An analysis of “Our Time” By John Wideman
Justin Casey
English 2089
Dr. Murdock
9/5/2015
In the story of “Our Time” by John Edgar Wideman the reader is told the story of a man
named Robby. The story is told by his brother who is also the author. The story is about events
that happened prior to the imprisonment of Robby. It tells the history of the two brothers as well
as the history of their mother and grandfather. In doing so it also gives a detailed description of
the town they are from called Homewood.
The entire story starts in Homewood with the death of one of Robby’s closest friend
Garth. Garth was someone Robby looked up to and relied on. Garth gave Robby the idea that one
day they would be the kings of their city. That they would move up the food chain and get out of
there. Then Garth got sick. He started losing weight and when he went to the doctor he was
turned away because his condition was just written off as minor. By the time he was actually
admitted into a hospital it was too late. Garths death hit Robby hard. This event started off his
path to prison.
The Story then goes into the direction of the brother’s mother and her experience growing
up in Homewood under her father, John French. In those times Homewood was a much different
place. It gives a detailed description of John French and his character. He was well respected in
the community and because of that, people respected his daughter. He was always fair and didn’t
hate people until they gave him a reason to. It tells a story about how he would pick up egg rolls
from the back door of a Chinese restaurant because they were the best egg rolls in town. He had
to pick them up at the back door because the front was whites only. It goes on to say that John
didn’t blame the owner for serving him at the back door because if he had served him at the front
he would’ve lost the business of his white customers. He was just doing what he had to do in
order to make a living. I think the Author shares this information to make the point that a lot of
this rubbed off on his mother.
His mother was always looking out for her family and no matter what Robby did she still
loved him and always wanted the best for him. The Author explains that these traits that were
passed down from her father affected the way she looked at Robby’s trial. She didn’t want him to
get special treatment. All she wanted was for him to be treated fairly and in her opinion he
wasn’t. This caused her to hate the justice system and the government. It tore her up inside to see
the way her son was treated. She wanted the world to be the way it was when she was growing
up in the old Homewood.
I think another reason the Author gave us the stories of John and of their mother is to get
across the point that Homewood had changed. When their mother was growing up Homewood
was much different. It was a tight knit community where everyone knew one another and were
friendly. Everyone worked together to better the community and had a sense of pride for where
they were from. In the time Robby was growing up Homewood had become what people now
would call a ghetto. Gangs ran the streets and drugs and violence were a normal part of daily life.
The independently owned stores in Homewood were closing because of how tough times were
getting and it became an area for the poor. The Apartment that the family lived in was described
as being too small to ever be comfortable and extremely rundown. At one point Robby talks
about how you can see the marks from the people that lived there before.
I think the reason the author gave us all of this information was so that we would
understand how they got to the place they were. How Robby ended up in prison. Not the story of
what he did to get himself there but the story of his life and the life of his family so that the
reader understands the circumstances of Robby’s life that lead him to commit a crime. The story
never focuses on the actions of Robby but more on the events that took place. For example the
death of Garth or being arrested for possessing drugs by the undercover crooked cops that ran the
streets. How his mother bailed him out against the police officers advice. All of these events that
led Robby to the place he is now.
Wideman, John Edgar. "Our Time." Ways of Reading: An Anthology for Writers.
David Bartholomae, Anthony Petrosky, and Stacey Waite. Bedford/St. Martin's 2014.
422-59. Print.