Simon Suggs: Harmful Humor

In Adventures of Simon Suggs, Johnson Jones Hooper creates a swift, sneaky and persuasive character Simon, who is intended to be a replica of himself. According to Robert Hopkins he states that it this book is simply a “burlesque of campaign biographies.” Although in the beginning chapters Simon claims to compare himself to the earlier president’s in later chapters this comedic elements begin to make fun of other cultures especially the Indians. This interpretation is also seen in the article written by Johanna Shields. She argues that the Adventures of Simon Suggs provoked laughter but with repercussions. Hopkins would oppose her argument because Hooper intended for Simon Suggs to be humorous not harmful.

Simon Suggs: More Than Satire

In his essay “Simon Suggs: A Burlesque Campaign Biography,” Robert Hopkins argues that Johnson Jones Hooper’s novel Adventures of Captain Simon Suggs deserves recognition as a burlesque of campaign biographies. He presents multiple examples from the novel which support his claim, but also hints at the novel’s ability to fit into many other genres and sub-genres. In paralleling the actions of Andrew Jackson to those of Simon Suggs, and finding inconsistencies in the novel's genre as a picaresque narrative, this essay discusses Hopkins’s essay and the argument for Simon Suggs as a burlesque campaign biography.

White Freedom vs. Black Slavery: Johnson Hooper’s Humor and Worldview

In Some Adventures of Simon Suggs, Johnson Hooper uses his fictional newspaper editor “Johns” and fictional candidate “Suggs” as foils for his own contradictory nature. Johanna Nicol Shields examines this in her article “ A Sadder Simon Suggs: Freedom and Slavery in the Humor of Johnson Hooper.” Hooper himself, says Shields, experienced both sides of the Johns/Suggs dichotomy; as a young man, he was Suggs, Southern born, Southern bred, looking for his fortune in any way possible, looking toward the West. He was also the editor, the Western gentleman.
Johnson Hooper’s dual nature, as explored in Simon Suggs, enables his humor to deal with the story of white freedom; of Southern scions’ freedom from geographical lines as the Western frontier opened. In this adventure, however, the black characters are pawns as well as foils for the white story.

Edgar Allan Poe reads Simon Suggs?

Since many of Edgar Allan Poe's newspaper reviews were unsigned, attribution of his articles to him is sometimes a matter of guesswork. Nevertheless, a paragraph from a newspaper column believed to be Poe's praises Hooper's collection (which, like our edition, includes several other sketches by the author):

Text: Edgar Allan Poe (?), "Our Book-Shelves (IV)," from the Aristidean, October 1845, pp. 320-322.]


CAREY and HART have issued "The Life and Adventures of Captain Simon Suggs," &c. With engravings after designs, by DARLEY. We sat down to this book quietly; read, laughed — read, and laughed again. There is more true, indigenous humor in this, than anything we have yet seen, from the American press — "Jack Downing," "Jonathan Slick," and "Major Jones," not excepted. Captain SUGGS is a man of metal — "yea! an honest, incorruptible — very jewel of a fellow." And Daddy ELIAS BIGGS — with his repeated visits to the "yeathen war" — and his hatred of the Chatahospa people! That he may speedily have another scrape at COCKERELL'S BEND, is our earnest wish. The designs of DARLEY, in the book, like all he does, are inimitable. The look of profound fright in the sentry — the solemn grandeur of Captain SUGGS, at the drum-head court-martial — the portrait of the veritable Captain himself — his reception of the Bank President — with KIT KUNCKER, his horse and his dog — are they not all pictured by the graver?

The author of this book is the editor of a country paper, in ALABAMA, in which, we believe, the sketches first appeared. He is evidently a man of the most decided, unapproachable and original humor.

The latest news from academia on SW Humor

More (very recent) scholarship from Johanna Shields on the subject of authorship and SW Humor

Yet more scholarship on Hooper

This essay includes a section discussing Simon's relationship with his father, Jedediah Suggs.

A Sadder (but not wiser) Simon Suggs

The following link to Johanna Shields' essay on the Creek Indian sketches in the Adventures of Simon Suggs was referred to in class (and may or may not be the one to which Beth was referring).

Links to SW comic sketches by topic

The Spirit of the Southern Frontier website provides links to old southwestern tales in over twenty different subject areas. See especially the links to militia drills and military subjects and gambling to compare Hooper's impressions with those of other writers.

SW Humor Source

Here is a link to the cambridge literary history's southwest humor pages. The entire multi-volume set can be accessed on-line and is fully searchable.

Understanding the "Tickle my Funny Bone" Humor in Hooper's Adventures of Captain Simon Suggs

in According to Robert Hopkins in his essay, Simon Suggs: A Burlesque Campaign Biography, Hooper's work is a burlesque of campaign biographics. The biography of Simon Suggs is a great work of satire and becomes itself a functional part of the humor. Yet those who want to look at it as a direct reference to Jackson, will find that sections 7-9 become functional only when it is recognized as a direct burlesque of political biographies of Andrew Jackson. However that may be, politics is always accompanied by humor, or more specifically Southern humor, in Simon Suggs. Southern humor developed, according to Walter Blair in his essay, "Traditions in Southern Humor," in accordance with nineteenth century British theories about humor which placed wit and satire upon a lower level than characterization and geniality. Southern humor is almost used as a stage upon which Hooper presents his own understanding of the politics of nineteenth century, and this, however, was solely for the purposes of entertaintment.

The Chauvinistic Adventures of Captain Hooper

Johnson Jones Hooper’s Adventures of Captain Simon Suggs contained many things that were and still are pertinent within the south and United States such as references towards blacks and slavery. Of the many occurrences of the mid to late nineteenth century slavery was one of the most influential and important. This is why Hooper’s representation of slavery and white supremacy within his texts and his life are important and must be evaluated in order to fully understand his fiction. To describe Hooper, it would not be a fallacy to state that he was, “an inveterate racist” and frequently mentioned “the inferiority of blacks” within most of his written works (Tate 338). His belief was that slavery was essential to the advancement of the Southern economy and way of life. He thought that to lose slavery would be to, “lose all that white men hold dear in Government” and that “secession was more than a constitutional question….It was also a matter of maintaining white supremacy” (Tate 338).

Thoreau and King aganist the Government

Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr., both had similar perceptions about the government. In Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience he argues that people would be more powerful and effective if people were to depend on themselves and not the government. Throughout his book titled Walden he stresses this issue by writing about his experiences at Walden. Being sure to state how much money he saved by living on his own and by producing his own food. Along the same lines in an excerpt from King, he stresses the importance of non-violence and how practicing non-violent acts can lead to change from the government. In Civil Disobedience Thoreau states, “For it matters not how small the beginning may seem to be: what is once done well is done forever” (Thoreau 16). This statement applies to King’s argument because of his courageous efforts toward African American freedom he helped produce African American equality.

Thoreau and Gandhi

In his essay for the New England Quarterly, George Hendrick describes the rest of the pieces to the Thoreau – Gandhi relationship. Universally referenced as the source of Gandhi’s Satyagraha, Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience essay on the virtues of nonviolent resistance has obvious parallels to the definitions Gandhi laid out of his brand. Hendrick’s essay, however, points out that the intellectual draw of Thoreau’s thought into Gandhi’s philosophy neither started or ended with Disobedience – Gandhi read Walden first, and then Disobedience, the latter coming at a critical point in Gandhi’s Indian work.

Thoreau's Utopia

Henry David Thoreau was one of the most important transcendentalist writers of the mid-19^th Century. He, like some of his collegues (Emerson, Fuller, et al), essentially abandoned modern American society to form their own working, “utopian” society. A utopian society is one that is perfect in every aspect. Most view attempts at creating a utopia as feeble and useless, but Thoreau did not. Maybe Thoreau was unable to create a true utopia, but from Lance Newman’s writings we are able to see that he viewed much of it as a success.Thoreau could not stand the hypocirsy of American government in the mid-19^th Century which is one of the reasons he left it for his own utopia. As well as his sentiments regarding America, Thoreau’s sense and love for Nature was a determining factor in moving on to his utopia.

Thoreau and King

Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” has been known to influence many twentieth and
Twenty-first century icons, but one of the most well known is Martin Luther King Junior who was heralded as sparking the civil rights movement. King has been quoted as saying, “a sit- in at lunch counters, a freedom ride into Mississippi, a peaceful protest in Albany, Georgia, a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, it is an outgrowth of Thoreau’s insistence that evil must be resisted and no moral man can patiently adjust to injustice” (Thoreau 433). Further examination of King’s Stride toward Freedom can help advance the modern readers’ comprehension of Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” within the context of the twenty-first century. Many instances of Thoreau’s influence on King can be seen in King’s writings (Goldman 3). For example in Stride toward Freedom King states, “To accept passively an unjust system is to cooperate with that system; thereby the oppressed become as evil as the oppressor” (Thoreau 424).

Moby-Dick explors American Political History

Alan Heimert’s “Moby-Dick and American Political Symbolism” explored a few aspects of American history that were weaved into Melville’s tale. Slavery was one of them. According to the Civil War Home Page, of all the roughly 1.5 million families in the American South, about one in four owned slaves. According to the 1860 U.S. Census Bureau, there were nearly four million slaves held in the 15 slave states. These statistics were reflected in the story by the harpooners, who played a secondary role to the ship’s mates such as Stubb and Flask. Heimert also drew a connection between the Pequod and the United States at the time, which was referred to as “the Ship of State.” The Compromise of 1850 signaled the end of a turbulent era for U.S. politics, and this was supposed to reflect the turbulent voyage of the Pequod.

Transcendentalism's Trail through History

At one point, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “The Transcendentalist” compared the Transcendentalist philosophy with other movements from different time periods. Some of these movements, like Protestant Christianity, are still relevant today, while others, such as Stoicism, have less impact on our modern society. One movement Emerson mentioned, Idealism, was contrasted with a form of Christianity called Unitarianism. The theology of this religion teaches against the Trinitarian form of God. Another example used was that of Cato and Brutus, two men who were a part of what could be classified as a movement- the Roman Republic. Both men were influential in the assassination of Julius Caesar, who happened to be on his way to becoming Rome’s dictator. While this event isn’t culturally relevant to us, it is a significant turning point in the history of Rome. One example that is still relevant was the Protestant Reformation that led to various modern branches of the Christian faith- Lutherans and Calvinists were just some of the denominations that sprung out of the 16th century event.

Melville’s Take on the Negro Problem in Moby-Dick

I wanted to look at Melville’s attitude toward the Negro problem in Moby-Dick and also in some of his other works--Benito Cereno, Typee, and Mardi. The Negro problem is the representation of African Americans in 19th century literature, and since many of Melville’s fellow authors did not have any African American characters in their novels Melville’s Moby-Dick made it easier to understand the attitudes toward African Americans. Melville did not give careful consideration to the African American character, he based his black characters in his earlier works on the Negro stereotypes--the most common, that they were savages-- that bombarded the 19th century. The black character Daggoo in Moby-Dick is somewhat different from the Negro stereotype. Melville may have considered the Negro Problem in his earlier works and have altered the black character in Moby-Dick so that he (the black character) may stand at the level of the white characters.

The Lasting Value of Thoreau's Walden

What is the value of Thoreau’s years in the woods at Walden Pond? Did he achieve what he set out to do, and if so, what is the consequence of his experiment? Is the effect a lasting one? Leo Tolstoy writes in a Letter to Dr. Eugen Heinrich Schmitt of the value of the ideas and approach of Henry David Thoreau’s Walden and “Civil Disobedience.” He compares his own ideas with Thoreau’s and concludes they are driving at a similar notion. Mohandas K. Gandhi also writes about the similarities of his own doctrine of Satyagraha and Thoreau’s civil disobedience. While he believes they were both aimed at the same ultimate goal, their approaches and reasons for non-conformity diverge. Thoreau may have gone to the woods to “suck out all the marrow of life,” as he says, but in his solitary endeavor, he contributed much more to society than his individual goal implies.

Putting The Hip In Hypocrite: Thoureau and Impractical Ideas In Walden

Throughout John Albert Macy’s “Thoreau” there is much praise in adornment of Thoreau’s Walden. Thoreau was thought of a revolutionary of the Transendentalist way. The problem with this is that Thoreau was nothing more than an idealist taking advantage of people’s desire to lead a free life. Thoreau does nothing more than exaggerate and embellish the way he actually lives while degrading the rest of the country for not having the resources he had.