Chesnutt's Stories Analysis

Chesnutt’s conjure stories subvert post-Civil War plantation fiction because they touch on the horrors that slaves went through at the hand of their white masters. How African American are treated lesser than human beings. They are objects to whites that can be moved anywhere at the right price and without a moment’s notice to the person and their loved ones. He does not try to make it seem like everything will end up okay in the end. All of the characters do not get a happy ending. The stories bring up matters that are sensitive and need to be looked at with a fresh eye. While there is humor to the stories, Chesnutt subtly lets the Atlantic Monthly white readers know that what many whites did to African Americans was wrong.
In his stories, another subvert is that he adds a supernatural character that helps African American characters in their time of need. The stories are written partly to amuse its readers. The humor element had to be there to keep his readers happy. It would be blasphemy to blatantly write out against whites during the time period. Aunt Peggy represents hope to the person down on their luck. Her participation always has a price though. The use of conjuring in stories gives the reader an
He is seen as a man that can help the white couple no matter the time of day or situation. While he is the one who tells the tale that readers crave to read, he is still tethered to his role in society. Uncle Julius is the narrator that has his own agenda in telling his stories. In “Po’ Sandy”, Sandy, an African American slave, asks Aunt Peggy to turn him into a “big pine-tree” to keep him where he was (Chesnutt 23). He couldn’t take being sold off countless times anymore. He wanted to stay rooted somewhere and not carted around like livestock. He wanted to live out his days with his wife, Tenie, and to not be hurt by his owners any