Katherine Anne Porter has a very unique style of writing, but goes very well with the other southern writers we have read this year. All the writers seems to write about the same ideas or underlining themes like race relations, tradtiton and gender roles.
In "The Old Order" by Katherine Ann Porter depicts different aspects of race relations though the relationship between the Grandmother(Miss Sophia Jane) and Nannie. It is a very interesting relationship from the beginning till the end, it starting when they were both young and Miss Sophia Jane's father bought Nannie and her parents as slaves. It describes the big differences between Sophia Jane and Nannie, creating a clear picture that Sophia Jane was quite wealthy, well taken care of, and spoiled. In the beginning when the two girls meet it describes Sophia Jane in a little dress and hair curled just so, and Nannie with a bot belly and skinny arms from being malnourished. It is interesting how Porter puts this descitption in her because as the story progresses to be there seems to be only little difference between the two girls, except for the color of their skin. Even though Nannie was a slave it seems like Sophia Jane didn't treat her that way. Both women through their there lives had a lot of children, each child only a few months apart. At one point Nannie was too sick after her child to nurse it so Sophia Jane nursed both her child and Nannie's. This to me did not seem like a typical relationship for two people of different races at this time. "She sat nursing her child and her foster child, with a sensual warm pleasure she had not dreamed of, translating her natural physical relief into something holy, God-sent, amends from heaven for what she had suffered in childbed" Also very interesting to me is how she treated the child she helped nurse when Nannie was ill. "Charlie remained her special favorite among the Negro children. "I understand now," she said to her older sister Keziah, "why the black mammies love their foster children. I love mine." So Charlie was brought up in the house as playmate for her son Stephen, and exempted from hard work all his life." This seems interesting to me, and for this time very new treatment for the people of race. Also since Sophia Jane was so much against the "new women".
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7 comments:
Yes there relationship was quite interesting. They were always there for eachother she didnt treat her like a slave on the contrary she was a good friend. What i also find facinating was that when nannie was to sick to nurse her kids Sophia nursed them for her. That right there shows the connection they had. They were more like sisters, and i was shoked at this because Nannie was bought as a slave for 20 doolars. I thought Miss Jane would be bossy and mean but she loved her and treated her as a good friend.
I loved the friendship that Miss Sophia Jane and Nannie have. It shows that not all people who lived in the south were heartless to their slaves. I found it weird though that Nannie felt that Miss Sophia Jane's baby should be treated better than hers and that Miss Sophia Jane thought that they should both be treated equally. Again this shows that not all slave owners are prejudice against their slaves.
I enjoyed reading about the relationship between Nannie and Miss Sophia Jane. I felt that they had a special connection with each other that went beyond what we were told. They had a better understanding for one another and loved each other as if they were sisters. They had a rare bond that I feel was better than most people have, especially due to the time of this relationship, and the way they saw beyond the times.
You know I wonder if Sophia Jane even really considered Nanny a slave at all. I mean she knew that she was her slave it just seems like she didn't think of her that way. One thing that makes me think this is when sophia Jane writes Nanny's name in the family bible and later when she nurses nanny's child for her, these just don't seem like things you would do for a slave in that time.
Laura,
I really liked the points you made about Sophia Jane and Nannie’s friendship. I know that some people, including myself, wondered whether Nannie truly cherished this friendship, or whether she stuck it out because of her role still as a slave. But I think the examples you used really show that the two women did truly love and care for one another. Even if there were still hints at their societal roles, their mutual respect and love ultimately transcended these things.
It is interesting how Sophia Jane treated both Nannie and Charlie. It is as if she did not see their color at all and was able to move beyond race and genderignoring the norms and expectaions of society in terms of these two women and their relationship. Perhaps it was because she had spent so much time with them or because her own relationship with her hasband was lacking and this relationship with Nannie filled a space in her life.
Hey Laura,
I guess I should've explained myself better in my blog. So I'll just do it here. I'm not saying Abner should've gone around taking what other people had earned by working hard and diminished it just because he wasn't being treated fairly at all. I was saying if I were him living back then, since Barn Burning seemed to be the popular revenge at the time I might have done it,like he did, or at least thought about it.
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