SOURCE: "Uncle Remus and the Ubiquitous Rabbit," in The Southern Review, Louisiana State University, Vol. X, No. 4, October, 1974, pp. 787-804.

Rubin is an American critic and educator who has written and edited numerous studies of Southern literature. In the following excerpt, he defends Harris's depiction of African Americans, judging it progressive when considered in historical perspective, but finds the animal tales to be Harris's truly notable achievement for their direct, unsentimental portrayal of life.

In late August of 1876, an epidemic of yellow fever struck the city of Savannah, Georgia. By the first of September, twenty-three persons had died, and physicians were advising all who could leave to do so at once. Among those departing was a twenty-seven-year-old newspaperman who feared for the health of his family and decided to seek safety in the higher elevation of Atlanta, and it was not long before the editor of the Atlanta...