Christopher Paul Curtis’ “The Watsons Go to Birmingham” is a literary work based on the Sixteenth Street Baptist Bombing in the year 1963 and shows a typical interaction within and outside the home. Nevertheless readers are still compelled to continuously read it because of its thought-provoking themes that entangle its readers to feel a sense of familiarity or sympathy with the book or its characters.
Initially, readers would understand that there is racism, prejudice and discrimination, as the story of the Watsons is introduced with a quotation that is a tip-off that, even in 1963 “about one hundred years after the Civil War and the end of slavery”, the African Americans were still under great deal of discrimination while trying to live their lives in the South.
During the family’s night trip to Birmingham, the Watsons fear other people more than they fear the dark. When the Watsons brothers went to the bathroom in the woods, Byron says “Man, they got crackers and rednecks up here that ain’t never seen no Negroes before.
” He also adds that “If they caught (you) out here like this they’d hang you now, then eat you later.” Obviously, readers would see that Byron is merely exaggerating, however, during the 1960s, the danger of hostility against the African Americans was very real.
African Americans usually go to the 16th Street Baptist Church at Birmingham. When the Watsons family arrived at Birmingham, Kenny entered the church to look for his sister, Joetta. Kenny says “I looked into the church and saw smoke and dust flying around like a tornado was in there… I could see Bibles and coloring books thrown all over the place… I could see a shiny, shiny black shoe lying halfway underneath some concrete.
” Joetta wore black shoes when she attended the church that morning.
The black shoe being referred here is what Kenny believes to be his sister’s shoe. When Kenny left the church, he states “I walked past people lying around in little balls on the grass crying and twitching, I walked past people squeezing each other and shaking, I walked past people hugging trees and telephone poles, looking like they were afraid they might fly off the earth if they let go, I walked past a million people with their mouths wide-opened and no sounds coming out.” When the Watsons family was placed in the middle of an event, Christopher Curtis aids the readers in appreciating the people’s feelings, emotions and hopes inside the church.
Emotion is also used by Curtis in order to portray the unusually closeness of the Watsons family. In the first chapters of the book, Curtis presents Byron’s dislike and authority in passing his responsibilities towards his brother Kenny. In the scene where they were cleaning the family’s car, Kenny says “I’m not going to do your part, Byron, you’d better do it and I’m not playing either.” The answer given by his brother was “Shut up, punk.” Byron shows his authority, thinking that Kenny would do what he says. However, Byron becomes stuck in the car’s side mirror and at that time, Kenny was the only one who could offer help.
Kenny did not take advantage of his brother’s situation and instead, willingly helped Byron. Kenny says “I could have done a lot of stuff to him, if it had been me with my lips stuck on something like this, he’d have tortured me for a couple of days before he got help, but not me.” In addition to this, he says “I nearly broke my neck trying to get into the house to rescue Byron.” Throughout the book, glimpse of Byron’s feelings towards his brother were presented and it was only in the end that a solid evidence of his love for Kenny is observed. Curtis uses the Watsons brothers’ relationship in portraying to his readers that family members will always be there when you truly need them.
Humor is another significant theme which Curtis uses in order to attract his readers or audience. In addition to this, humor is used by Curtis in developing his characters and makes them pass difficult times in the story, such as the perilous trip of the family to Birmingham and the punishment of Byron for having a conk hairstyle. Though sometimes, humor simply shows fun, like in the scene where Byron’s lips were stuck in the side mirror.
Moreover, Byron persuades Joey to wear several layers of winter clothes by using the Southerners as an example. He says “(T)here ain’t nothin’ more horrible than seein’ hundreds of dead, froze-up Southern folks crammed up inside a garbage truck… So Joey, don’t be cryin’ and whinin’ when you put all them clothes on, it would break my heart to see my own family froze solid so’s they got throwed in one them fake garbage trucks.” Joey and Kenny doesn’t understand nor see this funny. However, Byron was merely trying to have Joey cooperate with him and the audience sees this.
At the start of the story, humor was used by Dad when their heater was broken. Dad says “Me and your granddaddy called him (Hambone, Wilona’s old boyfriend) because the boy had a head shaped just like a hambone, had more knots and bumps on his head than a dinosaur… So as you guys sit there giving me these dirty looks because it’s a little chilly outside ask yourselves if you’d rather be a little cool or go through life being known as the Hambonettes.” In this scene, humor was used in order to have the Watsons family forget the cold.
Whether to present fact or a fiction, Curtis uses these themes in order to keep his readers stuck on the book, without boring their selves. Curtis is like giving an ice cream, with a sprinkle of reality and fiction, mounted on a cone, coated with a good sense of humor that definitely keeps its audience from wanting more.
Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Watsons Go to Birmingham- 1963. Delacorte Press, 1995.
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