'Displacement' in Louisa May Alcott's "My Contraband"

A Psychoanalytic Reading

Term Paper , 2017 , 17 Pages , Grade: 2,0

English Language and Literature Studies - Literature

This paper deals with the status of contrabands in American society and the racial prejudice, they must cope with. In a second step, the Freudian concept of 'displacement' will be discussed and connected to Freud’s findings about the super-ego. Finally, the findings of the previous chapters will be used to look at the primary text "My Contraband" by Louisa May Alcott in more detail. The choice of words, especially the choice of colours, is worth taking a closer look at. Further textual evidence will also be discussed in order to look at what image of her contraband the nurse is producing and why she does so.

"My Contraband" is certainly a story about race. However, it is not a story about racial prejudice and stereotypes. Quite on the contrary, it is a story about interracial sexuality. Although this interpretation might go a little too far, it certainly offers a quite uncommon view on the African American. Baym et al. admits that "My Contraband"only offers suggestions about such a possibility, for example a relationship between the two races.

As we see the story world through the first-person narrator’s eyes, we get access to Miss Dane’s perceptions and thoughts. Miss Dane is a nurse and in the short story has the task to look after a wounded captain. When she enters the captain’s sickroom for the first time she gets to see not only her patient but also the contraband who has been housed in the adjoining room. The first description of her impressions of him is very straightforward. She tells the reader that she feels decidedly more interested in the black man than in the white.

Being attracted to a 'black' person and admitting this as clearly as in this passage is most likely to meet strong opposition in the society Miss Dane lives in. Although the reader can clearly see that Miss Dane does not show signs of racial prejudice, she still accepts the distribution of roles that the American society dictates. When she asks a favour of him she wants to offer comfort as a friend but instead merely gives an order as a mistress,

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. The Contraband: Social Status and Racial Prejudice

3. Miss Dane: Reality and (Day)dreams

4. White Blacks and Black Whites – Identifying ‘Displacement’

5. Concluding Discussion

6. Works Cited

• College: University of Koblenz-Landau
• Grade: 2,0
• Author: Sven Klees (Author)
• Publication Year: 2017
• Pages: 17
• Catalog Number: V950025
• ISBN (eBook): 9783346290502
• ISBN (Book): 9783346290519
• Language: English
• Tags: Alcott, Psychoanalysis, Displacement, Racism