The Representation of Tricksters in the Works of Charles W. Chesnutt

"Trickster tales themselves are tricky; their seriousness is hidden and often overlooked" by Trudier Harris. Zora Neale Hurston's “Ah,ll Beatcher Makin’ Money” is a short story in which a slave tricks his master in several ways. This is a direct relation to the time period where African Americans were thought to be intellectually inferior. The author expands upon this when the master punishes Ole John again and it again backfires. The last time Zora Neale Hurston shows the master punishing John ends in a grim manner for the master. Ole John outwitted his master three times, but his master did not know it. Tricksters use their intelligence, but do not really show it for their sake. John

August Wilson was a famous and influential playwright who wrote about the African American experience and conflicts with the White world. Although he may be argued as one of the greatest playwrights in America, I myself have only heard of his work once when my seventh grade English class read Fences, a play about a man and his son dealing with dealing with racism while also dealing with their own conflict when the son wants to follow in the steps of his father and become a professional athlete. I had honestly forgotten all about that one play I read eight years ago. Wilson’s name was barely among the many playwrights studied in my latter years. This could be because of the content of his plays. Much of Wilson’s work examines the negative aspects of being African American in America such as racism and poverty. When we read about African American literature in school, we read about empowerment and pride. It is ironic how students study White writers who tell stories like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Heart of Darkness with mistreated African American characters, but barely study those same stories written by Black authors, poets, and playwrights. Because African American literature was not glorified in the past, specifically speaking of a time before the Harlem Renaissance, it may take time for certain works of African descendants to be glorified at the same level as those of White writers, especially if their peak wasn’t during the Renaissance.

In the novel, the Duke and the King pretend to be family relatives of a grieving family in order to steal thousands of dollars in gold. However, after successfully stealing the gold, the Duke then suggests that Jim, who happens to know about it, might try to steal the money because the Duke believes an African American would try to steal it. Through the image of a white criminal in the process of stealing money who fears that a black man would steal the money from him, the novel ironically portrays the hypocrisy of racial

Before delving into the observations of Henry Highland Garnet’s and Frederick Douglass’s view on slavery, it is first important to discuss how slaves were generally viewed. During the 19th century, slaves had one goal and one goal only: to flee north. The voyage to freedom was anything but easy. Because of the perceived disloyalty a runaway slave display towards his/her owner, slave owners often issues bounties for the retrieval of their slaves. If the slave were returned, they would surely be hanged, tortured, or starved to death to illustrate to other slaves the consequences of a disloyal servant. Supporters of slavery believed that if slavery was abolished, then the economy in the south would plummet faster than a shooting star. Because of the unprecedented revenue the South received from cotton sales, the majority of their reliance was on slave labor. However, abolitionists such as Garnet and Douglass not only believe that a black man had equal worth to a white man, but they also firmly demanded that a change be brought about. Over time, abolitionist became more persistent in their demands, fueling many intellectual discussions. Amongst these intellectual discussions was Garnet’s unsuccessful but brilliant speech addressing slaves and Douglas’s historic speech on the meaning of the fourth of July to a slave.

Lewis Hyde’s book Trickster Makes This World contains an excerpt called “Slipping the Trap of Appetite” in which the first line reads, “The trickster myth derives creative intelligence from appetite.” During the time of William Bradford, separating from the Church of England by law is considered an act of treason. Bradford will become part of a group, known as the “Separatists,” who did not wish to follow the national church. This group will encounter many difficulties in their escape of religious persecution and search of freedom. William Bradford reveals the Pilgrims’ appetite for religious freedom and displays their creative intelligence in escaping persecution in his book, In of Plymouth Plantation.

In The Marrow of Tradition, Chesnutt uses the ideas of character doubles to represent the idea of race vs respect. By creating these doubles he creates a theme of duality throughout the book that reflects upon the racism during the time period the book is written about. Chesnutt insinuates the idea of race versus respect in a dualital manner that compliments each character's respective differences while still showing the reader exactly why each pair of character foils are two sides of the same coin through various examples throughout the book, such as Tom and Ellis, and Olivia and Janet. An example of race vs. respect given in the book was the relation of Tom Delamere and Lee Ellis. Both of these characters are white men, but the way they treat

Written in a brilliant way, Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man” captures the attention of the reader for its multi-layered perfection. The novel focuses an African American living in Harlem, New York. The novelist does not name his protagonist for a couple of reasons. One reason is to show his confusion of personal identity and the other to show he is “invisible”. Thus he becomes every Black American who is in search of their own identity. He is a true representative of the black community in America who is socially and psychologically dominated everywhere. The narrator is invisible to others because he is seen by the stereotypes rather than his true identity. He takes on several identities to find acceptance from his peers, but eventually

The life of African Americans in the 19th and 20th centuries has been a truly storied past. One of the most astonishing aspects of African American life, in this period, is the degree to which it was heterogeneous. The experiences of African Americans differed widely based on geographic location, class, gender, religion, and age. Despite a high degree of variability in the experiences of Blacks in America, if one were to consider the sociopolitical fact that Black people as a group in America were a subordinate caste in dominant society, then it becomes possible to make certain overarching connections. One such connection is the presence of secretive subversive ideologies and actions. The existence of these secretive subversive activities is apparent if one examines the labor tendencies, the folklore, and the outward societal projections of black people. By briefly examining the labor practices of Black women in Atlanta during the latter part of the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries, The Uncle Remus tales, and cultural icon Louis Armstrong, one can deduce that secretive subversive actions and beliefs were an integrated aspect of Black existence during this period.

What is a trickster? A trickster typically breaks the creeds of the divine or nature, most of the time this is doomed maliciously, but sometimes with positive results. More frequently than not, the rule-breaking will capture the pattern of tricks, or thievery. Tricksters are generally cunning, foolish, or perhaps both. They are usually very funny even when they are scared. In diverse cultures the trickster and humanizing hero are often merged in one. Tricksters are particular to their own cultures. However, tricksters are naturally bound by undeniable attributes no matter what their religion is or what culture they have come from. It is thought that all of us have some type of trickster within us, whether it may be conscious or

August Wilson, the celebrated author of the Pittsburgh Cycle, has always opposed the assimilation of African Americans into the mainstream American society. Wilson uses his plays as a medium to uphold and celebrate African American culture while reflecting the plight of the African American community. One strong aspect that is consistently interweaved in Wilson’s works is the struggle of the black male and how he integrates and identifies himself with the mainstream American society. The theme of power struggle is seen across a plethora of Wilson’s plays, but two characters that really stand out are Troy from Fences and Levee from Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. While these two men live in different times, they have a similar disposition. Both

The first black character holding considerable influence introduced in the novel is the president of the narrator’s college, Dr. Bledsoe, who defines power as manipulating influential white men to achieve wealth. The narrator clearly admires Dr. Bledsoe’s position as “the possessor of not one, but two Cadillacs” and “influential with wealthy men” (Ellison 101). This description expresses Bledsoe’s preoccupation with wealth and material gain, but it also shows how Bledsoe has managed to achieve at least some semblance of power in a society that is stacked against him. The narrator admires Bledsoe for this accomplishment and, for the first part of the novel, models his own actions after those of Dr. Bledsoe. It is later uncovered, however, through the revelation that his letters of recommendation for the narrator are actually pointless letters of expulsion leading the narrator in circles, that Bledsoe uses his position only to further his own self-interest with no regard for how his actions affect the young black men who look up to him (191). This revelation exemplifies Bledsoe’s twisted definition of power and means of obtaining it; he appeases white men and takes advantage of the black community for his own gain, however insubstantial. Ellison himself revealed that, while writing Invisible

In Tartuffe, he's a completely conniving man. He manipulates people into giving him what he goals. he is particular about who he chooses to con. He's extremely intelligent, and is aware of who might nice serve his reason. The reality is that Orgon and Madame Pernelle are too vulnerable and oblivious to his ways this is a vital theme of the play. The play "Tartuffe", by Moliere, is a work that was created to show how Tartuffe characteristics of manipulative and hypocrisy ways intruded Orgon’s household.

The narrator - He is a black man living in the 1930s. He is invisible to society. Society never sees his true self beneath all the labels and racial prejudices. He struggles to find his identity in the society he lives in. He is a very intelligent and has exquisite rhetoric abilities that take him far.

Compare And Contrast The Unexpected and Tony Kites Arch Deceiver Both these short stories are similar because the time they were written at (19th Century) but different in tone. The narrative "The Unexpected" has a more serious manner to it because of the way women were treated at the time. At the time, women were not allowed to vote, women did not have important jobs in their society and did not have equal rights. Women were mostly dependant on men.

For a story to be a great trickster story, the story must contain certain qualities along with the characters having certain characteristics. Among these traits, three are very important in the story. The use of anthropomorphism, the gods, spirits and supernaturals, and the negative qualities of the trickster. All of these are equally important, but in there own way.