The goophered grapevine. The Goophered Grapevine Themes 2022-11-16
The goophered grapevine
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The "Goophered Grapevine" is a short story written by Charles W. Chesnutt, a African American author and political activist during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The story is set in the southern United States and follows the narrator, a young man named Julius, as he travels through a small town and hears a local legend about a cursed grapevine on a plantation.
According to the legend, the grapevine on the plantation was "goophered" by a voodoo practitioner, causing it to produce exceptionally large and delicious grapes. However, anyone who ate the grapes would become cursed and die within a year. Despite the warning, Julius becomes tempted by the grapes and ultimately succumbs to their allure, leading to a tragic and cautionary tale about the dangers of temptation and superstition.
The story of the "Goophered Grapevine" is a poignant commentary on the cultural and social issues of the time, particularly in regards to race and superstition. The legend of the cursed grapevine serves as a metaphor for the destructive power of greed and temptation, as well as the dangers of blindly following superstitions and folklore.
Additionally, the story highlights the segregation and discrimination faced by African Americans in the South during this period. Julius, the narrator, is treated with suspicion and mistrust by the white characters in the story, and the voodoo practitioner is depicted as a mysterious and dangerous figure, adding to the overall sense of fear and distrust between the races.
Overall, "The Goophered Grapevine" is a thought-provoking and insightful exploration of human nature, temptation, and the societal issues of its time. It serves as a reminder of the dangers of succumbing to our baser instincts and the importance of questioning the beliefs and superstitions that shape our perceptions of the world around us.
The Goophered Grapevine Quotes
So I 'low ez he paid Aun' Peggy ten dollars fer to goopher de grapevimes. It had considerable trade in cotton and naval stores. Wen de darkies see dat Yankee runnin' 'roun' de vimya'd en diggin' under de grapevimes, dey shuk dere heads, en 'lowed dat dey feared Mars Dugal' losin' his min'. The last date is today's date â the date you are citing the material. She tells him to rub the grapevine sap, and this saves his life. Dey ain' na'er a man in dis settlement w'at won' tell yer ole Julius McAdoo 'uz bawn an' raise' on dis yer same plantation.
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The Goophered Grapevine Summary
I found, when I bought the vineyard, that Uncle Julius had occupied a cabin on the place for many years, and derived a respectable revenue from the neglected grapevines. But somehow er nudder dey could n' nebber ketch none er de niggers. We drove out of the town over a long wooden bridge that spanned a spreading mill-pond, passed the long whitewashed fence surrounding the county fair-ground, and struck into a road so sandy that the horse's feet sank to the fetlocks. One day, a Yankee visits the plantation and tells the master that he can make the grapevines grow twice as much, but his methods end up killing the vines instead; Henry, now so connected with the grapes, dies too. But in de fall er de year his grapes begun ter straighten out, en his j'ints ter git stiff, en his ha'r drap off, en de rheumatiz begin ter wrastle wid 'im.
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Goophered Grapevine Summary
He almost succeeds, but Aunt Peggy and Henry outsmart him. The citation above will include either 2 or 3 dates. McAdoo sold Henry for 15 hundred dollars because the man who bought him didn't know anything about the goopher. Atter de s'render ole miss move' ter town, de niggers all scattered 'way fum de plantation, en de vimya'd ain' be'n cultervated sence. Uncle Julius is a great character and a perfect example of the trickster archetype, something I really enjoy seeing. She could wuk de mos' powerfulles' kin' er goopher,âcould make people hab fits, er rheumatiz, er make 'em des dwinel away en die; en dey say she went out ridin' de niggers at night, fer she wuz a witch 'sides bein' a cunjuh 'oman. She was shy but told them where to go.
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The Goophered Grapevine: A Story Of Unintended Consequences
I reckon it ain' so much so nowadays, but befo' de wah, in slab'ry times, er nigger did n' mine goin' fi' er ten mile in a night, w'en dey wuz sump'n good ter eat at de yuther een. Den he 'vise' Mars Dugal' fer ter trim de vimes close't, en Mars Dugal' tuck 'n done eve'ything de Yankee tole him ter do. Because Henry brought Aunt Peggy a ham on his visit, she told him that he could eat as many grapes as he wished without suffering ill effects as long as he anointed his head as she instructed. It occurred to me that I might find what I wanted in some one of our own Southern States. McAdoo and his overseer, no one was ever caught.
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The Goophered Grapevine Themes
The unnamed narrator is a white Yankee who is interested in purchasing a Southern property so that he can move there with his wife to improve her health. Henry done good wuk all de summer, but sence de fall set in he 'pears ter be sorter pinin' away. En I tell yer w'at, marster, I would n' 'vise yer to buy dis yer ole vimya'd, 'caze de goopher 's on it yit, en dey ain' no tellin' w'en it 's gwine ter crap out. When de vimes sta'ted ter wither, Henry 'mence' ter complain er his rheumatiz; en when de leaves begin ter dry up, his ha'r 'mence' ter drap out. McAdoo began to prune the grapevine, he would scrape the sap from the vine and anoint his bald head with it.
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The Goophered Grapevine Flashcards
In the end, the northerner finds that Julius has been living on the land in a cabin, making moonshine with the unused grapes. On the surface, the tale told is in the tradition of the black folk hero putting one over on an old master. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the foreign works. When the narrator asks Uncle Julius about the history of the land, Julius begins to tell him a grand tale. I particularly liked the supernatural element of this story.
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The Goophered Grapevine
Love, hatred, joy, despair, ambition, avarice, faith, and friendship flowed through the town. Although this story was written in 1899 and depicts a black man's regional language, the language used by Chesnutt is not at all unlike some Southern dialects spoken today, not only by blacks, but by whites as well. De scuppernon' vimes growed monst's fas', en de leaves wuz greener en thicker dan dey eber be'n dyowin my rememb'ance ; en Henry's ha'r growed out thicker dan eber, en he 'peared ter git younger 'n younger, en soopler 'n soopler ; en seein' ez he wuz sho't er han's dat spring, havin' tuk in consid'able noo groun', Mars Dugal' 'cluded he would n' sell Henry 'tel he git de crap in en de cotton chop'. This was Charles W. I think it is very clever how Chesnutt shows the life of black people in the south, black folklore and trickster culture, and many other important issues of his time.
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The Goophered Grapev...
When Henry come ter de plantation, he wuz gittin' a little ole an stiff in de j'ints. But dat summer he got des ez spry en libely ez any young nigger on de plantation; fac', he got so biggity dat Mars Jackson, de oberseah, ha' ter th'eaten ter whip 'im, ef he did n' stop cuttin' up his didos en behave hisse'f. The story is set in North Carolina and is in most part written in the southern vernacular, so it was in some part quite hard to understand. At first the current of his memoryâor imaginationâseemed somewhat sluggish ; but as his embarrassment wore off, his language flowed more freely, and the story acquired perspective and coherence. I thought of sunny France, of sleepy Spain, of Southern California, but there were objections to them all.
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