... outside the established norms, was to invite ostracism as can be seen in the condemnation of Puddn'head Wilson by the townspeople in Dawson's Landing, or even the isolation of the Boss in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Challenging the existing mythology might only be achieved in a backhanded manner that minimized the threat to the dominant structure ... eastern airs and dandyish clothes, no less than his compulsive gambling and cowardly use of a penknife to stab "Chambers,"" mark him unmistakably as a "coon,"" according to the period's rigid vocabulary of racial stereotypes...

• Word Count: 3141
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate