Different justifications of slavery in "The Known World"

At the time Edward P. Jones's novel The Known World was set, slavery was the most powerful institution in the American South, stronger than even religion in its ability to determine what was morally acceptable. As it was such a lucrative business, it is no surprise that slave-holders wanted to keep it in place. However, by tracking the word "right" throughout the novel, it is evident that the white and black slave owners who appear have different motivations for maintaining this status quo.

When considering the white characters in this novel, it appears that to most of them, slavery is "right" because it keeps African American people, who are considered inferior, in their place, and allows the owners to profit. This is seen in many of the conversations involving the night patrolmen, whose job it is to make sure that slaves do not escape their plantations. For instance, when the powerful slave owner William Robbins is speaking to the patroller Sheriff Patterson, he explains that maintaining a "plantation fulla slaves" is necessary to keep "this world going right" (38). This occurs in light of two of Robbins's slaves being bought by a man Robbins believes to be an abolitionist, a "devil in disguise" (26). In fuming to Sheriff Patterson about how the supposed abolitionist has stolen his "property," Robbins reveals his belief that it is "right" for African American people to be subjugated to maintain a harmonious society.  Later when Skiffington becomes Sheriff, he speaks of the need of slave owners to keep a better eye on their slaves so that they do not run away. Explaining the inability of his patrollers to catch every slave that flees, he says that his men "are not angels, able to fly above and see wrong being committed and…turn the wrong into right" (94). The "right" Skiffington refers to is keeping slaves bound to their masters' land, and the "wrong" is the audacity of slaves in trying to escape their superior masters.

The black slave owner profiled in the novel, Henry Townsend, also wants the power that slavery brings, but does not necessarily believe that slaves are inherently inferior. In explaining to his parents why he has purchased his first slave, Henry explains that he has not done anything that a white man would not do (138). Perhaps Henry, thanks to a close upbringing with his former master Robbins, has come to see owning slaves as a necessary part of gaining respect and power in the south. Henry's wife's mother, Maude, too, repeatedly reminds her daughter Caldonia and Henry that they need to maintain their "legacy" of slaves, the "foundation of wealth (180). However, Henry does not treat his slaves like property--he even acts like a friend to Moses, his first slave, until Robbins reprimands him (123). It appears that Henry attempts to treat his slaves as humanely as possible while still despite using them to advance economically—that is, he tries to do the best he can given the constraints of society.

Rights and Religion

While reading The Known World by Edward P. Jones, I noticed that the word “right” was often portrayed with other words that were very important in the novel. Because of this, I think that “right” is important in that it advises the reader to consider the connection between these ideas and the definition of the word “right.”

“Right” is often used in the same sentence as religious ideas. For instance, after Henry dies, the narrator states “and God told him right then,” (11). When the preacher visits, he says “heaven is right over there,” (87). In a situation that is not already associated to religion, Skiffington says “I would move heaven and earth to make it right for you, Harvey,” to solve a dispute between his patrollers (159). In each of these instances the word “right” is completely connected to religion through words like “heaven” and “God.” Because of the novel’s topic, whenever coming across the word “right”, the reader initially considers the idea of right and wrong. Therefore, Jones is associating the difference between right and wrong with religion.

Often, when “right” appears in the novel, it is paired with a word that is typically associated with being content or calm. For example, Patterson is described as liking “the sound of the word peaceful right then,” (38). He later states “My job is to protect everybody, to make sure everybody can sleep right every night,” (39). “Peaceful” and “sleep” both refer to the idea of relaxation. Later in the novel, as Skiffington is reading the bible, he sees “a male cardinal as it flew from left to right,” (162). Flying is typically associated with freedom. When Stamford is thinking about his parents, he visualizes “his mother in his right hand and his father in his left hand,” (192). With this excerpt, “right” is connected to family. In each of these cases, what is “right” is associated with a luxury that slaves do not have. Through mentioning the word “right”, Jones points out that the slaves do not have any freedom, time to relax, or any guarantee that they can stay with their family.

Throughout the novel, Jones uses the word “right” to force the reader to consider other ideas. Often, the other idea that he is pointing to is religion. However, Jones also uses “right” to point out the rights that the slaves don’t have in his novel, The Known World.

Who has the power to determine what is right?

Jones uses the word "right" in The Known World to show just how subjective the word can be in the context of societal norms.  He also uses it to comment on the flaws within the institution of slavery.

For example, when describing Elias and how he was making a doll for his daughter, Jones uses the word "right" two different ways in order to blur the lines between the stereotypically correct and direction. The first instance he uses "right" it is the proper kind of right: "He wanted the figure to be running but he had not been able to get the knee to bend just right" (8). The next time Jones uses right he uses it as a descriptor: "...But then the right leg of his own wife, Celeste, did not bend the way it should either...Elias left the doll's right leg alone and returned to the hall" (8).  When Jones uses right that third time, he then is sort of saying that even though the doll's leg is the right (as opposed to the left), and it is not technically a "proper" or "correct" leg, whatever that means, in a different way it is right, because it is in Elias' mind a replica of Celeste. By using the word right to mean different things in quick succession like this, one sort of gets the feeling that Elias does not even realize anymore that Celeste's crippled leg is not "right," is not "normal," and is just her personal right leg.

In addition to using the word "right" as a direction, Jones also uses it in order to comment on the institution of slavery, and how it is just so embedded in the culture of the American South.  Jones ends up explaining that in this novel's setting, white (which has the only might) equals right.  Whenever right is mentioned in the slavery/master-slave context, "doin' right" means keeping your head down and cooperating within the twisted unjust enslaving system.  When Henry leaves Moses to keep on building the house, he says " 'But I want you here doin right when I get back, doin good' " (124).  And then earlier when Robbins is describing one of his problems with a slave (named Sam) says " 'Once he learned right from wrong, he gave me good work' " (93), basically claiming that once his ear had been cut off and he had given up on resisting, Sam somehow knew what was morally right, what was "correct" for him to do.

The most blatant example of this white equals right mentality is Henry and his mindset.  When defending his slaveowning tendencies to his father, he claims " 'Papa, I ain't done nothin I ain't a right to.  I ain't done nothin no white man wouldn't do' " (138).

A Muddled World of Right and Wrong

            With upwards of 50 different definitions, the word right has a variety of meanings, and thus plays a number of diverse roles in The Known World.  I am going to focus on the role played by two of these forms of right – the most significant in the book in my opinion -- one adjective and one noun. The definitions are, respectively:  (1) morally or socially correct or acceptable and (2) something that a person is or should be morally or legally allowed to have, get, or do (Merriam Webster).

            Both of these definitions create an extremely ambiguous nature of the meaning of the word right. This ambiguity is central to the theme of The Known World. Jones’s characters each have a different idea of what is right and what is wrong, and yet they are all constantly commanding each other to be right (adjective form). When Moses is mistreating Alice, Delphie says to him “you know this ain’t right” (271). But does he really? Does anyone know what is or isn’t right? They all think they do, but none of them are in accordance with one another. Yet, being right is extremely important to them, which makes it all the worse that they cannot agree. When Fern is punishing Jebediah for his bad behavior, she says “I don’t want him going anywhere until he learns right from wrong, night from day” (257). However, even though it is as important as the difference between night and day, her distinction between right and wrong is so different from his that they will never figure it out. The lack of certainty surrounding what is right creates countless conflicts in the novel by fostering misunderstanding amongst the characters.

            Due to the ambiguity of what is right and what is wrong, the characters then lack a structure of what rights (noun form) they actually possess. When Augustus Townsend is reprimanded for traveling freely by Harvey Travis, he asserts “I’m only doin what I got a right to do,” referring to his legal right based on his free papers (212). However, Travis’s response is to eat Augustus’s free papers, and state “thas what I think a your right to do anything you got a right to do” (212). The same confusion is seen earlier in the story when Augustus is appalled and ashamed that his son owns slaves, and Henry responds with “Papa, I ain’t done nothing I ain’t a right to” (138). These contradictory scenarios prove that no one in this book understands his/her rights. Their rights are determined based on what is right and wrong in the world, but they don’t have a clue what is actually right or wrong in the messed up world they live in.  The role of the word “right” in The Known World is to prove the incredible uncertainty of right and wrong that existed during the antebellum, slavery-filled South.

Conservation vs. Progression: Defining Right in The Known World

The social landscape during the time of slavery in the United States caused morality to seem less fixed and more relative in the eyes of many white Southerners.  For white slave owners, such as William Robbins, “right” meant insuring the prosperity of the Southern economy by preventing abolitionists from buying slaves’ freedom.  After hearing of abolitionists buying the freedom of Toby and his sister, Robbins wishes to take violent action.  When Sheriff Gilly Patterson dismisses Robbins, Robbins claims, “You don’t know what the difficulty is in keeping the world right” (38).  For Robbins, “right” means "keeping," or conserving, the traditional norms of his land as a way of maintaining order.  Robbins refers to the abolitionists as “threats loose on the land” who wish to “steal their livelihood”.  Robbins fears these abolitionists because they represent a progressive movement with the goal of eradicating a traditional form of living that Robbins and other slave owners rely on.

 Whereas Robbins defines “right” as the conservation of and loyalty for old institutions, Augustus claims “right” to be a respect for fellow humans, an ideal more in alignment with the humane Abolitionist Movement.  When Augustus and Mildred are freed, both continue to visit Henry who remains enslaved on Robbins’ plantation.  Each Sunday, they would wait for Henry to arrive, yet many times Henry would never show up.  Upon meeting them another week, Henry claims to have “forgotten” about meeting his parents.  Augustus requests that his son “try to remember” and “know the right way” (18).  Right is used to describe a correct literal path one must use in order to get to a desired destination, the destination here being the wagon his parents have traveled in.  Yet it is not that Henry went down the wrong path and did not find them, but that he simply forgot about his parents, a disrespect Augustus indirectly deems “the wrong way” when reminding Henry that he needs to know “the right way” of how to treat his parents.  After Augustus reminds Henry to “know the right way,” Henry “does right” the next Sunday by remembering to see his parents but then not showing up the next Sunday.  Henry’s struggle to “know the right way” is one that continues throughout his life.  When Henry eventually becomes a slave owner, he is forgetting about not only his parents, but his entire African American kin.

 

 

Ware question

Is there an aspect in graphic novels that plays a bigger role in the comprehension and or message of the novel? If not, do you think more authors should use "pictures" to tell their novel?

Justifying Slavery through Christianity

            According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, there are over 50 different ways that the word “right” can be defined in the English language. While reading The Known World by Edward P. Jones I chose to focus only on the use of the word “right” in the context that it meant either “morally or socially correct or acceptable” or “being in accordance with what is just, good, or proper.” Thus within this frame of reference the word “right” in Jones’s novel plays the role of justifying slavery through Christianity.

            The Bible and the tenets of Christianity are important aspects in the lives of the slaves as well as the lives of their masters. While the slaves typically use Christianity to give their lives meaning and more or less as a way to make life tolerable with the idea that a better place is awaiting them after they die, the slave owners use Christianity in the completely opposite way. In particular, Caldonia and her mother Maude twist verses from the Bible in order to justify owning slaves, which they call their “legacy.” After Caldonia becomes a widow when Henry dies, she begins to deeply contemplate Henry’s treatment of their slaves.

Yes, he sometimes had to ration the food he gave them. But that was not his fault—had God sent down more food, Henry would certainly have given it to them… Yes, he had to have some slaves beaten, but those were the ones who would not do what was right and proper. Spare the rod, the Bible warned. Her husband had done the best he could, and on Judgment Day his slaves would stand before God and testify to that fact (181).

Since Proverbs 13:24 merely says to “spare the rod,” Caldonia uses this criteria to justify Henry’s physical abuse of their slaves. She believes it was the slaves’ fault for not doing what was “right,” and Henry did “spare the rod” by only whipping them when they did “wrong.” With Christianity, what is right and what is wrong is subjectively determined by whether or not one believes that he or she can get away with it on Judgment Day.

            Just like the difference between slaves and slave owners, the difference between right and wrong in The Known World is not as black and white as it might seem. Slave owners use religion to rationalize the ownership and abusive treatment of their slaves, so that they feel that what they are doing is “right.” 

Being Right

This is a big novel with so many things happening in it. Before I begin, I want to note that I don't think that there is only one  role that the word "right" plays, there are some that  I find the interesting. I noticed that the word appears a lot during the scene with the patrollers and poor Augustus Townsend.

It starts when Augustus says, "I'm only doin what I got a right to do," (212) and he's correct. He is a free man, and he was freed by the most powerful man in Manchester County. By law, he is allowed to travel freely, it is his right. Travis counters by eating his free papers, because he's obviously a very mature racist. He says to Augustus: "Thas what I think a your right to do anything you got a right to do" (212). He kind of admits that he knows that it is Augustus' right to be free, but he doesn't care because he thinks he is racially superior. In this instance, "right" plays the role of what someone is allowed to do in Manchester County. Augustus is a free man, he is allowed to do as he pleases (within reason) as long as he can provide the documentation that he is not a slave. Travis spits (or swallows) in the face of this by eating the only thing that is making Augustus truly free.

On the same page, the word means something different again. Barnum says to his fellow patroller, "That ain't right, Harvey. This just ain't right" (212). He makes a really good point. He is seeing right from wrong, and there are plenty of other examples of when "right"takes on that role. But here, it only happens twice. The modern reader takes Barnum's side, because we see him as right and Travis as wrong. In the modern world, it is that cut and dry. But this is a different society and, Travis is a white man and Augustus is not, in the eyes of so many people, Travis is right and is doing the right thing. He is putting a black man in his place, and it is so aggravating to all of us, but in his eyes, it is the right thing to do. Barnum sees it as wrong, but he's the poorest man in town. The only thing he has going for him is that he's white. Once Augustus is sold, Travis says to Barnum: "It is not why he and I are doin it, but why you aren't doin it. That is the question for all time. Why a man, even somethin worthless like you, sees what is right and still refuses to do it" (217). That's some real racist rhetoric, that a free man like Augustus should always be a slave because he is a black man. It is the second example of when "right" is placed in the role of "right vs. wrong." Travis thinks that he's right; he is the superior man in this situation, he's white and not really poor. In his world, that's all that it takes for him to be right.

I want to ask a question. Right now, Travis seems like the most racist guy in this book. But we had a whole discussion about Robbin's racism. So, say it wasn't Augustus (because Robbins knows him), but another free black man, would Robbins be willing to sell him to a passing slave trader in spite of free papers? Is he too law abiding (though it's been implied that he is more powerful than Skiffington)?

Chris Ware

Many characters in the books we've read for class are notably maladjusted to society. What were your reasons for writing a main character like this? Do you think this writing such characters is a trend in 21st century American literature? If so, do you think the trend can be attributed to something?

Ware Question

Why did you include a summary after the first third of the novel? Why did you choose not to include a summary for any of the rest of the novel?

Ware Question

Are the Corrigan men racist? What, if any, social commentary were you making with the book?

Question for Ware

What other literary works inspired you to write Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth? Were they strictly graphic novels or were they of different mediums, such as novels or poems? In why ways did these works influence Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth?

Ware Question

The reader doesn't get much background on Jimmy himself. Why is he how he is?

Ware Question

I know that Jimmy Corrigan is a semi-autobiographical character, but are any of the other characters in the novel based off of real people?

Ware Question

Jimmy has an ageless quality about him, he looks like an adult but can easily look like a child. Is there a specific purpose behind this?

Question for Ware

What motivated you to center Jimmy's grandfather's story around the Chicago World's Fair? It seems like his story and his father leaving him would still be significant even if it didn't occur at the Fair. What were you looking to add to the story by setting it there?

Ware Question

Why did you decide to make the original comic strip of Jimmy Corrigan into a full graphic novel?  Did you change any of the story line from the original to the novel?

Question

Do you find Jimmy's life to be boring?  Why or why not?  Did you make that intentional when you wrote the book?

Ware Question

I would like to know how many drafts Ware made of Jimmy Corrigan. It seems like he would have had to spend a significant amount of time planning the novel with all of the different images.

Ware question

My question for Chris Ware:

"While we had a couple of different hypotheses as to why you included 3D cut-outs in the book, could you share with us what your idea behind this aspect of the novel was?"