Introduction
The Great Depression was one of the significant economic contagions that presented racial hierarchy in the U.S. While White Americans had privileged lives, African Americans languished in deplorable conditions. The text “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men” captures the living conditions of the locals in Alabama.
Chronologically, the book highlights the difficulties faced by African Americans in various parts of the U.S. and the consequent class gap between Whites and Blacks. “Near a Church” is part of James Agee and Walker Evans’ series that illuminates the impact of racial hierarchies in Alabama. The use of symbolism of characters, objects, and natural surroundings helped James Agee describe the effects of racism in the U.S. during the Great Depression.
Historical Context and Origins of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men
Collaboration Between James Agee and Walker Evans
The start of the project “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men” can be described as both coincidental and historically significant in the 1930s U.S. James Agee, a writer, and Walker Evans, a photographer, collaborated to bring the project to reality. The unity between the two professions demonstrates the significant impact of photography and journalism on any society.
In 1936, Fortune Magazine assigned James Agee to write an article on the living conditions of sharecroppers in the American South during the Great Depression (Agee and Evans 9). Although the writer staunchly believed in the traditional journalistic approach, it would do less justice to the complexities of the sharecropper experiences. Consequently, enlisting the help of Walker Evans would help in accomplishing the project’s objectives.
Project Dimensions
Journalism, writing, and photography are three concepts that were inculcated to describe the sharecroppers’ living conditions in Alabama exhaustively. The powerful and evocative images taken by Walker Evans complemented James Agee’s engrossing prose. For instance, Walker Evans’ photo of the interior part of the church in Alabama was crucial in the writing of “Near a Church” (The Met).
“Near a Church” is part of their work that captures a typical interaction between Whites and Blacks during the Great Depression in the U.S. (Agee and Evans). The writer employs various symbols to describe how the economic contagion exacerbated racial hierarchy aesthetically. While the Whites seemed all-powerful, the Black were frail to the extent of fearing any association with the Whites.
Interpretation of “Near a Church”
The Church as a Central Symbol
“Near a Church” situates the broader context of “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men” from its title. The choice of the word “church” symbolizes the narrator’s desire to enter a place full of goodness and sanctity. The opening of the text illustrates how the narrator and his photographers encountered difficulties in entering a church (Agee para. 1). While the church represents a place or situation in life that the majority of Americans aspired to be in, racial hierarchies and White supremacy hindered such a dream. A church is a place where people are taught good morals, including the importance of loving one another. However, it was ironic that individuals who had the authority to let people into the church, the minister, acted contrary to the teachings.
Symbolism of Objects and Religious Imagery
While describing what the church looked like, James Agee uses various objects to emphasize its misleading teachings. For instance, he narrates, “…a button in sun, a flur of lint, a torn card of Jesus among children…” (Agee para. 3). The use of the word “torn” to describe the card of Jesus among children indicates how there was a love lost between the Whites and Blacks.
Jesus among children is a symbol of God’s love for humanity. However, through their own volition, they chose to harbor hatred towards one another. James Agee’s infusion of unnatural objects in his narration helps in understanding how racial hierarchies contributed to immorality during the Great Depression.
Light Imagery and the Search for Truth
The dichotomy of light colors, at the beginning of the text, is applied to elucidate the beauty of a society without racial prejudices. In particular, the narrator states, “…as we came even with it the light so held it that it shocked us with its goodness straight through the body…” (Agee para.1). The lighting on the church represents goodness, enlightenment, and the truth that the authors were seeking to understand.
Following their assignment, the two wanted to reveal the truth about the living standards and conditions experienced by the sharecroppers. For instance, Walker Evans took the photograph, “Front porch”, of an Alabama cotton sharecropper (Evans). Therefore, their narrated desire to enter the church, with light upon them, indicated that through their truth, the society would be enlightened.
Exterior vs. Interior: Spatial Contrasts and Social Reality
Aesthetically, James Agee contrasts the outside world with the inside of the church. The stark contrast helps him reveal the truth about the idealized perception of the church and racial inequality as experienced outside its walls. As he proceeds to describe the area outside the church he says, “…Cod’s mask and wooden skull and home stood empty in the meditation of the sun…” (para.2). He continues, “…this light upon it was strengthening still further its imposal and embrace, and in about a quarter of an hour would have trained itself ready…” (Agee para.2). While the wooden mask represents individuals in the society, the hot sunlight symbolizes the harshness of racism outside the church’s walls. According to him, racial hierarchies were so detrimental to society that individuals had accepted the status quo.
While it was evident that racism negatively affected social relationships in society, efforts to bring harmony failed. James Agee uniquely infuses the symbol of the hand-wrought symmetry of the church’s construction to prove that. In the second paragraph of the text, he states, “…every grain, each nail-head, distinct; the subtle almost strangling strong asymmetries of that which has been hand wrought toward symmetry…” Although a balance of harmony is essential for social growth and development, James Agee uses the symbol to show the tension in achieving such an aspiration. The challenges and contradictions of racial hierarchies are alluded to by the church’s construction of symmetrical design and the scarcely eccentric balance.
The Camera as a Moral and Perceptive Lens
The explicit mention of camera and photography in the text is not a mere coincidence. The two represent the perceptive lenses through which human beings can view and critically understand the problems associated with racial hierarchies. At the beginning of the third paragraph, James Agee narrates, “I helped get the camera ready, and we stood away, and I watched what would be trapped, possessed, fertilized, in the leisure and shyness…”
The statement demonstrates their effort to raise awareness about the dangers of racism in society. The context of the statement is anchored on the book’s title, “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men”. Therefore, it would be assumed that through James Agee and Walker Evans’ project, society ought to perceive racism from a different angle.
The Encounter with the Negro Couple
While the authors’ actions to capture what was in the ‘church’ were crucial, racial hierarchies encumbered their efforts. According to them, the person who let them in was nowhere to be seen. The two were left with only one option: breaking into the church to achieve their mission and project goals.
However, another option presented itself, but it would be more difficult than breaking into the church. James Agee narrates, “While we were wondering whether to force a window, a young negro couple came past up the road…” (Agee para.4). The negro couple was an alternative option for the two to ask their way into the church. Their initial interactions with the couple reveal the distinct differences in character between the Whites and Blacks in society. While the Whites were portrayed as cautious about whom they talk to, the Blacks were presented as less caring.
The Negro couple, as described in the text, represented the African American community, which was racially discriminated against during the Great Depression. Racism in the country had created a vast and easily noticeable divide between Whites and African Americans. For instance, it was hard for the two racial groups to hold any meaningful conversation together. The authors state, “We spoke and nodded, smiling as if casually; they spoke and nodded, gravely, as they passed, and glanced back once, not secretly, nor long, nor in amusement…” (Agee para.4). While the two men were interested in conversing with the couple, their reactions were somehow unwelcoming. The grave faces and fearful glances made by the couple represented the emotional and social impact of racism in society.
Guilt, Shame, and the White Consciousness
James Agee creatively applied diction to communicate the overall mood of their interaction with the Negro couple. The words “ashamed” and “insecure” were used to describe their feelings upon meeting the couple. In particular, the authors narrate, “…ashamed and insecure in our wish to break into and possess their church…” (Agee para.4).
The text portrays the guilty mind of White Americans any time they interact with African Americans. Although the majority of Whites pioneered racism, all of them carried the guilt. In this context, James Agee and Walker Evans had positive intentions towards African Americans, but racial hierarchies had placed them in the oppressors’ position. Therefore, racism was not an individual challenge but one affecting the community as a whole.
Color Symbolism and Visual Contrast
Color symbolism is also explored to describe the profound impact of racial hierarchies in the country during the Great Depression. The Negro man who was walking with his wife is described to be wearing, “…dark trousers, black dress shoes, a new-laundered white shirt with lights of bluing in it, and a light yellow, soft straw hat with a broad band of dark flowered cloth and a daisy in the band” (Agee para.4). The man’s attire is contrasted from the lady’s who was wearing freshly white pumps and flowered pink cotton dress (Agee para.4). While the man’s clothing represented the problems faced by the African Americans, the lady’s attire indicated the happy lives of the White Americans.
Symbolism in the text is presented beyond the protagonists’ appearances in the physical surroundings. In the text, the towns are described as having white-painted houses that are intricately adorned, which contrasts with those of the sharecroppers. A photograph, “Back of House”, by Walker Evans, shows how African American houses were in deplorable conditions (Evans).
The African Americans are likened to darkened leaves, which are defenseless in the quest to seek sunlight. Towards the end of the text, the author states, “…dark-lighted leaves, in the spaced protections of their mineral light they stand so prim, so voided, so undefended upon starlight…” (Agee para.6). The use of imagery, mineral light to represent freedom and enlightenment, the author showed the struggles faced by the African Americans in their search for respect from the Whites.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the text “Near a Church” in the book “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men” infuses symbolism and imagery to capture the experiences of African Americans during the Great Depression. While the country faced a significant economic contagion that needed a united effort, racial hierarchies and disparities were detrimental to such. James Agee, the writer, and Walker Evans symbolized objects, individuals, and natural surroundings to communicate the impacts of racism in the U.S.
Works Cited
Agee, James, and Walker Evans. Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. HarperCollins Publishers, 2001.
Agee, James. “Near a Church.” In Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, HarperCollins Publishers, 2001.
Evans, Walker. “Back of House.” Library of Congress.
Evas, Walker. “Front Porch“. Library of Congress.
The Met. “Walker Evans: Church Interior, Alabama.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art.