Abstract
Naturalist George Bird Grinnell wrote a series of young adult adventure novels between 1899 and 1913 in response to a fear about the future of America’s masculine identity. In this Independent Study, I ask the question: how did the Young Jack series serve as one of the solutions to the white wealthy male’s perceived crisis of masculinity? Grinnell wrote the novels in response to this crisis that was occurring during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in America. The Young Jack novels served as one of the means for the frontier clubsmen to abate their fears of a generation of effeminate young men, a disappearing frontier, and an increase in immigrant populations. To answer this question, I explored four main themes: boyhood, masculinity, wilderness, and whiteness. Through an analysis of the Young Jack series, I concluded that the novels presented Jack Danvers as the model for an ideal transformation from a young boy to an American man. The Young Jack series are an invaluable source which provide insight into the motives of the white wealthy men and the young American boys they hoped to influence.
Advisor
Roche, Jeff
Department
History
Recommended Citation
Veroske, Ariel N., "“Go West, Young Man, Go West” Whiteness, Masculinity, and Wilderness in Gilded Age Boys Literature" (2014). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 5941.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/5941
Disciplines
American Studies | Cultural History | History of Gender | United States History
Keywords
Gilded Age, masculinity, wilderness, nature, whiteness, boyhood, George Bird Grinnell, Theodore Roosevelt
Publication Date
2014
Degree Granted
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type
Senior Independent Study Thesis
© Copyright 2014 Ariel N. Veroske