Kneel to the Rising Sun (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Erskine Caldwell
- First Published: 1935
- Type of Plot: Psychological, regional
- Time of Work: The 1930's
- Setting: On and near a southern plantation
- Principal Characters: Lonnie Newsome, Mark Newsome, Arch Gunnard, Clem Henry
- Genres: Short fiction
- Subjects: African Americans, Discrimination, North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Murder or homicide, South or Southerners, Twentieth century, 1930’s, Plantations or plantation life, Accidents, Death or dying, Cruelty, Hunger
- Locales: South (U.S.)
The Story
“Kneel to the Rising Sun” focuses on the poor white sharecropper Lonnie Newsome, as he struggles to cope with psychological abuse and physical deprivation at the hands of the plantation owner and with the death of his own father, which was directly related to this deprivation.
Initially, Lonnie agonizes about how to conquer his fear and request more rations from plantation owner Arch Gunnard for himself and his starving family. His agony is intensified by the proximity of Clem Henry, an African American sharecropper who confronts Arch for more rations in a...
[The entire page is 1512 words long]
