Praisesong For The Widow

The opening chapters of Part 2 work to characterize Avey, Jerome, and their children, as well as illuminate the hardships Avey and Jerome faced early in their marriage. They begin happy, but financial stress creates issues. Jerome’s silent decision to work more hours in anticipation of their third child is the catalyst for Avey’s jealously, but it is not the source. In Chapter 1, Avey alluded to the importance of financial security in her marriage with her guilt over losing so much money by leaving the trip. Jerome had taken precautions to ensure her security after his death, but she had gambled with “the whole of his transubstantiated body and blood” (88), highlighting that the materialism she so enjoys was bought with by her husband’s death. The guilt she feels reminds her of how much success meant to Jerome, that he chased it in order to escape the apartment on Halsey Street. Therefore, when Jerome works overtime during her third pregnancy, the novel highlights his work ethic—a drive revolving around achievement and progress. Though his intentions are noble, this decision stirs insecurities in Avey. With her husband now absent, she begins to see flaws in her physical self. The source of this insecurity—though certainly due, in part, to the lack of control she has over her appearance during pregnancy—stems from her resentment of Halsey Street. Being pregnant, she is stuck in the home she hates with nothing to do but think about how much she hates it. Both she and Jerome must cling to dreams of material possessions and financial security, certain that it could solve all their troubles.

Chapter 2 further develops Avey and Jerome as their argument escalates, revealing each of their great fears within their marriage. Through the example of the woman on their block who embodies the rage of many other women like her—mistreated by the man they love, suffocating under the thumb of poverty—the novel demonstrates Avey’s main drive in escaping Halsey Street. To her, the street is represented by this woman and her pain; remaining there, to Avey, means eventually becoming her. Avey understands herself as not belonging to this neighborhood for this very reason and “couldn’t wait until she could move from around them” (109). This woman represents everything Avey wants to escape, as well as Avey’s own prejudices—she knows the woman is in pain, but the pain is too close to Avey because it reminds her of a life she never wants to see.

For Jerome, the chapter reveals his fears of losing Avey and the children; the mere threat of it breaks him. Rather than packing up and leaving, as Avey expects, Jerome’s anger dissolves, and he has a new resolve to escape Halsey Street. Despite the happiness they once had together, the couple begins to see the apartment as poisonous to their marriage and cling to the idea that leaving it will save them. The chapter also evinces Jerome’s profound work ethic, serving to further demonstrate his desperation in attaining their dream life.

Chapter 3 further focuses on the couple’s worth ethic but does so by subtly alluding to the specific obstacles they faced as African Americans in 1950s America. The past is as significant as the present in this novel, particularly because Avey relies on her memory to tell most of the story. However, history, as a collective past, is poignantly employed to convey the specific struggles imposed upon black Americans throughout time. The first two sections accomplish this with references to Jerome’s working “[t]wo jobs for the salary of one” because his white manager takes advantage of his talents (92). Another example is when Avey accuses Jerome of sleeping with one of the white salesgirls—there is a threat of “finding himself down at the bottom of the East River tied to a ton of concrete when her father or brother found out” (96).

Chapter 3 gently infuses the narrative with the racism that permeates America by mentioning how Avey and Jerome had to change to “the Jim Crow seats in the rear once they reached Washington” (115). These three chapters do not make racism the center of the tale because Avey and Jerome are much more that caricatures of black Americans living through the pre-civil rights era America. Instead, the racism here works to convey an accurate reality while reminding the reader that Avey and Jerome lived through these times and overcame every obstacle designed to keep them from succeeding. However, as Chapter 3 especially demonstrates, their success came at the cost of their quality of life.