Racism and Discrimination
Although slavery was abolished after the American Civil War, racism and discrimination continued to thrive, especially in the Southern United States. The play, set on a plantation in Georgia, explores the societal roles of African Americans and whites during this period. Many white people believed they were superior to African Americans, who often toiled in cotton fields much like their enslaved ancestors did in the 1800s. Generally, African Americans accepted this harsh reality, mindful of the severe consequences that could arise from challenging the status quo. William captures this mindset when he tells his mother, Cora, “A nigger’s just got to know his place in de South, that’s all, ain’t he, ma?”
Interracial Relationships
For African American women, their societal roles often included becoming mistresses to white men. This was true for Cora, whom Norwood chose when she was merely a teenager. She reflects on this in an imagined conversation with the deceased Norwood, recalling their first encounter. Cora remembers, ‘‘I’m just fifteen years old. Thirty years ago, you touched me to feel my breasts, and you said, ‘you’re a pretty little piece of flesh, ain’t you?’’’ In this Southern culture, both black women and men were seen as mere objects to be manipulated and exploited by white individuals as they wished. Norwood’s friend, Fred Higgins, represents the typical Southern white man who believed that black women were for white men to use sexually, not for relationships. Higgins comments about Cora, ‘‘And living with a nigger woman! Of course, I know we all have ‘em—I didn’t know you could make use of a white girl till I was past twenty.’’ Although Norwood is slightly better because he tries to support his mixed-race children by sending them to school, he still holds the Southern mindset of treating women as possessions. He says to Higgins, ‘‘(Winking) You know I got nice black women in this yard.’’ The most callous example of this attitude is shown at the play’s end. The undertaker and Sam casually discuss the impending death of Cora’s son, Robert, who killed Norwood. Then, without hesitation, the undertaker expresses a sexual interest in Cora, realizing she is now available after Norwood’s death. The undertaker remarks about Cora, ‘‘(Curiously) I’d like to see how she looks.’’
Mulattoes
Interracial relationships frequently resulted in the birth of many mulatto children. In the play, white fathers often denied being the parents of these children. Norwood, for example, tries to assist his mulatto children by providing them with an education but refuses to claim them as his own. During a conversation with Cora about Robert's behavior, Norwood states, "Cora, if you want that hard-headed yellow son of yours to get along around here, he’d better listen to me. He’s no more than any other black buck on this plantation." The term "yellow" was commonly used to describe mulattoes due to their lighter skin, a result of their mixed ancestry. Despite having one white parent, society deemed it unacceptable for mulattoes to acknowledge this heritage. As a child, Robert does so by calling Norwood "papa" in front of significant white guests. This act enrages Norwood, who beats Robert and becomes angry with Cora. Cora recounts the incident to William, saying, "And he were mad at me, too, for months. Said I was teachin’ you chilluns who they pappy were."
Most African Americans and mulattoes on the plantation accept their inferior status compared to whites, but Robert does not, creating the central conflict of the play. Robert is deeply troubled and angry about his mixed heritage. He...
(This entire section contains 435 words.)
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shares many physical characteristics with his white father, Norwood. Before Robert speaks to Norwood, Cora advises him, "Talk like you was colored, cause you ain’t white." Robert responds, "(Angrily) And I’m not black, either. Look at me, mama. (Rising and throwing up his arms) Don’t I look like my father? Ain’t I as light as he is?" Cora tries to defend Robert by highlighting that he inherited his demeanor from Norwood. She says, "He don’t mean nothin’—just smart and young and kinder careless, Colonel Tom, like ma mother said you used to be when you was eighteen." Despite these genetic similarities, Norwood denies being Robert’s father and claims that Robert is Cora's son, stating, "Nigger women don’t know the fathers. You’re a bastard."
Cora spends much of the play trying to keep Robert out of trouble with Norwood and other white individuals. However, she loses her sanity after Robert kills Norwood. In her madness, while speaking to Norwood's lifeless body, Cora finally stands up for herself, insisting that Norwood should have recognized Robert as his son. "Why don’t you get up and stop ‘em? He’s your boy. His eyes is grey—like your eyes. He’s tall like you’s tall. He’s proud like you’s proud."
Racial Equality and African American Struggle
Influenced by the nineteenth century American poet Walt Whitman and the early twentieth century American poets Vachel Lindsay and Carl Sandburg, Hughes’s poetry focuses on the lives and the struggle of African Americans for racial equality. Marked with melancholic passivity, concealed outrage, and finally a transcendence that is repeatedly an assertion of black worth, history, and beauty, Hughes’s poetry supports his claim that he is the “poet laureate of the negro race.” Unafraid to write about the controversial or the uncomfortable, and passionate about embracing his heritage, Hughes’s poetic structure (the blues form) gave voice to those who had never been given the chance to speak. “Mulatto” is an enduring example of Hughes’s poetic achievement.
Race Relations in the American South
The narrator in the opening line claims he is the son of a “white man.” Because the father is identified by race rather than by name, readers know the poem is not just a straightforward presentation of a family drama, but an examination of race relations in the American South, a setting confirmed in the second line, which tells readers of a “Georgia dusk.” The omniscient narrator says that “One of the pillars of the temple fell,” alluding to the two pillars the ancient Hebrew king Solomon erected as symbols of God’s promises of support to the people of Israel. People of faith who passed between the pillars were reminded of the presence and strength of God. When the poet says that one of the pillars has fallen, he is suggesting that either the presence, or the strength, of God is in question, not only in this father-son relationship, but also in the American South.
Spiritual and Moral Implications of Unions
This allusion is deepened by the omniscient narrator’s question “What’s a body but a toy?,” a refrain that stands in direct contrast to the New Testament passage in I Corinthians 3:16, which says, “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?” The deeper message is that the human body is not a toy but a spiritual temple and as such should not be defiled in an unholy union, that is, a union between a married man and an unmarried woman.
Transcendence and Identity
The poem’s final message is the most poignant and is also illustrative of Hughes’s idea of transcendence. The biracial child knows who he is and where he comes from, even though neither the father nor the brother will acknowledge him, their blood relative, as a family member. The poet says twice that the “Southern night” is “full of stars/ Great big yellow stars” and repeatedly describes the biracial child as “a little yellow/ Bastard boy,” drawing a parallel between the boy and the stars. Hughes implies that the offspring of unsanctified unions, commonly referred to as bastards, are as numerous and widespread as the stars and are able, like the stars, to go “everywhere.”