Critique of Hank's True Character - A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court

The main character in Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Hank, is a pragmatic and opportunistic Northerner who has a relevantly strong sense of right and wrong. As the most intelligent and responsible person in the time period in which he unexplainably falls into, he takes it upon himself to alter a medieval society into a sort of “people’s community”.

While Hank seems to have good intentions, there seems to be some sort of discreet flaw in the manner in which he implements his revolutionary ideals.  One of his first discrepancies is his critical perspective of the Church and their methods of control over the people. He criticizes the fact that many people in power have not earned their roles in power but essentially neither has he. He luckily fell into a world where he happened to be the most intelligent person.

As an opportunist he had to invent reasons as to why he should have power. He justified his authority through his belief that he had a better understanding of the medieval people than they did themselves. While his assumption may not be wrong, he essentially gains power in the same way that the Church does. Like the Church, he states that his influence is what will benefit the society the most. The issue is not whether or not he is wrong in his belief, but it is that he criticizes a modus operandi that he utilizes himself.

One of the more disturbing parts in the novel is when Hank essentially enslaved a hermit to do five years of work. His reasoning being that working is what the hermit did his entire life and that Hank was putting his work to better use. He took advantage of the fact that the hermit knew no better than to just work without pay, and Hank said that he would never force him to work. While that may be the case, essentially the hermit knew no better and was crudely manipulated by Hank. This event along with Hank’s unwillingness to put a stop to slavery when he saw Pilgrims mercilessly beating their slaves leads me to believe in whether or not he is true in his democratic or humane ideals. I feel that if he implemented his ultimate goal of a capitalist society, wage slavery would most definitely be a problem if it promotes technological advancement.

Engineers and the New South Creed: The Formation and Early Development of Georgia Tech

As I read this interesting paper by James E. Brittain and Robert C. McMath Jr., my immediate reaction was in response to the disturbing elitism behind the formation of Georgia Tech. The “new south creed” referring to the economic, social, and moral adaptation of the south to northern progress in the aftermath of the Civil War, was intended to let the south rise up to the industrial capacity of the north. In my view, the elite class in the south could find no better way to do this than to create a specialized working class via a “shop culture” school. Robert H. Thurston clearly defines the ideal method of achieving this goal by establishing the importance of manual labor and defining the distinctions between two classes – “those brilliant of intellect” and those of “constructive faculty”.
The elite “believed” that this new system would bridge the gap between classes whereas I disagree completely. Personally, I see Thurston and others intending to avoid the traditional “school culture” by implementing a “shop culture” method in which they could avoid the dangers of an educated working class. The statement that “the heads are in Athens and the hands are in Atlanta” implies that those going to Athens are to be the bosses and those going to Atlanta are meant to be the workers, or proletariat if you will. This specialized working class can increase economic efficiency and income for the elite while they do less labor for more money.
I personally believe that those establishing Georgia Tech really did not have the best interests of Georgians at heart, but rather their own interests. Fortunately for them, with their success came an apparent success of the community as a whole. In my view, this is bold of the elite in that they are raising the standards of the community as a whole, thus raising the expectation of the workers. In the eyes of the elite, this could possibly lead to an unwanted sort of “class consciousness” of the working class that could lead problems in that workers will wonder why they are not as successful and why the “if you work hard it will pay off mentality” has not yet presented itself. The elite made smart decision to focus on a “shop” school, which most certainly played a role in inhibiting this realization.