Harriet Wilson

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Our Nig

La nostra Nig

Our Nig opens with the story of Mag Smith. She has been seduced and left with a child born out-of-wedlock. After the child dies, Mag moves away to a place where no one knows her. In this new town, she meets a black man named Jim who falls in love with her. She resists him at first, but soon realizes that her efforts are futile. Jim and Mag marry and they have two children, a daughter Frado and a son. Jim becomes sick and dies leaving Mag to provide for their children. She marries Seth, one of Jim's business partners, and he takes the family under his wing. Eventually, Mag and Seth realize that they cannot care for both of the children. He suggests they send her daughter Frado to live with the Bellmonts. Mag refuses at first but eventually, reluctantly agrees. Frado is dropped off at the house under the pretense that Mag will be back to pick her up later in the day. After a few days the Bellmonts, and Frado, realize Mag never intended to return. Mr. Bellmont is portrayed as kind and humane but Mrs. Bellmont is the complete opposite. The Bellmonts have four children, two boys and two girls. The family debates whether or not to keep Frado, and if they do, where she will sleep. Frado is sent to live in a separate part of the house that she will soon outgrow. The following day, Mrs. Bellmont calls for Frado early in the morning and puts her to work in the kitchen, washing dishes, preparing food, etc.

Or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, in a Two-Story White House, North

First published in 1859, Our Nig is an autobiographical narrative that stands as one of the most important accounts of the life of a black woman in the antebellum North. In the story of Frado, a spirited black girl who is abused and overworked as the indentured servant to a New England family, Harriet E. Wilson tells a heartbreaking story about the resilience of the human spirit. The female child of a white female outcast and a black freeman, Harriet Wilson gives a detailed account of what it was like being raised by a white family in the pre-Civil War North of the United States (a household where she was abandoned by her mother at 3). This biography gives a general idea of what a Negro's life in the North was like -- and it was not much different from that life of a slave in the South. The mistress of the house was brutal beyond measure, but many of the other family members were reasonably kind (though not kind of enough to put a stop to the abuse), and it makes one shudder to think of what could have happened in a family who had nothing but Negro-haters in it. Still, Wilson recounts how she got a small measure of schooling, and how she eventually became a Christian (something which the lady of the house -- a Christian herself -- opposed) and her eventual marriage. An upsetting story, it is nevertheless of much more value than "Uncle Tom's Cabin" as it was told from the point of view of the victim and not a sympathetic white.

Our Nig, Or Sketches from the Life of a Free Black

The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson Written by Herself

"Our Nig, or Sketches from the Life of a Free Black" is the tale of Frado, a mixed-race girl who was abandoned by her white mother after the death of her black father. Frado became the servant of the Bellmonts, a lower-middle- class white family in the free North, while slavery was still legal in the South. Frado's story is a tragic one; she suffered many abuses in the Bellmont household. After leaving the Bellmonts, Frado eventually married a black fugitive slave, who later abandoned her. Strangely enough, Frado's oppressors were Abolitionists, leading some readers who have studied "Our Nig" to claim that the book was written by a white and was a novel, rather than a true story. Nonetheless, many Black women who have served as "wage slaves" since abolition have found a spokesperson in Harriet Wilson. "Our Nig" will help the reader not just to pity such individuals, but to understand their ability to fight back with their minds. Through "Our Nig," Harriet Wilson gives a general idea of what a Negro's life in the North was like, and, in many cases, it was not much different from that of a slave in the South. Frado's mistress was brutal beyond measure. Many of the other family members were reasonably kind, though not kind of enough to put a stop to the abuse. Despite the abuse, Frado did manage to obtain a small measure of schooling and eventually became a Christian, though her mistress opposed it. Harriet Wilson drew from her own life experience in writing "Our Nig." She also combined and subverted two literary styles, the sentimental novel and the slave narrative. Though rather unsettling, "Our Nig" is of more value than books such as "Uncle Tom's Cabin" because it is told from the point of view of the victim, as opposed to a sympathetic white.

Harriet Wilson

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