If Beale Street Could Talk

by

James Baldwin

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If Beale Street Could Talk: Troubled About My Soul Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Tish, whose real name is Clementine, goes to “the Tombs” in Lower Manhattan to visit Fonny, whose real name is Alonzo. However, she only calls him Alonzo when she has to “break down some real heavy shit to him,” which is the case on this particular visit. Sitting on one side of a glass divider at the jail, she picks up a phone, and Fonny picks up his own receiver on the other side. Staring at him, Tish remembers how much she adores his eyes, thinking about how frightened she is each time she visits that it will be the last time she sees him. “I hope that nobody has ever had to look at anybody they love through glass,” she notes.
In the first scene of If Beale Street Could Talk, Baldwin establishes the novel’s preoccupation with love, and readers see right away that this will be a book about the resilience of human connection in difficult times. Tish struggles to connect with Fonny “through glass” but nevertheless manages to focus on the beauty of his eyes, fortifying herself against the difficulties of their forced separation. Baldwin also laces a sense of anticipation into the narrative of this initial scene, as readers—and Fonny—prepare for Tish to “break down some real heavy shit.” This anticipation foreshadows the seemingly endless amount of waiting Fonny and Tish must endure throughout the book, as Fonny’s time in jail stretches on and on. “The Tombs” is the name of a correctional facility in Manhattan.
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Tish thinks about what she’s about to tell Fonny, hoping that once he stops worrying about the news she’s about to deliver, perhaps it will make him happy. “Alonzo, we’re going to have a baby,” she says. Pausing for a moment, she hastens to add, “I’m glad. I’m glad. Don’t you worry. I’m glad.” However, as she speaks, she sees that he’s lost in thought. She waits as he considers the fact that they’re going to have a baby at such a young age—after all, Tish is nineteen and Fonny is twenty-two. “Are you sure?” he asks, somehow doubting that she’s really pregnant, but she only makes fun of him for asking such a ridiculous question. After they both laugh, Fonny asks if Tish has told Frank—his father—yet, and she says Fonny is the first to know.
Because Fonny is in jail and Tish is so young, it’s unsurprising that he immediately begins to worry about her pregnancy. After all, it’s quite possible he won’t be out of prison before the baby comes. Tish’s pregnancy then becomes like a ticking clock, emphasizing all that Fonny is missing out on by languishing in prison. Although the sense of urgency surrounding Tish’s pregnancy and Fonny’s freedom is overwhelming, the idea of having a child also gives him a sense of hope and levity, as evidenced by the fact that he and Tish start joking and laughing shortly after she breaks the news.
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Fonny worries aloud about how they’ll raise a baby when he’s still in prison, but Tish assures him that her mother and sister will help her while he’s gone, and she also insists that he’ll be free by the time she gives birth. “You sure about that?” he asks. In response, she expresses her confidence that he’ll be released very soon, though internally she knows this might not be the case. Nonetheless, she feels as if she can’t let herself think negative thoughts. “I must be sure,” she thinks.
Again, Baldwin underlines the ways in which Tish’s pregnancy makes Fonny even more aware of the timeframe of his prison stay. When Tish displays a sense of unshakeable optimism, she commits herself to lending Fonny a sense of hope, knowing that this kind of positive thinking is perhaps the only thing that will keep him resilient.
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On Tish’s way out of the prison, she walks through “corridors” that remind her of the Sahara Desert because there are so many “lawyers and bondsmen,” all of whom are like vultures circling above, waiting for a moment to swoop down and prey on the “poor” and helpless. As she moves through these hallways and passes the many family members who are clearly “ashamed” that their sons and lovers are in jail, she thinks about how they’re “wrong to be ashamed,” since “the people responsible for these jails should be ashamed.” She, for her part, isn’t ashamed of Fonny. In fact, she’s even “proud” of him, since he has confronted this hardship so admirably.
When Tish thinks about “lawyers and bondsmen” as vultures, she addresses the fact that the legal system to which Fonny must submit is inherently exploitative and oppressive, since rich white lawyers and bondsmen are simply waiting to profit off of the misfortune of young black men like Fonny. She also rejects the idea that a prisoner’s loved ones should be “ashamed” of them—after all, they are at the mercy of unjust power structures, the same structures that enable exploitative lawyers and bondsmen to prey on disadvantaged prisoners and their families in the first place. By examining this dynamic, Tish frames the entire legal system as prejudiced and manipulative.
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Despite the fact that she’s proud of Fonny, Tish often wonders if the pressure of Fonny’s imprisonment might someday become too much to bear. “Nobody can take the shit they throw on us forever,” she says, but then she resolves to simply focus on taking things one day at a time. “If you think too far ahead, if you even try to think too far ahead, you’ll never make it,” she notes.
Tish sets forth an important idea in this moment, upholding that the best way to endure long-lasting hardship is by focusing on the present. She suggests that the burden of constant anticipation can overwhelm even the strongest person.
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On the bus ride home, Tish thinks about what it’s like to be in “trouble,” considering the fact that people see life differently when they’re struggling with something. Looking around, she realizes she can’t ask any of the strangers around her for help, feeling like she can’t “depend on people for anything, anymore.” Plus, it wouldn’t matter if a stranger wanted to help her in the first place, since nobody could truly do something to improve her and Fonny’s situation. “I can’t say to anybody in this bus, Look, Fonny is in trouble, he’s in jail,” she realizes. Similarly, she knows nobody can do anything about the fact that she’s “scared” about having a child while her lover is in prison. “Trouble means you’re alone,” she remarks.
Part of the isolation Tish feels in this moment has to do with the fact that she and Fonny are at a disadvantage in American society. The structures of power—including the legal system—that rule New York City (and the United States in general) make it all too easy to imprison a black man like Fonny without having to provide much in the way of justification. Because of this, Tish knows she can’t stand up in public and ask for help, since there’s nothing anyone can do to defeat the injustice of the law. She not only feels “alone,” but frightened about what will happen to the father of her unborn child.
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Tish reflects on how she and Fonny first became close. When she was only six years old, Fonny was her neighbor, but she didn’t pay much attention to him until they got into a fight one day. During this period, Tish was friends with a confrontational girl named Geneva who got into a scrap with Daniel, one of Fonny’s friends. When Tish tried to pull Daniel off of Geneva, Fonny tried to pull her off of Daniel. To defend herself, she grabbed a small board from the ground and swung it at Fonny, hitting him in the face. Because there was a rusty nail stuck into the end of the board, though, Fonny started bleeding profusely, so Tish ran away. When Fonny caught her, he spit in her mouth but didn’t physically hurt her.
Although this is only the story of Fonny and Tish’s first true interaction and ultimately has very little to do with their adult relationship, it’s worth noting that their connection begins with a sense of animosity. Baldwin thus demonstrates that love can blossom even in strange, unaccommodating circumstances. In the same way that Tish and Fonny manage to fall in love despite their turbulent history, it seems their connection will easily triumph over the hardships of Fonny’s imprisonment.
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Still narrating the fight she had with Fonny, Tish says that he disappeared for several days, causing her to fear that the rusty nail had given him lockjaw. Afraid she ruined his life by hitting him with the board, she tried to get more information about his condition by visiting his father’s tailor shop. When she entered, Frank kindly greeted her and made small talk, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask about Fonny. Sensing what she wanted to know, though, Frank indicated that Fonny’s mother, Mrs. Hunt, sent him to spend time with relatives in “the country,” and he promised to let Fonny know that Tish came looking for him. Several days later, Fonny came to see her and apologized for spitting on her, and she apologized for hitting him.
In this flashback, readers see that Frank is a kind man who has a connection with Tish, whom he clearly likes. This is important to keep in mind as the novel progresses, as Tish’s family ends up inviting Frank into their close circle in order to provide an effective support network for Fonny.
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As kids, Fonny and Tish become close after their fight. Fonny, for his part, dislikes his sisters, and Tish doesn’t have any brothers. “And so we got to be, for each other, what the other missed,” Tish notes in retrospect. As for Fonny’s mother, she is remarkably strict, “a Sanctified woman” who resents her husband because he refuses to conform to her religious lifestyle. This, Tish thinks, is why Mrs. Hunt is extra hard on Fonny, which only drives him away from her. Indeed, Fonny forms a close relationship with his father, who doesn’t judge him when he comes to the tailor shop after a fight.
In this section, readers see that judgmental attitudes can strain relationships. This is the case when Fonny distances himself from Mrs. Hunt, as she seemingly tries to shame him into adopting her way of life. The fact that Fonny ends up becoming close to his father because he doesn’t judge Fonny only further establishes the fact that kindness and acceptance are what create meaningful human relationships.
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One day as adults, Tish asks Fonny if his parents still make love, and he says they do but that their sex life is full of a strange kind of anger and resentment that ultimately fuels their physical connection but keeps them emotionally distanced from one another. Each night they have intercourse, it is under the pretense that Mrs. Hunt is trying to bring Frank to Jesus, so that she ultimately convinces herself that she’s doing something holy by having sex with a man she might otherwise see as nothing but a sinner. “Hadn’t been for me, I believe [Frank] would have split the scene,” Fonny says. “I’ll always love my Daddy because he didn’t leave me.”
By this point in the novel, it’s rather clear that Frank and Mrs. Hunt do not have a good relationship, mostly because Mrs. Hunt seems to subject him to the same kind of critical judgment that she also forces upon Fonny. Fonny’s statement that he’ll “always love” his father because he didn’t leave is worth noting as well, since Fonny himself is no doubt worried that his imprisonment will keep him from being there for his own child.
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One day before their romantic relationship begins, Tish goes to church with Fonny and Mrs. Hunt. Her own family isn’t particularly religious, and Tish can sense that Mrs. Hunt judges her for this, inwardly critiquing her for going to church so infrequently. When she, Fonny, and Mrs. Hunt arrive, they sit in the front row, and Tish notes how performative Mrs. Hunt becomes once the service begins, making a grand display of her holiness and even seeming to compete with another woman by making loud protestations as the music plays. As the furious worship of the congregation rises, Tish feels overwhelmed and frightened, looking at Fonny and impulsively grasping his hand. Ever since that day, Fonny and Tish have never discussed this experience, though Tish feels like she’s entering the church again whenever she walks into the Tombs.
For Tish, religion is inextricably intertwined with Mrs. Hunt’s unforgiving judgment, which makes Tish feel inferior. This, it seems, is why she is so put off by the experience of going to church, ultimately feeling a lack of acceptance and a sense of shame about the way she leads her life. This is the same feeling Tish experiences when she walks into the prison, since she knows that she and Fonny are at the mercy of a legal system that judges them harshly without taking into consideration who they actually are. In the same way that Mrs. Hunt looks down upon Tish without stopping to truly get to know her, the jail system subjects black people to unfair judgment simply because they are black.
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Having told Fonny about her pregnancy, Tish goes home to tell her family. She knows her mother, Sharon, won’t be upset by the news, nor will her older sister, Ernestine. However, she isn’t sure what her father, Joseph, will think. Thankfully, Sharon is the first to get home, and Tish helps her unload groceries in the kitchen. Sharon is still a relatively young woman, though she has two grown daughters. Having moved to New York from Birmingham with the dream of becoming a singer, she met Joseph shortly after giving up on her music career. They then settled in Harlem and Joseph took a job working on the waterfront. Now, in the kitchen, Tish senses that Sharon already knows she’s pregnant, and she starts to cry. Understanding exactly what’s happening, Sharon says, “Tish, I declare, I don’t think you got nothing to cry about. You tell Fonny?”
Without even having to be told, Sharon understands what’s going on with Tish. This demonstrates her skills as a mother, showcasing the fact that she’s very much in touch with her children. She not only anticipates that Tish is pregnant, but she immediately soothes her by insisting that she doesn’t have anything “to cry about,” thereby helping her daughter view her own pregnancy as a good thing, something that might give her and Fonny hope. In contrast to Mrs. Hunt’s parenting techniques, Sharon has a remarkable ability to support her loved ones.
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Sharon guesses correctly that Tish is roughly three months pregnant. Soothing her daughter as she cries, she says, “Now, listen, you got enough on your mind without worrying about being a bad girl and all that jive-ass shit. I sure hope I raised you better than that.” She then reminds Tish that white people have been making it difficult for black people to live their lives since black people first were brought to America as slaves. Similarly, she says, “that same damn white man” is responsible for the fact that Fonny and Tish aren’t married right now, since they would be if he wasn’t in jail. Given this unfortunate situation, she says, Tish needs to simply focus on her baby, making sure that it comes into this world safely.
Unlike Mrs. Hunt, Sharon knows it’s important to support her children with love. This is why she goes out of her way to make sure Tish knows she doesn’t think she’s a “bad girl” for getting pregnant, since this kind of judgment would only estrange her from Tish and make it harder for her to help her through this difficult period. She also articulates the fact that Fonny’s imprisonment has more to do with and racism than with anything he’s actually done, suggesting that his predicament is simply a continuation of America’s historical bigotry.
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Saying that Tish is the only one who can make sure her baby arrives safely, Sharon says that she, Frank, and Ernestine will take care of everything else. What’s more, she adds that Fonny “needs that baby” because it will lend him “courage.” Sharon then says she will be the one to announce the news to Joseph and Ernestine when they get home.
Sharon goes out of her way to stress how important the baby will be to Fonny, insisting that it will give him hope and “courage.” Tish’s pregnancy becomes something that can buoy his (and her) spirits.
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When Joseph arrives, he pours himself a beer and speculates about how much Fonny’s lawyer will cost. As he and Sharon talk to one another, Tish stares at a wooden sculpture Fonny made two years ago. “It’s of a naked man with one hand at his forehead and the other half hiding his sex,” she notes, explaining that Fonny made this at his old vocational school. At this school, the teachers taught the students to make “shitty, really useless things,” claiming that the children had to learn to use their hands because they were stupid. “Those kids aren’t dumb,” Tish thinks. “But the people who run these schools want to make sure that they don’t get smart: they are really teaching the kids to be slaves.” Because of this, Fonny stole wood from the school and stopped attending, using it to make sculptures because he has an eye for beauty.
The attitude embodied by the vocational school Fonny used to attend encapsulates the harmful narratives that have made their way into society about young African Americans. By devaluing black students, these kinds of institutions create a self-fulfilling prophecy, since they take hope away from children and force them to see themselves as unintelligent and—thus—unsuccessful. In this way, readers see the systemic racism that has followed people like Fonny throughout their lives.
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Tish thinks about the fact that Fonny discovered sculpture was something “he could do” to avoid “the death that was waiting to overtake the children” surrounding him in Harlem. This “death,” Tish points out, “took many forms,” though it was really quite simple: “the kids had been told that they weren’t worth shit and everything they saw around them proved it. They struggled, they struggled, but they fell, like flies, and they congregated on the garbage heaps of their lives, like flies.” And whereas Fonny had sculpture to keep him from this fate, Tish had—or has—Fonny.
Baldwin suggests that the only way for a black person to survive in a racist society is by finding something to support them, something that can provide emotional relief from suffering. Sculpture sustains Fonny and helps him maintain his appreciation of life, though it’s worth keeping in mind that he can’t practice his art in prison. Similarly, Fonny’s imprisonment takes him away from Tish, thereby depriving her of the love that keeps her from succumbing to despair. In turn, readers see the extent to which the legal system actively takes away anything that might help young black people withstand the crushing pressure of racism.
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Judgmental and proper like their mother, Fonny’s sisters Adrienne and Sheila team up against Frank and Fonny, scorning them for their lack of religious faith. Worse, they blame Fonny and Frank for their own shortcomings, resentful of the fact that even though they attended City College to find eligible husbands, nobody has married them. For whatever reason, they take this out on Fonny, and so Fonny has always turned to Frank for support, and vice versa. Thankfully, Fonny also has his “passion” for sculpture, though Tish notes that it is this “passion” that eventually got him arrested. “He wasn’t anybody’s nigger,” she states. “And that’s a crime, in this fucking free country. You’re supposed to be somebody’s nigger. And if you’re nobody’s nigger, you’re a bad nigger: and that’s what the cops decided when Fonny moved downtown.”
When Tish says it’s a “crime” in America to not belong—in a symbolic but nonetheless serious sense—to a white person, she articulates the unfortunate fact that strong-willed young black men like Fonny are often persecuted for their ambition, independence, and unwillingness to submit to bigotry. She also makes it clear that the Hunt family has a very fraught dynamic, one in which resentment and scorn run wild, making it impossible for the family members to provide one another with love and support. Up against pervasive racism and without a true support network, Fonny has little to turn to.
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When Ernestine comes home, she says, “Where’s Jezebel?” This is what she has started calling her younger sister ever since Tish started working as a perfume salesperson in a department store. In contrast, Ernestine works with sick and neglected children in a “settlement house.” A well-read young woman, she has strong opinions and isn’t afraid to lament “the white man’s lying shit.” Now, she talks with her parents about Fonny’s lawyer, whom she found because she works with attorneys as part of her job. As they discuss this, Joseph notes that he thinks the lawyer, Mr. Hayward, wants more money, and though the family can’t possibly cough up more cash, they all agree they must find a way to pay the legal fees, since they see Fonny as family.
Since Fonny’s own family (other than Frank) is unwilling or unable to give him loving support, Tish’s family steps in to serve this function. They resolve to pay Fonny’s legal fees because they see him as one of their own family members. This is a testament to their kindness and their ability to extend love to others, especially since they (except for Sharon) don’t even know yet that Tish is pregnant. Their commitment has nothing to do with a sense of obligation and everything to do with their simple desire to help.
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Tish tells Ernestine that she plans to see Mr. Hayward on Monday, and Ernestine says she should tell him to call her if he wants more money. Tish agrees, but the entire matter makes her feel sad and afraid, reminding her again that she’s “alone with [her] trouble.” “Nobody could help me, not even Sis,” she notes. Later, as the family sits around the table, Sharon brings out an expensive bottle of brandy and tells Joseph to open it and pour four glasses. Although he seems to understand what’s happening, Tish can see that he hasn’t yet pinpointed what’s about to take place, so he simply pours the brandy. “This is a sacrament,” Sharon says, “and, no, I ain’t gone crazy. We’re drinking to a new life. Tish is going to have Fonny’s baby.”
Even with a healthy support network, Tish feels “alone with [her] trouble.” This is because Fonny’s problem seems insurmountable, since proving his innocence will be an uphill battle. However, she isn’t truly “alone” in this matter, since her family members clearly want to do whatever they can to get Fonny out of prison. The fact that she feels this way, then, illustrates how easy it is to feel isolated when facing hardship, even when a person is surrounded by loving and supportive people.
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At first, Joseph can’t speak, though a smile slowly works its way into his face. “That’s a hell of a note,” he finally says, drinking his brandy. Ernestine then comes over to Tish and holds her, crying and smiling at her without uttering a word. When Tish reveals that she’s been pregnant for three months, Ernestine says, “Yeah. That’s what I figured.” In contrast, Joseph is shocked, and Tish clarifies that she got pregnant just before Fonny was arrested in March. This fills Joseph with questions, as he realizes that Tish was pregnant while she and Fonny were trying to find an apartment together so they could get married. “You sure you want this baby, Tish?” he asks, and Tish immediately launches into an explanation of how much Fonny and she love each other. “Your father know that,” Sharon says. “He’s only worried about you.”
Like Sharon, Ernestine isn’t surprised to hear that Tish is pregnant. This illustrates how closely attuned the women in her family are to her, picking up on the first sign of change in her life. In turn, readers see once again how strong the bond is between Tish and her family members.
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Stopping Tish from justifying her pregnancy, Joseph tells her not to feel judged. “Don’t you go thinking I think you a bad girl, or any foolishness like that,” he says. The family stops talking for a moment, each person thinking about the baby, and then Ernestine breaks the silence, saying, “Unbow your head, sister.” When Tish looks up, they toast “to the newborn.” Suddenly in a good mood, Joseph says he hopes Tish has a boy, thinking that Frank would get a kick out of having a grandson. He then asks if he can tell Frank himself, and when Tish says yes, he calls the Hunt family and invites them over.
Again, Tish’s family members make sure that she doesn’t feel ashamed for getting pregnant, never wanting her to think of herself as a “bad girl.” Her parents understand that if she thinks they’re judging her, she will likely distance herself from them, much like Fonny distanced himself from his mother because of her scornful attitude toward him. Picking up on this sentiment, Ernestine tells her to “unbow” her head, inviting Tish to take pride in the fact that she’s going to bring life into the world.
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Tish thinks about the initial stages of her relationship with Fonny, when she first felt his erection straining through his pants one night and immediately ran upstairs. After that, she didn’t see him for several weeks, and when he reappeared, he gave Sharon the sculpture that now sits in the family’s apartment. That day, they went to Greenwich Village—where Fonny had moved into his own apartment—and walked around, feeling as if something between them was somehow different. For dinner, they went to a Spanish restaurant where Fonny was a regular, and a kind man named Pedrocito ushered them inside and treated them spectacularly. Later, after Fonny is imprisoned, Tish returns to this restaurant because the waiters are so nice to her, even driving her back to Harlem after her meal. “I will never forget them, never,” she says.
Emotional support doesn’t have to come only from family members, as is made clear by the kindness Pedrocito shows Tish after Fonny is arrested. Although If Beale Street Could Talk focuses on the many cruelties and injustices of American society, it also champions a certain amount of faith in humanity, offering up examples of empathy and compassion that help readers maintain a sense of hope regarding the ways in which people treat one another.
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Tish continues to think about the first time she had sex, remembering that she and Fonny left the Spanish restaurant and went to his small apartment in the Village, which was cluttered with his sculpting tools. As she reminisces about this, the Hunts arrive at her parents’ apartment. Right away, Tish can tell that Mrs. Hunt—in all her religious glory—is “frightened,” clearly dreading whatever it is Tish and her family are about to unveil. As Adrienne and Sheila file into the living room, Tish thinks about how proper and condescending they are to people they think are inferior. Once everybody’s inside, the two families make idle chit-chat, speaking vaguely about Fonny. At one point, Sheila says Fonny wouldn’t be in jail if “he’d done his reading and studying when he should have,” and Joseph quickly changes the topic by asking Frank if he brought beer.
It’s clear that the resentment running through the Hunt family hasn’t disappeared in the aftermath of Fonny’s imprisonment. Rather than rallying around Fonny and supporting him, Sheila voices her overall disapproval of the way he has lived his life. In doing so, she puts herself at odds not only with Tish, but Ernestine, Sharon, and Joseph, too, all of whom care deeply about Fonny and have committed to doing anything they can to help him. After all, they understand that he’s innocent. Sheila, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to care whether or not he committed a crime, since his failure to do “his reading and studying” is evidence enough for her that he deserves punishment.
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Joseph politely asks if Mrs. Hunt will mind if he and Frank have a drink, and she says, “Mind? Frank does not care if we mind. He will go right on and do what pleases him.” She then talks about how she has been speaking to her connections about Fonny’s situation, emphasizing the fact that she knows important people who can “pull some strings,” though she hasn’t made any progress yet. When Sharon asks what Mrs. Hunt and Frank think about Mr. Hayward, they express their skepticism, and Frank says that “it don’t mean shit” that Hayward is a white man with a law degree, but that at least he’s “not as full of shit” as many other white lawyers. He and Mrs. Hunt then fall into an argument about his pessimism and crass language, and he laments the fact that she cares about Jesus more than her son.
Frank is wary of Mr. Hayward because he has trouble believing that a white man in a position of power would ever do something to help a black man. This makes sense, considering the fact that Fonny is in this predicament because of white men who have abused their power to make sure he’s put in prison, though Baldwin hasn’t yet revealed the exact details of how this happened. Mrs. Hunt is perhaps right to urge him to leave behind such pessimistic thoughts, but she ultimately seems more interested in arguing with Frank for the sake of putting him down than actually helping him find hope.
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Finally, Adrienne asks Joseph why he insisted that they come over, but she does so in such a disparaging way that Tish can’t help but jumping in and criticizing her, saying she never visits Fonny in prison. “And you ain’t said a word about it to none of them white-collars ex-antipoverty-program pimps and hustlers and faggots you run with, have you?” she says, adding that Adrienne is too focused on trying to date white men to stop and think about her brother. Then, when her hostility dies down, she looks at Frank and delivers her news, since he’s the only one she cares about telling. After a moment, Frank turns to Joseph and says, “You and me going to go out and get drunk,” adding that he’s “mighty glad.”
The animosity between Fonny and his family members has, it seems, made its way into Tish’s relationship with the Hunt women. Because Adrienne seems to resent Fonny so much, Tish can’t help but resent her back. In turn, Baldwin illustrates that, in the same way that loving kindness often leads to more kindness, resentment and scorn can also perpetuate themselves.
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Unlike Frank, Mrs. Hunt isn’t thrilled to hear about Tish’s pregnancy. “And who,” she says, “is going to responsible for this baby?” “The father and the mother,” Tish replies. Having processed this information, Mrs. Hunt rises and advances upon her, saying, “I guess you call your lustful action love. I don’t. I always knew that you would be the destruction of my son. You have a demon in you—I always knew it. My God caused me to know it many a year ago. The Holy Ghost will cause that child to shrivel in your womb. But my son will be forgiven. My prayers will save him.” Hearing this, Frank walks over to her and backhand slaps her to the ground, and Sharon reminds him that she has a weak heart. “I think you’ll find it’s still pumping,” he says. “But I wouldn’t call it a heart.”
Mrs. Hunt condescends to Tish by asking who will “be responsible” for the baby, ultimately implying that Tish isn’t “responsible” enough to care for her own child. Going on, she casts the same kind of negative judgment on Tish that she has always directed at Fonny, though this time she blames her for corrupting her son. Indeed, she acts as if Fonny is in jail because of Tish, altogether ignoring the fact that Fonny’s imprisonment has nothing to do with their relationship and everything to do with an unjust legal process.
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After Frank slaps Mrs. Hunt, Sharon begs Joseph to take him out, and though he’s hesitant to leave, he eventually escorts Frank away, going out to the bars and leaving the women alone in the apartment. When they’re gone, Tish remarks that Mrs. Hunt said a “terrible thing” to her, but Adrienne points out that it was unnecessary for Frank to hit her mother, since she really does have a feeble heart. “She got a weak head,” Sharon interjects. “The Holy Ghost done softened your brain, child. Did you forget it was Frank’s grandchild you was cursing?” At this point, Adrienne defends her mother by saying that nobody should ridicule her faith, and then she suggests that Fonny is good for nothing, saying, “Who is going to take care of this baby?”
Once again, readers see how much the Hunt women and their harsh judgment of Fonny sow division between the two families. Unwilling to accept Tish’s pregnancy, they continue to disparage Fonny, focusing not on the situation at hand, but on their feelings of superiority. This, in turn, enables them to avoid having to reckon with the difficult fact that one of their family members is in serious trouble.
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Tish says once again that she will be responsible for her and Fonny’s child, and then Ernestine threatens Adrienne, saying that if she continues to bother Tish, she’ll rip out her Adam’s apple. As this dispute continues, the Hunt women prepare to leave, and Mrs. Hunt says she hopes Sharon is “pleased with the way” her daughters behave, adding that her own girls won’t be getting pregnant with “bastards.” “But the child that’s coming,” Sharon replies, “is your grandchild. What difference does it make how it gets here? The child ain’t got nothing to do with that—don’t none of us have nothing to do with that!” In response, Mrs. Hunt says, “That child,” but she can’t go on, instead repeating those two words.
It’s worth paying attention to Mrs. Hunt’s word choice in this scene, as she refers to Tish’s unborn child as a “bastard.” Considering that a “bastard” is a fatherless child, it becomes clear that Mrs. Hunt doesn’t think Fonny will ever be released from prison. This stands in stark contrast to the kind of optimism Tish and her family members are trying to maintain. Perhaps because she recognizes Mrs. Hunt’s pessimism—or apathy—Sharon tries to get her to see that the baby has “nothing to do with” whether or not Fonny is set free. Whatever happens, “that child” will need love and support, which Mrs. Hunt is clearly incapable of providing.
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Standing in Mrs. Hunt’s way, Tish finishes her sentence, saying, “That child is in my belly. Now, you raise your knee and kick it out.” As she stares at her, she says it wouldn’t be “the first child” Mrs. Hunt has “tried to kill.” After a moment, Ernestine moves Tish out of the way, informing the Hunt women that she, Sharon, and Tish will make sure to never tell the baby about them, since “there’s no way to tell a baby how obscene human beings can be.” When Mrs. Hunt and her daughters finally leave, Tish goes to bed while Ernestine and Sharon stay up waiting for Joseph and Frank to return.
In this moment, Tish implies that Mrs. Hunt has “tried to kill” Fonny. She believes that Mrs. Hunt’s apathy when it comes to Fonny’s case is a blatant indication that she doesn’t care what happens to her son. In turn, readers see that Tish—and, by extension, Ernestine and Sharon—find it “obscene” that Mrs. Hunt and her daughters aren’t giving Fonny the love and support he needs to survive his imprisonment.
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Tish returns to the night she lost her virginity, thinking about how Fonny told her that they’ve always belonged to one another. “I want you to marry me,” he says in this memory. Showing her various in-progress sculptures around his apartment, he tells her he’ll always remain faithful and that he doesn’t use drugs other than marijuana. Going on, he stresses how important his sculpture is to him, saying that he “live[s] with wood and stone.” Because of this, he won’t be able to provide her with much money, though he can promise to always love her fiercely and unequivocally. When she says this is fine with her, he leads her to a pallet on the floor and kisses her all over her body, and they have sex for the first time.
Throughout If Beale Street Could Talk, Baldwin provides flashbacks that detail the progression of Tish and Fonny’s relationship. By showcasing their budding love, the author effectively establishes the book’s interest in examining close human connections and the ways in which romance affects peoples’ lives, as both Fonny and Tish seemingly prioritize their love over everything else. This is made clear by Tish’s immediate willingness to marry Fonny even though he can’t provide her with much.
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After they make love, Tish begins to fret that her parents must be worried about her. She and Fonny travel uptown to Harlem. It’s now early morning, and Sharon opens the door, saying, “You’re just in time for coffee.” Unsurprisingly, Joseph is angry that Tish has been out so late, and though Sharon and Ernestine quickly accept the idea of Tish marrying Fonny, he remains hesitant at first, asking Fonny how he’ll provide for Tish. However, Joseph finally gives his blessing to the marriage when Tish tells him that she loves Fonny. When he and Fonny go into the living room to discuss the details of this, Sharon says she’s “real pleased.” Soon enough, Joseph comes back into the kitchen and puts Fonny’s hand atop Tish’s, saying, “Take care of each other. You going to find out that it’s more than a notion.”
When Joseph tells Fonny and Tish to “take care of each other,” he emphasizes the importance of loving support. In fact, he goes out of his way to clarify that this is “more than a notion,” ultimately urging them to recognize that, although it may seem cliché, love truly can lead to lasting strength and resilience. On another note, this is now the second time in the novel that Tish has delivered big news to her parents. Both times, her family is quite accepting, clearly knowing that subjecting Tish to harsh judgment would only upset her and drive her away.
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On the Monday after Tish visits Fonny in jail, she goes to Mr. Hayward’s office with Sharon. He informs them that Victoria Rogers—the woman who accused Fonny of raping her—has “disappeared,” most likely having fled to Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, this means Hayward will need to hire special investigators to locate her so that he can convince her to change her testimony. This, in turn, will require Tish’s family to come up with more money. To make Tish feel better, Hayward reminds her that Mrs. Rogers isn’t the case’s only “key witness,” since there’s also Officer Bell, who claims to have seen Fonny running away from the crime scene. “If he saw Fonny at the scene of the crime, then why did he have to wait and come and get him out of the house?” Tish asks.
Baldwin begins to reveal the details of Fonny’s case. By withholding this information for so long, he has essentially put readers in a position that is somewhat similar to what Fonny himself is going through in jail. Fonny is an innocent man at the mercy of the legal system, meaning that he has no idea—or control over—when he will be released. Similarly, readers wait and wait to find out why Fonny is in jail. A sense of anticipation builds, one that reflects the excruciating anticipation Fonny feels as he wastes away in the terrible environment of the Tombs.
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Hayward clarifies that he thinks Officer Bell is the person who told Mrs. Rogers to accuse Fonny. As he talks about the case, Tish sits in his office and looks at the pictures of his white family, feeling as if there’s “no connection between” her and the room. “The truth of a case doesn’t matter,” Hayward says, explaining that he himself knows Fonny is innocent—he wouldn’t, after all, have accepted the case if he believed otherwise. “I know something about Officer Bell, who is a racist and a liar,” Hayward continues, adding that he has told this straight to Bell. Plus, he thinks the District Attorney overseeing the case is also a racist. “Now. You and Fonny insist that you were together, in the room on Bank Street, along with an old friend, Daniel Carty,” he says, explaining that—unfortunately—this testimony “counts for nothing.”
The fact that Daniel and Tish’s testimonies “count for nothing” is quite depressing, but it is the unfortunate reality of their situation, especially since the District Attorney—who will be prosecuting Fonny—is just as racist as Officer Bell, the policeman who testified against Fonny. It becomes clear that it will be very hard for Hayward to make sure Fonny gets a fair trial, since the most powerful people involved in the entire process are overtly racist. This demonstrates the ways in which bigotry has worked its way into the city’s power structures, making it even harder for somebody like Fonny to prove his innocence.
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Outlining the difficulties of Fonny’s case, Hayward informs Tish and Sharon that Daniel has been arrested by the D.A. and “is being held incommunicado.” In fact, Hayward isn’t even allowed to visit him. “What they are doing is really against the law—but—Daniel has a record, as you know,” he says, explaining that the D.A.’s office is clearly trying to scare him into altering his testimony. “And—I do not know this, but I am willing to bet—that that is how and why Mrs. Rogers has disappeared,” he says. Hearing this, Sharon concludes that they have to “buy time,” and Hayward confirms that this is so. Tish, however, can’t get past the word, knowing that “time” is the one thing weighing most on Fonny. After all, their baby will be born in six months, and each day Fonny spends in prison is torture.
The D.A.’s attempt to manipulate Daniel into changing his testimony is a perfect demonstration of how people often use fear and intimidation in order to carry out racist agendas. Daniel’s “record” puts him in a precarious situation, since the D.A. is clearly trying to use it against him so that he’s too afraid to come to Fonny’s aid, ultimately isolating both men from one another and making it harder for them to fight their own oppression. On top of this, Mrs. Rogers’s disappearance means that Fonny will have to continue to wait for his trial. Using Tish’s pregnancy as something of an internal clock, Baldwin stresses how devastating it will be for Fonny to learn that he has to continue to languish in jail.
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As she thinks about the fact that time can’t “be bought,” Tish begins to cry. Coming to her aid, Sharon encourages her to be strong, reminding her that she’s “a woman now” and that she can’t succumb to desperation because it will take all the strength she has to help free Fonny. Then, before they leave, Hayward stops Tish and tells her that whenever he visits Fonny in prison, Fonny asks how Tish is doing. “And I always say, Tish? she’s fine,” he says. “But he watches my face, to make sure I’m not lying. And I’m a very bad liar. I’m going to see him tomorrow. What shall I tell him?” He then asks if she can smile for him, so that he can pass this along to Fonny, and when she manages to do this, she notices that “something really human” takes place between them.
Despite Frank’s skepticism regarding Hayward, it becomes rather clear in this scene that he genuinely wants to help Fonny. Although he is asking for more money, it’s only because he needs to pay special investigators to track down Mrs. Rogers. Hayward is emotionally invested in Fonny’s case and in Tish’s happiness, and this is something of a breath of fresh air, considering that the other white people in this novel—like Officer Bell and the District Attorney—are openly racist and hateful. Hayward manages to give Tish—and readers—a small sense of hope.
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After seeing Hayward, Tish thinks back to before Fonny was arrested. In the memory, Fonny bumps into Daniel on the street after many years of not seeing him. The friends then return to his apartment, where they catch up while Tish cooks. As they talk, Fonny tells Daniel that he and Tish are looking for places to rent together but that they can’t find an honest landlord who will rent to black people. Daniel then reveals that he’s just been in jail for two years. He was accused of stealing a car, even though he doesn’t know how to drive. When the police came to arrest him, though, he was carrying marijuana, so they put him in jail and told him that if he pled guilty to stealing the car, they’d give him a reduced sentence and drop the drug charge.
Daniel’s possession of marijuana puts him in an unfortunate situation, because although it is a minor offense to have a small amount of the drug, it gives the racist authorities a certain amount of leverage, which they use to manipulate him into working against his own best interests. In turn, readers see how unfair the legal system can be, as law enforcement officials use their power over disenfranchised black men like Daniel. By intimidating Daniel, these officials effectively convince him to give up all hope of trying to prove his innocence.
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“I was alone, baby, […] so I entered the guilty plea,” Daniel says, lamenting the fact that he spent the next two years of his life in jail—terrible years that have fundamentally changed him. He admits he might feel better about everything if he actually had stolen the car, but since he didn’t, he can’t make sense of the experience. “They were just playing with me, man, because they could,” he says. As he begins to cry, Fonny urges him to move on, but Daniel says that the guards and prisoners made him feel “so fucking scared” that he’ll never again be able to live a normal life. When it comes time for Daniel to leave Fonny’s apartment, he’s too afraid to walk to the subway on his own, so Fonny escorts him. In the coming days, Daniel returns and tries desperately to talk about his traumatic memories.
What becomes most clear in this moment is the extent to which fear can fundamentally change a person’s life. Daniel suggests that the fear of being a prisoner is made worse when a person doesn’t know what will happen to him. This is significant to the narrative of If Beale Street Could Talk, since Fonny himself is now in a similar predicament to Daniel. In this way, readers come to understand that even if Fonny eventually does get out of jail, the time he has spent as a prisoner will stay with him for the rest of his days. The question of when or if he will ever be set free weighs even more heavily over the story.
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The day after meeting with Hayward, Tish breaks the news to Fonny that Mrs. Rogers has fled. When he hears this, he’s distraught, asking how they’re going to find her, and when Tish tries to soothe him, he says, “What we going to do about that fucking lawyer? He don’t give a shit about me, he don’t give a shit about nobody! You want me to die in here? You know what’s going on in here? You know what’s happening to me, to me, to me, in here?” After this explosion, though, he calms down, apologizing and telling Tish that he loves her, asking her not to cry because it’s “bad for the baby.”
This is one of the first times Fonny loses his temper as a result of his harrowing circumstances. Although he’s normally rather optimistic given his bleak situation, in this scene he finds himself unable to hold back his anger and desperation, a reaction that is ultimately very understandable. However, he quickly reverts back to his calm, cool demeanor, suddenly trying to soothe Tish. He looks to their love as a way to keep his mind off of depressing thoughts.
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While sleeping that night, Tish has a nightmare about Fonny driving full-speed off of a cliff, and when she wakes up, she sees her mother standing above her. Admitting that she knows she can’t do much to help, Sharon talks to Tish about the nature of suffering, saying that it does “end,” though not always for good. “Sometimes it ends for worse,” she says. “You can suffer so bad that you can be driven to a place where you can’t ever suffer again: and that’s worse.” She then reminds Tish to focus on her unborn child, saying that it will bring Fonny hope. “I don’t want to sound foolish,” she says before leaving. “But, just remember, love brought you here. If you trusted love this far, don’t panic now.”
Once again, Sharon proves her ability to support her daughter. Rather than telling Tish that everything will turn out fine—which would be a naïve thing to say—she admits that things “sometimes” “end for worse.” While this might seem rather depressing, Sharon insists that this is simply part of being alive. Indeed, she frames suffering as a natural part of life, asserting that the only thing worse than feeling pain is numbing oneself to difficult emotions. In the face of such pain, she upholds, the only thing to do is to “trust love.”
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Unable to sleep, Tish thinks about the prostitutes she has “known” throughout her life, women she always judged but never truly “looked at.” Now, though, she understands what she never saw before, which is that her “judgment of these women had had very little to do with morals.” Indeed, she realizes that nobody sells themselves into prostitution unless they have a very good reason. “I could not conceive of peddling myself for so low a price,” she says. “But, for a higher price? for Fonny?”
It’s noteworthy that Tish says she has “known” prostitutes her entire life without ever actually bothering to “look” at them. This means that she hasn’t really “known” them at all, but has written them off before giving herself a chance to truly consider why, exactly, these women have chosen to sell their bodies. When she says that her “judgment” has “had very little to do with morals,” she begins to accept that morality isn’t always black and white—rather, a person’s choices depend on a number of factors. In her own case, she begins to wonder if it would really be so immoral to become a prostitute if doing so meant she could save Fonny. In this way, her conception of morality begins to shift, as does the way she judges the people around her.
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The next day, Tish goes to work at the department store, feeling sick as she lets people smell the perfume on her skin. She has come to know the ins and outs of this job, understanding that white men have no problem touching her, bringing her wrist to their nostrils. Black men, on the other hand, put their own wrist out so that she can spray the perfume on their skin. After work, she walks with Ernestine along Eighth Avenue until Ernestine insists that they duck into a bar for a frank discussion about how the family is going to find Mrs. Rogers. At this point, the book provides Mrs. Rogers’s written statement, clarifying that she has accused Fonny of assaulting her “in the vestibule of her home” and using her “in the most extreme and abominable sexual manner.”
Not only does Tish have to face the ins and outs of racism because of Fonny’s trial, she’s also subject to subtler—but still harmful—forms of prejudice, as white men objectify her and use their inherent power (both as customers and as white people) to take liberties with how they touch her. By providing Mrs. Rogers’s statement, Baldwin shows readers that Fonny and his loved ones are up against a very difficult case, since her accusation portrays him quite unfavorably.
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Tish has never met Victoria Rogers, but she knows she’s a Puerto Rican woman whose husband abandoned her after bringing her to New York City and having three children with her. Addressing the particulars of Fonny’s case, Tish notes that Officer Bell claimed to see him running from the crime scene, though this is virtually impossible, since he later arrested him at his apartment on the other side of Manhattan—a distance much too far to run. Despite how clear it is that Fonny isn’t guilty, though, Ernestine points out that it doesn’t matter what the truth is. When Tish asks if she thinks Mrs. Rogers was even raped, Ernestine says she does believe this part of the story, saying, “I think, in fact, that she was raped and that she has absolutely no idea who did it.”
The most discouraging element of Fonny’s case is the fact that the actual truth doesn’t seem to matter. It’s obvious that Fonny wasn’t anywhere near Mrs. Rogers when she was raped, since he was at home on the other side of town, a perfectly sound alibi that would no doubt clear his name if he were a white man. Unfortunately, though, the racist legal system cares more about what a white police officer has to say than what three black people (Fonny, Tish, and Daniel) claim, meaning that in this particular scenario, the truth is less important than the racial hierarchies that fuel the courts.
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Tish asks Ernestine why she thinks Mrs. Rogers identified Fonny, and Ernestine states the simple fact that Fonny was “presented to her as the rapist.” Indeed, she thinks it must have been “easier” for Mrs. Rogers to simply accuse Fonny, since this would spare her from having to continue to think about the experience. “This way, it’s over, for her,” Ernestine says. She doesn’t think they’ll succeed in getting Mrs. Rogers to alter her testimony. “You’ve got to understand: she’s not lying,” she says, a statement that enrages Tish. Ernestine clarifies that Mrs. Rogers isn’t telling the truth, but she adds that the woman isn’t lying, either. “If she changes her testimony, she’ll go mad,” Ernestine says, suggesting that Mrs. Rogers has to believe herself in order to stay sane.
During this conversation, Ernestine proposes that Mrs. Rogers’s accusation of Fonny has little to do with the actual truth. This aligns with the fact that the truth doesn’t seem to matter much in this particular court case. Interestingly enough, though, this doesn’t mean Mrs. Rogers doubts her own testimony. Indeed, Ernestine wisely suggests that Mrs. Rogers believes Fonny raped her because believing this helps her move beyond the issue altogether. In other words, she searches for a quick resolution, ultimately hoping that this will help her put the entire incident behind her.
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Ernestine says she has a plan. Since she knows Officer Bell killed a black boy in Brooklyn two years ago, she intends to have that boy’s mother attend the trial, along with Bell’s wife, who detests him. This way, Bell will have a harder time presenting himself as a credible witness. Ernestine hopes seeing these women in the courthouse will rattle him so much that he won’t seem reliable. Moving on, she says Sharon has to be the one to go to Puerto Rico, since Joseph has to earn money for legal fees, Tish has to focus on her pregnancy, and Ernestine herself has to keep on top of Hayward. And though everything Ernestine has suggested seems difficult, Tish understands that she must remain strong, since things will only “get worse” from here, though the child in her womb reminds her that things can also get better.
The frank but helpful talk Ernestine has with Tish in this scene is a perfect example of how she helps her sister stay strong in these difficult times. Like Sharon, she refuses to simply tell Tish that everything will get better, instead choosing to be honest about how hard it will be to prove Fonny’s innocence. At the same time, though, her tireless work to help make things better lets Tish know that she’s supported, ultimately allowing her to focus on her pregnancy, which is her only true source of hope and optimism at this point.
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As Tish and Ernestine have this conversation, Joseph and Frank have their own discussion in a separate bar. Talking about how bleak Fonny’s situation is, Joseph insists that he and Frank need to do something. After all, their families are on the line. “I know some hustles and you know some hustles and these are our children and we got to set them free,” Joseph says. With this, the two men decide to take matters into their own hands.
Like Sharon and Ernestine, Joseph and Frank are willing to do anything to help their children. However, the fact that Joseph talks about knowing “some hustles” suggests that he and Frank are going to break the law as a way of addressing Fonny’s situation. Baldwin doesn’t present this as something to be judged, but rather uses it as an example of the ways in which systemic racism disempowers black people and encourages people like Joseph and Frank to break the law, since this is the only option available to them. In turn, they risk getting arrested themselves, thereby perpetuating a cycle of incarceration.
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Fonny’s trial is repeatedly postponed, as Hayward struggles to do everything he can to keep the case from going to court before he builds a strong defense. During this period, Tish comes to see that he genuinely cares about what happens to Fonny, especially since his commitment puts him “at odds” with the many racists in the legal system, all of whom want to get the trial over with and don’t care at all what happens to a young black man like Fonny. Finally, Hayward succeeds in visiting Daniel in jail, but he can’t continue to see him unless he becomes his lawyer. Because Daniel has been beaten, though, he’s too scared to agree to this arrangement. Worse, Hayward senses that Daniel has been “drugged” and thus isn’t sure it will be safe to use him as a witness.
The way the authorities treat Daniel is yet another indication that the structures of power surrounding Tish and her loved ones are blatantly manipulative. Indeed, by scaring Daniel out of testifying to prove Fonny’s innocence, the District Attorney effectively isolates the two young men, who might otherwise be able to help one another stand up to unfair accusations. In this way, readers see that fear and intimidation often disincentivize young black men from advocating for themselves.
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As Fonny waits for his trial, Tish continues to work, though she knows she’ll soon have to give up her job. Plus, she understands that it’s important for her to visit Fonny whenever possible. Meanwhile, Joseph and Frank have started stealing from their jobs—Joseph from the waterfront, and Frank from the garment center. They then sell their stolen wares in Harlem or Brooklyn. “Each of these men would gladly go to jail, blow away a pig, or blow up a city, to save their progeny from the jaws of this democratic hell,” Tish notes.
In this section, Baldwin confirms that Frank and Joseph are breaking the law in order to support Fonny and Tish through this difficult period. Readers see that Fonny’s imprisonment has not only subjected him to injustice, but has actually created crime, since Joseph and Frank have seemingly no other way to make the money necessary to pay for Fonny’s legal fees.
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Sharon visits Hayward’s office to be briefed for her trip to Puerto Rico. He tells her that Mrs. Rogers is living with her “common-law husband,” a twenty-two-year-old man named Pietro who works at a nightclub. Handing her a picture of Mrs. Rogers, he asks if she can bring a picture of Fonny, so Tish gives her a photograph of the two of them. Hayward admits that Sharon’s plan to go to Puerto Rico is the only thing that has made him feel optimistic about the case in a long time. However, he also says that the D.A. has been talking to Mrs. Hunt, Adrienne, and Sheila, who have been saying that “Fonny has always been incorrigible and worthless.” Needless to say, this could be a very damning thing for Fonny’s case.
One of the most frustrating things about Fonny’s situation is the fact that his mother and sisters aren’t working to help prove his innocence. In fact, they’re actively working against him by portraying him as “incorrigible and worthless,” two things that have absolutely nothing to do with whether or not he raped Mrs. Rogers. Unfortunately, though, the D.A. will be all too happy to use this information against Fonny, ultimately weaponizing the Hunt women’s remarks and making things harder for the people who actually want to support Fonny. As a result, readers see how destructive it can be for a family to hold on to so much resentment.
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Tish recalls the night her baby was conceived. Thinking back, she vividly remembers the day, when she and Fonny finally find a loft to rent on Canal Street. The landlord is a nice man named Levy, who is happy to give them the space because he appreciates how in love they are (later, when Fonny is in jail, he refuses to rent the loft to anybody else, saying that it’ll be waiting for them when Fonny is free). Having closed the deal, Fonny and Tish walk along Sixth Avenue, eventually stopping at a small grocery store. While Tish examines the tomatoes, Fonny goes around the block to buy cigarettes. As she’s shopping, she feels a hand on her behind and realizes that a white “junkie” is groping her. She tries to walk away, but he follows her, saying crude things until finally everyone turns to watch.
If Beale Street Could Talk is a novel that balances beauty and ugliness, juxtaposing cruelty with snapshots of human kindness. In this section, Baldwin presents Levy’s empathy as something that enables Fonny and Tish to advance in life, suggesting that even a relatively small act of kindness can make a big difference. Unfortunately, though, the beauty of this is quickly counteracted by the “junkie” and his aggressive behavior. In turn, it becomes clear that people have to find ways to focus on the goodness of humanity even when evil and malice is seemingly ever-present.
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When Tish tries to leave, the man grabs her arm. Just then, Fonny appears and seizes the junkie, giving him a swift beating and leaving him on the ground. A police officer comes running over, but instead of handcuffing the white man, he moves toward Fonny, so Tish stands between them and answers his questions, explaining that Fonny was only protecting her from the man’s harassment. “Is that so, boy?” the officer asks, and Tish says, “He’s not a boy. Officer.”
The police officer’s immediate assumption that Fonny is the one who did something wrong in this moment shows how racism has made its way into the city’s structures of power. Rather than addressing the actual problem, this officer creates a new one by harassing Fonny based on his race, thereby demonstrating the fact that bigotry gets in the way of actually upholding the law.
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The officer—whose badge reads “Officer Bell”—asks Fonny if he lives in the area, and Fonny tells him his address. Bell then declares that he’s taking Fonny to the police station. Thankfully, the white owner of the grocery store intervenes and verifies everything Tish has said, even slipping in a few subtle jabs at Bell, causing a number of bystanders to suppress their laughter. In the end, Bell glares at Fonny and says, “Well, be seeing you around.”
The grocer’s willingness to stand up for Fonny is admirable, but it’s worth noting that she actually ends up putting him in danger. She humiliates Officer Bell because this is what he deserves, but she doesn’t stop to think about the possible consequences of making him feel inferior. This is because the grocer knows that she—as a white person—will be safe no matter what. She doesn’t stop to think about the fact that Bell might take his anger out on Fonny, which is exactly what happens. Bell now has Fonny’s address and a desire to harm him.
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As Fonny and Tish walk away, Fonny hurls the tomatoes at a wall. He then expresses his dismay that Tish spoke on his behalf. However, his anger abates, and he says, “Don’t think I don’t know you love me.” He then decides to take her to dinner at the Spanish restaurant, and even though he doesn’t have any money, Pedrocito agrees to serve them. Once they’re sitting down, Fonny talks about how he’s to blame for what happened, since he “wasn’t thinking” because he was in such a good mood about the loft. “They got us in a trick bag, baby. It’s hard, but I just want for you to bear in mind that they can make us lose each other by putting me in the shit—or, they can try to make us lose each other by making you try to protect me from it,” he says.
After their first altercation with Officer Bell, Fonny makes it clear that he has a thorough understanding of how white people in positions of power can seemingly do whatever they want to him. Tragically, all of his fears end up coming true when Bell convinces Mrs. Rogers to accuse him of raping her.
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Fonny points out that Officer Bell is certainly going to be after him now, especially since the grocer humiliated him in front of a group of other white people. Later, when Fonny and Tish return to the apartment, they see a police car parked across the street, but they don’t say anything, simply watching it roll away as they key open the front door. That night when they’re making love, Tish tells Fonny to finish inside of her, and when he does, she feels “very proud,” knowing that now they’re “one.”
When Tish and Fonny see Officer Bell staked outside Fonny’s apartment, Baldwin infuses the narrative with a sense of anticipation, as readers know that Bell will soon arrest Fonny for allegedly raping Mrs. Rogers. Even amidst this tension, though, Fonny and Tish focus on their relationship, ultimately throwing themselves even more fervently into one another. When they become “one” after conceiving their child, they essentially use their bond to distract themselves from the terror and injustice they experienced earlier in the day.
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In Puerto Rico, Sharon asks an employee at the airport to help her find a driver, and the woman fetches a young man named Jaime, who agrees to transport her wherever she needs to go. Jaime is happy to do this for her, since he’s “intrigued” by her presence and seems to comprehend that she “needs him.” He brings her to her hotel, where she gets dressed up to visit the nightclub where Pietro works. She then gets back into Jaime’s car and gives him the address, jumping out when they arrive and asking him to wait for a while. Inside, she meets with Pietro, revealing who she is and telling him that she wants to see Victoria Rogers. Unfortunately, he refuses to believe that Fonny is innocent, and he insists that Victoria has been through too much to meet her.
Although Pietro’s unwillingness to let Sharon see Victoria Rogers poses a problem for Fonny’s trial, it’s worth considering the issue from his perspective. After all, he is only trying to protect his loved one from hardship, which is exactly what Sharon is trying to do, too. Baldwin shows the extent to which people will go to for the people they care about, and even though it’s easy to see Pietro as an antagonist in this moment, it’s quite clear that he’s only trying to support Victoria—an altogether admirable thing to do.
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Pleading with Pietro, Sharon urges him to consider why, exactly, she would let her daughter marry Fonny if she thought he were a rapist. Still, though, he says that Victoria has “been through shit,” so much that she doesn’t have the emotional energy to meet Sharon. As he stands up to leave, Sharon forces him to look at the photograph of Tish and Fonny, asking him if he’ll show it to Victoria. After staring at it for a moment, though, he says, “No,” and walks away.
When Sharon asks Pietro to show the picture to Victoria Rogers, she tries to appeal to Mrs. Rogers’s humanity. However, Pietro refuses to do this, since he’s trying to protect his loved one from further emotional turbulence. And though this is unfortunate for Sharon—and Fonny—it’s easy to see that Pietro only wants to support Victoria and make it easier for her to process the traumatic experience of getting raped.
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Meanwhile, back in Manhattan, the baby becomes restless in Tish’s womb, torturing her from the inside. Still, she refuses to quit her job, wanting to earn as much money as she can to help with Fonny’s legal fees. Because of this, she sometimes misses the evening visiting hours at the Tombs, and though Fonny understands, Tish knows that seeing her is the only thing he has to look forward to. “If no one comes to see you, you are in very bad trouble,” she thinks. “And trouble, here, means danger.”
Tish’s determination to keep working showcases her strong desire to do anything she can to help Fonny. Unfortunately, earning money to pay for his legal fees requires her to see him less often, since she has to skip certain visiting hours to maintain her work schedule. As such, she finds herself unable to provide him with the emotional support he needs. Readers thus see how difficult it is for her to help Fonny through his imprisonment, as she is caught between multiple responsibilities.
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One morning, Joseph sits Tish down and insists that she quit her job. He understands that she’s concerned about money, but he assures her that he can be the one to “worry about that.” What’s more, he says that if she keeps tiring herself out, she’ll lose the baby. “You lose that baby, and Fonny won’t want to live no more, and you’ll be lost and then I’ll be lost, everything is lost,” he says. He also tells her that they all have to take care of one another, saying he’d do anything in the world for her. However, he can’t give birth for her, so she has to focus on that herself. “Fonny ain’t hardly much more than a boy,” he adds. “And he’s in trouble no boy should be in. And you all he’s got, Tish. You are all he’s got.” The next day, Tish quits her job.
To convince Tish to quit her job, Joseph emphasizes how important it is that she remain healthy so she can safely bring her and Fonny’s baby into the world. After all, this child is the only thing Fonny has to look forward to, the only thing keeping him from succumbing to despair. Tish sees that her father is right, eventually deciding to quit her job so that now she can not only keep herself (and the baby) in good condition, but also so she can be with Fonny more often, since she is “all he’s got.”
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Now that Tish is no longer working, she visits Fonny two times every day. Fonny is overjoyed, and Tish realizes that her “presence” is much more valuable than the money she was making at the department store. Whenever Fonny sees her, he understands that she loves him. What’s more, her ability to come see him every day also reminds him that “others love him, too, love him so much” that they’ve made it possible for her to quit her job. “He is not alone; we are not alone,” Tish thinks. As the days go by, Fonny takes delight in watching Tish grow bigger and bigger, reveling in the fact that their baby is on its way.
Again, readers see the impact of Tish’s pregnancy on Fonny. With no other forms of hopefulness to cling to, he invests himself in her pregnancy, celebrating her growing figure because it is a sign that something—at least—is going according to plan. Unsurprisingly, seeing Tish every day helps him stay focused on this thin glimmer of hope, infusing his life with a positivity that wouldn’t otherwise be available to him.
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In Puerto Rico, Jaime drives Sharon to Victoria Rogers’s address in a favela (a low-income area commonly compared to “slums”). When she finally finds her, the woman denies that she is actually Mrs. Rogers, though Sharon is sure she has the right person because of the picture Hayward gave her. After a while, Mrs. Rogers tacitly admits who she is, and Sharon tells her that she’s come because Fonny is an innocent man. Saying this, she hands Mrs. Rogers the photograph of Tish and Fonny, and as the woman nervously studies it, Sharon says, “The girl is my daughter. The man with her is Alonzo Hunt. Is this the man who raped you?” In response, Mrs. Rogers says, “One thing I can tell, lady—you ain’t never been raped.”
By showing Mrs. Rogers the photograph of Fonny and Tish, Sharon tries to portray Fonny as a regular man with a regular life, the type of person who is capable of loving and being loved. Unfortunately, she fails to approach the subject of Mrs. Rogers’s rape with the appropriate amount of sensitivity. This is perhaps because she’s so sure that Fonny didn’t rape Mrs. Rogers that she doesn’t even stop to think about how blunt her question is when she asks, “Is this the man who raped you?” It’s also obvious that Sharon hasn’t—like Ernestine—stopped to consider the fact that Mrs. Rogers isn’t lying. Although she isn’t necessarily telling the truth, she does believe that Fonny is the man who raped her. As such, it’s no surprise that she responds poorly to Sharon’s ungraceful question, which only forces her to relive the traumatic moment of her rape.
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Mrs. Rogers continues to evade Sharon’s questions. After a while, then, Sharon moves toward her and stands by her side. As they both look out a window at the ocean, they talk about Mrs. Rogers’s rape, and Sharon insists that she knows Fonny would never do such a thing, though Mrs. Rogers remains unconvinced and sticks to her story. At one point, Sharon sees a cross hanging from Mrs. Rogers’s neck, and she grips her and puts one hand over the necklace, saying, “Daughter, daughter. In the name of God.” With this, Victoria Rogers lets out a terrified shriek, screaming at Sharon and telling her to leave as people flood into the room and separate the two women, ushering Sharon out of the building and back into Jaime’s car.
Victoria Rogers’s life is dominated by a sense of fear, one that has stayed with her ever since she was raped. Similar to Daniel’s fear—which he feels after having spent time in prison—her frightened way of moving through the world will stay with her for the rest of her life. Tragically, Sharon fails to see this, and she makes a grave miscalculation by touching Mrs. Rogers, especially given that Mrs. Rogers is still dealing with the trauma of having survived an act of sexual violence. In this moment, Sharon lets her love of Fonny—and her desire to support Tish—blind her to Mrs. Rogers’s vulnerability.
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Tish thinks about how often she saw Officer Bell after their first encounter. On one particular night during this period, she’s on her way to Fonny’s and becomes tense when she sees Bell approaching her, since she’s carrying a package of stolen items. “Can I carry that for you?” he asks, and she almost drops everything. “No, thanks very much,” she says. At this moment, she makes eye contact with him and is chilled by what she finds. “It was seduction which contained the promise of rape,” she notes. “It was rape which promised debasement and revenge: on both sides.” “I ain’t a bad guy,” he says. “Tell your friend. You ain’t got to be afraid of me.” With this, they part ways, and Tish goes to the apartment, where Daniel is crying and talking about how he was raped in prison. That night, the police come for Fonny.
Tish feels a strange kind of fear when she encounters Officer Bell on the street. Although her primary reaction to his presence is one of revulsion and scorn, she identifies it as a kind of “seduction,” one that encompasses elements of violence, “debasement,” and “revenge” “on both sides.” By casting this sensation in this way, she conveys the ugliness of such human connections (for lack of a better word). Of course, the only reason she and Bell have this dynamic in the first place is because he is a hateful and racist man who has purposefully degraded her and Fonny. As such, readers see that bigotry creates toxic and fraught relationships. Because Officer Bell has treated her so horribly, Tish is oddly drawn to the idea of “debas[ing]” him, ultimately demonstrating that hatefulness only breeds more hatefulness.
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