Journal Entry for What I Never Understood about Mabel and Malcolm
The story of “Hot Foot Hannibal” seems to be sort of lost in the narrative. I think that Chesnutt made the deliberate decision to put this story at the end of the novel, but I can’t figure out why.
This story is really Annie’s shining moment — it is the first and only time we get further textual character development, and that is solely through the role of Mabel. Mabel acts as this outside entity or third party who sort-of shakes things up. Between her fight with Malcolm, which has the most action the story shows between characters, and her sympathetic and her emotional response to the Hot-Foot Hannibal story, Mabel’s character further pushes John into enemy territory.
We [the readers] see John have very strong opinions about Mabel and her character [moral qualities], yet he never seems to explicitly reveal any of his feelings for Annie. He makes his comments here and there, but tip toes around saying anything particularly offensive, which is interesting. Yet, when Mabel comes in, she is strategically placed on the side of her sister Annie.
This particular move was solely based off of a creative instinct. I think Annie really needed to have a voice in the situation between Mabel and Malcolm, and even Mabel and Julius.