Summary Of The Doll By Charles Chesnutt

Imagine a world where one was already condemned before a single word came out of one’s mouth, instead being evaluated based on the color of one's skin. In the short story “The Doll”, by Charles Chesnutt, the stereotype of the barbaric and aggressive black man is undermined and its rebuttals articulated through various events in the story. The unjustified murder of a harmless black man by the aggressive white colonel contradicts this very stereotype; furthermore, the barber’s inner conflict and ultimate decision to spare the colonel shows the complexity of his thoughts and the extent of his compassion. The colonel illustrates his own bloody past as he proudly tells the judge how he “killed a n****r to teach him his place” (3). The colonel’s

In addition, the colonel disproves his own statement when he tells the judge “they are born to serve and submit… they have no proper self respect” (2). If the black man is barbaric and aggressive by nature, how then, can he submit to the white man? With the colonel’s life in his hands, the barber faces internal turmoil on whether or not he should avenge his father’s death. This, along with his eventual decision to spare the colonel in light of the needs of others, exemplifies the powerfully thoughtful and selfless nature to this black man, who is by all means, neither barbaric nor aggressive. His overwhelming, yet justifiable vendetta against the colonel becomes outweighed by the compassion he holds for his daughter. An interesting and introspective parallel is held when the barber contemplates how “his own father had died in defense of his daughter; he must live to protect his own” (7). This demonstrates a far greater range of thought and care that should have been possible for the supposed barbaric and violent blacks, who contradict this stereotype by thinking of the grand scheme of things, as well as successfully allowing love to triumph over