Folk culture and masculine identity Charles Burnett's 'To Sleep with Anger.'

African American Review, Summer, 1999 by Karen Chandler

Gideon's nickname, "John Henry," signals the film's ambivalence about his authority, for the legendary John Henry has an ambiguous value as a model of black masculinity. As Alan Dundes has noted, "John Henry is the strong, loyal, gentle Uncle Tom worker, the ideal 'good nigger,' whose total strength is devoted to doing the white man's assigned job. John Henry, strong as he is, constitutes no threat or danger to [his] white captain." Dundes speculates that John Henry's long popularity with white Americans may result from his innocuousness (569). Stories and songs from the black vernacular about the character emphasize not only his overwhelming strength, but also his ultimate failure to capitalize on his achievements. A number of songs that have been inspired by John Henry's legend, for instance, ultimately refuse to uphold him as a model:

Dis here hammer, hammer Kill John Henry, Can't kill me, O Lawd, can't kill me. (Odum and Johnson 236)

John Henry dies working, competing with a machine to prove the superiority of man over technology. And although John Henry proves his point about man's superiority, in many versions of the tale he primarily benefits a white employer who has placed a bet on him (Odum and Johnson 222).(5) Like John Henry, Gideon has lived for others, serving them as father, husband, employee, and church and community member. And, consequently, Samuel sees him as one without agency, as one whose selfhood has been displaced or suppressed.

Gideon's storytelling, however, indicates a sense of playfulness and creativity at odds with Samuel's narrow view of him. Through his tales, Gideon affirms the importance of storytelling as a means of fostering community and individuality. And in the process, Gideon's stories function as metacommentary for the film's endorsement of folk expression. In an early scene in the film, Gideon sits in the kitchen and tells his grandson Sonny a story as Suzie sorts through her plant cuttings. The story concerns a group of preachers who confess their sins to one another. The preacher who speaks last admits that his great sin is gossiping and then promises to tell the once secret sins of all others in attendance. At one level this story confirms Gideon's status as a moralist intent on teaching the necessity of suppressing one's capacity for sin; after all, Gideon's story suggests that most sins are likely to be revealed and punished. Yet the story also demonstrates Gideon's ability to use humor to communicate his understanding of human competition, particularly masculine competition. Rather than offering a tale with a bland moral hero, Gideon presents a character, the preacher, who markedly departs from the ethos Linda and Babe Brother associate with Gideon - devoting oneself to hard work and God and eschewing fun and play. The preacher is obviously a trickster who takes advantage of potentially more powerful opponents by assuming an innocuous persona and using it slyly to exploit others' weaknesses. Specifically, the gossip-prone preacher reveals the rewards of the silence and attentiveness that permit him to gain an advantage over his peers. Unlike Suzie, who judges the story to be inappropriate for Sonny, Gideon assumes its relevance. He has chosen a story that signifies (or comments) on quiet, observant Sonny, for the tale illustrates the potential power of traits that define the boy. The story, however, is less a prompt to imitate the gossiping preacher than a lesson in the need to know the dangers of self-exposure in a potentially hostile environment. Rather than suppressing Sonny's spirit, Gideon acknowledges and works to foster his grandson's strengths - his self-restraint, attentiveness, and independence. And in inviting Sonny to tell his own story, Gideon facilitates Sonny's creative expression. In the process, he opens up one of the few spaces in the film in which the boy uses his voice to express himself.