Eventually find treasure by dropping bug through eye socket of skull
Main characters?
Legrand — protagonist, treasure hunter
Jupiter — Legrand’s caretaker/ex-slave, does a lot of the physical work
Anonymous — narrator
Jupiter’s language
Much of Jupiter’s role as comic relief comes from his (mis)use of language
Pay careful attention to what he’s saying and how it reflect misunderstandings
of other characters’ words.
What (If Anything) Do You Find Racist about “The Gold Bug”?
Language: “negro”, “nigger”
Legrand’s treatment of Jupiter, e.g., threat to hit Jupiter w/ shovel
The story’s use of Jupiter as comic relief, portrayal as unintelligent
Jupiter’s Personality
Discuss and write ca 1 paragraph below describing it with evidence
Jupiter is very loyal to Legrand. He is ignorant and has no sense of the world
around him, this leads back to his poor education. Jupiter has been very
isolated and has not seen much outside the island he lives on with Legrand.
It seems that Jupiter does not know what it means to be a free man, or to
recognise when he is being treated as a slave.
Jupiter has good intentions towards helping Legrand on his treasure hunt and his
life in general. Sometimes it may seem that he is unintelligent and can’t
possibly help, he does what he can to try and aid Legrand. This is shown when
Jupiter is talking to the narrator about how Legrand had left him for a day and
he was going to whip him and had a stick ready to do so. This would not be the
best course of action but he is just caring and that was the only way he could
think of to care. With Legrand treating him poorly throughout the story, Jupiter
was still loyal and willing to help out in any way possible. Examples of this are
digging 2 massive holes to find the treasure, or even by putting himself in danger
by climbing the tree to the top to drop the bug down the eye socket of the skull.
These examples show Jupiter’s personality very well and just how loyal he
is to Legrand throughout the story.
Jupiter is devoted to Legrand’s well being and his quest to find the
treasure even though he thinks Legrand is going insane. Jupiter’s ignorance
can make him appear loyal however it is more of reliance on the structure that
Legrand provides. The way his unintelligence is portrayed can make him seem
useless as a character without Legrand. He is obviously a very minor character;
he only really offers comic relief most of the time. His lack of education leads
into his role for comic relief.
Jupiter is very loyal and has some love for William Legrand because even though
Legrand’s family freed him Jupiter still follows William and wants to
protect him. Therefore some might say that he is dependent on Legrand and needs
to have him in his life to guide him and take his directions. Also, because he is
uneducated he might not understand what it is to be a freed slave. This part of
his personality may have developed from the environment he was raised in —
such as through looking at how his parents were treated — or because that
was the strategy to survive (adaptation) in this time period. Throughout the
story, Jupiter shows how he cares about Legrand during the story when Legrand
was bit by the bug and he believed that Legrand was very ill so he went to look
for Legrand’s friend the narrator.
Throughout the story, Jupiter looks out for Legrand, even though Legrand treats
him very poorly. When the narrator encounters Jupiter looking
“dispirited,” it’s because Jupiter thinks Legrand is ill. This
shows that Jupiter cares greatly for Legrand. Later, when Jupiter is in the tree,
he risks his life to drop the gold bug through the skull’s eye, for a
purpose meaningless to him, despite his fear of falling and the bug. Jupiter
expresses this fear when he states “I’d rudder not go fer trubble dat
bug…” Jupiter is also very naive to his relationship to Legrand.
Because he is uneducated, he doesn’t realize that his current state
isn’t right or just.
Jupiter is a concerned, caretaker to Legrand, whether Legrand believes it or not.
This is seen by his remarks at how sick Legrand is and he thinks the narrator can
help. He is seemingly uneducated, and therefore somewhat unintelligent and he has
a sort of childish view of the world. This is demonstrated by his immediate belief
that the bug is made completely of gold, and his speech, which is grammatically
incorrect and mispronounced. He is sort of brave in his naivety shown by his
willingness to climb out onto the dead branch that could easily break under his
weight, but it is necessary to complete Legrand’s search for the treasure.