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Julia Blossom is the grandmother of the protest leader and was one of Jesse’s customers when he worked for a mail-order business. Julia does not appear in the story, but she is a point of contention between the protest leader and Jesse; her grandson takes issue with the fact that Jesse would refer to her as “Old Julia” rather than by her full name. This is further evidence of Jesse’s consistent disrespect for and dehumanization of Black people.
Julia Blossom (“Old Julia”) Quotes in Going to Meet the Man
The Going to Meet the Man quotes below are all either spoken by Julia Blossom (“Old Julia”) or refer to Julia Blossom (“Old Julia”) . 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:
).
Going to Meet the Man Quotes
“She’s gone out?”
The boy said nothing.
“Well,” he said, “tell her I passed by and I’ll pass by next week.” He started to go; he stopped. “You want some chewing gum?”
The boy got down from the swing and started for the house. He said, “I don’t want nothing you got, white man.” He walked into the house and closed the door behind him.
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Explanation and Analysis:
This exchange occurs between Jesse and a child-aged version of the protest leader in a flashback. It is about ten years earlier and Jesse—then working for a mail-order business—has stopped by the boy’s grandmother’s house to collect payment from her. Though Baldwin does not have Jesse reflect on his reaction to this moment, the fact that it stayed with him all these years suggests that he was deeply affected by it. In fact, after recalling this scene, Jesse ramps up his violence toward the present-day protest leader lying in his jail cell. D
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Julia Blossom (“Old Julia”) Character Timeline in Going to Meet the Man
The timeline below shows where the character Julia Blossom (“Old Julia”) appears in Going to Meet the Man. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Going to Meet the Man
...on the floor, the man asks Jesse if he remembers “Old Julia,” explaining that Mrs. Julia Blossom was his grandmother and asking if Jesse calls Black women by their names yet. Before...
(full context)
...man—who he has seen at several protests over the past year—was indeed the grandson of Julia Blossom (“Old Julia”), one of his mail-order customers he hadn’t seen in years. In another flashback,...
(full context)
...begins to feel that he is trapped in a nightmare. He asks the boy if Julia Blossom (“Old Julia”) has gone out and, when the boy doesn’t respond, he asks him to...
(full context)
