Racial Discrimination Essay

At the end of the 19th century, the racial tensions between African Americans that were recently freed from slavery and southern European Americans were very high. A large portion of southern European Americans resented the newfound freedom and confidence of African Americans and wanted to maintain the old traditions of the south; where African Americans were subservient and inferior to the white race. Through the novel, “The Marrow of Tradition” by Charles w. Chestnut readers can obtain a deeper understanding of the race relations between African Americans and southern white Americans. Throughout the novel, we can see the constantly changing relationship between African Americans and southern European Americans. Through characters such as Josh Green and Dr. William Miller, two prominent African Americans that play crucial roles in the story, we can see how they symbolize the newfound pride, confidence, and success within the African Americans community. However, in juxtaposition characters such as Major Cartaret and Captain Mcbane, two prominent European Americans in the novel, we can see how they symbolize the old racist traditions and hatred of the white south. Through the analysis of these characters and what they symbolize, Chestnutt allows us to understand the relationship between African Americans and southern European Americans in a richer way. One character that symbolizes a very important concept in the story would have to be Dodie Cartaret. Dodie Cartaret is the newborn son of Major Cartaret and his wife Olivia Cartaret. In the novel “The Marrow of Tradition” Dodie Cartaret is a symbol for the new generation of southern European Americans; that will live in a life where they are accustomed to African Americans being free individuals in their everyday life. As a symbol of this new generation of European Americans Chestnutt uses the misfortune that Dodie goes through throughout the novel show the evolving relationship between African Americans and European Americans Through the few scenes that Dodie Cartaret is present in the novel, we can examine the allegory between the relationship between the evolving relationship between African-Americans and southern European-Americans.

Through the first scenes that we see of Dodie Cartaret, we can see that from the time of his birth; he already has an almost supernatural connection with African Americans. We are introduced to this connection through the character Aunt Jane. Aunt Jane has been a servant of the Carteret household for many years and has served Olivia and her mother in the past. After Dodie was born she noticed a very alarming mark on Dodie’s body. “She had discovered, under its left ear, a small, which led to her fear that that the child was born for bad luck. Had the baby been black, or yellow, or poor-white, Jane would unhesitatingly have named, as his ultimate fate….should die by judicial strangulation” (Chestnut 10). As we see from the very beginning of the novel that Dodie seemed to be connected to African Americans or minorities in some tragic way. Then subsequently every time Dodie was present in the novel he was a victim of bad luck, and not only that an African American was always involved in the circumstances surrounding the misfortune of Dodie. Through f Dodie’s misfortune, we can see how Chestnutt uses his representation as a symbol to show that the lives of African Americans and European Americans are forever intertwined in a unique way that can not be changed.