Topsy's Representation of the Black Body

            Jayna Brown’s interpretation of central ideas raised through and about the character Topsy continuously referenced the role of the body and information brought about through the examination of Topsy’s use of her body. Essentially, Brown argued that there are two overarching understandings of Topsy’s representation of the black body. She utilized the descriptions and discussions of Topsy’s haphazard, wild movements, in addition to her inability to be injured by physical force initially as exposure of multiple racist, pseudo-scientific, long held beliefs about the black body, in reference to primitivism and power. Brown mentioned ideas of the ability to feel pain as an indication that “black Africans could be lifted up from their savage state.” (81) Yet, Topsy’s performance had the opposite interpretation because the physical attacks on Topsy’s body did not appear to reveal indications of pain. This lack of pain dehumanized Topsy. Brown, however, offers the idea that Topsy’s continued rising up after being struck could have also been interpreted as an act of defiance, disruptive resilience, and refusal of humiliation. (p 77) Additionally, Brown refers to the reference of power over the black body by the white women who acted in the role of Topsy, as well as the commodification of the black body by white slave owners. Brown, ultimately reveals that the body, black or otherwise, innately cannot be owned by an outside force; it can only be owned by its inhabitant. (p 85) Thus, the beliefs that whites could own and define black bodies are false impressions. Rather, Brown refers to Topsy’s dancing body as a “reclaimable trope of black expressive transfiguration,” which represents the notion that blacks can control the appearance and understanding of their bodies. (p 77)

            Brown essentially offers two juxtaposing interpretations of Topsy’s role in Uncle Tom’s Cabin as it relates to the black body. Her performance could potentially be perceived through either meaning. What effect does Brown’s reinterpretation of Stowe’s character Topsy have on understandings of the black body, especially that of the black female child? Could Topsy’s performance perhaps legitimately indicate elements of each interpretation or is Brown correct in dismantling the initial representations of the performance and indicating alternative views?