Skip to main content

The Trickster


Charles Waddell Chestnut's The Passing of Grandison and Paul Lawrence Dunbar's An Ante-Bellum Sermon both display two extremely different viewpoints of slavery in the South while also encapsulating similar portrayals of trickster figures that manipulate the masses with colorful language, sharp intuition and ingenuity, as well as the stereotypes slavery has created in American society. 

The language that's used by Dick Owens as well as the speaker in An Ante-Bellum Sermon elicits a certain response from the people they speak to. For example, in Dunbar's writing the speaker states 

"Dat I's preachin' discontent.
'Cause I isn't; I'se a-judgin'
Bible people by dier ac's..."

The narrator is aware of his audience's stance as Christians and capitalizes on this by referencing the morality of the Bible as well as questioning those that follow it who promote slavery. The same manipulative use of language and suggestion is witnessed in The Passing of Grandison when Owens approaches his father to request permission to travel north and bring a slave companion. Owens begins the conversation. "'Father', he remarked casually to the colonel, over the fried chicken, 'I'm feeling a trifle run down. I imagine my health would be improved somewhat by a little travel and change of scenery.'" His father then suggests traveling to the north, unaware of Owens suggestion desiring him to propose such a solution. Owens is now sure his father won't be suspicious of the location, for he chose it himself. Both characters are able to use language as power in persuading people and aiding in their goals. 


diplo manipulate GIF by Entertainment Tonight

Owens and the speaker in An Ante-Bellum Sermon also play on stereotypes and assumptions of culture. Owens does this more blatantly and brash when the writing mentions him "having ascertained from a city directory the addresses of several well-known abolitionists, he wrote them each a letter" anonymously, infuriated at the arrival of southerner with a slave in the free city of Boston and requesting help in rescuing a "fellow-man from bondage..." Dick Owens is clearly taking advantages of stereotypes of the culture, fully aware of the abolitionist nature to assist in freeing an enslaved man while also aware of Grandison's unwillingness to escape. The narrator in An Ante-Bellum Sermon displays this same play on stereotypes when alluding to the biblical figure of Moses fully aware that this powerful character who liberated a race will surely take strong effect amongst his listeners, stating 
"But de Moses is a-comin',
An' he's comin', suah and fas'
We kin hyeah his feet a-trompin'"

history of the world moses GIF 

One of the most important portrayals of the trickster through both of these stories however, is the use of intuition and ingenuity to win, rather than strength. The preacher of The Ante-Bellum Sermon  accomplishes this by crafting a harsh criticism of Southern Christians who endorse slavery, speech of discontent, and prediction of soon deliverance of liberation into a church sermon that focuses mainly on religion, guising itself as a Sunday sermon rather than these vile concepts to white southerners at the time. The same can be witnessed in The Passing of Grandison as Dick Owens conjures up a multitude of plans to free Grandison instead of finding a slave truly seeking freedom and aiding him, using intellect rather than brute strength to achieve his goals. 

Another character I consider a trickster figure is Richard Pryor in the 1976 film Silver Streak which chronicles the adventures of a novelist as he constantly gets kicked off a cross country train while trying to save a woman he's fallen for. When the George Caldwell, the novelist, arrives in Kansas City, he meets Grover Muldoon (Pryor's character) who's an African American car thief. Muldoon is able to help Caldwell get back on the train through his use of colorful language that distracts, as well as his plays on racial stereotypes. A pivotal example of this can be witnessed in the famous scene when Muldoon pulls Caldwell into the bathroom and disguises him as African American to avoid police who're pursuing him.







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reflection on Small Group Discussion

Preparing for the small group discussion I made sure to take note of the setting and way the story was presented. The time frame of Sonny's Blues  is extremely important because it sheds light on the race relations of the country as well as why music is so important in the specific neighborhood of Harlem. The way the plot is presented is also vital to the story; moving from the past to present does well to compare the different portrayals of Sonny as well as evoke the sensation one gets from witnessing family change over time. I was also sure to make note of the importance of music and how Baldwin describes a musician as "dealing with the roar rising from the void and imposing order on it as it hits the air." This attempt to control something wild and vivacious reflects Sonny's battle with drug addiction. The sensation of feeling good and the pleasure derived from it can be hard to tame, for it is only human nature. This same view is found when Sonny details his thou...
Post a Comment
Read more

Close Reading of Mending Wall

Robert Frost's Mending Wall  provides insight to the thoughts of a landowner on the stone wall that separates his property from his neighbor's. It is clear the narrator is cognizant of the dividing force of this wall, forcing him to question the validity of the partition. After much circumspect evaluation and consideration, Frost comes to the conclusion that "Something there is that doesn't love a wall." This resolution sprouts from his realization that the physical barrier is useless in this specific scenario and brings about unintended repercussions Close Reading Questions: 1.  How is the title of the poem working? What information is it giving? How would the poem be different with a different title? A: The title of the poem, Mending Wall , provides the reader  with the  focus of the poem, of course being the wall. However, what is also essential about the title is how the narrator and his neighbor engage in mending the wall every spring. The poem would...
Post a Comment
Read more

Follow Up to Chad D.'s "Understanding Mowing"

Chad's analysis of Mowing  by Robert Frost reveals a major peculiarity in the Imagism genre. Although the reader is forced to give more thought towards the meaning of each word, the overall message of the poem may become clouded in murky translation. Chad's interpretation of the poem is that it may suggest an individual reaps what they sow; I thought it could be focusing on the simplicity and peace in nature and work, and various sources claim the theme is that hard work is rewarding in itself. The imagism and modernist movements in literature granted great works but many are cloudy to interpret and dreary as well. Frost's other works such as The Road Not Taken  or Mending Wall  utilize more words that convey emotion and thought that issues the reader insight into the mind of the narrator as well as aid in unearthing the meaning. However, this may've been what Frost intended, each reader being able to take away the lessons and emotions they received from the writing.
Post a Comment
Read more