Reading Notes Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit- Part B

 Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit by Joel Chandler Harris, with illustrations (1906).

Arguably the best-known Uncle Remus tale is "The Wonderful Tar-Baby Story," in which Brer Fox successfully entraps Brer Rabbit by setting a tar-baby out on the big road right across Brer Rabbit's path. Brer Rabbit becomes confounded with the tar-baby's obstinate refusal to exchange pleasantries. He hits the tar-baby only to become entangled in the black tar. About this time Brer Fox makes his appearance on the road and hints that Brer Rabbit will be his dinner. In characteristic fashion, Uncle Remus ends the tale abruptly, leaving young John in suspense. Several days later, after questioning Uncle Remus about Brer Rabbit's fate, John learns that Brer Rabbit narrowly escaped death by begging Brer Fox to do anything but throw him into the "brier-patch." A gullible Brer Fox does exactly that and quickly realizes his mistake when he sees Brer Rabbit emerge up the hill from him, shouting "Bred en bawn in a brier-patch, Brer Fox—Bred en bawn in a brier-patch!" After Brer Rabbit's narrow escape in the tar-baby episode, he retaliates in a later tale by saddling Brer Fox and treating him like his horse. Other tales describe Brer Tarrypin outwitting Brer Rabbit in a race (similar to the tortoise and the hare fable), Brer Rabbit stealing Brer Fox's hunting spoils, and Brer Wolf losing his hide in a wooden chest full of boiling water.

The tales are followed by a series of plantation proverbs written in dialect that reflect on various aspects of an agricultural lifestyle, such as harvesting, cooking, cleaning, and keeping up with the neighbors. Harris also records several plantation songs, which are mostly of a religious nature, in dialect. He then returns to Uncle Remus in the final section of the book titled "His Sayings," which includes brief sketches of Uncle Remus that Harris likely wrote for the Atlanta Constitution before embarking on the animal tales. These tales feature Uncle Remus in the urban setting of Atlanta where he often stops by the Constitution office to share a thought or converse with the editors there. Although less compelling than the animal tales, these city tales demonstrate the evolution of Uncle Remus's character.

Harris's animal tales have been celebrated for their psychological complexity as well as for their use of dialect. His interest in the southeastern oral tradition as manifested in the Uncle Remus stories garnered him praise as an important regional humorist. Yet much criticism of Harris has also pointed to an underlying racism in his work, specifically with regard to his stereotypical depiction of Uncle Remus. For this reason both Harris and his narrator, Uncle Remus, fell out of favor with later twentieth-century readers. Recently, however, scholarship has attempted to redeem them. For example, scholar Robert Cochran argues that Uncle Remus is more complex than stereotypical and that Harris weaves an anti-racist stance subtly throughout the Uncle Remus tales, aware that any overt subversion would alienate readers.

Harris would go on to write several "adult" fiction books in the local-color tradition, but his characteristically optimistic outlook at times interfered with his ability to portray the depths of human experience. A prolific writer throughout his life who held the titles of esteemed newspaper editor, children's book writer, novelist, American folklorist, humorist, and local-color writer, Harris, through the voice of Uncle Remus, remains best known in his role as storyteller.

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