"A Matter of Principle" was probably one of my favorite tales in Chestnutt's Tales of Conjure and The Color Line Collection. I couldn't help but to feel very satisfied with the ending, as the Clayton's get what they truly deserve for their discrimination against the supposed black-as-night Hamilton Brown (even though he does end up indeed being of Alice's race, to Mr. Clayton's shock!) and their general myopic and self-contradicting outlook on race and interracial relations.
Yet, what was perhaps even more amusing was Jack's role in moving the plot to its surprising and satisfying conclusion. Jack, Mr. Clayton's distant cousin, is discounted as the subservient errand boy and Alice's last option if she fails to find a husband to match her race. Yet, ironically, Jack ends up being the character that blows the whole Congressional reception by mistaking Brown's dark-skinned traveling partner for the Congressman suitor himself. In this way, Jack ends up possessing a considerable amount of power in the tale for which we don't give him credit early on in the story. Jack is the catalyst that brings about the despair of the Clayton's, and the victory on the part of Brown and us, the moralistic readers. Jack's character reminds us that each and every character in a tale has the potential to contribute to the plot in a special or unexpected way. We can't make assumptions too quickly.
So, with that, I just have to say: Well done, Jack. Well done.
No comments:
Post a Comment