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A Thesis Submitted in Partial Satisfaction of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts with Honors in English by Mary

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CALIFORNilc~. STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE CHARLES WADDELL CHESNUTT: SHORT FIC'I'ION ON THE COLOR LINE A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts with Honors in English by Mary Anne Stone /"~ .June 1979 .-:.:. .. '1.: .. The Thesis of Mary Anne Stone is approved: California State University, Northridge ii Dedicated to: Jana, Wendy and Tim Creators of the Peanut Butter Avalanche iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My thanks go to Dr. John Stafford for serving as my advisor in this endeavor, and to my friends Nancy McCarthy and Tom McGuire for their preliminary editing. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ..••••••..•.•. 1 Biographical Information - .A Context .. 4 New York - A Period of Apprenticeship • • • 10 Mature Short Fiction .. 15 Critical Responses. • • • 3 7 Late Mature Work. 41 Evaluation - His Contribution . 45 Notes . • 49 Bibliography. 52 v Introduction On May 29, 1880, the not yet twenty-two year-old principal of the Howard School for Negroes wrote in his journal: I think I must write a book ... I shall write for a purpose, a high holy purpose, and this will inspire me to greater effort. The object of my writing~ would be not so much the elevation of the colored people as the elevation of the whites--for I con­ sonider the unjust spirit of caste which is so insidious as to pervade a whole nation, and so powerful as to subject a whole race and all con­ nected with it to scorn and social ostracism--I consider this a barrier to the moral progress of the American people .... 1 ,, During the time between 1883 and more than ten years after the Armistice of World War I, Charles Waddell Chestnut secured his place in American literature as the most important author of black African descent. His con- tributions to American letters include three novels, a short biography of Frederick Douglas, a handful of poems, essays, lectures, private journals and correspondence, and a body of short fiction. The critic Benjamin Brawley has said that ''Chestnutt's novels are not quite as well done as his short stories and occasionally seem forced or unreal ... " and that they are "too full of propaganda to be ultimately 2 satisfying." But, it is in his short works that he excels, 3 meticulously executing the "wild indigenous poetry" for which he is best remembered. 1 2 Chesnutt, the writer, was a product of his milieu; his work reflects the literary trends of his era. He serves as a bridge in that interim between the genteel tradition and the growing concern with realism; he incor­ porates local color in his short stories. But Chesnutt's local color is unique in that his settings are by.their nature imbued with the most meaningful conflicts and social issues of his time. And, like many popular writers of his time, Chesnutt accon®odates the late nineteenth century fashion of sentimentality. Though his novels are serious social commentaries, Chesnutt's short stories often. demonstrate his capability as a satirist. This artistry was surely as welcome- after the turmoil of the Civil War and Reconstruction as it is today. Charles Chesnutt's personal life, like that of many accomplished artists, went through periods of great flux. As his circumstances changed, his authorial stance also changed. Though his stories cannot be accurately be ascribed to particular dates in his life, his contribution to American literature can be effectively examined by dividing his life into three general periods. From this it can be clearly discerned that Chesnutt's most artistic short works are those which are divorced from his didactic mission. When he permitted himself the freedom of his striking wit, his masterful irony, and his whimsical satire, 3 then he transcended the limits of didacticism. It is Chesnutt's capacity for conveying in words the absurdities of human behavior which places him far ahead of other short story writers of his time. In this aesthetic achievement, he exceeds his own contribution to our social history as t.he groundbreaker of the "color line," for he was the first writer to do away with the "Samba" stereotype of the black and to deal with the real social issues of our racially amalgamating society. Biographical Information - A Context The context into which Charles W. Chesnutt was born is an integral factor in his development as an American author. His posture as a writer develops from motivational forces within him as well as from external pressures inherent in his time. In Cleveland, Ohio, on June 20, 1858, he was born, the first of seven children of free black parents. Chesnutt once stated with some pride that his ancestry was "in the legal line of descent ... always free in both sides as far as my knowledge goes."4 His one­ sixteenth inheritance of black African blood enabled him to "pass." Instead, he chose to define his ethnicity as black. Interestingly, though several of his biographers discuss his ethnicity, none clearly determines which of Chesnutt's ancestors was the free black who was responsible for that heritage. It is likely that there are no accurate records of family history for Charles Chesnutt. It was in 1866, the period of Reconstruction after the Civil War, that Chesnutt's family moved from Ohio to Fayetteville, North Carolina, in order to take over the management of his ailing grandfather's general store. Here Charles began his education at one of the new public schools which had been established for the education of Negroes under the Freedman's Bureau. At the Howard School, 4 5 young Charles came under the guiding interest of the school's principal, Robert Harris. In addition to attending school, Charles worked for his father in their general store, looked after his younger siblings during his mother's lengthy illness, and the proprietor of the local bookstore gave Charles free run of the shop. In the absence of a public library, this was Charles' only access to literature, and he spent all of his free hours there. An incident took place at this time in Chesnutt's life which could not help but influ~nce his developing mind. One day when nine year-old Charles was minding his father's store, he heard a commotion outside and ran out to the crowd in time to witness the cold-blooded shooting of a black man by a white. The murderer was subsequently convicted of homicide; justice was accomplished. But the impact of Charles' first introduction to violent racial conflict was both forceful and lasting. Charles' mother died when he was fourteen years old. Soon after, his father insisted that Charles leave school in order to supplement the family income. Robert Harris, principal of Charles' school, was so distressed upon hearing this news that he dismissed his class in order to go and speak immediately with Charles' father. Through Harris' efforts, Charles was appointed pupil-teacher at the Howard School, whereby he could continue his education part-time and earn a modest salary as well. It was also at this time 6 that Charles' first story was published in a small, black- owned newspaper. As the family's need for money increased, Charles was invited to move to Charlotte, North Carolina, to teach under the direction of Harris' brother. Here he was able to make strides in his own education, studying algebra, Latin, music, American and English history and literature. At the request of Harris, he was returned to Howard School to serve as assistant principal when he was only seventeen years old. The forces of prejudice had already been at work on him. In his journal entry on October 16, 1878, he acknow- ledged some of the difficulty he faced as a man who was neither fully black nor white: I love music. I live in a town where there is some musical culture; I have studied and practised till I can understand and appreciate good music, but I never hear what little there is to be heard. I have studied German, and have no one to converse with, but a few Jewish merchants who can talk nothing but business. As to procuring instruction in Latin, French, German, or music, that is entirely out of the question. First class teachers would not teach a 'nigger,' and I would have no other sort.S In itself, prejudice is an obstacle which few people can surmount. As an intellectual, set apart from the majority of his social contacts simply because of his interests, Chesnutt experienced another sense of isolation in his unfulfilled need for intimacy. In his journal he states: I hear colored men speak of their 'white friends.' I have no white friends. I could not degrade the sacred name of 'friendship' by associating it with any man who feels himself too good to sit at a table with me, or to sleep at the same hotel ... I hope yet to have a friend. If not in this world, then in some distant eon, when men are emancipated from the grossness of the flesh, and mind can seek out mind; then shall I find some kindred spirit, who will sympathize with all that is purest and best in mine, and we will cement a friendship that shall endure throughout the ages.6 It is interesting that the preceding journal entry was made when Chesnutt had been married for four years. His wife, Susan Perry, who was a school teacher and the daughter of a well-respected black barber shop proprietor, was to become the mother of his four children and the center of close and happy home life. For all this, he always felt the sting of prejudice and its resulting isola- tion.
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