Henry Horner Homes
The central setting of the text is an inner-city housing project officially called Henry Horner Homes. Notably, a delegation from the Soviet Union visited the complex in 1955 and complained of the non-plastered cinderblock walls which in turn stimulated a newspaper op/ed the following day decrying the low-quality construction. These two events set in motion a study that appeared thirteen years later describing not just the Henry Horner Homes, but most other low-income housing developments as “gigantic filing cabinets with separate cubicles for each human household.” Although not directly situated as such, the author’s choice to quote this particular excerpt from that municipal report cannot be mere coincidence in a book that essentially sets out to prove that description is exactly the perfect symbol of such housing: places to file away those from whom society does not expect much.
Pharoah’s Stutter
Although the housing project is the central setting, it is not really the central symbol. That honor must certainly go to the stutter that the story’s great hope for the future—young Pharoah Rivers—develops as a psychological response to the violence which constantly takes place around him. Pharaoh manages not only to make it to the end of the story alive—no small feat—but following up on his promise. As a success story within the story, the stutter becomes a prominent symbol of all the collateral damage inflicted upon those living under such traumatic conditions who are not dramatically impacted in ways ranging from winding up in jail to dying young under violent circumstances.
The Judge
Pharoah’s slightly older brother Lafayette becomes one of those who is impacted in a more direct manner; he winds up in jail. An insightful moment occurs during the judicial process in which his mother discovers that his court appointment differs from the four other boys arrested alongside him and she goes to ask the judge for clarification. Having just seen Lafayette standing before him in court only minutes before, the judge’s response is nonetheless utter bafflement as he asks out loud, “Did we have a case by that name.” In that instant, he becomes the criminal system personified as symbol: uncaring, uninterested and without an iota of any personal attachment to the people behind the rulings made every day.
The Spelling Bee
Another system that comes under symbolic attack is the educational system. Pharoah is a talented student expected to excel at the spelling bee if only he can control his stuttering long enough to meet the rules which requires that each spelling word be spoken out loud, delineated clearly and completed within a set period of time. Through diligent preparation, Pharoah proves capable of overcoming this handicap to success to the point at which he is one of just five contestants left standing. When he receives the word “endurance” to spell, however, his sheer relief and joy at knowing how to spell it backwards and forwards is his undoing; the excitement brings on his stutter and though he knows how to spell, his delivery of the letters is compromised and he is eliminated. This entire tragedy—admittedly small in scope—becomes a symbol of the greater tragedy of the elimination of so many underprivileged kids from success not because they are not smart enough, but because they have trouble jumping through the hoops that become obstacles on top of obstructions.
Damen Courts
Three blocks to the south of Horner Homes sits Damen Courts. It is a condominium complex notable for its manicured lawns and walls notoriously lacking the graffiti which decorates Horner. Just three blocks in distance, Damen Courts becomes for Pharoah another world. His discovery of its cool grassed areas surrounded by red brick buildings standing in contrast to the infamous cinderblocks of his own home quickly becomes a private oasis he is unwilling to share with anybody for a period of time. Damen Courts is a place where Pharoah not only can briefly escape the persistent violence which is daily life back at Horner, but it is also a peaceful paradise which complements perfectly his growing tendency to daydream, suppress and forget.
