Theme Analysis
John Henry resembles a true American legend, whose extreme strength and personality has been told in stories all throughout the World. Unlike most tall tales, John Henry was said to be the most likely to have been a real man, and many people are lead to believe that his famous race against the machine really did happen.
"John Henry was indeed a mighty man", as it states in the story. Known from a "tall tale", dating back to the early 19th century. He is a subject of legend and song, who was most likely born in Alabama or West Virginia. There is some research that shows John Henry could have been a former emancipated slave born between the 1850's and 1860's. He was said to be a very hard worker, who grew up to six feet tall and weighing over 200 lbs. He spent most of his days working as a "steel driver" for the railroads, after the civil war reconstruction period. Which, at the time, was pushing through the Appalachian mountains towards the western frontier. This was a very rigorous task for the workers ,because the challenge of breaking through those thick rocks was formidable. The manual labor process used to break through the mountain was also very time consuming, and tiring. The technique was to drive a deep hole in the rock with a steel shaft(drill), which explosives would be placed into, eventually being ignited and blowing up parts of the rock. At the time it was said that John Henry was working for the C&O Railroad, which was a wealthy company from the Chesapeake Bay to the Ohio Valley.
Throughout the Story of John Henry, it talks about the struggles of working on the railroads and gives us a sense of how the freed slaves were actually treated after the emancipation proclamation. There are also some symbols along the story that symbolize obsticles, and the path John has to take to get his point across. For example, the Big Bend Tunnel is a major factor that plays an important role in the story. In the story it says "looming right smack in its path was a mighty enemy". It is the main obstruction in the way of the railroads pathway. The whole point of this mountain is to encourage John, to show that if you try hard enough you can accomplish anything. Which John displays by challenging the machine to a race.
The race shows that John has real guts, and that he believes in himself enough to be vulnerable. This is also the point where it finally expresses the theme of the story clearly. The theme is the reality of making your personal dreams come true, and known. This is also known as the "American Dream". The American Dream is simply ones ambitions, and personal goals in life. In the story, all John wants is for everyone to live peaceuflly, and have equality. Therfore by challenging the machine to a race, it shows that he is willing to do anything possible to get to his dreams.
At the end of the stroy, John does end up beating the machine. There is a phrase from the stroy that states "The greatest driller in the C&O. Railroad was dead". Although John did make it out alive, he passed away right after the race from certain medical reasons. Even though he died, John did not die in vain. He lived his "American Dream". His story/legend showed many people that anything is possible if you believe, and work hard at it. Throughout all the imagination in the world, you can make any dream a reality.
"John Henry was indeed a mighty man", as it states in the story. Known from a "tall tale", dating back to the early 19th century. He is a subject of legend and song, who was most likely born in Alabama or West Virginia. There is some research that shows John Henry could have been a former emancipated slave born between the 1850's and 1860's. He was said to be a very hard worker, who grew up to six feet tall and weighing over 200 lbs. He spent most of his days working as a "steel driver" for the railroads, after the civil war reconstruction period. Which, at the time, was pushing through the Appalachian mountains towards the western frontier. This was a very rigorous task for the workers ,because the challenge of breaking through those thick rocks was formidable. The manual labor process used to break through the mountain was also very time consuming, and tiring. The technique was to drive a deep hole in the rock with a steel shaft(drill), which explosives would be placed into, eventually being ignited and blowing up parts of the rock. At the time it was said that John Henry was working for the C&O Railroad, which was a wealthy company from the Chesapeake Bay to the Ohio Valley.
Throughout the Story of John Henry, it talks about the struggles of working on the railroads and gives us a sense of how the freed slaves were actually treated after the emancipation proclamation. There are also some symbols along the story that symbolize obsticles, and the path John has to take to get his point across. For example, the Big Bend Tunnel is a major factor that plays an important role in the story. In the story it says "looming right smack in its path was a mighty enemy". It is the main obstruction in the way of the railroads pathway. The whole point of this mountain is to encourage John, to show that if you try hard enough you can accomplish anything. Which John displays by challenging the machine to a race.
The race shows that John has real guts, and that he believes in himself enough to be vulnerable. This is also the point where it finally expresses the theme of the story clearly. The theme is the reality of making your personal dreams come true, and known. This is also known as the "American Dream". The American Dream is simply ones ambitions, and personal goals in life. In the story, all John wants is for everyone to live peaceuflly, and have equality. Therfore by challenging the machine to a race, it shows that he is willing to do anything possible to get to his dreams.
At the end of the stroy, John does end up beating the machine. There is a phrase from the stroy that states "The greatest driller in the C&O. Railroad was dead". Although John did make it out alive, he passed away right after the race from certain medical reasons. Even though he died, John did not die in vain. He lived his "American Dream". His story/legend showed many people that anything is possible if you believe, and work hard at it. Throughout all the imagination in the world, you can make any dream a reality.
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