During this conversation, Joseph recognizes that he is lucky for only having daughters: "If he had sons, they might very well be dead, or in jail" (123). Perhaps these wars are "indescribable" for Tish because of their severity or perhaps because Beale Street is not concerned with queer relationships in the way that most of Baldwin's other work is. She is taken aback by how he interacts with men, noting that she has never before seen "the love and respect that men can have for each other" (58). It ends on an emotionally ambiguous but quietly hopeful note; love has been proven to endure, to manifest in the existence of a healthy baby boy. The mention of San Remo also tells us that the way that Baldwin describes New York City in Beale Street is through the eyes of an insider who knows specific restaurants and locales, as well as the cultural significance that they carry. Immediately after, he calms down and apologizes, saying that the reason he blew up at her is that he is so stressed and scared. In this passage, Tish faces as much pressure as Fonny to "provide" for their family. He smiles through the bad news that Fonny's case has become more complicated. Tish demonstrates acceptance rather than resentment at these social constructions and strives to fulfill the stereotypical roles expected of women in their families. Sharon, however, comes to Frank's defense: "Frank's not talking hatred, Mrs. Hunt . "If Beale Street Could Talk" Excerpt December 14, 2018 Josh: The last time most of us saw him, Adam, writer/director Barry Jenkins was accepting Oscars for 2016's "Moonlight," including, quite dramatically, Best Picture. He does not trust Mr. Hayward because of his race, knowing that those who are part of the justice system don't usually have their client's best interest at heart. While sitting in the living room with her family, she "feels alone" with the child. Tish does not feel secure in a neighborhood in which there seems to be so much cross-class mixing and appropriation and little discussion of the systems in place that push people to act the way they do. He was probably wondering only—and that, dimly—how he was going to get through another day on his job. Baldwin reconsiders the role of the artist in the passages where Fonny and Tish discuss their marriage. (75). She tells her sister that it is very unlikely that they will be able to get Mrs. Rogers to change her testimony, since she is not lying. 5. I'm a sculptor. She met a little girl in that hospital, the little girl was dying, and, at the age of twelve, she was already a junkie. At the end of the novel, we are left in ambiguity on whether or not Fonny has made it out of jail. His frustration and rage are insensible to him, to the other protagonists, and even to the reader, as everyone comes to the realization, together, of the terrible truth that getting Fonny out of jail might not be a possibility. Tish asks why, then, Mrs. Rogers chose to accuse Fonny. Frank enters after the sisters and the whole group moves into the living room. She drinks tea with her mother, neither of them speaking a word, and emerges onto the street. He tells Tish that what the D.A. Mrs. Hunt disapproves of Frank's attitude, saying that "if you give people hatred, they will give it back to you" (65). He also says that going to jail confirmed for him that the "white man's got to be the devil" because they can play with prisoners and do whatever they want to them, particularly if those prisoners are African American (103). Maybe as well – and we'll talk about this I hope in a little bit more detail – the way Jenkins doubles down here on the influence of Wong Kar-wai. The close repetition of the word "change" communicates the main idea of this passage—the act of having sex changes not only Tish and Fonny's relationship but Tish and Fonny themselves. Frank responds, "You can bet . In this way, Mrs. Hunt has released caring about her son through her religion. They offer drinks to the Hunt family as soon as they enter through the door. If she changes her testimony, she'll go mad. For example, he informs Tish that they live in "a very big city, a very big country—even, for that matter, a very big world" (95). Tish responds with anger, saying that Adrienne hasn't gone to visit her brother enough in jail and that she is too conceited. Baldwin's use of Christian language equates Tish and Fonny's togetherness in this moment to an official marriage that is sanctioned by the church. Inside you'll find 30 Daily Lessons, 20 Fun Activities, 180 Multiple Choice Questions, 60 Short Essay Questions, 20 Essay Questions, Quizzes/Homework Assignments, Tests, and more. He responds to his wife that she has spent too much time thinking about religion when she "should have been with [her] son" (66). However, one landlord promised Tish an apartment thinking that she was moving in alone and he would be able to "make it" with her (100). Mr. Hayward's descriptions of the case in this light serve two purposes in the novel. He does not care for Christianity, because in his opinion Christianity never helped anyone out of a hard situation or solved racism. It might be significant to note that in the scene in which Tish tells her family about her pregnancy, everyone has a drink in their hand besides Tish. In Baldwin's novel, these roles are both conservative and fluid. He then tells Fonny that he just got out from being in jail for two years. Sharon wakes Tish up from her nightmare and wipes her down with a cool towel. It is a sanctified moment between the two characters, in which they become one. ONE Troubled About My Soul I look at myself in the mirror. In this way, Baldwin posits the artist as a person that can aspire to greatness and fame without having to conform to racist or harmful institutions. When Fonny takes Tish to the Spanish restaurant for the first time, Tish and Fonny order drinks and a paella to share. If you trusted love this far, don't panic now.” ― James Baldwin, If Beale … The recurring theme of gender roles arises when Fonny proposes to Tish. At this point in the narrative, Tish recounts that she spends a lot of time visiting that restaurant while Fonny is in jail. She imagines a scenario in which she faints from exhaustion and the crowd tramples her to death. The baby's movement is a sign for her that everything will, eventually, get better. Tish encounters a sense of solidarity with African American men while at her job at the perfume store. Sharon takes command of the dynamics of the scene when she announces Tish's pregnancy to the family. If Beale Street Could Talk & the Blues. Ernestine tells her father that the situation will be rough, but everything will work out in the end. He don't give a shit about nobody! She tells Ernestine that she is not afraid and they leave the bar to talk to their parents. Even though he does not die due to alcohol-related reasons, alcohol will have a role in his suicide at the end of Beale Street. Ernestine clarifies herself: "As far as she's concerned, Fonny raped her, and that's that, and now she hasn't got to deal with it anymore. After Tish recounts Fonny and Daniel's reunion, her tale moves back to the present. She also highlights how the justice system is rigged against defendants, particularly if they are innocent: "It is then up to the accused to prove, and pay for proving, the irregularity and improbability of this sequence of events" (117-8). This causes Mrs. Hunt to look at Tish with "terrible eyes," while a "cold bitter smile" rests on Frank's face (66). For Tish, the other people in the street seem like they "[have] it all together: the walk, the sound, the laughter, the untidy clothes" (53). . She tells Tish that there is hope that Fonny will make it out of prison alive: "I know a lot of our loved ones, a lot of our men, have died in prison: but not all of them" (112). Ernestine tells her sister that one of their family members would have to go to Puerto Rico to track her down. Fighting against the unjust system will be an uphill battle for the protagonists of this novel. She also, however, notes that this tourism isn't reserved for white people: "There were many blacks and white together: it was hard to tell which was the imitation. We're going to have a baby" (67). He asks Tish how the family is going to get the money to find Mrs. Rogers and Tish informs him that every member of the family is working in order to save up the funds. Ultimately, Joseph approves of the marriage because he sees himself in Fonny, which speaks to the traditional continuance between a father and a husband, reinforced through the marriage ceremony. That's all I pray for, every day and every night. The story, of a young man wrongly accused of a crime by a racist establishment, has the potential for a powerful novel. The title is a reference to the 1916 W.C. Essays for If Beale Street Could Talk. Because Fonny cannot afford much better than these apartments, he keeps his standards low. I hope it turns out to be uterine cancer. Baldwin chooses to set up this scene so that traditional gender roles are reinforced as well as contested and reconsidered. After Tish leaves Mr. Hayward's office, we are launched into her memory of Fonny and Daniel running into each other on the street after many years. Tish wonders what the baby will be like, and as she realizes the reality of carrying Fonny's child, she is reminded of him and smiles. As soon as Tish and Sharon enter Mr. Hayward's office, we see them operating in a social arena where they are not immediately allies with the person that they are interacting with. Ernestine returns to the Rivers household with tears on their face. This description helps to cement the negative feelings that Tish feels towards downtown Manhattan in the novel; it is not her "place" in this city, and it is not where she feels at ease. He then tells Tish and Sharon that the largest difficulty of Fonny's case is Officer Bell's testimony. After Tish wakes up from her nightmare, Sharon enters Tish's room to console her. Like all of Baldwin’s later novels, If Beale Street Could Talk depicts sexuality in bold, frank ways. Due to the contentious nature of Jewish identity in North America as passing for white in most cases, Daniel associates his Jewish boss more with the white system that is against him instead of as a potential ally in cross-ethnic solidarity, and chooses not to reach out to him, despite knowing that he is a "nice enough" man. If Beale Street Could Talk essays are academic essays for citation. Adrienne and Sheila enter after their mother, and Ernestine shuffles them into the house. Sharon responds that Tish hasn't been yet, that she has an appointment with him on Monday, and that she better accompany her daughter. If Beale Street Could Talk, which was published in 1974 and follows a young black couple whose lives are torn apart by a false criminal accusation, is a harbinger of Baldwin’s late style. If Beale Street Could Talk is a sumptuous film that explores the emotions of joy, fear, anger and, above all, love. . Tish watches the crowds, with "something turning over and over and over" in her head" (116). As Tish notes, "all these people were blind" (55). Despite the equality between Tish and Fonny, traditional gender roles are reinforced further when Fonny goes to ask Joseph's permission to marry Tish. Joseph and Fonny have an intense conversation. Once Mrs. Hunt gets back to her feet, Tish tells her that her insult was "the most terrible thing" she has heard in her life (69). First, Tish and Fonny are so united at this point of the novel that it does not feel like a stretch that she would be able to experience his reality in this way. In the scene where Sharon makes the announcement to the family, she notes the divisions that gender roles cause in her relationships: "His face was full of questions, and he would have been able to ask these questions of his son—or, at least, I think that a black man can: but he couldn't ask these questions of his daughter. The book has been awarded with , and many others. It is difficult work, but she likes it. There is no question within the pages of Beale Street that Fonny has been falsely accused, even though the court takes a different stance. Josh: The last time most of us saw him, Adam, writer/director Barry Jenkins was accepting Oscars for 2016's "Moonlight," including, quite dramatically, Best Picture. “... love brought you here. He asserts that white men feel erotic pleasure from dehumanizing African American men: "But the mothers who put him in his wagon, man, they was coming in their pants while they did it. As Fonny and Tish walk through the Village, Tish feels threatened by the people on the sidewalk. . 6. This theme is complicated later on in the novel when Mrs. Rogers denies Sharon's request that she return to change her testimony against Fonny. The deep psychological pain that Daniel's arrest causes him foreshadows the pain that Fonny will have to face while in jail, a pain that Tish does not embody or truly allow herself to think about during the events of the novel. However, these "untidy clothes" are mere "copies" of poverty and feel extremely far away from her own situation. He tells Fonny the story of his arrest: he was accused of carjacking, and when the police came to pick him up, they found marijuana on him. They take a shower together and take turns washing each other. that I've always been yours, right?" This shift in tone underscores the institutional powers that Tish and her family are fighting against. After that, Tish doesn't see him for a few weeks. This thought is an unspoken tension behind her family's celebration. I think it really sunk in from the opening sounds – not even the images, but the opening sounds of Nicolas Britell score. Fonny and Tish sit in Washington Square Park for a while, and Tish feels ready to be out of the streets and somewhere indoors. While she is at work, Tish thinks about the different types of customers that come to her perfume stand to smell the back of the hand. The lushness of this film is something that we saw elements of, undoubtedly, in "Moonlight," and here he's taken it to another level. About If Beale Street Could Talk (Movie Tie-In). The officialness and finality of Tish and Fonny's union is communicated by Baldwin's use of the word "anointed" when the two lovers are looking at the aftereffects of sex: "on him and on the bed and on me; and, in the dim light against our dark bodies, the effect was of some strange anointing" (81). Ernestine walks Mrs. Hunt and Fonny's sisters towards the elevator, telling them that she will not tell the child that is coming about them and that they are terrible people for forsaking their own flesh. Sexual intimacy provides a “strange anointing,” as Tish observes (81). He also says that he would be scared to leave her because Tish is one of the only things in this world that he has. In this passage, we see Fonny turn on Tish, something he hasn't done since the very first moment that they met and he spits in her mouth. Additionally, while Mrs. Hunt is separating herself from being responsible for Tish's child, she asks "And who . The book was published in multiple languages including English, consists of 197 pages and is available in Paperback format. The weight of the text, both in tone and form—a dense block of italicized text—shows the power that this official accusation holds over Tish and Fonny's heads. Fonny and Tish then walk West toward a Spanish restaurant where Fonny is a regular. First, they underscore the difficulty that the Rivers family, Frank, and Fonny are facing with the trial.
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