Our Nig (Masterplots II: African American Literature Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Harriet E. Adams
- First Published: 1859
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Social criticism
- Time of Work: The mid-1800’s, before the Civil War
- Setting: Boston, Massachusetts, and surrounding areas
- Principal Characters: Frado, Mrs. Bellmont, James
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism
- Subjects: Girls, Power, personal or social, Biracial people, Nineteenth century, Interracial relationships, Marriage, Abandoned children, Poverty or poor people, Violence, Single parents or single-parent families, Death or dying, Boston, Servants, Cruelty
- Locales: Boston, MA
The Novel
Our Nig is the story of an abandoned mulatto girl, Frado, who works from the age of six until she is eighteen as an indentured servant for a white, middle-class family in Boston. Before Frado’s narrative moves forward, Harriet E. Wilson swiftly presents the background story, telling how Frado became an orphan. Next, she gives a full account of the protagonist’s suffering at the hands of two cruel mistresses, and then she rapidly summarizes the sad events following Frado’s arduous servitude: a bad marriage ending with desertion, single parenthood, and...
[The entire page is 2804 words long]
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