31 pages • 1 hour read
Harriet E. WilsonOur Nig: Sketches from the Life of a Free Black
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1859A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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BetaChapters 7-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 7 Summary
As James’s health deteriorates, he spends much of his resting days talking to Aunt Abby about Frado’s conditions in the house. Aunt Abby and James agree that the world treats black people unfairly and assumes that they are “incapable of cultivation and refinement” (41). Frado gives them hope of what the liberation of black people might look like if given the opportunity to grow spiritually. They agree that it’s impossible for Frado to grow in this way if left alone in the house. While James still intends on taking Frado with him when he gets better, his health reaches a debilitating state, to the point where a physician is called to perform a surgical operation on him. Frado is so concerned about James’s state of health that she cries. When Mrs. Bellmont sees Frado crying, she beats her, thinking that the young girl is crying over work. Frado does not cry in Mrs. Bellmont’s presence after that.
Chapter 8 Summary
As James realizes his health is declining, he sends Mary to Baltimore, in order to tend to his home. Frado rejoices when Mary leaves. Aunt Abby scolds her for rejoicing, stating that they should do “good to those that hate us” (45).
Frado eventually gets sick from working so hard, the conditions of which become exacerbated by her care of James. When Frado declares to Mrs. Bellmont, “I am sick” (46), the mistress is so enraged that she beats her. When James sees Frado after the beating, the young girl reveals to him the source of her injuries and all of Mrs. Bellmont’s abuses. James shows sympathy towards Frado, asking for the young girl to stay with him in the room, so that she can recover from her illness away from Mrs. Bellmont’s abuses.
One evening, Frado attends a sermon with Aunt Abby, during which the preacher states that “all, young or old, white or black, bond or free” (46) can repent and receive God’s pardon. Frado believes then that there is a heaven for black people, which fills her with hope. She begins to read the Bible every day for comfort.
When Mrs. Bellmont sees Frado reading the Bible, she grows concerned that James’s influence on the young girl’s spiritual growth is taking her away from her position in the household. In a conversation with Mr. Bellmont, Mrs. Bellmont relays her concerns that James would take Frado away from her, leaving her without help in the household. She admits, “There was never one of my girls could do half the work” (49). She is determined to keep Frado as household help.
Chapter 9 Summary
As James nears his death, the family starts to pay him more regular visits. Bitter about Aunt Abby’s presence in James’s room, Mrs. Bellmont lies to her sister-in-law, telling her that James does not want to see her. When Frado reveals the truth to Aunt Abby, Mrs. Bellmont beats the young girl, in order to “cure her of tale-bearing” (52).
Before James dies, he tells Frado to be good and that her belief in God will unite them in heaven. Eventually, James passes away. Frado grieves over her departed friend. Out of sympathy, James’s widowed wife invites Frado to grieve with them at the funeral. At the funeral, Frado wishes she could die and join James in heaven even though she knows that such wishes go against God’s plan for her. Frado goes to Aunt Abby for some reprieve for such thoughts, and Aunt Abby reminds her of James’s parting words to her, which offers some relief for the young girl.
When a clergyman visits the house after James’s death to offer prayers and consolation, Frado listens into the conversation in the hopes of finding solace. After the clergyman leaves, Mrs. Bellmont is in a bad mood because Aunt Abby had decided to sit in on the conversation and decides to take out her irritation on Frado. The unwarranted mistreatment during a time when she feels especially sick and frail makes Frado cry. This crying exacerbates Mrs. Bellmont’s cruelty. When Mrs. Bellmont beats her for crying, Frado’s spiritual faith lessens.
Chapters 7-9 Analysis
As James’s health worsens, Frado’s religious salvation becomes a more fervent topic between James and Aunt Abby. In conversations between the two, James and Aunt Abby express a connection between Frado’s religious education and social elevation. James recalls an instance when he overheard Frado expressing her wish to die, which is an active refusal of God’s gift of life. James tells Aunt Abby that he informed Frado that “in our part of the country there were thousands upon thousands who favored the elevation of her face, disapproving of oppression in all its forms […] that she might hope for better things in the future” (42). His words of consolation include a vision of a more racially-equitable future, one which resonates with Frado. When Frado later attends evening religious services with Aunt Abby and learns that black people can go to heaven after death, she feels reignited to live her life with hopes of at least a racially-equitable future in heaven. This hope through religious education is also tied to literacy, as Frado begins to read the Bible every day.
Frado’s religious journey experiences many obstacles. While James’s words of advice have been consolatory for Frado, his passing cuts her religious education short. When Frado grieves for James, she desires to end her life, which she knows counters God’s wishes. She has not reached a pivotal point in her religious education yet to access a spiritual growth beyond her immediate circumstances. The loss of James signals a loss of hope for Frado, which means that Aunt Abby is tasked with helping Frado complete the rest of her religious education, so that she can achieve a higher sense of self.
James’s investment in Frado’s religious education unnerves Mrs. Bellmont, as she knows that the cultivation of hope will upset the power dynamic that she has established between her and Frado in the household. While Frado’s position legally constitutes indentured servitude, the power and control that Mrs. Bellmont yields over the young girl reveals that the conditions resemble enslavement. Despite Frado being a free black person, Mrs. Bellmont has no qualms about exercising her racial prejudice to work the young child into poor health. Mrs. Bellmont takes a proprietary tone when she admits that the young girl’s value can be attributed to the fact that she can do the work of several white people. This acknowledgment omits the reality that Frado is only able to perform this work at the detriment of her own health and fear of punishment. Thus, Wilson portrays the conditions in which Frado lives as no better than the conditions of black enslavement in the US South.
