The Cost of Julius's freedom

The narrator of the Goophered Grapevine is a self-centered businessman, in addition only caring about money and success as a businessman, he believes everyone else is the same way. In the beginning of the story, he claims he moved to the south for his wife’s health, but he also admits that he was involved in the grape-culture and wanted to expand his business. The narrator explains, “Some years ago my wife was in poor health, and our family doctor, in whose skill and honestly I had implicit confidence, advised a change of climate.  I shared, from an unprofessional standpoint, his opinion that the raw winds, the chill rains, and the violent changes of temperature tended to aggravate my wife’s difficulty, and would undoubtedly shorten her life if she remained exposed to them,” (31). The fact that he explains his wife’s condition in a few sentences, yet uses the rest of the story to explain how he came across the grape business in the south, shows that he places more importance on his vineyard than his wife’s health. In addition, the narrator explains he has been looking to expand his grape business in either France, Spain, Or California for a while before his wife fell ill.  Also, I find it suspicious that he especially emphases the fact that he has “implicit confidence” in his doctor’s advice, as if he is trying to cover someone questioning the doctor reliability. Therefore, using the excuse of his wives health, the narrators decides to invest, for his own personal (selfish) success and enjoyment, in the grape business down south.

The final piece of evidence that the narrator views everything from an investment standpoint, is when he buys Julius’s land and pays him a profit in return to be his coach-driver: “Uncle Julius had occupied a cabin on the place for many years, and derived a respectable revenue from the product of the neglected grape vines… I believe, however, that the wages I paid for his service as a coachman, for I gave his employment in that capacity, were more than equivalent for anything he lost by the sale of the vineyard,” (43). By the time Julius meets the narrator, Julius was enjoying his personal freedom for only a few short years. The narrator doesn’t understand what it is like to be someone’s property, which takes away your personal freedom. However, after being a slave for most of his life, Julius does understand what it means to be someone property. The narrator’s inability to understand the cost of Julius’s freedom can’t be bought with any dollar amount, causes the narrator to believe that Julius will be happy to be payed a sum of money worth way more than the value of Julius’s property. Especially after never being allowed to own property for most of his life, finally owning part of the vineyard probably meant more to Julius than just a business. However, the narrator fails to step outside his own shoes and see from Julius’s point of view- that Julius’s land is not just a business- a way to earn profit- but also his home. In other words, the narrator believes that money can replace Julius’s loss. In addition, the narrator fails to understand that by buying the property from Julius, Julius loses more than his home and his business, but also his personal freedom, which is worth more than any sum of money Julius is offered.