A Summer
An Appealing aspect of Arna Bontemps' short story "A Summer Tragedy" is the way he gives Jeff and Jennie Patton justifiable reasons for choosing to end their lives together. When reading "A Summer Tragedy" the reader learns about the declining health, unfair labor, and loss of life the Patton's fall victim to. This combination of hardships justifies the couple's decision to fulfill the pledge they have made to one another. The declining health of Jeff Patton is more extreme than his wife's. Jeff's teeth have almost all fallen out, a stroke has left him with one good leg, and his mental faculties are starting to diminish. He cannot even get his bow tied as he attempts to finish dressing. "Jeff twisted his mouth into a hideous toothless grimace as he contented with the obstinate bow. He stamped his good foot and decided to give up the struggle." (88) Jennie Patton is skinny and blind. The effects from osteoporosis have taken over her bones and joints. She seems more dead than alive. "She h
" A woman like Jennie could not easily throw off the grief that comes from losing five grown children within two year. " (88) The physical conditions of the elderly couple are reason enough to justify their decision to commit suicide, but as Jeff is reflecting back on his life the reasons intensify. Her body, as scrawny and gnarled as a string bean, seemed less than nothing in the ocean of frayed and faded petticoats that surrounded her. Declining health, unfair labor, and the devastating loss of their children leaves the Patton's with nothing to live for. " (93) He experienced the severities of sharecropping and had seen both man and animal die from it. As "A Summer Tragedy" concludes, the decision that the elderly couple makes seems justified by the events of the life they shared. As Jeff and Jennie are discussing the crops that are presently growing he reminds her of Mr. He and Jennie are both aware that no matter how hard he worked and how much cotton the fields yielded; they would never see a profit. Now they serve as justifiable reasons for the decision the couple has made together. Jeff knows the grief is more than his wife can handle at times. This is when the reader learns about the deaths of his and Jennie's children. He knew what that meant too; he had made forty-five of them with his own hands.
Common topics in this essay:
Jeff Jennie,
Jennie Patton,
Summer Tragedy,
Jeff Patton,
Jennie Patton's,
Jeff Jennie's,
jeff jennie,
Arna Bontemps',
reader learns,
elderly couple,
declining health,
Destiny Appealing,
summer tragedy,
unfair labor,
health unfair labor,
justifiable reasons,
health unfair,
jennie patton,
stevenson's dishonesty,
declining health unfair,
|
Acceptance Essays
