27 pages • 54 minutes read
Arna BontempsA Summer Tragedy
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1931A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Jeff Patton
The descriptions of Jeff Patton reinforce the elderly share farmer’s deteriorating physical health. He is unable to accomplish simple tasks such as tying a bow tie due to his unsteady fingers; he has lost his teeth and, when he concentrates, his mouth morphs into a “hideous toothless grimace” (349). Furthermore, Jeff walks with a pronounced limp, which is eventually revealed to be the result of a paralytic stroke. His primary internal conflict throughout the story stems from his failing health. He has farmed the same acres for 45 years, and he loves the farm with an “unexplained affection.” Despite the pride he takes in his work, he recognizes that he will soon be incapable of farming and totally reliant on his wife’s care.
Jeff’s frustrations about his failing health and his inability to farm speak to the limitations that are imposed by The Confines of Masculinity. Although he recognizes how difficult share farming is, Jeff prides himself on his strength and his ability to withstand years of intensive labor. He has “no patience with weakness in men” (352) and looks down on other share farmers who could not handle the physical toll of their work. Jeff finds himself particularly worried about relying on his wife, Jennie, as his health worsens. Although he does not want to be a burden to Jennie, given her own health problems, he is more upset at the thought of being helpless “like a baby” (354).
In addition to his waning physical strength, Jeff finds himself increasingly nervous in his day-to-day life. He is easily scared by random sounds at night and is afraid to venture too far from home during the day. He does not reveal this inner turmoil to his wife, instead striving to maintain an air of bravery. Although Jeff experiences several moments of doubt regarding the trip he and Jennie plan to take, he consistently denies that he is scared when she asks him. Ultimately, Jeff finds himself unable to live up to the traditional expectations of masculinity and sees suicide as his only option in the face of his decreasing self-sufficiency.
Jennie Patton
Jennie Patton is Jeff’s wife. In his descriptions of her, Bontemps reinforces how small and frail she is. Her body is “as scrawny and gnarled as a string bean” (349) and is swallowed up by the multiple layers of clothing she wears. Jennie’s small physical stature is reinforced by her “shrunken voice.” She is increasingly unable to care for her husband; in addition to her overall frailty, Jennie is blind. Although her thoughts are not always made apparent to the reader, Jeff’s anxieties about having a “frail blind woman” (356) care for him suggest that she is no longer able to perform many of the domestic caretaking duties expected of women. Furthermore, Jennie represents the stereotypical emotional behaviors of femininity that are contrasted to the type of masculinity Jeff represents. He maintains a strong, brave front, but she is subject to bursts of emotion. She cries “aloud like a child” (354) because she was not taught to maintain the same stoic façade as her husband.
Jennie exhibits a desire to present herself as a particular type of woman, one who is proper and well-maintained, although this desire is impaired by her difficult life as a share farmer’s wife. Her “wasted, dead-leaf appearance” (346) indicates both The Toll of Poverty and the deep emotional burden of losing her five grown children in a short span of time. Despite these hardships, Jennie finds pride in her possessions and in how she presents herself to the world. She finds particular pleasure in driving past her old enemy, Delia Moore, while dressed in her best clothes, although this fleeting moment is undercut by Jennie’s grief over leaving behind her few possessions. Despite her perceived emotional weakness, Jennie is outwardly braver than Jeff when they finally reach the place where they plan to die.
Delia Moore
Delia Moore serves as a foil for Jennie Patton. Though she appears briefly in the story, Delia has been a figure in Jennie’s life for years; she is referred to as her “old enemy.” Similar to Jeff and Jennie Patton, Delia also lives in poverty. Her house is not actually a house but “an abandoned store building converted into a dwelling” (353). Delia, who is the same age as Jennie, has lived alone in the abandoned storefront for “more years than anybody could remember” (353). Many of the women in town, including Jennie, do not approve of her.
Described as “cattish,” Delia represents the type of “improper” womanhood that Jennie disapproves of. In particular, she is “gayer, yellower and saucier” (353) than many of the women in town; in other words, Delia carries herself in a manner that women such as Jennie deem inappropriate. In her younger days, Delia attracted the attention of many men and eventually had “as many husbands as children” (353). Jennie recalls that Delia used to “grin” at Jeff in a potentially flirtatious manner. Delia now lives alone in an abandoned storefront, but Jennie is able to show off one last time by riding past Delia while dressed in her best clothes. Therefore, Delia allows Jennie to experience one final triumph in her life as she is able to flaunt her mysterious road trip with her husband in front of her lifelong enemy.
Major Stevenson
Although he is mentioned only a few times in the story, Major Stevenson looms large in the Pattons’ lives. Stevenson is the landowner from whom Jeff rents his 45 acres of farmland. Similar to many of the landowners in the share farming system, Stevenson is a harsh boss who exploits his workers while providing them scant resources. Jeff reflects that Stevenson “had the odd notion that one mule was all a share farmer needed to work a thirty-acre plot” (352). Because Stevenson insisted on providing only one mule at a time for a large area of farmland, many mules died from “overwork.” This forced the share farmers to continue purchasing mules from him, driving them further into debt.
In addition to these expensive policies, Stevenson exploits his share farmers, ensuring that they will remain in debt. As Jeff and Jennie drive to the river, they estimate that they harvested 25 bales of cotton that year, three fewer than the previous year. However, he argues that the number of cotton bales they harvest is irrelevant: “If we get much or if we get little, we still gonna be in debt to old man Stevenson when he gets through counting up agin us” (353). According to Jeff, no amount of cotton bales will be enough to satisfy their debts. Thus, Stevenson represents the economic burden that share farmers are unable to escape in this exploitative system, and Jeff and Jennie realize that they will never attain economic independence.
