Frank Merriwell at Yale
Frank Merriwell at Yale
Dime novels, and more specifically the Frank Merriwell series, were novels written for the children, but should not have been. Dime novels reflect a misogynistic and racist time in our history. The late nineteenth, early twentieth century was an age where the impact of the industrial revolution caused a sharp differentiation between the gender roles, especially of the upper and middle classes. Men and women were thought to have completely different natures, owing largely to Darwin’s work in biological determinism, and people saw those differences as dictating separate and different functions in society. Men were thought to have natures suited to the public world, women to the private. Men were looked at as powerful, active, and brave while the women were seen as weak, passive, and emotional. This period is crucial for the making and publishing of dime novels. Dime novels reflect a time of a misogynistic attitude and racist actions, which affected society and its social hierarchy. Frank Merriwell at Yale demonstrates this through the poor literacy of some people and how they talk, never mentioning a woman throughout the book, and the way the upper and lower class fought through the entire story.
Through the whole book of Frank Merriwell at Yale, there were some literature issues, but that is expected because the book was published in 1903, however, the literature of some people was far worse than the main characters, which demonstrates racism. The illiteracy of the guy that was hired to break Franks arm demonstrates that he was from a lower class, which also creates an image of someone color- because back then those who were of color had poor literature. Another point that demonstrates racism was the way that the book talks about the Indians or the Sioux. An example of this was when the author says, “He whooped like a wild Indian and…” This type of language demonstrates racist views towards Native Americans.
Another reason why dime novels were not good books for children to read were because they demonstrated a misogynistic period in American history. Throughout the entire Frank Merriwell at Yale book, not once was there a woman or girl mentioned. The only time that anything was said about a woman was when they were talking