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| Ghost of Hamlet's Father |
Ghosts are not
just ghosts. They appear in stories not just to scare us but to teach moral or
sociological lessons. The four ghosts that appear in A Christmas Carol—ghost of Marley, of Christmas Present, Christmas
Past, and Christmas future—are part of a novella about social justice and fairness
for the poor. The ghost of Hamlet’s father asks for revenge after he is
murdered so his brother can make himself king. The ghost in Toni Morrison’s Beloved, described as “spiteful. Full of
a baby’s venom,” is an icon calling attention to racial injustice and the
suffering of African-Americans during the years of slavery in the United
States. In my story, “Plantation
Ghost,” I try to illustrate some aspects of racial conflict in America through
the presence of a ghost. The story calls focuses on this, but
also illustrates the complications of being black and white in our society.
Rebecca Hayes, the
bass player in Sossity Chandler’s band, is black. She has been dating the band’s
drummer recently, who is white, but they have split up—sort of. Rebecca has caved
in to pressure from her family to break the relationship off. But that has not
been as easy as she has imagined it would be. For one, she loves Todd and he
loves her. During the story she goes in to confront him and ends up making love
to him. She is frustrated, as he is, knowing she has to take decisive action to
end the relationship but not really wanting to.
When the band is
doing a series of concerts in Alabama and Georgia, Rebecca and Sossity share a
room at a plantation that has been turned into a B&B. Rebecca wakes up in
the middle of the night to see a tall, slender black woman dressed in garments
that suggest the 1800s standing at the foot of her bed. The figure vanishes and
Rebecca writes it off as a dream. At the breakfast table that morning one of
the guests asks if anyone there saw the ghost. Rebecca asks about it and
finds out more:
“She is
one of the most well-known ghosts in the area,” the white businessman, who had
a heavy Southern accent, was saying. “This place was deserted for years because
of her. More than one family moved in and the ghost supposedly drove them off.”
“Did the
ghost go away?”
“A few
people say they’ve seen her, but I guess she’s a little calmer—so calm she
hasn’t rattled chains or terrified anyone lately.” Everyone around the table
chucked at this. “People who have seen her identify her as a woman who worked
her as a servant in the Reconstruction era, though, sadly, we don’t even know
her name. She died a victim of racial violence, I think.”
Since
racial violence was a delicate subject, the guests quickly moved the
conversation elsewhere.
Later, the ghost appears to
Rebecca and speaks to her. She tells the story of having been chased by
ex-Confederate soldiers after the civil war and being shot. She staggers into a
swamp for safety, finally collapses and his found by a white man who nurses her
back to health. He lives alone, has lost his wife, and eventually Shoshanna
and he fall in love. He is able to pass her off as a farm and worker and mistress,
which the other men in the area can tolerate. They live together ten years and
have two children. Charlie, the husband, eventually dies during a typhus
epidemic. Shoshanna gives the children to relatives to raise and goes off to
seek employment. She finds work at a plantation with white people who are fair
and kind to her.
But by that time the Ku Klux
Klan has become active. They don’t like the family that has hired Shoshanna and
begin to harass them and her. One night they come to lynch her. In the
struggle, one of their number drops a pistol on the ground. It goes off and
kills her. The family buries her and leaves the plantation. Shoshanna becomes a ghost. She haunts anyone who has any connection with the mob of men who
killed her—which is most everyone in the town and surrounding area. The plantation
sits empty for years until someone from the north buys it and opens it as a bed
and breakfast. Rebecca suggests that since Shoshanna has told her story and the
direct relatives of men who murdered her are all dead, she can go to her rest. Shoshanna
does not reply. She vanishes.
As Rebecca and Sossity are
getting ready to leave, the woman who runs the place gives them a tour of the servants’ quarters. A box of old books she is giving away sits on a table
there. Rebecca come across Shoshanna’s diary. She tells the woman it might be
valuable, but the woman insists Rebecca take it. On the way home, Sossity asks
her about Todd. Rebecca says it is over with them. Sossity argues she needs to
defy her family and convention and pursue the relationship, since she really does
love. Sossity tells Rebecca that she needs to do what is right. Her reply is, I
think, some of the best lines I’ve ever written:
“I love him. No doubt about that. You
told me I needed to do what was right. But sometimes you can’t do what is right
in life. Sometimes you have to do what is wrong.” The story end on an unhappy
but perhaps sadly realistic note.
“Plantation
Ghost” appeared in The WiFiles. Read
it here. The journal, no longer published but maintaining an archive, has a straight-line format, so you'll have to scroll down to get to my story. It's number four in the line-up.
Here's a video for my novel, Sinfonia: The First Notes on the Lute. Vampires, love, music, passion, and intrigue. Also, Shakespeare, and Queen Elizabeth.
For more titles, visit my Writer's Page.
I would love to hear your comments.
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