The Quest of the Silver Fleece : : A Novel / / W. E. B. Du Bois.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Penn Press eBook Package Complete Collection
• VerfasserIn: Bois, W. E. B. Du,
• TeilnehmendeR: Lay, H. S. De.
• Place / Publishing House: Philadelphia : : University of Pennsylvania Press, , [2013]; ©2005
• Year of Publication: 2013
• Language: English
• Series: Pine Street Books
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (440 p.) :; 4 illus.

Set in Alabama and Washington, D.C., in the early part of the twentieth century, W. E. B. Du Bois's first novel weaves the themes of racial equality and understanding through the stark reality of prejudice and bias. Originally published in 1911 and conceived immediately after The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois turned to fiction to carry his message to a popular audience who were unfamiliar with his nonfiction works. Du Bois addresses the fact that, despite the legal emancipation of African Americans, the instruments of oppression, in both the economy and government, remained in good working order. At the time he was writing, powerful white industrialists controlled the cotton industry, the "silver fleece" that depended, as it did during slavery, on the physical labor of African Americans. White Americans also controlled local and national government.In the novel, Blessed "Bles" Alwyn, a young man seeking formal education to improve himself, is captivated by Zora, a vivacious, independent woman who lives outside society in a mysterious swamp. Faced with shocking events in Zora's past and ambivalence about how a black man should integrate into American society, Bles pursues his goals and ends up in Washington to assist on a senator's campaign. While in the city, he meets successful African Americans-and falls in love-but he ultimately recoils from the hypocrisies they must endure in order to be accepted in society. Instead, he is compelled to return to Alabama and Zora, where he must face his greatest challenges and fears.With its frank and clear language, The Quest of the Silver Fleece is a remarkable portrait of racial prejudice at the turn of the twentieth century. Through the characters, Du Bois demonstrates the efficacy of self-sufficiency for those who face discrimination while championing the benefits of strength in diversity to American society as a whole.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- 1. Dreams -- 2. The School -- 3. Miss Mary Taylor -- 4. Town -- 5. Zora -- 6. Cotton -- 7. The Place of Dreams -- 8. Mr. Harry Cresswell -- 9. The Planting -- 10. Mr. Taylor Calls -- 11. The Flowering of the Fleece -- 12. The Promise -- 13. Mrs. Grey Gives a Dinner -- 14. Love -- 15. Revelation -- 16. The Great Refusal -- 17. The Rape of the Fleece -- 18. The Cotton Corner -- 19. The Dying of Elspeth -- 20. The Weaving of the Silver Fleece -- 21. The Marriage Morning -- 22. Miss Caroline Wynn -- 23. The Training of Zora -- 24. The Education of Alwyn -- 25. The Campaign -- 26. Congressman Cresswell -- 27. The Vision of Zora -- 28. The Annunciation -- 29. A Master of Fate -- 30. The Return of Zora -- 31. A Parting of Ways -- 32. Zora's Way -- 33. The Buying of the Swamp -- 34. The Return of Alwyn -- 35. The Cotton Mill -- 36. The Land -- 37. The Mob -- 38. Atonement