McCutcheon (Carroll) 1

Beth McCutcheon (Carroll)

CSULB

Puzzle Pieces

As individuals within society, we spend our entire lives searching for our identity. We struggle to ensure that all the pieces of

who we are fit together and reveal our true self. What happens, however, when the pieces do not fit? What happens when our

personal, private, social, religious, and communal identities do not match up, do not make sense? This question is at the heart of

George Washington Cable’s short story, “Jean-ah Poquelin.” Cable suggests that no matter how much we try to fit into society’s

image of the “perfect” citizen, we cannot escape the judgment and ridicule that manifests when we are different from the norm. Not

only does Jean Poquelin suffer from this ridicule, but society as a whole suffers. Cable’s story reflects the harsh reality that only when

the communal identity this society places on Jean Poquelin fits with the personal and familial identities that he has formed for himself

will this society begin to heal the wounds left from the plantation past.

The community regards Jean Poquelin as a “generous gentleman” and loving brother during the reign of the plantation South

(314). He is an “opulent indigo planter, standing high in the esteem of his small, proud circle of exclusively male acquaintances in the

old city” (314). When indigo farming no longer produces huge profits, Jean Poquelin becomes a smuggler and an African slave-

trader. However, the public does not scorn him: “The whole people said it [slave-trading] was vitally necessary” (315). Only after

Jean returns home from the Guinea Coast does the public’s perception of him change. Since his brother is no longer seen, the rumors

surrounding Jean begin to circulate. No longer does the community see Jean Poquelin as a loving brother and Southern gentleman;
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rather, they liken him to Abel. His name becomes synonymous with “witchery, devilish crime, and hideous nursery fiction” (315). In

essence, Jean Poquelin becomes a caricature of the immigrant American.

Jean Poquelin struggles to deal with the hatred he receives from the “alien races” that are pouring into old New Orleans (316).

Jean views himself as a native of New Orleans and has a difficult time moving away from the plantation past; he does not want to

change with the “newly established American Government” (313). However, society does not respect the old New Orleans that Jean

loves. The “alien races” see themselves and their new ways as the majority and begin to feed into every stereotype when dealing with

Jean. When Jean visits the Governor to stop the road from being built on his property, the Governor states that he would “rather

[Jean] talk English, if you can do so” (317). The Governor forces Jean to communicate in a language that he is not comfortable with,

and Jean must deal with new laws he does not understand: “I know not the new laws. I ham a Fr-r-rench-a-man! Fr-rench-a-man

have something aller au contraire--he come at his Gouverneur” (317). Not only does Jean have difficulties garnering respect from the

Governor, but also the Governor further insults him by asking Jean if his house is the one the Creole’s tell odd stories about (318).

Jean responds by saying, “But, I am Jean Marie Poquelin. I mine me hown bizness. Dat all right?” (318). When Jean visits the

official, he becomes completely dependent upon the interpreter. Unfortunately, the interpreter “translated freely” (318), thus making

Jean a third party to the conversation. The interpreter does not allow Jean to receive accurate translations of the dialogue which limits

Jean’s understanding. The officer is not sympathetic to Jean’s “broken English” and cannot (or will not) understand his frustration.

Instead, the officer “was amused to see a thunder-cloud gathering in the old man’s face” (318). During the course of one day, Jean is

belittled, rendered meaningless in a conversation, and laughed at. They believe he is of less intelligence and importance than the
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Governor and the officer because he doesn't speak “perfect” English. Instead, his views are deemed unimportant and useless because

he speaks with an accent. Jean is described as having “no fierceness or defiance in his look, no harsh ungentleness” and an “imprint of

some great grief” (317). However, the Governor and the Officer cannot see beyond Jean’s language. They can only see Jean as the

image that he is portrayed to be--an Abel figure who dwells in witchery.

Not only do the authority figures treat Jean disrespectfully, but the average citizen does as well. People are “prying in upon the

old man’s privacy” (320). They believe him to be unneighborly and wretched. Townspeople wonder how Jean Poquelin can become

upset when their “playful and innocent children call after him as he passes” (320). However, to the Creoles, he is “an omen and

embodiment of public and private ill-fortune” (320). He is a hermit that minds his own business, yet he remains the object of public

ridicule and hatred. Interestingly enough, the community never questions Jean about what happens to his brother, Jacques. They

would rather dwell on rumors and uncertainty. The community, however, is unaware that they are isolating and persecuting Jean

because they do not understand him: “How merrily the swarming Americains echo the spirit of persecution!” (320). They never

realize that they are the catalysts for Jean’s anger. The community single-handedly manages to isolate Jean, a native of the city, and

portray him as an outcast and unwelcome member or society.

When White enters the story, this reader immediately identifies with him. White has only one fear, “the fear of being unkind”

(321). He wants to find out the truth behind the rumors circulating around Jean. When White goes to Jean Poquelin’s house, this

reader finds herself immediately falling into the stereotypes of the community. White describes the mansion as having “no sign of

life” (321). He never expressly tells the reader what he sees, only that he “noticed a strange, sickening odor, faint, as if coming from a
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distance, but loathsome and horrid” (232). The stench was “not in the air; it seemed to come from the ground” (322). White’s

perception about Jean fuel questions within this reader: for example, “Did Jean kill his brother? Is the stench that White is referring to

coming from a decaying body?” Why do we immediately think these thoughts about Jean? We feed into the stereotypes that CAble

presents us within the story. Like the Governor and the Officer, we forget Jean the gentleman and remember him as the fiendish

creature that is plaguing the community.

Later on, we realize that White knows more than he is telling the reader. He becomes the “champion of Jean Poquelin” (323).

However, he neither stops the rumors nor tells the community what he knows. By never revealing the truth, White allows the rumors

circulating Jean to continue, and he allows the rumors to begin to fall on himself. White even tells the Director, Secretary, and

President that he did, in fact, see a ghost at Jean Marie’s mansion. White has good intentions and tries to stay away from the

stereotypes, but like many people in this community, he remains quiet. He wants to stop the lies and rumors, but he is too afraid.

White no longer wants his reputation and name to be a source of dishonor. He would rather let Jean’s reputation remain tarnished than

to damage his own. However, White steps in when the crowd wants to charivari Jean Poquelin. He does not want the angry mob to

physically hurt Jean. However, he fails to realize that Jean endures immense emotional pain and suffering from the community. The

physical pain that he would feel from the mob would most likely be incomparable to the mental anguish he has already endured.

By the end of the story the mystery surrounding Jacques disappearance is resolved. When the African mute raises his lantern

and reveals the “ghost” of Jacques, the crowd releases “a cry of mingled fright and horror from every throat” and “the whole throng

rushes back” (327). Once again, they never stop to find the truth, even though “not one in ten has seen the cause of the stampeded,
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and not one of the tenth is certain what it was” (327). Only after White tells the crowd that Jean Poquelin is dead does the crowd join

and follow White to the funeral. White addresses the crowd and tells them, “here come the last remains of Jean Marie Poquelin, a

better man, I’m afraid, with all his sins, --yes a better--a kinder man to his blood--a man of more self-forgetful goodness--than all of

you put together will ever dare to be” (328). The crowd, along with this reader, does not fully understand White’s speech until

Jacques Poquelin, “with eyes cast down,” returns (328). The crowd becomes “dumb with horror” when they realize that Jacques is “a

leper, as white as snow” (328).

Jean has been protecting his brother from the harsh cruelties of this society. In doing so, society has made Jean the object of

contempt and hatred. At this point in the story, all of Jean’s actions begin to make sense--hiding away from society, keeping the brush

overgrown around his house, stopping the building of the road. All of Jean’s actions are selfless--an attempt to protect his brother and

the community. Jean is afraid that people will treat his brother with disdain or that they may catch leprosy themselves. Either way,

Jean becomes a hermit in order to protect both his brother and the community. Jean is afraid that people will treat his brother with

disdain or that they may catch leprosy themselves. Either way, Jean becomes a hermit in order to protect the brother that he loves.

Jean is no longer the depiction of Abel, rather this image is reserved for the members of the society that tormented him. By not

allowing Jean to live in peace, the community never realized the true kindness and goodness in Jean’s heart. Instead, their actions

raise some interesting questions. If the community was afraid of Jean because he was different and a representative of the plantation

past, what do their cruel actions reveal about themselves and the new society? How does the community begin to heal and learn from

Jean Poquelin? Will they ever learn to not judge individuals that differ from the norm? Cable wants the reader to ask these questions,
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but he never offers any suggestions. By doing so, the reader is able to understand the importance of remembering the past. The

isolation of Jean from the community displays the truth circulating in this society. This society has not drastically changed from the

days of slavery as they would like to believe. Rather, they redirect their stereotypes. No longer do they inflict physical pain on slaves;

instead, they inflict immense emotional pain on individuals that differ from the norm. The community judges its members by their

social status, religious background, political beliefs, and language barriers. This society stifles Jean’s individual, unique voice. He is

not allowed to form his own identity; instead, the community assigns him one. What the community fails to realize is that the images

they form of Jean Poquelin are in direct contrast to the identity he has formed for himself. Jean views himself as loving, loyal, and

generous. He shuns the society because of the communal identity they have created for him. The community identity portraying a

wretched, unneighborly, and illiterate man is constantly in conflict with his self-portrait. Since Jean is a representative of the

plantation past, the community cannot move forward until they re-evaluate their perceptions of Jean. As long as the pieces of Jean’s

identity do not fit together, the community will not accept and learn from their past mistakes. Thus, the community will never rise

above the plantation past until the communal, personal, and social identities of Jean Poquelin fit together and display an accurate

representation of the man.

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Works Cited

Cable, George Washington. “Jean-ah Poquelin.” The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter. 3rd ed. 2 vols.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. 313-328.