While
reading The Known World, Henry deals
with the struggle between “right versus wrong” more than any other character. This
inner battle is shown through the number of times the word “right” appears in
the novel. In addition, the usage of the word “right” during Henry’s scenes
helps distinguish what is morally right and what society has deemed as “right.”
Henry began
his life as a slave, and during this time, it can be assumed that he believe
slavery was wrong. However, once he was bought out of slavery and became a
person instead of property, his economic status and privilege altered his view
of slavery. No longer did he think it was morally wrong, but he saw slavery as
a privilege of the free. When Henry tells his parents that he has bought Moses
as a slave, he justifies his actions by saying, “I ain’t done nothin I ain’t a
right to. I ain’t done nothin no white man wouldn’t do.”(138) Henry tells his
parents that no one ever told him owning a slave was wrong, and his father
argues that no one should have to tell him that slavery is wrong because he can
see it is wrong with his own eyes. (137) Because Henry is now on a similar
socioeconomic level as a white man, he expects to have the same rights as white
men, which included owning slaves. This suggests how own abuse of societal
rights can cloud their judgment of what is morally right and how power can
quickly change a person’s view on inequality and injustice.
Many
characters in the novel, especially Henry, struggle with the distinction between
what is morally right and what is deemed right in society. In the beginning,
Henry wants to treat his slaves differently than many of the other slave
owners. He wants to treat them as individuals instead of property. However, as
time goes on, Henry begins to treat his slaves the same way Robbins does. Henry
felt the need to beat his slaves, “but those were the ones who would not do
what was proper and right.”(181) Once again, the idea of societal right vs.
wrong is suggested, but in a different context. Henry expects his salves to do
the right thing when he orders them around. In the same sense, Henry feels as
though he has to treat his slaves and reprimand them in the way which is deemed
right by society. Both the slaves and the slave owners in this novel, depending
on their social status, feel as though they must abide to what is seen as the
correct way to act in society.
I believe
Jones continuously uses the word “right” throughout his novel to constantly
remind readers that, while the morally right thing to do may be obvious, often
times people overlook it in order to succumb to what is socially right just as
Henry did. Jones wants to remind readers that what is easy and what is right
are not always synonymous, and individuals often times agree with societal
standards because it is easier to agree with the popular and privileged choice. When something is seen as normal in society, such as slavery in this novel, people's moral judgements often times are forgotten.
Here are
some questions that came to me while writing this post:
-Is it ever okay to do what is
socially right versus morally right?
-Do power and privilege play a
significant role in how people judge right versus wrong?
-Does Henry struggle the most with
doing the “right thing” throughout the novel, or is there another character that
stands out as having this issue?
After reading Maddie’s post and thinking about Henry’s actions throughout The Known World by Edward Jones, it seems as though right and wrong are different through the eyes of characters with different social statuses. When Henry’s parents, Mildred and Augustus, buy their freedom, they have to wait some time to make more money before they can buy Henry’s freedom as well. Because of this, he is left under Mildred’s friend Rita’s watchful eye. Still, Henry needs a fatherly role in his life, and he finds one in his slave master, Mr. Robbins. As Robbins’ groom, Henry develops an attachment to Robbins. Henry is learning more from a white, slave-owning male than from his own father. Robbins once says to a sheriff, “’You don’t know the difficulty in keeping this world going right. You ride around, keeping the peace, but that ain’t got nothin to do with running a plantation full of slaves’” (38). Robbins sees his work as a plantation owner and slave master as more important and more “right” than the work that the sheriff’s do. Robbins believes that as a white, slave-owning male, the right thing to do is control his slaves and the work they are doing on his plantation.
ReplyDeleteRobbins attitude rubs off on Henry when he acquires slaves of his own. Henry transitions from being an oppressed slave to a free man to a free slave-owning man. Many will ask how one can go from being a slave and enduring that torture to owning slaves of your own. I wonder that same thing. I think the answer, though, in Henry’s case, is that Robbins, his fatherly figure, made him believe that as a free man, being a slave owner is the right thing to do. At one point, Henry cuts one of his slave’s, Elias’, ear off. Henry’s wife Caldonia says, “’Let him try one more time to do what’s right, Henry,’” and Henry responds, “’I cain’t. I just cain’t’” (89). Henry learned how to be a slave owner from Robbins, so Henry sees everything Robbins did to his slaves as the right thing for Henry to do to his own slaves as well.
Maddie I agree, I think choosing to read the idea of right versus wrong through the character of Henry is such a smart choice, considering how he transitions from slave to master throughout the course of the text. Through this choice, we can understand how the same individual sees the issue from two different perspectives, which might shed light on whether one's power and social status in society informs perceptions of right versus wrong.
ReplyDeleteI think power plays a significant role in what people judge to be right versus wrong. When ruminating over the issue of slavery, Henry says "I ain't done nothin that any white man wouldn't do. I ain't broke no law." (138). This moment is interesting to me because it creates a division between what is legally right and what is morally right. I personally think this fracture between legal and moral obligations sheds light on how power relations work in the novel.
The most relevant example of how power relations structure perceptions of right versus wrong occurs when Travis ate Augusts's freedom papers (212). Barnum characterizes Travis's action as "That ain't right", but Travis responds by saying "Right ain't got nothin to do with it." (212). Here, the concept of right interacts with power relations. As White men, there is no explicit law forbidding the eating of a Black's freedom papers. Branum's words express a moral obligation towards not doing so, however Travis falls back on the legal obligations, which do not forbid it. This moment allows the narrative to flush out how power relations distort and twist the meaning of right versus wrong. Since Travis is a privileged white man, he is under no moral obligation, and therefore, "right has nothing to do with it" (212).
Maddie, I agree that this novel does make the glaring claim that what is right isn't always easy, and more importantly, isn't always socially acceptable. In history, I think slavery is one of the biggest examples of society sticking to what is easy rather than what is right, and we often forget how pervasive the notion that "because everyone is doing it it must be okay," was, and is. We see this, as you said, in the development of Henry from a slave-owner who wants to treat his slaves with respect and dignity, to the stereotypical type who sees his slaves as tools for his own selfish gains. A more specific point in the book that really struck me where social and moral correctness are at odds is on page 299, when Caldonia is concerned about her slaves who have 'disappeared.' She thinks, "Patrollers may have taken advantage of the women and killed them all to cover the crime. But why kill them if the crime was only rape? Raping a slave would not bring the law down on them. In many minds, raping a slave was not even a crime. Killing property was the greater crime." Reading this made me very uneasy, especially the last sentence. By social standards, "raping a slave was not even a crime," which directly contrasts moral standards and human rights in general. In instances and quotes such as these, Jones points out the injustice that plagued the antebellum American era, and the blurry senses of right and wrong during that time.
ReplyDelete