In Darkness and Confusion by Ann Petry
"In Darkness and Confusion" by Ann Petry is a poignant narrative set in a Harlem tenement, following the life of William Jones and his family. As the story unfolds, William grapples with the overwhelming stress of his daily existence, including his deep concern for his son Sam, who is a soldier stationed in Georgia. The backdrop of Harlem, characterized by social decay and economic hardship, amplifies William's struggles as he deals with the chaotic behavior of his niece Annie May, who is indulged by her aunt, Pink.
The plot thickens when William learns of Sam’s dire situation after an encounter with a soldier friend, revealing that Sam has been court-martialed and imprisoned for a violent incident. This revelation spirals into a tragic series of events when a racially charged altercation escalates into a riot, reflecting the larger societal tensions of the time. The narrative culminates in a heartbreaking moment when Pink, consumed by rage from the news of her son, meets a tragic fate. The story effectively captures the themes of familial anxiety, societal oppression, and the explosive potential of pent-up frustrations in a community facing systemic challenges.
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In Darkness and Confusion by Ann Petry
First published: 1947
Type of plot: Psychological
Time of work: 1943
Locale: Harlem, New York
Principal Characters:
William Jones , a drugstore porterPink Jones , his wifeAnnie May , Pink's niece
The Story
William Jones, his wife, Pink, and her niece, Annie May, occupy an apartment on the top floor of a Harlem tenement. One Saturday morning, as William eats his breakfast and prepares for work, it is apparent that this will not be a good day. He usually enjoys this first meal of the day—the quiet before the house awakens and the coolness before the sun's heat penetrates the thin walls and makes the small apartment unbearable. This morning, however, the heat is already intolerable, the coffee tastes awful, the eggs are overcooked, and the warmed-over cornbread tastes like sand in his mouth.
William cannot seem to rid himself of the worries that have plagued him of late, especially the anxiety for his son, a soldier stationed in Georgia. He has not heard from Sam in a long time, and both he and Pink are concerned that the boy may be in trouble. To add to William's distress, Annie May is out of control and constantly indulged by her doting aunt, who excuses the girl's every indiscretion by saying, "I don't care what she's done, she ain't got no mother or father except us."
As William sits at the kitchen table, consumed by these thoughts, he is brought back to consciousness by the sound of movement in the bedroom. When Pink comes into the kitchen, he mumbles something about the heat, then quickly retires to the bedroom. He does not want to talk to his wife just yet. After a while, he comes out of the bedroom, dressed for work. Heading for the door, he stops to question Annie May about the late hours she has been keeping, and she gives him a flippant answer. Her answer seems to meet with approval from Pink, whose laughter mingles with Annie May's, as William goes out of the door and down the stairs to the mailbox.
There is no letter. Disappointed by another day with no word from Sam, William makes his way through the dismal streets, struck again with their meanness—many of the dilapidated buildings are inhabited by pimps, prostitutes, drunks, and drug addicts. Thoughts of the morning return, and he finds himself reliving incidents of his life. He recalls the many unsuccessful efforts he has made to extricate himself from this ghetto, to find decent housing for his wife, whose health is threatened by having to climb the steep stairs to their apartment. He thinks, also, of the many wonderful plans he has made for his son.
When William arrives at the drugstore, he puts on his work clothes and begins his routine of cleaning the floors and stocking the shelves. As the day wears on, three young girls come in, laughing and giggling as they seat themselves on the stools at the counter. They remind William of Annie May, who quit school at the age of sixteen, with Pink's sanction and over his objections.
At the end of a weary day of work and worry, William goes to the barbershop for a haircut. There, in a chance meeting with one of Sam's soldier friends, William learns that his son is in prison. Sam has been court-martialed and sentenced to twenty years at hard labor for shooting a military police officer who had shot him for not moving to the back of the bus. Devastated, but determined to keep this discovery from Pink, William goes home, gets into bed, and feigns sleep so as not to have to talk to his wife when she comes home from work.
When William arises on Sunday morning, Pink is already dressed for church, and William pretends to be deeply absorbed in the newspaper until she leaves. Later, finding it impossible to remain alone in the apartment, he dresses and heads for a bar in a neighborhood hotel. While he is drinking and brooding over his son, he glances casually toward the hotel lobby, where a white police officer is arguing with a black woman. When the police officer threatens the woman with his nightstick, a black soldier intervenes and is shot by the police officer. This act of violence against the soldier is a painful reminder of all that William has been trying to forget; suddenly, all the anger and frustration that he has been suppressing bursts forth. Without thinking, he rushes through the lobby, followed by the other barroom patrons. They hear the sound of an ambulance, which pulls off just as they reach the street. They are then joined by others who are also angered by the incident, and this anger explodes into a full-scale riot.
In a matter of minutes, a sea of humanity is surging through the streets—hundreds of black people, venting their rage against a system that has held them in bondage. They rush wildly through the streets, pillaging, pilfering, destroying. Suddenly, amid the chaos, William encounters Pink returning from church. In trying to tell her what has happened at the bar, he blurts out the news about Sam. Her first reaction is stunned silence, then uncontrollable rage—rage that sends her on a destructive rampage through the streets of Harlem. When, finally, her rage is spent, she collapses a few blocks from their apartment—dead.
Bibliography
Bell, Bernard. "Ann Petry's Demythologizing of American Culture and Afro-American Character." In Conjuring: Black Women, Fiction, and Literary Tradition, edited by Marjorie Pryse and Hortense J. Spillers. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1985.
Clark, Keith. "A Distaff Dream Deferred? Ann Petry and the Art of Subversion." African-American Review 26 (Fall, 1992): 495-505.
Ervin, Hazel Arnett, and Hilary Holladay, eds. Ann Petry's Short Fiction: Critical Essays. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2004.
Gross, Theodore. "Ann Petry: The Novelist as Social Critic." In Black Fiction: New Studies in the Afro-American Novel Since 1945, edited by A. Robert Lee. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1980.
Hernton, Calvin. "The Significance of Ann Petry." In The Sexual Mountain and Black Women Writers. New York: Doubleday, 1987.
Holladay, Hilary. Ann Petry. New York: Twayne, 1996.
Petry, Ann. "A MELUS Interview: Ann Petry—The New England Connection." Interview by Mark Wilson. MELUS 15 (Summer, 1988): 71-84.
Washington, Gladys. "A World Made Cunningly: A Closer Look at Ann Petry's Short Fiction." College Language Association Journal 30 (September, 1986): 14-29.