Our Nig definately has a much different style than the gothic literature that we have read, however there are similarities as well. For one thing, this novel was written much later than others that we have read, so language and ideas will obviously be different. It sounds like it was written during the Reconstruction period, where racial tensions were high as African Americans tried to find a place socially in free America.
One main element that seemed very gothic was the character of Mrs. Bellmont and her evil, tyrannical "aunt-like" behavior. We also see the Frado's mother abandons her, so we get the gothic element of an absent mother. Also, Frado's bedroom is in a tiny attic; a basic gothic element.
In the story, Frado is the typical gothic sentimental heroine and is the object for reader's sympathies. She's penniless, parentless, abused, "different" by appearance; she's forced to rely on her own strength in order to overcome hardships. Also, the topic of religion is widely used as Frado struggles to find her own relationship with God. In the end, she rejects relationship with God I believe. (it was a bit hard to tell through the language). This was a common theme in Gothic literature as well. It also seems Wilson tries to make a statement on the contradictory nature of many churchgoers. Mrs. Bellmont is a religion professor yet she is cruel, abusive, and generally has no morals, yet she preaches religion. Frado brings that issue up as well.
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I agree with the fact that this was most likely written in the Reconstruction period. There was still a lot of high tensions against african americans. I wonder if the reason they told a story about the north was to show that the north wasnt so perfect after all, that it wasnt just the south.
ReplyDeleteI personally saw this as a brutal Cinderella story with a brutal twist. The young girl is abandoned and is forced to do all the housework and is being constantly abused, verbally and pyhsically. The prince, Jack and James, get her hopes up but in the end she is never rescued ( like Lois the Witch ). After she leaves the house though, the Cinderella aspects are gone and Frado herself does to her own son what has happened to her. You would think that being emotionally hurt by being left behind she wouldn't do that to her own child but I guess not. I really liked this novel though because it showed the true ways of life in the North and what goes on behind closed doors.
ReplyDeleteI disagree about Frado being a typical gothic woman. She is opressed but she is the most morally and physically strong woman that we have found in any of the pieces yet. I think that this is where the female slave narratives differ in that the African American females are always portrayed as strong.
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