‘Berry’ – Part 2
“ANYWAY TONIGHT, she was not bound on a frivolous errand toward the doctor’s cottage.”
Wow! What did the writer just tell us about Mrs Osborn? Berry has made a favourable impression on her, and that she refers to him as boy does not say that she is prejudiced against him because of his race. She does the same in thinking about the Scandinavian worker. I want you to remember her attitude to Berry now, as opposed to later when Berry is unfairly treated and dismissed.
Last week, we paused after Mrs Osborn’s visit to the doctor’s cottage. As she walks back to her building, she focuses on the doctor. When he visits the home at 8 that evening, Dr Renfield speaks to her, finds out her reason for visiting his home and deals quickly with the situation. Although he does not say anything to encourage her infatuation, notice how he stares into her eyes as if there is an understanding between them.
What do you think of the repetition of “... left her. Left her. Left her”? Who is thinking this? I’d agree with you if you said Mrs Osborn, for she likes her employer very much. Mrs Osborn does not treat the other employees with the respect that she gives the doctor, and there is the suggestion that her attitude to them comes from her sense of superiority.
Berry is put at a disadvantage by the way she adds other duties to those for which he is already being underpaid. Perhaps the other workers, including the nurses, take their cue from her as they come to expect help/assistance from him. Read again the part of the story which tells us how he is drawn into helping the nurses and how much he does. Not surprisingly, Mrs Osborn changes her tune in regard to him after the incident. No one would expect her to voice an opposing opinion to that which the doctor holds and expresses. While his racism explodes on the occasion, Mrs Osborn does not take his side because she despises Berry, but because she will do anything to please Dr Renfield and be in his good books.
Let us now spend some time with Berry. We are introduced to him as a “... nice black boy, big, good natured and strong – like what Paul
Robeson must have been at twenty”. He had suffered from hunger as it had been hard for him to get a job. Berry is uneducated but has common sense and can see that something is not right at his workplace. He is no fool and realises that he is being discriminated against.
“The grown-up white folks only spoke to him when they had some job for him to do, or when they were kidding him about being dark, and talking flat and southern, and mispronouncing words.”
He accepts their ways, for he thinks that most white people are naturally not good and do not treat him good, even though he has done nothing bad to them. He realises, too, that he is doing too much work for the pay he is receiving, that is, as he puts it “... everybody was imposing
on him in the taking for granted way white folks
do with negro help.” He dislikes the dishonesty he sees around him.Yes, his days are long and work is piled on him, but he never complains for he needs to eat and live somewhere and, most of all, his concern for the children makes him accept the conditions and remain.
It is obvious that Berry recognises a similarity between the children and himself. They face prejudice and are handicapped by their circumstances; theirs being physical, his by his race. The children accept him as just another human being and he loves them. He helps them to move about and entertains them with songs and stories. This young man is creative enough to be able to make up stories for the children. He is able, too, to feel sympathy for the children in spite of his own situation.
I want to ask you a question. What do you think about the way the story ends? Examine it and let us continue our discussion next week. Discrimination takes all forms, so try to be careful how you treat others. God bless!