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Women Warriors: the Impact of the Maternal on Racial and National Identity in the Work of Jessie Fauset and Nella Larsen

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Women Warriors: the Impact of the Maternal on Racial and National Identity in the Work of Jessie Fauset and Nella Larsen 121 Women Warriors: The Impact of the Maternal on Racial and National Identity in the Work of Jessie Fauset and Nella Larsen Carly Shaw 1231 Women Warriors: The Impact of the Maternal on Racial and National Identity in the Work of Jessie Fauset and Nella Larsen Carly Shaw Abstract: During a time in which African Americans fought for civil rights, many African American writers rose to literary prestige. Many of these authors’ works address the search for identity — both individual and national — as a way to cope with their lack of societal rights. Two novels exemplify this theme by exploring the impact of the maternal on an individual’s identity: Jessie Fauset’s Plum Bun and Nella Larsen’s Passing. This paper argues that these works stress the importance of motherhood in finding one’s place in a hostile environment, focusing particularly on the way in which mothers stand as warriors for the maintenance of their cultural communities. Although many scholars have argued that the characters presented in these narratives are negatively impacted by family and community, the novels show the positive impact maternal figures can have on the upkeep of African American culture. By presenting this impact in their works, Fauset and Larsen exhibit how African American identity can be fostered through maintaining a connection with one’s family, culture, and community. Keywords: African-American Literature, Family Dynamics, Racial Identity, Cultural Connection 124 Carly Shaw Women Warriors Conflict of identity for African Americans — racial, individual, and familial — is a struggle rooted in history. Two contrasting definitions of motherhood emerged from the antebellum sentiments prevalent throughout the system of slavery. According to Hazel V. Carby, these sentiments note that the “codes of sexuality operated in the antebellum South” produce “opposing definitions of motherhood for white and black women which coalesce in the figures of the slave and the mistress” (20). In noting the “opposing definitions,” Carby’s explanation begins to complicate the notion of motherhood. Carby communicates the way in which the views set forth by a system of African American oppression deeply influence the social values of the white elite in the following years. This explanation is further developed through Barbara Berg’s exposition that the dominant view of white women in the antebellum South painted them as “the best mothers, wives, and managers of households” primarily because they “know little or nothing of sexual indulgence. Love of home, children, and domestic duties are the only passions they feel” (84). This explanation of white women being the “best mothers” in tandem with the fact that this “code of sexuality” brought about “opposing definitions” of motherhood debilitates the humanity of the oppressed and marginalized group through a maternal standpoint. Undermining humanity by these means paved the way for maintaining the oppressive system of slavery. In support of this notion, Carby notes that the slave falls under the condition of the mother having “necessitated the raising of the protective barriers, ideological and institutional, around the form of the white mother, whose progeny were heirs to the economic, social, and political interests in the maintenance of the slave system” (31). By this definition, motherhood specifically and familial roles in general were thus used for means of continuous oppression of the African American community within the system of slavery. Though both time and law changed over the next several decades, the sentiments set forth by the system of slavery continued to formulate the white elite’s views held about African American individuals. In order to illuminate the consequences of these views, Carby discusses how the narratives of African American Carly Shaw Women Warriors 125 women writers “embody the tension between the author’s desire to privilege her experience and being able to speak only within a discourse of conventionally held beliefs about the nature of black womanhood” (22). The tension that stems from the opposing views of the “nature of black womanhood” and the respective position that these women take within the familial structure lead to an understanding of the importance of narratives in reinstating the humanity of African American individuals and work toward racial uplift. In this way, the narratives that embody these tensions serve not only as art or culture for a racial community; they also uplift a marginalized people. Much of the present-day literary criticism regarding these works brings into question the contrasting definitions of women and mothers in relation to a community. Jessie Fauset, whose work rose to prominence with the shifting of America’s social and political climate, addresses the tension in these contrasting views of motherhood and family. She uses these tensions as the basis for arguing the importance of maintaining a connection to others of the same race by presenting readers of her novel Plum Bun with the major themes of passing and family. Fauset’s exploration of these themes places her text in conversation with a multitude of prevalent authors and their equally canonical works, including Nella Larsen’s novel, Passing. Through the use of these themes in Plum Bun and Passing, the authors highlight the complexity of defining socially constructed concepts such as identity, race, motherhood, and familial structures. The passing female figure is seen as having “important repercussions for maternal discourses of the 1920s.” When working in tandem with the previously mentioned scholars, this definition adds new complexities to the passing and motherhood themes in Fauset’s Plum Bun (Löffler 127). This novel draws on the hostile climate between the white elite and the oppressed African American community of the time, creating a strong vision of race, culture, and society. In addressing these ideas, Fauset complicates the notions of motherhood and racial identity through the beliefs and actions of her protagonist, Angela Murray. Angela is introduced to the concept of passing through her mother, Mattie. Passing allows Angela and her mother to immerse themselves 126 Carly Shaw Women Warriors in a white society, making them more aware of the differences in the treatment of white and African American individuals. Licia Morrow Calloway notes that Fauset’s representation of motherhood enables the author to configure “the reproduction of class consciousness and the transmission of cultural ideas as well as the cultivation of character traits and personal values” (62). This “reproduction” effectively demonstrates the impact of the mother figure on Fauset’s protagonist, and it illuminates Angela’s mother’s decision to teach Angela what can be accomplished if they embrace the act of passing. The mother in Plum Bun acts as the catalyst for the “cultivation of character traits and personal values.” This further expresses the deep influence Angela’s mother has on the way she views herself as a woman, particularly in regard to her racial self, her role in racial society, and her role in the predominantly white society she inhabits.The actions and beliefs of Angela and her mother subvert the negative view of what it means to be an African American woman within a society of the white elite. This continues as the text further develops the relationship between mother and child. Through the first part of the novel, Angela’s mother holds a strong presence in the lives of her children while providing a complex view of one’s racial group. Early on, a precedent is set “that Angela accompanied her mother and Virginia her father” (Fauset 17). This division stems from the fact that Angela and her mother can “pass” as white individuals, while her father, Junius, and her sister, Virginia, do not have such an ability. This clear separation of family based on appearance and ability to “pass” introduces the nuances of race, specifically within a close and interconnected family. The separation presented early in the lives of Angela and her sister lays the foundation for Angela’s view of her racial heritage and her choice to present herself as a white individual. The effect on Angela’s view of these concepts is clearly expressed when she “saw her mother’s face change—with trepidation she thought. She remarked: ‘It’s a good thing Papa didn’t see us, you’d have to speak to him, wouldn’t you?’” (Fauset 18-9). Angela develops an apathetic view of her family members Carly Shaw Women Warriors 127 and moves further away from the racial community that she was raised in. Kathleen Pfeiffer notes that Angela “utterly rejects the community-oriented, racially loyal, and sentimentally genteel realm wholly embraced by her sister” (79). Angela sees her mother as the means of escaping the apathy of white individuals, which aids in the creation of a character who rejects a “racially loyal” nature and attempts to blend into elite society in order to escape hostility. The passing of Angela’s mother stands as a model for the choices Angela makes throughout the text. She notes that the color of her skin is “nothing short of a curse” (Fauset 53). Angela’s view of her race as “a curse” indicates a rejection of her racial character thus undermining the positive impact of the mother figure on what Calloway previously referred to as the “transmission of cultural ideas” (62). Angela is aware of the difference in treatment between the different racial groups in her society. With this newfound awareness, Angela questions her ability to “live the way I want” if she stays with her sister (Pfeiffer 80). She makes the decision to leave “her darker, younger sister Virginia and move to New York as the white Angèla Mory,” fully immersing herself into white society and completely cutting herself off from her familial connection (Pfeiffer 80). Through this action, Angela expresses the importance she puts on her place in society and the way she is treated by others, situating it above even her familial connections.
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