Although Harriet E Wilson's novel Our Nig is not necessarily classified as an autobiography, I believe it still depicts many aspects that make it autobiographical. Our nig is centered around Frodo the main character and her story of being mistreated and neglected by the Belmont family. However, it is evident that some of the characteristics also apply to the author. By writing this novel, she is portraying aspects that have actually happened in her life and reflecting them in the story to make it seem more real.
The book does possess a lot of fiction aspects as well but nevertheless still holds a strong sense of autobiographical characteristics. The reason why she chooses to even write this novel is because she is angered by what is happening in her life and wants to raise awareness to her readers on the hardship and inequality of slave work during that time. Even though Frodo is very unhealthy and her bones are losing a lot of strength from all the work she is forced to do, Mrs. Belmont continues to push her to do what she demands. Wilson has undoubtedly experienced or viewed this kind of behavior in her actual life and this translates to her novel.
This is why I believe, Our nig is very autobiographical because even if it does not portray her life exactly as it was, it still depicts many aspects that were real and that she experienced during the 19th century in relation to african american women and their inequalities.
I too agree that Wilson's novel can be seen as an autobiography. However, I am having trouble deciding whether or not the agency present in "Our Nig" is part of the autobiographical nature of the book, or if it makes it less autobiographical. On one hand, the way Wilson uses Frado to convey her very real childhood experiences is definitely a form of agency, as Wilson is the agent and she is utilizing Frado as an "actor" to portray her own personal story. Because a significant part of her personal story is true, this agency could be seen as making the story more like an autobiography.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, the fact that Wilson's agency is using fictional characters to portray her experiences takes away from its autobiographical nature. Yes, the basic story is based on real-life experiences, but the way Wilson conveys these experiences are fictional. Thus, is this agency just a way of making the story more interesting and giving it more of a plot, instead of using it to convey actual events?
But in autobiographies that do not use "actors" to convey a story, is there still agency? I believe that there is, and that the agent is the writer himself, and the "actor" is the person that the writer is trying to convey in the autobiography.