Harney and Frost on Appalachia

I find Harney and Frosts depictions problematic as they demean the value of the Appalachian culture. While it is fair to record descriptions of a unique culture in order to share the experience with others, it is not fair to undermine its existence and consider said culture as lesser because of these differences. In his essay, “Our Contemporary Ancestors,” Frost is condescending in his tone. The purpose of his essay is to encourage Northern city-dwellers to help the Appalachia region through their “belated condition” (313). He also claims that, “they [Appalachians] unconsciously stepped aside from the great avenues of commerce and thought” (313). The word choice in this statement is incredibly degrading and is an effective summary of Frosts’ tone. By saying “unconsciously,” Frost assumes that the Appalachia’s choice to veer from the progression of neighboring regions was an accident. Who is he to say that the Appalachian people were not simply disapproving of conflict and changes in the North and South and chose to deviate? Furthermore, the use of the word “great” implies rank and to say the Appalachian’s moved away from “thought” is to imply that there is no intellectual stimulation occurring in the region.

Similarly, Harney in his story “A Strange Land and a Peculiar People,” is problematic because he portrays the everyday lives of Appalachian people as unfortunate and pitiful. He mentions passing “a poor man,” and “poor little babes-in-the-wood” and encountering a “poor, wizened old creature” (432). He insults the typical lives of these people by viewing them as a pity party and a charity case. Both Frost and Harney are arrogant and insensitive toward the Appalachian culture in their writing and in how they interpret their experiences.