“The Man Child”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

词条

The Man Child

释义

Plot introduction
Plot summary
Characters
Main themes

"The Man Child" is a 1965 short story by James Baldwin, taken from the short story collection, Going to Meet the Man.

Plot introduction

In a rural setting, young Eric lives on a large farm with his parents, who are friends with Jamie, a farmer who has lost his farm to Eric's father. Eric's parents are celebrating with Jamie his birthday.

Plot summary

It is Jamie's thirty-fourth birthday and he is at Eric's parents' place to celebrate. Eric's father upbraids him for being alone, with no wife or children, only a dog and his mother. Then Eric and his father go for a walk, during which Eric learns that all the land around him is his, thanks to his father's self-discipline and the passing down of land from generation to generation. Jamie, on the other hand, has lost his land, the land of Eric's father has grown even larger because he bought Jamie's. Back at the house, Jamie blows out the candles.

Later, after Eric's mother had a miscarriage with a baby the couple had imagined calling either Sophie or Jamie, Eric goes for a walk and runs into Jamie. The latter takes him into a barn and strangles him, while his mother is singing in the kitchen.

Characters

Eric - eight years old, blonde.
Father - He is thirty-two years old.
Mother - pregnant
Sophie - Eric's would-be little sister, buried in the church courtyard
Jamie - a neighbor who goes to a local bar, The Rafters, with Eric's father every night. His wife left him and Eric's father bought his failing farm. He is thirty-four years old.

Main themes

father-son relationships
generational transference of property
white masculinity
white paternity
frontier mentality
jealousy
loneliness

2 : 1965 short stories|Short stories by James Baldwin

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