Buffalo Bill And Deadwood Dick Essays - Pulp Fiction,

Buffalo Bill And Deadwood Dick Phillips Eng. 124 Writing Assn. #1 I Can't Hear a Damn Word You're Saying Those who deprecate the free supply of such ficticious works as the public demands, are generally in favor of the entire exclusion of fiction of a sensational cast, a course which will unavoidably result in alienating from the library the very class most needing its beneficial influence'? (Denning, 49). It is obvious here that William Fletcher attached more significance and importance to dime novels than most ?serious intellectuals? did in the late 1800's. In fact, most people, particularly in the middle class, thought dime novels were vulgar and that they caused young children to imitate the actions of the likes of Buffalo Bill and Deadwood Dick. But both the production and the popularity of dime novels (especially) among the working class suggest that something more profound than cheap entertainment compelled them to read these works of fiction. Contrary to what many literary scholars and those in the middle class believed--and perhaps as indicated by the various reactions to them, these plotlines and characters were appealing to the working class on more than just one level. The rate at which dime novels were produced is astounding. ?William Wallace Cook began by receiving a title and synopsis for a serial, and would then write, adapt and revise installments to meet the ever-changing specifications of the publisher. Almost all the accounts tell the story of novels written at exceptional speed in marathon sessions, and all emphasize the sheer quantity of writing? (Denning, 21). It was not uncommon for authors to write entire pieces in one week or less, some not bothering to edit their work. Many admitted that their motivation for writing stories at such a pace was money, but most maintained that the material contained in their stories was not immoral or vulgar, but rather, useful. It is interesting to note here that, while the adverse reaction against dime novels eventually became a reflection of the class that was supposedly reading them, the authors themselves were not from the working class. In fact, the dime novel ?was a commercial product of a burgeoning industry employing relatively educated professionals--writers who also worked as journalists, teachers, or clerks? (45). The judgments passed on those reading the dime novels was limited to the working class; but the very material that was thought to be immoral was invented in the minds of middle class people. In addition, while the working class may have been the target audience, perhaps in an attempt to redefine class boundaries, in actuality, the population of dime novel readers transcended those very boundaries. The action- and romance-packed stories appealed to all: men, women, children, both young and old. For people such as bankers and capitalists, dime novels served as more of a distraction from t he North/South divide that the country was actually experiencing (?Reading the West?, 32) If the popularity of these novels was so widespread, even extending into middle-class interests, one must wonder why the reaction by literary critics and other middle-class people was so strong, and at times, excessive. Critics were unsure of how dime novels would impact the working class readers and what action, if any, they might provoke. Either they were ?a narcotic escape from daily life with no genuine symbolic meaning or, with Comstock, a symbolic universe so potents as to erase the real world from the minds of readers, leading them to act out the scenes depicted in dime novels? (54). Anthony Comstock was the leader of these latter believers, calling editors of such fiction ?Satan's efficient agents? who would ultimately destroy the young (Denning, 51). He eventually began arresting people who sold these novels or those who allowed children under sixteen years of age to have access to dime novels. Libraries joined in on the censorship, attempting to keep sensational fiction off their bookshelves. If the intended audience of dime novels was the working class, and there was such a strong reaction against the works, then presumably there was something about the way the expected results would have impacted the working class that scared critics. As with any modern influential product of mass media, like the program ?South Park,? people feared that children would be corrupted and