Discussion Topic
The name of the Watsons' car in "The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963."
Summary:
The name of the Watsons' car in The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963 is the "Brown Bomber." This vehicle plays a significant role in the family's journey from Flint, Michigan, to Birmingham, Alabama, symbolizing both their unity and the challenges they face during the Civil Rights Movement.
In "The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963," what car do the Watsons own?
The Watsons have a 1948 Plymouth that is described as very big and dull brown. They received it when it was 13 years old and have had it for two years, and it sometimes doesn't start up in the winter. The family has nicknamed the car the "Brown Bomber," and it has several antiquated features, such as a metal bar running down the middle of the windshield (which cars did not have in 1963).
Before the family heads south to Alabama, Mr. Watson buys a special record player for the car, which he refers to as a TT AB-700. This type of record player features a system by which the needle will not scratch the record when the family is driving. This special arm glides over the 45s that the family plays so that the records remain unscratched. Mr. Watson refers to the record player as the "Ultra-Glide."
The Watson family in Christopher...
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Paul Curtis' The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 drive a 1948 Plymouth. Kenny, the book's narrator, describes this vehicle as, "dull brown," while Byron more colorfully states that it is "turd brown." This car was given to Kenny and Byron's father by Uncle Bud two years prior to the start of the novel, when it was already thirteen years old. It's a car that has been well taken care of, but is not always the most reliable in the harsh winter climate of Michigan.
This car is central to the plot of the book because it enables the Watsons to get out of Flint, Michigan after Byron begins to act out and make poor decisions. These behaviors motivate the family to move Byron to Birmingham, Alabama for the summer, where he will live with his Grandma Sands. The Watsons travel in the Plymouth down to Birmingham, but eventually choose not to stay there after the 16th Street Baptist Church is bombed by members of the Ku Klux Klan in a truly horrific episode of racially-motivated terrorism.
I have attached below an image of this make and model of car.
What is the name of the Watsons' car?
In The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963, the family travels in an old Plymouth car, which is nicknamed "the Brown Bomber." Christopher Paul Curtis has revealed in interviews (one of which is attached below) that the car is based on the one his father had when he was a child. This car was not painted brown, but all the paint had peeled off, so all that could be seen was the brown undercoat. Despite this, the family took great care of the car and found it to be reliable.
The nickname "the Brown Bomber" comes from that of Joe Louis, a celebrated boxer. Louis had the longest reign as World Heavyweight Champion of any boxer in history: twelve years, from 1937 to 1949. He is often regarded as the first African American to become a national hero for people of all races and is therefore an appropriate figure to provide the name for the Watson family car. Towards the end of the book, however, the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church lends new irony to the title, since it was white supremacists who bombed the church and brown-skinned children who died. The Civil Rights Act was passed by Congress a year later, partly as a reaction to the bombing.
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