Vocabulary Concordance of Harriet E. Wilson's Novel, Our Nig

Book excerpt: Lewis’ A VOCABULARY CONCORDANCE OF HARRIET E. WILSON’S NOVEL, OUR NIG (2021) tracks empathy featured in Harriet E. Wilson’s 1859 novel, OUR NIG; or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black. Wilson’s main character, Mag Smith, presents behaviors that display the full humanity of African Americans. Lewis’ CONCORDANCE . . . catalogues the biased interactions among comingled populations. Lewis’ CONCORDANCE . . . identifies Wilson’s biased interactions imposed upon African American characters. The word, “OUR . . .” in Wilson’s title, embraces readers as family members who accept the main characters’ values as their own. Wilson’s subtlety engages topics about Earth’s natural environment, family relations, societal attitudes, cross-cultural exchanges, moral/corrupt practices, finances, entertainments, and personal struggles. Heading each of OUR NIG’s chapters, Wilson’s quotations challenge contemporary racial intolerance and gender bias. Overall, Wilson’s point-counterpoint style denounces ethnic degradations while claiming liberation for the Statue of Liberty’s 1886 “huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”