Steady Going Up (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Maya Angelou
- First Published: 1972
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: The late 1950's or early 1960's
- Setting: A bus traveling from Memphis, Tennessee, to Cincinnati, Ohio
- Principal Characters: Robert (Buddy), An elderly woman, Abe, Slim, The bus driver
- Genres: Social realism, Short fiction
- Subjects: 1950’s, African Americans, 1960’s, United States or Americans, Racism, Blacks, South or Southerners, Brothers and sisters, Violence, Buses
- Locales: Memphis, TN, Cincinnati, OH
The Story
Robert, a young African American man, is having trouble sleeping on the bus taking him north, from Memphis, Tennessee, to Ohio, as it moves through the rain. He is tired and worries about his sister, who, he has recently learned, is ill in Cincinnati.
As he dozes, preoccupied with his concern for his sister's welfare, he recalls their history together. After his parents died when he was fifteen, he had reared his sister himself. Apprenticing at an auto repair shop trained him to become an excellent mechanic. Meanwhile he cared for his sister and supported her...
[The entire page is 1347 words long]
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