A True Story

Content Warning: This section references racism and enslavement.

“She was a cheerful, hearty soul, and it was no more trouble for her to laugh than it is for a bird to sing.”

Misto C’s characterization of Aunt Rachel is given as authoritative. However, when Aunt Rachel presents her own account, it proves the narrator’s characterization hollow—a projection based on the face Aunt Rachel presents to the world coupled with racist stereotypes of Black people as naturally and unthinkingly cheerful. Misto C’s comment lays the groundwork for the theme of The Complexity of Joy in an Unjust World.

“Aunt Rachel, how is it that you’ve lived sixty years and never had any trouble?”

This quote is what the whole story hinges on. This question prompts Aunt Rachel’s narrative and elicits all the thematic elements and complexities that her story entails. Notably, the question reflects Misto C’s misinterpretation of the persona Aunt Rachel presents to him—possibly one cultivated to appease her enslavers.

“Misto C—, is you in ’arnest?”

Aunt Rachel’s first dialogue introduces her voice and vernacular; it also comments on the scene’s racial and class dynamics. Aunt Rachel makes sure that Misto C’s question reflects a genuine desire to know before she, a Black servant, presumes to tell her story; implicitly, she is also asking readers if they are open to hearing the story of a formerly enslaved person.