The Black American Short Story in the 20th Century

by Peter Bruck

  work, th e commo n enem y i s Whitey , Miste r Charlie , the man, a

  theme stresse d b y th e novel' s dedicatio n t o "Th e Blac k people in

  (not of ) America. " Th e whit e worl d seem s s o empty , frivolous ,

  and morall y decaye d tha t i t can no longer offer a serious threat to

  black people , bu t i n celebratin g th e continuin g vitalit y o f th e

  black community , Kelle y i s also warning agains t th e malais e tha t

  could com e wit h th e assumptio n o f middle-class standards; hence,

  he adopt s a n Ashant i proverb t o prefac e th e novel : "Th e rui n o f

  a nation begins in the homes of its people."

  Dunfords Travels Everywheres i s Kelley' s mos t ambitiou s at -

  tempt t o bridg e th e ga p between academi c an d "populist" mores,

  between blac k an d whit e cultures , between the burden of the past

  and th e onslaugh t o f a technologica l future . Chi g Dunford , th e

  product o f privat e school s and the new black bourgeois propriety,

  finds himsel f th e only black in a company of footloose expatriate s

  who cluste r togethe r i n a fictiona l Europea n city . Th e grou p i s

  catalyzed b y privat e an d publi c violence, and Dunford travel s into

  himself t o fin d ther e a bizarr e reservoi r o f privat e languag e tha t

  evokes hi s Harle m antecedents . Th e linguisti c explosio n tha t

  follows is like a fusion o f James Joyce and Dick Gregory:

  Now will ox you, Mr. Charlie? Be your satisfreed fro m the dimage of the

  Muffitoy? Heav e you learned your caughtomkidsm? Can we send you out

  on your hownor? Passable. But proveably not yetso tokentinue the canso-

  lidation o f the initiatory natsure of your helotionary sexperience, let we

  smiuve for illustration of cgiltural rackage on the cause of a Hardlim den-

  teeth who had stopped loving his wife.

  Dunford the n travel s into the life of the Harlem dentist ("Hardli m

  denteeth") an d fro m there , literally, everywhere , and always back

  to th e sam e point , whic h Kelle y call s th e "Begending. " Lik e

  Joyce's Finnegan's Wake, the nove l inscribes a circle, and just a s

  Joyce's hero , H.C.E. , metamorphose s int o "Her e come s Every -

  body," s o Dunford i s a kind of "everybody" traveling everywhere

  — Harle m spade , Ivy Leagu e Negro , crook an d cowbo y an d love r

  and artist and pilgrim.

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  Measured against the novels, Kelley's short stories must inevitably

  seem rathe r conventiona l i n technique , although the y hav e a for -

  mal integrity th e novel s lack ; indeed , th e longe r fiction occasion -

  ally seem s selfconsciously contrived . Ther e are , however, interest-

  ing narrativ e link s between th e novel s and th e shor t stories . In A

  Different Drummer a mino r characte r name d Wallac e Bedlo w i s

  seen waitin g fo r a bus to take him to New York, where he plans to

  live with hi s brother Carlyle . Wallace appear s again as a successful

  folk singer in the short story "Cry for Me." Carlyle Bedlow appears

  in "Brothe r Carlyle, " "Th e Lif e Yo u Save, " " A Goo d Lon g Side-

  walk," an d "Th e Mos t Beautifu l Leg s in th e World." I n dem th e

  white protagonists ' guid e t o th e Nighttow n o f Harle m i s non e

  other tha n Carlyl e Bedlow , wh o surface s ye t agai n i n Dunfords

  Travels Everywheres a s the wrecker of marriages and saver of souls

  employed by the Harlem dentist to provide grounds for his divorce.

  In "Th e Servant Problem," Kelley portrays Carlyle's Aunt Opal, in

  an episode incorporated directl y int o th e tex t o f dem. Chi g Dun-

  ford appear s in "Sain t Pau l and the Monkey" and "What Shall We

  Do With th e Drunke n Sailor? " His mother i s the centra l figur e in

  "Aggie," an d th e entir e Dunfor d famil y appear s i n " A Visi t t o

  Grandmother." Thus , many o f the stories in Dancers on the Shore

  share narrative link s with each other, as well as having associations

  with th e longe r fiction. I n addition , severa l of th e mos t distille d

  and memorable of the stories collected in this volume are concerned

  with a young boy's initiation into the adult world.

  Kelley's earlie r an d leas t militan t wor k clearl y reveal s his own

  intellectual background . H e borrow s th e titl e o f hi s firs t nove l

  from Thoreau ; th e phras e A Drop of Patience i s take n fro m

  Othello's first trouble d accusatio n o f Desdemona' s fidelity; 5 an d

  Dancers on the Shore i s an allusion t o Josep h Conrad' s Heart of

  Darkness. I n th e lon g paragrap h fro m Conra d wit h whic h Kelle y

  prefaces hi s volume of stories, Marlowe watches figures that cavort

  on th e river bank a s the steamshi p move s farther an d farther int o

  the "hear t o f darkness. " At first he finds them inhuman, but then

  he conceive s hi s "remot e kinshi p wit h thi s wil d an d passionat e

  uproar," an d know s tha t i f h e trie s hard enough , he wil l compre-

  hend their real meaning:

  The mind of man is capable of anything — because everything is in it, all

  the past as well as all the future. What was there after all? Joy, fear, sorrow,

  devotion, valor , rage - wh o can tell? but truth — trut h strippe d o f its

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  cloak of time. Let the fool gape and shudder - th e man knows, and can

  look on without a wink. But he must at least be as much of a man as these

  on the shore.6

  Kelley's fictiona l character s ar e his "dancers," and the purpose of

  his storie s i s t o explor e thos e share d qualitie s — o f joy an d fea r

  and sorro w an d devotion , o f valo r an d rage — which join them to-

  gether in the ongoing dance of life.

  "The Poke r Party " i s the thir d stor y i n Dancers on the Shore;

  like th e tw o preceding one s — "Th e Onl y Man on Liberty Street "

  and "Enem y Territory " — it i s concerne d wit h a child' s firs t

  awareness of the unexpected perils that lurk in the adult world. In-

  deed, internal evidence suggests that the small boy who must make

  his way through "Enemy Territory" on an adult errand is the same

  who witnesse s th e violenc e o f "Th e Poke r Party. " Th e threat s

  revealed t o thi s young , nameles s protagonis t hav e non e o f th e

  viciousness o r th e brutalit y o f thos e which await Richard Wright's

  Black Boy , and they have nothing to do with the color of his skin.

  The child is black, but his encounter with a bruising reality is part of

  a rite o f passag e whic h recognize s n o color bar. Indeed, it remains

  one o f th e mos t persisten t themes in American literature, so deep-

  ly ingrained as to seem almost a cultural reflex — a gesture memor-

  ably explored in such American classics as Cooper's The Deerslayer,

  Melville's Moby Dick, Twain' s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,

  Hemingway's Nick Adams stories, Faulkner's The Bear, and Saling-

  er's The Catcher in the Rye. I t i s hardly surprisin g tha t a young

  country shoul d ofte n b e concerne d wit h youn g heroes, or tha t a

  nation insecur e i n he r identity shoul d create so many heroes who

  are precisely searchin g fo r a n identity, often literall y or figurative-

  ly fo r a "father" t o giv e them a sense o f self . The rel
ationship of

  fathers an d sons takes on a yet more dramatic significance in black

  literature — partl y becaus e o f th e historica l circumstance s whic h

  often separate d father s fro m thei r families , partly because a white

  America ofte n sough t t o ro b th e blac k mal e o f hi s manhood, t o

  reduce hi m t o a harmles s "boy. " Bot h aspect s o f tha t painfu l

  disinheritance ar e explore d wit h particula r authorit y i n Ale x

  Haley's family saga , Roots.

  While Kelley' s stor y contain s non e o f th e particula r agon y o f

  the blac k searc h fo r identity , i t clearly belongs within the broader

  tradition of initiation literature; it suggests, for instance, interesting

  parallels t o Hemingway' s celebrate d shor t story , "India n Camp. "

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  The narrato r of "The Poker Party" seems secure in the romance of

  childhood, which he thinks of in terms of "late summer Saturdays"

  perpetually tinte d a dee p green . Eve n th e rain , whic h mus t oc -

  casionally hav e interfered wit h his play, becomes, with the help of

  his grandmother' s imagination , princesse s dancin g i n puddles .

  Throughout th e openin g paragraph s o f th e story , th e image s are

  bright-colored, an d th e moo d i s one o f freedom : " I wa s not con -

  cerned wit h time," 7 th e narrato r remarks . I n contras t t o thes e

  summery image s of the natural world are those associated with the

  house t o whic h th e bo y return s a t the end of the day. The door is

  locked, an d insid e h e mus t submi t t o th e ritual s o f propriet y —

  having his face swabbed , saying his prayers. Bu t even in this more

  confining worl d o f blac k bourgeoi s values, the bo y ca n se e child-

  hood a s a magical time : hi s homecomings ar e lovingly welcomed ,

  there ar e occasiona l Sunda y outing s wit h hi s father , th e radi o

  nurtures hi s activ e fantas y life , an d eve n th e darknes s doe s no t

  threaten: " I listene d unti l nigh t presse d gentl y agains t th e

  windows." (25)

  As w e soo n realize , ther e i s nothin g extraordinar y abou t th e

  lives o f Thoma s Carey , hi s wif e an d son . Th e fathe r ha s a job,

  there i s a n abundanc e o f foo d o n th e table , the hous e i n whic h

  they liv e is snug and comfortable , an d no spectres of racial hatred

  loom i n th e shadows . Wha t Kelle y give s us here i s the poetr y o f

  the commonplace , similar to the poetry John Updike often weave s

  in hi s short stories . The character s ar e ordinary , thei r experiences

  unexceptional, bu t th e autho r forcefull y denie s tha t thei r emo -

  tional live s are therefor e inconsequential , that there are no lessons

  to b e learned here . Furthermore, into th e idylli c landscape of the

  first sectio n o f th e story , Kelle y subtl y intrude s image s whic h

  anticipate th e violenc e t o com e — the broken glass in a vacant lot,

  the sun setting behind the monuments in Woodlawn Cemetery, the

  war game s th e bo y play s i n hi s mind . Hi s imaginar y mission s

  against th e Japanese , lik e th e wa r games in "Enem y Territory, "

  locate th e actio n o f th e stor y i n th e perio d o f Kelley' s ow n boy -

  hood. Reference s t o th e wa r are another mean s to underscore the

  lack o f rea l racia l stres s i n th e narrator' s life ; Indian , Japanese ,

  Cuban, Negro are all "darker" people, and while the boy can more

  readily identif y wit h th e Japanes e tha n wit h thei r "white " anta-

  gonists, th e choic e i s made withi n a context o f fantasy . Interest -

  ingly, i n "Enem y Territory " th e sam e moti f assume s a mor e

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  aggressive dimensio n whe n th e sam e youn g bo y shout s a t hi s

  youthful enemies , ' "I'll ge t you guys ! I'll ge t you. I' m no t reall y

  an American . I' m a n Africa n an d African s ar e friend s o f th e Jap s

  and I'l l ge t the m t o bomb your houseV" 8 Similarly , while racial

  distinctions ar e muted i n "Th e Poke r Party," th e bo y i s aware of

  the differen t ski n tone s o f th e adult s wh o gathe r aroun d th e

  kitchen table , an d feel s a particula r identificatio n betwee n th e

  color o f hi s ski n an d tha t o f hi s father , "th e sam e shade a s my

  own."(25)

  In marke d contras t t o th e idylli c mood o f th e firs t sectio n o f

  the story , th e secon d begins with images of threat. The darkness is

  no longe r gentle : " I wa s afraid ; eac h shap e wa s a man i n a long

  coat comin g with a silver knife to slice my throat."(26) From this

  point, image s o f violenc e ceas e t o b e mute d an d fanciful ; the y

  become increasingl y tangibl e an d real . Similarly , th e harmles s

  games which dominat e th e first sectio n give way to the accusations

  and fraye d temper s o f th e adul t "party. " The boy gets out of bed

  to mov e alon g th e hal l betwee n "wall s straigh t o n eithe r sid e of

  me, moving into a blackness so thick I was not certain there was a

  ceiling t o sto p them,"(26 ) a counterpoin t t o th e su n tha t soar s

  overhead i n the opening paragraphs. Kelley's technical virtuosity is

  amply displaye d i n th e minut e bu t alway s perfectl y focuse d

  details whic h creat e th e moo d o f this night sequence. The kitchen

  smells not so much of food a s of "something burning," the "musty

  and ancien t odo r o f dus t i n a cellar. " (27 ) A s s o ofte n i n thi s

  section, images will suggest confinement an d constriction. The boy

  sees his father "hunched " before th e table, and his mother "clutch-

  ing her cards desperately to her chest." (27) He instinctively knows

  that there is a significant differenc e between this game and the card

  games h e ha s see n boy s pla y i n th e schoolyard , an d guesses tha t

  the poke r chip s are more valuable tha n money , withou t knowin g

  they ar e associate d wit h honor, pride , fair-play, propriety , came -

  raderie, and ultimatel y wit h his own identification wit h his father .

  Kelley build s his effects meticulously . Constricte d gesture s like

  "hunched" an d "clutching " giv e wa y t o th e mor e violen t one :

  "My fathe r clenche d hi s fists." (29 ) I n reply , Uncl e Hernand o

  places the card s in fron t o f Care y "a s forcefull y a s he might have

  squashed a scamperin g bug. " (29 ) The implie d violenc e become s

  manifest whe n Care y seem s t o sugges t tha t Uncl e Hernand o ha s

  cheated, an d th e me n begi n t o shout . Seein g their anger , th e bo y

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  is reminded of "dogs fighting and snarling in the street" (34) - th e

  same stree t wher e he had played harmless games earlier in the day.

  Even more traumatic for the boy than this display of vehemence is

  his sens e tha t h e himsel f ha s someho w committe d a n ac t o f

  betrayal. H e identifie s s o intensel y wit h hi s father , respect s s o

  unquestioningly th e "ritua l o f th e game, " the necessity of follow -

  ing the rules, that his brief comment on the card his father is dealt

  seems a horrible violation. "I knew then I had made a mistake," he

  says, "an d tha t m y fathe r would lose. I wished I would neve r be

  able t o tal k again. " (32 ) The reader sees and ca
n properly evaluate

  Thomas Carey's unreasonableness, but the frightened chil d cannot.

  Identification wit h th e fathe r no w take s o n a new , fearsom e

  dimension: "Everybod y stoppe d an d looke d a t m y father , an d i t

  seemed they were looking at me too." (32)

  In contras t t o th e ligh t o f th e openin g paragraphs , th e stor y

  closes wit h darkness : "Afte r tha t th e house wa s silent an d dark ,

  except fo r th e ligh t i n th e kitche n whic h crep t u p th e hal l an d

  under m y door . I knew then my father was still sitting, alone now,

  at th e kitche n table. " (35 ) Th e ligh t tha t burn s i n th e kitche n

  illuminates onl y the father's loneliness and, perhaps, his shame; his

  son lie s i n mournfu l shadow . Wha t th e reade r witnesse s i s n o

  agonizing trauma , despit e th e momentar y terro r i t strike s in th e

  boy's heart ; bu t i t suffice s t o erod e th e perfec t faith , th e intact-

  ness, of th e charme d circl e o f childhood . Lik e suc h adolescen t

  predecessors a s Huckleberr y Fin n an d Holden Caulfield , the

  narrator ha s begu n t o see. Hi s mothe r remarks , * "You've see n

  enough," ' an d h e think s tha t whil e he had hear d adult s arguing,

  "I ha d neve r seen the m argu e ... " (34 ) Th e experienc e o f "Th e

  Poker Party " thu s involve s th e inevitabl e pai n o f growin g up, of

  learning tha t th e "games " adult s pla y diffe r fro m thos e tha t

  children play ; there ar e other rules, other stakes, other consequen-

  ces. A s a metapho r fo r adul t communicatio n an d conflict , th e

  socially ritualized poker game reveals the tenderness of the mother,

  the expansivenes s o f Miste r Bixb y an d Uncl e Hernando , th e in -

  transigence o f th e father . I t als o reveals — in the gleaming "busin-

  ess shirts " an d "shinin g heavy shoes " of th e men — th e self-con -

  scious respectabilit y o f th e characters , a n aur a shattere d b y th e

  allusion t o "rive r boat " games , t o card-sharp s an d hustler s an d

  confidence men .

  Kelley never strains to achieve his effects. I t is precisely because

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  the ton e o f th e story i s so moderate, its themes sounded wit h suc h

  reserve, it s commonplac e settin g evoke d wit h suc h precis e econ -