As Jen mentions in her blog post,
Roxy willingly sacrifices her freedom and is sold into slavery as a means of
saving her son from debt and infamy. While it’s ironic that Roxy goes to great
lengths to protect her son given that Tom abandons her, directs racist slurs
toward her, and gambles away his undeserved wealth, I wonder to what extent
Twain is suggesting that Roxy brings about her own misfortune. The narrator
describes Roxy as a “doting fool of a mother” who empowers her own son to
become her master by switching Tom
and Chamber’s identities (29). While this switch initially seems unnatural to
Roxy, “deceptions intended solely for others gradually grew practically into
self-deceptions as well” until finally the separation between imitation-slave
and imitation-master became so great that “on one side of it stood Roxy, the
dupe of her own deceptions, and on the other stood her child, no longer a
usurper to her, but her accepted and recognized master” (20-21). She, in some
ways, brings about her own self-ruin by convincing herself of her plan’s
reality and enforcing her own subservience to her son. This selfless act
entirely disrupts the social hierarchy and her position within it.
Ironically, Roxy switches Tom and
Chambers to protect her son from being sold into slavery, but she offers the
suggestion to Tome that he sell her. Roxy rationalizes her decision by claiming
that all mothers—black or white—would do anything for their child. She embraces
her servitude “for she was not dreaming that her own son could be guilty of
treason to a mother who, in voluntarily going into slavery…was making a
sacrifice for him compared with which death would have been a poor a
commonplace one” (87). Tom sells his mother “down the river,” the dreaded place
she protected him from, and she is left once again powerless. Perhaps Twain
uses Roxy’s ironic predicament in which she makes “the ultimate sacrifice” to
mock her unconditional love for her son. Interestingly, the novel suggests that
families feel connected more so by their blood relations and genetic makeup
than by their true relationships; however, as a poor black woman, Roxy can
never fully disassociate or disown her son through the ultimate legal measure:
his removal from the family will. Instead, she remains continuously disappointed
by her son’s betrayal.
I'm glad you posted your ideas on this, because I'm definitely interested by the relationships between parents and children in the novel, and also by the extent to which we're supposed to admire Roxy. It seems at times like she's supposed supposed to be a heroine of sorts, and at other times Twain seems to be making fun of her. I think it's a really interesting idea that she could have brought about her own misfortune. You make a good case for it. I do also feel at the same time that she's a good example of someone who knows how to look out for themselves– no matter what situation she or Tom gets her into, she comes up with a solution for it, and puts the solution into action.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I think Roxy's character is one of the most interesting in the novel. I'm always unsure how Twain is attempting to portray her, as strong, intelligent, and self-less, or as foolish, and self-defeating, or maybe some combination of these traits.
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