Maybe someone can help me figure
out the feelings and attitudes of Ophelia. Is Ophelia more of a racist than
Maria? Ophelia cannot tolerate that Eva is treating the slaves as individuals-worthy
of love and affection. On the other hand, she feels like slavery is not right.
So where do her sentiments lie? When she sees Eva hugging and kissing Mammy she
is shocked. In fact she says it “turns her stomach” (150). What is the deal?
She is supposed to be the one who is above all of that. After all, that is what
they preach in the churches in New England. Augustine treats his slaves
humanely and thinks of them as human beings (he allows Adolpho to share his
clothes) and yet Ophelia doesn’t think of them as human beings. This attitude might still be prevalent in
society today. Which part of the country is more tolerant, North or South?
I think this is actually a difficult question to answer. On the one hand, I think that Ophelia is harsh because she fails to become familiar with the slaves. On the other hand, however, I think there are some signs that point the fact that Ophelia is capable of change. She does, after all, leave her home to travel to the South to help the St. Claire's, where she is sure to encounter slaves. I think Ophelia is probably apprehensive and afraid of the situation and probably does not know how to relate or how to act.
ReplyDeleteI think Ophelia is at a place in her life where she can't determine what's right from wrong. I feel like she is torn between wanting to accept the slaves and on the other wanting to hate. She might even feel that she needs to have a tough exterior so that others around her won't question her actions or even emotions.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Ophelia baffles me as well. When she first arrives on the scene, she's a total hypocrite. Her actions don't quite match up to all the preaching she's doing. I think she's definitely down with a "separate but equal" kind of arrangement. I'm kind of pessimistic about this character. So she wants to take Topsy back to the North (that's nice and all), but I think Ophelia is kind of just going through the motions of Christianity.
ReplyDeleteOK. Here's my "born-again Stowe" input. I think that Ophelia is the symbol of who Stowe is trying to reach in her audience. In other words, that Ophelia is the embodiment of that society's feelings and attitudes towards slavery and slaves. So, while she has racist tendencies to the modern reader, she is the character with whom the readers of Stowe's time would have identified with most. Those readers would have wanted to see themselves more as an Ophelia than as a Marie. Stowe uses Ophelia to show that society can change and slavery be abolished if all Christians agree in their hearts and actions to be Christians. It is after Ophelia overhears the conversation between Topsy and Eva that leads her to decide to educate Topsy and free her. I believe that with Ophelia, Stowe is suggesting that society is capable of change and that Ophelia is the embodiment of the change Stowe is trying to facilitate with this book.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree Jeannie, I wish there was a thumbs up button!
ReplyDelete