William Faulkner’s “The Unvanquished” was initially difficult for me to read but following discussions in class I am starting to see things a little more clearly and learning how to interpret the text in better ways.  For example, while I chose not to be a part of the “Freedom” group when it came to specific questions that would shape the discussion of the class, I took a lot from what was brought up during said discussion and related it to my specific discussion question regarding remapping of social structures in the novel and the redistribution of power.  Characters such as Granny, Drusilla and Ringo break down barriers when it comes to social “norms” of people of their kind during the time in which the novel takes place.  Granny is sort of the boss lady throughout the story as she is the mastermind behind the grand scheme that takes place.  The Civil War is not a place or time in which one would assume that a woman, and an elderly woman at that, could obtain so much power over peoples actions and thoughts and obtain the ability to manipulate said actions and thoughts to her advantage.  The same goes for Drusilla, who assumes less power and more so assumes masculine traits and abilities such as a rough looking short hair cut and the talent of being the best horseback rider around. However, the fact that they are not African American slaves gives them the agency to assume these roles if that is what they desire to do and overpowers the fact that they are women and this is simply not relatively normal behavior for women.  Ringo within the text is a slave however he obtains relationships with Granny and Bayard which are certainly irregular in regards to relationships between slaves and those who are not enslaved.  My first recognition of this came when I read that Ringo refers to Granny as Granny just as those closest to her also do.  Later in the text we see that Ringo becomes one of Granny’s most trusted advocates within her plot, which puts him in a position of power that he would not have been able to obtain otherwise.  This gives Ringo freedom from his status as a slave and the opportunity to be a part of something so much bigger than himself in the eyes of the United States during the Civil War.  It is important to realize the ways the characters of this novel go above what is expected of them.

There is definitely a deeper insight into the novel that comes with becoming the characters as opposed to simply reading their narratives and interpreting them.  While my reading and understanding of my character, Annie, only changed slightly after playing her, I enjoyed reading others posts and experiencing the story through their “window” in ways that I did not originally see reading the text as an outside observer.  I feel as though I learned more about the mindsets of other characters and how they viewed situations encountered and the people they encountered them with.  It was very pleasurable to establish story lines and relationships not developed in the original writing.  Having read the text already made it easy to establish my characters voice and make moves based on my characters personality as established by Chestnutt.  However this also doubled as a frustration and almost as an obstacle to overcome while playing the game.  I found it fairly difficult to decide on where to start and whether or not I wanted to start a situation all on my own or respond to another players move.  In the end, I ended up having most of my moves being responses rather than making initial moves.  This at times left me slightly disappointed in my creativity but once I really got into the response I enjoyed speaking through Annie’s voice because I felt that I captured her voice in a great way that made her seem naive as well as wise in ways that her husband John was not.

If I were to play the game again I would definitely like to begin with some sort of prompt or outline to more so guide the direction of the roles being played.  Maybe have the characters in a specific setting, whether place or time, or even a simple quote from the story that would more actively boost the players into character, myself included.  If I were to play the game again I think that I would choose to play an outside observer or some sort rather than an actual character from the text; for, I feel as though these players had a lot more wiggle room and free reign to take their moves in any direction they desired.  For example, one of the final moves in my game was made by “Thomas Anderson” projecting the idea of a hypothetical audio book regarding the views of Annie and John .  I feel as though in another game this could have been a prompt at the very beginning launching a serious of interviews and narratives from the characters perspectives on different topics that could have been used to create something along the lines of a news segment or talk show almost.  This would have narrowed down the very wide options of directions the game could have went in; which I understand was meant to allow the most creativity but instead kind of held me back in many instances.  Overall this is game allowed me to approach the literature being discussed in a way I have never really experienced in any other class and I did enjoy it.

Frederick Douglass, in his personal narrative that recounts his life and experiences within the confines of slavery, gives us great insight into the depths of the institution and how inhumane it really was.  Slavery was not only physically grueling, mental abuse and complete ignorance played a huge part in this horrible organization as well.  As the narrative begins, Douglass enlightens us to the fact that he was never aware of his birthplace or even date of birth.  In the eyes of slave owners, slaves were not actual human beings but property instead.  Keeping them separate from all knowledge, including even the knowledge of when they were born or what their age was, stripped slaves of even the slightest notion of independence, self-awareness and existence as a whole.  Giving slaves the idea that they are nothing made it easy to maintain control over them.  “If you teach a nigger how to read, there would be no keeping him.  It would forever unfit him to be a slave.  He would at once become unmanageable and of no use to his master.” (Douglass.)

Along with simple personal knowledge, slaves were even more so forbidden to learn anything on any educational level, including reading and writing especially.  Many times over the course of our lives we have heard the phrase “Knowledge is Power.”  Slave owners were well aware of this.  Douglass was taught how to read initially by a Mistress on a plantation in which he was enslaved.  This, according to him, was the inch provided that allowed him to take on many miles.  Despite the horrific consequences of a slave obtaining knowledge of reading and writing, he pursued his studies in any and all ways he could.

Shortly after, Douglass proclaims that he would “at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing.  It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without remedy, it opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but no ladder at which to get out.  In moments of agony I envied my fellow slaves for their stupidity.” (Douglass).  This is an interesting but very relate-able concept even to this day.  Although knowledge is for sure empowering, in learning how to read Douglass became fully aware of the horrible cycle in which was forced upon him, even more so than enduring horrible physical treatment.  In learning of the intentions of slave owners through readings, followed the realization that everyone  involved in the institution, including “knowledgeable” slave owners, was running on the fumes of ignorance, fear and hatred.

As Douglass states, with this knowledge then comes the feeling of envy for those slaves who remained in a state of ignorant bliss.  If this produced such a strong feeling of envy and anger within just him, what would be the result of thousands of slaves obtaining the same knowledge followed by the same emotions?  Rebellion, the worst fear of a slave owner.  The Bible holds a strong spot in this conversation; for, Christianity and religion as a whole was extremely thorough throughout all communities during this time.  While white slave owners practiced religion and read the Bible thoroughly and frequently, slaves were only allowed to be educated on very specific instances in the Bible, usually about obedience and compliance, and said education was received only through the medium of their slave owners.  As a result everything slaves learned about religion was filtered and regurgitated in ways only meant to maintain the status quo.  Had slaves had the right to an education they would have a far better understanding of  the Bible and Christianity which is heavily based on giving, forgiving, love and respect.  With this understanding, they would begin to question not only the institution in which they were involved, but humanity as a whole.

While reading W.E.B DuBois “Souls of Black Folk” a specific quote stuck out to me because it just about perfectly describes what it means to be black in America.  He explains many realities relating to the black man’s inability to find a happy medium between his blackness and Americanism without diluting one too much with the other.  DuBois writes “He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of opportunity closed roughly in his face.”

This quote stuck out to me because while taking a sociolinguistics class last semester we examined the relatively new introduction of African American Vernacular into American classrooms.  African American Vernacular has been deemed subpar in the world and many art forms including music and writing for a great deal of time and has created within minorities a sense of false self Dubois deems a “double consciousness.”  this double consciousness causes people of color to know and understand their true sense of blackness but also understand that more often than not they must mask this true self in order to be accepted by the world around them.

The introduction of African American Vernacular into classrooms, especially those of young ages, I feel is a first and very large step to making this notion of double consciousness subside.  African Americans have always been taught that said vernacular is lazy, improper and unacceptable outside of the confines of the black community when in reality it is simply another dialect widely spoken and understood within a specific community of people and there is nothing wrong with it.

A lot of things that we as humans deem acceptable we do so because they are taught within the school system.  If a young child is used to speaking a certain way, but they never learn of this dialect in school they may become wildly introverted out of fear that they cannot express their feelings and ideas in ways that will get them good grades.  If a child is exposed to a way of communication similar to one used within their own community they will feel less obligated to dull their sense of self and more obligated to express that self through art forms and education.  Teaching African American Vernacular will allow so many individuals of color to convey beautiful ideas and life experiences through writing and eventually bridge the gap between being a good black writer and simply a good American writer.