Analysis Of The Goophered Grapevine, By Charles Chesnutt

872 Words2 Pages

The old Negro was known as more of a myth than a man, because of the vindictive formula’s of who Negroes were allowed to be way back when. When it came to African Americans, there was always debate as to how they should be treated, because of the color of their skin. In addition to being condemned and silenced as if they had no voice. Commonly being enslaved whether it was physically or mentally the old Negro could not dispose of past, history has contributed to them socially. Furthermore, the old Negro never knew his worth he was known as a “creature of moral debate” treated like a non human figure in society eyes. In order to get ahead or outsmart the old Negro played the role of a trickster, because of their socially declination they played …show more content…

An example of an author that expresses the old Negro mentality would be Charles Chesnutt using a variety of diction in his stories Chesnutt displays in his work the most significant characteristics of the old Negro, pointing out the characteristics of diction and trickster mentality. In his piece “The Goophered Grapevine” he displayed the true image of the old Negro, with most of the story being in dialect. Dialect is a way of identifying where someone is from, whether locally or even globally. This was used in almost every Chesnutt piece to significantly relate his stories to the old Negroes. In the conversation between the two protagonist Uncle Julius shows his traits as the old negro with his dialect and his trickster methods. Here’s an example of the old Negro using an except from “The Goophered Grapevine” The trickster is revealed in The Goophered Grapevine, being the only person that has valuable information about this vineyard, the white man asked uncle Julius if he knew anything about this vineyard he was trying to buy. Julius replies “Lawd bless yer, sur, I knows all about …show more content…

Is you de Norv 'n gemman w 'at 's gwine ter buy de ole vimya 'd?” Uncle Julius goes on and tells this white man about this history of the vineyard being “bewitched” and suggest to him that he should not buy the vineyard because of the last owners wrongdoings that got the vineyard cursed. This was so that he could keep his business of making moonshine going in order to stay running. Playing survival of the fittest and trying to stay ahead Julius used his old negro tactics. While, the New Negro was a term used by the innovators of the Harlem Renaissance period it implied a more outspoken advocacy of dignity and a refusal to submit silently to the practices and laws of Jim Crow racial segregation by African Americans.To all of this the New Negro is keenly responsive creating a different future of a new democracy in American culture. “...contributing his share to the new social understanding. But the desire to be understood would never in itself have been sufficient to have opened so completely the protectively closed portals of the thinking Negro’s mind. There is still too much possibility of being snubbed or patronized for

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