In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

ADRIENNE AKINS Baylor University “Just like Mister Jim”: Class Transformation from Cracker to Aristocrat in Hurston’s Seraph on the Suwanee SINCE ITS 1948 PUBLICATION, ZORA NEALE HURSTON’S FOURTH AND FINAL novel Seraph on the Suwanee has been the subject of intense critical debate. Scholars disagree most often in their analyses of protagonist Arvay Henson’s character development. From Herschel Brickell’s contemporaneous review of Seraph as the story of “A Woman Saved” to Ancilla Coleman’s 1988 assessment of the work as “a tale of love in which a woman is completely fulfilled” (26), certain critics have regarded the novel as an account of Arvay’s personal growth from insecurity to confidence in her marriage to Jim Meserve.1 Many others, however, read Arvay’s metamorphosis as a descent from assertive independence into dehumanizing submission, viewing Hurston’s depiction of the couple’s marriage as a subversive attack on the oppression of women. Missing from the critical discourse is an extended consideration of Arvay’s character development in terms of socioeconomic class. In marrying Jim, Arvay undergoes a major transformation,evolvingfromanunderprivileged“Cracker”toa“quality first-class” benefactress (884). While a number of critics, most notably 1 A number of scholars have discussed the class-related implications of Jim’s last name, Meserve. Carol Marsh-Lockett voices the most common interpretation of Hurston’s naming choice: “Arvay’s oppression in this new middle class existence is underscored by the symbolic surname (Me-serve) which she assumes upon marriage to Jim, for events in the marriage indicate that Arvay is to serve herself only through acquiescence and service to Jim” (102). Christopher Rieger contends that another possible reading of the name Meserve suggests “that Jim serves himself.” (118), further arguing that in the novel’s conclusion “The revelation that Arvay arrives at independently is that she needs to be self-serving—a true Meserve—and then she can freely choose to offer service to others, a willful commitment to serve rather than a proscribed servitude” (123). Arvay’s given name, Henson, also has interesting connotations related to both class and gender, as the “son” denotes maleness even as the “Hen” suggests both femaleness and privation. 32 Adrienne Akins Susan Edwards Meisenhelder, have examined how Jim Meserve manipulates power structures to represent himself as a magnanimous provider to those around him, no scholars thus far have explored the ways in which Arvay herself grows to adopt “Jim’s way of handling things” (885) over the course of the novel. In fact, Seraph indicates that Arvay’s inferiority complex is slowly replaced by a mindset that parallels Jim’s own. A lined-through section in an early typescript draft of Seraph on the Suwanee housed at the University of Florida indicates that ideas about power, social privilege, and benevolence were important in Hurston’s planning of the novel. In this section, which appears on page eight of the typescript, Hurston describes Arvay’s appearance: With the proper clothing and bearing, she might well have been a lady-in-waiting at [King Arthur’s] court. Her eyes were wide-set, large, and of a morning-sky blue. With a face reflecting an ego well-nourished by the exercise of her own will, that is power, and clothing upon which numerous peasant women had spent many days over their needles, Arvay Henson’s face would have been called aristocratic. That means, a certain boldness from a consciousness of power, plus a measure of condescension. People can be kind, and they can condescend when they have wealth and power. (Hambrick 22) At first glance, the Arvay Henson depicted in this passage may seem to be a different person altogether from the painfully insecure young woman described in the published novel’s opening chapters. However, the passage suggests that while Arvay’s beauty marks her potential, she initially lacks the “bearing” and “ego” necessary to practice the kindness and condescension characteristic of a “lady-in-waiting.” Jim, in contrast, appears to be endowed with such capacities from the beginning. The descendant of plantation owners, Jim differs in background and comportment from “the rest of the inhabitants of Sawley, who had always been of the poor whites...

pdf

Share