A Summer Tragedy (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Arna Bontemps
- First Published: 1933
- Type of Plot: Domestic realism
- Time of Work: About 1930
- Setting: Mississippi River Delta
- Principal Characters: Jeff Patton, Jennie
- Genres: Short fiction, Domestic realism
- Subjects: African Americans, United States or Americans, Blacks, Suicide, South or Southerners, 1930’s, Poverty or poor people, Farms, farmers, or farming, Old age or elderly people
- Locales: Mississippi River
The Story
Jeff Patton has farmed the same acres on Greenbriar Plantation for forty-five years. He loves the land, but life has been physically demanding and the shares system has kept him locked in poverty. A recent stroke has left him lame, and he fears that another will make him a helpless burden on his wife, Jennie, who has been blind for years and is now frail. Both are sound of mind, but their life has been reduced to a series of losses, including the deaths of five adult children in the last two years. They share a state of constant grief and anxiety.
Jeff...
[The entire page is 1379 words long]
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