The Warrior Princess Ozimba by Reynolds Price
"The Warrior Princess Ozimba" by Reynolds Price tells a poignant story centered around the complex relationship between Mr. Ed, a white man, and Aunt Zimby, an elderly Black woman who has been a part of his family for generations. Set against the backdrop of historical racial dynamics in the United States, the narrative unfolds during Ed’s annual visit to celebrate Aunt Zimby’s birthday on the Fourth of July. Despite her blindness and advanced age, Aunt Zimby reminisces about her past, sharing memories that intertwine her life with that of Ed's deceased father, Mr. Phil.
The story evokes themes of memory, heritage, and the passage of time as Aunt Zimby’s confusion between Ed and her longtime companion highlights both her solitude and the enduring ties of familial duty. In a bittersweet culmination, Ed silently grapples with his emotional burden while honoring a tradition that connects them across generations. The narrative invites reflection on the lasting impacts of history and personal connections, prompting readers to consider the complexities of identity and memory within interracial relationships and the legacies of the past.
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The Warrior Princess Ozimba by Reynolds Price
First published: 1962
Type of plot: Sketch
Time of work: A Fourth of July around 1955
Locale: Southern United States
Principal Characters:
Aunt Zimby , an aged African American woman, blind and almost deafVesta , her daughterMr. Ed , the narrator
The Story
Events unfold slowly: Mr. Ed, a southern white man, visits Aunt Zimby every Fourth of July—the date that she has designated as her birthday. His purpose is to give her a birthday present, a new pair of blue tennis shoes, although she has never played tennis and is now blind and cannot discern the color. He annually reenacts this tradition, following the example of his father, who has been dead for two years.
Aunt Zimby, who was born around the time of the Civil War, has "belonged" to this family of whites through four generations, being passed down and along to them as a matter of duty, care, and heritage. In her blindness and old age, Aunt Zimby confuses Mr. Ed, the narrator, with Mr. Phil, his dead father. She sits on the front porch of the shanty, which will scarcely keep out a gentle rain, chews snuff, and reminisces about her overlong life. She retells one story from earlier years of a time when she herself was Mr. Phil's accomplice in eating mulberries against his parents' instructions. A second recollection is of a night when Mr. Phil went dancing with the white girls, and came home in the rain and mud, wearing only his underwear; he had to undress in order to protect his new clothes.
Lost in age and place, the ancient woman who survives only as a relic from the past asks when Mr. Phil will show up with her new shoes for a birthday present. Ed neither tries to explain that his father is dead nor even tries to answer her; rather, he sits silently with the new shoes in a state of contemplation and is transfigured and transposed to another time and existence. After Aunt Zimby falls asleep, Ed gives the shoes to Vesta, her daughter, and leaves, wiping tears from his eyes.
Bibliography
Drake, Robert, ed. The Writer and His Tradition. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1969.
Humphries, Jefferson, ed. Conversations with Reynolds Price. Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 1991.
Kaufman, Wallace. "A Conversation with Reynolds Price." Shenandoah 17 (Spring, 1966): 3-25.
Price, Reynolds. Learning a Trade: A Craftman's Notebooks, 1955-1997. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1998.
Rooke, Constance. Reynolds Price. Boston: Twayne, 1983.
Schiff, James A., ed. Critical Essays on Reynolds Price. New York: G. K. Hall, 1998.
Schiff, James A., ed. Understanding Reynolds Price. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1996.
Shuman, R. Baird. "Reynolds Price." In Encyclopedia of American Literature, edited by Steven R. Serafin. New York: Continuum, 1999.
Woiwode, Larry. "Pursuits of the Flesh, Adventures of the Spirit." The Washington Post Book World, April 26, 1981, p. 5.
Wright, Stuart, and James L. West III. Reynolds Price: A Bibliography, 1949-1984. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1986.