Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in If Beale Street Could Talk, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Love, Support, and Hope
Racism, Fear, and Isolation
Shame, Judgment, and Morality
Time and Anticipation
Summary
Analysis
Fonny dreams that he’s in his apartment working on a sculpture. “Fonny is working on the wood,” Baldwin writes. When he wakes up, though, he’s lying in his cell, his hair overgrown and his body unwashed. As he tries to keep his mind busy, he realizes he doesn’t know what day it is, a thought that paralyzes him with fear. Looking out the window, he tries to make sense of why he’s in prison, but then he tells himself he needs to simply focus on one day at a time. Restlessly, he masturbates, finding brief relief in the act even though it leaves him feeling even more “alone.” That evening, Tish comes and tells him that Hayward will be visiting the next day and that he has “got a date fixed for the trial,” though she still doesn’t know when, exactly, it will be.
Using this brief dream sequence, Baldwin momentarily sets Fonny free, letting him leave the confines of the Tombs and live the life of a sculptor. When Fonny wakes up, though, his reality comes crashing down on him even harder, as he struggles to understand why he’s in jail. Worse, even the good news Tish brings about the trial remains shrouded in uncertainty, since she still doesn’t know when the court will hear his case. His anticipation only mounts, time stretching out before him and continuing to torment him without the promise of an end date.
Themes
Fonny asks Tish if she’s seen Frank, and she says he’s been working a lot but that he’ll be coming to the Tombs with Hayward the following day. They then speak briefly about Fonny’s trial, as Tish explains that Hayward hopes to “destroy” Mrs. Rogers’s testimony by saying that Officer Bell purposefully made Fonny the only black man in the suspect lineup because Mrs. Rogers had already said the rapist was black. Still, none of this gives Fonny any confidence about the trial, so Tish tells him to stop thinking negatively, urging him to refrain from projecting himself into the future. In response, he apologizes for being negative but tells her that certain things are “happening inside” him, things that only get worse the longer he stays in prison. “I don’t have any words for those things, and I’m scared,” he says.
Officer Bell’s manipulation of the suspect lineup once again illustrates the extent to which the legal system allows for bigotry, since it’s quite clear that the entire process made it easy for Bell to imprison Fonny simply because of the color of his skin (and because of Bell’s desire to harm him). In spite of this, Tish wants Fonny to focus not on the bleak particulars of his court case, but on the present, since this is the only way he’ll manage to survive the emotional turmoil of living in prison as an innocent man—an experience that is clearly beginning to weigh on him.
Themes
Sharon comes home and tells Tish about what happened in Puerto Rico, explaining that she stayed for two days after Mrs. Rogers screamed. Loyal to Sharon, Jaime kept an eye on Mrs. Rogers, eventually watching as Pietro took her away while she had a miscarriage. “She was carried to the mountains, someplace called Barranguitas,” Sharon says. “You got to know where it is, to get there. Jaime says that she will never be seen again.” This, of course, means that the prosecution has lost its “principal witness,” but Tish knows that Fonny’s case is still a difficult one, especially since Daniel has been taken to a prison outside the city, where Hayward is now trying hard to see him. In addition, Hayward is trying to get Fonny released on bail, though “the state” needs to approve this, and Tish knows they’ll set it at an incredibly high price.
It’s worth recalling that Ernestine told Tish that if Mrs. Rogers changed her testimony, she would “go mad.” Of course, Mrs. Rogers isn’t actually changing her testimony, but it does seem that Sharon’s visit has pushed her over some kind of emotional edge, so that now she has to be taken to a far-off place where “she will never be seen again.” In this way, readers see that Ernestine was right when she insisted that trying to force Victoria Rogers into altering her accusation wouldn’t work, since she (Victoria) has to believe in her own testimony to maintain a sense of psychological balance. Indeed, even the mere suggestion of Fonny’s innocence has now caused her to suffer something of a mental breakdown. On another note, Baldwin reveals in this scene that Mrs. Rogers was pregnant. Given the timing of events, it’s quite likely that the baby she ends up miscarrying would have belonged to her rapist—something that would surely also disturb her (understandably) fragile emotional health. Lastly, the fact that Daniel has been moved to a new prison is yet another indication that the legal structures of power are conspiring against Fonny by making it as hard as possible for Daniel to serve as a witness to prove his innocence.
Themes
Joseph goes to Frank’s house to fill him in on what happened in Puerto Rico, saying, “The trial’s been postponed because the Puerto Rican chick, dig, has lost her baby and look like she’s flipped her wig, too, lost her mind, man, anyway she in the hills of Puerto Rico someplace and she can’t be moved […].” Going on, he tells Frank that “the City” wants to delay the trial until Mrs. Rogers reappears and can testify, meaning Fonny will continue to languish in jail. As the two men speak in the kitchen, Adrienne and Sheila make idle conversation in the next room, their occasional laughter setting Frank and Joseph on edge. Eventually, the sisters enter and Adrienne says, “Is everything all right?” Fed up, Frank throws a glass on the floor and says, “You two dizzy off-white cunts, get the fuck out of my face, you hear?”
Although Frank’s outburst is obviously unfair, it’s evident that he is taking his anger out on Adrienne. After all, Frank—unlike Joseph and his family members—has very little emotional support, since his wife and daughters don’t seem to care about Fonny’s imprisonment as much as he does. As a result, he is quick to feel hopeless. In this moment, then, this sense of desperation manifests itself as a form of anger.
Themes
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Frank continues to yell at his daughters, telling them that they would be out selling themselves to pay for Fonny’s legal fees if they truly cared about him. As he does this, Joseph watches Adrienne and is surprised to see that it’s clear she “loves her father with a really desperate love.” Indeed, Adrienne recognizes that Frank is hurting. “She would soothe it if she could, she does not know how,” Tish narrates. “She would give anything to know how.” After a moment, Sheila and Adrienne leave, Frank begins to cry, and Joseph understands that “Frank loves his daughters.”
Beneath the scorn and resentment plaguing the Hunt family, there is love. Unfortunately, though, the animosity that runs between Frank and his daughters makes it impossible for them to come to his aid, since Adrienne doesn’t even know how to “soothe” his pain. As a result, they remain estranged from one another, completely unable to provide support for each other when they need it most.
Themes
The next day, Tish tells Fonny that his trial has been postponed yet again, and he takes it in stride. “It is not that he gives up hope,” Tish realizes, “but that he ceases clinging to it.” Still, though, he promises that he’ll be “home” someday soon, and the two lovers kiss through the glass divider. He has, Tish thinks, finally come to understand “why he is where he is” in a more profound sense, since he now knows that everybody in the prison has barely done anything to deserve punishment. As the days pass, he tries to stay optimistic, but he’s eventually put into solitary confinement “for refusing to be raped.” He also loses a tooth and nearly loses an eye. “Something hardens in him,” Tish notes, “something changes forever,” though he focuses on his and Tish’s baby as a way of surviving.
It’s significant that Fonny “ceases clinging to” hope around the same time that he begins to experience serious violence in jail. It seems the horrors of imprisonment are finally overtaking him, a notion that illustrates the effect that such harrowing experiences have on a person’s soul. What’s more, Fonny now comprehends that it doesn’t matter what he’s done to deserve imprisonment, since this is simply how the corrupt legal system apparently operates, taking away a person’s freedom simply because of the color of his skin. Because of this bleak reality, the only thing he can continue to “cling” to is the imminent arrival of his and Tish’s child.
Themes
Fonny’s bail is finally set, but it’s incredibly expensive. One day, Tish comes back from the Spanish restaurant and sits in her parents’ apartment feeling “heavy” and “scared.” As she looks out the window, the baby kicks and the phone rings, and when she answers it, she’s surprised to hear Adrienne’s frantic voice on the other line. Frightened, Adrienne asks if Tish has seen Frank. Apparently, his boss fired him two days ago for stealing, and when he came home he was extraordinarily drunk, yelling at his family members before leaving—nobody has seen him since.
Although Adrienne’s relationship with her father is strained by the tension and resentment that exists in the Hunt family, she still cares deeply about him. Baldwin suggests that certain bonds—certain kinds of love—are capable of withstanding even the most embattled relationships, though it’s still unfortunate that Adrienne hasn’t found it in herself to support Frank throughout Fonny’s imprisonment, which has clearly taken a terrible toll on him.
Themes
Adrienne doesn’t trust Tish when she says she hasn’t seen Frank, but Tish assures her that she would never lie about something like this, promising to call if she hears anything. When she hangs up, Sharon comes in and says she hasn’t seen Frank, either. She then fetches Tish some brandy because her stomach is upset. As Tish sips her drink, she looks at the sky and realizes that the only thing she can do is wait. “Until my change comes,” she thinks.
Tish’s (and Baldwin’s) use of the phrase, “Until my change comes” is worth examining, since it is a Bible quote that addresses the anticipation she feels in this moment. As Tish sits in her parents’ apartment, she clearly senses that she will soon give birth. This, of course, will fundamentally “change” her life, so it makes sense that she would think about this quote, which is pulled from the Old Testament book of Job. However, the quote also aligns with the fear Tish has about what will happen to Fonny. In the book of Job, the line reads, “If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.” Considering the passage’s engagement with death and waiting, it becomes clear that Tish can’t help but think about the fact that Fonny might die in prison. And yet, despite this worry, all she can do is wait for “change,” both in terms of her pregnancy and in terms of Fonny’s freedom.
Themes
As Tish loses herself in her thoughts, Sharon says Ernestine has managed to drum up the necessary money for Fonny’s bail. As she explains this, Joseph comes home, and as he says something to Sharon, Tish senses trouble in his voice. When Joseph finally makes his way inside, he tells Tish that Frank has been found “way, way, way up the river, in the woods, sitting in his car, with the doors locked, and the motor running.” In her chair, all Tish can think about is whether or not Fonny knows, and then her mother worriedly asks her how she feels. Just as she tries to answer, though, she loses her breath. “Everything disappeared, except my mother’s eyes,” she narrates. “An incredible intelligence charged the air between us. Then, all I could see was Fonny. And then I screamed, and my time had come.”
Without any kind of genuine familial support, Frank has committed suicide. With this tragic fact, Baldwin stresses the importance of love, demonstrating that a person isolated from his own family might find it insurmountably difficult to cope with life’s various hardships. Tish, for her part, can only stop to consider this tragedy for a moment before she goes into labor. It’s worth noting that everything dims but her “mother’s eyes,” which hover before her as she begins the process of giving birth. This, it seems, is an indication of how vital Sharon’s role is in Tish’s life. Indeed, the only thing Tish can see is her mother, who represents love, kindness, acceptance, and support. Her mother’s face then yields to an image of Fonny, who is yet another loving presence in her life. In these ways, Baldwin shows readers that Tish, unlike Frank, has people to help her make it through difficult times.
Themes
“Fonny is working on the wood,” Tish narrates, depicting a scene in which Fonny toils over one of his sculptures, whistling happily as he handles the materials. Then, “from far away, but coming nearer,” comes the sound of his child crying; “the baby cries and cries and cries and cries and cries and cries and cries and cries,” yelling out “like it means to wake the dead.”
The final scene of If Beale Street Could Talk is ambiguous, as Baldwin avoids providing readers with a conclusive ending. Under one interpretation, this snapshot of Fonny working on a sculpture can be read as yet another one of his dreams. After all, the scene begins with the phrase, “Fonny is working on the wood,” which is the exact same sentence that Tish uses earlier in the novel, when she’s narrating a dream Fonny has while in prison. If this is the case, then this brief moment is simply an indication that Fonny senses the birth of his child even from the confines of jail, thereby tying him to his family and suggesting that the baby will perhaps provide him with emotional strength even if he remains a prisoner. There is, however, another (bleaker) way of reading this moment, one that hinges upon the novel’s final phrase, which asserts that the baby is crying “like it means to wake the dead.” Under this interpretation, readers might argue that Fonny has perished in prison and that Tish’s baby is now crying out for its father, whom it will never meet. Either way, neither ending indicates whether or not Fonny will ever get out of prison, thereby underlining the depressing fact that many innocent black men like Fonny continue to languish in jail without any hope of gaining their freedom.
Themes
