Hannah Reynolds Dr.

Esh History of the American Culture February 9tth 2013

Perceptions of History Dead Certainties by Simon Schama is a historical novella, a murder mystery and a story that romanticizes the history behind our culture. Simon Schama, a British historian and art historian, takes on the task of describing just how historical events lead to a romanticized history. Schama argues that people have embellished history to fit a mold that they themselves have created. History is all about "the teasing gap separating a lived event and its subsequent narration. (Shama pg. 320) The story begins in 1759, with the British Empire fighting the French Forces near the lands of Quebec. In this battle, on the Plains of Abraham, General James Wolfe falls to his death. However the British are victorious thus starting the fall of the British Empire and the glorification of America. They were there to celebrate America itself; the raw vigour of the New World, a place of buckskin and forest virtues that might supply the necessary power and resources to regenerate a. decadent and enervated Europe. (Schama pg. 32) In the Many Deaths of General Wolfe Wolfes death account brings forth three different interpretations and points of view that help layout Schamas argument. The first account is of a young fictional English solider who recalls fighting along side General Wolfe and finding his fallen body. The next is a narrative by the artist Benjamin West. In the painting Death of General Wolfe (1770) West portrays Wolfe as a hero who died a glorified and patriotic death. West produced the

grandiloquent lie the public craved: a death at the very centre of the action (Schama pg. 30). West painted Wolfes death in away that pleased the king and made the people appreciate him as an artist. When British children of future generations grew up drilled in the pieties of imperial history, it was Wests scene they imagined. Through West, Wolfe gained heroism that some say was underserved. The final account is by the historian Francis Parkman. Parkman was horrified by the conditions of the unsettle territory and ran back to New England. There he gave a detailed account of Wolfes death from the forests of New England. Parkmans book Montcalm and Wolfe leads to the realization that Parkman could identify more closely with Wolfe. The Death of a Harvard Man is Schamas second narrative in Dead Certainties. This part of the book is the recap of Francis Parkmans uncle George Parkman murder in 1849. The two stories take place ninety years part, and the only connection between General Wolfe and George Parkman is Francis Parkman. John Webster, a Harvard professor of chemistry, was the brought to trail and later convicted for the murder of George Parkman. As the story advances the reader discovers Webster owes an insignificant amount of money to his colleague George Parkman. He is unable to pay it back and with it tension arises within their relationship. After the arrest and imprisonment of Webster, Schama starts to give detailed explanations of the events of Websters eleven-day trail. Schama reconstructs the different perceptions on the account of Parkmans death. Ephraim, a Harvard janitor is one whose narrative plays an important role. As the story unfolds it appears as if Webster has indeed killed Parkman yet Schama finishes the book in a way that leaves some questioning. Schama does this so one question and debate about the actual historical certainty in novella. Schama takes into consideration just how a historical perspective is created. Whether a person tests the validity of the context brings them that much closer to the truth.

In Dead Certainties ones sees a pattern of imagination and fictionalization that comes out as the story progresses. This book is a work of imagination that chronicles historical events (Schama pg. 327). What Schama lacks in evidence he makes up in imagination. With the account of the English solider Schama uses his imagination to fill in the holes and connects fiction to the truth. Historical novellas need to promote the truth of history instead of molding history to the culture of the people. When the context of history is distorted lines are blurred and myth becomes reality or in this case history. In Washington Irvings biography on Christopher Columbus, Irving sanctions the idea that Columbus and the church believed that earth to be flat. This however was an allegory. In Dantes Divine Comedy the church gives the impression that it is educated enough to understand the earth was indeed not flat. Due to Irvings biography the truth of Columbus journey was overshadowed and with it a false sense of history arose. Schama is an expert on the history of Britain not American history. He is an outsider trying to captivate the importance of viewpoints and how one really construes history. The fact that Schama is an outsider adds to his thesis yet he lacks a true understanding Bostonian history. History is all about "the teasing gap separating a lived event and its subsequent narration. (Shama pg. 320) Schama style of writing leads one to understand just how history is romanticized and by what method it is changed to fit into culture. Ira Berlins theory history is how we see the past could be taken into consideration. Schamas historical novella plays out where perception is the key point. As history is deduced historians need examine the different viewpoints of history and be able to decipher the truth from fiction.