Polly (Lauren Frances Jones)
From the movie: Clarissa's War
My name is Polly, jes Polly. When I was old enough to leave my mammy, Masta
Robert give me to Miss Clarissa, only I couldn't say such a mouthful so I
called her Missa and do till this day. I never had to work in the cotton fields
or the kitchen like my sistahs. I learned how to read and write along with
Missa when her mama died and Miss Matilda come to Mimosa Manor to take care of
Masta Robert's three chil'ren.
When Missa come to Whitehaven to marry Masta Malcolm, I was sent right along with her. And then come the war and Masta Malcolm and all the othah young men went off to fight. Then Missa had a chile and I took care of little Masta Robert while her and the othah ladies round about spent their days working for the Ladies' Aid Society. When the fightin' got closer, Masta Josiah let the soldiers use Whitehaven for a hospital and Captain Burke was put in charge. The captain was a Yankee doctah but when the womenfolk left, Missa stayed on to nurse the wounded and I stayed, too.
That was when I got to know Napoleon. He drove Masta Josiah's carriage but now the masta ordered him to stay and hep Missa and make sure she was safe with all the soldiers about. He was some fine man--tall and wide-shouldered and strong as a ox--but gentle, too. Before long, he took notice of me and we started talkin' when nobody was watching. Then we got bolder and met in secret and began hugging and kissing. When Missa caught us one day, she scolded me and said I was not to be with Napoleon again or she would tell Masta Josiah and Napoleon would be punished.
I doan know what would have happened but Masta Malcolm come home a few days and Missa and me went to be with him at Fleur-de-Lis where the women was staying. That man was a drunk and a brute and he told Missa she couldn't go back to Whitehaven to nurse the soldiers. She stood up to him and he hurt her. Well, Missa didn't take kindly to that so she had Napoleon bring us back to Whitehaven in the middle of the night. I knew he would get whipped for that, and he had been talking of running away before now. So I ast the captain if he could hep him and he did. Captain Burke had a brother in New York whose wife took in runaway slaves and that was where Napoleon went.
He has been gone some time now, and the captain tole me he is driving a carriage for his brother's wife and I am glad he be safe and free. When Missa heard about it, she said she guessed I would run away to be with him, and I want to real bad. But I knows my duty and Missa needs me, specially now with another chile on the way. Besides, Napoleon is a big city man now and he may not want the likes of me. I think about the life we might have had when the war is over. And sometimes I ast the Lord to bring him back to me but I guess He be too busy with all the fightin' and dyin' to pay attention to a slave like me.
Excerpt from This Time Forever
"Now, Polly, I want to know just what is going on
here," Clarissa said sternly as she faced her servant in the sitting room
upstairs.
"What you mean, Missa?" Polly looked uneasy.
"I mean, how did you come to know that Napoleon is
working for Major Burke's brother? And how long have you known?"
"He send me a lettah?"
"Napoleon can't write."
"Well, he have somebody else write it." Polly
shifted uneasily from one foot to the other.
"And sent it to Major Burke? He helped Napoleon run away,
didn't he?"
"No, Missa, he didn't do nothin' but write a
lettah."
"Why did he do that, Polly?" Clarissa demanded.
"Cause I ast him to, Missa," Polly said in a
contrite voice.
"I should tell his master what you did, Polly. Napoleon
was a valuable slave."
"Ain't no use in takin' on so, doan do no good. Napoleon
be free now anyways."
Clarissa nodded slowly. "So are you, Polly. And since you
know where Napoleon is, are you planning to leave too?"
"No, Missa." Polly shook her head. "You gonna
need me here."
Clarissa looked thoughtful. "Perhaps Napoleon will come
back when the war is over."
"I doan think so, Missa. That man done gone for good. He
got a fine job for pay, driving a carriage for a newspaper lady."
"Polly," Clarissa hesitated as her servant looked at
her expectantly, "do you love Napoleon?"
"More'n anything in the world, Missa," Polly said
softly, "but I knows my duty. I belong here with you."
"Then, I thank you, Polly." Clarissa crossed the
distance between them and the two women embraced. "Good night."
After Polly had gone, Clarissa stood for a moment deep in thought.
Maybe she and Polly shared more than she could have imagined. She knew what it
was like to love someone without hope too. She should confront Philip Burke
with what Polly had told her, but she knew it was useless. He didn't believe in
slavery and, of course, he'd taken the opportunity to help a slave escape when
he had the chance. Maybe he was right in his belief that one man shouldn't be
allowed to own another.
~~~**~~~
Note: Lauren Jones was Polly in the film, Clarissa's War, adapted by Greg J. Welsch from the novel, The Time Forever, and filmed by Reel Cool Films, directed by Wes Pryor.
Thank you for visiting.
Linda
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This is fantastic! So happy for you that this is doing good.
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting the blog today, Gerald, and for your kind comments. I always appreciate your support of me and our other authors.
ReplyDeletewonderful!
ReplyDeletedenise
Thank you for visiting the blog and for your comment, Denise. I always look for you.
ReplyDeleteI like posts that are somehow personal. In this one, you gave us a glimpse into the life of a young female slave. I think your imagination is often very close to realism. At least, you made me understand their lot in life back then, and how sensitive they might have been. Thanks, Linda.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your insightful comments, Celia. I hope in the book I was able to show the emotions common to all people regardless of their race. And from the research I did, I realized that the slaveholders didn't really see their slaves as having these same emotions. Polly and Napoleon had a very deep love and their story was important to the book as well as the love of other secondary characters. At first,I hesitated to put words and thoughts into Polly's mouth and mind, but then I realized that I created her so I have spoken and thought for her from the beginning!
DeleteThank you again for helping me get this post on our blog when blogger wouldn't let me access the page.
Such an interesting way to post about your book using a secondary character. This Time Forever was a powerful story about the Civil War and how people lived during that time. Women had few choices except to marry and what kind of man she married could make her life heaven or hell. Great post, Linda.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your kind words, Sarah. Yes, a woman had such few choices in that time period and Clarissa had the experience of both heaven and hell in her relationships with men. But Malcolm was a product of his upbringing as well as Philip was of his so his flaws were to be pitied as well as despised.
DeleteAll this reminds me of the movie "Gone with the wind"
ReplyDeleteAll this reminds me of the movie "Gone with the wind"
ReplyDeleteHaddock, I think most Civil War stories have some things in common. However, This Time Forever, the book from which the film is adapted, has a heroine who was quite different from Scarlet. And there are severa subplots that didn't make it into the film due to the film's limited time. I hope you will read the book and then watch for the film to be released if you like Civil War stories. Thanks for visiting.
DeleteEnjoyed your clever post of using one of your characters to tell it.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Karen. I can't take credit for the idea. It was one of the suggestions given when we were invited to participate in this blog. It "grabbed" me and I had been wanting to try it with one of my characters. But which one? It had to be from This Time Forever. And Polly kept nagging me to tell her POV and so I did!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Karen. I can't take credit for the idea. It was one of the suggestions given when we were invited to participate in this blog. It "grabbed" me and I had been wanting to try it with one of my characters. But which one? It had to be from This Time Forever. And Polly kept nagging me to tell her POV and so I did!
ReplyDelete