The Theme of Forbidden Love in My Contraband by Louisa Alcott

The Theme of Forbidden Love in My Contraband by Louisa Alcott
Student:
Professor:
Course title:
Date:
Summary
In the story of My contraband also referred as the brothers (1863), Louisa May Alcott perceives human bondage as an aspect that has caused more misery and suffering to the human soul in comparison to other atrocities which man has ever encountered. In essence, the story is concerned with one of the America’s Civil wars with focus on an attack on Fort Wagner. During the course of the civil war, two siblings, one who is half-black and the other a white meet in a health facility. The half-black guy attempts to murder the other brother due to a previous grudge they had against each other. The half-black guy is the one who is referred to as the contraband and he is the main character in this story, identified as Robert (Reuscher, 2013, 15).
There are various instances in this piece concerning opposing and conflicting views about racism. The narrator; a nurse during the civil war, and who is identified as Miss Dane, sympathizes and eventually falls in love with Robert, the half-black guy who had recently been freed from slavery. According to this nurse, slavery is the “hell” where Robert had escaped from and this sets the basis for her sympathy and affection towards him.
In particular, Alcott is drawing from personal experiences to show various aspects on humanity in this work. She is also utilizing the aspect of naturalism in her condemnation of racism in the American-African community. This is more depicted when the author recognizes the contribution of the black race on the civil war on Fort Wegner. The writing in Alcott’s Contraband piece is a reflection of the conflicting views concerning gender and race. This piece also reflects the advocacy for feminists’ objectives and abolitionists. Her language also reveals the sexist and racial stereotypes. This paper reviews the Theme of Forbidden Love in My Contraband.
Theme of Forbidden Love
In this story, Miss Dane decides to lock Robert, the half-black guy he met in hospital in his room, then goes back to her own room and opens the window for ventilation. As she completes her work at morning hours, she is perplexed to hear the doctor, whom she has told Robert’s story enter his room. This makes her to become restless in her room to an extent of being unable to sleep just thinking about Robert. Although she tries to hear the conversations going on in Robert’s room, she does not hear anything beyond murmurs and the heavy soaps of Robert. The doctor then comes to her room to inform her that Robert need to be taken to Massachusetts (Bayum, 2011, 1736).
She however, continues to perform her work hoping to meet Robert once again. “I tried to rest,” she explains, claiming that the “thought of poor Lucy was really stressing my heart.” This is ultimately a lie and her true feelings are indicated in her next expressions. “I was immediately back to my work designation again, hoping nervously that my contraband had not lost hope.” In this case, she is now referring to Robert as she has come to develop affection for h...