# XII: The Winding Up of the Matter explained — Our Nig

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

## What happens

Frado marries Samuel, a man claiming to be a fugitive slave, but he later deserts her and is revealed to be a fraud. She gives birth to a child, struggles as a single mother, and eventually finds a means of self-support through a recipe provided by a friend. The chapter concludes with updates on the fates of the Bellmont family and others from her past.

## Themes in this chapter

### Resilience and Survival

Frado repeatedly overcomes abandonment and poverty, ultimately finding a means of self-support.

### Hypocrisy of Christianity

Frado encounters professed abolitionists who refuse to house or associate with Black people.

### Gender and Vulnerability

Frado's dependence on Samuel and her struggles as a single mother highlight her vulnerability.

## Character check-ins

### Frado

Marries Samuel, is deserted, gives birth, and eventually supports herself through a trade.

### Samuel

Marries Frado, deserts her, is revealed to have never been enslaved, and later dies of yellow fever.

### Mrs. Bellmont

Becomes more irritable with age and dies in agony.

### Mr. Bellmont

Accompanies Mrs. Bellmont to Lewis's home before her death.

### Aunt Abby

Has entered heaven.

### Jane

Now has silver locks but retains Henry's love and has no regrets.

## Key lines

> Nothing new under the sun. Solomon

The chapter begins with a biblical quote suggesting that the events about to be described are not unprecedented.

_Sets a tone of timeless human experience._

> He never spoke of his enslavement to her when alone, but she felt that, like her own oppression, it was painful to disturb oftener than was needful.

Samuel avoided discussing his supposed enslavement with Frado, and she assumed it was too painful to bring up.

_Foreshadows Samuel's deception._

> He left her to her fate—embarked at sea, with the disclosure that he had never seen the South, and that his illiterate harangues were humbugs for hungry abolitionists.

Samuel abandoned Frado, revealing that his stories of slavery were fabricated to gain sympathy and money from abolitionists.

_Exposes Samuel's fraud and deepens Frado's betrayal._

> Maltreated by professed abolitionists, who didn’t want slaves at the South, nor niggers in their own houses, North.

Frado was mistreated by people who claimed to oppose slavery but refused to treat Black people as equals in their own homes.

_Highlights the hypocrisy of Northern abolitionists._

> Nothing turns her from her steadfast purpose of elevating herself. Reposing on God, she has thus far journeyed securely.

Frado remains determined to improve her life, relying on her faith in God.

_Emphasizes Frado's resilience and religious faith._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/our_nig_se/chapters/xii-the-winding-up-of-the-matter
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/our_nig_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/our_nig_se/chapters