A poem called by Caroline Randall Williams called "FIELD NIGGER OR, SUBLIMATING LUCY. TIRED OF HEARING CERTAIN QUESTIONS." caught my attention because of its odd structure. I have not seen this kind of style in any poem. As you see on page 39 of Lucy Negro Redux, no single line in the poem is alike another's. But that is just something I noticed later on. The most bizarre part of this poems structure is that there is a tree diagram in the piece! I do not have an answer to why nearly every line is different from the others, but with careful analysis, I do see a reason for the tree diagram, and it is a simple one, really.
The poem begins by asking Williams/the character questions about her appearance and why she dresses the way she does. The reply is that she is trying to be wifey material. In an abrupt turn (any ideas where this change comes from?) a line that says "I am not half black; I haven't been half black" directs the poem into a tree diagram. The first line in the diagram says "since the one drop rule." The "One Drop Rule" is the idea that even one person of a certain ethnicity opposite of the primary ethnicity in a line of ancestry, makes you a part of that type of person. In response with the tree diagram, Williams argues that she is not half black, but fully black because some of her ancestors have been raped by whites, which is the reason she has that bloodline. However, it is not embraced because it was not naturally given to her.
In another sudden change, the poem ends with Williams saying that her ancestors days of being slaves is not done because she is worked like a servant to make works of literature.
I know that you have already went through this with us with your class presentation, but I still think that this poem is one of the most unique we have seen. I find the structure to be a little erratic, but to also make sense.
ReplyDeleteThe tree diagram, to me, very much can serve in the way that you are talking about. I can see the connection that Williams makes in saying that she is fully black, because the "One Drop Rule" was used as a justification for subjugating descendants of slaves who may have some "whiteness" to them, and so they could not be considered totally equal. I found that Williams makes a rebellion out of this, declaring that she is proud to be who she is as black, and essentially rejecting that whiteness that she could not control.
That abrupt turn that you point out could just simply be a change in direction or tone. One could read her as being sarcastic in saying anything about being "wifey material". To me, that itself sounds like mockery, so that shift could just mean she is then becoming more pointed in what she says next.
I thought of an interesting point: "Drop" could very well refer to the dropping motion of a family tree, in that you read it top-to-bottom. Perhaps the use of this tree/referring to the one drop rule could represent the trickling down of her race/culture. In this case she's refusing to acknowledge her white ancestry as it is a result of rape and violence. She is almost choosing what trickles down from the top of the tree.
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