Throughout Pudd’nhead Wilson, Twain
makes a point of demonstrating how African-American identity was seen as being inferior
to white identity during the times of slavery, and because of this, the fates of both Tom and
Roxy are determined. From the beginning,
not only do white slave owners take on a demeanor of degrading black slaves,
but the slaves themselves speak in a derogatory way towards eachother. When Roxy is speaking with her friend Jasper,
she claims that she has better things to do than “’sociat’n’ wid niggers as
black as you is.” (Twain 63). Even
though this comment was made in jest, it suggests that even among black people
themselves, there existed a stigma that the more black you have in you, the
less of a human being you were. This
also puts into question the one drop rule, that even having a small familial
history with African American blood places you lower down on the hierarchy even
though it is realistically impossible to scientifically prove the difference
between white descendence and black.
The narrator makes a point to
explain that Mr. Driscoll (the owner of Roxy), “was a fairly humane man towards
slaves and other animals” (Twain 66). This
statement in itself blatantly describes African-Americans as being some sort of
animal, completely separating them from the human race. They are
held to the same standards as animals that can be sold and kept as working
units or servants, and as not being able to uphold the duties and
responsibilities of being human. Liberty
is defined as the quality that individuals have to control their own
actions. Roxy explains how her master
robbed the slaves of their liberty, suggesting that they have no ability to
conduct their own actions and are forced to be basically ‘pets’ of their master
who can force them to do whatever he choose (like animals in a circus).
There is also evidence that Roxy and
other slaves somewhat admires the power and beauty that comes with being a free
white person. When she makes the switch
between Chambers and Tom, she claims that white folks had done it before so it
must be ok. This suggests that white
people are of the most elite moral standards and that if they can do then it
must be ok. She exclaims “T’aint no sin—white
folks has done it! It ain’t no sin, glory to goodness it ain’t no sin! Dey’s
done it—yes, an dey was de biggest quality in do whole bilin’, too—kings.”
(Twain 72). This statement kind of puts
white people on sort of a pedestal as the most righteous and morally good, and
claims that if the white people are as pure and as virtuous as they portray
themselves to be, and they can commit such a sin, then what Roxy had done
should be OK in the eyes of God. Little
does Roxy know however, that the act that she committed would backfire and her
slave son would encompass all of the values that she aimed to prevent.
Another example that shows how much
the blacks were placed on an inferior level to whites is how Tom sees himself
after he finds out that he is actually part black and a slave. He goes as far as to say that the curse of
Ham was upon him (The curse of Ham being the curse of black skin). Roxy makes claims about Tom having black
blood in him and that this is what accounts for his cowardliness—the stigma
about being black is so engrained into blacks’ minds by the whites that even
blacks truly believe that having black in you makes you inferior. When Roxy confronts Tom about not stepping up
in the duel, she states “Pah! It make me sick! It’s de nigger in you, dat’s
what it is. Thirty-one parts o’ you is
white, en on’y one part nigger, en dat po’ part is yo’ soul. ‘Tain’t wuth savin’; tain’t wuth totin’ out
on a shovel en throwin’ in de gutter” (Twain 157). This statement shows how much Roxy believes
that it’s the black part of a person that makes them cowardly and that this is
shining through all of the white parts of Tom as he makes such a cowardly
move.
Finally an overarching theme throughout
the story once Tom finds out his true identity, is that he will do whatever it
takes to make sure that the secret does not get out. This shows that he knows how much of a
disgrace it would be on his reputation and his entire life would be flipped
upside down, and he does not wish to risk losing what he has become—even though
all he has become is a mean, immoral white man.
Tom would rather sell his own free mother into slavery then to risk
losing his liberty and becoming what he really is—a slave. My point in all this is that the portrayal of
African- Americans during this time is that of a species that is less than
human, and the stigma behind this idea really dictates the decisions that are
made and how the story unfolds. I
believe that the irony behind the freed woman (Roxy) being sold by her (technically)
slave son Tom is meant to demonstrates the problems both within slavery and racism.
In the end who really benefits from the
segregation of race and of the treatment of one race as inferior to another
when we struggle to identify and define race itself?
Works
Cited
Twain,
Mark. Pudd’nhead Wilson. New York: Penguin Group Ltd., 2004. Print.
The video I found and linked below, though vulgar and
very inappropriate, makes a very intriguing point about racial identity. As a warning, although this video was made
for the ‘Chappelle Show’ and so is supposed to be comedy, it is pretty
offensive. However, I feel that it
brings up a controversial dilemma that if one was blind, how would they define
their race? In this portrayal, a blind black
man was raised along with blind white children and neither of them ever knew
the difference; the black child even learned to hate those of his own skin tone
because that is what he was taught. The
nature vs. nurture controversy is highlighted and it also puts into question
the idea of placing one race as inferior to another because we are all technically
of the human race. If you didn’t know
better and couldn’t see the outward visible differences, you would really not
ever know that there was a difference between black and white.
