Analysis of Social and Inner Conflicts in Jessie Redmon Fauset's 'Plum Bun: A Novel Without A Moral'.
ABSTRACT
Dalam tugas akhir ini, saya akan menganalisis konflik yang dialami tokoh
utama dalam sebuah novel karya Jessie Redmon Fauset yang berjudul Plum Bun:
A Novel Without A Moral. Novel ini mengisahkan tentang seorang wanita
bernama Angela Murray, keturunan campuran kulit hitam dan putih atau biasa
disebut dengan mulatto, di Amerika Serikat.
Konflik-konflik awal terjadi ketika identitas Angela sebagai keturunan
kulit hitam diketahui oleh orang kulit putih di sekitarnya, perlakuan mereka
terhadap Angela berubah. Angela memutuskan untuk pergi ke New York dengan
melakukan ‘passing’ agar dapat menemukan kebahagiaan dan dapat diterima
sebagai keturunan kulit putih. Konflik sosial and konflik pribadi terjadi pula di
New York, yang membuat dirinya sadar bahwa berpura-pura menjadi keturunan
kulit putih tidak membawa kebahagiaan bagi dirinya. Angela mulai berusaha
untuk dapat menerima identitas dirinya sebagai keturunan orang kulit hitam.
Melalui novel ini, saya berkesimpulan bahwa melalui konflik-konflik yang
dialami oleh tokoh utamanya, Jessie Redmon Fauset ingin menyampaikan bahwa
yang terbaik bagi wanita mulatto adalah menjadi dirinya sendiri sebagai orang
kulit hitam.
ii
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................
i
ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................
ii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study ....................................................................
Statement of the Problem ..................................................................
Purpose of the Study ..........................................................................
Method of Research ...........................................................................
Organization of the Thesis .................................................................
1
3
3
3
4
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL AND INNER CONFLICTS
IN JESSIE REDMON FAUSET PLUM BUN: A NOVEL
WITHOUT A MORAL ........................................................................
5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION ........................................................
18
BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................
22
APPENDICES
Synopsis of Plum Bun: A Novel Without A Moral .............................
Biography of Jessie Redmon Fauset ..................................................
23
24
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APPENDICES
Synopsis of Plum Bun: A Novel Without A Moral
Plum Bun: A Novel Without A Moral is a story of a woman named Angela
Murray, who lives in Philadelphia with her family. She is a mulatto and she has
one sister named Virginia Murray. Angela is light-skinned just like her mother
while Virginia has dark skin just like her father. Because of her light skin many
people think that Angela is white. Angela does not feel comfortable being black
because of her bad experience as a young schoolgirl when her bestfriend named
Mary Hastings abandons her and her instructor rejects her after finding out that
Angela is coloured. Later on, she decides to leave Philadephia and her own sister
to move to New York to begin a new life by doing the act of passing.
In New York, Angela is accepted as white but Angela feels lonely because
she realizes that nobody is close enough to her when Roger, the white man she is
dating, leaves her. Later on Angela tries to get back to her friend who loves her,
Anthony. This time, Angela knows the truth from Anthony that he is actually a
mulatto. She finally reveals the truth about her background to him and later on
both of them decide to be together. At last, Angela can declare her background
publicly in order to help her friend, Rachel Powell an also save their pride as
black descendants. Angela realizes that the act of passing is wrong and she finally
accepts and respects her black self.
23
Biography of Jessie Redmon Fauset
Jessie Redmon Fauset was born in Camden County, New Jersey, on 27
April 1882. She was the youngest of the seven children of Redmon Fauset, an
African Methodist Episcopal Minister and Annie Seamon Fauset. She attended
Philadelphia High School for Girls and became the first African-American to
graduate. She applied to Bryn Mawr College but denied because of her race. The
college helped her by finding a scholarship for another university so she continued
her education at Cornell University. In 1919 Fauset left teaching and became a
literary editor of Crisis with W.E.B Du Bois until 1926. Fauset wrote many
articles, stories, and poems and also promoted the works of writers such as
Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Claude McKay and Jean Toomer. Fauset
helped to discover, promote and give a chance to African-American writers to
create “black voice” in American literature.
All Fauset’s novel featured African-American middle class who are forced
to deal with self-hate as well as racial prejudice. Fauset wrote four novels : There
Is Confusion (1924), Plum Bun (1929), The Chinaberry Tree (1931), and Comedy:
American Style (1933). In 1929 Fauset married an insurance broker and World
War I veteran, Herbert Harris. Jessie Redmon Fauset died of a heart disease on 30
April 1961. Jessie Redmon Fauset was called by Langston Hughes a “mid-wife”
of African-American literature.
Source : Dickinson, Lewis
24
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Harlem Renaissance, also known as the New Negro Renaissance, is one of
the literary movements that happened between the 1920s and the 1930s in the
United States of America. This movement occurred in Harlem, a large
neighborhood within the northern section of New York City in upper Manhattan.
The term “Harlem Renaissance” described the extraordinary flowering works in
African-American literature, arts, and culture (Brown 218). It was also known as a
period of race consciousness and solidarity among African-American artists,
writers, and musicians (Witalec 1).
One of the Harlem Renaissance writers is Jessie Redmon Fauset. She is
known as the “midwife” of Harlem Renaissance, because “her visionary efforts,
mentoring and outreach to emerging writers intensified the intellectual and
creative output of the period” (Brown 150). Her career “reflected her keen
evaluations of social tensions, racial ideals, and the creative challenges and
opportunities for American writers of color during the era” (150). She has written
1
Maranatha Christian University
many works including travel essays, short stories, novels, poems, essays, and
reviews. Between 1924 and 1933, she also published four novels in which she
focused on light-skinned black women who struggled with the dilemma of passing
for white (Witalec 364). They are There Is Confusion (1924), Plum Bun (1929),
The Chinaberry Tree (1931), and Comedy: American Style (1933). These novels
are said to have “strong and social purpose which is to portray the educated black
middle class and thereby uncover American racial prejudice (375).
I choose to analyze Plum Bun : A Novel Without A Moral in my thesis.
The novel is regarded by many scholars as Fauset’s best and most polished work
among all Fauset’s four novels (Brown 154). Plum Bun also received mostly
positive reviews upon its appearance. It is a story of a light-skinned woman
named Angela Murray, who lives in Philadelphia around the 1920s and does the
action of “passing” in order to pursue her education in art. At that time, racial
segregation in law and everyday practices limited African-American to gain
access to many public places and organizations in Philadelphia (“Leisure Time”).
In order to escape the racial segregation in her hometown, Angela decides to
move to New York and tries to pass for white. Angela hopes that she will make
her future brighter. In the end, the conflicts that Angela encounters, within herself
and with her society at that time, make her realize that she has to be proud of her
own identity as a black woman.
As conflicts is the most outstanding element in the novel, I will analyze
the social and inner conflicts that happen to the protagonist in the novel. Conflict
is “a situation in which there are opposing ideas, opinions, feelings or wishes”
(“Conflict”, def. 3). There are 3 types of conflicts: elemental or physical, social,
2
Maranatha Christian University
and internal or psychological conflict (Shaw 91). In my thesis, I would like to
focus only on social and inner conflicts. Social conflict means a struggle between
man and man or man versus the society (91), whereas internal or psychological
(inner) conflict means a struggle between desires within a person (91).
Statement of the Problem
In this thesis, I will analyze:
1. What social and inner conflicts are experienced by the protagonist of the novel?
2. What are the causes of the social and inner conflicts?
3. What are the resolutions of the social and inner conflicts?
Purpose of the Study
Based in the problems stated above, the purposes of the study are :
1. To analyze social and inner conflicts happen to the protagonist of the novel.
2. To analyze the causes of social and inner conflicts.
3. To analyze the resolutions of the social and inner conflicts.
Method of Research
In writing my thesis, I use the library research. I first read the primary text,
Jessie Redmon Fauset's Plum Bun: A Novel Without A Moral. Then, I read the
reference books like encyclopedia and get some of the data from the Internet.
Finally, I draw a conclusion from my analysis.
3
Maranatha Christian University
Organization of the Thesis
This thesis will consist of three chapters, preceded by the Table of
Contents and the Abstract. Chapter One is the Introduction, which consists the
Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study,
the Method of Research, and the Organization of the Thesis. The next chapter,
Chapter Two, is the analysis of social and inner conflicts in Jessie Redmon
Fauset’s Plum Bun:A Novel Without A Moral. Chapter Three, is the Conclusion,
followed by the Bibliography and the Appendices, which contain the Synopsis of
the Novel and the Biography of the Author.
4
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
After analyzing the social and inner conflicts of the protagonist, Angela
Murray, in Jessie Redmon Fauset’s Plum Bun: A Novel Without A Moral, I will
draw some conclusions of what has been discussed.
The novel tells the story of a mulatto named Angela Murray. Being a lightskinned black brings about problems in her relationship with the white people
who at first think of her as white. Social conflicts are invitable to happen in her
hometown, Philadelphia.
Angela encounters three social conflicts in Philadelphia. The first social
conflict between Angela and her highschool bestfriend, Mary Hastings. On
learning the truth about Angela’s background from another classmate, Mary is
surprised and starts questioning why Angela does not tell her background to
Mary. The relationship becomes not as good as before. Angela thinks that by
telling or not telling her background should not affect their friendship.
Angela also has a conflict with Mr.Shields, her instructor in academy. The
source of the conflict is the same as the first one. On knowing that Angela is
18
Maranatha Christian University
coloured, Mr. Shields also questions the reason why Angela does not tell her
background to him. Angela thinks her background will not affect her good
relationship with Mr.Shields, which is proved to be wrong. Angela feels
uncomfortable because Mr. Shields’ attitude towards her changed. The first and
the second social conflicts cause Angela to think that being a black descendant has
caused her to live an unhappy life. Thus, she decides to go to New York to do the
act of passing.
The third social conflict between Angela and Virginia, her sister, is about
the disagreement about the matter of colour that later confirms Angela’s decision
to go to New York. Having light skin, Angela wants to do the act of passing so
that she will be considered white. However, Virginia thinks that Angela should
accept her background as black. The conflict is solved as Virginia finally
understands Angela’s opinion and lets her go to New York. All the conflicts in
Philadelphia show that Angela is unaccepted as black which later makes her go to
New York in order to hide her identity. Angela decides to do the act of passing
with a hope that she might be accepted as white in order to gain happiness.
Having done the act of passing, which means she is considered white,
Angela still has to face problems. In New York, Angela encounters two social
conflicts and three inner conflicts. Angela unintentionally neglects Virginia to
avoid Roger finding the truth abouth her background, which causes Virginia to
feel hurt because she thinks Angela does not want to acknowledge her anymore.
Angela hopes that Virginia can understand her reason for doing so. The conflict is
unsolved because Angela and Virginia decide to lead their own life.
19
Maranatha Christian University
Angela also has an inner conflict that relates to her relationship with Roger
Fielding. After a 10-month relationship with Roger, Angela starts questioning it as
she finds out that Roger does not pay her as much attention as before. Although
she needs the relationship to later secure her financial matter, she thinks Roger’s
treatment towards her is intolerable. The conflict is solved unexpectedly as Roger
breaks up their relationship because for him his relationship with Angela is not a
special one. The conflict with Roger shows that even though Angela succeeds in
passing for white, she still does not get her happiness.
The next social conflict happens between Angela and Anthony Cross,
Angela’s classmate who loves her. Her passing has caused Anthony to think that
she is white. At the same time, Angela also thinks that Anthony is white so it is
suitable for her to be together with Anthony. Anthony, however, insists that it is
impossible for them to be together because he is coloured and Angela might not
want to accept him; moreover, he does not want to see Angela anymore. The
conflict is solved when both explains the truth about their background a a mulatto
that they do not have a problem related to skin colour anymore.
The last inner conflict happens when Angela encounters four reporters that
want to humiliate Angela’s black friend, Rachel Powell. She wants to help her
friend by revealing her own background but in doing so she will not get her prize.
The confict is solved as Angela decides to reveal her background to help Miss
Powell. The resolution of this conflict shows that Angela has finally accepted
herself being black. She also gains happiness from Anthony, her lover, Virginia,
her own sister, and also some of her friends who still want to accept Angela in
spite of her being black.
20
Maranatha Christian University
All the conflicts that Angela has encountered in New York have made her
realize that pretending to be white by doing the act of passing does not guarantee
her happiness. She comes to the realization that she should accept herself for what
she is. The conflicts are used by the author of Plum Bun: A Novel Without A
Moral, Jessie Redmon Fauset to convey the idea that the act of passing done by
black women will not change the fact that they are black nor give them a
guarantee of happiness. Thus, the most important thing for black women to gain
happiness in life is by appreciating their being what they are.
21
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Text :
Fauset, Jessie Redmon. Plum Bun: A Novel Without A Moral. New York:
Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1928. Print.
References:
Brown, Lois. Encyclopedia of the Harlem Literary Renaissance. New York: Facts
on File, Inc., 2006. Print.
“Conflict.” Def. 3. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.8th ed. 2010. Print.
Dickinson, Laurie. “Jessie Redmon Fauset”. Jessie Redmon Fauset: Voice From
The Gaps. University of Minnesota. 7 Jan. 1996. Web. 10 Apr. 2012.
“Leisure Time.” The African American Experience in Philadelphia. Philadelphia
History Museum. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
Lewis, John Johnson. “Jessie Redmon Fauset”. About.com: Women’s History.
Web. 11 Nov. 2013
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976. Print.
Witalec, Janet. The Harlem Renaissance: A Gale Critical Companion. Vol. 1.
Detroit: Gale, 2003. Print.
- - - . The Harlem Renaissance: A Gale Critical Companion. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale,
2003. Print.
22
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Dalam tugas akhir ini, saya akan menganalisis konflik yang dialami tokoh
utama dalam sebuah novel karya Jessie Redmon Fauset yang berjudul Plum Bun:
A Novel Without A Moral. Novel ini mengisahkan tentang seorang wanita
bernama Angela Murray, keturunan campuran kulit hitam dan putih atau biasa
disebut dengan mulatto, di Amerika Serikat.
Konflik-konflik awal terjadi ketika identitas Angela sebagai keturunan
kulit hitam diketahui oleh orang kulit putih di sekitarnya, perlakuan mereka
terhadap Angela berubah. Angela memutuskan untuk pergi ke New York dengan
melakukan ‘passing’ agar dapat menemukan kebahagiaan dan dapat diterima
sebagai keturunan kulit putih. Konflik sosial and konflik pribadi terjadi pula di
New York, yang membuat dirinya sadar bahwa berpura-pura menjadi keturunan
kulit putih tidak membawa kebahagiaan bagi dirinya. Angela mulai berusaha
untuk dapat menerima identitas dirinya sebagai keturunan orang kulit hitam.
Melalui novel ini, saya berkesimpulan bahwa melalui konflik-konflik yang
dialami oleh tokoh utamanya, Jessie Redmon Fauset ingin menyampaikan bahwa
yang terbaik bagi wanita mulatto adalah menjadi dirinya sendiri sebagai orang
kulit hitam.
ii
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................
i
ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................
ii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study ....................................................................
Statement of the Problem ..................................................................
Purpose of the Study ..........................................................................
Method of Research ...........................................................................
Organization of the Thesis .................................................................
1
3
3
3
4
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL AND INNER CONFLICTS
IN JESSIE REDMON FAUSET PLUM BUN: A NOVEL
WITHOUT A MORAL ........................................................................
5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION ........................................................
18
BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................
22
APPENDICES
Synopsis of Plum Bun: A Novel Without A Moral .............................
Biography of Jessie Redmon Fauset ..................................................
23
24
i
Maranatha Christian University
APPENDICES
Synopsis of Plum Bun: A Novel Without A Moral
Plum Bun: A Novel Without A Moral is a story of a woman named Angela
Murray, who lives in Philadelphia with her family. She is a mulatto and she has
one sister named Virginia Murray. Angela is light-skinned just like her mother
while Virginia has dark skin just like her father. Because of her light skin many
people think that Angela is white. Angela does not feel comfortable being black
because of her bad experience as a young schoolgirl when her bestfriend named
Mary Hastings abandons her and her instructor rejects her after finding out that
Angela is coloured. Later on, she decides to leave Philadephia and her own sister
to move to New York to begin a new life by doing the act of passing.
In New York, Angela is accepted as white but Angela feels lonely because
she realizes that nobody is close enough to her when Roger, the white man she is
dating, leaves her. Later on Angela tries to get back to her friend who loves her,
Anthony. This time, Angela knows the truth from Anthony that he is actually a
mulatto. She finally reveals the truth about her background to him and later on
both of them decide to be together. At last, Angela can declare her background
publicly in order to help her friend, Rachel Powell an also save their pride as
black descendants. Angela realizes that the act of passing is wrong and she finally
accepts and respects her black self.
23
Biography of Jessie Redmon Fauset
Jessie Redmon Fauset was born in Camden County, New Jersey, on 27
April 1882. She was the youngest of the seven children of Redmon Fauset, an
African Methodist Episcopal Minister and Annie Seamon Fauset. She attended
Philadelphia High School for Girls and became the first African-American to
graduate. She applied to Bryn Mawr College but denied because of her race. The
college helped her by finding a scholarship for another university so she continued
her education at Cornell University. In 1919 Fauset left teaching and became a
literary editor of Crisis with W.E.B Du Bois until 1926. Fauset wrote many
articles, stories, and poems and also promoted the works of writers such as
Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Claude McKay and Jean Toomer. Fauset
helped to discover, promote and give a chance to African-American writers to
create “black voice” in American literature.
All Fauset’s novel featured African-American middle class who are forced
to deal with self-hate as well as racial prejudice. Fauset wrote four novels : There
Is Confusion (1924), Plum Bun (1929), The Chinaberry Tree (1931), and Comedy:
American Style (1933). In 1929 Fauset married an insurance broker and World
War I veteran, Herbert Harris. Jessie Redmon Fauset died of a heart disease on 30
April 1961. Jessie Redmon Fauset was called by Langston Hughes a “mid-wife”
of African-American literature.
Source : Dickinson, Lewis
24
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Harlem Renaissance, also known as the New Negro Renaissance, is one of
the literary movements that happened between the 1920s and the 1930s in the
United States of America. This movement occurred in Harlem, a large
neighborhood within the northern section of New York City in upper Manhattan.
The term “Harlem Renaissance” described the extraordinary flowering works in
African-American literature, arts, and culture (Brown 218). It was also known as a
period of race consciousness and solidarity among African-American artists,
writers, and musicians (Witalec 1).
One of the Harlem Renaissance writers is Jessie Redmon Fauset. She is
known as the “midwife” of Harlem Renaissance, because “her visionary efforts,
mentoring and outreach to emerging writers intensified the intellectual and
creative output of the period” (Brown 150). Her career “reflected her keen
evaluations of social tensions, racial ideals, and the creative challenges and
opportunities for American writers of color during the era” (150). She has written
1
Maranatha Christian University
many works including travel essays, short stories, novels, poems, essays, and
reviews. Between 1924 and 1933, she also published four novels in which she
focused on light-skinned black women who struggled with the dilemma of passing
for white (Witalec 364). They are There Is Confusion (1924), Plum Bun (1929),
The Chinaberry Tree (1931), and Comedy: American Style (1933). These novels
are said to have “strong and social purpose which is to portray the educated black
middle class and thereby uncover American racial prejudice (375).
I choose to analyze Plum Bun : A Novel Without A Moral in my thesis.
The novel is regarded by many scholars as Fauset’s best and most polished work
among all Fauset’s four novels (Brown 154). Plum Bun also received mostly
positive reviews upon its appearance. It is a story of a light-skinned woman
named Angela Murray, who lives in Philadelphia around the 1920s and does the
action of “passing” in order to pursue her education in art. At that time, racial
segregation in law and everyday practices limited African-American to gain
access to many public places and organizations in Philadelphia (“Leisure Time”).
In order to escape the racial segregation in her hometown, Angela decides to
move to New York and tries to pass for white. Angela hopes that she will make
her future brighter. In the end, the conflicts that Angela encounters, within herself
and with her society at that time, make her realize that she has to be proud of her
own identity as a black woman.
As conflicts is the most outstanding element in the novel, I will analyze
the social and inner conflicts that happen to the protagonist in the novel. Conflict
is “a situation in which there are opposing ideas, opinions, feelings or wishes”
(“Conflict”, def. 3). There are 3 types of conflicts: elemental or physical, social,
2
Maranatha Christian University
and internal or psychological conflict (Shaw 91). In my thesis, I would like to
focus only on social and inner conflicts. Social conflict means a struggle between
man and man or man versus the society (91), whereas internal or psychological
(inner) conflict means a struggle between desires within a person (91).
Statement of the Problem
In this thesis, I will analyze:
1. What social and inner conflicts are experienced by the protagonist of the novel?
2. What are the causes of the social and inner conflicts?
3. What are the resolutions of the social and inner conflicts?
Purpose of the Study
Based in the problems stated above, the purposes of the study are :
1. To analyze social and inner conflicts happen to the protagonist of the novel.
2. To analyze the causes of social and inner conflicts.
3. To analyze the resolutions of the social and inner conflicts.
Method of Research
In writing my thesis, I use the library research. I first read the primary text,
Jessie Redmon Fauset's Plum Bun: A Novel Without A Moral. Then, I read the
reference books like encyclopedia and get some of the data from the Internet.
Finally, I draw a conclusion from my analysis.
3
Maranatha Christian University
Organization of the Thesis
This thesis will consist of three chapters, preceded by the Table of
Contents and the Abstract. Chapter One is the Introduction, which consists the
Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study,
the Method of Research, and the Organization of the Thesis. The next chapter,
Chapter Two, is the analysis of social and inner conflicts in Jessie Redmon
Fauset’s Plum Bun:A Novel Without A Moral. Chapter Three, is the Conclusion,
followed by the Bibliography and the Appendices, which contain the Synopsis of
the Novel and the Biography of the Author.
4
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
After analyzing the social and inner conflicts of the protagonist, Angela
Murray, in Jessie Redmon Fauset’s Plum Bun: A Novel Without A Moral, I will
draw some conclusions of what has been discussed.
The novel tells the story of a mulatto named Angela Murray. Being a lightskinned black brings about problems in her relationship with the white people
who at first think of her as white. Social conflicts are invitable to happen in her
hometown, Philadelphia.
Angela encounters three social conflicts in Philadelphia. The first social
conflict between Angela and her highschool bestfriend, Mary Hastings. On
learning the truth about Angela’s background from another classmate, Mary is
surprised and starts questioning why Angela does not tell her background to
Mary. The relationship becomes not as good as before. Angela thinks that by
telling or not telling her background should not affect their friendship.
Angela also has a conflict with Mr.Shields, her instructor in academy. The
source of the conflict is the same as the first one. On knowing that Angela is
18
Maranatha Christian University
coloured, Mr. Shields also questions the reason why Angela does not tell her
background to him. Angela thinks her background will not affect her good
relationship with Mr.Shields, which is proved to be wrong. Angela feels
uncomfortable because Mr. Shields’ attitude towards her changed. The first and
the second social conflicts cause Angela to think that being a black descendant has
caused her to live an unhappy life. Thus, she decides to go to New York to do the
act of passing.
The third social conflict between Angela and Virginia, her sister, is about
the disagreement about the matter of colour that later confirms Angela’s decision
to go to New York. Having light skin, Angela wants to do the act of passing so
that she will be considered white. However, Virginia thinks that Angela should
accept her background as black. The conflict is solved as Virginia finally
understands Angela’s opinion and lets her go to New York. All the conflicts in
Philadelphia show that Angela is unaccepted as black which later makes her go to
New York in order to hide her identity. Angela decides to do the act of passing
with a hope that she might be accepted as white in order to gain happiness.
Having done the act of passing, which means she is considered white,
Angela still has to face problems. In New York, Angela encounters two social
conflicts and three inner conflicts. Angela unintentionally neglects Virginia to
avoid Roger finding the truth abouth her background, which causes Virginia to
feel hurt because she thinks Angela does not want to acknowledge her anymore.
Angela hopes that Virginia can understand her reason for doing so. The conflict is
unsolved because Angela and Virginia decide to lead their own life.
19
Maranatha Christian University
Angela also has an inner conflict that relates to her relationship with Roger
Fielding. After a 10-month relationship with Roger, Angela starts questioning it as
she finds out that Roger does not pay her as much attention as before. Although
she needs the relationship to later secure her financial matter, she thinks Roger’s
treatment towards her is intolerable. The conflict is solved unexpectedly as Roger
breaks up their relationship because for him his relationship with Angela is not a
special one. The conflict with Roger shows that even though Angela succeeds in
passing for white, she still does not get her happiness.
The next social conflict happens between Angela and Anthony Cross,
Angela’s classmate who loves her. Her passing has caused Anthony to think that
she is white. At the same time, Angela also thinks that Anthony is white so it is
suitable for her to be together with Anthony. Anthony, however, insists that it is
impossible for them to be together because he is coloured and Angela might not
want to accept him; moreover, he does not want to see Angela anymore. The
conflict is solved when both explains the truth about their background a a mulatto
that they do not have a problem related to skin colour anymore.
The last inner conflict happens when Angela encounters four reporters that
want to humiliate Angela’s black friend, Rachel Powell. She wants to help her
friend by revealing her own background but in doing so she will not get her prize.
The confict is solved as Angela decides to reveal her background to help Miss
Powell. The resolution of this conflict shows that Angela has finally accepted
herself being black. She also gains happiness from Anthony, her lover, Virginia,
her own sister, and also some of her friends who still want to accept Angela in
spite of her being black.
20
Maranatha Christian University
All the conflicts that Angela has encountered in New York have made her
realize that pretending to be white by doing the act of passing does not guarantee
her happiness. She comes to the realization that she should accept herself for what
she is. The conflicts are used by the author of Plum Bun: A Novel Without A
Moral, Jessie Redmon Fauset to convey the idea that the act of passing done by
black women will not change the fact that they are black nor give them a
guarantee of happiness. Thus, the most important thing for black women to gain
happiness in life is by appreciating their being what they are.
21
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Text :
Fauset, Jessie Redmon. Plum Bun: A Novel Without A Moral. New York:
Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1928. Print.
References:
Brown, Lois. Encyclopedia of the Harlem Literary Renaissance. New York: Facts
on File, Inc., 2006. Print.
“Conflict.” Def. 3. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.8th ed. 2010. Print.
Dickinson, Laurie. “Jessie Redmon Fauset”. Jessie Redmon Fauset: Voice From
The Gaps. University of Minnesota. 7 Jan. 1996. Web. 10 Apr. 2012.
“Leisure Time.” The African American Experience in Philadelphia. Philadelphia
History Museum. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
Lewis, John Johnson. “Jessie Redmon Fauset”. About.com: Women’s History.
Web. 11 Nov. 2013
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976. Print.
Witalec, Janet. The Harlem Renaissance: A Gale Critical Companion. Vol. 1.
Detroit: Gale, 2003. Print.
- - - . The Harlem Renaissance: A Gale Critical Companion. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale,
2003. Print.
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