Willie Johnson Character Analysis in The Other Foot

Willie Johnson lives on Mars with his wife, Hattie, and their three children. Their community is populated entirely by black people who fled widespread racism and cruelty on Earth twenty years prior. Willie grew up in Greenwater, Alabama, where he witnessed the horrors of slavery and racism—his father was hanged and his mother was shot by white people. When Willie learns that the white man is coming to Mars, he sees it as a chance to exact revenge and subject white people to the same inhumane treatment that black people had to endure on Earth. For much of the story, Willie is gruff and cruel. At one point, his wife tells him that he doesn’t “sound human,” underscoring the inhumanity of wanting to reestablish prejudice in their small, peaceful town. A natural leader, Willie initially uses his power to perpetuate racism and form a mob that looks to him for direction. Ultimately, with Hattie’s help, Willie is able to understand that the Earth people have suffered feelings of pain, isolation, and homelessness in the past twenty years similar to those feelings that black people felt when they were on Earth. He realizes that everyone is “even” and encourages his fellow Martians to tear down all of the segregationist signs that he had just instructed them to put up.

Willie Johnson Quotes in The Other Foot

The The Other Foot quotes below are all either spoken by Willie Johnson or refer to Willie Johnson. 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:

I’m not feeling Christian […] I’m just feeling mean. After all them years of doing what they did to our folks—my mom and dad, and your mom and dad—You remember? You remember how they hung my father on Knockwood Hill and shot my mother? You remember? Or you got a memory that’s short like the others?

Related Characters: Willie Johnson (speaker), Hattie Johnson, The White Man

Page Number and Citation: 43

Explanation and Analysis:

While driving away from the Browns’ home, Hattie deems Willie’s desire for vengeance against the visiting white man un-Christian. Willie responds by telling Hattie that his anger stems from the memory of what white people did to his family. Throughout the story, Willie never talks about how white men have abused him but rather focuses on the way that such men treated his parents. When he accuses his wife of having “a memory that’s short like the others,” Willie suggests that many Martians have suppressed their memories of what life was like on Earth. Willie’s tightly-held memories of pain and 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. Accusantiu

“Well […] the shoe’s on the other foot now. We’ll see who gets laws passed against him, who gets lynched, who rides the back of streetcars, who gets segregated in shows. We’ll just wait and see.”

Related Characters: Willie Johnson (speaker), Hattie Johnson, The White Man

Page Number and Citation: 43

Explanation and Analysis:

Still driving home together from the Browns’, Willie continues to espouse his hatred for white people. He tells his wife that on Mars, white people will be treated the way that black people were treated on Earth. Willie is alluding to the Jim Crow laws that upheld racial segregation in America from 1877 to 1964. “The Open Foot” was published in 1951, over a decade before such laws were abolished. In this passage, Willie explains that he wants to establish such segregationist laws on Mars but twist them so that they discriminate against white people as a means to exact 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 v

Willie plunged out of the house. “You children come inside, I’m locking you up. You ain’t seeing no white man, you ain’t talking about them, you ain’t doing nothing.”

Related Characters: Willie Johnson (speaker), Hattie and Willie’s Children, The White Man

Page Number and Citation: 45

Explanation and Analysis:

While getting his guns from his house to prepare for the white man’s arrival, Willie decides to also lock his sons away. Up until this point, the three boys had been playing in the yard and talking excitedly about the white man, trying to imagine what white skin looks like—comparing it to milk, chalk, and flowers. Their musings revealed their innocence and the fact that they didn’t seem to have any concept of racial tension or to be aware of Earth’s history of racism and slavery. When Willie “plunge[s]” out of the house and furiously commands his children not 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 v

All along the road people were looking up in the sky, or climbing in their cars, or riding in cars, and guns were sticking up out of some cars like telescopes sighting all the evils of a world coming to an end.

Related Characters: Willie Johnson, The White Man, Hattie Johnson

Page Number and Citation: 45

Explanation and Analysis:

While accompanying Willie to the white man’s landing spot, Hattie notices that other people have also brought guns. The comparison between these guns and telescopes pointing toward a doomed world could be read as a reflection of the fact that Hattie’s community is safely on Mars while on Earth people are engaged in a massive atomic war. However, the passage could also be read as suggesting that Mars is now succumbing to some of the same evils that destroyed the Earth. Many Martians have been swept up in a wave of hatred and prejudice and given into Willie’s emotionally-charged call 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 mi

The people were so close together it looked like one dark body with a thousand arms reaching out to take the weapons.

Related Characters: The White Man, Willie Johnson

Page Number and Citation: 46

Explanation and Analysis:

Upon reaching the landing port for the white man’s rocket, Willie begins passing out guns to the growing crowd, the sheer size of which underscores how monumental the white man’s visit is; it seems that everyone in the Martian community is present. More importantly, by describing the crowd as “one dark body” Bradbury suggests it is no longer made up of individual people with independent thoughts; rather, it has adopted a mob mentality and bends to Willie’s will. In this passage, no one stops to consider if violence is the right way to deal with the white man’s arrival. Instead, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet do

She wanted to get at the hate of them all, to pry at it and work at it until she found a little chink, and then pull out a pebble or a stone or a brick and then a part of the wall, and once started, the whole edifice might roar down and be done away with. It was teetering now. But which was the keystone, and how to get at it? How to touch them and get a thing started in all of them to make a ruin of their hate?

Related Characters: Hattie Johnson, Willie Johnson

Page Number and Citation: 53

Explanation and Analysis:

There is a tense silence after the white man finishes his speech, in which Hattie can feel that the crowd is still hateful and wanting revenge for the centuries of cruelty the Martians were subjected to on Earth. Hattie’s thoughts about how to dismantle hatred and racism are based on the premise that neither are natural but rather are manmade constructions, and as such can be toppled like any other structure. She likens the crowd’s anger to an unstable wall that will tumble into a heap of rubble when its load-bearing element (its “keystone”) is removed. Like this wall, the 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 suscip

“The Lord’s let us come through, a few here and a few there. And what happens next is up to all of us. The time for being fools is over. We got to be something else except fools. […] now the white man’s as lonely as we’ve always been. He’s got no home now, just like we didn’t have one for so long. Now everything’s even. We can start all over again, on the same level.”

Related Characters: Willie Johnson (speaker), Hattie Johnson, The White Man

Page Number and Citation: 56

Explanation and Analysis:

In this passage, Willie and Hattie are driving home from meeting the white man. Willie’s attitude about the man (and white men in general) has shifted dramatically, and he no longer is itching for violence and revenge. Willie mirrors the white man’s humility when he says, “The time for being fools is over.” This implies that Willie realizes that the community has been too quick to seek vengeance . He also recognizes his responsibility as an individual, as he affirms, “what happens next is up to all of us.” It seems that Willie understands that he can use his influence Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequu

Willie Johnson Character Timeline in The Other Foot

The timeline below shows where the character Willie Johnson appears in The Other Foot. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Hattie notices her husband Willie driving by and shouts for him. Angrily, he asks why she’s in this part of... (full context)

Willie demands that Hattie get in his car and glares at her until she complies. As... (full context)

Willie asks Hattie if she remembers “what they did to our folks,” and how white people... (full context)

Hattie tells her husband that he’s “talking trouble,” but Willie dismisses her. He says that for years people have idly wondered what would happen if... (full context)

Hattie disapprovingly tells Willie that he doesn’t “sound human,” but he tells her to “get used to it.” Pulling... (full context)

...goes into the house as well. Peering up into the dark attic, she can’t see Willie at all—she can only hear his swearing and see the “brutal metal” of the guns... (full context)

...chatter about the white man, saying that he is white like milk, chalk, and flowers. Willie “shove[s]” his children inside, telling them they won’t see and can’t talk about the white... (full context)

Back on the road, Hattie tells Willie to “slow up,” but he refuses, insisting it is time to hurry. The road is... (full context)

As Willie navigates the throng of cars, Hattie feels anxiety and fear churning through her. People from... (full context)

A crowd surrounds Willie and asks what to do. Willie begins passing out weapons, and the crowd is so... (full context)

...including women carrying picnic baskets and men wearing straw hats. Climbing into the empty trolley, Willie begins to paint. The conductor objects, but when he sees that Willie has painted “For... (full context)

Returning to the growing crowd, Willie climbs onto packing boxes and asks for volunteers to paint streetcars and rope off theater... (full context)

Hurrying toward Willie, the town’s mayor demands he climb down off of the boxes and asserts that Willie... (full context)

Willie looks toward the town, where people are hanging freshly-painted signs reading, “Limited Clientele: Right to... (full context)

Holding the rope tied into a noose, Willie addresses the crowd and asks if they’re ready. Half of the crowd eagerly calls back,... (full context)

Willie tenses and his fingers tighten around his rope. The old man repeats, “We’ve been fools.”... (full context)

...silence of the crowd feels “like a pressure of a distant storm.” Many people watch Willie, who is still holding the rope. Hattie holds her husband’s arm and waits. She wants... (full context)

Suddenly, Hattie realizes that Willie is the “keystone,” and “if he could be pried loose,” then maybe everyone’s hatred will... (full context)

...tree on Knockwood Hill, the old man affirms that all of the trees were destroyed. Willie speaks up, asking, “That tree went, you’re sure?” When the man confirms, Willie’s body loosens. (full context)

Willie asks about Mr. Burton and his house, and the old man says that no people... (full context)

With the rope still in his hands, Willie thinks about the Earth that he knew, “the green Earth and the green town where... (full context)

Willie loosens his fingers, and the rope drops to the ground. He tells the white man... (full context)

...home, Hattie affirms that this will be “A new start for everyone.” After a while, Willie answers that God allowed them to come to Mars, and that “what happens next is... (full context)

At home, Willie sits in the car while Hattie lets the boys out of the house. The children... (full context)

Willie Johnson Character Analysis

Willie Johnson Quotes in The Other Foot

The Other Foot Quotes

Willie Johnson Character Timeline in The Other Foot