Debo\u2019s article, \u201cOphelia Speaks: Resurrecting Still Lives in Natasha Trethewey\u2019s Bellocq\u2019s Ophelia\u201d displays the stalemate that race creates for Ophelia. Debo shows that though Ophelia\u2019s\u00a0 \u201cAfrican heritage\u201d (Debo 210) attracts an audience, it also forces a placement upon her as she receives smarmy glances outside and inside the brothel. All in all, I coincide with Debo\u2019s view of the conflicting attributes of race, which result it in being advantageous and disadvantageous \u2013 in Ophelia\u2019s case.<\/p>\n
Besides attracting an audience, Ophelia\u2019s race provides other advantageous to her situation. Unlike a white prostitute, Ophelia is allowed to work in a \u201cfancy colored house\u201d (Trethewey 17), which was of higher maintenance and of more secure security. Although a nicer brothel might not seem to one as an advantage, in Ophelia\u2019s case, not having to supplement her worries with sanitary conditions and security are great survival benefits. Another advantage her race provides is that it makes her more exotic \u201cShe calls me Violet now\/ \u2013 a common name\u2026 except\/ I am the African Violet\u201d (Trethewey 13), which raises her price range for the auction\u2019s customers. Though one may believe the moniker \u201cAfrican Violet\u201d (Trethewey 17) a mere descriptor, the fact that the Countess says this during the auction, shows that it is a more monetary reason.<\/p>\n
Although Ophelia\u2019s race provides some benefits, there are also a number of disadvantageous that come with her race. Through all the progress that Ophelia is facing from her newfound money to her job, it seems that Ophelia might progress to a situation of economic security. Unfortunately, her race causes others to prevent her from progressing as they detest to see her be financially well off, or as Debo puts it white society \u201cremind her of her position.\u201d Ophelia receives her degrading position as she is found \u201cguilty of being\/ where I was not allowed to be, a woman\u201d (Trethewey 29), showing that society expects Ophelia to be in the brothel and not outside with the success of society. Apart from receiving a degrading position, Ophelia\u2019s race also creates a barrier of acceptance. While she works at the brothel the men \u201cdebate\u201d (Trethewey 26) on how to know that she is African American \u201cwhether one can tell, just by looking, \/ our secret\u201d (Trethewey 26). So though being an \u201cexotic curiosity<\/em>\u201d (Trethewey 26) raises her auctioning price, it also serves as a constant reminder that she will never be accepted like a white worker.<\/p>\n Conclusively, Ophelia\u2019s position of race is not only a deleterious one, but an advantageous one as well. How one considers which is more dominant \u2013 in Ophelia\u2019s current situation \u2013 is up to one\u2019s opinion. Though I agreed that Ophelia\u2019s race attributes clash, I believe that her negatives outweigh her positives. I stand by this argument on the basis that had she not been half black, she would not be in this situation at all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Debo\u2019s article, \u201cOphelia Speaks: Resurrecting Still Lives in Natasha Trethewey\u2019s Bellocq\u2019s Ophelia\u201d displays the stalemate that race creates for Ophelia. Debo shows that though Ophelia\u2019s\u00a0 \u201cAfrican heritage\u201d (Debo 210) attracts an audience, it also forces a placement upon her as she receives smarmy glances outside and inside the brothel. All in all, I coincide with<\/p>\n