Summary
From the bedroom, Tish can hear that Ernestine has arrived home from work. Ernestine works downtown at a settlement house with teenagers of "all colors" (38). It is difficult work, but she likes it. Tish remembers that when her sister was younger, she was very self-centered. Because Ernestine was so beautiful when she was younger, Sharon thought that she might be able to go into "show business," forgetting that she, too, once tried to be a singer and failed. One day, Tish remembers, her sister's vanity receded, and she began reading more books and caring less about how she looked. Because of her new knowledge, she became more acutely critical of racism in America and much nicer to her sister, Tish. As a result of her metamorphosis, Ernestine decided not to go to college and instead began working at a hospital. While there, she met a 12-year-old who was dying and who was already addicted to drugs. This led Ernestine to begin working with children.
Ernestine asks about Tish's whereabouts: "Where's Jezebel?" (39). Tish recounts that Ernestine started calling her "Jezebel" after she began her job at the perfume store and came home every day "smelling like a Louisiana whore" (39). Sharon tells Ernestine that Tish is lying down, and Ernestine gets herself a drink. Ernestine enquires as to whether Tish has gone to see the lawyer, Mr. Hayward, who she found to help Tish and Fonny. Sharon responds that Tish hasn't been yet, that she has an appointment with him on Monday, and that she better accompany her daughter. Sharon tells Ernestine that the lawyer is probably going to request more money because Fonny's case is a hard one, and Ernestine asks what lawyers are for. Sharon responds: "to make money" (40). The family is determined to help Tish and Fonny with the legal case, saying that they will work to find a solution together because Fonny is a part of their family.
After overhearing her family's conversation, Tish leaves her mother's bedroom and goes into the living room with her father and sister while her mother cooks. She sits down on a footstool and leans against her father's knee. Suddenly, after being able to rest following a long day, the reality of the baby growing inside her becomes real for Tish. While sitting in the living room with her family, she "feels alone" with the child. Meanwhile, Ernestine dims the lights, puts on a Ray Charles record, and sits down on the sofa. Tish experiences a moment of "rage and a steady, triumphant sorrow" in which she can feel her "baby ... slowly being formed" (41). 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. She thinks of having sex with Fonny, and how similar it is to when he is sculpting. If she had never watched Fonny create art, she muses, she would have not known his true feelings for her.
After the Rivers family eats dinner, Sharon goes to the cupboard and pulls out an old bottle of French brandy that she's been saving for years from her days as a singer. She tells Joseph to open the bottle, and even though he and Ernestine are confused, Joseph complies. Tish gets the sense that her father already knows the news before Sharon tells him, and she watches his eyes darken. After everyone has a glass of brandy, Sharon gives everyone the news and tells them to drink. Joseph pauses, and everyone waits to speak before Joseph responds to the news. Eventually, his response is positive, and the whole family drinks to the coming baby. Ernestine hugs Tish with tears in her eyes. Tish reads that her father has questions for her that he feels like he cannot ask, questions he could ask his son if he had one. For a moment, the difference between how her father would treat a son and how he treats his daughters makes Tish angry, but then she rationalizes, "Fathers and sons are one thing. Fathers and daughters are another" (45).
Once she tells her family, Tish wonders how Frank will take the news that she is expecting a baby with Fonny. She realizes that everyone's first thought upon hearing the news is, But Fonny's in jail! This thought is an unspoken tension behind her family's celebration. Joseph asks Tish if she is sure she wants the baby, and Tish nervously responds yes, citing all of the reasons why this is a good idea. Joseph clarifies himself, telling Tish that he doesn't want her to think that he thinks she's a "bad girl" (46). Ernestine tells her father that the situation will be rough, but everything will work out in the end. Ernestine's interjection causes Tish to think about her sister's relationship with Joseph, and how it is different from her own relationship with her father. Even though Ernestine used to believe Joseph loved Tish more, she has come into herself in recent years and now has much more confidence. This new confidence allows Ernestine to do many things Tish is too afraid to do, such as interrupt Joseph. Ernestine tells Tish to "unbow [her] head" and toasts to the baby with her (47).
Joseph says that he hopes the baby is a boy because it would "tickle old Frank to pieces" (47). He then asks Tish if he can be the one to break the news to Frank, and Ernestine says she wishes she could tell Fonny's sisters. The family then decides that it is probably best to ask the Hunts over that night and break the news to them as a family. Joseph goes into the next room to call the Hunts over to their home, telling Frank to get the family in the car and come over to their house as fast as possible. When he returns to the kitchen, he smiles at Tish and tells her to sit on his lap. Tish feels like a "princess" in her father's lap and Joseph tells her that she is a good girl and that he is proud of her (49). Tish feels her family's support and love in this moment. She also realizes that the baby that is coming is as much her father's child as her own, since she would not exist if it weren't for him.
Tish then moves into a memory of the first time that she and Fonny had sex. She muses that even though she and Fonny never really thought about it, that moment was always lurking in the future. While they grew up together, she and Fonny did not think about each other's bodies in a sexual manner. They always considered each other "a part of each other, flesh of each other's flesh," which means that they take the presence of a body separate from their own for granted (51).
Tish and Fonny's sexual relationship starts when Tish is 18 and Fonny is 21. Once, while they are kissing each other goodnight, Fonny becomes sexually aroused. After that, Tish doesn't see him for a few weeks. While he wasn't seeing Tish, Fonny made the wood figure that he gave to Sharon. When Tish and Fonny finally reunite, Tish is so excited that everything looks new to her. She is aware of how happy she is in that moment as she and Fonny hold hands. Tish notices that over the time that they were apart, Fonny's physical appearance changed: he started wearing his hair differently, and he is wearing "an old black and red lumber jacket and old gray corduroy pants" (52). Tish is caught off guard by Fonny's beauty, saying that he is the most attractive person that she has ever met. As Tish and Fonny get on the subway and head downtown, Tish marvels at the person beside her. She wonders at what she sees in his face: "his face was bigger than the world, his eyes deeper than the sun, more vast than the desert, all that had ever happened since time began was in his face" (52). Thinking about Fonny makes Tish feel shocked that she is still a virgin.
When Tish and Fonny arrive downtown in the Village, Tish feels separate from the people crowding the sidewalks. She reveals that the crowds frighten her, though she can't really say why. 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). However, these "untidy clothes" are mere "copies" of poverty and feel extremely far away from her own situation. Tish sees the crowds as blind to the realities of society and as mere sheep that do "exactly as they had been told" (53).
As Fonny and Tish walk through the Village, Tish feels threatened by the people on the sidewalk. She notes that in a way, this neighborhood is similar to the neighborhood she comes from, but it also feels like there is something about it that frightens her. Fonny and Tish sit in Washington Square Park for a while, and Tish feels ready to be out of the streets and somewhere indoors. Fonny and Tish then walk West toward a Spanish restaurant where Fonny is a regular. The people working in the restaurant are not like the people in the street; they are much nicer to Tish and she feels at home. At this point in the narrative, Tish recounts that she spends a lot of time visiting that restaurant while Fonny is in jail. They give Tish food and a little bit of wine, saying that they have to take care of her because Fonny is their friend. For Tish, they are the "very nicest people she had met in all New York" because "they cared" (57). The people at the restaurant also help Tish run errands while Fonny is in jail and drive her to the Tombs when she gets to be very pregnant and needs a ride.
When Fonny takes Tish to the Spanish restaurant for the first time, Tish and Fonny order drinks and a paella to share. Fonny tells Tish that he has something to show her later, and they hold hands on the table. This moment is important for Tish because it is the first time in which she sees Fonny interact with the world without either of their families involved. 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). This moves Tish into a discussion about the differences between men and women. After this, Tish and Fonny arrive at Fonny's apartment.
Back in the Rivers household, the Hunt family arrives for the "summit meeting." The first person to come through the door is Mrs. Hunt, who looks scared, "in spite of the power of the Holy Ghost" (61). Adrienne and Sheila enter after their mother, and Ernestine shuffles them into the house. Frank enters after the sisters and the whole group moves into the living room. Tish notices that the way that Joseph is holding on to her causes fear in Mrs. Hunt and apprehension in Sheila and Adrienne. When they have settled in the living room, Frank asks Tish how Fonny is doing. Tish tells Frank that Fonny is fine and that he is spending his time in jail by "doing a lot of reading and studying" (63). Sheila makes a comment that angers Tish: "If he'd done his reading and studying when he should have, he wouldn't be in there" (63). Before Tish can respond to Sheila, however, Joseph offers the Hunts something to drink.
Sharon remarks to Mrs. Hunt that it has been a while since they have seen each other, and Mrs. Hunt rants about all that is on her plate. She says that she hopes Fonny will take the time that he is in jail to think about his sins and "surrender his soul to Jesus" (64). Sharon then asks Mrs. Hunt whether she has met Mr. Hayward, Fonny's lawyer, and she says that she hasn't gotten the chance but that Frank has been down to meet him. Frank responds that the lawyer is just another "white boy who's been to a law school," which doesn't mean much to him (64). Mrs. Hunt disapproves of Frank's attitude, saying that "if you give people hatred, they will give it back to you" (65). Sharon disagrees with Mrs. Hunt and tells her that he is "just telling the truth about life in this country" (65). Mrs. Hunt responds by saying that she puts her faith in God, which angers Frank. He responds to his wife that she has spent too much time thinking about religion when she "should have been with [her] son" (66).
Following the spat between Mrs. Hunt and Frank, Adrienne asks why the Rivers called this meeting in the first place. She asks, "you haven't called us all the way over here just to watch my father insult my mother?" (66). Tish responds with anger, saying that Adrienne hasn't gone to visit her brother enough in jail and that she is too conceited. This causes Mrs. Hunt to look at Tish with "terrible eyes," while a "cold bitter smile" rests on Frank's face (66). Following this, Ernestine and Sheila return with the drinks.
At that moment, Tish feels everyone's eyes on her. She directs her news to Frank: "Fonny's going to be a father. We're going to have a baby" (67). Mrs. Hunt responds by asking who will be responsible for the baby, and Frank responds that "it won't be the Holy Ghost" (68). Mrs. Hunt then stands up to insult Tish. She says, "You have a demon in you—I always knew it ... The Holy Ghost will cause that child to shrivel in your womb" (68). In response, Frank slaps her, and she falls to the floor. Frank and Joseph leave the apartment at Frank's request, and the six women are left alone. 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).
Adrienne defends her mother, saying that Frank didn't have to slap her to get his point across. Sharon then asks Mrs. Hunt what she was thinking in "cursing" Tish's baby. She suggests that her Christianity has "softened [her] brain" (69). Sheila enters the conversation to defend her mother's faith, and Ernestine tells her not to be a hypocrite. Adrienne responds by repeating her mother's question of who is going to take care of the baby. She says that Tish doesn't have an education and "Fonny ain't never been worth a damn" (70).
Adrienne's comment angers both Tish and Ernestine. In response, Ernestine steps between Adrienne and Tish and puts her hand on Adrienne's cheek. In a sweet voice, she threatens Adrienne. Tish criticizes Adrienne's appearance to herself and thinks that she is "not really very pretty" (72). The Hunt women decide it is time to leave, and the families exchange insults on their way towards the door. Before they can leave, however, Tish stands in front of the door and tells Mrs. Hunt that if she really doesn't want her baby, she should kick it out of her stomach right now. Mrs. Hunt does not move, and Ernestine pushes Tish towards Sharon. 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. Her strong language causes Sheila to start crying, and the Hunt women finally leave.
Ernestine returns to the Rivers household with tears on their face. Tish goes to bed, and Ernestine and Sharon stay up to play gin and rummy. Tish knows that they are dealing with the knowledge that the Hunt family has denied responsibility for Tish and Fonny's baby, which means that the responsibility rests solely on them. Tish concludes that Fonny is simply a part of the Rivers family now: "we were his family now, the only family he had" (74). Tish goes to bed, too tired to cry. She feels Fonny in bed next to her: "I crawled into his arms and he held me" (75).
We return to Tish's memory. Back in Fonny's apartment in the Village, he and Tish are getting ready to have sex for the first time. Fonny and Tish have a conversation in which they talk about how they have grown up and how they have always been each others'. Tish tells Fonny that she loves him and begins to cry. Fonny takes this as a cue to move towards her and takes care of her, causing both of them to know "something which [they] had not known before" (76). Fonny proposes to Tish, but explains to her that he will never have a lot of money and will constantly be making art in his own time. When he shows Tish his worktable where he makes art, Fonny tells Tish, "this is where my life is . . . my real life" (76). After his proposal, Fonny leads Tish to the pallet on the floor and they make love. Tish can feel herself changing and "turning towards him" during this experience (78).
Afterwards, Fonny apologizes for having made a mess and Tish wonders if there will be blood. He then, shyly, asks Tish if she likes it when they make love. Tish responds that it is "the most beautiful thing that ever happened to me" (80). Fonny agrees and says that no one has ever been with him like that before. They turn on the light, and Tish notices that there is quite a lot of blood. Instead of scaring her, it makes her feel "proud and happy" (81). Tish then regards Fonny's body and thinks about how it is a "mystery" to her (82). Fonny holds Tish close and then says that they better get home. They take a shower together and take turns washing each other.
Fonny holds Tish the entire subway ride up to the Rivers household. They walk hand in hand through Harlem until they get to Tish's apartment at 7 in the morning. Tish thinks that Fonny's just going to drop her off, but to her surprise, he enters the apartment with her. Ernestine opens the door, looking mean, and smiles at Tish and Fonny despite herself. She tells them that they are just in time for coffee. Sharon enters the kitchen fully dressed, and asks where Fonny and Tish have been. Even though she is upset about the fact that they stayed out all night together, she is relieved that Fonny is sitting next to Tish at the kitchen table. In Sharon's eyes, this means "something very important" (83).
Fonny apologizes to Sharon, saying that it's all his fault that they were out so late. He tells her that he has proposed to Tish and that they were up all night talking about it. He tells her that she knows he's not a "bad boy" and that the Rivers family is "the only family [he's] ever had" (84). Sharon asks Ernestine what she thinks, and she makes a joke but shows her support of the couple. Sharon then calls for Joseph, who emerges fully dressed from upstairs. Tish realizes that none of her family members had gone to sleep the night before because they were up waiting for her. He sees Tish first, and tells her that she needs to respect his rules as long as she is living in his house. Joseph then sees Fonny, and Fonny stands up to meet his eyes. He tells Joseph that he asked Tish to marry him, and that is why they were out for so long.
Joseph and Fonny have a frank conversation. Joseph asks Fonny how he intends to provide for Tish. However, he also sees himself in Fonny, and he looks at Fonny with "a long look, in which one watched skepticism surrender to a certain resigned tenderness, a self-recognition" (87). Joseph then asks Tish if she loves Fonny and if she wants to marry him, and she says that she does, very much. Joseph then takes Fonny into the other room to talk privately.
Tish sits down at the kitchen table with her mother and sister. Her mother asks again whether Tish truly loves Fonny, and Tish questions why her mother would ask such a thing. Ernestine replies it's because her mother has been secretly holding out the hope that Tish would end up with "Governor Rockefeller" (87). Tish knows that Ernestine's comment was close to the truth, because "the dream of safety dies hard" (88). Sharon then tells Tish that she's pleased that Tish is marrying Fonny because he's "real" and he's a "man" (88). When the men emerge from their private conversation, Joseph says that he approves of the wedding. He then takes Tish's hand and places it into Fonny's. Fonny's eyes begin to water with tears and he kisses Joseph. He then rushes out of the apartment, saying that he has to go tell his father the news.
Back in the present, Tish and Sharon visit Mr. Hayward's office. Tish reflects on the fact that even though Mr. Hayward "seems nice enough," she does not feel at ease in his company (90). Mr. Hayward asks Tish how Fonny is doing, and she resents the question, both because of its power to engender Mr. Hayward's sympathy for Fonny and because it reveals that he does not truly understand Fonny's situation. Mr. Hayward notifies Sharon and Tish that Fonny's case is getting to be very difficult. He keeps a smile on his face as he delivers the bad news and lights a cigar. Mr. Hayward informs Sharon and Tish that the case has been complicated by the fact that Mrs. Rogers has refused to change her testimony and now, she has disappeared. He tells the ladies that Mrs. Rogers has probably gone home to Puerto Rico, and that the case will require special investigators in order to track her down.
When Tish asks if fleeing the country will harm Mrs. Rogers' case, Mr. Haywayrd replies that it will, but that Mrs. Rogers is acting upon emotion alone. He then tells Tish and Sharon that the largest difficulty of Fonny's case is Officer Bell's testimony. Officer Bell "swears that he saw Fonny running away from the scene of the crime" (93). Following the revelation of this news, Tish looks around Mr. Hayward's office and is painfully aware of how little she fits in in this setting. Mr. Hayward assures Tish that he believes in Fonny's innocence, stating that Officer Bell and the D.A. handling the case are both racists. However, he warns her that her testimony—that Fonny was with her and Daniel the night of the crime—will not stand up in court because Daniel has just been arrested by the D.A's office. He tells Tish that what the D.A.'s office is doing is definitely against the law, but because Daniel has a record, they are trying to get him to change his testimony.
Mr. Hayward assures them that he is doing everything that he can, but tells them to get him more money as soon as possible. Going forward, he intends to continue the search for Mrs. Rogers and force the D.A. to let him speak to Daniel. In this way, Fonny's case is just buying time. Tish begins to meditate on time, and how it should never be able to be bought. She begins to cry. Sharon consoles Tish by saying that she is a woman now and has to get through it. She then tells Mr. Hayward that the family will talk that evening and call him in the morning with their plans. Mr. Hawyard tells Tish that he would like to tell Fonny that she is doing fine the next time he sees him and coaxes a smile out of her.
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. Daniel is not in great shape when he and Fonny meet; time had not been good to him. Fonny and Daniel laugh upon their reencounter and grab on to each other. They then go to the nearest bar to catch up. Daniel tells Fonny that he works in the garment center and that his father passed away a few years ago. Fonny then invites Daniel back to his apartment to drink more beer and says that Tish is there. He reminds Daniel of Tish, saying that she is his girl and they are going to get married soon. Fonny splurges and he and Daniel take a cab to his apartment on Bank Street. Tish reveals that she recognizes Daniel "by the light in Fonny's eyes" (99).
Tish goes to the store to get refreshments for Daniel, and Fonny catches Daniel up on his life plans. He tells Daniel that he and Tish are looking for a loft on the East Side because there are many empty apartments over there that no one wants because they are such poor quality. However, it is hard for him to get an apartment in these buildings—even though they are dangerous and low quality—because he is African American. Fonny tells Daniel that sometimes he and Tish go together to look for lofts, sometimes he goes alone, and sometimes Tish goes alone. 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). Since then, Tish does not go apartment hunting alone.
Fonny reveals that he would love to get some money together and leave the United States if he could. Daniel suggests that Fonny could go first and pave the way for Tish to follow him, but Fonny says that he would not do that because he'd be too scared of what would happen to Tish. 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. Daniel says that Fonny got lucky to have her and asks for another beer. He then tells Fonny that he just got out from being in jail for two years. 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. The next morning, they put Daniel in a lineup and somebody said he was the one who stole the car. The police then told Daniel that if he pleads guilty, he'd get a lighter sentence. He knew he was in trouble anyway because of the drugs they found on him, so he pled guilty for carjacking even though he was innocent.
Tish returns to Fonny's apartment and begins to cook them dinner. Daniel tells Fonny that he has been out of jail for three months. 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). Daniel begins to cry, and Fonny consoles him. Tish yells from the kitchen to ask if they are hungry. The men then turn their attention to Tish and she and Daniel are able to catch up. The group begins to sing "My Man" by Billie Holiday. Daniel sympathizes with Billie: "'Poor Billie,' he says, 'they beat the crap out of her, too'" (104). Tish serves the food and they banter with each other over it. Daniel says that he will come to Fonny's apartment again, around the same time next week.
In the following weeks, Daniel begins to reveal the psychological effects of what happened to him to Fonny and Tish. He tells Fonny that he was confused when the cops arrested him and that it happened so fast he didn't really realize it was happening. He didn't have anyone to call and worried about his mother, who was alone at their home and who depends on him. Throughout all of this, he suffers and cries, and Fonny and Tish take turns holding him. The fact that his self-autonomy was taken away so quickly and so violently was deeply harmful to Daniel.
After Tish recounts Fonny and Daniel's reunion, her tale moves back to the present. She meets Fonny at the Tombs and he is upset about the news that Mrs. Rogers has escaped to Puerto Rico. Tish recounts, "I had never seen him so upset before" (109). Fonny is concerned that they will not be able to find Mrs. Rogers and that the D.A. gave her money to go anywhere in the world in order to complicate his case and keep him in jail. 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. Fonny gets very frustrated and he begins to question Tish if she knows just how bad it is for him to be in jail. Immediately after, he calms down and apologizes, saying that the reason he blew up at her is that he is so stressed and scared.
After Tish visits Fonny, she has a terrible nightmare where the emotional climax of the novel is heightened further. She wakes screaming from a dream about Fonny being in mortal danger: "In one of these dreams, Fonny was driving a truck, a great big truck, very fast, too fast, down the highway, and he was looking for me . . . There were two turnings off this highway, and they both looked exactly alike. The highway was on a cliff, above the sea. One of the turnings led to the driveway of our house; the other led to the cliff's edge and a drop straight down into the sea" (111).
Sharon wakes Tish up from her nightmare and wipes her down with a cool towel. She kisses Tish and then tells her that her suffering will end. She tells Tish that the family is counting on her to bring the baby safely into the world. She tells Tish to keep her faith in the power of love, and then leaves her daughter to try and fall asleep again. After Sharon leaves, Tish lies awake in her room, considering the tools she has at her disposal to help Fonny. She thinks of the women who sell their body for money and wonders if she would be able to do the same thing to help Fonny.
After sleeping for a little while longer, Tish gets up for work. She drinks tea with her mother, neither of them speaking a word, and emerges onto the street. She passes the other people on the street and takes note of them for the first time in her life, wondering about their lives and the hardships that they face. She considers prostituting herself again and decides that she will be unable to do so in Harlem. She gets on the subway with a crowd of people and thinks that as she gets more pregnant, she might not be able to make the trip to work anymore. She imagines a scenario in which she faints from exhaustion and the crowd tramples her to death.
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. Most of the time, she is visited by white ladies who keep to the status quo. However, every once in a while, she is visited who a black man who treats her differently than the white women. Tish says they come just to look her in the eyes, and they never smell her hand but instead have her spray their hand and bring their own hand up to their noses. In contrast, a white man will hold Tish's hand up to his nostrils and "will hold it there" (116). Tish watches the crowds, with "something turning over and over and over" in her head" (116).
Ernestine picks Tish up from work and lets her sister know that Mrs. Rogers had been located in Santurce, Puerto Rico. Ernestine tells her sister that one of their family members would have to go to Puerto Rico to track her down. Ernestine then tells Tish that they are going to sit down somewhere to plan what they are going to do before they approach their parents with the news. Tish thinks about how much her sister loves her. The text then moves into the police report in which Mrs. Rogers officially accuses Fonny of raping her.
Back in Tish's voice, Tish explains how much she knows about Mrs. Rogers. She explains Mrs. Rogers' story, saying that Gary Rogers, an American, went to Puerto Rico, "married her, and brought her to the mainland" (117). After he married Mrs. Rogers, Mr. Rogers found little economic success, and he soon left his wife and their three children. Tish also knows of a man Mrs. Rogers fled to Puerto Rico with, whom she lived with on Orchard Street. Tish notes that Orchard Street, where Mrs. Rogers' apartment is, and Bank Street, where Fonny lives, are on opposite sides of Manhattan from each other. Even though Officer Bell swears that he saw Fonny at the scene of the crime, this is improbable, because it is nearly impossible to run from one side of Manhattan to the other that quickly.
Tish and Ernestine sit down together in a bar off of Columbus Street. Tish thinks about whether or not Mrs. Rogers was actually raped, and Ernestine tells her that there is no point in asking that question. Ernestine speculates that Mrs. Rogers was raped but that she doesn't remember what her attacker looks like and wouldn't recognize him if he passed her on the street. Tish asks why, then, Mrs. Rogers chose to accuse Fonny. Ernestine responds that it is "much easier to say yes than to try and relive the whole damn thing again" (118).
Following this, Ernestine gets very seriously. 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. Tish asks her what she means, thinking that she is implying that Fonny actually did rape Mrs. Rogers. 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. It's over. For her. If she changes her testimony, she'll go mad. Or become another woman. And you know how often people go mad, and how rarely they change" (119).
Ernestine tells her sister that the only option they have is to disprove the State's case. Tish realizes this will be hard, since it is very possible that Daniel will change his testimony to support the cops, since they have his life in their hands. Ernestine tells Tish that she has a plan, even if Mrs. Rogers doesn't change her testimony and Daniel changes his. Ernestine says that she has a large file on him, and that she can prove that Officer Bell murdered a 12-year-old black boy in Brooklyn a few years ago. Ernestine hopes to use this information to her advantage and "shatter the credibility of the state's only witness" (120). Tish and Ernestine know that this defense is a long shot, but it also one of the only chances that they have left.
Ernestine then moves into the question of who will go to Puerto Rico to track down Mrs. Rogers. She says that Tish cannot go, because Fonny is depending on her for strength. She herself cannot go, because she needs to keep working with Mr. Hayward and motivating him to work on the case. A man can't go, because Mrs. Rogers would be wary of approaching and/or talking to him. This leaves Sharon, who must go, even though she is scared of planes.
Ernestine and Tish stop talking for a moment and Tish feels the baby inside her belly move for the first time. The baby's movement is a sign for her that everything will, eventually, get better. She tells Ernestine that she is not afraid and they leave the bar to talk to their parents.
At the same time that Ernestine and Tish are sitting in a bar, Joseph and Frank are talking to each other in a bar as well. Joseph and Frank think about the situation they are in, and Joseph reflects on how lucky he is that he only had daughters and no sons, because those sons could very easily have ended up dead or in jail. Joseph then thinks about how Fonny is his son, too, and how that makes him and Frank brothers. Tish then moves into a description of what Joseph and Frank each look like, emphasizing that Frank is "light" and "thinner" than Joseph. Joseph tells Frank that they can't descend into despair or start blaming themselves for where Fonny is now. Instead, they must keep their heads up and remain strong for their families. When Frank brings up the issue of money, Joseph tells him that there's no reason to start worrying about money now, because that is exactly what the "white man" wants them to do. Frank expresses regret at his parenting style in the past, but Joseph keeps his head up. They finish the conversation resolved to find some way to get their children out of the situation they are in.
Analysis
While overhearing her family members interact with each other, Tish is reminded of Ernestine's intellectual transformation and the power and agency that came from this change: "She stopped reading newspapers. She stopped going to the movies. 'I don't need no more of the white man's lying shit,' she said. 'He's fucked with my mind enough already'" (39). Educating herself outside of the boundaries of school has allowed Ernestine to become aware of the latent systems of oppression that keep minorities in a subordinate position in the United States. Baldwin describes this intellectual change as also causing a physical change in Ernestine: "her face began to change. It became bonier and more private, much more beautiful. Her long narrow eyes darkened with whatever it was they were beginning to see" (39). Once Ernestine sees the deadly consequences of the system, she begins to dedicate her life to community work. Ernestine's transformation posits a chain of events in which learning leads to community change.
Ernestine's transformation also expands upon the theme of race relations in New York City. Ernestine's decision to work with children shows solidarity across ethnicity: "[Ernestine] worked for a while in a hospital. She met a little girl in that hospital, the little girl was dying, and, at the age of twelve, she was already a junkie. And this wasn't a black girl. She was Puerto Rican. Ernestine started working with children" (39). In the first scene, Tish describes a sense of community between herself and the Puerto Rican women who were also visiting loved ones in the Tombs. In both of these instances, we see a sense of community and support across women of color, despite race and/or ethnicity. 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.
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. Once Sharon pulls out the precious brandy, Tish has a drink as well. Alcohol works as a social lubricant and unifying substance within the pages of Beale Street. The family drinks it when they are gathered together. They offer drinks to the Hunt family as soon as they enter through the door. Joseph and Frank leave the Rivers household to celebrate the coming baby by going to drink at a bar. However, alcohol also holds a troubling and dangerous place in these pages. Frank is an alcoholic, and it is in part thanks to alcohol that he feels so defeated by the end of the novel. 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.
Even though Tish and Fonny are not spending any "real" time together during the narrative present, their relationship stays alive through the Rivers family's conversations and Tish's memory. Tish knows, even if she is scared about the baby, that she and Fonny are meant to be together. Despite Tish's intimate knowledge of her family and Fonny, the coming baby causes her to question her subjectivity. This questioning causes her to wonder what the baby will be like: "this was Fonny's baby and mine, we had made it together, it was both of us. I didn't know either of us very well. What would both of us be like?" (42). A careful reader knows that Tish's doubt in her self-knowledge and her knowledge of Fonny is probably unfounded because of her honesty and perceptiveness as a narrator. However, these lines also show us Baldwin's belief that you can never truly know yourself, and Tish suggests that our true ignorance about ourselves might actually be for the best: "We don't know enough about ourselves. I think it's better to know that you don't know, that way you can grow with the mystery as the mystery grows in you. But, these days, of course, everybody knows everything, that's why so many people are lost" (45).
A recurring theme throughout Beale Street is that of gender roles. In Baldwin's novel, these roles are both conservative and fluid. For example, while Joseph is explicitly the "man of the house," it is Sharon who seems to make most of the divisions. Sharon takes command of the dynamics of the scene when she announces Tish's pregnancy to the family. She chooses the bottle that Joseph opens. It is also Sharon who makes the important decision to go to Puerto Rico and fight for her family, a role of "protector" that might seem masculine in other contexts. Tish is very aware of the gender roles that dictate how she lives life and interacts with other people. (This will also become apparent when Tish is on a date with Fonny in the village. 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. For a moment, I was almost angry, then I wasn't. Fathers and sons are one thing. Fathers and daughters are another" (45). Despite the fact that these roles represent constraints in Tish's life and in her relationships, she ultimately accepts them and the way they are. In this way, Baldwin suggests his views on women's role in society. Tish demonstrates acceptance rather than resentment at these social constructions and strives to fulfill the stereotypical roles expected of women in their families.
When Tish makes it down to the Village for her date with Fonny, she is deeply internally happy about being able to be with him romantically. This causes her to see the world in a new light: "And everything was so different. I was walking through streets I had never seen before. The faces around me, I had never seen" (52). Despite her inward joy, Tish does still feel tension with the strangers on the street in the Village. She notes that the way that the crowds in the Village dress is different from how she chooses to dress herself: "They had it all together: the walk, the sound, the laughter, the untidy clothes—clothes which were copies of a poverty as unimaginable for them as theirs was inexpressibly remote from me" (53). Tish feels threatened by the crowds on the sidewalk because of their appropriation of poverty into "fashionable" clothing. In this passage, Baldwin critiques rich urban tendencies to copy the clothing of poorer people and use them to mimic personal authenticity. In these lines, Tish is calling out poverty tourism in the Village. 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. They were so free that they believed in nothing; they didn't realize that this illusion was their only truth and that they were doing exactly as they had been told " (53). Tish places the blame for harmful social structures and practices on the system rather than the individual. By doing this, she is able to look at the "larger picture," which humanizes those who are different from her while indicting them at the same time for not being aware of those social forces that disadvantage people of color.
All in all, Tish is unsure of what to make of the Village. People in downtown Manhattan are not as aware as Harlemites are of the oppressive systems that hold disadvantaged people down in the United States. Tish knows this, and it makes her uncomfortable. Rather than fight out against racial oppression or understand that their modes of dress constitute poverty tourism, the people on the sidewalks in the Village are mere sheep in the system. As Tish notes, "all these people were blind" (55). For Tish, this is the main difference between the East Village and Harlem: "It was like scenes uptown, in a way, but with something left out, or something put in, I couldn't tell: but it was a scene that frightened me" (55). 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.
During Tish and Fonny's date, they pass San Remo, a historic LGBT bar and eatery in the Village. It can be assumed that Baldwin is name-dropping a place that he was known to frequent throughout his life. He could have made the decision to do so in order to lift up the people who frequent the establishment as well as the establishment itself. Because of this insertion, Beale Street also is obliquely concerned with the equal rights of gay people, even if the main characters of the novel are heterosexual. While Tish and Fonny look through the windows of San Remo into the restaurant, Tish notes, "the people under the weary light were veterans of indescribable wars" (54). 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. In this line, we see Baldwin's voice merging with Tish's voice as the narrator—he endows Tish with his personal knowledge of community and place. 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.
Back at the "summit meeting," Mrs. Hunt's Christianity gets in the way of mothering her son. Instead of helping her son and his lover with their coming responsibility, she leaves it in the hands of the Lord: "I just pray and pray and pray that the Lord will bring my boy to the light. That's all I pray for, every day and every night. And then, sometimes I think that maybe this is the Lord's way of making my boy think on his sins and surrender his soul to Jesus'" (64). In this way, Mrs. Hunt has released caring about her son through her religion. She has abandoned him into "the hands of the Lord," believing that his term in jail will have positive consequences instead of disastrous ones. All of this speaks to Mrs. Hunt's continued distaste for the Rivers family and haughtiness throughout the novel, as well as her hidden distaste for Fonny himself. Additionally, Mrs. Hunt shows herself to be a hypocrite in these pages, as she wishes a violent curse upon Tish and her coming baby—hardly a Christian ideal. Mrs. Hunt's hurtful and hateful response to Tish about her pregnancy underscores the fact that she is one of the largest antagonists within the pages of Beale Street. Rather than congratulate or worry with Tish, Mrs. Hunt reacts with anger and separates herself from Tish and her coming struggle.
During the summit meeting, Frank shows outright hostility towards Christianity, which is the dominating logic of Mrs. Hunt's life. He accuses Mrs. Hunt of spending too much time at church when she could have been spending it with Fonny: "You was making it with that white Jew bastard [i.e., Christ] when you should have been with your son" (66). Additionally, while Mrs. Hunt is separating herself from being responsible for Tish's child, she asks "And who . . . is going to be responsible for this baby?" (68). Frank responds, "You can bet . . . that it won't be the Holy Ghost" (68). Frank's hostility towards Christianity comes out from anger and frustration with the dominant systems and narratives that define people's lives. He does not care for Christianity, because in his opinion Christianity never helped anyone out of a hard situation or solved racism. In the same scene, Ernestine echoes Frank's blasphemous defamation of religion. She insults Mrs. Hunt: "Blessed be the fruit of thy womb. I hope it turns out to be uterine cancer. And I mean that" (73). In this passage, Ernestine uses Christian language to say a violent curse towards Mrs. Hunt, which mirrors exactly what Mrs. Hunt says to Tish when she finds out the news. Additionally, Ernestine goads Mrs. Hunt and insults the Holy Ghost: "That's your flesh and blood you were cursing, you sick, filthy dried-up cunt! And you carry that message to the Holy Ghost and if He don't like it you can tell Him He's a faggot and He better not come nowhere near me" (74).
While Mr. Hayward is the best lawyer that the Rivers and the Hunts can afford, he is not particularly a good lawyer. Frank demonstrates distrust at his role in helping his son: "It's a white boy who's been to a law school and he got them degrees. Well, you know. I ain't got to tell you what that means: it don't mean shit (64). Frank believes that even though they hired the lawyer to do the best he can, he is implicated in the racist legal system that systematically works to disenfranchise African Americans. 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. However, Frank does not reserve his condemnation to merely white lawyers, and also states that he "know[s] some very hinct black cats [he] wouldn't trust, either" (65). In this context, "hinct" means haughty and better-than-thou. Frank's mistrust of the lawyers shows a complete mistrust of and disdain for the system that holds African Americans down. Like Tish, he can see the bigger picture; unlike Tish, he blames hegemony as well as the individuals that go along with it and implicitly support it.
Frank's condemnation of the lawyer because of his race shows a division between different characters in Beale Street concerning how African Americans choose to respond to white people. Tish seems to have a bit more patience and hope when it comes to white people, though that hope is certainly complicated by Officer Bell later in the novel. When Frank says the words about the white lawyer outlined in the above passage, Mrs. Hunt, who believes in the Christian ideal of loving one's neighbor, chastises him for "talking hatred." Sharon, however, comes to Frank's defense: "Frank's not talking hatred, Mrs. Hunt . . . He's just telling the truth about life in this country, and it's only natural for him to be upset" (65). One of the ways in which Baldwin differentiates the characters from each other is through how they respond to that which holds them down. Frank is consumed by his hopelessness and negativity, and he ends up taking his life by the end of the novel. However, Sharon, who sees the world similarly as Frank does, does not take her own life and ends the novel hopeful despite her failure in Puerto Rico. Mrs. Hunt, who is fairer skinned than the Rivers, Frank, and Fonny, sympathizes with white people, which hurts Frank and drives him closer and closer to suicide. She also often takes the higher position of a white person during the novel and looks down on the darker characters because of their skin tone.
The first time that Tish and Fonny have sex is a pivotal moment in their relationship. It is a sanctified moment between the two characters, in which they become one. Tish sees herself as transformed during their lovemaking: "I was being changed; all that I could do was cling to him. I did not realize, until I realized it, that I was also kissing him, that everything was breaking and changing and turning in me and moving toward him" (78). 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. They enter the room as lovers and leave as something more, something that feels more like an official union. 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). 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.
The recurring theme of gender roles arises when Fonny proposes to Tish. Baldwin chooses to set up this scene so that traditional gender roles are reinforced as well as contested and reconsidered. We see traditional gender roles reinforced when Fonny emphasizes the idea that a woman "belongs" to a man in a heterosexual relationship. He asks Tish, "And you've always been—mine—no?" (75). Even though Fonny phrases this statement as a question, it asserts his ownership as an obvious facet of their relationship. The fact that Tish is Fonny's is an implicit truth for both of them. In fact, Tish does not even consider this dynamic in their relationship until Fonny complicates traditional gender roles in his next breath. He tells Tish, "And you know . . . that I've always been yours, right?" (75). Tish responds, "I've never thought about it that way" (75). Fonny complicates the traditional heterosexual union by telling Tish that he "belongs" to her as well. He also subverts the dominant narrative of the male being "provider" in the same passage. He tells Tish that because his true passion is making art, he is not going to make very much money in the future: "So, all I'm trying to tell you, Tish, is I ain't offering you much. I ain't got no money and I work at odd jobs—just for bread, because I ain't about to go for none of their jive-ass okey-doke—and that means that you have to work, too, and when you come home most likely I'll just grunt" (77). In this passage, Tish faces as much pressure as Fonny to "provide" for their family. Fonny, instead of limiting Tish to the domestic sphere, pushes her beyond the limits normally placed upon her gender by society.
Despite the equality between Tish and Fonny, traditional gender roles are reinforced further when Fonny goes to ask Joseph's permission to marry Tish. When Fonny reaches to the Rivers household after his proposal, he focuses his appeasing efforts on Joseph, the man of the household. He also speaks to Joseph in a language that the women of the family are left out of: "We, the women, were out of it now, and we knew it" (86). Joseph and Fonny have an intense conversation. Joseph, even though he knows Fonny well, still questions how Fonny will provide for Tish and their future children. Fonny then demonstrates his intention that Tish will work for money as well to help support their family. 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. Once Joseph has approved of Fonny's proposal, he takes Tish's hand and puts it into Fonny's. After this moment, Tish and Fonny are all but married, though not legally. Baldwin's choice to unite Tish and Fonny through this kind of ceremonial union reflects how a formal wedding ceremony was not accessible to Fonny and Tish. This is an example of the African American community creating their own alternatives when turned away from or denied societal infrastructures, such as marriage.
Baldwin reconsiders the role of the artist in the passages where Fonny and Tish discuss their marriage. When proposing to Tish, Fonny emphasizes the importance of art in his life. He tells Tish that he finds no enjoyment from his day-to-day job and that his "real life" is at his worktable when he is sculpting (76). He also defends his role as an artist to Joseph during the family proposal scene: "I load moving vans in the daytime and I sculpt at night. I'm a sculptor. We know it won't be easy. But I'm a real artist. And I'm going to be a very good artist—maybe, even, a great one" (86). Fonny's self-confidence in his art and his aspirations for "greatness" through art exist despite the fact that he was pushed out of the vocational school. 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. Even though the African American artist might depend on their family and community for assistance, their work is seen as important and vital in Beale Street. Art brings Fonny, and those around him, "life." Fonny's art also creates community ties, as the sculpture he gifts to Sharon shows.
When Tish goes to speak with Mr. Hayward, she becomes briefly annoyed with him because of his disconnect from Fonny's reality as a prisoner. However, Tish also realizes that she will have to educate Mr. Hayward, and others, on that reality if she wants change to come: "How is a man if he's fighting to get out of prison? But then, too, I had to force myself to see, from another point of view, that it was an important question. . . . [K]nowing 'how' Fonny was might make a very important difference for Mr. Hayward, and help him with his case. But I also resented having to tell Mr. Hayward anything at all about Fonny. There was so much that I felt he should already have known" (90-1). Through Tish, Baldwin advocates for the education of white people about black people's struggle. Baldwin's position is evidenced by the novel as a whole, which is a "protest novel" meant to show readers the disastrous effects of institutionalized racism in American society through the characters' journies in the novel. Because of this, what Tish tells Mr. Hayward and what Baldwin relates to the reader have a similar purpose: they are meant to ignite listeners to action through their empathy with those that suffer.
Mr. Hawyard's character is very ambiguous in the pages where Tish and Sharon go to meet him. He smiles through the bad news that Fonny's case has become more complicated. His smiles are absolutely discordant with the terrible news that he delivers to Tish and Sharon. Additionally, he uses a condescending tone towards Tish and Sharon, reminding them of truths that they already know. 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). Mr. Hayward is also condescending towards Mrs. Rogers and it is evident he looks down on her. He refers to her as a "distraught, ignorant, Puerto Rican woman" whose actions, therefore, cannot be logically understood. Additionally, by feeling like Mr. Hayward should already have had knowledge on Fonny's position, Tish questions whether he has Fonny's best interests at heart as his lawyer. However, Tish and Hayward find a point of connection right before she leaves his office. He asks her to smile for him, so that he can tell Fonny that she is alright and not have to lie to him: "I smiled, and he smiled, and something really human happened between us, for the first time" (97).
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. Because of the uncertainty surrounding Mr. Hayward's character, Tish and Sharon are uncomfortable. In this case, Mr. Hawyard holds more social capital than Tish and Sharon, and this causes them to mince their words. Because Mr. Hayward holds all the power in this interaction, they are careful about saying what they need. For example, Sharon delicately tells Mr. Hawyard that they want Fonny to come out of jail: "'We liked having Fonny around,' Mama said, 'and we just kind of miss him'" (91). Saying that the Rivers family "kind of" misses Fonny contrasts the passionate decrees that they make earlier in the novel to get him out of jail because he is a part of their family.
During Tish, Sharon, and Mr. Hawyard's conversation, Mr. Hayward makes it clear that he is aware of systematic injustice that oppresses African Americans. He shares his opinion of Officer Bell: "I know something about Officer Bell, who is a racist and a liar—I have told him that to his face, so you can feel perfectly free to quote me, to anyone, at any time you wish—and I know something about the D.A. in charge of that case, who is worse" (94). He also notes that the prosecution's method of trying to get Daniel to change his testimony is illegal: "What they are doing is really against the law—but—Daniel has a record, as you know. They, obviously, intend to make him change his testimony" (94). Mr. Hayward's descriptions of the case in this light serve two purposes in the novel. First, they underscore the difficulty that the Rivers family, Frank, and Fonny are facing with the trial. Fighting against the unjust system will be an uphill battle for the protagonists of this novel. Second, it allows the white audience of the novel to trust that the system is acting against Fonny, since Mr. Hayward, a figure of authority within this system, is emphasizing that this is true. Baldwin uses Mr. Hayward's testimony as a tool to prove Fonny's innocence to the reader before we even get the details of his arrest. There is no question within the pages of Beale Street that Fonny has been falsely accused, even though the court takes a different stance.
The tensions within New York City also arises in this section. While Tish is in Mr. Hayward's office, she notes how out-of-place she feels: "We were way downtown, near Broadway, not far from Trinity Church. The office was of dark wood, very smooth and polished . . . There was no connection between this room, and me" (93). Tish's description of the specific location of Mr. Hayward's office has a similar connotation to the address off of Wall Street that Joseph makes up for Sharon. 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.
In the flashback to Daniel and Foonny's reunion, Tish's limited point-of-view expands to include the details of their conversation, even though she is not present to see it first hand. She describes the moment where they see each other for the first time: "'Wow! What's happening?' I don't know which of them asked the question, or which of them asked it first: but I can see their faces" (98). The expansion of Tish's point-of-view feels natural, even though it is a deviation from what we have seen before in the novel, for two reasons. 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. Additionally, even though Tish is the narrator of Beale Street, the novel is the story of a whole family's struggle, and expanding Tish's point-of-view allows her to encompass the family as a whole more easily. We will also see Tish's point-of-view expand when Sharon goes to Puerto Rico. Tish tells Sharon's story while she is in Puerto Rico as if she is there, alongside her mother, even though they are separated by thousands of miles.
The question of cross-ethnic solidarity becomes complicated in the section in which Daniel and Fonny catch up. Daniel tells Fonny that his boss is a Jewish person, and the way that he refers to his boss verges on antisemitism: "I gotta slave for the Jew in the garment center, pushing a hand truck, man, riding up and down in them elevators" (98). Daniel underscores a historical cultural tension between Jewish people and African Americans in New York City that is not limited to his relationship with his boss. However, Daniel also considers his boss as a potential source of support while he is in need: "Because what the fuck am I going to do? I ain't got nobody to call—I really don't, except maybe that Jew I work for; he's a nice enough dude, but, man, he ain't hardly going to dig it" (107-8). 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.
The landscape of New York City, the tensions of which pulse beneath every section of this novel, come to a head as Fonny discusses where he intends to live with Tish after he gets married. He tells Daniel that in the Lower East Side, there are many viable options: "They got lofts standing empty all over the East Side, man, and don't nobody want to rent them, except freaks like me. And they all fire traps and some of them ain't even got no toilets. So, you figure finding a lot ain't going to be no sweat" (100). Because Fonny cannot afford much better than these apartments, he keeps his standards low. However, as Fonny reveals to Daniel, it is impossible for Fonny and Tish to even get apartments in buildings like these: "But, man—this country really do not like niggers. They do not like niggers so bad, man, they will rent to a leper first, I swear" (100). What Fonny tells Daniel brings to question livability and access to affordable housing in New York City. Fonny, in a desperate attempt to find himself a place to live, finds apartments that non-"freaks" wouldn't want. They are not accessible to Fonny, however, who is unwelcome in these buildings because of his race. Fonny and Tish's struggles in finding an apartment is further evidence of the systematic and institutionalized racism that works to keep African Americans in a subordinate position in the United States.
The story of Daniel's arrest and incarceration, which is revealed to us in pieces, mirrors Fonny's arrest and incarceration in significant ways. Daniel and Fonny both are arrested for something they didn't do—Fonny did not assault Mrs. Rogers and Daniel did not carjack the vehicle that the police accused him of stealing. Daniel laments this fact about his case to Fonny: "Man, I can't even drive a car, and I tried to make my lawyer—but he was really their lawyer, dig, he worked for the city—prove that, but he didn't. And, anyway, I wasn't in no car when they picked me up" (102). Additionally, both Daniel and Fonny are picked out of a lineup by the victim even though they did not commit the crime. 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. The largest difference between Daniel and Fonny during their arrests is that Fonny does have someone to call when he is in trouble: Tish, her family, and his father, Frank. Additionally, Fonny's family members, Tish in particular, provide him with a great deal of support while he is in jail, support that Daniel did not have.
Daniel's conversation with Fonny expresses the power of storytelling to cause change in Beale Street. Telling Fonny his story has a powerful effect on Daniel: "Daniel brought it out, or forced it out, or tore it out of himself as though it were torn, twisted, chilling metal, bringing with it his flesh and his blood—he tore it out of himself like a man trying to be cured" (106). Tish frames Daniel's storytelling as a transformation in which telling the events of one's own personal history changes who that person is. This is true for Daniel, who creates a community with Tish and Fonny through his storytelling and emotional dependence on them. This connection between Daniel and Tish allows her to tell the intimate details of his story: "He's a little afraid to leave, in fact, to hit those streets, and Fonny realizes this and walks him to the subway. Daniel, who cannot abandon his mother, yet longs to be free to confront his life; is terrified at the same time of what that life may bring, is terrified of freedom; and is struggling in a trap" (106).
Daniel introduces a theme—racial violence being tied to sexual pleasure—when recounting his story to Fonny. 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. I don't believe there's a white man in this country, baby, who can even get his dick hard, without he hear some nigger moan" (108). In this passage, Daniel defines this kind of white masculine sexual pleasure as conditional upon racial violence. This theme will arise again when Fonny and Officer Bell meet face to face.
When, in the narrative present, Tish returns to speak with Fonny and tell him the news about Mrs. Rogers' disappearance, we reach the novel's emotional climax. Fonny is distraught to hear the news and his emotions pour out of him, startling Tish with their intensity. The conversation between Tish and Fonny is so vital that it is given without any other descriptions, without any other kind of text except for exactly what is said. This hones the reader's attention in on what is written on the page and the stress that they feel increases. Fonny's outburst comes from a place of desperation: "What we going to do about that fucking lawyer? He don't give a shit about nobody! You want me to die in here? You know what's happening to me, to me, to me, in here?" (110). 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. 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. Fonny asks Tish, "Get me out of here, baby. Get me out of here. Please" (110). Tish promises him that she will, and their spirit to persevere remains strong despite the fact that it has been shaken.
Fonny and Tish kiss each other from either side of the glass while they talk in the Tombs. The glass panel between them remains a powerful reminder of the constraint that Tish and Fonny face in the present, despite their love for each other, despite their past, and despite Fonny's innocence. Tish refers to the extended metaphor of the jail being like the Sahara desert in this section: "He followed the guard into the unimaginable inferno, and I stood up, my knees and elbows shaking, to cross the Sahara again" (111). Even though Tish is able to consider and even inhabit Fonny's point of view in other moments of the novel, she is unable to think about what Fonny might be experiencing from the other side of that glass wall. It is "unimaginable" to her.
After Tish wakes up from her nightmare, Sharon enters Tish's room to console her. 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). Even though there is a dark history of African American men entering jail and never making it out again, there is a hope that Fonny will have a different fate. Sharon needs Tish to be hopeful but also does not want to lie to her and tell her daughter that Fonny will definitely survive the situation he is in. Baldwin makes it starkly clear for the reader that Fonny's position is a question of life and death and that there is a terrible history in the United States of dehumanizing and killing African American men through the prison-industrial complex.
While Tish commutes to work on the subway, she becomes part of a collective of commuters who are all forced to endure the miserable subway. They do not register each other even though they are forced to press up against each other: "His body pressed against me, too, very hard, but this did not mean that he was thinking of rape, or thinking of me at all. He was probably wondering only—and that, dimly—how he was going to get through another day on his job. And he certainly did not see me" (114-5). Every individual on the subway becomes part of a breathing mass, and Tish is brought into this mass, as well. She considers the deadly consequences of this lack of individuality on the subway: if, for some reason, she faints during her commute, she believes that she and her baby will be trampled to death. Tish compares the subway car she is in to a slave ship, in which she sees the poor commuters as dispossessed people who are forced to endure their commute and workday against their will. She sees the deadly effects of capitalism, which glosses over the working classes and forces them into insufferable conditions.
Tish encounters a sense of solidarity with African American men while at her job at the perfume store. When African American men approach her counter, their motivations are "often more generous and always more precise" (115). They approach her out of a sense of familiarity: "Perhaps, for a black cat, I really do, too closely, resemble a helpless baby sister. He doesn't want to see me turn into a whore" (115). The customers that treat Tish with the most respect at her job are the black men. It is also important to note that Tish does not ever mention what happens when black women approach her, since they are never customers at the perfume store in which she works.
When Ernestine and Tish meet for a drink, we see a break out of Tish's voice into a different register: we are provided with the police report of Mrs. Rogers' official accusation of Fonny. This shift in tone underscores the institutional powers that Tish and her family are fighting against. It is the first official revelation of the full charges against Fonny in the text. 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.
Tish explains to us how the landscape of New York City factors into Fonny's case: "Orchard Street, if you know New York, is a very long away from Bank Street. Orchard Street is damn near in the East River and Bank Street is practically in the Hudson. It is not possible to run from Orchard to Bank, particularly not with the police behind you. Yet Bell swears that he saw Fonny 'run from the scene of the crime'" (117). Thus, there is no way that Fonny would be able to sexually assault someone on the East side of Manhattan and run back to the West side of Manhattan in time to get arrested from his apartment. Tish shows frustration in this moment at Fonny's charges because they are so improbable. 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).
Ernestine's plan, to shatter Mr. Bell's validity in court, depends on the presence of two women, "one white and one black," in the courtroom (120). She believes that the truth about Mr. Bell's racism will allow Fonny to walk free, since the State doesn't have much of a case in the first place. She tells Tish, "If Fonny were white, it wouldn't be a case at all" (120). Ernestine's assertion emphasizes the fact that there is very little logic behind Fonny's case, and the entire reason that Fonny is being tried is because of his race. This shows us that the characters are painfully aware of the injustice they are facing and, even with their awareness, they do not easily have all the tools necessary to get Fonny out of jail. Tish ties her hope to what her sister tells her: "It's a long shot, but, in our position, after all, only the long shot counts. We don't have any other: that's it" (121).
Sharon's intention, when going to Puerto Rico, is to attempt to build a bridge of cross-ethnic solidarity with the Puerto Rican Mrs. Rogers. Ernestine sees her mother as having the power to change Mrs. Rogers' mind: "She can do something no special investigator can do. She may be able to break through to Mrs. Rogers. Maybe not—but if she can, we're ahead" (121).
While Ernestine and Tish talk to each other, Joseph and Frank meet at a bar as well. 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). The fear that the African American community holds is for the young men of the community, who are easily criminalized by the police and exist in more fear of the State as women do. Frank and Joseph consider their family ties while they stress about the sons of their community. Joseph notes: "That son [Fonny] is also his son now, and that makes Frank his brother" (123).
