Foreign Soil

by

Maxine Beneba Clarke

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Foreign Soil makes teaching easy.

The Kept Woman Character Analysis

In “Railton Road,” De Frankie tasks Solomon with helping him apprehend a Black woman that De Frankie’s people have been monitoring for the past year—they know she’s seeing a white man, something De Frankie feels undermines efforts to liberate Black people (though he himself is biracial). As the woman is walking past the train station, Solomon helps De Frankie capture the woman and move her to alley, where De Frankie locks the woman in an iron collar. After De Frankie leaves, the woman calls De Frankie “insane.” Solomon wishes he had the keys to unlock the woman’s collar but hates himself for thinking this way, since it suggests that he’s weak and not as invested in radical revolution as he thought.

The Kept Woman Quotes in Foreign Soil

The Foreign Soil quotes below are all either spoken by The Kept Woman or refer to The Kept Woman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Place Theme Icon
).
Railton Road Quotes

Solomon hated her, and he hated himself. He wanted that key in his pocket. De Frankie was right about him. Much as the thirst kept rising in him, it lulled and peaked, dipped and climbed. And when Solomon’s commitment wavered, Babylon came a-calling.

Related Characters: Solomon, De Frankie, The Kept Woman
Page Number: 107
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Kept Woman Quotes in Foreign Soil

The Foreign Soil quotes below are all either spoken by The Kept Woman or refer to The Kept Woman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Place Theme Icon
).
Railton Road Quotes

Solomon hated her, and he hated himself. He wanted that key in his pocket. De Frankie was right about him. Much as the thirst kept rising in him, it lulled and peaked, dipped and climbed. And when Solomon’s commitment wavered, Babylon came a-calling.

Related Characters: Solomon, De Frankie, The Kept Woman
Page Number: 107
Explanation and Analysis: