Swamplandia is a contemporary Southern novel by Karen Russell! the influence of various Southern Literature works over different time periods. Swamplandia has its roots in the American South’s literature. It is a modern interpretation. Older and newer Southern literatures both highlight the themes of strong family ties, storytelling styles, names, and the importance they place on people. Swamplandia both shows strong family ties! William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying. This is the idolatry shared by Ava Bigtree, Addie Bundren and their sons. Swamdplandia’s storytelling is used to preserve the past. Ava uses it as a way to maintain her sanity. Flannery o’Connor preserves Mrs. Turpins old ways. Last but not least, character names and the naming and importance of certain objects is a Southern-style motif. Swamplandia! Names signify future aspirations. Names in Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire represent the past and illusions. Swamplandia! These themes are used to expand on Southern Literature and to interpret them in a context that is current to the present. Russell’s style of writing and the topics under discussion in Swamplandia! While the topics are current, Russell’s writing style and Swamplandia discussion topics are very similar to Faulkner’s.
Swamplandia! is very similar in its use of idolizing family members to As I Lay Dying. Ava Bigtree frequently refers back to Hilola Bigtree throughout the story, as she seeks comfort and guidance from her mother. Ava frequently refers back to Hilola Bigtree as a world-class Alligator Wrestler. Ava’s dramatic introduction in the story is proof Ava’s amazement at Hilola. Then, she stopped being our mother… fame settled onto her like a flick …”. Russell’s words and tone are different from Faulkner’s. Ava’s love for her mother is indicative of her naivete. Ava, a daughter and young girl, makes her talk about her mother’s love more sentimental and idealistic. Faulkner, on the other hand, is more depressing because her mother idolizes her child and disrupts the family hierarchy. “He’s my cross and I will be saved by him. He will save my soul from the fire and water. He will save me, even though I have laid my life down” (Faulkner 112). Faulkner’s dramatic references to the Bible make it seem that Addie bundren holds Jewel closer to the idealized, Christ-like idol. Both stories have characters who place family members at the top of their list, but each story is different because of the author’s words and the character’s personality.
Storytelling is an act to preserve history. Swamplandia would be a fitting place for it! and “Revelation” to help one save themselves. Ava Bigtree recounts a story just before she was subject to The Bird Man’s sexual assault. She takes a trip back in time, recalling a nature slide program, “Kiwi prepared us after-hours popcorn… the three us crunching loudly,” before jumping back into her current situation. “Lie down Ava,” he said, before spreading green tarps for us. Ava’s story is told in an out-of body voice as she describes nature and the attack by The Bird Man. Russell uses storytelling in this story to show Ava struggling to cope with the assault and how her young brain attempts to process it.
Storytelling in Mrs. Turpin’s “Revelation” is done differently from Ava in Swamplandia! Turpin makes use of it to preserve her racist and classist outlook. She alternates between her storytelling. Referring to one audience as “white-trash” and another as “pleasing lady”, she then goes on to talk about her dream of destroying poor and Black people, before revealing her superior farm. “The look Mrs. Turpin gave the pleasant lady indicated that they understood that certain things were necessary before you can know certain things,” she says as she ends her farming adventures. Turpin’s ending shows her insecurity and her tendency to tell materialistic stories in order to defend her illogical personal beliefs. Storytelling is used in both stories to preserve an identity. However, the meaning of each story depends on its subject.
Southern characters and places are named with specific meanings. A dissection usually explains a personality trait or quirk. The Bigtrees have a common theme of animals, which is why Swamplandia has been named after them! Ava and Kiwi’s stories are told from two Bigtree points of view. Irony is also used in these names. Kiwi Bigtree, a pilot and a famous kiwi, rescues Osceola, the flightless bird. Ironically, Osceola is named after a Seminole leader. She is also described as “… pure frost with eyes that vibrated between violet and maroon” (Russell 6).
However, Swamplandia! A Streetcar Named Desire, and Swamplandia! also use the names for objects to address other aspects. Russell 261. Ava’s nature slide, titled “The Silently Screaming World”, is an observation of Ava’s thoughts during the assault. The home Blanche duBois, Stella and Stella used to call ‘Belle Reve’. This means ‘beautiful dreams’. This home recalls the Southern aristocracy and wealthier Southern women, but it also refers directly to Blanche’s current life. She hides in shadows and refuses to reveal her true self to anyone. Her explanations for Belle Reve dying show Blanche’s real suffering “… (Williams44). The similar use of names by the author comes from the understanding of the importance of the names.
Swamplandia! Modern Southern novels are reinterpreted in a new way by Swamplandia. Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying has a different interpretation of strong family connections, but the central theme of family significance is not changed. Storytelling can be used as an act to preserve the mind. Different characters use it for different reasons. The Swamplandia and Swamplandia continue to use the same name meanings. A Streetcar Named Desire and Swamplandia, where the significance of the meaning is used in equal measure. This demonstrates that the past can still be relevant in today’s Southern novel by comparing them. The themes and motifs are often mirrored but dealt with in a different way in modern novels. These connections highlight the importance to preserve older literature, which is still relevant today.
Works cited
Faulkner, William. Novels. Library of America published a volume of material related to New York in 1985. Output
O’Connor, Flannery. “Revelation” (1965). Andrews W.Gwin, M. Harris, T., Hobson F. A Norton Annthology: Literature of the American South. W.W. Norton & Company published in New York. (1998). 815-832. Print.
Russell, Karen. Swamplandia! Alfred A. Knopf published the book in New York in 2011. Print.
Williams, Tennessee. Streetcar named Desire. New Directions, New York, 2004. Print.