Anna Richardson
Intermediate English Composition
Wideman Project
October 30, 2015
Wideman Project
John Edgar Wideman has written a complex story about his life. He shares the
experiences he’s had with his brother, mother, Homewood, and racism. He pieces together
important facts to allow readers to get an understanding of who he is. I am going to retell a part
of the story when John goes back to Homewood where he realizes that everything has changed.
This is a crucial part of his story because it shaped his perception on life. He has guilt, bad
feelings towards Robby, and a sadness for his mother.
JohnI left Wyoming. Being thousands of miles away from Homewood right now isn’t right. I
have to admit, not being present for all of Robby’s troublesome acts, isn’t much of a miss. I
don’t like being around Robby when he’s stirring up trouble. Why would I? He’s so hard headed.
Doesn’t want to listen to anyone. Mother would say that Robby is no baby. Still not a good
excuse to act like a rebel. Garths death has affected everyone. Including mother. She wouldn’t
tell me all of the details but once I arrived that changed.
Mother views garths death as an act of carelessness. He kept going to the doctors but they
didn’t do much. His weight was dropping. His skin was hallowing in. “Have to be spitting blood
to get attention,” (Wideman 430) she would say. Is this true? Doctors really don’t care about our
underlining health issues anymore? It’s a shame what happened to Garth. He was definitely the
best friend for Robby. Mother said Garth didn’t have a mean bone in his body. He had a little job
at Westinghouse just to help out his mother. Sweet man. Although he wasn’t a saint, Garth was a
good guy. Heck, he had a playful, kid like heart.
I can sense that mother is changing. Perhaps she’s already changed for good. She used to
be the sweet one of the family. The one that never lost her temper and kept calm. And trust me,
there were plenty of times mother could have lost it with us two boys. Homewood shaped her
like that. French girls must always be polite. The gentleness of my grandfather is disappearing
within her. She’s becoming cold. She’s even holding grudges now. This isn’t like her. But yet,
part of me understands her anger. She’s lost someone she loved, her son is acting like a fool, and
she feels lost. “They have killed Garth and his dying had killed part of her son.” (Wideman 431)
I have to say that I blame Robby for a lot of this. Of course Garths death has played a role
in mothers changing. But Robby’s actions have taken it over the top. She found a syringe under
his bed. Drugs. My brother has turned to drugs. He would come in the house high off of
whatever. Mother even discovered twenty dollars missing from her purse. Does it get any lower
than that?
Why couldn’t he see that what he was doing was destroying the woman who gave him
life? Surely everyone else could see it. That’s how Robby is. All mother wanted him to do was
stay home. At least this way she knew where he was and what he was doing.
Mother was caring. Still is to an extent. Even with her new outlook on life. I suppose the
Homewood African Methodist Episcopal church has made her that way. I’m grateful that
Homewood has given me a mother like that. But the truth is everything is changing. People don’t
even mop up the dirty floors in stores anymore. Mother has trained herself to be on high alert.
“Things shed say or do startled me, set me back on my heels because I didn’t recognize my
mother in them.” (Wideman 435) It’s a shame that it’s turning into a white hate-white fear, no
good doctor, town. And of course, Robby finds himself in the middle of it.
I have to admit that I feel a little hurt by Robby’s actions. He’s the only one that mother
thinks about. At least it seems this way. It’s like she’s lost interest in me. Robby this and Robby
that. Her frustrations with him are taking over. I can understand I guess. I sound like the jealous
sibling but it’s hurtful. She still needs me, right? I know mother can handle herself but it would
be nice if she relied on me just a little. I think it’s evident that she can’t rely on Robby.
EndJohn Wideman has turned his personal experiences into a compelling story. He has an
arrangement of different themes running through Our Time. Giving background on his town, his
family, white hate- white fear, and his longing to make a name for himself elsewhere, has lead
his readers to put themselves in his shoes.
It’s very private information that he allows people to know. I believe this is why it makes
such a great story. Although he may be a little ashamed of his brother Robby’s actions, he
doesn’t let that get in the way of his writing. From reading Our Time, it’s evident that John is the
way he is because of his mother. She is the reason he continues to push through life and all of its
obstacles.
Homewood has shaped his mother to be the woman she is. She was a French girl. “A
French girl was somebody who lived in Cassina Way, somebody you didn’t fool with or talk
nasty to.” (Wideman 434) The town Homewood is very important in this story because it gives
reasoning for some of the instances that occur. For John, he is someone who typically follows the
rules, does what he’s told, and respects others. Homewood has taught him to be that way. But for
Robby, he doesn’t necessarily want to be like everyone else. He wants to stand on his own a little
bit.
John and Robby’s mother was not raised to act like a rebel. This is why it took me by
surprise that Robby turns to drugs, alcohol, and stealing. But once again, he doesn’t mind to
break the rules and live above the law. Even with the actions Robby takes, his mother still stands
by him. It really speaks about the characteristics of their mother. After Robby commits murder,
his mother still wants the best for him. I don’t know if many people will agree with her decision
but it clearly makes a statement. “Tried to situate herself somewhere in between, acknowledging
the evil in her sons crime while simultaneously holding onto the fact that he existed as a human
being before, after, and during the crime he’d committed.” (Wideman 432)
After Robby gets sent away, John decides to go see him. He ultimately does this because
of how worried his mother is about Robby. They end up talking for a few hours. This is a little
turning point for John. He didn’t expect to talk to his brother for that long. He especially didn’t
expect to connect with him on any level, but he does. The men’s mother tries her hardest to keep
the boys in contact and keep their relationship present. Without her, I honestly don’t know if
John would have visited Robby. His mother gave him the extra push he needed.
Our Time shows people that our personalities can be linked with how we grew up. In this
case, Homewood had positive but also negative factors playing on John, Robby, and their
mother. The men went in different directions with their lives because of Homewood. Robby
wanted to be the rebel of the town. John wanted to branch out and make a new name for himself.
He doesn’t want to rely on everyone in Homewood, considering most of the towns people don’t
go outside the county lines.
John Wideman has successfully shown people that our families, communities, and
personal identities can not only affect us, but affect the people around us. Garths death affected
Robby and their mother. That in return leads Robby to commit crimes, their mother to lose her
soft touch, and John to realize that nothing is the same anymore.
Works Cited
Wideman E, John. “Our Time.” Ways of Reading: An Anthology for Writers. Tenth Ed. David
Bartholomae, Anthony Petrosky, and Stacey Waite. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin’s, 2014. 420-462.
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