by Peter Bruck
Hernton, Lillia n Smith , Grac e Halsel l an d man y other s hav e trie d
to analys e th e comple x hidde n relation s betwee n racis m an d
sexuality, Richar d Wrigh t an d Jame s Baldwi n hav e time and again
dealt with the pernicious stereotype of the black man as a 'walking
phallic symbol, ' an d Eldridg e Cleave r ha s invented th e legen d o f
the 'Omnipoten t Administrator ' an d th e 'Supermasculin e Menial '
to accoun t fo r th e genesi s o f thi s cliché.11 Thi s whol e comple x
serves as the necessar y backgroun d t o "SiA," where, for want of a
better term , th e shor t relationshi p o f Ka y wit h Wendel l could b e
labelled 'pinktoes. ' Thi s term , whic h i n blac k usag e denote s " a
black man' s whit e gir l friend ; a whit e girl," 12 wa s give n wide r
currency when , i n 1961 , Cheste r Hime s publishe d hi s nove l
Pinktoes and , i n th e motto , offere d th e followin g definition :
"Pinktoes i s a term of indulgent affection applie d to white women
by Negr o men , an d sometime s conversel y b y Negr o wome n t o
white men, but never adversely by either.13
Ironically enough, in "SiA" it is the socially sanctioned relation-
ship between whit e chil d an d black mammy which calls forth, fo r
151
a brief period , the sociall y tabooe d o r at leas t frowned-upon rela -
tionship betwee n whit e woma n an d blac k man . A s the text , be-
cause o f it s point o f view, offers n o reliabl e clue to Kay's motive,
one migh t argu e tha t Kay , bein g drun k an d thu s free d o f he r
inhibitions, is just a victim o f her sexua l curiosit y arouse d b y the
myth o f th e blac k man's potency and thus becomes the unwitting
object o f Wendell's cunning advances. The symmetry of the story,
however, is so perfect i n al l other respects that a different readin g
seems worth considering.
Kay coul d wel l have a revenge motive of her own, and if so, she
would no t onl y b e use d b y Wendel l bu t woul d als o be tryin g t o
use hi m a s well . Whe n sh e come s home , sh e goe s t o loo k fo r
Ronnie, "th e poo r kid " (235) . Obviousl y sh e doe s no t fee l lik e
fulfilling a mother's duty — Wendell has to remind her that "Ronnie
isn't feelin g well " (235) — an d i s glad to have Nora. But when she
comes back, she has to confes s tha t "Nor a wa s trying t o pu t him
to slee p an d she made me stay out" (23 5f.), and her giggling could
be a sig n o f he r embarrassmen t abou t suc h a situation. Would i t
not b e quit e probable , then, tha t Ka y is offended b y the fact tha t
Ronnie prefer s hi s nursemaid t o hi s mother an d that she has been
sent awa y lik e a strange r an d therefor e envie s Nor a he r succes s
with Ronnie ? Nor a has taken away her son Ronnie, and could not
Kay, who is drunk and quite uninhibited, try to get her revenge by
getting back a t Nor a an d takin g awa y Nora' s son Wendell? Such a
reading o f "SiA, " whic h woul d fin d som e additiona l extrinsi c
support i n th e fac t tha t th e motiv e o f mutua l revenge as the basis
of a n interracial lov e affai r i s a recurring motif i n Williams' earl y
fiction,14 woul d g o well wit h the fact that both have a fair chance
of winnin g their game . In the end Wendell proves victorious, for it
is no t Nora , a s migh t wel l hav e bee n expected , wh o enter s th e
living roo m t o find he r so n i n th e embrac e o f he r mistress, but
Ronnie wh o sees the 'ignominy ' o f hi s mother i n th e arm s of the
aggressive black stranger . An d Wendell' s statement tha t Ka y "was
reaching fo r Ronnie' s hand as we left, but the kid was slapping her
hand away " (237) , confirms tha t hi s calculation ha s proved right
and tha t h e has probably manage d t o subjec t Ronni e t o a shock
he wil l no t forget . Wendell , however, canno t b e happy abou t hi s
ingeniously contrive d victory , fo r on e canno t und o one' s ow n
humiliations b y humiliatin g somebod y else. This final conciliator y
— an d perhap s mos t importan t — messag e o f "SiA " is obliquel y
152
expressed i n Wendell' s statement , " I fel t man y things , but I made
myself [! ] thin k mostly , There, you little bastard, there" (237) .
And i n the final , ambiguou s sentence o f th e stor y in which Wendell
says tha t h e wa s "hatin g th e lon g driv e bac k t o Watts " (237) on e
might legitimatel y detec t th e first dawnin g o f tha t ver y "hatre d
for myself ' (233 ) which , accordin g t o a previou s statemen t b y
Wendell th e narrator , Wendel l th e protagonis t i s stil l "to o angr y
to feel " (233) .
*
In spit e o f it s sometime s rathe r slic k qualit y an d it s almos t to o
perfectly contrive d contrast s an d parallel s "SiA, " whic h com -
presses centra l aspect s o f racia l relation s i n Americ a int o a small -
scale every-da y action , is a compelling an d finall y convincin g stor y
which bear s testimon y t o Williams ' belie f tha t onl y " a smoot h
vehicle deliver s a clear message."15
NOTES
1. Quote d i n Ear l A . Cash , John A. Williams: The Evolution of a Black
Writer (New York, 1975), p. 93.
2. "Introductio n t o th e Firs t Edition, " i n Joh n A . Williams, ed., Beyond
the Angry Black (New York, 1971), p. xvii. (Mentor Book MY 1058)
3. Cf . especially Ralph' s reflections i n Sissie (New York, 1963) , pp. 245f.,
with the respective reflections of Wendell in "SiA."
4. Th e stor y i s included, for example, in: Langsto n Hughes, ed., The Best
Short Stories by Negro Writers: An Anthology from 1899 to the Present
(Boston, 1967) ; James A. Emanuel and Theodore L . Gross, edd., Dark Sym-
phony: Negro Literature in America (New York, 1968); Penney Chapin Hills
and L . Rust Hills , edd., How We Live (New York, 1968) ; Edward Margolies,
A Native Sons Reader (Philadelphia and New York, 1970) ; in Germany it is
available i n Pete r Freese , ed. , Growing Up Black in America: Stories and
Studies of Socialization (Paderborn, 1977).
5. Al l page numbers given in brackets in the text refer to the reprint of the
story in Edward Margolies, ed., A Native Sons Reader.
153
6. Takin g the date of Phoebe Adams' letter (1958) as terminus ante quern
and takin g int o accoun t that , accordin g t o Clarenc e Major , Black Slang: A
Dictionary of Afro-American Talk (London, 1971) , "spade," "hippie" in its
particular, negativ e meaning, "on the scene," "roost" and "high " were used
by black Americans in or up to the 1950's, one can date the story's action in
the mid-fifties .
7. Cf . Williams ' statemen t i n Joh n O'Brien , ed. , Interviews with Black
Writers (Ne w York, 1973) , p. 236, where, in regard to the relation between
telling and showing, he says: "I find that too much narration becomes a pain
in the ass. You get on a roller coaster and start breaking out the flags. Dialogue
is always better."
8. Nanc y M . Tischler, Black Masks: Negro Characters in Modern Southern
Fiction (University Park and London, 1969), p. 32.
9. Lillia n Smith, Killers of the Drea
m (New York, 1949), p. 127.
10. Here , too, some autobiographical influences can be detected. Cf. Williams'
travel book This Is My Country Too (New York, 1966), p. 77, where he says
that hi s ow n mothe r ha s spen t "bette r tha n hal f he r lif e i n other people' s
kitchens an d bedroom s an d bathrooms . Lik e the mythical Aun t Bessie , she
knows more about white people than they can ever know about her."
11. Cf . m y interpretation o f Jame s Baldwin' s "Going to Meet the Man" in
this volume.
12. Cf . Clarence Major, op. cit.
13. Cheste r Himes, Pinktoes (Paris: Olympia Press, 1961), motto.
14. Cf. , for example, The Angry Ones, where Steven Hill, the black protagon-
ist, an d Lois , the beautifu l an d neuroti c Jewis h gir l wit h who m h e ha s an
affair, us e each other: Steve n to revenge himself upo n the white world, Lois
to shock her hated mother. Cf. esp. p. 173, where Steven bluntly says: "You
used me as a tool against your parents - agains t your mother .. . I used you
too, baby ... Nearly every time I called you, it had been a bad day for me, and
I had to get back, if not at them directly, at you, and that worked out fine. It
kept me from goin g nuts." To use the novel as a point o f comparison seems
all the more legitimate as (1) the novel was written at approximately the same
time a s the story , (2 ) bot h texts have strong autobiographical trait s (in the
interview wit h Joh n O'Brien , op.cit., p . 232 , Williams says that The Angry
Ones "was in some ways a very autobiographical novel"), and (3) Steven is in
many aspect s a forerunne r o r successo r o f Wendel l (h e come s fro m Lo s
Angeles, is an unpublished writer, and works in public relations; the motif of
"suntanning"is taken up in the novel [cf. p. 153]; and Steven's insight, "I was
a littl e disguste d wit h mysel f - I ha d a persecution complex , I figured"
[p. 103] , could serve to explain Wendell's heightened sensitivit y t o potential
racial insults).
15. Thi s statement , quote d i n greater detail in the motto, is taken from a n
interview give n t o Ear l A . Cash on October 25, 1971, and it is reprinted in
154
Cash, op. cit, p . 147.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Williams' eight novels are:
The Angry Ones (New York: Lancer, 1960).
Night Song (New York: Farrar, Straus & Cudahy, 1961).
Sissie (New York: Farrar, Straus & Cudahy, 1963).
The Man Who Cried I Am (Boston : Little, Brown, 1967).
Sons of Darkness, Sons of Light: A Novel of Some Probability (Boston :
Little, Brown, 1969).
Captain Blackman: A Novel (Garden City: Doubleday, 1972).
Mothersill and the Foxes (Garden City: Doubleday, 1975).
The Junior Bachelor Society (Garden City: Doubleday, 1976).
Williams' nonfiction books include:
Africa: Her History, Lands and People Told With Pictures (New York :
Lancer, 1963).
The Protectors (New York: Farrar, Straus & Cudahy, 1964) ; togethe r with
Harry T. Anslinger, under the pseudonym of J. Dennis Gregory).
This Is My Country Too (New York: New American Library, 1965).
The King God Didn't Save: Reflections on the Life and Death of Martin
Luther King, Jr. (New York: Coward-McCann, 1970).
The Most Native of Sons: A Biography of Richard Wright (Garden City:
Doubleday, 1970).
Flashbacks: A Twenty-Year Diary of Article Writing (Garden City: Double-
day, 1973).
Williams has edited The Angry Black (New York: Lancer, 1962) and Beyond
the Angry Black (New York : Coope r Square , 1966 ) and , togethe r wit h
Charles F . Harris , th e first tw o volume s o f th e no w defunc t magazin e
Amistad (New York: Random House, vol. I,1970, and vol. II, 1971).
155
Barbara Puschmann-Nalenz
ERNEST J. GAINES
A LONG DAY IN NOVEMBER
(1963)
Ernest J . Gaine s was born i n 1933 . He grew up on a plantation in
the Louisian a "bayou country." At the age of sixteen he moved t o
San Francisco, where he still lives.
In 1963 , The Sewanee Review publishe d "Just like a Tree," one
of his first stories. In the next year Dial Press brought out the firs t
of his published novels, Catherine Carmier, which was followed b y
Of Love and Dust, i n 1967 . With th e appearance of The Autobio-
graphy of Miss Jane Pittman h e becam e know n t o a wider public.
Bloodline, his only collection of short stories, appeared in 1968.
Ernest Gaine s is the winner of several literary awards and fellow-
ships.
The settin g o f Gaines ' stor y " A Lon g Day in November, " th e
first i n hi s anthology,1 i s the rural Sout h o f th e United States. In
five sections it tells us the events of one day, seen through the eyes
of a six-year-old negr o boy, the only child of his parents Amy and
Eddie wh o liv e an d wor k o n a white-owne d plantation . A t day -
break, whil e he is still in bed, his father an d mothe r hav e a fight,
because Eddi e come s hom e late , havin g agai n spen t mos t o f hi s
time o n th e ol d ca r h e bough t som e tim e ago . I n th e morning,
when hi s fathe r ha s gon e t o wor k i n th e fields , th e bo y an d hi s
mother leav e the house and go to live with his grandmother. Littl e
"Sonny," a s he is called most of the time, has a bad day in school,
because h e doe s not kno w hi s lesson: i n hi s fear an d agitatio n h e
wets himself , thu s becomin g th e laughingstoc k o f hi s classmates.
After schoo l h e goe s bac k t o hi s grandmother' s house . Sonny' s
father trie s t o tal k t o Amy , in orde r t o mak e he r return t o thei r
house — i n vain . Eddie' s strong-wille d mother-in-la w scare s hi m
away wit h a shotgun ; he doe s not dar e t o g o near th e hous e bu t
paces back an d fort h in front o f the gate, looking up to the house,
157
and crying . When Sonny goes outside for a moment his father calls
to him an d take s him alon g to th e preacher's house where he first
asks for advice . But the Reverend with his conventional attitude is
not abl e t o help ; his only suggestio n i s for Eddie to be strong and
pray. S o th e fathe r an d th e so n visit a fortune-teller, hoping that
she ca n tel l him wha t t o do . The firs t tim e sh e sends them awa y
because the y d o no t hav e enough mone y t o pa y her . Bu t Eddie ,
not ye t discouraged , borrow s thre e dollar s an d goe s back . Th e
hoodoo woma n tell s him that he must burn his car — then his wife
will retur n t o him . This is what h e does , though reluctantly , an d
at th e en d o f th e da y Amy , Eddie , an d Sonn y ar e reunited an d
back in their old home again.
The themes , events , an d character s o f th e stor y ar e se t i n an
environment typica l o f th e author' s novel s and stories : th e blac k
worker's life on a white-owned plantation in the post-bellum South.
The autho r deal s wit h emotion s an d experience s o f individuals ,
which a t th e sam e tim e are predetermined b y traditional roles and
accepted social standards.
In " A Lon g Da y i n November " Gaine s concern s himself wit h
the relationshi p between a man and a woman, its development and
change. The chang e her e is predominantly i n th e husband , Eddie,
who from a childish, self-pitying man who seems to rely completely
on hi s wife's strengt h an d determination , develop s into " a man, "
as hi s famil y call s it , acceptin g hi s responsibilit y a s breadwinner
and head of th e family . I t i s hi s wif e wh o makes him d o wha t is
required o f hi m b y forcin g hi m t o mak e a decision and to fulfill a
given promise . I t i s al l sh e wants . Sh e i s firm , bu t sh e certainl y
does no t inten d t o revers e traditiona l role s by domineerin g ove r
her husband . Thi s become s eviden t a t th e end , wher e sh e beg s
Eddie t o bea t he r after the y ar e reunited, sinc e sh e is not abl e to
bear th e though t tha t he r husban d migh t becom e th e ai m o f
ridicule becaus e h e di d wha t hi s wif e demanded . I t i s sh e wh o
insists o n restoring th e traditiona l famil y structure : o n thi s poin t
she is relentless.
The black male's search fo r identit y an d th e problematic struc-
ture o f th e blac k famil y are , of course , main topic s of the Ameri-
can novel and short story in the twentieth century. They have also
158
been extensively explored in recent documentary studies .
In Gaines ' " A Lon g Day in November, " however, the subject is
dealt wit h i n a surprising and refreshing manner . Its impact on the
reader's mind i s based o n a mixture o f patho s an d humour which
characterizes th e narrative and has marked most of Gaines' fiction.
The story' s effect s o f immediacy an d sympatheti c insigh t int o
the natur e o f its characters — people like those the author grew up
with — ar e essentially th e resul t o f specific narrative methods, the
most importan t o f whic h is a limited point of view. The little boy
is th e first-perso n narrato r an d a t th e sam e time — a s Amy's and
Eddie's so n — a main figur e i n thi s family drama , althoug h h e re-
mains passive and is never in control of the events.
The main consequenc e o f lookin g at adul t experience s through
the eye s o f a child i s a strong sense o f remotenes s and, a t times ,
