Let The Circle Be Unbroken

“But I didn’t like his changing and I didn’t like the thought of my changing either. Maybe it was the way of life to change, but if I had my way I would put an iron padlock on time so nothing would ever have to change again.”

Cassie makes this statement very early in the book, but it will become central to her growing understanding of herself and the world around her. She is referring to the increasing estrangement between herself and Stacey. He is becoming a teenager, and Cassie feels left behind. She will revisit this idea frequently, and her fear of change will also be reflected in Southern society’s fear of change.

“The people who’ll hear TJ and make the decision will be white. There’ll be somebody else who’ll be saying that what TJ says is not the truth. He’ll be white too. There’ll be a judge there and he’ll be white. All white, do you understand?”

The Logan children have been speculating about TJ’s upcoming trial with the assumption that he will be released. Mary gently points out the problem. TJ is highly unlikely to receive a fair trial from men who don’t regard themselves as his peers. Their fear of disrupting race relations is greater than their desire to see justice done.

“Jeremy was a friend despite being a Simms. More than once he had proven that friendship and we all knew it. But he was still white, and that was what separated us and we all knew that too.”

In making this statement, Cassie reveals her prejudice against white people on principle. Jeremy, as an individual, is perfectly fine, but he belongs to a race that everyone in her family regards with deep suspicion. While her wariness is understandable, it also represents a problem. Change isn’t possible when both sides of the controversy refuse to trust. The plantation owners know this and pit the Black and white underclass against each other to keep themselves in power.

“‘Then why did you do what you did? Why did you break into that store?’ TJ looked up, his eyes wide, as if he was sure everyone had already understood. He hesitated a moment, then said meekly, ‘They told me to.’”

Jamison is cross-examining TJ during his trial. The boy’s innocence becomes obvious in his response. The thought of disobeying the Simms brothers would never occur to him. Further, the notion that Black people are expected to obey white people without question is so deeply ingrained in the culture that it doesn’t need to be articulated.

“They told him to break into the Mercantile and he did as he was told. Now whose fault is that? Haven’t we always demanded that Negroes do as they are told? Haven’t we always demanded their obedience?”

This quote is the companion to the preceding one. Jamison states the problem to the jury. Are they supposed to convict a boy for following orders? Even though the attorney verbalizes the inconsistency, it does little to sway white jurors. To give any credibility to TJ would also lend credibility to the idea that white boys were the real culprits. Even more dangerous to the status quo is the idea that TJ was engaging socially with white boys.

“‘Listen, sugar,’ he said, putting his arm around me. ‘You boys, too, and remember. Any time that man offer something, you jus’ look to see how he gonna gain from it.’”

Granger has just offered to pay the taxes on the Logan farm. David politely declines the planter’s generosity, which baffles his younger children. He explains afterward that the rich plantation owners only give charity in the hopes of gaining a far greater return. This statement speaks directly to the theme of The Struggle for Economic Independence. Accepting Granger’s offer would create a new kind of enslavement for the family.

“‘You know, I like Joe,’ I said truthfully. ‘Now some folks make fun of him ‘cause he’s like he is, but Papa said that ain’t right. Papa said each of us got something to do in this life, and if we do a good job at that, then we can be right proud.’”

Joe is not as intellectual as some of the other boys in the community, which draws ridicule and criticism. Cassie asserts her favorable opinion of Joe and is deeply influenced by her father’s tolerance in giving her approval. She will later extend this same open-mindedness toward Wordell, who also seems odd but turns out to be very wise. Not judging a book by its cover works to her advantage. However, she is less generous when it comes to Suzella.

“You got folks who was scared to death of what could happen to them to try and change things around here. You got ‘em to join together and stand up for something. I figure you did it once, most likely you could do it again.”

Morris Wheeler explains why he approached David to join the integrated union. In a previous book in the series, Mary and David led a protest and motivated their neighbors to follow them. While this is a brave gesture, it carries a heavy price. Mary loses her teaching job because she defied the status quo. David has become equally cautious in committing himself to the union. The planters can retain control as long as they keep everyone afraid of consequences.

“‘How come Uncle Hammer got so mad?’ ‘‘Cause when a white boy’s ‘round a colored girl, they’s up to no good, that’s why. You jus’ remember that.’”

Cassie is only 10 years old and still doesn’t understand the sexually predatory behavior of Southern white men toward Black women. She has just seen her uncle chase Jacey away from Stuart’s car. Stacey is trying to explain the reason for this to Cassie, but she dismisses the interaction as nonsense. She will later understand the negative consequences of the interest of white men.

“White people were part of another world, distant strangers who ruled our lives and were better left alone. When they entered our lives, they were to be treated courteously, but with aloofness, and sent away as quickly as possible.”

Bud has just told the Logan family that his wife is white. They are thunderstruck by this news. Cassie explains the necessary barriers within her world that protect Black people from involvement in the white world. At multiple points, the novel examines the intersection between these two worlds and the efforts on the part of both sides to keep them separate. The 1930s represented a point in time when the old rules were being tested repeatedly, but it would be decades before they broke down completely.

“The child just don’t know where she belong, and most times I think she believes she don’t belong no place. She stays to herself and ain’t got no friends much, ‘cepting maybe at that school she go to—her mother’s got her in a Catholic school outside the neighborhood.”

Bud is explaining his reasons for bringing Suzella to live with his Southern family for a while. Even though Bud’s marriage creates consternation for the Logans, his daughter’s plight is worse. She has a foot in two worlds but doesn’t know which one is her true home. Although the Logans welcome her visit, they are just as wary of her as her white relatives would be.

“‘Look at Stacey, nearly fourteen. He needs you, David. They all need you.’ Papa spoke sharply. ‘And don’t you think I know that? But they need other things too. They need this land. Long as we’ve got this land, we’ve got something, something most folks ain’t, and we can’t risk losing it.’”

David has just told Mary that he intends to find work on the railroad that will take him away from home for months at a time. While his wife is rightly concerned about his absence, David’s comment indicates just how important holding onto the farm is. Without it, the Logans would lose their tenuous financial independence and would most likely have to become sharecroppers. This would be a transgenerational tragedy that requires every sacrifice to prevent.

“‘She look near white.’ ‘Now what she look like ain’t got nothin’ to do with it! Your grandpa was mulatto and looked it and it didn’t make no difference to me. That child ain’t had nothin’ to do with her mama bein’ a white woman and we ain’t got nothin’ to do with it neither.’”

Big Ma is lecturing Cassie about her prejudice against Suzella. Cassie is still trying to keep the two worlds separate as she has been taught to do, but personal relationships offer a baffling level of complexity. Her grandmother, Big Ma, was part of a Black and white couple. Cassie likes Jeremy, who is white. Jamison, also white, has helped the Logans and their friends. Bud is family, but his daughter doesn’t look as if she fits. Cassie is just learning to evaluate people individually instead of basing her judgment on their race.

“Stacey’s at an age where he’s looking for room. He’s changing and he’s looking for his life to change too, and he really doesn’t have much patience with folks he’s been around all his life. But that’ll all pass. [...] I just didn’t understand why [Bud] had to change, and if we both eventually had to change, why it couldn’t be at the same time.”

To some degree, Cassie’s hostility toward Suzella is related to her resistance to change. She wants the world to remain Black and white. In this quote, her mother is explaining that Stacey is growing up and growing apart from Cassie, just as Bud previously grew apart from Mary for a while. The notion of change applies to cultures as much as it does to individual people, and it can be a good thing. Cassie isn’t yet ready to accept that fact.

“We’ve been taught so long to think we’re less than anybody else, many of us have grown to believe it, in some ways if not others. And a lot of us figure the lighter we are, the better we are […] like white people.”

Cassie has just asked her mother why all the boys want to date Suzella. Mary says that her light skin makes her more of a “prize.” The quote sadly reflects the self-sabotage of accepting destructive cultural values. To a lesser extent, Suzella seems to recognize this fact, too, when Stuart flirts with her. He is white, and she allows him to think that she is the same.

“‘Cassie, you’re very lucky. You know that?’ ‘What?’ ‘I mean […] you’ve got family. And friends. At home, people don’t come visiting like they do here. [...] [T]here’s just the three of us most times. It’s different here.’”

Suzella is describing her lonely life in New York. She longs not only for a sense of family but also a sense of community. Unfortunately, both Black and white families would have difficulty accepting the Rankins. Maintaining Separate Worlds isn’t simply an edict pronounced by the white government in the South. The fear and mistrust felt by Black people toward white people has also led them to enforce their own form of segregation. A lack of unity forces people on both sides of the racial divide to pick a side.

“‘It’s gonna be hard on that child being part of two worlds, maybe wanting to belong to the white one and having to belong to this one.’ ‘It’s like that for Suzella too, ain’t it?’ ‘Well, it’s not easy for her. It’s not easy for anybody being both Black and white. You and I, we have only one world and we know which one it is.’”

Mama and Cassie are discussing Jacey’s baby, fathered by Stuart. For the first time, it dawns on Cassie that perhaps Suzella’s life isn’t as easy as her cousin imagined. Cassie’s jealousy toward her cousin and her light skin have prejudiced her against seeing Suzella’s identity struggle for what it is. Her comment in this quote indicates a dawning awareness of how hard it might be to live in two worlds.

“I supposed I simply wanted to talk, to keep men who carried fire and wandered the roads in cars with headlights that shone like cat eyes in the night from crawling into my sleep. They had done it before; no doubt they would do it again. I sighed helplessly and turned my back to Suzella. There was no keeping them out.”

The Logans have just learned that Morris Wheeler and his union friends were attacked at the house they were using. It was set ablaze in an attempt to drive them out. Cassie’s comment here evokes images of the Ku Klux Klan. The clan’s intimidation tactics were quite effective in keeping the Black underclass suppressed. This quote indicates that psychological terror is just as intimidating as physical threats can be.

“Each night I went to bed feeling helpless once again, and angry. Angry at the cane people for coming to Strawberry waving their eight-dollar offer under the noses of needy boys, and angry at Stacey for leaving us.”

Ultimately, Cassie’s resentment is directed at her brother because he sought change, and someone outside of the community offered it. Even at this late stage in the story, Cassie would prefer her world to stay exactly as it always has. This includes having a brother who will remain the same throughout life. Unconsciously, she may realize the impossibility of that demand and is projecting her frustration at life outward onto others.

“‘You know, Cassie,’ she said when I had caught up, ‘I know you might not think so, but there are some ways we’re alike.’ I stared at her. ‘What’s that?’ ‘What we love, we love very deeply. I understand why you jumped on Mary Lou.’”

Cassie has just been caught fighting with another student at school when the girl speculated that Stacey might be dead. In this quote, Suzella is expressing a sense of kinship with her cousin. At the same time, she is alluding to her attachment to both her parents. She loves them equally and will continue to do so, no matter which world she chooses to inhabit later in life.

“We gathered before the fire in a circle as we did each Christmas morning and sang ‘Will the Circle Be Unbroken?’ It was a song of family, of love, of loss; we all felt it deeply.”

This familiar Christian hymn is also referenced in the novel’s title. However, the title of the hymn is a question, while the book’s title is an imperative statement. At this point in the story, the Logans don’t know if they will ever see Stacey again. The uncertainty of his fate is reflected in the song. The book takes a different stance. It tells the saga of a family that won’t allow the circle to be broken for any reason.

“‘Ain’t I been good to y’all? Letting y’all work that land even when y’all’s crops don’t hardly bring in enough money to pay for your seed and your clothing and such I given y’all credit for?’ [...] he noted, continuing to laud his goodness, ‘and this here’s how y’all pays me for my trouble. Y’all trying to do something y’all know good and well I don’t approve of.’”

Granger is admonishing his tenants as one would rebuke wayward children. He initially uses guilt as a tactic, reminding everyone of his generosity. The quote echoes David’s warning early in the novel that Granger only offers charity that will end up providing him some benefit. Aside from creating a sense of guilt, Granger’s words are also a warning. He doesn’t approve of old women voting or of farm workers joining unions. Either of these steps will carry penalties for those who displease him.

“I say you can get it without this here Communist union. This here Communist union that mixes the races, colored with the white. Y’all mark my words, this here union mixing is only the beginning of what’s to come!”

Granger continues his speech to the demonstrators in front of the courthouse. However, he has changed his tactic and now plays on white racial fears: that a union would lead to social integration and equality between white and Black people. Essentially, he is conflating the issue of fair wages with the onset of Communism and stirring paranoid fears of union between white and Black people.