Our Time

John Edgar Wideman has lived more then just a life. Wideman has survived
several conflicting spectrums, and throughout his entire life, he has been forced to make
life altering decisions based upon varied situations. Wideman has witnessed, although
sometimes unknowingly, the complete destruction of his youngest brother. He recounts
critical events within his story, or letters. tories are letters. !etters sent to anybody or
everybody. "ut the best kind are meant to be read by a specific somebody. When you
read that kind you know you are eavesdropping. #ou know a real person somewhere will
read the same words you are reading and the story is that person$s business and you are a
ghost listening in.% &hrough his letters, his writing process, his tone, his views and
representations of fact, we the readers are able to see an otherwise mundane, clich' story
from a voice with reason, compassion and unavoidable conflict of interest.
We are told to read these stories as though they were letters from home( a
watermelon%, as the letters were meant for blacks, from us down home. )own Home
being everywhere we$ve ever been, the rural outh, the old days, slavery, *frica.% Well,
assuming the readers of this story have never been enslaved nor originated from *frica,
then these watermelons should transcend all ethnicities, se+es, creeds, and religions.
,hristians could have there "ibles and hymns, woman could have there grapevine -think
)esperate Housewives.. Wideman attempts to allude to the oppressive stereotyping
black people face, all the while accurately portraying his history. &he word history seems
rather biased when you break it apart. /f divided into two syllables and taken literally,
0his1story$ describes the story though one male individual$s perspective. /n this sense,
Wideman accurately represents the 0his1story$ of his family, community, and most
importantly, his brother.
Just through the first few paragraphs in the introduction to 2ur &ime% it becomes
evident that this piece could have only been written by a black author. He seems to
almost offer e+planations for the events that took place by describing his view of the role
of blacks in *merica. He feels like his people are lesser, that blacks were ruled by
whites, the man%, people who did not have our best interests at heart.% He writes
blacks are all brothers, bound together under one premise, to make it in a world where
the man had you coming and going.% Wideman knows that all blacks have an
underlying respect amongst themselves, even criminals( 3it$s because we can$t help but
feel some satisfaction seeing a brother, a black man, get over on these people, on their
system without playing by their rules.%
Wideman grew up through the heated days of racial reform in *merica, shaped by
the world around him. He, just like his brother, are products of their environment.
Everything they e+perienced throughout life has shaped them, whether major or minor,
the influences were always there. &hat$s what an environment is. /t is the life, it is the
death, and all factors in between. &he environment defines the people, the people define
the environment, it$s a mind1warping loop that will only confuse those who 4uestion it.
Wideman$s family was pretty successful. His mother loved them all, almost too
much, as he claims they were spoiled in retrospect. 5obby is portrayed as the black
sheep -no pun.( his brothers and only sister all did well and Wideman suggests that
5obby did just the opposite out of spite. He wanted to bla6e his own trail, he didn$t just
want to follow his siblings lead. Wasn$t nothing / could do in school or sports that
youns hadn$t done already. 7eople said here comes another Wideman he$s gon be a good
student like his brothers and sister.%
8rowing up in 7ittsburg, there neighborhood offered a lukewarm euphemism,
hadyside being a predominately white community 0sheltered$ the Wideman$s from the
black society, the forbidden fruit%. &here is obviously nothing sinful with being black,
but Wideman$s use of conte+t presents black1ness as a vice. *s with all vice$s, telling
someone they can not do something only provokes wonder and intrigue. "lack was a
mystery and in my mind / decided /$d find out what it was all about. )idn$t care if it
killed me, / was going to find out%. /n 5obby$s situation, separating him from the cool
kids and forcing him into his families$ footsteps eventually sealed his fate. His desire to
stand apart, alongside the forbidden fruit, fueled his life into an out of control spiral of
bad decisions.
&his is a valid e+cuse that Wideman provides on his brothers behalf. John
Wideman loves his family. Whether intentional or unavoidable, he clearly has written
this essay with careful attention to his readers$ potential emotional reactions. &he author
gives those characters in the story whom are close to him close to him, such as his mother
or 5obby a slight home field advantage. Written through the voice of any other author,
5obby would be portrayed as a hardcore junkie. Wideman$s mother most definitely
would be cast as an enabler. Her father passed on to her his give 0em the benefit of the
doubt% philosophy, and with that attitude, 5obby was able to run all over her and the rest
of their family. 5obby took advantage of his mothers congeniality ince most of the
people in 2ur &ime% are
John paints 8arth as a loveable /chabod ,rane% turned skeleton%