Chesnutt’s conjure stories subvert post-Civil War plantation fiction because they touch on the horrors that slaves went through at the hand of their white masters. How African American are treated lesser than human beings. They are objects to whites that can be moved anywhere at the right price and without a moment’s notice to the person and their loved ones. He does not try to make it seem like everything will end up okay in the end. All of the characters do not get a happy ending. The stories bring up matters that are sensitive and need to be looked at with a fresh eye.
While there is humor to the tories, Chesnutt subtly lets the Atlantic Monthly white readers know that what many whites did to African Americans was wrong. In his stories, another subvert is that he adds a supernatural character that helps African American characters in their time of need. The stories are written partly to amuse its readers. The humor element had to be there to keep his readers happy. It would be blasphemy to blatantly write out against whites during the time period. Aunt Peggy represents hope to the person down on their luck. Her participation always has a price though.
The use of conjuring in stories gives the reader an ncentive to read. The supernatural Aunt Peggy is someone different and new that adds intrigue to the stories of African Americans. She undermines the plantation fiction because her actions help shine a light on one might go through in the hopes of making everything works out no matter the cost to them. Chesnutt’s stories, similar to Joel Chandler Harris’s, have an African American giving a tale of what happened in the past. He is seen as a man that can help the white couple no matter the time of day or situation.
While he is the one who tells the tale that readers crave to read, he is still tethered to his role in ociety. Uncle Julius is the narrator that has his own agenda in telling his stories. In “Po’ Sandy”, Sandy, an African American slave, asks Aunt Peggy to turn him into a “big pine-tree” to keep him where he was (Chesnutt 23). He couldn’t take being sold off countless times anymore. He wanted to stay rooted somewhere and not carted around like livestock. He wanted to live out his days with his wife, Tenie, and to not be hurt by his owners any longer.
The difference between post-Civil war plantation fiction and Po’ Sandy is the end result. By turning himself into a tree, he is still open to the harsh elements. He is still a part of the land that can be used at the owner’s whim. He has also left his wife Tenie alone to bear life without him. He is eventually cut down and used as the “Bones” to create a schoolhouse. His treatment is very similar to that of a slave. He is cut up, moved, and used to the benefit of the owner. He is unable to break free of his chains even after turning into a tree.
His soul is still tied to the land seeing all that happens as the years go on; masters come and go, “po’ole Tenie, layin’ on de flo’, stiff, en col’, en dead”(Chesnutt 27), and his survival depends on not himself but he elements and people around him. There is hope that the schoolhouse “bones” will be turned into a religious meeting place for others instead of a kitchen appliance. There is hope that his soul finally passes on from the harsh world he lived in. That in no way lessens the pain that Sandy and many other slaves went through to be a useful object to their owners.
His story is not a happy one and gives a bitter taste to those that read it. “Uncle Julius’s stories undermine” the southern plantation fiction of post-Civil war by not “providing justification for attempts to resubordinate black people to their supposedly ood-hearted masters”(Barrish 160) The story has the power to open the eyes of its readers to the cruelty that occurred and that it never be forgotten. In Joel Chandler Harris’s stories, he gives the impression that slaves want to stay with their masters rather than have the freedom to do what they wish.
In “A Story of War”, Uncle Remus tells the story of how he had the opportunity to be free of his master when a Union soldier brings danger to his master. He instead saves him and shoots the Union soldier. He even has the heart to nurse the soldier back to health. Uncle Remus is seen as an African American who thinks ell of his master and wishes him no harm. When he has the chance to be free, he does not take it. He is shown as happy to be in the service of his master. The story ends on a happy note that tells the readers, that in this situation, slaves are happy to person.
They will put their lives on the line for them and have no trouble in doing so. Joel Chandler Harris has written in this way to keep readers happy and to not cause any trouble in the race issues of the time period. In “The Wonderful Tar-Baby Story” the idea of treating someone differently because of their color will only bring tension and an unhappy nd to those who participate in it. Brer fox makes a tar version of a rabbit to fool a Brer Rabbit into touching it, which gets him stuck. When the rabbit comes across the tar version, he says harsh words to it like “You er stuck up…
I’m gwine ter kyore you… Ef you don’t take off dat hat en tell me howdy, I’m gwine ter bus’ you wide open”(web). Brer Rabbit’s first instinct is to make fun of someone who does not speak. When the tar version does not be owned move, Brer Rabbit takes further offensive. Silence is not accepted. If social norms are not met, the offended will beat the other into submission. Brer Rabbit rushes headfirst into trouble when he gets stuck touching the tar version. This can be seen as the words that we say to someone, whether they are nice or offensive, have a way of sticking.
As a white author, the characteristics of Sothern plantation fiction are a sense of justice, social class and place, and use of southern dialect. In both “A Story of War” and “The Wonderful Tar-Baby Story”, there are the characteristics of southern dialect and social class. The speaker is an African American and social class is not as clearly stated. In “A Story of War”, the social classes are defined, as aster and slave but the slave becomes a savior when he shoots a Union soldier instead of fighting for the right to be free.
He is a slave still but he is treated kindly for saving both his master and the Union soldier. Chesnutt recast these characteristics by giving them to different people throughout his stories. Instead of Uncle Remus, there is an Uncle Julius. Uncle Remus is a character that goes participates in the stories told. He has an important part to play that gives his life meaning to the couple that he serves. For Uncle Julius, he does have a history but it is not a direct result with the stories he tells. Aunt Peggy is the one that gives a sense of justice with her use of conjuring.
Her lessons teach that one should always be careful what they wish for and that good things can happen when someone least expects it. The element of conjuring gives the author a style that Joel Chandler Harris does not have. To conclude, Chesnutt’s conjure stories subvert post-Civil war plantation fiction because they do mention the horrors that slaves faced. The separation of family, how they were chained to the plantation, the constant moving from one plantation to another never feeling at home where they were. The added lement of conjuring gives his stories a supernatural quality to attract readers and amuse them.
White authors made sure to use the characteristics of southern plantation fiction to show how dialect and qualities of a slave were valued during their time. The dialect showed that slaves were not as educated in speaking as their white owners. They did not have the opportunities that whites had. Even so, the African Americans had strength in them that would not be broken. Both Joel Chandler Harris and Chesnutt showed these characteristics, they just used different people. The authors did what they could to make a difference in literature.
