The common theme in The Conjure
Woman is the dealings between outsiders or "Carpetbaggers"
and the indigenous populations of the south. The stories tend to be a
form of indoctrination of these outsiders with a price that is not so
apparent. This is due to the narrator being the outsider skimming the
surface of southern culture through the stories told by a former
slave who is keen to the potential opportunity. This is conflict with
the majority of carpetbaggers who came down from the north after the
end of the Civil War and were able to take advantage of the poor and
unorganized lands. While it is true that John and Annie appear to be
on the winning side, almost replacing the white slave owners in
action, the African-American natives tend to have subtle advantages.
The power system that Julius talks of
in his tales seems to be replicated in many ways. It is seen as in
the past Caucasian male land owners who have the apparent upper hand
yet lose out time to time as the African-American slaves have learned
by necessity to be sly and trick their masters with claims of magic
and “goophering.” This is echoed in the dynamic between Julius
and the Yankees when Julius waves one hand and steals with the other.
The complexity of the tricks is less than when the slave owners were
in power as John and Annie take a while to acclimate themselves.
In this differing dynamic, the winner
of each situation is not clear. While it could be argued that John as
the white land owner is the winner the majority of the time, his
obliviousness can be seen in every encounter with Julius and every
time subtly loses something. Julius could also be said to have the
edge in this power dynamic, but his status as a servant prevents him
from having an overall win. Annie is seen to be in same state as
Julius without his knowledge of culture to manipulate her surroundings, having her have the least amounts of wins.
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