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= Of_One_Blood_(novel) =
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Introduction
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'Of One Blood: Or, The Hidden Self' is a novel by author Pauline
Hopkins that was serialized in 'The Colored American Magazine' from
November 1902 to November 1903, during the four-year period in which
Hopkins served as its editor. The novel follows the adventures of
Reuel, a mixed-race American, as he travels to Nubia from America
while treasure hunting. The novel explores issues of love, identity,
trauma and spirituality through the perspective of the
African-American community.
Plot summary
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The novel starts with Reuel Briggs in his apartment alone in Boston,
Massachusetts, ruminating on his financial troubles as a medical
student. Determined to improve his friend's mood, Aubrey persuades
Reuel to attend a "Negro music" concert. There Reuel witnesses the
talented Dianthe Lusk, a light-skinned "Negress" from the South,
perform in the Fisk University Singers and becomes infatuated with her
beautiful voice and appearance. They attend a house party hosted by
Molly Vance, who is engaged to Aubrey, and her brother, Charlie. The
group decides to visit the local Hyde House, which is rumored to be
haunted, where Reuel encounters a spectral form of Dianthe, who
requests Reuel's help.
That next morning, Reuel is called to treat the victims of a train
accident. Among them is Dianthe, seemingly dead, but he revives her
using a form of mesmerism. The revived Dianthe has no memory of her
former self and Reuel's colleagues believe he has performed a miracle.
Reuel and Aubrey persuade Dianthe to live with the Vance family under
another name until she recovers and relearns her identity. Reuel falls
in love with Dianthe during the stay and proposes to her. She accepts.
Wanting to provide for his fiancée, he approaches Aubrey for work.
Aubrey Introduces Reuel to a job on a dangerous but lucrative
archaeological expedition to Nubia. Reuel, Charlie, and Aubrey's
servant, Jim Titus, prepare for the expedition, and Aubrey stays in
Boston with Molly and Dianthe. Charlie and Reuel frequently write back
home, but eventually stop receiving correspondence.
They travel first to Egypt, and then via desert caravan to Nubia,
where they seek the treasures of Meroe. They encounter many dangers on
their journey. Soon after their arrive at the ruin, however, they
receive news from America that Molly and Dianthe drowned in a boating
accident on the Charles River near Boston. Mad with grief, Reuel
disappears into the city's ruins to die. But he is kidnapped by unseen
foes. He awakens in a luxurious palace within the hidden city of
Telassar, built by the inhabitants of Meroe. A native man named Ai,
who had passed as a local guide for the expedition, reveals his
identity as a councilor and minister of Telassar. Ai introduces Reuel
to Candace, the Queen of Telassar, and he begins to fall in love with
her.
Meanwhile, Charlie and Titus search for Reuel, eventually discovering
a secret passage beneath the ruins of Meroe. Telassar's soldiers
capture them, but the two manage to escape into the city's tombs where
they find a hoard of precious metals and gemstones guarded by
serpents. Charlie is rescued by Ai and others, but Titus is mortally
wounded. Before he dies, Titus confesses that Aubrey had ordered him
to murder Reuel so that he would never return from Africa. To
substantiate Titus's confession, Reuel commands Ai to use his people's
magic to spy on Aubrey. They learn that Aubrey murdered Molly and
faked Dianthe's death so as to marry her in secret. Enraged, Reuel and
his companions return to America to seek revenge on Aubrey.
While being coerced by Aubrey to marry him, Dianthe gradually regains
her memory and meets Hannah, an elderly former slave of the
Livingstons. Hannah comforts Dianthe and teaches her that she, Aubrey,
and Reuel are siblings, and that their mother--Hannah's daughter,
Mira--is of Nubian descent enslaved by Aubrey's father. Distraught,
Dianthe attempts to poison Aubrey in the night, but he thwarts her and
forces Dianthe to drink the poison. Aubrey flees the estate that next
morning and abandons Dianthe to her fate. She tries to cling to life,
but Reuel arrives at the Livingston estate as Dianthe dies.
While traveling alone, Aubrey receives a vision that Dianthe still
lives and quickly returns home, and is greeted by Reuel's men. They
subdue Aubrey and condemn him. Their magic causes him to drown himself
in a river. After Aubrey's death, Reuel learns they are all of one
blood. Shocked by this news, Reuel returns to Telassar to serve as
King and to teach his people about the new world.
Main characters
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*Reuel Briggs: The main protagonist of the novel, Reuel is a young man
of mixed race and an accomplished medical student, even though he has
a history of financial struggle without the support of his family. He
does what he can to survive, which includes limiting his social life
to school within the four walls of his apartment. Reuel is aware of
his African American heritage, but he does not care to learn the
history of African Americans. Instead, he merely passes as a white man
because of his light skin tone. His romance with Dianthe Lusk becomes
a keystone of the novel, but their relationship is fraught and comes
to a bitter end. Only once he is bereaved of his love and realizes his
royal lineage in Telassar does Reuel embrace his "inner self".
*Aubrey Livingston: Reuel's closest friend, Aubrey takes it upon
himself to assist Reuel whenever possible. He is a southern white man
who befriends Reuel and his attempts to make the protagonist socialize
among their peers are endless. While Aubrey promises Reuel great
fortune in an archaeological expedition to Nubia, he secretly plots to
steal Reuel's love interest and later fiancée, Dianthe, for himself,
even despite being engaged to another woman. His lust for Dianthe
ultimately drives Aubrey to murder, betrayal, and his own undoing.
*Dianthe Lusk: A "Negress" from the South with a beautiful voice and
talent for singing, Dianthe doesn't meet the protagonist until she is
close to death after an accident. Reuel saves her life and soon
believes that they are destined to be together, doing all that he can
to shelter and tend to her. He and Aubrey even withhold the truth of
Dianthe's identity when she loses her memory following the accident.
Some would say she battles with hysteria following the traumatic
events she suffers throughout the novel, especially after Aubrey
seduces and manipulates Dianthe into marrying him.
*Charlie Vance: Introduced as a friend of Reuel and Aubrey, as well as
brother to Aubrey's fiancée, Molly Vance, Charlie is a flamboyant
young man from an upper-class background. Known as "Adonis" for his
well-groomed appearance and fondness of high society life, he later
accompanies Reuel to Nubia in search of fortune and adventure.
*Ai: The prime minister to a prophesied King destined to restore the
Kush line to its former glory, Ai serves as Reuel's counsel upon his
arrival to Telassar. He shares with Reuel the wonders of their city
and offers him the choice of becoming their King.
*Queen Candace: A young woman that Reuel meets while in Telassar,
Candace serves as the Queen of Telassar in the absence of a King. Her
existence is almost metaphysical as she is reborn in a sense; Candace
is the virgin queen who reigns in intervals of fifteen years while
sharing the name of her successor. Reuel begins to fall in love with
Candace upon learning of Dianthe's apparent death.
*Hannah: An elderly former slave belonging to the Livingstons, Hannah
comforts Dianthe after she is coerced into marrying Aubrey. Hannah
also informs Dianthe of her history and relationship with Aubrey and
Reuel as half-siblings, having tended to them as infants. Hannah is
the mother of Mira.
*Mira: The late mother of Dianthe, Reuel, and Aubrey, Mira was a royal
citizen of Telassar who traveled the world before she was enslaved by
Aubrey Livingston's father. During her enslavement at the Livingston
estate, she entertained the family and their guests with parlor tricks
and prophecies.
Background
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The novel's title was inspired by Acts 17:26 in the Bible: "Of one
blood I made all nations of man to dwell upon the whole face of the
earth (...) No man can draw the dividing line between the two races,
for they are both of one blood!" Hopkins's main purpose in writing the
novel was to expose and unravel the entangled genealogies of blacks
and whites, the irrefutable evidence that they were literally,
biologically, "of one blood". The text's collective argument,
according to its introduction, is that blood has so effortlessly mixed
between the two races that any attempt to disentangle them is rendered
impossible. The novel is considered as a novel that "deals in no
uncertain terms with both the temporal and spiritual solution of the
greatest question of the age- The Negro."
According to Colleen O'Brien, critics often regard it as one of the
earliest articulations of Black internationalism because it is the
first African-American novel to both feature African characters and
take place in Africa. The novel was published in the same year that W.
E. B. Du Bois originated the famous phrase "the color line" in his
1903 collection of essays 'The Souls of Black Folk', in which the
phrase describes the hypothetically dividing line between the white
and black races. Hopkins's originating the text in Boston honed in on
one of the epicenters of debate in the United States on "blood",
bloodlines, and roots of "human family". The selection of "The Hidden
Self" as the subtitle serves as a "metaphor for the suppressed history
of oppressive social and familial relations under the institution of
slavery."
[
https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262544290/of-one-blood/ Of One Blood]
was rereleased in 2022 as part of the Radium Age Series of classic
science fiction from the MIT Press. This new edition includes an
introduction by Minister Faust. Faust writes: "By interweaving
fantastical delights with historical realities, Hopkins’ Afritopian
novel dramatizes the glory not just of what could have been, but what
could still be, if we find the power to free our civilization from a
philosophy of exploitation, degradation, and death, and replace it
with what one nineteenth-century Liberian poet demanded of a new
African nation: liberty, 'proud science,' glories, and art, to 'Arise
and now prevail/O’er all thy foes;/In truth and righteousness--/In all
the arts of peace--/Advance, and still increase/Though hosts
oppose.
Themes
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The novel drifts between two genres, romanticism and realism, as the
protagonist, a Harvard medical student, moves from one country to the
other. Focusing on Reuel's racial passing as a white man, 'Of One
Blood; Or, The Hidden Self' begins in The United States and slowly
progresses to Africa with his discovery of the hidden city and
advancement from "passer to prophet".
Haitian culture
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Though recognized for its affiliation with twentieth-century
Africanisms, the novel also employs concepts popularly associated to
Haitian culture. According to Mary Grace Albanese, the matrilineality
of the novel's female characters Hannah, Mira, and Dianthe Lusk
resonates with historical and mythologized Haitian perceptions of
womanhood, and the preternatural abilities and practices displayed
throughout the novel are significant to Haitian Vodou.
The burden of royalty
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In the story, scholar Melissa Asher Daniels has stated that by
journeying into the hidden world, Reuel's royal bloodline not only
makes him the heir to a long, rich history of African achievement, but
also crowns him as king to a body of people that he previously
rejected being a part of. This prophecy that his being there is
fulfilling not only burdens him, but drags Reuel into a world that he
may not have otherwise accepted.
Race
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People were associated with a particular race by their physical
features. In the United States, race stands as a dominant governing
characteristic that dictates an individual's social standing. Moving
to the African part of Hopkins's narrative of a Utopian world, it is
presented as an important factor for cultural worth but otherwise
meaningless. Even with the "one drop" rule, Reuel was able to pass as
a white male even though he is African American. Physical features do
not always define your race and that was a dominant message in the
novel as race is a social construct.
Mysticism
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Seen most prominently through the sages that serve the queen and the
temple in which they meet, mysticism remains a strong underlying theme
as Reuel ventures through the hidden city, blanketed over by the power
of kings that were his forefathers. This can also be seen as Reuel
tries to interpret various visions throughout the novel that depict
upcoming events in his travels and Dianthe's resurrection.
Culture
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Reuel leaves America with no knowledge or care for his ancestral
history; he sees culture more as a crutch than a gift and it's this
mindset of blissful ignorance that leads him towards a relationship
he'll regret. He felt disconnected from his African American roots
because of his persistence to identify himself as an Anglo-Saxon. He's
comfortable passing for white because it means that the world must see
him for everything else that he is. The resolution for many, if not
all of his problems, is found while later embracing where he came
from.
Love and trauma
=================
The idea of love is one that is common throughout the novel, but the
accuracy of saying these relationships stem from love is something
that could be questioned. When it comes to Reuel and Dianthe, love
only comes after major trauma. Reuel may have loved her (or at least
lusted after her) but was she ever really in the mindset to return
these feelings? Looking at Aubrey, everything between him and Dianthe
was forced but he wanted a relationship because Reuel had her. It
plays into society's ideology that as a "white" man, he had rights to
everything and more that a black man could have, so why not just take
it? Consent was never something he considered. Hopkins used Dianthe to
portray the sexual abuse and trauma that many African-American women
underwent during and after slavery.
Hysteria
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Dianthe's character is used to depict that the horrible diagnosis of
hysteria that affected many women was not something that was only put
upon white females. She portrays many of the symptoms that were used
by physicians to diagnose patients and even goes through similar
treatments.
Water
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Water is the source of life, but it's also a means for travel (by boat
and portal), a carrier of death in form of poison, the final resting
place for two characters, and a mirror that reflects images that
onlookers in the novel may not care to see. An ocean is what separates
our protagonist from the hidden city but it's also what carries him
back. Molly and Aubrey are both drowned at different points and both
times, Reuel uses water to transport to or away from the bodies.
Memory
========
It's the loss of memory that not only stimulates a relationship
between Reuel and Dianthe, but also causes a lot of conflict
throughout the story line all together. The three siblings cross paths
when they do but fail to remember their origins until the very end.
These memories lead Reuel back to Africa.
Science vs. spirituality
==========================
Blood plays a major role in the novels main theme to describe that the
human race, no matter origin or social class, stem from one
birthplace, a scientific argument that Hopkins strongly supports. She
also uses science to explain African spirituality that can be seen
through the novel's mystic undertones by simplifying concepts of fate
that a sceptic audience would otherwise not believe.
Incest
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White-passing children of an enslaved woman, as seen through Reuel,
Aubrey, and Dianthe. Incest is one of many common narratives buried
beneath the nightmare that was American chattel slavery. Sometimes it
happened by accident as white captors destroyed any information of
their African lineage. In other scenarios, it was forced to increase
numbers.
History
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Although the novel is a work of fiction, Hopkins uses historical and
literary sources, as well as travelogues, to construct a historical
argument. Her argument, which ran counter to many histories of that
time, was that the ancient cultures of the Nile Valley were African in
origin, not imported to the area from elsewhere.
License
=========
All content on Gopherpedia comes from Wikipedia, and is licensed under CC-BY-SA
License URL:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_One_Blood_(novel)
