# Our Nig explained — Our Nig

> Chapter companion for Our Nig by Harriet E. Wilson.

## What happens

The opening of the narrative introduces Mag Smith, a white woman abandoned and degraded, who gives birth to a mixed-race daughter, Frado. After Mag's marriage to a Black man and his death, Frado is left at the Bellmont household, where she is subjected to harsh labor and abuse, revealing that racial oppression exists even in the North.

## Themes in this chapter

### Racial Oppression and Prejudice

Frado's mixed-race identity subjects her to abuse and dehumanization, even in the 'free' North.

### Class and Economic Exploitation

Mag Smith's poverty and Frado's unpaid labor at the Bellmonts highlight the intersection of race and class oppression.

## Character check-ins

### Frado

Introduced as the mixed-race daughter of Mag Smith, left at the Bellmonts' home.

### Mag Smith

Frado's white mother, who descends into poverty and abandonment after the death of her Black husband.

### Mrs. Bellmont

The harsh mistress of the household who subjects Frado to cruelty and overwork.

### Mr. Bellmont

The more passive husband who does little to intervene in his wife's treatment of Frado.

## Key lines

> Our Nig Or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, in a Two-Story White House, North. Showing That Slavery’s Shadows Fall Even There

The title declares that even in the North, a free Black person can experience the shadows of slavery.

_Sets the central theme of Northern racial hypocrisy._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/our_nig_se/chapters/our-nig
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/our_nig_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/our_nig_se/chapters