be as a state of America, that it needed to rise above human passions and stereotypes and discriminations. It needed to be unbiased and noble as the mountain itself was. Where it did not look upon any being different than another. That it was beautiful because of this. Eternal, and steadfast and that the state would become the same if they ruled with a law equal to all inhabitants.
The reason that it was fitting to put alongside the story of Joaquin Murieta is because Joaquin was a victim of such "human passion." He was not treated as an equal and was abused and hurt by the loss of his property, the raping of his wife, and the death of his brother. This inequality made the state unpeaceful, unlike the peaks of Mt. Shasta. Because of the discrimination that the law held towards Mexicans and the likes, the community was not tranquil. It was disturbed and was tearing itself apart with all the violence caused by unfair and biased treatment. If the state had laws that made it so every person would be treated as equal, then the state would be of high stature like the mountain. That it would be eternal because it would not tear itself apart with disruptions of the peace and would not destroy itself in the end. That it would also be a guidance to others to follow suit just as the mountain was a guidance to travellers.

True or False? Coverdale's Deception

While reading the book The Blithedale Romance, one is told the story from the mouth of Mr. Coverdale. The whole story is told from his perception and he comments regularly on many occurrences. He seems quite a fickle character from the beginning to the end, because he changes the way he acts and manipulates characters to find out the happenings going on around him. He seems to take on many different roles throughout the book; from being a poet to a dramatic bedridden sick man. The thing that makes me wonder about the story though, is the fact that he almost seemed to convince and mislead the reader into believing he fancied Zenobia.

Coverdale seemed to have a fascination with Zenobia and her characteristics. He made many comments about her and admires her very being. He and Hollingsworth were both intrigued with Zenobia's personality and charm, as you can say. They both seemed to think of her in a loving matter. The fact that Coverdale made it seem that Zebobia was the one he had feelings for, whereas it was revealed at the end that it was noneother than Priscilla, almost makes me wonder what else he may have kept from the reader.

I am not quite sure what else there is that he could have kept, but it truly does make me wonder. The fact that he did not show nearly as much interest in the innocent, pure character of Priscilla as he did Zenobia and her strong, independent actions and words makes me believe that the whole story may have been exaggerrated or parts may have been ommitted to Coverdale's liking. Coverdale seems to be a character who does not like his views challenged, so if he wanted the reader to take something from the story, he would have made sure that would have happened. Coverdale could have made the narrative what he wanted it to be. Throughout the whole book, the reader is to assume that the tellings of Coverdale are true, and his thoughts that he reveals are true. But after he reveals to us a secret that is somewhat unexpected, how can the rest of the story be automatically taken as fact?