My Man Bovanne (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Toni Cade Bambara
- First Published: 1972
- Type of Plot: Domestic realism
- Time of Work: 1970
- Setting: New York City
- Principal Characters: Miss Hazel, Elo, Joe Lee, Task, Bovanne
- Genres: Short fiction, Domestic realism
- Subjects: African Americans, Children, Blindness or blind persons, Generation gap, Old age or elderly people, Fund raising
- Locales: New York, NY
The Story
The title of Toni Cade Bambara's short story is ironic because “My Man Bovanne” is a meaningless, pat expression to all the people who utilize it in the story; to them it is merely a “hip” way to address an old, blind man for whom they have no real feeling. On the other hand, Miss Hazel, the story's narrator, who at the story's outset insists that Bovanne “ain’t my man, mind you,” by the end of the story has taken in Bovanne out of empathy and concern, qualities lacking in all the others who deal with Bovanne in the story.
The story takes place at...
[The entire page is 1717 words long]
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