Great Dismal Research Articles

“Living Black Water”: Literary Representation of the Southern Swamp in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp

This paper analyzes the significance of the swamp as the central setting in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s second anti-slavery novel Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp. Often overlooked by critics is the importance of the swamp and its symbolic meaning in the novel. By presenting a brief survey of the understanding and rendering of swamp images in nineteenth century America, this paper further examines the change of setting from the domestic spaces of Uncle Tom’s Cabin to the deserted wilderness that reflects Stowe’s desire to depart from the shadow of her previous success. The swamp, which is simultaneously neither land nor water and both land and water, highlights Dred’s fugitive status as a runaway slave and also Stowe’s own ambivalence as a writer in the age of violent sectional conflicts. Examining the significance of Dred’s swamp images and symbolism will provide a way to follow Stowe’s departure from her first success and help to analyze the author’s desire to attempt new approaches that would allow for a fuller development of multiple perspectives. The swamp in the novel is a reservoir of both pollution and vital energy, full of ambiguities and possibilities. It hence defies any categorization or fixed definitions. The Great Dismal Swamp in Dred remains a site of possibilities, of vital exuberance and growth, and yet it is not a realized dream. By foregrounding the Great Dismal Swamp as the setting of her new novel, Stowe suggests it as a site wherein to negotiate the “orthodox” truth of racism and anti-slavery discourses.

Stowe's Rainbow Sign: Violence and Community in Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp (1856)

Stowe's Rainbow Sign: Violence and Community in Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp (1856)

The Shingle and Lumber Industries in the Great Dismal

Previous articleNext article No AccessArticlesThe Shingle and Lumber Industries in the Great DismalPeter C. StewartPeter C. Stewart Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Volume 25, Number 2April 1981 Published for the American Society for Environmental History and the Forest History Society Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/4004549 Views: 4Total views on this site Views: 4Total views on this site Journal History This article was published in the Journal of Forest History (1974-1989), which was continued by Forest & Conservation History (1990-1995). © 1981 Forest History Society, Inc. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Dismal Swamp The Great Dismal Swamp Paul W. Kirk, Jr.

Dismal Swamp The Great Dismal Swamp Paul W. Kirk, Jr.

Preserving the Great Dismal Swamp

Preserving the Great Dismal Swamp

Preserving 'Ye Great Dismal' for Posterity

Preserving 'Ye Great Dismal' for Posterity