of the coming of john

BIBLIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

• Title: The Oxford W. E. B. Du Bois Reader

• Editor: Eric J. Sundquist

• Publisher: Oxford University Press, New York / Oxford

• Copyright Year: 1996

• Specific Content Derived From: "The Souls of Black Folk," Chapter XIII: "Of the Coming of John"

• Original Publication of Included Excerpts:

  • "A Negro within the Nation": Current History magazine (June 1935).

  • "Negro Art and Literature": From "The Gifts of Black Folks" (1924).

  • "The Propaganda of History": From "Black Reconstruction in America, 1860–1880" (1935).

  • "The Concept of Race": From "Dusk of Dawn" (1940).

  • "Toussaint L'Ouverture": Originally titled "African and the French Revolution," from Freedomways Magazine (Summer 1961).

  • Various articles from "The Crisis": "On Being Crazy" (1923), "The Name 'Negro'" (1928), "On Being Ashamed of Oneself" (1933), "Charles Young" (1922), "Robert E. Lee" (1928), "Criteria of Negro Art" (1926), "Americanization" (1922), "The Negro and Communism" (1931), "Little Portraits of Africa" (1924).

  • "The Realities of Africa": Foreign Affairs (July 1943).

SETTING AND CHARACTER INTRODUCTION: JOHN JONES

• Physical Description: John is described as a "long, straggling fellow," brown-skinned with hard hair. He is characterized by an awkward gait featuring a "half-apologetic roll." In his early years at Wells Institute, he was marked by a "broad, good-natured smile" and was seen as perfectly awkward, often arriving late to the dining room (Swain Hall) as "Jones is never on time."

• Origin: He hails from Altamaha, located in Southeastern Georgia, characterized by gnarled oaks and sea-sands.

• Early Local Perception in Altamaha:

  • White Community: Viewed John as a "good boy," a fine plough-hand, and useful in the rice fields. However, they expressed skepticism regarding his education, warning that it would "spoil" and "ruin" him.

  • Black Community: Proudly supported him, escorting him to the station with bundles and a "queer little trunk." They built a legend around his eventual return: "When John comes." This legend included dreams of speech-making, new furniture, a new schoolhouse, and John serving as a teacher.

THE DUAL NARRATIVE: THE TWO JOHNS

• John Jones (Black John): Sent to school in the North (Johnstown) at Wells Institute.

• John Henderson (White John, the Judge's Son): At the same time, the Judge's son (also named John) is attending Princeton University. The Judge views this as "showing the Yankees what a Southern gentleman can do."

• Shared Childhood: The two Johns were childhood playfellows in Altamaha, despite the racial divide.

ACADEMIC STRUGGLE AND INTELLECTUAL AWAKENING

• Initial Failure: At Wells Institute, John initially struggled. He was described as loud, boisterous, unable to study, and lacking thoroughness. The faculty eventually voted to suspend him for "repeated disorder and inattention to work."

• The Turning Point: John was deeply affected when told by the Dean he must leave without graduating. He promised to work in the city and return with a better attitude. He returned with a "set and serious face" that never left him.

• Intellectual Growth: John began to build a "world of thought." His studies became exhaustive:

  • Mathematics: He once stayed up until midnight carrying out a calculation for a circle to $56$ decimal places in an attempt to understand why a circle was not square.

  • Natural Science: He lay in meadows at night attempting to "think out the solar system."

  • History and Ethics: He questioned the ethics of the Fall of Rome and developed suspicions about the Germans despite his textbooks.

  • Language: He pondered over every new Greek word, wondering how it felt to "think all things in Greek."

• Physical Transformation: As his mind grew, his appearance changed; his clothes fit better, his boots shone, and he developed a "new dignity."

DISCOVERY OF THE VEIL AND RACIAL CONSCIOUSNESS

• Graduation and Realization: After finishing college, John realized the existence of "the Veil" between him and the white world. He began to notice oppression, slights, and the color line that had previously seemed natural or gone unnoticed.

• Psychological Impact: He felt anger at not being called "Mister," clenched his hands at "Jim Crow" cars, and developed a "tinge of sarcasm" and "vague bitterness" in his speech.

• The North-South Ambivalence: He dreaded returning to the narrow life of Altamaha but felt it was his duty. He delayed the return by joining the quartette to sing for the Institute in the North during the summer.

THE NEW YORK OPERA INCIDENT

• The Setting: A bright September afternoon in New York City. John follows a crowd into a great building, which turns out to be an opera house.

• The Financial Cost: He pays a new $5.00$ bill for a ticket and receives no change, leaving him in a state of "stock-still" amazement at the cost.

• The Encounter: He unknowingly sits near his childhood playmate, the white John Henderson, and a young lady.

• The Conflict: The lady makes a remark about not lynching "colored gentlemen" who are in the way. White John, embarrassed and angry at seeing a Black man in the reserved orchestra seats, calls an usher with his card and "peremptory words."

• The Eviction: John is asked to leave by an usher. The manager offers a refund, claiming a mistake was made regarding a "seat already disposed of." John reflects on his situation, calling himself a "natural-born fool."

• Musical Influence: During the brief moments he listens, John is moved by the music of Lohengrin (the swan's wail). It inspires a longing to rise above the "dirt and dust" of his restricted life.

RETURN TO ALTAMAHA

• The Welcome: After seven years, John returns. The Black community organizes a monster welcome at the Baptist Church.

• Alienation: Upon arrival, John is struck by the "sordidness and narrowness" of the town—the dingy station and dilapidated shanties. He greets his mother and sister Jennie coldly.

• The Failure of the Church Speech:

  • John speaks to the congregation in an academic, methodical "unknown tongue."

  • He discusses the 17th and 18th centuries, human brotherhood, popular education, and industrial schools.

  • He offends the congregation by deprecating religious/denominational bickering, questioning the importance of specific baptismal methods.

  • Reaction: An old religious fanatic denounces John from the pulpit for "trampling on the true Religion."

CONFRONTATION WITH JUDGE HENDERSON

• The Application: John visits the Judge to ask for the privilege of teaching the Negro school. He is ordered to go to the "kitchen door" and wait.

• The Judge’s Ultimatum: Judge Henderson states that while he is a "friend" to Black people, they must remain "subordinate" and never expect equality. He warns John not to put "fool ideas of rising and equality" into the students' heads.

• Closing of the School: John begins teaching, including topics like the French Revolution and equality. The local white postmaster reports this as "dangerous." Judge Henderson arrives at the school, orders the children to leave, and closes the school permanently to prevent the students' heads from being "crammed with impudence and lies."

THE CLIMAX AND TRAGEDY

• The Incident in the Pines: After being fired, John wanders the paths. He finds his sister Jennie struggling in the arms of the white John Henderson.

• The Kill: John, possessed by "pent-up hatred," strikes White John with a fallen limb, killing him. The body lies "white and still" in the sunshine.

• The Final Moments: John tells his mother he is going "North" (a metaphor for death/freedom). He returns to the stump where he played as a boy. He hears the music of Lohengrin (the "Song of the Bride": "Freudig gef%%%u00fchrt, ziehet dahin") in his mind as a lynch mob led by the Judge approaches.

• Conclusion: John rises, closes his eyes, and turns toward the sea as the storm of the mob bursts around him.

LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL MOTIFS

• Lohengrin: The opera serves as a recurring motif for a world of beauty and freedom that John can perceive but not fully enter due to racial barriers.

• The Veil: Representing the psychological and social barrier of the color line.

• The Two Johns: A symbolic representation of the diverging paths and inherent inequalities of the American South.

• Biblical Allusion: John reflects on his duty using the words of Esther: "'I will go in to the King, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.'"