Let The Circle Be Unbroken

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1981

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-14

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Themes

The Struggle for Economic Independence

Life is difficult for both white and Black farm workers in the South during the Great Depression. Their plight is made even worse by the wealthy landowners who wish to keep them financially dependent. The novel examines several scenarios in which sharecroppers and day laborers remain in a state of servitude even though enslavement has been abolished.

Stacey’s friend Moe Turner comes from a Black sharecropper family. Under such an arrangement, sharecroppers farm their small plots of land and give the landowner a share of their crop. While such an arrangement might not seem terrible, the landowners lend their sharecroppers the money to buy seeds and other necessary items to harvest those crops. At the end of each growing season, a sharecropping family may owe the landlord more than the value of the crop they harvested. For those who are indebted, simply leaving the land isn’t an option because they would be arrested. Moe frequently dreams of finding a way out from under this financial burden, but his friends and family think his aspirations are impossible.

The same state of dependency is played out for day laborers, who don’t even have the security of a plot of land to farm. They are utterly dependent on the rate a landowner is willing to pay for their services a day at a time. Even though Stacey and Moe try to better their lot by chopping cane, the same dismal state of affairs applies. The plantation managers only pay workers once at the end of the harvest season. After expenses are deducted, the workers may get next to nothing even though they were lured into the job with a promise of eight dollars a day.

David and Mary are already aware of the trap of economic dependence set by the planters. In the past, they lost out on a government reimbursement because Granger claimed he had a lien on their property. The county agent took Granger at this word, illustrating how government entities feel compelled to believe a white landowner over a Black landowner. When Granger offers to cover their taxes, David declines. Similarly, when he offers to buy the farm outright, Mary politely turns him down. The Logan parents devote all their energy to keeping themselves independent of planter control. Although they are far better off than most other white and Black farm workers, they also recognize the downside of planter generosity. In every instance, promises of financial aid from white landowners come with chains attached.

The Importance of Unity

The novel’s title, Let the Circle Be Unbroken, stresses the importance of family unity. The bonds among the Logans are tested in more than one instance. When Bud arrives, Hammer immediately rejects him because he married a white woman. This bit of intolerance then leads Mary to form a negative opinion of Hammer. Further, Cassie feels resentful toward her cousin Suzella. Worst of all, Stacey rejects his entire family by running away. Each of these tiffs ends in a positive resolution. Hammer apologizes to Mary for insulting her cousin, and Cassie learns to appreciate Suzella by the time the latter is ready to return North. The novel ends with Stacey learning his lesson, too, and emphasizing that home and family matter most of all.

Aside from the lesson of familial unity, the book also examines the degree to which unity is a critical feature of any successful community. The Black residents of Spokane County are already interconnected. They all attend the same church and send their children to the same school. Mary tutors these children when school is out. All the families interact daily and spend time visiting each other’s homes. These activities maintain a harmonious status quo. However, the novel implies that progress can only be achieved if a larger sense of unity is embraced.

This issue comes to the fore when a union organizer arrives and proposes that white and Black farm workers unite. It makes perfect sense that there is strength in numbers, but the hostility of the Black and white communities toward each other is nearly insurmountable. In a pivotal scene, common misery causes the sharecroppers and day laborers of both races to unite briefly when they march on the county courthouse for redress.

The response they receive from Granger and the registrar is a perfect example of the divide-and-conquer tactic that the planter class has used successfully ever since Reconstruction. Both men stress their belief of the supposed “inferiority” of formerly enslaved people as compared to the white residents. They also play on deep-seated fears of a revolt led by Black people. The union organizer turns the focus away from fear and prejudice to the real reason why the planter class wants the farm workers at each other’s throats. Morris Wheeler says:

‘Don’t get caught up in Harlan Granger’s trap! He’s got other reasons than the ones he’s giving you for not wanting this union. He’s getting plenty of money from the government with their crop-reduction plan. Money that’s s’pose to be yours’ (372).

Although this economic issue is still unresolved when the story ends, the novel clearly implies that unity rather than divisiveness is the only way to gain real power for the underprivileged.

Maintaining Separate Worlds

While it might seem apparent why the white planter class would find a benefit from keeping Black residents in their place, the novel also examines the nonacceptance of interracial couples by the Black community as well. From the time Hammer arrives, he is hostile to the idea of friendships and romances conducted between Black and white youths. He discourages Jacey from meeting up with Stuart and later lectures Cassie about carrying around Jeremy’s picture. He is even more outspoken when Bud arrives with his daughter.

A white woman was foreign, dangerous, and here Cousin Bud had gone off and married one. [...] Uncle Hammer slowly stood, his chair scraping noisily against the wood floor. He stared down at Cousin Bud. “You’re a fool,” he said (162-63).

The wariness of Black people toward white people is understandable, given that enslavers’ often raped enslaved people. Jacey herself learns that there is no redress when she becomes pregnant by Stuart. However, Hammer’s condemnation leaves no room for the vagaries of the human heart. Bud simply loves his wife. Suzella loves her parents, both white and Black. The concept of permanent separation between Black and white people seems impossible to enforce.

Aside from the justifiable suspicion harbored by the county’s Black residents toward white people, some exceptions seem to offer hope for more positive interactions. Wade Jamieson risks his life to defend TJ during his trial. He also goes out of his way to help find Stacey when the boy runs away to Louisiana. Similarly, Jeremy remains friendly with the Logan children even though they don’t invite his friendship. His kindness stands in marked contrast to his father and his older brothers, who allowed TJ to take the blame for their crimes.

Given the decade in which the novel is set, the people of Spokane County have little reason to expect anything to change. The Black sharecroppers frequently commiserate with one another but often accept discrimination. When Lee Annie expresses her desire to vote, her friends and family go out of their way to dissuade her from such foolishness. Having painted such a bleak picture of race relations in the South in the 1930s, the novel still maintains a hopeful note. Despite her wish that it was otherwise, Cassie learns that nothing stays the same in life. Change affects her on a personal level, and, in hindsight, the reader realizes that this can apply to entire countries as well. Cassie asks her father, “You think they’ll be changing anyway soon?,” and he replies, “Don’t know ‘bout soon, Cassie girl, but I tell you one thing. I’m sure hoping that if I don’t live to see the day, you will. I’m praying right hard on that” (181).