Finally. A single chapter in How To Read Literature Like a Professor that i can honestly (somewhat) agree with.
In Thomas Foster's nineteenth chapter, titled "Geography Matters", the history and significance of the four seasons are analyzed in relation to literature. Geography, the study of the physical features of the earth and its atmosphere, and of human activity as it affects and is affected by an environment (according to Google), has been original factor of success and development throughout all early human life. Thanks to geography, the Mayan civilization thrived, the Egyptian empire erected the pyramids, and the world's range of biological diversity remains vast. It only makes sense that modern life's largest determining factors hold a large place in literature as well.
Ever since I moved houses about five years ago, I have heard Realtor after Realtor repeat the following saying: "Location, location, location". Location, being the placement of objects and life in relation to geography, was a high, if not the highest priority of real estate. Location determined a houses price, a houses size, a houses safety, and even a house's structural integrity. Most importantly however, location determined a house's environment and therefore the environment of said house's residents. Would location put me in a suburb? a city? a slum? How would geography affect my story?
On page 137 of How to Read Literature like a Professor, Foster elaborates on the significance of location and geography in relation to literature by referencing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a young boy named Huck sails down the Mississippi river with an escaped slave named Jim. The location, being the Mississippi river, holds major significance to the novel’s plot as Mark Twain could have chosen any other river in America for an escaped slave and young boy to travel down. However, the Mississippi river’s location in the southern slave states changes Jim and Finn’s sailing from a simple escape, to a full on adventure. In fact, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn depends more on geography than most other famous novels as Jim’s presence jeopardizes Huck and various other raft members constantly as they travel through a slave territory. Without Jim, Huck’s journey down the Mississippi could have been a breeze. Without the Mississippi river, Jim and Huck’s travels could have been a breeze. However, it is because Mark Twain decided to create a problem by putting Jim, with Huck, on the Mississippi river that allows the delightful yet dark plot and story of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to develop. Mark Twain’s most famous piece of literature relies entirely on a conflict constructed by geographical and character restraints that seem like they could have been pulled from a hat. By simply placing an escaped slave on a river that travels throughout the length of the south, Mark Twain constructed on of America’s most loved, meaningful and entertaining stories.
Five years after living in North Dallas, and reading Foster’s commentary on Huck Fin, I have realized how my geographical constraints have sculpted my lifestyle. I live closer to certain friends who have also become my closest friends. Now I live further from a gym and now I am less active. Because it is North Dallas, my neighbors are very boring people, and therefore I stay in a little more. Although geography can be unfortunate, geography is never the less important to all who acknowledge the significance or not.
