The Goophered Grapevine

The scuppernong is a grape that is indigenous to the South. In the story, the scuppernong is the product of the slaves’ labor, the object of their theft when they are hungry, and the source of wealth for both Dugal McAdoo and the narrator. The scuppernong represents the potential of the South to serve as a source of economic wealth but also of the expropriated labor of enslaved people.

It also serves as material for the Aunt Peggy’s conjuring, so it represents the spiritual practices of African-Americans specifically and the connection between humans and the natural world generally.

The McAdoo plantation is described at the start of the story as a place where the soil has been depleted by poor agricultural practices. The house has been destroyed by the war, and the vineyard, a potential source of wealth, has been neglected. The immediate cause of its ruin is the death of Dugal McAdoo, who, driven by impetuousness and revenge, left his family behind and was killed during the Civil War.

The plantation represents the vision of the South as a place of wasted potential and shiftlessness. Julius McAdoo manages to create a living out of the ruins of the plantation, however, so for him and other formerly enslaved people, the plantation represents their efforts to survive the aftermath of slavery.