Our Nig

Our Nig
Author(s)	Harriet E. Wilson
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Novel
Publisher	Geo. C. Rand & Avery
Publication date	1859
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	131 pages
ISBN	ISBN 0-486-44661-5 (2005 paperback edition)

Our Nig: Sketches from the Life of a Free Black is an autobiographical slave narrative by Harriet E. Wilson. It was published in 1859 and rediscovered in 1982 by professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.. It is considered the first novel published by an African-American on the North American continent.

According to John Ernest’s article, "Economies of Identity: Harriet E. Wilson’s Our Nig," Harriet E. Wilson’s novel, "Our Nig: Sketches in the Life of a Free Black," became marginalized by a white audience, and was perceived as appealing directly to a "colored audience". The distribution of "Our Nig: Sketches in the Life of a Free Black" was limited, and not appreciated by northern abolitionists due to the novel's call for awareness of the abuse and "shadow of slavery" that existed even in the Northern United States. Robin Bernstein has argued that the novel responds critically to Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin and to other works of abolitionist fiction that anxiously debate whether black children who die may become angels.

Our Nig did not sell well because of tension between the North and the South. The northern abolitionists, who fought for freedom of the blacks, fought for a capitalist economy in the north. One of their arguments was that the capitalist economy could exist because it was working in the north without slave labor.^{[citation needed]} Harriet Wilson disproves this because she shows that there is still slave treatment in the north except they were called indentured servants. David Dowling, a critic who wrote for College Literature wrote the piece "Other and More Terrible Evils: Anticapitalist Rhetoric in Harriet Wilson’s Our Nig and Proslavery Propaganda". He states that the northern abolitionists did not publicize her book because it disproved their theory.

Wilson published her books two blocks from the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society.

Plot Summary

Beginning

Our Nig opens up with the story of Mag Smith, a bi-racial woman. In the past, Mag fell in love with a man and they had a child out of wedlock. The man abandoned his family and stole her jewelry. After the child dies, Mag was forced to move away to a place where no one knew her. Presently, in this new town, she meets a black man named Jim who falls for Mag. She resists him at first but she soon realizes that her efforts are futile. Jim and Mag eventually marry and they have two children: Frado and an unknown son.

Later on, Jim grows ill, and dies. Mag is once again left by herself, only this time she has two children to care for. Mag marries Seth, one of Jim’s business partners, and he takes the family under his wing. Eventually Mag and Seth realize that they cannot care for both of the children and he suggests they send Frado to live with the Bellmonts. Mag refuses at first, but reluctantly agrees with Seth and the decision is made to send Frado to live with them. Frado is then dropped off at the house under the guise that Mag will be back to pick her up later in the day.

After a few days, the Bellmonts along with Frado come to the realization that Mag never intended on returning. We receive a description of Mr. Bellmont that he is kind and humane, however Mrs. Bellmont on the other hand is the complete opposite. The Bellmonts also have four children, two boys and two girls. The family decides whether or not to keep Frado and if they do, where should sleep. Frado is sent to live in a separate part of the house that she will soon outgrow. The following day Mrs. Bellmont calls for Frado early in the morning and puts her to work washing dishes, preparing food, etc.

Life with the Bellmonts

Mr. Bellmont is humble towards Frado. Jack is accepting Frado since her skin complexion is not very dark. Mary is against Frado's presence and wants her to go the County House instead. Mrs. Bellmont is not happy with Frado's existence in the house but manages to find ways to make her useful by serving as a perfect work girl. Frado lives in a new room unfinished chamber over the kitchen. A year passed and Frado accepted that she is part of the Bellmont family. Jack buys Frado a dog named Fido, who becomes her friend and eases her loneliness.

Later on, Frado is allowed to attend school with Mary. One afternoon on their way home, Mary tries to force Frado into the water but falls into it instead. Later that day, Mary runs home to tell her mother that Frado pushed her into the stream. Frado receives a good whipping from Mrs. Bellmont and Jack futilely tries to defend Frado.

Nig runs away and Mr. Bellmont, Jack and James search for her. She asks James that if God made him, Aunt Abby, and Mrs. Bellmont white, then she dislikes God for making her black.

The first day of spring a letter arrives from James about his declining health. Jack comes to visit the family. Mrs. Bellmont beat Frado senseless and mentioned if she ever exposes her to James she would “cut her tongue out”.

By November James' health starts to deteriorate further. Mary leaves home to nurse her brother, Jake. James requests Frado to stay by his bed side until further notice. Mrs. Bellmont discovers Frado reading the bible. Mrs. Bellmont speaks to her husband about Frado going to the evening meetings.

In the following spring, James passes away.

Illness and Sorrow

After James’ death, Frado once again conflicts with her unfitness to be in Heaven, and seeks Aunt Abbey’s aid. Aunt Abbey teaches Frado about God and the Bible, invites her to a church meeting, and encourages her to believe in Him and seek the passage of Heaven.

When Mr. Bellmont grows concerned for Frado’s health from her beatings, Frado one day takes his advice. Before Mrs. Bellmont would strike her down with a stick for taking too long to bring firewood, Frado threatens to stop working for her if she did. Mrs. Bellmont unexpectedly relents. From there after, she whips her less frequently.

News arrives that Mary dies from illness. Frado considers escaping, but realizes the lack of choices in which to take. She decides to wait until her contract was over at the age of eighteen. Overtime, Jane leaves the house, and Jack moves back in, introducing his family to his wife, whom Mrs. Bellmont verbally abused due to the fact that she was poor.

When Frado turns eighteen, she is arranged to make clothes for the Moores family. Due to her ailing health, she slowly becomes unable to work. She moves to a shelter where two elderly women take care of her for two years. For a while, she is nursed again by Mrs. Moore, but after her husband leaves, Frado is forced again to find work. She eventually is employed by a poor woman in Massachusetts who instructs her on making bonnets.

Aftermath

Though growing feebler and declining in health, Frado makes substantial wages.Despite three years of failing health,a few years later Frado moves to Singleton where she marries a fugitive slave named Samuel whose back wasn't as bruised as hers. He constantly leaves her to go "lecture". These lectures left Frado home for weeks at a time with little money. Once again Frado is left to depend on her self especially during the birth of her child.

During Samuel's absence Frado becomes sick one last time leaving she and her child to find shelter in the home of a poor woman where she later recovers. Over time in New Orleans her husband becomes sick with yellow fever which leaves her to depend on herself permanently. Now that Frado is on her own she has to find work by traveling through the different towns of Massachusetts. She goes through a few hardships but later in the book we see a busy Frado preparing her merchandise for costumers.

In the end, Mr. and Mrs. Bellmont, Aunt Abbey, Jack and his wife have all passed away. Jane and Henry, Susan and her child are all old. No one remembers Frado. The last line of the book ends with "but she will never cease to track them till beyond mortal vision". Even though everyone may have forgotten about Frado, she still remembers them.

List of characters

• Mr. Bellmont - The patriarch of the Bellmont family. He is a kind and humble man who would not grudge hospitality to the poorest wanderer, nor fail to sympathize with any sufferer, however humble. He makes the ultimate decisions in the household, although they are challenged by Mrs. Bellmont. He is a man that seldom decides controversies at the home, but he ultimately declares that Frado go to school against Mrs. Bellmont’s protest. Although his intentions towards Frado are good, he does not exercise his ability as the patriarch to stop the cruel abuse against the child.
• Mrs. Bellmont-The matriarch of the Bellmont family. She is a tyrannical and capricious woman who never shows any mercy towards Frado. The members of the household live in fear of her erratic behavior. She is an abusive woman who takes Frado into the home because former servants could not bear her abuse. Mrs. Bellmont accepts Frado into her home, because having a black helper in her home is a status symbol. Mrs. Bellmont also influences her daughter Mary to physically and verbally abuse Frado.
• Mag Smith - Mag Smith is the mother of Frado. She is a white, poverty-stricken woman – somewhat of a rarity during this time. Mag is shunned by society. She finds love and happiness with a black man by the name of Jim. The couple produces two children. However, after Jim dies, Mag abandons her responsibility as a mother and runs off with another black man – leaving Frado with the Bellmonts.
• Jim - A black man in love with a white woman; Mag, who has been taken advantage of by a man who left her after he stole her virginity. Mag is exiled because of disdain and degradation, Jim is seen, as the escape she hopes will change her life. Jim marries Mag and they have two bi-racial children. Jim falls ill and eventually dies of consumption, leaving Mag alone again with the responsibility of raising two children.
• Seth Shipley - Once a partner in Jim’s business, Seth marries Mag and accompanies her to Singleton Hovel after Jim, her first husband, dies. Together, Seth and Mag leave their home and search for greener pastures; greater opportunity, and a chance for a better life. He and Mag abandon her young 6-year-old child, Fredo at the Belmont’s in an astonishing act of parental betrayal.
• Frado - Frado is the protagonist of the novel. She is what the novel terms mulatto – her mother being Caucasian and her father African American. Following the death of her father, Frado is abandoned by her mother at the age of six. She is left in the possession of the Bellmont family where she endures endless abuse and torture at the hands of Mrs. Bellmont and her daughter, Mary. However, she wins the love and affection of the other members of the family.
• Mary Bellmont - Most active daughter in the household and novel. She follows in her mother's footsteps and shared sentiments about Frado. She abuses Frado both physically and mentally, and participates in her demise where health is concerned. She represents society's racist and uncaving views about African Americans. She does not believe in furthering Frado's education and attempts to withhold her other rights or "privileges".
• Jack Bellmont - One of the two sons belonging to the Bellmont household. He displays kindness towards Frado and deems her "handsome and bright." There are several instnaces upon which Jack defends Frado and attempts to shelter her from his mother's constant bout of abuse and injustice. However, Jack simultaneously symbolizes greater society due to his somewhat indirect hand in Frado's enslavement. He represents a large portion of whites who seem to accept African Americans as they are but remain stagnant in terms of abolishing their demeaning roles in society.
• James Bellmont - A son of the Bellmont’s, James is a fine young man who sees Frado as an object of interest. He, like his brother Jack, shows kindness and sympathy toward her. Frado, in turn, sees James as a shelter and safeguard from the tyranny of Mrs. Bellmont. On several occasions James directly challenges his mother’s hegemony over Frado. His defense of Frado is the most outright and effective, as it results in favorable results for Frado, such as a spot at the dinner table.
• Fido - A dog bought by Jack for Frado, Fido is a source of pleasure and friendship during Frado’s times of suffering. A true confidant to Frado, Fido is her constant companion and aids her in forgetting her hardships when in his presence. She tells him her griefs and his demeanor is so attentive she personifies him as human in that he is able to know of her troubles. Fido represents a beacon of joy and escape for Frado amid the tormenting of Mary and Mrs. Bellmont.

See also

• African American literature
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

External links

• Our Nig, electronic edition, University of Virginia Library
• Interview with Henry Louis Gates (mp3). Gates and a literary critic discuss Our Nig, Wired for Books