Humanism in African-American Literature

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One of the most distinguishable features of African-American (Black) literature, in general, is the fact that it often deals with the unsightly realities of life, which in turn endows the associated literary works with the clearly defined humanist sounding. In this paper, I explore the validity of the above-stated at length, in regards to the short stories Sonny’s blues (James Baldwin), Miss Cynthie (Rudolph Fisher), In the cutting of a drink (Ama Ata Aidoo), Emente (Onuora Ossie Enekwe), Ravenna (Gale Jones) and The point of no return (Miriam Tlali).

Probably the main challenge that people face, throughout the course of their lives, is the lack of understanding/acceptance, on the part of others. In this turn, this often prevents them from being able to realize their full existential potential – this is the foremost motif that highlights the overall discursive significance of Baldwin’s short story.

After all, it was namely because people used to criticize Sonny’s (the narrator’s young brother) intention to become a musician, as something rather unrealistic, which explains why he ended up in jail – the character’s involvement with drugs extrapolated his anxiety of being deprived of a chance to attain self-actualization.

The fact that this was indeed the case can be illustrated, in regards to the story’s episode, in which Sonny expresses his contempt of the narrator’s idea that it is thoroughly natural for people to adjust their aspirations to be more ‘down to earth’ – even at the expense of becoming miserable individuals, “I (narrator) said, ‘that there’s no way not to suffer. Isn’t it better, then, just to—take it?’. ‘But nobody just takes it,’ Sonny cried, ‘that’s what I’m telling you! Everybody tries not to.

You’re just hung up on the way some people try— it’s not your way!” (Baldwin, p. 143). What is quite ironic, in this respect, is that the narrator’s initial insistence that Sonny finds something better to do than being a musician, was in essence well-meaning. That is, the narrator simply wanted his brother to adopt a realistic attitude towards life, as the main precondition for Sonny to be able to take full advantage of it.

Yet, what gives the narrator a huge credit, in this respect, is that he nevertheless was able to admit having been wrong all along, while trying to talk Sonny away from considering the career of a musician. This, of course, once again points out to the fact that there is indeed much literary value to Sonny’s blues – in the aftermath of having been exposed to it, readers will gain a number of valuable insights into what accounts for one’s proper attitude towards addressing life-challenges.

Essentially the same can be said about the story Miss Cynthie. The reason for this is quite apparent – the main idea that is being promoted by this story is that, even though it does takes much effort for many people to come to terms with the realization of their own perceptual short-sightedness, they are nevertheless fully capable of doing it.

To exemplify the validity of this claim, we can refer to the story’s actual fable – an old woman (Miss Cynthie) from the South travels to New York, in order to meet her grandson (David), while hoping that he is now a well-established person, “Be a foot-doctor. And if you don’ get that fur, be a undertaker. That’s the least you must be. That ain’t so bad” (Fisher, p. 106).

However, it did not take her too long to realize that, despite exhibiting the indications of a being a wealthy person, David is not quite the person that she would like him to be. Moreover, being a famous dancer, he is in fact the embodiment of ‘immorality’ – at least in the sense of how Miss Cynthie used to perceive the meaning of the notion in question. Nevertheless, at the end of the story Miss Cynthie proves herself intellectually flexible enough to accept David just in the way he was.

This, of course, naturally prompts readers to grow comfortable with the idea that, regardless of how seemingly unconventional a particular person happens to be, it does not mean that he or she deserves to be scorned – quite to the contrary. In its turn, this contributes rather substantially towards the story’s value as an educational piece, and towards endowing it with the spirit of humanism and tolerance – something that makes Miss Cynthie consistent with the realities of today’s living in America.

Aidoo’s story short is also quite notable, in this respect. Even though the story’s plot unravels in Africa, its themes and motifs do in fact correlate with the discourse of post-modernity – thus, endowing this story with the strong humanist sounding. There are a plenty of indications in the story that this is indeed being the case.

Probably the main of them has to do with the fact that In the cutting of a drink encourages people to adopt an open-minded attitude, within the context of how they go about discussing the ethical implications of one’s professional affiliation. It is understood, of course, that from the narrator’s point of view, the fact that his long-estranged sister Mansa turned out to be a hooker, could hardly be justified.

This simply could not be otherwise – having been born and raised in the remote rural area, the narrator could not help ending up affiliated with the so-called ‘traditional’ (patriarchal) values, the advocates of which assume that for a woman to be a prostitute is utterly wicked.

Nevertheless, while exposed to Aidoo’s story, readers begin to recognize the sheer fallaciousness of such an assumption – the story’s very ethos, concerned with ridiculing the narrator as a somewhat simple-minded individual, naturally predetermines such a development. There is, however, even more to it – Mansa’s attitude towards her own profession naturally causes readers to admit that it is indeed being thoroughly rational, “My brother, cut me another drink. Any form of work is work… is work… is work!” (Aidoo, p. 26).

This unmistakably establishes Aidoo’s story, as such that is being discursively consistent with the African-American literary tradition, known for its close ties with the style of Realism. Therefore, it will be fully appropriate to refer to In the cutting of a drink, as a literary work that conveys the message of humanism/tolerance, by the mean of advancing the idea that people should refrain from judging each other.

There is another notable feature of how many Black writers go about writing short stories, which in turn causes their literary creations to to emanate the spirit of humanism – the fact that, during the process, these writers strive to ensure the psychological plausibility of the would-be explored themes and motifs. The stories Emente (by Enekwe) and Ravenna (by Jones) exemplify the validity of this statement perfectly well.

The first of them is about the emotional relationship that the narrator has had with Emente – a young woman, who after having been diagnosed with Tetanus, ended up being doomed to face the eventual disfigurement and death on the hospital-bed. As a true Realist, Jones never had any reservations against presenting readers with even the most graphic details of Emente’s transformation, induced by her disease, “I felt as If I were looking at a living corpse.

Her cheeks were sunken so that the lines of her cranium were clearly visible. Her jawbones and eye sockets stuck out like crags” (Enekwe, p. 38). Initially, the narrator used to hope that Emente would recover, but as time went on, it was becoming increasingly clear to him that this will not be the case – hence, making the narrating character more reluctant to continue paying visits to the hospital.

As a result, he could not help experiencing the ever-stronger sense of self-loathing, on the account of having betrayed Emente – especially given the fact that his betrayal was apparent to the hospital’s staff, “I (nurse) have no time to waste listening to somebody who wants to know about a patient he never cared about for three months” (Enekwe, p. 39).

Nevertheless, despite the fact that Emente ends on a rather pessimistic note, it is best discussed as such that sends a strong message of hope. This message has to do with the fact that, as it can be inferred from the story; people are capable of experiencing remorse (due to having acted unethically in the past) – something that makes possible the eventual betterment of humanity.

The story Ravenna revolves around the theme of betrayal, as well. After all, it would indeed prove quite impossible to refer to the featured couple’s decision not to adopt Rene (because of her ugliness), as a morally justified act – even though there were a number of rational reasons for the Farther and Mother to refrain from doing it. As the Mother pointed out, “The other one (Rene) will always grow up in the shadow of her sister’s (Ravenna) beauty” (Jones, p. 102).

Nevertheless, as compared to what it is being the case with Enekwe’s story, in Ravenna the motif of self-guilt is secondary to the motif of self-dignity, embodied by the character of Rene. The reason for this is that, despite having been a child, Rene was perfectly aware that, due to being ugly (at least, in the sense of how everybody used to think of her), she would never be adopted.

Yet, Rene’s awareness, in this respect, was not causing her to yield to bitterness, but rather to adopt a stoic stance in life, as if she wanted to say – ‘I know that, because of my physical looks, no foster parent would like to adopt me, and I do not mind. However, I think it is wrong to deny a child the perspective of a social advancement, simply because of this child’s appearance’.

This highlights the significance of Rene’s suggestion that she can wait all that it takes, in order for people to eventually realize that, regardless of how children look like, they equally deserve love and appreciation (Jones, p. 103). Apparently, the relationship that she developed with the Farther and Mother, serves the literary purpose of enlightening readers on the fact that, even when people’s hypocrisy appears thoroughly rational, it does not make it less hypocritical – something that today’s Whites still have a great deal to learn about.

Nevertheless, it would be wrong to assume that the discursive humanism of African-American literature is solely concerned with the affiliated authors’ preoccupation with exploring the theme of the relationship between people – it is also often about encouraging individuals to apply a conscious effort into making this world a better place to live. Nothing illustrates the validity of this suggestion better than the short story The point of no return by Tlali.

In essence, this story presents readers to the conversation that took place between the characters of Mojalefa (a Black revolutionary, who is about to embark on the mission of freeing South Africa from apartheid) and his wife S’bongile, in the wake of what Mojalefa hopes will turn out a successful revolution against the oppressors. Throughout this conversation, S’bongile tries to convince her husband to refrain from taking active part in the revolutionary conspiracy, because she rightly considers it an utterly dangerous undertaking.

Still, even though Mojalefa is being shown as a loving husband and father (the couple has a baby-daughter Gugu), he refused to consider the possibility of giving up on his essentially self-sacrificial intention to attempt to overthrow the racist government. The reason for this is that, as it appears from the story, the well-being of Black people in Africa meant for Mojalefa so much more than the prospect of enjoying happiness with S’bongile and Gugu.

The following statement, on the part of Mojalefa, leaves only a few doubts, in this respect, “Somebody has got to sacrifice so that others may be free. The real things, those that really matter, are never acquired the easy way. All the peoples of this world who were oppressed like us have had to give up something” (Tlali, p. 49). It is needless to mention, of course, that this establishes Mojalefa as an utterly admirable person, who happened to be nothing short of a saint.

There is, however, is even more to him – along with having had enough resolution to sacrifice his life for the sake of the rest of brothers and sisters, Mojalefa also exhibited the traits of a realistically-minded intellectual, who was perfectly aware of why White people were able to subject Black Africans to their rule, in the first place. According to Mojalefa, this development took place not the least because of the intellectually poisonous influence of the White man’s religion.

Hence, the significance of Mojalefa’s rhetorical question,”What’s the use of praying all the time? In the first place, how can a slave kneel down and pray without feeling that he is not quite a man, human?” (Tlali, p. 45). Thus, while exposed to Tlali’s story, readers will not only be able to grow even more appreciative of the fighters for Black liberation, but also to gain a number of valuable insights into what should account for the proper existential mode of a Black person in this world.

I believe that the line of argumentation, deployed throughout this paper, is fully consistent with the paper’s initial thesis that the spirit of humanism is deeply embedded in African-American (Black) literature, as we know it.

References

Aidoo, A. In the cutting of a drink.

Baldwin, J. Sonny’s blues.

Enekwe, O. Emente.

Fisher, R. Miss Cynthie.

Jones, G. Ravenna.

Tlali, M. The point of no return.

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Humanism in African-American Literature

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