In class we discussed the relationship between Our Nig and our unit of “Uplift” and the and Wilson’s moralistic message. The situational irony of the entire novel, acts as a trope to show the reader the moral of the novel.
Killingsworth describes several steps that novelists use with irony to bring moralistic messages to light. The first step is “creating an inner circle of a first and second persona --”I” and “you” (Killingsworth 132). This happens in Our Nig as Frado and her past are introduced. There is distance in time between Frado and the modern reader and distance in class between Frado and the original reader. These are the personas, “I” and “you.”
The second step is “to bring “I” and “you” into alignment under the banner of a shared values --or in the case of the appeal to gender, a shared situation of struggle or oppression -- to create a plural first persona, a “we” --and then to designate a third persona, “them” (Killingsworth 132). This “struggle” takes place in a northern house, the ironic aspect. The reader comes to sympathize with Frado, and they are set against her oppressors, including those that let it happen.
The third step is to “stand against “them,” the oppressors or their accomplices” (Killingsworth 132). This is the moral in Our Nig. Not only is the reader supposed to support Wilson by buying the book, he or she is supposed to take action to fix the oppression.
So, based on Killingsworth’s steps, Our Nig is an example of the use of irony as a trope.
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Thank you, Adrienne. It was good for me to re-practice the process of irony. I think irony is important in all literature, as Adrienne pointed out because it controls readers’ action. The irony in Our Nig- unequal knowledge between the author and the readers makes a strong empathy to the protagonist Frado that the novel makes reader to keep reading and deliver moralistic judgment to not only Mrs. Bellmont but the all of the time when even basic rights (eating and learning…) were neglected and inhumane customs (physical abusing to the young indenture servant) were prevailed.
ReplyDeleteBut, in my view, this situational irony is a little bit different from Swift’s a modest proposal, because its main effect is close to “satire” (I would call “satire” as a condition for “we are crazy”) In comparison, the tone in Our Nig, seems more serious and deep tasty, with using biblical anecdote and variety of poems excerpted. The reason is that the person in Our Nig was suffered and tortured that we look through her and can reflect our history which was unfair and literally irony itself.
Adrienne, this is an interesting analysis and I agree with your statement that "Our Nig" does appeal to irony as a trope.
ReplyDeleteKillingsworth states that irony "turns standard meanings and expectations upside down" (131). This can clearly be applied to "Our Nig" in the sense that Wilson utilizes irony in order to force the reader into seeing the truth. There are multiple situations throughout the story that are very ironic. For example, the extended title of the book can prove to serve ironic purposes. The words "Sketches from the Life of a Free Black in a two-story white house, North" can have a hidden meaning (Wilson 1). Most of Wilson's audience would assume that a White House represents justice in America, rather than the injustice of slavery. As Adrienne pointed out, the use of irony in "Our Nig" helps mold the moral of the story and appeals to Killingsworth's Appeal Through Tropes.