This Child’s Gonna Live (Masterplots II: African American Literature Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Sarah E. Wright
- First Published: 1969
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Social criticism
- Time of Work: The late 1920’s
- Setting: The eastern shore of Maryland
- Principal Characters: Mariah Upshur (Rah), Jacob Upshur, Percy Upshur, Bertha Ann Upshur, Horace Upshur (Rabbit), Bardetta Tometta Upshur, Bannie Upshire Dudley (Miss Bannie), Vyella, Dr. Albert Grene, Haim Crawford
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism
- Subjects: Racism, Interracial relationships, Religion, 1920’s, Poverty or poor people, God, Pregnancy, Violence, Adultery, Death or dying, Illegitimacy, Funeral rites or ceremonies, Hypocrisy
- Locales: Maryland
The Novel
Although This Child’s Gonna Live consists of the stream-of-consciousness narrations of both Mariah and Jacob Upshur, the novel begins and ends with Mariah’s thoughts, conversations with God, and actions as seen from her perspective. Since most of the chapters belong to Mariah, it becomes her story, a tale of attempted flight from poverty, racism, and religious hypocrisy.
As the story begins, a distraught, pregnant Mariah worries about whose child—Dr. Albert Grene’s or Jacob’s—she will bear. She becomes determined to escape the poverty,...
[The entire page is 2415 words long]
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