The Athenian Thesis in Awiti
In Awiti, there is a strange mixture of those who follow the Athenian thesis, and those who don't. A lot of the people against the Athenian thesis acted upon their own sense of justice, which to our eyes may not look like justice, but to them it was. One such person who disagreed with the Athenian thesis was Francine, the slave girl who's father was the master of the plantation and her secret sister, Cecile, his daughter. Awiti gave Francine the job of poisoning the family as her part in the revolution. This was not a power play, this was justice, to "help bring freedom to the slaves" (58), Francine had become "part of the revolution" (60).
Another person who disagreed, yet in a different way, was the grandfather. In his mind, he was doing justice to all the crimes of the "niggers running around ... and nothing being done to them" , so he took matters into his own hands. It may be seen as a power play, yet he didn't view it that way since the blacks had to "pay for their crime[s]" and he was doing "justice" (241) in his own way.
A person who happens to fit the Athenian thesis of power being the only matter, is Master Destrehan. When his slaves revolt, he holds a farce of a trial. He holds a trial as a power play, since it will look as if he is having a fair trial, yet there is "no such thing as a trial if you got one drop of negro blood in you" (79). Master Destrehan knows he is in power, he knows that the trials are fake and not being done in the name of justice, it is all about his power and to show that he is powerful.
- Eli
I completely agree with your blog post. I do find it interesting to see how in general, the acts from Awiti were based on seeking justice whereas many of the hate crimes committed against the slaves and African Americans originated from a place of superiority and power. Originally I believed that the Grandfather's attacks came from his feelings of being socially higher ranked than the African Americans, however, I find your outlook and evidence interesting. Although it may not be the moral "justice," in his own way he was serving his people and helping them.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with you, Noël, in regards to the unique perspective that Eli provided with her analysis of the racist grandfather. I think it is difficult for us to accept the grandfather's actions as 'justice' in both moral and legal term, but when the social context of the grandfather's is taken into consideration--his actions are just behaviors. His behaviors didn't stem from his believe of an imbalance power-dynamics between black and white Americans, rather, his actions were the results of his environment and what he was taught growing up.
DeleteAhh, Eli, your posts are so concise, yet so thought-provoking simultaneously. I am intrigued by your analysis of Francine--one of the few people in the novel that faithfully seek justice for the good of their people. Even though the novel focused mostly on Awiti and her supposed crusade of justice, I agree with you that Francine exemplified the Melian's thesis of fair and equal pursuit, because her goal has always been to fight for the freedom of the enslaved.
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