Pioneering, In Its Own Way

Here is a book that makes me yearn for a literature class -- or a really challenging book club -- in which to turn it inside out with analysis. I would like to talk with folks who have studied this book, and  particularly the opinions and reactions of black scholars, students, and peers. Without those opportunities, reading online will have to do, to expand my perspective. There are so many facets to be explored!

Julia Peterkin's novel, Scarlet Sister Mary, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1929. There was some confusion in the selection process and a kerfuffle when it won. However, it was no mistake to declare it a winner. It's written in black dialect, which to my eye and ear gives it a vitality akin to Zora Neale Hurston's classic novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. It also contains some beautiful, lyrical descriptions of weather and Nature, setting the scene for events and character actions. These contrasting tones make a compelling and readable whole.  

The novel tells the story of Mary, a Gullah woman who falls for a charming but shiftless man who then abandons her. Mary goes on to bear many children, each by a different man, with neither apology nor regret. She considers her sex appeal to be a powerful asset, and reinforces it with a love charm. The black community hardly knows what to make of her, because of her sinful ways -- and yet Mary and the church form a partnership more enduring than any romantic or sexual partnership in Mary's life. Whether they are on good terms or on the outs, Mary remains a part of her community and God is always right around the corner.

The fact that this novel was written by a white plantation owner is problematic and the racial overtones form an important part of any analysis. It's certainly not believable that Mary enjoys picking cotton and seems to support herself adequately despite being the sole parent of 10 children. I don't feel qualified to pass judgment on whether the depictions of Mary and the other community members are accurate and respectful; they seem that way to me, in the tradition of Hurston and later, Alice Walker in The Color Purple.

And of course the "scarlet" in the title brings up the question of Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. It seems to me that one could draw a line from Hester Prynne to Sister Mary to Janie Crawford (Hurston's heroine): women who are judged and ostracized while -- even because of -- holding their heads high and living their lives with their own version of dignity, right at the edge of the constraints of society. 

Excerpt:

A soft blue haze covered everything. When the wind blew in sharp gusts, old dead leaves, heaped in low places or caught in dead grasses, crackled and shivered then whirled out into open spaces. Tree branches moaned and shook their swollen buds as the air swished through them.

Only the haze lay quiet and still over the land. The wind couldn't move it at all. . . .

Maum Hannah walked up and found Mary sitting alone in the dusk. "Git up off de steps, gal," she cautioned. "You ain't to set still when de whippoorwill's a-cryin. De whippoorwill's a bad-luck bird, Si May-e. When you hear em, you must go inside de house. Night air ain' no good nohow. Night air, or neither studyin. An' honey," the old woman went on, "dis is Wednesday night. Meetin night. I want you to come go to meetin. Meetin don' last long. Do come go, honey. I want to see you pray, so bad."

Note: This book counts toward the Color Coded Reading Challenge. It's also a Pulitzer winner.