“Free Joe and the Rest of the World” is perhaps my favorite story thus far in our reading. I am a hopeless romantic and was awed at the commitment Free Joe displayed for his wife. I would presume this to be one of the more humane stories of slave families and their separations. Even though there was separation and captivity, there was no brutality mentioned. One could find themselves feeling sorry for Free Joe; having his freedom and nothing to do with it. He wasn’t accepted among either of the races in the area, with no place to call home. Would he have been better off being included in the winnings from Major Frampton’s misfortune? I would hope Frampton felt he was doing a good deed in granting Joe is freedom; but what problems it presented for Joe. Even today, I believe our culture treats diverse populations in the same manner Joe was treated; even though they are free to live in this country and attain citizenship, we remain cautious of them, never fully trusting them or treating them as equals. What a sweet ending to the story; Joe slipping into eternity quietly with the smile still on his face. Even though for me it wasn’t clear in the story as to what happened to Lucinda, I wonder if she, Joe, and Dan were all finally together in a state of permanent freedom.
I enjoyed “How Mr. Rabbit Was Too Sharp for Mr. Fox” even though the dialect again was hard to follow. I found myself reading it out loud to be able to better understand what was being said. I remember the stories of Uncle Remus from my childhood. They were included with studies of Aesop fables. I loved the stories with the morals at the end. This story tells me to be careful of characters trying to goad me. Sometimes people are able to get us to do things by simply letting us think it is something we shouldn’t do. I see parents doing this with young children to make them think something is of their own choosing.
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