Going to Meet the Man

by

James Baldwin

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Otis is a Black child and one of Jesse’s friends when he was eight years old. Before the lynching, in a flashback, a young Jesse worries that he has not seen Otis for a couple mornings and wishes that he could ask Otis what was happening since “Otis knew everything.” Otis does not directly appear in the story, but Jesse’s care and respect for him as a child shows how white people are not born racist but taught to be so.

Otis Quotes in Going to Meet the Man

The Going to Meet the Man quotes below are all either spoken by Otis or refer to Otis. 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:
Sexuality, Pleasure, and Racial Violence Theme Icon
).
Going to Meet the Man Quotes

Their friends, in other cars, stretched up the road as far as he could see; other cars had joined them; there were cars behind them. They were singing. The sun seemed, suddenly, very hot, and he was, at once very happy and a little afraid. He did not quite understand what was happening, and he did not know what to ask—he had no one to ask. He had grown accustomed, for the solution of such mysteries, to go to Otis. He felt that Otis knew everything. But he could not ask Otis about this.

Related Characters: Jesse, Otis
Related Symbols: Singing
Page Number: 243
Explanation and Analysis:
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Otis Quotes in Going to Meet the Man

The Going to Meet the Man quotes below are all either spoken by Otis or refer to Otis. 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:
Sexuality, Pleasure, and Racial Violence Theme Icon
).
Going to Meet the Man Quotes

Their friends, in other cars, stretched up the road as far as he could see; other cars had joined them; there were cars behind them. They were singing. The sun seemed, suddenly, very hot, and he was, at once very happy and a little afraid. He did not quite understand what was happening, and he did not know what to ask—he had no one to ask. He had grown accustomed, for the solution of such mysteries, to go to Otis. He felt that Otis knew everything. But he could not ask Otis about this.

Related Characters: Jesse, Otis
Related Symbols: Singing
Page Number: 243
Explanation and Analysis: