24 pages • 48 minutes read
Charles W. ChesnuttThe Goophered Grapevine
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 2008A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Scuppernong
The scuppernong is a grape that is indigenous to the South. In the story, the scuppernong is the product of enslaved people's labor, the object of their theft when they are hungry, and the source of wealth for both Dugal McAdoo and the narrator. The scuppernong represents the potential of the South to serve as a source of economic wealth but also of the expropriated labor of enslaved people.
It also serves as material for the Aunt Peggy’s conjuring, so it represents the spiritual practices of African Americans specifically and the connection between humans and the natural world generally.
The Ruined Plantation
The McAdoo plantation is described at the start of the story as a place where the soil has been depleted by poor agricultural practices. The house has been destroyed by the war, and the vineyard, a potential source of wealth, has been neglected. The immediate cause of its ruin is the death of Dugal McAdoo, who, driven by impetuousness and revenge, left his family behind and was killed during the Civil War.
The plantation represents the vision of the South as a place of wasted potential and shiftlessness. Julius McAdoo manages to create a living out of the ruins of the plantation, however, so for him and other formerly enslaved people, the plantation represents their efforts to survive the aftermath of enslavement.
The Goopher
The goopher, the curse Aunt Peggy places on the vineyard at the behest of Dugal McAdoo, is credible enough to the slaves that they avoid eating the grapes. The goopher illustrates the importance of spiritual practices and beliefs in terms of the way African-Americans in the antebellum South (and afterward) understood their relationship to the natural world. Dugal McAdoo’s use of the goopher to increase his profits shows that these same beliefs can be exploited, much like the African-Americans themselves.
Related Titles
By Charles W. Chesnutt
