Prompt 1: Deconstruction of Gender and Racial Stereotypes in Benito Cereno
In Herman Melville’s Benito Cereno, Amasa Delano is inspired by the sight of the black women and their children on board the San Dominick, and as a result projects his own fantasies and own romantic notions upon them. Delano confines the women to the role of the stereotypical gentle and loving maternal figure. In Delano’s delusions, the black female body becomes a symbol of natural beauty that has a nurturing yet exotic nature. By describing them like animals, he dehumanizes them and casts them out from society. The women, however, are able to escape from Delano’s projections and stereotypes through deception and by their active involvement in the revolt. Babo prevents
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the discovery of his deception by playing the part of a faithful and hard working slave. Babo conforms to the expected stereotypes that Delano holds regarding a slave’s ability to only excel at menial tasks in the scene when he shaves Cereno. Like Babo, the women seemingly allow Delano’s views to define them when they adhere to the stereotypes that African women are ideal figures because of the affection and kindness they show towards their children, are icons of sexuality, and primitive in nature. By complying with Delano’s expectations they prevent him from noticing that a revolt has occurred, and by playing an active role in the revolt by encouraging the men to continue the violence against the white men, the women are empowered and break away from racial and gender roles. By acting in accordance to the preconceived notions that Delano holds of African women, they are able to put him at ease making it more difficult for him to perceive reality.
Though initially it appears as though Delano has power over the women because of how he constructs and shapes their identities through his racist ideologies, they are the ones who hold power over him. Like a puppet they control Delano and allow him to see them only as they wish to be seen. With their acting the women hide their true nature under a veil that cannot be pierced by Delano’s gaze, and as such are able to escape from his romantic projections. Delano remarks, “There’s naked nature, now; pure tenderness and love…” (198) when he observes how the black women treat their children, with the words “naked nature” (198) revealing Delano’s misconception that the truth is always visible and laid out in the open. Delano finds the women to be just as primitive as he had expected. He confines the women to the stereotypical role of motherhood and projects an image of them as being uncivilized and savage through his description that likens them to animals as shown when, “His attention had been drawn to a slumbering negress, […] lying, with youthful limbs carelessly disposed, under the lee of the bulwarks, like a doe in the shade of a woodland rock” (198). The word “doe” gives animalistic qualities to the woman, but by association it also shows that Delano believes the woman to be driven purely by …show more content…
instinct and incapable of having any intelligence. The woman is seemingly caught in a precarious situation by Delano when he notes that the woman’s arms and legs are tossed in a “careless” manner and when he says, “But as if not at all concerned at the attitude in which she had been caught, delightedly she caught the child up…” (198). What may appear to be a carelessness in Delano’s view is actually a deliberate theatrical performance. In the scene where Delano watches a woman and her child, there are no words spoken, instead the woman conveys her performance through body language. She leaves her limbs stretched in a careless way in order to create a relaxed and peaceful mood. The woman inspires Delano and makes him feel at ease by performing the role of a tender and loving mother, leaving him to remark that “These natural sights somehow insensibly deepened his confidence and ease” (198). She conveys the natural feeling of love through the physical actions of embracing and kissing her child. Through action and body language, the women are able to stage a convincing performance. By embracing the characteristics given to them by Delano and playing along with his fantasy, the women become empowered. Delano attempts to dehumanize the women by giving them qualities of animals as shown when he says that they are “Unsophisticated as leopardesses; loving as doves” (198). His description, however, shows that he inadvertently refuses to see their true nature. Delano chooses to the word “doves” to describe the women because they appear to be harmless, yet he also chooses to portray them as being like “leopardesses” which shows that he is subconsciously aware of the underlying danger that they present. The word leopard invokes the image of a strong fierce predator, showing that the women have an underlying fortitude of will that Delano refuses to acknowledge. In an attempt to undermine the strength associated with the leopard he describes them as being “unsophisticated”, which invokes an image of primitive savagery. Though he romanticizes the behavior of the women, he does not realize that when he says that they “…were equally ready to die for their infants or fight for them” (198) it is actually the truth. While Delano’s descriptions may make the woman seem docile and powerless, they also empower them and enable them to escape from his romantic notions. Resistance to Delano’s fantasy is shown with the women’s influential role in the revolt which overturned Delano’s beliefs that Africans, much less women, are capable of planning and carrying out any form of treachery.
The deconstruction of gender roles is shown when the women are working and singing alongside the men. In an attempt to explain their empowerment Delano says that “These must be some of those Ashantee negresses that make such capital soldiers” (224). To explain why the women are able to perform the same tasks as the men, Delano labels them as being of the “Ashantee” tribe because according to his preconceptions, only the women of that tribe can do manual labor. Towards the end of the story it is revealed that the women were the driving force behind the slave revolt, showing that they held unthinkable power and influence. A moment of empowerment for the women is shown when during “…the various acts of murder, they sang songs and danced-not gaily, but solemnly; and […] they sang melancholy songs to the negroes, and that this melancholy tone was more inflaming than a different one would have been…” (252). In singing melancholy songs rather than lively tunes, they are able to inspire the black men to continue fighting and also are able to defy the romantic notion that slaves sing cheerful tunes as a sign of acceptance towards their enslaved life. When interrogated they admitted that “…had the negroes not restrained them, they would have tortured to death, instead
of simply killing, the Spaniards slain by the command of the negro Babo…” (252). Their violent nature is highlighted through their desire to prolong the suffering of the white men. The true bloodthirsty nature of the women is juxtaposed with the docile and loving image of them formed in Delano’s mind. The women were able to resist Delano’s romantic projections by overturning racial and gender stereotypes. Instead of resisting Delano’s fantasy through spoken words, the women rely on actions to demonstrate their intelligence and strength.
...ir eyes off of the naked women dancing. The outbursts towards the black men is farther evidence that during that time, blacks had little to no say and had not felt equal to their white counterparts. Perhaps the most conspicuous symbol of all is the battle itself. The white men pitted a group of black men against each other; the black men were in a no win situation. Instead of expressing their displeasure with the white men, the black men were forced to take their anger out on each other. The narrator also seems to seek approval by the white men; remembering his speech as he fights the other men. According to the protagonist: Should I try to win against the voice out there? Would not this go against my speech, and was not this a moment for humility, for nonresistance?” ( ). He’s worried about defying the white men; letting them down by not performing well enough.
Pauline Hopkins’ novel “Of One Blood” was originally published serially in a magazine called Colored American, from 1902-03. Within this novel Hopkins discusses some of the prominent racial and gender oppressions suffered by African Americans during this time. Following the Emancipation Proclamation of 1849 which resulted in African American freedom from slavery, but unfortunately not freedom from oppression and suffering. One of the minor characters, and the only dominant female role, within the novel is Dianthe Lusk. Within the novel Dianthe has many identifiers, which limits not only the readers but Dianthe’s understanding of her identity. Some of these identifiers include: women or ghost, black or white, sister or wife, princess or slave, and African or American. However, the most prominent of these juxtapositions in the novel is the racial identity. This paper will argue that the suffrage of Dianthe through her experiences with racial identity and rape serve to locate racial identity as an agent of politics, rather than of one’s color.
Mutilating the whites and leaving their bodies lying is inhumane. It is such a shocking story! This book was meant to teach the reader about the inhumanity of slavery. It also gives us the image of what happened during the past years when slavery was practised. The book is significant in the sense that it gives even the current generation the knowledge of slavery, how it happened and the reason for slavery.
" From the deep and the near South the sons and daughters of newly freed African slaves wander into the city...isolated, cut off from memory...they arrive stunned with a song worth singing..their pockets lined with fresh hope, marked men and women seeking to scrape from the narrow..shaping the malleable parts of themselves into a new identity as a free man of definite and sincere worth.
	The narrator in Ellison’s short story suffers much. He is considered to be one of the brighter youths in his black community. The young man is given the opportunity to give a speech to some of the more prestigious white individuals. The harsh treatment that he is dealt in order to perform his task is quite symbolic. It represents the many hardships that the African American people endured while they fought to be treated equally in the United States. He expects to give his speech in a positive and normal environment. What faces him is something that he never would have imagined. The harsh conditions that the boys competing in the battle royal must face are phenomenal. At first the boys are ushered into a room where a nude woman is dancing. The white men yell at the boys for looking and not looking at the woman. It is as if they are showing them all of the good things being white can bring, and then saying that they aren’t good enough for it since they were black. Next the boys must compete in the battle royal. Blindly the boys savagely beat one another. This is symbolic of the ...
Slave narratives are not meant to be uplifting but this story brings depressive reading to a whole new level. Frado’s story is one of unrelenting abuse and pain. Through Wilson’s style the reader understands every point of view and especially the views of prejudice and racism. The title “Our Nig” relates one of the most insulting realities of Frado’s existence. She was property in a sense. Her labor and her efforts were equated to those of a horse that could be broken when necessary. Frado’s encounters and relationships further distinguish this novel from other slave narratives. This story shows what society and what the human spirit is capable of. People can cause the immense suffering of others but People can also rise up from the depths of despair and overcome great obstacles.
While her initial escape is done with the aid of black men, she and Rufel become prime leaders in subsequent escapades. There is observation of how women were treated simply as incubators and objectified in order to turn slaveholder profits and were at the will of men, both black and white. In a state of dream/memory, Dessa recalls, “Charlie going try for ‘Youth’ now he done lost ‘Booty,’ someone called out,” (Williams 75). This quote comes during a scene in which slaves on the plantation are not only choosing sides for a corn husking competition, but also doubles as a moment in which male slaves choose women to breed with. This quote explains these two sides: in choosing Dessa, Charlie is gaining the power of youthful hands to shuck corn, but he also obtains the youth of a woman who can bear children with the benefit of the attractive physical attributes. Women struggles in slavery were doubled compared to men as they were not free to even choose whom they were to lay with, master or fellow slave, and were continuously objectified. In Nat Turner’s confessions, there is a scarce female presence within the rebellion. Nathan shares with Gray, “my grandmother, who was very religious, and to whom I was much attached,”(Gray 44) and gives note to where Nat Turner picked up his strength in religion. This can be argued as speaking volumes of the impression that a woman had
The antagonist, Sethe, is not keen to let her kids end up in such a miserable lifestyle that she lives. Defending that she would rather see them away from the wretchedness of Earth and instead dead in Heaven. Slavery is an exceedingly cruel and nasty way of life, and as many see it, living without freedom is not living. Slavery dishonored African Americans from being individuals and treated them just as well as animals: no respect and no proper care. For example, Sethe recalls the memory of her being nursed as baby by saying, "The little white babies got it first
In all his masculine, angry bravado, Delia is painted as his opposite, a portrait of meek servitude. As he stoops over her as she attempts to do her work, he yells, “You show is one aggravatin’ nigger woman!” he declared and stepped into the room. She resumed her work and did not answer him at once. Ah done to you time and again to keep those white folks’ clothes outa dis house.
This creates a despair, of hopelessness and of downheartedness. The woman, on multiple occasions, wrote down, “And what can one do?” This lets the reader know that women as a whole were very oppressed in ...
Throughout history society has been controlled by men, and because of this women were exposed to some very demanding expectations. A woman was expected to be a wife, a mother, a cook, a maid, and sexually obedient to men. As a form of patriarchal silencing any woman who deviated from these expectations was often a victim of physical, emotional, and social beatings. Creativity and individuality were dirty, sinful and very inappropriate for a respectful woman. By taking away women’s voices, men were able to remove any power that they might have had. In both Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” and Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening”, we see that there are two types of women who arise from the demands of these expectations. The first is the obedient women, the one who has buckled and succumbed to become an empty emotionless shell. In men’s eyes this type of woman was a sort of “angel” perfect in that she did and acted exactly as what was expected of her. The second type of woman is the “rebel”, the woman who is willing to fight in order to keep her creativity and passion. Patriarchal silencing inspires a bond between those women who are forced into submission and/or those who are too submissive to maintain their individuality, and those women who are able and willing to fight for the ability to be unique.
She makes the argument that all women in the south, including slaves experienced many forms of oppression because of the patriarchal society of the south during the time, because without the oppression of all women then farmers would lose full authority. “Patriarchy was the bedrock upon which the slave society was founded, and slavery exaggerated the pattern of subjugation that patriarchy had established.”(p. 6) She makes the notion that the plantation wives and female slaves shared similar experiences with unequal treatment. The book even theorizes that the plantation mistress were in more bondage than female slaves were because she had no other person to share her experiences with. Whereas, the slaves all had commonality among them and experienced there hardships together as a family rather than
...heless, regardless of the changes that are seen within society in the the Color purple , there are still places within the world where females will never be able to live freely or handle their ‘’own’’ .The African tribe of the Olinka do not believe in educating their women, and regardless of the fact that there are no reports of abuse towards females by males in the letters that Nettie sends, female subservience is unchallenged, and the debasing initiation ceremony continues without from the females contest except from Nettie and her family. Also known as the combined female initiation ceremony, each of these operations has their functions. By scarring the womans face, the woman instinctively keeps her head ‘down,’ as Tashi does daring not to look up. While the women keep their heads down the men keep theirs aloft, and in doing so the power structure is conserved.
Rebekka, Lina, Florens, and Sorrow all experience the unimportant role of females during this time. The four women live in fear for their lives, and are subject to the merciless world filled with men and hierarchy. It does not matter whether you are a slave, free, European, or African. If you are a woman, you are presumed to aid for others, and anything that you want to do or be in life is disregarded. Women are not given the chance to truly live they way that they want to, and are stripped of their right to freedom and an unrestricted
As a female in Africa, the opposite of male, woman suffers sexual oppression; as an African, the opposite of white in an ever-colonized nation, the African woman also suffers racial oppression. Nnu Ego, Emecheta's protagonist, became at once for me the poster female of Africa, a representative of all subjugated African women, and her story alerted me to all the wrongs committed against African women, wrongs that could only be righted through feminist discourse. As with many surface readings I have performed as a student of literature, however, my perspective on The Joys of Motherhood began to evolve. First, I realized and accepted Nnu Ego's failure to react against oppressive forces in order to bring about change for herself and the daughters of Africa. I consoled myself, reasoning that the novel still deserves the feminist label because it calls attention to the plight of the African woman and because its author and protagonist are female.