This was the class blog for the Spring 2012 UT Austin Course E344L: The American South in Literature, Film, and Other Media. To the left, you will find a list of links to final student blog projects. Thanks everybody for contributing!

“I wisht I could die. Die right now to spite his sorry ass. Yes sir. To show he ain’t got no power over death. Yes sir. I could die right now – content” (48).

I found this statement to be one of both sadness and empowerment. It once again reminded me of the condition of the Jews within the concentration camps. The Nazis’ goal was to strip away all forms of dignity and humanity, leaving nothing but a primitive struggle for survival. There were very few cases of armed resistance, but many stories have since come out of the Holocaust of what’s known as spiritual resistance. This encompasses any act meant to fight against this removal of humanity, be it keeping up appearances, sharing food, refusing to have one’s baby aborted, or even suicide. The Germans wanted to control every aspect of Jewish life, including the time and means of death. An act of spiritual resistance, then, would be taking control of one’s own death. It’s both sad and empowering. This story seems to take place in the first half of the 20th century, when white people still had control and sway over the minorities. Stokes, as it turns out, acted in both armed and spiritual resistance, by killing the dog of a white man and seemingly taking control of his own death. While both of these acts involve death, it seems that this was Stokes way of living outside of oppression; only by killing and dying could he truly have freedom.

I never quite understood the significance of Chi. I’m sure we will discuss it, but I’ll ask anyway. Why was Chi a part of this story? Did Chi kill Stokes?

Racial Blindness

"The Terrell boys jumped in front of Mr. John Edgar but he did not stop; merely leveled his gun, cocked it, and kept walking.  The boys got out of the way.  'Crazy old nigger.  What's he doing?' " (38)

This utterance of the n-word was the point of the story in which I realized that John Edgar was African American.  I cannot be sure if I missed anything earlier than this in the story, but I do not remember seeing any prior signifiers of this.  Naturally, discovering this lent a completely new edge to the story which, up to that point, had felt like nothing more than a story about an average Southerner who cared for a stranger and went to avenge his dog's death.  Now, the race issue was haeted up further.

I use the word 'further,' because the race issue was already introduced in the character of Chi.  Frequently, he is referred to as a Chinaman, and John looks upon his early morning activities in the back yard as strange.  Before we find out John Edgar's race, I thought that his mild discomfort with Chi signified that he was white, and this was Randall Kenan's commentary on a less discussed form of racism in the old South.  Can his attitude toward Chi be considered racist?  He is not openly hostile to him.  Contrarily, he is incredibly hospitable and caring toward him.  But there is still the issue of his outlook upon his skin color and his habits.

I'm not going to lie: I do not fully understand the message in this story.  I'm still trying to work it through in my head.  I did understand the plot progression.  I was very involved, especially when I discovered that he was African American.  That discovery really ratcheted up the intensity level of that scene of revenge.  I did feel bad about Terrell's puppy having to die, but I was still satisfied that John Edgar got his revenge somehow, especially considering the flat-out grotesque nature of their actions toward his dog (as well as their overall grotesque personalities).  But, still, I don't understand exactly what Kenan is trying to say about race in this story.  I know he is trying to say something, but I am having trouble deciphering the message.

Question: Did anyone realize that he was African American prior to the moment that I pointed out?  What do you believe is Kenan's message about race here?

"He took a step forward and Mr. John Edgar raised the gun to the level of the boy's heart." Pg.38

The action taken by Mr. John Edgar in this scene struck me as a representation of changing southern attitudes. The death of his dog Shep has certainly caused him pain but instead of taking it with a grain of salt and trying to avoid confrontation, he breaks the norm by threatening the white family responsible and murdering one of their dogs. We have read many stories in this course that involve black southern characters facing oppression and injustice and the safest and most common defensive strategy for these characters has been passive resistance. Any time these characters have resisted physically or verbally they have been left with mortal consequences. Yet Mr. John Edgar purposefully and calmly murders one of the Terrell dogs and threatens to shoot each of the family members as they try to defend their pet. It could be argued that Mr. John Edgar reacted this way because of the arrival of Chi. While we dont know much about Mr. John Edgar before he encounters Chi, it is reasonable to assume, (because he is an old man and has apparently lived in the same place for many years) that he has encountered the Terrell family before and likely suffered some previous transgressions. Yet he has apparently never reacted with violence before. It seems that witnessing the aftermath of Chi's apparent quarrel with intolerance pushed him to an emotional edge and when confronted with the murder of his dog, he decided to make his judgment known. Perhaps this scene represents a change in black southern attitudes, reflecting the spread of public protest in the south as well as the civil rights movement. The extremely violent reaction of Mr. John Edgar and his attitude about it could be used to represent the violent resistance movement of the black panthers and other militant groups. Any way you look at it Mr. John Edgar seems to be doing more than just avenging Shep. He seeems to be shouting at the intolerance of his homeland, "An Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth. That's the onliest Law i'm studying about."

Question: Is Kenan trying to reflect a change in southern attitudes? Who the hell is Mr. Chi?

Things of this World

""Seems like up to now I been sitting right here in this chair waiting, waiting. But you know what?" "No, sir." "It who was worth it. Worth it to see the look on that ole Terrell's face. I stood up to that cocksucker. Yes sir"" (48).

Although John Edgar's actions in the short story seem to be characterized by simple revenge, the weight of his decisions and the stony conviction that he displays in their wake lend special significance to his actions. After killing the Terrell's hound, John Edgar moves with an unflinching authority seemingly stemming from the anger of having his dog murdered. He declares that his justice is fair and Biblical, lying outside any of the unfair boundaries prescribed by the corrupt and racist Terrells. John Edgar's passion seems to infect the people that rally around him as both the doctor and the reverend find themselves exhibiting tremendous courage in the face of the danger of the swelling throngs of policemen gathering outside the yard. John Edgar's actions carry such weight that the sheriff is frightened into calling for backup and the Terrells demanding that someone else do their dirty work for them. Only in the end of the story does the reader finally get to hear John Edgar's actual feelings about his actions as he finally breaks his silence, revealing a level of satisfaction and pride in being able to stand up for something he knows is right. And at precisely that moment of personal revelation, John Edgar allows himself to die. Content that he had finally made some good of his otherwise placid life, he concedes that he can finally die with a sense of pride. Chi ominously concurs.

Question: The title of the story is Things of this World and Chi is clearly a nearly supernatural character whose arrival and departure frames the story, what purpose does he play in delivering the story's intended message?

Angels Unawares

"Mr. John Edgar looked around and scratched his head, wanting to have a witness before proceeding. Not particularly eager to flip the thing over and say "Morning," to the Grim Reaper. He felt a creepy sensation in the back of his neck," (25).

In Randall Kenan's Things Of This World, race relations and religion merge into one mutual force of vindication; an eye for an eye, a dog for a dog, and everyone else now blind. Each character in the story seems to symbolize some type of Paradise Lost-like archetype, in that Mr. John Edgar Stokes seems to have fallen from grace as he retaliates against Terrel and then stands his ground from the cops on the porch with his gun; Lucifer defending his new earthly, sin-filled kingdom. Chi, is a black angel of death, a grim reaper, and his presence in Mr. Stoke's backyard at the beginning of the story is an ill omen, and sure enough, it is Chi who kills him; leaving as quickly as he came, bringing to the fallen angel the Hell he had already brought upon himself.

What does the subtitle of the story, "Angels Unawares," mean for the Paradise Lost-type of reading? and what does the fight between Percy Terrel and Mr. Stokes symbolize?

Charon

I don’t have a particular excerpt from the movie to point out, but this is more of an overall observation of the film. It opens with our three characters breaking away from the other convicts and coming to a man on a handcar that seems the play the role of an oracle. We also see this individual at the closing of the film, pumping away. I immediately realized this was an allusion to Greek mythology’s Charon, the ferryman that transports people to and from the underworld. We also have the sirens and one-eyed Big Dan Teague. What are other connections to Greek mythology throughout the film?

What exactly do these allusions do for the film? Do they work for it or against it?  Cliché or genius?