"The Witness"

[Dr. C.]

Ann Petry, “The Witness” (2252)

Below is a link to me discussing the story:

http://youtu.be/B0CWNZzewQo

Resources:

http://www.fembio.org/english/biography.php/woman/biography/ann-petry/

http://www.cwhf.org/inductees/writers-journalists/ann-petry/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1D-Uof8JMs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avzHW5xjdn0

[adamsjm6]

The role of women, and racism is a sad yet realistic point in this story. Sadly, the idea racism only occurs in certain parts of the country is horribly mistaken, and I believe this story highlights that idea. Racism has long occurred in both the North and the south and it is interested how the roles are a southern black man moving into a northern town where racism is certainly a prevalent fact of life. Segregation of schools, the unifying of schools, and general lack of respect and regard was and still is a real issue in regards to race relations in the United States. I also found it interesting how the idea of racism seemed to directly correlate to the lack of respect towards women. The young men in the story who had a complete lack of self respect, and showed zero regard for respect to their teacher also committed violent ad terrible acts against a young girl. I believe the story was working to convey a message that hate breeds hate, and to have racist views also leads to views of hate which in return can and will be directed towards other people.

 

The other part that was brutally true is integration was not a wanted event in most communities. It was stated in the story all the other communities and schools were doing it, so this one would to. It was also emphasized that the school district was looking for One African American teacher. This is clearly an attempt to only look as if they are integrating, which was a political stunt because if they were truly interested they would work to have a diverse and unique staff at their school system. Instead, they merely met the base line requirement which I think created an issue of credibility and ultimately helped the young boys justify and commit their act. The message sent from the school was not strong and unifying, it was weak and lacked depth of conviction towards integration and equal rights.

[David A. Riley]

This may be my favorite reading assignment yet. I can identify with most of the characters, and understand the characterization of the school and students. Petry does a marvelous job of describing the inner conflict this man feels. He is unsure about his new job, his new coat, this new life. Woodruff is empathetic enough to sense the numbing of the student body, and they are "herded towards college." That imagery resonates particularly well with me. Also, the idea that there are privileged little punks who make trouble for everyone. I know them too. But I most strongly identify with the protagonist. I know what it is like to be out of place, to be the one thing that is not like the others. It was a brave move to take the job in the first place. Even more so to agree to "assist" Dr. Shipley with the delinquents. Great line in the story - "he knew that he could neither help nor assist the minister with them" - this coupled with the physical description of these boys instantly give the story menace. At that instant he knows that he should never be caught alone by this band of misfits. This is demonstrated by Woodruff's hurry to get inside as the boys are approaching the school. And again when he looks at them, and sees "something evil, so dark, so suggestive of the far reaches of the night." It is instinct that recognizes the predators, the instinct born of a lifetime of being at complete disadvantage your entire life. It is that same instinct that speaks inside his head when he sees the boys outside, and the girl that doesn't want to go with them. That little voice that said he should mind his own business, that says that he should "leave this white man's problem for a white man." On an instinctual level he knows that he cannot win in this small, white, northern town. But what he sees is so wrong that he has do to something. Which ends badly for him, probably worse for the girl. This poor white girl, who is almost as powerless in society as he is. Race and class brought crashing together in the hands of a group of young hoodlums, who have been given everything they ever wanted in life, and never been told "no." What happens next is bad for everyone involved... and Charles' thoughts as he is driving away ... "Another poor scared black bastard who was a witness" is a single statement that encapsulates a lot of the problems black people faced: knowing that they would be severely punished for speaking out against what they saw, and possibly killed for doing the same thing.

I would like to say that this sort of thing doesn't happen. But that would be a lie. The story doesn't give much insight as to how the rest of community feels about Charles Woodruff, except to say that they are looking for "one" to hire as a teacher. "One of them." That seems like the foundation of all prejudice. This story was written in 1971. The civil rights movement had been in full swing for several years. A small norther town like the one mentioned in the story might not be all that excited about a black man in their midst. But an elderly widower is no harm, right? Sure. It would be a mistake to think that this school was not taking a risk in hiring this man. There is always some prejudiced asshole on the school board who has just enough money to get his way. Sorry, seem to have strayed from analysis...

Anyway, I think that everyone should feel outrage at the events in this story. Anyone who can read about such injustice and not be upset by it is part of the problem.

On Monday, June 10, 2013 10:00:53 AM UTC-4, Dr. C. wrote:

[Dr. C.]

David, Really nice, thoughtful response here.  You note the nuance in Petry's representation of Woodruff.

One thing to note is the date, 1971, indicates the story's appearance in print, not when it was written.  It doesn't matter necessarily to what you assert, but it's a good thing to keep in mind about the anthology as a whole.  There are pieces that list a date that is many, many years after the initial story was written.  

[Amanda Sellers]

I was so utterly and horribly disturbed by this short story. My rage and sadness were so extreme, at first, I could not find words to even write or explain myself......

 

"The Witness" brings to light many of the problems that African Americans and women faced as early as 1910 and all the way into the 1960's. It may, in fact, still occur to this day as prejudice and discrimination have a history of continuing through generations. http://www.cwhf.org/inductees/writers-journalists/ann-petry/

Petry was very descriptive in her use of imagery of the town Wheeling, New York and the cold environment in winter. Description of the school system and of the community. The details and descriptions Petry uses in the beginning of the story incorporate into the plot and gives reason to the dark fear within Woodruff. It gives reason as to why he feels such fear when he encounters the 7 young troublemakers. I feel the cold environment described amplifies the cold feeling Woodruff gets in this situation he is thrown into. The idea of integration and racism plays a key role in the outcome of the story and why Woodruff never calls the police.

I don't think it was easy for northern communities to enforce integration into their school systems nor their communities. The use of North vs. South imagery in the story is very interesting. I don't feel as though the North was ready for integration, although they were perceived as agreeing with equal rights. It is much easier to say you are against discrimination than to act upon it. I feel it was more of a philosophical "freedom" the North cared for than displaying actual, genuine "freedom" for African Americans or females. This time period was a major change in United States history. A change that was not incorporated well in many communities. "Everybody was integrating and so this little frozen Northern town was integrating, too." I feel the town decided to hire just one African American teacher to "solve" the problem they didn't want to fix. In 1954, the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education found it unconstitutional to allow segregation in school. I think the town hired Woodruff because they were legally required to integrate(de jure), as well because societal standards were changing and they must do as other communities are doing (de facto). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1D-Uof8JMs

This story also reflecting the emotions of an African American moving to a Northern "white" community of that time period. Certain phrases stood out to me as I was reading. "He referred to them (mentally) as the Willing Workers of America. He thought that what was being done to them was a crime against nature. They were hard working, courteous, pathetic. He introduced a new textbook." (pg. 2253) Why was it a crime against nature in his opinion? I think it was described as a crime against nature because they were going down the straight and narrow path towards college. They were doers, not thinkers. They were living in their "sheltered" white communities, not knowing of what was going on in the African American "world" They did not see the outside world or a world of change. I can sense the separation in the community between the whites and black as Woodruff states "black man's business" and "white man's business". There is a clear, definitive racial line in the "integrating" community that cannot be crossed and it's as if Woodruff knows his boundaries. Sadly, he crosses those boundaries as he knew it was the right thing to do to fight for that young girl, even when he questioned himself doing so; "you're a black man speaking with a white man's voice."

 

The most disturbing part of the story to me, other then the racial segregation, was the fact the boys knew they could get away with the despicable, horrifying act they had done. "He's here and yet he ain't here." Rambler knew it all along, that they could do what they wanted and no matter what, in this newly integrated community, Woodruff would be unable to tell officials. "Where there's smoke there must be fire." This line appeared in the story multiple times. If Woodruff had told officials, he felt he would have been blamed for the act, so he did not report it. The smoke being the report and the fire meaning Woodruff would take the punishment for the act. "Whose story would be believed?"

 

The ending definitely implies the idea that many African Americans endured similar, emotionally harmful scenarios to their personal character and life when they moved North. "Another poor scared black bastard who was a witness." A witness meaning a person who saw firsthand the painful process of integration during that time period.

 

I think the dynamic between men and women is very important in this story as Petry does not include many women in the story, except Nelly and Addie. I think "The Witness" testifies well to the harmful scenarios women endured during the same time period and how easily men could get away with their actions. Even to this day, if a rape is reported, there is not much done about it. If a rape is reported nowadays, it seems as though society holds the woman responsible. It is a very sad and horrible truth. Imagine what it would have been like for a rape to have been reported in the 1950's, when women were still trying to gain their freedoms both de jure and de facto.

 

I found on one of the secondary readings posted on the initial prompt for this reading an interview quote from Petry in 1946. "My aim is to show how simply and easily the environment can change the course of a person's life." Although she was talking about "The Street" in that interview, I find she is able to easily show how the environment of these Northern communities have changed the course for many African Americans and women. http://www.fembio.org/english/biography.php/woman/biography/ann-petry/

[Jeremy Newport]

First and foremost, Ann Petry's "The Witness" was highly progressive in that her story was narrated correctly with a black man's point of view. Her representation however included a very educated and intelligent black man which would have been highly historically accurate. Following the creation of many historical black colleges, many black men and women went on to become well educated and sophisticated individuals contrary to the widely held stereotype identified in other weekly readings of economic draining. What I felt the story did was to explore a very uncomfortable subject and thought process regarding what black men went through during the civil rights movement. All day everyday men were constantly forced to assimilate into white culture. What Petry shows with her story is that while many men like Charles Woodruff could be assets to their community, they were never truly regarded as highly as whites. Throughout the short story there is the constant reference from Woodruff of his fear that people think where there is smoke there is fire. The fear in the fact Woodruff had to flee shows the intense pressure put on black men to assimilate. The fact of the matter wasn't assimilate or have poor relationships, it was assimilate or die in most cases. If these men argued with whites or disputed over trivial things, they could be lynched extrajudicially with little to no repercussions. This story shows us the flawed and barbaric nature of many white men and I feel it is extremely important in terms of the political landscape of Petry's time.   

[kasibhm]

David, 

   I'm not sure if your analysis or the story itself made me more enraged by these events! I do agree though, that this reading assignment was very powerful and I did really enjoy it as well. It angers me that these types of events could happen so close to the present. I can't even imagine living in a world like that. I just wanted to say thank you for your insights. I also think that Jimmy had a really important idea when he was talking about the correlation of women and blacks in this story. I never would have picked up on that. It's so saddening that they boys knew they could get away with their crime when they were committing it. Justice is something that should be served to everybody. Especially those boys in this story. How in the world can we charge an innocent man with a crime he was a victim of!? That's utterly ridiculous. If people back then could have opened up their eyes and minds, maybe then this wouldn't have been such an issue. I cannot express how truly grateful I am to be living in this day when nobody really cares about the color of someone's skin or the sex which they are. 

On Tuesday, June 11, 2013 12:40:54 PM UTC-4, David A. Riley wrote: