Strategy Response: Day of Tears

Text Structure

“(Emma, Mattie, and Will's daughter, enters.)
Mattie: Have you gotten Miss Sarah and Miss Frances dressed that quick?
Emma: Master say to them stay in their robes for now and 'em dressed after breakfast.” (Lester, p. 6)

As I started reading Day of Tears I identified some visual clues that helped me understand the story better. First I noticed the list of characters at the beginning of the book. This reminded me of plays I have read in my high school english class, or of going to the ballet and having the character list in the program. I used this list to help give a context for the characters dialogue; as the dialogue begins I can use what I know about the characters to visualize what is happening. The quotation above, near the beginning of the book, also provided clues that I used to help create meaning. The italicized words describe some of the actions of the characters, the bold words indicate who is talking, and the regular font is the dialogue between the characters. While reading this section I go back to the list to help remember who is who and where they are. My experience with dramatic text structure helps me understand what is going on. Particularly, I can draw on my recent experience of reading Witness. Like Witness the story is told through different voices and each voice is labeled.


Sensory and Emotional Images
“Thunder rolled from one side of the sky to the other, back and forth, back and forth. My heart was jumping like it wanted to run out of my body and find some place to hide. Then down came the rain, hard as sorrows” (Lester, p.4).

“The rain comes down like fiery sorrow” (Lester, p.14).

“I can still hear the rain. It was so loud we had to almost shout when we had something to say to each other. But wasn't much to say that morning” (Lester, p. 15).

“When I think back on the day God cried, couldn't no picture make you feel what it was like” (Lester, 16).
“Up here in the girls' room the roof is right above our heads and the rain sounds like a lot of people are pounding nails as fast as they can. But the rain on the windows makes a higher sound, like grains of corn being shaken in a jar” (Lester, p.34).

“We rocked back and forth in the chair while the rain slammed against the roof and windows as if someone was trying to break in” (Lester, 40).

“It was raining the day I gave birth to your mother. Just about like this. A soft, quiet rain. Seems like whenever something important happened in my life it was accompanied by rain. Sometimes it rained hard, so hard that the rain was like needles on your skin.” (Lester, 166).

Rain is ever present throughout the book. My images of the rain come to embody the emotions of the different characters. All of the sorrow, suffering, hate, and ugliness of the slave auction pour down from the sky in the black rain. I am especially struck by the description of the rain by the slaves and children in the book. Their description of the rain makes me think of the friends and family members they would never see, and the aggressive nature of the rain makes me think of the fear they are feeling. For example, Emma describes the rain in the auction pavilion as being like “pounding nails” moving as fast as they can. The comparison caused me to make connections of my own. I thought about how fast your heart beats when you are afraid and how that fear and sorrow would be almost solid in the air like the torrent of rain outside.


Determining Importance

“I felt so proud when he said I was Mama's child and not his. I wished Emma had been there to hear him say that about me. I don't know if I would've known how to react to her being sold if Emma's last words to me hadn't been to tell me to have as good a heart as my mama's.
When I was sitting there in the kitchen I wasn't asleep as much of the time as Mattie thought...most of the time I was thinking about how to have a good heart” (Lester, 109).

As I read Day of Tears I began to think about the importance of Sarah's resemblance to her mother. I had to stop and think about why I thought that was so important. First, it is mentioned repeatedly by many characters and it shapes their actions. Emma encourages Sarah to have a good heart like her mother. Master resents the resemblance and sells Emma to try and make her more like him. In reaction of her father's actions Emma resolves to have a heart as good as her mothers, increasing her likeness with Fanny Kemble and shaping her relationship with her father for the rest of his life. The reflection of Emma in interlude vii particularly shaped my feelings of this theme. Emma is in agony over the loss of her maternal-figure and yet she tries to do what she can to have a good heart by thinking of Will and Mattie's loss and demanding to sleep with them. Using repetition, considering how characters are influenced by a theme, and considering elements the author is emphasizing in the interludes helped me have insight into a message of the story.


Synthesis

“Emma: I was known as Emma, a Butler plantation nigger. I suppose if I would have had a last name it would've been Butler. But I ain't living on the Butler plantation now and I sure ain't nobody's nigger. When me and Joe found out we had to have two names, we talked about it and decided if were were gonna be named for anybody it should be Mr. Henry. Without him we would still be living in slavery....Joe: Everything is perfect except that we left so many in slavery. If it wasn't for Mr. Henry we wouldn't have. I wish there was a Mr. Henry for all the slaves” (Lester, 154).

Reading the last section of the book I was brought to tears on several occasions. At first I was thinking that so much of what the characters had to endure was unfathomable to me. Yet, I had such a strong emotional response. This response made me wonder if there weren't subtle connections that I hadn't realized were helping me make meaning. Thinking more deeply about my response I realized I was reacting this way because I was imagining how I would feel if this had happened to me or my loved ones. Also, I was thinking about Mr. Henry, Joe's teacher. His efforts were so important to Joe and Emma. So important that they took his name. This made me think of my teachers and my students and the impact we have on others' lives. It also made me think of my parents, especially when Joe said “I wish there was a Mr. Henry for all the slaves”. My home and family have given me so much and I feel very grateful. However, there are many people who have not had the loving atmosphere I was blessed enough to grow up with.

In particular, it made me think about an experience I had with an ex-boyfriend. When I started dating this person he seemed very normal, but as our relationship progressed he revealed himself to be very insecure and angry. Eventually, his insecurity, distrust, and anger showed itself in ways that were too big for me to ignore. After breaking up with him he continued to try and force his way into my life, at one point quite literally when he tried to break into my house. His actions scared and angered me. Reading about Joe and Emma's feelings for Mr. Henry, and their wish for every slave to have a Mr. Henry made me wish the same for the young man in my life. I wish he, and every child could have had parents more like mine. So much of his actions stemmed from hurts he had endured from his own parents. Relating to the character's feelings through my experience helped me understand the book better. In addition, it helped me understand myself better. I am glad that I have dealt with my anger and fear enough to feel pity for him and I hope that I can make a small fraction of the impact that Mr. Henry did for my students.