by Langston Hughes (American)

CHARACTERS

Milberry Jones/ Berry

Mrs. Osborn (head housekeeper)

Dr. Renfield

Martha Renfield

Miss Baxter (the nurse)

Mrs. Hill (the nurse)

The handyman gardener – chauffeur

SETTINGS

New Jersey

Dr. Renfield Summer Home for Crippled Children

The kitchen

The beach

SUMMARY OF THE STORY

Milberry’s story starts with his arrival at the train station. He is met by the head housekeeper in Dr. Renfield’s summer home. Berry is the new kitchen boy. At this point, the third-person narrator makes it clear that Mrs. Osborn, the head housekeeper is racist. She first sees that Berry is black. Still, she decides that she would take him for the job. She does not know the length of his stay at this point, but she knows that they needed a servant. Berry is left to wash the dishes while Mrs. Osborne speaks to Dr. Renfield about Milberry’s fate at the home. The doctor is also racist, but he decides to keep Milberry. He decides to pay him eight dollars instead of the ten dollars that the kitchen boy before was paid. He was put in the attic to sleep and although he was employed as the kitchen boy, he was forced to do the work of the other employees.

He got up early in the morning, he made the fire for the cook, peeled vegetables, washed the dishes, scoured pots and pans, scrubbed the floor, carried the wood for the fireplace, polished the waitresses’ silver, and iced their water, as well as other jobs that Mrs. Osborn would assign to him. Berry knew that these people expected too much of him. He knew that he was that he overworked and that he was paid less than he should be paid. But he knew that as a black, uneducated man, his financial opportunities were limited. 

Milberry was very close to the children at the home and these relationships with the children helped to shape Milberry’s decision to stay. The children called him Berry because he showed genuine care for the children. He sang with them as well as shared jokes and stories. Berry also took the children to the beach during the warm times. He realized that the other workers were unkind towards the children and that they were only kind when families were visiting.

 Berry sings to the children and tells them jokes and stories. He takes them to the beach during the sunny weather. But he also observed that the workers were largely unkind to the children and would only pretend to care for the children when parents were visiting. The other workers complained constantly. The mention of two types of cans is important. The good cans and the cheap cans were opened at different times. The good cans were opened at the arrival of a family and the cheap cans were reserved for the children when there were no family visits.

Berry faced challenges at the home. The most significant challenge was when he accidentally overturned the wheelchair with a child. The child was excited about being taken out and leaned forwards in the chair. The chair overturns and Berry faces the wrath of the nurses. Dr. Renfield also blames Berry. He was fired and lost his last week’s pay.

CONFLICT

Man versus Society

Berry faces challenges because he is black. Society was still experiencing the challenges of racism and he had a hard life as a black man in Georgia as: “they don’t have many schools for Negroes.” Therefore, Berry was uneducated when he moved north to New Jersey. At Dr. Renfield’s Summer Home for Crippled Children, he faced discrimination because the whites in the home believed that blacks were still in the minority in society.

RESOLUTION

Dr. Renfield fires Berry without pay. Berry leaves the home peacefully for Jersey City.

THEMES

Racism,

Prejudice and Discrimination,

Poverty,

Man versus society,

Friendship