Vu's Paper

Vu's underlying topic surrounds itself around the scarring of Frado's life, and the inability of the characters in the story to subsequently act upon Frado's pain and be "moral" human beings. To add onto this point Vu explains that W.E.B Dubois' idea of the double-consciousness directly correlates with Frado's situation as a free-slave in a Northern home where she is forced to act as a servant. Vu proposes the fact that the "double-existance" that Frado holds is the underlying theme in "Our Nig". Even though Frado is a free-citizen she still has to face the cultural hatred that the Bellmont family throws at her. Frado comes to the point where she disowns her very being because of the hatred she has to put up with on a daily basis. Frado loses her identity as a black girl even though she is technically able to be whomever she desires without feeling persecuted (she is free). One of Vu's point signals that even the characters who seem to at least try to act based upon their sense of morality seem to succomb to the cruelty and prejudice that the Bellmont family imposes on her.
The characters in the story that try to help Frado seem to attempt to uphold the standards and ideologies of the North. Whenever Mr. Bellmont treats Frado as an equal or even attempts to do so, it seems that someone else in the family brings her down.
Vu's final point focuses on the fact that the internal struggle amongst the characters seems to manifest itself physically through death and illness. Ultimatley one of the only people in the story that seem to fulfill their promises to Frado passes away, James.