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Bertha Holly
A cheerful young man who lives in Seth and Bertha’s boarding house. Jeremy works for white employers as one of many people installing a new bridge. In the play’s opening scene, he comes home from having spent the night in jail because, he explains, two police officers incarcerated him in order to confiscate the two dollars he and his friend had just been paid. Jeremy is a proficient guitar player who carries himself with confidence, giving “the impression that he has the world in his hand, that he can meet life’s challenges head on.” He retains this optimism even when he’s fired from working on the bridge. As he explains it to Seth, his white employers went around to all the black workers and demanded that they pay fifty cents in order to retain their jobs. Jeremy thought this was a ridiculous request, so he refused and, thus, was fired. When Seth tells him he’s crazy for giving up a good job, he says, “Don’t make me no difference. There’s a big road out there.” In keeping with this outlook, he shortly thereafter runs off with Molly Cunningham, even though he has just started living with Mattie Campbell.
Jeremy Furlow Quotes in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
The Joe Turner’s Come and Gone quotes below are all either spoken by Jeremy Furlow or refer to Jeremy Furlow. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The Play Quotes
Jeremy just young. He don’t know what he getting into. That gal don’t mean him no good. She’s just using him to keep from being by herself. That’s the worst use of a man you can have. You ought to be glad to wash him out of your hair. I done seen all kind of men. I done seen them come and go through here. Jeremy ain’t had enough to him for you. You need a man who’s got some understanding and who willing to work with that understanding to come to the best he can. You got your time coming. You just tries too hard and can’t understand why it don’t work for you. Trying to figure it out don’t do nothing but give you a troubled mind. Don’t no man want a woman with a troubled mind.
You get all that trouble off your mind and just when it look like you ain’t never gonna find what you want […] you look up and it’s standing right there. That’s how I met my Seth. You gonna look up one day and find everything you want standing right in front of you.
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Bertha says this to Mattie Campbell after Jeremy runs away with Molly Cunningham, leaving Mattie alone after she has just moved in with him. In the wake of this unfortunate situation, Mattie has once again been talking to Bynum, who has given her a good luck charm and who frequently asks her if she’s keeping it under her pillow. As somebody who’s flexible when it comes to spirituality, Bertha advises Mattie to not dwell on “trying to figure” out her life. As such, she tries to disabuse Mattie of Bynum’s influence, suggesting that the young woman pay no heed to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit
Act One: Scene One Quotes
These niggers coming up here with that old backward country style of living. It’s hard enough now without all that ignorant kind of acting. Ever since slavery got over with there ain’t been nothing but foolish-acting niggers. Word get out they need men to work in the mill and put in these roads…and niggers drop everything and head North looking for freedom. They don’t know the white fellows looking too. White fellows coming from all over the world. White fellow come over and in six months got more than what I got. But these niggers keep on coming. Walking…riding…carrying their Bibles. That boy done carried a guitar all the way from North Carolina. What he gonna find out? What he gonna do with that guitar? This the city.
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Seth says this to Bynum in a conversation about Jeremy, who he’s just learned got thrown in jail the previous night. Seth is upset to hear this news because he wants his residents to uphold a certain public image so as not to disgrace his household. When he says that the black people traveling out of the South arrive with an “old backward country style of living,” he speaks disparagingly about black migrants, blaming them for acting “ignorant” and thus making it “hard[er]” for people like himself to prosper. When he says, “it’s hard enough now without all that ignorant Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas s
JEREMY: It didn’t make no sense to me. I don’t make but eight dollars. Why I got to give him fifty cents of it? He go around to all the colored and he got ten dollars extra. That’s more than I make for a whole week.
SETH: I see you gonna learn the hard way. You just looking at the facts of it. See, right now, without the job, you ain’t got nothing. What you gonna do when you can’t keep a roof over your head? Right now, come Saturday, unless you come up with another two dollars, you gonna be out there in the streets. Down up under one of them bridges trying to put some food in your belly and wishing you had given that fellow that fifty cents.
JEREMY: Don’t make me no difference. There’s a big road out there. I can get my guitar and always find me another place to stay. I ain’t planning on staying in one place for too long noway.
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This is a conversation between Jeremy and Seth that takes place after Jeremy has been fired from his job as a bridge worker. He has just explained to Seth that his white boss went around to all the black workers and demanded that they pay fifty cents in order to keep their jobs, so he—Jeremy—refused and was fired as a result. What’s noteworthy about this conversation is the different ways Seth and Jeremy view racism and its influence on economic prosperity or stability. To Jeremy, it makes “no sense” to have to pay to keep a job, especially when he Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iu
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Jeremy Furlow Character Timeline in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
The timeline below shows where the character Jeremy Furlow appears in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act One: Scene One
...men to give him a loan to do this. Seth and Bertha then talk about Jeremy, a young tenant who apparently was jailed for being drunk the previous night. “You know...
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...even if he were sick, he wouldn’t let Bynum heal him. When Bynum asks after Jeremy, Seth rants about how he won’t put up with irresponsible behavior in his house. Bynum...
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...for Selig to return the following week to retrieve the dustpans. Shortly after Selig leaves, Jeremy comes into the kitchen, sitting down to eat a large breakfast after a long night...
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Seth chastises Jeremy for getting arrested, telling him he won’t stand for this kind of behavior under his...
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...When Seth goes upstairs with Herald and Zonia to get them settled in, Bynum asks Jeremy what he’s going to do that night, but Jeremy says he’s too nervous to go...
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Before Mattie leaves, Jeremy catches her by the door and says he overheard her story. “Had me an old...
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Act One: Scene Three
On Sunday morning, Jeremy comes into the kitchen and announces that he won a dollar in the guitar contest....
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Bynum tries to teach Jeremy to not treat women as purely physical beings, but Jeremy has trouble absorbing the lesson,...
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...as a prostitute. Having made this agreement, Molly goes outside to visit the outhouse, and Jeremy darts to the window. “Mr. Bynum, you know what?” he says while watching Molly traverse...
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Act Two: Scene One
...“He just got a little excited.” When Mattie comes down for breakfast, she asks if Jeremy has already left for the day, and Bynum assures her that he has, since he...
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Molly and Mattie talk about men, and Mattie explains that she and Jeremy are “keeping company till maybe Jack come back.” Molly, for her part, asserts that she...
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Mattie leaves for work, and Seth comes inside just before Jeremy also reappears. Seth asks why Jeremy isn’t at work, and Jeremy admits he was fired....
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Seth remarks that Jeremy is going to “learn the hard way,” pointing out that without his job he has...
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Responding to Jeremy’s suggestion that they elope, Molly reminds him that he’s “tied up with that Mattie Campbell,”...
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Act Two: Scene Three
...work for a while, it don’t last.” She also suggests that Mattie not worry about Jeremy, who ran off with Molly. “I seen it coming,” Bertha says. She assures Mattie that...
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