The Powerful Poison Savannah Analysis
20 November 2012
The Powerful Poison: Savannahians
Savannah is a peculiar town, with interesting cases of disturbed people. Berendt’s decision to include Luther Driggers has the effect of showing how failure can develop people’s worst side in a society like Savannah. He has an important meaning in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil because if the reader connects Danny and Luther’s stories he or she will understand that they were both victims of Savannah’s society.
The Jar
Savannah is remarkable for its history. The town was the world’s leading cotton port in the past. As a result a rich group with power emerged in the city: the aristocracy. This high society has its own values, and its own lifestyle. According to Jim Williams, …show more content…
That explains why it was the first thing he looked for once he got home, after that shameful night. He had never achieved power through his inventions, but had through the bottle filled with a white powder. “Luther clearly relished the speculation about his sinister power” (75). Developing his dark side was the way he found to be a bug alive in the jar.
The Path to death
Danny Hansford is a good example of the path opposite to white people’s social rules. He dropped out school in the eighth grade, and he does not have a good relationship with his mother. Because of that, he has been on the street since he was fifteen. Beyond that, with no education he would not find good jobs. He would not upgrade himself, and no woman would like to marry him. His failure was confirmed, and he had no chance to change his destiny, at least not in Savannah.
Living out of the code as an unknown person, Danny developed his dark side. He had been in juvenile homes and mental hospitals. He was described as a dangerous, psychotic. “You could look into his eyes and see there was no person left, only rage and violence” (174), said Skipper Dunn, one of his ex-roommates. He was aggressive, violent, and got into trouble with the police several …show more content…
He was creative and had talent for arts; that means, somehow, he had a sensitive side. Because of his mess up life, he had no opportunity, no encouragement to develop his skills for art. Malcolm Gladwell, the author of the book Outliers, has a theory that to achieve excellence people have to work hard on their own goal, being precise, they have to work 10,000 hours on it. But people, who do not have a healthy environment or do not have someone to give incentive, would never work those hours. It is much easier and common to give up on the goal or talent. Jim Williams could notice that Danny was an artist. “Of course, his talent wasn’t developed. He didn’t have the patience,” said Williams (247). It would be too much to say that Danny would be a genius artist, but maybe if he had lived in another place other than Savannah, he could have, at least, developed his sensitive
The Powerful Poison: Savannahians
Savannah is a peculiar town, with interesting cases of disturbed people. Berendt’s decision to include Luther Driggers has the effect of showing how failure can develop people’s worst side in a society like Savannah. He has an important meaning in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil because if the reader connects Danny and Luther’s stories he or she will understand that they were both victims of Savannah’s society.
The Jar
Savannah is remarkable for its history. The town was the world’s leading cotton port in the past. As a result a rich group with power emerged in the city: the aristocracy. This high society has its own values, and its own lifestyle. According to Jim Williams, …show more content…
That explains why it was the first thing he looked for once he got home, after that shameful night. He had never achieved power through his inventions, but had through the bottle filled with a white powder. “Luther clearly relished the speculation about his sinister power” (75). Developing his dark side was the way he found to be a bug alive in the jar.
The Path to death
Danny Hansford is a good example of the path opposite to white people’s social rules. He dropped out school in the eighth grade, and he does not have a good relationship with his mother. Because of that, he has been on the street since he was fifteen. Beyond that, with no education he would not find good jobs. He would not upgrade himself, and no woman would like to marry him. His failure was confirmed, and he had no chance to change his destiny, at least not in Savannah.
Living out of the code as an unknown person, Danny developed his dark side. He had been in juvenile homes and mental hospitals. He was described as a dangerous, psychotic. “You could look into his eyes and see there was no person left, only rage and violence” (174), said Skipper Dunn, one of his ex-roommates. He was aggressive, violent, and got into trouble with the police several …show more content…
He was creative and had talent for arts; that means, somehow, he had a sensitive side. Because of his mess up life, he had no opportunity, no encouragement to develop his skills for art. Malcolm Gladwell, the author of the book Outliers, has a theory that to achieve excellence people have to work hard on their own goal, being precise, they have to work 10,000 hours on it. But people, who do not have a healthy environment or do not have someone to give incentive, would never work those hours. It is much easier and common to give up on the goal or talent. Jim Williams could notice that Danny was an artist. “Of course, his talent wasn’t developed. He didn’t have the patience,” said Williams (247). It would be too much to say that Danny would be a genius artist, but maybe if he had lived in another place other than Savannah, he could have, at least, developed his sensitive