Touching every American in one form or another, the dark, chilling shadow of slavery had long been cast upon the United States. Beginning with the early seventeenth century, the institution of slavery finally reached a tipping point in the second-half of the nineteenth century with the onset of the Civil War. This polarizing period in American history can be described as the South versus the North, slavery versus freedom, and brother versus brother. During and after the Civil War, newly freed Southern slaves began to rise up from those dark shadows of slavery to find an identity and purpose for themselves and their country that had for over two-hundred years been robbed of them by the status quo of oppression. Mary Louise Alcott’s short story,
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Likely all too common during this period, the author sheds light on the slave, later acknowledged with the simple, self-given name of Bob, as a South Carolina native, born from an African mother and a white plantation owner. Regretfully, this mix of genes adds to Bob’s lack of identity both on a physical and social level; Bob’s existence teeters on a line of freedom and indenture. Alcott also contributes to the plot by providing the fact that the Captain is his half-brother, Marster Ned. Perhaps with a sense of meaning, Alcott may have chosen the name Ned due to its Old English meaning of a rich or prosperous protector. However, while Ned may have been wealthy, he was not his brother’s keeper for he kidnapped Bob’s only valued love, his wife Lucy. This heinous act further stripped Bob of a purpose, in such a way that it reduced Bob to a man without family. The reader learns that Lucy and Bob created a pact that she would commit suicide than to be taken as Ned’s own wife, further solidifying Bob’s alienation. Lastly, the third character Alcott introduces is Faith Dane, a nurse who, by nature, is to care for the well-being of any soldier, regardless of which side they fought. Faith is responsible for ensuring that Captain Ned is kept comfortable physically, but also is placed in a
Likely all too common during this period, the author sheds light on the slave, later acknowledged with the simple, self-given name of Bob, as a South Carolina native, born from an African mother and a white plantation owner. Regretfully, this mix of genes adds to Bob’s lack of identity both on a physical and social level; Bob’s existence teeters on a line of freedom and indenture. Alcott also contributes to the plot by providing the fact that the Captain is his half-brother, Marster Ned. Perhaps with a sense of meaning, Alcott may have chosen the name Ned due to its Old English meaning of a rich or prosperous protector. However, while Ned may have been wealthy, he was not his brother’s keeper for he kidnapped Bob’s only valued love, his wife Lucy. This heinous act further stripped Bob of a purpose, in such a way that it reduced Bob to a man without family. The reader learns that Lucy and Bob created a pact that she would commit suicide than to be taken as Ned’s own wife, further solidifying Bob’s alienation. Lastly, the third character Alcott introduces is Faith Dane, a nurse who, by nature, is to care for the well-being of any soldier, regardless of which side they fought. Faith is responsible for ensuring that Captain Ned is kept comfortable physically, but also is placed in a