Winchester1

DeanWinchester
MissHernandez
NinthGradeLiteratureandComposition
10Nov2015
SecretsatUncleTomsCabin

CassandraClareoncesaid,Liesandsecrets,theyarelikeacancerinthesoul.They
eatawaywhatisgoodandleaveonlydestructionbehind.Althoughmostofpeoplewouldagree
thatkeepingsecretscanbenecessaryattimes,overall,societyencouragesustosharethings.
Inthesong,UncleTomsCabin,thesingerchallengesthisideabypresentingaspeakerwho
witnessesacrime,butareunabletoreportittotheauthorities.WarrantinthesongUncle
TomsCabinusesnarration,visualimageryandsituationalironytodiscussthatsecretscanbe
necessarytosurvive.
Inthesong,theuseofnarrationhelpstheaudienceseethatsecretsmustbekeptto
survive.Narrationpoetryusuallytellsastory,andtotellastorytheremustbecharactersand
setting.Atthebeginningofthesong,thespeakerestablishesthesetwothings.Justforthe
recordletsgetthestorystraight/MeandUncleTomwerefishinitwasgettingprettylate/Out
onacypresslimbabovethewishinwell/Wheretheysayitgotnobottomsayittakeyoudown
tohell(14).Heretheauthorisdescribingthatthespeakerandhisunclearefishingatnight.By
sayingthisheisshowingwhothestorywillbeaboutandwhereitwilltakeplace.Thesetting
makestheaudiencethinkofadangeroustimeandplacewherebadthingsarelikelytohappen
inthenarrative.Whilethespeakerdoesnttelluswhatthesecretisyet,thephraseletsgetthe
storystraight,letstheaudienceknowthatthisisaconfession.Usually,whenpeopleconfess
thatmeansthereisasecretbeingrevealedthatcouldhavebigconsequences.Itcomesoutin

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thenextstanzathattheconsequencescouldevencostthespeakerhislife.Torevealthenature
ofthesecrethebeginstodescribeexactlywhathappenedthatnight.
Thebandusesvisualimagerytoshowtheimportanceofkeepingasecret.Earlyinthe
song,thebandestablishesthesettingintheswamp,andthenthespeakerdescribeswhathe
sawTwomenwalkinginthepalemoonlight/SheriffJohnBradyandDeputyHedge/Haulintwo
limpbodiesdowntothewatersedge(68).Thisdescribeshowthesheriffandthedeputyare
throwingdeadbodiesintothepondatnight.Thisisvisualimagerybecausethereisa
descriptionthatincludesthepeople,thetimeofday,andwhattheyaredoingsothereader
couldimagineit.Theimageofasheriffanddeputyhidingbodieswouldbeasecretthatmost
peoplewouldbeafraidtosharebecauseofwhattheauthoritiesmightdoinretaliation.This
showsthatforthespeakerifhewantstosurvivehewillhavetokeepthissecret.Theauthor
thenbeginstodiscussthecrisisofwhocouldthespeakerpossiblytellthesecretto.
Atthispointinthesong,Warrantusessituationalironytoexpresshowakeytosurvival
iskeepingsecrets.Situationalironyiswhentheexpectationsoftheaudiencearenotmet,but
insteadatwistendingispresented.Thespeakerandhisunclemanagetoleavethecrime
sceneandmakeitbacktoTomsCabin.Thespeakerandhisunclethenhavethefollowing
conversation.OhmyGod,Tom,whoarewegoingtotell?/TheSheriff,hebelongsinaprison
cell(2324).Atthispointthespeakerwantstofigureoutwhotheycanreportthepoliceto,but
hisunclereplies,Keepyourmouthshut,thatswhatweregoingtodo/Unlessyouwanttowind
upinthewishingwelltoo(2526).Heretheuncleexplainsthatthereisnoonethattheycantell
theirsecretto.Thisisanexampleofsituationalironyforseveralreasons.Onereasonisthatin
mostinstances,thepolicearesearchingforwhohasmurderedpeopleanddisposedthebodies,
nottheotherwayaround.Anotherreasonthatthisissituationalironyisbecausemostpeople
listeningtothestorywouldassumethattheuncleencouragedhisnephewtotellthestory

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becausethesongbeginswithJustfortherecordletsgetthestorystraight(1)whichmeans
heistellingthestorytosomeone.Thisshowsthat,accordingtotheuncle,thespeakermust
keepthissecretifhedoesntwanttobekilled.
Itistruethatsomemightviewthesongasbeingasongaboutcrimeandpolice
corruptionandnotaboutsecrets.Admittedly,thereisaSheriffcommittingacrimeandadeputy
helpinghim,butthereisnoconversationaboutwhyorhowtheygotthere.However,thesong
doesntgobeyondthatnight,andsoitishardtoknowhowlongthecrimeiskeptasecretandif
thewholedepartmentiscorrupt.Therefore,itisunclearwhatkindofstatementtheauthoris
tryingtomakeaboutcrimesandlawenforcementauthors.
Althoughmanypeoplebelievethatsecretsaredangeroustokeep,Warrantinthesong
UncleTomsCabindiscussthatsecretscanbenecessarytosurvive.Throughtheuseof
storytelling,richdescription,andtwistendingtheaudiencecaneasilyseethatinthedangerous
situationofbeingonthewrongsideoflawmen,keepingasecret,atleastforalittlewhile,might
beforthebest.Althoughbytheendofthesong,theaudiencehearingthesongisletinonthe
secretandgiventhedetails,thetruestmessagemightbetokeepasecretuntilthebesttime
presentsitself.WarrantmightagreewithClareandwanttoendthespreadoftheSheriffand
Deputysdestructivepresenceintownbyhavingthespeakersharethestorywithallofus.