"What a Man Do": Coe Booth and the Genesis of Tyrell

"You damn near sixteen. What kinda man you gonna be? [. ..]

"What you want? You want me to go out there and sell weed? That what you want?

"We wouldn't be at Bennett if you was out there, would we? (22)

Coe has a good understanding of how the pressures to "be a man" can wear upon a teenaged boy, especially the twenty-four hour a day expectation of being in control, as she explains: "Men are under a different kind of pressure than women. It's hard to be the man all the time, the one who must appear to be confident and in control, the one who has things figured out. It seems like it would be hard to be the person who is always expected to be brave, who is not afraid of anything. "

A central problem in Tyrell, a "how to be a man" problem, involves being a father, and in particular, how to provide a father figure for Tyreirs little brother, Troy. Tyrell is critical of most of the father figures he knows, including his girlfriend Novisha's father, as well as his own. He criticizes Novisha's father for divorcing her mother but visiting their house and enjoying all the benefits of being married when it suits him. He is critical of his own father for spending much of his life in jail and leaving his wife and children to provide for themselves. Even so, Tyrell manages to sort through the truth and falsehood of his father's few instructions in the interludes when he is out of jail. He has been taught that a woman needs to be hit by her man sometimes, but he doesn't believe it. He has arrived at some of his own conclusions about being a man and a father, including that a man needs to think of children before thinking of himself.

Tyrell has also arrived at the conclusion that a boy needs a man in his life, all the time. A boy needs a man in his life to look out for his safety. Tyrell is constantly fearful that Troy is going to get hit by a car or harmed by some derelict because their mother has mostly abandoned her role as caretaker. A boy needs a man in his life to make sure he gets a fair chance in life to reach his potential. Tyrell visits Troy's teacher when a note comes home from school requesting a meeting, and he learns that Troy has been wrongly placed in special education (Their mother wants to keep him there for the extra Social security Income dollars that come with a special needs child). A boy needs a man in his life to teach him about sports and how to win and earn respect. Tyrell takes Troy to a park when he can, to "show him some moves, let him know that even though our pops ain't there, he still got somebody to teach him how to play" (222). But, most of all, he needs a man to always be there for him and to show him how to be a man:

I don't want Troy to grow up and miss all that 'cause, to be honest, he need a man to teach him what a man do. [. . .]

Now me, I know I can't take my pops place or nothing, but Troy need somebody for now. So that's what I'ma try to do. Be there. (223)

Even though she has a good handle on the problems faced by a boy trying to figure out what it means to be a man, Coe wasn't sure she could create and sustain the voice of a young man throughout a whole novel: