The False Negative Image of the Tennessee Community

Reading the book in Tennessee Mountain by Mary Murfree, one has difficult reading some of her slangs such as the hill Billy; she has portrayed the Appalachia community as a backward community. Danielle Quales of the Indiana University comments, “Murfree uses thick I-dialect throughout the stories and generally reinforces the stereotypical views of mountaineers that her readership would already hold”. Reading though the novel one would confirm the stereotypes of the community which are not true (Daniella, 17). The novel thus creates a false picture of the actual status of the mountain people. Murfree openly condemns them using negative words such as, “so corrupted the principles of the people that they think of nothing but plundering one another”.

She successfully manages to create a mental picture of lazy, backward and ignorant mountain community. The department of the American studies in the University of Virginia in their web site comments “She calls them, in a patronizing manner, "ignorant," "untutored" and "primitive," as well as "superstitious." Most of their activity is made up of drinking, gambling and feuding (Quales, 34). Little constructive work is done. Murfree's negative portrayals of these aspects of mountain life,” (University of Virginia Enlish Depatment, 12) in their website review of the novel.

In this novel, the mountain community is debited as undeveloped and requires the intervention of other people probably the whites to be salvaged. The author says,“She will continue to be what she is, and what she has been, a depressed and languishing region” She goes ahead to say that the people will remain backward as long as they hold on to their mundane traditions. She believe that they are resistant to change and development.

The novel portals the mountain peoples as violent and incapable of living at peace with one another. Mary Murfree says that the mountain region is peaceful though the habitants are the opposite. She uses strong words to describe their unfriendly character when she writes, “The whigs and tories pursue one another with the most relentless fury, killing and destroying each other whenever they meet” (University of Virginia Enlish Depatment, 27). This word creates a false impression about this community and their social life. She fails to appreciate their rich traditions and only hints on them. . The department of the American studies in the University of Virginia writes that, “she hints on their traditions by her positive depiction of the folk's moral stature. In this regard they are "loyal, hospitable and independent" - true "noblemen and noblewomen of nature," as Wright describes.” (University of Virginia Enlish Depatment, 23). However, it is only a hint which is overshadowed by the strong manner in which she expresses the community’s negativity.

The negative image created by this novel which is the base for moist of the regions stories damages the Tennessee community image on the national outlook. The university of Virginia English department observed that, “the University of Virginia.” The negative description of the folks gives the rest of the nation who read it a negative impression about the community.

The novel, as Danielle describes ”In the Tennessee Mountainshas come to be regarded as an unfair, stereotypical portrayal of mountain people by the vast majority of scholars in more recent years.” it is based on false and unfair representation of the mountain n community (Murfree, 11). It does not give a true reflection of their culture rather creates a damaging image in the mind of the reader.