Mulatto Double Identity

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The Mulatto by Victor Sejour depicts the story of Georges, a mixed raced slave searching for his identity by the means of finding who his father is. Because Laisa, Georges’ mother, decided to keep the identity of Georges’ father a secret, Georges develops a strong desire for self-revelation about who he is and who his father is. The identity confliction that Georges faces leads him to cling to the closest father figure he has, his master, Alfred. The multiple identity conflictions that Georges’ faces throughout the story creates the detrimental structure of double consciousness that W.E.B DuBois speaks upon in his work, The Soul of Black Folk. Due to Georges unresolved double consciousness of the pressures of being an obedient and rebellious …show more content…

His theory of double consciousness talks about the identity confliction of being black and American because America does not accept or recognize the blackness half. The straddle of worlds between national identity and self-identity provides the Negro man with an identity confliction that must not go unresolved. However, the irresolution of identity confliction is expressed in Georges’ character and leads to his ultimate downfall. Although Georges is not battling with national identity that DuBois is referring to, he is faced with the competing identities of being either a loyal, obedient servant or one who is unforgiving and relentless. In addition, with the absence of a father figure and only knowing essentially half of himself, Georges’ is faced with the same identity confliction or double consciousness that DuBois suggest. DuBois’ theory is also applicable in Georges’ situation because he is a mulatto, belonging to both the white world and black world. Georges does not discover this information till the end of story, but the institution of slavery and the confines of race and identity is what causes Alfred to not be able to recognize Georges as his son because he is black, similar to how Dubois states negroes are not recognized as American because they are black. This relation between the two texts allows Dubois’ argument to reinforce the events and characters in The

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