Detective Fiction and Social Criticism

The story 'Talma Gordon' by Pauline Hopkins is a detective fiction that critiques social issues such as racism, regionalism, and sex discrimination in the US and Africa. The story follows the murder mystery of Captain Gordon's family and reveals the tainted bloodiness of the ruling classes. It highlights how whites dominate blacks and take away their rights, and how the society is being victimized due to racialism, regionalism, and sex discrimination. The story demonstrates that detective fiction can engage in social criticism and provides a reality check on the societal issues.

ASSIGNMENT
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Introduction
Detective fiction in the world of English-speaking began in 1841. The stories are basically
concerned with discovering the truth. The way of acquiring the truth is comprehensive and a
mysterious procedure which combines the logic of intuitive, shrewd observation and the
inference of perspicacious. Earlier the stories of detective fiction inclined to follow an examining
protagonist from the very first locale to the last scene. Further, the story “Talma Gordon” has
been taken in order to know that the fiction of detective can critique the social and cultural issues
or not. In the story, Hopkins utilizes the imperialism's discussion in an elite study of the doctor.
The Beacon home of the Dr. Thornton works as the place for gathering for the 25 members.
Further, the physician narrated the mystery of the murder of Gordon's family. Moreover, in a
trial of catchpenny murder, Talma was ineffectively prosecuted for the locked room murders of
her stepmother, father, and stepbrother. The story also contained various shocking surprises and
the revelations. The scholar K.G. Klein argues that the fiction of detective works against social
critique whereas, C.R. Nickerson argues that the fiction of detective can intrigue in social
criticism.
The story Talma Gordon which was given by the Hopkins discussed miscegenation and various
expansion and it further collaborated the inventive critique of sexual and racial oppression in the
US. There were various social and cultural issues in the story as there was racism, regionalism,
etc. For instance, the family’s patriarch was a pirate as he created his fortune at the cost of
others. As the mother who died after giving birth has been substantiated by dark skinned child
and octoroon herself (Marsden 46-50). This happened because of the racial intermarriage of
Talma’s mother and her stepfather. Further, the racial intermarriages take place in the lower
classes, and it is very popular according to the Hopkins. There was another novel of the Hopkins

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which focused on the familial lineage which was racially tangled. It can be understood from the
given instance that the cultural and social issues involve the social criticism. Furthermore, the
claim of the Talma Gordon which was inevitable of the racial intermarriage focuses on the roots
of Africentric of the civilization of Egypt, strikes the claims of Eurocentric of the superiority of
racialism. This helped in understanding the racial problems of America.
Tamla Gordon was defined as the most beautiful and intelligent lady. When she was tried for the
murder of her father she remained calm and composed. When she found that she is black, she
though that she is worthless and was disheartened. Further, the step father of Talma hated his
children and wife because they were black. He treated them like dirt. This instance made us
clearly understand that the racism is still alive in us and it further gets involved in social
criticism. The characters in the story were depicted by the author by the attitude, biases, and
personalities of the characters. There was regionalism in the story as it becomes a place where
the questions of race and gender unfold dynamic and mutual articulation for the writers.
Additionally, we can assume that the regionalism contributes to the study of whiteness to a great
extent. Regionalism is a strategy of discursive and a mode of literary which creates the regions
visible for the critique of genders. Further, the regionalism in upper and lower class creates
cultural and social anxiety across the century (Gruesser 15-21). The story of Talma Gordon was
the first story of mystery which was written by the African American. The story decries the
racism against white and blacks. Further, the story Talma Gordon questioned the order of social
and cultural issues which confined and defined the prejudice of races and further reflected upon
the definition of crime and justice. It has been observed that the authors generally move from
non-fiction to fiction in order to engage more audience, but the Hopkins was the first author who
came up with the detective fiction in order to demonstrate the social and cultural issues which are

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there in our society and how people are facing issues of slavery. The author came up with the
ruling elite of the whites and how they are dominating the blacks and taking their rights away.
The story came up with the cultural and social attack on discrimination in the US ("The African
American Experience In Crime Fiction: A Critical Study" 53-1150-53-1150). In the story Talma
Gordon the murder mystery of Captain Gordon was not bigger than the background of racism
and regionalism and further it was also revealed in the story about the tainted bloodiness of the
ruling classes of white and they are dominating the blacks. The initiation of Hopkins to the genre
of mystery redirects the finger of accusatory from the murder to the community of white to a
great extent by demonstrating that how sexism and racism unclog the family’s demise.
The financial condition of Captain Gordon was not good when he first met Isabel and he
desperately wanted his security back in the society, so he married Isabel for his own benefit. But
unfortunately, she died after giving birth to her third child and soon after the child also died. The
Captain married again, but the relation of Talma and her stepmother was tumultuous. After the
murder, it was found that the captain's daughters name were not there in the will and Talma was
blamed for the murder as she was desperate to have the inheritance. Dr. Thornton who was the
physician of the Gordon family was treated as the narrative device as he was narrating the story
of Talma Gordon. The story of Talma Gordon is the secretive and unknown nature of the
relations of family and the lengths to which all the characters would go in order to revenge and
maintain the secrets. Therefore, the story of Hopkins helped in unfolding the reality of our,
unlike the other authors. It can be said that the impact of social and cultural issues engage in the
social criticism adversely. Tainted, blood and the anxieties of racialism generates the lead to the
unraveling of the mystery of Hopkins. Therefore, the mystery of the story transforms the
manifesto of cultural and political issues. Through divulging the privacy of mixing racism among

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the bloodiness of the elite classes of the nation and also promote the mixing of racism through
the revelation that the Dr. Thornton married Talma. By unfolding her blackness instead of
shielding it, she disrupted the urgency in order to pass for the white and also acknowledge
publicly and reclaims her connection to the grandmother who was octoroon and was abandoned
by her lover who was white. The Talma Gordon is a tale of tainted bloodiness and the impurities
of racialism and also a tale of disclosure of racialism, and the marriage of Dr. Thornton and
Talma set an example for the racial future of America.
Conclusion
It can be clearly understood from the story of Hopkins i.e. Talma Gordon is a great story which
helps in understanding the reality of the US and Africa about the racialism, regionalism and sex
discrimination and how the society is being dominated by the whites and the blacks are being
victimized and become a part of slavery. Further, the story of Hopkins helps in understanding
that the detective fictions can critique the social issues adversely. As the author took the courage
to write a story on detective fiction and clearly demonstrate the reality of our society. Whereas
the other authors just wanted to engage the audience, and they don't move from non-fiction to
fiction. They are very rigid with their stories, and they only write what people like. Further,
Kathleen Gregory Klein argued that the fiction of detective works against the social critique
because of nature and its form which is conservative. Whereas, Catherine Ross Nickerson
suggested that the fiction of detective can involve in the social criticism. Therefore, we can
clearly state that the suggestion of Nickerson is correct and being an individual I support his
opinion as the story of Talma Gordon helped in understanding that the how the cultural and
social issues engage in criticism. Furthermore, the story helped in understanding the reality of the
US and the Africa and how people are being victimized because of the racialism, sex

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discrimination, and the regionalism. It is also being understood that these are the major issues in
the lower class as compared to the upper class.

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REFERENCES
"The African American Experience In Crime Fiction: A Critical Study." Choice Reviews Online
53.03 (2015): 53-1150-53-1150. Web.
Gruesser, John Cullen. "Chester Himes, "He Knew," And The History Of African American
Detective Fiction". Clues: A Journal of Detection 28.1 (2010): 15-21. Web.
Marsden, Steve. "Two Sources For Pauline Hopkins' “Talma Gordon"." ANQ: A Quarterly
Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews 23.1 (2010): 46-50. Web.