34 pages • 1 hour read
Gwendolyn BrooksMaud Martha
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1953A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 23-27 Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 23 Summary: “kitchenette folks”
This chapter is a collection of reflections on the various people living in Maud’s building. The first couple is Oberto, a happy grocer, and his lovely but adulterous wife Marie. But even Oberto is grateful to have married Marie rather than someone more boisterous and less elegant. Marie may not be a domestic goddess, but Oberto enjoys watching her primp in front of a mirror.
Mr. and Mrs. Banks live on the third floor next to Maud and Paul. Eugena Banks is a white woman, and Mr. Banks is a West Indian man. Eugena visits Maud when she’s looking for advice as to “what special technique was to be used in dealing with a Negro man” (113). She confesses to Maud that marrying a Black man seemed exciting and adventurous, but she struggles with the routine of marriage, and now she questions whether the match was a mistake.
There’s also Richard, who doesn’t come home one day after enduring a cycle of decreased wages at work and increased pressures at home. Mr. and Mrs. Whitestripe, in contrast, are Maud’s idea of an ideal romantic relationship. Paul warns Maud that he’ll never live up to the expectation set by Coopie Whitestripe, and Maud agrees easily.
Chapter 24 Summary: “an encounter”
Maud runs into her old boyfriend David McKemster while attending an event for a young Negro author. David is cold and formal to Maud at first, but his demeanor changes when they catch up to a young white couple he knows. David is eager to engage with the other couple, and Maud can tell that he’s looking for a way to politely send her on her way. They find themselves at the Jungly Hovel for coffee, where David flaunts his academic status and Maud casually goes along with his attempts to impress.
Chapter 25 Summary: “the self-solace”
The novel shifts to Maud sitting in the beauty parlor while the stylist Sonia prepares her materials. A white cosmetics saleswoman enters the beauty parlor, eager to sell a new shade of lipstick she insists “is just the thing for your customers. For their dark complexions” (136). Sonia lets the saleswoman complete her pitch and agrees to purchase a small number of lipsticks. Once the sale is closed, the saleswoman lets down her guard, talking casually as though among friends. She uses a racial slur, and Maud’s head quickly snaps up, looking to Sonia for a reaction as well. Sonia doesn’t react, though, leaving Maud to wonder if she misheard the white woman.
When the saleswoman leaves, Sonia explains why she didn’t react to the racial slur in her own salon, saying she “could have got all hot and bothered” but didn’t want to seem “too sensitive” (142). She implores, “What would be the point? Why make enemies?” (142). Maud is shocked—she had heard correctly, and Sonia hadn’t done anything to confront the woman. Maud can only stare at Sonia in silence as she makes excuses for allowing such a slur.
Chapter 26 Summary: “Maud Martha’s tumor”
Maud feels a pain in her side one day while leaning over Paulette. She assumes it must be cancer and thinks back on her life, reflecting that it hasn’t been bad and could even be considered interesting. Overall, she’s led an ordinary life:
“Decent childhood, happy Christmases; some shreds of romance, a marriage, pregnancy, and the giving birth, her growing child, her experiments in sewing, her books, her conversations with her friends and enemies” (144).
She leaves Paulette with a sitter and heads to the doctor, anticipating her own death along the way. The doctor quickly assesses that Maud is only experiencing discomfort from exercising post-pregnancy. Maud’s mood is instantly elevated, and she bounces back down the stairway to return home, her cancer scare already behind her.
Chapter 27 Summary: “Paul in the 011 Club”
Paul is not selected for membership at the Foxy Cats Club, and his disappointment in his circumstances grows. Maud suspects that he’s tired of her, tired of their home, and tired of his job. They still visit the 011 Club for a drink, where Maud takes in the people surrounding her who, “in her husband’s opinion, were the real people” (148). Paul is still concerned with appearances and how others see him, and Maud understands these are the people he wishes to impress most. But Paul is still waiting for something to propel him into the next social class, and Maud is afraid to tell him that few people experience an event of such significance.
Chapters 23-27 Analysis
Despite Maud’s constant disappointment with Paul, she recognizes that no marriage is perfect. Common struggles and tensions are seen in the other married couples living in Maud and Paul’s building. The “kitchenette folks” chapter cuts some of the tension between Maud and Paul before and during Paulette’s birth by showing examples of other imperfect relationships. By highlighting the everyday struggles of the couples around them, the difficulties faced in Maud and Paul’s relationship take on a more common tone. It becomes easier to understand why Maud, although frequently disappointed by Paul, doesn’t complain each time he lets her down. Paul is no Coopie Whitestripe, but he’s a step above Richard.Interracial encounters become increasingly tense as the novel progresses through Maud’s adulthood. David’s cool demeanor toward Maud changes when he has a white audience, and the encounter with the white saleswoman in Sonia’s beauty shop leaves Maud shocked. Both Sonia and Maud are silent when the white saleswoman uses a racial slur, but for different reasons. Maud is initially silent because she thinks she must have misheard the woman, while Sonia is silent because she doesn’t want to get “all hot and bothered” (142) by confronting the woman. In response to these excuses, Maud stares “steadily into Sonia Johnson’s irises” (142) and does not break her gaze, letting her silence speak for her. The weight of Maud’s continued silence while she stares directly into Sonia’s eyes conveys the weight of what Sonia allowed to transpire in her own salon. Sonia has used excuses to overlook and forgive an intensively offensive racial slur, and Maud’s silence emphasizes the impact of Sonia’s silence in the moment.
The tension of the scene is juxtaposed with Maud’s cancer scare. Although brief, the incident leaves Maud bouncing away from the doctor’s office, full of the simple appreciation for life that she displayed as a child. Maud embraces and finds beauty in ordinary life, but Paul still waits for a change, for something to shift his circumstances for him.
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By Gwendolyn Brooks
