Our Nig

Our Nig

FRADO is a character in Harriet E. Wilson's only known work, Our Nig. I read Frado as a young black girl who grows up as a treaty servant to a large Bellmont family. From the readings, I have identified that the young girl has three names: Frado, Alfrado and Nig. In this essay she will be referred as Frado.

Frado is the leading character of this novel. She is a good looking mulatto girl with a rebellious personality. She is also a well developed round character with a number of features as to her person. She endures much ill-treatment in her time as being the servant to Mrs. Bellmont.

According to my observation, the life of Frado is riddled with bad luck. The minute she arrives at the residence of Bellmont, she is met with unkindness and ethnic slurs. I find Mrs. Bellmont and Mary (her youngest daughter) to be of the similar manner and mind. They are insensitive, rude, harsh and racist on the endearing Frado (White, 1993).

At a very early age, Frado is devoted to enslavement in the Bellmont residency. She is called “Nig” or “nigger” and she was beaten almost daily. The novel is interesting as it demonstrates a young 'free' half-black/half-white girl struggling with an unkind family, who still is optimistic, spunky, and interesting. Frado is neglected by her socially embarrassed white mother after the death of her black father. Frado prevail over this passive environment in order to develop her individual personality. After a few years of her arrival, she was sent to school where she began to grow as a person - which was greatly objected by Mary. Frado found her friends in Jane, Jack, James, Aunt Abby (Mr. Bellmont's generous sister), and the dog which she named as Fido that Jack got her (Wilson, 2011).

In the end, Frado meets the eldest son of Bellmont, James. He is a source of safety and comfort for Frado and he assures that he will come back so that he might rescue her and take her away with him. This belief was a huge cause of comfort to Frado, and it supported her when James then Jack and ultimately Jane left. Frado was greatly attached to her dog Fido, since Mrs. Bellmont continues to neglect and abuse her. At this point, both Frado and James (far away) fall under the weather and it started tom appear ...