QUOTES - QUOTATIONS AND ANALYSIS

(Continued)

Further, this pessimism about the future of some of Fleming's students actually mirrors the reality that many of them face: the bleak outlook is expressed time and again in the first part of the book, by Cedric and Ballou's teachers as well as Suskind himself. What makes Fleming's statement so incendiary isn't the negative assessment of these students' futures, but the fact that Fleming seems to judge the students before giving them a chance or trying to understand their situation. The lack of hope - "hope in the unseen", as the title goes - is what makes Fleming detestable in this passage.

Barbara Jennings faces her own problems at this time, as she ponders her grave financial situation:

Running through it all again puts her stomach in a knot. Not that the ticking of debt and disaster ever completely leaves her mind - it's always running on some just audible track, continuous play She can ignore it most times, as long as she keeps focused on the day-to-day matters of office politics or squabbles at church or a pair of shoes she's been eyeing. But then there are nights like this, once every couple of weeks, triggered usually by a letter or dunning call, when everything flips and the din of obligations is suddenly deafening. (288)

The "ticking of debt" is a powerful image which signifies not only the passing of time but also the idea of a deadline, of a bomb waiting to go off. This is eventually the case when she is almost evicted from the apartment in the book's last chapter. Perhaps inadvertently, the idea of the ticking and "the din of obligations is suddenly deafening" combines to recall the Edgar Allan Poe story "The Telltale Heart", a parable about the power of guilt; beyond that, we later find out that Barbara Jennings is suffering heart problems in the medical sense as well.

Cedric contends with his sense of isolation as the second semester progresses:

It's been a strange, solitary month, different from the bitter isolation and ostracism of the fall, where he felt out of control. By now he realizes he's learned plenty about how to mix with the other kids and about ways he's slowly changing, discarding some of his fears and doubts and forming attachments.

All of which makes his current exile mostly self-imposed, a remnant, maybe, of long years when he became accustomed to being alone, convincing himself that it meant he was special - and maybe better in some fundamental, godly way - than the other kids on the street or at church or at Ballou. He had to tie his identity to that notion of separateness; it was the only way he could say on course and keep his sanity, really, as they hurled insults at him about racial betrayal or insufficient maleness and foolhardy optimism. Here, no one is really hurling anything. They're just all going about their business - everyone in their own little show --and he has to find some other way to feel special. Being alone doesn't seem to be working. (293)

The defense mechanisms which kept Cedric safe and grounded as a student at Ballou now work against him in the more friendly environs of Brown. The ways that he was insulted at Ballou - "racial betrayal or insufficient maleness and foolhardy optimism" - no longer apply in this setting, and even seem counterintuitive in a place such as Brown. The spirit of individualism "everyone in their own little show" allows for greater freedom, and provides a different challenge for Cedric as he tries to mold a place for himself in this community. This search leads him to finally attend a party at Harambee House, the all-black dorm. At the party, he comes to the realization of why he's avoided the place up until this point:

What frightened Cedric about this place, what kept him away all year, went beyond a lifetime of admonitions from Bishop Long about black people ruinously giving in to temptation or Barbara's zero tolerance for alcohol and sexual indiscretion. Those dire warnings don't really seem to fit here, not with this crowd. No, it was intimidation - these kids intimidated the hell out of him! Even at a distance, even in theory, he was unnerved by the brew of black coolness and youthful achievement, a casual blend that almost mocks the brutal adolescent trade-offs he had to make to get here. (332)

This scene mirrors the very beginning of the book, when he refuses to attend the academic awards assembly at Ballou. Again, he tries to figure out what had kept him away. But while his earlier introspection led to excuses and rationalizations, he has matured enough here to be honest - and even fearless - in his self-assessment. Having come to terms with this truth, he leaves the party and basks in the nightlife on-campus:

A moment later he slips away from the din and out into the midnight air. A light drizzle is falling, and he feels settled and ready to sleep. There's so much to try but also plenty of time to move forward slowly and deliberately, to taste life judiciously, to savor it. He passes a beach party at one fraternity where they're playing "Can't Hurry Love" by the Supremes and a semiformal affair at another, where he glimpses couples dancing to "Copacabana" in a bluish light. From somewhere, probably an open dorm window, he hears salsa music and then walks by a silver van, called the Silver Truck, from which a long line of hungry kids, each having emerged from a different flavored party on the main quad, waits patiently, brought together by the universal craving for a late-night cheese-steak sub.

What a world, he laughs. What a world. And he removes his leather cap so he can feel the rain. (333)

There is deliberate attention paid to pointing out just how different - comically so - the different nightlife events are. The image of the Silver Truck serves as a beacon which unites all the students out that night. The phrase "What a world" shows a sense of delight at the diversity that encompasses him, and the fact that he laughs further makes this point. The rain works as a kind of cleansing - the old Cedric is gone, the new Cedric has taken his place. Much like a baptism, this is a renewal, a birth into a new world.

Having come to terms with his life in Providence as a student, he must also come to terms with his life in Washington,
D.C. as a son. After the eviction is averted and during the month of silence between Barbara and Cedric, Cedric watches his mother as she sleeps and ponders the following:

For so long, he thinks, he needed something to push against, to push himself forward. Except she's not something to rise above and leave behind. She's what got him this far. Give, give, give, her whole life, mostly to him, is part of what's left her hollowed out like this. But a person needs to learn how to receive once in a while. Yes, that's something she needs to learn. (360)

The distinction is raised between the things which are pushed against, and the person who helped Cedric to push until he no longer needed to. Further, the education of Cedric continues but Barbara must learn as well, seen by the gently affirming tone of the last sentence.

The Epilogue which closes the book finishes with the following passage, Cedric at a moment of rest, pondering his life and how he got to where he is. Looking out onto the Brown campus:

Things are so easy up here, he mused, looking out at the tended lawns and ancient trees on College Hill, so many avenues to choose from, every path cushioned. And that notion about ease swiftly drew its opposite, a passing recollection of his days worrying about gangs and funs, walking through garbage, keeping his head low. He snorted out a laugh. It's weird, he decided, but there is something about those days - the intensity of them, eyes watching him pass, always being alert or, to unearth an old phrase, having "something to push against" - that he misses. He nodded once and casually gathered up his things to go. An absence for sure, Cedric Jennings concluded, but one he can easily live with. (365)

That phrase "something to push against" is considered "old" and he has to "unearth" it - emphasizing how much he's moved past such a notion, and such a belief in what should motivate him.