Tite Poulette Essay

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Ana Rivas 02/25/2011 New Orleans Literature Sec.002 Essay #1 Before the 18th century, what we now know as Louisiana was part of the vast French crown empire. Then when France was defeated in the Seven Years’ War, France was forced to divide Louisiana and give part to Britain and part to Spain, and thus Louisiana became a pawn between Britain and Spain. Britain decided to make up for their “seize” of Florida from Spain and granted Spain their portion of Louisiana. European control of Louisiana ended in 1803 when Napoleon, plagued by vast obligations in Europe, decided to sell Louisiana to the United States through the Louisiana Purchase. The short story “Tite Poulette”, by George Washington Cable takes place right after the Louisiana Purchase, which requires one to understand the importance of Louisiana’s vast, tumultuous history. During this period we have a mix of cultures: Spaniards, French, Germans and Creoles (offspring’s of people from France or Haiti who settled in New Orleans). The mix of cultures and races sets up the plot for the short story. The mixing of blood was considered to be tragic during this time period. One with mixed blood was neither a Negro nor a white, so they were shunned by and seemed to have nowhere to fit in. After the Louisiana Purchase, a gentleman by the name of Kristian Koppig, who was of German decent, came to New Orleans, Louisiana to claim the riches this new territory promised. He ended up settling in a room which had one dormer window which looked out upon a building opposite to his. There lived, across from his rented room within view, a woman and her daughter. The daughter’s name was Tite Poulette; Tite was a young white girl, “white like a magnolia” (188), who was about seventeen years of age. She was the daughter of a “colored” woman who went by the name of Madame John or Zalli. Madame John had many

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