Talk:Our Nig

Body and Pain

During the era of slavery, female mulatto slaves were by far the most expensive. During this corrupt time period in the United States, these helpless women were commonly sold off at auctions to be not only house slaves, but sex slaves as well. The history of mulatto's is one that is just as disdained as the history of regular African slaves. Even after slavery was abolished, mulatto's held the same rights (or rather lacked the same rights) as African American individuals. Frado’s treatment as an indentured servant is a treatment that was common amongst many colored house workers, regardless how light your skin pigment may be. Mrs. Bellmont’s tyranny and harsh treatment of Frado was typical treatment of indentured slaves. The beating that Frado endured was a way to keep her in abeyance of Mrs. Bellmont. The scar tissue on her body, which was directly resulted from the treatment of her “master,” only assisted building up the “muscle mass” of her mind. As a result, the day eventually came when she was powerful enough to withstand attacks from Mrs. Bellmont and stand up to her cruelty. Though this is a different way to look at it, but the pains inflicted on Frado were necessary for her to be able to cope with the future troubles that would happen in her life. Since Frado had already been war tested by her “employer,” she would be able to successfully live the tough life style that came along with being an African American in the 19th century.

Themes and Symbols

Two Story White House: The theme of the two story white house is presented to the reader on the old cover of the novel Our Nig by Harriet E. Wilson. The cover states “in a two story white house. North.”, clearly telling the reader where the novel takes place; however there are many more underlying definitions to the idea of this house that can be uncovered. The novel is said from the point of view of Frado, a black woman, thus being the “first story”. The “second story” can be told from the white characters in the novel, such as Mrs. Bellmont. The two stories come together to form one whole piece. The two stories of the home represent the Northern states on the top and the Southern on the lower part of the home. Frado lives in the North where there is supposedly no slavery, yet she is an indentured servant to the Bellmont family, thus showing slavery in a different form. A beautiful white two story home is the American dream, by outing this “two story” home on the front cover the author is telling the reader that the goal of the novel is to allow African Americans to be able to reach this dream, just as the white race has been able to. Lastly, the white house is a symbol of government and justice in the U.S.A. The white house has brought justice finally to the inequality that the African American population has faced.

Identity:One of the several themes in Harriet E. Wilson’s Our Nig is the aspect of identity – particularly the racial identity between white individuals and slaves. In Our Nig, the focus of this entire novel is on the main character Frado – a young woman serving a Northern family and treated horribly by some of her female masters. However, Frado’s status is a more complex issue than the title would lead you to believe and reflects on the hypocrisy of slavery common among other slave narratives. Throughout the novel, Frado is constantly referred to by her mistress under derogatory terms centered on the color of her skin and the immense difference from her white masters. Yet, Frado is a mulatto woman with skin described by her mistress to be as fair as her daughter’s skin. Thus, the issue of a dual-identity is brought into the piece. Frado looks the same as a white child but she is forced into her horrific life and servitude. In fact, her appearance is regarded as a source of hatred. Frado is forced to work out in the sun because her mistress hopes to darken her skin. This subject of identity also brings a second aspect into the novel – the One-drop rule from slavery. Similar to other slave narratives such as Ellen and William Craft's Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; Or, The Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery, a single tie to African American heritage taints the entire bloodline. Prior to her work in the sun, Frado is no different than a white child. Unfortunately, her father’s skin tone dooms Frado’s fate. She is related to an African American man and, as a result, is deemed African American despite her exterior. The nature of her birth forced Frado into her inferior social standing and harsh treatment for every event in the book.

Frado: In the novel, Frado’s dog Fido is introduced in a chapter entitled “A Friend for Nig”, immediately indicating that Fido represents the comfort, solace, and acceptance of a friend that Frado craves for throughout the novel. Fido’s name is similar to Frado’s, foretelling the close, equal relationship the two will share. He is described as “the entire confidant of Frado” (41) and “her constant attendant” (42). Fido fulfills her need for acceptance and sympathy in a way unlike any other character in the novel. The mutual affection between Frado and her dog is untainted by the racial prejudice or inequality that dominates Frado’s other relationships with the people around her. Frado’s friendship with the dog surpasses any bond she shared with any of the human beings in her life. Interestingly, Fido is Frado’s only true friend and their friendship compensates for her lack of an emotional relationship with another human. True to his name, Fido is faithful to his friend Frado throughout his life.

Religion: One of the major themes presented in “Our Nig” is the impact and perception of religion. Like other slave narratives written during antebellum slavery, the contradictory principles of Christianity are questioned within this novel. While serving as an indentured servant in the household of Mrs. Bellmont, Frado inquires as to whether or not a God does in fact exist. The basis of her doubt stems from the horrible abuse she endures in addition to the merciless treatment of African American in general. Ms. Bellmont rejects the idea of Frado attending church services in order to expand her religious knowledge, representing a suppression of religion. Congruent to the beliefs of slave masters, awareness of religion and education was believed to elevate the status of African Americans and curtail the control whites had over them. Mrs. Bellmont even expresses that Frado’s illumination would cause her to improve in manners and culture, presenting her as a threat. Instead, Mrs. Bellmont suggests that praying serves no purpose for blacks and that the only obligation they had was to obey their masters and caretakers. This belief corresponds to the perversion of Christianity many slaveholders maintained during slavery. However, due to the opposition displayed by her master, religion and the bible utterly become an escape and spiritual asylum for Frado. Also, similar to the notion that education and religion would lead slaves to a physical freedom, Frado’s religious awakening leads to an emotional and mental enlightenment and strengthening which continues to impact her throughout her life.

Body and Pain: During the era of slavery, female mulatto slaves were by far the most expensive. During this corrupt time period in the United States, these helpless women were commonly sold off at auctions to be not only house slaves, but sex slaves as well. The history of mulatto's is one that is just as disdained as the history of regular African slaves. Even after slavery was abolished, mulatto's held the same rights (or rather lacked the same rights) as African American individuals. Frado’s treatment as an indentured servant is a treatment that was common amongst many colored house workers, regardless how light your skin pigment may be. Mrs. Bellmont’s tyranny and harsh treatment of Frado was typical treatment of indentured slaves. The beating that Frado endured was a way to keep her in abeyance of Mrs. Bellmont. The scar tissue on her body, which was directly resulted from the treatment of her “master,” only assisted building up the “muscle mass” of her mind. As a result, the day eventually came when she was powerful enough to withstand attacks from Mrs. Bellmont and stand up to her cruelty. Though this is a different way to look at it, but the pains inflicted on Frado were necessary for her to be able to cope with the future troubles that would happen in her life. Since Frado had already been war tested by her “employer,” she would be able to successfully live the tough life style that came along with being an African American in the 19th century.

See also

• African American literature

Essay material

I have removed material like that shown above from the article ... because unsourced speculation and essays don't belong in wikipedia. If it is printed elsewhere, it can be summarized and sourced, but plese don't just dump your essays here. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 16:27, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

Hello Mr. Brooks,

We are a group of English students at a university in New York working on expanding the Wikidepia pages of the texts we are reading in our course. We noticed that the Our Nig page has minimal information regarding the themes and symbols and worked hard on this contribution to share with the rest of our class. As a Wikipedia administrator, you should know that the Wikipedia Talk page is a forum to discuss different ideas and thoughts regarding the page, so we do not understand why our material was deleted multiple tiimes. We worked very hard to compile this material, so please do not disrespect our work by deleting it from the Talk Page and distastefully referring to our project as "dumping essays". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 149.68.243.65 (talk) 16:41, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

we are trying to formulate themes that will help enhance the page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 149.68.243.65 (talk) 16:44, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

Please understand how wikipedia works. You're doing good stuff, but as it stands, it doesn't belong on wikipedia. People don't just write up their opinions and put them into articles. I'm sure you have worked hard to compile this material, and it can certaintly stay here on the talk page, but not in the article proper. If you're a class working on improving wikipedia, you need to understand how wikipedia works. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 17:24, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

Literary criticism

The "literary criticism" section of this article has gotten way out of control, with paragraph after paragraph of rephrased commentary, including one that's from a Wordpress blog. It's more like a college English paper than an article - the material deals entirely with what the author thinks of the book without indicating why the author's opinion is of any value; it doesn't tell the reader must about the book or its reception. I am going to trim it. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 17:05, 11 November 2012 (UTC)

Indentured servants

There is contemporary English commentary saying that the life of an indentured servant in the North was worse than that of a slave in the South. Until I read some of the analysis in this article, I was not aware that it was more than a maverick position. All the best: Rich Farmbrough, 02:14, 3 January 2015 (UTC).