There are many definitions of the word heaven. Heaven can be the repository of the ideals of all that is good in life. Heaven can be the stars in the sky. There can be heaven on earth, and the kingdom of heaven can be within.

Hell too can be on earth, and Hell can be in one's mind. In Sterling Brown's poem “Slim in Hell,” Heaven is not a solemn, ethereal place, nor is Hell exclusively an abode of torture and pain. Both Heaven and Hell are variations on everyday life. Ultimately, Slim's mind—his consciousness—determines his Heaven and Hell.

The Heaven of “Slim in Hell” does not seem to be a reverent, pious place. Slim calls St. Peter “Pete.” St. Peter winks at Slim and calls him a “travelin' rascal,” which is a somewhat disparaging term. The dictionary defines the word “rascal” to mean “a base, dishonest, unscrupulous person, or a mischievous person.” If Slim is a rascal, then why is he in Heaven? The Heaven that Brown creates is not dull and staid. There is humor, and evidently some devilishness is allowed. In Brown's poem, Heaven seems to be a place where the earthy warmth, love, and humor of African-American life reign supreme.

In most cultures Heaven is a place of luxury, where there is an abundance of food. In ancient Egypt, for example, the followers of Osiris believed that

the righteous dead would find their everlasting abode in the kingdom of that god [Osiris] and would enjoy in a fertile land, with running streams, a life very like that which the well-to-do Egyptian lived upon earth. … In the kingdom of Osiris the beatified dead ate bread-cakes made from one wonderful kind of grain, and drank beer made from another kind, and enjoyed conjugal intercourse and the company of their relations and friends.¹

Brown's poem “Sister Lou” suggests a Heaven of rest and ease, where African-American people no longer have to work like slaves. People sit leisurely and talk to family and friends. In Brown's Heaven people eat greengrape jellies, golden biscuits, and spoonbread.

In “When De Saints Go Ma'ching Home” a musician, Big Boy, sings a spiritual to end his nightclub act. He dedicates the song to his mother, and as he sings, he and the audience become transformed. They both get caught up in a vision of Heaven, which is also a vision of human possibility on earth.² Heaven and the march towards Heaven become “understood as one and the same event.”³

We really do not see much of Heaven in “Slim in Hell,” but the Heaven we do see is similar to the Heaven of such Spirituals as “Walk All Over God's Heaven” (also known as “I Got a Robe”) and “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” There is no mention of food. The focus is on clothes, and not only on adequate clothing, but on fine-looking, ostentatious clothes—clothes fit for a king. There is also a verse about getting wings with which to fly. What are wings but a sophisticated, rich man's mode of travel? “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” also suggests a Heaven where people can meet and talk with friends. Moreover, a chariot could have been the opulent version of an automobile in the ancient world. One might note a jazz version of the spiritual that Dizzy Gillespie recorded: “Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac.” Brown's use of the words “parked,” as in “he parked his wings,” highlights the connection between wings and cars. Heaven is the place for fashionable clothes and fast automobiles, the perfect domain for a rascal.

If a certain amount of devilishness can be allowed in Heaven, then, by contrast, a certain amount of heavenly bliss can be allowed in Hell. Hell has plenty of wine, women, and song, and it evidently is a very pleasurable place for some people to go. If it were exclusively a place of pain and terror, Peter would not have winked at Slim, and Slim would not be so happy to take a trip there.

The Devil at the entrance to Hell is very civil and polite—formal, with Slim. He calls Slim “Mr. Greer.” Hence, the tone at the entrance to Hell is markedly different from Peter's easygoing tone at the entrance to Heaven. Considering the African-American cultural feelings about honorific titles, it is significant that the Devil would refer to Slim as “Mr. Greer.” The Devil could have grinned and addressed Slim using a derogatory name, but he did not.

The Devil does not insult Slim, but neither is he jokingly friendly with him, as Peter is. The Devil is indifferent, neither an angel who would help Slim nor an ugly, evil creature who would destroy him. Formality is a form of indifference. The Devil is symbolic of Hell itself, because Hell is whatever Slim wants to make of it.

Although the Devil may not necessarily seem to be a monstrous-looking fiend, the dog that runs up to Slim certainly is. Nevertheless, oddly, the dog does not attack Slim. Why? Because Slim is not afraid of him. His mind does not allow for the reality of the dog's attacking him, so the bloodhound runs off to attack somebody else.

Slim is not afraid of the Devil, the dog, or the various devils he sees in Hell. It is the European-American sheriff who unsettles him. Slim is so terrified of such an authority figure that he has to run away. After Slim makes a hasty retreat back to Heaven, St. Peter tells him that he is “a leetle too dumb” to stay in Paradise. To stay in Heaven Slim needs to have attained a certain level of understanding of the nature of racial oppression.

Hell is encountered on earth, and it takes the form of police brutality. Slim has learned an important lesson. However, there is still more for him to learn. A higher level of understanding would reveal that Hell is not found on earth but in the mind. Just as dogs can sense fear in people, people can sense fear in each other. When Slim learns to view the monstrous sheriff as he views the monstrous dog, then he will be able to stay in Heaven.

Notes

1. E. A. Wallis Budge, The Egyptian Heaven and Hell (La Salle, Illinois: Open Court Publishing Co., 1989), p. 20. Reprinted from a clothbound edition of the same title, 1925.

2. Kimberly W. Benston, “Sterling Brown's After-Song: ‘When de Saints go Ma'ching Home’ and the Performances of Afro-American Voice,” Callaloo: An Afro-American and African Journal of Arts and Letters, 5 (Feb.-May, 1982), 38.

3. Ibid., p. 36.