FREE ESSAY ON BUFFALO BILL AND DEADWOOD DICK

BUFFALO BILL AND DEADWOOD DICK

Phillips
Eng. 124
Writing Assn. #1
I Can't Hear a Damn Word You're Saying
"'Those who deprecate the free supply of such ficticious works as the public demands, are
generally in favor of the entire exclusion of fiction of a sensational cast, a course
which will unavoidably result in alienating from the library the very class most needing
its beneficial influence'" (Denning, 49).
It is obvious here that William Fletcher attached more significance and importance to
dime novels than most "serious intellectuals" did in the late 1800's. In fact, most
people, particularly in the middle class, thought dime novels were vulgar and that they
caused young children to imitate the actions of the likes of Buffalo Bill and Deadwood
Dick. But both the production and the popularity of dime novels (especially) among the
working class suggest that something more profound than cheap entertainment compelled
them to read these works of fiction. Contrary to what many literary scholars and those in
the middle class believed--and perhaps as indicated by the various reactions to them,
these plotlines and characters were appealing to the working class on more than just one
level.
The rate at which dime novels were produced is astounding. "William Wallace Cook began by
receiving a title and synopsis for a serial, and would then write, adapt and revise
installments to meet the ever-changing specifications of the publisher. Almost all the
accounts tell the story of novels written at exceptional speed in marathon sessions, and
all emphasize the sheer quantity of writing" (Denning, 21). It was not uncommon for
authors to write entire pieces in one week or less, some not bothering to edit their
work. Many admitted that their motivation for writing stories at such a pace was money,
but most maintained that the material contained in their stories was not immoral or
vulgar, but rather, useful.
It is interesting to note here that, while the adverse reaction against dime novels
eventually became a reflection of the class that was supposedly reading them, the authors
themselves were not from the working class. In fact, the dime novel "was a commercial
product of a burgeoning industry employing relatively educated professionals--writers who
also worked as journalists, teachers, or clerks" (45). The judgments passed on those
reading the dime novels was limited to the working class; but the very material that was
thought to be immoral was invented in the minds of middle class people. In addition,
while the working class may have been the target audience, perhaps in an attempt to
redefine class boundaries, in actuality, the population of dime novel readers transcended
those very boundaries. The action- and romance-packed stories appealed to all: men,
women, children, both young and old. For people such as bankers and capitalists, dime
novels served as more of a distraction from the North/South divide that the country was
actually experiencing ("Reading the West", 32)
If the popularity of these novels was so widespread, even extending into middle-class
interests, one must wonder why the reaction by literary critics and other middle-class
people was so strong, and at times, excessive. Critics were unsure of how dime novels
would impact the working class readers and what action, if any, they might provoke.
Either they were "a narcotic escape from daily life with no genuine symbolic meaning or,
with Comstock, a symbolic universe so potents as to erase the real world from the minds
of readers, leading them to act out the scenes depicted in dime novels" (54). Anthony
Comstock was the leader of these latter believers, calling editors of such fiction
"Satan's efficient agents" who would ultimately destroy the young (Denning, 51). He
eventually began arresting people who sold these novels or those who allowed children
under sixteen years of age to have access to dime novels. Libraries joined in on the
censorship, attempting to keep sensational fiction off their bookshelves.
If the intended audience of dime novels was the working class, and there was such a
strong reaction against the works, then presumably there was something about the way the
expected results would have impacted the working class that scared critics. As with any
modern influential product of mass media, like the program "South Park," people feared
that children would be corrupted and prone to acts of violence after reading such
fiction. However, it is unlikely that the fear of violence by children was the only
reason critics did not hold dime novels in such high esteem.
An issue to be raised is the overwhelming concern that the middle class expressed
regarding the lower classes. The concern was not for the well-being of the working class
(who cared if their morals were deteriorating?), but rather, the concern appears to be
out of fear that the process of reading the dime novels, and the stories contained
therein, were somehow beneficial to them. Indeed, the working class was introduced to a
new wave in literature that provided a new perspective on life. They were beginning to
fantasize and to adopt the storylines and characters as a part of their own life, as a
distant, yet possible reality. To some extent this could have put the middle class at
ease, seeing dime novels as a way of creating a temporary feeling of content among the
working class while maintaining the rigid and unsafe working conditions that generally
were the cause of their unhappiness. This, however, did not entirely comfort the middle
class; perhaps the benefits of these dime novels were extending a bit too far.
As mentioned earlier, some critics did not know what to make of the response of working
class readers to these works of fiction. Were they simply an escape or would they serve
as a push that would ultimately cause the working class to rise? The answer probably lies
in between these two extremes. What is apparent is that dime novels, conveniently able to
fit in one's back pocket, were carried everywhere. Reading was a way of passing time
during the commute, and even more intriguing, a way of passing the time during work
breaks. The fact that the stories were taken across and between the boundaries of home
and work indicates that they were providing their readers with something they were unable
to get from work. In this respect, dime novels were an escape from the harsh reality and
working conditions of factories and other places inhabited by the working class. They
were so pervasive that some workers would read them as they worked, unable to leave the
tales of adventures until the ride home.
Some interpreted the passion for reading as an inability of the working class to do
nothing more with their free time than merely be entertained. Long hours, said one
Detroit Knight of Labor, made workers "'incapable of doing anything requiring thought. .
. They will read trashy novels, or go to a variety theater or a dance, but nothing beyond
amusements'" (Denning, 45). While long days did tend to drain workers, they did not read
as passively as this Knight of Labor suggested. "'Sometimes I wonder how it would seem,'"
said one tailoress, "'if I should have the luck that you read about in the novels--get
rich all of a sudden and have your fine house and carriage as some of the girls have that
I used to go with'" (Denning, 35). In fact, reading about the lives of those such as
Buffalo Bill and "Willful" Gaynell did exactly this: provide a sense of wonder, the
possibility that the rags to riches story would one day be their own. 
On the surface, dime novels appeared solely immoral and profane. The Indian-scalping and
gun-happy adventures of Buffalo Bill, in particular, were disconcerting to critics and
the cause of their unrest about the "contamination of the morals of the working class"
("Reading the West, 3). But the actions of Buffalo Bill seemed justified enough. When he
killed others, it was only because his life or someone's close to him was immediately in
danger; the reasons were always very personal and never frivolous. In addition,
regardless of his pursuits, it was clear that Buffalo Bill always kept his mother and
family in mind. These indications were always at the end of each chapter, where the main
character would ride home and pay off the mortgage or buy food for his hungry family.
"'The best of the story papers,'" notes W.H. Bishop, "'reward virtue and punish vice.
Their dependence upon the family keeps them, as a rule, free of dangerous appeals to the
lower passions'" (53).
Perhaps for women dime novels disrupted the norm a bit more than those stories targeted
at young boys. In stories such as Buffalo Bill's, women were protected, one might say
"respected," but their ability to fight and to be successful on the frontier was never
actualized, because it was never women who fought, only men dressed as women. Novels such
as "The Hidden Hand" and "Willful Gaynell" presented images of women opposite those in
which they were seen in real life. These stories were a reflection of the emergence of
the working girl, Capitola unable to find work as a girl and Gaynell as a headstrong
factory girl. In the first, Capitola dresses as a boy (reversing traditional gender
switches) in order to get a job. "One circumstance he had particularly remarked," notes
the author of "The Hidden Hand," E.D.E.N. Southworth, "the language used by the poor
child during her examination was much superior to the slang she had previously affected,
to support her assumed character of newsboy" (41). What is implied here is that girls
were more articulate and perhaps more learned than boys. More importantly, this gender
switching reaffirmed that gender is often performance and not entirely natural, and that
women could "do" men just as successfully as men could "do" women.
Dime novels were never as morally contaminating as the middle class suspected they would
be. One might even argue that their anticipated explosive effect was, in fact, a creation
of the middle class and may have not been as disruptive had this class not expressed such
disgust and concern. This reaction seems to be indicative of the fact that dime novels
provided more for the working class than merely cheap entertainment (although that was
just as important). Their production, circulationa and the reaction they provoked all
contributed to what we might call the "Dime Novel Scare" of the late 1800's. And while
the fiction stories created an excitement in the working class, a sense that there was
potential in their own lives to be like the characters they read about, they did not
cause a mass alliance of and rebellion by the working class. What they did was allow the
working class to see dime novels as an arena much like the one they lived in, one that
saw class struggles and the introduction of the potential of both men and women,
regardless of class.