Summary Of John Chesnutt's The Awakening

(Chesnutt7) on his mind. John does not yet know that he is looking at his sister, but he has already pinned her with identity that she gets placed into often because of her appearance. Chesnutt pushes the reader to begin thinking of how there might be more to their relationship later on than that of typical siblings because of how John sees and describes her. When John and Rena meet in Miss Molly’s house (their mother) he reveals to both of the woman of his recent past: his marriage, the death of his wife, and his motherless child. He plans to take Rena and use her as a type of step-mother for his child. John’s ideas and plans for the future with his sister are different than what Rena imagined. He basically bullies their mother into letting her go. …show more content…
Through John’s initial thoughts and actions Chesnutt shows the reader that Rena’s problems not only begin so much with a race issue, but with the fact that she is a good looking woman that is alone. She is being portrayed as damsel in danger and needing to be rescued and John is there to do just that. It is almost like Chesnutt is telling the reader that women are more likely to be tragically distressed than men and ultimately fall victims to that stress, as Rena did throughout the novel. He has identified her as mentally weak. John pushes on for her to join him by reminding that she’s never been anywhere else. Rena should leave the small town for better opportunities and to follow "golden vision that lay beyond," for she "had never been out of the town or its vicinity," (Chesnutt