Short Fiction · Chapter
Tante Cat'rinette explained
Tante Cat'rinette, a formerly enslaved woman, fiercely defends her house given to her by her former master, Vieumaite, when the town authorities condemn it for demolition.
What happens
Tante Cat'rinette, a formerly enslaved woman, fiercely defends her house given to her by her former master, Vieumaite, when the town authorities condemn it for demolition. She refuses to leave, even threatening violence. When she learns that Miss Kitty, the child she nursed and who was named after her, is ill, she defies her own fears and travels at night through the woods to care for her. Ultimately, she decides to lend the thousand dollars she would receive from the town to Miss Kitty's husband, Raymond, securing the money for Miss Kitty after her death.
Themes in this chapter
Freedom and Confinement
Tante Cat'rinette's fierce defense of her house symbolizes her hard-won freedom, while the threat of demolition and her self-imposed confinement to protect it illustrate the tension between liberation and constraint.
Sacrifice and Redemption
Tante Cat'rinette risks her safety and ultimately gives up the compensation for her house to care for Miss Kitty and secure her future, embodying self-sacrifice and loyalty.
Characters to notice
- Tante Cat'rinette
The protagonist, a formerly enslaved woman fiercely protective of her home and devoted to Miss Kitty, whom she nursed as a child.
- Lawyer Paxton
A lawyer who stops to discuss the condemnation of Tante Cat'rinette's house and later is sought to formalize her loan to Raymond.
- Little Marie Louise
Miss Kitty, the grown daughter of Vieumaite, whom Tante Cat'rinette nursed and who is now ill and married to Raymond.
- Telèsphore Baquette
Eusèbe, the 'free mulatto' who brings news of Miss Kitty's illness to Tante Cat'rinette.
Key passages
“Dat house w'at Vieumaite gi' me his own se'f, out his own mout', w'en he gi' me my freedom! All wrote down en règle befo' de cote! Bon dieu Seigneur, w'at dey talkin' 'bout!”
That house which Vieumaite himself gave me, with his own words, when he granted me my freedom! It's all written down legally before the court! Good Lord, what are they talking about!
Tante Cat'rinette expresses outrage that the town authorities are trying to take the house that was legally given to her by her former master upon her emancipation.
“I got my axe grine fine. Fus' man w'at touch Cat'rinette fo' tu'n her out dat house, he git 'is head bus' like I bus' a gode.”
I have my axe sharpened. The first man who touches Cat'rinette to turn her out of that house will get his head split open like I split a gourd.
Tante Cat'rinette threatens violence against anyone who tries to forcibly remove her from her home.
“Den Cat'rinette goin' len' you t'ousan' dolla'. Dat w'at Vieumaite give her, dat b'long to her; don' b'long to nobody else. An' we go yon'a to town, Miché Raymond, you an' me. You care me befo' Miché Paxtone. I want 'im fo' put down in writin' befo' de cote dat w'at Cat'rinette got, it fo' Miss Kitty w'en I be dead.”
Then Cat'rinette will lend you a thousand dollars. That which Vieumaite gave her belongs to her and no one else. And we will go to town, Mr. Raymond, you and me. You take me before Lawyer Paxton. I want him to put in writing before the court that what Cat'rinette has is for Miss Kitty when I die.
Tante Cat'rinette decides to lend the compensation money to Raymond, ensuring it is legally documented that the funds will go to Miss Kitty after her death.