In what follows C.C. examines Blake Hausman's novel Riding the Trail of Tears.
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An important topic addressed in Blake Hausman’s book Riding the Trail of Tears is the exploitation of suffering for commercial gain. The story takes place in a futuristic setting where the infamous Trail of Tears has been recreated as a virtual reality tourist attraction. Located in the Tsalagi Removal Exodus Point Park in Georgia, this virtual trail leads tourists on their own personal Trail of Tears so that they may experience the same sufferings Native Americans did back in 1838. The story follows Tallulah Wilson, a part Cherokee tour guide for TREPP, as she takes tour group 5709 on what is supposed to be a normal trip through the virtual Trail of Tears. However, the unexpected presence of Nunnehi from Native American legends in the virtual trail causes the ride to veer off into an unpredictable adventure. Hausman uses this idea of the virtual trail to criticize universal exploitation and trivialization of suffering for commercial gain.
Rather than create the TREPP as an accurate way for people to experience the authentic suffering of Native Americans, the ride is more catered to making the customers happy so that they will be willing to spend their money on the ride again. One example of this exploitation can be seen when Tour Group 5709 first enters the ride and notices that their genitals have increased in size. Hausman describes the motivation for this by writing, “It’s true. Everyone’s breasts and penises are slightly larger on the Trail of Tears. Anything to ensure customer satisfaction, regardless of historical inaccuracy, and body parts are always a welcome distraction for the average customer” (93). This quote shows that the TREPP’s main priority is customer satisfaction rather than historical accuracy. Instead of focusing on Native American history, the owners are more concerned with making money from this experience.
Hausman also uses the Misfits as a metaphor for how the TREPP is trivializing the suffering of past Native Americans as a way to make profit. This can be seen in Irma Rosenberg’s conversation with the Misfits. After entering the Trail of Tears, Irma is separated from tour group 5709 when she exits the first cabin and somehow ends up in the Misfit stockade. After meeting the Misfits there, she begins to learn a little bit about them, despite their elusiveness in answering her questions. When Irma asks the Misfits why they can’t just leave, they tell her, “We are targets. We were programmed to be killed, then brought back to life…We always begin again after we die…just to be killed again” (119-120).
This shows how the suffering of Native Americans on the Trail of Tears has been trivialized, as their suffering has simply become a recurring event in a typical theme park attraction, like some kind of haunted house. Hausman voices his opinion on this exploitation of Native American suffering through Irma, when she says “That’s just terrible…That’s worse than being dead. That’s worse than life in death” (120).
This trivialization of an important event in Native American history can also be seen in Tallulah Wilson’s journey through the virtual Trail of Tears. The soldiers who capture Tour Group 5709 are described as “unflattering caricatures who spit and grunt. They are archetypal antagonists” (177). Once again, historical accuracy is ignored on the ride in order to provide the customers with what they believe they should be seeing. This happens again during the death of Corn Grinder. During her death scene, Hausman writes, “Now, if the scene were truly authentic, she would scream in Cherokee. But translation is critical to customer satisfaction in such pivotal moments of the Removal, so Corn Grinder screams in English” (177-178). This shows how the creators of the virtual Trail of Tears have no reluctance in changing history to suit their customer’s needs.
Hausman also uses Tallulah’s personal reactions and feelings on the Trail of Tears to demonstrate how the TREPP has trivialized the sufferings of Native Americans. Tallulah has ridden the virtual Trail of Tears so many times that she has become essentially desensitized to the brutal violence inflicted upon these virtual representations of her ancestors. She is no longer affected in any way by the sufferings of these virtual Native Americans, as it has become something she sees every day. For example during Corn Grinder’s death scene, Hausman writes, “Tallulah, naturally, is unphased by the death of Corn Grinder” (178).
This is seen again in Tallulah’s indifferent attitude during Danny’s death scene in the stockade, which demonstrates how accustomed Tallulah has become to this violence. Tallulah is not even surprised, as Hausman writes, “Tallulah doesn’t need to ask Mandy for any further details. She’s seen it all before” (226). Tallulah even goes so far to tell Mandy “Relax…It’s just a game” (226). This demonstrates how the TREPP’s transforming of the Trail of Tears into a tourist attraction for commercial gain has completely trivialized the experience of Native Americans. In this way, people who ride the virtual Trail of Tears multiple times eventually become apathetic to the sufferings of Native Americans in the past and think of it as “just a game.”
This idea of trivializing the Trail of Tears by turning it into a tourist attraction for commercial gain is a major theme throughout Hausman’s story. His criticism appears to target anyone who exploits a group of people’s suffering as a way to make money. However, whether Hausman feels this way about similar tourist attractions, such as Nazi concentration camps and other such locations, is uncertain.
C.C.
C.C.
ReplyDeleteI would like to bring attention to your thesis. You say that his criticisms focus on "universal exploitation and trivialization of suffering for commercial gain." I think this is too broad. You prove that the Native Americans were exploited and trivialized but I dont think you prove how this relates to universal exploitation. I understand that it is implied throughout your blog entry but it would strengthen your essay (if you choose to write about this topic for your final) to provide richer analysis on the relation between the exploitation of Native Americans to the universal exploitation of people's suffering. In your conclusion, you mention the Nazi concentration camps. Perhaps it would make sense if you expanded on that and made it into a body paragraph.
Overall, I believe your point definitely comes across. Good job!
A.S (Ahresh Saha)
I think you do a great job of thinking about how Hausman seems to criticize the commercial attraction into which the TREPP turns the Trail of Tears. However, something I wonder is whether Hausman intends to criticize the commercialization of the TREPP or simply the concept of the TREPP itself.
ReplyDeleteI remember the prototypical uncommericalized TREPP that Tallulah’s grandfather Art creates. The narrator notes that it convinces Tallulah that “Grandpa Art [is] completely nuts” (Hausman 32) and that “she never forgot that feeling in her stomach when she first rode the Trail of Tears” (33). I do not know whether or not these descriptions of the prototypical TREPP suggest a criticism even ithout commercialization. However, I think addressing this uncommericialized version of the TREPP somehow will definitely strengthen your argument that commercialization and the monetization is the real problem.
I also want to bring up the fact that when Hausman came to see us in class, he talked about how the starting point for the TREPP’s idea was his observation that people would endure suffering as a means of entertainment. That is not exactly what you were talking about your in post, but I think if you talk both about how there are people who will extort suffering for money and about how there are people who will consume that suffering for entertainment, you will address the novel at a greater depth.
J.M.
First off, I'd like to say that your writing style is very clear and straight-forward. You drove your point well about the trivialization and desensitization.
ReplyDeleteAbout this point you made: Hausman voices his opinion on this exploitation of Native American suffering through Irma, when she says “That’s just terrible…That’s worse than being dead. That’s worse than life in death” (120).
I think that's accurate, though I'm wondering if Hausman's opinion is really voiced through Irma? Also, I do agree with the quote and had another comment onto it -There's also the presence of cycles here. They are exploiting the entire Native American cyclical aspect of time by making it seem like it's normal for them to continuously undergo the cycle of death and life.
I think it's incredibly sad that Tallulah would become used to the pain and suffering of the Cherokee depicted on the TREPP, but I also think it's important to note that the entire TREPP is a desensitization process - by not presenting the actual reality of the TREPP, one is desensitizing the entire reality (as most directly shown by how the older folks feel no pain when they experience normal physical activity) - masking the entire reality for commercial interests. This is a huge issue in today's world.
And finally, to your last paragraph, I'm just curious as to whether or not you asked him during his visit here?
-L.C
In your fifth paragraph, you mention how Corn Grinder screams in English when dying, and how that "shows how the creators of the virtual Trail of Tears have no reluctance in changing history to suit their customer’s needs." I'm not so sure if that's the right conclusion. Obviously, all the characters speak in English so that the tourists can understand what the characters are saying, which is a "customer's need." However, the point you are trying to make is that TREPP trivializes the Trail of Tears, which this example doesn't really help.
ReplyDeleteAs for the last paragraph, you brought up Nazi concentration camps up, implying a connection between TREPP and tourism of the camp sites. I don't think you can those two, since your essay focuses on "trivialization of suffering." I'm not sure the connection of such trivialization of suffering between going to a historical site and getting your genitalia increased in size for your own amusement is a valid point.
Similar to the other commenters on this blog, I would first like to say that your writing style is very straightforward, and that you have solid textual evidence to support your claims.
ReplyDeleteThe main thesis you have, that “Hausman uses this idea of the virtual trail to criticize universal exploitation and trivialization of suffering for commercial gain,” seem too broad, especially when the arguments you present are specific to the Native American story. The story of “Riding the Trail of Tears,” is a commentary solely based on the Trail of Tears, though Hausman did reveal when he came into our class that he did incorporate the idea of paranoia and tborder control after the September 11 attack. Furthermore, the fact that it is stated at the end that “whether Hausman feels this way about similar tourist attractions, such as Nazi concentration camps and other such locations, is uncertain," reflects the fact that Hausman did not consider the "universal exploitation." Because no examples outside the Native American story has been referenced to, while it can be solidified that Hausman does criticize the exploitation of Native Americans through the Trail of Tears, it cannot be a solid claim to extend such mindset to other “universal exploitation and trivialization of suffering for commercial gain.”
On a different note, I think it is important that you brought up the point of Tallulah being desensitized the violence apparent in the TRAPP, because I think this was the main point Hausman attempted to prove with the novel. Tallulah, becoming used to seeing the sufferings of the Native Americans, now consider their hardships to be nothing more than a common occurrence, when in reality the atrocities committed on the Trail of Tears has a deep history and a significance that should not be forgotten. Because the society now is exposed to many modes of media, the focus is often on how the information is presented or perceived, rather than the meaning behind it. I think that Hausman tries to urge the readers to always keep in mind to look for the bigger picture.
J.S.
I really like your style of writing because it's easy-catching and clear. The theme that you make is that the TREEP program is just a commerical gain that exploits Native American's suffering. I agree at some point, for instance, the program change breast and genital size, change language in order to cater to customers' satisfaction. However, that doesn't mean their program is exploiting American Indian's suffering at that specific black period of trail of tears. Changing language may enhance customers' interptretion of the scene. Also, the fact that those misfits are programmed to die may provoke customer's sympathy for American Indian's bloody experience. I also want to mak an argument that Tallula said "It's just a game" when Danny died doesn't mean she is apathetic, because as a tour guide she takes the responsibility of customers'feeling and survival. In order to make Mandy calm down, this is the only way, and I get a feeling that Tallula also got shocked in the trip with 5709 group, she tried to keep in contact with home security to make sure everything is just a game, which means she was afraid to confront such cruel situation.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, you really bring up an interesting topic: whether the program is used as commercial gain or remind people of native Americans'suffering. I personally believe it's the latter.
Y.L(Amy)