Cora Unashamed

The narrative voice in “Cora Unashamed” is notably inconsistent. At times, the narration is distant, a matter-of-fact report of events. The death of Cora’s child is related in one brief, impassive sentence: “But in a little while they didn’t need to tell Cora to leave her child at home, for Josephine died of whooping cough” (8). At other times, the narrative voice is a more closely involved persona, satirically taking on the emotions of the secondary characters or the opinions of society in general, like in the line, “The only Negroes in Melton, thank God!” (4).

These changes in narrative voice provide social commentary on the value systems of white society, and they subtly reflect the expectations of Black humility and shame. The matter-of-fact narrative voice becomes most prevalent when relating tragic circumstances. Like the death of Cora’s child, Jessie’s death is related in a similarly stoic manner: “They called in old Dr. Brown, but within a month (as quick as that) Jessie died” (15). The aloof language used to describe these tragic events mirrors the resigned attitude with which Cora, as a Black woman, is supposed to accept the burdens of racial inequality.