The Monster is an 1898 novella by American author Stephen Crane (1871–1900), a study of prejudice, fear and isolation in a small town. In the fictional Whilomville, New York, an African-American coachman named Henry Johnson, who is employed by the town's physician, Dr. Trescott, becomes horribly disfigured after he saves Trescott's son from a fire. When Henry is branded a "monster" by the town's residents, Trescott vows to shelter and care for him, resulting in his family's exclusion from the community. Whilomville, which is used in 14 other Crane stories, was based on Port Jervis, New York, where he spent part of his youth. He probably took inspiration from several local men who were similarly disfigured. Modern critics have connected themes of racial division in the story to the 1892 lynching in Port Jervis of an African-American man named Robert Lewis. The novella was included in The Monster and Other Stories—the last collection of Crane's work to be published during his lifetime. Both the novella and the collection received mixed reviews from critics, but The Monster is now considered one of Crane's best works.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monster_(novella)
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1554:
Bayinnaung, who later assembled the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia, was crowned king of the Burmese Taungoo Dynasty. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayinnaung
1777:
Mission Santa Clara de Asís, a Spanish mission that formed the basis of both the city of Santa Clara, California and Santa Clara University, was established. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Santa_Clara_de_As%C3%ADs
1911:
The University of the Philippines College of Law was founded; many leading Filipino political figures have since graduated from it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_the_Philippines_College_of_Law
1967:
Seventy-three-year-old psychology professor James Bedford became the first person to be cryonically frozen with intent of future resuscitation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics
2007:
Comet McNaught reached perihelion and became the brightest comet in over 40 years with an apparent magnitude of −5.5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2006_P1
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
filibuster: 1. A mercenary soldier; a freebooter; specifically, a mercenary who travelled illegally in an organized group from the United States to a country in Central America or the Spanish West Indies in the mid-19th century seeking economic and political benefits through armed force. 2. (politics, US) A tactic (such as giving long, often irrelevant speeches) employed to delay the proceedings of, or the making of a decision by, a legislative body, particularly the United States Senate. 3. (politics, US) A member of a legislative body causing such an obstruction; a filibusterer. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/filibuster
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion. --Edmund Burke https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edmund_Burke