A Visit to Grandmother

“Chig had a suspicion now that the reunion had been only an excuse to drive south, that his father had been heading to this house all the time.”

The third-person limited perspective allows the reader to see through Chig’s eyes and gain insight into his suspicions regarding his father’s intentions. This creates tension over the conflict that unfolds later in the story.

“His father had never talked much about his family, with the exception of his brother, GL, who seemed part con man, part practical joker and part Don Juan; he had spoken of GL with the kind of indulgence he would have shown a cute, but ill-behaved and potentially dangerous, five-year-old.”

William Melvin Kelley highlights Charles’s conflicting relationship with his family and their unaddressed issues. GL is the source of Charles’s discomfort but is paradoxically also viewed as a charismatic, magnetic figure. This quote brings in the motif of youth and juxtaposes GL’s childishness with Charles’s maturity as a doctor and father.

“She turned then to Chig. ‘Now that man, he look like Eleanor, Charles’s wife, but Charles wouldn’t never send my grandson to see me. I never even hear from Charles.’”

Eva’s comment about Chig’s appearance and her speculation about why Charles wouldn’t send his son to visit her exemplifies how Kelley builds characterization through dialogue. It also suggests a history of strained relationships within the Dunford family.

“She spread her arms up to him, and he bent down and kissed her cheek. That was when Chig saw his face, grimacing. She hugged him; Chig watched the muscles in her arms as they tightened around his father’s neck. ‘How are you, son?’ Chig could not hear his father’s answer.”

Charles’s expression suggests an uneasiness Chig still cannot decipher, advancing the foreshadowing included at the beginning of the story. Eva’s embrace appears genuine, while Charles’s response is inaudible, suggesting he may not have provided any. This moment illustrates the complexity of the Dunfords’ relationships and their lack of communication, leaving the reader to speculate about Charles’s true feelings toward his mother.

“Chig did most of the talking, told all about himself before she asked. His father only spoke when he has spoken to, and then, only one word at a time, as if by coming back home, he had become a small boy again, sitting in the parlor while his mother spoke with her guests.”

Charles’s attitude is a stark contrast to Chig’s eagerness to connect with his grandmother by sharing stories about his life. Charles appears withdrawn and as if he has reverted to a childlike state, suggesting his resentment toward his mother runs deep, and he cannot engage with her maturely. The imagery of Charles sitting in the parlor conveys a sense of powerlessness and regression, emphasizing the extent to which his mother’s presence affects him.

“Now George, my husband, God rest his tired soul, he’d brung home this white folks’ buggy which had a busted wheel and fixed it and was to take it back that day and GL says: ‘Come on, Mama, we’ll use this fine buggy and take us a ride.’

‘GL,’ I says, ‘no, we ain’t. Them white folks’ll burn us alive if we use their buggy.’”

Even amid a light-hearted interaction, Eva demonstrates the ever-present fear of racist violence and the consequences of transgressing the social order. “Burn us alive” is both hyperbole and an allusion to lynchings, which frequently involved burning. Her refusal to use the buggy highlights her adherence to societal norms and her desire to avoid conflict. Eva’s attitude reflects a collective consciousness in the Jim Crow South, where any slight deviation from the accepted racial hierarchy could result in brutal and deadly consequences.

“I reckon that animal weren’t too satisfied with the road, because it made a sharp right turn just then, down into a gulley and struck out across a hilly meadow. ‘Mama,’ GL yells. ‘Mama, do something!’

I didn’t know what to do, but I figured I had to do something so I stood up, hopped down onto the horse’s back and pulled it up to a stop. Don’t ask me how I did that; I reckon it was that I was a mother and my baby asked me to do something, is all.”

Eva’s ability to rise to the occasion in a crisis demonstrates her resourcefulness and maternal instinct. Despite not having any experience with horses, she manages to stop the runaway animal and save her son’s life, revealing the lengths to which she will go to protect GL.

“‘You remember how tired we was, Charles?’

‘I wasn’t there at the time.’ Chig turned to his father and found his face completely blank, without even a trace of a smile or a laugh.

‘Well, of course you was, son. That happened in… in… it was a hot summer that year and—’

‘I left here in June of that year. You wrote me about it.’”

After hearing GL’s story, Charles starts to lose his cool and reminds his mother of their lack of emotional connection and familial bonding. Anticipating the following conflict, Charles disregards his poise to redirect the conversation toward the root cause of his unresolved strife with his mother.

“Chig’s father sat up straight as if preparing to debate. ‘I said that if I had done it, if I had done just exactly what GL did, you would have beaten me good for it, Mama.’”

In posing the hypothetical scenario of him behaving in the same way as GL, Charles argues he would not have received the same lenient treatment his brother had become used to. His resentment stems from a deep-seated feeling of being overlooked and unappreciated, which fuels his current attitude toward his mother.

“‘Don’t you know? Tell the truth. It can’t hurt me now.’ His voice cracked, but only once. […] He paused and considered whether to say what he finally did say: ‘I cried all the way up to Knoxville. That was the last time I ever cried in my life.’”

The story reaches its climax when Charles finally confronts his mother over the feelings of abandonment that have been boiling inside him for years. His outburst highlights the emotional toll his mother’s favoritism has taken on him. Charles reveals that he has been carrying these resentments with him for years and that they have fundamentally shaped his relationship with his family. His tone is one of pain and vulnerability, exposing the deeply rooted trauma that he has been suppressing for so long.

“‘I thought you knew. I had ten children. I had to give all of them what they needed most.’ She nodded. ‘I paid more mind to GL. I had to. […] But you was smarter. You was more growned up than GL […] and I tried to show you that by letting you do what you wanted to do.’”

In uncovering the source of conflict between Charles and his mother, Eva’s admission suggests that she believed her choices were transparent to Charles. Her statement reveals her belief that Charles was more mature and intelligent than GL and, as a result, could handle the perceived unfair treatment. At the same time, it also suggests that she was not entirely aware of the true impact her actions had on Charles’s emotional well-being.

“‘That’s not true, Mama. You know it. GL was light-skinned and had good hair and looked almost white and you loved him for that.’

‘Charles, no. No, son. I didn’t love any one of you more than any other.’”

At a time when lighter skin was often equated with greater beauty and social status, Charles’s belief that his mother preferred GL because of his lighter skin color exacerbates his own feelings of displeasure toward his skin color while alluding to the pervasive nature of colorism within the Black community.

“‘That can’t be true.’ […] ‘Admit it, Mama … please!’ […]

‘It may not a-been right what I done, but I ain’t no liar.’

Chig knew she did not really understand what had happened, what he wanted of her.”

Eva dismisses Charles’s afflictions because her primary concern lies in justifying her past actions. She cannot deal with the gravity of the situation, which further emphasizes the emotional disconnect between mother and son. Chig, on the other hand, showcases great empathy toward his father and appears to understand how in need of comfort he is.